Christmas in our home

Many of you have asked to see pictures of our new home, and to be honest I hadn't really had any to post because we haven't taken any yet, until just recently. Since it being Christmas, and since we've decorated, I thought it would be a great time to show you our home, in all it's Christmas glory. I must say decorating for Christmas has been so fun in our OWN home! I was so excited to break into the boxes and start pulling the decorations out. Tom has really gotten into the spirit of things too. If I hadn't put a limit on what he could spend, I'm sure the outside of the house would have been much brighter. He managed to keep things simple in the holiday lighting department. Although, he's already told me that next year the house will have more lights and possibly a few yard decorations. He really wanted to do a large sign that says' "Mele Kelekimaka!" (can't spell it) in rope lighting somewhere in the frontyard. I know he was just dying to share the Hawaiian Christmas spirit with our nieghbors, but it will have to wait until next year. Sorry honey. Any how, here's our new place, the boys have started calling it our "Christmas house".


Our living room with Xander on the couch. We didn't plan it, but the green wall coordinates well with the Christmas decorations. By the way, Tom painted that beautiful green wall, you know that one that we're still trying to decide if the color is right for us. I don't mind it, but Tom's not convinced.


My Christmas kitchen.


My Grandma was dejunking some of her stuff, and she gave me the Mr. and Mrs. Claus. I was so excited, I love collecting Santa's and what better than to recieve them from my Grandma. The picture above our mantle is also a decoration passed down from family. Tom's great grandma made it, it's a Christmas tree made out of crushed old 7-up bottles and jewelry pieces for the ornaments. It's also lit from behind with a strand of lights. At first, I thought it was a little tacky, but now I think it's cute in my Christmas house.


Our Christmas tree and the garland that I made especially for my railing this year. The tree is new too, and it has quite the funny story to go along with it. I wanted a bigger tree this year, so I heard that some were 50% off at Micheal's on Thanksgiving day- the sale was 6:00-10:00-I read it on the flyer I had recieved. So, Tom was the one that drew the short stick that morning and ended up being the one to get up early and get the doorbuster tree. Well, to make the story short. The flyer did say 6:00- 10:00, just not a.m., but P.M.! Luckily, my husband found it to be more humurous that he was 12 hours early to get the doorbuster deal. hehehe!


Our simple holiday lighting, thanks to my husband and Alex.


I just had to include these pictures of the men in my life. Don't they make this snow look bearable? I love these guys!

Some things that we've been up to . . .

Hello world, we're back! It has been a busy time for us, but we are doing good and settling into our new home has been really fun. I'm including some pictures of the events of the past past little while in the Harris home. I apologize now, this may be an extremely long one, because it has been so long.

Every year we are lucky enough to take a trip with my family to Lake Powell, all expenses paid thanks to my parents. We have been doing this since I was a kid, and so it has become a treasured family tradition. Tom and I look forward to this every year, as do our boys because they are able to spend a whole week with their cousins. I have a brother and a sister who live in Las Vegas, and so it is always a treat to see them and their families there also. This past year, my little brother Darren and his wife Rachel weren't able to make it, she was on bed rest awaiting the birth of Abby. It was sad that they were not there,but we still managed to create memories full of fun, joy, and a whole lot of laughter.



My boys LOVE to collect sticks wherever we go! Being at Lake Powell made this no different.

My nephew Brody is a huge lover of cars and trucks, so this sand was a paradise for him.

Cousin Ben, KC and Xander playing on the beach.

Uncle Carl helped out with building a really cool castle with the kids. The water was rising so quickly, that by the end of our trip this castle was completely under water.

Daddy and Grandpa helping the boys get use to the water.

KC loved it.

Xander did not.

Xander refused to nap while we were there, and so because he was exhausted he would fall asleep in some funny places.

The couch.

Back seat of the ski boat.

And kitchen table.

Uncle Tom hosted a special tea party for all the cousins!

He told them a story, it was a real treat! The kids were captivated . . .

except for maybe Ethan (left).


At the end of August we spent some time with Tom's family at Bear Lake. It was nice and relaxing, especially since we were in the midst of moving and I needed some R & R. We stayed in a friends lovely cabin over looking the lake. A couple of those days we rented a ski boat and had some fun on the "choppy" water. The boys enjoyed being spoiled by their aunts and uncles and especially Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks to Auntie Em, they even got some art projects done. Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun and memorable trip.


Man, I love my hubby's brown eyes!




In October we celebrated KC's fifth brithday! I still can't believe that I'm the mother of a five year old. He is such good boy, and a great big brother to Xander. Xander loves to be where KC is and do what KC is doing.

KC, Xander, and their friend Carter enjoying some birthday cake.

I love this picture! We were singing Happy Birthday to him, and that look on his face is priceless!


We also were pleased to celebrate my Grandpa's 80th birthday along with his twin sister, Lois. He has had an uphill battle the past couple of years and so we were excited to see him enjoy his birthday. I really admire him and my grandma, they've always been a good example to me.

My grandparents, this is a good picture.

Grandpa Lewis with his sisters.


For Halloween we had a blast putting together the boys' costumes. Xander wanted to be just about everything you presented him with and eventually settled on the cute Astronaut costume we picked up from Costco. He called it his "Baseman" (Spaceman)costume. KC on the other hand was a little more work. He insisted on being Troy Bolton from the movie High School Musical, one of his favorite shows. If you hadn't noticed, it was nearly impossible to find a Troy costume, there were plenty of Gabriella and Sharpay's out there, but no Troys. So we found a little Nike track suit on sale at Kohl's, and I put on "E" (for East High) made out of felt on the front of it. And what really made his costume was the surfer dude wig we found at Joann's for 4 dollars. It was perfect. Nobody really could figure out who he was, but he didn't care cause he felt pretty cool sportin' the Troy Bolton look.

KC's "Troy pose"


Our little "Baseman"


Notice Tom's hard work on the carved pumpkins, he had fun doing them. The one in the very back says, "Haunted Harris'".

This is Tom's best friend Alex and his wife Jamie and little boy Carter. They just moved in to our neighborhood four houses down from us. It's been a lot of fun having them so close. Our boys refer to them as Aunt and Uncle, and Carter refers to us as that also.

Tom and I were people from the 80's. It was fun getting all geeked up about dressing up.

KC played Indoor Soccer this fall. It was his first time doing it, and so it was a lot of fun as a family experiencing this. He loved it, and looked forward to playing every week. Because we have the only grandchildren on Tom's side, his family was always willing to be at his games. KC by far had the biggest cheering section out of anyone on the team. We loved it.

KC is the second from the left.

Good Times

Hey everyone! Long time no blog, although that's pretty typical of me. Sorry it's been a busy time with the Harris family, but I am proud to say that we are new homeowners! Yepee! I never thought I'd see the day coming. We closed on our new home on August 13th. We were thrilled to find our home here in the valley near both our families. It's a small home, but perfect for us for now. Except for one thing, it only has one bathroom! Yes, you heard me right- one bathroom! What were we thinking buying a home with one bathroom?! It brings back memories of living in the village, minus the cinderblock walls. Hopefully we can put a second bath in the basement soon. Besides only having the one bath, we are loving our new place and so are the boys. They've already put their bikes to good use in the driveway and their toys are scattered all around the house. It's been a process moving in, we've only been in the house for six days and are slowly getting unpacked. We could have moved in sooner, but decided to recarpet and paint a few walls before. Tom and I have both learned that painting just isn't our thing, but still cheaper than paying someone. He's actually better at it than I am, he has more patience than I do with it- which kinda surprises me. Anyway I'm rambling now. Just wanted to say hi and hope all is well with the rest of you.

Dad's day off

Tom work's four tens and has every Wednesday off. We try to do something worthwhile on these days and have some fun with the boys. Today we visited my new neice in the hospital and took the boys swimming at grandma's pool later in the afternoon.



She is so adorable! She was a awake the whole time we were there, I've never seen a newborn so alert. The boys were so cute with her, they told us that they wanted a baby sister- oh how I wish! Darren and Rachel named her Abigail and will most likely call her Abby. I still can't believe that my little brother is a daddy! I know he and Rachel will make great parents and we wish them the best.



Doesn't Tom look like he needs a little girl in his life?!











We love Tom's parents new home, it's centrally located in the valley and most importantly- it has a community pool! We use it at least once a week. The boys love going there, and then hanging out at Grandma's house. It's been their favorite thing to do this summer. KC loves hanging out in the shallow end, you know- where he can still see the bottom. Xander on the other hand is our little fish. He loves jumping in the water and insists on swimming by himself, which is why he is forced to wear the floaties.