Back at the Ranch

We finally made it to the ranch and it was a beautiful day. Kendi has been begging to ride a horse for a while now. This is one of shellie's named Dandy. Kendi had a smile on her face the whole time.
Kendi waded in the water. She kept slipping and getting wet. She ended up in just her underwear. The leaches didn't bother her.

Kendi and Gpa caught a few fish.

Jared painted the entire time. He got a really nice painting done. One with sentimental value. If he sells it, it will have to be for a great price.

It was strange to think that the last time we were here, Jared painted with Aunt Mary. We had no idea, at the time, that she would get cancer and die exactly one year later.

Gpa took Kendi for a long walk around the lake. They caught frogs, found duck eggs, saw snakes and fish in the stream. I met them on the road and as we were walking back, a rock chuck popped its head out of it's hole. We asked Kendi if she knew what it was and she got really excited and said, "A Bear!" We laughed.

Kendi played so hard and got so tired that she crawled into the car and fell asleep. Aydri slept most of the time. We all really enjoyed getting out.

Catching Up

It was Jared's birthday last week. Kendi and I made him his favorite breakfast, waffles and then he opened his presents. We were planning on going to the ranch for his birthday, but the weather was nasty.

The Summer Games Opening Ceremonies were that same night so we went to watch the fireworks with Gma Barnes, Greg, Jaelyn and Kirra.
Jaelyn showed us how to take pictures of fireworks with our camara. I had no idea you could do this. I should get to know my carama better.

We were right under the fireworks so it was easier to lay down.

They used a tons of really loud fireworks this year. It was almost more than I could handle.

It was chilly so we put Aydri in the bear suit. She slept through the whole thing.

Another Cousin

Kendi and Aydri have a new cousin. Her name is Sydney. This makes 7 girls and 0 boys on the Barnes side. Jaelyn was able to have her completely natural even having been induced. Way to go, Jaelyn!!

Remembering Mary

My Aunt Mary passed away this week. She was my dad's sister. She was 57, only one year older than my dad. The hardest part about this was that Mary and Kendi were very close.



Mary had found out that she had brain tumors back in October. She tried some treatments and tried to get more, but most of the doctors felt like there was nothing they could do for her. I was pregnant when she was diagnosed and I remember wondering if she would make it to see Aydri. She wanted to so bad. Fortunately she did, but she wasn't able to hold her.


Mary was fascinated with being known as an outlaw cowboy. She had definitely made a name for herself as that. She was very gifted with animals. I remember her telling stories about a bull named Oscar. It was so mean that someone was having trouble with it. I don't remember all the details. This bull loved Mary so much that it would follow her around mending fences so closely that she could see its horns on either side of her as she walked.


Growing up, I was never very close to Mary, but one summer she took us up on the Fifty Mile Bench (the top of the Grand Staircase) where she ranched. This was an extraordinary trip, one I will always remember. It took pack mules and horses to get there. I actually walked the whole way because the ledges made it dangerous to ride the horses. There was no way to get a four wheeler up the trail. This was very rough country. When we got on top, I remember walking in a single file line with my uncle in front and my dad in back with their rifles. The bulls were too mean to just walk past. We camped by her little cabin. I remember her telling stories and reminiscing. We went for horseback rides. I rode a mule named Lovey that was actually half Zebra. It was a pretty buckskin color with a short black mane and a few black stripes on its knees. It also wasn't very tame. The other horses were Rex, Tinker, Bunny, Smurf, and Barnabus (Beux). She showed us things that most people in their lifetime will never get to see.


Kendi had gotten to know Mary a few years ago when they started to take walks with my mom every night. Mary really took to Kendi and her love for life. As Mary got sicker and sicker Kendi would go visit her. She would color with Mary and play with toys and just talk to her a lot. After Mary had taken a turn for the worst, for some reason Kendi wanted to go see her really bad. Mary hadn't been in good spirits so I told her I'd take her the next day. I took a camera with me to get a picture of the two of them. I wanted Kendi to remember her, but Mary was not well enough for a picture. She was really struggling so I took Kendi outside. I didn't want her to see Mary suffer. While she was out there she started to play with Mary's dog, Renie. A crowd gathered at the window because Renie was thought to be a one person dog. Mary had spoiled it to point where it didn't take to anyone else. For some reason it listened to Kendi. I tried to get a picture, but I wasn't fast enough. Everyone thought the moment was lost, but I went out and told Kendi to play with Renie. She asked her to roll over and she did. Kendi even rubbed her tummy.

The next morning we got the phone call that Mary had passed in the night. It was a little unexpected. We had to tell Kendi that Mary had died. It made her cry. We tried to explain that Mary was living with Heavenly Father now. Kendi said that she didn't want her to. So we told her that Mary wasn't sick anymore. That she was happy and able to do things she wants to now. She seemed to except that and be glad. I think kids understand the plan of salvation better than adults do sometimes.

The memorial service was nice. I was surprised at how many people were able to come with such short notice. My mom had Kendi get Mary some flowers.

Her casket was simple. It was just what she wanted.

My dad told some good stories and Zhailee Rei (their cousin) sang a beautiful song. I had Kendi take a flower and put it on her casket.

It is a little bit of a relief that Mary was finally able to pass. Its sad that she got cancer and passed so young. We know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and I'm sure that Mary will be able to find the happiness that she was never able to find here.

Aydri's Blessing

We gave Aydri a name and a blessing today. Jared did a great job. We had all my sisters here this weekend so it's been fun. Here is Stacia, Jana, and Tammy with Aydri. Cari is missing.

Yes, I'm sunburned!! Jared played Ultimate Frisbee in the Summer Games yesterday. His team got bronze.

Aydri smiled and smiled at Grandpa Wayne.

Grandma Koami and Grandpa Wayne with Aydri.

My grandparents brought a tricycle over from my cousins in Monroe. Kendi couldn't wait to ride it. She cruises around so fast it scares me.

Thanks to all our family and friends who have helped us out this week. It has been very bittersweet.

Our Two Girls

For some reason Aydri prefers to sleep on her side. I usually roll her on to her back, but I had to take a picture first. Even when she's on her back she cocks her head to the side. I know she doesn't look very comfortable, but she was actually asleep in this picture.

Kendi was sitting next to me talking to Aydri. Kendi usually gets the most smiles out of her.
Kendi got a little pool for her birthday. She absolutely loves it. Now she doesn't get tempted to play in the ditch anymore.

She still hasn't figured out the slide. She is having way too much fun with the just the water.

We took Aydri to church for the first time this week. It was actually really fun! I was able to SIT through all the meetings. She only fussed when we first took her in. I think because we woke her up to get there. Everyone wanted to help hold her while she slept. This is very different from when Kendi was a baby. Kendi didn't let us sit or even just stand with her. She had to be held facing out so she could see and we had to be moving. As soon as we would stop she would cry. Then when Kendi got tired, sleepiness would bring on the spasms so we would be in the hall trying to calm her most of the time. Sometimes I wondered why I even bothered making the effort to go to church because I spent the whole 3 hours in the hall. It was exhausting. These two girls might look a lot alike, but their personalities are night and day.

Announcement

One Month Old

Aydri is already one month old. I took pictures of Kendi every month in her car seat so that you could see how fast she was growing. So I'm doing the same thing with Aydri. This first picture was one of the first times we took her out. She's actually wearing a preemie sized outfit.

Here she is one month later in nothing but a onesie.

It's been fun to see Aydri developing a personality. She is a pretty good baby, but when she gets mad she goes from zero to sixty in seconds. She loves to sleep with her head cocked way to the side and looking almost straight up. Sometimes at night I'll look at her and she has rolled onto her side to sleep. I haven't got a picture of it yet. She likes to grab onto anything she gets her hands on. She frustrates herself by pulling out her Binky and screams when she pulls her own hair. And then she's so mad she can't let go. She will make eye contact and smile so big that you can see her dimples. She is still a pretty good sleeper at night. She is not the reason I'm so tired all the time. There seems to always be something that is going on or worrying us enough to keep us awake at night. We've all been really sick these last few weeks. Jared even came down with adult croup which is really rare. I always knew he was one in a million. He couldn't breath a few nights ago and is now on steroids which he has been having allergic reactions to. We have to keep him on a balance of steroids and benedryl.

Taking a nap. I know I'm going to miss this.

Girls nap time.

Proud Sister. Kendi felt my stomach today and asked if she was getting another baby!!! Sorry Kendi, not anytime soon.

Kendi wrapped this birthday present completely by herself.

NEWBORN PICTURES!!

Jaelyn took some really great pictures of Aydri today. Words can't even describe how pleased I am with these. Check out her blog and her website to see more amazing pictures.

Yard Sale - Tomorrow

Sunset Ridge is having a yard sale tomorrow. We are cleaning out our print inventory and will have a lot of prints and mats and frames to sale for way cheap. We got some prints up to 16 x 20 for $1. Some 16 x 20 frames for $5. Great mother's day stuff. Come check us out.

Baby Aydri - Birth Story

Aydri was born April 18th at 7:37 pm. She weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 inches long. Labor started about 2 am when contractions kept waking me up. I started watching the clock and realized they were about 4 minutes apart. I got up to see if it would make them change. They got to be about a minute apart for about an hour. Jared got up a 3 am to make waffles. We ate and got everything ready. After eating I noticed the contractions slowed down a little so I went to lay down to relieve the pain in my back. Contractions slowed down to about 10 minutes, but they were still intense so I knew this was for real. Got back up at 6 am. Contractions picked up again. My parents came and got Kendi at 8:00. We decided to go to the hospital so they could tell us how I was progressing. I originally wanted to stay home as long as I could because I wanted to go completely natural. My labor with Kendi was so quick and easy I thought this would be a possibility. I was glad we went to the hospital because as soon as they hooked me up to the monitors they could see a dip in the baby's hear rate with every contraction. The nurse immediately said that it looked like a "cord problem." She turned out to be right, but at the time we didn't know what kind of cord problem. She just suggested that the cord was tightening or getting pinched with the pressure from the contractions. The baby was not facing the right way and was causing a lot of back labor. I tried a lot of different things to get her to turn and she never did. My doctor was gone so the doctor on call suggested breaking my water to speed things up. I was surprised to learn that I was at 4 centimeters when I got to the hospital. I let them break my water and things did speed up fast. Contractions got harder and I started dilating quickly. A half an hour later i was 6 centimeters. They even got the room ready for the baby to come. Back labor got worse and wouldn't let up and the baby was still facing the wrong way. I stayed at 6 centimeters for a long time. At 6 pm there was still no progress from a 6. I was at my pain limit and felt like I was losing my strength and was going to pass out. The doctor came and told me they had to start pitocin because they had broke my water so long ago. I had been in labor for a total of 15 hours. Jared had talked me through every single contraction for the last 5 hours. Jared was the best coach. We were using the Bradley Method and it made all the difference. I told them not to start pitocin until I got an epidural. I had to wait for the anisthesiologist to get to the hospital. I got the epi and they started pitocin and I immediately started to feel that familiar pressure of the baby coming. After a half hour of the pit my progression was complete. I'm not sure what finally made her descend and face the right way, but it felt like a miracle to me. By then my doctor was back and was able to deliver Aydri. We found out that the cord was wrapped around her so tight that it wasn't letting her turn the right way or descend like she was supposed to. The doctor had to cut the cord off her before she was all the way out. She wasn't breathing so the respiratory therapists took her to get her breathing quickly. She was fine after about a minute. She scored well on all the tests and is doing really well still. She nurses all night, sleeps all day and seems to be pretty content. She looks a lot like Kendi did when she was born.

Just Born
After 18 hours of Labor.

Kendi absolutely loves Aydri. She told us that mom and dad can stay at the hospital and she was going to take Aydri home. She kept running off to the nursury to look at her. She kept calling her "My Baby."

Proud Daddy. So willing to help.

Baby Update!

Sorry, no baby news. Just got back from the Doctor and I've had very little progression toward labor. I'm not surprised. It was the same way when Kendi was born. I didn't show any progression until the day we had her. Kendi was 9 days early. If this one comes 9 days early it would be about thursday of this week. I'm not in any hurry. I want her to be good and done before she comes.

Who Needs a Doll House?

Who needs a doll house when you have FISHING WORMS? We were able to enjoy watching conference this weekend. We watched the Saturday afternoon session at my parents house. My dad was reorganizing his fishing tackle and let Kendi play with a bag of worms. Kendi played with them the whole time. The cute little worm voices didn't bother me while I listened to conference because it was so funny. She even gave them a ride in her baby buggy.

Jared is able to focus on conference when he is drawing. He always has a pad of paper and a pencil with him during conference. He usually draws whoever falls asleep, but no one did this time. I told him I would sit for him if he would make a quick, non-serious sketch.

For some perplexing reason Jared can never get my face in a live picture. I have sat multiple times and it has never worked out. He doesn't understand why either. Its odd because portraiture is his specialty.

I was especially grateful for conference this weekend. Its getting harder and harder to find something to wear to church. I always end up looking ridiculous and I get the strangest comments from people at church. I hate to admit it, but it was nice to sit at home and watch it on TV.