Ok so it's been a really long time again! But I swear I will get better at this!@#%$&
I love blogs - meaning other people's blogs - I even look at blogs of people that I don't really know! Its so fun to look at family and friends blogs and see what they have been up to and what the family is doing and I get frustrated when someone doesn't up date their blog - (yeah yeah i know). So I am going to make a goal of updating once a month. I need to get some pictures up but we have been so bad this summer about taking pictures. It seems that both Barry and I always forget to take the camera or if we remember we just don't get it out - not sure what the deal is on that one but like I said I am going to try and do better.
So summer is somehow over already - I have no idea what happened to it! I love summer - I love camping with Barry and the kids, I love the warm weather, I love cooking on the grill, I love my flower garden, I love the sunshine!, really I love pretty much everything about summer and I am so so sad that it is coming to an end. We had some great camp-outs this summer - of course we went to Pack Saddle Lake as always - the kids love that one. We went to Crystal Hot Springs in Utah - fun water slides! We went to Rock Creek Girls Camp where my parents are currently serving their 2nd mission (have I ever mentioned what awesome parents i have?) Generally we go camping over Labor Day but that is still up in the air. And we have one more the 2nd weekend in September back at Rock Creek for a Brown family reunion which I am so excited about. Did I mention that we drove all the kids to Arizona in May for Barry and his sister Amy's Graduation from University of Phoenix - lets just say 7 kids in the suburban without air conditioning = no fun! Ok so the trip was fun but the ride home sucked!
Starting tomorrow the kids will all be back in school again. (Wow the summer went by fast!) Sugar started last Wednesday and Ucon starts tomorrow. Stetson is a Junior this year (holy cow he is getting old - wait what does that say about Barry and I?) He is with us again this year for school and i love that. I'm not sure if Stetson really knows how much I love him and enjoy having him live with us. Not sure how to express that to a teenager. He is a great kid though and even though there are frustrations with being a step-parent to a teenager I really do enjoy having him around. Justin is Freshman this year and is back at Bonneville. We sure enjoyed having him last year. It must be hard to have to figure out which parent you want to live with. I am sure glad that my parents are still married to each other. It was fun to get to know Justin a little better during the last semester last year and I miss having him around - maybe next year?
Cassidy is in 7th grade and in her first year at Jr. High - thats crazy! I can't believe how fast she is growing up (yes i do think that about all of them!) She is really becoming a young woman. I went to a Fireside at the church with her tonight and it was fun to sit with her. Cassidy has an appointment with Dr. Meyers at Primary Children's on September 20th. We will see what they say about her surgery. They said a year and a half ago that when she has a growth spurt they want her back to talk about scheduling and she has grown 21/2 inches since January - so we'll see what they say - (I'll keep that updated for sure!) Hayden is in 6th grade this year and living with us during the school year for the first time. The first week of school has been great and I am super thrilled that he is here with us. I must admit that I have some empathy for Judy over it - (I guess it's a mom thing) but I am so excited for Barry and also super excited to have him here. Hayden is a great kid and I am looking forward to getting to know him even better. Ammon is in the 5th grade this year and I am sad to say is living in Texas with his dad for the next year. It's funny how sometimes the Spirit prompts you to do something that you don't want to do. I miss him everyday. I love that boy so much. Every year I think "Wow I can't believe it's December all ready where did the year go?" and I am super hoping that the same thing happens this year because just after Christmas is when i get to see him again. I love you buddy and miss you! Lets see whos next? Oh yeah Treyton - He is also in the 5th grade and with him Mom in Ucon for the school year. It was fun to have him here during the summer. I love that we got so much time with the 3 littler Holman's this year. I really truly love Barry's children - our children. Rachel is in 3rd grade this year and was super excited to start school. Savannah is also in 3rd grade and its fun to see two of them starting to become friends. This summer we saw more of that then we have in the past so I am happy for that. Kerri is our caboose and is in Kindergarten this year. We decided to have her repeat to help with reading skills - kindergarten is not my favorite grade.
So thats a short update on the kids. What can I tell you about Barry and I? We just celebrated our 3rd anniversary in July. Seems a little crazy to think we have only been married for 3 years and yet we have all these kids - whatever- thats our life! Our three years have been busy, crazy, and don't seem to be slowing down. In 3 years Barry and I have both gotten our Associates Degree's, we are both working full-time, we have 9 kids, oh the stories i could tell!! However I must say that despite any trials and difficulty we have faced I am so glad that I married Barry Holman. I love him so deeply. He is such a good husband and father. He takes great care of our children and myself. I know that I am loved and that is so important. Sometimes I get caught up in the trials of earth life and I forget that this really is such a short time in the eternal realm of things. I hope I am pleasing my Father in Heaven. I hope I am the wife I want to be. I love being a mother and have been amazed at the love I feel for all of our children.
Wow this post is getting a little long so I'll end here - Hopefully i'll post again soon and meet my goal of at least once a month - Thanks to all who look at this and thanks for letting me have a peek at all of your lives through your blogs! Love you - Karin
This is a picture of several of the Holman Grandkids when we went to Utah (about a year ago) to see Bryan be given the role of Major in the Army - pretty cool and a pretty cute bunch of kids!
This is Stetson (I believe at State) taking down an opponent - yes he is the one in blue and no the other guy does not look comfortable!
Barry and Amy at the Graduation - Barry w/ Associates and Amy w/ Masters! Congrats you guys!
Barry and I at Graduation - it was so hot already - it was only like 10 am and already almost 100 degrees - Man i love Idaho in the summer. Congrats Barry I love you!