Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year at Katy and Mike's house. We deep fried a turkey(super yummy) and the kids had a lot of fun playing in the leaves. Mallory loved the food, as usual, but Her favorite were the buckeyes that Katy made lol. Chad went hunting that morning before dinner, but the pictures I have are actually of birds he got a couple days earlier. He got one Thanksgiving day too, but we didn't get a picture of that one. I guess, concidering this is my Thanksgiving post, I should add a few things I'm thankful for lol. I'm so thankful for my family and friends. I am so surrounded by people who love and support me that my heart is bursting with joy. Thank you Lord Jesus for what you have done for me in this life. And thank you for that ultimate sacrafice you made for us all. I feel like ending with this bible verse is significant, "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.", Psalm 107:1.

Family Vacation!

These are pictures from the trip. all of them are taken from the car. We saw some beautiful scenery on the way down! We went down hwy 97 in Oregon, cut over to hwy 101, and stayed on 101 down the entire coast of California. It was awesome until we hit Salinas, and then it was pretty much just desert the whole way lol. We also got to drive through rush hour traffic in San Francisco and Oakland... not fun

We spent our first night in Eureka, CA and saw the redwood forest. It is one of the neatest things I think I have ever seen. These trees are huge beyond belief. We got to drive through one, and then we couldn't drive through the second one because of the cargo on top of the car. It was a site to see!

When we finally got to Palm Springs, we did a lot of swiming. Avery was in Heaven. Who'd a thought you could swim outside in November lol.

On Monday through Wednesday we went to Anahiem and went to Disneyland. That was so much fun! Avery loved it. She loved the rides, the parade. I think her favorite ride was the toon town rollercoaster or the carrosel. Not sure.

On Tuesday we went to the California Adventure park and the kids got their faces painted. They all turned out so cute.

Here we are trying to pull the sword from the stone lol.

Here are the characters that Avery got to have her picture taken with. It was the neatest thing to see her face when she saw the princesses, although I think Pluto was her favorite.



Every night they have a firework show right during closing time. These pictures do it absolutely no justice, but I caught a little bit of it! During the show, they sing a song about "remembering the feeling". There is no way to describe that feeling you get when you're at Disneyland. It's magical!

They also have a parade every night for Christmas. Here are just a few pictures of the characters that were there.

On the last day we came to see Chad's grandparents. They live down there in the winter. It was nice getting to hang out with them for a little while. Chad's Aunt Rae and her husband Jerry were also there.

After visiting Grandma and Grandpa, we went to the air museum. It was so neat seeing some of the planes that flew in past wars. We got to go into one, a bomber I think is what it was, not sure . It's hard to believe that men spent so much of their time in these tiny quarters.

So that's pretty much it! We spent a couple days driving home through Nevada/Oregon/Idaho, but I could have taken one picture and it would have been what it looked like the entire way lol. A whole lotta nothin. We had a great time. Thank you so much, Mimi and Pappy, for the greatest Christmas present ever!!!

Going on a Family Vacation!

Hey everyone. We're taking off this afternoon to begin our trek down south. We'll be gone for about 11 days total! I'm really excited, can't wait to get out of here and give my camera a real work out lol. I'll be putting up a LOT of pictures when I get back I'm sure!! We'll miss everybody! But we'll be sure to have extra fun for all of you!

Ta Ta!

Visit from Uncle Charlie and an Update on the Girls!

Avery loves to get visits from Charlie. They have a lot of fun together when he comes over! Yesterday he came to the house and they had fun with the crazy glasses they got for Halloween. Avery is so serious. I couldn't get her to smile for the life of me lol.

A quick update on my kiddos. Avery is as stubborn as ever lol. She's a good kid, but definitely has a mind of her own. She's almost totally potty trained now! Yippee! Just needs to wear a diaper when she's sleeping, or playing with Joey! lol. No, she does pretty good. I knew she was close to being totally potty training the other day when she made me make a pit stop on the way home. Now that she has "pee'd on the rocks", as she calls it, I think it's safe to say she is definitely close!

Layla and Mal are growing fast! Both of them have gotten their first teeth. Layla got hers on Oct. 20th, and Mallory got hers on Oct. 30th. Now we're waiting for the other two that look like they are coming in right behind them to push through. They are both talking quite a bit! Layla loves to say Uh Oh, and wave bye bye. Mal waves bye bye, and growls a lot LOL. They both say Momma and Dadda, but only tend to say Momma when they are upset. Go figure! Everything's going pretty well in the Barnhart household! I can honestly say I feel blessed every day for my beautiful girls! There are plenty of times I feel like pulling my hair out! (the plight of any mother lol) But there's not a day that goes by where I don't get plenty of hugs and kisses from my little girlies, and every frustration melts away. Thank Heaven for Baby Girls! Now, ask me when I have three teenage girls running around the house if I still feel blessed... Come Lord Jesus!!

I was snapping pictures of the kids this morning, and I got this one of Layla. If it weren't for those darn boogy noses!

Avery being a silly sally

Mal... that girls always got her thumb in her mouth!

Avery decided she was going to be a princess today. She draped herself in the curtain in the living room and kept saying, "Momma, I beautiful Princess!" I couldn't resist taking these pictures. She is a beauty!

Trick or Treat!

We had a lot of fun Saturday night! Avery was a carebear, Mallory was a spider, and Layla was a giraffe. Avery did really well trick or treating. She got a little tired towards the end, but was pretty content sitting in the stroller for the last couple of houses. There were a lot of kids that went with us! When we got back to Katy and Mike's house they had set up a "fortune teller" stand. My very theatrical mother was, of course, the gypsie lol. Chad had also dressed up and stood at the door when they opened it. I think he scared the kids pretty good. Avery wouldn't even got to him! He had a gas mask on with these glow sticks in the eyes. It was spooky looking!! All in all it was a fun night. The kids had a blast, as usual. Can't wait to see what my mom cooks up next year!
Chad in his spooky costume. I kept trying to get a decent picture without the flash, but if you move an inch it's fuzzy. You get the idea though lol.