Welcome Home Mom and Dad!

My parents have just returned from their mission in Las Vegas, Nevada. They served there for a year where they taught and served people in the Las Vegas area as well as on an Indian reservation in Needles, California. They arrived on Saturday and Scott and the boys picked them up. These are a few shots from when they first arrived and also right before church on Sunday where they gave their official homecoming talks. It is good to have them home...I've sure missed them, and espeically appreciate the help with the kids and everything! They will be here until August 15th and then are off to visit other family, go on a cruise, etc. Then they will be living with my Grandpa in St. George, Utah.

Next weekend we welcome home my studly brother Brian home from his mission in Mexico...so stay tuned for pictures of his return:)

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary...How Does Your Garden Grow?

Our garden is in full bloom! It has been so fun for the boys to watch it grow and develop. They go outside almost every day to "check" the garden and they will come in and want to show me the latest thing blooming or how tall the corn is. So here's a few pictures of the starts of our pumpkin crop, the corn (which I'm actually more excited about using as decoration in the fall...I plan to use the dried cornstalks and tie them to the pillars on the porch...we planted lots of pumpkins, mini pumpkins, and gords...so we'll be decked out in decorations this fall:)...We planted three kinds of squash which are ready for picking...and we are getting zucchini coming out of our ears! Maybe I'll make some zucchini bread:) This was a new adventure for me planting a garden. I did it as a personal progress project for Faith, and admit it did take faith to plant it as I really didn't know if I had time to do this...but as always...the Lord provides...and our garden is bountiful:) (ok, maybe that sounded a little cheesy...)...anyways, it's been fun and I've decided I'd like to always have a garden. (And if anyone wants any zucchini, let me know!)

Hilarious Blog Satire!

Ok, for all my Mormon Blogger friends out there...you HAVE to check out this blog...it's a total satire making fun of blogging Mormon women and it's hilarious!! Love it! We have to laugh at ourselves sometime right:) he he Check it out!! and read the whole thing...so funny! Got it from a BYU roomie from Texas...(we both have blogs:) Love it!

http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/

Reunited!

This post goes out to my two dear friends from High School....Helen and Angel. We were best buds (along with Melanie, our fourth sidekick) all through high school and have always stayed in contact and gotten together frequently...but with kids being born and Angel living in Ohio, we haven't seen each other in like 3 years...so we had to take a picture of us with our daughters to document the get-together:). Helen has a four year old boy and a 2 year old girl. Angel has a 4 year old boy, a 2 year old boy, and 8 month old girl and is pregnant with her fourth. And of course I have two 4 year old boys and two 8-month olds:)...so all the kids played together and had a great time. It was soooooo much fun to catch up. We let the kids play at Imagination Station and then had lunch at McDonald's (needed a place for all the kids to run:) It was a great day!:) Thanks ladies...love ya!!

Potter Park Zoo!

Today we braved the Potter Park Zoo during "Zoo Days" which are the two free days they have each year. Man it was crowded! But the boys hardly noticed and loved looking at the animals (when they could squeeze in to see them!)...Some of the highlights were riding the camel and horses and of course the cotton candy, ice cream, and popsicles:) The weather was beautiful and we got to hang out with good friends, so it was a great day:) And as far as the crowds...live and learn...next year I'll know not to go on free day:) he he

Fowlerville Family Fun Fair!

Here are a couple pics of the kids checking out some of the animals at the County Fair in Fowlerville. Good old fashioned family fun!

Happy Birthday Tanner & Logan!!!!

Last night we celebrated Tanner and Logan's 4th birthday...seems like just yesterday they were born and now they are four years old! My little babies are growing up!

Tanner's CT Scan

This last Monday Tanner had a CT scan of his head. He has been suffering from severe migraine headaches where he can't tolerate light and sound and throws up and basically goes to sleep for a few hours until it's gone. It's hard for us as his parents to see him suffer so much. When I was a child I suffered from migraines and sometimes still do...however, the doctor said since he's so young and gets them so frequently, it would be a good idea to get a CT scan to rule out anything serious that could be causing them. So Tanner and I had a special "date" to St. Joe's hospital in Ann Arbor for his CT scan. At first he was leary of the big machine, but they let me lay on there and they showed him how they put me in the "donut camera" and then he was ok with it. He laid so still and squeezed his eyes shut and held onto the teddy bear they gave him for the 5 minutes it took them to do the scan. (It also helped that I told him that if he didn't lay still, they would have to put him to sleep to do it!...I didn't want him sedated if he didn't have to be!)...Anyways, it was funny cuz Tanner was just in heaven having me all to himself that day, because he hardly ever gets one-on-one time with me. He was a total angel (no babies to bug or brother to fight with..hehe...the whole time I kept thinking...man, this having one child thing is a piece of cake!! Anyways, we get the results in about a week, so hopefully everything is fine:)

Fourth of July in Indiana!

We had a great July 4th weekend visiting my sister Tami and her husband Steve and their two kids Dallin and Jackie in Indiana. They used to live in Bloomington, IN and then moved to Atlanta,Georgia, and recently moved back to Indiana (they actually bought the house that is in the back yard of their old house!) It was a great visit as we spent time barbecuing,(lots of eating:), doing sparklers, watching fireworks at IU, going to the park, swimming, and just hanging out and chatting:) So here are a few pics of our visit...The first is of the kids dressed in their red, white, and blue the morning of the 4th as we headed out to Indiana...and some of my favorite pics are the ones of Mallory and her cousin Jackie (the only girl cousins on this side of the fam), and my wonderful sister Tami! I love her!!!!

More Indiana Pics

Here are a few more pics of Indiana...Our 4th of July dinner that my brother-in-law Steve made(delicious), celebrating my nephew Dallin's birthday, doing sparklers while we waited for the fireworks to start at Indiana University, (check out Logan's shirt...goes perfecly with the spaklers:)...and finally the kids swimming in the subdivision pool. We had a great time!....Thanks Tami!!!!!

Balloonfest, FHE, Southern Belle, and Spicer's:)

This is totally a random post...Last Saturday I went to a baby shower for Cindy Syracuse...and while I was there Scott took the boys to do some children's activities on the courthouse lawn...something they had set up in association with Balloonfest. So here is Logan meeting a firefighter and the boys playing on some mats and tunnels.

On a different note, Monday we had a patriotic Family Home Evening and talked about our country and the reason we celebrate July 4th...I explained a little about the Revolutionary war and how we declared independence from Britain and about our Declaration of Independence and constitution (not sure how much they understood, but worth a try, huh?:) Anyways, we made a "Barb Family Constitution" about what is important to us and how we live...and then all signed it. Can you see Tanner and Logan's signature? We are working on it:)

Also, I had to throw in the picture of Mallory...Scott thinks I dress her like a Southern Belle going to the Kentucky Derby:)...no!...but I do have to say she was the best dressed girl at McDonald's playland yesterday:)

Lastly, today we went to Spicer's Orchard for church playgroup. Here are some of he boys on the tractor:)

And now we are off to Indiana this weekend for July 4th to visit my sister Tami and her family...YAY! So stay tuned for some great patriotic cousin pics as we will be barbecuing, swimming, sparklers, and watching fireworks at Indiana University:)...we are excited!

Loves!
~Julie