The Barton Family Blog

Stay tuned for more camping p We headed to the beach for a few days in Mid-July  to take advantage Johnny's two-days-off-in-a-row-miracle and to spend a little time with my parents!  I arrived a day before Johnny  and set up camp almost single-handedly!  I had never camped at South Beach before and it was a lot of fun to experience such a wonderful  campground, be close to the beach, and just watch my kids have so much FUN! I talked Johnny into snapping a shot of me w/ each of my girls and I"M SO GLAD I DID! I never have had anyone do that for me before. My kiddos and I will snap group pictures occassionally but one pix with each girl was so fun! (: And lastly, the boys were at the top of the dune at a lookout point, screaming LET US OUT!!! (: But they sure were cute peeking through the bars! Stay tuned for two more camping trips this summer! (:

This year was so weird because Natalee and Shyanne left after our bbq to head spend a few days with Nonnie & Papa.   So our fireworks consisted of Hollie chattering NON STOP and Brock sleeping through 99% of the show.  We did get to snap a few shots for the memory book!

So...  From the millions of first-birthday-theme-options, Naomi and I decided on a "Construction" theme for the boys' birthdays. It was so much fun to plan and I have to say that it was GREAT to be able to finally have an outside birthday party! It was a little warmer than we expected, but a nice breeze picked up as the evening wore on and it was actually quite pleasant at the park! Some of the fun construciton items included: A dump truck that dumped chips into a bowl: A dirt cake, complete with a dump truck/tractor-lover who couldn't keep his eyes off the cake! (: Dump truck party favors that doubles as labels for our construction trail mix: Build your own construction mix: The twin cousins: Yah!! Its my birthday! I think I could scrapbook a page similar to one I did for Natalee's first birthday entitled "Not too sure about cake"...  (mostly he didn't like his hands getting dirty - he did...

Can I talk about my sister's adoption for a minute here? Naomi is hurting. The adoption has been stopped. The birth father is fighting the birth mother for custody and therefore she can't give the baby up. It looks like all of Naomi and Jason's hopes and dreams have come crashing down.  It feels like God's not there, or maybe like He just doesn't care.  We know that God IS there, and that He sees the bigger picture. And He DOES care.   Naomi can share the details on her blog later.  All you need to know is that they are hurting, hurting so very bad.  We're all hurting for them. Of course all the questions that Naomi is struggling with don't make it any better: "What will people think? They just donated money to baby Ariah, and now as far as we can see, there is no baby Ariah." "Now we'll need to give all the money back." "When will I EVER have a baby??? Life is just not fair."  "How can I ex...

please click the link & support my sister!! http:// bringinghomeourbabygiveaway. blogspot.com/   (hint: I'm going to be an Auntie again!!!!!!!!!!!!)

3 years ago today, these two sweet girls came into our lives.  We had no idea at the time all that God had planned for us. I love these two girls so very fiercely and I am so thankful for the chance to be their Mom.  The plan of adoption is so very much like God's plan for us.  He takes us and he rescues us and becomes our Father.  What a beautiful picture of God's love for us. Thank you Jesus for my beautiful girls and this precious family you have entrusted to Johnny & me.  We are blessed beyond measure!!

and he loved it! (:

*    One year. How can it be possible? Really. I mean I know you hear me say that each month as it passes, but how can my little boy be 1-year-old? How can one year have already passed?? Brocky (as we affectionately call him!) is a laid back, little sweet-pea of a boy.  He really is "go-with the flow" and it's a good thing since he's in THIS family!  Life is always a whirlwind and Brocky is so laid back that he meshes well with our crazies! ha. He is like Natalee in that he won't go to sleep or relax in your arms.  He prefers his bed and no snuggling (waah!) but, unlike Natalee, Brock also will go to sleep quite easily in his car seat. As his first year hits me - I want to be sure to record all the things Brocky is doing right now...    *cruising on furniture    *crawling on his feet (bear crawl) - his favorite method of transportation    *screaching/screaming at the top of his lungs (he's loud)    *pu...

Let FREEDOM ring! We celebrated today with family and fun on our 4th (?) annual Discovery Park BBQ.  It was fun to have the girls older, and a little more independent. I think they might have stayed till dark if we would have let them! Incredible playgrounds, a sand pit & giant hill, and water fountains = great fun for all!  I had to incorporate some red into N & S's hair since they only had blue & white on (: Cute huh?! We also had a GREAT layout of food!! My MIL blew us all away with her spread.  She is a Pinterest addict and all her food came from there! Turtle Cupcakes  Bald Eagles (or Seagulls as Naomi called them!)  Patriotic Pretzels  My Strawberry Delight Salad  Pirate Cupcakes  Teddy Graham Cars There was lots of other great food and it was just a lovely way to spend the 4th!!