i don't know what to name this post

either the apple doesn't fall from the tree or we haven't grown up as much as we thought or hypocrites

so we're at the beach.  we tell jackson to go put on his flip flops and he can't find them.  we look all over then grandma asked if he remembered to get the from the pool.  we begin to rail jackson for not being responsible.  you have to keep up with your things.  pay attention. your shoes might be gone buddy.  etc. etc. jackson goes into hysterics.  we thought a good sense of fear of losing something you love is good for him.  we'll let him suffer until we get down there to look for them.  good ole' papa walks him down to the pool then to look in the lost and found to find his flip flops.  he comes back in wearing them.

then papa says, "i also found a set of beach chairs that look suspiciously like ours down there."

we glance at each other, then to where we should have put them when we got back to the condo, and then realize they were indeed brent's parents chairs, that we borrowed, and left at the pool, with jackson's sandals.

it burned.

polyvore

family pictures by nataliebarnes

It was fun. We're having family pictures done in December with Brent's family. Last night we picked a color theme (grey, navy, yellow, and stripes). Now these aren't the exact things because I couldn't figure out how to do that and of course we're using a lot of what we already have but this is generally what I'm thinking. Honestly, I just think having the clothes laid out like that makes me feel like I'm some kinda fashionista. hehehe I'm so not. I welcome any and all input. What's good about it? What's not working? I want the ties to look more casual and less dressy. Is that working or do we just all look formal?

oops..... looks like Sam figured out how to eat whoppers without bothering to ask somebody to open them. He's probably had 5 packs by now.

so sad

Brent's cousin Kathleen lived in Knoxville for a year. We loved it. We got together a lot. We went to the gym together. The kids had picnics. Kathleen shared her amazing toys. They left on Tuesday. We're sad but I think these pictures are even more sad. pathetic really.




I don't know. Did we get a good one?

thank goodness for thanksgiving

wow. it's been so good. my family had thanksgiving dinner, christmas morning and a wedding all within 24 hours of each other! Garrett and Rhada got married the Saturday before thanksgiving and it was quite possibly the best sibling wedding ever. figures by the last one we'd get it down but it wasn't thanks to us it was what they wanted. they're having their open house in a few weeks and so the day of we just hung out together with the fam. after the sealing we all ate dreamland barbecue which brent claims defines his barbecue experience for his life. its that good.this is my imitation of my mom's stockings. i've always loved hers and the fact that they were homemade made them very sentimental. after 6 years of marriage i finally decided to do them. i think because at so many points of the process they made me want to swear i still look at them with spite but hopefully time will heal our wounds. for brent and i i went with our favorite christmas gifts ever so we have a gameboy and pink jambox for us.

the only part of thanksgiving dinner i didn't ruin...sams sweet potato and turkey. (i had to throw a doubled recipe of rolls in the trash. i balled. like totally lost it crazy crying.)

on saturday we took the boys to gatlinburg with the barnes's that are in town. it was so fun! this picture with santa makes me so happy. luckily santa was at the festival of trees there--for free. that saves us $20 and at least an hour of our time which we would have to stand in line to see him.

it really was a fabulous thanksgiving for us. we also went to the chimnies in the mountains but i don't have those pictures. i'm just eager to post what happened yesterday which you probably just read anyway.

A Barnes Beach Trip

A Barnes beach trip is very different from a Hutchison beach trip. Although I was reminded of this throughout the week at Hilton Head for different reasons none hit me so hard as when I just sat down with the intent to post and I realized I don't have a single picture. I have a couple goofy expressions of Sam laying on the floor at the condo when I thought "oh no I haven't taken any yet" but then never brought it with me to the beach. I'm sorry mom. I'm sorry to anybody who was curious as to just how gorgeous Hilton Head is. Because it is gorgeous. I'm used to Florida beaches which are lovely but different from this. My favorite part of a Hilton Head beach are the tides. I love going out at low tide when there is so much wet sand to play it. You can ride bikes on it which was shocking to me when I first saw it. Also I'm not sure if this is a coincidence or a truth but the waves seemed bigger at hi tide which I'm sure would have been fun if I hadn't been holding a sleeping baby. [ah sweet sam--the only time my children sleep in my arms is under conditions of EXTREME exhaustion but it is blissful b/c it's so rare]. Another difference was in how my family vacations vs. how the Barnes do. My family is all go go go. We all get ansy being in the condo and consider the day almost a failure if we didn't get to the beach twice. My parents come home at like 8:30am after some intense exercise, calling us all lazy for sleeping in so late. Brent's family takes it all slow. It took me a couple of days to get used to this (I was a bit of a crank--sorry fam) but after I relaxed a bit I enjoyed it tremendously. I did coax Brent and his mom to ride bikes with me that we rented for the kids to ride in which was way way fun. Maybe even my favorite part of the trip. Jackson loved playing in the sand and was tentative but willing to play in the waves. We put Sam in their bathwater-temperature-pool and he loved it too. Brent even dunked him several times although I had to look away for that part. my nerves will be the death of me. all in all it was a way fun trip and we thoroughly enjoyed it. despite the lack of pictures. oh oh if you read this much you might as well know there will be a romantic-picture-less post tomorrow (or soon).

I love sunday afternoons

Church gets out at 12:000. Thats a lot of time for games, naps, and disney movies. oh and too much time for bowls of m&Ms.

Our Utah Trip

Some stories are just better told in pictures.

We had a blast! I don't have any pics yet of the wedding because unfortunately, that was the day we forgot to carry the camera with us.

Happy Birthday Jackson!!

My baby turned 3 on Monday!! These pictures loaded in reverse order but it's too hard for me to rearrange so here's the backward story. Yay! Little Einstein movies from grandma and papa barnes!

Surprisingly he told me he didn't like the batter. go figure. he begs for bread dough and then will lick the flour off the counter.

I tell you Jackson loves cooking. He insists on helping. He'll pretend to read off ingr edients and really knows most things by sight. "now the sugar, now the vanilla... " I mostly love it. I say mostly because last time we made cookies one of the eggs missed the bowl.

He loved loved his birthday. Whenever we sang to him he'd bashfully put his hands up to his mouth like he was embarrassed. I have to admit I got pretty tearful thinking of thinking of how blessed we are to have him. He is so happy and helpful. He loves his family and loves to hug me and Brent at the same time and say "It's our family!!"

yup....another one

Introducing Scott and Siobhan (pronounced shivon). April 13th. I actually have the most pictures of them because Brent took their engagement shots yesterday. I thought he did a really good job.
That makes a sibling wedding in March, April, and May.

I'm sure Scott loves him....some where really deep.

Sometimes it just a little awkward.
oh and rachel, this message is for you. I posted twice today. just so you know.

Travis... We're saving a square for you!

Wish you all were here!

William Jackson

Did you know that Jackson is William Jackson Barnes? like that's his full name. I really like using family names but Brent's not that in to it. We knew we wanted William because its both of our fathers' names. Wendell Jackson is Brent's maternal grandfather's name. William Jackson O'Bryant is Dee's grandfather's name, Jackson's great-great grandfather. you following? so here's the story. We were eating dinner at the Barnes' a few weeks ago and noticed a painting on the floor. It used to be in grandma's room but since she died they weren't sure what to do with it. She asked if we were interested and we said not really. Then when we looked closer we realized that William Jackson O'Bryant painted it. SOLD! I'm a sucker for old family things, especially since its a namesake. I just wanted to share our cool new addition.

Bryant David Barnes

My newest nephew was born Sunday February 1st. He was 8 lbs. 15 oz. which is really bigger than I ever expected from such a little thing as Becca. I'm dying inside because I won't be able to see the baby til....? Grandma and Grandpa Barnes and Brittany will all be going out on Friday though to stay for a week so I trust them all to take a ton of pictures. Meanwhile, I'll just continue gazing at the one's Travis has posted on facebook. I love this one of mom dad and baby. Not that new parents will be spending anytime checking out other blogs but...we love y'all tons and congratulations.

I did it!

OK, so I didn't do it. Travis did it. He graduated from BYU in December. Yeah. I finally made him cookies. Yeah. Instead of licking his fingers from cookie dough goodness picture him saying "you're number one!"

Bryant's coming!

In case any of you didn't know I'm gonna have another nephew shortly. Brent's brother Travis and his wife Becca are expecting their first at the end of this month. After seeing this post I got so excited to see my new nephew and have just been bubbling over with emotion. I can't wait and even though he lives way too far away I can feel the love and pride (thats right I said pride) over taking me. I think about my other nephews (who I also don't get to see enough) and am just so grateful for the gift of families. Even the ones that live far away. I love all my nephews and just thought everybody should know it. But seriously is Becca not an amazing decorator! I love her colors and her style and if she'd ever spend enough time down here I'd get her to do my whole house! Here's to hoping Bryant looks better than this.

I'm thankful for...

I 'm thanksful for my mother-in-law

(shhh... don't tell her I called her that b/c she wants me to call her mom...yeah she loves me that much)

1. Today when the car man was telling me how terrible my car was she went with me and actually knew what he was saying. asking about the blahdiblah belt (of course she didn't call it that she knew the real word!) I loved that.
2. She let me not only use her sewing machine but helped me when I continually messed it up and then blamed the machine instead of the user. so sweet!
3. She raised Brent to be a faithful, caring, fun, husband. He's also terribly handsome and I think she had something to do with that. She also understand his engineerish brain b/c she married an engineer. (she was wooed on her first date by the explanation of how a refridgerator works.)
4. At any given moment she might have 30 people staying at her home. You should probably call in advance to book a night at her house but she'll always tell you to come.
5. She loves me.
6. I lived in her house for like 8 months. that was pretty kind.
7. She is such an example of faith and service. a calling magnifier.
8. Everything she touches is perfection. wedding cakes, sewing projects, costumes, her hair
9. I've learned that a big reason her house is so inviting is b/c it's always clean. I've learned how much it invites the spirit and leads to more peace.
10. She loves Jackson and is always there for him, or me whenever I need a helping hand.

Ila Terry O'Bryant

This past week has been a very emotional week for us. Brent's maternal grandmother who lives with us (or we live with her) had a stroke last Friday. Although it has been a difficult experience for the family we have seen many of the Lord's "tender mercies" in the process. Brent's mother who cares for her primarily was out of town and two of her daughters who live farther away had come down to visit with her. We had had a giant Terry reunion just one year ago. Although the feelings are mixed for us, she had been wanting to go home to be with her husband for years. Her children and many grandkids have come to be by her side in these last days and we have brought her home to pass here. We've spent the last few days telling stories, shedding tears, and offering prayers. We love her very much and are grateful for her impact in our lives.

Predictions

So for Christmas last year Brent and I made a Barnes family calendar. For december we made some funny predictions for what may be happening for 2009. Can you guess which one is right?

(just picture them with missionary tags. I couldn't do it in blogger.)


Becca's Pregnant!
Yeah!
She's due January 31st. We are all so thrilled.
Nice neutral shade of green because who knows what it's going to be. I decided I'll call it my sobrinoa, or my niecephew, or nephiece.

Can I just say

Can I just say I am so thankful for moments like these. Jackson is able to get to know his great-grandma O'bryant like none of her others. I think they are both such a happy, bright spot in one another's lives, mainly because she let's him do whatever he wants.

Then I get a cute wet thing back!

Springtime!

I was desperate when I arrived in Alabama this we ekend because I didn't have an outfit for Jackson for Easter. I am southern. In my in-laws eyes I am very southern. I don't know about that but Easter outfits are important to me. I was not going to have Jackson wearing winter church clothes after Easter. hmph. So after shopping in Tuscaloosa and finding everything sold out in his size for easter my mom and I decided to make an outfit. I have almost no experience sewing but under my moms watchful eye (and her really taking over with the buttons an collar) we worked throughout the weekend. I knew Sunday would be hard so I decided to try to take his pictures today. Like a true Hutchison, he doesn't love taking pictures but I did the best I could do.

Brittany was great to help ease his pain with bananas.

Jackson loves to peek under fabrics. He does it to girls (uh-oh), boys (uh oh) and bedskirts (oh well.)

We had to give up on outfit pictures but still got some cute cuddling with mom pictures.