Barker's

Avery is 2!!!

2011-07-10T23:42:00.005-06:00

My baby turned 2 yesterday, time seems to keep speeding up. She was totally spoiled by everyone that loves her. Drew was so excited to get her a pillow pet, because he got one for his birthday. Pillow pets are not quite as popular as they were apparently because there were none in Heber. He really wanted to pick it out himself and pay for it. Dean took him to Park City and he picked her out a cow. She is quite into animals, especially farm animals right now so it was very thoughtful of him. She loved it and slept with it that night. Some things to remember about Avery at 2:
She loves to be outside playing with the big kids
She loves to ride her little bike and on my bike seat
She is saying so many new words and most of the time we can understand her
She is still allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts and only weighs 19 lbs
She loves fruit snacks (otherwise known as nacks)she will do about anything for them
She has learned to get out of her crib but doesn't do it all the time
She can get out of any shopping cart strap not matter how tight
She likes to take naps, most of the time
She likes to watch Barney
She loves her brother and does EVERYTHING he does
Dean calls her a wild raccoon because he assumes if you tried to hold raccoon it would be like holding Avery especially while trying to eat
She likes to play with her baby, she puts it in the bath, has it go potty, bushes her teeth, dresses and feeds her, and takes it on walks in the doll's stroller
She loves animals and likes to try to pick up kittys
She loves her daddy if he is around she doesn't really need anyone else
She loves to see babies, some not much smaller then her but she waves at them and wants to pick them up.
We love you Avery Jane and can't imagine life without you!

Kindergarten Bound

2011-05-26T22:28:00.008-06:00

Drew graduated from preschool today it was bittersweet. He loved preschool he went Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 1:00 to 3:30. His teacher was phenomenal she made it so fun for the kids and went above and beyond in everything she did. He was always excited to go especially if he was special friend, having show n tell, going on a field trip, or having a party or celebration. Yesterday was his last day and they got to bring their pillows and blankets and watch Tangled.
Western Day at School
Field Trip to the Fire Station
Today he could not wait until 6:00 when it would be time to go to the graduation/party he couldn't remember what it was for sure. He asked at least once a week to eat dinner at a place, since the answer is always no I told him we could go before the graduation. He said, "because it is my special day." I tried to persuade him to go to a "good" place, that I like. He choose KFC because he went there once in Evanston and thought it was great. He informed me that we have the same thing in Heber and that we could go there so we did.
The graduation was so cute they sang a few songs and then each said a nursery rhyme they had memorized. Drew did awesome he knew all the songs and said his nursery rhyme Little Boy Blue all by himself. Then she had them walk out in little caps and receive their diploma and a portfolio of their work she made for them (She really is awesome). He is growing up so fast and is really excited to go to kindergarten, I am a little sad about it. I kept asking him if he was sad that preschool was over and he would just say no now I can play baseball. When he would ask me when T-ball would start my answer was always when school gets out makes sense. Miss Andrea

Skiing

2011-05-17T08:28:00.006-06:00

We took Drew skiing this past winter. We took him to Sundance first, they have a tow rope kids can use for free. He did not want any help at first and was sure he could do it all by himself. Dean was very patient with him and pretty soon he was doing it by himself. We just took turns helping him and holding Avery. She must have enjoyed it because she never complained. After a few hours he had it down. He knew how to stop but chose not to until it was absoultly necessary. He liked to bomb the hill and stop at the bottom no snow plow or turning necessary.
A couple weeks later Dean's family was all going to Beaver for a discount ski night. We took him up there and he did awesome. Dean and I were a little nervous since it would now be riding the lift and coming down a much steaper hill. Stopping and turning were now necessary. We put him a little hour long lesson with Kai. It took him a couple times down and us yelling STOP a lot but he had it down.
The last ski adventure of the season was at Alta Heather and I thought we should take advantage of the ski free after 3. We ditched the little ones with Amy and drove in a snow storm. There was a LOT of powder, for most people that is great. For three little boys that were new to skiing it was rough. Drew had several melt downs and I was sweating most of the time from holding on to him trying to help. By the last run he was getting the hang of the powder and I think it was fun.

Drew is 5

2011-02-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

Drew had another extended birthday celebration as always. He is growing up so fast. He was really excited about all his plans friend party and family party. I had to inform him that we weren't going to do the big party with friends this year. We compromised on taking two of his best buds Luke and Isaac to Chucky Cheese. He also got to go to build a bear at gateway and get his new favorite bear Pokey. Grandma and Pops came too then we went to Applebees. If that wasn't enough we went to Evanston for yet another party to celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa and Stacia that all have birthdays in the same week.
Things about Drew at 5:
He is smart and loves learning about new things.
He is fun he always wants to be playing with his friends and family
He loves school
He loves cheese sandwiches and hot dogs
He loves Avery
He is awesome at riding his bike and scooter
He loves to play all sports
His favorite toys are Buzz, Woody, Cars, Motor cycles, Monster Trucks, Super hero's, and Transformers.

We Love you buddy now stop growing up!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T21:29:00.004-06:00

Halloween was really fun this year, a little rainy but great. We had three parties on Wednesday. One at the library, Drew's preschool, and a ward carnival. Drew dressed as Snake Eyes, Indiana Jones, and a warm tiger. The Indiana Jones he came up with all on his own about 20 minutes before the ward carnival, he is a funny boy!!
Avery also sported two costumes. She was an adorable witch and a warm cozy butterfly. She wasn't sure about it all at first but she got the hang of getting the candy.

Firsts

2010-10-10T22:07:00.006-06:00

Since my last update way back in April we have had a lot of firsts, and some last, but I will get to those later.We had our first trip to Lagoon for the summer on Dean's birthday. It was our only trip to Lagoon this summer (which is enough) Drew had a great time Dean's sisters and parents came a long so he had PLENTY of people to take him exactly where he wanted to go. I think Puff and the bumper cars were his favorite.
Avery started walking on May 15th. She was 10 months. She was determined to master it. It was a Saturday and we were home all day so she would just try and try and try until about 4:00 she came walking down the hall excited about us cheering her on. Now is running and climbing on EVERYTHING!
A few days later, she FINALLY decided to hold her own bottle.... Stubborn girl, it is all on her terms.
At the end of May we met Drew's cousins at the zoo it was a cool day so lots of the animals were out, sadly though no bears (construction) and no zebras. It was also our only visit to the zoo this year.
Drew started playing soccer in April he LOVES it. I got to be his coach which was fun. He is funny about wearing all the appropiate gear when playing any sport. He can't play anything in the yard or with friends without getting on the jersey, pads, shoes, and socks. He started playing fall soccer again in Sept. again I am the coach. He loves it more now then he did then, if that is possible. I think he has improved since the spring. He struggles being a team player. On Saturday two players on our team were fighting to score and they both fell down and niether scored, it was pretty funny.

Drew played his first season on T-ball much like soccer he was a fan. He was a little disappointed at first that he HAD to hit off the tee because apparently he is above that. He did great. He got to play with two of his buddies Isaac and Tyler. They were the Yankees.
Dean built his first swingset. It was a process.... but the kids LOVE it. And I love that they can go out and play in the backyard and I can watch them from the window. Until recently when Avery learned to climb the ladder but does not know how to get down. The slide goes right into the sand box, it has provided hours of entertainment for Drew and his friends.
Drew feeding the bum lambs in Evanston. He loves going to ranch and "helping" or playing. We didn't make it much this summer, but he did get his first expierence antelope hunting in Sept. He had fun and liked it but was a little concerned about the circle of life. Dean tried to explain, he wants to go again so I guess he is okay with it.
First summer trip to Boise. Celebrated my sister's birthday and got to party for the 4th of July.Avery's First 4th of July COUSINS!

St George - Easter - Avery Nine Months

2010-04-16T22:36:00.008-06:00

We were longing for some warmth and sunshine at the end of March so we went with my parents and sisters to St George. Dean had to stay home and work. It wasn't quite as relaxing as we hoped for but still fun. My kids were kind of sick and my poor little nephew Jackson smashed his finger and had to spend hours in the emergency room to get it stitched up. We did get a couple of warm sunny days. Avery even got in the pool and loved it. She wasn't so sure about the grass, she kept pulling her leg up so it wouldn't touch her. We also had some time to do some shopping the outlets so that was fun. Drew has a great time with his cousins and his grandma and pops so thanks for making it happen!

Easter was fun for Drew he LOVES to hide and find the eggs. He was excited about the Easter bunny, I tried to down play that a bit since it is kind of stretch. I told him that I helped him out because he is only a bunny. He wanted a kite so one day when he was asking for one I told him I would give the Easter bunny a tip. Later that week he said, "mom don't forget to give the Easter bunny a point about my kite!" I took me a second to figure that one out. He was pretty pumped about his Buzz kite and movie Astro Boy that he has watched 1000 times since easter. Avery just wanted to put the eggs and her new shoes in her mouth. I was most excited for her to wear her new dress on Sunday, it is fun to dress a girl even if she pulls out her bow and sucks on her shoes.

Avery turned 9 months on April 9th! She went to the doctor and weighed in at 14 lbs and only 26 inches. She hasn't grown much since her last appointment at 6 months but she has changed a lot. She is crawling all over the place, she does not like to be left alone in a room so she will crawl around till she finds someone. Her favorite place to play is in Drew's room. She can stand herself up on everything, then she lets go and stands there till she falls. Last Saturday she even took a few steps. She is starting to get a little stranger anxiety and gets excited when she sees me, Dean, or Drew. She also does a little fake cry when she doesn't get what she wants, which is not very often because we spoil her. She probably has dairy allergy she has not had good luck with formula, cheese, stuff made with milk, or eggs. She is going to the allergist on Wednesday so we will see.

St. Patty's Day Injury

2010-03-17T22:45:00.005-06:00

So my day just never could get going how I wanted it to today, which for the most part was my own lazy fault but sometimes that is just how it goes down. Probably because I tried to cram to much into a few hours after I had already started the day an hour behind. Anyway in an effort to do it all we ran to the church to do a little group workout, then to story time for some leprechaun fun then back to the church for play group. We were just about to leave, when Drew decided to go play in the bathroom with a couple of his friends he was running of course and ran himself right into the sink. He cried pretty hard at first, the sight of blood always makes it worse but I am sure it didn't feel so good. I felt bad for him, but was also was a little irritated since he was playing where he knows he is not suppose to, but at that point what could I do but take him to the doctor. I have an awesome neighborhood so everyone that was there offered to help take Avery and drive us to the doctor because Drew wanted me to hold him. I also live in a great town where the doctor on call in the ER was kind enough to stitch him up on his lunch break in the clinic to save us some money. Drew did so great! Dean was able to come over and help hold him down, but once he got 3 shots to numb it he was perfect, he just laid there with his eyes closed and didn't move a muscle. An hour or so later with a lunchable and doughnut in hand and four stitches he was right back to his crazy self.

Here are some pictures from green day (as Drew calls it)

Big 4 Year Old - 8 month Crawling Baby

2010-03-11T20:58:00.006-07:00

So month o drew has been over for awhile now but the camera cord was missing so it got prolonged. Drew had a super hero party on Saturday the 20th for 10 awesome super hero friends. It was our first friend party so Dean and I were not sure how it was going to go down. There were a few times when we thought we were losing them, but it turned out pretty fun. Drew was really excited the party was at 10:30 so at 8:00 he was ready to party he kept asking us how much longer. He had his Iron man costume on at 9:00 and kept asking, "Is my party going to be after breakfast, or after lunch?". Dean would give him a countdown so he would come find me and inform me that there was only 15 minutes to party time, then 10 and 5 minutes to party time. I think he had a lot of fun.

Then it was off to Evanston for a family party since we have both Grandparents, an uncle, and a cousin with birthdays all the same week as Drew's. Pizza, pinata, spider man cake, and an awesome Rodeo set from Grandma and Grandpa he couldn't have been happier.

Then we had to have his actual birthday unfortunately like Christmas he was a little sick all the hype I guess. He went to McDonald's for lunch with some friends then he wanted to go to the life science museum at BYU, which is pretty cool and free, then to the Mayan for dinner with my parents. We got a table right in the front so it was really fun, he had never been there before we had just been telling him about it so I think he was impressed. Plus Grandma and Pops brought more presents, including a sweet Bumble bee helmet.

AVERY
Avery is now 8 months old! She has been doing much better with her eating and will now eat pretty much anything I give her all fruits, veggies, even some of that meat in a jar and she is so messy. She started really being able to crawl only a week ago and now she is crawling all over the house finding all kinds of treasures to put in her mouth. The last 2 days she has been pulling her tiny little self up on EVERYTHING and bumping her head. She is growing up so fast :(

Month O Drew

2010-02-08T22:10:00.005-07:00

February is Drew's birthday month and he is very excited for the 24th!! A few drew stories...

So one night drew would not go to bed because he had fallen asleep in the car at like 5:00 so we told him he could watch a movie on OUR itouch if he would stay in his bed. He stayed in watching Star Wars for over an hour then I hear Dean hysterically laughing and I look in his room to find this.
i am sure he could not have been happier, why are his jammies unzipped you might ask? no idea he gets hot i think.

drew's favortie thing to do EVERY time one of us is about to come home is hide in the house somewhere, then we have to pretend that we don't know where he is then we have to find him. It is getting a little old every night when dean comes home but we try to play long because one day he won't want to play with us anymore. Anyway the other night he wanted to find a new place to hide they are getting few and far between. he picked the dryer and was going back and forth between that and the washer, probably not a great place to play but we didn't close the doors I was in the kitchen making dinner. so dean comes home finds him he is happy no big deal right? so the next day I go to start some laundry and notice a strange colored liquid in the bleach/downy dispencer and think what the heck is that so of course in order to dectect anything you have to smell it. The smell was clear what it was but still quite strange how it got there. I go get drew bring him to the scene and ask him if he knows what that is, his quick response: pee! What the heck it was kind of funny because how did he do that??? and why? He said he was hiding and had to go... of course what else makes sense. I made him have time out and wash it out. Crazy kid!

Avery at 6 months old!

2010-02-02T21:56:00.006-07:00

Now that Avery is almost 7 months old I want to remember what she was like at 6 months. At her appoitment she weighed in at 12.9lbs and was 24 inches, that put her very low in the rankings. Less then 5% for weight and 5% for height, her doctor thought we should go full force with the solid foods for the next month and see if we could have her gain a little weight. She started off great she liked cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, and applesauce I thought wow this is so easy that was all in the first week. I am now singing a different song after a few frustrating weeks, she is possibly teething, she now will only eat fruit, bread, and cereal if she feels like it she is a bit particular. She stopped nursing and now only eats like 4 ounces of each bottle so my guess is she may be losing some weight now. Suggestions??
She is still a great baby inspite of these new little difficulties. She sits up really well by herself she does not love being on her stomach but just this week is figuring out how to get up on all fours. She loves to stand and can pull herself up when holding on to my fingers. She loves to watch Drew and the TV, she likes to play patty cake and peek a boo and be a part of whatever is going on.
Excited and happy to eat cereal
Not so happy to be eating

pictures say 1000 words

2010-01-31T20:26:00.003-07:00

Christmas 09 was great, Drew was so excited about everything he made it a lot of fun!!

Avery 5 Months Old

2009-12-09T22:21:00.006-07:00

I am not so good at the updating but she is seriously already 5 months old today! She is still small, but getting a little chubby. She is not rolling over but can sit up by herself for a few minutes. She does not like to be on her back or her belly so we may just skip that step. She wants to be sitting up or standing to see what is going on with those big blue eyes. She is still a great sleeper and is great in the car. She loves Drew even if he is always right in her face talking quite loud. Her eyes just follow him and he can usually get her laughing way more then Dean and I can. Just tonight she was hysterical because he had frosting all over his face. He can also be really sweet with her he always tries to give her a toy or a blanket if she is crying. Last week I came in my room where I had left them both momentarily and her diaper was gone. I asked him why it was off and he said he was babysitting her. I just laughed and told him I just changed her and that diaper was okay to stay on. He thought I was mad so he assured me that he was going to put another one on her.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T13:16:00.006-07:00

For family night on Monday we made turkeys and put what we were grateful for on them. Drew's list was family, bed, food, toys, friends (specifically Isaac, pictured below), and McDonald's. Dean and I had most of the same things: home, family, job, and the gospel. Dean did put steak, ribs, and sandwiches. I included living in heber, and being a mom, and if we are putting small things I will include diet coke :) Hope everyone has a wonderful day and fun weekend!

This picture cracks me up Drew and Isaac were playing one day this week and they came over to our house like this. Drew was the bear and Isaac was the hunter.

Here is a picture of Avery today she is getting so big.

Halloween

2009-11-01T20:35:00.006-07:00

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween. Drew was pretty excited about it this year. We have a great neighborhood and town so there were lots of fun things to do to celebrate the holiday.

Drew was an awesome Optimus Prime
and Avery was the cutest flapper girl I have ever seen!

Update

2009-09-16T22:05:00.008-06:00

Here are a few things we have been up to...

Avery is already 2 months old. Last Wednesday she went in for her 2 month appointment and weighed 9 lbs and was 21.5 inches long. She had to get shots but did great. She is smiling at us now, and is an awesome sleeper! She sleeps almost every night for at least 8 hours sometimes more.

Avery was blessed on the 6th. Dean did a great job and we had lots of family and friends come and support us.

On Saturday the 5th my sisters and I ran the Swiss Days 10K it was a fun run and although it wasn't quite like last years race for me, I was happy to finish under an hour.
I have a picture of the race but it is on my other computer.

Avery smiling at me on Labor Day, so cute!

For Labor Day we went to the ranch to play with the Barker family. Drew had a great time with his cousins and got to ride the horses.

Drew started preschool on the 8th. It is just in our neighborhood and we all take a turn at our house. He really likes it and has been doing a great job learning to write his letters. I had my turn last Thursday and I thought it was really fun and surprisingly no that chaotic.

On Saturday I took Drew and Avery to my Dad's work open house. It really is a cool place with a lot of realy smart people. Drew had an awesome time, as he would say, and got to bring home all kinds of fun little toys.

more pictures

One Month Old

2009-08-12T22:03:00.003-06:00

Avery turned one month old on Sunday I didn't get any good pictures of her that day. We were driving all day home from a week long trip to McCall, Idaho. I snapped a few pictures of her this week. I think she is growing and looks a little older but is still little. At three weeks she weighed 6lbs 12 oz. She is still a really good baby only wakes up about 4 or 5 to eat and is pretty content to do about anything we are doing. I have more photos to add from our trip and some things we have been up to, but just these for now.

One week old

2009-07-17T14:43:00.004-06:00

She is already a week old yesterday! Each day flies by she is a great baby, she only cries when she wants to eat or if you are changing her clothes. That could change but right now we are just enjoying it! I have a ton of pictures in only a week but here are a few...

She's Here

2009-07-09T21:39:00.007-06:00

Avery Jane Barker

5:23 p.m.
6 lbs 7 oz
20 inches

CuTe As A bUtToN

They started Jenn this morning around 7, things went kind of slow through the afternoon but the birth went pretty quick and very well. Jenn and Avery are both healthy and happy. Drew is very excited about his new baby sister and can't wait for her and mommy to come home.

The count down is on

2009-07-02T21:09:00.011-06:00

Only 7 more days to go! Possibly less, but likely more. I have an appoitment in the morning so we will see what he says. Just wanted to post a few things we have been up to before I forget.

May 21st
I took Drew to ride Thomas the train, every year a real looking Thomas comes to Heber. He has been more into it lately so it was really fun. We went to lunch before with Dean and then spent the next 4 hours checking out all the Thomas stuff. The train ride itself not that cool, but the whole experience totally worth it.

Of course we could not leave empty handed, so he got a new James train!

End of May
We watched Jackson for a few days while Mel and Spenc went to San Fran for a weekend. It was fun Drew was really into him, which was great. I got a small glimpse of my life with two kids MORE WORK!

May 30th
Dean and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. Nothing too exciting but when we can go to the temple, dinner, and a movie all in one day that is pretty special. Thanks to my parents for watching Drew, he was not at all happy to go home when it was time.

Sometime in May
Drew loves the ranch, he loves to dress up as a cowboy, ride the horse, the tractor, or just be there. We went to see the new calfs one spring day, then to brand the cows, and feed the baby lambs. He has also taken quite a liking to the song Should've been a cowboy and can sing the entire chorus (video to be added later).

June 5th
Dean celebrated his 31st birthday. It was a Friday so he took a half day and we went to the zoo, dinner, and a bee's game. It was a fun day. As we were leaving the bee's game at 11:30 after 11 innings and a fireworks show Drew asked, "Where are we going now?" I said, "home" his reply, "I don't want to go home". I think he enjoyed the day more then Dean.

June 19th and 20th
Ward Camp out
We went to our ward camp out, which luckily for me was about 25 minutes away so I could drive home and sleep and then go back. It rained on and off but was really fun. They had some organized actvities for the kids and lots a kids to just play with so Drew had a lot of fun. He was really excited to sleep in the tent with Dean about 10 he was asking to go to bed.

Summer projects:

Our main project has been turning our office and room for everything (including a piano) into a baby's room. It is a work in progress but getting there. Unfortunantly the basement will have to be next because now everything is just a mess down there.
One day I painted the top of her room purple and we put bead board on the bottom. Drew wanted to help so bad so I let him have free reign on the bottom of the wall. He was not happy when I told him we were going to cover it up. He was cute and said he just wanted to make it all purple for her so it would be pretty. So we took some pictures and still covered it up.

Other projects:
We planted our garden which is not doing great, but we try. I let Drew plant all the beans with a little stick to seperate the seeds, my dad used to let us do that as kids and we thought it was really fun. He thought so also! We also are trying to do something on the side of our house to minimize the weeds, so Drew was helping Dean shovel pea gravel.

Summer fun
Drew has been enjoying pulling out his whale pool and swimming in it with his friends. Bad idea to buy a blow up pool, we have to pump it up everyday. On Sunday we went with our neighbors up to a place called Cascade Springs it was beautiful!! We have a little bbq and walked around and let the boys run. It was a great way to spend a Sunday night, and hopefully the bumpy road moved things a long.

June 23rd
Drew has been asking me to ride to Dean's work, which is across main street but not too far. I thought we could ride down then just leave his bike and he could ride back on my bike. He did great on the way there he listened and stayed right on the side of the road and road all the way without stopping. Each time we turned farther away from our house he would get so excited and say I am so far away. It is about a mile and a half. When we got there he was so excited to tell Dean and the guys at the office all about it, then he wanted to go to the park then ride home. We were only a few blocks away when he started saying he was tired, so I bribed him with a doughnut to ride all the way home, so he did!

June 30th
After a run to Costco we decided to go look at a new car, we are in need of some more space. We drove this home.

It was a little quick but so far we really like it, and it is so much nicer, newer, and bigger then anything we have had so we are excited.

Gymnastics

2009-05-12T22:23:00.004-06:00

Since March Drew has been taking Gymnastics or nastics as he calls it. He liked it but had a hard time focusing most of the time for the once a week 35 minute class. He got to do the bars, the rings, and jump on the little trampoline. I think his favorite part of the class was at the end when he got a stamp and did a cheer that was always we love gymnastics! Once all the classes were over they had a meet for all the kids they got to perform and get a medal that Drew perfers to call a trophy.

Things we have been up to....

2009-05-12T22:00:00.004-06:00

Logey
Ryan went on a man fishing trip a few weeks ago so we thought it was a perfect weekend for the girls to hang out. Drew and I drove to Burley and picked up Melly and Jackson and went to Boise for a few days. The kids loved playing together and we enjoyed shopping and eating! We also caught one of Bailey's soccer game.Decorating some Mother's Day plates for Grandma.I was painting Drew's bathroom one day and he wanted to help so bad that I finally convinced him it would be more fun to paint this birdhouse he made at Brenden's birthday party. He did a good job and was entertained for about an hour.Dean tiled Drew's bathroom to go along with the new paint and a new rug, it needs a little more work, but it is looking much better.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:10:00.003-06:00

Hope everyone is having a great easter! We had a fun weekend with family doing various easter egg hunts and swimming at the Evanston Rec Center. My parents came up to Heber today to have dinner with us, and Drew had a great time hiding and finding the eggs for all of us. We actually got a few good pictures of him which is rare, because he never looks at the camera.

Two Wheels & The Zoo

2009-03-22T18:50:00.002-06:00

We have been enjoying the awesome Spring weather this week. Yesterday Drew decided it was time to take off his training wheels and be like the big boys so we took them off helped him along for like 2 minutes and he was off! He said he wanted to do it himself. He has a little trouble starting on his own and I get a little nervous on small hills but for the most part he has got it. He was pretty excited and told me "Mom I did a good Job!". He rode around all morning with the big kids. I haven't taken any pictures yet, I didn't really even think about it, I will get some soon.

To enjoy the nice weather we decided to go to the zoo, so did a lot of other people, but it was really nice. We went with Dean's brother and his family, and Drew had a great time. He really liked the snakes, the gorillas, and the elephants. He also liked holding the map and telling us how and where to go. The snakes were the last attraction and once we were done in that stinky building Drew said "Now I need to go see all the animals again". I guess we will be going back!

Should I be worried?

2009-03-01T15:39:00.005-07:00

So today Drew and I went on a little Sunday walk, well Drew ran. The weather was awesome! The snow can't melt fast enough for me. We came across a very large stick, shown in photo. He was dragging it around and hitting the snow with it. He started hitting a large pine tree at the church and knocking all the needles off so I said don't hit the tree that is not nice, it hurts the tree. Drew replies, Well I need to find some squirrels. What will you do when you find squirrels? I asked, I will kill them with my stick. I was surprised, a little nervous, yet laughed right out loud. Then I said Drew that is not very nice, his reply, well they are mean. How he knows this I have no idea...

This is normal boy thing to say or think right? Or should I be concerned that later in life he may want to wear all black and possibly hunt squirrels??

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY DREW!

2009-02-24T22:34:00.008-07:00

Drew celebrated his 3rd birthday today I can't believe it has been 3 years already! He had a great day and is working on a week long party. On Saturday he got to go to Chucky E Cheese with his cousins and my family, today he played at the Treehouse Museum with his friends Logan and Rylee and went to lunch. Tonight he had his friends over for cake and ice cream and Saturday he will get to have more birthday fun with his Barker cousins. He is a pretty funny kid and loved every part of his fire truck party, he loves any kind of present as soon as his friends arrived he took the gift from them and opened it before anyone could even come in the house. One highlight included a late present brought by the mailman from Amazon that I was really relived made it just in time. Tonight as he was saying his prayers he was thankful for his friends, his party, his birthday, and the mailman for getting him that Iron man mask. I tried to clarify later that the gift was from me and Dean and that he just brought it for us, but I am pretty sure he thinks it is from him. So thank you mailman for getting it to us, even if you did leave it on my neighbors porch all day.

A few things Drew loves:
1. Being with his cousins and family
2. Playing with his friends
3. Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets
4. Any kind of snack
5. Watching movies
6. Playing with all his toys
7. Being outside, either riding his bike, his scooter, playing in the snow, at the park, playing baseball, or just running.
8. Presents!
9. Transformers, Super Heroes, Trucks, Cars, Motorcycles, and Animals
10. His Daddy! He ask everyday if he has to go to work, when Dean replies yes he says come back soon k dad.

A few things we love about Drew!
1. He makes us laugh all the time
2. He is easy to please he likes to do about anything, as long as it is fun
3. He loves to play with his mom and dad he is always asking us to do something with him. I know he doesn't have anyone else but still we are glad he likes us.
4. He loves to tease and make people laugh
5. He is sweet and gives great hugs and kisses

It's a little GIRL!!

2009-02-20T16:41:00.003-07:00

Drew was right all along. Whenever we would ask him he almost always said a girl!! We are really excited. Dean thought it for sure was another boy and I think I really thought girl but didn't want to get my hopes up. I am very excited to have one of each! Everything looked great only 20 more weeks to go....

Love Day

2009-02-18T19:41:00.007-07:00

We have been enjoying love month, it is also the month of Drew's birthday so he thinks it is all for that or that is it Christmas. He went to the bug ball at the library with his friends "big" Drew and Isaac. He dressed up as a caterpillar when I asked him if he knew what kind of bug he was he simply replied, a green one. Duh mom! Come to find out Drew is deathly afraid of bugs he would not even hold a gummy worm until I took a bite and said look it is candy, even then he was a little hesitant.

On Love day, as we are calling it, to help make a little sense we got a couple little presents from his grandma and some candy, then Dean and I gave him the movie Robots they were all just sitting on the table, not wrapped, nothing too exciting yet he asked, Mom is it Christmas?? He was pretty excited about love day I told him we tell our family how much we love them so he said Gracias Mom I love you.

To spend the snowy day we went with a group of friends snowshoeing up at Daniels Summit Lodge. Everyone left their kids at home with the exception of a couple babies, but we decided to take Drew along. He did great we were gone for about 2 hours and he thought it was a lot of fun to walk along and fall in all the deep powder snow. It was a beautiful snowy day and a perfect activity to spend the day together.

Not to pass up an opportunity to go out, we took Drew to my parents and went out to dinner and a movie for one of our three dates a year. Drew had a great time at Grandma's and pops as always when we got back around 10 he said no I don't want to go yet.

Drew's birthday is on Tuesday and he is very excited after much debate he has decided on a fire truck birthday, possibly persuaded by the awesome fire truck cake he has seen in the window at Days for the past few weeks. Almost as exciting, for me anyway, is Friday we get to find out boy or girl!! I am not patient person so I can't wait.

Heart cookies, he was actually a pretty good helper, he could cut them out all by himself.

My caterpillar love bug!

little Drew, Isaac, and big Drew

Fun in the snow!

I wasn't eating chocolate for breakfast...

Reading his book from Grandma

Happy Love Day!

A big problem

2009-01-26T19:50:00.004-07:00

Tonight as we were finishing our very productive home evening. We asked Drew if he wanted to say the prayer, he said yes and sat himself up on the coffee table and folded his arms. Instead of the prayer he informed us that there is a big problem. We asked him what the problem was he promptly walked over to our end table and picked up our engagement picture and said where is me? We informed him that he was not born and in heaven, that didn't mean to much to him, so he went to the other side of the room and picked up a picture of all 3 of us and said here I am and there is my mommy and my daddy! He is a pretty funny kid!

Baby Jackson

2009-01-23T19:28:00.003-07:00

My sister had her baby today! Today was actually his due date but it was no easy feat. She went in last night about 5 and it was slow going. Finally about 6 this morning it was time to get him here. Poor kid was turned the wrong way and when they finally got him out the cord was wrapped around his neck 2 times and he was blue and not breathing, the nurses were great and bagged him quickly and he was able to cry. Mel only got to see him for like 30 seconds and they rushed him to the nicu Spencer went with him. Poor Mel just wanted to know what was going on my parents were there too so they could keep her upated. After a few hours he was doing great and they were just monitoring him so she was able to go to the nicu and hold him. Since this afternoon he has been in with them and doing really well. They are going to keep an eye on him for a few days. Mel and Spenc seem to be handling it all really well. It is scary enough when it is your first baby and then to have to deal with all that. We are all just grateful he is here and doing so well!! He is a cutie too! He looks like a Lifferth but they are good looking so that is okay!
Official info: He was born at 7:17AM - 7 lbs 15 oz - 22 inches long

Enjoying Winter

2009-01-23T19:10:00.004-07:00

So after a week of really not liking winter and not getting to those "projects" I told myself I would have plenty of time to do. I have decided to make winter a little more enjoyable, thanks to my fellow bloggers that live in our non-inversion valley and take their kids out to do fun things. Skiing is probably not going to happen this year but some sledding and snowshoeing could be a lot of fun! Drew and I have been going out lately and he has been riding his bike since the rain melted most of the snow off the sidewalks, it is something to do!

We did go to Boise over the long weekend which was a lot of fun. My very nice brother-in-law is a dentist and cleans our teeth and fixes our cavities for us for the small price of dinner. Drew had so much fun playing with the girls. Unfortunantly I forgot my camera. He spent most of his time doing girl things which included dressing up in princess outfits and dance costumes and dancing around for everyone. It was halirious, he is a cute boy but one ugly girl!

A New Year

2009-01-11T21:43:00.007-07:00

It is 11 days in now but I am just getting around to setting those New Year's Resolutions. Although some of them are already losing some of their appeal, this week has been a reminder that although I think I try I don't even come close to accomplishing all that I set out to in a day. I guess I will set a few anyway, there is always room to improve.

We had a great Christmas!! Drew was so much fun, he was really excited to leave cookies for Santa and then in the morning to see what he had brought. He was excited about each toy and pretty spoiled. He wanted to just keep going and open all the presents even if they were not for him.

On Christmas Eve we went to Evanston to go snowmobiling at the ranch then have a Christmas party with Dean's family. Right as we were gathering to eat the power went out at Dean's brothers house. Luckily all the food was already ready to go. They lit a bunch of candles and we dined by candle light. By the time we were done it was back on.

Then we headed to my parents to spend the night and wait for Santa. Christmas day was full of presents and a great dinner. Usually my sister from Boise comes after they open presents at their house, but this year due to the weather they spent their Christmas night at a hotel in burley and dinner at the Jack in the Box due to a road closure. They finally made it the next afternoon, Drew had long awaited the arrival of his cousins. Then we got to have Christmas again with them.

We spent the remainder of our time between our families being lazy and just enjoying a break. We played lots of games, watched movies, and ate too much. Drew had a great time with all his cousins, lucky for me since we have been home he was really been enjoying his new toys so he hasn't been too lonely.

Now it is January and slightly depressing because it is freezing and there is not much to look forward to in the near future, I might have some time to work on those resolutions. I guess I will give them a go.

Why when you load a bunch of pictures at once, does it scramble the order?? oh well..
Christmas Morning
Drew opening presents we would get excited about each one then want to open another one.
Dean enjoying some Christmas eve food in the dark, of course with a flash it looks light.
Dean's cousin only had one kid to buy for this year and it happened to be Drew. She got him the biggest and loudest fire truck out there. Thanks Marsha... but he loves it.
SNOWMOBILING there wasn't much snow and we got cold but it was still fun and part of our Christmas Eve tradition.

More pictures to come... I am tired now.

Christmas is Here!

2008-12-23T23:26:00.003-07:00

This month as flown by of course, but now we have plenty of snow and the long awaited day is about to arrive. Drew is excited but he has no idea when the actual day is but everyday he asked about it. We haven't been doing much since we went to the lights but we have enjoyed staying home, playing in the snow, watching Christmas movies and getting ready for the big day. Drew has really taken a liking to singing Christmas songs, I really should video him doing it because it is really cute. He will at any given moment break out in Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is coming to town, or A way in a Manger, sometimes just parts of each and sometimes he can get a lot of the words right, he has been so fun this year! We are excited for him to see what Santa left.

I got an early Christmas present from Dean and our very nice friend Spencer. They finally tiled my bathroom Hooray!! He just finished it last night and I would be quite happy if that was my only gift, I love it. Thanks Babe!

Ugly old floor
Beautiful New Floor
Hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year!!
We are especially excited for 2009 because we will have a new baby at our house in July!

December is here!

2008-12-07T22:39:00.007-07:00

Other then the lack of snow we are in full swing into the Christmas season. We have been to our ward party and a Barker family party. Last night we went to see the light at Temple Square. Drew is loving all of it! He is kind of getting it this year. He knows that Christmas is Jesus' Birthday and that Santa will bring him presents if he is a good boy. That sums it up, I guess. He got to see Santa at the Barker party and he was sooo excited. He sat on his lap and told him he wanted an optimus prime, a bumble bee, and a helicopter. He was equally excited I think to see all the lights, the temple, and the baby Jesus. He is also into the tree, the Santa decrations, and the nativity scene. He likes to redecorate the tree everyday it is not looking so beautiful anymore, but he loves it.

One night I told Drew that if he did not go to bed that I was going to call Santa and tell him that he is not being a very good boy and to not bring him optimus prime. He looked over at a little stuffed Santa we have and whispered Santa, bring me optimus prime, basically saying ignore her she doesn't know what she is taking about.

His first glimpse of Santa

What we have been up to....

2008-11-25T17:29:00.006-07:00

So Halloween was quite awhile ago, and for all those who did not realize that Christmas is one month from today I just wanted to point it out!

Here is our family home evening activity we did before election day. I asked Drew which one we should vote for and he picked the Statue of Liberty, could be a good choice!

This is our first snow of the season, that has now been gone for awhile and we have been enjoying the nicer weather. However, I think when the snow really hits Drew will be very entertained he was pretty excited about it although he kept calling it rain.

On the 19th I went to Carrie Underwood with some friends from college. We had a great time! We went to Chili's and then to a fabulous concert! She was awesome! She sounded great, was fun to talk to the crowd, and is gorgeous!

She pulled this girl up on stage to sing All American Girl, she was fourteen, pretty cool for her...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2008-11-02T14:23:00.012-07:00

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. We had a lot of fun this year! Drew was pretty into the pumpkins, candy, and being Mike Wasowski. We painted pumpkins for family night it was so much better then carving I think. Drew took it pretty serious and painted his little pumpkin all by himself.

On Wednesday we went to a party at the library it is always really crowded but fun they have games, crafts, candy, and a messy brownie.

Drew with his friend Shelby
Drew and Luke looking at a cute littl girls costume.
On Halloween we had a good time partying with our neighbors and trick or treating. Drew went with his friend Luke for a few houses and then with his friend Isaac. They were troopers and went all around our little neighborhood. Sometimes Drew would say trick or treat and sometimes he would not say anything and try to take like 4 pieces of candy. The weather was so awesome we did not even have wear jackets.

I have never been much into Halloween but now that Drew understands he ask me what I was going to be so I put a little cheap witch costume together. During the day on he was anxious to wear Mike and start the trick or treating so we spent our day dressing him up as all kinds of things. I thought of things that I knew we had stuff for but he thought of Ironman and a Penguin himself so I had to get creative, I am not much of an artist but he thought it was great!!
Cowboy
Football Player
Baseball Player
Yoda
Frog
Penguin
Construction Worker
Mickey Mouse
And Ironman

Miss this?

2008-10-23T20:24:00.007-06:00

So today started out as an ordinary day full of various tasks I was going to accomplish. Going to the gym, washing the sheets, cleaning the bathrooms, a little work online, and starting my new project of actually ironing weekly instead of what is necessary and on Saturday night. My tasks may have been a little too ambitious but I had high hopes. Drew was in a mood so I thought a nap was a guarantee and I could really start on my tasks about 1 before my online meeting at 1:30. I left my wallet at smiths so after going to pick that up it was 1:30 and Drew was not asleep and I had done nothing but put my sheets in the wash, didn't even squeeze in a shower. Leave Drew watching buzz and woody with a threat to not get off the couch because we were having rest time. The meeting got postponed until they were ready so I was to wait around I guess. So I started on my tasks, cleaned the kitchen, picked up drew was still happy watching buzz so I started on the ironing. Pretty soon Drew comes in with no pants on, the potty training has not been going well, so he should of had a diaper on. He informs me that he pooped so I start giving him the lecture of you do not take your diaper off blah blah blah... wondering what he might have touched on the way to my room. I go to where he was watching buzz and oh my gosh I was stunned at what I was actually looking at and just kept repeating what were you doing.... At that moment of course my phone rang for the meeting we were suppose to have an hour earlier, I was about to tell them I needed to reschedule when luckily they said it first.

I will spare everyone the details but it was aweful, the highlights include a toy car that is now in the garbage the couch the floor, the wall, and dean's computer case. SO NASTY! With the help of oxi clean and some awesome cleaner my sister found that works on those kind of things, after about an hour it was all cleaned up better then expected. Dean came home to "help" but did help drew take a bath and stay out of my way. Finally after I got a shower at 4:30 I gave up for the day got myself a large diet dr. pepper and took Drew to the park.

My sister and I joke about President Monson's talk in conference when he talked about missing the mudane things of life, and enjoying the now with your kids, I am sure he did not mean this particular instance but I have to wonder if at some point I will really miss this....

My room after surrenduring to my day, I did get the bed made after the park, but the rest can wait till tomorrow.......

Weekend in Idaho

2008-10-23T10:00:00.007-06:00

I have been on a birthday high now that my birthday has been over for a week and a half. I can't seem to stop treating myself and being lazy... it is time to stop.

We went to my sisters on Friday to spend the weekend. It was awesome weather and we had a lot of fun spending time with my family. We hit the zoo, a corn maze & pumpkin patch, and went to dinner. Good times!! Thanks guys for letting us come.

Great Day!

2008-10-14T11:49:00.007-06:00

Yesterday was my 27th birthday. I get excited for my birthday it is the only day you can be compleatly self involved and not even feel bad about it. Plus I usually get to see family and friends and go out to dinner. Drew and I went to Park City in the afternoon for a little shopping and lunch at Quiznos. I found myself a much needed new pair of jeans, a shirt, and a jacket... buying new clothes always makes me happy! Then we went to one of my favorite places Tarahumara's with Dean's parents, his brothers and their families, and our friends Megan and Lonny. Good Times!!

Dean was feeling bad for not getting me anything because I told him not to, since I bought myself a table for my entry way last week because I finally found one I liked and it was on sale so it was a must. He set it up for me and hung a bunch of stuff in our house that I have been nagging him about, it was a great gift thanks babe!

I share my birthday with my Dad, so although parents say they don't have favorites I know I am his favorite, just a little :) so happy birthday dad! I am looking forward to more birthday fun this weekend in Idaho with my family.

My table, it is not very cute yet...
Me and my Drew boy at dinner
Brenden
All the boys wanted to makes silly faces for me to take pictures of
Kai
Jamin
and Drew!

Drew's less then one second of fame

2008-10-12T19:47:00.007-06:00

Last month Drew went to the filming of the little kid movie and it was covered by The Insider. It aired on Friday you only see him for a split second, but our neighbors Molly, Tyler, and Ben get some airtime. Here is the link if you want to check it out. It was in Heber so its kind of cool. Drew is on top of the haystack.

Molly and Ben by Drew

Tyler in the red by Drew

book club = night out

2008-10-07T22:47:00.003-06:00

Today was kind of a rough day for me and Drew he did so great potty training yesterday and I was so excited thinking we had finally accomplishing something but today we took a huge step backwards. I know it is normal but we went the rounds today, I think he was just doing it to spite me. Well all day I knew that at 7:30 I was off to Tarahumara's for good kid free conversation, pork tacos, and as many diet cokes as I wanted. It was wonderful! Being a mom and wife is great, but so is a night out with the girls every now and again. Thanks girls!! and to our husbands that stayed home with the kids and did get Drew to sleep before I came home, hooray Dean!

My sister a published author

2008-10-07T22:35:00.003-06:00

There is this cool new LDS women's magazine that I have done a little work for. It has some fun articles on a lot of different things from women around the world. The second edition just came out and my sister Andrea wrote a nutrition article for it. She is not a writer but she knows her stuff and it is a great article for busy moms about moderation in our eating habits for ourselves and our families. If you want to check it out, here is the link http://viewer.zmags.com/showmag.php?magid=107133#/page100/ great job A!

Free handbag!

2008-10-07T16:35:00.002-06:00

It seems as though there are no strings attached to win this free bag. They are really cute and you have till October 15th! http://www.handbagplanet.com/

skate park and drew

2008-09-29T22:43:00.006-06:00

Isaac's sweet pink sunglasses!
Heber recently got their own skate park. Drew of course it quite interested in it. During the summer at night all the big boys would be over there doing their tricks and drew was mesmerised by it, he told me he needed a skate board. I think he really wants to be into extreme sports. One morning when all the big kids were in school we took Drew, Isaac, and big Drew over there to run, ride their bikes, and the spiderman scooter. Probably not my best idea getting a two year old into a skate park and doing wheelys but it was a good time, he thought he was pretty cool.

a lot of peaches

2008-09-29T22:02:00.004-06:00

My parents peach trees decided to really reproduce this fall and so we have had so many peaches, which we really like but they don't last very long. So Drew and I made jam one day, froze a ton the next day, and dried some more the next day. Dean wanted to make the coveted peach cobbler he had at our neighbors in the dutch oven. It was quite a process. To clean out the dutch oven from last years lake powell very burnt berrie cobbler. Then season it again, then buy the stuff to do it, Drew was his trusty assistant each step of the way. Finally at 9:45 one night we had some dang good cobbler! It is really easy too and I am sure you could do it in the oven. peaches, yellow cake mike, cinnamon & sugar, butter, and a can of fresca.

fall fun

2008-09-29T21:42:00.005-06:00

Fall is officially here and we are very glad that it is not too cold yet, and that good TV is back! Friday was a beautiful fall day so I decided to take Drew on a little hike since I had not made it to the gym yet. It wasn't exactly a little hike it was a 3 mile loop that was a lot more up hill then I thought it was going to be but we had such a good time together. He walked and ran, of course, for the first 20 minutes then I packed him for awhile up hill.. at one point he asked me why I was making that noise, the noise being me panting, nice. The trees were beautiful and the temperature was nice. He started to get tired towards the end but nothing that a batman fruit snack and a promise to McDonalds couldn't fix. He walked again the last little bit and said he liked that hike. It took us an hour and half, but it was time well spent!!

A weekend with Dean

2008-09-22T21:51:00.003-06:00

Dean has been working like crazy the last few weeks and has been busy with his new church job. My mom called last week and said hey we have a free hotel room in Salt Lake that is going to expire do you guys want it. I said heck yeah. We could not go on Friday but Sunday was not stopping us. We went on Saturday night, not until 8 or so because Dean went to the BYU game but still, could not pass this up. We met my parents and Gateway and they took Drew and gave us the gift certificate, they said it was a fair trade, whatever... We went to McGraffs which is a little strange because Dean and I do not like seafood. However, the wait was short and their steak and ribs are also quite tasty. Then we went to see Ghost Town, it was actually really funny, but I can't recommend without a disclaimer because it has a few not so choice words. Then off to our hotel room to sleep in without Drew waking us up at 7:30!! It was great. It was just what we needed thanks Mom and Dad for making it possible. Drew loves playing at their house when we went to get him he told us to go far away.... That's our boy!

For love of baseball and the ranch

2008-09-16T23:19:00.007-06:00

Drew is a Dean clone by looks.. and everything else I am realizing more and more everyday. Dean has been playing softball every Monday night since May. It is just in Heber and was free so not too bad, but Drew and I had to go to EVERY game, the kid loves it. He always wants it to be his game, so on the drive over he would tell Dean it my game daddy, not yours. He wears his braves shirt, hat, and takes a bat, ball, and his glove (as I was informed it is properly called) to each game and we play in the grass until it is over and then he gets one hit on the field and gets to run the bases. Well the last game was last night and his team lost so no more baseball till next spring, but Drew still ask when daddy's games are when we drive by the park.

Their other shared love is the Ranch. Every August they "hay" that is what they call it. Anyway this year Drew was old enough to not be so in the way, and of course he loved every minute of it. He loved to ride in the tractor with uncle Randy then drive the truck with Daddy then back to get some more hays as he called it. He also likes seeing the animals, riding with grandpa in the tractor, riding the horses, looking for deer, and playing with his cousins. Last weekend we went camping there and he was Dean's little shadow, he wanted to help with everything including the fire!! and still he asks me if we can go stay in the cabin. I am glad he wants to be like his daddy!

Fear Faced, Not overcomed

2008-09-14T20:12:00.005-06:00

So I got called to be a Relief Society teacher a couple weeks ago and have been dreading it ever since. I think next to Gospel Doctrine teacher it one of the worst callings for me. I have never taught a lesson, Dean and I were in primary in our old ward and I never taught once because I was scared of 5 year olds, this is far worse then that, I should have practiced.

I read the lesson a lot and finally this morning figured there was nothing else I could do. I had learned a lot from it and was glad to have the opportunity to really study it. But I was terrified to actually stand up there for like 40 minutes and try to talk about all that I had learned. I did survive and I think it was okay, there was never too much silence, and I don't think I said anything too crazy so that is good. However, I do not feel as relived as I was hoping because I just have to do it again next month.

Nie Nie

2008-09-11T21:58:00.005-06:00

I have been reading these the last few days and felt a bit depressed because she does it all, and I don't even do a little, in my mind. But why not just do those little things for your husband or kids, just because. I think sometimes as a wife and a mom we are trying so hard to be the best and make things perfect that we miss the big picture and those moments that make being a wife and a mother so great!! She includes this in one of her post, which I also remember from his talk that is wonderful.

Elder M. Russell Ballard quoted her in a conference talk

"Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”

Drew's TV debut

2008-09-10T22:01:00.003-06:00

Drew and I had a great day today. He will probably not be on TV but it is a possibility. A guy in our ward's aunt makes these little kid movies called Little Playdates and they were shooting in Heber today at his Dad's farm. I signed Drew up about a month ago because I thought it would be fun, not to get discovered, Dean had high hopes. It was suppose to be at 9am but since Entertainment Tonight was covering the shoot, it got moved to 11. I was worried that he would be tired and crabby so I offered him a toy at Kings (in Heber that is a goldmine for toys, and the only store we have) if he would be a good boy and get dressed and let me comb his hair and go play with the kids on the hays.

He did so GREAT! he had so much fun. All the kids had to do was play on a tractor, hay stacks, pet a horse, and run around. All his favorite things!! He was so excited the whole time and I just had to point him in the right direction a couple times. There were three other boys that he played with and followed around, they were all really cute. Then when it was done after about 3 hours, he got pizza, chips, a juice box, and $27.50! When we were walking over to get the pizza he said that was fun mom!

Of course every Mom thinks there kid is the cutest and has the cutest personaility but I was so proud today to be his Mom!! He makes me laugh everyday. No doubt that kid can give me a headache and at times makes me want to scream. (Like last night when he dumped a container of sugar on the floor and was playing in it.) But today he was so darn cute and so fun to be around he was such a good boy!

Right after we headed to Kings where he had quite a difficult time picking just one toy, but finally decided on a remote control dinosaur. When we came out of Kings there was a swing set for sale in the parking lot, and without even pausing he said oh a park on the road :) I love this boy!

The Nie Nie Dialogues

2008-09-09T08:51:00.010-06:00

So I have recently heard about this girls blog from some friends that have read them all. Then today I saw the family on the Today Show. So for those of you that have not heard about this I am sharing with you. I have not read much of the blog yet but apparently she is an awesome mom of four kids that finds so much joy in motherhood and she started blogging to remember it all. She is originally from Utah and now lives in Phoenix. People around the world have read her blog and are inspired by her dedication to her family. Last month her and her husband were in a plane crash and are were burned badly, 85% of her body and 35% of her husbands body. Her sister is now updating the blog and also has her own that is quite entertaining to read. Her name is Cjane. Through the blogging world people have raised over $100,000 to donate to this family through online auctions. Anyway thought it might be interesting to read and let others know about it.
Here is the link to the blog and also the video from the today show.

Summer Pictures

2008-08-10T21:30:00.000-06:00

Summer Fun!

2008-08-06T23:00:00.007-06:00

We have had a lot of fun this summer so far, and since Drew doesn't go to school for 3 years it doesn't end for us in a few weeks like almost everyone else. We have been to Meridian for Logan's blessing and the 4th of July. Over the 24th we went boating, hit Lagoon, shopping, a Bee's game, and the Tree house Museum. We went to the Rodeo and the Zoo and managed to get our fence and sandbox done! On the 24th I ran a 5k with some friends and I happen to take 2nd place. They wanted me to post a picture of my medal but I didn't take a camera, although it was in the Wasatch Wave.

Although the summer has brought some bad moments out of Drew he has discovered that it is much for fun to play with the neighbor kids then me, sad I know. However after he bit Issac twice in one day he has been spending more time with me. It was a rough few weeks he was just being mean and naughty. You know its bad when his nursery teacher asks how we discipline him.... It has been better lately he still does not go to bed before 10 but we are working on positive reinforcement :)

He did get a bike a few weeks ago he is only 2 1/2 so we were planning on getting him one for his birthday but he mastered the neighbor kids bikes and was the only one without one so he got one and a Lighting McQueen helmet. He looks so big when he rides it. I think even more exciting then that is the kid seat we put on the back of my bike, he loves it. We go somewhere everyday on it.

Dean has especially had a good summer. After the trip to Atlanta he called it the summer of Dean. He found out that he passed his professional engineering exam which is awesome! He studied a lot for it and he is just smart, so great job babe! Then he found out that he did not get his Wyoming deer tag like he was hoping so the summer of Dean could be over. Also he was called to be the Young Men's president.

Drew's Newest Pictures

2008-06-11T22:46:00.003-06:00

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY TO DEAN

2008-06-10T22:33:00.009-06:00

June 5th was Dean's 30th birthday. For this milestone I decided to take him on a suprise trip to Atlanta to see the BRAVES! He has been a die hard fan since he was 13 and has seen them play a couple times but had never been to Atlanta! He had no idea it was Awesome, thanks to everyone who helped me pull it off. I didn't tell him until the morning of his birthday when we were parked at the airport. I packed the bags, sent Drew to Evanston, and told him we had to leave at 6am for a birthday surprise. He was a little skeptical he wanted to make sure I was not taking him sky diving or in any small planes, he is not a fan of those. It was great we had a lot of fun. We saw 3 Braves games, went on a tour of the Stadium, went to batting practice, the hall of fame, and saw a little of the city. It was like 90 degrees there, a little hot but compared to our weather it felt nice. We came back on Sunday and had cake and ice cream with his family in Evanston. I know... I know.... I ROCK!

5 Years of Marriage!

2008-06-10T22:17:00.005-06:00

We have had a couple of fun weeks. On May 30th it was our 5 year anniversary! We dropped Drew off to my sister (thanks Melly) and took some time for ourselves. We went to Gateway for dinner and some shopping then we stayed at the Grand America, thanks to Legend for the gift certificate. We did not take advantage of the valet parking due to the RAV and its nastiness and annoying alarm but the rest of the stay was Awesome! On Saturday we went through the SLC temple which was cool. I had never been there before for a session so I thought it was cool, a little different, but seeing all the rooms was really cool. Then it was time to get Drew. He had a lot of fun with Mel because I am sure she did whatever he wanted.

I am not really one to share my feelings so I thought I would share a few things I have learned about Dean in 5 years!

1. He is a simple man, who is very easy to please.... dinner, a movie, some time with family he is a happy man.
2. He loves Baseball, either playing it or watching it. He is passionate about the Braves!
3. He never finds it necessary to yell, I am still working on this one...
4. He is very kind and generous.
5. He loves and supports his family from me to Drew to his nieces, nephews, siblings, parents or in-laws.

He has definantly made me a better person in the last 5 years, but there is still more work to be done. To 5 more years... and then some.

Logan Ryan Payne

2008-05-22T15:02:00.007-06:00

He is here and is a cutie!! I think Drew thinks he is his brother?? He liked seeing baby oogan, we went to the hospital last night and if we moved him around to different people Drew would say "where'd that baby go".

drew & ellie

Awaiting Baby Logan

2008-05-21T16:30:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Drew and I and my sister Melly drove to Meridian to help watch my sisters girls while she had her baby boy, hopefully sometime today. She was induced at 10 but so far at 4:30 she is like a 4, poor thing. Last we heard she wasn't able to have her epidural because the doc thought it would slow it down, so needless to say she is not so happy. In the mean time Melly and I have our hands full with Drew and Ellie, they are crazy they feed off each others energy so far a trip to Costco did us in! Drew is now sleeping and Ellie is watching High school musical. Hope he comes soon......

Stalker Demands New Post

2008-05-09T21:42:00.003-06:00

My stalker friend Amberly is sick of seeing the title Not much going on... ready for spring. Fair enough time for a little update. I attempt to blog sometimes then I just end of reading friends and family blogs and finding other people and then never get to my own. I also think that my life is quite dull compared to most of the ones I read, but I should keep it up-to-date for Drew to read back on because he does a lot of funny stuff even it is boring to everyone else. Just had to get that out.

We did go to Disneyland over Easter for a week and it was a lot of fun!!! It was so warm and Drew had a lot of fun. We spent three days at Disneyland, 1 day at Universal, and 1 day at the beach. One of the highlights for me was going to the musical Wicked!

After our trip Dean had to study every day until April 11th when he took his professional engineering exam so he can get his license and more importantly a raise :) In the mean time I quit my job, so I no longer work for Meridian HORRAY!! I got another job that is pretty cool it's an online magazine for LDS women, you can check it out at LDSWA.com.

Drew is talking up a storm these days which mostly just makes us laugh. It amazes me how much he picks up daily. He is also getting a little more naughty he is a little bossy to me and Dean and if he does not get his way he spanks our butt, I don't know where he learned that. He loves to be outside to go the park and slide and swing. He thinks he is five or something and desperatly wants to ride a bike with a hemet (helmet).

That is the latest on us! I will add some Disneyland photos, but my camera broke on the last day so since then everything is on my cell phone, and I don't know how to get them off.

Not much going on... Ready for Spring

2008-03-05T22:33:00.003-07:00

We haven't been doing anything too exciting since Drew's birthday. We did go to Evanston on Saturday and Celebrate Dean's Moms 60th birthday and all the other February birthdays. ( I will add some photos later they are still on my camera). Happy Birthday to Gary, Sandy, Drew, Stacia, and John!

We are so ready for Spring, the snow is too hard and crunchy to really play in anymore and everytime we go outside it is still cold and Drew just gets wet and muddy. We are very excited to go to Disneyland on the 22nd of this month for a week. The weather there is in the 70's and it sounds wonderful!!!

I added some photos from earlier this month when I took my nieces and Drew to Chucky E Cheese for the afternoon. While Andrea and Ryan hung out with their friends from Dental School. We had a good time!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-03-05T22:20:00.001-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday DREW!

2008-02-25T21:27:00.010-07:00

Yesterday was Drew's 2nd Birthday! I can't believe it he has grown up so much. Even in the last few months he is starting to talk so much more and most of the time I can understand it. He had a great birthday. His nursery class gave him a little birthday hat and a book about families. We had a choo choo party and he loved every minute of it. He got a few little thomas the tank engines which he wants to play with at all times. He also got a Buzz of his own because he plays with one at everyone elses house. We had our family and friends over for dinner and cake and ice cream, some of them couldn't make it due to another snow storm. He had a great day playing with all the kids! He is a special little boy who makes us laugh everyday. We love you buddy! Happy Birthday.

So Much Snow....

2008-02-10T21:49:00.000-07:00

I am a little behind in my blog, although there is not much to say except there is a ton of snow everywhere, as I am sure most of you have all experienced. Its been fun we don't have to commute and don't really go to far so we have enjoyed it! Although this weekend was wonderful to have a break from it all and see the sun! It felt like a heat wave today I think Heber hit 40! Hope you are all surviving. Down below I finally put all of our Christmas photos into a slideshow, it is a great for us to look back and remember, Drew had so much fun this year.

Pictures of Drew playing in the snow, this was even before the last few big storms!

Christmas Slideshow

2008-02-10T21:44:00.002-07:00

President Hinckley

2008-01-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

I was sad to hear that President Hinckley had passed away, at first it didn't seem real even though he was 97 it seemed like he would live forever. It's sad but also happy because you know he is with his wife now. I watched an hour special last night about his life and the things he has done since he was called he was truly remarkable. It goes to show that the Lord knows what he is doing because President Hinckley was definantly a prophet for this day he traveled the world, built temples, and always spoke so openely about the church to people outside of it. They said last night that he has dedicated 72 temples, that is amazing. I will miss hearing him speak in conference, even though he was speaking to millions of members I felt like it was just for me. He also had a great sense of humor!

Much needed update

2008-01-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

I am trying to make my blog cute there is a lot of fun stuff you can do, I discovered http://www.pyzam.com/ from Mauri's blog and so I spent all my time playing on there instead of updating. We had a great Christmas! It was a lot of traveling but that is a great way to spend that time of year. We are glad to just be home on the weekends, I have a lot of "New Year" projects for us to do (Dean is not so excited about that). I seem to have misplaced my camera cord so hopefully I will find that and can post some pictures for us to remember. Drew was really fun this year he got excited about every present, and thought each one was some kind of car.

Dancing Elfs

2007-12-09T00:28:00.000-07:00

If you want a good laugh check us out as dancing elfs! I laugh everytime I watch it. More importantly you can make your own. http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1208600484

Why we Love December!

2007-12-08T23:48:00.000-07:00

It is only the 8th day of the month and we have already been to a Barker family party, a ward party, a Polar Express party at the Library, and we have had two big snow storms. It's great I love this month! Drew loves the snow!! I took this picture today as I was looking out the window at them, it was so cute they were just laying there. A lot of people around here went skiing today but we had a great time in our front yard building a snowman!

Here are a few pictures from this month so far.

Not thrilled with Santa but not crying.

This is at the Library party, notice the car pj's that he loves. Now it may look like he is preforming as if he was suppose to. Well he is preforming but most of the other kids our on the floor doing the actions with their moms but a few like to go up on stage and do the actions of course Drew was one of them. It was really funny he did everything that the storyteller was doing clapping, stomping, dancing, and singing.

This is the poor very pregnant storyteller and Drew is right in there, again the kids are suppose to be sitting with their moms, he wasn't the only one and he was having fun so I just took pictures.

There were a lot of cute activities to do but he just wanted his cookie and milk, so we sat on the floor and did that.

His snow gear that we have put on at least once a day since last Saturday.

The tractor doesn't really do snow, but he tries pretty hard to make it work.

Our snowman!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2007-11-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. It is such a great holiday the only thing you really have to do is help cook, eat, relax, and maybe clean up a little. I unfortunately forgot my camera, but don't worry I had the batteries... but I did steel a few photos off Andrea's blog.

We went to Evanston and had dinner at Randy and Janet's beautiful new house, with Dean's parents, cousins, and Janet's parents it was fun and great food.

Then Drew and I went to Layton so I could arise early to shop with my sisters. Some people think we are crazy but we are not die hards and its so much fun we were gone for 9 hours starting at 6am! but I have most of my shopping done, and I got a few good deals for myself, now that's a great day! Dean was working on the ranch with his dad and brother I guess that's fun?? Drew played all day at grandma's in his Jammie's and couldn't have been happier, then back to Evanston for more family fun.

On Saturday we didn't do much of anything which is always great, we did watch the Utah/BYU game then drove to Salt Lake to meet my family again and see the lights at Temple Square then eat at Crown Burger. All good things! Our plan was then to go home to Heber but we were persuaded to drive back to Layton for a few rounds of Cranium, we stayed up till 1:30AM then had to be out the door at 7:30 so Dean could make it to a meeting. It was a lot of driving but we wouldn't have wanted to spend it any other way!

Down below are Drew's Christmas pictures I had taken, they are good for a laugh. We did get one pretty good one. I really did not want to be in them so when I put that shirt on I thought good it won't go and they won't want me to be in them but they did anyway because he would not stay in one place.

Drew's christmas photos

2007-11-29T21:03:00.001-07:00

Pictures from the last few months

2007-11-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

Drew and Bee Movie

2007-11-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Dean thought it would be fun tonight to take Drew to Bee Movie. I had second thoughts about that kind of activity with him because he is very naughty lately and cannot sit still in church for even one second. Obviously church is a lot different then a movie but you never know it could be fun or it could be a waste of time and 6.50 (Heber theater). We have not taken Drew to a movie since last Christmas when we each spent some time in the hall. Anyway we went and it was great! This was our first visit to the Heber theater its small, but pretty nice for a small town. He wasn't sure what was going on at the first with all people and the big TV but once the previews started he was intrigued and then when the actual movie started he loved it. He just sat and watched it and laughed and got all excited, it was so cute. He got a little tired towards the end but he sat and watched it the whole time going from my lap to Dean's lap to his own chair. The movie is cute, not too long, and has some adult humor. He is getting so big... I guess we will go to more kid movies now.

Yoda and Halloween!

2007-11-01T22:26:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween! Drew started to really figure out this holiday by last night, we have had several parties so he knows when he gets that costume on and his kunckin (as he calls it) that he will get cany. We went to a few houses trick or treating and he would go right up to the door and say treat! Then for some reason just go right in their house... they were all friends in our ward so I guess he felt comfortable. We also had a party last week with some friends where everyone dressed up so here a couple of pictures of us.

September ??

2007-10-03T13:22:00.000-06:00

So as some of you may have noticed I completely missed the month of September. I am not sure where it went but it flew by for me. In mid August I was asked to help with this event that Meridian (the magazine i work for) was putting on, the ladies that asked me were so nice and in desperate need of some help so I agreed. I had no idea what I was getting myself into... so that is pretty much what I did the month of September but it turned out fine and I decided the day before to go to Alaska where the event was taking place and be apart of it. I met some great people and despite it all I was glad I could help out. We did do a few fun things so when I have a little more time I will update.
Here are a couple funny pictures of Drew

Is that not the saddest face you have seen in the world??
I don't even know what he was sad about.

So.... this was the day before I left for Alaska you can get a little glimpse of how well I was taking care of him and what the rest of my house probably looked liked just judging by all the junk in the photo. To point out the high points that is Melly's necklace that he got off the top of the piano, his water shoes he insisted that I put on him, and that shirt is inside out because he wore it the day before and it had stuff on it. This was early in the day.... I did get him dressed later, but still.

Top of Utah Half Marathon and weekend fun!

2007-08-26T20:49:00.000-06:00

This past weekend Spencer and I decided we were going to run the Top of Utah Half Marathon in Logan. I was wanting to do one more race before it got cold and Spenc joined me... its always better to at least start with a friend. He had not ran since he competed in the Spudman triathlon like a month ago but he didn't think it would matter much. I on the other hand had to really pick up the running in the last month. The most I had ran was 9 miles in quite a long time so I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but thought it would be okay!

Drew and I left on Friday to go to Ogden and pick my Dad up he had to have his knee scoped so we stayed with him until my mom got home. He is doing pretty well and should be able to go to work on Tuesday. The bad news is he cannot run anymore, which is a bummer for someone who has always enjoyed running and done it a lot! We are glad he was able to do the marathon with us last October although maybe that is what did his knee in. Now he is getting into biking so maybe we can do relay triathlons now.

Anyway after my mom got home Drew and I headed to Logan, Dean left just ahead of us from Heber to meet Robb and Spencer in Brigham to golf. Drew and I went to Melly's where we had dinner and Drew played with Olivia and I got to talk to Carlie for awhile, which was fun since we don't get to see them very often. Drew and Livi were both a little tired but I think still took quite a liking to each other.

Spencer finishing with his glasses, he is such a nerd, they are not even real he just wanted to wear them. He wore them the entire race...

That is quite an action shot.... nice work melly

Spencer and I had to leave at 5:30 to go to Providence and pick up our packets for the race then get on a bus that took us up to the start which was somewhere in Blacksmith Fork Canyon I believe (I didn't know where I was the entire race). It seemed like a very long way on the bus and it was freezing up there, they said it was 48 when we started at 7:00. Spenc ditched his warm clothes but I kept a long sleeve shirt. We got in the pack of people and I said see you at the end. The first 7 miles are pretty much all down hill so that part was great. Come mile 9 or 10 I was getting tired but I by then it had warmed up and it was a flat road so I just took my time. I was really tired come mile 12 but there is only one more to go and it went downhill just enough to make the end enjoyable! Spencer finished in 1:46 and I came in at 1:51. I look a little too excited in my photo but I was surprised at the time. I thought it would take me longer then that, but I think all the downhill helped. It was a good time I was glad I did it and I was glad when I was done. Drew, Dean, and Melly were there to cheer us on. After we all took a little rest then went to A&W. Dean had to leave to go to his baseball game and Spenc had to rest up so he could work at 5 so Mel and I and Drew did a little shopping watched a some Friends on DVD and relaxed. After stopping by my parents we didn't get home till 10:00 it was a long weekend but a lot of fun! Thanks to Melly and Spenc for letting us stay at their place and for cooking me dinner on Friday (melly cooked).

Drew wearing Spencer's funny glasses

The fruits of our labors

2007-08-16T20:33:00.000-06:00

Our yard has been our summer project but like all "projects" it still has a long way to go. However, we did decide to do a garden. We had a spot in our yard that was just weeds thanks to the people who lived here first. So Dean and I spent an entire Saturday at the end of May getting it ready to plant clearing tons of weeds and hauling A LOT of top soil. We didn't really know what to do next so my Dad came up one Friday and helped us plant: Tomatoes, (which he started for us in his green house) peppers, radishes, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow zucchini, (which we thought was yellow squash... apparently its different) and beans. He told us to water every other day or when needed, like we know when that was. We have decided along with our other yard projects that we have somewhat of a brown thumb instead of green. But little by little things started popping up, even though sometimes we wouldn't water for days due to our forgetfulness, but then I made up for it one night when I watered for 12 hours oops! Two weeks ago I went out to do some weeding that was way over due and we had a few red cherry tomatoes and a few beans showing up. I was shocked, it had actually worked we grew something. The next Friday I decided to weed a little more to stay on top of it and I picked the tomatoes and beans shown above, I couldn't believe all those beans! Dean didn't believe me that they were from our little garden. Today I decided to take another look and picked probably double the beans and tomatoes and I got last week. Now we are not sure what to do with them all but we are quite proud of ourselves for producing anything! Hopefully we will get a least a little bit of everything else. I better go snap those beans....

County Fair

2007-08-09T22:39:00.000-06:00

We went to the county fair last week, which tends to bring out some of Heber's finest :- but we had a good time anyway. They have a dutch oven cook off, then the carnival of course then they show an outdoor movie. We went with our friends the Reed's who took us last year for our first time so I think it is a tradition now. Drew stayed awake till 11:30 watching Night at the Museum.

Brenden and Drew on the car ride

Camping at the Ranch

2007-08-09T21:47:00.001-06:00

Dean has every other Friday off now so we decided to go out to their ranch and stay overnight in our tent. We did hot dogs and smors over the fire and chicken, potatoes, and carrots in our dutchoven. We took Drew for a ride on a horse which he loved and kept clicking and bouncing up and down like the horse. He also learned what a sheep says because they were so loud in the morning he finally stood up and yelled baah back at them. We also went fishing again because Dean loves to fish but we are yet to catch anything.

Drew and Jenn on Pebbles

Drew loves the kitties he gets right in their faces and stares at them

This Deer wasn't scared of us at all she liked to hang out a little too close to our tent.

Drew on Grandpa's tractor... I think he likes those better then anything else at the ranch

Drew trying to fish with Dean. He is not happy to just sit there he likes to pull the rod out of the water and then back in and then out and back in... you get my point... making it hard to actually catch something.

Family photo after a cold night in the tent

Eating a healthy breakfast.... a donut

The Bee's Game

2007-08-09T21:25:00.000-06:00

We went to the Bee's game at the end July for Kenzee's birthday. Drew loves to play ball and play with his cousins so he had a great time!

4th of July

2007-08-09T18:25:00.000-06:00

I am a little behind on posting our summer events, so here are a few pictures from the 4th of July. We went out to Dean's families ranch and went fishing and had a BBQ.

That is Drew with his cousin Jesse... Drew is his mini me.

Lake Powell

2007-07-26T15:45:00.000-06:00

At the end of June we went to Lake Powell with my family. We stayed on a houseboat for 5 days and had a great time! We were a little nervous with the little ones but they did great. It is one of our favorite vacation spots, but it had been 9 years since we had been on a houseboat, so we enjoyed every minutes of it. The weather was wonderful and the water was perfect! Drew didn't like, what he thought was cold water, but he loved playing with Bailey and Ellie on the beach and riding in the ski boat.

Ellie, Bailey, and Drew on the boat in their pj's to watch the morning skiers.

Drew with his crazy Daddy

A pool on a boat, and an Otter Pop... can it get any better?

Family photo