Ashton Christopher's 2nd Birthday

My sweet little gremlin/midget/monster/dinosaur turned 2!

Breakfast included some delicious chocolate chip pancakes.  Then we ran to the store for some ingredients (ice cream among them.) While out, we delivered Aunt Brooke's special Calendar and amused the post office patrons.  Then, because it was a birthday request from the birthday boy himself, we went to look at Puppies at the pet store. This was a let down as they were big puppies and mostly asleep.  But we enjoyed petting them and watching all the fishies swim.  Lunch and down for a nice birthday nap!  Then our fun friends came to visit for a little while and play. The bigger boys were having a few dominance issues, but Ashton didn't make a peep...he was having a great time playing along side all the big boys and with the big toys!

Meanwhile, Momma was putting the finishing touches on the Nemo cake.  I had more in mind, but Holly wisely advised that it was great - and to take a break on it.  So I did, but next time, there will be bubbles and some more coral-y type sea stuff...

Daddy came home and we dove right into dinner - another birthday boy favorite: chicken fried rice.  He ate spoonful after huge spoonful of rice and peas and chicken and eggs with vigorous urgency.  After dinner we joyfully hit the cake and ice cream and followed that up with presents!  His happy little face was lit! ALL NIGHT. (To date, he's had that little car and helicopter with him everywhere he goes.) To finish the night we had a family dance party down stairs. We pulled out all our favorite family tricks to loud music and sweaty little guys giving their all! Twirling, jumping, shaking a leg, spinning and hand pumps in the air were among the best moves.  Can't ask for a better day than that!

His current stats: 30 lbs.  And he is 35.75 inches tall.  I give it another 2 months before he's a flat 3'. 

We have all sorts of verbalization from Ashton now days.  Some of my favorites:  "Dada!! Get back here! Where are you?! Mmmm... Delicious. Thank you, you're welcome. Go on car ride. Go outside. Throw Rocks"
Often times he likes to comment on the softness or coldness of items we're playing with, "wow, soft pillow" And when he's feeling his 2 year old power he likes to tell me "No, nap. No rest. No food. No change bum. Just play." And when it's time to go to bed, he's conveniently hungry for a "snack."  He loves the book Good Night Moon, and enjoys the rhymes and voicing the sounds of the kittens and clocks, and the cow who jumps over the moon. He's got a great gremlin voice he uses while speaking 'elfish.' Though last week Holly and I were sure that he called someone 'fluffy face' in gremlin. Then, the other evening, the whole family was in bed reading scriptures, when my stomach growled.  Ashton looked at me with wide eyes and said "Dinosaur! ROAR! Bites!" Then proceeded to become a dinosaur, with vicious teeth, to battle me. It was hilarious. Happy Birthday you cute little sprite! We love having you in our family!

Time in Zion's Natl. Park

In November, soon after returning from Wyoming - there was a weekend.  The boys and I hadn't seen Shane in weeks, and even after we got back he had a vigorous work week.  I think it may have been 7 on 1 off, and then six back on.  So, seeings as how it was Stake Conference...and we had a little boy who was going to be miserable AT BEST during the two hour meeting, we decided to go to the Church of Zion.  (In Lander, once in a while, we'd go to the Church of Thermopolis. It's just the nice way of saying "skipping church to do something else." Which does not happen all that often, just so you know ;))

So, off we went towards Zion!  A beautiful fall day.  Colors abounding! We come to the gates of Zion - and they open for us...for FREE!  Yes, it was free entrance day at Zion.  And by the looks of it, not too many people know about it.  The park was NOT crowded, most of the visit was just the four of us exploring the majestic wonder.

All of us went of at a good pace up the trails.  Ashton was near impossible to stop.  He loved the long path in front of him.  Loved running up the winding trail.  Loved being flanked by whoevers turn it was to catch up to him.  Nathan, on the other hand, loved stopping.  Mostly because he knew we had our cameras out.  And he wanted to be in every picture!  He stopped SEVERAL times along our hikes saying "how bout one here, and now one here..." on and on and on!  Finally I had to tell him enough! Our spirits were high, but how couldn't they be?  Look at this place!

When lunch time came, we thought about skipping out of the park and down into town for a bite to eat, but we didn't want to lose a moment of our time.  So we headed to the Lodge, expecting the worst, in terms of menu pricing.  Guess what?!  NOT SO BAD!!  The food was very tasty - Shane and NQ got Burgers, Ashton got noodles, and I, a turkey sandwich with the barley soup.  Again, not crowded, and we were seated right by a window, so we didn't miss a single moment of park!

Wild Turkey - I did not eat this one.

After lunch the boys played some tag out on the lawn in front of the lodge, and then we went out for another trail.

We left the park, just as the sun was bursting through some clouds as the early fall sunset started to close in on the day.  It was a fantastic day.  And what we felt together, as a family, out in nature - was certainly a marvelous feeling that we would not have felt together, as a family, had we tried to endure a stake conference meeting.

With Zion being less than one hour away from over very doorstep in St. George, this is the PERFECT day trip destination!  While there this trip, we also drove through the 1 mile tunnel up above the park, if you have never done this, I suggest you do, at least once in your life.  It's neat to see how they've bored the gigantic tunnel right through the mountain rock!  The "windows" or air pockets for ventilation are arches that can be seen as you drive toward the tunnel.  Now, I guess there's a separate charge for the tunnel, but not on FREE entrance day!  So we lucked out TWICE!  This was a great little family day that we hope to make a couple times a year.

Here's the house..for Christmas.

Haven't downloaded or uploaded or unloaded Christmas Day Photo's.  But here's how the decorating started:

This December we've been fans of bike rides/walks and ending in a picnic. 

This day was a picnic in the back yard.

November things to celebrate.

As most of the readers of this particular blog are aware of; tragedy hit the Barney / Thompson family in October.  And much of getting back to blogging or back to life in general hasn't been easy. I'm not ready to blog any of that...I've put plenty of thoughts and feelings into other places, and don't feel that I will do it here, now.  Maybe some other time.  But the tragedy is real, and has affected me deeply. 

I generally post happy things, and I don't like to whine, or complain very much, and if I do, it's usually jokingly about superficial troubles. Or everyday junk.  I suppose I don't like tapping into the serious side - and letting a lot of those strong feelings ooze out into my public life.  Pretty sure that's normal.   Sad, bad, serious things happen - and turn the world you know into something unrecognizable. Takes a while to clear the head, you know?

But good things have happened - and those things are important for me to share here.  

The boys on Nathan's Birthday, before church.

Nathan turned 5!  Five years ago that sweet, blue eyed, blonde headed boy entered our lives and turned it into a magical wonderful place.  We had three different celebrations for him with different parts of the family and bestest friends.  One party in Lander (still in October) and two in St. George.  



Riding his awesome birthday bike



I turned 33 on 11/11/11.  The day itself wasn't much out of the ordinary, but my sweet little ones were adorable all the day long...later, the party would come.

 

Me on 11/11/11 - only photo.



Thanksgiving the Barney clan arrived in St. George to stay with us!  We cooked, and cooked and ate and hiked in Zions, and Snow Canyon, and did some shopping and walking, and talking, and sitting outside in the sun, and had a picnic with deer and wild turkeys.  It was good to have us all together. Bittersweet. We played with the St. George Shepherd clan a couple of times and enjoyed thier cabin in Pine Valley as well as cooked up some pork ribs Grandma Shepherd Style at the Petty Home.



The Barney's Picnic in Zion: note buck deer over Wes's shoulder.



Directly after Thanksgiving, Holly Harris and I adventured to Northern Arizona for a Momma Vacation.  Truely this was a saving grace for my well being.  A five night, six day, child and husband free vacation to do whatever it was that we wanted to do.  No time schedules, no rules, no one to please or look after but ourselves.  We took walks, hiked, saw amazing scenery, ate incredible foods, slept in luxiourious Marriott properties, shopped and shopped and shopped some more - and talked and talked and talked and watched food network and movies and TV shows with NOT ONE interruption! We ate Popcorn and cupcakes in our beds, and no one asked for any - or spilled crumbs in the sheets! We saw Bryan Adams ('s new line of eyewear.) And drove more roundabouts in 1/4 of a mile that you would see in the whole state of Utah... 



Sedona: Climbing up Cathedral Rock, and looking out.



This is where the party (for my 33rd birthday) comes in....My Dear Sweet husband took almost his whole years worth of vacation time to send me on this trip.  He stayed home from work, to be with the boys - which, as any mother knows, is work! This was a beautiful gift to me:  peace of mind of how the boys were getting along, and with who.  He worked the entire Thanksgiving holiday, including Thanksgiving day so as to ensure his time off for me.  Did we miss him at Thanksgiving, YES, was it special for me to get away.  YES.  I have been away ONE night (away from the boys) since Nathan was born.  That's it. ( Other than when I was in the hospital with my transfusion after Nathan, and the time I was in the hospital recovering from Ashton's birth. ) That's it, ONE time away from them.  I love them and want to be with them.  But this was an amazing AMAZING gift.

Bear with me as I get back to a regular blog schedule.  Right now, I'm thinking once a week will be something I can manage!  (P.S. The spell check on this thing is NOT working.  Please deal with my misspelled words!)

Pat on My Own Back

Just going to brag about my accomplishments today.  Before 2 o'clock in the afternoon this is what I got done:

1. Babies up snuggled, fed eggs and ham breakfast and dressed.

2. Donations for D.I. collected, bagged, tagged and curbed before 8:30, as instructed.

3. Bed sheets washed, dried and replaced

4. Kids Halloween Craft created
5. Jetted tub filled, cleaned with bleach water, emptied, and filled again for rinse cycle - plus wiped down walls and bottom of tub with cleaner.
6. Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies made for my primary bribery, ahem, motivation program.
7. Lunch for both gremlins and one down for nap.
8. Load of dishes done and unloaded
9. Work out done, showered and redressed
10. another load of laundry in; plus a special load of delicates.

This was all before 2!

 Nathans special Candy Corns.

I hate to say it, but for the second Saturday in a row, the smallest gremlin is sporting a miserable fever. He woke up early from his nap, just burning! Last weeks fever lasted for about three days, I assume this cycle will too - and that means  tomorrow will be pretty yucky.  Even now, the kidlet is attached to my leg with constant whimpers.  I HATE sick season!  I've been keeping EVERYTHING as clean as possible!  We wash hands, clothes, sheets, sippy cups, fridge...it's just the nature of the beast I guess. 

Note the colors on the ghost, this is Ashton contribution to the craft.  He colored the white paper, I cut it out in ghost shapes and added eyes, NQ glued!  FUN Craft Time!

Petty's Pallet Patio

Okay, If you're on Pinterest, and following me, you'll see that I have these Pallet Pins all over the place. Here's the thing. You can often find piles of pallets for pennies! (or free) And with some time and some power tools I want to turn my desolate patio into a perfect party place! (I don't usually overuse the letter "P" but for this post, at Petty's Place, it's seem aPpropriate.

Note: none of these pictures are from my camera or of my yard. In case you were curious.

Here's the inspiration(s):

The Side Table

The Planter: (imagine bigger and overflowing with Petunias!)

The couch: near the fire Pit (which will not made from Pallets)

The Rolling Coffee Table! I find this thing adorable!

So Now I need to find said Pile of Pallets and begin my pragmatic, penny pinching plan to present my patio with!

Huge Time Off.

Sorry, But I've taken time off (over a year) from the blog. It's time to get back to it.

NQ had preschool today and sang me a song about the rain drops falling on his nose, nose, nose. And he let me know that he was finger painting leaves. Red ones, like the kind for fall. He adores preschool, and I'm glad. We walked to school today as the drops fell on our heads, heads, heads. Nathan must have enjoyed this too, because he asked if we could walk to school every day. I don't see why not... Ashton fell asleep on the way back to the house.

Ashton REFUSES to say Momma, unless it's when he's neeeeds me. Why? He's torturing me. We say: Say Dada! And he says: Dada! We say: Say Nay Nay! (the name we use for Nathan - Olivia Barney came up with it.) And he says: Nay Nay! and this list goes on with words like cow, cup, shoe, sock, puppy, car, Dino, etc. But HE REFUSES TO SAY MOMMA!! He just gets quiet and puts this little smile on his face, like he's enjoying a private joke. Wiggles his blond noggin ear to shoulder, ear to shoulder. He's such a little PUNK!

St. George is growing on me. I'm liking the October temperatures the best. June - September were pretty warm. I've heard I'll get used to the heat. I'm hoping that's true! Went for a cool morning jog today. Can't wait to get until my mp3 is charged up and I have more time to take on the trails!

Okay, this particular post wasn't stellar. Or even interesting. But at least I'm back on. And you may be asking yourself "Why in heaven is Ashton wearing a KILT?" Not ready to write up that post just yet :)

(And the look of my page is horrific, but the blogger wouldn't support the html that I was using two years ago when I was a more regular post person. So this will have to do until I can pay some attention to it.)