Dance class!!!.....

Ella had her very first dance class yesterday. She has been waiting for a very long time to start dancing. Lessons anyway, she dances around the house all the time. Brenna has taught her so many little things, leaps, turns, plie, first position, second position and so on...

She will be taking classes at the same studio that Brenna dances in and she thinks that she is big time!!

It was fun to go shopping and buy her some ballerina clothes and I think she looks darling in them. They are for sure more tight-fitting than she likes (many of you know her problem with "too tight" of clothes). She did a great job and was really excited to go to class.
Brenna and Ella - the 'Dancing Queens'

There are 3 other little girls all in her same class, all blue-eyed, blonde-haired. It was fun to watch her first class. She was really brave and did a great job listening to her teacher and following along. They got to wear crowns and hold wands for some of the class, right up Ellas alley for sure. The hour went by quickly and she wanted to wear her dancing clothes all day.

I am glad that she did so well in class. I was nervous that she might be embarassed or nervous to dance in front of her teacher, but she surprised me. From the looks of it, this is going to be a really good thing.

Baptism, Blessings and Boo-boo's....

Ahhh, 2 of the loves of my life!! Look at the face on that boy - how precious and happy is he on his very special day. Jensen was baptized on Saturday and he was excited, nervous, anxious and all that comes along with that big day for an 8 year old.
Along with Jensen being baptized we decided that it would be a good idea to bless little Jiles at the same time. Only having to gather the family together once, instead of on a Saturday then a Sunday. Plus it was neat for the brothers to share their day. Jensen loved it, and, well, Jiles didn't know any different. We were lucky because Jensen was the only boy in our ward that was being baptized this month, so the whole program consisted of our family. Morgan played the music while Brenna conducted, Drew said the opening prayer and I said the closing prayer. All of the cousins sang "I am a child of God" - it was a day just for the Barnes.

I was telling some friends last night that I never think that my family is that big until I see us all in a picture together. We are quite a group. They are all my pride and joy, they each bring such different qualities to our family. We all have our special characteristics. Morgan is such an amazing leader, setting the tone to our day. Brenna is a great sister, always including her little brothers and sisters and wanting to play with them. Drew is the strong and silent type. He is becoming a man and it is fun to watch him mature and grow, (almost at tall as me!!) Jensen is the entertainer of the group, he loves to make us all laugh and he is really good at it. Ella is the princess, and she knows it. She is a girly girl, but now really loves to be a BIG sister. Jiles brings peace to the bunch, he is such a good natured baby. There is something remarkably special about each and every one of them and I am so blessed to call them my own.

Jensen and Jiles
Two peas in a pod - everyone says that Jiles looks just like his big brother....

I feel so blessed to have had this day to share with my kids. So grateful to have a husband worthy to baptize and bless my boys. This was a special day for all of us. One that I will not forget any time soon.

This is a picture of my sweet Grandparents. My moms mom and dad. They are amazing. They get around so well and are a huge part of our life. They come to nearly every family function they can, only missing if they are spending time at their home in St. George. They even come to our annual Halloween parties dressed up and everything. It is so fun to have them around and my kids also adore them, I am so glad that we can all enjoy them!!

To top off the morning before the baptism Drew and Jensen were outside doing the lawn and some yard work. Drew had pulled a tree that had sprouted in one of our flower beds and was pushing it into the garbage can when it sortof bounced out at him. The back end of the branch hit him in the eyebrow leaving him with quite a gash. He was NOT happy with himself because we all knew that he was going to need stitches. He felt bad because he knew that we had a big day ahead of us and going to the Instacare was not really a part of the plan. He ended up with 3 stitches in his left eyebrow, the doctor did a great job - it will be healed probably before we know it. He is our accident kid...don't know why, but he always has been and most likely always will be. The last time he ended up getting his other eye stitched up was the day that Jiles had come home from the hospital. He has great timing...not. Oh well, we just told him that he is lucky that his big, bushy eyebrows get in the way otherwise he would have for sure lost one of his eyes by now. I don't know if he thought that was funny or not.

Up to our eyeballs.....

Well, here we are. Football season has officially started and we are litterally "up to our eyeballs" in it. The boys have both been put on their teams, and this is the first week of real practice. Drew has made the Alta "A" team again for the 3rd year in a row. For those of you who don't know what that is it is the top 10% of boys in their particular age group. Drew is a great player, and he lives and breathes the game. It is really fun for us to watch him. This year has definately changed the dynamics for us, because now we have 2 boys to shuffle our time between. J.D. tries to spend some of each night with Drew and then catches up to me and I spend all of my time with Jensen, because he is still trying to get used to his coach and his new team. He only knows one other boy that plays with him, so he is still a little nervous. He is afraid that he might be kidnapped and since no one knows him, no one will notice that he is gone. Sad. He is also afraid that he might get hurt and we won't be there to help him. I try to be patient with him, but after day 8 of the tears, I am tired. Each day is a little better and he is really getting the hang of tackling. Last night on the way home J.D. asked him if he was trying to live up to Drews 'legacy' and Jensens response was...

"I am going to STEAL his legacy!!"

This is what I mean by 'up to our eyeballs' - we eat at the park, pack snacks and water, blankets, bottles, toys or books for Ella, the baby and all that goes along with him and of course, the camera. It's usually a PB&J or a turkey sandwich before practice, and then another small meal after we get home. Leaving our house at 5:30p.m. and getting home at around 8:30p.m......I know, it is a rediculous commitment, but it has become the major part of our fall.

Tonight we all almost got blown away....I felt like we were living in a dust bowl and doing all we could to stay on the ground. The sky was full of dist and you could barely see the sun. We had to pitch Jiles a tent so he would be able to breathe, poor kid, you know when they are babies and the wind blows and sucks their breath away. He was nice to stay in the seat for nearly the whole time, awake and everything. He would occasionally try to 'talk' to me, like "what the crap is going on?"

Football is fun, we definately wouldn't do it otherwise. We all love it. Crazy maybe, but fun.

Could this be real?.....

I have been holding my breath - so to speak - for the last 3 or 4 weeks....Jiles has been sleeping through the night, going to bed around 11:00 and not waking until sometime between 6:00 and 7:00. This morning it was 8:00...I don't know what is going on. I have never had a baby sleep so well and especially at such an early age, he isn't even 4 months old yet. I keep thinking that it won't last, but so far so good. I am actually a little afraid to blog about it, because what if it ends?? Oh well if it does, it has been an awesome month of sleep for me!! Thanks baby, I love you!

Funny things they say.....

I dropped Brenna off today at BYU for her week stay at EFY with her friends. We were checking her in and found our way to her dorm room, we walked in and the first thing she said was...

"Am I in jail??"

For any of you who have been the dorm rooms down there you will know what I mean. White cinderblock walls and metal dressers with a bathroom to share with 5 other girls which looked (and smelled) about 100 years old.
I don't think that I could have ever gone to college and lived on campus. Seemed way too depressing, plus way too close of quarters for my liking with other girls - I need my quiet time, good thing I got married.



Ella, while driving to St. George last week while eating a bag of 'Sun Chips'


ELLA - "I like these chips Morgan..."


MORGAN - "Really? I like them too..."


ELLA - "Ya, they have sun in them."


While tucking Jensen into bed tonight after football practice (which by the way went really well, no tears, thank heaven) he looked under his arm pit and said....

"Hey mom, I am getting hair under here, I think that I am having pueberty!!

"There is no hair under there" I say, wondering if this is just what happens when you have older brothers and sisters.

Silly, funny and very entertaining children I have!!

St. George.....

We got home from St. George last Sunday night and before I forget to post about it I thought that I should do it, good Sunday afternoon activity, I think. We had a fun family vacation together, we always do. This year J.D. did something different for us as a family. Each day he assigned one of the kids to give a little spiritual thought about something, sortof like having mini family home evenings while on vacation except that we would start our day with it. The first morning was Drews and he gave a thought about the temple, and how thankful that he is for them and how glad he is that we can be together foever as a family. We had just gone the day before to the open house at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, so it was fresh in all our minds and it was nice to be reminded of the importance of it in our lives. So we thought it would be appropriate to drive by the St. George temple while we were there. Ella is always so excited to see the temple. She points them out whenever we drive by or look up on the hill to see one. Her enthusiasm never changes about seeing the temples. The next day was Brennas turn and she talked about family. She read a scripture and a quote from the "strength of youth" pamplet. Morgan talked to us on the third day about repentance. She especially focused her talk on Jensen since he will be getting baptized soon. J.D. took the last morning that we were gone and he talked about the Holy Ghost and feeling the spirit. He also really focused on Jensen and how important the next step in his life is. It was a fun way to spend each morning together, having family prayer and remembering what is really important. I am so grateful that J.D. encouraged the kids to take part in this and hopefully it can become another fun part of our family vacations.

FOOD!!!

Food is always involved in a vacation, and we do it right!! We enjoy things like hamburgers and shakes on a hot night and nobody even feels guilty about eating like that, because after all, isn't that part of a great vacation...

Eating ourselves silly at the Iceberg across the street from our hotel. Grandpa, Grandma, Julie and Bradley were there with Aliza, so were Brittyn and Leah who drove down with grandma and grandpa (lucky girls).


Strange boys I know....they are always coming up with funny things like that!! I am glad that they don't think that they are too cool act silly.

THE PARK!!

After dinner we all walked to the park. For July the weather really wasn't too terribly hot. I mean, it was hot, but not unbearable like it usually is. I think that J.D. must have been praying hard for it to be like that, because be really does not like to be in the heat. We stayed at the park for a while that night, which was something out of the ordinary for us to do. Grandpa had to go back to the hotel and get the car, because neither Grandma, Morgan and all the little girls were not really up for the walk back. I thought it was fun.

Me and Jiles - his first swing!! He is still a little too small to hold his head up, but it was cute to see him try. He is such an easy going kid. We were able to drive all the way to St. George without even stopping once, that is a major tribute to all my kids. They did a great job, as soon as we were ready to stop in Cedar City Ella gave up and went to sleep, so no stop....we kept on going. Unfortunately, Jensen started crying, unusuall hard, on that last little bit of the drive saying that his ears hurt and I knew by the way he acted that he was serious. He had complained earlier in the day saying he thought he had an ear infection, but since he hadn't even been sick I thought that was strange. Sure enough, after a trip to the Instacare in St. George he was diagnosed with a double ear infection - so weird to me, the middle of summer and we have ear infections. As soon as we got him started on the antibiotics all was well.

I have another picture of my kids on a slide when Ella was just new, like maybe 6 months or so. I love it, I have it framed in my kitchen, so I thought it would be cool to take another. No Jiles though, I kinda had to force this one because Morgan didn't feel well and Ella wanted to be playing with her cousins, but I got one in. Lucky me.

THE RODEO!!

We did some fun things this trip. Things that we normally don't do. The first night in town we went and saw "Annie" at Tuachan which was really fun for all of us. I think this was the hottest night that we were there. Still around 95 degrees when we headed back to our hotel at 11:30 at night, I felt like I was going to melt. Especially since I was holding the baby, they are little furnaces by themselves, so we were hot. It was a good show, they always do a really nice job down there. I am glad that the kids enjoy going and doing things like that, it gives them a little bit of culture I suppose.

One of the other nights we went to the Rodeo - or 'radio' as Ella called it. She wasn't very happy that she didn't have any cowboy clothes, so J.D. found this cute hat at the outlets and bought it for her. She wore it all night and for the rest of the vacation actually. I even spent time in the hat while I was at the pool - she looks way cuter in it than I do. It was kinda funny the looks that I got from people though while I was wearing it, I am sure they thought that I was a crazy woman of some sort (probably all those kids that did it to me, haha).


THE POOL!!!

Let's be honest, the whole reason why we go to St. George is for the pools....that is where we want to be the whole time we are there. After all, when you are in the pool you don't notice the heat and everyone has fun. It is sometimes hard to please everyone at the same time, so the pool is the answer to that. Drew and Jensen are fish when it comes to swimming!! They dive, belly-flop, cannonball, do somersaults in the water whatever, they have fun. We have stayed at the same hotel for what seems like forever because of the pool situation. They have an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, along with the kiddie sized pool - everyone wins. Morgan and Brenna along with all the other girls lay by the pool and the dads are either in playing with the kids or sitting in the shade. We have alot of fun when we are there and I think that because we are such a large group we scare everyone else away.

Last but not least....Handstands in the pool - I am the overall winner, glad that I can be the best at something - I am surrounded by amazing people!!

Going to St. George is one of our favorite things to do. It is a vacation with very little hype and little to no plan. We just go and decide what is next with each passing day. It is something that I have been doing with my family ever since I was a little girl and we have all kept the tradition going now that we have our own families. I am so glad that my sisters and parents still go, it is so great to be so close as a family.

Happy Birthday Jensen!!.....

Jensen turned the big "8" on July 30th - This is how we started our morning, with birthday candles in the breakfast of his choice, crepes. Jensen is such a good little boy, he is usually so cheerful with a smile on his face (unless we leave him all alone at football practice...). He is a funny boy with an amazing sense of humor. We were missing Brenna and Morgan this birthday morning because Morgan was off at EFY and Brenna at Dance camp, having the two girls missing really changes the dynamics of our family. We still had a great morning but they were definitely missed. Speaking of EFY, Morgan got home this morning and she had a great time, unfortunately she fell in love with a boy from out of state, California...I feel bad for her. She is having a tough day. She is tired and heartbroken, not a good combination. Hopefully tomorrow will be a new day. Ella would say "the sun will come out tomorrow" - singing from "Annie" has been the one of her new favorite things since we saw the musical at Tuachan last week while we were in St. George...I know, I am bouncing all over the place, lots has been going on.

This was the surprised look on Jensens face when we gave him his present. All he wanted this year was a BMX bike. They are not, I repeat not cheap. This was the only gift that he got from us and he didn't even get to unwrap it. I tied a bow around it and J.D. put it up on the kitchen counter. He was surprised and really excited, which in turns makes me excited. It is so fun to make my kids happy.

Jensen is a goof, he thought that he was sooo cool because he could lift the bike up with one hand, showing us all how light it is. We took the kids out to lunch that day, we went to "Cheesecake Factory" and shared a huge pile of nachos and then had cheesecake for desert. He felt pretty special when they brought him his dessert with candles and 'Happy Birthday Jensen' written on the plate in chocolate syrup with sprinkles. It was a fun way to spend our afternoon. I really enjoy spending time with my kids. They are the most important thing in my life, they bring so much energy to each day, living each day to the fullest. We could all take a lesson from our children. They see the bright side of life.

I know, you are wondering, what is up with Drew?? He also got a bike that day. We had a pretty stiff contract with him the last quarter of the school year to do better. He lived up to it, and as his reward he was able to choose from a few different things. The bike is what he choose, and to be quite honest, Jensen was just as excited for Drew to get a bike as he was for himself. He acted so unselfishly, I was and am so proud of him. He turned the corner where Drews bike was and shouted "Look Drew, you got one too!!" They have been amazing this summer, spending every day together, hanging out, playing video games, trampoline, running in the sprinklers and being with friends. They are really becoming good friends just like Morgan and Brenna.

I hope he had a good day. I think he did. We are all looking forward to next Saturday, he will be baptized and we will have a family birthday party for him, so the fun will continue....