Monday, November 14, 2011

Championship weekend!!!.....

Oh the love of a boy. I am eternally grateful for my son Drew, who at 15 years old is not afraid or too embarrassed to give his mother a tear filled hug at the end of the championship game. I was emotional as well, watching theses boys who had worked like dogs come up with the win at the end of an amazing season! Good job Drew! I have loved each and every moment watching Drew play football - it is a little sad to see the end of and era happen for him.....now on to bigger and hopefully even better things in High School.

Best brothers after one game and before the next.....keeping our fingers crossed for 2 wins today!!



Jensen was going to face Bingham in their Championship game.....

Boy did this game get cold. Drew's game was cold (we thought) and then down came the sideways snow and rain.....the wind blew and we were all frozen solid. The game was a close one, there was no score in the first half 0-0 and we were all just keeping our fingers crossed. The second half started and the snow kept falling, we scored a touchdown early on in the 3rd quarter and missed our extra point, 6-0......


It was too good to last and Bingham of course got a lucky break-away and the game ended with a heartbreaking loss 6-7......those dang Bingham Miners, they seem to do it to us every time!


Jensen is a little stud on the football field. He is just like Drew when it comes to having no fear! He will go hard and fast at anyone who is coming at him and won't let go until he has his tackle. I absolutely adore watching both of my boys play the game they love and look forward to another season next year.


Better luck next time, Jenky!!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Look whos 40!!!.....(and some other stuff!)

The dreaded 40 has hit!! It is almost unbelievable to me still as I write this post......I guess the saying 'time flies when your havin fun' is true. I am a blessed woman, the life I live as wife and mother is the only thing that I have ever dreamed of doing.....it is the most rewarding, busy life I could ask for.

J.D. asked me to give a small 'speech' during our traditional Halloween/Birthday party and I think turning 40 is typically a day of sadness, but for me all I could say was that how could I possible be sad when I look around and see what the last 40 years for me has produced. My husband, my 6 kids, our health and home, good friends and an amazing family is really all a girl could ask for, right?

We all dressed up of course, and this party has become one of my favorites. I am always so excited to see how everyone looks when they come over.....we all usually just spend the first 20 minutes laughing at each other.
Ji, all dressed up as a cute little lion.....he had matching slippers and kept growling all night. I was certainly happy that he warmed up to the ears and face paint, because earlier he was not having any part of it. Luckily he watched Ella and realized that it was all for fun, so then it was okay with him. I love how he loves his sister, she told him it would be all right, and he believed her.


Goodness!! What a proud mom I am of my teenagers.....they wouldn't let me see their costumes until they emerged from the basement 'white-trash' is what they came up with for their costumes this year......Brenna, pregnant teenager, dressed in a very tight and very small dress.......Morgan with a lovely animal fur vest topped off with a black eye. They put extensions in the boys hair and created mighty real-looking mullets, Taggertt was a great sport as well. Good, good times! I am so thankful that they are quite the opposite of this in real life! All in good fun, after all, what is Halloween for anyway??


Ella and Leah having a bowl of yummy taco soup!! We love to have parties and love to serve good food.


Aliza and Ella, cutie-patooties!!


Cave people!! Aunt Jana and Uncle Trent......seriously hilarious, it took her hours to comb out the ratted hair after the party - the things you will put yourself through for the party :)


The Anderson's came dressed up as "Food", Corey and Janeen, eggs and bacon....

Millie was a darling cupcake and Owen a delicious hamburger.


Aunt Julie and Uncle Bradley - shoot em' up cowboy


My very funny mom and dad - Hans Solo and Princess Leah!! Bless their hearts for always participating.


Aunt Jill and Leah dressed up as Miss Hannigan and Annie - I think that their costumes were my favorite this year. If I gave away prizes, they would have won for most original! The Wahlquist family moved to Vancouver, Washington this last August and we all miss them everyday! Jill made a special trip with Leah and Lucas to come home for my birthday.....Love them!


Brenna and her boyfriend, Tyson.....lookin' good, but definitely so glad this is not our reality!!
Tyson and Brenna have been dating since August. He is a great boy and they are so cute together. I always tell Brenna that they are the couple that people like me hated in high school, she is a Varsity Cheerleader and he is the Varsity Quarterback of the football team.


Suzy and Sarah are some of my oldest and best friends! We normally don't invite friends to the Halloween party, but this year we did since it was a 'big one'!!


My cute friend Andrea Arlt - I told her that we must be great friends because we picked out the exact same costume - I love this lady!!


The five coolest sisters ever!! We all feel blessed everyday that we were born into the same family, because we are truly all just the best of friends.


Well, what would a 40th birthday be without some kind of prank. The night had wrapped up and J.D. and I were downstairs cleaning up the after effects. Jiles came down the stairs and started saying "Mom, fish" - I was not sure what he could possibly be talking about, but after he seemed to adamant about me following him I picked him up and we went into my bedroom. There I found Morgan with a bit of a smirk on her face and inside my bathtub they had put 40 goldfish in there, all swimming around, with a card that read...

"Happy Birthday, we hope you live longer than these fish!!"

It's a good thing they wrote that, because those fish had already started dying in my tub. Funny, funny girls.

I am so thankful to turn 40, and here is to another 40!!



Beautiful weather, football Saturdays!!

I love football. I love warm weather. I love watching my boys play football. I love spending time with my family. I love having J.D. as my husband. I love this picture.


Oh yeah, Barnes boys are the BEST!!!


This was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Even though Brenna came and snoozed on a blanket instead of watching the game, it really doesn't matter, it's all about being together.


Miss Ella, she loves to tease her big sister - and today Brenna did not mind the teasing!



I especially love the look of his gloves strapped to his face mask.......


Getting ready for Halloween


Taking the mess outside. J.D. is a pro at scraping out the insides and not making messes.....this was a perfect Sunday afternoon activity. I love the look on Jiles face when he makes his most cheesy grin.


Brenna and Jiles teamed up and did their pumpkin together - it's a classic pumpkin face.


I helped Ella out and then she chose to take some markers to it's face, I say whatever makes her happy, makes me happy.


Jensen got gross this year and wanting his to appear as it was barfing - good one Jensen. He did this pumpkin all on his own. I was proud of him, he is such a fun boy. He keeps us laughing with all the faces and voices that he uses - He and Brenna have very similar personalities.



Halloween Night 2011



I only have 3 trick or treaters in the house, that is kind of a weird thing. Every Halloween we get together with the Coveys and have soup and goodies at their house, the moms stay back and pass out candy while the dads take the kids out to get the loot. This year, Morgan and Brenna stayed with Suzy and I and we just sat around the table talking and eating. It is nice as the mom to realize that my teenage daughters don't mind hanging with their mom. We laugh alot and I get to know all about what is going on in their lives. J.D. took Ella and Jiles out, through our neighborhood, only about 32 houses and that is plenty for them......Jensen on the other hand was out for about 3 hours and came home with a pile of candy bigger than any one I had ever seen!! He is the winner and the most 'die-hard' when it comes to trick-or-treating. Truly, when he dumped it out on my bed when he got home I was speechless......Good on you, Jensen!


Happy Halloween everyone!! It was a fun one!!