Parker's 11th Birthday!

The Parker Man is ELEVEN!

My favorite number.

We threw him a much needed luau!

Playing it cool in front of his friends...

Swim party in the new backyard and in the new pool! 

(more on that later)

Old friends, new friends, school friends, church friends...

It was great to see everybody jump in together!

His very own grown-up tablet!

(with kid-proof bumper cover and intense parental controls)

haha, but he's happy!

Alexa, keep my baby safe!

He'll appreciate this more in the fall.

Good ol' Moms and their useful gifts.

Now, Parker in a nutshell...

He's usually up, dressed, hair combed, teeth brushed, bed made...

all before I wake up.

I can really rely on him.

He loves scouts and learning how to survive.

He'll probably save all our lives in the zombie apocalypse.

He is getting his arrow of light in a couple weeks.

He is very good at video games.

He picks up on them very quickly and can play them in almost any venue.

Switch, WiiU, 3DS, Fire, Xbox.

But he prefers Nintendo Switch.

He is getting into Skateboarding.

Our summer has made several trips to skate parks around with his friends.

During the school year,

he and a buddy started an after school skate club.

(They even drew their own flyers!)

He is a very natural leader.

He can rally our kids to do almost anything.

He makes them laugh really hard with his jokes and impressions!

That being said, he is also a follower and 

likes to fit in with whomever he feels 

is the coolest kid in the room.

He's a really good kid that I can trust.

He still is at the phase where he tells his parents everything.

He can be moody.

He can be difficult.

He has a quick witted tongue that can be sharp and hurtful.

But I really appreciate how quick he is to apologize.

You can just say,

"I don't like this kid you are being!"

and then the grumpy version immediately melts away 

and he says,

"I'm really sorry, Mom."

And nice Parker is there again.

We all need some time to ourselves sometimes, right?!

I wish he would read more.

I wish he was a little less bossy at times.

But, he is so special to me in so many ways.

He cares a lot about things being done right.

He is very honest.

He is my SuperEgo.

During family scriptures he always gives great insights.

Sometimes at night we talk a lot about the deep things

he thinks about pertaining to the gospel.

I'm very impressed how much time he spends pondering about it.

He likes to keep things clean.

He always makes his bed.

And when the basement needs cleaning or the toys upstairs,

he steps up as this amazing leader

and organizes a game with all the kids to play

so that they don't even know they are working!

In other words,

I am proud of him in so many ways.

(and his secret is that Patty is still under his pillow, SHHHH, don't tell!!!)

Fifth grade, here he comes!!!