Rappelling and Hiking

On Sunday, we begin by taking down our base camp and heading to Mount Princeton to rappel. Most of us had never done that and were a little apprehensive. Andy and I were almost the last ones, so we had a chance to scope out all the others and get an idea of what to expect. We had fun when it was our turn and successfully made it to the bottom of the 100+ foot cliff. It was a little unnerving to not be able to see below you until you actually took a few steps. Robbie has pictures of us on the cliff, so I may post those later.

Andy and I hanging out before our turn to rappel.

Mark Slagle--our guide

Russell and Kendall enjoying our lunch of Goober and crackers.

After rappelling, our group hiked to Low Camp and set up camp for the night. We had a glorious meal of Parmesan noodles, canned chicken and Cheez-its. Anything would have tasted fabulous because we were starving. On Monday morning, we up bright and early to start our hike to High Camp. Here is Andy and me with our backpacks on and ready to go.

Andy and I posed with "baby" aka Santitas chips. We took turns carrying these chips to High Camp because we did not want them to get smashed.
Our group spent most of Monday hiking.
Amanda and Chelsey did a great job of encouraging everyone on the trip!

Getting Ready for Trek

On Saturday morning, we drove to Salida, Colorado to begin our Trek experience. Before we checked in, we had our last greasy meal at Sonic and a last minute stop at Super Wal-Mart. Andy and I grabbed some snacks for our trip (beef jerky, cashews, granola bars) as well as some other necessities. When we checked in, we were all oriented to the ways of Trek. We were all issued our gear as well as any group supplies that we needed to carry. I got very lucky and carried the first dinner and a fuel can. The downside was I got to carry the trash from the first dinner for the rest of the week. We all set up our tents and did a rock climbing wall. Fortunately, there are no pictures of me on the rock climbing wall. I swung a little too much after I reached the top and almost took out Zach Bradshaw. That night, we slept in tents at base camp.

Distribution of Trek gear

Setting up our girls' tent. The five of us stayed in a 4 person tent and had so much fun! Here we are still clean and smelling good.

Rebekah, Amanda, Chelsey, Savannah, and Sloan

Andy on the rock climbing wall...he told everyone he was "awkward yet efficient."

Colorado Springs

Andy and I just returned from a fabulous trip to Colorado for Wilderness Trek. We went with 18 other people from BHCC and had an amazing time in God's beautiful creation. On Friday, July 17, we flew to Denver to begin our incredible journey. Our flight left the airport at 6 am...it was a VERY early morning! Once we arrived in Denver, we drove south to Colorado Springs. After a lunch break at CiCi's, we drove through the Garden of the Gods. It is beautiful red rocks.

Then we headed to the Olympic Training facility for a tour. This is where they train athletes for swimming, wrestling, weight lighting, and men's gymnastics. It was really neat to see the time and dedication it takes to become an Olympic athlete.

We spent Friday night in Colorado Springs. Since Andy and I rarely get to see movies, we went to see Harry Potter that night. I was so tired from being up so early that it was hard to stay awake for the entire movie.

Firecracker, Firecracker--boom, boom, BOOM!

The Parkers begin their Independence Day with the Cadillac Firecracker 5K in Brentwood. Andy pushed 70+ in the double stroller and had an amazing chip time (in my opinion). I was pleased with my time, however I do it for fun not for stats.

After the 5K, there was Kid Race. Jackson did it last year and loves to talk about running races. He was thrilled to have his own number and very proud that his number was bigger than ours.

Jackson did good during the race. He alternated between running and walking.

Jackson was very proud to get his Participant Ribbon.

For lunch on the 4th, Andy's grandfather came to our house for an All-American meal. Andy grilled cheeseburgers and hot dogs for us, and we had baked beans, corn on the cob, strawberries, and chips. Dessert was apple pie a la mode. All the boys and I enjoyed our meal and time together.

Drew, Andy, Jackson, and Grandaddy

After a little rest, we headed to our neighborhood pool. Drew and Jackson had a blast jumping into Andy and swimming around. Drew can say "pool" and point toward where the pool is located.

We watched the Crockett Park fireworks with our neighbors in their backyard. Then Andy put on his $20 fireworks exhibit in the cul-de-sac for some of the neighbors. The boys loved watching the Roman Candles, spinners, and sparklers.

Preparing for the 2026 Olympics...

Church in the Park

Our class had Church in the Park last Sunday night at Owl Creek Park. It was a wonderful time for all of the families...we played, ate, had a devotional, and played some more.

Drew and Daddy relax before all the festivities.

Drew and Colton have spotted something exciting.

Brody, Jackson, and Frances had a big time watching two guys play basketball against each other. They even picked one of the players to cheer for and told me the other player was in time out when they first got there.

This is their reaction when their player scored. I love the look on their faces...Priceless!

The "big boys" (aka dads) had fun throwing the football across the playground.

Blue-eyed blondies...Libby, Drew, and Austin are too cute!

Drew is so excited about planes. He was showing me one flying over us.

Colton is so precious. He had so much fun playing on the playground.

Jackson is getting some squeezes from Mr. Jarrod (aka Mr. Jerry)

CA Soccer Camp

Jackson went to CA Soccer Camp last week. He was actually too young, but when your Papa and Uncle Andrew are in charge you can join the join. My dad has been coaching the soccer team at CA for around 10 years. Since my brother now works at CA, he coaches the junior high team and assists with the high school team. My parents and brother are huge soccer enthusiasts. They are really hoping Jackson and Drew will love soccer as well.

The camp was in the morning from 7:30 am until 10:30 am. He went two days for half the time and two days for the whole time. He had so much fun. I was so proud of his willingness to try everything and stick with the bigger kids. He loved doing all the drills and having a scrimmage at the end of each day. A highlight was get to wear a blue penny during the scrimmage.

Jackson and the other kids work on their dribbling.

Uncle Andrew with Jackson before working on some ball skills.

Coach (aka Papa) demonstrating some footwork.

Every year they plant a tree by the soccer field on the last day of camp. They are holding up four fingers because this is the fourth year of soccer camp. The kids are ages 5 to 12.

On the last day, Papa turned the sprinklers on and let the kids run and play on the field. Jackson told me, it was "sprinkler soccer."

When we would leave after dropping Jackson off at soccer camp, Drew would keep saying, "Jack...ball." He had fun kicking the ball while he was there.

Uncle Andrew and Drew

Father's Day

On Father's Day, I woke up feeling horrible. Andy and the boys went to church and I headed to the walk-in clinic. I found out that I had strep throat. It was not the Father's Day celebration that we had planned. We had to postpone our festivities due to my sickness. Andy is always a great dad and rolls with the punches, so he was not upset. However, I felt horrible in more ways than one. Thankfully after a few doses of antibiotics, I felt so much better. Andy went ahead and opened his present on Father's Day. We had gotten him some gear for Wilderness Trek in July.

We celebrated Father's Day a week later with dinner at Shogun. Jackson and Drew had never been to a Japanese Hibachi grill. When pulled into the restaurant, Jackson asked what kind of food it was. We told him it was like Pei Wei but you get to watch them cook the food. He immediately pulled out chopsticks from our last trip to PW and replied, "great...I have my chopsticks." We had no idea they were still in the car.

Family Picture (notice Jackson holding his chopsticks)

Watching the "dinnertainment" as Andy called it. Jackson was mesmerized and so excited about the fire. Drew, on the other hand, was scared and wanted to sit in Andy's lap. However, he loved watching the fire at the table's close to us and would clap.

Jackson loved our chef. They talked the entire time. He was so friendly and kind to Jackson.

He even let Jackson wear his hat!

Jackson posing on the rocks outside and still holding his precious chopsticks. When we left the restaurant, he called it "Cookeville" several times. I think he got confused about them cooking the food in front of you. Look out Moe's--this may be Jackson's new favorite place to eat!