Waiting anxiously

We are awaiting the arrival of our little one anxiously! I am trying to enjoy the little time we have left as just the 2 of us but I find myself really excited for the new baby. I feel a little more prepared now because the past few weeks I have been getting things ready for our little one. I haven't had any showers yet but I will be having one on Saturday and then one more the next Saturday which will be fun. I do have the basic stuff ready that I have and if it came today we would be good.

I am still working and I think I will work until I can't anymore. I have started my weekly appointments yesterday with the doctor and she said everything looks great! I am dilated to a 1 and the baby weighs 6 lbs 9 oz so it should be a good sized baby. The due date is still set for January 21st but we will see when it really decides to come. It may be early and it may be a little later.

We had an awesome Christmas this year and Kip surprised me with a lot of really fun things! Cassie my sister also got me a few things that made me really excited! Cassie surprised us with a ping pong table which Kip has been wanting for so long, she is so thoughtful! It was really fun this year to have her and Noah here with us! Noah brings so much joy into our home and we enjoy having them so much!

Update

We have been so busy with stuff going on in our family and I have been a big slacker with posting lately. Life is going really good right now and I feel so blessed with everything I have in my life.

Last night my little brother Jordan got his mission call. He is going to the Eugene, Oregon Mission and it will be Spanish speaking. It's pretty exciting and neat especially because my uncle and his family live in that area. He will be an awesome missionary and I am so proud of him for choosing to go!

Our baby is so fun right now in my stomach because it moves around so much and is very active. I am really going to miss having it move so much inside me when it is born! I am now 30 weeks and my belly is HUGE! I am not sure how much more my belly can stretch but I am sure you mothers know that feeling.

I am loving the holiday season right now! I love this time of year and all that comes with it! I can't wait to get our Christmas decorations up and my house smelling like Christmas!

Here is a picture of me and my cousin Amy. Amy is 3 weeks behind me in pregnancy and it has been fun to compare our belly's the whole time. She is so tiny and I just poke way out there!

Our little one's pictures

Here is the newest pic of our little one. I know some people think it's kind of a freaky weird picture but I LOVE it!

Happy 27th birthday Kip!

Today is my hubby's 27th birthday and I just wanted him to know how much I love him!

Here are 27 things I LOVE about him:

1. He is the most amazing husband!
2. He will be the cutest dad to our new little one!
3. He loves, loves, loves basketball!
4. He is very helpful!
5. He is such a hard worker!
6. He loves movies!
7. He can remember almost every movie and can quote it word for word!
8. He honors his priesthood
9. He is very giving with his time
10. He loves hunting and is a very good shot!
11. He is so sweet to me
12. He is very handsome and so sexy!
13. He has recently started loving Coke but loves Mountain Dew
14. He loves a good steak
15. He LOVES chocolate and peanut butter!
16. He is very knowledgeable about the gospel
17. Loves the office
18. Loves 24
19. Loves the Utah Jazz
20. Loves spending his time at home just hanging out
21. He is so funny and makes me laugh so hard
22. He loves being a little bit cold because that's when it feels the best to him
23. He hates being the center of attention and loves being one on one with people
24. He always has his hair buzzed down to the shortest length
25. He is a good cook when he does it
26. He has a contagious laugh
27. He loves me so much and I am so thankful for him!

I hope you have an awesome birthday honey! I love you so much!

Shhh..don't tell

I finally found out what we are going to have but Kip wants to be surprised so I now know and Kip is going to hold out until delivery day. It's kind of fun but I have found myself slipping more than a few times. I also can't show him anything I buy unless it's unisex which isn't very many items. That kind of takes the fun out of it a little but it's still fun! So if you want to know what I am having then please text me or call me and I will gladly tell you. I love being planned and prepared so that is why I found out. I am thinking that once I have one of each then I will be better able to go without finding out but for our first I wanted to know.

A shoe/purse party Wednesday!

I went to a shoe party a little over a year ago and LOVED it so I decided to have one at my house with my sister. We will be having it tomorrow Wednesday August 19th 6:30-8:00 PM. It's an open house and they will have the shoes there for immediate pick up. Come and bring a friend and just get away with the girls for a night. It will be a lot of fun! Hope to see you there!

www.shoeparty.com is where you can go to see a list of shoes she will be bringing to the party. There are womens and little girls. They start out around the $20 range and can go up to $32.99 for boots.

Focus Four Run

Last year on August 24th, which was a Sunday I received a call from Sam who was my boss at Focus. He told me some very sad and surprising news, he let me know that some of our friends who had been traveling to Guatemala had died. I remember it like it was yesterday and I am so happy the company I work for cares enough to remember it!

These are my thoughts from last year and it brings tears to my eyes to remember this time.

2008 thoughts: We had 5 Focus employee's traveling to Guatamala to do a yearly Humanitarian project for a village down there. They had arrived in Guatamala City Saturday evening and on Sunday morning boarded a small airplane that would take them to the village where they would give service. The pilots reported engine trouble and went in to make an emergency landing in a field but they weren't able to. Four out of the five Focus people died and the survivor is in critical condition in a hospital in Guatamala. It really made me stop and think about how precious life really is. You never know when your time will be and every second of your life is so very precious. I think it will be something that helps me remember the important things in life and that we should take advantage of every single moment we have with the ones we love.

A year later Focus and the families of John Carter, Cody Odekirk, Jeff Reppe, and Lydia Silva have decided we want to celebrate their lives. We have put together a four mile race and one mile walk to honor these great people and raise money for scholarships in each of their names for other Focus employees.

I'm hoping that by posting this anyone who reads this will walk or run to participate and/or help me spread the word. The race is on August 22nd at the George Whalen North Park in Roy which is located at 4200 S. 1900 W. The four mile run starts at 7am and the one mile walk starts at 7:30am. The cost of the run is $20 and the walk is $15. Participants will receive a t-shirt and water bottle then be entered into a raffle to win a lot of awesome prizes. If you are interested in participating you can register by visiting http://www.focusfourrun.com/. At that website you can register online or print out the registration paper and mail it in.

Camping and family fun

Kip's sister Sue and her family came to visit from California this past couple of weeks. They were so much fun to see and hang out with! They stayed at Burke's who is just a couple houses down so we were able to see them a little. Kip and I were both really busy with work but we still managed to see them some and spend time with them.

This past weekend we went camping to the Uintah's and it was really nice! I loved getting away, spending time with Kip and doing nothing! Here are some pic's.

While we were gone we missed my grandpa and grandma Jones' 50th wedding anniversary picnic. We were so sad to miss it but we knew they were surrounded with lots of loved ones. Congrats Grandpa and Grandma! I hope Kip and I will be as cute as you when we get older.

Oh baby!

We are excited to announce that we are pregant! We are due January 21, 2010 which seems like a long ways a way but I'm sure it will come fast. We are so excited and can't wait to find out what we are having!

Happy Birthday Grandma CoCo!

My great grandma CoCo will be 100 years old on Thursday, we had a birthday party for her on Saturday and I just wanted to wish her a happy birthday! She is an amazing woman and has gone through so much in her lifetime! She has been a widow for over 35 years and has had to live without my great grandpa for a long time which would be hard in it's self. She has raised 3 sons and 2 daughters whom are all very neat people! She has tons of grandchildren, great grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren! She is so sweet, giving, loving and humble! She is also the most beautiful person I know inside and out! I think it's neat I have gotten to know her and been able to have so many wonderful memories of her even though she is 100. Just to let you know how much spunk she has for being 100 years old, she danced with all of her sons and son in laws at her birthday party and stood and gave a speech for about 15 minutes. Pretty amazing! We love you Grandma CoCo!

Our remodeled house

As many of you know we moved out of our house during most of May to get our house fully remodeled. We lived with Burke (Kip's brother) who lives 2 doors down from us in Hooper for about 3 weeks. Burke and Michele were so nice to let us stay at their house and I had a blast while being there those 3 weeks! We've been home for awhile but I've been such a slacker about posting and I am just getting around to doing it.

I will post some before and after pictures so you can see the difference. It may not seem like a lot to you but it feels like a new home to us, we love it! As we were moving our stuff out we decluttered a lot of stuff and now we have so much more space. We got new carpet, painted the walls and trim, took off mirrors that were EVERYWHERE, got tile in the kitchen, added some new furniture and now we have the finished product.

Branding weekend

On Saturday my cousin Megan and her husbands family had branding weekend for their new calves on their ranch. They live in Park Valley, they brand the new little calves once a year and they are always so sweet to let us come. I LOVE Park Valley because we grew up going there and for me it always reminds of good memories. Branding is a needed process for ranchers but to me it's sometimes sad, I usually go to be amongst family and to enjoy the outdoors.

Saturday morning I had an early morning and woke up to a very rainy stormy morning which made me ask myself why I was going. I still got ready and drove to Cassie and Kevin's to drive out with them. Kip had to stay home to help his young men's group clean the church that morning and he didn't really want to go because of the rain. We got to Park Valley about 8:00 AM and visite with Meg (my cousin) while we waited for the boys to bring the cows in from the pastures. That is really neat to watch and we made it just in time. They brought them down and then had to seperate the mother cows from the babies, it's kind of sad but needed. Then all you hear is cows mooing because they are seperated from the babies. You line the little calves up for branding, castreting, medincine and de horning. I had fun talking to Cass, holding Noah, visiting with Katie and Meg and just watching the boys get the job done.

The Morris' made us lunch and we ate at their house which was really nice of them. We then visited at my cousin Meg's house before making the trip back home. It was a really fun day full of lots of excitement! I am so glad I was able to go, the weather turned out really nice and it was a gorgeous day!

That night I came home and my honey took me to dinner, his brother Burke came with us which was really nice! Anytime I get to spend with Kip is a perfect night!

Happy Late birthday Jeremiah!

I am really slacking on the birthdays but I wanted to post and tell my brother Happy Birthday! His birthday was April 14th. Thanks for being such a good big brother to all of us younger ones for setting a good example for us! We love you and we hope you had a great birthday!

April birthdays

We have a ton of our family whose birthdays fall in April. My dad April 8th, Cassie April 10th, Jeremiah April 14th and Amber April 30th. It's so much fun to celebrate them all and to see another year celebrated for each of them! For Cassie and my Dad we went to dinner at Pizza Ria (one of our family favorites!) and it was a blast! Although we missed Jeremiah because he was working and my mom and the kids because they are in Vegas we still had a ton of fun. They waiter brought the little kids Easter eggs with candy and I thought that was really sweet. They also got us in real quick, got us ordered and our pizza to us real quick. It was a really fun night!

We then finished up by going to Cass and Kev's for cake and icecream, it was really chill but great fun to sit and talk amongst each other. Happy birthday all!

Cassie's birthday

Friday April 10th was Cassie's birthday. I know it's a little late but HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I love you so much! You are such a great sister, the best mom, awesome wife and my best friend(next to Kip)! You are the most giving person I know and so easy to forgive. I am glad you had a good birthday and I hope you have a great year! We love you!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday and I wanted to wish him a HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! He is such a good example to me and I am so grateful for him! He is a hard worker, loving, fun and very kind hearted! Happy Birthday dad! We love you!

Conference weekend and Easter fun

I am so thankful for conference each time it comes, I know it doesn't bring the best weather with it but it is so good to hear the talks. Yesterday I watched conference while I was cleaning and doing laundry plus my dad was here redoing one of our bathrooms. There was a lot of confusion but thank goodness for a DVR so that I could rewind things I missed or pause and play when I was done getting the laundry. There were a ton of good talks and somethings that I really took to heart. I know I will apply a lot of what was said to my life and be blessed!

Last night we had a family party with the kids and the girls at my sister, Cassie's house. It was so much fun! Kip went to the priesthood session and I was so proud of him for going. It is so easy for us to just forget those and do the normal day to day stuff but I am proud of my husband and my brothers for choosing to go!

Today we had Burke's(Kip's brother) family over for conference all day and it was so much fun! We had them over for a big lunch and it was the first time so it was really fun to entertain us. Kip is always a little hesitant to have them over because they are really good cooks and great entertainers but I assured him it would be fine. It was great and I am glad we got to watch it together!

Sunday at Grandma Jones'

I already posted pictures from G&G Barkers when we had the birthday party so these are just pictures of Grandma Jones'.

Visit's to G&G Barker

As I said before almost every Sunday since I was little I would spend visiting my grandparents. I love it and it just doesn't feel right when I don't go! Today we had dinner at my Grandma Jones' then went to visit my Grandpa and Grandma Barker. They are so happy when we come to visit and I seriously LOVE going there! They are always waiting to greet us with a big hug and smile, their home is full of love and I feel so safe there. They are always full of fun stories about what they did throughout the week and I am thankful for their example of service. They are so worried about their kids and although they have the means to travel often don't because they are worried one of their kids will need them while they are gone. They are taking a break this next week and going to Arizona for the Easter pagent and are so worried about leaving us for Easter. I told them not to worry and to enjoy themselves! They definately deserve to have some fun and although we will miss them we are SO glad they will be traveling and enjoying that pagent and each other! I love you Grandpa and Grandpa (aren't they the cutest!)

Sunday dinner at grandma's Jones'

So as long as I can remember I've gone to both of my grandparents house's each Sunday after church so it feels like home everytime I go. Today was no different as my grams invited my family over for a birthday dinner at her house. One thing I love as well is the fact that even though her kids are all grown up, she still has each one of them and their families over for dinner on their birthday so today was my dad's turn.

Her house is always so inviting, comfortable and I can just feel the love their! She is always waiting for us, in her cute little apron's that she makes and greets us with a smile! She always has yummy food waiting for us including some kind of meat, some kind of potatoes, some kind of fruit or jello salad, some kind of roll or bread, some kind of vegatable, a delicious drink and a beautiful dessert. It is the best meal! Oh and her table is always set with the most beautiful dishes, table cloths and centerpeices. It is amazing and a lot of what I do when I entertain and cook, I've learned from her. She is such a good example to me and I am so thankful for all she has taught me! Here are some pictures from dinner at her house. Thanks Grams, I love you! Oh and here is a picture of her (doesn't she just look like the perfect Grandma!).

New Car Pictures

My new car

We finally got a new car this past weekend after sharing a car and saving for a little over 1 year. Right before we got married we decided to do the one car thing and it has worked out great, we have truly enjoyed the extra time we have been able to spend with one another. It has been hard but we were able to save for our new car and put half down. It ended up being a great purchase! We will post pictures soon.

Kip's shoulder

For those of you who know Kip, you know he loves playing basketball. He usually plays every Saturday with a few guys at the church and loves it! Yesterday he played and hurt his shoulder. He was in so much pain yesterday and today. I got him some Tylenol to take and an ICYHOT thing to wear so the pain would go away but he's still in a ton of pain. I feel terrible because there's not a lot I can do but hopefully he get's better. We had Kevin's birthday party yesterday at Chili's and then went to Kev and Cass's afterward, Kip was great to endure the pain and have fun. But we had to get home early so that he could lie down and get feeling better. Today he is a little better but not doing great. I'll keep you updated.

Birthday FUN!

My new schedule

I have a new schedule at work for a while and it's been a life changing event. We have been struggling at work and I was asked to change my shift for a little while to see if I could help. I wasn't to fond of the idea but knew it was something I could do even if it would change life for a little while. With the economy the way it is right now I am SO thankful for my job and I LOVE the company I work for so I am truly happy to do it. I have only done it for the past 2 days but I am enjoying being able to spend time with my employee's and getting to see just how hard their job truly is. I miss Kip because our schedules are way different now and our fun nights we could spend together but I know it won't be this way forever! I am thankful for Kip's support and Marjean (my aunt) who is willing to take me to work in the morning's since I don't have my own car.

My dad

My dad's company closed the location to where he worked out of and has been laid off for the time being. If anyone knows of anywhere that is hiring let me know! He is a very hard worker and knows how to do just about anything. He is very reliable, dependable and is like I said a very hard worker!

Kip's big buck

Kip and I share a car so we ride to and from work together, when we arrived home the other night much to my surprise (the taxidermist told us 6 months which would be April) there was Kip's buck hanging on the wall. I had wondered why he was so happy that day! So Kip finally got his buck from the taxidermist and it's now hanging in our living room. He love's it and it actually fits in our little living room very well! Here are some pictures. Sorry in advance to those who don't like hunting!

Our first anniversary

We finally made it to our first anniversary and has all seemed to go by so quick. I have loved our first year of marriage and have enjoyed all we've gone through. For our anniversary we just did it really low key and didn't get gifts for each other since there are other things that we could use our money for. We did however go to dinner and to a movie which was really fun! Our anniversary was the 22nd which was actually on Sunday but we celebrated on Saturday by going out. On Sunday I cooked us a yummy dinner and Kip did the dishes (how sweet!). It was a fun night!

Babysitting adventures

Occasionally we will babysit Burke's (Kip's brother) kids on Tuesdays because they have a class in Salt Lake that they go to. I love babysitting them and they are pretty well behaved kids. They love to play games and make things, type on the computer and color. Yesterday when they came they brought a friend who's mom was going with their parents to the class. I didn't know she was coming because my husband forgot to tell me but I didn't mind at all. She was so cute and we had fun with her. Her name was Sophia and she is 3 years old. She was so much fun to play with and to have around. We made Valentine's cookies and they each had their own color of frosting to frost their cookie with. It was fun to see how creative they could be with it.

Our new little neice

We had a new neice born over the weekend. Her name is Mia Victoria Christensen and she is soooo CUTE! They waited a long time for her and she finally came. We are so happy for them, Congratulations Christensen family!

Valentine's day

For Valentines day this year we went to the Salt Lake City LDS temple with G & G Barker, Mom, Jer and Amber and Kev and Cass. It was so much fun and I loved being there! The temple is always so beautiful and quiet, I enjoy the peace it has. I am thankful that we all went as a family because we haven't done that a lot.

After the temple we had a problem deciding where to eat but finally settled on The Outback which was yummy! We had to sit in two groups because they were a little busy but other than that it was nice.

We had gone to the temple in the morning and lunch in the afternoon so that night we watched basketball. Kip LOVES basketball and I enjoy it too so we had fun!

Day 1 of the Director Summit

If you don't work at Focus then you probably don't know what I am talking about so allow me to explain. I work for Focus Services and every year they do a Director Summit with upper management. I was lucky enough to get to go this year and today enjoyed day 1. It is a workshop teaching you about principle's and teaching skills to help with every day life as well as work. I am thankful for the company that I work for and the fact that it believes in developing the one. They are teaching me so much about life and skills to better others. I can't wait to go back tomorrow!

Superbowl Sunday and the Jazz game

We had a Superbowl party last Sunday and had a lot of fun! Nobody really likes football except my Grandpa Barker, Kip and the boys but it was an excuse to have a fun party with my family. We got a really good deal at Kent's last week on Pork Ribs and so we cooked those for our party for our first time. They turned out soooo good and we got them for a good deal! The party was fun and I was glad that everyone got to come hang out!

Benson (Kip's cousin) knew someone that had Jazz tickets so we bought them from him for Monday night's game. They were on the first row of the upper bowl but we still had fun! I always get so scared when you get those high seats because you are so far off the ground and I am terrified of heights but these ones weren't so bad. I mostly loved spending time with Kip and I really enjoy basketball and the Jazz so we had a great time! Hopefully we will buy tickets again and go.

Forever Strong, Facebook and Cassie going back to work

We finally got to see "Forever strong" (the Rugby movie) last Saturday night because it's playing at the Kaysville theater. We love those cheap movies since it's a great deal and it's still just as fun to watch the movies! It was a really good movie and had a great story line to it. I loved the things it taught and the values that were shown. I also enjoyed spending time with Kip!

Kip's new thing is Facebook and he is on it EVERY spare moment he has! I love the fact that he is able to connect with his old friends and catch up on what's going on with them. He loves it so much! I don't like that it takes a lot of his time but at lease it makes him happy!

Cassie(my sister) had her cute little boy in November and has to return to work on Monday. I feel so bad for her because I bet it is a terrible feeling to think of having to leave your baby. But I know she will be fine and he will be taken care of by people who love him and will take good care of him. Good luck Cassie!

Goodbye Allan and Annette

On Monday Allan and Annette reported to the MTC for the mission. We had the opportunity to go to dinner with the Utah family at Maddox on Saturday for one last time for at least a year and 1/2. It was a lot of fun! We met Burke, Michelle, Grandma, Brayden, Branson, Brynlee, Gary, Ann and Jared there with Allan and Annette. We had thought to do this earlier in the day so luckily we made reservations because we know Maddox is always packed and although we had reservations it still took them a minute to get us in. We had a lot of fun with them there! We took pictures, talked, laughed and enjoyed our time together. Jared (our nephew) surprised everyone with a nice new missionary haircut. He has had his hair really long the last little while and he looked like a different person that night at dinner. I think it was the perfect gift for Allan and Annette before they left!

On Sunday we went to church with them then spent some time with them that afternoon at Burke's for Brayden's birthday dinner. He had been ordained a priest that day as well which is pretty special! The following day Kip was able to go to the MTC with them and say goodbye. I bet it was neat and they are so excited to be going. They will do amazing on their mission and because they are such loving and giving individuals they will touch many peoples lives!

We love you Allan and Annette! Good luck in Mexico City!