Parker's Baptism

On Sunday, Parker was baptized at Brad's church where he grew up and where his parents still attend. It was a beautiful service and Brad and I are so glad that we were able to be part of it. Parker wore a white gown and was wrapped in two beautiful white blankets, one from his Aunt Jenny and one from Grandma Kleeman. It also snowed a little bit the day of the baptism, so that made it even more memorable. Parker was very good through the entire service. He cried a little at the beginning, but soon found the lights in the church and was fixated on those.


Parker sitting in church before being baptized.


Brad and I with Parker and the priest. Parker was very good when Father Ron poured the water over his head - he didn't even make a sound! Even Father Ron was impressed at how good he was during this. He is a special little boy.

Brad and I with Parker and the proud grandparents!

Our family with Father Ron.

Parker by the baptism tree. If you look closely, you can see Parker's name on a leaf just to the left of his head. All the children that get baptized, gets their name on this tree and it stays in the church.

Parker on his way to church.

The Kleeman Family Gathering

The Saturday after Thanksgiving the Kleeman side of the family got together to celebrate Thanksgiving and Parker's upcoming baptism. We had a lot of fun and Parker got to meet his great aunts and uncles and his great grandma. There were probably about 25 people at Brad's mom's house and it was a lot of fun seeing everyone. Jake was a little overstimulated and could barely hold his eyes open, but he did enjoy the attention!


Grandma Kleeman with her boys, Rick, Rolly and Randy; grandson Brad; and great grandson Parker. This is an awesome picture because it shows 3 generations of Kleeman boys.


Brad and his family: Grandma Kleeman, sister Jenny with her son Peter, mom Rita and dad Rolly.

Grandma Kleeman with her grandkids and great grandkids. What a priceless picture!

Great Uncle Randy and Julia with Parker.

Great Uncle Rick and Kris with Parker.

Brad visiting with his Grandma Kleeman. Parker is listening to a good story between the two of them.

Uncle Randy and his favorite 2nd nephew, Jake.

Parker's First Thanksgiving in Nebraska

Parker's 1st Thanksgiving in Nebraska was awesome! He did very good on the way up and the ride home. He slept great during the time we were there and was a very good little boy. I think he enjoyed the cool Nebraska air. It really wasn't too cold while we were there. Brad and I also got to go to the Nebraska/Colorado football game while we were there. Nebraska won 40-31 and it was a very exciting game. We went with Brad's good friend Nick and his wife Amy - we had a lot of fun. Parker also got to see lots of his relatives and friends. He got to meet many of his great aunts and uncles and his great grandma. He also got to spend some time with his grandpa for the first time since he was born. Jake did good too. He was a little jealous of the attention at first, but soon got over that. Brad's sister, Jenny and her kids were also in from Colorado, so they kept Jake busy and entertained. We are very thankful for all our family and we hope all our family and friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving!


Parker with mom and Jake and his great aunt Corrine.


Parker with his 2nd cousin Courtney from Iowa.

Parker with Grandma Kleeman

Parker with one of his great aunts, Corrine, who lives in Nebraska.

Parker with cousin Michaela from Colorado.

Parker with cousin Christiana from Colorado.

Aunt Jenny and cousin Veronica who live in Colorado.

A great picture of a tractor plowing the field. This is the view from Brad's parent's back yard. It's a beautiful, huge corn field. On this day, the farmer was plowing the field with the tractor. It was really neat to watch!

This is what the Nebraska squirrels look like - much different from the gray squirrels we are used to in Georgia! I think they're a little more pudgy to deal with the cool Nebraska weather.

This is Jake when we took him hunting. Brad, his dad, myself and Jake went to their blind in Rising City, NE. We left the house at 5am and once we got there and were in the blind, we got to see a beautiful Nebraska sunrise. Jake did good while in the blind. He sat with me by the heater. Luckily, Brad and his dad didn't see any ducks, so no gunshots were fired. This was Jake's first time getting to "hunt." When we were ready to leave, I played fetch with Jake in the cornfield and he loved it. He also "left his mark" all over the area around the blind.

Parker with Grandma and Grandpa Kleeman.

Parker with our family friend, Kathy. She sang songs to him to calm him down - great singing Kathy!

Parker is not happy that daddy shot these poor ducks.

Jake doesn't know what to think about these ducks daddy brought home after hunting.

Jake kept Parker warm on the ride to and from Nebraska. It was so funny because he curled up on Parker's feet on the blanket and looked right at him.