Family Photos

We had some family photos taken at the downtown Mesa Arts Center, Saturday after Thanksgiving. We haven't had a family picture day since March 2006. If you want to check them out, go to http://kissablephotos.smugmug.com/Client-Proofs
click on 'Barton Family', and use the password 'Barbie'.

Sunday pre-church free time

Lil' Bellissa enjoys one of her favorite books, in one of her favorite places to relax, while letting her Sunday curls set in.

Bed Buddies

Amelia in deep beauty sleep while the Bella-bug is still wired.

Happy Birthday JEDIDIAH !!!!

Jedidiah is now officially 'Lucky 7' Birthday's are never as much fun when they land on Sunday. However, Jedidiah's was spread out so much, I think it was worth it. It started a week early on an early Monday morning. Uncle Ryan called shortly after midnight and waited patiently for the zombie boy to arise, to go see what was on the front porch. We almost thought some one was going to jump out and yell surprise, the package was so big... Friday evening we went out to eat at Costa Vida to combine the celebration of Allison's birthday too. Sunday morning Jedidiah got a special phone call from the African Baxter's (it actually took them 3 tries to get thru to Jedidiah, as he kept hanging up on them thinking it was prank calls)... More Star Wars from the FL. rim of the galaxy, to add to the young Jedi Knight's battle against the Empire... Uh-oh!!! A clone Trooper (very small, and mostly naked) has been spotted... and it turns out the young master was a bounty hunter, spying for the Empire ... Sunday evening was coming to a close with yet more of the Star Wars saga... and then to the long awaited yummy treats, marbled cup cakes with chocolate frosting and chocolate chips.....

Consequences

Everyone learns at their own pace, I guess. But Barbie is a little slow in this area. When you act up in my house, there will be consequences, sometimes a bit medieval. Yes, yes, it appears I have taken a Louisville Slugger to the back of her calves.Well, in this particular case, during Barbie-De's wee-hours-of-the-morning re-decorating project, an unbalanced HEAVY wrought iron attomon (which was leaning against the wall), fell over and hit its intended target as seen above. This is 6 days after.

Trick - or - Treat

Happy Halloween.!!!
This year was very successful during the candy raid, especially since we went to only about 2/3 of the houses we went to last year. Daddy pushed our little bumble bee around in the stroller, while the ladybug had to fly on her own, and the soldier had to march on his own. Mommy stayed at home to hand out the goods. No scarry houses this year, the soldier and his pet ladybug went to each one without hesitation. However this year was void of a spooky haunted house to scare the dickens out of Barbie-De (I was looking forward to her freaking out again, next year the wait will be worth it).

Train Park

10-17-09 We went to the old favorite... the train park in Scottsdale. It turned out to be pretty hot, so we only stuck around for a little more than an hour. We rode the train twice, and Jedidiah and Amelia rode the carousel twice (Bellissa was too scared of it). Jedidiah rode in the cattle car at the back of the train for his second ride. Bella warmed up to the train on the second run, but wasn't too sure about it on the first. Especially after coming out of the dark tunnel, as seen in the pictures.

Brunkin' Bonco

The name says it all doesn't it? The kiddies can't quite get bucking bronco out, or at least they don't try to. But this is a favorite at our house. Usually only one rider at a time (for safety reasons).

Uh-Oh !!! Bella is 2

There's the Birthday girl!!! Looks like she's ready to party!
Bellissia 'Bella' Mae hit the 2 mark on Sept 10, 2009.At the request of an older sister, a big fat bumble bee was needed to make the party complete. However the bumble bee brought a couple dozen baby bees with her.And the birthday biker babe is quite content now that she is full of baby bees... YUMMY!!!

Amelia turns 5

Amelia was lucky this year, and got to celebrate her birthday twice. First at Newport Beach 8-21-09, then at home 8-26-09 (actual birthday).

Zion's Nat'l Park - '09 Baxter Reunion

Our '09 Baxter Reunion took us to Zion's in late July. We (the entire Baxter clan minus Papa John & Mama Dixie) stayed in a cabin/custom home, at Zion's Ponderosa Ranch just outside of the East entrance to the park. The ranch provided lots of amenities, however we mainly only took advantage of the pool, which had two levels, a waterfall, two slides, and two hot tubs. The cabin had a theater room, ping pong, and DJ brought the Wii. The first annual Baxter Amazing Race took place at the ranch, fast and heated, but lots of fun. We went on two hikes in the park. First day we tried the Narrows, but didn't make it too far, the next day we went to the top of a great look-out, and it was a better hike for the kids. Awesome park, we want to go back.

1st Day of School

Jedidiah 6, 1st Grade. Amelia 4, Kindergarten.
Keeping with Barton tradition, Mia's gets to ride in style for the first day of Kindergarten.
Doesn't look too nervous... yet!
Lining up for the school bell to ring, and head to class.

"YUCKY"

Here's some funny clips of our funny Bella. She couldn't quite get yummy to roll off of her lips, so it comes out yucky. Notice some resemblence to Josie Beth. These were taken back on June 24th.

Jedidiah's Testimony

So Jedidiah was anxious as anything to get up and bare his testimony, back on August 2nd. Mommy missed it, was home with sick Bella. But during primary mommy got many comments from some of the parents.
It went something like this...

I want to bear my testimony.
I know that the church is a good church.
and I know that President Thomas S Monson is good and a true prophet.
I know that Jesus died to save us, and so we can go back and live with him when we die.
I know the church is true.
Amen.

Chopper Babe

There's a new chopper babe in Gilberto...

Swim Team

Today was Jedidiah's 2nd swim meet race. He first swam the freestyle, and placed 2nd. Then it was the dreaded backstroke, but he still got 3rd.

TriAthlon

Barbie competed in her first triathlon (1/2 mile swim, 13.4 mile bike, 3 mile run), May 9 at Tempe Town Lake. She completed it in 1:39, 5 minutes faster than her goal. She placed 22/84 in her age group, and 101/500 overall.

Bye Bye Brown

We had our house painted 3 weeks ago. It was a long drawn out process for Barbie to decide on colors, but after $80.00 worth of samples, she did it. What do you think, a good use of our tax return money??? Aug 4, 2004 VS May 10, 2009

Easter Weekend

The Nelson family came all the way down from Smithfield, Ut to visit us for Easter break. We spent friday swimming and goofy golfing at the Squaw Peak Resort with them. Saturday morning was the ward Easter egg hunt at the park. Kadia and Carli slept over and went on the hunt with us.

The Zipliine was the big hit with Carli, and Bella wanted to give it a try too!

More Extreme FUN, with Uncle DJ
"The Zipline"

The Hell's Angels twins...
Photos from mid-February before their next big performance.

"My Mama"

This came up thru an email, and I quizzed the kids about their mama...
(answers by Amelia & Jedidiah)

1.What is something mom always says to you?
A: time to clean up
J: thanks for babysitting
2. What makes mom happy?
A: cleaning up
J: when I baby-sit Bellissa
3. What makes your mom sad?
A: when I do things wrong
J: when I get hurt
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
A: she tickles me
J: we have fun together
5. What was your mom like as a child?
A: she likes to play
J: she had older sisters
6. How old is your mom?
A: 32
J: 38 or 39
7. How tall is your mom?
A: big
J: 5 or 10 or 15 feet
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
A: to do something right for us
J: sew
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
A: dishes, makes lunch
J: takes Amelia to preschool
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
A: being perfect
J: won a bowling game
11. What is your mom really good at?
A: running
J: sewing
12. What is your mom not very good at?
A: working hard
J: taking care of Bella, because she makes me take out the dirty diapers
13. What does your mom do for her job?
A: do something fun with us
J: take care of Bella
14. What is your mom's favorite food?
A: tuna fish
J: salad
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
A: she plays with us
J: she can sew many things
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
A: sleeping beauty
J: road runner, and daddy would be coyote
17. What do you and your mom do together?
A: be friends
J: swim every summer
18. How are you and your mom the same?
A: we can both do dishes
J: both have blond hair
19. How are you and your mom different?
A: I'm little, mama is bigger
J: she's bigger, and I'm shorter
20. How do you know your mom loves you?
A: gives hugs and kisses
J: she tells me 'thank you' every time I baby-sit
21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
A: to the park
J: to every single store
22. What is your mom’s favorite movie?
A: madagascar
J: twilight
23. What would be the perfect day for mom?
A: kids clean and do something right
J: her birthday, she gets breakfast in bed
24. How does mom get money?
A: from the store
J: she sews projects
25. Is there anything else you would like to say about mom?
A: she wants us to wear clothes so we won't be naked
J: that's all I suppose