so parker won the "most original" prize at work.! and they gave him this cute movie night prize.
check out those forearms!
Ben and Lisa sure do know how to throw a party! Delicious food and dancing! Halloween is the best. Here's an action shot with the party hosts and mike, jennie, and claire.
we got a tour guide for the Freedom Trail. Definitely worth it! he was great and we saw so much stuff. It was pretty cool to see the place where so many historical events in our country took place.
Parker in a street show outside Faniuel hall market place. So hilarious. This guy was juggling knives on top of this pole. I admit I was a little scared for all of our lives. pretty awesome though.
Acorn street... supposedly the most photographed street in...something
Just the view from Britt's office. 
Boston Bay with the Lewis girls
the mansions in Newport, RI. we missed the inside tours but they were pretty spectacular from the outside. 
this face cracks me up. what a cutie
we got to visit Parker's Italian relatives in Rhode Island. These lovely ladies are Parker's great aunts, Nat and Stella (sisters to his grandpa, who I never got to meet). Italians sure do know how to eat.
we hadn't planned on it, but after visiting parkers relatives in Rhode Island and having them tell us that we HAD to go to NYC, we switched our flight plans and hopped on a bus down there. we were only a day and a half but it was worth the extra trip.
Oh the statue of liberty. Someday when we have more time I want to go up it. Ellis Island too... 
Recommeded stop: Magnolia bakery in greenwhich village for the most delicious banana pudding. I have to figure out how they made this. 
the building snuck right up on us. It was so awesome to see the temple right there in the midst of the hustle and bustle of manhattan. New york was so fun. Since we were only there for a day and a half, we bought a tour bus pass to see the whole city. They go around the whole island, north and south, so you get a chance to see all the sights and you can hop on and off as you wish. It also included the cruise around the statue of liberty and a museum pass. Great purchase. We ate the best food there too... Great italian place on 9th ave, sushi of course, and delicious NY subs. We want to go back when we have more time!
These trees are so huge and and beautiful. Some of them are thousands of years old. It is pretty awe-inspiring to see them. There are tons of camping spots and hikes to go on in the park (which is huge) but we just went on a few hikes as we drove through.
just a tree stump
on one side of the highway was forest and the other side was all beach. Cold beaches but really cool. Don't get to see those rocky, misty beaches very often. 
We stayed at john and erin's in palo alto which was really fun and they were so great to have us. we spent a day down town at some of the touristy places and some of the not so touristy places. I don't know if I can hack the San Fran public transportation system again. We pretty much got beat up in little old ladies in china town and crazy men on the BART (subway). if you haven't heard the story, you need to. We spent a day down in San Jose at an awesome beach and went to giants game with John and E. It was a really fun way to end our summer.
yep he did it. after a long summer of hard work he finally reached his goal of 100 sales...and kept going. let me just tell you that parker was the first guy out here selling and now he is the last...that boy has determination and dedication...along with a bunch of other good stuff. I just wanted to say congratulations!! he definitely had some hard days and weeks but he stuck it out and i'm so proud of him! we sure have been blessed. it's been a really good experience for us to be out here this summer. I would tell almost any newly-wed couple to move away from their family and friends for a little while where you can really just have eachother to rely on and spend time with and really get to know eachother. i've loved having so much good quality parker and kate time. 
Had such a fun time with amers, melissers and mommers. we missed you emily! thanks for comin guys! some of the highlights: pike place, souveniers, melissa's b-day song at red robin, goonies at the space needle, h&m, china town, hot chocolate on the ferry, getting poured on, melissa's magnets, finding sleepless in seattle paraphernalia, the waterfall, dicks drive-in, rummy...basically just having my family with me and parker. more pictures courtesy of amy here. i was really glad that they got to come and visit us in this beautiful city before we leave especially since we are missing my family's vacation right about now...tear... but we had a good time while they were here!
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i made parker's favorite peach pie on saturday after hearing about it for so long...(both the process and the deliciousness). It turned out really yummy even though I put too much of the gooey orange topping on top of the peaches. i decided to take park on a date since he is always doing sweet things for me and works so hard everyday for our family! the family I work for were out of town this weekend and invited us to come over and use their house...(they live on a lake and have an awesome, beautiful house).
we used their canoe and lake as a picnic spot for our fish tacos and jaritos. 
So this is the second most active volcano in the world...they say it's not a matter of if but when...
our buds, sarah and jordan... sad that we won't be seeing much of eachother in a few weeks! too bad...I guess we'll just have to go visit them down there in florida.. haha
slip and slidin' around on the snow. felt a little funny to be throwing snowballs in mid July!
I ran into these at the Bellevue Arts Museum gift shop while parkers mom was in town. while we were gawking and scratching are heads over these dolls, the girl working there told us all about how they are the new hottest "thing." Check them out here. Read the story of how the company got started. It's really sweet! Each doll has a name and a personality. so cool. how come I didn't think of this?
For kelli's "special" birthday this year, we decided to fly her out to seattle for a little vaca! it was so fun to have her out here. we went to pikes market of course, shopping up in bellevue, took a ferry out to Bremerton, had dinner on the waterfront, and just hung out. she is such a fun mom and mom-in-law! we are so lucky to have her! 
could it be? we went to a job interview down in houston a couple weeks ago... still trying to decide! making decisons is so hard! 
can you picture it?? we went downtown at the perfect time. there was NO one out (except for a few homeless people) but it was sunset, really pretty, and i was impressed with how clean it was.
i love the spinning flat screen. and the bedroom part seems so private. pretty cool right?
