Eighth Anniversary Celebration(s)!

This year, our anniversary seemed to be the "anniversary that just kept on giving." For some reason, we ended up celebrating multiple times...all fun, small ways, but celebrations nevertheless.

For my gift to Kyle, I gave eight gifts to him over the eight days leading up to our anniversary. The first were the eight heart-shaped love notes on our bedroom wall. Other days it was eight mini-candy bars hidden all over the house, eight cards made by the kids, eight different "junk food" presents, eight text messages, etc. All small things, but once Kyle knew what I was doing, he had something to look forward to each day, wondering what the next eight surpises were. The kids really got into it and were so excited to know what the gifts were when Kyle didn't. (And they actually did really well at keeping it a secret!)

On our actual anniversary, August 2nd, we got a babysitter and went out to dinner to a nice restaurant here in Salem. And Kyle shocked me by buying me a new wedding band! When he was going to propose eight years ago, he wanted me to choose my own ring, yet still wanted a ring with which to propose. So he bought a simple band with several small diamonds in a run across the top. When I ended up choosing my wedding ring, I decided I still wanted to wear the band he had given me when he proposed, so I chose a wedding ring to match. Ever since, I have worn the two together (but not sautered), and have loved it. But Kyle has always said we should "upgrade" to a real band to match. Well, this year, totally unbeknownst to me, he went and purchased a beautiful band that matches perfectly with my ring! (Just to be sure I wouldn't find out about the surprise, he asked my parents to loan him the cash so I wouldn't see the charge come out of our bank accounts or credit cards. I was laughing so hard about that one. My parents sure are great accomplices!) Anyway, he gave me the new band while we were out to dinner. I have since had them both fitted and sautered together and I LOVE IT! It is so beautiful.

Lastly, we had planned a get-away weekend for our anniversary. My parents agreed to watch our kiddos, but were out of town the week of our anniversary, so we scheduled it for two weeks later (August 19th). We were going to go to Victoria BC, then Bend, then Portland, then finally decided we should just save the money from the hotel and come home! (Since our kids were sleeping at my parent's house.) Hilarious, aren't we? We ended up spending the day in Portland, then coming home that evening and working on projects on our "to do" list. (My husband is so wonderful, he knows how much I love doing projects!) While we were in Portland, we went out to lunch, then went to the beautiful Chinese Gardens (it was amazingly peaceful/tranquil for being in the middle of the city and so relaxing to walk around and enjoy together), then went and got a yummy Moonstruck milkshake! Yay!

Saturday we did some more projects around the house then went to my parent's and took the kids swimming and enjoyed the afternoon with them before coming home. It was a great, relaxing weekend, and cost us very little. Perfect for preparing for baby #4!

So, basically, our anniversary celebrations lasted almost a month. Talk about fun; let's do this every year! I sure do love my honey, and really don't know where I would be without him! I waited (what seemed like) soooo long to find him, and now it's impossible to imagine life without him. It truly is a gift to be married to your best friend (as cheesy as it may sound)! I love you, babe!

Family Grad Party

After the commencement, we headed back to my parent's home in Wilsonville for a graduation barbecue. We had a wonderful time celebrating with: all of our parents; Logan and Shayla and their darling new baby, Ansley; Parvin and Maile and their three kids; Kyle's cousin, Eric; and, Scott and Jana and their five kids.

We had a yummy barbecue dinner, played games in the backyard, went for a hike in the nature area behind my parent's house, ate cake, talked and just enjoyed being together. I can't ever seem to get enough family time and only wish it could happen more often. I'm glad we had a reason to celebrate. Thanks, honey!

The Big Graduation Ceremony

Saturday, May 21st was the Commencement Ceremony for the University of Phoenix Oregon/SW Washington Campus. It was held at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. After a soccer game for Kylene in the morning, we headed up there and met mom and dad Barney, mom and dad McCune and Kyle's brother, Logan. It was awesome to be a part of it all and get to go through a commencement with my honey. (We were still single and a long time from meeting one another when we both graduated from BYU.)

Here are some "during" shots. Skyler loved climbing between the rows and chairs. And my mom busted the kids' boredom blues with games on her iPhone (thank you!). But it really was a nice ceremony and only about 1.5 hours long, so pretty quick as far as commencement ceremonies can go. There were about 400 graduates, including undergraduate, Master's, and one Doctorate awarded.

(Top, left) Kyle waving from his seat. The man next to him was a good friend/team member on several of his projects, Marcus. (Top, right) Shaking hands right before having his name called. (Bottom, left) I did it!! (Bottom, right) All the graduates moving their tassels to the other side of their caps. It's now official!

Following the ceremony. Kyle's parent's got him the flower lei. (His dad hunted him down before the ceremony so he could wear it, which was awesome!) Logan and Shayla made him two candy leis with "big candy bars because it's a big deal." Totally cute!

A few family shots.

Congratulations again, Kyle!!

Celebrate Good Times!

Last Saturday at approximately 1:10 p.m., Kyle officially finished his last final for his MBA Program! After almost two years and a lot of sweat, tears (j/k, kind of!), and sleepless days and nights, he is DONE! I think I'm shouting for joy louder than he is...although I guess it may be too close to call.

We went out for dinner together last Saturday night for part one of the celebration. This week he has been relaxing and working on a few (of the hundreds) of projects I have had on his "honey do" list the last two years! His commencement is this Saturday in Portland, with a family party following for part two of the celebrating. And part three will come the following weekend (shhh, it's a surprise date). We have to make sure we really mark this momentous occasion, I guess! My favorite part: no more formal schooling again, EVER! No more finals, no more papers, no more group projects, no more going to bed night after night without my husband laying next to me! Yippee, skippy! Wahoo! Hooray! Woot, woot! How else can I cheer via the internet?

I'm excited and oh, so proud of how well he did and all he accomplished. Hundreds of pictures are sure to follow since my dad will be the photographer this weekend:).

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Fathers Day, Kyle! Thank you for being such a wonderful daddy to our children! I love you, and our kids love you, more than words can say! I am so grateful for the amazing job you do loving and teaching our children. Kylene & Spencer's favorite things to do with daddy are jump on him, play games with him, go for walks with him, have him throw them up in the air, go to the park with them, have him give them "deep" baths (he lets them have the water deeper than I do), eat treats with him, and give him big "loves" (hugs and kisses). Skyler's favorite thing to do is snuggle on his shoulder and bump heads with him. We hope you have a special day, daddy. Last Sunday we did our traditional breakfast in bed and special dinner for him since we aren't at home today.

We are in Lincoln City this Father's Day for our Barney Family Reunion, so we are celebrating this special day with seven fathers surrounding us. Skyler awoke at 5:30 this morning, so I have some "quiet" time before the other 30 people in the house start to awake. It is fun to all be together and see all the great dads "in action".

Happy Father's Day to all the special dads out there!

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Our wonderful daddy and husband turned 35 on Thursday, November 26! Yes, he is a Thanksgiving Turkey this year! Yippee. We love you so much, daddy. We are so grateful for all you do for us. We love to play with you, go to the park with you, jump on you, tackle you, and play the ukulele with you. Here are some of our favorite pictures of you taken in the last few months. You are looking GOOD! Has it really been 35 years?!

"I love to pull on your ears, daddy!"

Six years and more in love than ever. I don't know what I'd do without you, babe! Thank you for your unending support and confidence in me. I could not have asked for a better companion to spend eternity with! YEA!

Chillin' with Skyler.

I am definitely my daddy's son!

Boys Will Be Boys

Aren't you impressed my 2 1/2 yearold can bounce and play with my seven-month old on his lap?

Oh, wait, I guess that is with lots of help from daddy, as this photo reveals.

It's so fun to see the boys start to play together, even if it is with lots of help at this point. I'm sure there is much more wrestling, rough-housing, and tackling to come! Bring it on!

Daddy Daughter Campout

This past weekend Kyle & Kylene went on the Stake Daddy-Daughter Campout at Fishermen's Bend. According to Kylene, they "played fun games and roasted hot dogs and roasted marshmallows. And we played at the park and we went to the river, but then we didn't stay very long but we touched the water. And on the way home we went to eat ice cream at Dairy Queen. And we listened to some music the person that was playing the drums and singing in the microphone." Good times were had by all!

Kylene snuggly warm in her sleeping bag.

I Got to Go Camping with Daddy!

This weekend was my first Father & Sons' Campout and boy, was it ever great! Daddy took me with four of my buddies and their dad's to Fishermen's Bend near Detroit Lake.

I got to play at the park (my favorite),


play frisbee with the guys (my favorite),

roast hot dogs and eat as many chips as I could stuff in my mouth (since mommy wasn't there to stop me!), and eat marshmallows (all my favorite),

and play in the water. Man, it was cold, but since I'm so tough, it was still great getting wet!

The only bummer was my dad forgot to bring my port-a-crib so I was a little afraid of the tent (I hadn't been camping since last summer, after all!), so I wanted daddy to hold me until I fell asleep. (Don't tell mommy I got to stay up until midnight! Man, that was cool.) Then I kept waking daddy up during the night, oops! Sorry, daddy. I was pretty tired the next day but, hey, it's worth it to go camping with the men. And, trust me, I'm one tough two-year-old, so I can handle it.

Daddy and I had the BEST time together and I can't wait until next year. Neither can daddy!

Love, Spencer

P.S. Thanks for taking such great pictures, daddy!