- We're now 28 weeks pregnant. You know what that means....lots of exhaustion, hungry all the time, swollen feet, mood swings. It's lovely.
- Ashley finished her summer semester and her bachelor's degree. WooHoo!
- Jayne spent 4 days at Primary Children's hospital with an abscess in the back of her throat. She was a real trooper and is now back to her happy, energetic self. Mom and Dad, however, are still trying to recover from that wonderful, sleep-deprived week.
- The kids took two weeks of swimming lessons courtesy of Uncle Jake's Christmas gift. Jonah and Jayne both loved it. Lilly liked it, but I think her instructor probably still has marks from where her fingernails were digging into his skin when he was trying to get her to float on her back.
- We've made a few trips to the zoo and saw the new polar bear, grizzlies, otters, sea lions, and seals.
- Ashley and the kids went camping with Grandma Laurie, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Jake. You'll love reading about this one. It has everything from drunk, loud neighbors to catching crawdads to a 3:00AM nose bleed.
- Nate got a job transfer to St. George and we are moving down there next week. The time from when he got the job to when we're moving down was about three weeks. Three very stressful weeks. I'll be so glad when it's all over with.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Just a quick "Hello"
Life has been crazy lately and this little blog has been neglected beyond belief. One of these days I'll do some nice long, detailed posts with pictures about all of the things that have been going on. But, for now, you'll just have to be happy with a brief rundown of the craziness that is life at the Barnum's.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Our Bear Lake Adventure
This week we embarked on a little family adventure to Bear Lake The plan was to camp out for two nights, enjoy the beach, the campfire and relax. Like many of our family adventures, things didn't go exactly as planned
We headed to Bear Lake on Monday afternoon and arrived at our campsite on Rendezvous Beach between 3 and 4:00. Our campsite was right next to the beach and the kids were very anxious to get in the water. They didn't seem to understand the concept of "setting up camp" before doing anything else.
As soon as we got everything set up and unpacked, the swimsuits came out and we hit the water. Well, the kids and I hit the water. Nate is not a big fan of swimming, but he did wade in for a little bit and play with the kids. Then Nate cooked our foil dinners on the campfire while the kids and I played in the water and the sand.
After dinner, it was time to get cleaned up. I swear I washed Jayne's hair three times and I was still finding sand in it when I combed it out! Ah, the joys of camping at the beach. You always find sand in the most uncomfortable of places.
When the kids and I were all cleaned up, we played some UNO and then it was time for s'mores. The kids really enjoyed roasting their own marshmallows. We didn't even have any black ones or any that caught on fire. I was impressed. We watched the sunset as we roasted our s'mores.
After s'mores, we put the kids and the dog to bed (yes, Henry came with us) and just as Nate and I were relaxing by the fire and thinking how nice this little vacation was going to be, we had some unexpected and definitely unwelcome visitors.
It had barely gotten dark and we were relaxing for a few minutes before cleaning up camp for the night when we heard something rustling around over by the trash bag. We shined our lantern in that direction to discover that not one, not two, but three skunks had invaded our campsite and were enjoying rustling around in our garbage. So how do you get three skunks to skedaddle without them spraying their lovely scent all over you, your tent, your dog, etc.? Good question, and if anyone has a scientifically proven answer I'd love to hear it so we can be better prepared next time. Our plan consisted of Nate chucking firewood in their direction until they decided that the area was a bit too hostile for their liking. Sadly, they didn't go far. Two of them headed into some bushes and trees right next to our tent and definitely made their presence known with that unmistakable aroma. After they left, we gathered up anything and everything that might possibly entice them to come back and made sure it was either in the trash or in the van.
We didn't get much sleep that night. Being a little over five months pregnant, my bladder was constantly interrupting any rest that I did get and I was resisting having to get out of the tent because I knew our little friends were still nearby. We were also regaled with the really loud noise made by some huge fish that decided to jump in the lake all night long. Those things were really slapping the water. We actually saw some of them jumping the next morning and were quite impressed. They were gigantic and could really jump out of that water. And last, but not least, our sweet Lilly was talking in her sleep off and on all night long.
Tuesday morning we woke up to the kids saying "Can we play in the water?" It was a little chilly for swimming still, so we made breakfast, loaded everyone up and went for a drive. Our neighbor had told us about the National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho so we thought we'd check it out. Who doesn't love a good museum? It was a beautiful drive around the lake and the museum was great. They had a railroad museum downstairs, quilt displays upstairs, and a really neat exhibit about Sasquatch sightings around the world and specifically along the Oregon/California Trail.
On the way back to camp, we stopped in Paris to see the Paris Tabernacle. What a gorgeous building! We enjoyed a private tour by a very knowledgeable guide. It was amazing to see the ornate details that were put into everything from the ceiling to the door hinges.
We headed to Bear Lake on Monday afternoon and arrived at our campsite on Rendezvous Beach between 3 and 4:00. Our campsite was right next to the beach and the kids were very anxious to get in the water. They didn't seem to understand the concept of "setting up camp" before doing anything else.
As soon as we got everything set up and unpacked, the swimsuits came out and we hit the water. Well, the kids and I hit the water. Nate is not a big fan of swimming, but he did wade in for a little bit and play with the kids. Then Nate cooked our foil dinners on the campfire while the kids and I played in the water and the sand.
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| Nate enjoying his dinner |
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| Mommy and Jayne chillin' at the picnic table after dinner |
When the kids and I were all cleaned up, we played some UNO and then it was time for s'mores. The kids really enjoyed roasting their own marshmallows. We didn't even have any black ones or any that caught on fire. I was impressed. We watched the sunset as we roasted our s'mores.
After s'mores, we put the kids and the dog to bed (yes, Henry came with us) and just as Nate and I were relaxing by the fire and thinking how nice this little vacation was going to be, we had some unexpected and definitely unwelcome visitors.
It had barely gotten dark and we were relaxing for a few minutes before cleaning up camp for the night when we heard something rustling around over by the trash bag. We shined our lantern in that direction to discover that not one, not two, but three skunks had invaded our campsite and were enjoying rustling around in our garbage. So how do you get three skunks to skedaddle without them spraying their lovely scent all over you, your tent, your dog, etc.? Good question, and if anyone has a scientifically proven answer I'd love to hear it so we can be better prepared next time. Our plan consisted of Nate chucking firewood in their direction until they decided that the area was a bit too hostile for their liking. Sadly, they didn't go far. Two of them headed into some bushes and trees right next to our tent and definitely made their presence known with that unmistakable aroma. After they left, we gathered up anything and everything that might possibly entice them to come back and made sure it was either in the trash or in the van.
We didn't get much sleep that night. Being a little over five months pregnant, my bladder was constantly interrupting any rest that I did get and I was resisting having to get out of the tent because I knew our little friends were still nearby. We were also regaled with the really loud noise made by some huge fish that decided to jump in the lake all night long. Those things were really slapping the water. We actually saw some of them jumping the next morning and were quite impressed. They were gigantic and could really jump out of that water. And last, but not least, our sweet Lilly was talking in her sleep off and on all night long.
Tuesday morning we woke up to the kids saying "Can we play in the water?" It was a little chilly for swimming still, so we made breakfast, loaded everyone up and went for a drive. Our neighbor had told us about the National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho so we thought we'd check it out. Who doesn't love a good museum? It was a beautiful drive around the lake and the museum was great. They had a railroad museum downstairs, quilt displays upstairs, and a really neat exhibit about Sasquatch sightings around the world and specifically along the Oregon/California Trail.
On the way back to camp, we stopped in Paris to see the Paris Tabernacle. What a gorgeous building! We enjoyed a private tour by a very knowledgeable guide. It was amazing to see the ornate details that were put into everything from the ceiling to the door hinges.
After the tabernacle, we drove back to camp. There were a few thunderstorms brewing, but it was dry at our campsite. We had lunch and then hit the water again. The kids had a blast swimming, building sandcastles, and making ponds and lakes on the beach by digging holes and filling them with water. Sadly, we didn't really get any good pictures of the kids playing in the water. That's probably because I was in the water with them and Nate was relaxing with a Louis L'Amour book.
Around late afternoon, we noticed some storm clouds coming in so we decided it was time to get out of the water. We had just gotten the girls showered and I was combing out Jayne's hair when the wind kicked up big time. We're talking major gusts of sand in your face. We hurried the kids into the (which was already filling up with dirt and sand) and started trying to cover food and secure chairs. It was all to no avail. Once we got things pretty secure, the tent gave up the ghost. It didn't just blow over or fall down. The wind literally ripped the tent from it's straps that were staked into the ground. Yeah, that's how bad this wind was. It wasn't nearly so windy when you were further in from the beach, but
with our tent being dead, we couldn't just change campsites or anything
like that. So without anywhere to sleep that night and the wind not dying down at all, we decided to head home a day early. We got the kids and Henry into the van and then Nate and I proceeded to throw everything together and get it all into the van with the wind whipping sand in our faces. Good times.
We grabbed some hamburgers and shakes for dinner on our way out of town since we hadn't had the chance to roast the hotdogs we'd brought for dinner and then we hit the road. We arrived home in Magna around 10:00pm and were greeted by a very hot house. Apparently weather here at home had been in the triple digits that day and was still lingering in the 90's. So we got the swamp cooler running and all of the fans going and then passed out for the night.
There you have it. That was our family adventure to Bear Lake. It wasn't anywhere near the relaxing time we had hoped for, but it was definitely a memory maker.
10 Years and Counting
Yet again, I'm a bit behind on my blogging. On June 29th, almost two weeks ago, Nate and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. Actually, "celebrated" may be a bit of a stretch. The day itself was awful, but it ended well with the kids at Grandma Laurie's for the weekend and Nate and I having dinner and a quiet evening together. The 30th was a good day though. =)
You'd think that after 10 years of spending nearly every day together, we'd be getting tired of each other. On the contrary, our relationship is stronger than ever and has grown in ways I didn't even realize were possible when we first tied the knot. I think we can attribute much of our growth to the trials we have had and the way we worked together, cried together, and pulled through each and every one together. A successful marriage is hard work, but the reward is worth it 100 times over.
You'd think that after 10 years of spending nearly every day together, we'd be getting tired of each other. On the contrary, our relationship is stronger than ever and has grown in ways I didn't even realize were possible when we first tied the knot. I think we can attribute much of our growth to the trials we have had and the way we worked together, cried together, and pulled through each and every one together. A successful marriage is hard work, but the reward is worth it 100 times over.
Happy Anniversary to Us!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
The Baby Name Game
As of today we are 22 weeks pregnant. Baby Boy gets stronger and more active every day. Sometimes I think he's working on some ninja training with the kinds of jabs he dishes out. Nate's even been able to feel a few kicks and thumps by putting his hand on my belly.
So now that we know we're having a boy, it's time to name the little bundle, right? With all of our children, we've pretty much had their names picked out from the time we conceived or even before. I thought it was the same with this one. We had a boy name picked out way back when we were pregnant with Jayne, so I figured we'd just use that. Then, the other day, Nate pointed out that it has been 4 years since we picked that name. Maybe we should "look at our options." So I started checking out baby name websites and doing some brainstorming. We ended up with a list of about 10 names that we liked and then narrowed it down to 3.
We noticed that we tend to like more old fashioned names. And for some reason all of our names seem to have originated in the Bible or are of Hebrew descent. I promise we didn't do that on purpose. We really have no formula for naming our kids. We don't do something catchy like have all their names start with the same letter or name them all after places or songs or anything like that. We just find names we like and it seems that there's always one name that just seems to fit.
So, here are our 3 finalists in alphabetical order:
Abram
Ezra
Jude
The middle name will depend on the first name. We use family names for middle names and have two that we're deciding between.
So, what do you think? Feel free to weigh in on which you like best and why. Just don't be offended or anything if we don't choose the name you like. It is our baby after all. =)
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Barnum Family Summer Fun (so far)
The kids have only been out of school for three weeks. To help combat
summer boredom, we've resolved to get out of the house as much as
possible and do something fun as a family every week. So far we've gone
to the zoo twice, Wheeler Farm, out shooting with Daddy, played in the
sprinklers a few times, done our weekly trip to the library, we enjoyed
the Salt Lake County Library's summer reading kick-off party, and we've
gone on a couple of picnics at the park. While it has been fun, I'm not
sure if I can keep up the pace all summer long. Come the middle of
August, I will be one worn out mama. So here are some pictures of our
summer adventures thus far.
So there you have it. Our adventures so far. There will be plenty more to come! Summer is just beginning.
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| Cooling off with some sprinkler hopscotch |
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| The girls with the DARE car at the summer reading kick-off |
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| You can't visit Wheeler Farm without climbing up on the tractor |
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| Jonah driving like a pro |
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| We decided to take dinner to the great outdoors |
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| Jonah & Lilly have taken up chess. They're not really big on strategy. It's basically just a matter of getting as many of the other player's pieces as they can. But they're practicing and getting better. |
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| We headed out to Grantsville so Nate could do some target shooting. They kids watched from the Jeep, looked for rocks, and helped set up and clean up targets. |
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| One day, the kids were playing downstairs while I was doing some homework. I guess they found the costumes in the closet and decided it was a good day for dress-up. |
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| Our first trip to the zoo this year. Grandma and Grandpa Barnum gave us a family pass for Christmas. Nate forgot his hat and decided he needed this over sized cowboy hat to keep himself all shaded. So now it has been dubbed "the zoo hat" and it will be worn every time we go to the zoo. |
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| We love the new Rocky Shores section of the zoo. I didn't get any great pictures, but the kids loved watching the seals and sea lion, sea otters and polar bear. |
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| Riding the Rhino |
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| On our second trip to the zoo, the kids decided that they need zoo hats too. So they each got one of these Junior Zookeeper hats. I guess I'm the only one now without an official "zoo hat". Maybe on the next visit we'll remedy that. |
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| The kids loved seeing this owl up close. Notice how the hats make it easy to pick them out in a crowd? They proved quite helpful throughout the day. =) |
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| And last, but not least, a pregnancy self-portrait in our lovely yellow bathroom. Yep, there's no denying it now. I'm definitely pregnant! This was at about 21 weeks. |
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Lilly's 6th
We're going to play a little bit of catch-up here on the Barnum family blog, okay? I'm so fabulously on the ball when it comes to this lovely patch of cyber-space that we're going to go all the way back to May 11th.
May 11th was Lilly's 6th birthday. As you may have guessed, this post will probably be a bit lengthy. So, here we go....
In Lilly's kindergarten class, instead of celebrating their birthday, her teacher does what is called their "Everyday Hero". She usually tries to have it on their birthday to help make the day special. Lilly was highlighted at the beginning of class. She filled out a paper about all of her favorite things. One that made me smile was that her favorite thing to do is "Cuddle with Daddy and watch a movie". She's a daddy's girl through and through!
The Everyday Hero also gets to bring their favorite book for Miss Farmer to read and can bring a small treat for the class.
Miss Farmer also has the kids talk about why they think the Everyday Hero child is a hero to their class. The kids said that Lilly is a good example, follows the rules, and is a friend to everyone.
We've started a tradition where the kids get to choose something fun for our family to do together to celebrate their birthday. With Nate's work schedule, he's usually working during the family dinners that we do on the weekend after their birthday. So this way, he gets to help us celebrate too. Lilly chose to go to Chuck E. Cheese. We had never braved Chuck E. Cheese before and I'm not going to lie....I was NOT looking forward to it. We've kind of avoided it like the plague. We went on a Wednesday afternoon around 4:00 PM to avoid the crowds. The place was virtually empty and the kids had a great time. It's still not my favorite place to go, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined it in my head. Think screaming children, germs everywhere, and lots of loud music. Yeah, it was pretty mellow compared to that, thank goodness. I didn't get any good pictures though. Sorry, you'll just have to imagine how cute they all were playing the arcade games and the insane amount of time it took them to decide what prizes to get with their tickets.
Lilly's Aunt Rachel moved to California this year. She sent Lilly a birthday package in the mail. It was so exciting for the kids to see the box on the porch and open it up. Here's a picture of them with all the fun stuff Aunt Rachel sent.
Then, on Saturday, we had her family dinner with Grandma Laurie, Grandma Great, and aunts and uncles. As usual, Lilly got a lot of fun gifts and enjoyed all the attention.
So there you have it. Our sweet Lilly is another year older and wiser too! We're truly grateful to have her in our family. She has such a positive personality, loves to be helpful, and truly is a friend to everyone.
May 11th was Lilly's 6th birthday. As you may have guessed, this post will probably be a bit lengthy. So, here we go....
In Lilly's kindergarten class, instead of celebrating their birthday, her teacher does what is called their "Everyday Hero". She usually tries to have it on their birthday to help make the day special. Lilly was highlighted at the beginning of class. She filled out a paper about all of her favorite things. One that made me smile was that her favorite thing to do is "Cuddle with Daddy and watch a movie". She's a daddy's girl through and through!
The Everyday Hero also gets to bring their favorite book for Miss Farmer to read and can bring a small treat for the class.
Miss Farmer also has the kids talk about why they think the Everyday Hero child is a hero to their class. The kids said that Lilly is a good example, follows the rules, and is a friend to everyone.
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| Lilly with Ms. Farmer during her Everyday Hero presentation |
Lilly's Aunt Rachel moved to California this year. She sent Lilly a birthday package in the mail. It was so exciting for the kids to see the box on the porch and open it up. Here's a picture of them with all the fun stuff Aunt Rachel sent.
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| New flip-flops for everyone, an outfit for Lilly, and a fun sprinkler/hopscotch/water thing to play in |
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| Lilly chose chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and pink writing. As you can probably tell, she's all about pink these days. On her birthday she wore all pink to school and here she's wearing her pink cupcake dress from Grandma and Grandpa Barnum and a pink princess hat. |
So there you have it. Our sweet Lilly is another year older and wiser too! We're truly grateful to have her in our family. She has such a positive personality, loves to be helpful, and truly is a friend to everyone.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
We really are still here
I haven't been very good at keeping our family blog updated lately, have I? My last post was so long ago that you may be wondering whether or not we've fallen off the face of the Earth. Let me reassure you that we are still alive and well. We've just been busy. Who isn't nowadays?
I believe my last post was about Nate's birthday in March. We have since made the official announcement that we are expecting another baby this fall. Our due date is November 1st. The kids and Nate are all very excited about this upcoming new addition. I must admit, however, that I go back and forth from excitement and joy to anxiety and wondering what we could have possibly been thinking when we made this decision. I blame it on the raging pregnancy hormones. So far the pregnancy's been pretty much normal. We've entered our second trimester, so the nausea has pretty much subsided. I'm still tired pretty much all the time, emotional as all get out, and hungrier than a hippo. Other than that.....
In other news, the kids are almost finished with their school year. June 1st will be their last day. They're all looking forward to the summer break and we're making a list of things we want to do. So far, it looks like we'll be making trips to the zoo, the aquarium, the museum of natural history, Red Butte gardens, bowling, picnicking, swimming, and probably a little camping in there too. It promises to be a busy few months.
I finished up my spring semester classes last week and started summer semester yesterday. This will be my last semester. As long as I can keep up with everything, I'll have my B.S. in Family Life Studies in August. Hallelujah! I've been going to school non-stop for the last two years and I'm very ready to be finished. My summer classes are already keeping me busy. One is a condensed course, which means we are cramming 15 weeks worth of material and assignments into only 7 weeks. While I'm grateful that I'll have one class out of the way a little early, the next 7 weeks are going to be a challenge. All three of them have interesting content, so at least I'll be learning something that I care about.
Nate is working like crazy. He's always working like crazy. He's also developed a lovely hernia. If you know his background, you know all about the wonderful double-hernia triple-cyst surgery he had in Mexico a little over 10 years ago. Well, this one is in the exact same place. We meet with a surgeon next week for a consultation and to set up a date to get this bad boy taken care of. I wouldn't be surprised if they find some interesting stuff once they get him open. If you haven't heard the Mexico story, you should ask him sometime. It will make you shudder in disbelief.
So, that's life at the Barnum's right now. What's up with you?
I believe my last post was about Nate's birthday in March. We have since made the official announcement that we are expecting another baby this fall. Our due date is November 1st. The kids and Nate are all very excited about this upcoming new addition. I must admit, however, that I go back and forth from excitement and joy to anxiety and wondering what we could have possibly been thinking when we made this decision. I blame it on the raging pregnancy hormones. So far the pregnancy's been pretty much normal. We've entered our second trimester, so the nausea has pretty much subsided. I'm still tired pretty much all the time, emotional as all get out, and hungrier than a hippo. Other than that.....
In other news, the kids are almost finished with their school year. June 1st will be their last day. They're all looking forward to the summer break and we're making a list of things we want to do. So far, it looks like we'll be making trips to the zoo, the aquarium, the museum of natural history, Red Butte gardens, bowling, picnicking, swimming, and probably a little camping in there too. It promises to be a busy few months.
I finished up my spring semester classes last week and started summer semester yesterday. This will be my last semester. As long as I can keep up with everything, I'll have my B.S. in Family Life Studies in August. Hallelujah! I've been going to school non-stop for the last two years and I'm very ready to be finished. My summer classes are already keeping me busy. One is a condensed course, which means we are cramming 15 weeks worth of material and assignments into only 7 weeks. While I'm grateful that I'll have one class out of the way a little early, the next 7 weeks are going to be a challenge. All three of them have interesting content, so at least I'll be learning something that I care about.
Nate is working like crazy. He's always working like crazy. He's also developed a lovely hernia. If you know his background, you know all about the wonderful double-hernia triple-cyst surgery he had in Mexico a little over 10 years ago. Well, this one is in the exact same place. We meet with a surgeon next week for a consultation and to set up a date to get this bad boy taken care of. I wouldn't be surprised if they find some interesting stuff once they get him open. If you haven't heard the Mexico story, you should ask him sometime. It will make you shudder in disbelief.
So, that's life at the Barnum's right now. What's up with you?
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