Remembering Cody and Maggie

Sadly, on April 17, we had to say goodbye to a greatly beloved friend, our family dog, Cody. Here is a tribute to him and his friend, our other sweet dog, Maggie, that passed on a couple of years before.

Spring Break

The week before Easter, aka Spring Break was rather quiet. Mainly because our resident teenager, aka Natalie was able to take a trip out west to see her sisters. It was nice to have time away from work to catch up on things at home. Unfortunately, Skip was NOT away from work. He was very busy working on preparations for the Nuclear Summit. On Wednesday, he was able to set things aside for awhile, and we decided to get away from Virginia and see a little of our neighboring state of Pennsylvania.

We booked a two night stay at a Ramada Inn in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The great thing about Ramada Inns is they have Sleep Number Beds, something we would really like to have someday. So, yes they were two VERY comfortable nights, with better than average linens as well!

Here's a picture of our hotel taken from our driving tour of Valley Forge the next day:



We loved seeing Valley Forge, a place we've heard about for so long, where George Washington and the continental army set up winter camp in 1777-78. It is 29 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The British were occupying Philadelphia and so it was a good place to keep and eye on them. After seeing a little of the visitors center museum and movie, we took the driving tour through what to me was a surprisingly large area, with several camps.

George Washington looks a lot like Skip!


Skip beside one of the recreated cabins.



A Memorial Arch:



George Washington used a rented house as his headquarters:




Doesn't 29 years of marriage look great on us?


We spent the rest of the day in Philadelphia walking around the historic areas.





We visited the Reading Market, where we had the best pastrami sandwich in the world at a deli stand there. We should have taken a picture of the sandwich, but you can tell how good it was by Skip's smile!





The next day, we drove back to Virginia via Lancaster county, aka Amish country, and had just enough time to stop at the Holtzfus meat store and a market. The spring looked so beautiful there.

Back at home we enjoyed two days of General Conference, then hosted a family Easter Dinner on Sunday. We picked up Natalie on Monday, and celebrated her birthday on Tuesday at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Jeri and Doug Pennock and their three children had arrived late Sunday night to spend their Easter break in Virgina. Natalie got to go to D.C. with them the next day.

A Visit to Utah

When a new grand baby enters the world, it's pretty hard to stay away, so two days after Owen's birth, I was in Utah doing what I could to help and enjoy three precious little ones and their parents, Laura and Kart. Here are the highlights of the week:

Meeting Owen, of course:



Seeing how proud big brother Aiden was:



Seeing how much big sister Emma loved him:



Helping with the shopping and the cooking:



Getting to see Kara, who had moved to Utah a few weeks ago:



Finding an old fence and some rocks outside on a warm February day:





Playing a new game:



Reading books to Aiden, reading books to Emma, reading books to both of them, watching them read to each other, watching Kara read to them, watching them "read" on their own:




Note: I had found some children's books that Great Grandma Baird had in her room in Virginia, and decided the Barnett children should have them. Their favorites were "Put me in the Zoo", "Horton Hatches an Egg", and "The Spooky Old Tree".

Watching Owen enjoy his new swing:






Watching movies together:



Seeing Owen ready for his first outing:



Watching Emma rock her baby, and in the process get VERY dizzy:

(Note: the sound isn't working on this. I've got to learn to keep my finger off the microphone.)



There were a lot more highlights that didn't get pictured, including:

Going to the "Jumping Place" - a gym full of trampolines and blow up bouncing places.
Going on a walk to a playground on a beautiful sunny morning with Aiden and Emma.
Going to church with Kart, Aiden, and Emma.
Sushi the night Kara came over.
Movies with Laura - "This Is It", "Julie and Julia"
Walmart with Aiden and Emma.
Seeing Owen smile in his sleep.
Rocking Owen.
Breakfasts with Aiden and Emma.

Needless to say, it was VERY hard to leave, and we're sure looking forward to getting together again SOON!

Owen Karsten Barnett - February 25, 2010

The newest member of our growing family was born on his mother's birthday. Laura and Kart decided to try a home birth. When labor started, Kart's Mom picked up the Aiden and Emma, and after what I'm sure seemed like a very long night, at 1:45 in the morning Owen made his entrance. I had my phone out at school all morning waiting for a text or phone call. Finally, at about 11:00, I was able to announce in the middle of a concert choir rehearsal, "It's a boy!" Laura and Kart were able to send out a birth announcement right away:




What a sweet miracle!

You can read his birth story on Laura's blog.

Three months later

Yes, it's hard to believe I've let this blog be neglected for so long. It's time to review life since December 2009. This may be a multi-day task. Sooooo....let me get started:

Compared to past Christmases, Christmas 2009 was a little bit quieter.



We spent some time on Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa Condie, participating in a program of scriptures and songs. Julie, Nick and their adorable three year old twins Colson and Ella were spending Christmas there too. On Christmas day morning, it was Grandma Baird, Kara, Natalie, the 2 Elders in our ward, Skip, and I opening presents. Ryan and Dara came over later and we had Christmas dinner together.



We were thankful that Grandma Baird was with us for one more Christmas. With Hospice help, we continued to care for her at our home, but she got weaker and weaker after Christmas. Two of her daughters - Sandy from Florida, and Peg from California - made plans to come see her one more time, and surrounded by family, she passed away on January 13, 2010.



It was a sad, but special time as all of Skip's siblings were there for the funeral held in the Mount Vernon LDS church building.



Here is Skip, his brother Scott, and sisters (b-f, l-r) Sandy, Judy, Peg, and Ginny after a family dinner at Applebee's.



We had so much snow in December, we never dreamed we'd have that much (and even more) snow again, but it happened, and we survived the blizzard of 2010.

Here is the deck, where you can judge the depth by the snow piled on the table and chairs.


Looking down the street after the second storm that a few days later dumped another 10 inches on top of the 20 or so that first fell.


Looking out the living room window, the icicles looked rather deadly.


We shoveled, and shoveled, and shoveled. It was a great opportunity to greet neighbors that helped us out with some of our shoveling.

Snow Day

It's a record snowfall for December! We got about 2 feet of snow starting Friday night and ending sometime Saturday evening. With just 6 days left before Christmas, we can probably bet it will still be white by then. Just having any snow in December is magical to me. Here's what we did on our snowday:

We shoveled a path for Cody:



We took in stranded motorists. In this case it was Natalie's friend Casey from Buena Vista, Virginia:



We built a fire:



We judged how many inches we got by the piles of snow on the deck chairs and flower boxes:



We took pictures of the trees out of the living room window:



We also found time to:

Write and edit a Christmas letter for friends and family. (Watch your mailbox!)
Help Grandma with her Christmas letter.
Make Muddy Buddies. Thanks to Kara!
Watch movies.
Shovel snow. Thanks to Casey!
Make and eat beef stew. Thanks to Dad!
Read.
Sew.
Check facebook.
Check email.
Shovel more snow.

We love snow days!!

Family Room Redo

Last night I made a little more progress on the family room by hanging up some drapes. It's starting to look pretty good. I'm still not sure what to put on the walls. Any ideas? We're also working on deciding on a fireplace cover and mantel. But here are the latest pictures. The colors aren't really true, but you
get the idea. More light, and no paneling!