"Sisters, Sisters, there were never such devoted SISTERS!"

These are two of my three beautifully fabulous sisters! Lizzie and Aimee decided to make me the happiest person in the whole wide world by coming for a visit at the most wonderful time of the year! We shopped, visited a long time family friend, went site seeing, ate lots of food, enjoyed Christmas morning with two excited kids, and I smiled non-stop! The week flew by and now we are seriously all going through "Aimee and Lizzie withdrawal!" We CAN'T wait to see you in April for GRADUATION!! We love you!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we had family and friends join us for a yummy dinner, nativity, and a surprise bag of gifts from Santa. (I didn't take many pictures but I'll post my sisters' later.)

Can you tell these two are cousins!? Love the RED!

Christmas Morning

Jacob and Tess bursting with excitement to see if Santa Came?!
(of course after drinking our glass of juice--a Breinholt/now Barnhurst tradition)

Jacob and Tess found a bike waiting for them under the Christmas tree!

Tess adoring her new "cuddle and coo" baby doll!

Jake and Aunt Liz with their Nerf Guns!

Another great present for the kids from Santa

Okay, I have to explain a bit about the "Breinholt Culture" as Dan calls it. Our Christmas morning lasts all day thanks to endless yarn leading to presents and treasure hunts galore. But this year was a first...Dan's yarn led him to a treasure hunt! He had to sing songs for us filling in the missing lyrics at the end which led to another clue. Dan ended up finding a present with Lizzie's name on it....actually it was an iPOD for Dan.

This year everyone had yarn to follow and treasure to find (even Jake and Tess, which they loved!!) My 12 clue hunt (thanks Dan!) led me outside, across the street, and into the garage of our friends to find (drum roll please).....a TREADMILL! Yipee! Aimee, Grandma, and Liz had to show off their talents in order to get some of their presents. ( Don't worry you three, I won't include the video of you sining and doing the "can-can":)

We had a fabulous Christmas and are so thankful for Grandma Barnhurst, Aunt Lizzie, and Aunt Aimee! We hope you come again next year!!!

Sisters Downtown D.C.

My fabulous mother-in-law kept our kids for a day so that Dan, Aimee, Lizzie, and I could enjoy a bitterly cold day downtown D.C. This is the first time Dan and I have been able to enjoy D.C. without the kiddos. We braved the wind and walked the Mall stopping for every memorial and monument. Despite our frozen faces we smiled the whole way, we had a great time!

The Holocaust Museum

WWII Memorial

Lincoln Monument

Christmas Party

Tess gave Santa two giant bear hugs..."Ahhh" !!

Jacob, very seriously, asked Santa for a sucker!

Jacob in our Ward Christmas Nativity Program

SPLAT!

Upon request, and since it is actually pretty funny, I will share my embarrassing moment with all of you!

So, for Thanksgiving we traveled down to South Carolina to be with family and visit friends. On Sunday we went to our wonderful AIKEN WARD for church. (Our ward recently split and so we timed it just right to see everyone.) While visiting with EVERYONE in the foyer I remembered something I needed to get out of the car to give to a friend. I grabbed Dan's keys and hurried towards the door. WHAM, CRASH, SPLAT...I walked right into the glass door!! I made a surprisingly loud sound for my short little body! I am sure everyone in the building heard (although I think they were ALL eye-witnesses)!!

I made it to the car feeling like I would loose my breakfast at any moment and then I passed out. When I came to I threw up! I thought the huge goose egg on my head was the worst part of the SPLAT but my knuckle on my pointer finger and my thumb win the prize. Luckily no little bones were broken, however it felt like they were for over a week!!!

So, that is the story! When I told one of my sisters she informed me that two people she knew had done the same thing recently....Tis the season to SPLAT into doors I guess.

Warm Fuzzies

After a very embarrassing moment this past Thanksgiving weekend I now have a swollen, purple knuckle on one of my fingers. Today I took the kiddos to a well-visit check up where Jake got 3 shots. He was a brave little guy and was excited about his snoopy band-aids! About an hour after our appointment Jake had a "SURPRISE" for me. He had taken off his 3 snoopy band-aids to give to my finger...it would help the "ugly finger" go away. What a sweet little guy. It is moments like this that I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessing of being a mommy. Just had to share.

BIRTHDAY BOY

Four years ago today I thought Dan and I would be enjoying a peaceful Thanksgiving day watching the parade and enjoying yummy food with family. I thought the “indigestion” I had been feeling was due to the Greek fast food we had eaten the night before!! Nope, Jake was on his way!! The day did not turn out the way I had planned... I still feel a little frustration boil when I think about the doctor relaxing on a chair in our delivery room talking about her Thanksgiving meal while I was pushing for over an hour and a half (help me women!)!!! But finally my little boy was born---four weeks early! I am so grateful for my little turkey!

Jacob has had a fun 4^th birthday so far! Due to the craziness of the holiday season we had his birthday party this last weekend. We made gingerbread houses with candy galore, played the M&M game, ate even more sugar with a candle on top, and went on a treasure hunt!! (All the Breinholt-now-Barnhurst traditions!) Jacob and Tess are still on a sugar high!

For his birthday he finally got the water bottle he has been wanting for months and months (how funny is that!) He has loved all of his birthday cards and has thanked me over and over for his special birthday!!

Jacob is such a smart and cute little boy (with his grandpa’s dimpled chin!). His round face is so full of expression when he talks! He loves to help me and make me happy. Jake- I hope you have felt the enormous amount of love we have for you! Happy Birthday little man!

Trick-or-Treat

We had a great time trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with some friends and loved watching the kids reactions to all the candy and costumes (some of which brought tears to Tess and frightened Jacob).



Jacob has counted his candy, and Tess's, about a zillion times! He is quite the negotiator and tries to convince Dan or I to allow him just one more piece. Dan and I enjoyed collecting our "parent tax" on their loot!

Tess is such a social cutie-batootie! She made new friends at each door and received extra candy because of it! I love my little love bug!

Now on to the next HOLIDAY! I love this time or year!

Tag, Your IT!

I was "tagged" and thoroughly enjoyed reminiscing about the year 1998! I thought I would include some pictures that go along with my first "tag of FIVES". I hope you enjoy it, I definitely did!

Five things I was doing ten years ago (1998):
1. Still in High School! Thinking it would NEVER END!
2. Waking up too early for morning seminary!
3. Moved to Rochester, New York, to serve a mission with Lizzie, Mom and Dad.

Dad, Mom, Me and Liz in Palmyra

First Fall in New York

4. Giving tours with my favorite sister missionary (LIZ) at the Smith Farm during the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

My Mission Companion...couldn't have had a better one!

5. Becoming best friends with Cara Gilbert.

Five things I have to do today:
1. Attend a Primary presidency meeting.
2. Clean the Bathrooms.
3. Do a lesson for my online BYU Independent Study cooking class.
4. Continue trying to potty-train my mischievous little red-head!
5. Plan Sharing Time for Sunday.

Five Snacks I Love:
1. Rice Krispy Treats
2. Chocolate covered RK Treats
3. Candy
4. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Carmel Apple
5. Gum (Yes, I love sugar!)

Five Things I'd Do If I Were A Millionaire:
1. Buy a beautifully decorated home!
2. Fly my mom out to watch my kids while Dan and I go on an exotic vacation!
3. Buy a Christmas Tree Farm
4. Go visit all of my siblings!
5. Put the rest into SAVINGS!!!

Five Places I've Lived:
1. Fayetteville, North Carolina
2. Mannheim, Germany
3. Ft. Lewis, Washington
4. El Stinko... I mean El Paso, Texas (no offense intended!)
5. Aiken, South Carolina

Five Jobs I've Had:
1. BYU International Admissions
2. Counselor
3. Cook
4. Teacher
5. Maid

Five People I Tag:
1. Marianne Gessel
2. Karen Rich
3. Allison Breinholt
4. Annie Jenkins
5. Celeste Goodson

Fall has Fallen !!

I know this will make you all jealous ...we had an AWESOME weekend in Boone, North Carolina (the heart of the high country). We went for our annual apple picking/camping extravaganza. Autumn cannot officially arrive until the Barnhurst's have picked apples in North Carolina! So, if Fall has arrived where ever you live, you can thank us!

The main event of the weekend was apple picking in the mountains ( for those of you out West, YES there are mountains east of the Mississippi...Dan made me write that!). We also went cave exploring, to Oktoberfest at a local ski resort, enjoyed lots of yummy eating at the campsite, and endless s'mores (the kids personal favorites). I was in heaven since everywhere we drove we saw beautiful mountains covered with Christmas tree farms! We had a great time and are happy to share some of the photos with you.

Be sure to check out the video below the slide show...Jake loves school buses and was SOOO excited to ride on a school bus from the parking lot to the resort for Oktoberfest. The best part was the BUMPY ride. The video is of Jake's cute reaction ( I only caught the end)!

We Love Visitors!!!

The Ballard's at the D.C. Temple

Best Friends at Arlington Cemetery

Washington Monument

This past weekend we enjoyed catching up with friends from Aiken! The Ballards are great friends and our boys are "best buddies". We enjoyed a long weekend of site seeing in D.C., yummy food, and therapeutic laughter! Thanks for making the trek up here, we love you guys!

You are going to SMILE!

I wanted to post these pictures to share the smile I get on my face every time I look at them!! We babysat for some friends awhile back and had a blast! For the few hours they were here the kids did not stop laughing and smiling because of my fun and goofy husband! Dan had them eating snacks like they were different animals, we all danced to the "Funky Town", made home videos and then read some funny books! Thank You Dr. Seuss!

You're SMILING aren't you!!

Our "Baptism Week"

Dad and Kids after Jake's Talk (Yes, that is Tess's happy face !)

BIG NEWS...Our little Sunbeam was assigned to speak in Primary this Sunday about baptism. We were all pretty excited about the topic. We have actually had lengthy discussions about this topic in the past year or so because Jake does NOT like to put his head under the water. In fact I still don't think he has ever done it- even after a summer of swimming. When he was 2 we told him all about baptism and I made the mistake of emphasizing that we had to go "all the way under" to be baptized properly. Once he found out that that included his head he was sure that baptism was not for him and I had visions of a traumatic baptism day 6 years down the road....

Anyway, we were pretty excited to talk about it again and had a Family Home Evening this week to prepare. The pictures below are from our FHE lesson, the highlight of which was showing the kids how we are baptized.

Then yesterday, Jake gave his FIRST talk in Primary. He told us before his talk that he was not scared and, sure enough, he got up and knocked it out of the park- with a little whispering in the ear. (I'm not biased or anything).

I took a video of his talk. I know what you're thinking..."Gasp, you're not supposed to record church!!!". You're probably right but I couldn't let the moment pass by...and I asked the Primary President if I could.

There are three "stars" in the video. Jake (the talk giver), Becky (the ear whisperer) and the little boy in the chair to the left of the video. You might want to watch the talk twice- once for Jake and once to watch him. He's pretty funny. It's a good thing the microphone on our camera isn't sensitive enough to pick up burping noises. Becky is the new second counselor in the Primary Presidency and at the end of the video you can see her awesome conducting skills (no downtime between the activities...the second rule of maintaining "control" in primary!! The first rule is bring snacks !!!) Enjoy!!!!

The Main Event

Do the Bunny Hop (Hop, Hop, Hop)

Eat Your Heart Out, Thumper !!!

Alright...this is going to be short, sweet and to the point. I just had to add the video I've included below. Recently, Becky has been going through some boxes of girl clothes we got from a friend and found a bunny costume. Well, when Tess saw it she had to put it on and, consequently, wore it around for the next day or so. It really made us all laugh. You don't often see a bunny-rabbit with a carrot top. She is a little nut and certainly livens things up around the house.We took a video of her in the costume "hopping". I "hop" you enjoy it !!!

All We Need Now is Some Rabbit Food !!!

Check out that Tail !!!

Yep.....sand isn't very tastey!

Tess grabbed a handful of sand...apparently it didn't taste as good as she thought it would! My cute little red head loves the water and being outside! (We went to a state park with some friends that happens to be right by Camp David.)

This summer we have spent as much time as possible enjoying the wonderful Maryland weather. I have found that there is a ton of free, fun things to do here. During the summer they have free kid movies, Jake calls it the BIG MOVIES, two times a week. They also have a community event for mothers and kids a couple times a month. Vendors provide free activities and information about stores and events. Jacob and Tess especially love the crafts, free balloons, and face painting. We have spent most of our time at our pool, the park, doing crafts at home, and having fun play-dates.

Jacob has an amazing memory! We have been teaching him the Articles of Faith as part of our Family Home Evening. Our Bishop has a jar of candy and awards kids for coming to his office to report a good deed or scripture. Consequently, after church on Sundays there is a long line of kids waiting in front of the Bishop's office. Jacob has recited the first and second Articles of Faith to him without any help from us! Candy is always a good motivator!

We went to our community pool party last night and Jake had a great time keeping up with the big kids. The D.J. played the Hokie Pokie for just the kids and Jake didn't hesitate to join the circle (that is "what it's all about" after all!). They played Cotton Eye Joe, and Jake was the only white boy out there, kicking his legs and making his mama so proud! I love my dance'n boy! Tonight he helped me make some muffins after dinner. Well, in his prayers tonight he thanked Heavenly Father for his "BIG Muffin" and prayed he would get another one in the morning.

Tess has her dad wrapped around her finger! She adores her daddy just as much! Especially when she wants to get away with something (Dan lets her). She is friends with everyone and enjoys the attention her red hair brings. When people comment on her red hair her reply is " I Cute!" She is our doll-baby!

The Barn Park

The world's first bare-back chicken rider!

They love rocks, just like their Daddy!

Tess in her cute shades at our pool

Crafts

Miz Thang!

"UH-UH, I KNOW YOU DI'IN !!"

Wuz UP!