My Red Head Grandma

Yesterday my sweet Grandma passed away. It was 150% unexpected, and we are already missing her. Our "Red Head Grandma", as my sister's kids called her and the name just kind of stuck after that, was one of the best women I knew, and I am already missing her. As I got the news yesterday evening that she was gone, memories of her started flowing into my mind. Her stories, her style, her house, going to San Fransisco with her, her laugh, but I think what I will miss most about her is going to her house, and her not being there to greet us. I will miss not seeing her come to the door, in one of her beautiful outfits, with all the matching jewelry, that I would always ask to try on, and giving us a big hug and kiss at the door. I will miss EVERYTHING about her, and wish she was still here. Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us, and it was her time to go and see him. There is no coincidence that today December 5th, is my sister Amber's birthday, who was also taken very unexpectedly from this world about 30 years ago, and that my Grandma died yesterday December 4th. We know that they had a wonderful reuniting in heaven when she arrived. I also know that our family will see my Grandma again in heaven, and she will greet us there with a big hug and kiss, and say she couldn't wait to see us again. I love you Grandma, and your legacy will always live on.

Whew!

Here is a blog overload. Enjoy!

Festival of Trees

Tonight we went to the annual Festival of Trees here in Sandy. They put it on every year and ALL of the proceeds go to the Primary Childrens Medical Center. What it is, is people all over utah, families, companies, churches, whoever decorate trees, wreaths, gingerbread houses, etc. and people bid on them. Some of the trees go for thousands of dollars. All of the trees have themes, and they all come with presents that cordinate with the tree. So there was a princess fairy tree, so under the tree it was decorated with dolls, dress up clothes, and lots of little girly things. Besides all of the proceeds going to the hospital, the best part is the trees are all donated to needy families who can't afford a tree, and EVERYTHING goes with the trees. Last year there was a skiing/snowboard theme, and they had like 2 snowboards, and least 3 pairs of ski's. We love going not only because it is for a good cause, but because Brian took me on our first date here, and we make it a tradition to do it every year. I look forward to it all year long. We went with our friends Austin and Stacie again this year and we always have a great time with them. Thanks for inviting us guys! I love the trees and here are some of my favorites they had there. These are only a couple out of the hundreds that were there. Some of these trees are seriously amazing.

Look what I did

Yep that's right I cut my hair! I cut off about 10-12 inches, I am not exactly sure how long it is. After taking 45 mintues or more to do my hair, I decided it was time to just cut it off. My sister Celeste cut it and I think she did a great job. It takes me about half the time to do it now. So nice! and yes I am going to be donating it to Locks of Love.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Brian's family came to our house this year, and I with the help of my sister-in-law Bethany made the turkey. And no I did not burn it. It actually turned out really good, and the rest of the food was ABSOLUTLEY delicious. We had such a great time just hanging out with family, and are grateful for this time of year we have to reflect on the blessings that Heavenly Father has so graciously given to us. Even if they are a little difficult for us to understand, I am truly grateful for what has happened to us, and take everything as a learning experience, and blessing from him. I was overwhelmed with joy of being surrounded with a loving family who is so great to Brian and I. We truly missed Garrett and Kricket, and their sweet loving children who always make me laugh. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and wish you nothing but the best for you and your families. I especially have to thank Bethany for helping me so much, and being my support with cleaning the turkey. I could not have done it with out you. The picture is of my cute nephew Calder, who thought that turkey leg was just great.

Say What?!?!?!?

I thought that this was so funny that I would share it with all of you. Some time last week or so before Thanksgiving, I got up and did my routine that I do everyday. You know shower, hair, makeup, figure out what I am going to wear, and then the last thing I do is put on my jewelry to match what I am wearing. Well in my head I wanted to wear my new orange scarf that I had recently gotten. So I put on my outfit that would match it. As I went to put on my earrings, I was thinking what would look good with it, and choose according to what I thought would look best. As I was talking to my sister on the phone, I usually play with my earrings, and I then realized that the earring I was playing with did not match the other earring that I was wearing. That is right I was wearing two very different earrings, and the best part is I did not realize it until about 6 p.m. that night. I had gotten ready at about 10 that morning so if you do the math I wore them for 8 hours that day. No wonder the girl in my class was looking at me funny when I was talking to her.

Quickutz Warehouse Sale

I wanted to let everyone know, that my company Quickutz is having a HUGE warehouse sell this weekend. In case anyone is wondering what Quickutz is they made all kinds of die cuts for scrapbooking and craft making, and they have a digital cutting machine, similar to the Cricut. They have a ton of stuff, from storage, to ready made kits, there will be a lot of things to choose from. Everything is 50%-80% off.
The sale goes on from Friday DECEMBER 5th 9 am-8 pm, and Saturday December 6th 9 am-5 pm
Cash, checks, and major credit cards are accepted

The address is 7 south 1550 west, in Lindon

We are right off of the 1600 South exit in Lindon.......if you get off of the freeway and head west, then turn North on Geneva road, go down one more light to 200 South and turn west. You will go over the freeway, and then turn North on 1550 West. Follow the steet until it dead ends, you will be at the back of the building, and just pull around to the front. We are located just a couple of doors down from Jump On It.

So if you are in Utah and love this kind of stuff, then you should definently be here!

you can also call toll free 1-888-702-1146, or directly 1-801-769-2480 if you get lost, or have any questions

Thanksgiving is coming!

Wow I can't believe how fast this month has gone by! Thanksgiving is on Thursday, and I am trying to get everything done before my guests come, especially getting those big projects done for school that I of course have procrastinated until the last possible second. I am cooking the turkey this year(YIKES!) and I just hope that our tukey doesn't turn out like the turkey on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. You know all rubbery, and the dog chokes on it, not that I have a dog, but if I did he would choke on it. But I am excited to see Mom B., John and Bethany on Wednesday. I hope everyone's Thanksgiving is great, and that people are full of thanksgiving cheer and glee. Happy Eating!(sorry no picture, I can't figure out how to get an image off the internet)

I've Been Tagged

8 Favorite shows:
1. The Hills
2.The Office
3. What not to wear
4. Clean House
5. Full House(that's right!)
6. Will and Grace
7. MTV'S the Real World
8. Anything reality t.v. show, I usually love

8 things I did yesterday:
1. Went to church
2. Taught 11 3 year olds in nursery
3. Talked to my Mom
4. took a nap
5. watched movies with Brian
6. Made dinner
7. Made really yummy cookies
8. Told Brian what I wanted for Christmas

8 things I look forward to:
1. Thanksgiving
2. Christmas
3. My birthday
4. BABIES!
5. Vacation to Europe
6. Going to Califonia to see Miles and Kris
7. New Clothes
8. School being over Forever!

8 Favorite Resturants:
1. Paradise Bakery
2. Trolly
3. La Casita # Uno
4. Zubs
5. Smokehouse
6. Charlie Boys
7. Chessecake Factory
8. P.F. Changs

8 things on my wish list:
1. BABIES!
2. Vacation to Europe
3. 1 million dollars
4. A new car
5. Go to Africa and help them in anyway possible
6. Start my own dance company
7. Finsih my degree
8. To have my family be happy

8 people I tag.....
Kricket, Johanna, Bethany, Kris, Kacey Locke, Claire, Joanne, Ashley Burton, and whoever else wants to be tag. Enjoy!
3.
7.

For my good friend Kris

Take the Quiz here!

Everytime I hear about Jane Austen I always think about my good friend Kris Jackson. I have never met someone who love's Jane Austen as much as she does, she has even been able to go to Jane Austen's house. She curently lives in England, and I am missing her so despretley right now! So this is a little shout out to my friend, and Jane Austen for letting us rekindle our spirits through her stories and characters. Kris I just smiled when I found this little quiz, and I knew I had to share it with you.

A little Catch Up

For those of you that have been asking about how my brother is doing he is doing very well. He is now home, and after about a week of his body going through withdrawls from the medicine he was on, he is now feeling great and is up and around and going out. I am truly grateful for everyone concern and prayers for my brother and our family. I will do thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. As for Brian and I we are doing great. Brian is getting a project ready to go to Virgina for a conference at the end of the month, and I started a new job. I am a receptonist for a company called Quickutz. They sell cutting machines similar to the Cricut, and I love working there. One of my dearest friends Kristi is coming into town, so I will do a bigger post after this weekend. Till then

My Brother's Miracle

Last week my brother Todd, was in a very serious motorcross accident. He was thrown from his bike, while doing a 120 foot jump, when he landed he broke all of his ribs on his left side, and 7 on his right, he broke his left arm in 2 places, and crushed his wrist, on top of all of that he punctured both his lungs, his left completley filled with blood, and his right was 3/4 of the way filled with blood. He was life flighted to the hospital, where they stablized him, and did an exam on his bladly hurt arm. After 6 hours of surgery he know has a brand new left arm. A rod that goes from is shoulder to his elbow, and 17 pins, and plates in his wrist. They told him he would have a full recovery with his arm. A couple of days past and they started to worry about his heart. They found that it was enlarged, and had fluid on it. They did another x-ray and found that his heart and been torn from his cardiovascular sack, and was sitting to the left of where it is suppossed to be. The doctors told him, that he was a miracle. They had never seen anyone live through what had happened to his heart. They told him he is the 36th person in the worls, to have that happen to them and live. Today is his surgery to move it back to where it belongs, he does not have to have open heart surgery, just a small incision in his pectorial muscle, and they will move it back to where it belongs. I am so grateful for my brother and his courage and faith that he has had through this horrific week. I am grateful for Heavenly Father, and letting us have our brother, Dad, son, and uncle with us today. I am grateful for his precious miracles that he places in our lives everyday to make us stronger, and for his trials that brings a family together with love, patience, and faith that all will be well. I am so grateful for Todd, and that he is still here today.

Happy Birthday Love!

Yesterday was Brian's 27th Birthday. He is growing up so fast. I wanted to let everyone know how much I love, and appreciate him for how hard he works, and how caring and thoughtful he is. I love you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Summer Travels

Brian and I have done a lot so far this summer. My cute nephew Bo gratuated from High school, and it was my first nephew to graduate. I will admit it made me feel a little old. On June 24th, we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We can't believe it has already been 3 years. We decided to et away on a short little outing to Viva Las Vegas. It was so hot, but so nice at the same time. We just hung out at the pool all day, went to the strip, went to the temple, and my favorite part was going to the M&M store. That store makes you want to be a kid again. I loved it, and it was so nice to get away for a couple of days and just relax.

Then in July we went to the Barnum Famly reunion in Eastern Washington. It was really pretty where we went, and the weather was perfect. All though this wasn't one of the bigger reunions, (about only 80 people came instead of the usuall count of over 100) we still had a great time spending time with family that we don't ever get to see except at reunions. I did get to gut my first fish, and I have to admit that although it was a big thing for me to do, I didn't really think that it was a very pleasant experience. Anyone that knows me knows that I do not do well with those sorts of things.After the reunion we headed over to Vancouver, WA to Brian's mom's house to help her do some remodeling in her house. It was a lot of fun, and we got a lot done for her, and her house looks great. Here is Brian and his brother Garrett installing the new dishwasher. Here are some of us touching up the paint with q-tips. We really love Mom B. a lot. On our way to Vancouver we were able to stop at Mutnomah Falls. It was beautiful, I can honestly say that I can honestly say I have never seen a waterful up close before that was so pretty.

Baby Phaelen

Here he is, our newest nephew Phaelen Robert Johnson. You pronounce it (fay-lynn). He came here on August 13th at 1:13 a.m. He is very healthy, and has a lot of hair as you can see in the picture. My sister-in-law Johanna did a great job, and she did it alnatural...she is very brave. we are so excited that he is here, and we love him, and are very happy for Johanna, Jeff, and Calder to have this new precious baby in their family. Congrats!

Just Waiting

Well it is 10:15 on a Tuesday night, and I have not blogged in almost a month in a half. Brian and I are at our sister's house watching our nephew Calder while Johanna and Jeff are off having their 2nd baby boy. We are just waiting for them to have him, and all though there is a lot more I need to tell you all about, I do not have any pictures with me to update you with because I am not at home. My last day of work is on Friday, and I will be on full update blogging mode. I promise!

Happy Future Fathers' Day

Since Brian and I are not parents yet, and offically shouldn't really being celebrating mothers' day or fathers' day, we like to celebrate future mothers' and fathers' day. We figure that since we are not able to have kids right at this very moment, but are ready and willing, we should and do celebrate these very important dates. Since it is fathers' day, I of course honored Brian on this very special day. I made him one of his favorite breakfast's.....homemade waffles, bacon, eggs, and juice. He then got to open his gifts.....a new pair of board shorts, flip flops, and a gift certificate to Home Depot(he really likes that place), then we went to my parents to celebrate fathers' day over thetr with the rest of the family. We had a wonderful time honoring my dad, and my brother who has 3 boys. I want to wish everyone a happy Fathers' Day, and say how grateful I am for my own dad, and all the love and support he has given to me over these many years. But I especially want to say Happy Future Fathers' Day to my own husband Brian, who I love and adore and I know will be a great dad to our kids one day. I love you!

Sorry for the delay......

Please forgive me for waiting so long to update our blog. I need to start taking after my good friend Kris, in England, who always updates, and lets everyone know what is going on with them. Thanks Kris for the blogging inspiration! This blog might be a little long, so bear with me.

School finally ended for me at the end of April, I was so excited to be out of there. 17 credits didn't seem that bad at first, but at the end I was definently feeling it. Right after my last final we went straight up to Park City with our good friends, Austin and Stacie, adn her little sister Ashley and her husband Adam. We stayed in a condo like room. It was beautiful! It had 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a huge living room and fireplace. Comfortable beds, and couches, and the best part was a Jacussi on the balcony. It was the perfect cabin feeling for being up in the beautiful mountains. There was still a bit of snow up there, but it was warm and sunny everyday. We went shopping at the outlets, of course, and then we went up to the Olympic Park. Since the olympics were here in 2002 (I think?), you can go up to where they did the ski Jumping, and bobsledding and see the tracks, or go to the museum that they have. It was really interesting. The first level is about how skiing was first used in Utah, the second floor, was all about the olympics. They had the torch, and they had some of the costumes and uniforms that they athletes competed in. They showed the different medals, how they made them, it was really interesting. They also have the biggest and steepest zip line in the world, but we opted to wait. It was a little to cold to be flying down the side of a mountain. We had a great time up there with our friends, and can't wait to go back.

Lately we have just been working a lot, but we still try to find time to hang our with each other, or with family. Summer is trying to get here and we have gone swimming a couple of times, but hopefully it will get hotter and stay hot. It seems to get hot, then get cold, like 50 degrees cold, and then get hot again. Hopefully this pattern won't keep going, and my californian roots will help it to stay hot, and feel like summer. Our anniversary is coming up this month on the 24th. I still can't believe it has almost been 3 years since we got married. It has gone by so fast, I promise I will keep you all posted, and tell you all about it.

Really Busy....

Brian and I have been so busy these past couple of weeks. I have been working on homework like a mad women, preparing for the semester to end, and get everything in before it actually ends. The last day of classes is tomorrow, and finals start on Monday. Of course I still have homework to turn in, finals to study for and then take my finals. Wow, I have been busy....I was telling Brian that if I actually just turned EVERYTHING in on time, then I wouldn't have to run around like a nutjub and feel a little stressed. Hey I'm 23, I am still young, I still have a lot of learning to do. Brian has been working as a busy little bee as well. He finished a project they had been working on for a while, and now he is doing some other things with another project, and maybe one more project. I am not quite sure, (all of that engineering talk goes right over my head, I just nod and say "That's Great!") We are excited though for next weekend. Brian's mom is coming into town on Wednesday for BYU graduation for our brother-in-law John, and on thursday right after my last final we are heading up to Park City with our friends. A weekend get away is just what we need right now after having such a busy semester. We hope all is well with everyone!

Date With My Mom

Since Saturday night was Priesthood session for all the men my mom and I decided it had been way to long since we had gone on a date together. I completley agreed with her, and so we planned on going out to dinner that evening with one another. My mom took me to my favorite Boutique and Bistro, Dear Lizzie. (I put the name in Pink because that is the color it is on the sign.) It is the most fabulous place you could ever shop, and eat at. It is a boutique just for women and girls. They have old and new things, that will just steal your little heart away. They have a Bistro in the boutique as well, with sandwiches, soup, chocolates, cupcakes, candies, etc. It is just fabulous there, and it is one of my favorite places to go with my mom. After we had our sandwiches and brownies, my mom suprised me with saying that she would buy me anything that I wanted from the store. Well of course I couldn't pass that up. So I got the cutest Brown and creme watch. The watch is called Hot Chic Couture. My mom thought the name alone suit me, so I said I had to have it. My mom had purchased the cutest 50's inspired cupcake apron, and she said that I was not allowed to leave the store, until we had found me a fabulous apron as well. I ended up finding one, that totally screams my personality. After a very long week with school and work, my mom just made my day, with taking me on a date. I will always cherish those moments with my mom, and hope to be able to the same for my daughters, when the day comes. I love you Mom!

Easter

Easter weekend was really busy for Brian and I. After working an 11 hour day at Edible Arranements, which Brian came and helped me, it was really fun for us to be able to work together. Brian went and watched the Formula 1 race with a couple of his friends, but since the race didn't start until 1:30 am I decided to go home and sleep. I woke up early on Sunday to get some food cooking in the crockpot, and to do our easter baskets. As I was filling the eggs with jelly beans, I rememeber a cute tradition Brian's mom used to do for them when they were at home. She would do a jelly bean trail from their room to where their Easter baskets were. I thought "why not?" So I quielty did a jelly bean trail from our room, to downstairs where I had put our baskets. Although it was really fun for me to do, I decided that Brian just doesn't get as excited as I want him to over jelly beans, so I should probably have kids, so I can feel acomplished at the little jelly bean trails that I do. Don't get me wrong Brian loves jelly beans, but I wanted the jump and down, screaming, I love jelly beans reaction. and well, Brian just doesn't do those kind of reactions.

We had a big family dinner at my parents house, everyone was there, and the kids had an Easter egg hunt. It was fun to watch them because now that they are older, we are able to hide the eggs pretty good now, and instead of having to go out with them and make sure they see the eggs laying in the grass, we just watch them have a good time, and watch how intense they get while they are finding the eggs. We had a wonderful Easter, and hope that everyone had just as great an Easter as we did.

A Little Note...

It has been a while since I have posted anything new on our blog. With work, getting over colds, finals coming up, starting a new job, getting tonsel idis(I think that's how you spell it?) I always feel like I am in the twilight zone, when I have free time. I almost don't know what to do with myself. The only thing I can think of sleeping!! Easter was great though, and I will be updating and posting pictures soon.

Grandma Nona

This past weekend we went to Vancouver, Washington for Brian's Grandma's Memorial. She past away last wednesday afternoon, so we flew to Vancouver Friday night with family, and had her memorial service on Saturday. It was a really nice service, and we got to see family we havn't seen in a really long time. We also got to meet our newest cousin Devin, we had never met her before so it was quite fun to get to see her. It was also a great weekend because Brian's brother and sisters and mom hadn't all been together for almost 2 years, it was great to catch up with everyone and to see how everyone is doing. It was nice to all sit around and talk about the memories we had with Grandma Nona. She was a great lady and lived a full life. We will miss her greatly, but we know she is in heaven with our heavenly father, and reuniting with her family and especially her husband Grandpa Jimmy. We will always love our Grandma Nona.

My Husband Brian

I've Been tagged so here it goes........

Name? Brian Taylor Barnum

How long have you been married? 3 years in June

How long did you date? 9 months

How old is he? 26

Who said I love you first? I did

Who is taller? most definently Brian

Who eats more? He does, but I eat more ice cream

Who can sing better? both of us sing really well

Who does laundry? mostly me, unless I ask Brian to

Who pays the bills? Brian

Who mows the lawn? does paying the HOA count?

Who cooks dinner? me

Who drives when your together? Brian does, I get so annoyed when I am driving

Who is more stubborn? me, it comes with the red hair

Who kissed who first? Brian kissed me first

Who proposed? Brian

Who has more siblings? definently me, I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters. Brian just has a brother and 2 sisters.

Tag your it!!!!!!!

Nasty Cold!

This last week Brian and I babysat my nephews while my brother and his wife flew off to Hawaii for a week. While they were there in the 80 degree perfect weather Brian and I caught that nasty cold everyone has. I got it really bad with a fever of 101 for 3 days. I am on day 7 with a stuffy nose and a horrible cough. Brian luckily didn't get it as bad as I did he is doing much better and actually went to work everyday this past week. I went to the doctor and he said there was nothing he could do and sent me home with cough syrup. I was hoping it would help me sleep, but I swear the man gave me childrens medicine. It doesn't help me sleep at all and I still cough all night. One night I even took more than I was suppossed to and it still did nothing for me. I am so ready for this cold to be gone, and to get back to my normal life.

Birthday Party

This past weekend we had a belated birthday party for my brother Ty's girlfriend Mary Ellen. All of our family got together at my parents house, and we had a great time. My brother Todd and his family couldn't make it, but all of us usually get together once a month for a big family dinner. We talk, laugh, watch movies, play games, we just have a really good party.

Here's a family picture from it.

Here's a picture of all the girls, except for my sister-in-law Liz.

My nephew Mason. He wanted to take a pictures with the strawberries.

My cute niece Bella. She just started ballet and tap classes.

We finally have the internet!

We finally have the internet, no thanks to Comcast or Quest, but our nice friends at Digis cmae right over and hooked it up for us. No more late nights at the office sending homework assignments and last minute e-mails. We now have it in the convience of our home. Hooray for technology!

It's been really snowy here in Utah, with lots of storms every week. I am so tired of it, I want it to all melt away and have spring and summer come. Brian on the other hand loves it! He can't get enough of it.

Hooray for blogging!

Hello all, Brian and I thought it was about time to start in on the blogging madness that everyone has started. A little update on us, we are currently living in Springville, Ut. We bought a cute townhome and we absolutely love it. Brian is working for a mechanical engineering company called Optimal Solutions Inc. I am still at UVSC, but hope to be done next spring. We excitedly waiting for spring to come and for the snow to all melt away and never come back. Well actually that is my wish not Brian's. Anyways we hope you enjoy our blog!
Love the Barnums