Merry Christmas

Started to feel bad that we didn't have a Christmas Card this year so I quickly whipped this up this afternoon. I hope you don't mind my procrastination :) Hope your Holidays are Merry and Bright.

Hello Fall

We had the best day today watching your excitement as you experienced Fall for the first time. You loved looking at the bright colored leaves as they fell from the trees. The reds, oranges and yellows just captivated you as you watched the trees shiver when the wind blew. Oh my Olivia girl I hope you will continue to always be in awe of the beauty around you and the wonderful world Heavenly Father created for you.

3 months

Today i looked at you and you were bigger your newbornness is starting to fade away and you are growing every day. You are starting to stay awake a lot longer and you are interacting so much more, smiling and talking all the time. Tonight I listened to you talk to your self forever. I just wanted to hear the sweet sounds you could make. I just love your little ooohs and aaaahs. Your little legs are getting stronger and looking thicker. Your head and neck are so much stronger. As you laid against my chest you kept lifting up your head to look around. Your face looks older to me your cheeks are so full and your eyes are getting bigger. You now start to look at me more while you are eating. You look up at me and stare into my eyes with the sweetest most innocent most loving look I will ever know. As I looked down at your little body I noticed that your feet are now longer than the Boppy and your growing taller. Your little feet no longer curl up against my chest but Streatch out so long. I'm afraid I will blink and you'll have grown again, only this time I won't have captured it in my mind. I must do that, I must remember and relish in the moment, every moment because I already want them back. I can't believe it's been 12 weeks already I am so completely in love with you. You are the most precious thing I have ever seen my sweet little Olivia girl.

Sweet Baby Girl

Life doesn't get any sweeter than this...

At First Glance

Sweet Baby girls from the moment I saw you it was love at first sight. I remember thinking is it really possible to love some one so much. I still can't believe you are finally here and that you are all ours. The moment they handed you to me my heart melted as I looked into your eyes. Your face is so sweet and you are perfect in every way. When they placed you in my arms I thought...you are here, I have seen your face. I am totally and completely in love with you and will never be able to live without you. You are my gift from Heavenly Father, what a blessing you are.

At the Hospital

After a pretty quick delivery, 11 out of the 12remaining hours spent in our labor and delivery room went as follows...

Oh my Loves...

Olivia Barrow

Born: July 28, 2011

Height: 19.5"

Weight: 6lbs. 14 oz

Every day is a new day. Every day is a new adventure learning and growing together. Just to see how much you have changed over the past 11 days is amazing. You are growing up so fast I hope that I can drink it all in because these moments will be gone before I know it. These sweet moments after you eat and are so content and happy. Your little milk man face, and when you raise your arms up to your sweet cheeks and smile then stick out your little tongue just a tiny bit to show how satisfied you are. Then you snuggle against my chest listening to my heart beat you softly falls asleep.

Oh those are the moments or when you look at me and smile as daddy and are laying together on the bed as a family. And then you open your little hand and grab a hold of my finger. As if to say thank you for being here and making me feel safe. These are the moments I want to remember and never forget.

First Few Days at Home

There continue to be in awe of you all the time and kiss your sweet head every chance we get.

i love flowers

This past weekend we had a little birthday dinner for my mom. So I went outside and picked a few flowers from both our yards and made some arrangements for our table. When I was done all I could think of was how I wish I could fill my whole house with fresh flowers every week. I put the bottom arrangement in my room (gave the other one to my mom) and when I woke up this morning Gene laughed at me because the first thing out of my mouth was, "i love flowers."

i have this man

The other day we were hanging out in the backyard, laying on the grass together talking about how blessed we are, about what we want for our future, and about how there are so many things we are grateful for. As he rolled over to look at me this is what I saw.

I am so grateful to have this man.

Kristin + Marc = Barrow for Eternity

I love weddings, especially ones that involve family and close friends. This past weekend we were able to be a part of Kristin and Marc's wedding and we had the best time. I love going to the temple, feeling the spirit and seeing tons of your family there together. There is no better feeling in the world than to be in the temple with those you love.
The weather was HOT and super WINDY all the way up until the reception, but you would never guess by these photos our our gorgeous couple (not a hair out of place). The reception was BEAUTIFUL PERFECTION, from the food, to the MC he hee (Gene), to the cutting of the cake and the first dance. The evening was as Kimberly would say, just "MAGICAL".

i love sprinkles

It's funny how something so small can make someone so happy. When I was in high school I would get a doughnut just like this at least 3x a week at break. What's not to love about yellow cake and chocolate frosting, besides the sprinkles just put a smile on my face. So when Gene brought this delicious treat home for me the other day after substituting for seminary and I was excited. I love how well he knows me.

Here's to another Good Morning!

How Does Your Garden Grow...

Last weekend Gene, Marc and I Planted our garden for the up coming Spring and Summer months. Gene and I are trying to plant some new things this year. Last year we planted Zucchini, Squash, Tomatoes and Herbs. We ended up with tons and tons of Squash and no Tomatoes. This year we decided that we wouldn’t plant any type of Squash but we planted 5 different types of Tomato. We want to find out which varieties we like the best, and then next year only plant two or three. Our planting list goes as follows: Two Blueberry Bushes (for cross pollination), a hand full of Strawberries plants, One Raspberry Bush, A couple of Broccoli Stalks, One Jalapeno Pepper (just for fun), and Five rows of Lettuce (planted by seeds, four different varieties). We planted Herbs again, also which include, Cilantro, Basil, Thyme, Oregano and Chives. We will see how they do and then maybe plant a few more herbs. Right now my Basil is looking a little sad and needs some attention. Hopefully our Garden will grow really well this year and the fruits of our LABORS will THRIVE. It was quite a bit more work than I had anticipated and poor Gene, his knee was hurting so bad that he couldn’t help much. (He had arthroscopic surgery and an ACL clean up on it the Friday before last). That’s why Marc came to help me dig the big holes and carry all the mulch and fertilizer. I can’t wait to watch it grow.
THANKS SO MUCH MARC!!!

Wishing You Were Here!

I can't believe that it will be 2 weeks tomorrow since Parker graduated from the CHP Academy,and now they are living in LA. It's crazy to think that we don't get to cut Parker's hair on Sunday afternoons and eat brownies and milk, or hang out and play with Mr. Sammy pants anytime we want to. We sure miss you guys!!!

It was exciting to be able to see a little sample of what Parker did and what life was like while he was at the Academy. The graduates and staff put on quite a show between the inspections,the PT and EVOC demonstrations, and the ceremony it's self.

Here are just a few pics from the Big Day.





And one just because it was my favorite from the day. You just gotta love those sweet cheeks.

A few things we have been up to

Christian's Wedding

This day was absolutely beautiful, from the Sealing and the spirit that was there to the love of the bride and groom. Janay looked amazing and Christian was adorably in Love. Me, Kristen and Kimberly

My Birthday
My Sweet and Amazing husband took me to San Fran for an awsome birthday week end. We stayed at really nice hotel 2 blocks from Union Square. We ate amazing food, shopped, went to Pier 39 and saw Wicked with the best seats in the house. It was such a perfect weekend. He is the best husband ever and I can't thank him enough for constantly making all my dreams come true.

Logan's Graduation

I know it was a while ago, but it I just had to let him know how proud I am of him for doing so well in school, and for the choices he is trying to make in life. I love you Loges.

Camping With the Young Women

We decided as a Presidency that we were going to take the Young Women to the Dillon's Beach and go camping. It was quite an eExhausting, Memorable and fun Adventure, filled with kite flying, skim boarding, smore making, scary stories around the campfire and lots of bonding.

The Priesthood Chaperones that had to set up all the tents, start the fire and listen to giggling squeeling girls all night..... They had a blast.

The Barrow Family Reunion
We spent a beautiful day at the Gridley Pavillion hanging out, eating and visiting with Family. It was such a wonderful experience to get to know Gene's exstended family and alittle bit about our geneology.

The boys just being goofy

Gene and his brothers slid down well bounced down this slide over and over again and then would come to a pile up at the bottom it was hilarious.

Marc and Kristen got Engaged.

We are all sooooo excited and can't wait for the wedding these two are just absolutely adorable.To Mendo We Go Again....

We had the best time in Mendocino as usual. Everything is so beautiful, we had this amazing little house up in the redwood forest that was absolutely perfect for the Boys because they wanted to spend time paintballing. (don't worry we used biodegradable clear paintballs, we would never want to destroy nature) It had this perfect little arena where the boys could play and everyone else could watch. It was quite fun. Kelly and I even had to play alittle to make the teams even. We went to the beach and to the botanical gardens because of course I had to see the dahlia garden when they are in bloom, and there was a wedding that was going to be held there that day so it was particularly beautiful. We walked around old Mendocino, and had a picnic on the beach. It was so fun to just relax and enjoy being together as a family.

View from the pathway to the Dahlia Garden The Boys and Kelly all geared up

Janay contemplating playing with us

Parker showing off is skills

Kim and Kristen getting ready to set up thier chairs and cheer us on

One of my Favorite places, look how huge that flower head is

Yosemite
We had wonderful time in Yosemite even though it was a little rainy and overcast when we went. By the time we go to the top of the mountain to overlook the Valley the clouds started to clear, the sun came out and a rainbow appeared. The pictures don't do it justice it truley was a beautiful site.

While in Yosemite we did a lot of walking and hiking. We went to all the waterfalls and hiked the first few miles of half dome. Let me tell you the wet small straight up staircase that went up forever with no railing almost did me in on the way down. I definately had to have Gene by my side telling me I wasn't going to slip and fall all the way down. We enjoyed Yosemite Village ate delicious food and of course had ice cream. I can't go anywhere with out having ice cream.