The Newest Barton Baby....Baby Samuel

Meet baby Samuel Barton (Paul & Carolines new baby)
He came a little early.....
........July 24th, 2008

Pioneer Day Celebration

Here are some favorite pictures from the Pioneer Day Celebration our Stake puts on every year for the primary children. The above pitures are taken with our cousins and I am w/ Chloe and our Nursery friend RJ, Travis probably spent the entire time with this hula-hoop...then Jacob is out on the pioneer trek(pictured in the middle)- doesn't he look like he's having a real good time??

Pioneer Day Celebration

Most of us have a "smile", the real fun of Pioneer Day was in the cultural hall w/ games and candy and cousins....
Grandma Houghton & Megan were nice enough to make pioneer skirts (vests for the boys)
Jacob showing off his new vest with Grandma Houghton

Jacob showing everyone what a great pioneer he makes w/his jump rope skills Jacob playing the stick game with a friend.......

A Mother's LOVE.......

I am not a camping person...in fact I don't like camping (esp. in Texas) one bit...but my children LOVE camping....so everyonce in a while I dig deep and find special camping opprotunities....Well, Jacob has been begging to join a scout troop and so I signed him up w/Troop 471, and they were having a Family Campout. We went up to a nice area at Medina Lake and in the middle of July-I get extra points for summer time and tent!!! We had sooo much fun, my kids LOVED it....they all loved being "scouts"; the theme was Kung Fu Campout and they built things, earned patches, fished, swam, went put-put golfing at night, saw lots of deer, ate marshmellows, ice cream, played games-did I mention FUN? Troop 471 has a great scout master- Georgia, thanks for EVERYTHING!!
The only down side, Jared and I had to give talks on Sunday (we got home Sat night)-it's hard to prepare a talk and play in the lake at the same time!!

Troop 471 's...... Kung Fu Camp out for Cub Scouts...this is Jacob and the Tiger Scouts
Travis had fun "being" a scout
swimming in the Medina Lake
fishing at the Medina Lake w/ scout friends
b/c it was a family camp out, Megan(and Chloe) made friends at the camp out too!!!

MORE Camping Favorites

Golfing with DAD

We have a family golf pass for a course down the road...and Jared and Jacob love to catch a few holes (actually, all my kids love to golf w/DAD and I love to send them golfing w/DAD!)
-note, the ball still on the tee above...
Jacob just finished baseball season, so it took some adjustment to not swing like b-ball...but he is really good- Jared keeps me posted on how far he can drive the ball....
This is my big 6 year old, golfing with his DAD and having a good time

Best friends

This is Megan & one of her best friends, Ashley...they met in Kinder.... and are total twins!!

BEAUTIFUL STAIRS

with some help from Travis.....
..... Jared magically transformed into
.....a beautiful stairway

CHLOE







HURRICANE DOLLY
when it rains and rains and rains........we play car races-winner gets a penny....and watch t.v.!

Is it an omen???

So I scheduled a reunion for Jared 's family- The Barton Family Reunion....we are scheduled to leave for S Padre Island in 7 days....a hurricane just came through and tore things up (we won't even know if our reservations will be good till Monday) and to make things worse.... My pre-ordered Stephanie Meyer book, Breaking Dawn, will be in San Antonio on Saturday when I am down by the Mexican border until Sunday- Is it an Omen of what kind of vacation is waiting for us???

Bandley Family Reunion

Last week, Texas was the spot for the 2008 Bandley Family Reunion...the Bandley sisters that is....my children were facinated that Grandma Houghton had sisters...it would'nt have surprised me if they were expecting little girl sisters to show up....it just seemed funny that they were so astounded that she had three sisters that were coming to visit together, Megan was a bit offended that she didn't get to "play" with them....There was a buzz about a 2012 reunion...but we'll see....As far as what they did, well, besides dining out at various restraunts, and of course "official" Bandley reunion stuff, some family history, there was of course- reading books!!!

Sugar & spice & everything Nice

These girls are the girlyest girls I have ever met....Here is a cute picture of them...they have a cute bond- as if they've known each other forever! Chloe is like Megan's shadow, catching her every move flawlessly-you forget she's only two! Megan turns into a little mommy around her giving her hugs and love...

Any House Pictures??

This is probably the most asked question people ask us....sorry to spread them out this way- a little technical difficulty while uploading...these are pictures of our kitchen...it has turned out nice...Jared made the cabinets-even milled the crown above...still have some tweaking in the decor dept but it has turned out cute nonetheless...

Travis.....

These pictures of Travis captures him in his truest sense...He is very "picky" on what clothes he puts on...At home I give him free reign of what he wears....he goes through many fashion phases- the suspenders/ striped shirts his current one....He wears these suspenders day and night ....so when you see him out in public...look for suspenders and striped shirt underneath his clothes....He has such a BIG spirit inside such a little/young body.

Family

After the parade, we all gathered together at our house for food and fun and more food....we had lots of cousins which meant lots of fun,. Just before everyone left we took some pictres. to the left are all the cousins,(Chloe not pictured) on the the right are all the rest of us- although my mom was present, she got a little camera shy- have to photo shop her in. I have to mention, that Megan took this picture of the "grown-ups"- not bad. After the fun was over I took a nap and Jared relaxed in his special way- golfing(with his two golfing partners M & J).