Happy Fall to you!..

Yes, It is officially Fall time at the Barrus Household..hooray!!!! This is my most favorite time of year & if you know me at all I love to decorate for the holidays & I very well would have at the beginning of September if Kyller would have let me. :) but he made me wait till now, secretly he loves it too!!

Especially when this cute little wifey makes him these!...

,

Note to self.. do NOT think its okay to not use nutmeg just because Walmart was out. Thank you neighbors across the street for lending me some!

I went fall crazy on saturday and started the decorating process, this is just the beginning!!

Happy Fall!!!

CTR 5 & 6

Kyller & I got callings in the ward and are have been teaching the CTR 5 & 6 year olds!! We were both super excited to accept out new callings and become part of our crazy primary, especially because we both love kids. But I think after today we have officially decided to wait on having our own for a loooong time. Last week we had our Primary Program "practice" I can tell you just how well that went... with about 50 children that all have very short attention spans.. yeah, not so much. But today I was completely swept away with all of our children, they all sat so reverently and sang so sweet. Our class did absolutely wonderful! It's funny how each one of these children grow on you and become a huge part of you, it's almost like they are your very own & trust me I would claim every single one! I look so forward to Sundays knowing I will get to see those smiles and endless hugs & even sometimes a small kiss on the cheek at the end of the day. It is the most rewarding calling I could ever ask for & I feel so blessed to be part of these young lives because they are more than just children they are my children & I have come to love them more than they will ever know.

Destination: Mirror Lake

Every year we go on a Barrus family trip,

this year we decided to go here! 

MIRROR LAKE

gorgeous right!?

if you ever get the chance to spend a few nights here

don't pass it up!

Loooved it!

We def got lucky because this lake was closed @ the beginning of the week due to snow

BUT

when we got up there the host gave in on the little secret

& we found the perfect camping spot!

Home Sweet Home... @ least for a few days

right next to the lake

& of course the bathrooms for us ladies!

The first day was all chill with relaxing & setting up camp.

day numero dos we decided to check out the lake & try out some fishing!

I love me some of this girl!!!

Roxy

here fishy fishy!!.....not so lucky

but happy anyways

No fish..

but

we still had a good time!

Tess was a very good fishing dog..as you can see!

(her first time camping & she was perfect!)

We also all took our bikes & went for a ride

so hard core..ya think!?

Family camping trip = SUCCESS!!

We love you guys!



over the hill & through the woods

To Grams & Gramps we went!

I can honestly say

this is on the top of my list of favorite places to be

I remember going to visit with our mom when we were little

whether it was watching the squirrels out back

getting our hair done

having the dogs pull us on our roller blades up & down the street

or sliding down the stairs on the BIG stuffed dogs

the smells

the pictures

the laughing & playing

everything is all the same

even down to the bedrooms

&

Feeling of love & Welcome you get right when you walk through the door.

brings me right back to my childhood & thoughts of happiness.

I love it all!

If I could live there

trust me

I would!

such a special place full of love & laughs with some very special people.

We love you Gramps & Grams!!!!

Idaho!

Road trip!

Ky & I decided to take a trip to..

Idaho!

we have two sets of grandparents

out that way & decided it had been long enough since we

had been to visit.

Idaho here we come!

While we were visiting they took us

Here!

The Old Penitentiary.

in other words

Jail

seriously so so interesting!!

we learned so much about it & 

what it would be like

if we were to stay here!

 those in Jail these days def  have it easy compared to back then

with work out rooms, air conditioning

& food better than school lunch!

seriously

back then it was a billion times worse.

So....

We decided to check  in..

(please dis regaurd the blue lips, thanks to the blue slush I enjoyed on the way here.)

@ least we went in together!

IDAHO KID & THE WILD BUNCH

Self tour!?

Yes please!

The outside was beautiful!

The prisoners had planted roses & took care

of them. (It helped so that they had something productive to do)

this is where the saying

"stop to smell the roses"

came from.

Nana even came with us,

We love you Nana!

Some things they did to fill time with  & be productive included

Laundry

Basketball

Gardening

tattoos

different tattoos meant different things.

some inmates had a dot on each knuckle

to tell how many yrs they had been there.

& sometimes just one dot meant more than one yr.

the cells they stayed in were TINY!

& usually four in each cell.

with one sink

& one toilet

 both centered between the beds.

NO PRIVACY

so called..

Home Sweet Home

This cell is one from Death Row

fits just one inmate

(a place you do NOT want to be)

Door to Death Row

sorry Ky!

(below)

 Ky is standing in front of some cells

it goes up four levels!!!

& holds up to 47 inmates @ one time



We went into the

Laundry area where they would wash & dry clothes

I loved this window from inside the laundry building

@ least one cute window! right :)

I climbed into the original dryer

(used just for socks)

If they found any socks without a match  there was a pole they

would tie them to until the other was found.

Grandpa Del & Ky sharing a cell

just one of the beds is folded down

the other is folded up behind them

This

(below)

is the 2nd worst place to be in

these were freaky..

I mean FREAKY!

if you misbehaved they put you here.

these are cells in a separate building with no bed, no toilet.

&

 NO LIGHT!

Pitch black

I went in & ky shut the door

I FLIPPED!

( they would stay in here for days on end!)

FRREEEAKY!

Lets just say we would not want to ever

be here for long term.

If you ever have the chance to visit here & tour

Do it!!!

 so many interesting things to learn about

& beautiful buildings!

thanks grams & gramps!

5 miles of stress relief

you know those days that you just want to throw in the towell & quit?...well today is one of those days. nothing is right,  im losing my mind & nothing is coming together. I'm in dire need of a change @ this point..maybe past that point, seriously.

so I took a run

it always makes everything better

so does ice cream... but I thought just for today

I would run.

5 miles of pure bliss made me forget of all the things

that were on my mind.

somtimes it's all you need to turn your day right side up.

growing up!

If you know me, you know these  girls

The Hale Girls

there are 3 of us!

yep..

three.

Candy Cane- Feath  &  Bess

 we don't even know how these names happened

But they stuck, so we'll take what we get

Cand is married to Brent

Heath is married to Ky

&

Jess is married to Jake.

Lucky guys

actually....

I'm pretty sure  we are the lucky ones...
Thanks for taking such good care of us & making us the happiest girls out there!

We love you boys!!

hmmm.. i guess thats all for the mushy gushy shtuff..

so the real reason for this post is two words!

just two.

GROWING

UP.

growing up with three girls under the same roof..

Cand, remember that one time you were  mad @ me & jess for who knows what!?  you were chasing us through the house half the time laughing the other half not so much,  jess found a ball to defend us, threw it 100 mph.. nailed you straight in the face...yeah..you had braces! Braces suck if you get hit in the face..sucks reeeeaally bad!
just remember we love you!  

Heather (me) was definately the perfectionist of the three. Dad had to do my hair every morning
half up.
 half down.
 & slicked back
NO BUMPS!!!
& if there were bumps we had to re do it!
Lets just say my dad was a master @ doing hair.
Thanks dad!

I remember us three doing photo shoots together with a sheet draped over the door for our back drop.

yeah...very cool, we know.

We all had "issues" with stealing eachother's clothes. & it even got to the point where we each had a lock on our closets & each had a key to our own wardrobe.

did this work well you ask?

 not a chance. us girls can be sneaky!

 Cand had a walk in closet with a window.

Yes. a window...

Window Open

=

CHA-CHING!!!

it's called snnneeeaaky!

climb onto the roof & through the window

snatch all articles of clothing that you think would look awesome with

the new pair of shoes you just got.

& sneak back out!

TA DA!

or...

there is always laundry day!

thats a whole different story.

plus each of us is guilty for the crime @ least more than 50 x's

So bess came down to yell @ me for "stealing" her pants one day..I wasn't guilty & I knew I wasn't so I marched right up to HER closet & what did I find? yeah..her pants that she just finished  yelling @ me for. So being the snot I was I threw them right in her face & said "oooh looky there!..your pants!" she came right back @ me with a five star on the back! yeah a 5 STAR! ( thats a whole handprint) I brushed it off & kept walking towards the door & she came @ me with round two.

this girl is fiesty!!!

without even thinking I turned & sucker punched her straight in the face

& remember her flying to the floor with blood everywhere!

I felt horrible & ran for towels while she yelled

"YOU BROKE MY NOSE!!"

over n over!

I felt even more horrible & within 50 seconds our dad was up the stairs yelling @ both of us!

good thing  we have about a 10 min rebound & we are back to being best friends again. we spent the rest of the day being comfy & listening General Conference

&

Bess ended up with a shiner for spring break.

I really do love ya jess!

I could go on & on.. these girls are my other half!

& without them I wouldn't be who I am now, we are best friends.

Always have been

Always will be

& no matter what we will always have eachother.

nothing will ever come between us
not a chance.

We are the Hale girls

What are we up to now!?

here's an update!

( not in order from oldest to youngest)



Jake + Jess

 These two have put an offer an a house!!!!

We have our fingers crossed!

Results to come!!!! .....

Cand + Brent

These two are in Hawaii..

lucky little beach bums!

Ky & Heath

& these two are heading to Idaho

this weekend!

ROAD TRIP!!!

more of summer 2011 to come! xoxoxo