Houston, TX

    Our next adventure will be our move to Houston, TX!  Matt graduated this December from his graduate program and was officially offered his dream job as a Global Petroleum Geologist with Halliburton in Houston!  We are so excited for this next stage of our lives and have been busy arranging our move and house hunting!  The most exciting part of all of this is that we get to share our excitement with Parker who we can tell is already excited to have his own backyard, a neighborhood swimming pool, and to be close to some of his cousins! We are excited as well for the warm weather, no snow, and I will be able to continue teaching my course online for BYU-I in our new home! We have been spending this transition time with both sides of the family, and we will definitely miss each of them.  Parker will especially miss his time with both sets of grandparents and all his aunts and uncles both in Idaho and Nebraska!

     Parker turned 1 in March!  Oh, how time flies!  We were able to go to the zoo for his birthday, and he had a blast!  He loves anything that has to do with animals!  In fact there is a picture below of him feeding the giraffe! His favorite animals were the jelly fish, the lions, and giraffes, but definitely not the goats!  Feeding the goats was one of the first times I have seen Parker truly scared! Then we came home to a big celebration with the family! He got some much needed new clothes for the warm weather in Houston and lots of toys!  One of his favorite toys had to be his new baby drum set which he hasn’t stopped playing since! He loves music! 

     His first birthday calls for a lot of new updates about our growing boy!  First, Parker is walking! He took his first steps just a couple weeks before his first birthday, but seemed to prefer crawling.  It was just this last week that he has really started walking EVERYWHERE and now he is testing out his own version of a run!  We are definitely getting ready for this whole new world of a toddler and being able to walk. He still talks all day, although we still don’t know what he is saying all the time.  He has mastered “Mama”, “Dadda”, and “Baba”.  He loves to clap and play Peek-A-Boo.  Parker will play Peek-A-Boo anytime, anywhere, and with anything!  Parker is a fan of books and loves to be read to.  He especially likes books with animals, and right now his favorite book is “Baby Touch and Feel Animal Farm” from his Grandma and Grandpa Morton.  He is eating totally solid foods now and we still haven’t found any food he doesn’t like! One of the things that has surprised us the most is how Parker has almost a full set of teeth! This does make it easier for him to eat his favorite food, Goldfish crackers!  His easygoing, kind, and calm nature have continued to grow with him. He is already over two feet tall and over 25lbs!  His gorgeous head of hair continues to grow and he has already had three haircuts!  Parker truly is a ray of sunshine everywhere he goes and to everyone he meets.  He is constantly smiling. Matt and I often comment on how his smile and hugs still melt our hearts every single day.  He is our biggest miracle and greatest blessing!

     Here are some of our favorite pictures from his first birthday and our most recent family photo shoot!