Sweet Bailee

Last night, the girls and I with one of their friends from church, went to the Keesler Homeschool Group end of the year party. It has been a fluctuating group all year so most people have moved or are about to move and didn't make it so it was much smaller than usual. We met at the marina park for dinner, playing, smores, and then the movie Sing on a big blow up screen. With Dave's work schedule there are many times that he misses out on activities and we miss him! When Bailee found out that he couldn't go she said, "Why does daddy always have to miss the fun stuff?" She was bummed. 

This is how they sat to watch the movie and other kids laid out blankets to sit on

Just a few of the moms in the group. I don't know what happened to the picture on Susan's face.

Then this afternoon Bailee asked me if Dave would be off tonight. I told her he would so she wanted to plan something fun for him since he missed the party last night. She talked about decorating his room and giving him treats so I told her it was a great idea and I was sure he would love even just a little note to wake up to. She surprised me with what she did and it filled my heart when I went upstairs to see. She made a sign and a card and then gave him two starbursts when she woke him up. She wanted to do a movie night to watch Finding Nemo but Dave woke up at the girls bedtime so we plan to fulfill our family movie night tomorrow. There is an EFY song that I listen to when I run and I love the message that the little things in life matter most and Bailee's sweet and simple act of thoughtfulness to Dave brought that song to mind. 

 These are most of the lyrics to the song from Nik Day called Not so Little:

It's the simple things

That matter most in life

It's the subtle things

the day to day

That keep us in the light

                                                      It's not the life or death

The miraculous

That's gonna save our souls

It's the little things, The little things

                                                     That help us grow 
                                                 Every little prayer you say
                                                  Every good choice you make 
                                                    Every little step you take

Makes a difference, such a difference
Every little good thing you do Makes a little change in you

Even though they seem so small
You'll see they're not so little, after all
A little smile Goes a long way

A little act of kindness Can brighten someones day
With repetition you will witness A difference in your heart Cause the little things, the little things go so far.

"I love you. We are going to watch Finding Nemo. From Bailee"

"Thank you for(e) doing the dish(e)s From Bailee" 

April 2017

I have been really good about keeping up with Jennah's mission blog, but not so good about keeping up with our family events! Trying to find balance between daily life responsibilities, mothering, marriage, homeschooling, calling and other church responsibilities is a daily challenge for me which is probably why this is the best way to know what is going on in our lives. It also takes time to keep this up so I am hoping that one day I will have a good schedule to do what is most important and become a master of my life motto to "Be brilliant in the basics" which will probably be when the girls have moved out :)  

Dave and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on April 10th and we were lucky enough that my sweet visiting teacher took our girls for the day so we could go out. We played tennis, went to lunch for sushi and tepanyaki, then stopped in to Dick's sporting goods where we unintentionally left with a new bike for me! It is an all terrain mountain bike and as much as a road bike would cool for city living, I hope to get some off road use at some point so I went with a mtn bike. We picked up the girls, went home to plant roses, and then all 4 of us rode our bikes to the marina park on base where the girls played for a bit before riding back home. One of my family life missions... COMPLETE! I have always liked the idea of having bikes as a family and riding together and now we live where we can ride from our house to a park which is great! The humidity of summer is starting to set in now so we were able to get a handful of bike rides in the last month and probably won't be able to pick it up again until the fall/winter. The pool and splash pads are all open now though so we will have plenty to do through the heat! 

 

On April 4th we went with our sweet friends, the Blanks, to Ben and Jerry's for free ice cream day! There was also a lady who was doing amazing and free face painting! 

Gulf Islands National Seashore

This tree was from a Nature Club field trip in Ocean Springs, near Gulf Island National Seashore on March 29th. We love the amazing spanish moss that are everywhere in the south and make fantastic climbing trees!

The Monday after returning from Arizona, (those posts are still in the works) March 27th, Dave had scheduled a boat excursion at Gulf Islands National Seashore in Ocean Springs. It was fun to come home and still have one more day that felt like vacation! We have been to Gulf Islands a few times now and love that we have a little National Park about 20 minutes away from us! We saw a lot of Blue Heron and other birds while we were out on the water. There is another viewing area where an alligator hangs out, but luckily we didn't encounter any while in the boat. 

Arizona Trip- Barrett family week 1

We had an amazing two week trip to Arizona in March to see both of our families! We planned the trip for months but Dave didn't get official work release until about a week before leaving. We left at 9pm on March 11 from Biloxi as soon as Dave was home from work and ready to go. It was a 1537 mile trip one way to Flagstaff that ended up taking us about 23 hours with stops for gas. We drove straight through, switching off driving at each gas station. The girls were amazing! They have always been good in the car but this was the longest trip we have driven so we weren't sure at what point they would be done. Elise had one little toddler moment of not wanting to get back in the car but it was quickly resolved once we started to drive again. Our good friends in Biloxi were so kind to let us borrow their DVD players for our trip which was so nice to change up activities as we drove. 

Driving into Flagstaff was gorgeous! The fresh crisp air, snow capped mountains in the distance, pine trees all around, were just as we hoped for. We arrived at Evan and Taelor's house around 6 pm their time and were greeted by Taelor and Sierra. It was our first time meeting Sierra since she was born last July. She did what appeared to be a double take when she saw me and we assumed her reaction was because of my similar features to Evan. The girls loved meeting Sierra and playing with her.  

My parents, Jennah, Makayla, and Haley had arrived in the night so we woke up Sunday morning to more family in the house! The last time the girls were with Haley was Easter last year when we went to California for Evan's wedding so they were excited to play with their cousin again. The girls always love trying on Auntie Jennah's fancy shoes. Dave and the girls loved using Evan's hammock for the week and we were very surprised and grateful for Evan and Taelor getting us our own to take home with us! It has been used daily in our backyard since we have been home again. 

Baking with Nana and playing a new game of Disney Pictopia. 

 We took family photos with everybody together and I learned that less people trying to get the kids attention to look, the better :) It was my first attempt at family photos, but it was a lot of fun! Now I will have to learn photo shop!

It was fun to have Brook out for one day so we celebrated her birthday and Dad's! Mom and Dad flew her out from Minnesota Sunday night and drove from Flagstaff to Phoenix to pick her up. They did it again Monday night to take her back and I am so glad we were able to see her, even for just a little bit!

We all live far away and I'm not the best at staying in touch, but when we get together we can pick up as sisters and enjoy being together. I'm grateful for these little seesters of mine!

Tuesday- We went for a hike on Parsons trail.

Elise wanted to jump off a cliff just like daddy so she jumped from a much lower ledge after swimming across on Dave's back. I tried to convince her to jump again for a picture but she thought one jump was enough :)

These two sweet cousins are so good at sharing and I loved watching them interact and play together.

Auntie J let Bailee catch a ride in the baby carrier on the hike out! 

 It was amazing to see the sun go down behind the mountains so I played with my camera as the sun set.

The next morning, dad, mom, Makayla, Haley, and Jennah left to go home to CA so Evan and Taelor took us to the Grand Canyon! The girls wanted to explore, mostly Bailee, more than I was comfortable with in this area. Dave and Evan went down to the little rock in the distance and Bailee wished she could have gone. 

The girls pretended this was their throne and traded off being the queen. 

 Sierra was so good with me holding her when we went outside so I got a good amount of time cuddling her on the hammock! 

I enjoyed a good early morning run with my dad and Ranger and Dave was also able to get some running time in while we were there. The altitude was a bit of a change for us and being in such fresh and clean air was wonderful! Flagstaff is beautiful and we loved the week we had with family there!