The Barrett's Blog

Caeden's Christmas Message

2009-12-25T06:48:00.000-08:00

Holiday Greetings!

2009-12-25T06:44:00.000-08:00

Jordan's Graduation

2009-06-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Jordan is graduating!
Time has just flown by since the day he was born.

He has been such an amazing blessing in our lives. Not a day goes by without him making us smile. We are so humbled at your goodness Jordan, and so proud of all you have accomplished. We can't wait to see what great things
you have in store :) We love you!

The weeks surrounding graduation were just one big long extended party! It was so fun watching him enjoying all the fun parties, dances, family coming to visit, seminary graduation, etc. I'm amazed at how well he did with no sleep for weeks. He had the time of his life and it was great to be a part of it. On graduation day we had a barbecue at the house with all of our family and friends. Thanks so much for all those who came to support Jordan! It just made our day complete having you all there. And thanks for all the help each one of you gave to make the day a success. It was an awesome day filled with lots of mixed emotions for me. . . I am so happy and excited for him but at the same time wishing he could stay with us forever and not grow up. :)

All the guys. . .

Senior Ball

Seminary Graduation

Sherry, Alyssa, and Grandma Shirley

Andrew and Alicia

All of Jared's family that could come: Golden, Adam, Aaron, Roger, Sherry, and his mom

It was wonderful having Grandma Shirley and Grandma and Grandpa Archibald there!

Golden, Britny, Elijah, and Tru

Congratulations Jordan!

Washington State!

2009-06-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

For anyone who hasn't heard our big news, we are moving! Jared was hired as an assistant at Washington State University. He started his new job right away and came back for the weekend with some new Washington State gear. We have been so blessed to find a new opportunity for him. I think he is really going to love his new job and although the kids wish they could stay here with their friends they have been so good about moving again and are starting to get excited about it. We have been miserable with Jared being gone! But we have lots of visits planned for the summer and when the kids are done with all they have committed to with sports and dance we will go and join him there before school starts. We have moved enough that we know it's always tough to make a change but we also know that everywhere we have been has been a new adventure with lots of new blessings. I have been married to a basketball coach for 18 years now, I should be used to it by now huh? :) We are looking forward to what happens next!

Hawaii!

2009-05-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

At the airport and so excited to go! Caeden was so good on the 7 hour flight but can you tell how happy he was when he realized we were finally there?

As soon as we got to the hotel we couldn't wait to get to the beach. Even though it was getting dark we loved it, the water is so warm and fun no matter when you go!

This was our awesome Presidential Suite and the view from the balcony

Day #1-Shopping at the International Marketplace on Waikiki-

And then to the beach!

Welcome luau at the hotel. We caught Jordan and Rich doing the hula!

Day #2 Waimea Bay-This beach was so beautiful! There were dolphins swimming up and down the coast and the water was so blue! All of the beaches on the North Shore were amazing.

The only bad thing about this trip to the beach was that our keys to the rental car got wet and wouldn't start the car so we were stuck there for a few extra hours! If you have to be stuck anywhere, a beach in Hawaii is not a bad place! We had hours of entertainment courtesy of Rich and Jordan's great singing and comedy act. Thanks guys! :)

Day #3-We got up early to go to the swap meet. We got awesome souveniers for great prices and the boys got air jordan tattoos and airbrush t-shirts. Then we drove to Polynesian Cultural Center and Luau-- we loved all of it!

Day 4-Surfing lessons (everyone loved surfing) and lots more time at the beach.

Caeden discovered a new favorite hobby - Chasing the birds!

Day #5 -Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. I made it official on this excursion, I hate snorkeling! I tried to convince myself that it was fun but I finally gave in to the reality that I am claustrophobic and I hate fish. Ashley was struggling to enjoy it too! But luckily the boys loved it and made good use of the snorkeling gear. I was content to hang out with Caeden on the beach:)

Every night Ashley, Caeden and I went to the beach to watch the sunset. It was amazing! A few times we were able to convince the boys to go with us, but mostly they weren't that excited about it. We would get frozen yogurt and walk along the beach--I could have done it for hours.
We are still talking about how we wish we could be on the beach eating frozen yogurt at sunset :)

Day #6-Pearl Harbor and tour of USS Missouri Battleship. This was an important stop on our trip. We learned so much about WWII and gained a deep appreciation for all those who have served our country and sacrificed so much. I looked at it through the eyes of all of the mothers and wives who have supported their loved ones as they commit to protecting our freedom. . . and the tears kept coming the whole time we were there. I am so thankful for the gift of living in this country and for the honorable men and women who willingly serve to protect it.

Then one last trip to the beach!

Day #7-Sad day, we have to go home! We wanted to stay forever! We got up early to get in one more trip to the beach before we had to check out of the hotel. We attended one of the local wards and that was a great experience. Then we drove to Laie to see Jordan's friend Annie. She was in our ward in CA and we just happened to run in to her at the Polynesian Cultural Center where she works. It was so fun to see her again! Her family invited us for dinner and it was a great afternoon getting to know them. They even gave Caeden a warrior stick which is one of the coolest souveneirs we brought home. Thanks Annie and everyone for having us! We stopped at the temple, it was beautiful. Then we headed for the airport and an all night flight home. It was such a fun week! It's been a long time since we have had so much time together and Hawaii was the perfect place to be. Everyone was so friendly. It was paradise no matter where we were. . . even the local McDonalds had a waterfall and tropical garden. WE LOVED IT! I hope we get to go back again someday soon!

Snowmobiling at the Cabin

2009-05-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I promised not to be so slow posting my stuff but here I am again and very very late getting this done! Since I am trying to use this as my journal I figured I would still go back and add some important events of the last few months. These are some pics from our trip to the cabin in Island Park over President's Day with our cousins. We had a blast in the snow! We enjoyed valentines day and our all-red dinner tradition--we made everyone else participate with us so thanks to everyone for being good sports and eating red EVERYTHING! I am starting to realize my boys love the adrenaline of all kinds of machines-snowmobiles, jet-ski's, four-wheelers, you name it they love it! As a mom I just have to not think about it and let them go out with their uncles and have the time of their lives. You can't tell it's me but I have to point out that it is me behind the mask on the snowmobile with Jordan and I really do love it too!

basketball season

2009-02-20T16:21:00.000-08:00

Brady's team made it to the championship game against provo this year. He worked so hard and played a tough game but they ended up losing by 6. It's been so fun watching him grow and become an awesome little player. We are already looking forward to the championship next year, right Brady?

Brady's best two coaches, Dad and Uncle Adam

Brady's fan club. Uncles Dave and Randy came prepared to paint their chests with Brady's name and # but the paint was the wrong color and didn't show up. Lucky for the cheering section!
Ha ha, just kidding guys-We were so glad to have you there. Thanks for coming!

We are also going to be glad to have Jared around a little bit more! UVU has only a couple more home games left and then we will be able to spend more time with him. Their doing pretty good this year but the coaches wife is always glad when the season is over. Go Wolverines!

This is what happens when you live at the Barrett's house.
Even when basketball season is over, practice must go on!

Caeden spends his day dribbling and asking everybody to play basketball with him. At any given moment there are about 15 different kinds of basketballs all around on the floor. I don't think he could like anything more!

Better late than never?

2009-02-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

Anyone who might be interested in reading my blog would have to know me well enough to know that I am always a little bit behind everyone else! I'm trying to keep up but please forgive me for being a little slow. Here are the highlights of the Holidays. . .

December started out crazy and stayed that way! Ashley had dance competition in SLC and their studio walked away with almost every award. It's always so fun watching her compete after all of the hours of hard work and practice. That's when it really pays off. Good job girls! :)

The next item on my long list of things to do in December was to take Caeden to see Santa. He was so excited!!! He was only nervous until Santa gave him a high-five and then they were good friends. He asked Santa for a pink present, and a pink dinosaur. You can imagine how Coach Barrett and his brothers felt about that! :) It was so fun seeing his eyes light up when he saw Santa. Brady came along even though he had just gotten two teeth pulled a couple of hours before that-he didn't want to miss out!
The weeks flew by and all of the sudden it was Christmas. We were so lucky to be able to go home to spend it with our families. After all of the challenges my Mom and Dad faced with my Dad's health this year we felt especially blessed to have him with us and everyone in my family was able to be there. Chaotic, yes, but still awesome! Here are a few of the Christmas pics. . .

Family Christmas Nativity-Jordan the narrator,
Ashley the sheep, Brady the donkey :)

A project such as making Gingerbread houses from scratch, cutting the pieces out, making 45 pounds of frosting and providing all the candy you can eat is one that only a Grandma would undertake! It's one of my favorite traditions, thanks for all the hard work mom. Everyone did a pretty good job with their architecture, but Jordan might want to take some lessons from Caeden and see if his will stand up next year :) No matter how it looks it always tastes good!

Christmas Day was the best! There were 36 of us there which basically means my parents are AMAZING! I don't know how they do it or why they always seem like they really do want us there, all I do know is that it is ALOT of work! But they will never admit it!
Santa came through big time with everyone's favorite gifts and most importantly, Caeden's pink present and pink Dinosaur. That is all he had been asking for so I'm glad Santa found one. And my dad kept up the tradition of dressing up in something ridiculous and handing out a crazy gag gift to each one of us. It's the only time we ever see him in anything other than his business attire so it's truly a sight to behold. My parent's are going to have to quit making it so much fun to be there at Christmas or they will never have a holiday with any peace and quiet!

One of the most exciting things that happened this Christmas is that brother's new baby was born on December 26th. I think all of the craziness put my poor sister-in-law into labor on Christmas day! She did great and little Shelby Jane is absolutely adorable. Caeden loved her and we have been trying to convince him to send all of his bottles. So far no deal! :)

We love Christmas! :)

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-21T22:04:00.000-08:00

Since I am terrible about sending Christmas Cards, I just wanted to write a quick note on my blog to let all of my friends and family know that I am thinking of you this Christmas. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday surrounded by those you love and that you have some time to reflect on the birth of our Savior. At the end of each year I stand in awe of all that I have been blessed with and am so thankful for each of you. I am looking forward to seeing all the Christmas updates on the blog! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Catching up!

2008-12-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok, I admit it. . . I am terrible about keeping up with my blog. I wish I was as good as the rest of my friends and family! Life has been just a little bit crazy since October when we started packing for yet another move. We are all settled back in and feeling more normal now so I feel like I can devote some time to the optional things. Here is a quick re-cap of the past few months and I promise to try and do better! :)

Caeden's cuteness

Here are some random pics of my sweet little guy. He keeps us laughing every day and says the most hilarious things. I keep telling the other kids they were just as cute as Caeden but they don't ever believe me! I continue to marvel at the amazing blessing he is in our little family :)

FOOTBALL SEASON

Football season is over and Brady had a great year! It was his first time playing football but he loved it and I have to say he was pretty darn good at it too. We are rookies when it comes to keeping warm during the games, we had to learn our lessons the hard way. By the end of the season we came well-equipped with hand warmers, hot chocolate, and snow clothes! We will be better at it next year :)

HALLOWEEN
Caeden was the most adorable little monster for Halloween. He was so excited about trick or treating but it took a while to get excited about the costume. When we first got it in the mail he wouldn't come anywhere near it! I would catch him looking at it from a distance but he definitely wouldn't put it on. After many weeks and various bribes he finally put it on but only in hopes of getting lots of candy. The very second I said we were done and going home he stripped the costume off on the sidewalk and left it there. He loved the candy though!

Family Weekend
We were lucky enough to have Jared's dad and his sister come to visit for a weekend. His brother Adam lives here in town so we got to spend some time with all of them. We always love having them here and manage to bribe them to come somehow. :) Sherry has the sweetest kids ever and we all loved some time with baby Alyssa. We really do need you guys to move closer!

Picture time!

2008-10-19T03:33:00.000-07:00

Every year at the end of summer, I make the kids go and get their pictures done. I do Caeden's birthday pictures at the same time. They are getting too old to enjoy it but they know the consequences are serious if they aren't nice about it. :) Ever since Caeden was born they like to get their own picture taken with him but that's the only part they like! I love getting it done but hate how much I end up spending when it's over. I can never buy just one! :)

Ash is 15!

2008-09-27T23:47:00.000-07:00

Ashley had a great birthday! It's hard to believe she is 15 years old! She got lots of great presents but her favorite was her new camera. She chose an Elmo cake because Caeden thinks everyone needs and Elmo cake. :) He was excited to help me make it for her! Of course her brothers and Uncle Adam had to give her a hard time (see below) but that's what makes it fun right Ash? Happy Birthday pretty girl!

caeden's birthday song for Ash

2008-09-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

Here is Caeden's birthday message for Ash--just click on the title and it will play for you. We sent it to her phone so she got it first thing in the morning, what a great way to start the day! :)

Caeden's 2nd Birthday

2008-09-25T04:27:00.000-07:00

Caeden knew he was going to love his birthday when I let him eat chips for breakfast :) He was so excited to see all his presents and it was all he could do to keep away from them all day. Once dad got home, the party was on! We took him to feed the ducks and then came home for cake and ice cream and presents. He was so adorable and excited about everything he got. I think he had a pretty good day!

Summer 2008

2008-09-12T16:44:00.001-07:00

Summer 2008 was full of fun! In this, my first real attempt at blogging, I am going to recap the highlights of the summer. Hopefully it won't be too much information! I promise not to make the rest of my posts so long. . . :) We started the summer right with a visit from Jared's mom and sister Sherry. We haven't seen Grandma Shirley for such a long time. Somehow we convinced her to make the trip and it was wonderful to have her here for a week. We also took a quick trip to Idaho to visit Grandma and Grandpa Archibald. There's nothing better than a visit with Grandparents! Especially when you have awesome Grandparents like ours! :)

Caeden became a little fish and wanted to spend every day in the pool going "fwimming". He loved playing outside even in 100 degree weather which his mom is not a big fan of. :) Most of the time our little pool in the backyard was enough to keep him happy for hours. I wish the older kids were so easily entertained! They spent most of their time at seven peaks water park.

We also spent quite a bit of time visiting Grandpa in the Hospital. My poor dad, he has really been through it this year! It has been such a blessing to be here in Utah and be close enough to visit them often. Both my mom and my dad have been amazing, they have stayed so strong and counted their blessings all along the way despite some pretty miserable circumstances. We are grateful that after 9 long months of different surgeries, being in and out of the hospital, and not even being able to eat, it seems that my dad is finally starting to make some progress and feel a little better. We are so grateful for all the Lord's blessings and keep praying for his complete recovery. Hang in there mom and dad!

Fourth of July
So I guess from the picture you can tell how Caeden felt about the 4th of July! He hated the fireworks and didn't even peek at them as he held on to Jared for dear life. The rest of us had a great day. We had our first experience with the fierce competition for parade seats and with the parking lot mayhem that follows the stadium of fire. It was all worth it though, the fireworks were amazing and we were able to see our favorite dancer (Ash of course!) in the stadium of fire performance. Watching Miley Cyrus wasn't nearly as entertaining! :) We had a great day.

Family Reunion in Island Park
We had a blast at the cabin this July. It's been a while since we were able to go and in those few years my boys have become quite a bit more brave on the jet-ski's, boat, and four-wheelers. They were making me nervous! Even Caeden kept saying "go faster" when we took him for rides. I eventually had to quit watching because my worrying, nurse/mom-type personality was ruining all their fun! Ashley was content to get some sun on the dock and go out on the paddle boat. We girls don't have quite the same desire for thrill-seeking as the boys! We're hoping to be able to take advantage of living closer and get up there to enjoy the cabin more often.

Ben and Cheri's Wedding

We were so happy to be able to attend my brother Ben's wedding in late July. He and Cheri will be great together. They found each other as a result of my matchmaking mom working her magic when they met Cheri at the hospital. One of the only good things to come from my dad being so sick this year! We were grateful that my dad was able to be there, he was in between hospital stays so his timing was perfect. Way to go dad!

Girls Camp
I had the opportunity to go to girls camp with Ashley as the camp nurse. It was so much more fun than I remembered it being when I was in young women's! I loved being there with Ash and getting to know all the girls better. We somehow survived the hike and the snipe hunt later that day. It was the perfect setting-- a beautiful campground near Park City with fancy bathrooms, huge kitchen and a cabin for the leaders. My kind of camping! :)

California Trip
August 2008

We took a trip to Sacramento for Jordan's 17th birthday. We had a great time visiting our friends there and enjoying the California Sun! It made us a little homesick, but we left there feeling so thankful for our friends there that are like family to us.

Summer is over, here they are on the 1st day of school. Jordan is a senior, Ashley a freshman, and Brady an 8th grader. Jordan takes his job of keeping the boys away from his sister very seriously! :) Now it's just Caeden and I at home together. I love the one on one time with him but he is a little lonely. He keeps asking me, "Where is everybody?" We miss them!

My attempt to become a blogger!

2008-09-08T02:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have finally given in to the peer pressure at work to start a blog. I have been resisting but eventually decided to give it a try. With some coaching from Iliana I am on my way! I'm sure it will take some time for me to get as good at it as all of you so be patient. with me ok? I'm excited to get to read about your lives and see pictures of all of you without scrubs on. :)