Paige slept until 8am! Praise God! We did move her into Parker’s room – his crib. She was crying so much and waking up Payton that we felt this was best. I’m actually okay with that part of it. Maybe because it was Payton’s crib as well.

Payton asked for fruit snacks yesterday and came back with 2 packs. One Princesses and one Nemo. I told her she could only have one…and then she told me Nemo was for Parker. I reminded her that he wasn’t here to eat them and she matter-of-factly said “I know”. Then she said she was saving it for him – and she would never eat them without asking him first. She also drew more pictures for him today. She has always been into drawing – but she has seem to be doing a lot more of it lately. She has a little memo pad that she has filled up in 2 days! That’s a good thing for her Christmas list – a nice sketch pad (without lines – so I can frame her awesome artwork).

We planted our oak trees yesterday – in pots. We are all excited to see them grow. Payton wanted to paint her pot – which she did with a sunset for Parker. I took some pics – depending on how tomorrow goes I’ll try to get them up.

We took our van in for an oil change and now it needs a new windshield – what?! Long story – BUT – we were leaning towards taking the van since gas would be so expensive with an RV or trailer. BUT they aren’t sure when the windshield will be in – Friday or Saturday.

Our plans are starting to take shape. Aaron and I were working separately, but now have worked together and things are looking good. We plan on leaving Saturday around 9:30 – stopping at Sonny’s for lunch in Gainesville and then going to Atlanta. We are going to stay about 15 minutes north of Atlanta because hotels are sooo expensive downtown. We are up for meeting some folks for dinner if anyone would be available in that area around 7:15. Then Sunday is the Berkner concert!!! We haven’t told Payton yet – and I think we might wait until that day – just in case. Then we are heading to Asheville, NC for the night and are going to go to the Biltmore Estates on Monday. Payton will think it is a princess castle. I can’t wait to capture her expressions! After that we are heading to Pennsylvania. Probably stopping around Roanoke for the night. We’ll be in PA for a few days visiting fun factorys and such before heading back south. Might make another stop in NC and then we are thinking of heading down to Savannah for a couple days (at least that’s what “I’m” thinking). Of course this is all subject to change

Have a blessed night! Pray for our friends awaiting transplants, pray for those continuing the battle in and out of the hospital, pray for those newly diagnosed.

Pray for Aaron and I as we are both so excited about the beginnings of Parker’s Pals planning on our trip. Pray for a stress-free vacation.

Thank you to the Mears and Costa families for the “Underwood’s Family Journey” bag full of goodies. Thank you to the Church family for the Cracker Barrell GC and Ripley’s coupons.

Today was an emotional one. I started going through our room out back to get ready to set it up for my Parker’s Pals office. Of course it is full of clothes – girls and Parker’s. I have always planned on one day having a quilt made for each child of their baby clothes – I didn’t realize I would have to pick them out so soon. Aaron had asked why I was doing this – and I just explained that I had planned on it and I still needed to do it. So, I spent the morning sorting through Parker’s clothes – reliving memories of him wearing many of them. Now I just need to get it made (not by my hands though ).

We then went to visit Parker at the cemetery. Payton called it Parker’s Place. She was surprised to see him covered up (the piece of marble put back on the wall). Other than that she was great – chatting away and running around in the grass, picking flowers. Obviously it was hard for Aaron and me.

Crazy us thought that today was the day to start cleaning up Parker’s room. I say clean up because we have just thrown so much in there (not just his stuff). Once we got through it – we started coming across his things. His clothes, stuffed animals, baby mementos, blankets, gifts. So much – I became overwhelmed. I just sat in front of his closet and cried. Wonderful Aaron suggested we go downstairs and continue it later (of course now Paige is in bed – in his room – so we are done for the night).

Still working on road trip plans – we’ll let you know definites hopefully tomorrow in case folks want to meet up with us for a meal or something.

Terri – your poem had tears streaming down my face. It was so realistic and I could picture Parker and Jesus together. What a beautiful sight. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.

Thank you to my MOPS moms for bringing us dinners. Valerie, we LOVE the family afghan ( I don’t have your address to send a thank you!); thank you to those who sent flowers; the many wonderful cards; YL committee for providing Thanksgiving dinner for our family; gift cards; memorial gifts to Candlelighters – everything has held a dear place in our heart. So – thank you ALL!!

Yesterday was full of errands for our family. 2 car repair shops, Target, Walmart, Lowes, the coffee shop, post office, a couple cell phone stores, Sonny’s and many others.

Target hit both Aaron and I pretty hard. For Aaron it was as soon as he walked in the door. For me, it was when we went by the boy clothes that we on sale. My how our lives have changed. Never needing to buy boy shoes, clothes or toys again. So many times I caught myself looking at something and wanted to say “Parker would love this”.

Sonny’s was another hard stop for us. Parker absolutely loved eating at Sonny’s. He would always point out Sonny’s picture etched on a booth or a table. We made it through though.

We went to Wal-mart and picked out pots to plant our trees in. Payton picked out a plain one that she can paint on. For those that missed the service, Seeds of Life (Magnolia Company) gave everyone seeds to plant in memory of Parker. Payton is so excited to plant hers!!

Speaking of Payton – she is doing very well. She constantly talks about Parker. This morning she came out of the kitchen and laughed because she was using Parker’s spoon. In the afternoon she drew a picture of him.

Our road trip is coming together. Tentatively we’ll leave DeLand this Saturday and head to Atlanta; go to Laurie’s concert Sunday (not sure if we can handle backstage though – we’ll see – it seems a little to personal for us right now); go to North Carolina for 2 nights and then on to Hershey, PA. We’ll spend most of our time there and then make our way back home that Saturday. If we feel like taking a detour we will. No rushing. We would love to take an RV and Aaron is looking into that versus hotels, etc.

Pray for us to stay focused on the task of cleaning up our home and settling in. Pray for us to enjoy our time with the girls. Pray for our travel plans. Pray for Paige to sleep through the night (she hasn’t done this in a long time – not sure what’s going on with her). Pray for all of Parker’s Pals. Marlie heads to transplant Dec 3 – Christina isn’t far behind – Jessica will go in March. PRAISE GOD SABASTIAN IS HOME!!! He is doing well and finally posted – thanks bud!

Pray for our organization of Parker’s Pals. Hopefully on our road trip we can formulate our mission statement and all the other details involved and get this wonderful ministry started.