Vegas Baby and Grandpa Update

@ the Bellagio

Lucky Larry's Lobster Mania

M & M world... good thing dad was there to help!

The Girls

The Boys

@ our $3.95 breakfast... it was good!

New York, New York

We are back from Vegas, but not back with extra money. After losing a little we decided it wasn't THAT much fun to lose money and stopped after two days of trying.

We arrived on Tuesday morning and hung out at the pool and lazy river. We had dinner at Fiamma Trattoria with everyone there for the wedding. I think there were over 20 people. On Wednesday we traveled to The Little White Chapel where we met Elvis and Amanda and Dan got hitched. Elvis liked dad a lot and as you can see by the pictures, dad enjoyed him as well.
Thursday we toured multiple hotels, saw a show at the MGM called Crazy Horse, and it was horrible.... so bad that Amanda and Dan walked out! We all left on Friday and headed home. (more pictures to come...the computer was slow)

There are a lot of great pictures on Facebook too...especially from the professional photographer.

Grandpa Barber
His cancer is back.... unfortunately that means that he will have to start chemo. He had a port implanted Thursday (to receive the chemo), has his pacemaker checked on on Monday, and starts his first round of Chemo next Thursday. For those that read this, keep him in your prayers. I have never known him without hair, so that alone is too hard to take. We hope the chemo works or at least helps him feel better. He is only 5'2 and 126 pounds at the moment, and shrinking daily because the smell of food makes him sick. The dr's have given him a pill to help with the smell of the food and has allowed him to eat more than before.
This morning he was rushed to the hospital because he couldn't breathe... I am so thankful that Amanda and Mom are with him!

Bobby McKey's night out

Last night we had an amazing night out at Bobby McKey's dueling piano bar... Jim and Brittanie were in town from Texas...we miss them sooo much!! oh, and yes, I cut all my hair off!!

Brittanie took this picture... Captain Morgan, although he is drinking Bud Light!

Jim and Brittanie

Nate and Chris

Pictures....

Here is a link to pictures of the National Aquarium in Baltimore and of the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=ee435b83bd32d0bf&sid=8BaM27Ju3bNgi

I hope that works.

Weekend projects:

We FINALLY removed the stump... no wonder they want to charge you an arm and a leg to remove them... it is hard work. We were able to chase 90% of the roots too and take it all to the dump on Saturday. (560 lbs worth of it) We also took the last of the white rocks, and old toilet and some random things in the back yard. The transformation is amazing. This coming weekend is dedicated to getting it back to normal... to much dirt/mud for Chase to bring in.

Working hard to cut it free!

Finally... it came out!!

The STUMP
The Hole

I found this rug at LLBean... how cute is that??? It fits perfectly on the landing going down to the basement.... and looks very very similar to Chase-r!

We also had the privilege to dog sit for Sara and Ben. Rocky is a border collie/basset hound mix that is about to turn one year old. Chase and Rocky had a great time and Chase shared her bed with him. We all had a fun time.

One one more week of work till Vegas BABY!!! We are definitely getting super excited for the wedding and can't wait to see all of our family!!

Congratulations Chris!

On TOP of the World!!

Nominated, interviewed and now selected as a Byrce Harlow Fellow for the 09-10 academic year!!!

**Your professional, academic, and leadership achievements, combined with your strong interest in a career in advocacy are extremely impressive. Being awarded the Bryce Harlow Fellowship truly demonstrates your achievements as well as your commitment to integrity in professional advocacy. It is a pleasure to be able to assist you in pursuing you graduate degree with this award**

From Mom and Dad Barber-
"We all recognize your efforts in completing your degree work for your Masters Program and we are all especially pleased that others (Bryce Harlow Fellowship) have also recognized your education, avocation, and continued efforts to improve yourself. Not only are we excited and pleased we now have new information to spread to our friends as we 'gush' about our family and loved ones endeavors."

Chase's boo boo and house updates!

Mom, Dad and Grandma have been here since last Saturday, and no, I didn't make them work the whole week. We actually treated them to the Baltimore Aquarium on Monday for all their hard work. We visited the American History Museum and the National Cathedral.
As for updates:
-new toilet upstairs (the upstairs toilet replaced the basement toilet)
-removal of the holly bush stumps
-removal of Cherry Blossom roots... Chris even used a mattock to bust up the stump and roots.
and most important:
-NEW floors and baseboard in the living room

As for Chase's boo boo... she snagged her dew claw on some of the roots we removed. She ran inside for a treat and blood was dripping everywhere. When we inspected it closely, we realized that she had split her nail up/down. I guess she didn't realize that we had already spent enough money at Lowe's this week and for the new floor, so we had to take her to the vet for a 45 minute "surgery". She has a bandage for 3-5 days to cover the partial removal of her claw and 3 weeks of antibiotics.


I will post more pictures of our trips soon!

Emily

I have returned home and am back to work after being in Chicago for four days. Emily is sooo cute and even more beautiful in person. Mom, Dad, Amanda and Dan all came up to see me...I am sure it was Emily, but they told me it was to see me too. We had a great time, Jessica and Eric received a Wii for their birthdays, so we played it and made fun of each other. We enjoyed Flat Top Grille and Giordano's Pizza, very yummy! We went down to Navy Pier, but Emily didn't think that was a good idea, so after walking around, we left. More pictures of that to come.