Tom & Darren

Today Sam and I visited Mindy and Ashlyn. It's about time Mindy and I did something together, because our husbands hang out all day, everyday. They work together at GB Contracting. They even invented work names for each other. Devin's is "Tom" and Ryan's is "Darren." They talk in southern accents all day long, using such phrases as "I reckon." They have special holidays during the week, for example, every Monday is "gay day," where Devin and Ryan act like a couple. I think Devin is into this holiday moreso than Ryan. Each and every night, they call each other to confirm the next day's plans (even though they are the same every day). Mindy and I did our own rendition of those phone calls in a little video we like to call, a conversation between Darren and Tom.

Here is a nasty picture of us showing off our hand-made "GB" nametags.

Sam is so cute I can't even stand it!!!!!

Sam is such a little smiley thing lately. His smile lights up the whole room and instantly gets rid of grumpy moods (my and Devin's moods, that is). Here is how sweet he looks when he smiles. Those pictures don't even capture just how sweet he is. I am a little obsessed with this boy...can you tell?

Stacie and Merritt came over for dinner tonight. Their baby girl is due in 3 days!!! Stacie is such a cute pregnant girl. I'm so excited for them.

Our ward split this past Sunday. I LOVE that it split! I'm sure a lot of people are sad to be separated from their friends, but I think it is so fun. It's like a new school year or something. In the LDS world, you only get new chances like this when you move, and it's usually an awkward experience instead of a fun one. The only downside is that it starts at 8 a.m. Oh my.

We have had tons of fun with family lately. Adam and Anya are basically our new BFFs, we visited Rich and Treslee and their cute girls on Sunday (and experienced the jockstrap frenzy firsthand), we have been enjoying American Idol with John, Brenda, and Brooklynn the past 2 weeks, Brooklynn spent the night Saturday and went on a date with us to Applebee's... I love the Barrys. Mindy, don't forget I'm coming to see you and Ashlyn this Friday!!! Treslee, here is a picture of you and Rich from Superbowl Sunday since I forgot my camera when we visited :)

I'M MARRIED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, after a 7-month break from wearing my wedding ring, I am pleased to announce that I CAN FINALLY WEAR IT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I may have squeezed my finger painfully as I pushed it on, and sure, it's tingling unbearably as I type, but who cares!!!! I am now married again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekend Travelers

This past weekend we went to Mayhill, New Mexico, to visit Greg, Alli, and Bastian. At the last minute, Whitney and Brad decided to come along. I am so glad they did. It was about a 10 hour drive each way (we had to stop a lot for Sam and also for Devin's bladder). We didn't get in until 4 a.m. Friday morning. I didn't sleep on the drive there because I was too stressed out about Devin staying awake. I tried to catch up on sleep at Greg and Alli's, but Sam would not let me! I basically spent the whole time there trying to catch up on sleep. Long story short, I got about 5 hours of sleep from Thursday night to Saturday morning. I was a very boring and grumpy guest, but Greg, Alli, and Rob were cordial just the same.

Alli made amazing food. She made us all want to be healthier- Whitney is even planning on trying to "go raw" for a while and see how she feels. Whitney loved learning about Alli's cooking wisdom. It was pretty cool to see my side of the family bond with Devin's side of the family.

I didn't take ANY pictures while we were there. That is NOT like me. I'm telling you- I am just not a happy girl when I'm sleep deprived. I did get some pictures on the road, though.

This was on the way there. It is always funny when you try to take a picture of yourself and you totally cut everyone's heads off.Whitney and Sam really bonded on this trip. It gave Whitney an even bigger case of baby fever than she already had. Get ready for some begging, Brad.

The irresistable King girls.

Here is a scary looking picture of Sam. He did so good in the car and barely cried at all. I wish he would have done that at Greg and Alli's. Oh well!

questions

I know I'm not one to talk, but no one seems to be answering their phones for me tonight! I have 2 questions:

Samson is getting a little tooth and he is quite fussy...he doesn't seem to quite understand the concept of teethers yet. The only thing that seemed to calm him down was when I put his pacifier in the freezer, but that lost its coldness in about 15 seconds. Does anyone have more tricks? Oh yeah, and I gave him Tylenol, too.

I bought chicken last week that has been in the fridge. Its "sell by" date is today, but when I opened up it smelled kind of weird...like slightly sulfuric. Should I throw it out or does chicken normally have a slight smell and I've just never sniffed it?

Here is a random picture (because we all know posts are better with pictures) in honor of my sweet father-in-law, John. He has his "going away surgery" (Brenda gets the credit for that joke) tomorrow. I know you don't read the blogs, but we love you and are praying for you!

Sam W. Barry is 3 months old today

3 months. My goodness this is going by very fast. Here are some of his latest pictures.

Sam & Al: Social Butterflies

Sam and I are trying to get out of the house every now and then. We are going to try and visit someone every week. Last week, we visited Scottee, Charlee, Oaklee, and Jaxson.
We ate cookies and had a grand ol' time!

Anya, Brenda, Mindy, Treslee (in alphabetical order...haha) ...you're all next!

more videos

I had jaw surgery over Christmas Break in 2003. My face got pretty huge and swollen...kind of like during pregnancy. Of course I took pictures to show off just how huge my face got. This video is from last November. Me, Selena, Becky, Lacey, and pregnant Leigh Ann did a music video to "Milkshake."

Videos Make Me Happy

I finally set up my big computer. It had been hibernating since our move out to Surprise. I found a lot of my old videos on it, and I have had so much fun watching them, I just had to share! So if you're in the mood to kick back and enjoy some musical, memory-lane fun, tune in!!!

This video is from Christmas Break 2005. We had so much fun over that month vacation from NAU. If you want to know if this video is worth watching, here are some familiar faces you might recognize. Me, Selena, Devin, Daniel Dawson, Nick Sorensen, Ryan Gardner, Josh Fults, Alison Francis, Kirsten Allen, Catherine LaRosa, Scott Sorensen, Marci Pickett, Whitney and Brad...and the list goes on. Enjoy!

This video is from my and Selena's road trip to California for Jessica's wedding in October 2006. If you stick through the whole video, you get to see me take out my tooth! You also get to see Selena do a nasty tongue movement. Have any of you ever seen her "tongue show?" It's something.

I Never Would Have Thought

10, 5, or even 3 years ago I never ever would have thought I would be a Mormon. Whenever I'd see pictures of temples, I saw them as dangerous, because I had always been warned of the falsity of the Mormon Church. Now, when I see a picture of a temple, I am proud. I am proud that I know for a fact that this church is true. I am proud that I know that revelation is real and that God answers prayers. I am proud that I understand what to do when I need knowledge or direction (James 1:5). I am proud that I was raised by parents who taught me to revere God and to study his scriptures. I am proud that I don't have all the answers, because that allows me to grow. I can't believe how real the Holy Spirit is. I always knew I was guided and directed, but ever since having the gift of the Holy Ghost conferred upon my head, my life is so incredibly, physically different. I want the world to know that I do not take this gift for granted. I am so proud of my membership in the Lord's church. I remember riding in the car with Selena, Amy, and Marcus about 5 years ago. We were in Cottonwood, about to take their engagement pictures. When we passed by an LDS church building, Marcus looked out the window and said, "There's the only true church." Of course my face turned red, mad because I knew Marcus was only saying that because me, the Baptist girl, was in the car. Now I know why he said that. I understand how you want to take every tiny opportunity to share the truth. How grateful I am for the truth!