Crohn's Update

It's so much easier to keep people posted on my health. When I was first diagnosed I wanted to keep it private but I have found that it's helpful to talk to others and I have found that Crohn's is more common. I have been diagnosed for 6 months and I have had to control it with my diet, which is so hard!! I have had to make major adjustments and Kevin has helped me so much. I think he knows what I can and can't eat better than I do. My wonderful doctor has been working closely with my insurance company to get me on some really good drugs, but it's super expensive and my insurance company didn't see it as "medically necessary". After several months of attempting to get it approved things finally worked out and I took my first dose this week!!! The medicine comes in a syringe and I have to give my self 2 shots every couple of weeks. I had to go in and learn how to administer the meds and I was super nervous. It was actually pretty easy and didn't hurt really at all. I really feel confident that for whatever reason I needed to wait these 6 months for my medicine. Although it was really hard and I was sick lots of times, I learned a lot about myself, to have more patience, and most importantly, that my Heavenly Father blesses me with trials and I need to find the lesson in them. I also learned how powerful prayer is. I have learned this lesson many, many times in my life and I will learn it many more. I learned to rely on the Lord at those times I was feeling sick and like I couldn't go on any longer. I had to pray for strength to bear my burdens, to make the pain I was feeling go away or less painful. I was strengthened so much and blessed more than I deserved to be. I have so much to be grateful for!

Happy 3 Years!

This year Kevin and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary! My how time has flown the past 4 years we have been together. It had been so fun and better than I ever imagined it would be! I love that man!

We both had to work on our anniversary and we really didn't have anything major planned for that evening. We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then watched a movie at home. The following weekend we got a couples massage and it was great! We don't do gifts for each other since we'd rather go and do something, like get massages, but I decided to make a little something for Kevin. He is my rock and does so much for me. He makes me want to be better, he makes me laugh and smile every day and takes such great care of me when I'm not feeling well, which is sometimes more often than not. I wanted him to realize just how special he is to me so I pulled out my creative side and made him a candy bar poster. It was so hard!!! but really fun to make!

It read...
"Hey Babe, 3 years ago my name changed from Reese to Barber and I scored a Big Hunk! You treat so Good, like a Star. I love it when we play Twix on each other and when you make me Snicker. I love when you give me that Look, it makes me crazy about you. I wanted to give you 100 Grand, but it slipped through my Butterfingers. I love you More & More each day and I can't image a better person to Roll through life with, piece by piece. I'll always love you, now and later. Love, Gretchen" We definitely enjoyed eating all of these yummy treats!

Happy Anniversary honey, here's to eternity!

Howard Reuion: Lava Hot Springs

For the annual Wayne and Carolyn Reunion we went to Lava Hot Springs for the weekend. I only took a couple pictures, Mom has the rest on her camera. Everyone, Mom and Wayne, Snarr's and Kevin went down Thursday afternoon. My mom's parents also came to the reunion. Due to my recent health problems this year I have had limited vacation time, so I wasn't able to go down to Lava until Friday night after work. I was totally bummed but it all worked out. Friday everyone just hung out doing different things like golfing for the guys, and mini golfing with the kids. Friday night we played games after I got there and learned some new things about everyone. It was so fun!

Wayne chilling poolside. He was having a lot of back problems and in pain so he was kind of miserable. Poor guy!

Saturday was pool day!! We headed to the pool when it opened and stayed for several hours, enjoying the warm sun and the water slides. We had to get out of the water several times because someone got hurt jumping off the diving boards, then someone had an accident in the pool and they had to shut it down for 30 minutes, so we decided this was a good time to head back to camp. The guys decided to go golfing again and everyone else just relaxed at camp. We had dinner that night with my Uncle Steve and Aunt Susie and celebrated Wayne's 82nd birthday! He's not really 82 but it's a joke I have with him! Sunday we packed up and headed home with another great Howard reunion in the books!

Since I didn't go down til after everyone, I surprised Kevin with a new haircut. I've been growing my hair out since we got married, and I have been feeling like I needed to spice things up, so I cut about 4 inches off my hair, on a whim! It felt great and I love it!! 

Bear Lake

The end of July we went on our annual Bear Lake trip with the Snarr family!! We look forward to this every year and always have a great time! We enjoyed a nice weekend and the weather was fantastic! One of my favorite things about Bear Lake is bathing. We take the boat out and in the middle of the lake we jump in and bathe. It's so refreshing! Enjoy the picture overload!

Austin

Brody

Best brothers and my buddies

Ready for our day on the water!!

Our day 'camp' on the beach

Brody asked to be buried in the sand, cute little guy!

We rented this paddleboard for the day and everyone had fun on it. Austin was a pro!

Brody got cold being in the water so he was content to play on the beach



Naptime, Wayne is in the background

Fun on the boat

Our tubing adventure started out nice and slow

The longer we rode the faster Adam drove the boat

After awhile, Adam stopped to give us a little break, and took off without warning

I just about fell off the tube and apparently our heads came within centimeters of colliding

It was fun and I had definitely had my feel at that point BUT it was worth it!

Shelley was really sunburned and put her shawl over her head while on the boat and when we took off this resulted. It was hilarious and it eventually blew off but we got it.

Kevin on the wakeboard. Great shot of the water I thought.

Austin loves the water. He even went out on the tube with Natalee.

Happy birthday Gretchen

I LOVE my birthday! It's one of the best days of the year and I enjoy every minute of celebrating. My birthday was on a Friday and I had to work, boo...but it's all good they made it super fun! The next day we went swimming at Ross Park in Pocatello with my mom and Wayne and the Snarr's. It was such a fun birthday!

I feel really old though..I turned 26. I'm not ashamed of my age but it just feels like it's in the next age category for everything. You now all those surveys you take where they ask your age? For 7 years I have fallen into the 18-25 age category, but now I'm in the next age bracket. How did that happen?? And in the eyes of some people I'm old and don't even have kids to prove for it...who are you? Well yes we want to have kids and we will one day but for right now I have to focus on my health and making sure my body is in the best possible condition before I grow a human inside of me. I would have to say my 25th year was probably the hardest so far. I had to overcome many personal struggles and I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, a chronic condition that can make life not fun. It is something I have struggled with for about 6 years, and I finally have a diagnosis..yay! Life threw many curve balls at me this past year but I feel like I came out on top and grew so much from them. With age comes great knowledge and many experiences that have shaped me into the person I am today and I am grateful for them all. Here's to another awesome year!!!

Austin and Brody

Blowing out candles on my birthday brownies

Austin LOVES brownies..that's my boy

Brody LOVES cherry coke...boy after his grandma's heart.

We love swimming!

Barber Reunion: St George

In June we headed to the annual Barber Reunion which was located in St George at the Worldmark Resort! We had a fantastic time and made so many memories! We all headed down Saturday morning and were anxious to get there.

 

 

That night we all got settled in our rooms and had dinner. We also got acquainted with family as Tim and Carol had arrived from Arizona and they had a new baby to show off! Kevin and I ended up having our own unit because Chad and Kelsey weren't able to come. The unit was 2 bedrooms 2 bath with a large kitchen and living room area. Our bed was wonderful too (the reason I bring it up is because our bed at home is broken and old and so it's such a treat to sleep on a firm mattress and king size too!) It was such a nice resort oh and did I mention it was SO HOT!!!

Living room

The view from our balcony...pretty awesome!

Our patio

Sunday we attended church at one of the local wards. It was the biggest Sacrament meeting I have ever attended. Due to all of the tourism, the ward fills the chapel and gym each week! It was crazy and so many people were visitors. After church we relaxed and had dinner with everyone and made plans for the week. We had a lot to squeeze in the next couple of days.

 

Monday we spent at Zion's National Park!! I was so excited to go here, it's somewhere I've always wanted to go. I have also had a hankering to do some hiking this year and knew I would get the chance here.  We wanted to get a jump start on the day to hopefully avoid the heat of the day and also we had to drive about 1 hour to get to the park. Once we got to the park we got on a bus that drove us from site to site. There were several different stops and we only did a couple of them. There are a ton of hikes in the park that take all day, but we just did some shorter ones so we could all be together.

 

Here's some pictures from the drive to the first stop.

 

These 3 peaks are named Abraham, Isaac and Jacob



The animals here are so docile and no afraid of people. We were hiking to our first spot and this elk was literally 10 feet from us. Pretty cook to see them so close.

 

 

I got to hike at the front of the group with these awesome kids! They were so fun to keep up with and I was able to go at a pretty good pace. From the left, Karson, Daegon, Spencer, Kambree, Kameron and Noah (sorry if I slaughtered their spellings).

Our first hike was to the Emerald Pools. It was so pretty. The water just fell off the edge of the mountain onto the rocks below. The trail took us underneath the water fall and it felt great to get some water sprinkled on us. The hike wasn't long at all, but we were still getting accustomed to the heat in southern Utah.

 

Sorry for the picture overload but this was such a simple but beautiful place and I was overcome with happiness and gratitude for the many creations we have to enjoy on the earth.

 

The next stop was for lunch and then we headed to the Narrows. There was this random thing in the rock so we took a photo op.

 

Kevin, Tena and Todd

The Narrows. This is one of two places in the whole park where you are allowed to get in the water.

 

The hike goes for awhile back and the canyon gets to about 20 feet wide, but we only hiked for about the first mile and a half or so until you came to this spot. We had lots of tired kids and it was starting to get really HOT!! Most of us played in the water for awhile and cooled off while others explored.

 

Todd, Erin and the older nieces and nephews playing in the water. They really had fun!

Kevin ventured into the water. It was little cold for me and we didn't have different shoes or socks to change into.

This is Sara, Tim and Carol's newest addition. She is so adorable and fun to play with and hold. As long as she had a full belly she let pretty much anyone hold her. I took advantage of that as much as I could. She also really liked Kevin!



Air drying his feet

 

Our last stop in the park was the tunnel that was carved out of the mountain. You are literally driving right through it. Its about 1 mile long and so dark. There are windows occasionally but the darkness quickly took over again.

A window in the tunnel from a distance. It was pretty crazy!

 

 

Going to Zion's was my favorite part of the trip, besides swimming and late night card games with the adults.

Tuesday we went to Sand Hollow to swim. We had been told by some people that it was a great swimming/rock jumping place. It was great at first sight but that all changed when we started to leave; first things first.

 

 

 

Hunter

Kambree

Whew! Just a little cold!

Matt took the first plunge

Todd

Kevin and Todd, it's always going to be a contest

Spencer

Tim

Wednesday was temple day and I was so excited!! We were able to do a session with Todd, Erin and Tena. It is such a beautiful place and the session was amazing!! I'll never forget my experience that day. After our session, everyone else came over and met us at the visitors center.

Love this pic!

James and Hunter

 The rest of Wednesday we spent in the swimming pool, eating dinner, and then of course CARDS!!!!

 

Thursday Kevin and I had to head home for work Friday, so we spent the morning gathering our things and hanging with everyone. I got a little bored on the way home so I took some sexy selfies.

Kevin was having fun doing selfies

Hey we finally got a decent one!!


Until next year Barber family!!!