We can't forget about Misty!

Ever since we got Misty a little less then a year ago, our kids have been very concerned about knowing when her birthday is, so we can celebrate it. Well this past week the day arrived, and the kids wanted to have a big party! Well, me being the mean mom I am said we were not having a huge birthday party for our dog! They did talk me into getting her a few presents though =) Here are Alexis and Tori holding her wearing her new pink dress =)



When Levi woke up he got to give her the huge bone we got her.

Misty loved her bone so much. The rest of the day she stayed in her dog bed guarding it. It was so hilarious! Every time anyone would walk near her she wold start growling at them! In this picture one of the kids was walking towards her. Look at that glare!


I know it may seem kind of silly to dedicate a post to Misty's birthday,but we sure do love our little dog =)

Meeting Kacianna

It's so hard living far away from the majority of my siblings, but it is especially hard when one of them has a baby! I am so grateful for cheap flights, and a husband with a very flexible work schedule, so that I was able to travel to Utah for a few days to meet my newest niece, Kacianna Lily Ford. It was so much fun to spend some time holding and cuddling this cute new bundle of joy,

I also got to spend time with my cute nephews Mason and Carter. I tried several times to take a decent picture of the two of them together, but I never got one with both of them looking! Here they are enjoying the light up suckers I brought them.


It was so fun to see them with Kacianna. They love her so much already!


Carter could often be found pushing a chair across the kitchen to get to a treat that was out of reach. Here he is finishing off some corn bread that we had for dinner one night.

Cindy and AJ drove down from Salt Lake for Kristalyn's baby shower, so I also got to see my other new niece Lyla! She has grown so much and is such a cutie. I got to hold her and snuggle with her for a while. She was all smiles and giggles and such a joy! Every time she would laugh or smile she would thrown her head back. It was so cute.


I was grateful to be able to spend some time with Katie and Daniel too. It was so much fun visiting with them.

I had a great weekend, and while it was hard to leave, I was really missing Brandon and the kiddos, so I was glad to be back home with them. What a great weekend I had!

Happy Birthday Cindy

Today is my sweet sister Cindy's birthday! I couldn't let this day go by without a happy birthday post for her! It has been so much fun to watch as Cindy has adapted to motherhood so well these past few months. I have never seen her so happy, and it is such a joy to see. Cindy has always been such a loving sister and friend. It is so hard living so far apart from her, as well as most of my siblings =( but whenever we get together it's as if no time has passed. We tend to be a lot a like and think a lot alike, so we always get a lot of laughs out of that and it's fun to know that she totally understands what I mean when I say something completely ridiculous, because she probably thinks the same thing! I know that this past year will be hard for you to top, but I hope this next year is just as wonderful for you!! We love you Cindy! Happy Birthday!!

Skiing with Dad

Yesterday Brandon took Alexis skiing for the first time. She was beyond excited, and didn't even complain when we made her go to bed early the night before so she would be well rested. Brandon and her got up really early so they would be there in plenty of time to get her enrolled in a class and get to the right place. Here they are waiting in the lobby, excited to start their day. A few minutes after they took these pictures they got ready to go to Alexi's class only to realize that they were on the completely wrong side of the resort! They had to hurry out to the van, drive to the other side, ride a bus, then a gondola. They made it just in the nick of time

We decided the best idea would be to enroll her in a full day class. That way she could learn the basics and be with other beginners too. Here she is getting her skis on about to start her class. That red thing around her leg is a GPS so they can know where the kids are at all times

She had such a blast learning to ski. Her teacher said she had the perfect attitude and was a natural. Brandon stuck around most of the day, watching her. He took hundreds of pictures. Here are some of the best ones.

Alexis stuck with this girl in the red coat all day. They became fast friends and would help each other out along the way.

Here she is going up the ramp that took the kids up to the top of a little hill that they would ski down. She took her coat off at this point because she was too hot.

Here she is going down the hill for the first time with her teacher guiding her.

She did great!

Up again for another go at it.

Here she is on her very first lift ride. Aren't there supposed to be seat belts on those things or something??? lol

Here's another little contraption that they used to pull the kids up the mountain

Snow plow!

She had so much fun! After her class was over, her and Brandon went on a few runs together. On the last run they got stuck on a blue, and Brandon slowly guided her down. He said he only had to jump in front of her a few times to stop her. She was determined to make it to the bottom and she did great! I am so glad that she had such a good experience her first time skiing. The first time usually determines if you are going to like it. My first time was very traumatizing and I haven't been much since. I am glad to see that she will not be following in my footsteps. She is going to take a few more lessons this year. She has Tori and Levi wanting to go now too, so we are going to get them in some lessons too.

To end with, here is a little video Brandon took towards the end of the day.

Christmas Day

Our kids were so excited when Christmas finally arrived! We got up around 7, and they could hardly wait to go downstairs and see if Santa had come. Here are a few traditional stair pictures.

He came!!! Alexis got Zhu, Zhu pets (this years most popular toy, and nearly impossible to find in any stores) I told Alexis I was glad it was up to Santa, because I couldn't find them anywhere =) Tori got a brand new collection of craft things, which has kept her very busy in the days since Christmas. Levi got Baukugans, his most recent obsession.

Here are some pictures we took capturing the excitement of the morning:

We had a nice relaxing morning. After checking out what Santa brought we had a yummy breakfast, and then opened up our presents to each other. The kids were so much fun to watch. Their excitement for each gift was contagious. After the opening of presents was done, we had fun playing, and putting together our fun new things.

At about 3:00 we headed over to my parent's house where the rest of my family was. We opened up our presents from my parents, as well as from our sibling and cousin gift exchange. Here are some pictures from that.

Levi, of course, had to get Mason Baukugans. He had a blast showing him how they worked =)

We had so much fun hanging out everyday with all of my siblings (minus Daniel and Charbel, who we missed terribly). Here are some of the things that we did:

• We had our annual extended Barker family Christmas party at my Grandpa Barker, and his wife Emmy's clubhouse. We always have a yummy dinner, do a service project of some sort, sing carols, and enjoy each other's company. It was a smaller group then usual this year, but it was still fun. Their are several great grandchildren around the same age now, and they all had so much fun playing together. It reminded me of when I used to have so much fun playing with my cousins at family functions when I was little. Grandpa and Emmy always get all of the great grand kids cute stuffed animals. My girls were thrilled that they got "Ty girls" which they have been wanting for a while.
• Many, Many trips to Target. I think we went at least once per day, maybe more. I love that store, as do each of my sisters and my mom. Here's a funny story from the first time that we went. Katie, Cindy and I all felt so light headed the whole time we were there. We ended up having to stop and share an old smooshed nutrigrain bar that Cindy had in her purse. As I am typing this I realized that it doesn't sound that funny. I guess you had to be there, lol.
• Making lots of yummy treats
• Eating lots of yummy treats
• Kristalyn and I spending hours making a baby blanket that should have taken an hour at the most. That darn sewing machine was on the fritz!
• Playing Bop-it
• The guys all going to see Avatar together, (minus Michael. He likes hanging out with us better)
• Saying over and over that we were going to play a game, but then ending up visiting instead.
• All of the kids hanging onto my dad's legs and him dragging them throughout the house. What a workout!
• Taking hundreds of pictures
• Just spending time together making lots of memories.

I love my family so much and it was so fun to spend the week with them! Here are some pictures that we took throughout the week in no particular order

This is my last post for 2009. Now I can start on my blog book! Happy New Year!!