Mercy's first competition...

We spent a good 12+ hours this weekend at our Ice Rink competing with about 120 girls (and a few boys).  Mercy was in 5 events, she recieved 2 gold metals, 2 silver metals and a bronze metal:)  She is one very happy girl!



If you click the below pic it will redirect you to a video of Mercy's first event...

From

Happy 11th Birthday Justina!!!

For a look and "listen" of what its like having a karaoke machine
http://picasaweb.google.com/carmellbarlow/4182010#5461658324701201394

A girl after my own heart...

Justina:  "Mom you can turn after the white truck... Uhhhh I cant wait to drive someday"

Mercy:  "I cant wait to have a Caramel Macchiato someday!"

2010 Spring show Pics...

Spring Show...

From

So today was the big day. Walmart Superstore officially opened in our wonderful little city:) I had to go to the opening ceremony to see the frenzy of it all. After picking up my latte and Mcdonalds breakfast I headed over to the grand opening of Walmart Supercenter. Doesnt that sound so American...Coffee, McDonalds and Walmart. When I arrived and walked towards the fuss I was startled by gunshots, apparently part of the ordeal. I made my way inside pushing and shoving my way into what I hoped would be a descent spot for picture taking, but no such luck. I could here what was going on but I couldnt really see. Our highschool choir sang the national anthem, quite fitting considering we are standing in a store stuffed with "made in China" merchandise:) Then came the prayer, I so wish I would of recorded it so I could remeber all the funny things this guy was praying about and for. I do remember he started out saying, "Lord we know that all good and perfect gifts come from you, and we thank you for this gift of Walmart..." Wow so Walmart is a gift from God!!!! He went on to pray for the employees that would come here day after day, that they would be blessed and find Walmart to be a wonderful and fulfilling place of employment. I wish I could remember the rest.
Once we were released to begin a new shopping journey, I was off. I was the second person to make it to electronics, only to find that they did not have a karaoke machine for Justinas B-Day:( Oh well, I walked around and looked at prices, bought a couple cheap movies and visited with a couple people I bumped into. My first purchase at this grand event: 2 Rockstars and 2 $5 movies. Because they have like 30+ checkout stands in this 210,000 square foot mega store, I didnt have to stand in line. The prices were not a whole lot lower than our trusty fredmeyer store but they did have more of a selection, wider isles, bigger deli and bakery by far, and a Subway. If I could pick one more thing they should of put in their store I would have to say Starbucks. That would of really sealed the deal for me. Well, maybe not, they really did not have much of a selection of Organics. That is the most important thing for me and the reason why they will not own me entirely:)

This is I guess is the "walmart store brand", Great Value. I thought the store brand boxes and cans ruined the displays. Look how ugly the labels are. I would never buy somthing with such a ugly label. When I looked at them it reminded of some discount store in the ghetto that sells expired goods. There like gleeming white and stick out like a sore thumb.

2010 Iditarod

We finally made it to the Iditarod! Paul has been wanting to go since we have been here in Alaska. Its so Alaskan u know:)
Its an 1,100 mile race to Nome, AK. We went to the ceremonial Anchorage start. You may not be able to tell from my pics but there were thousands of people there!! We were excited as we adopted our dog from a guy who has ran in the past 3 Iditarods and this one being his 4th. His name is Bruce Linton and this year he is number 65. He was one of like 6 people who were being filmed in the Discovery chanel documentry "Toughest race on earth". We wanted to go wish him luck and cheer him on. The downtown portion of the city was very crowded and hard to get some good pics but we moved a few miles out and got some good pics of the dogs and mushers. They probably have the Discovery documentry at your local Blockbuster if your interested:)  http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/iditarod/iditarod.html

Click the slideshow to be redirected to my Iditarod web album

Just a little humor...

Maxine should run for president. She was right on with this one!


Everyone concentrates on the problems we're having in this country lately: illegal immigration, hurricane recovery, alligators attacking people in Florida ....

Not me. I concentrate on solutions for the problems. It's a win-win situation.

+ Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.

+ Send the dirt to New Orleans to raise the level of the levies.

+ Put the Florida alligators in the moat along the Mexican border.

Any other problems you would like for me to solve today ? Yes ?

Think about these:

1. Cows

2. The Constitution

3. The Ten Commandments

C O W S

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

T H E C O N S T I T U T I O N

They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq .... Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore.

T H E 1 0 C O M M A N D M E N T S

The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this: You cannot post 'Thou Shalt Not Steal,' 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery,' and 'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians...It creates a hostile work environment.

7 years

Just a few things I love about Paul...

1  The wrinkles in the corner of his eyes
2  He always goes out of his way to avoid things that would cause him or I to stumble in our walk with the Lord.
3  He desires to follow the Lord, and when he may fall down he always gets back up
4  I can share anything with him, I love to lay in bed and talk, he always listens, until he starts snoring:)
5  He stopped wearing tapered leg pants for me (probably has nothing to do with the fact that I sold them all in my yard sales early on)
6  He has a very good work ethic, hes always willing to give more than he takes
7  He puts up with me, I gotta love that
8  Hes very smart, but always wrong, but thats because Im always right, cant be helped:)
9  He laughs with me, we can be goofy together
10  I love that he hasnt put the bowflex together now for over 2 months, I know its because he does not want me to strain myself, very thoughtful:)

Happy 7th anniversary Babe:)  Love ya

Seattle 2010

We really had a great time in seattle!! Im surprised as I personally hate big cities. We stayed on Bainbridge Island which had a 35min ferry trip over to the downtown Seattle waterfront. The first day I took the girls over and stepped off the boat (did not take car) I was in
awe of the sights and smells. It was a short walk to Pikes Market from the waterfront. We did this I believe 3 times and once I took the car over so I could drive to the Seattle Premium Outlets. I was excited to eat as we have hardly anything were we live and nothing really good. First stop (besides starbucks) was the Crepe De France, where we had 2 different kinds of crepes, strawberry Nutella and a salmon crepe with some kind of delicious sauce poured over the top. The buildings were neat to see, especially the old ones. The kids and I really enjoyed the perfromers! Oh man, and the shopping was fantastic!!! They had a ross downtown where I bought this amazingly huge suitcase (biggest I had ever seen). I had to walk through downtown with it back down to the ferry, it wasd quite a site, but so worth it:)

After Paul was done training we stayed over in the Seattle Center area, right next to the space needle. We were going to eat there but I forgot to make the reservations. We hung out there for a day, took the girls to the childrens museum and the Pacific Science Center. I was so mad that I didnt have my camera that day. We also took in a Laser light show to the Beattles. The next day we rode the monorail over to downtown, close to Pikes Market again so Paul could say he'd been there. It was a Sunday so VERY crowded and stressful but it was ok.
We were suppose to get on a 10pm flight but we decided to go on a 6pm one instead as we were so tired of spending money.

The plane coming into Anchorage was horrible! Paul and Mercy were nauseated from the turbulance, bouncing and swaying. I was in tears holding on to Justinas and some guys arm who was on the other side of me. Paul and Mercy were on the otherside. Yes, Paul was not very fond of the death grip I had on this guys arm! :) No worries he was 50 and had bad breath:) Needless to say I was happy to be back on the ground!

You can click on slideshow to see larger pics...

Oregon 2010

Behold its the much talked about BFF in the upper left pick with her hubby (and our good friend), Andre and Jasmine. We did not want to leave them!!! We had sooo much fun hanging out, visiting and playing games. We were very ministered to and encouraged by these two people who love the Lord and desire to follow hard after Him. The Lord had us there for a reason no doubt about it:) When we drove down the road away from thier house I felt so thankful that they have been and will always be a part of our life no matter how far away we live.

Down in the bottom middle is my Aunt Celia who I love dearly and was very thankful to spend some time with her and my Uncle Kenny.


We realized that maybe we shouldnt put off seeing family and friends as much as we have! Utah will be next:) But someday Im determined to go somewhere other than Oregon, Washington and Utah:)

Bailey (Jasmines daughter) and Justina, and Mercy and Hannah.

Multnomah Falls

Were off...

Well today is the day.  We are leaving tonight for Portland and my hands are literally shaking right now and my stomach feels yucky.  I HATE to fly, for me its like getting on a really scary rollercoaster, having the guy come around and strap you in, and thinking why the heck am I doing this, GET ME OFF!!! 

I have medication but I know its not strong enough.  Last time I took 2 Valums and still got off a loaded plane, yes they had to open the door for me!  When they asked me why I needed off the plane I told them "theres a wierd guy, he looks like a terreriost."  You can imagine the looks everybody gave me.  In my defense the plane was also delayed for mechanical reasons.  Somehow I made it home:)  So I think I may forgoe the medication and try some natural melatonin. 

We plan on visiting family and friends before we head off to Seattle.  Paul is doing a tower climbing training on Bainbridge Island (the whole reason were going).  I will just have to go to Pikes Market and the Mall to kill the time:)  Were staying through the next weekend so we can do the "vacation thing" in Seattle.  I know we plan on going to the Seattle Center where we will go oup the Space Needle and have lunch and head over to the science center for a laser light show to Micheal Jackson, wooohooo.  Then I will drag Paul to the monorail where we will head over to Pikes Market and eat french crepes and truffles, mmmm.  I am nervous that I will forget somthing fun as right now I feel overwhelmed and loopy with all the things I have to do and organize. 

Im bringing my camera of course so I will take pictures of my truffles and crepes for ya all to see:) 

TTFN

Fashion Show...

Ok so my girls are very girly and love to create fashion shows as well as plays and dances. We usually recieve tickets to the events and then proceed through the security gate to find our seats awaiting us. This time was extra special as on our seats were paper and pens for autographs!

Scary Bubble Monster...

I was surprised at how insane she could look!

Alright alright....

This blog just haunts me sometimes when I have not posted for awhile.  I think ohhh what if someone goes there only to be dissapointed that there is nothing new.  So I can get a little desperate and post weird things like baby making cakes, which for me I would say is a little distasteful, so I removed that one. 

There has not been a lot going on in the Barlow home.  Paul is doing better but found out he has a hiatel hernia and now has to deal with that.  We are not happy with the doctor as he chose do go ahead with a 30,000 dollar surgery anyhow.  However paul is feeling better:)  Justina and Mercy are still skating.  Justina will do a competition this spring, she is really doing well.  School is well, going.  Justina pretty much hates school work but is doing much better in Math.  Mercy on the other hand always wants to do school and loves learning.  The other night I was trying to do something in the kitchen, Mercy was asking questions about extra school that she wanted to do and I had to tell her "stop doing school".  She loves to read and write but I think math is her favorite. 

Heffy, our dog is also doing well:)  We adopted her last summer.  She is a retired sled dog, shes about 8 years old.  We really love her and she has been perfect for us.  She has one blue eye and the other is blue and brown.

All for now.

Justinas 1st Ice Skating Show...

Just click on pic and it will redirect you...  I cant figure out how to actually upload a video that I can actually play on here, its very frustrating. 

This is why I am always scared at night to walk from my front door to my car door!!!!

Its totally looking up at me...just waiting to eat me!

Paul update...

Paul is doing well, we are not sure if this surgery will take until its been several weeks.  He really tried to milk me for sympathy the whole week that he was home!  Now Im happy to report he is back at work!  I love him but having him wonder around the house all day complaining of being hungry and not being able to eat certain things was driving me nuts. 

A friend of mine sent me these...