Sadie's Birth Day

Today is Sadie's 14th birthday!!!!! I remember before I got pregnant with her telling Heavenly Father that I could wait another year before He sent another one to our home. I felt so overwhelmed with 2 and it was getting easy as Brooke approached 3. I felt myself getting a little selfish and wanting "me" time. Heavenly Father didn't give us a 2nd chance and sent our Sadie. I also remember thinking after she was born, that if I knew she was going to be so sweet, I would have had her sooner. She has taught me more about enjoying my role as a mother, not that I didn't enjoy Jordan and Brooke, but with Sadie I didn't dread the middle of the night feedings, I actually looked forward to them. She was so shy and would cry if anyone talked to or tried to hold her. She never went to nursery by herself and wouldn't leave my side to even get snacks. Some days, she wouldn't even go to Gary. You would never know these things now because she has grown into a strong, outgoing, friendly young woman. I just really appreciate this spirit that Heavenly Father knew I needed in my life. She loves life. She sets an example to me by reading her scriptures and attending the temple. She treats everyone as children of our Heavenly Father and tries hard to please her parents, her coaches, her teachers, her YW leaders and her friends (I'm glad she has such great ones). Thank you Heavenly Father for knowing what was best for our family and loaning Sadie to us. And thank you Sadie for being who you are. I love you, Mom.

New Van

Well, we haven't bought a car for 10+ years, but we've put plenty of $ into keeping them going, so we decided that I needed something reliable to haul the kids around in. I plan on driving it for another 10+ years so hopefully it is a good investment for our family. We didn't plan on an orange vehicle, but it has a lot of good features and low miles compared to the many others that Gary looked at. The pictures don't show it's true colors, sorry Jordan, but it really is a burnt orange color. Hence, Brooke wants his name to be Bernie. We love the movie Weekend at Bernie's, so I guess that will be what we call him. I wanted it to be a girl, so I could complain and share my problems with her, but Brooke says I have Niki for that.

Blake

Blake turned 9 in February and recently earned his Wolf in Cub Scouting. He is such a geek for gadgets. We sure do love him. He definitely keeps us entertained and we have decided that maybe Brooke isn't the adopted one. He is so silly and some of his videos of him talking to himself on photo booth are so hilarious. I'll have to see if I can teach myself how to add one to our blog, because my description doesn't do it justice. Well, Pack meeting was during spring break and Gary and I also had our Hale Center Play scheduled for the same night. He still received his Wolf, just without his parents there. Thank you Cub Scout Leaders, you don't realize the impact you have on these boys. Some days I don't feel like a good mom. But we are proud of him and thanks Jill for taking some pictures!!!





And Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was very enjoyable. Thanks Niki for the tickets. The gift that gives to us all year long.

Projects

I always have multiple projects around that need to be completed. These actually got done. The pillows are from leftover material that I used to make my sister a shower curtain and will go with Jordan's comforter. I want to make some pink pillows to go with them, but since I don't have the material laying around I can wait until she comes home to do those. I thought the chicks would be fun for the kids to do, but no one ever volunteered, so I did those too. It was nice to have them done in time for Easter and Dakota has been into Bumblebees and Ladybugs so that is why the ladybug. I am also trying to finish a comforter for Sadie's bed. I bought the material a couple of years ago and am determined to get it done soon. But that means the rest of the house goes to pot. In this instance, does that mean down the toilet or on drugs? Whichever will keep the house happy, huh?

"Spooning" at 1:30 in the Morning?

What did we do for our spring break you ask? Well, since this year didn't take us away from Lehi, we just did some things around the house and did some fun stuff together. Now for you weirdos who took the title the wrong way, no we did not spoon as a family......however, here it is 1:30 in the morning and the entire family (except Kodee) is playing spoons. Yes the classic card game, "Spoons". One little variation to the Haynes Family Rules.....someone hides the spoons around the house and when one player gets their 4 of a kind, they take off running around the house looking for a spoon with all other players in hot pursuit. I guess it is kind of our way of throwing a little more competition into it. Who is the most competitive in this challenging game, if you guessed Mom (Lissie), you are right. Yep, she pushes the kids out of the way in an effort to ensure a victory. Pretty crazy house! As we look around the neighborhood, we notice that everyone else appears to be sleeping (or "spooning" =-) ).....how boring is that? By the way, Kodee slept through the whole thing. I guess she must be used to the craziness and noise. It is very noisy in here during game time! If you are ever bored or need anything at 1:30 in the morning, you know where to go! Good Morning/Night??? Gary

Easter

What a nice day. Well, we didn't think the Easter Bunny would bring this much snow, but pretty to look at anyway. And it did melt off by the afternoon. Easter and General Conference and a nice dinner and some peace and quiet all in the same day. The kids didn't get us up until 9. Sleeping in is always a great way to start a Sunday. Then of course hunting for eggs. Ours are always the plastic filled ones and Kodee found out quickly that there was candy inside. We always have cinnamon rolls on Conference Sundays, but I made a breakfast casserole also. So I put it in the oven and Trevor says he'll just have a hard boiled egg while he is waiting. Well, I boiled them the night before and I thought I saw one starting to crack anyway they weren't completely hard!!!! But I found out that you can reboil them and they are fine. We never got around to dying them. One of my least favorite thing to do for Easter. Conference was exactly what I needed. Inspiration and guidance just for me. A reminder of what the true meaning of Easter is and being able to listen to Pres. Monson and all the testimonies of Christ.
Gary took the kids on a surprise drive to visit Grandma and Grandpa Barnes. Nice, but quick trip and I was able to get dinner and everything ready while listening to the afternoon session. Every year Conference should be on Easter Sunday or Easter should be on Conference Sunday. It was just a nice day.

Cherry Blossom Festival

On Saturday I went to the Cherry Blossom Festival and saw some sights in D.C. with Chris and Michaela. The trees are beautiful! It was really crowded because the weather has been so nice, but it was still fun and a perfect way to spend General Conference weekend.

Not a great picture, but you can see that the cherry blossom trees surround the whole river. Very very pretty.

Metro with Michaela

Albert Einstein Monument (simple, but very cool)

The ground is covered in all sizes of metal studs that represent a map of the stars and sun, moon, planets and stuff as they were at noon on April 22, 1979 when the monument was unveiled.

Vietnam Memorial. Very cool. Probably my favorite thing we saw all day.

Abraham Lincoln

Walking up to Lincoln Memorial

Michaela and I with Mr. Lincoln!

I found Utah!!!

At the World War 2 Memorial, all of the pillars in the background represent the 50 states and other countries that we own or whatever. That's what's in the picture above this one.

Didn't go there on Saturday, but that's Thomas Jefferson there.

Picture of Washington Monument with Michaela.