Dear Friends,

"We have the hands to lift others from complacency and inactivity. We have the hearts to serve faithfully in our priesthood callings and thereby inspire others to walk on higher ground and to avoid the swamps of sin which threaten to engulf so many. The worth of souls is indeed great in the sight of God. Ours is the precious privilege, armed with this knowledge, to make a difference in the lives of others. The words found in Ezekiel could well pertain to all of us who follow the Savior in this sacred work:" 'A new heart . . . will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. . . ." 'And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." 'And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God' (Ezekiel 36:26–28)."How might we merit this promise? What will qualify us to receive this blessing? Is there a guide to follow?"May I suggest three imperatives for our consideration. They apply to the deacon as well as to the high priest. They are within our reach. A kind Heavenly Father will help us in our quest."First, learn what we should learn."Second, do what we should do."And third, be what we should be." ~Thomas S. Monson, "To Learn, to Do, to Be", Ensign, Nov. 2008

I have been pondering this message especially the part about the new heart. It seems like problems in our lives are generally similar, in the sense that in my salon, ladies tend to talk about similar issues at the same time. Sure, the issues change, however many of us go through similar experiences at the same time. Lately, the subject has been forgiveness in one form or another. Whether they need forgiveness or need to forgive someone else, the formula is the same. We need the power of the Atonement and the "new heart" that is a gift from the Lord. When we fully accept what is waiting for us.....(the Atonement) we receive the new, softened heart that allows us to know that forgiveness has taken place or anger, disappointment, or whatever feeling is keeping you from forgiving. I have personally felt this in my life and it is truly the best gift one could receive. I know that forgiveness is solely between you and the Lord. I love all my friends so much and hope this article helps you like it helped me.

Love, (your hairdresser/friend)

Linda

Silly Sunday

We love Sunday! It's so nice to relax one day a week by just hanging out and having fun.

Three blondes

Three blondes were driving to Disney Land.
They came to a sign that said "Disney Land - left".
So they went home....

Double Header

It's a crazy baseball week for the Barton Bunch. We are in a tournament this weekend so I was counting up our games we'd be playing. We will for sure play 8 and possibly 11 games from Mon- Sat. (Including 1 game for Katelyn) Good thing we love sports, and good thing it's super nice weather!

Tonight, we had a double header and Jared hit 2 in the park home runs! One of them was a grand slam. if you are unfamiliar with baseball terminology, feel free to do a quick Google search. lol) We have been so blessed to have great coaches for our kids. It makes all the difference.

Well, that's all for now, I'll try to post something else exciting soon. I hope everyone is having a great week!

Another night at the park

This was Jared's first time in the *bull pen* at a college baseball field. His team gets to play their league games at Cate Field at SLCC....way cool.... Tyler and his BBF (best, best friend) Uncle Glenn. Uncle Glenn = WAY cool. He is great with his nieces and nephews. We love having him hang around.

Random silly pic of Ty and Mom. I need to get a picture of him winking, it absolutely melts my heart. Yup, he's spoiled.

Individualtiy...

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else.

My bravest child

If he could talk he'd say, "I think it's cute how you think I'm listening to you, mom." Or, "Hmmm, I could hear better before I put this food in my ears."

Nothing to blog, nothing to blog

I haven't had anything going on, at least anything blog worthy. It's been baseball, softball, baseball. Oh yeah, and rain. I used to think that rain stopped baseball games....not so much. They will however, stop for lightning.

SO, I've been thinking, I need a vacation. At this point it could only be an over-niter. Does anyone have a fun suggestions for something close, fairly cheap, and over night? My marriage would thank you. Maybe the winning suggestion could babysit my kids...wouldn't that be a treat? j/k PLEASE....make suggestions. Even just for a fun date night....seriously, I'm desperate.

Sring into sports!!!

I have a conundrum. My life takes on a whole new whirlwind of change come baseball/softball season. I love that my kids enjoy sports, they are even really good! But, I'm afraid that my blogging is going to suffer. Aaaahhh, the sacrifices we make for our children.

Jared and I just got home from Mesquite for a tournament. They took third place. It was so much fun because we got to go by ourselves. I sat at the park without a care in the world. When it was time to go home, I won't lie, I wanted to head south and keep going to Vegas baby! Since my pole dancing isn't what it used to be, I knew I couldn't support myself (sigh) so, we came home. lol It's nice to leave but all in all, I'm glad to be home. Jason learned lots of new words. Tyler is now perma-glued to me and and I love it. Also, I learned that Katelyn won 'Best in Show' for her Federation performance!!! She is awesome!

Thursday, we have another tournament in Spanish Fork, Katelyn's softball league starts tonight, so ready or not....here it comes.

So bloggin' cool

Yeah! I finally updated my blog! Surprisingly, it wasn't hard at all. I was so geeked out excited, I had to blog about it. It reminds me of the post I saw:

Blogging

Never before have so many poeple with so little to say said so much to so few.

(thanks Vader!)

New love

I have a new love, I'll admit it. It's called Pandora radio. If you've never heard of it, it's a radio station online where you type in the name of your favorite song and it customizes a radio station for you based on that song. No commercial interruptions, and best of all, if it chooses a song you don't like, it apologizes and assures you that it won't happen again. Suh-weet!!!

It is streaming live, right now, as I blog....LOVE IT!

www.pandora.com Thanks to my bro Nate for telling me about it.
Happy listening!

Camera, meet computer.

My camera and my computer are finally talking to each other! So I now will post a few random pics. I am so excited, but I held back and only posted a few...okay five.


Tyler and Mommy being VERY serious...seriously.

Hiking in Snow Canyon last week.

"Belly-button love" as mentioned in a previous post.

Draper Temple open house 2009

This is Katelyn at her Piano Federation. It is a piano recital where you are judged on your performance. This is Katelyn's 3rd year and she received (again) the highest markings! She is so talented at the piano, she hasn't taken lessons for very many years and is very very good. not to mention, she is beautiful. Congrats Kay Kay!!!

I'm looking forward to a long happy relationship between these two electronics. Maybe digital scrapbooking is next....hmmm...maybe.

The Spirit of God, Hymn of Praise

Since I'm a blogging dork, I can't upload the video I wanted you to see. (could be dark forces at work)(j/k) It's a video of "The spirit of God" sung by MoTab. I loved it, yup, it made me cry. This has always been one of my favorite hymns. Best of all, we can sing it in sacrament meeting because there is no 'words' that would be distracting for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUHvxcNVSDU&feature=player_embedded

The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!
The latter-day glory begins to come forth;

The visions and blessings of old are returning,

And angels are coming to visit the earth.

The Lord is extending the Saints' understanding,

Restoring their judges and all as at first.

The knowledge and power of God are expanding;

The veil o'er the earth is beginning to burst.

We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven,

Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!

Let glory to them in the highest be given,

Henceforth and forever, Amen and amen!

We'll call in our solemn assemblies in spirit,

To spread forth the kingdom of heaven abroad,

That we through our faith may begin to inherit,

The visions and blessings and glories of God.

We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven,

Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!

Let glory to them in the highest be given,

Henceforth and forever, Amen and amen!

How blessed the day when the lamb and the lion

Shall lie down together without any ire,

And Ephraim be crowned with his blessing in Zion,

As Jesus descends with his chariot of fire!

We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven,

Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!

Let glory to them in the highest be given,

Henceforth and forever, Amen and amen!

Text: William W. Phelps

R and R...

Back to the real world....

We just got back from St. George and man, I have a sunburn. We had fun in the sun, a little baseball, and some hiking in Snow Canyon. Now, I guess it's back to the daily grind. (sigh)

So, laundry, mail, homework and getting the house in order are on the to do list. Did I miss anything fun while I was gone?

It's never too late....

"It's never too late to be who you wanted to be."

Recently I have been in contact (via Facebook) with some of my "old" Young Women from our last ward. It's been fun blog stalking them and seeing what they are up to. It's been over 10 years since I've seen most of them. (BTW, Brent was their SS teacher) Some are happy, some not so much. Of course you don't have "favorite" girls, but you kinda' do.... There were many girls who touched my heart and will always be special to me. (side note: Talk about make you feel old! They have beautiful children and remember when Jared and Katelyn were babies!) This quote was on one of their blogs and I liked it.

"It's never too late to be who you wanted to be" can mean so many different things if you think about it long enough. I have taken the opportunity to think about who I am vs. who I wanted to be. Some things changed because of maturity and realizing what I though was soooo important...well, just isn't. Some things I am realizing how deeply important they are and wouldn't trade for anything.

So, in case you had nothing to ponder.....think about it. In what ways are you who you wanted to be, what ways are you needing to change, and what ways have you let go of because you grew up and found out who you REALLY wanted to be.... (I know, I know. Random ramblings AGAIN!) Thanks again, "old" Young Women! I always learned from you and I still am.

Who do you want to be? One lesson I never got to teach was giving a challenge to them to write a speech that they would like their best friend/spouse to give about them on their 50th birthday. So, I DARE you to think about it, what would you want your friends to say? What do you want to be remembered for? And the big, scary question, are you living you life in a way that would make those things true about you? (now of course, these girls were teenagers, maybe we need to bump up the b-day to 100 lol) Good luck...

Just A VT thought

I was wondering.....how long until there is a little line on the visiting teaching report that can fill this answer.
Sis. whoever, " Hi, I was just calling to see if you got to your visiting teaching this month."
Sis. Linda, " Well, it's pretty busy at my house but I posted on their blogs."
Sis. lenient, "Perfect! I've got you marked down, have a great month!"

...hmmmm......I wonder....

A little piece of Dee-Lish...

Big shouts to my girl MC (aka Marianne C.) for the slammin' recipe.
A new family favorite: Corn-flakey Ranch Chicken Parm (might not be the real name)

Corn flakes
Parmesan cheese
Ranch dressing packet
Chicken
butter

smash Flakes in bowl, add ranch packet, 1 C parm cheese
roll chickies (or do they prefer to be called "chicks") in melted butter (with garlic to avoid later kissing, if desired. Totally up 2 you, none of my business) roll around in flake mixture and place in a pan.

Bake 350 for 30-45 min. (until clucking stops)
Everyone was happy, full and not eating red meat for one night.
Thanks!

Random ramblings....

I am kinda' bored today, sometimes blogging makes me realize how ordinary and somewhat boring me life really is. I'm not complaining, I like it. (I like it, I like it, I like it)



I also realized that I blog so much about Ty, so today I'll share a quirk from "the little guy" aka Jason. The older he gets, the more we find out how much of a clown he is. One quick funny thing. He likes his belly-button, I mean he REALLY likes his belly-button. He likes to show it to people, (check-out girls at the store, waitresses, etc.) At night time and nap time he gets his bottle, lays in bed, lifts up his shirt, sticks his finger in his "button" and falls to sleep. One night he woke up screaming at 1:00 in the morning. We went in to check on him and he was crying "I stuck, I stuck". His p.j.'s had snaps and he had stuck his hand in between the snaps to touch his belly button and could not get his hand out. lol I am going to chalk this one in the "could be worse" category.



I'd love to hear about your "funny kid" favorites. I would like to know that I'm not alone with funny/weird kid things, so post away.....

Lessons from outer space

When will I learn?.....


Driving is the car I thought it would be funny to ask Tyler a question....

Mom: "Tyler, do you know why boys go to mars?"

Tyler: "no why?"

Mom: "Boys go to mars to get more candy bars!" Tyler starts laughing.

Mom: "Tyler, do you know why boys go to Jupiter?"

Tyler: (still giggling) "no why?"

Mom: " Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider!!!"

Tyler: (laughing harder, stops and pauses...) "Mom, why do boys go to Venus?"

Mom, Dad and Jared laugh hysterically..... conversation over.

Ode from my Bro.....

This is written by my little bro., Nate (see the end for my response)

Ode to Linda:

She writes poetry on her blog,
when she should be cleaning up after Brent the slob;

She sits you in a chair to cut your hair,
and she always has diet coke to spare;

I know her dirty laundry, but she knows mine,
this makes us get along just fine; (or else...)

Her smiles and laughs brighten the room,
And we now know on Sundays she does more than spoon;

and as a mom, she is the bomb,
even though when I was little she made up the I hate Nate song.

Love ya sis! (you too Brent...I had to rhyme something--I know who the messy one is)



I am impressed!!

Nate has the Rees rhyming gene,
When we were little, I was mean?? (Innegar...sniff, sniff)

I think he's funny, smart and brave,
check him out in The Man Cave.