Christmas Pictures (in no particular order)

So I have tons of pictures from this past week with Christmas and all and I thought I would just share them with you all. The first couple are from today but the rest are pretty much from Christmas Day. Enjoy!Benson drumming away. I took this one for Danny (aka Elder Haws).

This is Nick today. Brady gave Nick this suit and I thought it looked fancy on him. He was shoveling the driveway when we got home. Thanks for the suit Brade!

Our "official" 2008 Christmas photo.

Mom's gifts to open Christmas morning. She also got a dishwasher a couple days prior to Christmas. (Santa is very self-less.)

Andy and Cory's piles.

Dad's chair surrounded in gifts.

Nick and Tami's piles. Nick really spoiled me this year, like always.

This is what it looked like after Santa left. Looks nice and clean!

So those of you who live in the area know that we got tons of snow on Christmas night. It was so bad that McKenzie's parents told her not to even try to drive home, and Nat and Casey didn't want to deal with driving in the snow and stuff, so we all had a "sleepover" at Mom and Dad's. Nick and I drove down the street and got our air mattress and then we pulled out some mattresses for Nat & Casey and also for McKenzie. Andy just slept on the couch. It was actually really fun. We watched "Head Over Heels" and then fell asleep!

What would the sleepover be without balloon animals made by Casey? Nick is sporting his super cool crown or hat that Casey made him.

Shanna was talking to Danny. (She doesn't look happy does she?)

Dad sporting his new basketball shoes that Nat & I (and our spouses) got for him.

Shawnee & Brady

Ronola

Shanna and Cory

Nick and Tami

Casey, Nat, & Cory

McKenzie and Andy

Mom went crazy with making quilts for everyone. These are the ones she made for Andy & Cory. Nick says this was a "Quilted Christmas."

Dad with his hot air balloon quilt that Mom made him. (I used this one at our sleepover and it was FABULOUS!!!)

Emily, Nat, and I secretly surprised Mom with making a quilt with some fabric that she used to sew things when we were little. I'm pretty sure she liked it. She started crying when we asked her what the fabric was from. Big hit I think.

Okay this is my favorite picture and this is why I saved it for last. I am posting this mostly for Danny but I thought I would let you all see how much weight Dad has lost. He fits into Danny's leather jacket that Danny wore right before he went on his mission. Dad, that's amazing. We're all proud of you for losing that much weight!

Anyway, we really had a fun Christmas and it was fun to be able to talk to each of you (my family members) on Christmas. I am really grateful for each of you and for all that you've done for Nick and I. We love you all so much!

LAN Party/ Craft Night???

I know that there is a lot going on around this time of year, but I was hoping that maybe we could squeeze another craft night in sometime. I don't know if someone has an idea of a Christmas craft to do, or if you guys even want to do it.

Here are some cute ideas I saw from a girl we know who does vinyl lettering. Her blog is: http://chelseys-simpleexpressions.blogspot.com/

We don't have to do these crafts at all, if someone has a different idea, we can do that. My house just really needs something festive!

This one is to hang stockings from. Since I don't have a mantle, I don't have anywhere to hang my stockings. It could say whatever you want. I've seen some that say "And the stockings were hung..."

Daddy Daughter Date

So for Dad's birthday tNatali had a great idea to take Dad on a Daddy Daughter Date.
Since Dad has lost a lot of weight, we started off the night by giving him some new clothes that fit (also Nat's idea) and then we went to dinner at Applebees. Our waitress was a girl named Heidi.
After dinner we went shopping and met a very nice lady named Pam. She was the most helpful person I have seen for a very long time. After a fun time shopping, we went to Farr's Ice Cream and got ice cream cones. I splurged and got Brownies on the Moon, Dad got Banana Nut, and Nat and Emily both got some cherry chocolate chip ice cream that had a fancy name. (Sorry I can't remember what it was called.) Then after ice cream, we didn't want to go home yet so we drove around Hooper and talked for a while.
It was such a fun night. I forgot how much fun it is to get together like this. We had really good conversations, nobody said anything negative, and we just really enjoyed each other's company. Natalie said we should do this every year. I'm all for it, but we'll see what happens.
Anyway, Happy Birthday Dad! You really are the greatest dad. I wouldn't trade for anything. I love you so much! I had lots of fun on our DDD!
Love,
your sweetie pie,
TamiP.S. Did you know it's no longer Dan Dan the Maytag Man? I didn't know this until I got the camera out to take a picture and I said something about Dan the Maytag man and I was quickly corrected. Oh well. This picture reminds me of when we went on our trip to San Fransisco and Dad stood by the Six Flags guy.

Happy Birthdaween!!!

As was previosly mentioned we celebrated Dad's birthday this past Sunday. We also carved pumpkins. Everyones pumpkins turned out very well. Here is what everyone carved:

Tami - Jim Halpert and "Jones"

Nick - Dwight Schrute

Casey - Mario

Natalie - A cute face

Benson - "The Classic" (two triangle eyes and a mouth)

Becca - Elmo

McKenzie - Tux (the Linux Penguin)

Andy - The Earth

Here are some pictures I took. I will put them all on my MobileMe Gallery soon (they may be there so you should check). Enjoy!

Everyone cleaning their pumpkins

Casey Carving Mario (his arm was moving at the same frequency as my shutter)

Natalie teaching Benson knife safety

Benson helping and having a good time

Benson cleaning his first pumpkin

Benson again (admit it... he was the cutest one there)

McKenzie is apparently going to be a Chinawoman for Halloween

Benson with his first pumpkin and his first mom

Tami carving Jim Halpert (so if Tami has a crush on Jim and she carved him into a pumpkin, does that mean Nick has a crush on Dwight Schrute)

Everyone hard at work (Becca was sitting on the couch trying to figure out what to carve)

Andy is ambitious. He is carving the entire world on his pumpkin!!

Everyone and their finished pumpkins

Just the pumpkins

Cory and his budy "Stretch"

The birthday cake part 1 (Dad blew out the candles before we finished singing so I didn't get an action shot.)

The birthday cake part 2 (After Grandma and Granpa Barker got there Dad blew out the "55" candles again)

HAPPY BIRTHDAYWEEN DAD!!

Happy Halloween & Birthday

Well, I will make this official...

For those of you that don't know, Dad's birthday is on Monday the 27th.
So, we are going to celebrate Dad's birthday on Sunday (the 26th) at Mom and Dad's house. Mom said she will make soup, but everybody try to bring something to help with the dinner if you can. We are also going to continue our annual tradition of carve pumpkins. But... if you would like to carve pumpkins, you will need to bring your own this year. I know, sounds like a pain, but can you imagine getting them for everyone...
Any questions?? Call mom for details. We will start around 5 or so maybe??? Ask mom for sure.
Love y'all.This was last year... sorry Dano. We'll miss you this year.

Happy 30th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

For those of you who aren't aware... today is Mom and Dad's 30th Wedding Anniversary.
Mom and Dad, I just want you to know how much I love you and look up to you. You are the best parents anyone could ever ask for, and I am so lucky to have you as parents. You are great examples and I really hope that I can be a good parent someday like you. Thanks not only for being my parents but for being some of my best friends.
I love you guys, and Congratulations on your 30th Wedding Anniversary!!!
Love, Tam & Nick