Barth Blog

Work and Play

2012-01-31T14:19:00.000-07:00

I have a new little helper that likes to help me with everything. He enjoys sitting in the middle of all the laundry and moving things from one pile to another. He likes to help with the grocery shopping and wants to have his own list and pen to cross things off.

A few days ago when I left the pantry door open he found the broom and decided to sweep up the kitchen. This is an improvement over trying to use the little sweeper brush to brush his hair, which is what he has done in the past.

He loves to help in the kitchen and watch us cook.

He has also loved "helping" the workers that have been coming to our house. He has been walking around with a tape measure and measuring things where they have been working.

When he isn't "working" around the house, he likes to show off his new skills including going up the stairs. We are still working on the down part.

He enjoys listening to music, watching TV, and wearing dad's headphones.

He loves to eat. He makes some of his happiest faces when he sees grapes, tomatoes, bananas, and green beans. He will eat almost anything that isn't too spicy or sour. This picture was taken at our favorite pizza place (the Pi) right after he picked up a bite of the pizza and he saw the big string of cheese hanging off it. He was pretty excited about it.

We love going to visit our Bodell grandparents. Brigham likes to play Peek-a-boo with great grandma,

and do stickers with great grandpa.

When he isn't working or playing, he LOVES going to bed. We ask him now if he wants to go to bed, and most of the time he will start walking to the stairs by himself, point upstairs, and wait for us to open the gate and take him up. I think his love of going to bed may come from his love of his pacifiers, which he only gets in bed and the car, but wherever it comes from, we are grateful for it.

December Leftovers

2012-01-31T13:51:00.001-07:00

I thought I would share a few leftover pics from December. I love this one of us talking to Johnny on Christmas. He was able to use face time and for about 45 minutes all of the Hicks clan was connected through an imac, 2 ipads, and an iphone. Thank you Apple for helping to provide a great Christmas treat. It was so much fun to see my baby brother as a missionary!

This year we decided for our family gift exchange we wanted to use our creativity and not be so concerned about spending a certain amount of money, but try to think of something we could use in our homes or with our families. It was so much fun to try to think of things that we could make for each other. Julia monogrammed these mugs and came up with a quick family home evening that we could do for each letter of the alphabet. It was so clever. We appreciate all the FHE ideas and the mug has become my new favorite for hot chocolate.

Becca made these for us to hang in our homes. She spent so much time on them and they turned out so cute. Such a great and creative idea, and I love the way it looks in our kitchen.

I made these great little quiet books. You can find the templates at Simply Fresh Designs. She has done most of the work by providing the design and text, you just have to insert pictures from the church website, print, and assemble. Her blog is awesome and she is constantly adding new freebies, and after making these I realized she is my neighbor and relief society president and was an Academy for Girls counselor the same year I was. Small world.

It was a great new tradition that I hope we are able to continue. It was fun having an opportunity to use our creativity...or at least be inspired by other peoples' creativity and try to copy it.

Merry & Bright

2012-01-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

Brigham loved helping us get ready for the holidays this year, and I loved having a child to celebrate Christmas with. He enjoyed playing with his early Christmas gift, a new nativity set from grandma and grandpa Hicks.

He loved helping us decorate the Christmas tree and got excited each morning when we would turn on the lights. These are some pics of my boys and some of their favorite ornaments. Brigham liked my Tigger one and his new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse one. Aaron loves his acorn bird that he made when he was three. He puts it in a prominent place on the tree every year and likes to show it off to everyone that comes over.

We made our annual visit to the Festival of Trees, one of our favorite traditions.

Brigham loved anything having to do with Christmas lights. He would get so excited to see them and open his mouth and eyes really wide.

He loved the lights at temple square. He would ohh and ahh and clap as we were walking around.

He didn't really love the visit with Santa.

But he did love the chocolate sucker he got from Santa.

He also loved the giant Mickey he got from grandma and grandpa Barth.

He enjoyed opening all of his gifts Christmas morning and having lots of time to play with them.

I think what Brigham (and we) enjoyed most about this Christmas season was having so much time to spend with both of our families. He loved having cousins and grandparents to play with him and pay him attention all the time. He stayed up way too late many nights because he was having so much fun with them. We are so grateful for the time we had to spend with family and friends. We are grateful for this time of year that we have to reflect on and celebrate the birth of our Savior. We are so grateful for Him and His life and example.

Cousin David

2012-01-02T13:53:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago my dear cousin, David, was killed in a car accident. It was such a shock to our family, and I still have a hard time believing it is true. I have trouble finding words to express the sadness I feel when I think about him being gone and my heart aches for his sweet family.

David has always been a part of my life. We were born just three months apart. The very first home videos I have are of us hugging each other when I was a toddler heading off to Illinois. So many of my childhood memories involve my cousins who were some of my very best friends. I remember playing Nintendo, sleeping bag wrestling (which led David to get some stitches), riding the bus to Salt Lake to have sleepovers, playing lots of Risk and Monopoly, making Home Alone 3, and taking a trip to Palm Springs.

When we were in high school our friends became friends with each other and we had so much fun together. We took many trips to the ranch with our friends and had many adventures. He even showed up in a tux with his friends to perform at my 16^th birthday. My friends all loved David because he was so much fun and he treated them so well.

We also spent many summers working together at my grandpa’s ranch where I have memories of burning thistle, barn dances, hikes, tubing, entering parades, and making movies.

David had a great love for people and made sure that everyone felt included. People loved to be around him because he was so kind and genuine. I honestly can’t remember him saying mean things to or about people. He was extremely creative and constantly used his creativity to enrich others lives. He was constantly thinking of others and serving them up until the very end of his life. I am so grateful for the blessing he has been to me.

I think my sister is much better at expressing things in words. She wrote a wonderful description of him on her blog.

This experience has caused me to reflect a lot on the things that are most important to me. I have been reminded of how blessed I am to have a knowledge of our Heavenly Father's plan and to have been born into such an incredible family. I am so grateful that our families can be together forever.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with family, food, and football.

Brigham loved helping grandma in the kitchen,

playing with uncle Alan,

and trying out his new look with cousin Milo.

Just like every year, my mom made a wonderful feast that kept us stuffed for hours afterwards.

Another great Thanksgiving Day.

Day 10

2011-11-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

So incredibly grateful and super excited to meet the new little one in March!

At Aaron's request, we are going to "spice up our lives" and not find out if it is a boy or a girl. The doctor claimed he couldn't tell based on the views he had, so we will all be surprised in four months.

Day 9

2011-11-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

So grateful for cousins who were some of our first friends and continue to be some of our best friends today. Both Aaron and I were lucky to spend a lot of time with cousins growing up.

We even have this cousin to thank for helping us meet almost nine years ago.

And it is so much fun to watch Brigham spend time with his cousins. He sure does love them.

Day 8

2011-11-23T08:55:00.000-07:00

I am grateful that Brigham has been able to see four of his great grandparents this year.

It has been such a blessing to watch him interact with them. We have been especially blessed this year to have grandma and grandpa Bodell living so close to us. It has been so nice to be able to visit with them often and watch my grandpa develop a relationship with Brigham. We only wish they could all live closer so we could see them all more often.

Day 7

2011-11-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful for my cute baby brother!

He is loyal, sensitive, caring, and has always known how to make family a priority. It's hard to express how much I admire, love, and miss him as he is being an awesome missionary in New Jersey.

Day 6

2011-11-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to live here for one semester.

I'm grateful to my mom who encouraged me to go. I think she was more excited about me going than I was. She even opened my first letter before bringing it to my dorm. It said I was rejected and put on the waiting list and she was definitely more disappointed than I was. But my number came up a few months later and I got ready to leave Provo for the first time all on my own. It was pretty scary for me at the time, but ended up being one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I learned so much about the culture and history of this place and came home to major in International Studies with an emphasis in the Middle East. I met 5 wonderful girls who turned out to be awesome roommates for the next 3 1/2 years and continue to be some of my dearest friends.

One of the greatest blessings of living and going to school in Jerusalem was the knowledge and love I gained for the Old and New Testament. I love being able to read from those books and picture the places in my mind and remember all the time that I had there to really study the scriptures.

Even though it has been 12 years since I spent Thanksgiving at the Sea of Galilee I still think about my experiences from that semester all the time and am still so grateful for the way that semester changed my life. I can't wait to go back one day with Aaron and my family and show them the place that I came to love so much. It is right up at the top of places we plan to visit. (I'm also pretty excited to go back with a digital camera and get great pics.)

Day 5

2011-11-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

Today and most days, I am grateful for the internet. I like that I can be inspired by others ideas and projects , shop from my living room, and look up answers to my random questions. But most of all I love that it helps me to keep in touch with friends and family that I may have a hard time staying connected with without it.

Day 3 & 4...

2011-11-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today we have two for one, since I missed yesterday.

I am grateful to have a hobby that I love!

Apparently I've wanted to be a photographer from a very young age.

I've always enjoyed taking pictures and wanted a nice camera to be able to do that. I'm grateful for digital SLR's that are affordable and allow you to learn things, without having to pay for expensive developing of film and printing of pictures. I'm grateful that I can take great pictures of my family and friends and that it allows me to connect with and spend time with people that I may not otherwise get to see much. Lastly, I am grateful to share this hobby with my fabulous sister and sister-in-law. We have such a good time doing photo shoots together and it makes me love it even more.

As for today, I am grateful to live in a house with a heater. We have had some crazy cold wind out here today that we can hear howling and it makes our house shake a little from time to time. I'm super grateful to have a place to be warm.

Day 2 of Thanksgiving

2011-11-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for jobs! Three in particular.

1. I am grateful that Aaron has a job and even more grateful that it is a job that he enjoys and is really good at. Ever since I met him he has known what he has wanted to do, and now he is doing it. He has lots of qualities that make him a great administrator and I'm constantly impressed with how he handles difficult situations. I'm pretty sure I would be terrible at his job.

2. I am grateful for my job at Provo Canyon School. I really enjoyed working there for seven years before Brigham was born. I love that I was able to work with students that are not the "typical" Utah county students. I had a lot of interesting, educational, humorous, and great experiences working there. I love that I was able to constantly learn and find news ways to teach things. I also was able to work with some really great people. I am grateful that they continue to let me work there, basically whenever I want (usually once a week for 4-6 hours). I wish I could post a picture of me with students...but confidentiality laws prohibit it, so you get a picture of my office instead.

3. Lastly I am incredibly grateful for my current job taking care of this little man. It is hard to describe in words how grateful I am for this job. Best job I could ever imagine.

10 Days of Thanksgiving

2011-11-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of the season I thought it would be fun to share some of the things I'm grateful for. I'll try to share one a day leading up to big day. The list will not be all-inclusive or in any sort of order, just some random thoughts of thanks.

One of my favorite conference talks was given by Elder Wirthlin in 2001 and was titled "Live in Thanksgiving Daily."

This is my favorite quote from the talk:

I agree with Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote, “The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life”. Unfortunately, because the beauties of life are so abundant, sometimes we take them for granted.
Our minds have a marvelous capacity to notice the unusual. However, the opposite is true as well: The more often we see the things around us—even the beautiful and wonderful things—the more they become invisible to us. That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds—even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less.
Those who live in thanksgiving daily, however, have a way of opening their eyes and seeing the wonders and beauties of this world as though seeing them for the first time.
I encourage you to look around you. Notice the people you care about. Notice the fragrance of the flowers and the song of the birds. Notice and give thanks for the blue of the sky, the color of the leaves, and the white of the clouds. Enjoy every sight, every smell, every taste, every sound.
When we open our eyes and give thanks for the bountiful beauty of this life, we live in thanksgiving daily.

So today I am grateful for seasons. I really do enjoy living in a place that has very distinct seasons. I am loving the fall right now. Some of my favorite things about fall include the cooling of the weather, seeing the leaves change, buying apples and peaches from the fruit stand, going to football games, enjoying time outside, holidays, chili, carmel apples, and drinking hot chocolate and eating almost anything made of pumpkin.

The little man is enjoying the fall as well. He was really entertained watching grandma rake leaves.

One last trip...

2011-11-14T13:19:00.002-07:00

I suppose my title can have two meanings. One last trip for this year. This year we have made two trips to Oregon and four trips to California. This was the third trip for me and Brigham in six weeks. It also is our last trip to Disneyland as Annual Passholders. We first got them when my mom owned some property in Newport so we were able to get the Southern California passes, which are a great deal. Now that her property has sold and traveling is not quite as easy as it used to be, we are letting them expire. Of course this doesn't mean that we don't plan on making many more trips to Disneyland in the future, just not 3-4 a year like we've done for the past five years.

With our family getting bigger, my mom opted to fly to California and was so kind to take Brigham with her. Apparently he was a champ and enjoyed having his own seat and spending quality time with his grandma. And we enjoyed making great time on our road trip.

We went the first week of November and it was such a fabulous time to go! The weather was great (well for at least the first day), and the lines were so short. Do you see all that empty space to left of the picture below? Those switchback lines are usually completely filled with people when we go and we usually wait about 40 minutes for Toy Story. This time the waits were more like 10-20 minutes for Toy Story. And that was probably the longest line we waited in. First week of November may be our new favorite time to go. Only down side was Small World was closed to put up the Christmas decorations.

Disneyland with our family can be a bit exhausting for kids. This was only the early afternoon of our first day there.

Brigham started to enjoy the carousel this time around. Last trip he was terrified.

It was fun to see some of the Christmas decorations up around the park.

With less crowds we took time to do things we haven't done much like visit Toon Town, visit Bug's Land, and go to the Disney Junior show.

You may notice that we are dressed for cool weather. That is because our second day there was pretty cool by Anaheim standards and we had a crazy rain storm in the afternoon. According to the locals, it rarely rains like that down there. We were so soaked we went back to the hotel and put a load of clothes in the dryer before we returned for the evening.

This is the bench we sat on for the parade. Yet another reason we loved the lack of crowds. We were able to get bench seats for a parade about 30-45 minutes before it was started. Usually when we go these prime seats are taken more than an hour in advance. Brigham loved waiting for the parade because he got to share dad's popcorn.

The girls and kids took Saturday to visit Downtown Disney and enjoy some downtime in Irvine while the boys enjoyed golfing.

We had a great trip and we will definitely miss being super spoiled with our annual passes.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T08:44:00.000-06:00

As previously promised, here are some highlights from our halloween photo shoot with the Hicks cousins.

Many of them turned out a bit like this with the two oldest reaching for their bribes.

But we were able to get a few that we think are pretty great.

Happy Halloween!

Halloweentime

2011-10-31T08:34:00.000-06:00

We had a blast on our annual trip to Disneyland during Fall Break. We love this time of year because the place is decked out for Halloween. It was so great for Brigham to spend some quality time with his grandparents.

We were so lucky to be able to spend a day with Adam who happened to be staying in LA for a work conference. He lives in Alaska, so unfortunately we don't get to see him very often.

I had to snap a picture of the three brothers since this is probably the last time they will be together for a few years.

Brigham loved all the lights. I think driving through Vegas at night was actually one of his favorite parts of the trip. He also enjoyed a few minutes of World of Color before he gave in to his exhaustion and fell asleep.

We let Brigham try his hand at the sword in the stone. Apparently he will not be the next King.

One of the highlights of the trip was Mickey's Trick or Treat Party. We did lots of trick or treating and came home with way too much candy.

Another great trip to Disneyland and a great way to start celebrating the halloween season.

13 Months!

2011-10-23T10:12:00.000-06:00

The little man is 13 months old already!

I never got around to doing a one year photo shoot, but we went out and did a quick photo shoot last week. As usual, he was a champ when it came to performing in front of the camera.

More Family Fun!

2011-10-23T10:02:00.000-06:00

When we left Oregon we brought Julia, Jacob, and Landon with us to enjoy some time in Utah. We kept very busy with lots of painting, glittering, gluing, sewing, eating, going on outings, visiting family, and taking pictures. These are some of my favorite pics from the week.

Grandma showed the boys how to paint Mickey Mouse.

We visited the zoo.

We did a photo shoot at the Great Salt Lake with one of our favorite families.

And we enjoyed lots of time with these cute kids. We attempted two photo shoots with the four of them and this was the best we got from this one.

The other one involved Halloween costumes and turned out much better, but I will save those for another day.

Oregon

2011-10-23T09:45:00.000-06:00

Brigham and I got to make another trip to Oregon to visit the Davis family and meet our newest nephew/cousin, Landon Michael. He is such a cutie and we were so glad we were able to meet him before he grows up too much.

Before we could go anywhere, somehow we found a way to fit three large carseats in the back of the honda civic. Once we were able to do that, we had some fun outings.

We visited the local farmer's market where we got to see a bit of the local Oregonian culture and sample Oregon pears that were so yummy.

The boys enjoyed climbing around on the rocks,

and playing in the dirt (or eating it).

We visited a local toy store that has a playroom upstairs where the kids can play with lots of different toys. One of Brigham's favorites was the grocery cart that he could use to help him walk quickly around the room.

They also loved the fake food and we had a hard time tearing them away from it when it was time to go.

The trip included a visit to the dentist, lots of good company and good food, but one of my favorite parts was watching these two boys play together. They had a great time playing in the tub, throwing grass in the field, and chasing each other up and down the hallway.

We had such a great time and hope we get to go again soon!

1sts

2011-09-18T20:46:00.000-06:00

We had a fun week of firsts this past week. Starting with Brigham's first trip to the fair (a family favorite) as well as our first Weird Al concert (surprisingly very entertaining and fun).

First haircut. We are so grateful for our friend that knew exactly how to keep him occupied with kitchen utensils to distract him from what she was doing.

Most importantly, we celebrated Brigham's 1st Birthday! He enjoyed looking at cards from grandparents and great grandparents.

He loved all the Mickey Mouse decorations that grandma got for him.

Loved the presents.

And especially loved the cake.

I can't believe it has already been a year since he was born. He is such a happy, loving boy and he is constantly making everyone around him laugh and smile. He is such a joy to have in our home and we feel so blessed to be his parents.

Survival and Accomplishment

2011-09-12T11:08:00.000-06:00

Looks like we have survived the latest double ear infection requiring two rounds of antibiotics and a virus that gave Brigham a sore throat, high fevers, and a weird rash all over his body. I'm becoming quite familiar with the pediatricians office with three visits in four weeks. And Brigham is becoming quite accustomed to his syringe full of antibiotics morning and night. After lots of naps, cuddling, whining, waking up in the night, and watching Winnie-the-Pooh, he finally seems to be getting back to his normal happy self. I had to share this cute picture of my brother taking care of the babies while my mom and I snuck away for an hour. I was worried Brigham would give him a hard time because he had been so clingy and whiney with his sickness, but this is what we came home too.

Aside from surviving a virus and infection, I managed to finish a photobook with highlights from the first 12 years of my life. This project has been on my list for quite a few years now, so it feels so great to finally have it done! My brother has an awesome scanner that can scan photos at high quality and fast speeds. It made this project so much easier. Especially since my sister-in-law actually scanned most of them for me. He is willing to rent it out if anyone is interested in a big photo project like this in the future. These are a few of my favorites from the project.

I just love the many rolls you can see in this picture.

Love how incredibly young my dad looks in this picture. I'm not sure exactly how old he is (24?) but to me he looks like he is about 17.

Love my cute sister and our matching nautical knit jumpsuits that we wore all over Nauvoo.

My very first trip to Disneyland! Don't I look so happy? I have pictures with all sorts of characters from this trip and it reminded me how nice it was when the characters just roamed the park and you could walk up to them and take pictures. No waiting in long lines behind people getting autographs, only to get to the front of the line and have the worker tell you that Mickey needs a break and will be replaced by some other less desirable character. But I suppose they didn't have fastpasses then, so I will take the fastpass improvement over the character photo opportunities.

I love these photos with grandparents and cousins.

I also really like this one of me and Caleb. Maybe because he looks like such a giant baby and his head is almost as big as mine.

Somehow my mom talked me into dressing like Abraham Lincoln for our 5th grade state fair. I remember feeling ridiculous as a child (just like I felt ridiculous when she made me dress in a sheet and chains like Jacob Marley from the Christmas Carol to give my 4th grade book report). But now I think it is pretty funny, and realize that my teachers probably appreciated our creativity.

This book project made me think a lot about the "less is more" idea when it comes to photos. There are plenty of things I wish I had more pictures of from when I was little, but because I have less photos the good ones I do have seem to mean a lot more to me. I'm extremely grateful for digital cameras and how easy it is to take lots of photos, but I've also been inspired to delete more and only keep the best so that I don't become completely overwhelmed with mass amounts of pictures.

Life Lately

2011-09-04T20:46:00.000-06:00

After a very busy June and first half of July, our summer slowed down quite a bit. We've been enjoying lots of time at home, mostly doing our normal daily routine. Here is a bit of what that has consisted of.

Brigham has become an awesome sleeper! Especially when he has a few pacifiers. He prefers one in his mouth and one for each hand. We originally had extras in there so when he threw one out during the night we wouldn't have to go searching for it and could just get another one off the side railing. Then he figured this out and before actually laying down to go to sleep he would crawl to each railing and pull off any of the pacifiers that were there so he could hold them while sleeping.

He has found some interesting positions to sleep in and if you look carefully you can see four pacifiers in this one.

We've tried lots of new foods lately. His favorites are cheese, grapes, blueberries, and watermelon. He appears to be able to eat as many of these things as we will let him. Still not too sure about all the vegetables and meats, but we are working on it.

Brigham loves making music and listening to music. He has started flapping or waving his arms when certain songs come on that he enjoys. He looks like he is trying to conduct his own choir.

He has discovered the kitchen cupboards and drawers and likes to help "organize" them.

He enjoys chewing on the furniture, especially while he is watching Mickey Mouse,

He loves books. He gets super excited when it is time to read stories. I will hold out two books for him to choose between and he just giggles and stares at the two of them like there is no way he could actually choose between such great options. Now he can flip through board books on his own so he will go to his shelf of books in the living room and pull them out one at a time and look through them.

He also really enjoys his new swimming pool that doubles as a ball pit when we are inside.

We took him to his first baseball game. I think he was a little afraid of the mascot.

We also took him to his first football game. I'm pretty sure he loved it.

Brigham has really been loving his newest cousins. He loves to go and watch baby Aidyn as soon as she comes over. He is actually really gentle with her and will lean over and stare at her or touch with a finger. He loves to be held with her so he can sit right next to her. Of course, when I tried to take a picture of this he saw the camera and started cheesing it for the picture, so it isn't quite the sentimental moment it was before, but what can I say? The kid loves the camera.

He also loves cousin Milo and crawls up to him to give him kisses (or sometimes he might be trying to steal his pacifier).

There's a little glimpse into our life lately. We sure are grateful for our happy little boy. We have so much fun with him and can't believe how fast he is learning and growing.

Lake Tahoe

2011-08-25T09:42:00.000-06:00

The last leg of our trip to California was spent at Lake Tahoe for the first ever Barth family reunion. We had such a great time visiting Lake Tahoe for the first time. One of our favorite activities was biking through the forest and along some of the beaches.

We spent some time at the beach and even managed to get Aaron to wade into the water a little bit.

We played a lot of cards.

We enjoyed seeing cousins and sharing our favorite beverages.

It was so fun for Brigham to get to spend time with his grandparents, great grandpa, and cousins. He loved getting so much attention and always having someone to hold him or play with him. He also continued to enjoy his plastic utensils and had a plastic spoon in his hand or mouth for much of the time.

We had so much fun and are so grateful to all those who made the first Barth reunion such a success. We hope there are many more to come.

Pinecrest

2011-07-17T15:05:00.000-06:00

We spent four days at the Barth family cabin in Pinecrest. It is so beautiful up there and the summer weather is perfect. The cabin has a great porch that looks out at the lake, so we spent most of our cabin time on the front porch lounging, reading, playing games, eating, and people-watching.

Aaron and I enjoyed kayaking. Brigham enjoyed getting in the lake and eating rocks and pine needles.

The boys both enjoyed reading their books on the beach.

Aaron and I enjoyed hiking around the lake, while Brigham enjoyed napping.

Brigham enjoyed watching his older cousins and trying to play with them. We had a great 4th of July with family and loved spending time up at the cabin.

San Fran

2011-07-15T08:56:00.000-06:00

We spent a great day in San Francisco doing some of my favorite touristy things. My favorite spot of the day was a new one and one I've wanted to visit for awhile--The Walt Disney Family Museum. The museum is all about Walt Disney's life and work and it was quite fascinating. The first part of the museum is a bit slow, but once you take the elevators upstairs and get to the room that is all about Steamboat Willie and Mickey Mouse it becomes really interesting. I think my favorite part (although it is hard to choose) was the miniature model of Disneyland when it opened. It was so cool to see what was there, what is still there, what has been replaced, and what has been moved.

Our next stop was the wharf to enjoy some clam chowder and sourdough.

Then the chocolate factory to enjoy a hot fudge Sundae.

Brigham's favorite part of the day was the plastic spoon we gave him at the wharf (pictured above). As we walked down the street along the wharf he would try to stand up (as much as he could) in his stroller and would wave the spoon around in the air while babbling really loudly and excitedly, like he had just discovered the greatest invention in the world. He got quite a few looks and smiles from people passing on the street, and we couldn't stop laughing at him. Little did we know how easy it was to entertain him. Why do I buy him toys? Apparently all he wants is a plastic spoon.

Great Grandma T

2011-07-15T08:52:00.001-06:00

The next leg of our trip included a visit with my grandma in Los Altos. This was the first time that Brigham got to meet his great grandma Thompson. As you can see, he was pretty excited. She kept telling us he is the happiest baby she has ever seen, and asking us if he ever cries. I think he did cry once at her house, but other than that he really was a happy camper as usual.

Visiting my grandma's house makes me feel like a bit of a superstar. There are pictures, paintings, and drawings of my family in every room. Even baby pictures of me in her bathroom. She has kept her house pretty much the same from when I was a young child, so a visit to her house brings back some good childhood memories. One of our favorite places to take pictures has always been this bench around the tree in the front of her house, so I had to get a shot of the little man on it.

The Boardwalk

2011-07-13T19:40:00.000-06:00

The second leg of our trip took us from Fresno to Hughson where we spent one night before heading to Santa Cruz for the day. It was a bit cold to enjoy the ocean, but we had a great time exploring the boardwalk.

We enjoyed the fried foods and salt water taffy (delicious) and took Brigham on his first merry-go-round ride. He was super excited to sit on the horse before the ride started, but not so sure about the actual ride.

A great day with my favorite boys.

1979 Miles

2011-07-12T20:56:00.000-06:00

We just got back from a great two week vacation in California, traveling over 1979 miles. It was so nice to have two weeks to relax and spend time with family that we don't get to see often. It seems super overwhelming to try to sum up the trip in one blog post, so I will be splitting into a few different ones over the next few days.

Our first leg of the trip was traveling from Utah to Fresno. We kept thinking we were going to stop and stay the night somewhere along the way, but decided to just keep pushing through. Brigham handled the 14 hours in the car fairly well thanks to a little bit of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and a break at the state line. We got to visit with the Castle family, our "old" friends that live in Fresno now. Dave was in Aaron's MTC district and then they were roommates after the mission until Aaron and I got married. They were pretty much inseparable for a few years, even having the same major and taking most of their classes together. Dave was the first one of Aaron's friends to want to work at the ranch, inspiring the rest of them to join in and interview for jobs there. So thanks to Dave for getting Aaron to work at the ranch. It was so much fun to see their cute little family and get to spend a few hours with them.

Summer Nights

2011-07-03T09:50:00.000-06:00

We love, love, love it when Julia and Jacob come to visit. We were so lucky to spend a week and a half with them this summer. We discovered this great park in Orem where we decided to spend their last night here. We have tried multiple times to get a photo of these two boys in their matching hot dog shirts, but it seems that every time we tried it didn't work out. One of them would get the shirt dirty or Jacob would try to give Brigham a big hug and Brigham would have a look of terror on his face. So this was the best we could do.

Most of us enjoyed the two swingsets.

Brigham couldn't quite decide.

I'm so grateful for summer nights that we get to spend with family.

What Happens in Vegas

2011-07-01T12:26:00.002-06:00

We had our first annual Bodell cousin's retreat in Las Vegas and we had such a fabulous time. We headed to Vegas a day early and got to spend our first night in the fancy Marriott Cosmopolitan Hotel right next to the Bilagio (thanks to our favorite Marriott Associates!). It was so nice and had a really great breakfast buffet and pool. The boys loved the pool because it was so shallow they could sit and crawl around in it. We liked it so much we snuck in again the next day after switching hotels.

The rest of the cousins arrived a day later and we moved into the Marriott Chateau about a block away from the strip.

We had great classes, made cute crafts, did facials and pedicures, ate good food, had a crazy hat party, and had lots of time for catching up with each other. We even had my aunt serving a mission in Africa join us through skype for some of the festivities. We had a Dr. Seuss baby shower for my cute sister-in-law Becca and played a very competitive game of "Name that Seuss Book" (picture four people pushing each other to try to get to the chair and steal the hat so that they could answer the question).

Did I mention we enjoyed lots of good food? Especially chocolate. Charise taught us how to make great carmel chocolate apples like they do at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. We also went to a restaurant devoted to chocolate called "Chocolate By the Bald Man" where we had pure chocolate shots, chocolate ranch dressing, and fries dusted with cocoa powder. Delicious.

What a great trip! Can't wait to do it again next year!

Dirty Dash

2011-06-15T19:39:00.000-06:00

Aaron ran in 5K Dirty Dash in Midway with Caleb, Matt, and friends. They had a great time climbing walls, going through mud pits, sliding down a giant inflatable water slide, and lastly swimming through a large mud pit to reach the finish line.

We enjoyed staying clean and cheering them on to the finish line.

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-03T12:53:00.002-06:00

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend this year.

We took some time to remember family and how grateful we are for eternal families.

Julia and Stephen came into town and we headed to a Day Out with Thomas because Jacob is a huge fan. He just kept staring and pointing at the life size Thomas and loved being able to ride on him. And Brigham just loves being outside and around people, so he was happy too.

We had a great time taking photos for a wedding, golfing, playing games, eating, and sewing. We also took a trip to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was our first time and it was pretty fascinating. They have some huge dino skeletons. The most impressive was a huge "supersauras" that stretched from one end of a huge room to the other.

And at the end we got to find bones in the sand...or least eat the tools...

Back to our Roots

2011-06-03T12:52:00.000-06:00

We went to the Ponderosa for our Brown family reunion. This reunion is for my great grandparents and their descendants (there are a lot of us). The Ponderosa has great memories and meaning for our family because we went to reunions as children there and stayed in a little cabin called The Bodell Hotel, and if it weren't for the Ponderosa my grandpa may never have found and bought the ranch (which is a few miles down the road), and if it weren't for the ranch, I may never have met Aaron. So we are pretty grateful for the place. We made a quick stop by the ranch so Brigham could see where it all began and show off his first Clear Creek Ranch shirt.

They have made the Ponderosa really nice for guests and there is a lot to do. We enjoyed ladder ball (made by Aaron), mini golf, volleyball, a barn dance, card games, and most of all just sitting around and visiting with family in such a beautiful place.

And lucky for us we will definitely be back in two years for the next one, especially because I was nominated to the reunion committee (we had our first meeting before this one was even over). Nothing like getting a head start for the next one.

Spring, Finally

2011-05-15T15:39:00.000-06:00

We are so excited to finally have some real Spring weather around here. Brigham has loved being outside and going on some field trips.

We went to Temple Square and the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point and saw hundreds of beautiful flowers. I love tulips because they remind me of spring and my wedding day.

We were extra lucky and got to walk through the gardens twice. One way with cousins Courtney and Milo, then back through them again with my mom. If you've never been to the tulip festival, I would highy recommend going next year if you are in Utah in April/May. The gardens are extra beautiful this time of year.

So excited to keep enjoying this beautiful weather with the little man.

Oregon Grass

2011-05-13T11:43:00.002-06:00

For one of our MANY photo shoots in Oregon, we took Brigham outside to experience grass during a rare break from the overcast skies and rain. He is at an age where he loves to smile for my camera, or maybe just the people behind the camera, but either way I am loving it and hope it continues for a long time.

Spring Break

2011-05-09T18:57:00.000-06:00

Disneyland

+ Newport Coast Villas

+ Family = One Great Spring Break

My Best Trip to the Dentist

2011-04-19T14:11:00.001-06:00

Now that my brother-in-law Stephen is officially a dentist, a trip to the dentist means a trip to Oregon! I went with my mom and Brigham to visit Julia and family in Albany, Oregon. We had plenty of time to enjoy some of our favorite activities...eating, shopping, and taking pictures.

We flew into Portland and spent the day there. We went to the first Original Pancake House, one of our favorite breakfast restaurants.

Then we went to one of my favorite Portland spots, Powell's Books. It is the largest bookstore in the United States and takes up an entire city block. There are maps and even a free iphone app to guide you around the store because it is so big.

The next day we got a small tour of Albany and nearby Corvallis and enjoyed the Oregon rain.

We wore our BYU clothes to watch BYU play in the sweet sixteen. We saw lots of Pepsi distributers in Oregon and had to take a picture for Aaron of a few of his favorite things.

On Friday I went to the dentist (my excuse for making the trip). It was fun to see Stephen as a real dentist and hear everyone call him Dr. Davis. I came home with cleaner, whiter, and hopefully soon-to-be-straighter teeth.

Then we decided to head off to Tillamook for the afternoon. The first place we went to visit was the cheese factory. I am sort of fascinated with factories and seeing how things are made, and what could be better than seeing how cheese and ice cream are made, and then getting to sample them. As you can see below, Brigham got a bit jealous of all the good eating we were doing and decided to do some of his own. After the factory tour we made a quick trip to the coast before the sunset.

The next day we had breakfast at a Hungarian restaurant then spent the afternoon in Woodburn, Albany, and Corvallis shopping at the outlets, Goodwill, and an antique store. Sunday we spent a nice relaxing day at the Davis home and finally had time to play some games.

Monday we had one last photo shoot with the boys in their matching PJs before we headed back up to Portland. It is so fun to watch the two of them together. Jacob loves being around "baby" and always wants to play with him. It will be so fun to watch them play together as they grow up.

We had such a great time. We loved visiting the Davis family and visiting new places in Oregon as well as some old favorites. We also thought of so many things that we want to do on our next trip including waterfalls, lighthouses, museums, the ocean, trains, berry-picking, more books, more cheese and the 38 flavor ice cream sampler. Can't wait for my next trip to the dentist!

5 Months

2011-03-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

My baby is already 5 months old, well almost 6 by the time I got around to writing this. I can't believe how fast he is growing and learning new things. He is rolling onto his stomach from his back all the time now, which sometimes makes him mad because he doesn't particularly like being on his stomach but he can't figure out how to get back. He is super smiley and will pretty much give anyone a smile that will look at him or talk to him. He loves to put everything into his mouth, including his feet when he is feeling super flexible.

He is so much fun and he makes it difficult for us to get anything done because we love holding him and playing with him so much. Here are a few of his favorite things lately:

Most of the items above were gifted or on loan, so thanks to all of you who knew so much better than me what kinds of things babies like.

Willy Wonka and the Farm

2011-03-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

We went to Hughson in February to visit the Barth family. Aaron got to show Brigham around the farm. We went on a drive through the orchards and enjoyed the warm weather and the first signs of Spring (while it was 7 degrees back home).

We saw old friends.

Played with grandparents.

And got to see Willy Wonka.

It's always fun to visit Aaron's old stomping grounds. We visited his old High School and favorite spots in Hughson, played cards and chess, and got to show off the little man. It was a great trip and we loved seeing family. We only wish it could happen more often.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-01-23T16:06:00.003-07:00

I know it's late, but we did have such a wonderful Christmas this year and I wanted to mention a few highlights.

To celebrate Christmas and my mom's birthday, we created 30 ceramic photo ornaments from every year since I was born to give to my mom.

She now has a special tree just for those ornaments along with her grandkids' handprint ornaments. We started out making a few from some of our favorite Christmas photos, but then Artscow had a really great sale on the ornaments in early November so we decided to fill in the rest of the years that we hadn't done before. But apparently it was so popular, we didn't actually get the rest of the ornaments until mid January. I had some requests to see them, so here is a picture in case I don't get to show you the real things.

We loved celebrating with this little guy.

We were so lucky this year that we got to spend time with both of our families on Christmas day. Christmas morning we spent with the Barths.

Then we spent the afternoon with the Hicks family and we got to talk to Johnny (serving mission in New Jersey).

We celebrated the New Year at midnight eastern time, watched the ball drop live on CNN, and were home in bed by midnight Mountain time. It was a great way to celebrate especially when you are feeling a bit sleep deprived.

We are so grateful for the many blessings that came in 2010, especially Brigham and Aaron's new job, and are excited to see what adventures we will have in 2011.

1st Visit!

2010-12-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

We took the little man for his first visit to Disneyland in December. I can already tell he is going to be a big fan. We started with a long drive where he bonded with cousin Jake. Jake would wave toys in his face to make him smile and hold his hand. It was so cute.

We spent two days at Disneyland/California Adventure. We got to see the new World of Color show and we loved it! We also spent lots of time on one of our favorite rides, Toy Story!

We loved spending time with the family and introducing Brigham to the Happiest Place on Earth. He got his "1st Visit" button and first pair of Mickey Mouse ears.

We love going to Disneyland in December because it is completely decked out for the holidays.

We celebrated Jacob's and Mom's birthdays as well as an early Hicks Christmas. My mom gave us our Mickey Mouse Christmas pajamas because it was the only time we were all going to be together during the holiday season.

We did our sibling gift exchange, ate cheesecake, got pedicures, went to the Lazy Dog and Yogurtland, and had a fabulous time together. Brigham was a great little traveler on his first trip. We loved taking him to one of our favorite places with some of our favorite people.

Another Month Already

2010-11-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

Already another month has gone by. I thought I was going to get better at this blogging thing, but apparently not. Time just goes by too fast. Brigham is growing so fast. He had outgrown most of his 0-3 month clothes when he was only two months old. I can't believe how fast he is changing.

He was blessed October 24 at my parents house. Aaron's parents came all the way from California so he had all four of his grandparents there, a great-grandpa, two great aunts, two aunts and uncles, and some cousins there. I think somehow he knew that he was going to be the center of attention, because even though he had a really rough night before dealing with his first cold, he was so good and happy all day. Thanks to everyone that came (and to those that couldn't, you were missed).

I love this picture of my boys.

One of the many things we love about the fall is BYU football. We wear our BYU gear every Saturday to cheer on the cougs.

Aaron loves having someone to watch Saturday college football with him all day until they are too exhausted to watch anymore.

In addition to watching football with his dad, one of Brigham's new favorite activities is watching the mobile on his swing. He is fascinated with it.

Aaron continues to enjoy his job. I am enjoying being a mostly stay at home mom (I work about 6 hours a week at Provo Canyon). We are enjoying the holiday season with our sweet little boy and are so incredibly grateful for him and the joy he brings to our life.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T16:52:00.000-06:00

What a Difference a Month Makes

2010-10-27T14:48:00.002-06:00

I can't believe my baby is already a month old. He arrived September 17 after 20 hours of labor. We were so happy to finally have him here. He spent 3 days of the first week of his life in this bed. He made such a cute little glowworm, but he absolutely hated it by the end.

By the end of his first week he was less yellow and we got rid of his tanning bed in time for him to enjoy his first football game with his dad.

We had lots of visitors starting with Julia and Jake for a week. We absolutely loved having them here to play with us. Jake wasn't quite sure what to think of Brigham but we were able to get a few pics of them together with some bribing.

From Barth Blog

There are so many reasons why I love it when my sister comes to town. One of the many is that we share a love of photography so we love to take lots of photos and spend time editing them together. Of course Brigham was the subject of most of our shots for the week, and we managed to get some great ones. These are a just a few of my favorites out of the many we took (and a few are being saved for the baby announcement that I'm going to get out any day now).

From Barth Blog

We were lucky to have more visitors in the next few weeks and Brigham got to meet both of his great grandpas.

We've started to go on a few outings and went to the pumpkin patch over fall break to pick our own pumpkins (for our pumpkin carving contest) and try the donuts and ice cream. Brigham slept through most of it, but we did get a picture when he was awake and imitating the kinds of faces his dad loves to make in pictures.

After a few weeks we managed to get some shots of our new little family, thanks to my sister-in-law Becca.

We can't believe how fast he is already growing and changing in just a short month. We love him so much and are so grateful that he is finally here.

Summer Staycation

2010-10-27T12:14:00.002-06:00

So I don't usually worry too much about catching up on past events, but I actually wrote this blog a few days before Brigham was born, but never actually posted it. I figure since I went to the trouble, I might as well post it a few months late.

I heard on the news the other day that the word staycation was added to the dictionary this year. The definition on dictionary.com is: a holiday in which leisure activities are pursued while staying at one's own home. Perfect description of two weeks of our summer. We wanted to take one last trip before Johnny went on his mission, but with everyone's crazy summer schedules it just didn't work out. So we took a Disney trip in April and then planned a week and a half of activities that we could do close to home in August before he left.

Our first weekend of fun included Brick Oven, bowling, sleepover, Mariokart, J-Dawgs, miniature golf, Inception, shopping, frozen yogurt, and mom's meatloaf.

From Staycation

Monday we celebrated Johnny's birthday with a trip to Texas Roadhouse, some more wii, and dunford donuts.

From Staycation

Wednesday my mom and sister threw me the cutest Winnie-the-Pooh themed baby shower for some old ward and high school friends. Everything was fabulous from the food to the decorations. They even made tigger tails (chocolate covered marshmallow skewers) like they sell at Disneyland (and we always want to buy, but refuse to pay the money).

From Staycation

Friday was Aaron's graduation! He finished class in June and started his new job as assistant principal at Vista Heights Junior High in Saratoga Springs on July 1. We are so proud of him!

From Grad

Sunday was the big missionary farewell for baby brother John. He did such a great job on his talk and has worked really hard to be prepared to serve a mission. He is super excited (if you can't tell from the picture).

From John D

We managed to squeeze in another fabulous baby shower with family, lots of good food, some photo shoots, and quality family time at my parents house before Julia and Jake had to go home and Johnny went into the mtc. We miss them already.

Brigham James

2010-09-18T17:07:00.000-06:00

Brigham James Barth decided to come into the world on September 17 at 3:15. He weighed 8 pounds and is 20 1/2 inches long.

We couldn't be happier!

Like Comin' Home

2010-09-15T15:29:00.000-06:00

From Ranch

One of the highlights of our summer was going back to the ranch, one of my most favorite places in the world. I love this place for so many reasons and it was a great feeling to be able to come back and remember all the good times we had there as well as create new memories.

My mom, Julia, and I were the reunion committee which was a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well. Our first big responsibility once we got to the reunion included putting on our old wrangler uniforms and hosting our "Bodell Bash."

From Ranch

It ended up being a combination of the newlywed game, name that tune, finish the lyrics, minute to win it, and the amazing race. We had a blast watching our cousins do crazy things.

From Drop Box

In addition to the Bodell Bash, we added some new activities that we hope become reunion tradition including Brandy's waxing station, a digital scrapbooking class, and a Mario Kart tournament that Aaron and Tiffany hosted...

From Ranch

...and Aaron won.

From Ranch

We also kept a lot of the traditional family favorites including basketball, volleyball, swimming in the lake, a talent show with a bit of a surprise from the aunts & uncles, night games, and campfire time with stories and smores.

From Ranch

And of course we couldn't end the reunion without a "barn dance."

From Ranch

I spent most of time in my regular old spot at the DJ table with my little friend.

From Ranch

Aaron returned to his role as king of the hamster dance.

From Ranch

And we had a fabulous time.

From Ranch

Thank you to grandma and grandpa for making it possible for us to come back! Thank you to everyone that helped with activities and put so much preparation into making them great. Thanks to Stephen and Caleb for designing the great t-shirts. And thanks to everyone for making it such a great reunion.

We also managed to squeeze in some fabulous photo shoots of the McCorveys, Bodells, Camden, Lauren, and Libby. To see a few of the highlights you can check out our photography blog here.

Favorites

2010-06-26T07:59:00.000-06:00

Some of my favorites from the past 6 months during my blogging break...

1. Visits from the sister

and playing with this little guy.

2. Giving a Day

to get a day...(and a few more)

so we can enjoy this

and this.

3. Cruisin' in Mexico,

taking over tables to play hand and foot,

enjoying the local artwork in Puerta Vallarta,

and the food,

and the company (in our new sweatshirts we won for being trivia champions).

4. And last but not least...Aaron finishing school! He passed his comprehensive exams and all his classes with flying colors and got a job as an assistant principal at the new junior high in Saratoga Springs. So proud of him! Official graduation will be in August.

99 Days...

2010-06-12T20:21:00.000-06:00

until the expected arrival date for baby boy Barth.

We couldn't be happier!

(had some requests for a picture, and this may be the only time I comply)

Our New Website!

2009-12-12T19:21:00.003-07:00

Here it is! My sister and I have been doing some photography work for the last few years and we have recently started a business. Here is our website:

www.truly-you-photography.com

You can also get there by going to www.rachelbarthphotography.com.

We love taking pictures and have a great time working together whenever we can. We always have special deals for family and friends, and many of you may already find yourself in a starring role on our website.

24

2009-11-09T15:38:00.004-07:00

24 hours in California=a little bit of this

A LOT of this!

And not enough of this!
Yep, I went to California this past weekend for 24 hours. We did 12 family photo shoots in two different locations and didn't finish until the sun was almost down. We had a great time and are currently trying to get all of the pics uploaded so people can view and order off of our new website! Official launch will be coming soon...

Halloweentime!

2009-10-23T13:23:00.008-06:00

Halloween at Disneyland may be my favorite time of the year at the park. They really deck the place out. I love the huge pumpkin Mickey, Candy Corn Acres, Nightmare Before Christmas at the Haunted Mansion, the professional pumkin carvings at Thunder Ranch, Ghost Galaxy Space Mountain (new this year and it was fabulous!), and all the little halloween details throughout the park.

Aaron got to see our new brick for the first time.

This year we had an extra special treat. We got tickets to go to Mickey's Trick or Treat Party, an after-hours party at California Adventure. There are dance parties, trick or treating, a halloween parade, and lots of really short lines. We decided to go as the 7 dwarfs + 1 and the wicked witch.

The newest dwarf, Hungry.We had such a great time. Aaron was like a little kid again running around to get as much candy as he could. His goal was to get enough to give to all our trick-or-treaters so he didn't have to buy any candy. I think he succeeded. While he was running around getting candy, we enjoyed walking on to the Tower of Terror.Happy Halloween!

10 Year Reunion

2009-10-14T07:48:00.008-06:00

I can't believe it, but it has been 10 years since I went to Jerusalem for a semester. I remember being scared to go without knowing anyone, but it turned out to be one of the greatest experiences and blessings of my life. While I was there I met these five fabulous girls and we decided to be roommates at the Regency when we came home.

Not only did did we become the best of friends, I also found a couple roommates that love Disneyland just as much as me (and a few that tolerate it because we love it so much). So our first trip to Disneyland was made after we had been living together for a year. This year we decided to take a trip as a 10 year reunion since going to Jerusalem (and 6 years since the last ones graduated and left the Regency). We couldn't make the trip to Jerusalem for a reunion, so we decided our next best option was Disneyland. All six of us were able to arrange our schedules to get together. Because Natalie is a "silver card" carrier she "made the magic happen" and hooked us up with some great deals and we enjoyed two wonderful days at the happiest place on earth.We discovered that you can actually fit 7 people in a splash mountain log if you can squeeze two into the back.

The only problem with this is the extra weight causes a lot of extra water to come into the log.

We loved California Adventure, especially the realatively short lines for Toy Story and the new Mickey face on the ferris wheel.

After two fun-filled days at Disneyland we spent a more relaxing day at our Marriott Villa right on the coast of Newport Beach. It was so great to catch up and realize that even though we don't get to see each other nearly enough, whenever we do it feels just like old times. I love these girls! And I'm already looking forward to our next reunion in 5 years!

Summer Days

2009-09-13T08:26:00.005-06:00

We ended our summer with separate trips before starting our new semesters. Aaron went to Texas with some friends to a friend's wedding.

While he was gone, I went to California for Johnny's belated graduation trip. Our first night there we went to see Legally Blonde in Hollywood. It was opening night and we had a great time.
The next day we went to Sea World.
We rode the rollar coaster, and got stuck while riding it a second time.
On Sunday we spent time at the new beach house. We've spent many trips staying in the little old green house that was in this same spot. Then my aunt and uncle tore it down and built this beautiful new house. We had a BBQ on the roof and spent the afternoon enjoying our view of the beach.

On Monday we went to Disneyland! I saw the brick that Aaron got me for Christmas for the first time. It only took us a minute to find it and we made sure to walk by it a few more times while we went between Disneyland and California Adventure.

We ended the day with the electrical parade. It is a fabulous parade, and was extra fun for us to see because we rarely see it (they only do it during the summer and we can't go most of the summer).
It was a great trip, and the start of my four in four (four trips to Cali in four months). Crazy I know, but I have different reasons for all of them.

Our New Nephew

2009-08-30T07:59:00.003-06:00

We were so excited to meet our newest nephew, Ty. We had our first photo shoot when he was a little over a week old and he was so cooperative! He let us move and pose him and he just slept right through it. We even caught some smiles while he was sleeping. Here are some of my favorites.

From Hempel

Independence Day

2009-07-06T19:29:00.006-06:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend.

We spent the holiday at my mom's house enjoying her new addition. It is in the final stages and she was able to start cooking again. Which we all appreciated because her food is fabulous. Especially that potato salad.

We also enjoyed some old family videos, and Aaron enjoyed farmtown.

My dad pulled out the weird Benjamin Franklin portrait he got from the DI and we put it on the mantle for the day.

We played Croquet.

And we decided rather than go to the fireworks, we would just buy our own. My favorite activity was playing with sparklers while we took pictures. We had so much fun.

This was supposed to be my name...but I don't know what happened to the R and I ran out of space.

Should say A+R, but Aaron struggled...

Supposed to be a heart-but Aaron's side is deformed.

My tribute to the cougs. Can't wait for football season to start.

We took tons more of us dancing and all sorts of other things. Who knew sparklers could be so entertaining? So if you want some good times next 4th of July, just get a tripod, set the camera shutter speed to 2-4 seconds, and let the magic begin.

The rest of June

2009-07-06T19:22:00.004-06:00

As you can tell, I'm doing some catch up for June. Here are few pictures from the other highlights of the month.

We did some bowling when Aaron's mom and brother came to town.

Aaron has become really busy with school. He works really hard and is really good about not procrastinating things. I think it is hard to get back in the school mode after a few years away from it, but he has been very disciplined, and I've been so proud of him.

Last of all, here is my tribute to Michael Jackson. I was a huge fan when I was little. I loved listening to the Jackson 5, and I especially love the Thriller album. I spent hours listening to my dad's record. My mom had many of our childhood pictures and the best of our childhood artwork scanned last summer (thanks to Becca and Caleb). So I dug up this drawing.

And this picture. It may not be white sequins on my glove, but I thought I could imitate Michael anyway.

Martin's Cove

2009-07-04T07:20:00.008-06:00

About 6 months ago we got called to go on pioneer trek with the youth in our ward for youth conference. I had been to Martin's Cove on a trek many years ago when I was in young womens (see pic below), and I was excited for the opportunity to go back. They have improved the area quite a bit and made things quite efficient to accommodate the many thousands of visitors they have each summer.

Independence Rock (from my first Trek in 1997)

After months of preparation and many mutual activities we set off for Wyoming. Here we are on our initial trek to our camp, after the 6 hour bus ride.

Martin's Cove

I spent most of day 2 wearing my authentic pioneer hoodie because it was cold and rained most of the day.

We talked about the Sweetwater River and the four men that carried all the pioneers from the handcart companies across the freezing water.

Aaron didn't want to carry me across (remember how he feels about cold water), so I got to walk myself. It was surprisingly deep with a pretty strong current. It would have been hard to walk straight across without the rope.

Aaron enjoying some time to ponder

Me after a day of trekking in the rain, sitting by the fire to try to avoid the mosquitos.

This is my first photo merge panoramic picture made in photoshop! This was made from four separate photos that I was able to merge together into one long one. I had no idea how easy it was. Probably doesn't do it justice, because it shows up so small, but this is the view when you come out of Martin's Cove.
I think the thing that impressed me most about this time was thinking about how incredibly courageous and faithful these pioneers were. They knew when they set out that it wouldn't be easy and they might lose loved ones, but they were willing to go anyway. This is one of my favorite quotes about the handcart companies:

"We suffered beyond anything you can imagine, and many died of exposure and starvation...[But we] came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives, for we became acquainted with Him in our extremities...

Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privilege to come in the Martin handcart company." --Francis Webster

Bodell Reunion

2009-07-03T20:11:00.009-06:00

In June we went to Moab for our annual Bodell Family Reunion. We stayed at this great campground on the edge of town that had a pool and giant checkers.

We hiked to Delicate Arch. It is huge. Way bigger than I thought from all the license plates and pictures I've seen.

Aaron enjoying the scenery at the top.

Our favorite Junior Ranger.

This picture sort of shows how huge the arch is. A guy offered to take mine and Johnny's picture under the arch, so I made the assumption he was actually going to try to get the whole arch...

One of Aaron's favorite pastimes at the campground was lying on the grass and reading his book (while babysitting so that we could plan our activity).

This is the family fun night extravaganza that Julia and I put together. We had all sorts of random family trivia along with charades, name the lyrics, pictionary and bring me a. We had a great time and it became quite competitive.

And everyone won reunion t-shirts that I designed.

We enjoyed spending most of the next day at the campground playing games like scum.

Then in the evening we went on the fiery furnace hike. You have to go with a ranger so you don't get lost, and I could easily understand how you could get lost. There were many different paths and areas to go.

There were a few more challenging spots like this where you had to walk with feet on one walk and lean your hands against another to get through.

And there were tiny little arches like this to climb through.

It was a beautiful hike and we were really glad we went.

Another great reunion, topped off with Aunt Jimae's scones as we were packing up to leave.

The last of the T-Birds.

2009-06-10T12:22:00.010-06:00

We celebrated the end of an era for the Hicks family in May. At least one child from the Hicks family a has been attending Timpview for the last 15 years...but the end has come and John D is now a graduate!

In honor of the celebration, we thought it would be fun to blindfold him and have him break a pinata while we all laughed at him. He is a pretty good sport. This picture also shows a picture of my mom's new addition to her house. She is expanding the kitchen and family rooms and making them into a great big room.

We were having a good laugh at this point.

Congratulations Johnny!

May Photos

2009-06-10T12:09:00.007-06:00

I am so lucky! I love taking pictures and I have been blessed with an adorable niece and nephew to take pictures of. Julia and I have been doing more pictures lately and training ourselves on photoshop so that someday soon we can start our own photography business. It is something we love doing as a hobby and hope to turn into a small business one day. I especially love taking pictures for people I know. It is so much more fun to edit them and work on them when you know and love the people that are in them. We hope to have our website and photography blog up soon...but until then here are a few of my favorites from May.

Wedding Weekend

2009-06-10T11:08:00.015-06:00

I know I'm a bit behind, but I had a computer meltdown last month, so I'm just happy that I was able to get everything fixed and take care of all the wedding pics. So, here we go.

Our on and off again tenant and cousin got married on May 9! We were lucky enough to have Courtney live with us for a few weeks before, and we got to help with a lot of the wedding festivities, and I got to be a bridesmaid...or brides matron...or whatever. Before the big day, Brandy dyed our hair for one last time before she moved away.

Julia, Stephen and I were the photographers for the big day! It was a perfect opportunity for us to get some more wedding experience. We hope to start our photography business some time in the near future, so we loved getting to do our second wedding. (That is me sitting on the ground back there getting my shot.)

We decided to go early, before the wedding to get shots of the happy couple, and we were so glad we did. We got tons of great shots, and didn't have to compete with all the other brides. We were practically the only ones there. But in the afternoon after the ceremony the place was packed and we would have been waiting in line for good shots. Here are a few of my favorites from the temple.

After the temple we drove down to the reception and barely were able to get ready and get a few shots before the reception started. It is sort of difficult to be in the wedding party, and be the photographer. We've done it twice now. But we love doing both, so we made it work.

The Bodell family loves to dance.

Brandy especially loves to dance!

Aaron loves having his picture taken.

And we love Courtney! We are so happy for you and glad we got to be a part of the big day.

To finish off the wedding weekend we celebrated Aaron and Becca's birthdays! Don't they look happy...

Have you ever wondered?

2009-05-15T13:43:00.003-06:00

Have you ever wondered how far you walked in a day at Disneyland? Last time we went, I wore a pedometer around for one of the days that we were there. By the end of the day, we had walked 9.8 miles. Quite a bit more than I was expecting. It definitely made me wish that I had remembered to bring it to Disneyworld because it is so much bigger and we did so much more walking. Random post, I know, but I found my pedometer today and thought I would share my trivial information and let my fellow disney fans know that not only are you in for a pretty great day when you go to Disneyland...you are also getting some good exercise.

We've been encouraged to start walking in preparation for our youth conference trek this summer. I'm thinking maybe I should spend a few days at Disneyland to prepare.

April Showers, Flowers, and Pics

2009-05-04T14:21:00.006-06:00

Highlights of April through photos:

We had a bridal shower for Courtney. Aaron had a farewell dinner for his student government. I think this is the thing he will miss the most from Timpanogos because he loves it! The students gave him funny gifts and they even wrote him a song and sang it to him at the party.

Julia came to town to "babysit" Johnny while my mom was out of town. We took an outing to the Tulip Festival and it was beautiful! I love tulips and they always remind me of when I got married in April because there were tons of them in my pictures.

We took Jake and Kylee and wandered around the gardens for a couple hours and took a lot of pictures. This is Jake discovering grass for the first time. He was quite mesmerized.

We took a Friday night trip to Park City and stayed in a Marriott right by the ski resort. This picture turned out a bit blurry (problem with timer setting), but it still shows how huge the bath tubs were-6 adults and a baby all fit. Later that weekend Julia and I took Courtney's bridal pictures in Salt Lake. She looked beautiful and we all love her dress! We had lots of help, and a good time.

This is a favorite (of the ones that don't show her dress, so it can still be a surprise).

We took a trip to J-Dawgs and ate in the pouring rain.

Brandy graduated from the Bon Losee Esthetics program and had to say farwell to her favorite manaquinn. We are really going to miss her, and not just because of all the free hair cuts and dyes. She is so much fun and we have loved having her live in Provo for the past 1 1/2 years.

Also did Johnny's senior pics.

Other things of note that I don't have pictures for: Aaron and I celebrated 5 years of being married! I still can't believe how lucky I am to have found someone so perfect for me. Aaron also started school and is trying to adjust to being a student again. And Aaron's soccer team is having a great season! He has been quoted in the papers a few time and they are hoping to tie for the region championship on Friday, which will be a first for Timpanogos.

Cruisin on a "Dam" Ship

2009-04-29T13:37:00.012-06:00

We were lucky enough to go on a cruise to the Carribean over Spring Break, thanks to my wonderful brother-in-law Adam who works for Holland America. He got us a sweet friends and family deal and we decided to try out cruisin' as a way of vacationing. We were not disappointed. Here are the highlights of our journey.

The night before our cruise we stayed in a Marriott right on the beach in Fort Lauderdale (thanks to Courtney, our favorite Marriott associate). This is Aaron standing by the pool of our hotel. We had amazing views, which we mostly enjoyed from our rooms because there was a little too much action for us down on the beach.

After exploring the ship and eating our first buffet meal, the first activity was the emergency drill.

Of course we had to try out the room service our first night there. Cookies and milk and a cheese plate. It was so great getting room sevice and not having to pay extra for it!

Our first full day was a day at sea. This is the day where we met up with our fabulous mega trivia team. We decided to try out the trivia activity, and were approached by some older women that wanted some more people on their team. It ended up working out great because we had a few different generations and areas of trivia covered. We won 1st place on our very first day, and all because we got the 5 point bonus question "Who founded mormonism?" I think we may have been the only ones that got it right (other guesses were Brigham Young and Joseph Smith without the Jr). Since we carried our team to victory on day one, we met up with them every day after that for the mega trivia challenge and we managed to win one more time. I know it may sound a bit nerdy, but we had a great time and got to use some of our random knowledge to win "dam" dollars which bought us a "dam" shirt and a "dam" mug.

The first day was also the formal night in the dining room. We enjoyed dressing up and eating our five course meal.

Our first port was Grand Turk, a small island that is only one mile wide and seven miles long.

We drove across the island and then went on a horseback ride and swim.

We rode the horses for awhile on the sand and roads and got to see their most famous landmark, a lighthouse. And then the cool part came. They changed the sadles to harnesses and then we got to ride the horses in the ocean! The horses were so fast in the water, and the waves were crashing, and you had to squeeze your legs on the horse to stay on (no stirrups). It was so much fun, definitely one of the most memorable activities of the cruise.

Next stop was Puerto Rico. This was probably my favorite port because it was a really cool town with lots to see, and we could do it all on our own without having to pay for transportation or a tour. We found a map and walked all over Old San Juan.

Picture below is to show why I should take the pictures and not Aaron. Ever since Europe we like to find cool statues and then imitate them in our pics. We have a lot of Aaron doing this in Europe. But he decided I should take this one, I suppose since it was a woman. Too bad he cut off the top of the statue, so you can't see what she is doing, and I just look like I'm crazy.

View of the old city wall on our walk to El Morro.

El Morro is a fort on the tip of the island. We got to explore and do a little walking tour, reminiscent of touring old castles in Europe.

Then we walked to 2nd oldest church in Western Hemisphere and saw the statue of Ponce de Leon.

Saw this street with all these colored buildings and cool old cars. Later found out it is one spot where Johnny Depp is currently filming a movie. We saw some trailers and such...but unfortunately no Johnny Depp.

Waiting for the free trolley because we were tired of walking but apparently other people had the same idea because it was full and we ended up walking back to cruise ship anyway.

Another fort on the coast...don't remember the name...but not as big or cool as El Morro.

Statue of Christopher Colombus.

And we made it back to the ship in time to watch the sunset from the upper deck.

Next day was St. Maarten. We couldn't quite figure out why people would want to stop here. The main attractions seemed to be lots and lots of jewelry and liquor stores. I guess people like to buy their jewelry when they don't have to pay taxes. We walked around for awhile, but had no problem making it back to the ship in time for afternoon mega trivia.

This was one of Aaron's favorite spots to read and hang out when the ship was rocking and he felt sick.

This was the dessert extravaganza, which was one of the things I was most looking forward to...and it was pretty fabulous.

On the second formal night we decided to have our lobster and crab delivered to our room. Aaron didn't want to feel bad if he didn't like it and didn't eat all of it in the dining room.

And judging by his face, you can probably figure out how he felt about it, although he did finish all of his and some of mine...I think just because he didn't want to be wasteful.

I tried my hand at towel animal making when our expert cabin steward taught a class to see if I had an undiscovered talent for making animals out of towels. Here is my first and only attempt...it is an elephant.

We spent our last day at Half Moon Cay, Holland America's private island in the Bahamas. The beaches were beautiful and we enjoyed spending the day drinking pina coladas and reading on the beach. I also enjoyed swimming...but I'm not sure I can say the same for Aaron. Apparently his feelings for swimming in the Carribean are only slightly more positive than his feelings for swimming in the pacific. I guess he just has to be riding a horse to enjoy it.

We had a great trip! And hopefully it is the first of more cruises to come in our future.

What will you celebrate?

2009-04-04T13:37:00.006-06:00

In case you haven't heard, the new Disneyland theme this year is "What will you celebrate?" And to celebrate Disneyland is letting you in for free on your birthday. So, you may think, well you are already an annual passholder, so how does that help you? But annual passholders can get a gift card for the amount of a one day ticket (which is almost 70$). Unfortunately, that is only if you pass is actually good that day...and since my birthday fell on a Saturday this year and my pass was blocked...it didn't really help me. But we got a button and pretended like it was my birthday. Here are the highlights:

We got to ride the new and improved Small World. They put Disney characters (in the same style as the dolls) throughout the ride. It was fun to try and find all of them. This was Jake's favorite ride...well we think it was his favorite ride...

I think this is Aaron's favorite ride...but you might not think that from the picture. Thank you Johnny for always sitting in the front and blocking the water for the rest of us, even when you don't want to and we make you.

This is the new photo op at the end of main street.

We were extra lucky on this trip, because Aaron's parents and brother were there. Alan was performing with the Hughson band and choir, so we got to see two performances. And we enjoyed a fabulous pre-birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory...the coconut chocolate cheesecake was amazing...I may have a new favorite dessert.

We got to stay at a beach house in Newport Beach, on of our favorite places to stay. This is us on the pier on my actual birthday (and yes, we know how weird we look).

A great trip, as always...and now that Aaron has gotten his new school schedule, it looks like we may not have another repeat for awhile. This one will have to satisfy my Disneyland obsessions for awhile.

Back to School

2009-03-10T13:15:00.010-06:00

It's been a long time since I've posted, I know. Mostly because I couldn't think of much that is worthy of writing about. Life just continues as usual. But we do have some exciting news, and that is that Aaron was accepted to graduate school at BYU! He is happy that he got in, although he isn't too excited about the idea of being back in school again and having to do homework. The program is called the Leadership Preparation Program, and it is a 14 month masters program that trains you to be a school administrator. He will start at the end of April and finish in June of 2010. It is part time for two months while he finishes the current school year...and then full time for the duration. And when I say full time, it is really full time--from about 8 in the morning until 7 at night during the summers. During the fall and winter he will be doing an internship all day for four days a week and the other day he will be in class all day. He will obviously not be teaching while he is doing all that, so he will be taking the year off. He broke the news to his students and they are pretty disappointed that he won't be there next year, and I think he is a bit sad too. He really does love his job and he is really good at it.

To get him back into school mode he got a computer. Now the brothers and brothers-in-law can socialize via internet, rather than actually speaking to each other, even when they are in the same rome.

Other than that exciting news, not much new to report. We are looking forward to the end of a snowy winter and the return of sunshine and warm temperatures. This winter has been a bit crazy with all the snow we have gotten and Aaron has done a great job keeping our driveway clear (without cashing in on the snowblower my mom promised him if he would live in Utah).

We enjoyed a visit with Julia and family this last weekend where we got to celebrate our birthdays!

Celebration to be continued this weekend at the happiest place on earth...

I love photoshop!

2009-01-12T14:01:00.006-07:00

I was so excited to be able to get photoshop for Christmas! I have wanted it for a few years, but didn't feel like I had time to learn how to use it and didn't want to fork out money. But using my educator's discount and some suprise Christmas money, I was able to get it this year. I'm still a photoshop beginner, but I'm loving learning how to use it and experimenting with my pictures. And I love using photoshop actions! The Pioneer Woman Action sets and Totally Rad Actions are the ones I've been using, and they are fabulous!

Here is an example. This is the out of the camera shot:

And this is after using some Totally Rad Actions.

Here are some more. If you click on the little box in the right hand corner of the slide show you can see bigger. And thanks to Julia and family for being so photogenic and letting me take lots of pictures. I had a great time!

Holiday Highlights

2009-01-06T08:53:00.012-07:00

As always, I loved the holiday season. There are so many things that I love about this time of year. I love going to the Festival of Trees. I love all the treats and good food. I love the pretty snow (for awhile). I love the decorations (Thank you Aaron for putting lights on the house, even though we weren't home the day after Thanksgiving!). But my very favorite thing is getting to spend so much time with friends and family. I love seeing people that come from out of town as well as having an excuse to see the people that live close by that I don't get to see often enough.

I got to spend an evening with four of my fabulous former roommates. These girls are the greatest! And I love any opportunity I have to get together with them.

My mom cooked up a storm during the break. I'm not kidding you, she produced one fabulous meal after another from ranch chicken to ham to pork chili to fondu to breakfast casserole...and we even got to have a "cookie party" just like we had when we were little kids.

It snowed like crazy over the break. We stayed at my mom's house for two nights to avoid the morning and evening commutes (especially because we were down to one car after someone hit Aaron's car). On Christmas Eve Aaron measured 11 inches in front of my mom's house! And it has only gotten deeper since then. The boys built this cute snowman and we went sledding! Apparently Aaron's feelings about sledding are similar to his feelings about swiming in the ocean (so that's why he isn't in the pictures).

On Christmas Eve we got our traditional gift of pj pants. This year they were BYU colored plaid with a BYU logo on one leg...which unfortunately you can't really see in this picture. Even baby Jacob got his first piece of BYU clothing.

Christmas day was spent eating a lot of good food and enjoying some of our new gifts. All three couples got the newest Raving Rabbids game for the Wii! If you have never played the second one, it is a hit! We haven't played the third one enough to give a final review...but we are pretty excited to try it out.

The little wooden hexagon in my hand is a replica of the brick that Aaron got for me at Disneyland! It will have our names on it and be installed in February between Disneyland and California Adventure on the walkway. Now we will have to make another trip down to see our brick!

Jacob was blessed at my parent's house on December 28.

And we held our annual Bodell holiday party as an early New Year's party.

Aaron taught Becca the hamster dance,

and Brandy and I got to take pictures with Zac.

We got to spend New Year's Eve with Aaron's old roommates. I tried to get him to take a picture with his friends that I would have posted on this spot...but he informed me he doesn't care about documenting these sorts of things (in other words, he thinks I'm crazy for all the pictures I take). But as always, we had a great time with them.

We are now back to regular life after our lovely holidays. Aaron is trying to adjust to life as a teacher without a student teacher (one that actually has to teach). I'm learning how to teach math (and finding out that not all high schoolers know the months of the year or how to tell time) and enjoying learning how to use Photoshop CS4 (more on that later). We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a wonderful new year!

California Firsts

2008-12-16T11:39:00.009-07:00

I know that you must grow weary of reading about my California posts, and I'm the first to admit that the frequency of my trips has become a bit excessive. But this one was for a good reason and had a few firsts.

1. Most importantly, I got to meet my first nephew for the first time! He is so cute! We loved meeting him and holding him...and taking him to Disneyland for the first time! Don't worry, he was only there for a few minutes, but I think he already loves it.

2. It was also the first time that we rode all of the operating rides at Disneyland in one day! Aaron set the goal and recruited a few of us to join him. How you calculate the number of rides could vary, but we counted 31 operating rides (everything was open except for the sailing ship and the canoes). Tomorrowland almost kept Aaron from meeting his goal (Space Mountain and the Rockets weren't so good for his motion sickness).

Star Tours was the final ride to check off our list.

And by the end of the day we had met our goal! (Thanks to Charise and Cole for helping us reach the goal a few hours early).

3. I also rode the Sailing Ship Colombia for the first time! It wasn't open on Thursday for our ride challenge, but it was running on Friday.

4. And lastly, we stayed at the Marriott Newport Coast Villas for the first time (and hopefully not the last). Courtney got us ocean view rooms with her discount. It is a fabulous resort and gave me further encouragement to one day pursue my goal of working for Marriott and JetBlue. Then I could continue my frequent traveling with cheap rooms and less driving.

Aaron's New Haircut

2008-12-16T10:19:00.005-07:00

If you want to see Aaron getting his head shaved here is the link on Fox 13 news: "Timpanogos High School Teachers Get Their Head Shaved"

The main video is just students describing the sub for santa. But right next to it there is a box that says side bar and related items. Click on that video (it is only a few minutes long) and you will see it happen.

He was also on the front page of the Daily Herald. Here is the link for that story: Daily Herald

The Distance

2008-12-15T11:20:00.007-07:00

Aaron was asked to be the lead singer for a faculty band that performed in the Timpanogos High School talent show. Being the nice and brave person that he is, he agreed. They have been practicing over the last few months and here is a picture from the performance. He is the one in front with the orange hair. (Sorry it's a bit blurry because I was far away.) I was a little bit surprised when he first told me, because I've never known him to sing a solo or really sing in front of people (although he does sing around the house all the time). But he informed me that he didn't really have to sing because it was a Cake song that is more speaking than singing. He really doesn't get afraid of things like this and is willing to do a lot for the benefit of the school and his students. Here is the link to the video the students took. "The Distance"

And just to show that he really is willing to sacrifice for his students, he agreed to let them shave his head if they reached their sub-for-santa fundraising goal. This may not be a sacrifice for some, but when you don't know how much longer you will actually have your hair, I think it is a bigger sacrifice. They were nowhere close when he agreed to it, but they pulled it off in the end and supposedly were encouraged by the thought of seeing him bald. I'm not sure why...if they just waited a few years they could probably see it anyway...but here he is. He was actually interviewed by Big Buddah on Fox 13 morning news while he was getting his head shaved.

Elder Wirthlin

2008-12-10T10:39:00.005-07:00

I know this is a bit late in coming, but I've been thinking about Elder Wirthlin during the last week since he passed away. I've been especially touched by his talks during the last two conferences. Despite the apparent difficulties he was having with his health, his talks were filled with his humor, wisdom, and especially his testimony. There are three talks that I have thought of this week because they have been some of my favorites and ones that I like to come back to year after year because they are so good. So, I thought I would share for anyone that is interested (titles of talks are links to Ensign articles) as well as document them for myself to remember in the future.

He gave a devotional at BYU about gratitude called "Live in Thanksgiving Daily". I love to use this talk for family home evening around Thanksgiving time and then take time to make a list of all the things I am thankful for.

In 2002, he gave a talk titled "Follow Me". He tells the story of Peter and Andrew, and James and John and how they immediately gave up their nets to follow the Savior and then asks, “If the Savior were to call you today, would you be just as willing to leave your nets and follow Him?”

And the last one is his most recent address, "Come What May, and Love It". It was one of the highlights of last conference for me.

I enjoyed an Article from LDS Church News . Here is an excerpt:

The comical irony of life's unexpected fortunes was not lost on Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin when he spoke during the October 2001 general priesthood meeting.

Once known for his speed and power as a halfback for the University of Utah football team, he said, "I loved to run."

"And I did win a few races. I'm not so fast anymore. In fact, I'm not sure how well I would do in a race if the only contestants were the members of the Quorum of the Twelve."

The unexpected humor from his deadpan delivery caused a burst of laughter. "My ability to run is not so swift now," he continued.. . . I am looking forward to that future time when, with a resurrected body, I can once again sprint over a field and feel the wind blowing through my hair."

Joseph Bitner Wirthlin, the 88th member to be called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in this dispensation, lived a life rich in experience, a testament to the Lord's promise that those who do the works of righteousness find peace and happiness in this life.

The Sunshine State

2008-12-04T13:59:00.006-07:00

We just got back from a fabulous trip to Florida and Disney World. I have wanted to go here ever since I can remember, so this trip really was a dream come true for me. I know it is hard to believe that a Disney fanatic like me has never been there, but it's true. I’m sorry if my commentary gets long or boring, just skip through if you aren’t interested.

On Saturday we arrived in Florida! We checked in to our hotel, Port Oreans Riverside. It is made to look like an old southern plantation right on the river. It was really nice.

After arriving, we quickly tried to become acquainted with the bus/boat system so that we could get to the ESPN club to watch the BYU game. We made it and were able to watch most of the game either while we were standing in line or at our table. We had a great time, despite the final score. There are TVs everywhere in this place and everyone is watching football. People are cheering at different times and you don’t even have to worry about missing a big play when you go to the bathroom…they have big TV’s above all the stalls. We even made friends with a Ute and BYU fan sitting at a nearby table.

The next day was our day to relax and prepare ourselves for 5 days of intense theme park touring. We took some time to explore Port Orleans, Fort Wilderness, and drive by the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian resorts.

Hollywood Studios

2008-12-04T13:52:00.008-07:00

Monday we started our theme park adventure with Hollywood Studios! Here were some of the memorable moments:

1. We were first in line and made it quickly to Toy Story, so we were able to ride once as well as get fastpasses for later. We love this ride!

2. We met a cast member who is a member of the church from Latin America. She treated us all to “1st Visit” buttons!

3. Tower of Terror: Better than California Adventure. It moves around more and can be different every time you go on it.

4. Rock n’ Roller Coaster: This ride was crazy. It starts by launching you from 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds. Then it proceeds to speed through the dark taking you upside down and in all sorts of directions. (below is picture of track)

5. The brown rice pudding we were served at the Chinese food restaurant. Who knew rice pudding could be brown? And taste like that?

6. Fantasmic! This show is one of my favorites at Disneyland…and I was not disappointed at Disney World. There were quite a few differences from Disneyland’s show, and as always a fabulous Disney finale including Mickey and music and fireworks. It was well worth battling the crowds and one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.

The Magic Kingdom

2008-12-04T13:33:00.005-07:00

Tuesday we spent the day at the Magic Kingdom. It had a lot of things that were different than Disneyland, more than I thought. We had a good time exploring and comparing it to what we know. Here are the highlights:

1. Once again we tried to be one of the first in line. We were let in for some pre-opening entertainment which included Aaron being called up to do the hokey pokey and throwing Mickey confetti during a countdown to opening.

2. Splash Mountain was great and is always one of our favorites. This one was fun because you get to sit side by side and there are many parts of the ride that are different.

3. Aaron managed to get Dream Fastpasses, again. This time was weirder than the other times. He was walking by and saw someone with a Dream Fastpass. He asked them where they got them. Then they asked him, “do you want them?” So of course he said yes and the person handed over two of them. I’m not sure if he didn’t understand what they were or he was leaving the park for the day, or just wanted to make someone elses dream come true, but we accepted the gesture.

4. Aaron was happy to see they haven’t moved the people movers out of Disney World like they have out of Disneyland. It was actually a pretty cool little ride that takes you around tomorrowland. Aaron got to experience a little bit of Space Mountain, without actually having to ride it. I wonder why they took them out at Disneyland? Especially since the track is still there and not being used.

5. And last of all, the Castle looks fabulous! Especially because of Christmas. They had white lights hanging all over it and the castle would change colors ever 10 minutes or so. It is built up high and is taller than Disneyland so you can see it from almost anywhere in the park. I loved it!

Epcot

2008-12-04T13:03:00.007-07:00

Let me start out by saying that Epcot is HUGE! More than twice as big as Disneyland and California Adventure combined. So to get from one end to the other takes awhile. There is a lot to see and do. Here were some of our favorites:

1. Test track was great, especially when you get to drive really fast at the end.

2. Spaceship America is the ride inside of the big ball. It takes you on a little journey through history, which was great for a history nerd like me. If I could only get my students to learn/remember all that was on this ride.

3. I loved walking around the countries. My favorites were Germany and Italy. Germany looked just like a miniature Rothenburg and Italy was like a miniature Venice. I also got to try Morrocan food, which is the same kind of food they eat in the Middle East. It reminded me of my days in Jerusalem…and of why I’m glad I don’t have to eat that kind of food all the time.

Canada (Brandy--Aaron wanted to take this picture for you!)

England

Germany (doesn't it look like Rothenburg?)

China

Japan

Morocco (country in North Africa where majority of people are Arabic)

This picture below was taken for my Jerusalem friends. Doesn't it remind you of all the cheesy t-shirts we would see shopping in the old city? And to top it off, it has one of our favorite Arabic words.

4. We went to dinner at a German Buffet called the Biergarten. I wasn’t too excited because I didn’t really love German food when I was in Germany, but this was much better. And I even got to try real schnitzel and black forest cake (which I wasn’t able to find in Germany despite much searching and walking through the real black forest). There was some lively entertainment including a rendition of Edelweiss played on cowbells and the chicken dance.

Animal Kingdom

2008-12-04T12:48:00.005-07:00

I was a big fan of this place. It is so different from the other parks and was a great place to spend Thanksgiving day. The symbol for the park is the giant "tree of life" in the middle of the park that has lots of animals carved into the trunk.

1. We saw the Lion King and Finding Nemo shows. Both were really good and much better than I was expecting. The costumes and way that they performed Finding Nemo on a stage was especially impressive.

2. The Safari ride was awesome. We saw lots of animals and even had to stop our van for an ostrich to cross the road.

3. Expedition Everest is a pretty great roller coaster. Very tall, fast, dark and backwards.

4. Dinosaur was a great ride too. Similar to Indiana Jones, but with Dinosaurs. It was actually pretty scary and I have to admit that I flinched a few times.

Our Last Day

2008-12-04T12:28:00.008-07:00

Our last day was a catch up day to do all the things we had put off to do later including some rides, buying souvenirs, eating lots of snacks, and going to the water park. We started out our morning at Blizzard Beach. There were very few people in the park and there were lifeguards wearing coats…so I think they thought we were a bit strange. But we adjusted to the cold and got to walk right on to all of the slides we wanted to. We even got to ride a chair lift to the top of the mountain where all the slides come off.

This was my favorite slide. You ride down the mouintain in a 4-5 person tube that looks like a little kiddie blow up pool.

We headed back to the Magic Kingdom for our final afternoon. Aaron finally got Kylee to like him enough to let him hold her without screaming...maybe all the candy and soda and merry-go-round ride helped.

We finished off the day with a meal with the characters from Winnie-the-Pooh and fireworks over the castle and one last ride on Buzz Lightyear.

Thank you Barth family for a fabulous trip! We had a great time are so grateful that we got to go!

October Highlights

2008-11-03T10:06:00.013-07:00

October has been a busy and fun month for us. Aaron coached his girls varsity soccer team to the state semi-finals! He has been really busy with practice and games, and now that the season is over he may even get home before me on some days. We still love BYU football, and have enjoyed some exciting wins the last couple of weeks.

Julia came into town for one last Utah visit before she has her baby, so we threw her a baby shower. I made this blanket with sock monkey flannel prints. It wasn't super complicated, but I did use a sewing machine (which isn't a common occurrence) and searched extensively to find just the right fabric. I thought it turned out pretty cute...mostly because of the fabric, not my amazing sewing skills.

After Julia's visit and remembering how much we loved Disneyland in October, we decided to make a spontaneous three day weekend trip to California because Aaron had Friday off. We drove down Thursday night to spend Friday at Disneyland. After a few hours of sleep, we headed to Disneyland around 7:30 and started off the day on Dumbo. Then I suggested Thunder Mountain, but Aaron said he wanted to ride Pinocchio (a bit strange, I know, but he must have been inspired). So we went to Pinocchio and as we get off the ride, there is the Disney dream team handing out fastpasses to people as they exit the ride. The Year of Million Dreams blesses us again! We have won Dream Fastpasses 6 times! Since Disney's annual attendance numbers are above 14 million...I figure you have about 1 in 14 chance of winning one of the million dreams...so Mickey Mouse is definitely rewarding us for being some of his biggest fans.

I love Disneyland around Halloweentime. It's actually a toss up between Halloween and Christmas, I can't decide which I like more. But the Halloween decorations are fabulous! California adventure has an area called Candy Corn Acres that is really cute.

And, of course, we love the giant Mickey pumpkin head!

We spent Saturday in Torrance visiting Julia and Stephen's home. There are a few things I have come to love about this town...and most of them involve food. They have a great beach bike store, a huge Forever XXI, and best of all two of my most favorite restaurants--The Original Pancake House and The Lazy Dog. The Original Pancake house is definitely the best breakfast restaurant I have ever been to, and I'm a big breakfast fan. This place is seriously good. Now Ruby's may have it beat in the ambience category. But if you just want great breakfast food, this place is the best! The omelets are huge (see Julia's plate) and the apple Dutch pancake is huge and delicious (Aaron's plate) and the strawberry pancakes are my favorite! And don't worry, if you don't live in California, they have one in Salt Lake!

I know, I'm probably a bit too old to enjoy these movies, but I'll admit that I've enjoyed High School Musical 1 & 2. So, we decided to go to High School Musical 3 last weekend. I guess I should clarify that "we" doesn't include Aaron. He had absolutely no interest in the movie. Here is my quick movie review. As the sequels increased, so did the cheesiness. There were a few moments in this movie that were just over the top, even for a musical. I could appreciate them for what they were and get a good laugh, but I think Aaron would have walked out before the movie was over. The storyline was a bit lacking because they were trying to cram so many songs in...but there were some great dance numbers as always and we had a good time.

My mom has a great tradition of having a Halloween chili and cornbread dinner. This year we actually did it the Sunday before Halloween as our monthly cousin dinner. I think this year was her best year ever! She used my aunt Jimae's chili recipe, but instead of ground beef we used slow roasted shredded pork. It was fabulous! And I made the cute halloween tablecloth (the second use of my sewing machine in a month).

Aaron decided to be Gregory House from "House" for Halloween. He had gray hair, a scruffy face, walked with a cane, and was sarcastic all day.

I opted for the easier, more traditional route of being a witch. The coolest part was my purple hair and striped tights, which you can't see very well in the pictures.

Now the Halloween decorations are put away, and the pilgrims and turkey are out. We are looking forward to a busy November including my first trip to Disney World! And hopefully more frequent blogging so I don't have one really long one at the end of the month.

After all these years, it still brings a smile to my face!

2008-10-06T15:12:00.004-06:00

Yes, I am referring to the movie Newsies. I brought it to school to show a clip to my students when they finished their test today. They didn't know what a printing press was...so I thought what better way to see a printing press than to watch a clip from Newsies. We watched the educational printing press clip, and then I let them watch a few minutes of the beginning. I have to say that Carrying the Banner is one of my favorite parts of the movie and I can't hear it without humming or singing along. Well as I'm quietly humming one of my students notices and points out that I'm humming. To which I reply, well I've seen this movie a lot of times. He asks how many. And I proudly answer, probably 40 or 50 times. Yep, I've probably seen this movie more times than any other movie in my lifetime. My friends and I were slightly obsessed when we were in junior high. I saw it a few times in the regular theater, many times at the dollar theater, and many more times after we could rent it. We just couldn't get enough. Our lockers were plastered with pictures of Newsies and we even created our own Newsies stationary.

I look back on many of my teenage obsessions and think they were a bit ridiculous. And I may have a been a bit over the top on this one, but I do have to say that even to this day I still think it is a pretty fabulous movie. I did feel a bit old when I looked at the date on the dvd and told my students that the movie was 15 years old. I almost couldn't believe it. That means they were only two years old when this movie came out and they have never been exposed to the goodness that is Newsies. But thanks to me, now they have, and they didn't even make fun of it despite all the dancing and singing. And now I may just have to go home and finish the movie.

5 Year Anniversary

2008-10-03T13:57:00.006-06:00

No, I haven't been married for 5 years. But I have been working at Provo Canyon School for 5 years this week! I can't believe it has been that long; I never would have thought I would still be here 5 years later. But here I am, and there are a few good things about reaching this milestone, the best of which is I earn 3 more days off a year...which translates to 3 more days I can spend at Disneyland.

From day to day my feelings about my job change, it can be fun and rewarding one day and extremely frustrating and difficult the next day, but overall I can say that it has been a good experience for me. I've learned a lot of things that I probably needed to learn, and couldn't have learned in a regular public school job. And it is a great job for me because I constantly get to be studying and learning new things...almost like being a student again.

Some people think I'm crazy for working where I do, but I've had a lot of positive experiences with my students and they make me laugh all the time. Here some of my favorite recent conversations:

Student: Mrs. Barth, she called me bulemic.
Me: Do you throw up after you eat?
Student: No...you know, when you can't see colors.
Me: You mean, color blind?

Me: After the constitutional convention, how many states ratified the constitution?
Student: 48
Me: There were only 13 states at the time.
Student: 25
Me: Again, there were only 13 states at the time.
Student: 35
Me: There were 13 states.
Student: 18
Me: ???????

A few other favorites include the questions "Is there a life-size map of the United States?" or "Were you around when Colombus came?" Or when I'm teaching about Ancient Egypt and somehow it becomes a conversation about chickens and hobbits and what kind of shoes they wore...and my professor is observing me (and laughing out loud).

As you can see, my job can be pretty entertaining at times, but I might have a new career ahead of me. A student informed me this week that he plans on writing my name in on the ballot for president (we haven't quite gotten to the part about requirements for being president, specifically the age ones). But maybe I can get an early start on my political career...slowly working my way to the White House one vote at a time.

Why I love Fall...

2008-09-05T10:16:00.007-06:00

While I realize that it isn't officially Fall just yet, the cooler temperatures have reminded how much I love Fall! Here are just a few of my favorite things about this season.

1. I love "Back to School" time. I used to love shopping for school supplies, getting the new crayons, pencil boxes, and backpacks. And then when I went to college I loved it because it was new classes (and most years a new major too) and it was when all my roommates came back! It doesn't have quite the same excitement for me now that I work at a year round school...but it still makes me a little excited. I was at the BYU bookstore a few weeks ago and was really wishing it was me buying my books and getting ready to back to school. (weird, I know, but true).

2. I love the changing of the leaves! I love seeing the leaves change around town and I especially love driving up Provo Canyon to see them. It's a bit early for this...but I'm looking forward to it and hoping to get some good pictures this year.

3. I love peaches! I look forward to peach season all year long and get really excited when I see that Allred Orchards has opened their peach stand. We have already made peach cobbler, crisp, shakes, and ice cream and plan on attempting peach jam this weekend. (Picture below is when I bought a peach in June in Italy...one of the best I've had...and probably one of the most expensive).

4. My favorite TV shows start again.

5. I get to start wearing sweaters and sweatshirts again.

6. I can use my favorite warm flannel blanket without getting too hot.

7. I love Halloween and fall decorations.

8. I remember the fall I spent in Jerusalem.

9. Thanksgiving-I love seeing family and eating such good food.

10. And last, but definitely not least...BYU football! Growing up I never would have thought I would get excited about football. I watched basketball, but thought football was extremely boring. I only went to games in high school if my friends were going and we never really paid attention to the games. Then in 2001 some friends talked me into getting tickets with them and once again I went along for the social aspect. But as it turns out, after my friends taught me about the game, some of their extreme enthusiasm rubbed off on me (thanks guys)...I came to love BYU football. It probably helped that BYU had an awesome season that year, winning 12 straight games. But I continued to go to all the games during the less successful or "dark years" and have loved the team that Bronco has created the last few years. I still don't care for watching any other football games, but I get really excited about BYU football. Here are some pics from the first game of the year.

The view from our seats. I love the location of the stadium, right there by the mountains. The location of our seats on the other hand, isn't so great...but we are slowly trying to work our way up in the season ticket holder hierarchy.

I interrupted Aaron's intense concentration pose...so I think that's why his hand looks so weird.

Aaron singing the fight song.

Caleb playing with his new toy. It is so fun to have him home and going to games with us again!

I wish you all a great fall season and hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Kylee

2008-09-04T14:46:00.010-06:00

One of these days I'm going to start a separate photography blog, but for now, I will just post a few of my favorites on this one. We took some pictures of our niece, Kylee, last week. I love taking pictures of little kids. They are not the most cooperative subjects...but some of the funniest and when you get a good one where they are actually looking at the camera in a normal position with decent lighting it is pretty exciting. We would try to get her to pose, but within a few seconds she usually wanted to climb or run away or look at the water. So we basically followed her around for a half hour and tried to capture some good ones. Here are some of my favorites.

I just like this one because she looks like she is concentrating really hard and has something really important to say.