Christmas . . . So Far!

So we have been busy getting ready for Christmas! We all truly love this time of year. These are some of the things we have already done (in no particular order):

- Listening to Christmas Music on the radio
- Looking at Christmas Lights anywhere and everywhere!
- Going to the mall and playing in the snow
- Picking out our annual family Christmas ornament
- Going to Bass Pro Shop, seeing Santa, Playing all the games
- Shopping, Shopping, And More Shopping (I swear I have been to Target at least a dozen times this last month!)
- Delivering our letters to Santa to the Mailbox at Macy's
- Making a Christmas Countdown Chain
- Family Pictures for Christmas Cards
- Surprise visit from Katrina (we won't be able to see her at Christmas)
- "Advent" with Jerry's Mom's family (A German tradition full of food, songs, and family)
Christmas is such a wonderful time of year. It's crazy, especially when all our families are near us, but we wouldn't have it any other way!
We are looking forward to more fun, like delivering Christmas Goodies, Christmas Eve Movie with my family, Christmas eve Advent with Jerry's Mom's family, Christmas Party with Jerry's dad's family, and of course, Santa bringing presents for Christmas morning! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

My Dad . . . Happy 60th Birthday!

Today is my Dad's (dare I say it!) . . . 60th birthday! Happy birthday!
And we are so glad he is alive and well and made it to this birthday! As most of you know, in July he gave us a pretty HUGE scare and we weren't sure what would happen. But through many prayers, blessings, and miracles, he is here and doing amazingly well! (still can't play basketball, but small price to pay) My dad is awesome, if you can get past the lame jokes! So I just wanted to say to you Dad: Thanks for always being there, you were the one I went to when I had a question about money, business, tickets, sports. You were the one on the bleachers yelling louder than any other parent just to embarass me! You and mom were always there to support me throughout all my different sports activities no matter how far you had to drive. You were the one that would take us to Circle K to get a Dr. Pepper and a treat. Now you are here to show love to my family and be a wonderful example of how a husband and father and grandfather should be! Thanks so much for being you and for still being here! Happy Birthday! I love you!

Birthday Girl

Stacy Michelle Barney, what an amazing woman! As you can tell by the blog our family celebrated 4 birthdays in the span of 2 months. There was a 5th, but Stacy is to humble of a person and to take the spot light away from anyone! Stacy, for 7 of our 8 married years she has had her birthday put on the back burner. So this insert is to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY and give her some praise.
Stacy loves being a mother to Jackson, Briana and Cassie.(Jerry too) They are her pride and joy!
She loves her family and puts their needs above her own.
She is fiercely loyal, even if you don't deserve it.
She will do anything to keep the peace with everyone. (but watch out if you tick her off!)
She loves to shop, watch movies, go out, read, listen to music, play games.
She makes the best of any situation.
Stacy may not tell you how she feels all of the time but she radiates her love when she is near you. Through her gentle touch and beautiful smile you know that you are loved! She has a firm conviction of our Savior and His plan for everyone. She is our family's foundation! We, Cassie, Briana, Jackson and I, are truly blessed to have this wonderful daughter of God as our mother and wife! Thank you Stacy! We love you!

Bronti's Scholarship Contest

So Jerry's sister Bronti auditioned for a singing scholarship. She was one of 5finalists and to determine the winner, they had to perform at a concert. The winner would be chosen by the audience. To be honest, we were a little perturbed by the process. It seemed that the way that the person was to win was who brought the most people and it would basically be a popularity contest. (And also, the tickets were $15 a piece, so we were paying for the scholarship as well!) Anyways, it actually turned out to be a lot more fair. The concert she performed at was put on by the "Fiesta Chorus", a barbershop group of ladies. So there were actually a lot of people there just for the concert, not the scholarship contest. Bronti did an amazing job. (I definitely would not be able to stand up and give a solo.) She sang "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. She ended up getting 3rd place. But she is definitely a winner in my book! She showed such poise, courage, and personality. Way to go Bronti! I am so glad we were able to be a part of this great accomplishment in your life! We love you!

Jackson is 6!

Jackson turned 6! How amazing is that? Here are a few things about our growing boy!

He LOVES Transformers, Star Wars, Legos, and Bakugan.
He LOVES Armies, Playing Guns and Swords.
He LOVES Soccer, Hockey, and other sports too!
He LOVES video games.
He LOVES his sisters and mom and dad.
He LOVES his Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins!
He LOVES his friends at school and church.
He LOVES being a boy and getting dirty.

How we love this boy! He is a great son and brother! He is so sweet and so loving. And ALL BOY! Happy birthday Jackson! Don't grow up too fast, please!

Cassie's 1st Birthday

So I am a couple of days late, but better late than never. Cassie turned 1 on October 24th! How she has grown. We call her our little monster baby! She is crazy and lovable and so dang cute! She is walking and so proud of herself for doing that. Once she realized she could do it, she didn't turn back. She has a very strong personality already. She knows what she wants and is determined to get it right away no matter what! She loves to eat. Even if she has just been fed, if someone is eating she will go up and back and scream if they don't share! She loves to climb on chairs, tables and even pianos! She adores her brother and sister and they love her. She loves to cuddle and take naps with daddy. Her face just lights up when she smiles. Oh how we love our little "Love Bug"! Happy 1st Birthday Cassie!

Our 8th Anniversary!

8 years . . . I still can't believe it! It was 8 years ago today that I married my sweetheart for time and all eternity. What an amazing blessing! Jerry is my heart and soul. He is the most wonderful husband, amazing father and truly my best friend! Jerry has worked hard for our family, made sacrifices for our family, and given so much love to our family. I give thanks every day to my Heavenly Father for the wonderful man that he is. Happy anniversary, my love! I look forward to many, many more!

Happy 4th Birthday Briana!

Today is Briana's birthday! I can't believe she is 4! And yet it also seems like she is a lot older (at least she thinks she is more like 12 or 13!) I have a million things to still post about from this past summer but I can't let this day pass without writing about a few things that I love about this amazing girl!

So Briana this list is for you!

- I love the way you always have to carry a purse whenever we go somewhere and if we are going to the grocery store, she has to take her list!
- I love how much you love to be a girl! You love to accessorize, put make up on and do your hair and others as well!
- I love that you like to sing and dance! And listen to all sorts of music especially Radio Disney!
- I love the fact that you know how to text and want to text everyone you know!
- I love how you strike a pose every time you see a camera! Or you like to take a camera and take pictures of everyone!
- I love that you like to help me cook by stirring, measuring, pouring, and cutting.
- I love that you are such an amazing sister to both Jax and Cassie! You show so much love to your brother and sister!
- I love your beautiful eyes and smile. You can light up a room and make everyone else smile, too!
- I love that you follow me around and have to do everything I do. (If I put on make up, you put on make up. If I am wearing a skirt, you want to wear a skirt. If I do my hair curly, you do your hair curly!)
- I love how much you love to learn! You are such a smart girl! Maybe too smart for your age!

I could go on and on, but I'll stop there! Briana is truly a joy and I love her so much! She is a wonderful part of our family and I am so blessed to be her mom! I love you baby girl!

Wicked!

I had the amazing opportunity to go to Wicked with Cindy, Katy, Lucy, Aubrey, Katrina, and Katrina's friend, Nicole (i think?). Can I just say UNBELIEVABLE?!?!?!? It was truly incredible. I had listened to the soundtrack for a week before and I wasn't quite sure exactly what the story was about. But when I got there, it all made sense. We went to the "O.G" aka Olive Garden first. Then headed over to ASU Gammage Center. We ended up being on the very back row, but right in the center. It didn't matter, every seat was a great seat. The music was amazing, the actors were so great and it was actually very funny! I totally recommend it to anyone. Next time it comes to town I am definitely taking Jerry! Anyways, it was a blast and thanks to Cindy for making it happen! Can't wait for the next one!

Much Needed Updates To Come!

So I know that I haven't blogged in a while! It is eating away at me that I have so much to blog about! It is so much that I don't even know where to begin. So here are the highlights that I hope to post in the near future . . .

- Wicked the Musical
- Diamondbacks Game and The BFSC
- Curtis' Homecoming
- 2 family reunions and family vacation in 1 week!
- Dad's Heartattack
- Cassie Update
- Jax's First Day of School
- Bri's First Day of Preschool (this hasn't happened yet, but by the time I get around to it, it will have happened! : ) )

Other than being just plain busy, the major excuse for my non-blogging has been our camera died. And when I went to go get a new one, the software ended up not being compatible with our computer so I couldn't download any pics! (Maybe it could be that our computer is over 5 years old and I can't believe I can even get on the internet with it!) So pics are soon to come as well as updates on the above mentioned events and so much more!

Our First Trip to the ER

These last couple of weeks have been crazy and I have not updated in awhile. But I wanted to post the most important news. So on Thursday, May 14th, Jackson climbed into our bed early that morning because he said his side was hurting. We didn't really think anything of it, then a little later, he started complaining that he couldn't breathe either. We weren't sure what was wrong, but we figured we better take him to the ER to see what was going on. So around 5:00 a.m. we headed off to Mercy Gilbert ER to get him checked out. We almost didn't go, because he would start to say that it didn't really hurt anymore, but then he would say it was starting to hurt again. So when we got there, we waited around awhile after all the paperwork and waiting for the dr. to finally get there. She was very nice, and wasn't quite sure what was wrong. He had a low grade fever so they gave him some motrin and ordered a chest xray just to see if they could see anything. Sure enough after the x-ray they found pneumonia on the left side of the lungs right where he said it was hurting. They gave him a rx for augmentin and sent him on his way. So we started the medicine and he started throwing up ang getting more sick. Then Friday I started noticing red bumps popping up all over his body. I thought that couldn't be chicken pox, could it? Or maybe he is allergic to his antibiotics. So he had a dr's appt that afternoon and as soon as I lifted up his shirt, the dr. kind of stepped back and said He has chicken pox alright. Then he freaked out and wondered if we were in the waiting room and how many other people we infected. (I didn't know it was chicken pox!!!) He had us go out the back way, barely giving us a new rx for antibiotics and directions for chicken pox. So then I went to get the new rx filled and it turned out that one pharmacy didn't carry it, so she called around to see who had it and when I got there they told me it was going to be $120! I said is there anything else we can get. So they called the dr's office (this is about 3:30 on a friday remember) and left a message. Around 6:30 I called the pharmacy and they said they were still waiting on the dr. to call back, but obviously they are closed for the weekend so they wouldn't evern hear back until monday. He was supposed to be on antibiotics for that whole time, so then I had to call the on-call nurse and she had to try to get a hold of the dr to get a new rx. Then she ended up having the wrong dr so finally 2 hours later, I finally got a new rx to give him as well as now give him oatmeal baths and calamine lotion drenchings for the chicken pox. (To top it all off Jerry and I had to speak in church on Sunday and I hadn't finished my talk by friday night either) So it was a fun 5 days of staying at home watching a lot of movies and saying "don't scratch" a million times a day! The poor guy had even had the shot which means if they get the chicken pox it usually is not supposed to be that bad. Well, he is the 1% that still gets them bad! His entire back was completely red and his stomach wasn't that much better! They were even in his mouth! He looked awful. The girls have not gotten it, maybe they won't. But I am glad it is over! The saddest thing about this whole experience was, on that thursday was supposed to be Water Day at Jackson's school and he had been looking forward to it for so long and then he couldn't even go. : ( He did make it back to the last day of school, so he could say goodbye to his teacher and friends. Thank goodness!

Ballas Hough Band

There are only a few TV shows that I watch regularly. Usually we are watching Disney Channel or some kid show. But I do watch American Idol and Dancing With The Stars. On Dancing With the Stars, two of the Dancers also have a band called Ballas Hough Band. And I really like them. So Here is a video they made up of one of their new songs and it is done by tons of the stars from Dancing!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Jackson had a field trip this week to the Phoenix Zoo and I got to go with him chaperone! I was so excited to be a chaperone for the first time, but a little nervous at the same time. But we had such a fun time. I had a great little group of boys. Jackson, Ben (one of his best friends) and Zane were such a joy to watch. They never gave me a hard time and just had fun together. Now the trip was a little frustrating to me, but the kids had fun. It was just frustrating trying to get to see things. Here is what we did and see if you would be frustrated! : ) We arrived at the zoo and went straight to the train. We waited in line there for about 20 minutes or so. The kids were antsy, but they were watching a squirrel so that kept them entertained. We rode the train which was good, so that they got to see the main animals around the zoo. After the train ride we only had about 30 minutes before we had lunch so we went to see the elephants, orangutans and lemurs and a couple other birds and then we headed to lunch. Well, one of the mom's that was with my group didn't bring her or her son's lunch so they had to go get some food which wasn't close to where we were supposed to meet, so she took off to get food while we went to eat. By the time they came back and ate all my kids were done and ready to go, but we had to wait for them. The kids didn't even notice cuz they were playing tag and running around. They finally finished eating and then we had to try to round up the kids and figure out where to go from there. We finally decided to go to the petting zoo, which took forever. By the time we finally got everyone out of the petting zoo, we only had about 20 minutes before we had to meet the bus. So I tried to get the group to head over to the reptiles, since we had all boys in our group. Well, on our way, the dad that was with us said why don't we check out the wallabys real fast. Well, what we didn't know was that when we go thru that exhibit you end up at a playground for the kids so we just ended up watching the kids play for that last little bit then we had to head over to meet the bus. So needless to say they didn't see much, but it didn't matter to the kids. They had an amazing time and I am glad I got to go with Jax. It was so neat to see how he interacts with the kids. They all love him and he is friends with all his class even the girls. So even though it wasn't very smooth, all in all, it was a great time by all and that is all that matters! I am so grateful for this opportunity to be with Jax.

Oh The Things We'll Do For Free Food!

So I get a call today from my mom saying Tricia gave us free tickets for dinner at Cantina Laredo and asked if I wanted to go. But no kids can go and I would need to find a babysitter. I said sure why not! Free food, sign me up! So I asked Jerry's mom to watch the kids and of course she agreed, so dinner was on. But we all kept asking what is the catch. So I called Tricia myself to find out exactly what she knows, and she said she got a call saying if you hurry and reserve your spot you would get a free dinner for you and 3 friends. She of course said "what do I have to buy, what are you selling? Is it really free?" They said it was, you just had to listen to a presentation about fire safety. They even said leave your wallet in the car if you don't believe me. So Tricia decided not to go, but sent me and my parents off to see how it goes. We were very nervous wondering what to expect, and we got there and went into a banquet room at Cantina Laredo. They were very friendly and the whole time said you are not being sold anything tonight. So for 2 hours we heard about fire safety and all the dangers in your homes and how smoke detectors work 55% of the time, and don't turn on for a long time. It was really fascinating. We had food which I didn't really care for, too fancy schmancy for my taste! But it was free! They didn't push anything on us, just asked if we wanted them to come to our home to get a free fire safety evaluation of the home. (and they do have products to sell if we want at that time). All in all, it was very informative, and really made you think how safe your house is! I realized my kids have no clue what to do in a fire and that really scares me! So next family home evening, fire safety is our topic! For Sure! Thanks Tricia for the free meal! : )

Bye, Bye, Chili's!

So I finally quit CHILI's!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe I won't be there anymore! Saturday March 28th was my last day. It is so bittersweet. On one hand I am really sad that I won't be serving anymore. But on the other hand I am so excited to not have to work saturdays anymore, or walk home with only 15 dollars in tips (if I am lucky), or deal with the crazy corporate policies that they made us do. For instance, they sent me home to change my pants because they were frayed at the bottom! I don't know about most of you, but almost all of my jeans are frayed especially my work pants! I will miss the people that I worked with even though we didn't have alot in common. I still can't believe I worked there for 2 years. It was fun while it lasted, especially the discounts I got! So I took my parents out and invited Tricia and her family out for one last use of my member discount. We had a good time and had great food. I am going to miss Chili's! (But not too much!) : )

I'm Going There Someday . . .

The kids had a Primary Activity on Saturday. They had it at the Mesa Temple to learn about "Our Eternal Family", which is the theme for primary this year. They sang a few songs there and walked around the temple grounds and stopped a couple of times along the way to be taught about certain things about the temple, how it is Jesus' home, we can be sealed together as a family forever, we can do baptisms for the dead, and how special a place it is. At the end they had each child go up and touch the temple because if they touched the temple, the temple would then touch their lives. We took a group pic with the temple in the background. I could tell the kids really felt the spirit there. They were all very reverent and respectful. Jackson and Briana always folded their arms whenever we were walking anywhere. It was a wonderful activity for them to learn more about the temple and actually be there to see where it takes place instead of just talking about it. I am so grateful for the blessings of the temple and I could tell the kids understood how important it is to me and Jerry.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Crazy, Busy, Eventful Week!

So this last week we had a lot going on! Between all of us being sick, it was truly crazy. Here is a rundown of some of the things that happened to us this last week.

- Family Pictures = Shopping for Coordinating clothes = Nightmare
So I first found outfits for the girls, really darling dresses that were pink
and white and I figured that wouldn't be hard to find something for me to match
to. Think Again! Over the course of 3 days, After 3 trips to Old Navy, 2 to 2 different Ross's, 1 to Target, 1 to Macy's, 1 to TJ Maxx, 1 to many different stores at Chandler Mall, I finally
found whole new outfits for the girls and me that matched! The boys were a piece
of cake!
- "After this weekend I will never do "blank" again"
I am a huge fan of John Jay and Rich on 104.7 in the mornings. I listen to them everyday on the way to work and one of their bits is the above mentioned quote. Well, I had my own experience that I learned that I will never do again! So Friday night I stayed up late, getting all of our stuff ready for the grand opening and family pics the next day. So I set all of our toothbrushes and toothpastes out so that I could just stick them all in a bag as soon as we brushed in the morning. Well in the middle of the night I had gotten up to use the bathroom. When I came out (the bathroom was pretty dark by the way) I just happened to look at my toothbrush. I noticed that it was pretty dark where the bristles are and then something scurried around and went in the sink and almost down the drain. EEWWWW!!!! A Cockroach! I didn't know what to do, should I try to hurry and squish it by pulling the plug, or get Jerry (even though he had just gone to bed like 30 mins before and had to get up in about 4 hours), or should I get some paper towels and squish it! I finally decided on fly swatter and paper towel (I did NOT want to touch it) And killed it. Then threw out all of our toothbrushes and sanitized the whole sink and counter. What a fun night! So after this weekend, I will never leave my toothbrush or anything on the counter overnight again!
- A Big Scare!
So we had quite a scare this week. Tuesday afternoon I get home from work and the first thing Jerry says to me is . . . "I lost my ring!" My heart just dropped! I couldn't believe it. We tore apart everything looking for it and could not find it. The last time Jerry remembers taking it off was on Sunday at church he put on some lotion and whenever he does that he sets his ring on the hymnals on the back of the bench in front of us. So we contact the librarian and she hadn't seen it but said she would be down at the church the next day and would look for it. Then that night I went to the church and scoured around where we sat and couldn't find anything. We searched the house again to no avail. Wednesday night, my dad tried to check out the library and the bishop's office but no one showed up because it was spring break. So finally on saturday we put a note up on the library and hoped for the best. No one knew anything about it on sunday, so I was telling myself, it's gone, I don't think we are ever going to find it! Then today,(Monday) I had sent the kids to their rooms after a fun little fight they got in, and when I went to talk to Briana in her room, she says "Mommy look what I have!" There was the ring in her hand! It was in her bed! My heart has only leaped a few times in my lifetime! When Jerry proposed to me and showed my the ring for the first time, when I held my babies in my arms for the first time, and when Briana held up that ring! I forgot all about why I had sent them to their rooms and hurried and sent Jerry a text message picture of the ring. I am so grateful we found it!
- "Would You Rather"
So we had got this game called "Would you rather" a while ago, but never played it. So we took it over to Jerry's mom's because we were getting together because Katrina was visiting. I thought it would be fun to play a new game. It's a really fun game that makes you think and talk about your opinions and learn about how other people think. For example, "Would you rather go around the world in a hot air balloon or a sailboat?" Some people voted for the hot air balloon and others a sailboat. The way that you win the game though is through challenges that the game gives you if you land on a "challenge" square. Jerry got a challenge where he had a couple of choices to do either a belly dance for 60 seconds, make up a rap song for 60 seconds, or have another player draw on a mustache and glasses on your face and keep it on the entire game. He chose the mustache and glasses. Bronti drew on a Hitler mustache and big round glasses! It was hilarious. Then Katrina chose as her challenge to have someone write "Goof" on her forehead and then she had to sit there with her mouth open for the entire next players turn. We had so much fun! We just laughed and enjoyed the time together! Also, in the midst of all this, we had the Grand Opening of the BFSC and the unveiling of the statue of Jerry's grandparents at the entrance to the complex. They had a great turnout, had a volleyball tournament going on, as well as expo games that micah and lucy both played in and we squeezed in a family picture (with those that could make it) which Tricia took.

PHEW!!!! Am I glad this week is over!

Fairy Tale Ballet

Briana the Ballerina! We put Bri in a little ballet class through the Town of Gilbert. She started 2 weeks ago. Needless to say she absolutely loves going to the class. They get to dress up every class and learn different ballet moves. When they put there arms up above their heads, that is called "Sunshine Arms". She loves to dance so I am grateful she can go to this class. She borrowed leotards from Tricia and she loves to dress up in them all the time. I love to see her face light up everytime she does a little twirl or other dance move. She is a natural!

First Injury of the Season

Jerry is playing on an Adult Men's Soccer League at the complex. I took the kids to his game last week to cheer him on. We got more than we bargained for. Jerry was going for a ball near the other team's goal and ran smack into the plexiglass wall! He hit the wall and then just dropped to the ground. I was so nervous when he didn't get up right away. He laid on the ground for about 5 minutes not really moving. I went over where he was and watched thru the plexiglass and he finally got up. He was pretty shaky, but could walk. Needless to say, he didn't play anymore. He had a huge goose egg on his forehead. Luckily one of the parents of the guys Jerry plays with was there and he is a doctor so he looked at his head and his eyes and watched over him the rest of the night to make sure he was okay. I am so glad he was there. Jerry had to stay later until they closed that night and so I was really nervous for him. I had one of the guys that works with him, follow him home! He was fine, but just had a very bad headache and still has a black eye too. I am just glad it was not worse than it was!

Les Miserables

On Saturday, I got to go to "Les Mis"!! It was so fun! The original plan had been Jerry's sister Lucy invited me, Aubrey (sister), Katy (sis in law), one of Lucy's friends and then Cindy to go. Then Lucy found out she had a soccer tournament the same day, so it ended up being myself, Aubrey, Bronti (another sister), Katy and Lorin(brother and married to Katy). The play was at the Phoenix Theatre, which is just a small venue. We were in the 2nd to last row, but we could still see the actors faces pretty well! And can I say the actors were amazing! They did such a great job. It wasn't a huge broadway play, but they still were so good and had amazing voices. We did sit behind an annoying guy who started clapping after every song and even ended up clapping with the music thru the last song! But other than that it was really fun. After the play, Aubrey and I went out to eat at Abuelo's and Jerry's mom Heidi and her husband Tony joined us! It was such a nice night out without the kids (and even Jerry!) : ) Thanks to my parents who watched the kids so that I could go!

Update

So I just wanted to update on a few quick things that has been going on. Well, we've settled into my parent's basement. And we are adjusting to the new place. We have been trying to sell our BMW for awhile with no luck, so a while ago, Jerry put the truck on Craig's List and Auto Trader to see if we could maybe sell that. And we figured which ever sold first would be great. We finally got an offer for the truck. It was a sad day for Jerry giving up his truck, but at least we got rid of one vehicle and paid off the BMW. We are all about trying to save money and pay off debt so that was one debt down!
The kids are still doing great. Getting older and smarter by the minute. Briana still thinks she is a teenager and even acted like one the other day by rolling her eyes at me! I can't believe I have to worry about the attitude already! But actually she is such a sweetheart and still dances around and sings all the time! She is going to start a little ballet class this week. Both Jax and Bri are taking a Soccertots class at the sports complex every friday morning which they love! Jax is doing great at school. I think it is finally kicking in and he is learning alot faster now. He can write his whole name and not just "Jax". He is also doing a lot better at coloring by staying in the lines and his cutting is also good. Cassie is getting bigger by the second. She is rolling over, sleeping thru the night (yeah!), taking a bottle so great. She is such a great baby we have truly been blessed.
I am still working at Chili's and Chandler Eyecare for the time being. Jerry's and my schedule has worked out great so that we can stay home with the kids. Jerry is home in the mornings while I go to work and then I come home and he heads out to the Complex. We don't get much time together so we look forward to Sundays. Jerry and I went out for Valentine's day a couple of days early, we went out to eat at Olive Garden and then went to a movie. He let me go see Twilight! (I know it is almost out on video). I really liked the movie and so did he. He liked it so much that now he is reading the books! Yep. He had so many questions and I wouldn't tell him and said that he had to find out for himself! : ) He's obsessed! So that's what's new with us!

Rolly Polly Baby

She's mobile! Yep, Cassie has started to roll over! And it has also not taken very long for her to keep on rolling from her tummy to her back. It's all over now! It won't be too long until she's crawling!

I am Beary Special Because . . .

At school, Jax has been learning about bears. Polar bears, black bears, brown bars, etc, etc, etc. And so one of the little projects they did at school was decorate a bear and write "I am beary special because . . . " and fill in the blank. Jax wrote "I am beary special because I am a Barney!" He made that up all by himself! Such a sweetheart and he obviously knows how important family is. Also, I am so glad that he knows that his name is something that means something.

Super Bowl Party

Super Bowl time again! And can you believe it, the Cardinals went to the Super Bowl! It still sounds so weird to say that. Anyways, we all decked out in Cardinal red and headed to the Sports Complex to watch the game with Jerry's Dad and family. And several of his stepbrother Eric's friends. We had lots of food and watched the game on the huge projection screen at the complex. It's something like 200 inches wide and the sound going through the sound system. Very fun. We watched it from the soccer field so Jackson played with Micah the whole time. He loves to be around him. Briana kept going between hanging out with Jerry and I, to playing with Aubrey and Travis and then playing soccer with Micah and Jax. The kids were so worn out by the time we left. They fell asleep as soon as we got in the car basically. We had a great time even if the Cardinals didn't win!

We've Moved!!!

I know you are thinking . . . "What?" But you read the title right, we have moved. It has been a whirlwind the last 2 weeks. We have talked alot about moving out eventually and possibly renting our home. But when the market and economy went south we put those thoughts on hold. Then, one of Jerry's friends actually told us they were looking for a place to rent and we decided we would take him up on that, but that meant moving in with my parents!!! : ) That way we can save some money, and eventually find a house we really like. So, in one week, we packed up the house, moved into my parents basement, sent some of our stuff to Jerry's mom's house, and other stuff to his sister's house. Mind you both Jerry and I were both working that whole week as well! I basically packed up most of the house. Jerry got out all of the big stuff and then my mom and Dad, Jerry's mom and Tony and Jerry and I cleaned and packed up all the last minute stuff on Saturday and cleaned the house to get it ready for the renter's to move in. Phew!!!! What an ordeal! Remind me never to move again! : ) It was actually good for me though, cuz I got rid of alot of stuff that we never use! So now we are trying to figure how to fit all of our "crap" (as I've been calling it) into our new home. The kids have been great through all this. They have loved living at grandma and grandpa's house. They might not understand the whole thing, but they are doing so good. We truly have great kids! So there it is. I will post pics once we get more settled!

P.S. We got rid of our home phone number. If you need to get a hold of us, call us on our cell phone numbers!

Tickle Time With Daddy

Make a Smilebox postcard

Cassie has started to smile and laugh and getting her own little personality! I love it! These pics were of her and Jerry playing and Jerry was tickling her. She was just laughing and smiling at Jerry. It was so sweet! She is already growing up so fast!