Our fun weekend!

This last weekend we went to Silverton to Pick-up Emily and spend some time with Jer, Stef and Kohen bug. It was Kohen bugs 1st birthday. He is such a honey baked ham!! Honey Baked because his skin is so dark and handsome. Stef went all out for his birthday and really did a great job. She is so artistic!!
Saturday morning I needed to get some excercise time in so Emily and I went for a 2.5 mile hike up at Silver Falls. We hikes the stairs of tears to the lower south falls. Painful, but I made it. We went up early before it got too hot. It was beautiful and I cant wait to do the full trek next year.
Unfortunately between the heat and Angies allergies we decided to call the weekend short and leave saturday Night. Its a good thing we did. It would have been a miserable trip home today. Its 105 degrees already at noon and the AC doesn't work very well, if not at all. It was a fun but short weekend. Check out the pic's....

Will be gone

We are heading out for a few days to Or-e-gon... To pick up Emme and for Kohens 1st birthday. I am soo excited to see her she has been missed alot. TTFN..

Speed Limit 25MPH

Yesterday Angie and I went out on an adventure to search for a Chinese recipe. We were going to cook Chinese food last night but could not find the recipe for it so we went to Panda Express to settle our appetites. While we were out we went to some open houses on homes for sale. It was fun and rejuvinated my excitement for our home to be finished. So I thought I'd give you some updated pictures, yes, they are excessive, so enjoy.

This sign is posted in the front of our house. I think the builders got confused and thought it was for our house and not the speed limit. I need a sign that says 60 MPH!

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

THE OUTSIDE

THE FORMAL LIVING, KITCHEN & FAMILY ROOM

THE BATH & BEDROOMS

As you can see we still have lots of work to do. Some of the extras we have added that have caused some delay are the heating elements for under the tile in the kitchen and all the bathrooms, a security system and wiring for our septic. We are underway now and hope to be in the end of July. Yeah!! OH!!! My favorite we are going to put in a little mini golf area in the front yard. So dont forget your putters when you come to stay.

Hangin with the Boys..

So this week has been very very boy time. Angela went to the Pioneer Trek this week for girls camp and Emme went to Aunt Stef's & Uncle Jer's for a couple weeks. So that leaves me with Big Mark, MJ, PB and Tiger. This is what we have done so far:
Monday - Watched shoot'm up movies
Tuesday - Watched the Celtics win the Basketball championship, YEAH!!
Wednesday - We are working on the new motorcycle trailer Mark bought, getting ready to buy a couple more motorcycles for the kids.
Thursday - Angie comes back so I'll be saved, YEAH!!
Friday - Get out Mani's & Pedi's Done, I'm sure angie will love that.
Saturday - Rest and Relax. Take a nap!!!
Oh, I almost forgot.... Snuggle with PB.

Fathers Day Weekend!

It was a fun filled relaxing weekend. Friday Jer, Stef, Kohen, Jeffie, Julie and Doug came up for a Fathers day celebration. We had a great time mostly just sitting around talking, swimming, eating or going shopping. And of course we had lots of food. Thank you all for coming up and spending the weekend with us it was fun and I can't wait to do it again ( next time we'll have beds, I promise :) ). Time always goes too fast when company is here to visit, I wish we had a few more extra days.
Mark, Thank you for being such a wonderful father. You have always been there to love and support us, expecially me and I love you lots and lots. I couldn't ask for a better husband to be by my side, through the good times and the bad. Thank you for setting a great example for MJ so he can learn to be a good father too. Your daughters love you lots and I hope they are as lucky as I am to have such a great husband. Thanks for being my best friend. I Love You, XOXOXOXO

UUUGGGHHHHH!!!

OK So I had to weigh in today . It has been 9 weeks since I started working out. I can't believe it but I gained 5 stinken pounds. We also took measurements and suprise, I have lost inches. So on a good note my trainer says I have probably gained muscle. I sure hope so, otherwise I might be really upset. I am on a 60 week walking program and starting out really slow to build both in speed and distance. My goal is to be able to run a 5K. I have always wanted to do that. So I guess I keep plugging away. Sooner or later somethin' gotta give..

E~M~I~L~Y

I can hardly believe it but this school year has gone by so fast. In a blink of an eye it is over. I might say that I am really glad to see it over. I have been driving them to school and back every day, not that I mind but it really takes up alot of time that I would rather be diving them to other places like sports or dance. This next year will be nice because the bus stops exactly in front of our new house, yeah!! I am excited for that.
So, Yesterday Emily has offically completed elementary school. The school had a small completion ceremony with lots of awards given. Emily recieved a Certificate of Excellence for outstanding performance as a "Special PE Class Assistance". This is where students get to go and help other students with special needs. The Completion kids all had matching t-shirts for the ceremony and afterwards they got to have cake. It was really cute. It amazes me how fast time goes by. Another year and I will not have anymore little ones anymore. They are all growing up so big and so fast.
Some of Emilys accomplishments this year were big and some were small but I think they are all great; here is a list of a few ~ Emily went to a new school where she had never been before with no friends. She went to a school rollerskating party not knowing anyone and had the biggest smile on her face. She past her WASL with ease and is in the top of the brackets. She is reading at 9th grade level. She knows what her weakest areas are and works harder in them. She took an overnight science adventure to Seattle with the 5th graders in her school all by herself. She is learning Irish dancing and loves it. She has read alot of books this year. She got her ears pierced ~ It seems whatever Emily does, she does well because she tries her hardest. I love her drive and determination, her courage to press forward. She never say's she can not do it beacuse it is too hard, she just finds a way to do it. Emily is growing up into a beautiful young women and I love her so much.

Its time to make a change

As you all know life is forever changing. With all the events happening in the last few weeks and months its time to make a change. I love changes and in a previous blog I have probablly talked about this before. I am excited. I have finally recieved my college transcripts from Chemeketa. I might say I am a pretty smart cookie.. holding a 4.0. One of my goals was after Mark was done with school I was going to go back. I am seriously thinking that now. There is nothing better in life than to have a family and to go to school. I am going to start with taking a few basic classes such as math, writing & German this fall. I have always wanted to learn German. Someday I will go to Germany, it has always been my lifes dream. And brushing up on my math would be great If you don't use it you loose it, and somedays I can't even count to 10. Dang, I am really loosing it. The only thing I will miss out while going to school is the late night Games with Jer and Mark which will be a real bummer. I loved those days!! Do you think I'm too old for school?

My Post's

After reviewing my post I realized it didn't look right. I didn't mean to post the Stephanie and Sarah together, it looks as though I was comparing the girls together and I am not. Both happened yesterday. Sorry, A rough day for me.

Sarah Dane' Widing

Last night was Sarah's High School graduation. It was exciting to see her graduate. She has done many great things. For the last three years Sarah has gone to Roosevelt high School POWER Acadamy. She graduated with several Awards, here's the list: Honors Acadamy Award, Certificate of Achievement Award, Jacque C. Jaegar Humanitarian Award, Certificate of Completion ward, Geraldine C. Cartmel English Trophy, Excellence in Science, Authur George history Award, Health Services Outstanding Leadership Award, Certificate of Adavanced Mastery and Second Place in the Oregon Small Schools Film Festival from the NW Film Center for " The Heart of Roosevelt" Power Acadamy. Sarah has also graduated with a Scholorship from Good Samaritan Hospital for volunteer work the last few years.

I am excited to see her future start. Highschool is only a very small step towards the big goal in life and she is now off to Southern Oregon. She has had her mind set on being a OB nurse for as long as I can remember and she can do it. I am very proud of her, She has turned into a beautiful woman and I believe she will accomplish whatever she sets her mind to do. Love ya Sarah, Whoop, Whoop!!!

Stephanie

Most of you know what is going on with Stephanie but I will fill you in on the latest news I have. As of Monday Stephanie was going to be coming home We were all so excited and I think she was too. I called to confirm on Tuesday but she was not home but at Jason and Dana's. I immediatly knew that she would not be coming home then. For some reason my family thinks it is better for Stephanie to live at Jason and Dana's rather than with her own family. Apparently her Aunt can help her more than her mom. I guess that's fine and now that Stephanie is not coming home the family doesn't want to get in the middle of it. Well I have news for you.. A little too late for that. You know, I could understand it a little more if Stephanie was abused but she not, she is the most spoiled kid of them all. I truely don't understand what she can do at someone else's house that she can't do at our house. Her statement is that she wants to go out when she wants to. I suspect that she will be doing alot of clubbing in the underage clubs in Portland with her great friend Amy. She want to have her free agency to make mistakes and learn from them. In my opinion some mistakes can be prevented. Why not have the joy & freedom of not living with the consequences of our actions. I know if I had to do it over again I would love to have that joy & freedom.
So I guess we can now deal with the consequences of all our actions. I can't help it other than to be hurt by these actions. It is going to take a while to get over it, but life goes on. I do wish Stephanie the best and wish her lots of success for her future. Good bye Steph, I love you. Mom.

PB

Our kitty PB (short for Porky Ballerina) has been acting pretty weird lately.
He has been so snuggly. I try to sleep he's on my pillow, I try to work and he is laying on my desk. He doesn't stop purring. I think he misses Stephanie. He would follow her around all the time and I think maybe he his getting lonely or maybe he sees I need extra loves and kisses lately. When I was a kid kitties always made me feel good. Thank you PB for makeing me feel better.

May 31st

Saturday was Stephanies birthday. I was really bumbed Saturday since she was not at home. I had a big 18th birthday planned BBQ and Pool. Lots of people were invited but I had to cancel. Instead Steph spent the day with her friend Amy & Amy got her a couple body piercings for her birthday.
Satuday night we spent in the hospital. Mark had an accident with his Bike on Monday and scrapped up his are pretty good. It had gotten infected and He was taking an antibiotic but it wasn't working. The infection had gotten into his bloodstream and was making him really sick. So they gave him an IV with a heavy dose of antibiotic and sent him home. He is doing much better today.
So pretty uneventful weekend here in the Barkley home.