One Door Closes...and Lots More Open

July 2011 isn't even over, but has already qualified as one of the most eventful months in our married life. Here's a quick update...

As I mentioned at the end of this post, Nathan was offered a new job right after our Colorado vacation. For 6 years he's worked as a community planner for the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Indian Nation, just a few miles north of us. His new position is a little further up I-19; now he'll be a Senior Transportation Planner for the Pima Association of Governments (PAG). The organization is a non-profit regulatory agency, which coordinates transportation planning between all the cities, towns, and tribes in Pima County. Nate's specialty for PAG will be pedestrian and intermodal planning, and he will also be a liaison to the local Indian tribes.

He's very excited about his new job, but sad to leave his old one...he felt very close to his coworkers, and to the tribe in general. He received a lot of sweet going-away gifts from the San Xavier district, including this "friendship bowl":

He also received a beautiful little woven O'odham basket:

They will be nice mementos for him of the times he spent serving the O'odham people.

His first day at his new job was July 20--and on the same day, another family member reached a big milestone:

That's right: Lorelai began first grade at Great Expectations Academy! She had been excited for weeks to start school (and would ask me at every opportunity when "first grade was going to start"), and at last the big day had come.

Her new teacher is Mrs. Grant, and she is already putting Lorelai right to work! I hope she enjoys every minute of her time at school, also that she learns, grows, and becomes even more awesome than she already is.

Last but not least is my new "job"--one that I began as of last Sunday. As many of you may know, our home ward(church congregation) was split two weeks ago, since it had grown too big to be manageable. Our family remains in the Sahuarita 1st Ward, while about 40% of the congregation formed a new ward called the Madera Ward. Every time a ward splits, a lot of reorganization is involved, and last week was no exception.

Our new bishop paid us a visit last Wednesday night, and his first question to me was, "How busy is your life right now?" Uh-oh. I mean, how do you answer that when your bishop is talking to you? Well, despite my reply that yes, I was quite busy at the moment, I found myself being called as the ward Primary president. For my non-LDS readers, that means that I'm responsible for all the children in the ward (18 months-12 years). I choose & direct Sunday School teachers, conduct Sunday meetings, do group lessons for the kids once or twice a month, and coordinate a whole bunch of stuff with other ward leaders (this translates into: lots of meetings).

While I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment, and trying to figure out how this will affect my other plans for the near future (I also have 6 piano students and I'm doing a cooperative preschool for Celeste in the fall), I am excited and humbled to be responsible for so many wonderful children (85-90 of them, if you're curious). I hope the Lord gives me strength, wisdom, patience, and courage to do my very best. In fact, I am wishing that for all my family members right now!

Well, hopefully I will be able to keep up with this blog! And if you don't hear from me quite so often, now you know why :)

Our 4th of July Weekend

Happy Fourth of July from the dancing Barrett Sisters!

We had a fun Fourth of July weekend, with many cute pictures to share. I'll try to get this out there quickly, since I have other, more momentous things to report in an upcoming blog post...

Anyway, there was a lot going on over the holiday weekend, mostly involving friends & family. We started off the weekend with a big Family Movie Night, in which we shared a timeless classic with our kids for the first time:

Yep, Mary Poppins. I confess: I had never seen it beginning to end, either! I'm really glad I did, though. Although the story is undeniably kooky & insubstantial, it's one of the few films I have seen that really does "whimsy" well, without the whimsy going overboard and becoming annoying. Plus, the songs are just amazing and the actors are all very talented & charming. Lots of fun.

Speaking of fun, the next day we headed over to the local clubhouse for the Fourth of July Celebration! The clubhouse does lots of family-centric activities like this, with local vendors, face-painting, rides & games. Recently, they've contracted with a different entertainment company, so instead of the usual pony rides & petting zoos, we got slightly more adrenaline-laced fare...

Like the zero-G harnesses. I wasn't able to ride it myself, but Lorelai simply had to try it out:

Look at that air!

There was also a massive "bubble pit," where the kids could roll around & cover themselves in bubbles. Fun times were had (and by "fun," I mean "messy").

The last new addition was this nifty gadget:

Hooray! A human hamster wheel!

While Lorelai and Celeste were terribly excited to try it out...

...the actual results were a little clumsy. The attendant very gently rolled the ball along the grass, but both girls couldn't keep their feet inside; they ended up rolling head over feet, over and over. They emerged from the ball a little underwhelmed (as I had to fight to control my snickering). Afterwards, Mama had to give the hamster ball a shot...and LOVED it! I hope to try that out again next time it comes around.


The actual 4th of July was eventful, too...we began our busy day with a family trip to the local jumping-castle play area, called Pump It Up:

I didn't get very many pictures because my family kept running away from me--to try their luck at the next attraction! We all had a great time...even Aurora, who got her first taste of the giant inflatable slide with Daddy...

After a short swimming trip with Lorelai & Celeste in the afternoon, we invited a few friends over for dinner, games, and the "main attraction":

...FIREWORKS! Most years, they've been illegal in AZ, but I was finally able to buy some this year, and (county prohibition notwithstanding), I WOULD NOT BE DENIED (to be fair, it had rained earlier in the afternoon, so the ground was safe).

The kids probably enjoyed the sparklers the best:

While Aurora, sad to say, didn't enjoy much of it at all...

Err...maybe she'll have a better time next year?!? (I sure hope so; I still have lots of fireworks left!)

By then it was late and the kiddos were all pooped...but a great time had been had by all! Hopefully our next Fourth of July celebration will also be this enjoyable.

Nash Bash 2011, Pt. 2 -- Pirates, Slip N Slides, and Golf

Hello again...it's me, with a few more memories from our Colorado family reunion a few weeks back...

Specifically, a few PIRATE memories!! Perhaps the fates had aligned...or perhaps one particularly vocal family member was in a "pirate-y" mood. Whatever the case, Grandma Nash decided to throw a pirate-themed party for all the grand-kids. What fun!

We set the tone by sitting down as a family and watching "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (a.k.a, "The One That's Actually Good")...

...and then it was time to don our pirate garb, seize our cutlass, and shiver some timbers!

There was also a pirate "booty" treasure hunt in the backyard, and games indoors designed by cousins Abby & Elaine. The kids had a blast--and the adults enjoyed it too!

In other "pirate" news, the Denver Museum of Science & Nature had a pirate exhibit featured while we were in town, and we were strongly tempted to take a look, to complete our pirate-themed adventure. While we decided against visiting that particular exhibit (too darned expensive to take so many kids along!), we did pay a visit to the rest of the museum. Sadly, I forgot my camera, but I've blogged about this museum before. We have a great time every time we visit!

Other shenanigans that took place in the grandparent's backyard included Slip-N-Slide shenanigans: something my children have never had the privilege to experience, on account of us living in houses with all-rock backyards. Here are some of the photo highlights:

My kids, however, tired of the Slip N Slide relatively soon because the water was too cold. Apparently, they're too used to swimming in the hot hot AZ sun, which heats all water to nice 'n toasty...


A few other family outings included a bowling trip (for which I had no camera...it's okay though, since we were all too busy rockin' the lanes to take photos anyway), and later, a trip to the mini golf course:

The Barrett extended family is really into golf. In fact, that's all that some of them do in their spare time (I'm looking at you, Grandma & Grandpa Barrett). As for Nathan and I, that may be a hobby for another time in our lives. For now, we are content with the "less celebrated" art of mini golf, and with educating our kids in such an art.

This was Celeste's first time playing mini golf, and she was very proud of her club, and her putting skills. Aurora enjoyed the outing too, but wasn't quite familiar with the nuances of the game...

...nuances like, "Leave Mommy's ball where she hit it, and let her putt it into the hole." Aurora took it upon herself to help me out. And when that game got boring...

...she took to wandering all over the course, climbing all the decorations, exploring the water traps, and generally having a fine old time.

I can't wait to do this again!

By the time we hit the putt-putt course, my sister & brother and their families had both left town. Just a day later, it would be our turn. Luckily, we were able to go home the same way by which we arrived. Our plans had been a little uncertain, following the news that huge wildfires had closed down I-10 in northern New Mexico (Raton Pass, our usual route). Luckily it reopened a couple of days before our scheduled departure, so we were able to drive through the now-smoking mountains:

Not the greatest picture, but I assure you...half the trees were burned to a crisp, many were still smoking, and the whole air was hazy. The haze got worse as we drove through north New Mexico; at one point, the sun turned red and the sky literally darkened, so it felt hours later than it actually was. Creepy. We were far from all the actual fires, but seeing their powerful impact on the area left us humbled and concerned for the locals.

Thankfully, we arrived safely home on Sunday the 19th--Happy Father's Day! Although we didn't really celebrate Father's Day this year due to being on the road, Nate's "present" came the following day, June 20th--he was offered a new job that he's been hoping for! On July 20, he will start work as a Senior Transportation Planner for the Pima Association of Governments. We're all very proud of him, and excited for this big career step.

We had lots of fun with my family in Colorado! Although I miss them, I was really grateful to have that time with all of us together. Those times are all too few these days. We managed to pose for a group photo before we all went our separate ways (I will add it as soon as I get a copy!):

The photo will be out of date in just a few months, though...Jocelyn is expecting a baby girl in September, and Ray & Ade are trying for their second kid as well! Heck...maybe Nate & I will jump on that bandwagon, too...who knows? I just hope we will see everyone again soon.

Nash Bash 2011, Pt. 1 -- In Which We Also See A Few Barretts

Happy Independence Day weekend, from all us weirdos...

But that's not why I'm writing today...I'm here to talk about our annual summer vacation to colorful Colorado! This was the first time in two years that my extended family (the Nashes) had all been together. Two new babies had been born since then--Aurora in January 2010, and her new cousin Caroline Nash, Ray & Adrienne's daughter (born on Christmas Eve, 2009):

As you can see, she is quite the adorable little girl, even when asleep. Caroline was very smiley & had a lot to say, but she was a little shy of the "pressing throng" of extended family. I'm sorry to say that I didn't get to snuggle with her as often as I liked; maybe next time! At any rate, she was still lots of fun to photograph.

We spent the first weekend just hanging out as a family. We all managed to fit into Grandma & Grandpa's house, and it was pretty snug. However, we ate barbecue, played lots of games and generally relaxed & joked around. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera for the first weekend, so you'll have to imagine these idyllic scenes in your mind.

 Our first big outing as a family was to the Denver Zoo; we all ate lunch together on the lawn before entering the zoo park. Here are a few of the highlights:

 Of course, Nate was willing & able to give "helicopter rides" to all the little grandkids...

Isn't my littlest daughter beautiful? She looks like a little doll in this picture!

There was a splash creek for little kids inside the Zoo, so of course Celeste had to try it out...

This is Lorelai, posing next to an eyelash viper, a snake she'd learned about in kindergarten a few months before. She was so proud for recognizing it! We really enjoyed the Tropical Discovery wing of the Zoo; it was probably Lorelai's favorite part, since she had read about many of the animals beforehand. Aah, applied learning!

Simon & Caroline (heck, everybody) loved the lizards!!

And here's the biggest of all...the Komodo dragon. I won't lie...these things scare me. I'm glad there was a bunch of Plexiglass between me and the giant lizard.

 
Our adventure had actually begun that morning. Our van wouldn't start when it was time to head to the zoo! Needless to say, this caused us some concern. We were able to jump-start it in time to go, but for days afterward our car hemmed and hawed quite a bit every time we tried to turn it on. We finally went & bought a new car battery, and that seemed to fix everything. We're grateful this mishap took place when we were already in Colorado; it was good to have family around to help!

We were also able to spend some time with the extended Barrett family while in Colorado. In fact, we even spent a morning at the Barrett family business...

Nathan's older brother Grant, and his wife Molly, own Abilene Awards, a trophy/engraving shop that's been in the family for more than 15 years. As you may have read about recently, Lorelai was on a soccer team this spring. Sadly, we missed her last two games of the season due to our vacation. However, we made up for this by providing trophies for all the players and coaches---at a very good rate, I might add. And best of all, our whole family was able to visit the trophy shop one morning and assemble the trophies ourselves!

First Nate inputted the team names into the engraving program in the computer...

Then we all started assembling the trophy pieces together.

...although I must confess, I am a bit of a fumble-fingers, so it took me a while.

Of course, the kids were goofing off with their cousins all through the shop while all this was going on.

Then we glued the plaques on each trophy, and lined them up to ship out that very day! Well, except Lorelai's...she got her trophy right away...

Well, we like our daughter better than the rest of the team...and our family is the owner of the trophy store, so...yeah, Lorelai gets the biggest trophy. We admit it. Anyway, thanks again, Grant & Molly and Abilene Awards, for your patience & help while we invaded your shop for a whole morning!

That same evening, we had a large BBQ at the Campbell's house (Nate's sister Kelli, her husband Taryn, and their 4 cute boys). The food was good, the company better, and the view was, as always, magnificent:

(That's their backyard. Yeah...the whole thing. I love visiting their house!)

Here's Nate with his wonderful dad & mom:

And here are two of Nate's brothers (that's Grant, the trophy shop owner, in the dominant position over youngest brother and former wrestler Evan), in their typical family reunion position.

 And after dinner, the girls relaxed...together...

It was wonderful to spend a relaxing evening in the beautiful Colorado mountains...thanks, Kelli & fam!

Up next: more summer vacation hijinks.