It's been a couple months since I posted last, and I feel like there is so much to catch up on.  I will attempt to be brief :) We finished up the Spring semester feeling pretty good about how everything went.  We both learned a lot from the 3 months of school, work, and adjusting to being a family of 4.  The stress of my job nearly became too much so many times, I'm not sure how I stuck with it but here we are getting ready to start another semester and we're still here!  I want to post a few pictures from the semester and then do a quick recap of our 7 week "break" and then just jot down a few fun things about the kids (for my memory's sake).

Beginning July 24th and going until September 7th we have the glorious (in most ways) 7 week break.  Jonny doesn't have any classes, and I only have 15 residents.  It has still been a pretty stressful, busy time but it has been awesome to have more time together and to take a couple vacations.  The first weekend in August we had the annual Parkinson family reunion which included a trip to Yellowstone and lots of delicious food and great company :)  Then from the 10th to the 14th of August we had a little vacation in Utah.  We went down for my wonderful friend Kenzi's wedding and had the privilege of spending a few days with Carly, Derek, and Paisley.  We also had an evening and morning with Grandma and Grandpa Hatch which was awesome.

Since time goes by so quickly and I don't have the greatest memory, I want to write a few things about my sweet kids.  I will start with Aliyah.  My fabulous little 4 1/2 month old is so fun and just continues to bring joy to my life.  As you can see from the pictures above, she was chunking up quite nicely for the first couple months, but right around 3 months she started to slim down and get extremely fussy.  All she did for about 3 weeks was scream.  When we took her in for her 4 month well check we found out she had lost weight since her 2 month appointment and after a long conversation with the doctor we determined that I must not provide enough just nursing.  So Aliyah is now getting formula in addition to nursing and we have our happy healthy baby back!  She rolled over both back-to-front and front-to-back tonight for the first time.  She is growing so fast and she just continues to be more and more fun.  Kaleb adores her still and we all enjoy our time together so much.

Now for my spunky little two-year-old.  Life is so fun knowing what is on Kaleb's mind.  He is so silly and loves to share is silly ideas and thoughts with us.  Some of his favorite things right now are plums, trampolines, baseball, making Aliyah laugh, playing outside, and doing his ABC and Number puzzles.  He is learning the alphabet and counting and colors so well.  He loves to be helpful and most of the time he is very obedient and so sweet :)  We recently moved him out of his crib and for now he is sleeping on a mattress on the floor.  He will be getting a bunk bed next week, and we are hoping that will help his sleep a little bit better.  The last few weeks have been characterized by very little sleep since he ends up in our bed every night, sometimes after only an hour or so in his own bed.  It is fun to have him growing up and learning so much.  There are a couple conversations I just have to put in writing so that I don't forget them:

Mom:  I like to call Aliyah "Aloowa"
Kaleb:  I like to call her "Mohawk"

(After Aliyah sneezed twice)
Kaleb:  Aliyah did 2 burps!
Mom:  No, those are called sneezes
Kaleb:  No, those are called "bless-you's"

Oh I love that boy :)

A Birthday and A Blessing

Its been a while since I posted, so I am going to start at the most recent events and go back from there.  Yesterday we blessed our sweet baby girl!  It was a fabulous day.  Having so many family members gathered together to celebrate with us was wonderful.  Sacrament meeting was a very special experience.  Aliyah was perfectly content through it all, and I was grateful to not have the stress of a fussy baby.  As all the men walked toward the front to take part in the blessing, I was so touched by what that represented.  We have strong Priesthood holders throughout our immediate and extended family and it was so neat to think of that power supporting and blessing the network of our families.  The image of so many (it was a big circle) great men holding up this tiny baby girl and demonstrating their love for her and the gospel really had a strong effect on me.  Following the blessing, many wonderful testimonies were born, including my Grandpa Hatch's.  He bore his testimony at Kaleb's blessing and I was grateful to be able to hear from him again.  He is a good man who has lived a good life.  If it weren't for his dedication to the gospel through many trials, when it would have been much easier to cut himself off from the church, its very possible I would not be where I am today.  I love him and my Grandma and I am grateful for both of them. 

After sacrament meeting we gathered at my parents' house and had delicious Chinese Sundays and an incredible array of desserts.  Somehow I ended up doing hardly anything to prepare for and provide the meal, and although it was awesome to not have that stress, I felt really bad that the stress landed on others!  It was a really fun gathering, and I really appreciated everyone that came to support us.  Aliyah is such a special little girl, and it was neat to have a day just for her.  There is something about her little spirit that is so good for me.  She calms and soothes my heart and nerves.  I truly feel that Heavenly Father knew I needed her at this time.  I call her my "Happy Pill" because she just adds so much joy to my life. 

On Saturday, June 4th, we had the awesome opportunity to go to West Yellowstone and watch Sarah perform in the Playmill production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  The play was so awesome!  We laughed so hard throughout the entire show, and the vocal talent was so great.  Sarah did a fantastic job as Dan and an Egyptian.  I am so impressed with her perseverence and confidence in achieving her dream of being a "Playmill Player."  It was such a fun day to be together as a family.  I have missed my sisters so much and I really needed the uplifting sister time.

On Friday, May 27th, we celebrated Kaleb's birthday!  He turned 2 that day and I just have to say he is the cutest little boy in the world.  He is so delightful and brings so much fun and energy to our home.  For Kaleb's birthday we gathered in the Birch Upper Lounge and just had cake and opened presents.  It was really simple, but I think everyone had fun.  I know Kaleb did!  He got completely spoiled.  Grammy and Grandpa gave him a tricycle and Coach and Nonna gave him a basketball hoop.  Grandma and Ron gave him an awesome bubble set, Shariane and Juj and the kids gave him a really cool set of cars and a track for them.  Sam and Emi gave him his own dish set, with a plate, bowl, cup, spoon, and fork.  We gave him sunglasses, a Dodgers hat, an ABC foam puzzle, a children's Book of Mormon, some clothes, and I think that's all.  He was so delighted with everything and has had so much fun ever since.

 There is so much more I could post right now, but I'll leave it at this for now.  We are loving life as a family of 4 and we're looking forward to a fun summer! (That is if the weather ever allows us to have a summer)

Christmas Photos...Finally!

Kaleb loved our Christmas tree.  He was so excited as we put it up, and often reminded me to plug in the lights each day.  I wasn't home when Jonny put all of our Christmas decorations away, but he said that Kaleb was really sad as he packed up the tree.  Our tree was very small and simple this year, but it helped to welcome the Christmas spirit :)

A few pictures from our Christmas Eve festivities:

And then came Christmas morning!  It was so much fun to anticipate waking up Christmas morning and seeing Kaleb's reaction to the fun stuff from Santa, I think it may even be more fun to "be Santa" than to be on the receiving end. 

It was so sweet to spend Christmas with Grandpa and Grammy and my siblings and to have Carly and Derek and Paisley with us.  We made some wonderful memories and had a lot of fun!