Fall Activities

For us, fall means FOOTBALL season! I definitely don't love football as much as Kevin does, I'm not sure I ever will, but I do enjoy watching Boise State football and playing some fantasy football. I got third in one of my leagues this year!

I wasn't wearing any BSU attire, so Adam made me wear his hat the whole game lol

These boys are always up to something

 One day at church I accidentally dropped my phone which caused my camera to turn on. The following photos resulted. We think they're pretty hilarious, don't judge us!

This fall I also got into a big crafting/decoration mood and I attempted to be crafty instead of buying everything ha! I made this cute (I think it's cute) hanger for my earrings but I already need a second one!

In October we went to the BSU vs BYU game with Adam and Natalee. It was an awesome game and we had SO MUCH FUN!!! We seriously need to make that a tradition! We enjoyed a quick weekend in Boise which included some shopping of course and eating at an "interesting" restaurant to say the least.. Boise dominated and won the game!!! Go Broncos!

It was starting to get a little chilly towards the end, but for a night game we were really it wasn't colder.

Natalee, Adam, Gretchen and Kevin

Austin and Brody are big BSU fans already, start 'em young!

At work we have team building activities every so often and we decided it would be fun to go to the Haunted Mill! It was fun and just a little bit scary. I really love my job and my MACU family!

Liz, Brenda, Gretchen, Jesse and half of Amy



It was fun getting to know fellow employees are the other branches in the area.

Another thing I got to do for work was hand out candy at our Boo at the Zoo booth which we themed Cinderella's castle. We could pick any Disney character we wanted to be, so I choose Maleficent! It was so much fun! Then we got to dress up for work on Halloween!

Connie the witch, Brenda was Snow White, I was Maleficent and Kasie was a fox. Kasie's husband is a really talented welder and made us the pumpkin in the background and then they painted it! It was a hit with everyone and so much fun!



Our fall was full of some really fun activities and great memories were made!!

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.