Merry Christmas

Sorry I have been a little slow at posting the last few weeks with all the hussle and bussle of the season. Christmas was very special for us this year being Hagen's first. We assumed that being only 8 months old, he wouldn't understand Christmas and we would get to sleep in. BIG MISTAKE! Hagen was up at 6 am and wouldn't go back to sleep. We finally just gave up and opened presents. It was so fun to watch him open the gifts and then play with the wrapping paper or tags rather than the toy itself. I guess that just comes with the age.

This year was very non-traditional since it was during the week. We spent Sunday morning doing gift exhange and Breakfast with the Curtis's and the afternoon and evening with the Barton's doing their family party. Then Monday morning I headed to work for half a day while Chase, Hagen, and Richard headed north to get the rest of Hagen and Janet's Christmas. That night we went to the Curtis's and tracked Santa with Monica's kids like we do every year. Then Christmas morning we had breakfast with Janet, Richard, and Chad and my family came by later to see all of Hagen's presents. All in all it was a good Christmas less the fact that we will be broke for a while. Anyway, here are some pictures of our Christmas....

Freaking Cute

Okay, we made a trip North last weekend to finish up Christmas shopping and do a few things. Chase wanted to go to Cal-Ranch to look at guns so while the boys (Chase, Mark, and Hagen) were looking at "manly" things--including a pink 22--Rosie and I went off looking at clothes. On our way, a certain toy caught Rosie's eye and she pointed it out to me....well you can see the picture and needless to say, it is sitting under our Christmas tree, but how can you not give that cute little smiling face everything and everything?! Dang kids anyway!!

On another note, we would like to welcome cousin baby Kayla into the world! She was born on December 6. After several years of trying my cousins Valerie and Kelvin were blessed with a sweet little girl. We are all so happy for them and can't wait until she gets a little bigger to run around with Hagen.
This is me holding baby Kayla (even though you can't see my head--Harley's photography) and Monica holding Hagen. Aren't they cute!!!

Oreos.....MMMM

For all of you who don't know Hagen or at least aren't around him much, he is an eater. He eats anything and everything. If it tastes good he eats more and says "MMMM" with each bite. Well the other night Daddy decided that Hagen could share his oreos. With out regard to the carpet or anything laying on the floor near Hagen, Chase gave him an oreo.....Well you can see the result. A few bars of soup and 30 minutes later, Chase finally got him clean again.

Happy Turkey Day!

I don't know about everyone else, but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! I'm for any holiday that gives me an excuse to eat delicious food ALL DAY LONG! Chase and I are blessed to be close to both of our families so we get two Thanksgiving dinners! YUM!

Well, it is a Barton tradition to go Christmas tree hunting the weekend of Thanksgiving. This year, Chase and Brandy had to work Friday so I spent the day with Monica, Will, and Harley. We headed to Richfield to do the normal after Thanksgiving things....we checked out some sales and visited Santa at Santa's workshop. We relaxed for a little bit at McDonald's and then went to the movie. The kids seemed to enjoy it although Hagen slept through most of it.

Saturday was Christmas tree hunting day. It was especially exciting this year being Hagen's first Christmas and having a few extensions to the Barton Clan....my brother Mark and his very cute wife Rosie came from Orem and brought along her brother (Mike), his wife (Becky), and their dog (Jake). It is was nice to have them join us. We drove up Cove and were dissappointed to see only a skiff of snow. We stopped at Big Lake where Brandy cooked some yummy Chili Soup and we all drank hot chocolate before heading into the trees to find the perfect Christmas tree. All together I think we harvested about 15 beautiful trees. I think everyone enjoyed it and Hagen found that the rocks at Big Lake are especially tasty!

I hope all of you had a happy holiday and ate your fill of turkey...if you didn't, I ate some for you!

Horses, Horses, Horses

Chase has always taken pride in being a horseman. He started breaking and shoeing horses at a very young age along side his father and is now passing along this Barton tradition to Hagen.

Sunday afternoon we loaded up Bego aka Winnie B (a brown and white paint we brought from Idaho a year and a half ago that Chase broke and has since became his pride and joy) and Sady (a beautiful but untouched dun that we adopted from the BLM) and headed to the Salina rodeo grounds. Hagen and I stood behind the shoots and watched as Chase carefully saddled Sady for the first time-amazingly she didn't put up much of a fight. He opened the gate and thinking she was homefree Sady barrelled out of the shoot and ran straight to the fence. To my disappointment she didn't even buck once. : (

Chase let her run around the arena a few times before he saddled up on Winnie to make the rounds with her. This wasn't the first time that Hagen had watched his daddy saddle up and ride off without him so you can imagine how Hagen's grin grew as I passed him over the shoots to ride along with his daddy. After several rounds of chasing Sady trying to get her wore out (and calmed down) I entered the arena to get Hagen so Chase to get Sady loaded up in the horse trailer. After watching daddy round her up and get her in the pen, Hagen watched intently as Chase practiced roping some barrels in the arena.

I know it is inevitable that Hagen will be a cowboy (not that there is anything wrong with that), but I was hoping to wait a few more years before subjecting him to the bumps, bruises, and broken bones associated with breaking horses, but I guess dad over rules mom on this one. I guess I should look at the bright side, at least I have 8 more years before he can start riding bulls!

After all that excitement, Hagen slept through the night! Maybe I should let him play cowboy a little more often!

A Bit of Humor

Today have been a very mentally draining day for me. My best friend Emilie and I had a very much needed venting session about religion, family, and hardship to name a few things. I can't express how thankful I am to have her back in my life PERMANTLY. After all that serious talk I needed a bit of humor.....

Family

I am new to the blogging scene and this probably won't be what most of you write on your blogs, but I have something I need to get off my chest.....Over the weekend Chase's little sister Casey came home from Colorado Springs to spend an early Thanksgiving with the family. I find it hard to stomach, but Chase didn't say a word to her the entire weekend. He has practically disowned her since she changed her lifestyle. I have always been a firm believer that no matter what, family is the only thing that will be there in the end. Money and possessions (and I am sure a few "friends") will come and go but your family will be there to pick up the pieces after they are gone. It breaks my heart to see that not all families feel the same way. It is hard for me to watch the family being torn apart because of this. Casey is Casey....she is still the little girl that Chase played with and probably picked on when they are younger. Her lifestyle choices don't affect who she is inside and it really erks me that he can't get past it! I don't expect him to support her lifestyle, but at least acknowledge that she exists and let her know that you care about her even though you don't support her.

So a note to my family (meaning Bartons, Curtis', and good friends).....
I WILL ALWAYS BE THERE no matter what choices you make in life, you can ALWAYS count on me standing behind you giving love and encouragement even when I don't support your decisions.