feeling sentimental...

i don't know what my deal is... but these last couple days i have been feeling so sentimental about so many things in my life... if anything i feel so beyond blessed!!!  word's can't even express how much i love being a mom... i think the world want's to make you feel like there is nothing glamorous about being a mom.... and let alone... a stay at home mom.  yes, there are days when i don't get ready and i find that i end up in my sweats all day... but there is nowhere in this world i would rather be then being home with madeline and elisabeth....

miss madeline got ahold of my camera today while we were at the pool and i had no idea she had taken this picture until i had come home.  this picture here truly shows on my face what an absolute joy my children are in my life.  i look at them and i want them to stay ever so little and to be in my care.  i want to protect them and keep them safe.  i love them more then words can say... please stay ever so little my little one's...

our weekend getaway...

our weekend getaway... shawn had been in alaska for almost 2 weeks... he came home and wanted to take us on a little weekend getaway as a fam.  it was a total last minute thing... so we headed "south" to good ole' st. george.  we seriously had the greatest time!  i loved being in the car and being able to visit with shawn hours on end... i missed him so much and i know sometimes i take for granted having him around... 

we spent majority of the time swimming... because it was so "hot"....

madeline loved showing off to her dad her latest tricks....

this girl has no fear when it comes to the water.

 my little tibby... she breaks every rule i try to enforce while we are swimming....

no tub... no floaties... typical 2 year old...

tibby truly is a "daddy's little girl"...

while shawn was gone she really missed him... she couldn't stop snuggling up to him...

before we went home we stopped by brigham youngs home and took the tour...

this is the girls outside of his home...

i love everything to do with church history~

us sitting on brigham youngs front porch....

i must say i'm one happy girl to have shawn home.  i'm going to enjoy him until he has to go again...

it doesn't matter where we go... or what we are doing... these 3 people are my most favorite people i love to be with.  nothing matters in the world when i am with them and my little world is complete when we are all together... i am so blessed!

camping in style....

can i just say... this is the rendition of how the "parkinson" family camps... sitting around a manmade camp fire pit... roasting hot dogs and having smores.  i know it's hard to believe... but growing up we never camped once in my life.  what is so funny is that shawn's family is big time campers and so i have had a full dose of camping... oh i love my family just the way they are and there idea of roughing it... lol! it was such a fun day celebrating the 24th of july together as a family... 

me and my brother tay....

i love him so....

me & mj on the 24th of july... tibby is always so busy running around and can hardly hold still long enough to take her picture....

one of these days i would like to take my family camping to show them how it is done.... but i must say... when we do camp... it's in luxury... lol!!! i love my family so and feel so blessed to be a part of the parkinson clan... they are the best!!!

what have we been up to...?

what have we been up to this summer....!?! one word..."swimming"  i have so enjoyed my summer taking my girls swimming and spending lots of time in the sun.... we have had so much fun spending time with cousins and with one another....

really... tibby!?! oh this picture makes me smile...

every time we go swimming.. madeline is always wanting her dad to come along.  this saturday she scored where we were able to spend the day at my cousins pool... 

nothing beats a little 2 year old in a swimming suit...

my little swimming partner... 

now they have the right idea... lol!

madeline at cherry hill with cousins... we can't get enough of that place...

more time at the pool...

summer can you please stay just a bit longer... i really am enjoying the warmth and i really can't get enough of it...

i am blessed....

have you ever had one of those days when you just feel "down in the dumps!?!" well... today has been one of those days.  shawn is in alaska for a couple of weeks for work and i am sure missing him.  my days and weeks ahead look so big.... this evening i was starting to feel real sorry for myself... until i walked over to the couch and saw these two beautiful faces smiling up at me.  i thought to myself... "shame on you rachel for thinking that way"  those feelings i were having quickly went away and i had such a joyous heart!  how blessed i am that  i get to be there mother and i would never want to wish time away with them.  each and every day i have "teaching moments" and tonight i was taught such a valuable lesson... "love the life you are living"... and that is just how i feel tonight!  i am blessed... i am blessed...  come what may... and love it...  it's so amazing to me how heavenly father is so aware of me and truly knows all my thoughts and feelings... i truly know that i am never alone...

summer~2011

okay... here we are already in mid july & i'm just getting around to posting a little bit of our summer... i just can't seem to find time to get on here like i used to....  ahhhh.... where does the time go!?!

a couple of weeks ago we went camping with the holste's... we had so much fun!  i felt like with my girls being a little older it made camping that much easier.... if that's even possible!?!:) we had so much fun playing in the water, boating, wave runners, and most of all... spending time with one another.

my girls loved camping this year... i want to know what kid doesn't?:) 

madeline kept asking me each night how many more days we had left to camp...!?!

tibby totally grasped the whole concept of the water & loved every minute of it....

tibby...

ha... me wakeboarding.... so much fun!

my sis~in~law chelci & my cute nephew nathan....

madeline loved the wave runners... every chance she could take she was wanting a ride....

she kept telling me she wanted to go faster.  i have no idea where she gets that from!?! lol!

so fun....

miss madeline...

shawn is such a good sport because he is the one that is drives the boat for everyone... 

ahhh.... cousins!  

madeline, hogan & tibby

ahhhh... i promise i put sunscreen on madeline... it was so hot & we were out in the sun for days~

i about died when i realized how much sun she had gotten... ahhhh!

all in all... we had such a great time! even though i come home to loads & loads of wash and so much work ahead of me~ it's so worth it in the end!  we can't wait to go again in a couple of weeks!  who knew camping could be so much fun!?!:)  i guess it's because you are with the one's you love!

memorial day...

memorial day has never had so much meaning to me until my dear grandma russell passed away..... i love her dearly and miss her more then words can say.  you know how we all have that "special someone" in our life... that special someone would be my grandma russell.... she understood me as a person and we just had that special closeness.  i feel of her presence and i know that without a doubt she is aware of me and all that is going on in my life...  there isn't a day that goes by that i don't think of her and all that she has taught me.  she truly is the most christlike person i know and i strive each day to be just like her... if only i could be just like her...

this picture may think that i am happy to be there...

i am happy because i know that one day i will see my grandma again...

i know my grandma wouldn't want me to feel sad... she would want me to rejoice in the gospel...

until we meet again my dear gram...