Goodbye.

Sunday night was a night I was dreading.  It was the night we were saying goodbye to Aaron, Kim, Linnea, and Natalie before they left for Kansas.  I was hoping that somehow we could just skip that part, because I knew it wouldn't be easy.  We'd gotten so used to having them so close and being able to walk to their house and visit them anytime we wanted.  Our girls are best friends and get so excited every time they see one another.  We've swapped a lot of babysitting nights.  We became more than just family; we became friends.

While Sunday night was the hardest time of this transition, there have been little things and realizations here and there that have been hard, too.  For example, the other morning I realized that I wouldn't ever hear an unexpected knock on the door and open it to find the Johnsons standing there, stopping by on a walk.  It's also hard, because Hannah's been very sadly and pitifully saying, "I want Linnea" lately.  It's hard explaining the concept of time and distance to a 3-year-old.  All this to say, we are so thankful for the years we were all together and we're looking forward to continuing our friendship long distance.  We are so excited for what the Lord is doing in and through the Johnson family and couldn't be more thrilled for where they are!

The week leading up to their move, we spent a lot of time with the girls while Aaron and Kim packed, painted, and prepped, so I took advantage of what time we had left and took a lot of pictures of the girls!  I figured these would be pictures that not only we, but also Hannah and Linnea, would cherish.  Below are a few of the pictures I took.  You can see more of them here.  Just beware!  The link will take you to an album with 81 of these photos!

I framed this one, so Hannah could have it in her room.  :)

In a bout of nostalgia, I compiled these pictures showing how Hannah and Linnea's friendship has developed over the past 2 1/2 years.  It's so fun to look at how much they've changed and how they've grown into such great companions.

Hannah checking out her new cousin.  She's apparently not quite sure what to think.

The first time we babysat Linnea!  I love how excited Hannah is!!

Haha...this one cracks me up.  This was Easter 2010.

Going in for a smooch.  :)

Hannah thoroughly enjoys the role of older cousin.  :)

Love the kisses!

The cutest little puppy and giraffe ever!

Hannah loves helping out her little cousin.

Helping Linnea with her buttons.

Best friends.

Sometimes Hannah shows a little too much love for Linnea's preferences.  :)

Again, too much love, Hannah. 

Anytime we're anywhere, walking together, they hold hands.

Stopping to chat.

Hannah makes Linnea laugh a lot!

Laughing together.

So Aaron, Kimberly, Linnea, and Natalie, we all love and miss you SO much and we are so thankful that we'll get to see you a couple times this year, Lord-willing!

Princess Hannah

I have a ton of pictures to post at some point, but I just had to share this video.  This is Hannah being her typical self.  She's got the princess wave down to a "t" and is looking down at all her royal subjects with a forced cheesy smile (she learned how to be a princess from the Disneyland parade).  Enjoy!

Parker Family Update - January 2012

Ok, so I feel so lame.  Every year I plan on writing a Christmas or New Year's letter to update everyone on what's happening with the Parkers.  And (almost) every year I don't write one.  :(  So, I've decided to just list some of the highlights of our past year here.  Sorry that it's quite informal, but here it is.

James started off the year as a mortgage officer for Bank of America, but was laid off at the end of March.  We went through 7 1/2 months of unemployment, which was really hard, but we learned to trust the Lord more during this time.  It was really encouraging and humbling to see the various ways that He provided for us through members of our church and other means.  In November, he started with a new company in inside sales for consumable medical supplies (i.e. hospital bracelets, labels, stickers, etc.).  He is excited about his job and is glad to be out of the banking industry!

Since James was home, we did a lot of hiking and made many trips to the beach over the summer.  That was one perk to the unemployment!  We discovered many beautiful and fun trails in our city and just enjoyed being in God's wonderful creation.

In September, our little baby turned 3.  I'm still in denial, which is why I still refer to her as "my little baby."  :)  She truly is a gift to us.  Her personality is so fun - she's animated, cheerful, determined, and goofy.  She keeps us entertained and we never know what to expect from her next!  I am trying to do preschool at home with her this year.  My goal was to have a formal preschool time each day, but with the busyness of life, that doesn't always happen, but we're still learning through everyday activities!

Faces like this aren't uncommon in our house.  She often goes into the bathroom to practice her silly faces and cracks up at herself.  She definitely didn't learn that from me!

In November, James and I enjoyed a cruise to Mexico as a belated 5th Anniversary trip!  We are very thankful to have gotten to go and had such a nice and relaxing time!  We are also thankful to Mama and Bapa, as well as Aunt Sumiko, who watcher our little munchkin for us while we were gone!

I continue to blog with my sister at Near to Nothing and I like to pull out the sewing machine whenever I can.  Other than that, I'm busy at home, taking care of James and Hannah as well as maintaining our home.  It's such a rewarding job and I love it!

Rejoice in My Sufferings!?

You know how you can read and hear a passage so many times and yet still find or realize something new about it?  I love how God brings to light the truths we need at just the right time.  I'm working on a newsletter-type post for the blog to update everyone on our 2011 and in the process of reflecting, I've realized that last year was, by far, the most difficult year of my life.  It had its joys, but it was also full of much heartache, hardship, and grieving which, I hate to admit, left me questioning God's goodness at times.  It was tough, but God is faithful and James and I both learned a lot this past year (and realized how much we still have left to learn!).  Anyway, as I'm reflecting on our trials of the past year, I came across Romans 5 and was particularly struck by the end of verse 2-5.  It says,

...and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  MORE THAN THAT, WE REJOICE IN OUR SUFFERINGS, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (ESV, emphasis added)

I actually had to read that several times to make sure I was reading it correctly.  Of course I know that we are to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Isn't that what hope is?  But then the next phrase jumped out and grabbed me.  "More than that, we rejoice in the our sufferings..."  Ummm...I'm supposed to be rejoicing more in my sufferings than in the hope of the glory of God?  What?

I like what my study Bible has to say about this passage.  It says,

The people of God rejoice not only in future glory but in present trials and sufferings, not because trials are pleasant but because they produce a step-by-step transformation that makes believers more like Christ.

Boy, was that convicting!  Yes, we rejoice in the future hope we have in Christ, but more than just knowing Christ, our suffering and trials make us like Christ which should cause us to rejoice even more!  I don't know about you, but rejoicing isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when I'm in the midst of a trial.  I pray that as I work through my current trials and whatever new trials 2012 brings, I will be able to rejoice in them!

Cleaning/Chores Schedule and Some Thoughts

On Facebook I mentioned that I was working on a new cleaning/chores schedule and got a lot of questions about it, so I decided to post it here for those who are interested.  The amount of stuff that I have to do everyday is a bit daunting when I see it all written out, but it's all stuff that pretty much has to be done!

Before you take a look, please consider the following points:

• I don't expect that I'm going to be able to complete every chore every single day, but at least I have a goal.  
• My annual, semi-annual, and monthly chores may seem to be stretching it.  For example, am I really going to wash the inside and outside of my windows and clean my cupboard doors every month?  Probably not, but I know that if I didn't get to it this month, it'll be on my list next month and will still get done regularly enough to accomplish my overall goal of not letting anything get out of control.  Before you think I'm crazy for hoping to clean my outside windows every month, you have to know that I have a small condo will windows on only one side and only the sliding glass door and one small window are accessible from outside, so cleaning the outside windows is a pretty simple task for me.
• I know there will be days that I won't be home much or things just won't go as planned (i.e. extra time needed shepherding/teaching Hannah, sickness, etc.) and I won't be able to complete my list for that day.  I'm going into this knowing these days will happen and I'll just get done whatever I can.  If it's something I know is coming up (like a day out), I will try to spread out that day's chores over the other days so they still get done. 
• I have only tested this schedule for 1 week and it wasn't a normal week, either.  James was off work Monday and Hannah and I went to Disneyland on Wednesday.  I didn't get everything done, but I got 90% of it done and my house is still in order!  I expect that I will be making changes and adjustments to my schedule as the weeks and months go by, but this is a good starting point for me.
• Additionally, to help in my planning/organization, I'm typing out all of the recipes my family likes so that I have them in one spot.  Right now they are all over the place: on my blog, on different websites, in various cookbooks, in a notebook, in my email inbox, on Pinterest, etc., so meal planning can be daunting going to all these different sources.  Having all of our tried and true recipes in one place will make sitting down to plan out our meals for the week much easier and more efficient.
• Lastly, I've attached PDF's of my schedules.  I tried attaching Word documents that can be customized, but the formatting didn't transfer over, so until I figure that out, this'll have to do.  I realize this isn't the best method for everyone, but I'm a list person and making a list that will work all year long (as opposed to sitting down each week or each night to make my lists) will save me a lot of time.  

Daily Chores
Weekly Chores
Monthly/Semi-Annual/Annual Chores

Believe it or not, immediately after I published this post, I ran across this post from Desiring God.  It has to do with how God and our worship of Him needs to be a part of our entire day (even the medial things, like cleaning), not just the time we specifically designate as quiet time or whatnot.  I figured since it has so much to do with what I just posted, I needed to put a link.  Go take a minute and read it; it's a great reminder!