My Amazing Return!!

I have been working on my daughters blog for her mission and thought that I should start back on my blog. It has been a while since I have checked in and I thought it also might be a good chance for me to write my thoughts and feelings.I don't even know if anyone even reads this but I will just write this for my posterity. SO much transition is happening in my family that it is almost overwhelming. I remember those days of having three in diapers and all of the kids including me crying on the couch when Dave would come home from work. Now my husband may find me crying on the couch when he gets home but it is because I don't have anymore kids in diapers or even living at home for that matter!! Zach is living and working in Boise. Kelsie is serving a mission in Ukraine. Caleb just graduated from high school and is submitting his mission papers in the coming days. Jacob is a Sophomore in high school. I do have to say that I am a very blessed mom right now. My children are all great and strong people. Learning and growing each day.

As for me, I am realizing that I need to find another hobby. I believe that for the last 20 some years my hobby and life has been my kids. Now with three of the four leaving the house I am no longer needed as much and find myself with more time on my hands than I know what to do with. Yes, I know there are many things to keep me busy like church stuff and cleaning the house and everything else but it is a strange place to be. I guess you may not know what I am talking about unless you have been here. I feel like because I was married so young and started and finished having kids so fast, I now have this alone time that I don't ever remember having. There were many days in the midst of dirty hands and taxi mom and endless dirty dishes that I dreamed of this day and now that it is here, I don't know what to do.

As I am writing this I am realizing that I may not have anything to add to my blog! Or maybe this will allow me to try new things, show the world my hobbies and open myself to the world of Pinterest successes and failures. It could be fun! Or not :)

So welcome to my return to blogging. Thanks for letting me express my random thoughts.

Graduation

Kelsie graduated on June 9, 2012 from Mt Spokane High. We had great support from our family. Grandma and Grandpa Barnes, Grandma Madge, Valerie, MacKenzie, Gavin and Landon all came to cheer for Kelsie. She looked so grown up as she marched in with her classmates (that was the only time I got teary-eyed BTW) It was their principal's last year due to his retirement. The kids all loved Mr. Hook! We encouraged Kelsie to go to her grad party that night and she actually won the prize she put all her raffle tickets in for......an IPAD?....no.....a Kindle Fire?....no.....a basket of kitchen gadgets???.....YES!!! She was so excited! Such a practical girl. We are so proud of all Kelsie has accomplished so far in her life! She graduated with honors and is on her way to BYU Provo for more adventures!

Marathon 2012

This spring Caleb ran his first marathon!! We were so amazed at his determination and decided that it takes an amazing young man to decide at the age of 16 to run 26.2 miles! When we showed up at the start of the race, Caleb had just planned on running by himself but then we found some of our friends and Caleb ended up running the majority of the time with our friend, Don Pawluk. (Thank you Don!!) I wanted to know somehow how Caleb was feeling throughout the race so I made him smile every time he passed so I would know he was okay. At about mile 20, He broke away from Don and started running on his own. He kept telling us that he wanted a Wendy's frosty at the end but we had no time to go get him one. I didn't get a picture of him finishing the race.(So sad, I know) But he finished with a time of 3:55. and was fourth in his age group to finish. Amazing!! Great Job Caleb!!

PROM 2012

Prom Time at the Barnes house!! Kelsie and Caleb both went to Prom this year. Kelsie went with a good friend from Lakeside High School. They doubled with another couple that they met up with at dinner. Caleb went with Eva who is a foreign exchange student from China. She is such a great girl and would have never been able to expereince this "odd" tradition we have here in America. They went with a whole group of Cross Country guys. Kelsie and Caleb both looked great and had an amazing time! Kelsie

My Favorite Picture!!!!!

It is ALL about the Hair!

Tanner and Kelsie

Caleb

Eva Chang and Caleb

The Boys

Goals and Personal Progress

I have set a goal for myself to finish the personal progress program for the second time. I have been working on this for quite some time but now with the example of my wonderful daughter I have the determination to do this!! Kelsie just finished again! I have until April to do this so I thought if I posted this I can keep myself accountable.
I am realizing how inspiring this program is for the young women. It is helping me have a closer relationship with my Heavenly Father as I read from the scriptures and ponder the teachings and write about my feelings in my journal.I am also learning so much more about myself and what I truly believe.

Florida...O how I miss you!

I was thinking this week about our trip to Florida. It was just last year about this time that we were getting ready for our vacation. That was such a fun trip!! I think I had wanted to make it a yearly occurence. The sun, the ocean, meeting Mickey Mouse. Then my next thought was....oh how things can change in a year! We are now in our 10th month of unemployment and my perspective of things has changed! I am so grateful for the sunshine that has been unusually around here in Spokane! I still miss the ocean and might need a dose of it in the near future, even if I have to walk to it! (I might have to settle for the west coast this time) I joke, but really I am just so grateful for the little things in life! Food, A home, healthy kids and for all the bills to be paid for a month. How quickly life can change!

Christmas 2011

Christmas for our family was one we will never forget. We all knew that this Christmas wouldn't be huge and full of presents but we were able to focus so much more on the birth and life of our Savior. We were so overwelmed by the charity of so many around us that I will never be able to express my feelings adequately. So if you read my blog and were one of the many "elves" to Santa this year please know how thankful we are to you!

We spend every other Christmas here in Spokane and in the past we have had family come stay with us but this year it was just my little family. It was strange, yet nice. We started Christmas Eve day off with an invitation from the Davis family to go to breakfast at IHOP. It was snowing as we left for breakfast and so it was exciting to know we would have a white Christmas! That was great to be included in their family tradition.

We had our Christmas Eve feast (not the tradition of prime rib this year) but a great feast none the less...turkey and all the fixings and my kids even said my rolls were pretty close to Grandma Madges....I still don't have enough love to put into them. After dinner we all opened our Christmas pj's and hopped in the car to take a Christmas lights tour around town. Funny story about this...We decided to take Bolt (our dog) with us because he loves to ride in the car. Well, Bolt ended up having the worst gas the entire time! We found out later that Dave had given him some turkey from dinner. It was so bad!! We would have to have the heater on full blast so that we could roll our windows down to get the smell out!
We came home and Dave read the Christmas story from the scriptures and we watched our slideshow...which is now on DVD...family tradition which I love. And then we played a game (Quelf) together that was pretty fun.

Christmas morning we all got dressed and went to a nearby nursing home and sang carols and read a few stories to the residents there. We also left them a box of oranges after reading the story of the Christmas Oranges. We then came home and opened presents. We went to church and was involved in the program. Kelsie played a few numbers on the organ which were pretty cool and the rest of us sang in the choir. It was a nice service and really helped us remember the true meaning of Christmas. We then went to dinner at our family away from family's house (the Jarvis) We ate and played games and just had a good time together. We truly are so blessed and feel the love of our Savior everyday. How truly grateful we are for such wonderful family and friends for we know that it is through others that Christ shows his love.

This is our Crooked tree:)

These treats were yummy! Thanks to pinterest for the idea!