Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Young Farmers and Ranchers

Clay and I just recently spent the weekend in Bryce Canyon at the Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Convention. Wow. What a mouthful. Yes that is that the Batty's do for fun. We go and hang out with other crazy couples who are obsessed with farming as we are.
Clay was in heaven.
RoseAnna felt like a hick (mostly because she wore her boots the whole time).
All in all the convention was really interesting. We had a good time mingling with other young farmers which was really fun. It's good to know we aren't the only crazy ones in Utah! We sat in lots of classes that talked mostly about standing up for agriculture. I didn't realize how much agriculture was in danger from the government passing crazy laws about things they don't understand.
The main speaker was a guy named Trent Loos. He had some very interesting things to say about how important it is for the united states to have it's agriculture. He talked a lot about people who think that farmers and ranchers abuse the animals. He said that most people don't understand what actually happens in the agriculture world. I'm not going to get on my soap box and go on and on about it but I will recommend learning all of the facts before you make a decision about farmers and how they treat their animals.
Well that is what we have been up to lately.
Mingling with hicks.
I guess that makes me one.
How sad.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Grandpa John's School

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again... having a dad with access to a school gym is awesome!! Since the boys got scooters for Christmas, Grandpa John took us to his school to ride in the gym. It was so much fun and it gave the boys some good practice so they will be ready for spring!

Caleb
Jacob

Jacob really surprised me with how well he could ride his scooter.



Feeding Jazzy The Pony

My cute Aunt Fawn had a wild idea and decided to act on it. She bought a pony named Jazzy. She really is a cute little pony. She brought it down for the kids to see. Jacob got to feed her a carrot.


He was trying really hard to be brave

4 Peas In A Pod

Here we are in our matching pjs. My in-laws gave us these matching pjs for Christmas this year. Aren't they so cute?




Week Long Vacation...Sort Of

The day after Christmas we packed up (it felt like our whole house) and went to the Barkers for a week. My parents have that week off every year so we usually go out and spent some time with them. We had a blast!

Here are the boys on the way out! They wouldn't take their helmets off for even a second.
Jacob got a Davy Crockett hat from Gma Jan and Gpa John

Caleb got a Sarge and some more Geo-Tracks from Gma Jan and Gpa John


Jacob in his new hat!

Jacob also got a Davy Crockett book

Caleb also got a really funny book by my favorite children's author Mo Willems

I got doll clothes for my favorite American Girl Doll Kiersten. She was my favorite doll when I was young. I would sit and stare at the magazine and circle all the things I wanted of hers. I guess I grew out of that phase before I could get all the things I wanted. I just found out that they were going to discontinue the Kiersten doll and all of her stuff. I was so sad. My cute mom surprised me with these things I thought were sold out. What an awesome mom. Now I will have them forever!!

Jacob playing trains...with the helmet

Caleb playing trains...with the helmet

Christmas Day

Christmas was a blast this year. Jacob was so excited and so Caleb just fed off of Jacob's excitement. Clay told the boys that if they came out of their room before the sun came up then Santa would take all of their presents away. That really worked because when we got up at 7:00 am the boys were wide awake and had destroyed their room. I have no idea what time they woke up! They must have been good boys because Santa found time to stop at our house despite Jacob's concerns about how he would get into the house.

Caleb and Jacob got remote control Geo-Track cars from mom and dad
Santa brought Jacob a Transformers helmet with knee and elbow pads

Jacob also got a superman cape

Caleb got a Lightening McQueen helmet and a cape from Santa

Santa gave Jacob a Davy Crockett movie

Here is Jacob and his Hot Wheels scooter from Santa

He was so excited to have a big boy scooter

Santa also brought Caleb a scooter

Jacob also got a really fun game

He also got what he wanted the most...a John Deere Alarm Clock!
What 4 year old asks Santa for that?

Caleb got a Diego game

The boys gave Clay a tractor set

Check Spelling Santa brought Clay Guitar Hero for his X-box

Mommy got her beloved Spot Bot! She was so excited!

We had an awesome Christmas. It was so fun with the boys this year. It was fun to be at home with the kids and see how excited they were about Christmas. We went to the Batty's for dinner. After 3 tries, I made an awesome chocolate pie and I also made a fairly decent banana cream pie...made from scratch I might add!! We also got to talk to Travis on the phone. He sounded so good. I can't believe he will be home in August. I guess a mission flies by fast for everyone but the mom! After lots of game and very full tummies, we came home and the boys slept like babies! Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve was full of family fun. During the day we went sledding on Pitt Hill. I hadn't ever been there before but Clay assured me that it had little hills and big hills. Not the case. It only had big hills of death. I went down twice and screamed the whole way down. Clay went down so fast he ended up popping our tube right off the bat. It was fun though.

Me and Caleb going slow in the parking lot
Clay after he attempted to go down on the saucer!

Jacob

Sam, Me and Caitlin

Caitlin on her sled

Caleb and Clay on the 4-wheeler. It was so nice to jump on the back of that thing and not have to haul the tube back to the top.
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Later that evening we went over to the Battys for dinner and a short family home evening. It was great to be with the Battys that night. We then came home, got our cookies set out for Santa and put some food out for the reindeer. I'm not sure what time the kids fell asleep, but I know they were awake at 10:30 when we went to bed. I made Clay watch the Muppet Christmas Carol with me. It's a Barker family tradition. I love that movie!!