Campaign 2012/Vegas

So there we were on a Wednesday night.  Me, Brock, Amanda and Jessica. (the Kirkby girls, Brock's cousin's daughters)  We were playing games at our kitchen table when Brock mentioned that he had seen a job posting to go to Vegas for a couple of days to help with the campaign for a non-profit group called American's for Prosperity.  It was 11 pm on that Wednesday night and the bus was leaving at 2 pm the following day.

We decided to be spontaneous and go.  We had to make some special arrangements, but we pulled it off.  It was the longest bus ride I've ever been on!  The bus didn't leave Rexburg until 6pm.  We had to stop in Logan, Salt Lake, and Provo to pick up more people, and then rest stops in Fillmore and St. George.  We finally got to Vegas about 6 am Vegas time.  We checked in to the hotel room and slept for about an hour and a half and then we were up and at it for a 12 hour day at work.  We went door to door surveying people about the election and issues the country is facing.

Sitting around waiting for our assignments

 Helping stack the waters using the bellhop cart

After working that day we took a quick trip to the strip.  One of the girls in the group had never been to Vegas so we showed her the basics.  We made it to the Bellagio fountains, which is of course, the most classic part of the strip.

 Brock and I at the Bellagio, don't mind that we look a little gross after walking all day

 Jessica and Amanda

So thankful for these girls living

in Rexburg!!

The next day we got up bright and early again and had another day of knocking doors.  We called it quits a little earlier because the group was sponsoring a program to raise awareness.  We had VIP tickets to this event.  3 Doors down did a concert.  They were big when I was in Jr High and High School.  It was a ton of fun to sit so close and because it was Brock's first concert outside of church related concerts.

After that we got on to the bus and drove through the night again and got back to Rexburg at 11:30 am.  It was a long and exhausting weekend, but we had so much fun!!  We laughed a lot, we worked hard, we stood up for a cause that we believe in.  And it was an all expense paid trip to Vegas and we were able to earn money at the same time.

 Check out how close our seats were!!

 Oh ya, and we will NEVER be able to watch Madagascar 3 again.  EVER.

One final picture of a very sleepy boy.  We both slept for about 5 hours at least when we got back home.  I secretly love seeing him when he is asleep, I don't know why, but I do.

Birthday Wish Come True

I love Disneyland!!  I have always had two dreams with Disneyland.

Dream 1:  Go to Disneyland on my birthday.

Dream 2:  Go to Disneyland with my sweetheart.

Check and check.  Thank you to Brock for an awesome day and making both of those come true!

I got a special birthday pin, call me a 5 year old, but it was sweet.  They even gave Brock a pin that said he was celebrating.  The park opened at 10 and closed at 8 so we didn't have a ton of time, but we still got through both parks with time to spare.

Cars Land just opened a couple months ago so I had really been looking forward to going.  It was awesome!!  They did such a good job with everything, I literally felt like I was in Radiator Springs.  The rides are mostly geared towards little kids, but the "Radiator Springs Racers" were awesome!!  What a fun, fun, clever ride!

World of Color, was of course, AMAZING!!!!  Brock was blown away by it which was so fun.  He said that World of Color alone was worth what we paid to get in to the park.  And since that is one of my favorite parts of Disneyland, I was glad he liked it!  We had a great day and it was just so fun to be there on my birthday with the man of my dreams.

The rest of the California trip was fantastic as well.  We stayed with Corrine and Alisa which was way fun.  I got to meet Brock's brother Todd for the first time.  He is on base in San Diego right now so we got to drive down and see him.

We spent lots of time with the nieces and nephews, we had a blast playing with them and they were excited to see us.  Exhibit A:

Mac was all over the place goofing off and making us laugh

We got to go to all the kids sporting events on Saturday, we went to 5 soccer games and 1 football game.  It was a long day but it was an absolute blast and we loved supporting the kiddos!

Hallie scored 5 goals!

Brock working on technique with Ty

Mac's team ready to go

The Bird kids on game day

It was a fun trip and a great week long vacation from work and the day to day life.

Oh ya, and we bought a new car while we were there. :D

East Idaho State Fair

This may come as a shock to you, but in Idaho, the state fair is a BIG deal.  Everybody talks about it, it last for 10 days, and pretty much everybody goes.  The credit union was sponsoring the fair this year so we got a sweet hookup on tickets.  We got into the fair AND the rodeo for just 5 dollars.  It was a great deal.  I thought the fair was in Idaho Falls, but it wound up being in Blackfoot so we had to drive another 20 minutes.  We almost didn't go because of that but I'm glad we did!

I haven't been to a true fair in years.  We used to go all the time to fair days in Heber, and when they had the fair in Murray as a kid, we would go to that.  It was so fun.  We went to see all the animals and the various fair booths.

The rodeo was waaaaaaaaaay fun!!  I haven't been to a rode on in a couple years and they are always a blast.  We thought that Idaho would be a big rodeo place but this was actually east Idaho's first PRCA rodeo.  They did pretty good, there were some young guys that were outstanding.  Brock knows a lot about the Rodeo because his dad used to be a part of them so it was way fun!  Overall, it was definitely a small town feeling fair, but it was a lot of fun and a great date night for 10 bucks!

Tetons!

Ok, so I love hiking (duh), and we really hadn't done any hiking all summer.  So Labor Day rolled around and I had the day off (one perk of no longer working retail) and Brock hadn't started school yet, so we decided that we would head out to Teton National Park and explore a little bit.

We invited a couple from our ward, Ross and Hannah Davidson, and hit the road.  It took us about an hour and a half to get there.  A little farther than we were originally thinking, but it was worth it.  We had so much fun just goofing off as we hiked.  Ross and Brock were hilarious!  Hannah and I realized towards the end of the hike that the boys were complaining more than we were.  At that point I told them what we told the campers at Oakcrest, "every time you complain, I put a rock in your backpack."  Neither of them complained for the rest of the hike.

The actual hike was very easy, but super gorgeous!  We hiked around Jenny Lake to get to Hidden Falls.  You can pay to ride a ferry across the lake but then you only walk about .5 miles tops rather than hike 5.1 miles.  Where is the fun in that?!  Brock was pretty skeptical about going hiking, especially when the drive was longer than planned, but once we got going, he really enjoyed it and we all had a great time.

Starting out on the hike

Great shot of the Tetons

Jenny Lake

Look how clear the water is!

Hidden Falls

At the lookout point

It is always a blessing to be in Heavenly Father's beautiful creations.  I am always awestruck at the masterpieces that He has created for us to enjoy and it is something I want to do my whole life!

It's What Fun Is!

 So in August, we usually have a family camp out but this year there was just to much going on everywhere with everybody ending school semesters and starting school, etc.  So, we compromised this year and went to Lagoon.  It was a super fun day to take the kiddos and to hang out with the family all day.  I let each of the kids pick a ride that I could ride with them, it was fun!  They were all so excited to "show" me their favorite ride.  I went on the dragon rollercoaster with Rylee (which was always my favorite as a kid, I actually lost a tooth on that ride when I was little.), I went on the sky ride with Timmy (well, that's the one he picked, we wound up doing airplanes together which was possibly my favorite part of the day.),  I went on The Rocket with Jami and Colossus with Davy.  Brock isn't a huge rollercoaster fan, but he was a good sport and still came and went on some ride and took care of the kids so their parents could go on rides.

Me and Timmy on the airplanes.  I don't

know if I've ever laughed so hard

on a ride.  "Don't go higher,

Don't go higher!!!"

 If you have never met my sister Kristi, this

picture sums her up.  Who else cuts a 

square out of the middle of the brownies?

 Soaking wet after the Rattlesnake Rapids

 Josh and Rylee

 Timmy and Davy

Timmy looked like he was going to puke

toward the end of this ride.

 Danielle and Jami

Group Shot

 Mikey had olives on all his fingers,

this was all that was left by the time

I got my camera out. 

The Barlow Crib

So before we even moved in we had promised a few people pictures of our new place.  We finally have it decorated and organized enough and finally had the time to take pictures and put them together.  I decided to have some fun with my new computer and make a video because it has been a while since I have done one.  It's not perfect, but it will give you a good preview of our rockin' living space.  We love our apartment and hope you do too!

P.S.
Close out of the ads on the screen, they cover up some of the words.

First Camping Trip!!

We have been married and living in Idaho for three and a half months.  Which leads me to my next statement, that it is a shame that we have not done any camping yet!!  Friday night we remedied that.  It was the Olpin Reunion!  We couldn't go down on Thursday due to our work schedules, but we went bright and early Friday morning.  It was fun to introduce Brock to all of my relatives.  We taught him how to play rook and he had a clean sweep and a double nellow in his first game!  I was proud.  The good news, is I don't think he'll put up to much of a fight to go next year. :D

First Father's Day Gift