Recent Happenings

I just realized I haven't posted since the beginning of October! It is just an indicator of how our life has been. Anyway here are LOTS of pictures of what has been happening with the Barlow's, starting with the most recent memories.

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Emi and Harli are fascinated with each other. Emi loves grabbing Harli's fur and ears and Harli is so dazzled by Emi's smallness and unique noises she makes. It is so funny and super cute.

Emi just chillin'. She is the happiest and most content baby I know.
She looks just like a mini Dan (but more feminine).

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We have also been trying to get use to the bitter snow. Actually I should say except Harli because she loves playing in it. She just hasn't quite picked up on the fact that Sheldon and I are not diggin' it.

It is too cold when we have to bundle up in several layers (literally several) head to toe just to take our pup on a walk.

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On Halloween we went galactic mini golfing and had a BLAST. Bree had the brilliant idea to get our camera out and snap some fun shots with the black lights and crazy colored props.

Needless to say, I think things got a little out of hand...

(I am pretty sure Bree was the brains behind this shot too.)
Thanks for the fun and late night Bree and Tyler!

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Next...this is what our yard looked like way back in October.

If you are wondering, NO it did not snow in October. Our yard only looked like this because we have one of these...

She looks ashamed in this picture for a reason. This was Harli's second, and thankfully last episode of naughtiness (if you saw the previous post you saw her first episode of naughtiness). I had put her bed outside in the shed for her to lay on during the day while we were gone at work because it was starting to get cold. Looks like she had other plans with it. Sheldon and I have made a decision that she no longer gets beds with stuffing in them. This mess took me almost 1 HOUR and I think it was five 13 gallon garbage bags to clean up. I made Harli sit on the porch (without getting up) and watch me clean up the mess as her discipline. I think she knew she was in trouble because she didn't even think about moving the whole time I was cleaning up.

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Despite her few episodes of naughtiness Harli still graduated from puppy training. We actually can't complain, she is a really good dog and one of the cutest might I add :).

Receiving her certificate from her trainer.

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Last but not least! In September (holy moly I haven't posted in forever!) we went on a hike up Adam's Canyons. Just looking at these pictures makes me sick of the snow already. The leaves were in the process of changing and they were gorgeous.

That's all the memories for now!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS !

Angel turned Demon

Hmmm....somehow my angel turned into a demon over night. This is what I found the other morning when I went to get Harli out of her kennel to let her outside.

Bed stuffing everywhere!

NAUGHTY HARLI! (Her eyes are such a crazy color they even look like little devil eyes in these pictures because of the camera flash.) This was quite a surprise to me. Harlie is such a good dog this incident was out of character for her. But I must say I do believe we are to blame; we put her in her kennel really early the night before and I slept in later than usual too. We also forgot to put her bone/chew toy in the kennel with her so add up all those factors and we get a bored little puppy, which in turns equals a very large mess.

I was laughing so hard. She had stuffing from her bed stuck on her snout. It was so cute, I had to wake up Sheldon to show him and I had to get some pictures. Maybe she turned demon for a night but isn't she still so adorable?

Family Pictures 2009

One of our wonderful friends is an amazing photographer!!! Sheldon and I have tried to get pictures done every year so one day we will be able to look back and remember each amazing year we have spent together (kinda cheesy but I am serious). Our dear friend Nicole (Nicole Grace Photography) does photography on the side of her day job and she offered to do them for us despite her busy schedule. Nicole is so gifted and she did an AMAZING JOB! Plus she has a wonderful assistant who will even hold all your stuff for you and watch your dog during your photo shoot...her husband! (Thanks Jake).

I know it may seem like we are some of those crazy people who treat their pet like their child but don't worry...we are not, crazy that is. Or I guess I would like to think we are not...don't judge me. We just love Harli so much. She is very much a part of our little family and will be for a very long time, even after our little ones come. So of course Harli had to be in our family pictures. Nicole shot some great pics of her. I am pretty sure she is one of the cutest dogs ever...and one of the best.

I know there are a lot of photos of us...sorry. I tried to condense the post by putting some of our favorites in a collage rather than posting each photo individually. I just had to showcase Nicole's talent. She has a great eye for this stuff and there is a lot of variety in her work.

If you are looking to get some pictures done you should definitely check out Nicole's photography blog, Nicole Grace Photography at http://nicolegracephotos.blogspot.com/
It has some samples of her work. She recently did some amazing new born photos our friends Michelle and Justin's baby, baby Tate. You have to check them out! She is very reasonable too.

THANK YOU NICOLE, YOU ARE AWESOME...you too Jake.

Labor Day Weekend

We did some camping, fishing, swimming, and Canoeing this weekend. We had fun and it was nice to get away.

Of course Harli came with us and she had a blast...we think.

2 more posts...Boating and 13.1 Miles

My half marathon is over! The race was in Logan and the route was beautiful. I wanted to do the St. George half last year when my friend asked me to but I had too much going on at the time. In May two of my friends/coworkers asked me to run the Top of Utah half with them and I decided to go for it and I am so glad I did. I have loved the training process and the race was a blast. I can't wait to do it again! I am trying to get Sheldon and Dan to do the next one with me. I am hoping to go for a full 26 miles eventually...we will see.

I am so close to the finish line here. I guess I was running too fast for Sheldon to get a front shot! haha J/K I am actually pretty slow but I didn't stop the whole time! But our camera is just really slow. I was waving to my one and only fan..Sheldon.

With Kami and Katie, my running buddies.

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NEXT...Pineview! Jake and Nicole invited us to go boating. We had so much fun hanging out with all our friends.

Justin and Colby just chillin' on the boat.

Sheldon pulling a face...one of many.

Sheldon trying to get up.

Colby and Carson...awwh! They are the best of friends...haha!

Jake and Nicole, these guys crack us up. Thanks for the invite guys.

Poor Michelle...maybe we should invent a maternity life jacket!

I can't figure out if I am just really that white or if Michelle is just really tan like she usually is. Which ever it is...note to self, do not stand next to Michelle in a swimsuit photo.

Look who went wake boarding for the very first time...Carson! He is only 2! He loved it too! We were impressed.

Michelle and Tate wake boarding...Michelle is over 8 months pregnant!

Marie getting some sweet air.

We love that we have friends who still go out and do fun and crazy stuff! Thanks guys, we love you all!

Another Long One

I am creating a bad habit of slow posting, so before I know it I have so much to share!!! So this is another long one.

FIRST....our family is growing, not of the human kind though.


Meet Harli...

She is my precious Chesapeake Bay Retriever. For those of you who know me well, know I LOVE dogs! I have wanted a dog ever since my childhood Chesapeake Bay Retriever-Coco-died soon after Sheldon and I were married. The day she died Sheldon promised one day he would get me a dog. Up until now we have known that a dog in our life was not practical. Even though I have wanted one so badly Sheldon and I also wanted to make sure we were in a place where we could keep a dog with us forever (well until the dog grows old and...well you know) when we did get one. Now that we are settling down more we felt it was time to take the next step in our life. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes school, then comes house, then comes dog...right?! (And no one needs to tell us what comes next, we know :)

So, on Sheldon's birthday I came home from work and...SURPRISE! I was SHOCKED to say the least. How was my birthday present to him going to top that???!!! Sheldon bought her while I was working and brought her home. She was a steal of a deal which is why Sheldon decided to finally take the plunge, and she is past the tiny puppy stage which was also comforting for him. I am not naive and knew having a puppy would be hard. The first day she didn't prove us wrong with the being hard thing BUT everyday after we have been very pleasantly surprised. She is quite mellow. She is already used to being outside in the back with no one with her and she is not even barking or howling for us like she did the first day. She is training well and is warming up to her kennel. Overall she is a happy and sweet pup. WE LOVE HER!

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As I just mentioned Sheldon also turned 26. Happy late B-day Sheldon!

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This past weekend we went camping with our ward at Monte Cristo. The scenery was beautiful. I broke the camera out a little late but I captured a few moments. We took Harli with us and she did great. We have learned she does not love other dogs but that is seriously her only flaw, and she will learn to get over that with her training (fingers crossed).

She already knows she is my baby, next to Sheldon of course.

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NEXT...Rindee Lynn has arrived. Krista had her baby girl 4 weeks early due to high blood pressure issues.

Luckily 5 lb 1 oz Rindee came very quick but HEALTHY and with the most adorable strawberry-blond hair, a lot of it too! She is a doll.

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Finally, I just thought I would share some pics from our Bear Lake trip we took a long while ago.

I woke up at 5 am to do my run before it heated up and this is the view of the sunrise from our cabin deck.

Sheldon and I on the beach happy to be alive. My brother is wicked with the wave runners! He almost killed us all including his own girlfriend who he brutally threw off the back.

Below is the Merlinator, which is a GIGANTIC, extremely unhealthy might I ad, hamburger (the regular size ones are not even healthy!) The picture doesn't even do the size justice, it was the size of my face. Anyway, if you eat the whole thing your picture gets put on the wall of the restaurant and you get a bumper sticker.

Well, not only did my brother eat it, he ate it in only 9 MINUTES! He also ate fries and then ordered a shake! Ugh, it makes me sick thinking about it.

He was proud though.

DONE! Savor the rest of your summer, it is coming to an end real fast! By the way, yesterday I was in Hobby Lobby and they have Christmas stuff out, CHRISTMAS STUFF!
Ok, now I am done.