Barry Pie

San Antonio! Who knew!

2012-01-02T09:53:00.001-08:00

In December I got a surprise email from John with an itinerary for a trip to San Antonio, Texas for December 27-29, 2011! San Antonio? What in the world is in San Antonio! SOOO MUCH! We stayed on the 'River Walk' which felt like Time Square! So many things to do and hordes of people to watch with every kind of food and all kinds of shopping, people playing music and selling their wares, plus a river "cruise" that took us all through the area with a guide giving us all kinds of trivia. We liked the cruise so much that we took it twice, once in the day and then at night when all the Christmas lights impressed and delighted us! The video is a smidgen of the boat ride. I have many more videos of it!

This is the Mexican restaurant that is right across from our hotel and overlooking the River Walk.

A little taste of the River Walk.

There are so many cool, old buildings and churches in San Antonio. This is the church of St Mary that was directly across from our hotel.
Remember the Alamo? Well, it's in San Antonio-the most visited spot in the city! The Alamo is famous because of a battle that took place there way back when (1700's) between the Mexican big wigs and the Texans who were just trying to have independence from them.

This is a poor visual of the beauty of the Christmas lights on the River Walk. I just loved the lights!

We spent hours in Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. World's 'largest' man! (see more below)

I would have liked to be friends with this 2 ft. lady! How tall would I have felt!

World's tallest man was 8 feet 11. There was a sign here telling that he was 6 ft by the time he was six!

Size 29&1/2 in foot!!!

Ten bowling balls stacked without glue or anything! (I thought Johnny would like this!)

World's biggest man is 14oo pounds and took 13 people just to turn him over in bed. I don't feel so bad!

We also went on the Ripley's Haunted adventure which was a walk-through spook alley with weirdos jumping out at us at every turn! The Tomb Rider ride we went on let me out shoot John with a laser gun!

This place had it all including this lighted carriage.

The Russian ballet performed the Nutcracker just around the corner from us, but we didn't attend. Like my hat? It is a Dixie hat--Devin and Allison's old husky dog!

We went to four old missions established in the 1600 and 1700's to teach the Native Americans skills and to convert them to Catholicism. The people were shorter in those days. I must have been born in the wrong century...thankfully! I don't think I would have survived the living conditions!

Mission Concepcion-one of the oldest original stone churches in the country. It is 250 years old.

San Jose Mission was established in 1720. These churches are still used today!

Cool entry way, hand carved, at San Jose mission. This mission is surrounded by high walls. It has small living areas just inside and backed by the outer walls which consisted of 10X10 rooms with a fireplace. These were for the Native Americans while the friers lived in the churches.

Mission Espada (1690) was the only mission that made and taught brick-making. Another mission, The San Juan looked very much like Mission Espada.

We drove by cemeteries that blew us away! I had to get out and take pictures. The graves were decorated to the hilt and roped off according to the size of the casket. This is just one grave!

Market Square is a fun shopping district, kind of like Nogalas, Mexico with many little shops and all kinds of do-dads and non-essential stuff! I bought two fake driver's licenses, one of Taylor Swift and one of Justin Bieber. They had complete personal info as well as addresses of these guys! Also I got a Nacho Libre cape with the mask attached! It was such a fun little trip! Thanks John!

Forest Gump was just sitting on a bench in the wax museum! What are the odds of running into him?!?

It was a Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

On December 23rd, our festivities began with Mexican food from MaKayos! DELICIOUS! Then we played white elephant BINGO with John calling numbers out so fast and furious that we had time only to check out our three cards each! No dilly-dallying! (That was after the kids played their games of Bingo in the normal way.) The sweet Nativity was then read and played by Oaklee as Mary, Jaxson as Joseph, John, Nina, Charlee, Elle and Ashlyn as angels and Ella was our only wiseman. Baby Wesley was dear baby Jesus. Oh, and Millie was a darling little lamb! After the 'play' Grandpa Santa came. Each of us sat on his knee so we could get our present. It is always the highlight of the holidays! On Christmas day after Church, which in my opinion is the best time to go to church, we all gathered again to exchange gifts and what else....eat! I can't imagine being more blessed...being able to be with the entire family, with no major bugs to hamper our health and to feel the joy of the Christmas Spirit! I love my family, Christmas and Christ our Savior!

Oaklee and Charlee were showing their appreciation to 'Santa"!

YUM!

Bastian and Jaxson jumping ont he package wrap-you know the kind that makes popping noises when you push on it!

Millie in the highchair, Carter at the head and Mollie on the side.The cutest little ones ever!

Ella, John and Jaxson-that bouncy house is one of the best investments we have made! All the kids from little to big love it!

Even though five of the kids were angels...we think ALL 17 of the grandkids are angels! Oh and GREAT NEWS...one of the white elephant gifts contained a paper that said, "Someone is this room is pregnant." Before we guessed who, Allison raised her hand and promptly turned bright red! Happy day! Number 18 is coming in July!

Our newest grandchild, Wesley is so good- natured! He is 5 months old and belongs to Rich and Treslee.

Devin climbs right up there and proceeds to pat Santa's cheek! We can always depend on Devin for wild and goofy stuff! Thanks Dev!

Scottee painted us this beautiful Provo temple!

Adam and Anya

Sam and Mollie enjoying the beautiful weather! Thank you Arizona!

Brian with Carter (Mindy and Ryan's littlest)

Brian and Scottee

Brooklynn getting her wishes from Grandpa Santa, or Santa daddy to her! Cute Ande!

Ashlyn sings "We wish we could marry Christmas"!

Millie giving Mollie (four months younger than Millie) a little hug. They are so cute together!

Here's we are, the whole clan...except Bastian. Where in the world was he and how did he miss this!

Tontozona, Oaklee, Nina and Sam

2011-11-14T11:33:00.001-08:00

Being in nature with bestest buddies-it doesn't get much better than that! Brooklynn and I went to Camp Tontozona with Faith and Ciara St Clair, and Robyn, Jose and Megan Cruz.

Jose found some apple trees and next thing we know he's monkeyed up and picked us some fresh ones!

We all have our pouches full of apples!

The best news ever...I found that my camera has a skinny mode on it!!!

Camp Tontozona is a huge campground with many cabins for rent just 17 miles east of Payson, AZ.

Isn't the scenery beautiful! Faith isn't too bad either!

It's amazing what one can do with a sagging tree. The girls and Faith got some ligitimate air while others bounced the trunk!

Ciara had snap-on pants and I caught her just as she whipped them off!

I am obsessed with Fall leaves! I'm obsessed with Brooklynn too!

Part of the Tontozona tradition is to have a photo shoot. These picts are a tiny taste of them!

Sam had his third birthday on November 10th. John and I took him shopping (He already knew exactly what he wanted-a Thomas the Train with track) and to eat at the Mall. How lucky Grandpa and I are to get to spend time with our grandkids! We had such a good time with Sam.

Nina had her ninth birthday on the 8th of November. It took her 30 minutes is all to pick a necklace, earrings, a pink watch and...wait for this...an organizer for her room! I was totally impressed with that! I was also impressed that Rich had it built before I left!

Millie knew exactly what to do with Nina's new headbands and she was getting a thrill our of putting them on over and over again! What an absolute joy it is to spend one-on-one time with our grandkids!

IOaklee had her 7th birthday September 15th! After a happy three hours of shopping and dinner at the mall, Oaklee chose a "Build-a-bear" bear from the mall, a mini turtle Pillow Pet, a Happy Napper lady bug and a Sing-a-ma-jig from Toys R Us! Did you get a theme here...all stuffed animals!

A Hap Hap Happy Halloween Party!

2011-10-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

The annual Barry Halloween party was rootin-tootin! Our activities included a parade, cake walk, fish pond, get-the ball in the cauldron, pin the nose on the pumpkin and best of all...cousin time for the kids!Bastian was enthralled with his costume...it's easy to see why...he's quite a hunk!

Scottee and Brian's kids were quite incredible weren't they!

Ashlyn chose to be Grumpy the Care Bear, her favorite one of those creatures! Grumpy is not a word that describes Ashlyn! Carter, the race car guy loves miniature cars thus...

I couldn't decide what to call myself so I ended up being incredible...not to be confused with THE Incredibles!

Newest Barry, Wesley-simply adorable!

Treslee?!?

Millie-isn't she divine!

Sam the dinosaur scaring me!

Prescious Mollie and Allison

Greg

Johnny

Our parade

ChiChi loved his place in the parade!

Cousins Elle and Ella

Jaxson showing off his fish pond catch

Elle

"What am I going to snag?"

Our cute little merange ghosts

The babies talking to each other!

2011-10-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

Kathy Partridge, Faith St Clair, some of our kids and I had a blast at our annual trek to Schnepff Farms Pumpkin Patch! We've been friends for over 15 years.

Schnepff really up-ed their game this year with fireworks, BMX bike stunt show, a teen dance, more shade(!) and a WAY scarier train ride, beside the regular dog show, pig races, go carts, roller coaster, corn maze, Bee ride, airplane ride, boomerang game, mini golf, and yummy food!

Ciara won the pig nose this year at the pig races!

Hey, Brooklynn's growing! 5 ft 2"

Notice who got to be the ____ ___!

The scarey train ride had us laughing and screaming at the same time! We had a riot pointing at regular people and screaming while rolling down the tracks! Then when we got off we hid outside the tunnel and jumped out at the train riders after they came out of it! I'm sure we had a lot more fun then the riders did!

This clown was one of the spooks that came out of the woods to get us as we rode by on the train! The ride goes through orchards in pitch blackness and these spooks come running out of their hiding places or their caskets and scream or lunge at us! It is quite a pants wetter!

October's harvest

2011-10-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

John and I got tickets for General Conference for the first time ever! The good news is that flying into Utah was just plain gorgeous with the autumn leaves in all their glory. The bad news is that I got strept throat and was sick as a dog! John took me to Urgent Care and they gave me meds that resurrected me right quick! But not quick enough to get to go to Conference. :(

Wesley Milton Barry was given his name and blessing by his daddy, Rich on October 9th. Millie seemed overjoyed about it! But then she seems overjoyed about everything. She is such a happy little darlin'!

Millie dumped out the toy bin, climbed on top of it and proceeded to read a book!

Mollie, in the meantime, climbed into Wesley's swing to make herself comfortable!

John and I got a groupon for two nights in Prescott so off we went! We walked all over town and went on car rides to Chino Valley and we saw autumn leaves! I'm obsessed with those things!

Devin is the MAN! He cleaned our carpets so good they look brand new (except where ChiChi peed on them the very next day! Anybody want a dog? Please!!! I'll even throw in a bag of dog food!) From sun up to long past sun down Devin ran up RAN up and down the stairs and worked like a fiend. Thanks Devin!

2011-09-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

MOLLIE'S ONE YEAR OLD!

What a beaut!

Brooklynn's sweet sixteen!

2011-09-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

Greg made the start of Brooklynn's day much better by having waffles with her! (He had worked in Surprise the night before and was too tired to go home.)

Since Brooklynn is now in the Laurel class in Young Women, some of the class kidnapped

her from her slumber on Saturday morning and took her to IHOP!

Mindy was in charge of the cotton candy for Brooklynn's carnival. Scottee and Brian was in charge of the dunk tank and of getting the cotton candy and popcorn machines there and operating. That was a lot!

Alli made Brooklynn's amazing cake!

Brian was the good sport to be in the tank first!

Look what the water did to Brian's skinny bottom! It magnified it!!!

John took a noodle in the tank with him!

He brilliantly figured out that it would protect his back from the seat popping him when it flipped him off!

The grandkids figured out a way to have as much fun with the dunk tank as the ones inside of it. They stood next to it to get the overflow when the dunked went down!

Waiting...waiting...waiting!

We all got a kick out of watching every dunk!

I should delete this photo. Scottee took it just as I was going to make my wimpy toss at the target. I had a clown nose on! I did get to change out of this charming outfit before B's friends got there! (Thank goodness for Brooklynn's sake!)

Oaklee and Johnny the great!

Rich and Nina running the spinning game.

Adam and Anya helping with darts.

Greg trying to have people with a 2 liter with the ring toss. It was HARD to do!

Had to put Greg's cheesy face and Oaklee's blue tongue in!

Wesley Barry our youngest carnival attendee! Rich and Treslee's 4 week old! If there is a baby around Scottee has him/her!

Cake time!

With 27 of our family members there and 20-30 or more friends of Brooklynn's we made a pretty good crowd!

Some of the action!

Sam had to get his turn too! Devin took charge of the ball toss game and Allison made Brooklynn a priceless video where she interviewed some of B's friends about Brooklynn. The consensus of it was that Brooklynn is her own unique self that everyone loves! I am so glad she is her own quirky and fun person, who doesn't care what others (most others) think!

I just have to say that Brooklynn is the most blessed 16 year old ever! Her family gives her their entire support with all the love they have!

Bowling and Burritos for the Barrys!

2011-08-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

All fourteen of us Barry adults (Plus Brooklynn!) got together without children (!) and went bowling and to Valle Luna for Mexican food. (Only Treslee was missed since she stayed home with baby Wesley. Brooklynn's friend took her place.)

B's strike!!!

Greg, where are you? He's that speck above B's head. Can hardly ever get him to show his handsome face for the camera! I love Devin's fake smile!

Suave Adam and Anya!

Cute Mindy and Ryan

Beautious Allison!

I was just about to beat Greg AND Rich when the alley people turned off our games! (I think I had a whole 82 points and two more turns!)

Hot dogger Adam!

Long time friends, B and C! (Brooklynn and Ciara)

Happy Brian and Scottee!

I LOVE this family and feel so thankful to get to have them close by!

Sign us up for the pros!!! Do you have to break 100 to be on the pros?!? Notice how Brian's ball doesn't hit the floor until half-way down the alley! (I noticed that I sound exactly like my mother on the video! Mom, you will live on in your posterity forever!)

Wesley Milton Barry is here at last!

2011-08-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

Treslee and Rich have been given another amazing, prescious, perfect blessing and HE came on Saturday, August 6, 2011. (a day late thank you very much!)

He is named after Rich's and Treslee's grandfathers, Wesley Barry and Milton Lines. (I think-is that right Treslee?)

He weighed 8. 2 and measured 20 inches!

At just a couple of hours old he seemed to want to talk! He was so alert! We feel so grateful to have him here. Number 17 for us all 8 years old and under! We have 11 girls (counting Brian and Scottee's Journee and Trevee) and 6 boys. Come on kids...get some more boys comin'!

Rich brought the girls over to let Treslee have a day (which is ALL she got!) to 'rest'. We had a blast, Millie and I! She is delightful and still a baby herself. Reminds me of Greg and Brian being 14 months old and Rich and Mindy also. Those were exhausting, rewarding, happy and crazy times and I wouldn't trade them for anything!

Scotte brought her dear ones over to play with their cousins.

Ashlyn and Carter shared the car! So cute!

Mollie the crawler, boosted herself up in order to peek out the window and give us her million dollar smile! Grandchildren are the greatest blessing!

Alaskan Adventure

2011-08-06T14:40:00.000-07:00

I hate to have anyone get jealous, but I have to say that our cruise was like being in, what I picture as, the terrestial kingdom with parts of it celestial! Seattle was our starting place.

Brooklynn is great at trying new dishes...here she has buffalo frog legs. The frog legs were good, the buffalo seasoning not so much!

Our first stop was in Ketchican where we got to see the world's largest totem pole collection where real, live native Americans (notice my proper name calling!) carve these amazing things.

A slug! EW! Huge!

There were tons of bald eagles and we learned that it takes years for them (boys and girls) to get their white tips and heads. These are teenagers!

John is sporting a new do!

This is the glacier in Tracy Arm Fjord. It was mysteriously beautiful with the clouds so low over the icy water.

The glacier is in the back groud, between the two mountains.

Here we are in Skagway and this is the closest we got to a bear although there were suposed to be a lot of them around for the salmon spawning season.

Hmmm, maybe I DO look a little like Sarah Pallin, so I'm told. Give or take off a pound or 50!

Escargo! I love it!

Ketichan

In Ketchican this is a 'street'! Stairs are the only way to get to residences so they name the stairways!

In Skagway we went on a dog-sledding ride with 16 anxious huskeys happy to pull us at their top speed!

This is our 'sled'...a glorified golf-cart on wheels for the summer months!

We got to play with the seven new puppies!

We took a steam engine train to the top of the mountains in Juneau. The scenery was amazing! If you look really close you can see our cruise ship in the bay!

Juneau

Our train on the white mountain railroad where the gold rush trail is seen along the route.

In the train

These fire weeds were everywhere. They turn bright orange at the end of the season so the locals know that summer is ending!

Magael from India and Sanyo also from India were our waiters each night. They made dinner a really fun occasion!

In Victoria, BC we went to the Butchart Gardens-the celestial part of the trip!

Flowers were bigger than my hand!

I took so many videos of this place and said the same things over and over...incredible, amazing, unreal!

Look how huge these trumpet flowers are!

This is downtown Victoria. I could live there!

Two blissful days in Heber, AZ.

2011-07-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

Never, in my memory, have two and one half days gone so fast!Most of the family were able to party with us...school, pregnancy and work rudely interrupted Greg, Treslee and Ryan's party schedule! (A field of wild flowers!)

Swingers-Mindy and Carter!

Wedding cake creation by Ashlyn and Oaklee

Bad mitton and croquet on the court

Boots and lingerie were the fashion for Elle for two days!

Rich and B were a team!

Peaceful cousin play (after explaining to Sam that we don't throw sand!

SUPER JOHNNY!

The kids loved being able to play in the rain!

Fashion designs by Ella, Nina, Oaklee and Elle! All this from just big strips of fabric! Brilliant!

Oh Ande!

Have you been to Walmart lately Adam?

Uh Oh! I see that look in his eye and that loaded marshmallow in his hand! We had a marshmallow war which is like paint ball only cheap and painless! It's done by smothering marshmallows in flour and pelting people with them! The flour stays where it hit!

Looks like a few people got off some good shots on grandpa!

Bastian's ready to let go!

Our marshmallow aftermath!

Medals were awarded for having such a fun time throwing floured marshmallows at each other! What good sports!

Nina the beautiful!

Charlee the gorgeous!

Handsome Johnny buillding his fort!

Sam the incredible zipping through the sky!

Kisses from Carter to mommy Mindy

Seranading Anya...she doesn't look too impressed!

Happy, helper Alli!

Darling Ande...picture taken by Charlee!

i pad party on GoGo's bed! Oaklee brought me breakfast in bed each morning! How sweet is she!?!

Bastian turned five years old on our first day there so he, of course, got to stick his own candles in the cake before taking them out in one breath!

Another fort in the making! The forest makes the best playground! And cousins make the best playmates!

Mr Sam and Miss Ashlyn takin' a drive on a stationary antique tractor!

Brian and Scottee lovin life!

Devin and Sam zipping along!

Darling Oaklee-I'm not sure the little girls got dressed after the first night! Who cares! We're on vacation!

Molly and uncle Brian having a blast!

Scottee and Allison eating AS ALWAYS! (HeHe Scottee!)

And who could this be?!?

Brian taught Charlee and Nina how to boondoggle! (Is that what is't called?)

Mindy lovingly cut each olive separately for our Mexically supper! We had to show our appreciation!

Spooky bug that the kids tried to catch, did and let go back to nature...minus one antenna!

Grandpa and Jaxson built some mighty fine K-nex creations!

Scarey picture taken by Ashlyn!!! (She is three years old!)

Such pretty girls!!! Brooklynn and Allison

Alli, Bastian and I happy as clams! (How can we know if a clam is happy?)

Molly the dolly! She is so good natured...that rock is her entertainment!

Bastian and his new do are the cutest!

Pizza in Payson!

A cat that greeted as when we drove up never left us. The kids named him/her CoCo or Ringo or Rango depending on who was calling it! Sam kept a good eye on it!

Playing in the rain in yet another fort, made the day just that much more fun!

The trip was all too short, but hey, we take what we can get!

(For the family video by Allison, check Devin and Allison's blog!)

A Wonderful Time in Utah

2011-07-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

For 11 near-perfect days Utah's weather, people and events treated us like we were important so something! It began with attending The Spoken Word on Temple Square and feeling the patriotism that hearing the Tabernacle Choir's July 4th program brought. It was thrilling! President Uchtdorf was there and was almost within handshake distance! In the visitor's center is this diorama of the Salt Lake Temple which shows what each room looks like and the whole layout of the temple!

Hayley Moore was our guest in traveling and for a couple of days while there.

Elder Uchtdorf

The 4th of July parade in Provo was even better than ususal because the weather was stormy! No beating sun roasting us like other times!

The Boley family reunion at the Herbert's back yard in Orem was great. I love renewing relationships with family! (Herbie and Gerbie!)

This is the older generation mixed with the newest one! (Aunt Ann, Aunt Carol, Grandma Belle, David Barry's wife, Emily and their new son.)

We spent the evening of the holiday at Connie and Steve Ault's property in Provo Canyon where horses were riden and their newest attractiona, zip line, was enjoyed!

July 5th found us at our traditional trip to Lagoon. The weather could not have been any better! My brother,Wally and his family came too as did Nate Herbert. (Can you see John in the tram behind us!)

John and Nate

July 6th is my sister, Peggy's birthday so to celebrate we met for lunch at Applebees and then shopped at our favorite store in Provo called Cherry Lane. (Me, Brooklynn, Payton [Peggy's granddaughter], Tamsen [daughter], Willow [granddaughter], Wendy, [daughter] Peggy and Mom)

How lucky were we to get to go to the American Idol concert in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night!!! It was such a blast!
On July 7th Mom and I visited my friend, Barbara Carroll and my sister Nancy. Nancy has hepatitis so instead of shopping and being on the go we all piled into her bed and watched two movies while eating licorise and chocolate! It doesn't get any better than that!!!

On Friday after going to breakfast with my Red Hot friends, Dad, Mom and I went to Midway and Heber...my favorite places. This house was built by my great-great grandfather, Dr. John Gerber when Brigham Young sent him and his famly to Midway to settle the area way back in the mid 1800's.

We also visited Peggy and Terry at their trailor in Provo Canyon. I LOVE being in the mountains, in nature, with family! We watched the humingbirds and a bluebird eat from their feeders and spied into a mud sparrow's nest to see her three little babies!

Peggy and Terry

This is my favorite house in Midway. It has been in a few films in it's day!

Saturday was the Gerber family reunion in Sandy, Utah. I haven't seen many of the members of this family for more years than I can remember! It was so good to visit with my cousins, aunts and uncles. I actually participated int he tug of war--by far the oldest one in the game!These are some of my cousin's kids! The two on the left are 15 years old. (I just took this picture for Brooklynn because she was visiting a friend and didn't go to the reunion.)Now if that itsn't love on my mom's face as she looks upon Wally, I don't know what is!!! We got to have several fun times with Wally!It's hard to see, but this a deer that was running beside our truck when we were driving through Park City, Utah. Cool!

Park City has the ski jump, luge, (sp?) Alpine slide and everything else that was used for the 2002 Olympics.

I could have stayed another 11 days easily!!!

Father's Day, Girl's camp, Vegas-Jubilant June

2011-06-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

Our Father's Day celebration started on Saturday BEFORE Father's Day with swimming, visiting and as always...eating! Here is Charlee doing her dives! Then Oaklee and Nina! All the 'older' grandkids love to jump off the diving board

GRANDPA BARRY!

John and Ella

Elle

Sam was getting a kick out of squirting Greg!

Food and family!

Adam

Treslee with Millie and Wesley (in her tummy!)

Millie and Mollie

Mollie

Millie

Brooklynn

GRANDPA BARRY!

Our ward had 36 girls at camp! (five leaders, sister and Bishop Edwards and I in this photo)

This girl is modeling one of my brief cases at girl's camp! Look close to see the handle in the front!

Since Brooklynn was a youth leader this year at camp she was always out in front and boy did she shine! This is Brooklynn as Pedro in the skit. I was tol d she was a hit and stole the show! (Also as Spiderman and her dance moves!)

I was thrilled to catch a photo of this beautiful

bluejay that seemed to want to hang out at our camp site!

John and I took a little time and went to see the Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas. It was worth the trip!!! Here John is at the Venetian. These hotels are

a m a z i n g!!!

As you can tell this guy is really beltin' it out!

INSIDE the Venetian!

In the Balajio, we were astounded(!) at the lobbey with live flowers made into scenery!

This art is completed made of live flowers!

Real birds! (Not made from flowers!)

Daisys and ? wood shavings or something!

The chocolate fountain of my dreams!

In the Balajio

Inside the Phantom of the Opera theater! This was painted onthe walls.

The NEW bridge at Hoover Dam! I crossed half of it but John got the heebie Jeebies so he only went 1/4 way!

CUTE HUH!

My favorite song!

2011-06-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

Every time I listen to this song my heart swells and tears form. I know the words are true and the meaning is real, not just for me, for everyone!
http://lds.org/media-library/video/general-conference-april-2011?lang=eng#2011-04-1061-i-know-that-my-savior-loves-me

Jerome, AZ

2011-06-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

John and I had a fun memorial day wandering through the one-of-a-kind stores, (Fool on the Hill was my favorite, and Nelly Bligh) eating at the Haunted Hamburger. Jerome is an old mining 'ghost' town built on the sides of the mountains. Some of the houses have fallen down into the valley!

This is the store called "Whatever Lola Wants."

Celebrating Charlee, Anya and Mother's Day

2011-05-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

It seems like we are always partying! Our Mother's Day was no exception! Here's Greg showing off his physic! (Dont turn sideways Greg or we'll lose you!)

Ande!

Is it any surprise that I drove myself over to Mesa when I heard that Donny and Marie were there signing their latest CD? After waiting in line with the entire city of Mesa, it seemed, I made it up to THEM just seconds before they wisked them away to catch their flight. So the only thing I got to say to Donny was that Orem was my home town! (A little lack-luster, I know! I couldn't think of anything else at the moment!)

Anya, the beautiful, at 30!

Charlee and I had such a nice time together shopping and eating lunch out for her birthday. We went to her favorite place, Culiver's, where she got chicken fingers and a concrete mixer. (Ice cream) When she got her water out of the dispenser, she accidently got some lemonade in it. When she tasted it she said, "Hmmm, I can't really put my tongue on what it tastes like." Since she was trying to use a familiar phrase, I didn't have the heart to tell her it was her 'finger' not her 'tongue'! After three hours of shopping, she narrowed her choices down to a digital camera, a swimming suit and goggles. Good choices!

Ande LOVES baby dolls both alive and not! When she saw me feeding Millie, she shimmied herself up onto the chair and got into the act!

Millie-Roo!

2011-05-02T13:58:00.000-07:00

This is just too adorable to not post! Thanks to Mindy who helped me update blogger, I can put videos in now!

GRAND grandchildren!

2011-05-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

Rich, Treslee and their prescious girls came over on Easter since they were at Treslee's family reunion when we celebrated with the rest of the family.

John and I got to spend some time with Elle for her 6th birthday celebration of shopping and eating out. It took Elle about 20 minutes in Target to choose a stuffed dog in a carrier, lip gloss, fancy white shoes and two Mermaid dolls! She's a woman who knows her own mind!

Ella's 6th birthday celebration was the same way! At Toys R Us, she choose a big fluffy dog, a hair-dressing head and an umbrella in such a short time that I wasn't quite ready to go yet!!!

I LOVE spending one-on-one time with my grandchildren!

Charlee and Oaklee performed in their school talent show! Out of 42 acts of all ages 1-8th grade, there's was the best, in my humble opinion!

All gussied up!

SIX birthdays and a happy Easter

2011-04-24T08:35:00.001-07:00

Happy little Elle celebrated her 6th birthday on April 20. She has such a fun personality!

Mindy, Ryan, Ashlyn and Carter

Grandpa and GoGo with 10 of our 16 grandchildren on April 23, 2011. (Carter was sleeping and Rich's family was at Treslee's family reunion.)

After our home-made Cafe Rio "picnic" and an energetic Easter egg hunt we needed to cool off! What started as putting our feet in the icy cold pool ended up being a full on swim for many of the grandchildren. Swimming suits were optional!

Greg, Bastian and Ande

Devin, Allison, Mollie and Sam

Sorry Adam!

Adam, Anya, John and Ella

An Easter egg balancing game

Adorable Mollie

Ashlyn's find!

Carter had his first birthday on the 16th! He's the sweetest little guy ever!

Sweet Ella turned 6 years old on April 21. She is an angel! At her Peter Piper celebration little John won a ball out of the grabber machine with his tokens. He immediately gave the ball to Ella. A little bit later, Ella did the same with her tokens and gave John the ball!

Grandpa John finally reached 60! He's been looking forward to it for awhile now! He says, "I am finally at the age I feel!"

Brian, Scottee, Charlee, Oaklee, Jaxson (Journee and Trevee are watching over them, I'm sure! It was Journee's birthday on this April 23 Easter celebration day.)

Our family has great reason to rejoice! Not only are we able to be together and enjoy the chaos and joy of it all, but we get to look forward to this lasting forever through our Savior, Jesus Christ who made all of this possible! We love Him!

Spoiled/Blessed

2011-04-18T08:21:00.001-07:00

Three trips in four weeks....so spoiled, I mean blessed! John and I went to Monterey, CA in celebration of our 36th wedding anniversary. We had such a good time!

At the Monterey Aquarium we were amazed by the creatures that have been created for our enjoyment! How great is our God!

Leafy sea horse! We took this bus on a four hour trip around Monterey, Carmel, Pebble Beach and the 17 mile coastal highway. AMAZING! The scenery, the stories of movie stars and the sites of over 200 films made in these areas was so interesting to see and hear about. We were shown movie clips of films right where they were made.

Here is the magnificent Pebble Beach Lodge.

I'm on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach!

Another view of the Pebble Beach 18th hole. John put his toe under the fence line so he can say that he's been on that amazing course!

Behind us is the Lone Cypress Tree that is symbolized on products and a movie company's logo. Monterey Cypress trees are rare and oh so beautiful!

This little guy came running up to our feet when we got off the bus to take pictures!

The rock behind us is COVERED with sea lions and seals working on their tans!

Ice plant in the Springtime is all over in CA. This picture doesn't do the bright fushia justice, but you get the idea! I took so many pictures of just scenery because it was astounding! As you can see, the days were sunny and cool and just gorgeous!!!

Cannery Row is a fun shopping and eating district with everything from hot dogs to sea food, old movie parafanalia and the latest fashions. Also the Aquarium is located there. We felt like a king and queen at the Marriot where we stayed. Whenever we pulled into the drive, several attendants greeted us by opening our car doors, taking the car and then opening the hotel doors for us. Never had that kind of treatment before!

We ate and shopped on Fishermen's wharf that was across the street from our hotel. Here we are at Bubba Gump Restaurant on Cannery Row having ...what else...fish!!!

The chocolate malt I had at Ghirradelli ice cream shop was yummy!

This is the dining room of Hearst Castle. Our family just might be able to fit around this massive table! There was silver everywhere! This room was the inspiration of the School of Wizardary dining room at Hogwarts! (Harry Potter) This is the underground pool at the Hearst Castle. It is below the tennis courts!

Just gorgeous! (Hearst Castle patio-just one of them) The front of the castle. It is so enormous that our two hour tour only included the castle's main rooms and 4 bedrooms and one of the many guest houses.

Another picture of a portion of the castle grounds. That is the ocean in the distance.

John is in one of the greeting rooms here where the art canvases came from the 16th century on castle walls and the statues, decorations and rugs all are from European collections and very old. William Hearst was a collector of the grandest things! His money came mainly from his father's mines and his investments.

Back in the early 1900's, you had really arrived if you were invited to the Hearst Castle. Many of the BIG stars of the day spent time there.

This is the outside pool-10 feet deep!

This is where we ate our first fish dinner and clam chowder that was too good to be true! Our seat over-looked the harbor where the seals and sea lions barked and swam!

Four days of pure bliss and 36 years with the man of my dreams! I would't trade a minute of it for all the castles on the planet!

More March!!!

2011-03-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

The annual Red Hot Society sabatical was the best so far! (Wait-didn't I say that last year?)

My friends picked me up at SLC airport and we went directly to the Ocher Mountain Temple where we did an endowement session. It is a beautiful temple in the south-western part of Salt Lake valley. We did water aerobics, walked in the rain, went to a Lettermen concert at Tuocan, shopped, shared, slept (very little).

Here's our picnic in the car before going to the temple! Yummy!

Walk in the rain. It was cold there in St George!

We enjoyed watching "Brian Reagan-I Walked on the Moon"

"Roman Holiday"

"The Perfect Stranger"

BYU get beat by Florida in sweet sixteen

and the Young Woman Broadcast

This gorgeous vehicle is the one what took us all over the State because it is natural gas and cost only $1.27 a gallon! Thanks Connie!

Have you ever heard of strawberry shortcake on a stick? Well now you have!

Thanks Denise!

We learned how to cut a pineapple! Thanks Ralene!

Springtime in St. George is a beautiful time of year!

Here we are at the Lettermen concert!

We planned the dates of our trip to coincide with my mom's 84th birthday. We all rang her doorbell and sang Happy Birthday" to her as she stood completely shocked at having me be there for her day! THAT WAS FUN! Nancy came down from Sandy to sleep over and the three of us went shopping and met dad at BK for a burger before Nancy took me to the airport.

HOW MUCH WONDERFULLNESS CAN BE PACKED INTO ONE MONTH!

This is showing a swan that followed me wherever I went. I thought he liked me until he tried to jump over the fence and eat me! Thank goodness for fences!

March 2011-What a great month!

2011-03-19T18:01:00.001-07:00

March 12, was the Aloha Festival over in Tempe. Some of my Laurels were dancing in it so we went to show our support. Good times!

For Spring Break we (John, Brooklynn, Annalise and I) took off to Universal Studios in LA. We sure did have a fun time there seeing some of our favorite characters. We got to relax on Rodondo and Manhatten beaches. I was estatic at Rondono beach because just as we got there, the pelicans were diving in head-first to the ocean to get their dinner AND the seals were out in full-force sneaking fish off of the fishing poles of all the men who were trying to catch their dinner!!!

I have always wished I had a Mystery Van!!! (A replica would be alright!)

What a hoot it was to see Brooklynn and Annalise loose their sanity when they saw Spongebob!

Apollo 13 stars-John looks like a real cut-out guy doesn't he!?!

Scooby-do-be-do!

EB=Easter Bunny, a movie soon to be relaeased.

Curious George

Donkey from Shrek was hilarious! He even sounded like what's his name...?

Shrek

Dora-Brooklynn's thrill!

Marilyn Monroe-the one in the middle-not the one to her right!

THE BIG awaited day came for Brooklynn when she got her driver's permit on February 28th! Greg, Adam and Devin have each taken her out driving! THANK YOU guys!

March 14, found Anya, Ella, John, Greg, Allie, Ande, Bastian, Treslee, Millie and I at the Wildlife Zoo. We had the best time seeing all the creative creatures there.
Isn't this a priceless picture of Anya, John and Ella feeding the gross giraffe!

What a fun place that is! We loved petting the starfish and stingrays in the aquarium.

March has been full of much happiness and a few sorrows. All the events have been good for our growth and understanding of God's love for us.

(Ella)

Bastian on March 10, came down from the upstairs dressed as a "NIGHTMARE"!!!

Millie is such a doll posing with her gorgeous big sister, Nina at our house on March 6th!

Ande and Allie at the zoo.
Sorry about the fuzziness!

February Freeze

2011-02-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

This is not a joke!!! During the first week of February the temperatures got down into the twenties! I was taking my mom, dad, sister and Brother-in-law for a drive one morning by the proposed Phoenix Temple and we came upon this frozen fountain! We had to stop and take pictures of this rare Arizona sight!

February Fun

2011-02-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

My parents, sister and brother-in- law came for eight days and we had a great time. They got to experience the icy cold temperatures we had during the first week of February.

Nancy gave me my first perm in over 10 years!

My Dad and Brian went golfing one day. John took dad to the Phoenix open also.

Bruce helped train Devin in carpet cleaning.

Mom, Nancy and I shopped a couple of times, but it was so clod that we really enjoyed watching movies and staying in! One night the three of us got into our jammies and into my bed and watch "Confessions of a Shopoholic"! Great times!

Jumping for January!

2011-01-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

No January blahs here!

Sam keeps us hoppin' with his antics!
Part of our Christmas was to give the grandkids a bounce house to play in when they are here. It has already had many hours of bounding fun with the kids.

Greg made the top news so far this year with his 4 hour and 15 minute marathon! Here he is moments after crossing the finish line. Looks great doesn't he! (For history's sake, he is 34 years old and this was his first marathon on January 16, 2011. PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon in Phoenix, AZ.)

Fifty-five firsts for my fifty-fifth year, born in 1955!

2011-01-11T13:45:00.000-08:00

My golden year is coming to a close. It sure has been a good one! Here are 55 new adventures I had in my 55th year of life.

We have been to Lake Powell before but never in Connie and Steve's boat! It was one wild ride!

Stretching out on Fred and Wilma Flinstone's bed at Flinstone Village on the way home from the Grand Canyon.

The church of the Holy Cross in Sedona, AZ

A witch museum in Salem, Massachusettes. Spooky in a cool kind of way!

The Quaker family was a highlight for me to see at Niagra Falls!

Brooklynn and Hannah having a chat with Snoopy at Cedar Point, Ohio. Some frigtening rides and some really fun times were had there.

Beautiful Kirkland Temple in Ohio. We got to see the third floor which is not usually done because our group was small. This is one of the places where Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith.

Springtime in St George, Utah. My Red Hotties group usually go in the winter.

A tour of the Governor's mansion in SLC. Thanks to Herbie who is Gov. Herbert's sister!

Music and the Spoken Word on July 4th with my dear parents.
Thrilling!

Going into the depths of the earth at Copper Queen mine in Bisbee, AZ

Dead Horse Point, Utah

Castle Valley, Utah

Panguitch Lake where five of the happiest days were spent with family in gorgeous surroundings.

Cedar Breaks, Utah

We visited Benson, AZ...can't remember a thing about it! (John and I)

Katchner Caverns in southern Az. was thrilling to be inside of a mountain and see all the formations!

Toured the Utah State capital building's Governor's suite

Heritage Park in Salt Lake City where "This is the Place" monument is. There we saw an upside down ship turned into a church building! We did a lot of fun stuff there.

Sandusky, Ohio in June

Cedar Point Amusment Park in Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio. Stayed downtown and enjoyed the night atmosphere.

Went to Church in Cleveland, Ohio (2nd ward) Very sweet fast and testimony meeting.

Stayed at the Palmyra Inn in Palmyra, New York

Saw John Johnson's farm where the Church was first organized in Ohio

Whitmer farm-where Joseph Smith was dragged out in the night and tarred and feathered.

Ate at the Grill N Chill in Palmyra where they have VERY tall ice cream cones!

We spent sunset alone in the Sacred Grove. (John, Brooklynn, Hannah and I)

Boston's Nathaniel Park shopping and eating! Blast!

Lost 20 lbs in 6 weeks! (HCG)

Got gel toes!

Got gel fingernails!

Added THREE new Barry babies

Toured Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables, Salem Mass.

Salem, Mass.

Craziest bookstore ever in Salem! Books were stacked to the ceiling in giant piles!

Gila Temple open house and dedication

Glee concert with Brooklynn

4 trips to Utah! (Jan-funeral of Uncle Duane Herbert, April-St George friends, July for extended family reunions, July for Panguitch Lake cabin.

John and I walked through downtown Flagstaff and ate at a 'healthy' hamburger joint!

Stayed at the Phoenician with Susie Lundberg

John and I went to the Grand Canyon

Snowbowl ski resort in Flagstaff

Winslow, AZ

Meteor Crater near Flagstaff

Moab trip to the Lundberg's cabin

Saw the Monticello, Utah temple (Herds of deer right by it!)

Mexican Hat, UT

A trip down Canyon Lake, AZ in a steamboat with the Lundberg's

Bluff, AZ where Hole in the Rock pioneers settled

Arches National Park

Hiked to the Delicate Arch that is depicted on Utah's license plates.

Hiked in Slick Rock Canyon-the longest and thinnest canyon in the world.

Saw Horse Point-a beautiful and scenic overlook in Utah

Ate at the best drive-in ever-Milt's in Moab!

Castle Valley, UT at sunset-breathtaking!

Monument Valley, AZ Tuba City and other Indian settlements on the way to Moab, Utah

Family picture with all twenty-eight of us in it!

Las Vegas with John to see "Jersey Boys"

Am I lucky or what!!! When it comes to having a glass half-ful or half-empty, I feel like the queen of overflowing!

Resolutions, goals, wishes and hopes.

2011-01-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

Setting goals is serious stuff!

I was in my thirties when I got my first "Franklin Planner". I loved writing down everything that I wanted to do each day and then crossing off the boxes that said that I had accomplished something. I have 10 years of planners stored away complete with daily journals of those years, Christmas lists and gifts given. My planner kept me on my toes and feeling productive.

In my fourties, I retired my planner because I realized that for me, it was adding to my busyness. It hit me that having a to-do list a mile long left me stressed when something unexpected came up like an opportunity to serve. I realized that 'my time' wasn't really mine, but His, who loaned it to me in the first place. I know that He wants me to improve myself and accomplish much good while I'm here, and as long as I can feel the Holy Ghost with me, then I know I'm doing okay. The pressure is off! There is a lot more joy to my life with that little, yet profound understanding!

My prayers for the past 15 years have included asking for charity-the pure love of Christ, since the prophets in the scriptures say that if we don't have charity we are nothing! But a couple of years ago, I realized that if I loved God and Jesus Christ first and above all else, like the commandment says, then ALL things would follow. So now that is my main goal.

I've been thinking a lot about faith lately also and have been having a desire to increase my faith in Heavenly Father's will and timing. I really am thankful that God is in charge. I trust Him more than I trust myself, although there are times when my actions say the opposite! Through meaningful study, prayer, service and keeping the commandments, I know my faith will increase. I want to fill my life with these things, not just to get the blessings, but to grow more love for God and Jesus.

In Sunday School we were talking about our favorite scriptures from the New Testament. Here is one of mine: Corinthians 12:9-10 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. Not that I'm asking for any of these things, but I sure want the power of God to be with me.

This has been an exercise mainly for myself. If this blog is to become my journal, then I should use it as such! So in summary, here are my hopes, dreams, goals and resolutions for 2011:

Be grateful, enjoy each moment, increase faith in God and love for Him and all others.

LET GO AND LET GOD. (We're in this thing together, He and I!)

Best of Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T11:40:00.000-08:00

After reading Anya's post, I wanted to do one too. Here goes! (In no particular order)

1. For some reason this was the happiest Christmas season for me since I can remember! I felt so much joy in every bit of the preparations. I felt gratitude for the Savior's birth and for all that means to me.

2. Being with ALL the family including Grandma Barry.

3. Celebrating Ashlyn's and Rich's birthdays.

3. Getting our family picture on 16x20 canvas.

4. Treslee's gift of pictures of John and my parents and grandparents.

5. The musical bells that play when sensing motion-from my parents.

6. The gift cards for movies and ice cream!

7. Greg's gift of treating us to a play with money for dinner!

8. Seeing the grandkid's faces when they saw the bounce house set up in the backyard!

9. All the goodies! Fudge, sweedish nuts, See's candies, Banbury explosion, cookies... I made caramel for the first time and it turned out! (Grandma Barry oohing and aahing over it was the best part!)

10. Grandpa Santa!

11. Bingo and the 6-pack soda belt that Ryan got!

12. Hugs from the grandkids-the pure love they show. (seeing that they like their gifts!)

13. John's journal for the last year. (He gives me his journal every year and it is always something to look forward to.)

14. The bows Scottee made me!

15. The luxuriously soft bath mat from Adam and Anya.

16. Giving 'my favorite things' this year to our kids including, bidets, ott lights, kitchen gadgets, and to Devin and Allison a Vita Mix.

17. Seeing Christmas lights on houses.

18. Reading Christmas books (The Christmas Journey, The Christmas Bus, Christmas on Mill Street, Christmas Rose and They Call me Mrs. Miracle)

19. Watching the sappy Hallmark channel Christmas movies.

20. Singing and listening to Christmas carols.

21. The unique gifts from LaBelle...room purifiers, the beautiful nativity painting, utinsels that hang on the sides of pots...

22. Brooklynn making Adam and Anya a video of each of the family saying what we love about them.

23. Christmas cards with pictures.

24. Wonderful friends and a ward family that feels like family!

25. Health

26. Dancing to Micheal Jackson with the kids and grandkids.

27. Black Friday shopping with Brooklynn.

28. Getting to see Brian and Scottee's kid's early Christmas.

29. The Very Barry Christmas DVD that Anya made again this year. (4th year and counting!)

The Worst Things of Christmas 2010

1. Stomach flu

2. Gaining weight--BUT--having the flu helped me there!

3. The garbage piled high with nowhere to go! Garbage day isn't for another couple of days!

Oh what happy times. I just hope I remember them!!!

A Very Barry Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T08:49:00.001-08:00

I think this was our best yet! Why, you ask? I don't know! The joy of the season just seemed to lift and overflow!

Carter had his first experience sitting on Santa's knee. He didn't seem to mind at all!
Santa had an overloaded sack! Everyone was sooo extra good this year!
Mollie Marie's first Christmas!

Rich's 30th birthday celebration with Treslee's homemade, scrumptious cheesecake!

All the 'boys' got shorts that were supposed to be good for sports, but they ended up being good for a laugh and maybe sleeping in!

The annual precious Nativity story with Nina on the couch with the flu.

BINGO!

Camilla's first Christmas!

Santa comes to Brian and Scottee's house early so we got to share in the joy! Charlee gave Oaklee this cute frog and Oaklee was thanking her for it!

Johnny wanted to give us all his Christmas gift which was dancing. He has the moves! All of a sudden everyone was dancing to Micheal Jackson tunes and having a blast!

Congratulations Ryan

2010-12-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

Ryan is a graduate (December 16th 2010) of ASU's school of mechanical engineering!

We are so proud of you!

Ashlyn is three years old!

2010-12-20T07:30:00.001-08:00

After going to many birthday parties and waiting and waiting for her own birthday, Ashlyn's day finally came! Her mommy threw her a big party complete with games and prizes, pinata', lunch, and a specially made princess castle cake!

Ashlyn got to become a big sister this year when her brother Carter was born in April.

Christmas shopping was a blast in the K-mart holiday isle! Ashlyn danced and sang with Pooh for so long. Mindy and I couldn't even entice her away with an offer to go to the toy department!

At Old Navy while Mindy shopped, I watched Ashlyn as she became best friends with the manequin and the dog-maneqiun!

She always manages to find something to dress up in when she comes over. She's a lot of fun!

If you get the chance, try to listen in when she is singing. (which she does a lot!) It's a joy!

Happy Birthday Rich!

2010-12-19T19:29:00.001-08:00

Rich at 2 years old. He and Mindy were best buds as kids. If I needed to find Mindy, I'd just look for Rich! (And vice versa)

Our fourth son and favorite child (!) (Hee Hee to all the rest of you who always say that Rich is our favorite!) has made great strides in his 30 years. Just in the last two years he has been blessed to find his eternal companion, welcome their first baby, complete his Master's degree in Computer Science and adopt the two precious girls that came with Treslee's first marriage, oh and he baptised and confirmed Nina just last month!

This is he and Nina, his oldest daughter and below is he and Elle. (5 years old)

This is their vacaction to Utah this past summer.

Halloween-I can always count on Rich to be fun with me!

Here's the adoption that took place in October!

Baby Camilla LaRue, born June 2, 2010 Here she is in her Tinker Bell costume for Halloween. Can you just see the thrill on Rich's face!

We are proud of you and your progress Rich and so grateful for all the happiness that you are blessed with.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

November Niceties!

2010-11-29T12:12:00.000-08:00

We put butcher paper up on the walls so that we could write some of the things we are thankful for. We have a masterpiece now! Brooklynn wrote that she was thankful for dogs and John put a sticky note over it! If you look close, you can see who drew what.

Our sweet John Wesley Barry had his 8th birthday and is going to be baptized December 4th! Grandpa, Great Grandma Barry and I took him to Target to see what he would choose for his birthday gifts. At first he asked if he could save some of his money, but within a couple of minutes he had unequivically decided on two Lego sets and a Nano bug! Trying to prolong the fun of shopping, I asked him if he wanted to see any other aisles in the store, but he didn't! I asked him if he liked to get clothes and he said, "No, but I do like soft socks." !!! He is a keeper!

Here he is with cousin Jaxson and his sister Ella.

Well, our Thanksgiving was a day FULL of gratitude and great food! We had 28 loved ones join us and for the first time ever we had to eat inside! It was cold out!!! Even though,we had four brave and crazy and maybe more likely poor and desperate guys (Adam, Devin, Greg and Mitchell) jump in the pool to get their $20.00 dollar bill!
John threw a bowl of ice into the pool just before the guys jumped in. The ice JUST SAT THERE!
Adam is the only one I actually caught in the act. The others were too quick for me!
Grandma Barry (or grandma Belle), Kara Brady with Olivia, her youngest, Scottee and baby Mollie!
Devin with Mollie and Grandma Barry! Such a wonderful day!

Noteable and News-worthy November events

2010-11-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

Sweet little Mollie was given her name and a father's blessing on November 7th at our home. We celebrated Sam's 2nd birthday at the same time since his birthday was three days later. There is still much more to look forward to this month (Johnny's birthday and Thanksgiving) so stay tuned for further blogging! The second picture is of Scottee, Allison and I having a birthday celebration pedicure...I know...Scottee's and Allison's birthdays were a while back, but this is the soonest we could get together! I also had a fun day shopping with Treslee on November 8. (Her birthday was June 5th!)

This is from Halloween, but I couldn't resist putting it in because it makes me happy to remember how Sam bounced along in this Tigger costume, so thrilled to be with Bastian and Ande to trick or treat. Cute Bastian and Ande poking their heads through the banner!

While Devin, Allison and I were packing up their house for their move to Flagstaff (November 8th), Sam enjoyed being able to get in the empty cabinets to play with his cars!

Mollie's blessing with Devin and Allison's bishop reflected in the mirror.

Sweet Mollie

Sweeter Mollie!

The kids were loving the back yard and the beautiful weather. Charlee, John and Nina created a "Day Care Center" for the younger ones.

With so much of Sam's "Thomas the Train" cake left-over, Devin thought that it would be fun to smash a hunk in Brooklynn's face! She gave her permission and he did a pretty good jub of it!

I took Nina shopping and to dinner (Panda) for her birthday (November 8th). She chose to go to Target and after putting many things in the basket, she ended up choosing knee-high boots and a backpack. I thought that she was pretty amazing to choose those things over games, jewelry and a giant stuffed dog!

John and I took the opportunity to make a fast trip to Las Vegas for a couple of days. (Nov.10-12) Here I am showing off a $100,000 Lamborginni. You can have it!

John and I in front of the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas just before we saw the fabulous production of "Jersey Boys" at the Palazzo Hotel.

Our oldest grandchild, Nina was baptized November 13! We ALL got together for family pictures beforehand. It made me so happy to have ALL of us in one frame!!!

There was a perfect rock that Oaklee called the "chair rock" that we used to get pictures on.
Brian and Scottee, Charlee, Oaklee and Jaxson.

Rich and Treslee, Nina, Elle and Millie.

Nina, Ella, Oaklee, John, Jaxson, Charlee, and Elle.

Greg, Bastian and Ande

Ryan and Mindy, Ashlyn and Carter

Devin and Allison, Mollie and wiggle-worm Sam

Adam and Anya, John and Ella

I looked around and there was Sam. He had climbed up ont he chair rock and was just sitting there! (The only time he sat still all day!) See how cool that rock is!

I do SOOO love this family!

How great is my joy!

The original 9 Barrys

Rich and sweet Nina

Trunk or Treat and YW Mystery dinner

2010-10-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

Who is the real pregnant woman here? No one better say that it's me! We got to dress up in order to serve our Laurels and thier dates a dinner of 'severed limbs, bloody entrails, pus pockets...' (Chicken enchiladas, beef enchiladas, salad, chocolate cake and strawberry sauce... We leaders had as much or more fun than the girls and their dates!
Once again, I pushed the envelope at our ward annual Trunk or Treat. I donned by Billy-Bob redneck costume complete with pot belly, wife-beater t-shirt, whiskers, sideburns, 'tatoos' with ma and pa in the heart and blacked out teeth. But I would have to say that it was my 'briefcase' that stole the show!

My redneck briefcase!

Pumpkins in Queen Creek

2010-10-25T12:21:00.001-07:00

Our traditional trip to the Schnepp Farms was the best so far! Not too hot and not too crowded.
Here are the tons of kids that we had with us all abroard the spooky train ride. (NOT!)

Long time friends-Kathy Partridge,
Janeen Erickson, Faith St Clair

Brooklynn is 5'3"!

We thought this old piano was so cool just sitting out in the weather.

Brooklynn on the swing!

Megan Cruz, Brooklynn, Emily Erickson, Ciara St. Clair on the man-powered go carts.

Faith, me and the goats!

The whole crowd!

Harvest happiness

2010-10-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

The Barry Halloween party was a blast! We had our regular cake walk, fish pond, and parade, plus we had a fun target game with prizes from Adam and Anya, pumpkin decorating and of course eating! Scottee and Charlee even played us their songs from their piano recital!

Here's Adam the stud-muffin waiter!

These are the parade on-lookers...Treslee, Adam holding Greg's Ande, Greg in his new do(!), Ryan with Carter, Allison with Mollie and Brooklynn.
The parade! Scottee is Grand Marshall, Oaklee-turtle, Nina-Peter Pan, Charlee-the beautiful witch, Ella-Angel, Jaxson-pirate, Elle-Wendy of Peter Pan, Rich, Bastian-Mario, John-the mad scientist.

Ashlyn is Cinderella and Sam a skeleton.

Elle's "pumpkin" All the kids decorated their own 'pumpkins.'

Jaxson and his pumpkin

Showing pumpkins are Bastian, John, Charlee, Nina, Elle, Ella, Oaklee and Jaxson-the good-lookin one in the back is GoGo!

Bastian's 'pumpkin'

Charlee's pumpkin

John's pumpkin

Sam with Adam's wig

Oaklee's pumpkin

John, Anya, Ella, and Adam

Sam is sneaking a ride under Ande's man-power!

Camilla and trailor-trash

Don't ya wish your girlfriend was hot like me?!?

Scottee's rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In."

Rich and his youngest, Camilla

Charlee, Ele, Nina and Bastian

Charlee and her "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" etude!

Peter Pan and Wendy

Allison and Scottee with baby Mollie-the Barry's newest!

B and Jaxson

Charlee

Oaklee

Me and Rich

Nina

Oaklee

Moab pictures

2010-10-11T20:27:00.001-07:00

We hiked all over these smooth rocks and got some beautiful pictures. This is a world famous place called Slick Rock where bikers and hikers try to show their stuff!

I'll bet NO ONE ever took a baby in a stroller on a hike at Slick Rock until Susie Lundberg came along. Nothing stops that woman! She is macho!

Here is Monument Valley. It is worth the drive to see it!

Monticello, Utah Temple.

In the field behind the Monticello Temple was a herd of deer!

Milt's Drive-in had the absolute BEST food we have had in a long time! We ate there every chance we got, which was only twice...but, oh so yummy!

John and Susie Lundberg with Monroe, their grand daughter.

We passed by this gorgeous sight and just had to get out of the warm car and into the rain to take pictures.

John and John taking their morning walk.

Susie's stained glass picture with the early morning sun showing through it.

This is the view from the Lundberg's cabin. Moab Rim and Castle Valley beyond it.

I captured a rainbow on our way through Monument Valley.

Mexican Hat formation.

Behind us you see Indian Petroglyphs! This was after the hike to Delicate Arch and boy, was it hot and tiring!

I can't believe we were there!

Susie and I climbed that steep hill in order to see through this small arch to a beautiful view of the Delicate Arch and the valley.

This is the museum at Delicate Arch.

Dead Horse Point

John Lundberg took us on a white knuckle ride through the mountain dirt roads with deep ruts at top speed to get us to Castle Valley overlook so we could see the sun set there. I had my eyes squeezed shut so scared was I! Then when we got there John L. made us climb onto a rock that jutted out over a sheer drop off in order to get the maximum view. I have to admit, it was worth it!

My favorite picture of Castle Valley.

On the way home, we stopped in Bluff, AZ to see a site where some of the pioneers were called to settle after going over the most rugged terrain of any expedition. It is known as the Hole in the Rock expedition and is incredible to read and see what those faithful people went through.

REPENT!

The sweet little church at Bluff.

This is one of the original wagons that came across the Hole in the Rock expedition.

Bluff hogan. It was so cool inside even though it was hot outside.

Inside the hogan.

Moab, Utah-who could have guessed!?!

2010-10-10T17:49:00.001-07:00

John and I were invited to Moab, Utah where our dear friends, John and Susie Lundberg own a cabin in the mountains. Growing up in Orem, I thought Moab was just some small town in the weeds somewhere in south-eastern Utah. Well, was I ever wrong! I was speechless at the beauties that we got to see! It took some strenuous hiking, but the results were worth it! The Lundberg's are the perfect hosts-made us feel just like family! Pictures are coming!

Mollie Marie Barry

2010-09-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

Devin and Allison have brought forth a beautiful and precious daughter! Mollie arrived Monday, September 30, at about 4:45 PM. She weighs 8.9 and is 20" long. When big brother, Sam, walked into the hospital room the first thing he said was, "Hi Baby!" Then he wanted to be picked up so he could see her and then, are you ready for this...he said, "There you go." and he gave her his prized Buzz Lightyear that you see in his hand in this picture. He's going to be a super big brother!

Cute Devin!

Cute GoGo! (Notice Mollie's perfect red lips!)

This is my favorite picture! Her chins crack me up!!!

Brooklynn's 15 and Oaklee's 6 years old!

2010-09-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

Brooklynn had an extended birthday celebration...party, party, party! Her friends (Ashley Dawson, Lauren Burns, Christie Redmond, Ciara St Clair, Mitchell and Jackson Mostoller, Marcus Myler, Thomas Hall, and Nate Haines) came over to swim and play games on Friday night and then the family all came on Saturday to swim and hangout. Each time we played the 'Candy Game' where everyone got to pick many candies from a mountain of it by answering questions like, "If you brushed your teeth today take two candies. "If you didn't make your bed put a candy back." Well, Bastian was playing with all the teenagers at the friend party and the question came up: "If you pick your nose put a candy back." All the kids looked at each other and then honest Bastian goes, "Oh Man!" and threw a candy back in the pile! On B's real birthdate we (Devin and Allison, Sam, John and I) ate out at the Cheesecake Factory. YUM!

Cute Oaklee and I went to the mall to shop for her birthday. This is the beautiful nightgown that she chose at the Disney Store. John and Brooklynn joined us for dinner at Johnny Rockets.

With #16th grandchild at the veil, (Devin and Allison's daughter to debut this Monday, September 20th!) we have a lot of parties and birthdays to look forward to! We'll try to keep shopping and eating out one on one with the darlings until they don't think we're that fun anymore! I hope that is a long way off!

Yabba Dabba Doo!

2010-08-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

My mouth dropped a foot when we came upon this scene that repeated itself for miles and miles on our way to the Grand Canyon. Acres and acres of wild flowers with the green pines behind took my breath away! John and I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Flagstaff and to the Grand Canyon! We did a lot of "firsts" to add to my 55 new adventures list for my 55th birthday born in 1955!
Day 1=we drove up through Sedona and stopped to window shop. We were told to see a Church that is a real tourist attraction so we back-tracked to it and got some great pictures since it overlooks the southern side of the area and there is a lot of beauty to see with the red rock formations and the green valley.

In Flagstaff we went to the old downtown area to eat at a "green" hamburger joint called Diablos. We wandered around town and then went to a movie. (Eat, Pray, Love=C movie!)

Day 2=Going to the Grand Canyon and making a Pit Stop at Bedrock City! When Greg, Brian and Adam were little guys, we stopped here on the way to the Grand Canyon to take some pictures. We didn't know that there was a whole city that you had to pay a fee to see. That was 27 years ago and guess what...it is still there. This time we paid $5.00 each to go in and we had the whole place to ourselves! This is just a sampling of the "priceless" pictures we got!
The Bedrock Village had a grocery store, doctor's office, dentist, movie theater, garage, barber/hair salon, school, post office, police station, train, playground, Betty and Barney's house and Fred and Wilma's house. Each place was all decked out in Flintstone decor. I just loved it!

The canyon is magnificent and hasn't changed since we were there! But there is a ton of tourist attractions now and I really enjoyed looking at all the Indian crafts and jewelry. We ate a late lunch at Sophie's MExican food before heading back a differnt way that took us through the San Fanscisco Peaks. We drove up to see Snow Bowl, which was pretty much a beautiful drive through the pines a bathroom stop and then back down through the pines! I just have to say that I LOVE Arizona. Here we have every scenic vista that we could ask for. In two days we saw mountains, pines, canyons, red rock formations, mesas, lakes, cacti, wild flowers, and high deserts with grass and flowers as tall as a horses thighs!

John got caught with his finger in Fred's nose!

Here are some of the hair styles you might choose from when you go to the pre-histoic beauty salon!

Go Dino Go!

This slide looked pretty fun, but neither one of us dared to go on it!

The stairs go up from his front legs and the top of the slide is under the yellow awning.

This is Fred and Wilma's house.

My school teacher liked me!

Aaaa..... We got a little confused here!

Sorry about the jumbled up picture order. This is the Church of the Holy Cross that we went to in Sedona. (see lower post)

Day 3=heading home via the Meteror Crator and Winslow. (See other posts) We drove home through the mountains on highway 87 and I just couldn't get enough of the trees and the scenery. What a great trip it was!

Our Flagstaff get-a-way August 2010

2010-08-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

The GRAND Canyon!

We got a kick out of this! Notice the pipe coming from under the porta-potty!

Here is the view from a tiny church (next post) in Sedona. I think the family could fit into this "home" for our next reunion!

The Church of the Holy Cross, Sedona

2010-08-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

In Sedona there is a church high up on the eastern red hills. Since this little get-a-way was all about stopping to smell the roses, we took the chance to see this church, supposedly inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is tiny and overlooks the house that we are going to rent next summer for our Barry family reunion!!!

A Blast in Flagstaff!

2010-08-21T17:31:00.001-07:00

On our way to Winsow we stopped by to see the Meteor Crator that was made 50,000 years ago! It was part of our 'stopping to smell the roses" adventure!

Here we are in Winslow made famous by the Eagles. They are a band of yester year who sang, "Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona..." Also this is the town that Radiator Springs in the movie "Cars" is based on!

July Jubilee

2010-08-01T21:36:00.000-07:00

Scottee's aunt and uncle own a beautiful cabin up at Panguitch Lake which they let us use for the week. We had a really memorable time there, but missed Adam and his family and Mindy and her family. Also Rich had to stay home for work. I loved every minute of being there with the family and the scenery and perfect weather!

Devin and Brooklynn were patient to fish for hours at Panguith Lake. Their patience paid off with two fish! Brian and Scottee took the kids fishing multiple times and got three fish, including one caught by Charlee!

We celebrated Ande's first birthday (again) by making her cupcakes. Here is Bastian enjoying Ande's cake after he had enjoyed his own!

2010-08-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a cool picture of one of the rain storms we got to experience!

Brain and Jaxson, Scottee, Bastian and I drove up the bumpiest road I've ever been on to the summit of Lake Panguitch. The view of the valley was worth the bruised tailbone!

2010-08-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Cedar Breaks

Amazing Cedar Breaks with Nina, Brian, Oaklee, Scottee and Charlee.

2010-08-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

Devin was the winner of the dance-off! He was also the only contestant!
Beautiful Panguitch Lake. I could live there all summer!

The porch went all around the cabin and that is where we spent the bulk of our time!

Treslee and baby Roo! Camilla is an angel!

2010-08-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

Brooklynn mastered the quad!

Each afternoon it rained! YIP-EE! We got treated to a double rainbow on Thursday afternoon. Elle was so amazed by it. She said, "This is the first real rainbow I've ever seen in my whole life!"

Cedar Breaks is not far from where we were. Oh, the beauty of it all!

2010-08-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Brian Head Ski Resort.

Off to fish! Brian and Scottee were patient beyond imagination to spend hours at Panguitch Lake with the kids!

S'more time!
Greg with his usual calm and sane face on!

2010-08-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

The beuatiful cabin's living room with Allison, Brooklynn and Camilla.
Bastian and Nina having a blast playing Super Mario!

Scottee and Charlie doing homework! At the cabin!!!

This guy just continued eating when John and I drove up, rolled down the windows and proceeded to take pictures!

The kids playing in the stream right outside the cabin.

Devin having a moment of relaxation...that's about all he got!
He's even a good Grandpa to Ande's doll!

July Jubilee!

2010-08-01T19:43:00.001-07:00

On our way to Utah, Herbie called to say that she and Steve were waiting at Lake Powell to take us out on the boat. They had been there for a week with their family. John and I had a blast with them, having lunch and touring the Lake!

Ande and Bastian had their birthday celebrations at our house in July. Bastian is four and now Ande is one- year old!

Bastian and I went to Toys-R-Us for him to choose a birthday gift. After filling a whole shopping cart with prizes he wanted, he chose a Mario video game!

Ande is loving her ride in the doll stroller powered by Sam.

Ashlyn's first dress-up play at our house. Adorable!

Sam's turn to ride and Ande's so excited because she can actually walk as long as she holds on to the stroller.

Utah trip 2010

2010-07-08T12:43:00.001-07:00

Devin, Allison and Sam piled in the truck with John, Brooklynn and I and we all went to Utah! We had a great time. Here is cute Grandma Gerber and darling Sam at Burger King in Salt Lake City. We went up to tour Temple Square and go to Heritage Park where "This is the Place" Monument is. It is like going to Nauvoo because you get to see how the pioneers lived and made their everyday supplies.

My mom and Nancy at the Heritage Park. All of the homes and buildings are either replicas of the real thing or ARE the real thing and have been moved here for preservation and viewing. It is worth the trip to see!

Sam is obsessed with trains and we got to go on several up at the park.

Sam and I got to go on a mini-train around the pond where we could see all of Salt Lake Valley.

Brooklynn rode the bull and did pretty good. She said it was harder than it looks! Everything (rides, tours...) was FREE at Heritage Park.

The weather was DIVINE! We spent many happy hours on Grandma and Grandpa Gerber's back patio. We also visited Grandma Barry and enjoyed her and her back patio!

Camilla is Grandma's 40-something great grand-daughter!

My Cute Dad!

The 4th of July parade was perfect in the shade with the weather mild and sunny!

A highlight for me was when my dad, mom John and I went to the conference center on Sunday morning and saw the tabernacle choir and orchestra do "Music and the Spoken Word". Talk about goose-bumps and inspiration! It was especially wonderful because of the patriotic theme of the day.

Sweet baby Roo and daddy Rich at the parade. It was so nice having them up in Utah too. They, along with Devin, Allison, Sam and Brooklynn stayed with Jay and Susann. How nice was that of those Barry's! Grandma Barry's house was FULL of Jill and Scott and their family and John and I were at my parents.

I had to snap this picture showing Rich and Devin holding each other's children at the parade. (Note Devin's hat.)

Uncle Bruce always brings funny hats and this one got passed around!

After the Boley reunion of the 4th Connie Ault invited us up to her and her husband, Steve's property in Provo canyon to ride horses. Sam actually dared to sit on one!

Treslee is a natural on horses! Devin also rode and seemed pretty comfortable!

This is Brooklynn on the mighty bull!

2010-06-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

This is the clip of Charlee's debut that was supposed to be in the next posting! This was before she started taking piano lessons.