Harris Happenings

Re-cap of December and January

2012-02-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't felt like blogging so sorry its been a couple months. We had a lovely December and January. We really enjoyed Christmas, especially with a new baby in our house again. The boys were, as always, so excited for Christmas. We enjoyed having Christmas on Sunday this time, I think I would prefer it like that every year in fact. Our sacrament meeting is at 9 am, so a few weeks ahead of time we told the boys that we would not open up any presents before church, but would do it after church was over and daddy got home from collecting and counting tithing, so around 11:00 or so. I know, we are such mean, cruel parents. We thought it was going to be hard on them to wait that long, but those sweet boys surprised us and waited so patiently after church for their dad to get home. I suppose talking about it weeks ahead of time prepared them. We started opening gifts around 10:45. KC and Xander each got a Nintendo DS and some games to share. Along with a bunch more presents that I'm forgetting now. William got some baby toys and clothes and shoes. Tom and I got some new coats and iphones. I made a yummy hashbrown quiche, which I think will now be a Christmas morning tradition. It was super easy to make, easy to clean up, and everyone in the family ate it and loved it. Christmas afternoon, Thomas' family came over and we exchanged gifts with them. And then later in the evening we went to my parents for dinner. I love being around family at Christmas, I think that's why its my favorite holiday. And in recent years, I've found that just being at home with our three boys is just as fun as going to visit extended family. I love that feeling of having my kids and husband home and creating traditions on our own. My most favorite part of Christmas this year was that Thomas was home and didn't have to work for 10 straight days!! Just a nice benefit of his job, lots of paid time off. We really enjoyed sleeping in, being lazy, watching movies, playing video games, eating yummy food, visiting family, and all the rest that entails of having no school or work for that long. It was awesome.
In January, we took a quick weekend trip down to St. George to visit my sister's family, but not before having to replace our water heater the day we were suppose to leave. Seems like those type of expenses always come when we are going on a trip or something like that. So, we ended up leaving a day later than planned, but still had a lovely time down south with my parents and Kalyn's family. My sister and her husband are such great hosts when we visit and make it all seem flawless while doing so. It was great to see my nephew, Ethan receive the priesthood and become a Deacon. I can't believe he is twelve already!!! Seriously.
The following weekend we were hit with food poisoning, every one of us, except for William. We were seriously down and out for 2 days. Thank goodness little Will didn't get it, because it was awful. Just plain awful. I'll spare you the details, just believe me when I say I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Thomas ended up missing a scout camp that weekend.
The last weekend in January, which was my mother in laws birthday also, we went to Ogden with Thomas' family for a weekend getaway. We stayed at the Marriott, went Snowboarding at Snowbasin, and swam a lot at the hotel pool... it was fun. Tom's parents were kind enough and watched the boys for us all day while we, and Tom's siblings went to Snowbasin. Me and Emily and Tate snowboarded for the first time. It's not something I would suggest trying to take up for the first time at 30 years old, but I did have fun doing it. Definitely no good at it, but I laughed a lot! And two and half weeks later, still have the bruises on my behind to show for it! It was great to get out and do something like that with Tom's sibs, because we really never do anything together. Tate, for a beginner, did great and was able to keep up with Adam and Tom. I personally loved seeing Tom and his brothers have something to do together that they all enjoyed. It was great middle ground for them. Thanks again, to my in laws for watching our kids!
It's now February, and tomorrow is Valentine's day. Where does the time go?? The older I get, the more I say that. Last night we went to my parents for dinner and made and decorated sugar cookies with the kids, it was fun. My boys always love seeing their cousins, especially Abby. She is a cutie.
Xander and William's birthdays are right around the corner. I better get the ball rolling and plan some parties for them..I can't believe Xanman will be 6, and my baby is going to be a year old?!?!?! I seriously feel like just yesterday I was counting down the days till I was going to deliver him! Crazy stuff. I also, need to get my bum in gear and get my house painted... I took down all pictures and art off my walls two weeks ago and have yet to start my painting project. Tom is already teasing me about this and taking bets as to when I will start. He claims that he doesn't have to help me, because he painted the downstairs last year when I was 8 months pregnant. Whatever. Hopefully I'll get the motivation I need and have some before and after pictures to post soon.
I regret that I didn't take enough Christmas pictures, but here are some that have been taken over the last couple of months. They are not in order, but I'm too lazy to fix it.

This is the before picture taken of us before heading up to go snowboarding.

These two were the after pictures, we all survived.

KC, Connor, Abby, Xander, and William

Abby and Xander making cookies.

KC, Abby and Xander

Cute one of Abby

KC decorating his cookie

Xander eating his huge cookie

Christmas morning, I love KC's face in this

Daddy helping William open a present

Mama and two of her boys

Happy baby!

Sweet KC

His new camera smile. Cheesing it up!

Love his blue eyes

Celebrating Grandma's birthday at the hotel in Ogden

Adventures with the guy in the red suit . . .

2011-12-19T12:12:00.000-08:00

We have had the chance to see Santa twice this year. The first time was at Tom's parents ward Christmas party, and the second time was at my parents house. They had a Christmas dinner and invited Mr. and Mrs. Claus to come visit while we were there. Here are some pictures of both events.

Santa needs a bigger lap.

A little blurry, but Will not minding sitting on Santa's lap.

KC and Santa

Xander and Santa

Will and Santa. Not liking this particular Santa.

Left to right: KC, Connor, Abby, scary Santa, Xander, William, and Mrs. Claus.

William liked sitting on Mrs. Claus' lap.

New posts . . .it's about time

2011-11-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to updating the blog. So scroll down and enjoy what life has been like around here. You are welcome Kalyn.

William

2011-11-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

Will is over 7 months old now, and I haven't posted an update one him since he was 5 months. To be honest, I've just been busy with life and haven't really wanted to do an update until today. Today Will and I are both at home sick. We are skipping church. So, I picked now to get caught up with some posts.

Will has been sick and fussy the past 3 or 4 days. He broke his first tooth on Wednesday, so I think that is what brought on the cold symptoms. And even though he has not been feeling well, he really has been a pretty happy baby through it all. He also decided to tackle some other things recently, besides breaking his first tooth. He now sits up on his own, which we both are excited about. It allows him to play longer on the floor with his toys, and he doesn't get frustrated with being stuck on his tummy. He scoots around pretty well, he hasn't started crawling or anything yet but loves his new freedom of getting around. He loves the sound of his own voice. He screams, yells, babbles, and giggles to hear it. It so fun! He is just getting to have such a fun personality, I love it. He still doesn't love baby food. He has a very strong gag reflex, and throws up a lot of stuff. He does love flavored baby puffs and baby cheetos. Two days ago he tried some apple crisp and devoured it! That's my boy!

He absolutely loves his baby jumper, so much that he decided to sleep in it.

He loves to grab his feet and suck on his toes.

William being silly with cousin Connor.

Xander and Will enjoying one of the last days of warmer weather on our front lawn.

William feeling very proud of himself, sitting up and playing with big brothers toys.

His first time sitting up on his own in the tub. He loved smacking his hands against the water.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T08:47:00.000-08:00

It was a great Halloween, always is. But this year was even better, because the weather was awesome! It was warm enough for the kids to go trick or treating without even a jacket on. It's fun seeing the kids get excited about dressing up. This year KC was a werewolf, Xander a zombie, and Will wore two different hand me downs from his brothers- a dragon and a lion. Thomas and I even dressed up this year for our ward's trunk or treat. We went as a shower and Princess Leia, after the movie, Karate Kid. You know, the scene of the Halloween dance, where Daniel dresses as a shower, and Elisabeth Shue dresses as Princess Leia?? No you don't remember? That's okay, nobody else got that our costumes were a "couple costume", but that's okay. They still thought it was cool, and we had fun dressing up!

Will wasn't dressed up here, because he got too hot in the lion costume, and we took it off.

All ready to go to school on Halloween!

KC in the school parade.

Playing the part of Zombie and Werewolf.

Xander and Carter in the school parade.

KC's class. He is in the bottom right corner. His cute teacher was dressed up as cookie monster.

Xander at his class party.

My cute "scary" boys all ready for some trick or treating with Dad.

Baby's 1st Haircut

2011-11-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

We did it. We finally had Will's hair cut. Well, more like, just a trim. I really don't think that I could have parted with anymore than that. My neighbor, Ally, who does my hair, cut it for me and I think she did a great job! He was pretty wiggily through all of it, so she did great. I actually think it looks a lot better than before. He can now actually see out of his eyes, it was so long!

Eight is great!

2011-11-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

I seriously cannot believe that my baby turned eight, where has the time gone?!?! KC is such a wonderful kid, I couldn't have asked for better. I am so proud to call him my own. He is a good example to his brothers and is ALWAYS helping out when I need him to. I think because he is the oldest, we tend to ask him to step up to the plate more often than Xander. I feel bad about that sometimes, but I also know that he is capable and it makes him responsible.

He is a funny kid, and likes to make people laugh. At PT conferences, his teacher told us that KC is always making the class laugh, and that he is friendly and makes people feel good. She even said that KC will compliment her on how she looks somedays. Funny boy, such a little flirt like his daddy. He is an artist and draws really well, he has for quite some time now. He spends a lot of extra time at school on art projects, which can get him in trouble for taking too much time. He likes to make others happy and goes out of his way to do this. KC is a good student. He excels in math and actually got sent to the principal's office the other day for a reward because he is doing so well. He is great with his baby brother, and makes him so happy. He and Xander are great friends, and play really well together most of the time.

He was baptized on October 8th, the day after his birthday. It was a great day, especially as a parent, such a great reward seeing your children make great decisions in their life. I hope to have many more of those days in my lifetime. We had both my family, and Thomas' family their with us, and some close friends of ours. It was very nice to see the support that we have from all of them. Even my favorite great Aunt Judy flew in from Washington to come, it was so nice having her there with us. That meant a lot to me.

Here are some pictures we took at the church. KC was so excited! He asked his two grandmas to give talks. His Aunt Kelli led the music. His biggest cousin Ethan (11) said the opening prayer. Xander said the closing prayer, with a little help from me. Both grandpas were the witnesses to his baptism. Daddy baptized and confirmed him. And grandpas, uncles, and friends stood in the circle.

So little time

2011-10-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

I've ignored posting lately, things around here have just been so busy and I haven't had the time. I was in Walmart today and noticed that the Christmas stuff was already on display. That's funny, it seems like just yesterday I was pregnant with William walking through those same Christmas aisles. Can't believe that's almost been a year! We are doing really well, just trying to keep up with the busy life of having three boys, holding church callings, soccer, games, football games, volunteering to run the Reflections program at school, work, pack meetings, birthdays (KC turned 8!!), baptisms (KC was baptized!) and yada yada yada. Life is good though, and wouldn't want it any other way.

I had the boys' pictures taken back in September, so of course I'm just now getting around to putting them on the blog. I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I have handsome sons. Here's some of my favorites.

This is a short post today, so in short, the boys are doing good. William is growing like a weed, and getting more and more fun each day. He's such sweet tempered baby, I'm lucky.

It's all about the hair

2011-09-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

I have a beautiful baby. I'm not afraid to say it, it's true. In fact I've made three of them that way so far. Not a bad record, I must say. So, it's not a huge surprise to me that we get stopped by total strangers in stores who tell me that my baby boy is the "cutest baby they've ever seen", or "I cannot believe all that hair!" And I agree, he is the cutest baby they have ever seen, but I think they are mostly shocked by the amount of hair he has and they just have to say something.

And when it's not up in this faux hawk, it falls down into his eyes. It has grown so long! If he were a girl, we would so be putting pig tails in it by now. I do not want to cut it. No way.

Back to school

2011-09-02T03:15:00.000-07:00

KC's first day of 2nd grade

Xander's frist day of kindergarten

Brother's walking to school

Xander with two of his buddy's (Two of Thomas' best friends sons)

It's pretty fun that they get to start school together

I say it all the time, but time really does fly by so quickly. My boys are growing up so fast. I hope they will always want their mommy around, and I hope they will never grow tired of wanting to give me hugs and kisses. I know there will come a day when it won't be cool anymore, so for now I will enjoy it and thoroughly wrap myself into their little worlds. I feel so blessed to be given the gift of being their mom. Here's to another happy and healthy school year!

5 months and some more

2011-08-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

William is 5 months old! I must say that he is still the cutest baby EVER! I love this little munchkin so much.

Will has reached some milestones in the last little while. He now rolls over. He doesn't quite know what to do once he on his tummy, but at least he can get there! He now eats solids, at least when I make the time to feed him them. He only likes cereal with mixed pear or banana so far, but at least it's a start. I have been making his baby food, and I must admit that I wish that I would have done it with the other two babies also! It's super easy and SUPER cheaper than buying it in the stores.
And let's not forget his biggest accomplishment this last month . . . .William now takes a bottle again!!! (huge sigh of relief from mom) I just decided one day that I was going to get him to take that bottle again no matter what! And after about 20 minutes of him messing around with the bottle nipple, he finally gave in. YES! I can now leave him with a sitter or whoever and not have to worry about him wanting to nurse before I get to him. Good job little Will! Love you baby!
In other news, we are all doing well. Summer is ending, KC started 2nd grade on Monday and Xander starts Kindergarten next week. I think they are both excited. And I am so excited to get back into a routine and to have some time alone in the morning, just me and Will. And hopefully, I can squeeze in some gym time too.
Thomas has been very busy this past summer, with bishopric duties. He has been away so much doing Youth Conference, Girl's Camp, Scout camps, etc. So, now that summer is ending we are glad to be seeing him more around our home. He just got a new position at work and starts on Monday. I'm sure that will keep him busier too, but hopefully will be able to set his own hours with this job, making his schedule a little more flexible. We'll see about that. I know he works so hard for us and others, I know that I take him for granted.
Here's some pictures of a few thing that we've done lately. We have a busy few months ahead of us also, but are excited to see what's planned... Labor day camping trip with just our little family, my 30th bday, KC's 8th bday and BAPTISM!, weekend trip with some friends, family trip and triathlon in St. George, and I'm sure I'm missing a few other things too, but it's going to be a fun fall! My favorite time of the year.

Grandma Harris took us to the zoo, and of course spoiled us again.

Such goof balls.

Showing baby brother the elephants.

William loves his borrowed Bumbo chair from Aria.

Seriously one of the best inventions for babies thus far.

Not quite sure about this mom!

Heaven sent. He literally takes my breath away.

Lake Powell 2011

2011-08-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

It was a fun, but short trip this year. We had fun with my parents, Brian's family, my Grandma, and Aunt Judy (my grandpa's sister who flew in from Washington to come with us). Here's some pics of the 4 days we spent there.

Daddy and Will

My mom and Judy

The crew heading to see Rainbow Bridge

Kelli and Rachael

Stopping to cool off in the lake

On our way back to the houseboat all the kids fell asleep on me

KC, check out his wind blown mohawk

William and Xander

My brother Brian with his two girls Rachael and Nora

Judy doing the dishes

Dad doing the dishes

Little B Will just chillin'

Brian

Rachael and Nora

KC and Xan lookin' cool posing next to Grandpa's boat

The boys with their cousin Brody

William ready for his swim in the lake

Playing in the water and on the tubes

KC climbing the rock

Xander climbing the rock

Grandma and William

William, KC and I

William is 4 months old!

2011-08-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

Our little William is 4 months old now, and about 9 nine days. I'm a little late getting this posted. We took him in for his check up and we couldn't wait to see how much he weighs now! My sister and I both guessed 16 lbs. We were pretty close, he weighed in at 15.9!! Big boy! I think it's around the 50-70%. He is 26 inches long now, but I can't remember what % that was in. Needless to say he sure is growing!
He is such a happy baby. He still sleeps pretty good at night waking only once for a feeding. He still hates the bottle and binky, which is sometimes frustrating for me, but oh well there are worse things. He is laughing a whole lot more lately. Xander can really get him giggling, he's the best at it! He'll usually do some sort of funny dance in front of Will, and that just triggers a bunch of giggles. It's so dang cute. Of course the second I try to get it on camera, he stops laughing. Go figure. William has recently discovered his thumb, and he loves it! He sometimes has a hard time getting it into his mouth, which he gets frustrated about. The other night I laid him down in his bed, he was already asleep, but he quickly stuck his thumb in his mouth and sucked away! Very sweet. He still loves being outside and when he's fussy we'll put him in his stroller and go for a walk or I'll do yard work while he watches me. He loves water! He likes grandma's pool, and just this past week discovered he likes Lake Powell too. I love this little boy of mine. I'm so blessed to have three healthy, handsome sons. I'm a lucky girl!

3 months

2011-06-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

Mmmmmm! Doesn't this picture just make you want to nibble those cheeks of his?? Maybe an arm or a leg too? If you saw him in person, I'm sure you couldn't resist. My baby turned 3 months this past week, and I am having a hard time with it. He is growing up too fast for me, if I had my way I'd slow the whole process way down.
William is such a delight to have in our home. It's a breath of fresh air having a baby in our home after what seemed like a long time without one. He is a good baby, which makes for one happy mama. Here are some things little B Will has managed to accomplish in the past month. He is such on over achiever.

Sleeps great at night! He wakes up only once in the middle for a feeding. Maybe once he starts on solids he'll skip that night feeding.
He puts himself to sleep for naps and bedtime!! CAN YOU SAY HOORAY!!!! Love that he does this now. We wrap him up his his blankie and then lay him in his bed. Some times he'll fuss a little before falling asleep, but most of the time he just falls asleep. What a good boy!
He loves the mornings, it's his happiest time. He smiles, coos, and will almost laugh with you when he first wakes up. His fussier time is late afternoon before bedtime, I think he just gets so tired.
He HATES the bottle and formula now. DARN IT! This is what Xander did too, gave up the bottle and would only nurse. Makes things a little more difficult for me to do anything without him. Ah well, good thing he is SO cute huh?
Also, gave up the binkie. He will sometimes take it, but not usually. All my boys gave up the binkie very soon, I guess William is the one that has lasted the longest on it.
He LOVES it when you play with him. We lay him on his blanket on the floor and try to get him excited about his toys. He especially likes it when his brothers do it with him, they can keep his interest the longest.
Has a smile that just melts my heart! He can also make a pretty good frowny face too, and that melts my heart as well.
He has discovered his hands, and likes to suck on his fists.
Also has discovered his voice! He loves when he can get out good squeal or two and will keep trying for more.
Bottom line is I love this little boy!

This boy still loves bath time!

First time swimming at Grandma's pool, and he loved getting

in the water with me and his brother's.

With Xander right before getting in the pool.

I had to get a picture of his wet spikey hair.

William and Connor. Cousins and best buddies.

There is only a 3 month age difference between them,

my baby looks like a giant compared to his cousin.

Kalyn (pronounced KayLynn)

2011-06-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to my sister. My favorite sister. My only sister. And rightfully so, since she is like the only person who reads my blog and simply lives each day of her life so that she can check to see if I've updated it. Thank you Kalyn, for giving me purpose. Anyway this is a shout out to her for being such a sweet sister any girl could ask for. She is always there for me when I've needed her. Did I ever mention that she flew in town to come and see me the weekend before I had William? Well she did. I was very pregnant. Very. And she dragged me too Ikea, bought me a dresser for the nursery, and constructed it too because Thomas was too busy to do it himself, he was off buying a car or something. She also waited on me hand and foot and played with kids because I was too ~~fat~~ pregnant to do so myself. And she did all of this while in the midst of packing/moving her own family to a different state/home. She is wonderful. I lub her. And I will spend the rest of my life trying to repay Kalyn for all the sweet things she has done for me over the years. She has had a rough couple of days and I just wanted to cheer her up, so hopefully this will do it. This picture makes me laugh, and I think she might laugh too.

Trouble

2011-05-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

This is what happens to baby brother when I leave big brother in the bed alone with him.

This is the big brother responsible for this.

Great Brain

2011-05-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

My son is a Great Brain. At least that's what we think of him. He was assigned to do a Great Brain project in his class on anything he wanted, and he chose to do triathlons. With a lot of help from his dad, they made a poster, wrote a script, and gathered all that he needed to give his first ever oral presentation. He did great! We love you KC and are very proud.

KC reading his presentation.

Answering his classmates questions.

Showing me his board. He's a funny kid.

2 months

2011-05-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

My little man is 2 months old. That went by fast! William is such a good baby, I really have it pretty darn easy. He had his check up yesterday with Dr. Wirkus, and can I just say that I love that man! He makes me feel like such a good mom, and he tells me that too. I know he probably does it to all the other moms that come into his office, but I don't care. And I trust him with my children, it feels so nice to have a pediatrician like that. Anyway, enough about my crush on the doc (I can say that, cause he's an old man), here are little Will's stats:

Height- 23.7 inches ( 91st %)
Weight- 12.3 lbs (80th %)
Head Circ.- 15.9 in. (60th %)

So in other words, he's growing like he should be. Here are some things he likes/does.

He likes to eat at least every three hours during the day, and will go longer than that at night.
He nurses mostly, but will also take a bottle of formula when needed. He's not a picky eater!
He still takes his binky! Much to my delight. The other boys never took it.
William sleeps the first six hours in his crib during the night, then sleeps next to me the rest of the night, because mom is too ~~sleepy~~ lazy to put him back in his own bed after nursing him. Mom also prefers sleeping next to her baby.
He naps often through out the day.
He loves his stroller and being outside.
William loves his big brothers. Especially when KC holds him. I think he feels very comforted by that.
He likes to be sung to, and sometimes will try and sing a long with whoever is singing to him. Think he gets this from his Daddy.
He holds eye contact now, and coos and smiles when you talk to him.
He LOVES his mama! And at times mom is the only one who can get him to settle down when he is upset.
He loves his baths in the morning. He usually calms right down after being changed, dressed and bundled up in his blanket and will take a long morning nap.
He still hasn't lost any of his hair yet.
He likes his bouncer, but hates the swing.
He is a good traveler in the car.
He has become quite the little drooler and bubble blower in the past couple of weeks.
He still has blue eyes. I think he will keep them like KC did.
William can draw a crowd when we are in public because they can't believe all the hair he has.

Moab

2011-05-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Moab for Thomas' cousins wedding. I know, who decides to get married in Moab?? Well, she is a real a outdoorsy kind of person, and her and her husband love to be in Moab, so that's who gets married there! It was actually a very fun wedding. They got married at Dead Horse Point National Park. The view was breathtaking!! I wish so badly that I would have gotten some pictures of that part of the trip. This was my first time down in this part of the state, and I was not expecting it to be so beautiful. The ceremony was very nice. We then headed over to place called Red Cliffs Lodge, which is right on the river, for the dinner and party. They put on a pretty good one too! Complete with prime rib, candy bar, s'mores bar, and karaoke! It was a blast!
The next day we went to Arches National Park with the boys. We did a couple of easy hikes with them and they loved it. Xander especially got into the whole hiking thing, he was very cute, and even manipulated us into buying him a "hiking hat", because we had forgotten his for the trip. That place is amazing! It's incredible to see so many of earth's wonders in one place. We are definitely going back again when we have more time. Here are some pictures of some things we did.

Me, KC and Xander on our way to Moab.

William did so good, he slept the whole trip! There and back, and did I mention that we did this trip in 24 hours. He is amazing.

Daddy was a very good driver. I think was very sick of driving by the time we got home, he's such a trooper.

The boys and I in front of Balanced Rock.

William wasn't quite sure what to think of the carrier.

It was amazing!

I never could get a very good picture of Thomas and his Uncle Clint doing karaoke, but it was So dang funny! The sang "I Swear". They had place roaring! Give those two a mic and you may not get it back, they know how to entertain, and aren't shy about it. You wouldn't catch me up there, but I'm glad someone is brave enough to do it. Good times.

Thomas' grandma "Tutu" and Aunt Leilani performed a beautiful Hawaiian wedding dance for the bride and groom. I still remember them doing it for our wedding too. Loved it. It now means even more, becuase Tutu is slowing down quite a bit, and she can't do as much, so really it takes all she has to perform.

When we got home from the trip our house was hot and so was William. We gave him a bath and let him be naked for awhile. He was a happy camper.

Catching up

2011-05-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

The boys on Easter Sunday morning.

KC is great big help around the house these days, who am I kidding- he always has been! His new roll though is holding William while mom gets dinner ready. He is very good at it, and William we think has really started to bond with him and feels comforted by him.

William at 1 month old. Such a cutie pie! The adorable blankie that he is on, my sweet friend Steph made. Such great talent, that I wish I had.

And here he is giving us one of his infectious smiles!

Xan-man is a pretty good big brother too!

William was blessed on Mother's day. Here he is in the carseat ready to go to church for the first time. He is wearing the same blessing gown that Thomas and his siblings wore and both KC and Xander wore.

Not the greatest picture of any of us, but I'll take what I can get. Thomas gave William such a beautiful blessing, and I'm so grateful for that. I still have a hard time believing that I'm a mother to 3 boys. Such handsome ones too.

Xander has been playing soccer the past month, and has seem to enjoy it a little more than last year. That's him on the left.

I told him to smile and this is what I got. Funny kid.
KC has been playing flag football again, I don't have any pictures of that yet. I'll post them when I take some. He seems to be enjoying it more this time too. The other night he grabbed his first flag and he was pretty dang excited about it, so were his father and I.
Life continues to be busy for us. Thomas with work, church responsibilities, and his family. Me with the kids. I just try to stay caught up with each boy's schedule, including Thomas'. I feel like everyday is so full and packed with something that needs to be done. I guess that is a good thing, keeps me from getting bored. I know years from now my kids will be grown and won't need me as much and I'll be missing all this chaos. So I better just enjoy this journey. Now that William is nearly 2 months old, I feel like we are settling into a routine more and new normal has begun. He is such a good baby. A few weeks ago he went through a fussy stage for about ten days. He refused to nap during the day and just wanted to be held, but then decided to give that up and has been pretty pleasant ever since. He sleeps pretty well at night. Of course he sleeps with me in bed half the night, but at least he is sleeping and I am too! I love the little guy. He is smiling a lot more and he seems to be more of a mama's boy. Thomas says that he just lights up when I'm around him. I agree, he does and makes me feel good. He is growing like a weed! I remember my babies growing quick, but I guess I forgot that it happens SO fast! Makes me kind of sad that they don't stay in that newborn sleepy/cuddly stage for very long. His 2 month appointment is on Monday, so I'll have to post his stats then.
We are so blessed. Thomas and I are saying that to eachother a lot lately, but we really feel that it's true. We have great family and friends that love us and we love them. We have a good life. It's not perfect by all means, but it is good and full of things that make us happy.

And finally . . .William

2011-04-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

I know it's been three weeks already since he's arrived, but I figure being a mommy to a newborn again is my excuse to not be blogging.
William arrived on March 23rd at 8:25pm after a long, but rewarding labor. He weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz, 21 1/2 inches long, and let's not forget all that dark hair! We couldn't be more proud to welcome another boy into our family, and I really do mean that. I really did think he was a girl, up until I was in labor, then Thomas and I both had a feeling that it was another boy. He is an angel. His older brothers love him to pieces too. Although I am exhausted, it has been so special to have a baby in our home again. It feels like a little piece of heaven right here in our home. I love it.
He wasn't named until the day after, because we didn't have any boy names picked out really. The only positive name we had was for a girl, and I really didn't think he'd appreciate that! The name William came about when we were watching sport center in the delivery room. It was the name of some athlete, and we both really liked it. And have since found out that his first name and middle name (which I'm not putting on here) is also the name of one of Thomas' relatives in Hawaii. Score!
Here are some pics of the last few weeks with our little guy. Sorry, there are quite a few of them.

As you can see we are a little obsessed with the little guy! His big brothers are especially proud and ask to hold him all the time!

Insomnia part II

2011-02-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pictures that I've been meaning to add.

Christmas morning. Sadly, I didn't take very many pictures.

Xander doing a silly pose with a new toy.

KC and his pose, although this makes him look grumpy.

Xander ripping into yet another toy.

My belly. I don't normally like taking pictures of myself when I am pregnant, but this time around I just can't believe how BIG my belly has gotten, and I guess I just want the proof to show for it someday.

These ones are way old. KC's first day of 1st grade.

The boys and I at the Park City Resort for my birthday.

KC played flag football for the first time this past fall. Too bad the pic is blurry.

KC got a new bike for his birthday. He was pretty excited about it.

KC at the Incredible Pizza Company for his birthday. This is when we were letting him grow out his hair. He really liked it shaggy like this, I kind of did too. Dad, on the other hand, did not.

Pregnancy Insomnia

2011-02-06T04:25:00.000-08:00

I can't sleep, this is a regular occurance these days. I think its probably preparing me for little sleep when the baby comes. So I decided to add some pictures on here. Some are recent and some are months old, but I figure it's better late than never. Enjoy.

My parents with the boys and cousin Abby on Halloween.

Abby with my awesome grandma, announcing that she's going to BEE a big sister. Love that little girl!

Thomas with the boys on his birthday. They made him that apron, with a lot of help from mom of course. It says on it: "We love U Dad" and then has their handprints counting to 30.

My friend Steph and I found this cowboy, Luigi, and Ninja and took them up to This is the Place Park during their Halloween festivities. We had lots of fun!

The boys with Santa at Grandma and Grandpa's ward party.

Demolition getting started on the basement.

The boys being helpful for their daddy. Not so sure if Xander has a license to handle that hammer by the looks of KC's face.

KC lost his two front teeth right before Christmas. This is after he lost the first one, but I forgot to take another picture when this tooth fell out. He sure sounded cute when talking without his teeth.

KC getting an award at school from his principal.

Xander's new favorite thing: The Book of Mormon Stories. He loves reading it and learning about all the people in the Book of Mormon. He loves it so much he took it to bed with him and fell asleep looking at the pictures.

This boy of mine . . .

2011-02-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

. . .seriously he is the funniest thing ever! I am constantly chuckling over the conversations Xander has with his friend Paisley on the way home from preschool. Sadly, I haven't written anything down, but today- I knew this one had to be!

Xan talking to Paisley: (For some reason the topic was Jesus. Don't ask me how that one got started.) "When Jesus lived here on this earth there was just grass everywhere. And there were no buildings, BUT there were Lincoln Logs."
Anyway, it made me smile. I have to be careful not to laugh at the things he says, cause he gets embarrassed and gets mad. Love that kid.

My list

2011-02-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

Where has the time gone, seriously!?! I feel like this pregancy has just flown by for me, because our lives have been so busy lately. This baby will be here before I know it, and I don't feel ready! After all it has been awhile since I've cared for an infant- five years to be exact. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited to have a new baby in our home, but a little scared at the same time. I feel a little out of practice.

I can't believe it's already February. The holidays treated us really well, even though it felt as if they came and went too fast. Instead of writing a regular post about what's been taking place the past 5 months since my last post (I'm a horrible blogger), I'm going to include a list of the Harris Happenings- haha get it?

October: I turned 29. We spent an awesome weekend in Park City with the Alleman's.

K.C. turned 7. We celebrated at The Incredible Pizza Company where the kids had a blast and we left with our wallets empty.

November: Thomas turned the BIG 30!! Ha ha! I love that he will always reach those milestones a year before me. We surprised him with an awesome day with all his guy friends watching the game and buying his first gun. I'm sure he felt very manly. It made up for turning 30. We also surprised him with yummy dinner and his favorite game of Mafia at our friends the Holt's home. It was a blast. On his actual birthday he got a special book from all his friends and family that wrote him nice/ tug at your heart notes. It took me a month to gather all the messages, but it was SO worth it! He really loved it. K.C. and Xander made him a lovely new apron for when he actually does cook at home.

We also started the basement project. Little did we know it still would not be done by February 2nd. It will be worth it once its done though, I just know it! New bathroom and room for the boys.

Tom's car gets stolen the first time while at work in SLC. Yes I said "first time". It is found two days later at the Valley Fair Mall where we have to pick it up at 3 am. No damage was done and he was able to dirve it again. My prayers were answered that we didn't have to buy a new car.

My brother's and sister's family visit for Thanksgiving. We had a blast!

December: Lots of fun events took place with friends and family. Festival of Trees, Live Nativity, This is the Place, parties with family. Santa showed up at our house too! Bringing a Wii and new TV. Thank you Santa!

I also get released from Young Women's, and get called to teach K.C.'s class in the primary. I'm excited they are all going to be baptized this year! LOVE primary.

Thomas spends lots of time bishopric (ing), helping with tithing settlement.

January: We recover from the holidays and get started again on the basement project. Sheetrock gets started and is still being hung/mudded as I write. I'm hoping this will be done in the next few weeks so I can begin to "nest". It's really kicking in for me the last week or so to get everything in order for the baby to arrive. Hurry, hurry, HURRY!!!

We take a weekend trip to Las Vegas for Brooklyn's baptism. We enjoy the warmer weather, good food, cousins, the hotel, and playing karaoke and dance revolution on the wii.

Tom's car get stolen AGAIN, while at work in SLC. Does this sound redundant? It is Groundhog's Day people. This time it is found in a not so nice neighborhood in WVC, nothing against the place, it really was not a nice neighborhood. Again, we have to pick it up in the middle of the night. This time we were not so lucky, they completely destroyed the steering column and meth pipes were found in it as well. The car stinks! Looks like Thomas' prayers were answered this time and he gets to buy a new car. We have soon discovered how difficult it is to be a one car family. It worked for us years ago, but now that our kids our older, and I am a constant shauffer (sp?) and Thomas schedule requires his own wheels too.

February: We (mostly me) start counting down the days until the baby's due date- March 25th. Just under 8 weeks, and for the first time it is coming too quickly for me. My house is in disarray from the basement still being worked on. I can't begin get the nursery ready until the boys are out of it and moved down to their new room. I am feeling my stress level go up slightly. I just can't have these contractions I've been having, be real ones, cause I'm simply not ready yet! For once, I'm wishing the other way around and I actually don't want to have a baby a little earlier. Anyway, I'm sure everything will work out in the end. The basement will get done. I will be able to do my nesting. And the baby will not come early. By the way, I say baby, because we haven't found out if it's a boy or a girl this time. Just wanted to be surprised I guess. Which also kind of adds to my stress level, of getting ready for baby. What do you get ready when you have no idea what you are having? I'm clueless playing this the old school way. Hopefully if it's a girl, she won't mind wearing some boy clothes for a little bit, cause that's all I have!

Well, I'm done for now. My goal is to blog more often this year, and document more things that take place in the kids' life. So hopefully not all of my posts will be a "catch up". Life is good for us. We really feel very blessed in all aspects of our lives. Yes, we are busy. Probably busier than we have ever been, but all is good. I love my kids, my husband, my ever growing belly (it's HUGE), and my life.

A baby and a calling

2010-09-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

There has been some exciting news at our house recently, and I've fought it off long enough to share with you all . . .we are expecting!!! Yay! We found out that I was pregnant on our 8th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary to us! The news kind of came as a surprise to both Tom and I, because you see, we've actually had to wait for this one! We've tried for a year to get pregnant. I know to some of you that may not seem that bad, in fact I've come to find out that it's pretty normal for most women. But in our case it was kind of abnormal, considering the first two pregnancies just happened so quickly. With all that being said, we are excited and GRATEFUL to be adding to our family once again. The boys are excited to have a baby brother or sister. And I'm kind of excited that they are a little older and can be mommy's little helpers once the baby is here! (fingers crossed!) If it's a girl Xander says he wants to name her Sally, or "Sawee" as he would put it. I am just 12 weeks along, my due date is March 23rd. Xander will get to share his birthday month with the new baby.

A couple weeks after we found out that we were expecting, we found out that Thomas was going to get a new calling in our ward. He is now serving in our new bishopric as the 2nd counselor. We were also a little surprised by this news as well. A lot of people have asked me what it is like having my husband gone so much serving in the bishopric. And my response is that so far it's not that different from him serving as EQ president, because he was gone a lot with that calling too. Although the one difference are Sunday mornings. Not having him there to help get the boys ready and having him sit on the stand instead of with us... well let's just say that this is going to take some getting use to for me. It has been especially challenging for me lately because I've been so sick with this pregnancy, and getting myself ready and the boys ready and out the door for 9:00 am church is somewhat of an issue for me. But I have succeeded so far. I also have to admit that it is a little overwhelming to think that this is in reality at least a five year calling. However, I know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us, and this is what's in the cards for us at this time. I know that our family is being looked after, and I'm grateful to have this knowledge. I love the gospel and so does Thomas. I have complete faith that he can and will fulfill this calling to the best of his ability.

early morning reflection

2010-07-27T05:04:00.000-07:00

I was so tired last night; I went to bed thinking that I would sleep forever. I laid down and fell asleep fast, which is odd for me. When I woke up this morning I was surprised at how noticeably refreshed I felt. To my amazement I soon realized that I was up very early, before 5 am. This is unfamiliar territory for me, as I am usually pretty automatic about waking up right around 7am. Being foreign to me I felt a little frustrated with what to do. So I sat for a while. As I sat I began to ponder and to reflect, this I have not done with much regularity since returning home from my mission. My mind began to consider where I am in life. It quickly dawned on me that I am about to turn 30. Upon this realization I immediately reviewed my mental list of "goals before thirty". Questions filled my mind, "have I fallen short, is there time to make things happen, am I living the life that I wanted when I was five years old?" I'm sure we all have thoughts like this, well don't we? Maybe we all don't.

At first I thought of the things I have fallen short on, weight loss, salary, savings, and of course the challenge of saving my hair. Yes, I have stressed many hours over my ever growing forehead. Have I failed myself with these goals? At this point in this morning’s reflections I was not feeling very proud of myself. But, there is something amazing about the gift of the Comforter, comfort is always delivered when one is in need of being comforted. Just as the depths of failure and regret grabbed a hold of my thoughts and attitudes, the comforter came. A memory flashed through my burden laden mind just in the nick of time.

She was beautiful, she was kind. Even better is she was mine. She love me, no she adored me. I was everything to her, her own hopes and dreams. The greatest feeling in the world was knowing that she choose me. She said no to all the others and she choose me. She made the choice to let me be her preverbal "knight in shining armor". With her I was empowered with confidence I had never before known. I felt control over my thoughts and ownership for my actions. I was changed, as if in the twinkle of an eye. She made me a man of accountability, of honor, of self worth. Her love validated every sacrifice I had made and would ever make to win her heart. I was made forever hers.

That morning was also a very early morning; it was a morning of deep pondering and reflection. As we kneeled across the alter we were instructed to look away at the sweet brother who performed our sealing. I could not, my eyes were locked in her gaze. Her beautiful, warm and compassionate eyes held my own. I was forever hers. That moment is the moment of my life. All else will pale in comparison.

I am grateful for the comforter, and for the quite moments of the morning. I am grateful that my mind was allowed to wonder down the path of self reflection. I have fallen short; I have failed at many of my goals before 30. However, I have been reminded that failure is part of success. I have been blessed today. Memories are the molecules of eternity. My favorite memory saved me from myself today.

I know that God lives! He is my Heavenly Father. He wants the best for me, he loves me. He wants me to remember the moments he has blessed me with, good and bad. He wants me to find purpose in each moment of the day. I know that we are His children. We are here on earth to learn and to grow, to overcome the natural man and all the imperfections we each have. We are here on earth to be in a family, to learn to get through anything. "Those who flee the family flee the world", Elder Neal A. Maxwell. Our Heavenly Father sent his Son, our Savior Jesus Christ to help us know that we are not sent to earth to try and to fail only. We were sent her to fail then to be lifted as many times as we need. He has not left us alone. Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley taught that "God does love us and He watches over us, but it is usually through the hands of another that He meets our needs." Who am I to not help my brother? I have been lifted after failure of my own doing by others. I hope to be there for you.

Another post!

2010-07-13T09:57:00.001-07:00

I'm on a roll!! Two posts in one day, not heard of for me. Actually I just forgot to include in my last post the biggest news thats taken place in our home most recently. Our new addition to our family, our new boy . . .

Welcome Boozer Harris, our new mini poodle puppy. And yes, in case you are wondering Thomas is getting a lot of grief over owning such a girly dog.
He doesn't seem to mind all that much, cause he sure loves him! So do I and so do the boys. KC and Xander are very helpful in helping with the dog too, that makes my life easier! Having a puppy and trying to potty train him can be very exhausting! And no, he is not named after Carlos Boozer, so no we will not be changing his name now that he is moving on to play for the Bulls. The boys just liked the name for some reason.

Finally a post!!

2010-07-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

This one is for you Kalyn, I know you are sick of reading about KC's shark teeth, so I thought it was time to get going on updating what's going on in the Harris family. A lot has taken place over the last 3 or 4 months, so I'd like to take a minute to catch you up.
Back in March we joined the ranks of many other families of 2 or more kids and bought our first minivan. Tom hopes it's the first and last time we buy one. It needed to be done though, and we actually are really enjoying our Sienna and the extra space that it provides. I especially like it now that I am watching a few extra kids this summer, and we can get out of the house and go somewhere in it. I couldn't do that in the Malibu. I have to admit though, I feel very motherly in it, in a good way though. We call it the Swagger Wagon, for those of you have seen the commercial/music video that Toyota put out. Maybe, if I get around to it, I'll post a link to it, pretty hilarious.
Xander, turned 4 in March also. He has had an eventful spring/summer so far. We noticed that he had quite the lazy eye in his right eye, so we went in to have him checked. Sure enough, he needed glasses. His right was very week, and his left eye was doing all the work. The right eye has an astigmitism and he has a mild case of Amblyopia, which runs in the family. He got his glasses, and he sure looks studly in them. He doesn't have any problem wearing them either, and looks very handsome too! There have been some bumps here and there, and he has needed several adjustments, and one frame replacement already. I get all worked up when they get bent or broken, but Thomas reminds me that he is 4 and to get use to it because it's just going to happen! I know he is right, but it's the mother hen in me that gets stressed and starts to see $$$$. He's had one check up since getting them, and his eyes are doing much better and as of right now, does not need surgery or an eye patch for the left eye. Way to go Xan Man! Aside from the new glasses, Xander became the first member in our family to break a bone. Let it be known on the record of this blog that he was in the care of his father while breaking his elbow too! Thomas let him go down a very long, and pretty steep hill on his bike. I'm not sure what Thomas was thinking, because Xander doesn't use his brakes . . .at all! Sure enough he flew down that hill in record time and luckily landed on grass at the bottom. I'm sure injuries could have been a lot worse if there weren't grass there. He handled it like champ though, and had his cast on for only two weeks. He got it taken off just in time for swimming weather.
KC passed the Kindergarten with flying colors! He's such good kid and I'm so proud of him. It was fun to volunteer in his class this past year and observe him in his school enviroment. I look forward to it in the years to come as well. KC was one of the few kids in his grade to participate in the talent show. He did great and performed some of the karate moves he learned in his class. I'm so glad he is brave, and dared to get up in front of everyone and do that. I hope he keeps that up! Xander passed the first year of pre-school, but not without some mornings where he tried to fake sick, and thought he could stay home. I have a feeling, it's going to be a long 12 years for him, hopefully he'll start liking school at some point.
I can't believe that in just a year, I will be sending both my boys to elementary school. Don't get me wrong, I really do look forward to it, but it makes me sad to see them grow up so fast. I need to have another baby soon, so I don't go throught major withdrawls!
Thomas and I (okay, mostly Thomas) have been busy in the yard this year. We planted many new bushes and flowers and covered the beds with woodchips. It looks very nice too, if I say so myself. In the backyard we put down sod to cover up many of the flower beds that I just was sick of and couldn't maintain. I love going back there now, and not having to see the ugly overgrown, weedy beds now. Just pretty green grass, and I'll we have to do is mow it. Beautiful. I'm so glad that Tom obsesses over the yard, because it's one of the things that I don't have to worry about. Thanks honey.
We have been kept busy with work and church responsibilities, but we wouldn't change it for anything. We feel blessed to have the employment that we do. Thomas is the EQ Pres, and in my opinion is doing great at it, if great equals being gone many hours away from home to attend meetings and visit people in the ward. He works so hard, and I'm very grateful to have found someone who honors his priesthood like he does. I am really enjoying being in the Young Women's. I had such a great time at youth conference, and look forward to Girl's camp this week.
The last few weeks, we have spent many hours playing at grandma's pool, boating at Utah Lake with Grandpa, or just running through the sprinklers in the back yard. We are sad that summer time passes so quickly around here, but look forward to some fun trips with both the Washburn and Harris families this season. Last week, during the 4th we were invited by our good friends to their cabin, and it was a blast!! They have a beautiful family cabin on 400 acres and a private lake, who could ask for anything more!?! We enjoyed endless fishing, canoeing, hitting floating golf balls into the water and then fetching them with the paddle boat, great food, smores around the fire, great food (did I say that already?), and heavenly 4 hour naps in a comfy king size bed! It was the greatest nap I think I've ever taken! KC beat us all and caught two fish, and it's the first time he's ever fished! I don't know what Tom and mines problem is, but we just couldn't catch a fish to save our lives! Good thing we've got KC! Thanks Steph, Clair and Noah for another great trip!

We thought this was a great photo op!

Xander, Noah, and Carter playing in the sand.

The boys being boys and throwing the floatable golfballs in the lake.

One of KC's fish that he caught!

Uncle Alex helped KC get his fish unhooked for him. KC was just a tad nervous to stand too close to the fish.

Our good friends the Alleman's at the cabin.

Us at the cabin.

And our good friends the Rosenberg's.

Me fishing with Aria. She was suppose to be my good luck charm to catch a fish ...it didn't work! That sweet little thing caught 2 fish!! Of course her momma was helping a little bit.

The boys and I in the paddle boat.

Xander disgruntled about something going on. What a sweet face.

In two weeks, we are going with my family to Lake Powell and are looking forward to our annual trip there. Then, in August we will go to Fish Lake with Tom's family. Something that's a first for me and my boys (Tom's family went a lot when they were younger), and we are excited for that trip also. I hope you are enjoying your summer also. Sorry if this post was dreadfully boring to any of you, I'll try to update more often, to avoid long posts.

My wife likes to sleep with the TV on.

2010-05-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

I love my wife, I am more in love with her today then I have ever been. I find so much confidence in myself with her in my life. She is a huge help to me. She takes care of me, supports me, teases me, and laughs with me, she even diets with me. She is the best, the absolute love of my life. I couldn't live a day without her.
These are just a few of the reasons that I have made the choice to deal with her crazy habit of sleeping with the TV on. After almost 8 years of marriage to my beautiful bride I am at a point of curiosity that I must satisfy, and I need your help! Are there others out there that need the TV to sleep? Are there spouses that like me cannot sleep due to their significant others need to sleep with the TV on? What is so comforting about the noise of late night reruns of MASH and Seinfeld? What about the info-commercials? I would say I have nightmares about the "Magic Bullet" or the "Ronco, Rotisserie Oven", but I don't sleep enough to have dreams. But, I do own a "Magic Bullet".
Let us know if our family is not alone with this little situation.

Shark Teeth

2010-02-09T09:39:00.001-08:00

I've been letting KC brush his own teeth for a while now and I've gotten pretty lazy at making sure he is doing a good job at it. A few weeks ago I noticed that his teeth were looking pretty dirty, and they needed some serious mom help. So, I brushed them for him, while in this process I discovered KC's shark teeth. He had two adult teeth growing in behind his baby teeth on the bottom front. At first, I was a little freaked out by the sight of this, it looked weird! I immediately googled (love google!) this, you know to find out if this was dangerous or completely not normal. My worries were put at ease right away by what I found on the internet. What I found said that this does happen often, and it's nothing to be too concerned about, but that they would probably need to pull out the baby teeth to make room for the new teeth. So I called Dr. Knorr, our dentist and made the appointment. Here are the before and afters of KC teeth.

BEFORE

AFTER The dentist had to take out three teeth.

KC was a trooper through the whole ordeal. He got pretty scared when they had to give him 7 shots to deaden the area. The nurse and I had to hold down his arms and head. He cried through that part, and said to me, "I just want to go home". I hate seeing my children in pain, it's the worst. I wanted to cry and go home too. The teeth they pulled out still had the roots fully attached, poor guy. Luckily, he didn't feel that part. The tooth fairy came, and even spoiled him with a little extra cash, because of how tramatic it was to lose those teeth.

Love/Hate

2010-01-25T08:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Family Blog,

I've recently discovered our love/hate relationship. I know how fun you are to have around, you've given me an easy way to document our life through pictures and words. While at the same time I am able to share and communicate with our loved ones and friends. What a great tool you are in doing this. At first, you were fun and exciting for me, I loved sharing what was going on in our lives, like what clever thing Xander said yesterday, or what cool parents we are to throw a super-sized Star Wars party for KC. But, what I mostly use you for now is to blog stalk my friends/family blogs. It's fun still, but somehow I feel guilty when reading others blogs when all the while they have nothing new to read on mine. And it's not that my life or my kid's lives have become so dull and boring that there is just nothing to share, it's just that I have no interest or motivation to share anything.

My husband reminded me yesterday that I need to update you, but I don't want to. Sorry. I'm just not feelin' it. And now I realize that I have guilt for not wanting to blog about our lives. I don't keep a journal, I should but I don't. For along time I felt bad for not doing that, but you came along and gave me reason to not feel guilt-ridden anymore because you became my "journal". I'm hoping this stage of our relationship won't last much longer. Hopefully we can get this resolved and start back at where we began.

Yours,

Jenn

P.S. My Facebook affair means nothing to me, really it doesn't. It's just a filler in my day, really it is. Promise.

Grandpa Washburn

2009-11-28T06:13:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving for our family was really good, I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was the same and you found a lot to be grateful for this year. We always love to be together with family and enjoy eachother. I like to reflect on the blessings in my life. I have a lot to be grateful for this year. I feel the Lord has watched over our little family and continues to. My biggest blessing in my life is my family.

My husband, who is my biggest fan. He gives me all the love and support that I need. This has become very evident to me this last year as I accepted a calling to serve as the adult Gospel Doctrine teacher in our ward. A calling that I never could imagine myself fulfilling, but Thomas has helped me see that this was something I can do and dare I say "enjoy" doing.

My children. These two boys make me so happy, I can't imagine my life without them. They help me laugh and not take life so seriously. They really are the greatest kids I know, and I really can't take the credit for that.

Our extended family. Our parents, who are so supportive to us. Both my parents and Tom's parents are great examples of what parents should be. We owe a lot to them. Our siblings. Our cousins, aunts and uncles. Our grandparents. Which leads me to the reason why I started this post. In September, I lost my first grandparent. Grandpa Washburn passed away on the first day of school. A milestone to send my first child to school, and also to witness my grandpa's passing from this life to the next. It was a bittersweet day.

My sister and I were asked to speak at the funeral. We are the only granddaughters of the family and we felt honored to share memories of our Grandpa. In preparation for our talk, we decided to meet with all the cousins and gather everyone's memories of Grandpa. It was a neat experience to reflect one those memories, and learn a few new things about Grandpa as well. What a great man he is. What great man to have raised such good children and grandchildren. I am grateful to him for his example and love he showed us.

Losing a grandparent has reminded me of the importance of family. What a blessing it is to have family. What a blessing it is to know of our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness. To know that it doesn't end with this life. What a sad thing to think about. . . losing a loved one to death, and not knowing or believing that you will see them again. At this time, as I reflect on my blessings, I am most grateful for my knowledge of the gospel and of THIS plan. It truly is the plan of HAPPYness. I am grateful to be part of my eternal family. I miss Grandpa Washburn, I've thought a lot about him lately. But I know that I will see him again. What an awesome blessing. THE greatest blessing that our Heavenly Father has given us.

This picture was taken just weeks before Grandpa's passing. I will always treasure it. Right before this picture was taken, Grandpa was "chasing" my boys around the driveway in his chair. He was always a good for a laugh.

I've always loved this picture. It means even more to me now. That's me in the corner of the picture waiting for Grandpa to throw me the ball.

Fall Festivities

2009-10-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. Three of our four family members have birthdays in the fall, which makes it more festive. I love the leaves. I love the urgency to be nestled into our homes on a cold day with our loved ones. But mostly I love fall because this is the time of year that Thomas and I met and began to fall in love with eachother. Brings back so many great memories. It was ten years ago this year. Can't believe where the time has gone. Seven years of wedded bliss and two kids later, we are even more in love today. Anyway, here are some pictures of some of the things we've been up to.

K.C. played T-ball for the first time.

The boys and I got to go the circus for the first time. Xander was scared of the clown, and was clinging to me. Thanks Grandma Harris, we had a blast.

We went to visit the Witches at Gardner Village. Xander again was scared, of the witch this time,and wouldn't sit close to it.

We attended the Harris 2nd Annual Halloween Party. It was a pirate theme this year, and so much fun!

Xander performed at his first preschool program. They sang Halloween songs and did actions to them. This was the only picture I got of him actually singing the song. He mostly didn't sing, but doesn't he look cute as a boxer?

Adorable.

I wish that I had pictures of my favorite thing so far this fall. On my birthday my sweet husband surprised me and had my sister fly in from Las Vegas to take me to the spa for a girls day. I knew nothing about it until she showed up to take me! I was kind of in shock for a bit. I had so much fun with my sister and was glad that she was so willing to spend the day with me. Probably the best birthday present ever. The day with my sister wasn't all, just when I thought the surprise was over, she blindfolded me and took me to our church where my husband and a bunch of my friends and family were there to throw me a surprise party! Let's just say I was in complete shock. It was so much fun though. I loved seeing everyone that came, it had been awhile since I had seen some of my friends. Thank you to everyone who came, and thank you Thomas for planning everything. Also, congratulations for pulling off your first ever surprise to me. You did awesome!

May the Force be with You!!!

2009-10-19T19:18:00.001-07:00

KC didn't have a party last year, so this year we went all out and had a Jedi themed party for him. Thomas and I didn't grow up watching, or loving, or even knowing anything about Star Wars, so we faked our way through this one! I got the idea from KC's classmate's party last year, and thought it was so cute, so I copied the idea. I know, I don't take the creativity award home for this one, but it was still fun! Plus, KC thinks his parents rock, and that's all that matters here.

Thomas pretending to be the Master Jedi and training the young Jedi, or whatever all you Star Wars nerds call it! I'm not sure of all the technical names.

Thomas being attacked by the Jedi'.

The "Death Star" pinata. Which by the way is soccer ball pinata spray painted black and silver. It was a much cheaper option than the Darth Vader pinata.

The really cool and really sweet Lightsaber cupcakes!

The whole crew! Yes, there were many invited and all but two came. 14 total came, making it 16 with my two boys. What was I thinking? Well, I didn't want to leave anyone out on having so much fun!!

Cap'n Crunch . . .

2009-10-15T08:49:00.001-07:00

. . .or is it Crapped in Crunch? That's what Xander called it this morning when he asked for a bowl of it. I just made you all hungry didn't I?

The big 6!!!

2009-10-07T19:54:00.001-07:00

My sweet baby boy turned 6 today, and I know you are not surprised by this, but it makes me sad that he is growing up so quickly. Life has really seemed to hit this "fast forward button" lately, and I'm having a hard time coming to grips with it. It seems the older I get the faster it goes.

I just want to take this post and dedicate it to me sweet "KC Boy". When I think about the time that me and Daddy found out that we were going to have you, boy was I scared and unsure of my ability to be a mother. It may have been a rough start, but becoming a mother to you has made me grow in so many ways and I couldn't picture my life without you. You came to us at just the right time in our lives, we needed you. You were such a good baby . . . okay maybe not for the first 3 months of colic and non-stop crying. After that you were golden. No, really you have always been golden. When I think of the first time I held you in my arms, I still get emotional and wish that I could experience that moment a million times over. Getting you here was not an easy process, but 27 hours of labor later you arrived safely to us, and oh what a relief it was. You are such a good little boy, and are growing up so quickly. You are so bright and are learning so many new things. I love helping you learn how to read each night before bedtime. You are talented in so many ways. You are polite, reverent, funny, and make friends easily. You have a real talent for music, and can make up songs off the top of your head. You remind me at times how to not take life so seriously. KC you are such a great big brother to Xander. He loves you and wants to do whatever you are doing. Thank you for being so patient with him with whatever the situation is. Your relationship with your brother reminds me of the relationship I had/have with my sister. I hope that you will always be friends and close to eachother.
Thank you KC for being exactly who you are. You are a great example to our little family and I am so very grateful and lucky to be your mom. I love you, and Happy Birthday!

Xander's first day of preschool

2009-09-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

It's official, my boys are growing up. Way too quickly I might add. Xander started preschool last week. He was suppose to start on the 8th, but had to miss the first day because my grandpa passed away and we went to the funeral. (I'll post more on that later). So Xander started on the second day of school, but he didn't seem to mind one bit. He is going to the same in home preschool that KC went to, and so far he really seems to like it. I'm so proud of both of my boys for being so brave. They have had no hesitation going to school. I love them both so much, and feel like the luckiest mom on the earth! So far Xander's favorite thing to do at preschool is "cawa", translation: color. Here are some cute pics I was lucky enough to get of Xander, he is not one to pose or sit still for pictures.

"Mom! Just take the stinkin'picture already!"

Isn't he hot stuff?

He is SO proud of his new Thomas the Train backpack and Spiderman shoes.

KC starts Kindergarten . . .mom may go through withdrawls

2009-09-03T08:11:00.001-07:00

We did it!! Well, I guess KC did it. Xander and I walked him around the corner and to his first day of Kindergarten this morning. He was so excited to go, I didn't think that he would have a hard time at all saying goodbye. And he didn't. Not at all.

In fact this morning, I asked him, "Will you get the ketchup out of the fridge for me, buddy?" I mean c'mon, every kid needs a power breakfast of eggs and ketchup for the first day of school.

His reply to me was, "Mom why do you call me buddy?"

I replied, "I don't know, I guess I've always called you that. Why do you not like it?"

KC said, "Yeah, I don't like it."

My thought was, "what?!! he doesn't want me to call him buddy anymore? I've been calling him that since he was a baby! It's starting sooner than I suspected. He's growing up and doesn't want to be embarrassed by his mom. Ouch, it hurts. My baby's no longer a baby anymore. He's no longer my buddy anymore."

I said to him (even though it hurt my heart to say this to him), "I won't call you buddy anymore if you don't want me too. Does it embarrass you?"

He replied, "Yes, don't call me buddy at school mom."

And there you have it. I am the mother of an almost 6 year old, who gets embarrassed of things his mom does. I guess I'm not too surprised. I used to get embarrassed by some of the things my mom use to do. (sorry mom, still love ya) I can't remember exactly what those things were, but I remember feeling the same way KC does. Oh well, I guess thats a part of life. I didn't really mean for this post to convey how sad I am that my oldest son is growing up. Really, I'm not that sad about. Just sentimental I guess. In all reality, I'm thrilled for him to start school. He has been so excited about this. Since last year, when we bought our house that is literally just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the elementary school, KC has wanted to go to school there. We've really hyped it up all year long. I was such a proud mom this morning, when I watched KC line up with his classmates and march into his classroom with no hesitation at all. Here's a few pics of KC this morning. I tried not to get too carried away with taking pictures, afterall I wouldn't want to embarrass my son.

KC and his goofy brother.

KC lining up with his class. Look at that grin. You couldn't wipe it off his face even if you wanted.

July 20, 2002

2009-07-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

Today is our 7th year anniversary. Seriously, where does the time go? This was our engagement photo. We look SO young! I was 20 and Tom was 21, so yes WE WERE young!

It was the best day ever! We were so happy, and I remember wanting that day to last forever. Everything about that day was awesome, especially the temple. The spirit was so strong there, and I remember it vividly. I remember the sealer telling us to look at him, but we didn't listen very well- we couldn't stop staring at eachother! Everyone in the room thought that was pretty funny, because there was a lot of laughter.

It was great having a our family and friends there with us.

I couldn't decide on just one photo, so sorry you get to see more. Some of these are pretty cheesy, but if you think these are bad- you should see our wedding video! Lots of grinning and smooching going on there! I love it though!

I can hardly believe that it's been seven years. We are still happy too! :) I'd be lying if I said that we had the perfect marriage, but pretty dang close to perfect! Together, we have accomplished many things, and for that I am grateful. We bring out the best in eachother.

Thank you Thomas for seven fun, crazy, and wonderful years. I look forward to many more and eternity! I love you Always and Forever.

The best part of my summer so far is . . . DRUM ROLL PLEASE . . .

2009-07-19T02:58:00.000-07:00

Xander is potty trained!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am about it, I feel so liberated- really I do. I think I am more excited about him being potty trained, than I was about KC. I guess because I know what it's like to have one kid out of diapers and so with two kids now out of diapers it's just that much better. Here's to one fantastic summer.

Tom's first century

2009-06-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

I just have to brag for a minute, I mean isn't that what blogs are for? My husband is incredible. He is my hero. I've always known he is my hero, but today he proved it once again to me. Back in April (which wasn't that long ago) we bought road bikes. After doing two small triathlons on mountain bikes and realizing that if he and I were going to keep doing these triathlons, then we knew that we needed to get road bikes to make it a much more enjoyable experience. For those of you who know the difference between mountain bikes and road bikes, you'd understand. It's a completely different world on a road bike!! I love my new bike!! Okay, back to my story now. We bought the road bikes, and then like three days later Thomas signed up to do the 100 mile bike ride for MS. Pretty ambitous, don't ya think? At first I thought he was crazy! I mean he just got the bike and was already signing up to do a century ride? What the? But then I just went along with it, like I usually do. And it was for a good cause, so I thought that was cool. Well, today was the day of the ride. We went to Logan along with all the other 3500 people riding in it, and it was awesome. I always get emotional at events like this. Crossing a finish line, or watching others cross the finish line after intense physical exertion and endurance is so spiritual for me. I was just glad that I had my sunglasses on, so people couldn't see me get teary. After watching many people come across the line, I was very anxious to see Thomas finish. Let me tell you, I didn't have to wait long at all! He came in and looked great! He said he hurt like hell, but I thought he looked great. He finished the ride in seven hours. A pretty dang good time if you ask me, especially since thirty minutes of that was taken up by getting his bike repaired. What an incredible day. I think it might have even inspired me to do it next year. Great job babe, I'm so proud.

One on One time

2009-06-25T22:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight Tom and KC had a date to go golfing with eachother. They were both SO excited to do this together. Tom noticed that KC is pretty good at swinging the club, so he set them a date to go. KC is finally able to use the little set that Santa brought like 3 years ago, thank goodness he's finally grown into them. They had alot of fun, unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of it. I would have sent the camera with Tom, but didn't think that he would even bother to take any shots. Maybe next time, I can tag along with and get some photos. I did manage to get a photo of mine and Xander's date though. He and I went to buy him new water shoes for our lake trip next week and went to get an ice cream cone too. At first, he was pretty bummed that he had to go on a date with me. He really wanted to go with Daddy and KC, but I think the ice cream cone changed his mind. Xander LOVES ice cream cones! I love this kid.

Swim Lessons

2009-06-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

The boys are taking swim lessons at the Draper pool, and for the most part are enjoying it. Well, KC is loving it and Xander is enduring it. We put KC in level one, and I wasn't quite sure if he was ready to be there yet, but he actually seems to be doing really well. I think he also likes the fact that he is the only boy in his class and that his teacher is really cute! He is such a show off, it's fun to watch him 'perform' for them. Xander is in pre-level 2 and is doing pretty good. He on the other hand is very shy. Before we left for lessons tonight he informed me that he didn't want to go because he hated his teacher and doesn't like the kids in his class. I mean c'mon, he is 3 for crying out loud, is he really capable of feeling this?! He is such a funny kid. He'll say anything to get out of doing something, I'm really starting to catch on to his antics. I mananged to get some pictures of them while there tonight.

KC showing off for the girls

He LOVES the water

Once again, trying to get his cute teacher's attention

Xander enduring his lesson

Enduring some more, funny boy

Wanted: Photographer

2009-06-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

Anyone know of a good photographer in the area that is not too expensive? Do you know of someone that would like to capture such a photogenic family such as the Harris'? I really want to get our pictures taken, and especially get the boys' pictures done. I'm starting to feel really guilty that I don't have any recent professional photos of the boys. If any of you out there know of anyone, let me know. Thank you!

Us being photogenic.

Ashes, ashes, and we all come tumbling down!

2009-03-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday we came home from KC's soccer game, and Tom and I were beat! We hadn't slept well the night before and needed a nap. Tom fell asleep on the couch downstairs and I laid down on the bed, not thinking that I would fall asleep. Well I did. Now you may be asking yourself, what did the boys do during our naps? Or rather what did they do while their parents neglected them. KC watched cartoons, he always is really good at keeping out of trouble. Xander on the other hand is a terror- er I mean, adventurous little boy. He decided that he would play in the backyard. I don't mind him playing back there, because it is fenced and locked so he can't escape. He can usually play there for a couple hours without to much mischief. Below are pictures of what happens when both parents decide to take a nap at the same time.

Doesn't this face have "guilty" written all over it?

Notice the black eyebrows? Well Xander decided to play in the firepit and wear some of it too. He dragged two ashy logs over to the sandbox. The sandbox that we are constantly telling him not to play in, because the previous owners used it as a litter box for her cats. (Yeah, well it is on my list to get rid of.)

The thing that is really funny about these pictures is, Xander hates posing for any kind of picture. It's always impossible to get a good shot of him, but for these he really hammed it up for us. We could tell that he was quite proud of himself for what he had done. Tom nicknamed him our "chimney sweep". By the way, I'm looking into getting some sort of a cover for the firepit.

2009-03-05T10:53:00.000-08:00

Old Photos

I've been going through some of our old photos and came across this one. KC with his friend that we knew when we lived in the village at the U. Look at him check her out! They were always so cute with eachother, and if I remember right, I think they enjoyed sneeking a kiss here and there.

My baby's birthday

2009-03-01T15:54:00.001-08:00

Our little baby is no longer a baby any more. Xander turned 3 today, which is making me very, very sad. I've been going through photos of when he was younger and have had to ask myself "where did the time go"? And also, "where did my hawaian baby go"? Sorry Thomas, he once did look like you, I'm afraid he has too much of me in him though. We still think he's cute, just not as hawaiian as we thought he would turn out. What do I expect, he is only 1/8. I've decided to post some pics of Alexander of when he was little, because you know me- I just can't resist showing off my handsome boy.

Thanks for making us smile everyday, we love you Xander Bander!

Randomness

2009-01-23T08:55:00.001-08:00

Not much has been taking place lately. Mostly, we've been battling sickness after sickness. I've had strep this past week. It's the third time I've had it in the past eight months, ridiculous, I know! Luckily, since I've had it so often, I'm able to diagnose myself! I recognize the symptoms right away. So when I started feeling it a few days ago, I went to the doc immediately and got an antibiotic, which clears it up very quickly for me and I also didn't have to endure so much of it this time. I remember getting strep throat as a kid and it wasn't nearly as bad as it is now as an adult. It's really crappy, but like I said, I didn't have to go through all that this time. Now, Xander has developed a nasty cough again! Thanks to this horrible inversion, I believe. He just got over having one and here he is now coughing up a storm! I just made a Drs appointment for him for this afternoon, he was up alot last night. He'll get coughing so hard that he'll vomit. He's learned though, that he needs to do it into the toilet. In fact, he's so good at it now, that you have to remind him not to stick his head so far into the toilet. It's pretty funny and cute. I can't believe my baby boy will be 3 in just month. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital! Boy, he looks different now! Still cute as ever, but now his hair and skin is much lighter. He once did look like he was his 1/8 Hawaiian, now- he just looks like me. Sorry Thomas.
Our bishop challenged our ward to read the Book of Mormon by May 31st of this year, so Tom and I have been working at that. I'm really excited for this challenge, it's been awhile since I've read it. Tom has been taking the time to read it to the boys at bedtime. He's a very good daddy, he reads with lots of enthusiasm and also takes the time to "sum up and explain in simpler terms" so they can understand. I love listening to him read to them each night. I know it's important to read it to them, even at a young age like this. Just one those examples of how we can plant the seed now and hopefully it will grow in them. KC was so funny last night. After Thomas had read the BOM to them, he snuck into my room and asked me to read one of his story books to him, so I did. I'm sure he enjoys having his daddy read to him, but really enjoys his other books too, they probably don't go so far over his head like the BOM does.
We signed up for the sprint triathlon in St.George again this year. It's in April and we are doing it with a few of our friends as well, so we are making it an adult only weekend trip. Tom has also signed up for one in American Fork in March and another one in June in St. George again. I'm super excited to get going on this, I really need to hit training hard, I've been pretty lazy lately.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-07T19:14:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and New Years. We sure did in the Harris house, it brought great peace and comfort being around our family and loved ones during this joyous time of year. Christmas eve morning we enjoyed going sledding with our friends the Alleman's and Milner's, there were great laughs to be shared and we decided that it needed to become a tradition every year. We had so much fun doing it, that we went again the Saturday after Christmas and some of Tom's family joined us for it. I'm so glad that there was plenty of snow around to allow us to sled. Christmas eve night we went to Tom's parents home and enjoyed seeing his siblings, cousins, grandparents, uncles and aunts again. I enjoyed the message that was shared by my father-in-law about our Savior and the gifts that we might think of giving Him this year. We also had fun playing the traditional Christmas Bingo, thanks again for a fun game Aunt Julie! Although this year I didn't get a single rotten bingo, and missed out on all of the BIG LOTS prizes. Total bummer! Christmas Day was wonderful! For the first time in our marriage, we spent the day at our own home! It was so nice! The boys were happy, because they could just have fun playing with their gifts and I enjoyed it because it was snowy outside and I could just sit and relax in my jammies! Tom and I really enjoyed just staying put and not rushing off to be somewhere else. Both of our parents and other family members stopped by to see us during the day and that was fun. Christmas night, we did go to my parents house for a yummy, mouth-watering primerib dinner made by Dad! Thanks Dad, it was really good! My brother and his family were in from Las Vegas and it's always fun to see them as well. New Year's eve we spent at the Alleman's home, our new neighbors! We enjoyed yummy food, and a great game of Free for All Yahtzee! But the night was cut short at about 11:00 when Xander threw up on the kitchen floor, thanks goodness it was on the kitchen floor and not on the carpet or the Alleman's new couches! Wheww!! Lucked out there. The poor little guy has had a really bad cough and got coughing so hard that he couldn't keep it all down, and so it all came up!
Looking ahead to a new year, brings much anticipation. I can't help but to look back at the past year. We have had a lot take place in our little family, and I feel extremely blessed. For me, I feel that Tom and I have grown closer this year than any other year in our marriage. Together we became healthier and even accomplished our first beginner's triathlon, and look forward to our next one this year. I wouldn't and couldn't have done this with out Tom's help. It was such an emotional experience crossing the finish line with my husband by my side. One of those tender moments you'll remember forever. Thanks honey for helping me find it in myself to accomplish this goal. Let's get training for the next one! Shortly after the triathlon we celebrated Tom's graduation, yeppee! Couple months later we took a big leap and bought our first home! I never thought we'd find the courage to do it, but we did, and love being homeowners- or shall I say "housepoor". We looked at 15 dumpy homes the day before we found our home, and so when we saw our home- we just knew it was "the one"! In August, I went back to work part time as a nanny and that has been surprisingly a nice thing. Although, my time is scarce and the house work doesn't get done quite as efficient as before, I still get to be with my boys full time. (who am I kidding the house work never really got done that efficiently before) While it has been a year full of emotional ups and downs for us, I can't help but recognize the Lord's hand in it all. We know that we have and continue to truly be blessed. Thank you to all of you who have been there for us and continue to show us your faithful examples. Happy 2009!
Here are some pics of the past few weeks events.

Temple Lights!

Beautiful Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.

Mom and her boys at Temple Square, Dad took picture.

Xander loved opening (more like ripping) his gifts this year, he was all over it!

KC was so excited for Santa to come. Tom told him that he needed to stay asleep all night so that Santa would bring his presents, if he woke up during the night then he would get a lump of coal (KC calls it a lump of cola)instead. Early Christmas morning he woke up to use the bathroom, and he thought he had woken up too soon. He panickly said to me, "mom, I don't want a lump of cola!"

Cute boys, even if the picture isn't perfect.

Tom sending his mom down the hill.

Xander Bander!

Tate, Emily, and Tom sending Dad down the hill.

Um yeah, not the most flattering angle for any of us.

KC loved the sledding, he was a trooper, like always!

Cute pic of Jamie and Carter.

Alex and Tom going down on the same tube.

Cliff and Leilani.

Christmas in our home

2008-12-16T21:33:00.000-08:00

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 . . .

2008-12-14T10:44:00.000-08:00

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

2008-09-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

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.

Childhood Love Letters

2008-07-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

KC drew Attley a dolphin and a dalmation on the front side of the paper, on the back side he drew her unicorns because he says girls like unicorns.

Our 4 year old has a girlfriend! Yes, you heard me right, a girlfriend. Her name is Attley and she was in KC's preschool class. She's a real cutie, and as Tom puts it, a little forward! She calls KC often on the phone, almost daily. Their conversations never last long, for example this is how KC's side of the conversation usually goes: "Hi Attley . . .um, I'm good . . .what are you doing? . . .um, I'm just playing . . .okay bye Attley." That's it! Sweet and short. Hey at least they aren't using up all my cell minutes. Then this past week KC was thrilled to see that he had recieved mail in the mail box from Attley. A love letter, looks like scribbles to me, but indeed a love letter. Should I be concerned that my son is being chased at such an young age? Is it an indication of what is to come in his teens? I'm not sure, but we think it's cute and funny for now. So what does a little boy do when he recieves love letters from his girlfriend? Well, he returns the favor, of course!

My wife's blog

2008-05-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Special note about our blog, it was created by my hubby. I mentioned to Thomas the other day that I'd really like to be apart of the blogging world and join some of my other friends and share whats going on in our life. Needless to say I have the most amazing husband around, who knows me better than myself. Knows me so well, that he knew I wouldn't get around to putting it together myself, so he did it for me! So, late the next night, he came in and woke me up out of my sleep, and said "Hey, check this out Jenn!" And there he was with the laptop and on the screen was our family blog. What a sweetie, I just love him! Well, he was kinda proud of his accomplishment and decided to show our blog to some of the guys at work the next day. He didn't realize that it was kind of a women's thing to do around these parts, and got a few comments like, "That's cool Tom, my wife has a blog too!" Poor guy. Taking such ridicule for doing such a nice favor for me. Thanks honey, I wanted to make sure you got the credit for the creation of our family blog. Hopefully he won't be too timid to post more on our blog from here on out. Wait a sec, Thomas and timid just don't roll together! I'm sure we'll see some future posts from him. And hopefully I can keep up on it too! I'm a little like you (Spring), I tend to leave things undone as well.

Finally, we are on blogger!

2008-05-12T22:55:00.000-07:00

How cool is this! It's been fun to read up on so many of our friends from the past and present. I can't belive it's been so long since we've seen so many of you. Hopefully now that our family has taken a giant step into the 21st century will be able to keep up with you all. For a lot of you there is much to catch you up on. Well lets start bloggn'.