August and Katie’s Baptism

Katie and her friend Haley each lost a tooth on the same McDonald’s outing! How weird is that?     Cold day at the splash park. Katie’s baptism photo shoot. This was so much fun. Katie ADORED being the center of attention (no surprise there!) and Jacque was so amazing to work with. I seriously love just about every photo and want to cover my house in them. It may make my other children feel slightly less loved to see Katie’s mug around every corner, but their time will come. If you’re in the Albuquerque area and looking for a family photographer, call Jacque Larsen. We love her to death.           This face is SOOOO Katie. It was no surprise when we were looking through the pictures and she saw this one and said, “That pose was my idea!” I can hear her saying, “Mom! Look!” every time I see this picture.     Bridget’s second birthday. She was a grump and a half this day. I did have her hair fixed, but she would have none of it. When it came time for us to sing “Happy Birthday,” she started screaming at everyone to STOP IT! Fortunately we caught it on video. It’s pretty hilarious.   Katie was baptized on August 24. We were so blessed to have nearly all of our family (on both sides!) come to town to join us for this day. To make it extra special, my dad arranged for us all to stay at Hotel Cascada, which is a hotel with an indoor waterpark. We spent Friday evening playing hard, ate at Sweet Tomatoes (a Barnes family tradition) and then the kids and grandparents stayed at the hotel. Aaron and I went back home so we could sleep in our own beds. We met up the next morning and played again at the water park. The Flow Rider was the hit of the trip. Everyone loved trying out their new skillz (p.s. we have none). Even Katie and Paul got to go several times. After that, we cleaned up and headed over to the Stake Center for the baptism. Katie had chosen to be baptized in Albuquerque so that she could invite friends, and she was a wonderful missionary. We had several friends come who were not members, including her school friends Lily and Ali. I think my favorite part of the whole weekend was after the baptism. Everyone gathered at our house to have barbeque from Rudy’s (we all love it!). It was so wonderful to see all of our family gathered together, eating and laughing and just enjoying being together. Katie invited Lily and her dad to eat with us since they lived so far away and would have a super late dinner by the time they got home. He was reluctant to come, but once he was there, you would never have guessed that he wasn’t part of the family. I know he could feel how genuine everyone was and he left feeling something special. For me, it was such a wonderful testimony that family is really what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. I LOVE my family (Barneses and Jorgensens alike). I am so grateful that we can be together forever!

Update: June and July

The cheese thief strikes again!   Hiking on our mini-break up at the Garcia’s cabin in Mora. Picnic lunch and wading at Morphy Lake near Mora. This poor lake had been so severely affected by the drought that the shore was at least 50 feet away from the end of the boat ramp. All that was left was a small pond filled with ultra sticky mud. Apparently there must have been some fish in there as well, because it was still full of families fishing. Gymnastics has made this boy ripped. He’s going to be a heartbreaker! Dad was a good sport and braved the mud and cold. Mom wisely stayed on shore—to take pictures, of course. Averi lost her flip flops in the mud. Some kind lake neighbors were willing to go in there and fish for it when I wasn’t. I would have just left it there. When all your children are just lying on the floor doing nothing you know they’re not feeling well. Aaron’s birthday cake. We didn’t have any appropriate candles, so the emergency candle had to do. Unfortunately, this was not the last birthday that had to use this candle.   Isotopes ball game, taken on the phone. Much swimming was done this summer. Katie and Paul got to the point where I was comfortable with them swimming in the big pool while I stayed with the two younger girls in the wading pool. Camping and hiking trip to Cloudcroft, NM. It was incredibly beautiful, and the kids were amazing hikers. The Mexican Canyon Railroad Trestle, part of the Cloud-Climbing Railroad. These two are the very best of friends. I love watching them talk to each other. Guess what we were eating!   Trip to the Natural History Museum with our friends, the Larsons. Unfortunately, I took these pictures with the phone and hardly any of them turned out. I’m still figuring that thing out. Yes, my baby has no pants. We had a massive blow-out before we even entered the museum, and of course I came completely unprepared. At least I had a diaper, which is an improvement over many other situations in the past.