Duncan Turns 30!

It's hard to believe, but I am now married to a thirty year old!  The scariest part about that fact is that I can feel my twenties slipping away all to quickly.  But then again, I'm a stay at home mom with three kids so I think I've pretty much lost my real twenties status already.  Annnnyway...

I had so much fun surprising Dunc for his birthday.  As I thought about what I should do to make his 30th memorable, the only thing that stuck was getting his family involved.  Duncan LOVES his family and because they all live out of town we don't get to get together very often.  I thought it would be so much fun to have his family come into town for a surprise birthday weekend, so I texted his parents and sister about it (the other two siblings were a little too far away in Georgia) and lucky for us, they were on board!  

Friday night when Duncan came home from work (an hour and half after I thought he would get home...) he walked in to a house full of family.  I love surprises and it was so fun to see his reaction!  We spent most of the weekend hanging out and having a good time and on Saturday we met up with my family at my parents' church for some carnival games.  We played speed, rhino rumpus, musical chairs, had 3 legged races, and finished the night off with some muddy buddies (Duncan's request) and brownies and ice cream.

The kids had a blast being with cousins and running around like wild men and I loved getting to celebrate Duncan.  It was so nice of his family to make the effort to be there.  We loved getting together with everybody to celebrate another decade down for the old man.

Dunc's First Time Skiing

Duncan finally went skiing for his first time ever!  We went to the Warren Miller movie last fall and got free lift tickets to Snowbird.  My mom was so so nice and took all three of my kids so we could go skiing for the day.  That is no small feat, especially considering the fact that Mack was only three months old!  We had a blast and loved being together for the day.

Being from California, Dunc's snow gear is few and far between (yeah, we should probably change that).  These pants were borrowed from my dad.  I was cracking up at the "snow capris" all day long.

Things started off pretty well on the bunny hill.  Being a natural athlete Dunc picked up on things fairly quickly and we were off to try some real runs.

It wasn't long though before we got into trouble.  On our way up the lift, we had a little miscommunication about whether or not to get off at the midway point and in all the confusion, Dunc's poles snapped right in half.  It was so funny.  I wasn't really sure what had happened, I just knew it was hilarious.  We had a good laugh and started off again.

Unfortunately it was about at that point when the snow picked up and the visibility turned into this.  We could hardly see where we were going, let alone the signs for the runs, and without any poles all it took was one fall for Duncan to be ready to take of his skis and walk down the hill.

I felt so bad!  We had accidentally taken an early turn and caught the corner of a blue run instead of the green we thought we were on.  Whoops!  

Luckily the fog cleared up, Duncan got his confidence back and we were able to enjoy the rest of the day without incident.  Dunc ended up using my poles, which was hilarious considering our height difference, and could successfully ski the rest of the runs we went on that day.  I had a blast and I'm crossing my fingers that Duncan will be on board when I suggest we try again next year.  :)

Mack's Blessing Day

On Sunday, February 1st, at two and a half months old, sweet baby Mack was blessed by his dad with his Grandpa Greg, Papa, Great Grandpa Barfuss, and Uncles Todd, Jason, and Kevin in the circle.

It was such a special day filled with joy and love.  I was counting my blessings all day long and felt so grateful to have this precious baby in our home.  (I should probably clarify that I am grateful to have him in our home every day, but the blessing day was even more so.)

Our little family is expanding and it is so much fun.  Every time we have had a new baby, my heart has grown and the love in our house has multiplied.  It is crazy, chaotic, and loud, but the good always outweighs the hard in the end.

Some things that Mack was blessed with:

A family who loves him and is excited to have him.

Love from his Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

He will come to know God and the Savior through his faith and obedience.

He will use his agency wisely and his most important use of agency thus far was his choice to come to earth.

He will learn to recognize the voice of the spirit and shun evil.

He will be a good brother - kind and loving.

He will have a desire to learn - both secular and spiritual learning.

He will have a desire to serve a mission and will find joy in sharing the gospel.

He will go to the temple and be sealed to a worthy companion and will need to keep himself worthy.

The spirit was so strong and I was overwhelmed by the blessed life that we live.  I'm so grateful for the men in our lives who gave him such a sweet blessing and for all the family who were part of Mack's special day.

This little boy is definitely a gift from heaven and we are so grateful for him!

February Fun

Woohoo!  Almost caught up!  February started off with a party and ended with a party plus tons of fun packed in the middle.  It was definitely what I would call a successful month.  This is the first "tax season" that Duncan has been around in the last 4 years and it is SO SO SO SO nice to have him home!  We have been happy with Dunc's new job and every day since the new year started I have been counting my blessings that he doesn't have a crazy busy tax season anymore.  Anyway...  instead of throwing everything from the month into one post like I've been doing lately, February deserves a few separate posts.  So here's the basic what we were up to this month, and then I'll follow up with separate posts for Mack's blessing day, Duncan's first time skiing, and Dunc's 30th birthday.

Selfie chinnnnns!

The most amazing February weather!  I loved getting out onto the trail and soaking up some sunshine.

This boy makes a great stroller buddy when I go on my little runs.  He usually rides along happily, asking me a million questions while I'm trying to keep my breath, but sometimes he wants to get out and play.  The day these pictures were taken we had some extra time so I let him out of the stroller.  He kicked rocks, threw sticks, and had a great time taking his time.  I love just watching him do his thing.

I started quilting Owen's twin quilt.  I decided to do an all over zig zag stipple design and it went fairly quickly.  It has been fun trying to learn a new skill with the long arm.

Mack got his first haircut at 3 months old.

Doesn't he look handsome?  I think it's time for another one already but I kinda love playing with his long hair when I'm holding him so it might be a while.

Grocery store rides for the win!  These kids were so excited to ride on Tigger's boat.

Duncan and I split up and took the kids on dates.  Dunc took Mya to the park and to get ice cream and I took Owen to the pet store.  I was hoping we could see some dogs, but apparently Bird World doesn't have dogs anymore.  So lame!  Luckily Owen was happy to look at all the birds, turtles, fish, lizards, etc.  Where can I find some puppies for this boy to play with??

The boys just chillin.

The kids and I went to the aviary.  It was our first time going there and everybody had a good time.

The talking parrot was our favorite, and per usual the kids loved just running around outside.

I love the way he crosses those legs.

Mya's attempt at a DIY slide.  She gets a 10 for creativity and a 0 on functionality but it sure was fun to watch.

This was Mack's first giggle!  I love that Owen was the one who got him to giggle first.

Mya is learning to write her letters.  It is so fun to watch her little handwriting show up on random papers.  This was a list she was making of all her friends.

Reading valentine's stories.  I love having those kids sit close to me!

Finally pulling some weight around here! They made it to the top of the driveway but the rocks were a little much for them.

Flowers in February!

We took the kids swimming for a family valentine's date.  I think this may be a new tradition.  It was Mack's first time swimming, but unfortunately our hands were full with 3 kids so we only got a picture in the car on our way home.  The kids had a blast and I'm now hopeful that Owen will actually like to swim this summer!

This baby melts my heart.

Mya earned this Elsa dress for her doll by not waking Duncan and I up during the night for 20 nights.  It took her forever to get those 20 stickers but she seems to have gotten over her bad habit of waking up at night.  I think she's slept through the night every night for the last week!

She is the best big sister and loves her baby brother like crazy!  Tonight she changed his diaper, helped me put lotion on him, and got him all dressed in his PJs and ready to go to bed.  And she's only four!  She rocks.

Mack turned three months old!  He is definitely the worst sleeper out of my babies so far, but he sure is happy for getting by on so little sleep.

I walked/jogged to my parents one day while Mya was at preschool.  Owen passed out on the way over (I nearly passed out as well but that's a different story) and slept like this in the stroller for a good 30 minutes after we got there.

That same day, my mom was cleaning out her mudroom and found all these old pictures from when I was a baby.  See any resemblance to my kids?  I see a little bit of Mack in the cheeks, but that's about it.

Preschool age.  People tell me that Mya looks like me, but this picture doesn't look anything like her in my opinion.

I started a quilting class with my mom.  She's crazy and signed us up to make this quilt.  Not because we like it, just so we can learn new techniques, etc.  So far the blocks have been time consuming but fun to make too.

Owen was sick one Sunday so I stayed home from church with him.  I turned on the Joseph Smith movie and he fell asleep right next to me.  Sleeping kids are the best.

So one morning while I was getting Mack dressed, I heard Owen drop his bowl and spoon into the sink and yell, "I done!"  In disbelief, I came out to check out the situation and this is what I found.  Ha ha ha.  That little stinker!

Mack's hair!!  And doesn't he look cute without those oxygen stickers?  Crossing my fingers that we can be done with the oxygen thing soon.

Fairy tale day at preschool.

I put Owen down for a nap one day and he kept playing in his room instead of sleeping.  I went in, tucked him back in and told him to stay in his bed.  A few minutes later I heard his bedroom door open and close so I went to check it out.  This is what I found sitting outside his door.  Kids are so funny.  They definitely make my life more fun and exciting.

That was a long post, but you made it through!  Hopefully I will keep up the blogging so there are shorter posts more frequently!