Parker Utah

Today is Parker's first birthday. It's been a whole year since this little guy has come into our lives and yet I feel like I've known him forever. So here are some of the things he loves:

1-Nunn nums......which means FOOD!
2-Water in any form; cup, bath, pool, rain, and pretty much any other way you can have it.
3-Music......he's a dancer! Way cute!
4-Daddda-dddy......which is the computer and the phone these days (he gets to talk to his Dad that way).
5-Papa.....Parker loves to sit on my Dad's lap and would stay there all day long if you let him.
6-Dirt (I don't think there is a kid that doesn't like it).
7-His brothers and sister

Parker is amazing! We are so blessed to have him here with us!

Father's Day

So today as everyone knows is the day we celebrate all the great Father's in ourlives. I want to tell you about the 3 amazing fathers I know.

First: My Dad Leonard Allsup

My favorite quote from him is, "No, because it's going to SNOW!" He would say this no matter what the season was and no matter if it was going to snow or not. It was his way of saying he didn't feel comfortable with me doing what I wanted to do. My Dad has always been there for me. Even to this day if I need him he will come and be here for me. In a world of absent and non existing Dad's I am very blessed to have been raised by the prefect Dad. I love you Dad!

Second: My Father-n-Law Chris Priddis

I met my father-n-law about 12 years ago. I think he wasn't sure about me when he met me. But I knew I was sure about him and how I wanted to be apart of his son's life and apart of their family. My father-n-law like my own father has always supported me and been willing to help me with whatever I've needed. Chris has taught me how to never give up even if your body doesn't allow you to do what you want it to (he has Parkinson's Disease). He has also taught Billy how to be a father. I will forever be grateful to Chris for teaching Billy to be the man he is today. Chris Thank You!

Third: My Amazing Husband Billy Priddis

Even though Billy can't always be around it does NOT stop him from being an amazing father. He calls, writes letters, and never never lets our kids forget that he loves them. When he's home, he's home......he takes them to playgrounds, camping, for motorcycle rides, on dates, to movies, and he makes sure to have one on one time with each one of the kids. He teaches them so many things that I could go on for days about it. But one of the most important things to me is how he teaches them to love me. Billy is an amazing man and father. I miss having him around so very much. Billy I love you!!! !

Raising Parker, "I See You.....MOM!"

So everyday just as I'm getting dinner ready I have this peeker, peek around the corner and yell at me (in baby language of course). There's a step going into the kitchen which he finds it's easier to climb onto the couch and peek around the corner to see me. I say, "Hey big Guy!" and he screams "Hey NNNunnnnmmmms!" At me, which means 'Food! Give it to me NOW'!

I love this little guy and his unique way of communicating with me.

Service

Last week in our ward (church group) we had are Stuff Swap. Which is when everyone brings stuff they don't want and we just take want we can use. We had so many people bring stuff but not as many people took as was given. We had a lot of great things leftover that I needed to figure out want to do with. I really didn't want to just donate it to Goodwill. So after a crazy couple of days and a few suggestions I ended up holding on to the stuff. A couple of days ago I had a sister call and tell me about this family. A couple of days before that their A/C got plugged and it made the cords catch on fire. Which caught the curtains and then the rug on fire in just a matter of seconds. So they lost everything they had. They are living with family right now and are in search of a new home. They have nothing except what was on their backs. This good sister from my ward was hoping that we could give them the stuff we had leftover from the Swap. Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting and giving this sweet family the items from our Swap. They have all girls and we just happened to have a ton of clothes in their sizes. They were so grateful and gracious in receiving these items. It made me so happy to be able to help them. With all the problems that come at me while being in the Relief Society Presidency, situations like this make me so grateful to be able to help out. I was so very grateful to have been able to witness their kindness to me. But the biggest thing that I witness was that they weren't angry at the situation they found themselves in. They were so very, very humble. I am so very blessed and grateful for their example to me.

My Stats for the Race

270 (What I ranked! Very last and Proud of it!)
Tara Priddis 160 (My Number)
32 (Age Yes I was born the same year Star Wars Came Out, get over it!)
F (As if you don't know)
241 (Swim Rank)
17:53 (How long it took me)
2:59 (Transition time from Swim to Bike)

272 (Bike Rank)
1:47:43 (How long it took me)
02:44 (Transition time from Bike to Run)

268 (Run Rank)
42:57 (How long it took me)

2:54:34 (Over all time with all three races)

I DID IT without shoes, but I DID IT!

As most of you know one of my goals was to do a Triathlon this year. So yesterday May 20th 2010 in Woodlake, NC I did my first triathlon. It was a Sprint which consisted of 600yds swim, 17.2 bike, and 3 mile run. The first thought that ran threw my head when getting into the cold water was, 'Why am I doing this, I'm crazy' but I pushed on. I swam getting kick only twice which was not as bad as the nightmares I had envisioned. Once finished I ran and got all my bike stuff on and grabbed my bike to start the bike portion. It was a beautiful bike trail with amazing trees all around (thank you N. Carolina). About mile 7 my right shoe was giving me a lot of trouble. I finally decided to just take it off. So for the next two miles I rode with just one shoe(my shoes are the clip on to the peddle kind).
WITH SHOES

Normally this wouldn't have been a problem but Thursday night at a church Relief Society Meeting I slipped on some water on our nicely redone wood floors, bruising up my knee pretty bad. My knee started to give me a lot of problems. So at about the half way point I just ditched both of them (I gave them to the nice man who helps pump up flat tires) and rode the rest of the bike ride in socks.
NO SHOES

I had to stop twice and walk my bike up the hills because it was getting to much for my feet digging into the bike peddles. I finished the bike portion and changed into my tennis shoes. I started to run but at this point my knee wanted none of that, so I walked as fast as I could. I would run until I couldn't and then walk and until the end of the race I ran and walked, ran and walked. About a 1/2 mile from the finish line a little old Grandma who was the very last person passed me. This left me as the very last person. Now most people might take this as a defeat, but not me. Their were so many times I wanted to quit and be finished. Honestly I would have had numerous reasons to stop, but I didn't. I kept going! As I got to the finish line I had a great friend named Amanda waiting for me who said, "I couldn't let you do this all by yourself." I am so blessed!

Billy so wanted to be there and by all means was there just not physically. He called me on my ride home from the race. I think he was shocked and a little surprised by it all. This was an amazing experience and I am so glad I did it!

Raising Arizona

Zona:"Mom what drink do you want from Wal-mart?"
Mom: "Oh I would love to have a Dr. Pepper....but only if it has cherry in it!"
Zona: "Well you can have an Orange soda!"
Mom: "But I said I wanted a DP with cherry!"
Zona: "Mooommmmmm! We don't drink caffeine!"

*Side note, Zona is right we don't drink caffeine or pop for that matter. But to be honest with you, if I'm going to cheat it is only DP with Cherry. My sister Tracey let me sip some of hers once when I was pregnant with Parker and feeling very nauseous. Since then I've loved it and I can't go back to the regular stuff. But I only drink it when I've had a really, really bad day and I deserve one (which isn't to often).