Fall,ins and outs.....

Well, we did it again!! We hosted another Japanese foreign exchange student for 2 weeks. Hiromi is a 10 year old boy that came to live with us for a couple of weeks this fall.....He was a bit of a hand-full compared to our other 2 and I think he may have put us over the edge on wanting to host again.
That sounds harsh, but I think that our lives are just a bit to crazy and chaotic to voluntarily have another boy come to live with us for the fun of it. Maybe again in a couple of years we can get a girl that is Ella's age, but for now the Barnes family is officially out of the hosting game!!

Hiro on his first night with our family.....he liked to wear a gorilla mask and run around the house trying to scare us......he would pretend to 'shoot' us with his fingers and make gun noises, and he was not all that pleasant or great with the little kids, especially Jiles.


We took him to the Real stadium where the Alta football players we playing and Brenna cheered. We tried to do fun things, but he just seemed a bit annoyed with the whole situation.

Day 14.....time to go home and it was time! He is a good kid, just didn't mesh with our family the way our other little boy did.....

It's all about the experiences, though, right??

Halloween Fall Festival in Draper

Brenna, Owen, Jiles, Ella and Millie girl.....

Precious little lady, Miss Millie.

They had carnival type games and small prizes for all the little kids. They each got to go pumpkin picking in a trailer full of perfect sized little pumpkins. It was a fun night for us all to go and spend time together as cousins. Aunt Janeen and Aunt Julie and Uncle Bradley came with and we made sure to go for ice cream after!!

Jiles looking for the his most favorite pumpkin. It is so fun to watch the little kids and the wonder in their eyes with each new experience. I am looking forward to this upcoming holiday season with a 2 year old, it is quite magical.

Even tossing hay in the air can be fun!!

Frankenstein trying to strangle me and Janeen giving it her best to save a sista :)

I think Brenna is in love......

I guess the feeling is not mutual......haha.

Braces for Jenky.....

Yesterday was the big day!! Braces on Mr. Jensen. He was happy as could be to take this next step in his life. Along with the big step was the coolness of having his big sister be able to be the assistant and help put his braces on. Thank you Morgan for working for an orthodontist and helping us get a killer deal on getting these braces put on!!

Morgan is loving her job as as an Orthodontic Assistant and because of that the push was a little earlier than I had originally planned on taking Jensen in for braces, but Dr. Ben is assuring us that now is a s good of a time as any to get them on and started. He is hoping to have them off, if all goes as planned in 2 short years. Jensen will have just become a deacon if that is really how it turns our (gasp!).

He was hilarious in the chair getting them on......when Morgan finished and handed him the mirror he was a bit surprised at how he looked and wondered why the wire on his braces was going up and down (in a crooked motion) - we had to explain to him that it was because of the crooked teeth that the braces were on. He made some crazy faces and had the office giggling.....he is a funny, funny boy!

His mouth is sore this morning and I am pretty sure he is questioning just why he was so excited to get them put on.

Good luck Jenk!!! You are one handsome devil, and just imagine when you have straight, pearly white teeth :)

Pretty Girl and Football Boys.....

So.....just a couple of random pictures of my kids......my camera got lost/stolen during the summer while I was in Las Vegas, needless to say, it has slowed me down on the pictures and made me less motivated to blog. I am determined, however to stay on top of my life......this is my way of journaling and I don't want these moments to pass unnoticed.

My boys are amazing!! I love watching them play football all season. They are so great, I am love watching them leave it all out there on the field, playing because they love it!!

Two sides of Miss Ella......all done up and ready for church and then just hanging at the park on a Saturday afternoon. Beautiful and different in both pictures!

Why can't time just stand still for a minute..........

Whoa.....I'm tired.....

Jiles continues to grow and grow and is truly turning into the 'terrible two-year old' - I love him so stinkin much, but wow!! This little man exhausts me. My sweet mom just laughs and laughs every time I fill her in on the ins and outs of our day - she keeps telling me that I need to write it all down, so here is my attempt.

He climbs like crazy!! He is always wanting to be in the cupboards, up on the counter and wanting to 'jump' to anyone who is willing to catch him. We said 'good-bye' to his crib about a month ago because he has decided to climb out each night around 3:00 a.m. and join me in my room. I will admit, that I got spoiled when it came to how great of a sleeper he was, so now, just like Ella used to do, Jiles is sleeping on the couch in our room. He sleeps all night long and there are no more interruptions - except the occasional fall of the couch (which he usually sleeps through). Go figure.

We have put locks on the front and back door, locked the pantry, and the fridge.....including the water and ice dispenser on the front. He will drag a chair to the doors to 'try and reach.....to let himself out to play.

He LOVES fingernail polish!! The kid is always finding a bottle of polish and no matter how tight we have put the lid on he can manage to get it off to do "pretties" on his nails. I hate to admit it, but he has actually become quite skilled at just getting the polish on his nails.......practice makes perfect and believe me there has been alot of practice. We have ruined several items of clothing, gotten nail polish on the tile, the carpet, yes, our very light carpet, and my kitchen table.

He has flooded my kitchen more than once climbing up onto the kitchen sink and pulling the sprayer out of the faucet, drenching the floor and counter top all around. One day he managed to ruin quite a stack of important paperwork that had gotten left out and demolished a couple of my favorite cookbooks.

Early one morning I could hear some kind of spraying.....there he was on the counter (do you sense the repetition) spraying bug spray all over the floor.....needless to say, it was quite slippery when I got to him and nearly went down before I could take it away.......He has also done this with Pledge one afternoon as well. My little helper.

He has dumped out a full box of brand new yummy chocolate chip cookies and topped it off with emptying the dog food out as well on the pantry floor. Yes, I watch him!! I can tell that is what everyone is thinking - the kid is super fast and quiet as a mouse until you hear the crash of whatever it is he has tipped, knocked or kicked over.

He loves to help himself to the leftover ash that is in the fire pit, he has more than once covered himself in the lovely blackness of last nights s'mores!

I am smiling the whole time raising this rambunctious boy......he is a fire-cracker, a bull-dozer, a one person wrecking machine and we love him each and every day!! I have the picture of him on my fridge, so little and helpless when he was 3 days old in the NICU, it is a beautiful reminder of what I have been so beautifully blessed with!

Thank you Jiles for keeping me on my toes.......