[Picture Thursday] Christmas Card 2012

(this is the instagramified photo - that wouldn't print for some reason)

Good Tidings from the Parsons Farm!

Many things have happened over this last year and we appreciate the Lord’s hand over us through it t

It is with a bit of annoyance that we share with you that once again Ashley was on the job hunt yet again at the close of the school year in June. She made the plunge and is working part time at a private school, Cascade Christian, teaching Health and PE at the High School level.  It is with great pleasure that we share with you that Thomas is still teaching and the head of the Social Studies Department at WAHS!!  He is still coaching both Boys and Girls tennis at ARHS.

We have decided that we are going to adopt!  We have chosen an agency based in Spokane, finished all the paperwork and our home study, and are looking to adopt an infant (newborn-3 months old) from a birth mother living within driving distance to Spokane.  There are two possibilities when adopting from this agency: we can be placed with a birth mother who is pregnant and then get the baby once born, or we could get a phone call from the agency letting us know that there is a baby ready for us to pick up.  It is an exciting time and we have been working hard on setting up a gender neutral nursery.  Last November (2011) we hosted Thanksgiving at our house with Ashley’s family, it was so fun to be able to have her mom at our house for a holiday.  Then we were able to spend Christmas at Ashley’s parent’s house with her mom.  We lost Susan to brain cancer on March 9^th.  We miss her dearly but are reminded of her constantly through memories that pop up.  We are just thankful for the time we were blessed with Susan and having her in our life.  We find peace in knowing that she is pain-free and partying it up in Heaven with Jesus.

Ashley still enjoys blogging “Life on the Parsons Farm” and shopping at “Junk Shows”.  Thomas loves fishing any chance he gets and of course his Seattle Sounders.  We went camping again for our 4^th Anniversary, this time it was a much better experience; going to Ellensburg and camping on grass – we might make a camper out of Ashley yet!!  The chickens are doing very well in their new home; we have seen a huge increase in their egg production in the winter (good for selling!!).  We took a trip up to Monroe to get a large free standing hay manger for the horses and they love it, but they knock it over trying to get the hay that falls underneath.  We acquired Paladin (Susan’s miniature horse) in January and he fits right in with the goats, they were a little unsure of him at first.  He loves all the space and the ability to graze all day and he spends much of his time staring at the chickens.  We have also added Gwenivere (Susan’s cockatiel) to our menagerie.  Cooper loves to cuddle and Sakari still dreams of snow every day!  The garden produced a bounty of tomatoes, beans and peas that we enjoyed and shared with friends and family.  We built a compost bin this year and are making additions to it weekly, can’t wait to add it in to our garden in the spring!

We wish you the happiest of days during this holiday season and into the New Year!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We pray that 2013 brings you many blessings.

Love, Thomas and Ashley Parsons

Jazz, Paladin, Gwenivere, Rags, Cooper, Sakari, Penelope, Annabelle, and the Chicks.

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