Star Student and Butler All Star

Parker is the star student this week in his fourth grade class and he's a star everyday in our family.

When Parker was born, we were very excited. We expected him to have black hair like his Dad, but instead he was born with a light complexion and no hair at all. He was bald, tall, chunky and the cutest baby we had ever seen! Parker was named after two very special people. His Great Grandpa Parker and his Great Grandpa Glen. He was the first grandchild born in our family and is constantly loved and adored.

As Parker grew older, he developed a love for collecting things. His first collection was of miniature Pokemon characters from the quarter vending machines at WalMart. He bought all of the characters in the machine at the WalMart in American Fork and then proceeded to collect Pokemon from other WalMart stores. Parker's ambition had us driving to far away WalMarts looking for the Pokemon vending machines until he thought his collection was complete. He bought so many Pokemon characters that the stores ran out of them and couldn't put them in their vending machines anymore. In fact, he still has that collection today and takes very good care of it.

Parker is a very assertive boy and loves setting goals and accomplishing things. When something looks out of reach or too hard, he always finds a way to achieve the impossible. Parker's favorite way of obtaining his goals is by thinking of new business ideas. He started his first business when he was only three years old. When building a roller coaster in the backyard was too big of a project for a three year old, he decided to create a Christmas walk instead. He strung Christmas lights in the snow to make a pathway and made little displays of toys for visitors to look at as they walked along the lighted path. He also made a map and hired his sister Grace as a tour guide to make sure that his visitors didn't get lost. When the customers were finished looking at his toy and light displays they would receive a chocolate chip cookie that Parker made with his Dad. Grace's salary was also paid with free cookies. Parker made enough money to buy himself a video game as an early Christmas present and spent the left over money on gifts for his family. Now, Parker's newest business adventure is an online comic book store. He has written and illustrated comic books about a boy named Captain Nerd. He hopes to raise enough money to buy a Play Station 3.

Parker loves to play video games and has mastered several games on different gaming consoles. When he grows up he wants to be a video game designer. He likes to test games and studies what makes them good or bad. He works very hard in school because he wants to get into the best video game design college with his good grades. So far Parker has straight A's and is doing a great job!

Some other interesting facts about Parker include:

Favorite color: Yellow

Favorite food: Grilled cheese sandwiches

Least favorite food: Onions

Favorite sport: Volleyball (He will start playing in tournaments with his Dad this summer.)

Favorite thing to do after school: Play with friends at his house

Least favorite thing to do after school: Chores

Favorite subject in school: Computers

Least favorite subject in school: None. He likes them all!

Favorite video game: Any game that he's into at the time and doesn't get stuck on.

Favorite holiday: Christmas

Parker is special in so many ways. He is very thoughtful of others and is always willing to lend a helping hand. His sister Grace nicknamed Parker, "Buddy" when she was a toddler and the name has stayed with him because he is the best buddy in the world. When you are Parker's friend, consider yourself lucky because you have a loyal friend for the rest of your life. Parker looks for ways to serve others and make those around him happy. He has a great sense of humor and is very clever. Parker and his Dad have a great time teasing each other and making the family laugh. Parker strives to make good decisions and always wants to choose the right. We are so proud of the man he is becoming and love his courage and sensitivity for life. There is no one quite like Parker. He is truly special.

We love you Parker and are glad that you are a part of our family.

This is Parker's Solar System that he made. We stayed up until midnight working on this project and it was worth every minute. Needless to say, his Solar System was a big hit and he got another "A!"