Bitten

I've been bitten by a very addictive book series by Stephanie Meyers called "Twighlight". It's a teen love story about vampires of all things. I know, it sounds goofy, but trust me on this one, do not go near this series until you:

1. Have a quiet padded room you can place your children while you read


2. Have purchased all the sequels


3. Have accepted the fact that sleep will not be apart of your usual activities

This last weekend I was at a place I consider my version of Disneyland: Driggs Idaho. It's beautiful and has all the stuff I like to do: yoga, miles of open road for biking, beautiful views, awesome music, good friends, and really really good food. Yet, there I was (albeit after a 35 mile bike ride) snuggled down for a nice long read with Twighlight. My friends teased and taunted, guilt tripped and griped, but couldn't drag me away from the book. That's how utterly absorbing it is. I finished it on the drive home and last night promptly went to the local book store and bought the next book, "New Moon". Needless to say I'm a little tired today because I stayed up late reading. It's a vicious cycle, but I love summer-time reading!

Michael On the Trek

When I was on the trek there were many times that I felt a strong spirit. I went up to Martin's Cove in Wyoming where many Saints died. As a group, the stake was taken to the cove to feel the spirit. As we came up on the trail, we were told of the suffering of the pioneers. We saw the hill that the Saints camped on the night that they received aid from the rescuers. On the other side of the hill, the were carried and buried in the snow where they were dug up and eaten by the wolves. I could personally feel the spirit of the Saints as I passed the hill that they had camped on but still found it hard to comprehend the suffering they went through. Another spiritual part of the trek was the women's pull. As we trudged through the Wyoming dust, we were stopped by a group of men that said they were the "Mormon Battalion". They took the men and talked to them about the battalion and stories of the men that that were in it. After 15 minutes, we were taken up onto a hill that even without handcarts was quite dangerous to climb. In groups, the women would push the handcarts up the hill. It was quite hard for me to stand there and watch as the young women struggled to push the handcarts up the hill. I "almost" cried as I watched their suffering and wished that I could just step down and help them. This event was probably one of the most spiritual of the whole trek. At night, I was part of the Roaming, (Roman), Chorus, a group of youth that would walk in a large group and sing different hymns. though we didn't always hit the right notes, it brought the spirit before bed. I'm glad I could go on the trek and will always remember the experiences I had in the dust of Wyoming.

July 22, 2007 Family Letter

July 29, 2007
Der Family, We are at the 5 month mark.....eeeeeeek! Somuch to do so little time to do it.
What has happened this week? I have been trying to eeck out more hours in each day but it seems to just speed on. We did a lot of packing and hauling. A car load of clothes ( you will be proud of me, I went through all the size 14 boxes and suitcases and decided to pitch them) text books and National Geographics all went to Calico Cat—for the humane society’s thrift store. I felt so noble…so then I stopped at Well Read Books and bought some more books. I suggest that you take the kids to a used book store and let them look for books especially the teen/preteen ages. Most of the things are packed and out of the two bedrooms downstairs. I have really been using a lot of the spacesaver bags to shrink bedding and fabric. The bedding will go in the 3x3x3 boxes and the fabric will go into suitcases and drawers so they can’t expand. All of the girl’s stuff is in the east storage room along with Grandma’s china and will go to Kari’s house. There is even a box of boy stuff. By the way….I have an extra copy of Tennis Shoes among the Nephite # 1 and 2 copies of #9 and an extra copy of Work and the Glory book #3. and extra copies of some of the Mary Stewart books. Anyone want them? I got my copy of Harry Potter for $18 and will save it for the trip to DC in October. I imagine if I wait a little longer the price will drop some more. The wall cutters are coming Wed morning to cut the 4x4 window out of the basement wall. We have to peel back the carpet and put plastic up so it doesn’t splatter all over since they use water to cool the blade. This week I will pack up the toys on the metal shelves and computer desk stuff. Along with the exercise equipment . Who wants their name put on which pictures? Shaunae do you have both the Standing Tall and Proclaimation FHE binders? Kathy, would you please look in the FHE File box and make me a list of the “flannel board” stories that I have copied off for everyone. I have lost my list of what I have already done . We picked our first tomato. It was yummy but only about the size of a golf ball. It looks like it will be a long time before there is another on ripe. We picked a bucket of string beans and they were so good. The peppers have finally come to life and are putting on blossoms and the zucchini and summer squash and flying saucers are just wonderful. We actually have some watermelon –3 to be exact but I don’t know if they are supposed to get big or if they are personal sized ones. It pays to keep records. The cucumbers are the most crisp I have every eaten with a really nice flavor, but I have no idea the brand. The corn is setting on ears so will be about 3 weeks out. We went to the farmer’s market and got corn on the cob and blue berries and new tomatoes. I hope you all have access to a farmer’s market . You can get good stuff there that is ripe and not picked green. We have a new bishop—Kay Lybbert with Jay Cox and Wes Richens as counselors. Kay has high hopes for the ward. Pres Leavitt says we are the largest ward in the stake and it is time to split it. Ha! When we started church this morning—on time yet—the chapel was about ¼ full. We hope all of you are well. We are anxious to hear Michael’s report on the treck. The kids here still tear up when they talk about it, it was so spiritual. We saw a good dvd last night “De sau vue. “ however it is spelled. It is pg 13 so not a family film but rather interesting. Becca, is Matthew studying French? We have a video course that the girls took with the text books and videos when we were home schooling. Do you want to use them for him? We love you all and hope this week to hear from everyone. Remember, if you talk on the phone, which is okay, but not everyone knows what is going on with everyone else. Love you MOM

Jacob has a Hole in his Mouth

Yep, Jacob has lost his first tooth. He first noticed it wiggling just after we got home from the reunion. He's been wiggling it for weeks and then last night it was really bothering him. He screamed and cried every time we suggested that we could just pull it out. Finally he went into the bathroom and popped it out himself. It was very exciting and now he is proudly showing his hole to everyone. On a side note, Matthew wants me to let you all know that he can swallow pills. Yay! No more crushing his pill into yogurt. Have a great day.

THROUGH THE FIRE

Yes, we had an adventure on our drive home. About an hour after leaving Provo I was woken up to the words, "Don't tell mommy where we're going." Of course I immediately sat up and asked, "Where are we going?" I looked around for a moment and saw orange filled skies along with a road worker in the median typing on a computer. Directly in front of him was a sign that read, "Detour ahead." Because I have been blessed with advanced reasoning skills I posed the question, "Is there a fire out there?" Of course with that statement the excitement in the van grew, as if now that mom had said it, it now must be true. At this point our cell phones began ringing with calls from different friends we had visited in Utah and from my sister who lives in Cedar City. The news had been reporting that people on I15 had been caught up in the fire as it hurled from the west of the 15 to the east. Everyone we talked to said that they would call someone they knew to find out where we were being re-routed to. Of course again, because of my advanced reasoning skills, I thought why wait to hear back from them and just call the highway patrol myself. I spoke with a very kind woman who explained the detour, I thanked her and she told me that if I had any other questions to please call back. Imagine that, a courteous and helpful state employee. Well we ended up over the river and through the woods, oops, wrong story. I meant to say that we ended up winding our way through some back roads of Utah then to I70 almost to Panguitch then back to I15 just before Cedar City. The smoke was so thick that we could only see on outline of the tops of the mountain. We still have a residual odor in the van. We heard that right after we made it through they closed that route. In the almost seven years I lived in Provo and in the years since, I've made, at least, 40 round trips on I15 and I have had many adventures, and yet I had never thought of veering off the main road. I realized that I've missed some very beautiful places. Utah always has more to explore.

Now we're back to our uneventful lives which we're were grateful for. We've had more excitement in the past several years that we're good for a long while. The girls cleaned the refrigerator and freezer today while Cooper played them music on the piano. Steve's at work probably sewing someone's ear back on. (He actually did that on Friday.) I'm cutting coupons and doing the laundry. We bought the new Harry Potter book on Saturday and Kylie had it all devoured in eight hours. We need more talented writers for children of her age. We have the elders for dinner tonight, Bar-b-que beef sandwiches. In a little bit I'll take the girls over to my mom's to help her clean. I love days like this.

Dumb Dog

As you recall from yesterday's blog.....Dad has been digging out the basement windows for egress sized windows. Just as we were getting ready for bed, I could here this plaintive woof outside our bedroom window. I looked and couldn't see Pebbles anywhere so I went into the other bedroom and looked out and there was nothing expect the woof was louder. I told Dad , I think Pebbles fell in the hole. No (scoffingly) he watched me dig it, he has been around it all day. Well, you probably better check....Yes one dog down the hole. With his arthritisis in his hind legs, I wonder how he fell in without hurting himself. He was a grateful dog as Dad lifted him out. Dad said "I probably need to put something over that hole," but he didn't. There is a dark shadow on that side of the house at night and old habits die hard. Pebbles is used to trotting around the house on a well beaten path up against the house. I guess his sight is also failing and so is him memory --so you know it. At 10 pm we were up again getting a dog out of the hole. This time we got the extention ladder and took it apart and laid it across the hole then laid cardboard over that and put chairs around both ends. Today Dad dug the other hole and made sure the hole was covered before he quit work. Lessons learned by us----not necessarily the dog. Thanks for the details of your trip home Kathy. Fire is a scary thing. We are so glad you are okay. Love you all, MOM

It's been two weeks already!!!

July 22, 2007
Dear Family,
It has been two weeks since we got home from the reunion. We hit the ground running when we got here and you all probably did too. We celebrated our wedding anniversary by stopping by Belva’s after church to check on her and Louie and they were eating soup so invited us to dinner. Then we came home and crashed. Monday was laundry, weeding the garden and yard and cleaning house. Arlene came up Monday afternoon for the week. Tues we loaded as much bottles and her trinket stuff into her little car as we could and then started proofreading Grandma’s life history that Lavina had typed. We would weed in the mornings and read in the afternoons when it was hot and we were downstairs. Lavina had typed almost the whole book but some of the pages were out of order with typing errors . She had done a good job. It was just a good thing that we proof read it before it was published. Dad worked for Lynn in Othello so we met them down there for lunch on Tues. and had a good visit. We really enjoyed our time together and got a lot done. Dad worked up here on and off and down in Othello on the off days. She left on Friday morning and took the histories with her to do in the next two years. I had wanted to do them for Mama but it looks like I won’t even get my own done. We even figured out how I can back up all the picture files and documents without having to do it one at a time…pure accident. It will also be a pure accident if I can remember how we did it. This past week Dad worked for Lynn everyday but Wed. We woke up to a thunderstorm—which was rare—about 5 am and couldn’t sleep anymore. It rained had for about 3 hours and cooled a little but made it awfully muggy. About 10 we stated loading boxes of books from the basement into the pickup then from there onto the shelves in the storage rooms. We got most of the stuff from the N bedroom and all the books from the Pine bedroom . We were about to die carrying all those boxes upstairs. We aren’t sure if there is going to be enough room. There are still the books from the bookcase in the family room and the ones upstairs, plus lots of other stuff---yeek!!!! Dad is in the “let’s throw it all away” mode. I basically told him to go “flot on his head”. He worked for Lynn Thur and Fri until noon. We went to Spokane for the evening and met Summer and Steve for dinner and Harry Potter at the IMAX. That was quite a way to see it. However, my stomach acted up about 3 times through it and I had to leave for the rest room so now I have to go see it again. We had a good time but were sure tired when we got home. Summer and Steve had offered us their bed, but we needed to get home. I actually thought Umbridge was the best actor for the movie and the special effects were good. There was a lot of ground to cover in two hour and they stayed pretty close to the story. I enjoyed it all very much. Dad didn’t care for it but he doesn’t like mystical anyway. He will barely watch Lord of the Rings when I have it on. Yesterday Dad stayed home and started digging a 4x4x4 ft hole by the downstairs window of the north bedroom. We have to put egress windows in both bedrooms. I might be able to get out of the bedroom, but I might not be able to get out of the hole. He found only one rock and lots of roots. It was much faster and easier than the windows he dug out at the Simpsons. The dirt is beautiful sandy loam so it is going into my flower beds. The roses have shut down for the cycle. It has been so hot for them. I have been gardening and weeding this week. I got all the weeds out of the flower beds. Ususally by this time of year I give up and say forget it, but I conquered and will have to do a fast once over every week. The tomatoes are slowly putting on. I think we have put too many grass clipping on them and they have lost their Nitrogen to the breaking down of the grass. We got some fertilizer from WilberEllis and it has helped. The squash has been doing well and the cucumbers are the best we have raised. They are supper crunchy and tasty . We even have little watermelons growing. The birds got the raspberries again even with the net over them, and the corn is tassling out. Next week I am going to replant lettuce and peas. Jon called and we bought tickets for DC in Oct to watch the kids while they go to the Virgin Islands for a government audit. Steven and Kathy, Michelle said you got caught in that wildfire in Southern Utah on your way home. What happened? We are so glad you all stayed and enjoyed each other’s company some more. We hated to leave, but it had to be done. Our year is over half over and there is so much left to do. Does anyone want the set of Encyclopedias that we got when we started homeschooling? I bought the updates up to 2002. Thank you to Kari and Michelle for taking care of the details for the reunion. I think the fact you still wanted to be together speaks of the positive experience that it was. Thank you Kari for sending off that fan. Did you get the check for postage reimbursement? Did you get that towel to grandpa yet? He will need it for Max’s reunion in another week. Michelle, it was good to talk to you---what’s the rest of the story? Shaunae and Jon thank you for your calls. I guess Karl and Becca’s are back to school except for Michael and Joanna. Your summer sure disappeared in a hurry. It doesn’t seem quite fair. What have the CA Barnums been doing since you-all got home? We think of all of you often and hope you will write when you can . Becca, we have some relatives that came to Utah with a handcart company . I think it was Sarah Ann Farrar. It is in the Mayberry history. Love you , Mom and Dad

Reunion was a blast!

Thanks everyone for a wonderful time! It was great to have so many opportunities to talk to and to play games with everyone. Let us know if anyone wants to tour DC or Williamsburg and we'll provide the housing. Take Care!

1856

Hi, all. I know I just sent a family letter, but it was kind of long, so I'll recap a few things here so you don't have to read the whole letter if you don't want to.

The three older boys just finished participating in our stake musical, "1856". It was wonderful. The musical was written by Cory Ellsworth (any relation Jon?) if any of you are ever looking for a production to do. The boys were in the chorus, which means they were in the background for a lot of the scenes. I probably didn't get too much out of it the first night since I was constantly scanning for what they were doing. In the first big number, "Come, Come Ye Saints" they were adopted into a family from our ward. They wore matching vests and followed the parents in a line throughout Salt Lake City. It was very cute. The directors called them the Barnum ducklings. Michael looked very grown up. Friends commented on how he was one of the men. Brett and Matthew got to play "Duck, Duck, Goose" with other pioneer children and looked bored during General Conference. It was sure fun to watch them sing and dance though. Brett had a hand-holder during "the Handcart Song" so he didn't march off stage. He spent most of the song watching his feet. Poor Brett had stomach problems Friday and Saturday, so spent much of the show running to the bathroom. Amazingly, he only missed one scene. Saturday night he missed a scene because he was playing cars backstage with another boy. Oh, well. Michael heads off on a pioneer trek tomorrow. It should be really neat. I'll make him post a blog about it when he gets back. Take care.

Heavenly Father must get a kick out of my dating life

Why me? Why.... Why why, me?

Earlier last week I was determined to go on a date to an upcoming festival on Saturday called Llama Fest. I had a crush on a boy in my ward and decided to call him up and ask him out. With much trepidation and pounding heart I did it. And he said no. Yep, he said no!

Well, that was enough to send me into a anger-induced flirt fest at the Stake Service Project on Saturday morning. I was determined to meet a boy in the Stake and take him to Llama Fest with me that night. Well I did. And he is fabulous. So cute. We spent the whole day together actually. We went kayaking down the Provo river and at the end of it, just when I was basking in the glow of my new crush, who is to float by but Mark. Oh yes, Mark.

Thankfully the cute boy, we'll call him John, noticed my abrupt change and sensing my discomfort worked hard to distract me. Which worked. We had a fabulous evening together at Llama Fest (which he has ALWAYS wanted to go to) and I look forward to future "contact." Tee hee!

Love Ya!
Meesh

Adventuring - Fabulous deals! by Meesh

As you know, I'm an avid "adventurer" and always keep my ear to the ground as it relates to cheap adventures. I have some nifty tools that I use that I think are fabulous!

• Travelzoo.com - Once a week they publish their "Top 20" deals. This week, the three night Bahama cruise for $189 caught my eye.


• Cheapoair.com - They get exclusive airfare deals. At times I've found airfare $400 cheaper than on my other favorite searching sites.


• Sidestep.com - Another fabulous searching site


• REI Adventures - So you're feeling adventurous, but aren't sure where to go or how to get started. REI Adventures, meet my Family. My Family, meet REI Adventures. I'm currently salivating over a multisport adventure in Croatia in October.

Remember, a trip is when you take your kids with you... a vacation is when you don't. You just took a trip, now you need a vacation!

Barnum Family Reunion - by Shaunae

The reunions were way fun! Imagine hugs, screams, children running off to play with their cousins, masses amounts of food and silly games, and you have our reunion packaged up. I did get reacquainted with my in-laws' weird quirks that bug me, but towards the end of my reunion I realized we all have our weaknesses and the only ones that really matter are the ones that keep us from being better ( a.k.a...our own faults) We spent two days at various lakes, Lake Jordanelle and Bear Lake. Bear Lake was beautiful and perfect. We all got sunburned but that was all part of the walking funny chapped legged experience.

Jon rounded up the cousins and we all played two hand touch football. I learned after I tackled my Dad, that I was only supposed to touch them not tackle. It was fun slamming my 16 year old nephew to the ground. He tried to throw me in the lake. Don't mess with a mom who carries babies around. I am proudly much stronger than I thought. Then my brother Karl, Steve and Jon picked me up in my lawn chair to throw me in too. They found out why Heavenly Father invented fingernails. I'm mean but don't unleash my fury unless being attacked.

We also had some fun times with fun family games, like at three legged races, a sling shot knocking down cups, family volleyball which I only got to spike the ball once. Ashton ran around with the cousins his age which happen to be mostly boys. At one point I heard them all running around the lodge saying "Let's go look for Cougars." "Yeah" There was always an adventure to run around for or a bad guy to pretend to shoot with a sling shot.

Corynn did what she always does when Ashton is off playing with boys. She went to a quiet corner, which in most cases was our lodge room, and created a massive world of imagination from the random toys we shoved into our suitcases. I kept pulling her back to reality and trying to get her to play with her cousins. By the end she was chasing her 3 year old twin boy cousins at pretending she was a monster... a favorite fall-back game she plays when all else fails.

Taison scooted everywhere, hot balconies with slivers, grated stairs, his favorite kitchen floors, eatting leftovers, the middle of the football field lawn and was generally adored as the littlest baby at both reunions. His nicknames were Quasi-moto, Peg Leg, and Long John Silver. He must have been teething when he had his sunburn, because he woke up every two hours and screamed for a few of those times before falling back asleep. We brought him into bed with us, which we never do. He promptly fell asleep and rolled all over so no one could sleep on that bed.

In a nutshell, it was all-day action packed exhausting fun. And I'm so tired I could sleep forever. But as I come back to my quiet home, I wish I could have packed a family or two into a suitcase. With them I would have packed all the fun, the great mothering ideas, the favorite recipes, the song lists of music to jam to and all the talent that roll together to make our family.