I love it when we get to have Parker’s friend Ray over. They are so cute together.

Vermont’s state horse, the Morgan horse is a beautiful creature. They have a very distinct body shape, with long curving necks, short ears, and a wonderful temperament. No better place to visit them than UVM’s Morgan Horse Farm. Parker is very used to seeing horses among the Colorado landscape, but doesn’t get the chance to get up close and personal too often. Although he has seen the Budweiser Clydesdales, and has been to the Draft Horse Show.

Even though we are beyond Christmas I still wanted to post these. I took Parker to see Santa and his reindeer at Bath Garden Center this past year, and the only thing he wanted to do was chase the little train back and forth. He would have stayed there the entire day if I’d let him.

There’s nothing like being able to play outside in the snow without needing a coat. The sunshine is marvelous. It can be difficult when driving, but that’s what sunglasses are for, right? My favorite is snowboarding without a jacket in the middle of winter. Can’t beat it. I wanted to photograph Parker in his new hat and mittens, so here we go.

Parker loves to help…make a mess. I gave him his own bowl of flour, and he was having so much fun that I couldn’t stop giggling.

My mother is a fantastic pianist, who passed her musical love onto me, and now onto her grandson. Enjoy!

Parker and I enjoyed a wonderful trip to Vermont. We did many things while we were there, and one day my mom and I took Parker to the Echo museum in Burlington, Vermont located on beautiful Lake Champlain. They provide a wonderful mixture of aquatic creatures, as well as fun scientific displays with a lot of hands-on activities. There was also a playroom for young children and Parker had a blast on the slide. It was pretty funny to watch him running around from one thing to the next, and then back again, and around again. The only thing he didn’t enjoy was the stamp that was on the top of his hand; it really bothered him that he couldn’t get it off.

Since Parker no longer has any hair to keep his head warm, it was time for a new hat. I got it finished just in time for the snow.

I really need to work on posting more often. Even though I’ve been doing a million things, I still can’t figure out what to post sometimes. I am in the middle of quite a few projects and it’s way more fun to post about stuff that is done than show the things I am halfway through. So I will post about Parker’s trip to the new playground that we live near. It’s huge! Almost too big for him because he felt the need to run and hide from the other children that were playing. It was all a little overwhelming for him until the other kids left and he was able to truly explore without worry.

I took a few photos in the backyard of the beautiful light that was blanketing the landscape.

So I’m not usually one to post personal things, but today is a special day. I am moving, with Parker, to our own place. For those of you who don’t know, Justin and I are no longer in a relationship. Even though our relationship didn’t work out I am proud to say that we have a wonderful, beautiful (or handsome), incredible son. Something about me changed when I had Parker, and maybe I didn’t know it then, but I know it now. He is the reason I am trying so hard at everything that I do. I am putting myself through medical transcription school so that I can continue to raise and stay home with Parker. In my mind it is the only situation that I am comfortable with. My mom worked really hard to raise my brother and I, taught us so much about life and the values in it. I’ve made some mistakes in my life and all of them good, because they have taught me something and made me who I am today. I hope that Parker can grow up to understand the value of his own self-happiness, and to recognize when things aren’t right, and to do something about it.

Today, I move on.

Eating a fresh apple from one of the two trees in our backyard. Yum!

Having a blast on the swing set that was given to us.

Watching the neighbor’s alpaca farm behind our house.

And our beautiful new home!