Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 started with a Christmas Program at Sacrament Meeting. The music and messages were meaningful and a good reminder of the reasons for celebrating. It was a bright warm (in the 40s) day with all the ingredients for fun with family, exchanging presents (thanks for the thoughtful gifts Dad and I received from everyone), food (the traditional ham, potato salad, shrimp dip buffet, entertainment (“Despicable Me,” Packers football, the Logo Game, the puzzle) and so on. Autumn and the Eagle Mt. Barkers came to visit and we were able to have Skype sessions with the Hardys, and the Hillsboro Barkers. Thanks to all for a great Christmas day. Here are the photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103890614854568345609/Christmas2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCI-MkL2G1oiW3wE&feat=directlink

Christmas Concert

L & P ushered for the production of "Annie" at the Pioneer Theater at the UofU. It was well done and we liked it. The next night we enjoyed a wonderful concert at Kingsbury Hall presented by Jon Schmidt (what a piano player--he makes it seem so easy--quite a Gormo) and Steven Sharp Nelson, an unbelievable, multi-talented cello player. We got to see a few of their YouTube video performances during the show. We liked the renditions of "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella" varied according to different countries. Thanks to Briton for plugging us into ThePianoGuys.com.

The Annual Barker Family Christmas Party

On Saturday, December 17, 2011, the Barker Bunch gathered for good food and lots of fun as we celebrated the Savior's birth, and the spirit of Santa, and the happiness of family. Thanks to all who came and participated and added to the enjoyment of the evening.

Here are 50 fun photos/videos of the evening's festivities. https://picasaweb.google.com/103890614854568345609/TheAnnualBarkerFamilyChristmasParty?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOX__rq10ce1Ag&feat=directlink

Goodbye Big Blue Spruce

December Sunset:We bought two live 4'-5' tall blue spruce trees in a big buckets from J&L Garden Center in December of 2000. We were living in a condominium in Centerville for several months while our new home in Farmington was being built. We brought the taller one indoors and decorated it for our Christmas tree that year. We saved the trees in their buckets in the tiny yard and then brought them with us to Shady Creek Lane in February. We planted them temorarily beside the garage. In September the landscapers planted them on the hill leading up to top of our property. We decorated them for many years at Christmastime with tiny green lights with the help of kids and ladders and rakes...some could be seen from 200 East. Last year we decided they were too big (one was too tall and one was too fat) and the green lights were moved down to decorate the mugo pines. This year on December 1st, 2011, a mighty wind storm uprooted the tall one. We were very sad to see it go. But the story has a happy ending. The top of tree was given to another young family to use as their Christmas tree, branches were brought indoors to decorate our home and provide a wonderful fresh smell, and the trunk logs were given to another family to dry and use for warmth in their wood stove/fireplace. Goodbye Big Blue Spruce...you've given joy to many.

Here are a few photos and videos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103890614854568345609/GoodbyeToOurBigBlueSpruce?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCILEmLuemvraoQE&feat=directlink

It's Matilda's Day...December 4th, 2011

December 4th, 2011, Matilda Grace gets her name and a blessing. Yes, it was all about the pip squeak. We were happy the roads permitted a trip to Lewistown to participate. Some were ice/snow packed which made the travel time a little longer. We stayed in Helena going and coming, which broke up the drive. We enjoyed watching (with Airie and Abram) BYU beat Hawaii in their last game of the season and we got in a couple of games of pinochle...the girls did a lot of talking while the boys beat the pants off us. (I'm burning the new pinochle deck.) Matilda slept for 7 hours on Saturday night helping everyone feel refreshed on Sunday morning. The blessing was beautiful and Matilda didn't peep. Airie fixed a great pork chop dinner afterwards. It was a quick visit, but worth the effort.
https://picasaweb.google.com/103890614854568345609/ItSMatildaSDay?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLCggJqG2PL5mwE&feat=directlink

"We got the cold East Canyon Winds"

On December 1st we suffered an amazingly destructive east wind that affected North Salt Lake to Ogden. Farmington, sadly, was very hard hit by the hurricane force winds on Thursday...sustained winds of 50 to 75 mph and gusts over 100mph! Our power was out from about 2:00am on Thursday until 8:30pm. Dad was able to re-light the pilot light that had been blown out, so we did have hot water, thank goodness, and we were able to light our 2 gas fireplaces which took the chill off, barely. It was very cold outside. We brought up our camp stove and were able to cook some hot food. Yep, it was like camping indoors. The damage is amazing. We've been through some pretty severe east winds in our 31-1/2 years in Farmington, but never with this much wide-spread damage. The freeway was closed for parts of the day and the Farmington Station for the FrontRunner was closed all day with light posts across the tracks and construction debris everywhere. At least a dozen semis were over-turned on the freeway and frontage roads. We were leaving for Lewistown, Montana, but delayed our departure to drive around the subdivisions close to our house and we took some photos. I would say that about every 3rd or 4th home has uprooted trees (mostly big, old pines, but other trees also), huge branches ripped from trees that are now so scarred, shingles gone, some sidewalks buckled, fences down, signs bent over or gone, etc. We lost our biggest pine tree (Blue Spruce) at the top of the hill. Sad. Here are some other photos taken in vicinity.
https://picasaweb.google.com/103890614854568345609/December2ndAfterTheHurricaneOnDecember1st?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJLh2Lr508CCeQ&feat=directlink

THANKSGIVING 2011

What a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration! We were sooooo happy that the entire family could be together to share the Turkey Feast and enjoy each other's company. Thanks for making the trek, especially those who came the distance from Montana and Oregon. We are grateful for all of our many, many blessings, particulary our family.
Here are some of the memories we made...........
https://picasaweb.google.com/103890614854568345609/Thanksgiving2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPj98vff_dAp&feat=directlink

Early Christmas Present

On November 14, Baron came to watch the Packers play their rivals the Vikings. We had already made the decision to buy a new 55" LED TV...our old rear projection Hitachi was 16 years old...before the Thanksgiving Day celebration, but we moved up the date so we could watch the big game. Unfortunately, RC Willey's delivery schedule kept getting moved later and later and the new set didn't arrive until 30 minutes into the game. That was good for us, 'cause Dad got lots of help putting it together. Baron really pitched in, though he missed some of the plays while running back and forth between an old screen showing the game and the family room construction site. We appreciate all the assistance and had a fun evening eating sloppy joes and we did get to see part of the last quarter on the new TV in HD...AND the Packers won!
Thanks Baron!!!

Serious Poker.