We're Running A Marathon to Cure Cancer

So my little sister Gubby, (aka Runner # 5 or Cancer Baby), was diagnosed five years ago with cancer. She will officially be in remission later this year. To "celebrate" the five siblings are raising money for cancer research by running a marathon together. Gubby started this crazy challenge and my three other siblings jumped right in. Being the only rational person in the group I have some serious doubts, not only about raising the money (our goal is 25,000) but also about running 26.2 miles--seriously that is a lot of miles all at once.

Happy Halloween

Halloween started early for us. We were shopping in Lexington in August and went into a store where they had strategically placed Halloween costumes right up in front so that you had to walk by them in order to walk inside. Try as I might, I caved to the pleas and we left with two princess costumes that were tried on at least once a week all the way up to Halloween.
This was the first year that we actually had a front door to place a pumpkin by! The girls really enjoyed helping their Dad out, until Abbie realized that she really didn't like the gooey mess. So Morgan and Dave finished alone...I still can't decide who had the most fun.
It was so fun to have Halloween on a Saturday this year, it gave us adequate amounts of prep-time which was well needed; we had two princesses to prepare. Morgan was excited because Halloween is the only time she gets to wear make-up besides during her dance recital. Abbie hopped aboard the make-up train and even let me put mascara on her--it was an interesting process.


Morgan was next, she took it like an old pro. Next it was time for pictures.
The princess pose...
The Abbie pose...
Snow White with her curls. She was excited about spraying her hair black.
We took a ton of pictures of the girls, their costumes turned out really well. Here they are with their look-a-like dolls that Grandma Nan gave to them.
We went trick-or-treating (with another Abby, my co-worker's daughter) to the halls because it has been successful for us in the past; however this year it was only in the lobbies of a couple buildings so we were done within ten minutes.
So after the halls we went to my boss's neighborhood and hit the jackpot. The doors were close together the weather warm, and the people friendly.
Had to include one last picture of the hair spray coming out later that night. We had to wash her hair three times and rinse the water twice. A fun end to the Halloween night!

Fall in Tennessee

This fall we headed to Tennessee to visit Desi for the weekend. We decided to head up to the Y to explore the mountains and take family pictures. We thoroughly enjoyed the time spent playing and throwing rocks into the river. The girls enjoyed the picture taking time less, but ended up with a few we really liked...spoiler alert this blog is mostly pictures!

Pictures of the Girls...Myfavorites

This one was taken at the end of the day after the girls and Dave had discovered an "island" that they jumped to. I thought it was a perfect picture of Morgan and Dave...where was Abbie you ask, off to the side being a stinker--that is what Dave is reaching towards.
Sister pictures!


I tried to convince them that they should hug and give loves but you can tell what Abbie thought about that.She eventually came around.

After the day in the mountains we came home only to play in the leaves. Uncle Mark and Daddy had piled the leaves earlier in the morning and they were now dry for the jumping! They had so much fun, it almost made it work Desi and Mark having so many leaves...ALMOST. Their property is continuously COVERED. But again, it makes for good jumping piles!
We finished off the night making popcorn balls...this had been the bribery for all the smiles earlier. If you smile, then we can make popcorn balls...who wants popcorn balls...say "popcorn balls", you get the picture! It was a sticky gooey mess that Auntie Desi braved.
Too many hands in the pot? Notice I'm taking pictures!
Making sure they taste okay! Can we just say once again, it is so nice to live near family!!! We are looking forward to many more memory making weekends!

Hosting the Folks

Shortly after we were back from Minnesota we played host to Elliott and my parents! It was Homecoming for EKU so we played right along going to the parade and football game. Having both Elliott and my parents at our home was so much fun, we were all in high heaven. We love being around family and can't wait for people to come and visit us!
Dave and Elliott at the parade.

Mom and Dad were supposed to be in early on Saturday morning, but were delayed in Cincinnati. They made it just in time to say goodbye to Dave and for Dad, Abbie, and I to catch the last quarter of the EKU football game (Morgan voted to stay home with Grandma and Elliott). We found some great seats and were amazed to see a fumble and a touchdown for each team. Basically a whole football game condensed down to one quarter. We had a great time cheering EKU on to victory!
Grandpa brought jelly beans which landed both he and Abbie in the naughty corner pictured here. Both of them had been warned; no more jelly beans until after dinner. Grandpa shared a few more of the tasty treats with Abbie behind my back. Abbie was discovered and told she knew better and was placed in the corner for not listening. While there she proceeded to tell on Grandpa who also knew better and to be consistent he joined her in the corner. I think that they had more fun than they should have perhaps plotting their escape and plans for future jelly bean consumption.
The girls walking with Grandma.

After taking Elliott back to his parents we headed to Louisville, Dad really wanted to see the famous Louisville Slugger factory. We didn't mind, as long as we were all together. We managed to have a lot of fun taking pictures and practicing our batting.
Out front by the big bat.
Dad holding Mickey Mantle's bat.
The family posing on the giant glove. Poor Dave was working...this was the second time he missed out on Louisville.
Louisville also is home to a children's science museum. We thought they closed later than they did, so we only had five minutes to explore but we made the most of it.
Abbie pushing the bubble machine.The girls trying their hand at making human sized bubbles!

Morgan at the coolest concave mirror outside the museum. It is was a spot that we will have to revisit soon and spend the day at! Anyone up for a visit to go with?

Mom and Dad had to leave too soon, but these little bursts of family togetherness fill us up enough to survive until the next visit. If nothing else these few months in Kentucky have taught me that we can not move any further away from family. We need to start planning where we can all settle down together!

Spontaneity, Barnes Style

Spontaneity does not come easy to the Barnes family, well, really just me. I like to plan things out and have an idea of what is coming up and have all things organized. So when I looked at the calendar and saw that I had a few days off in October I was surprised to feel a sudden urge to go and visit family and friends that are like family way up north. I looked up flights and everything was full, and figured that the trip just wasn't in the stars.

At 5:30pm I made the mistake of telling my husband about my random idea. Dave is all about spontaneity and found a flight out of Knoxville the next morning that we could catch. So, just as I was about to start dinner, plans changed and I instead flew about the apartment throwing random things into suitcases. We were on the road to Desi's house by 8:30pm for a fast and furious vacation! By 4pm the next day we were driving into Grand Forks, ND. It was a surreal moment as we pulled off the interstate made even more so by the flurries that started falling right at that moment!

We called a few people, and decided to surprise a few more. Once up north our first stop was to our beloved Dingle family, who collectively had grown more than a few feet! When we left the boys were actual boys and not these young men you see below. However they are still young at heart and the girls had a blast playing with them, and the oldest Dingle child, their father Chris.

Our next stop was just a hop, skip, and a jump away. We found that true friendships can survive both distance and time. We walked through the door to the Wood family's new home and found that we were at home. We all picked up right where we left off and made more amazing memories. We spent the whole night playing and chatting. I didn't even make the girls go to bed, I really was trying to squeeze every moment I could from our too short visit.

Morgan and Haley--still best friends.
The girls' first official sleep-over, they were so excited!

The next morning we headed further north to visit family. We had our first spontaneity backfire when we went to surprise my Auntie Jenee and family only to discover an empty house. We further discovered that we didn't have her new numbers and called Sunny to learn that the family had traveled to Alexandria, MN to watch Jon's play. We were so bummed! We did peek in all the windows and saw brand new flooring in the living room along with a drum set which bummed Dave out further. The girls did get a couple of turns on the newly renovated play house out back (at least updated since we left) but nothing made up for not seeing the Provance family.
We stopped in Warroad for some snacks at the local Cenex gas station and went out to visit Grandma and Grandpa's grave. We took old highway 12 out to show the girls where I used to live. I entertained them with stories of growing up and felt like Dad pointing out the various trees and rocks I loved! We stopped by my old house and then were off to Sunny's house...the house they are building. We were greeted with the whole Dorow clan including Amanda and the boys and people I haven't seen in years. We got the grand tour (the house is as beautiful as it is large) and then headed back to Brenda and Rogers and officially met the newest cousin, baby Kodiak. Because he is the only child who has looked like me as a baby (yes, including my own) I had to include pictures of him with each member of the family.
Of course I look like a scrub, but look at those cheeks on Kodiak!
Morgan loved the little guy.
I just want to remind everyone that he looks like me, not Dave!
Abbie couldn't get enough of him! He was just so happy, you fell in love immediately!

We had an amazing time visiting with Sunny and the boys. It always amazes me how good all the kids get along.
Josh, don't you dare smile, don't do it,

Collin and Morgan are still like peas in a pod and had a good time coloring and just whispering back and forth. The cousins sitting for the first time all weekend long. (Amanda's boys are in the picture too!)

We saw a lot of people at church on Sunday which was really special--it was the first time I was there since the addition had been added. It looks so much like a real church, it was amazing to see how far we had come from the little schoolhouse we met in when I was young.

The trip ended as suddenly as is started with a snowy drive back to the cities Monday morning. We were home by 11pm that night. All and all, it was a too short, but wonderful visit with only a few downfalls. Not bad for our first try at spontaneity.