Festival of Colors

What a lovely weekend I had! I love the weekends and I wish that there was always one more day too, because weekends are far to short and do not provide enough time to recuperate for the upcoming weeks activities, but oh well...Anyways...
On Saturday morning Lisa, Zach, my coworker Brittney and I drove to Spanish Fork to enjoy the Festival of Colors, a holiday celebrated in India that announces the the arrival of spring and the passing of winter and lucky for us this weekend was absolutely beautiful and exemplified Spring marvelously. We missed the scheduled color throwing but did not miss out after buying our own chalk to throw at people and still got the feel for the experience.

(When we saw this we all thought it looked a lot like the "large and spacious buliding" )

After about an hour we went back home and all took showers (it took forever to get the last bit of chalk out of our ears and hair) But with success, then Zach and I took Brittney home and Lisa back to Drew and Jess's and went out to lunch and while he joined a random pick up soccer game, I watched and laid in the sunshine.  After that he and I went to the Mt. Timpanogus temple to do baptisms and later after went out with his friends.
We ended our weekend with card playing in the sunshine, Frisbee throwing, eating delicious Easter dinner (thanks to Jessica) and laying on the couches-a perfect Sunday, and a perfect weekend with some of the best company =)

Phase 10 =)

Camping!

This weekend was going to be a seemingly normal one with Zachary coming down  and we would movie watch, walk at a park, and ect, pretty much the same relaxing thing we do every weekend, but out of the blue Drew and Jess invited the two of us to go to Moab on Saturday night to go camping!
It was absolutely beautiful, we walked the narrows and went to see Goblin Valley.  In the narrows it was so crazy to see that after thousands of years water could cut into a solid rock wall to make such a beautiful sight.  It was so neat, because I could see the exact way the water ran, it was just so beautiful.  Then at Goblin valley (pics on Jessies blog) it was so crazy how rocks could erode into those alien like shapes.  Over this weekend I felt like I had been shipped to Mars, and that is no exaggeration, I prefer Earth much more, but it was just so crazy! I still cannot believe how vast and strange the landscape was, nothing what I was use to at all.  But as beautiful as it was with the rocks and the sky going on forever I still prefer the cover and greenness of the trees.  I loved the trip and glad that Drew and Jess provided the opportunity for Zachary and I to go while we live out here, but I prefer the vast dense forests of the east coast any day.
But here are some of the pics that I took.

Sunshine!

Something I have realized while going out to school in a place that is very cold is that my perception of that word "cold" has changed drastically from Georgia to Utah.  It was funny, this past month sometime, I was talking to my mom on my way up to work and I told her is was absolutely beautiful here in Provo and she said is was very chilly in Richmond Hill and it was funny because we found out that the temperatures were both in the 40's =).
So anyways, taking full advantage of today's lovely weather which was full of sunshine and temperatures rested in the mid 40's Zachary and I decided it was just too nice of day to pass up to not spend it outside.  So even though mid 40's was not perfect "play outside" weather it was such a relief from the overcast snowy weather that persisted for the last 3 or 4 months that we took the opportunity of the sunshiny day to have a picnic.  We had turkey sandwiches with chips, water, clementines, and oatmeal cream pies (otherwise known as "health food" by dad on fishing trips).  And like I said 40's is not perfect weather so I did get cold after eating and Zachary wrapped me up in out picnic blanket, it looks like I'm just a wad of blanket, but I promise I am in there.  So with the promise of more sunshiny days we look forward to being able to spend more time outside finally =)

(just excuse our corny cutesi-ness) =)

Richmond Hill

When mom told me that they were planning on moving earlier this year I really did not know how I felt about it.  I moved to Richmond Hill when I was 9 and spent 11 years, there, most of which I became "established" and made the little community my home.  But the reality that they were moving really did not come until the house actually got sold and then I began to think about never going to the home that became my home and where I grew up.  There are so many memories there and I will miss it, even though I do not live at home anymore, but I am grateful that the house did sell and that mom gets to go back to her home, Atlanta =).
But I kind of just want to review before I forget all the memories about Savannah.  I met a lot of people there that I will miss, Coach Kollman, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Turner, Mrs. Kelsey, all the football players parents that always see me when I am home, Sister Bryson, Mr. Gary, the Walker's ect. Many others, and so leaving and knowing I will not see them even when I go "home" kind of makes me sad.  I will miss the house and Richmond Hill because of all the memories associated with it, both good and bad,  like the time I fell through the front porch roof from the attic trying to get wood to build bunny hutches and Lisa just running away from it, or the exact place of the exact field I first injured my knee, or when Lisa and I saw a freaky white angel thing on 144 driving home one night, or crabbing with dad on the Tivoli bridge or swimming off the long dock, ect..  So even though my little picture slide doesn't even begin to bring back all the memories (good thing for dads journal) they still make me smile just to have them up =).

 At this point we did not have a go cart, but we did have a box, the bottom of a chair, and a kite and a windy day, Volia! Go cart =)

 We spent our money that we had got for Christmas on boats, now Lisa and I were kind of against Katie at this point in our lives (sorry katie, We love you !) so we spent and extra $15 on another boat so we did not have to share the space in ours.

 We loved every time a hurricane blew threw because it meant a windy rainy storm to play in!

 The first bunnies!

 =)

 Peter walked into the house and suggest we all go outside and dig a hole, hours later we had a 6 foot hole in our back yard

 I remember everyone inside and I was outside doing something, and I saw this bird in our yard, so I run inside and I yell that there is a really big blue bird in our yard, after some convincinig and scoffing everyone came outside and sure enough we had a peacock in our yard and naturally spent the next hour trying to catch it

 Christie as my coach!

 Awwww...

 =)

 Peter's last meal as a preemie at home!

 I cried when I saw our fake tree, but eventually I warmed up to it =)

 Football of course

 The Savannah International Airport

Many many many games on this field by all 6 Barnes kids!

And the videos are just really funny =)

So even though these pictures are few and only depict a few memories they get the general idea across. I will miss Richmond Hill, and I will miss the people there.  I know that Savannah was a good place for us to go, because even though at times it was really hard to live there, there is of course a reason to everything. I know that there is/was a reason we were there and now there is a reason we are headed back to Atlanta, but Richmond Hill is my home and I am grateful for all the memories there, good and bad, because good makes me appreciate life and bad teaches me lessons and makes me appreciate the good memories that much more.  So here is my shout out to home =)