The Barrett Family's 2014 In Review

Merry Christmas to you all! It's almost the end of 2014, which was a year with many ups and downs for our family. We faced some challenges and shed some tears, but we also had a lot of laughs and shared lots of love.

Here are a few of the Barrett family highlights:

-We took a family trip to Disneyland and California Adventure in March! It was a terrific week and everyone had an amazing time. We got to catch up with our high-school friend Melanie, ride a lot of fun rides, and enjoy the lovely weather. Plus, nobody got sick this time around!

-In the summer, we took a short family "stay-cation" in Phoenix. We stayed at a resort hotel and played in their water park for hours! Then we followed that up with shopping and an indoor play center. It was great fun!

-We were able to visit not one, but two new LDS temples that were completed and dedicated in Arizona this year. The first temple was in Gilbert; it was dedicated in March. The second was in Phoenix, and it was just dedicated in November. Both temples are beautiful buildings, and both will bring many blessings to the local church members and the community alike. It was a great opportunity to show our girls a house of the Lord up close and personal. We hope the sight of these beautiful buildings will inspire them to live righteously.

-We took not one, but two family camping trips. This is a big deal, since up to this point we haven't camped much at all as a family! We finally bought ourselves a new tent, and it has made us a little more eager to experience the great outdoors. We took our first trip at the end of July with some friends to Lake Patagonia (we even borrowed a friend's canoe and paddled around the lake!). Our second trip was to Gardner Canyon in October with just the five of us. We hope to do more camping in the future.

Although our family experienced many joys, 2014 still had its share of tears. On October 16th, "Grandpa" Glenn Barrett passed away, after battling cancer for the last three and a half years. Glenn and Sandra live close by, and watching Glenn struggle with his health for much of the year was a source of great worry and sorrow for us. Although we miss him very much, we believe in eternal families and know we will see him again someday. We are glad he is no longer suffering, and we hope to honor his memory in many ways in the coming years.

Here's a quick rundown for each Barrett this year.

Nathan in 2014:

-Continued working as a Senior Transportation Planner with the Pima Association of Governments
-Served as Ward Mission Leader in Sahuarita First Ward (LDS Church)
-Also volunteered on the Town of Sahuarita Planning Commission
-In his spare time, Nathan loves to read, work on logic puzzles, play board games, and spend time with his kids. He's also started a fitness program, lost 25 pounds, and is feeling great! He loves to take long walks, and he's  getting excited about playing more golf in 2015!

Adrianne in 2014:

-Worked as taxi driver/cook/butler/tutor/professional cuddler for her three wonderful girls
-Served as Ward Choir Director in Sahuarita First Ward (LDS Church)
-Taught piano lessons to more than ten kids, including her firstborn; held two recitals
-Ran two 5Ks (one in February, one in September); she hopes to run more in 2015
-In her spare time, Adrianne loves reading, cooking, blogging, socializing, and playing music; she likes to try new things and hope she will discover some new hobbies (or a job?) in 2015!

Lorelai in 2014:

-Finished 3rd grade and started 4th grade at Great Expectations Academy
-Appeared in school play (Cinderella) in the spring; has another role in this year's school play, Beauty and the Beast!
-Still taking piano lessons from Mom, and has started learning trombone too! She's in the beginning jazz band this year. She also attends Activity Days with her LDS church group.
-Loves riding her bike and exploring the neighborhood on her own. She also loves reading, watching TV, playing video games, and writing stories. Lorelai's looking forward to more music lessons, volleyball, and performing in the play in 2015!

Celeste in 2014:

-Finished kindergarten and started 1st grade at Great Expectations Academy
-Performed in a dance recital in the spring; in the fall, she eagerly signed up for Girl Scouts! She loves getting each new badge and learning new things.
-She is our adrenaline junkie; she loves roller coasters and any exciting amusement park rides
-Continues to wow all of us with her great progress in reading and writing. Celeste is excited about selling Girl Scout cookies, starting piano lessons, and getting baptized in 2015!

Aurora in 2014:

-Performed in a dance recital in spring; started preschool at Smart Scholars Preschool in the fall
-Is learning a lot this year; she can write her name and knows her letters and numbers. She has also gotten over her "stranger danger" and now befriends almost everyone she meets. She is a social butterfly and loves to start conversations with anybody (including every dog she sees; she wants a dog more than anything)
-Enjoys being the "baby" of the family and spending extra time (and getting extra cuddles) with Mom. Aurora is excited to be getting a big-girl bike and starting kindergarten with her friends in 2015!

We love you all and hope 2015 will find your lives filled with blessings, happiness, health, and peace. Happy Holidays from the Barretts!

A Busy "Beauty And The Beast" Birthday For Celeste

Coming as it does just before Christmas, Celeste's birthday celebrations are often rushed, stressful affairs that are hard not to overlook. It takes careful planning to make sure her birthday doesn't get overshadowed by other holiday preparations. This is especially going to be a problem in 2015, when she turns eight years old and will be preparing for her baptism. This year's birthday was a slightly more subdued celebration, with one major exception...

...we took the family to see a Broadway show in Tucson! Now that I'm writing it down, that doesn't sound "subdued" at all, but we saw this outing as both a birthday present for Celeste, and an early Christmas present for the rest of us.

Way back in May of this year, I'd heard that Disney's Beauty And The Beast would be coming to Tucson for a one-weekend engagement in December. I had seen Beauty And The Beast on Broadway many years ago, when I took a whirlwind weekend trip to New York City as a college student. The movie is one of my favorite Disney animated films, and I really enjoyed the musical as well. It adds depth to several of the characters (particularly the Beast, who really needed some depth!), and it contains a handful of new songs, some of which are really charming.

As soon as I heard the show was coming to Tucson, I started dreaming about taking Celeste to seeing it. The showtimes were actually on her birthday, after all! Then we found out our charter school, Great Expectations Academy, would be performing Beauty And The Beast as their school play in the 2014-15 school year. Then Lorelai got a part in that play, and her interest in the show increased as well. So we went back and forth for a while on who would go to the show, and how many tickets we would buy, etc. At first, it was going to be just Celeste and me...then just Celeste and Nathan...then Lorelai, Celeste, and Nathan.

In the fall, the play directors at GEA (Diana and Cindy) announced we would be going to the professional show as a school group. The tickets would thus be available at a reduced group rate. That decided it; Nathan and I would take our two older girls to the show! We debated for a while whether we should take Aurora or not, but ultimately decided against it. My beautiful youngest daughter is still so active and energetic that sitting still for that long would have been too hard for her, and she would have made our viewing experience miserable (not to mention the viewing experience of those sitting near us). Happily, Aurora was invited to a play date and a birthday party that day, so she ended up having a lot of fun without us.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit; first, it was time to get the birthday girl her other presents...

 

Our family tradition is that the first presents under our Christmas tree every year are Celeste's birthday presents. For one day only, the tree becomes a "birthday" tree. So on Saturday morning, the 13th, this is what Celeste woke up to see:

The bike was a gift we had been promising to Celeste for a long time. Now that she can ride without training wheels, she has been overdue for a larger, "big kids'" bike; she has just about outgrown the kid's bike that she's had for the last year and a half. I kept searching for a good bike at the local White Elephant (second-hand) store, and also at local yard sales. I finally hit pay-dirt last month, after a few false starts, and now my two oldest girls both have bikes that will hopefully last them for many years to come!

Buddy the Elf, anyone?

As usual, our beautiful gal was all aglow over the presents. She also got a new dress (for our girly girl, this has also become a tradition), a wallet (now she can carry around her own money and her library card!), and some art kits and books. She was pretty pleased with it all.

The crown she is wearing was bestowed upon her at school the previous day; she was the "birthday princess" for the day! She demonstrated her regal benevolence by sharing mini-brownies with her class.

Not long after opening the birthday presents, though, it was time to "suit up" and head to the play!

As luck would have it, Celeste's birthday was a cold, rainy Saturday. Even with sweaters, and driving in a heated car, we felt the chill! Once we arrived in Tucson, I also had difficulties navigating through the flooded streets and potholes surrounding the University of Arizona (which is where the play was showing). Long story short, I miscalculated my time (again...sigh), and we missed the opening number of the show! Boo! And the opening song is "Belle," the song in which Lorelai has a solo line for the school's production. I felt terrible and the girls were near tears. If (when?) we ever take the girls to a play again, I will have to plan my time better.

Luckily, as soon as that number ended, we were allowed inside. After some difficulty finding our seats (apparently, the theater double-booked some chairs?? Way to go, University of Arizona!), we were able to settle in and enjoy the rest of the show. As expected, the girls enjoyed it quite a lot! "Be Our Guest," in particular, had them in awe...at the end of the song, the stage exploded in glitter and streamers, many of which shot out into the audience. Nathan's favorite number was "Gaston." It included a precisely choreographed sequence involving actors dancing with beer mugs in each hand, clanking them against both their own and other dancers' mugs. It created a kinetic and exciting "tap dance" of sorts.

Towards the end, our newest seven year old was obviously getting a case of the wiggles; she bounced up and down in her chair more often, and kept leaning over and whispering to me and to Nathan, asking us questions. I had wondered if her attention span (not to mention her tiny Barrett bladder!) would be able to withstand a two-and-a-half-hour play. It seems that sitting through a theatrical production pushed her attention span to its limit, but thankfully didn't cross the line. In the end, Celeste made it through the whole play with no major issues, and she and Lorelai both enjoyed it quite a bit.

We hope to take our girls to other theatrical productions in the future. Nathan and I were blessed to grow up in the Denver metropolitan area, which has a large and well-regarded performing arts center. We saw many plays in our childhood and teenage years, and even if Tucson doesn't have as large or thriving a theater program as Denver, we still hope to share several plays with them as they grow up.

After the play, our family separated...Celeste and Daddy went out to dinner for her birthday date. They went to Rocco's Little Chicago Pizza, which they both enjoyed. They ordered a Chicago-style deep-dish pizza topped with pepperoni and bacon. After dinner, they went to a nearby BevMo, where they selected several boutique sodas, which we would all taste-test the following night when Grandma came over to visit.

Lorelai and myself did a little Christmas shopping, followed by a quick dinner at In N Out, and then we headed back to Sahuarita, where we picked up Aurora and headed home.

The next night (Sunday the 14th), Grandma Barrett came over to celebrate Celeste's birthday. We ate cake and ice cream, blew out candles, and taste-tested a bunch of fancy sodas. Grandma even brought some shot glasses to enhance the taste-testing experience! The "winner," surprisingly, was the strawberries & cream flavor; it ended up being a lot more flavorful than we expected, and not sickly sweet. The black lemonade and Christmas mint flavors were well-liked, too. The pumpkin pie soda was universally derided; yuck.

Celeste is getting bigger, smarter, and more beautiful by the day. She is definitely more "light-hearted" than her more sober older sister, but I can still see her maturing each day into a thoughtful, faithful, prayerful young lady. I am so grateful for her sweetness and enthusiasm; it makes each day more positive. I love you Celeste and I can't wait to see what your eighth year brings!

Our Who-Tacular Ward Christmas Party

We always love our church congregation's annual Christmas party. This year was particularly memorable because of the theme: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas!

I've always loved The Grinch; it's a funny, clever, and sweet Christmas parable that has appeal both for Christians and for those who prefer the more secular side of the holiday season. Who doesn't need a reminder, once in a while, that Christmas is about something more than presents, packages, boxes, and bags? Plus, that great song from the original cartoon...eek! Love it!

My friend Miranda was put in charge of the ward Christmas party this year. As soon as I heard she was in charge, I knew the party would be a success. Miranda was our ward Relief Society president for several years, and she is an incredibly organized, motivating, hard-working, intelligent, spiritual woman. I don't think I have a picture of her to share in this blog post, actually...probably because she is always too busy and "on the move" to pose for pictures! She is the kind of friend you would always trust with an important project, because you know she'll do an excellent job with it.

Although Miranda may have been put in charge of the whole thing, she also had a lot of other very talented people working with her, too. Once the "Grinch" theme was selected, a lot of fun ideas were put into motion. The end result was a party that looked and felt like it belonged in a Dr. Seuss book; wildly colored, garishly decorated, and filled with kooky rides!

I was put on the food committee for the party, after telling Miranda I would be happy to help her out. My first task was to bake about 300 green "Grinch" cookies:

I actually ended up making these in late November, and they spent the next few weeks keeping cool in my freezer. After that, I didn't have a whole lot to do until the day of the party. That morning, I met with the rest of the food committee and we popped a lot of popcorn, and made a lot of vanilla pudding dyed green. This would be the "Who-pudding" referred to in the original book; each individual serving would be topped with whipped cream and red sprinkles.

Honestly, I thought the pudding looked quite unappetizing when it was first mixed together; it was so lumpy, it almost looked like guacamole instead! However, after transporting it to the church, mixing it a little more thoroughly, and adding the toppings, it looked (and tasted!) delightful!

I also helped pop a bunch of popcorn and drizzle it with melted candy; it would be a nice snack to munch on after the main dinner was served. The dinner was ham, as is usual for a ward Christmas dinner...although on this night, it was of course re-christened as "roast beast."

I volunteered to deliver a bunch of the food to the church building while the rest of the food committee finished up their work. I was excited to see a sneak preview of the decorations for the party. Miranda had asked Susan, our bishop's wife, to be in charge of the decorations. You may remember Susan as the amazing interior decorator who put together a lovely wedding on a shoestring budget. I knew she'd have a little more funds to work with this time around, and I was excited to see what she'd come up with.

As usual, Susan did not disappoint! I loved seeing all her handiwork, as well as the artistic talent of her helpers. Everything was pitch-perfect.

 

But perhaps even more impressive than the decor was the entertainment for the evening...

...namely, the huge "Mt. Crumpet" slide, and the "Grinch sleigh ride!" Yes, our amazing talented friend Scott (along with several engineer buddies) designed, planned, and built a mini wooden roller coaster in our church building. It is incredible how creative some people are in our ward. The girls came a few hours early with me to the church building to check out the decor, and they were blown away by the rides. They got to try out each ride in advance, too! (Lucky for them, because once the party officially started, the line ran out the door and the wait was long)

This picture is a year old, but here's the shirt I wore to the party. The girls got it for me last Christmas, and it was perfect for the ward party!

Before the party officially started, though, I had to go home and make some mashed potatoes (I'd promised to bring some for the party). And, of course, it was time for my daughters to get their "Cindy Lou Who" getup on:

In some ways, this Christmas party felt almost like a second Halloween party, with all the costumes and the games! It definitely had a more playful, light-hearted feel than many other ward Christmas parties I've attended.

As a member of the food committee, I spent much of the party in the kitchen, running food and trays in and out and refilling the serving trays as needed. It was busy work, but it felt good to be helping. I still got to visit with several friends, too! I also got to sneak out in time to see Aurora try out the awesome Grinch sleigh ride:

 

She was so thrilled! I'm bummed that I didn't get a video of the slide in action, but the kids were in heaven about it. I suspect this party will be the stuff of legend for some of these children in the years to come.

After all the play time was done, the young women in the ward did a "reader's theater" rendition of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. This was followed by the singing of Christmas carols by the whole ward. It was a nicely spiritual way to cap off the evening.

Overall, I was very impressed by the party. It was organized so well and came together beautifully. Miranda, Susan, and everyone else who participated did a wonderful job. On a personal note, our family was also happy that Grandma Barrett came along to enjoy the festivities.

I have noticed that our bishop likes calling long-time ward members to plan the ward Christmas party; I wonder if my turn as head planner will come one of these Christmases? If so, this party will be a hard one to top! Right now, I am just content to bask in the happy memory of this event.

Christmas Camels!

Our family has gone to the Reid Park Zoo's Christmastime Zoo Lights event every year for many years now; our first visit was in 2006, when Lorelai was only one year old! We went to the lights this year with mixed feelings, as this trip marks the last year we'll do so as members of the zoo. After our membership expires next year, our admission costs for the Zoo Lights will be full price. Since we are a bunch of cheapskates, we're not sure if this will be our last year enjoying the Zoo Lights or not! Time will tell, of course; however, we have always enjoyed the lights and maybe we'll find a way to fit it into our budget.

At any rate, those future thoughts were for another day. For this visit (on Monday, December 8th), we only wanted to focus on having fun and enjoying the holiday season. And in this regard, we were not disappointed! But before we could enter the zoo, we had to gulp down some dinner first:

Nathan took the bus to the zoo from his downtown office, but not before picking up some Subway sandwiches for us. We all devoured them greedily, then waited in line to get inside. The nights were finally starting to get chilly, so we bundled everyone up well.

The lights were the same sort of thing we see every Christmastime at the zoo, with a few little variations here and there. The girls really enjoyed this giant "light snake":

And of course, they always enjoy the artificial snow-storm!

You'll have to imagine the snow, since it's not really visible in the picture

Since the Expedition Tanzania wing of the zoo opened in 2012, a lot of the light displays have been migrating there (it's where the elephant enclosure is located). The large synchronized light show, for example, was scaled down and moved to Expedition Tanzania. Even though it was smaller, the light show was still a lot of fun because it now surrounded a walkway, meaning visitors could walk underneath it...and dance "inside" of it, as our girls did for a while!

The Santa-face sang a lot of the music, to my daughter's amazement and fear.

But the most exciting addition to the zoo was the arrival of some new animals...

Camels! And not just any camels; camels you could actually ride on...for a price, of course.

The girls have always loved taking pony rides at the various community events they've attended over the years. As soon as they saw those camels, they begged to ride them. And because Nathan and I are pushovers when Christmas comes around, we paid the extra fee to let them ride.

It was really neat to see the way their eyes lit up with amazement when they got their chance to board the camel (they all rode together on one animal). They waved and laughed and shouted in delight. Nathan and I regretted somewhat that we'd indulged them, but the joy in their faces mostly mitigated our worries.

The ride didn't last too long, but the girls were very impressed by the camel's "bumpy back." Apparently, the camel rides are a brand-new program at the zoo, and due to their popularity, they will likely become a long-term fixture there! My girls like the sound of that...but I hope they don't think they will get a camel ride every time they visit! Hopefully doing it during the Zoo Lights (with everything decorated so beautifully) will make this particular experience stand out in their minds.

Not long after that, it was time to head home; it was still a school night, after all. If 2014 turns out to be the last time our family visits the Zoo Lights, we are happy we ended this tradition on a high note...with camel rides! Yeah, that's how you do it! I hope this will be a happy memory for the girls for a long time to come.