Harrison Happenings

Fall Soccer 2010

2010-11-02T14:42:00.004-06:00

Soccer season ended a couple weeks ago, just in time for the weather to turn cooler. We had great weather for the girls games. It never rained and it was fairly warm even for the early 9 o'clock games. Emma played on the Green Geckos and Katie's team was named the Pink Princesses. It was hilarious to find out each week that almost all of the teams Katie's age were the princesses! Both girls did well and more importantly had a lot of fun. Katie's team is all first time players so you never know if you have good players on your team or not. Two of the girls were pretty tall and one ended up being very fast and very good. So I think after the first game not scoring at all and losing they won the rest of their games. Emma's team struggled at first as well, losing the first game 14-1. We found out later that two girls who were very good didn't make it to the first two games. So with those girls joining and the rest of the team getting better the rest of the season went much better. Emma has learned that she loves defense....and she's pretty good at it as well. Here are a few shots from Katie's game, everytime I took a picture she ended up being behind someone else.

I forgot to take the camera to any of Emma's games. I'll have to remember to do that when they start again in the spring.

Finally....there she is. Katie scored one goal! I missed it, because Emma had a game at the same time so I was with her. The next week I was at Katie's game and Josh wasn't there because he went to General Conference with Julia and his parents. Katie actually had the ball (one of the few times), she was going towards the goal with nobody really near her, I was so excited hoping to see her score a goal and then she ran right out of her shoe! She immediately stopped and look at me like, What happened! I tried to get her to keep going but I knew she wouldn't :0 She just had the funniest look on her face.

Stomping Leaves

2010-11-02T13:57:00.007-06:00

While I was at Julia's dance class with her yesterday evening the rest of the family went to the backyard to rake up leaves. I don't know how much they enjoyed the raking but evidenced by these pictures they sure liked stomping them down in the garbage can.

This picture cut off Emma's head but Sophie looks so cute :)

Sophie is in there. You can see just the top of her head.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T13:50:00.003-06:00

Our spooky pumpkins. The kids actually did some of the work this time but Josh still did the carving.

The kids all ready to head out. We were glad the rain decided to stop. Starting from the top: Tetra (a character from the video game The Legend of Zelda), a witch, a dinosaur, princess Belle and a pirate.

Finally Katie's Turn

2010-09-09T20:35:00.003-06:00

Katie had her first day of preschool today. She goes Tues/Thurs afternoons. She was soooo ready! These past 2 1/2 weeks she's watched the other kids head off and wondered when it was her turn. She had a fun day and says she already has three friends. Two of those are girls from her dance class and a new girl but she doesn't know her name yet. It is mostly boys in her class unlike last year that was the opposite but I think she'll be okay. She said all they did was play today and they had a cookie and chocolate milk for snack. Sounds good to me! This was her first day outfit that she picked weeks ago. Little did we know it would be pretty cool and rainy. The sun did come out eventually so it wasn't too bad. I didn't think I could convince her to wear something else :)
It's not as convenient as I was hoping for when we signed her up. What with the school being right behind our house I was assuming the older kids could pick her up and they would all walk home together. Well she has to be signed in and out by someone at least 18, plus she gets out ten minutes before the other kids. Anyway I still think it will be good thing .

Off They Go!

2010-08-23T11:08:00.006-06:00

We always have to get a picture with their best friend McKenna!

Emma the excited 4th grader

Matthew ready to start 2nd grade

Julia the big (okay not so big) 6th grader.

Here they are excited for their first day of school. Katie actually doesn't start for two weeks but she always likes to join in. And Sophie wants to do whatever the other kids are doing!

This year the school did something different- they had a back to school morning. So we had to get up even earlier to get the kids to school to meet their teachers and figure out where their classrooms are. I hope they go back to the back to school night the week before school starts. Josh went into work a little late so he could come with, mostly to keep Sophie contained. She really wanted to stay in Matthew's classroom. We found Katie's preschool room, it is just down the hall from Matthew and Julia and Emma are really close to each other as well.

Fun with Stairs!

2010-03-02T11:49:00.004-07:00

I put the pictures up in the wrong order and it won't let me move them. Anyway Sophie learned to crawl up the stairs yesterday. And she likes it so much she wants to go back down and do it again!

Sophie's New Tricks

2010-01-10T20:31:00.010-07:00

Up on Hands and Knees folks! She's ready to go! But no moving yet, except rocking forward and backward.

Eating Vegetables! (and other solidish foods)

Sitting!

First Ponytail!

Julia's 11th Birthday!

2010-01-10T20:21:00.007-07:00

Julia had a great birthday. It was a busy day because of her dance class and on the way home from dance Josh stopped off at Arby's for her birthday dinner (her choice.) Then she opened the presents and we had cake and ice cream. She got some Webkinz (of course!), new crocs, jazz dance pants and a keyboard.

Sophie enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper.

Katie's Dance Recital Video

2009-12-29T02:35:00.000-07:00

We finally got the video figured out. Enjoy!

Julia's Dance Recital

2009-12-28T22:35:00.004-07:00

Julia has really enjoyed her dance class this year. The class she is in does tap, ballet and jazz and their teacher decided they would do a tap dance for the recital. It was a long show because there are quite a few classes at the new school she goes to but it was fun to watch.

Dance Recital

2009-12-27T20:07:00.009-07:00

Katie wanted me to take this after they were done. She is wearing cute socks because they danced to a song with Christmas socks as the theme.

This is Katie with all of her class. The back row are all in our ward so it's fun for Katie to have dance class with people she knows.

They did the dance twice because the teacher thought they would be distracted by the audience the first time. Katie was so cute because she would wave and run over and give me a hug right after they were done both times.

This the beginning pose. If you can get her to do it for you I would request it next time you see her. It is so cute! (For anybody who is a Star Wars Lego video game fan it is the same move Princess Lea does.)

Katie had her first dance recital a couple of weeks ago. It was just the last ten minutes of her class time in the morning so Sophie and I were the only ones able to attend. I did video it but our computer is messed up and is not allowing us to put videos on our blog. If Josh can figure it out we will put it on here as well as the video of Julia's dance recital. But until then here are some pictures of Katie.

Late Halloween Pics

2009-11-08T18:32:00.005-07:00

These are the kids on Halloween night. This is what we got when Josh told them to look scary. Anybody scared?!

Here's Sophie at our ward trunk or treat/chili cook off.

Yummy!

2009-09-18T12:13:00.003-06:00

This is what I spent Monday doing at my sister Karen's house. They still needed to be processed and I needed to get home because the kids would be coming home from school. So I drove up this morning to get them. I was really glad that Karen was willing to help me because I would not be able to do it on my own. But now (if I got all of the equipment needed) I would probably be able to do it on my own. But it's more fun to do it with someone else anyway!We've had a lot of fresh peaches around the house as well. I've made a couple pies and Josh and I have been eating peaches constantly it seems. The kids won't eat them, crazy huh? Next up, peach shake!! Yummy!
We were also given a couple huge zucchinis by our neighbor so I made bread as well as brownies. Love this time of year!

Three Months Old

2009-09-17T22:09:00.008-06:00

We have a tradition of taking the kids in to get their first professional pictures done at 3 months. I think it started because we had a coupon for a free 8x10 if we had it done by the time they were 3 months old. Sophie was so cute and was constantly smiling. It looked like she was having as much fun as Katie did when I took her this past spring. When Sophie gets a little older they can have fun posing together :) She had so many cute ones I couldn't resist buying some more. I also got a collage they'll put together with some other pictures and we'll get those in a few days.

Last Saturday I was trying to get Sophie to smile for the picture. Sorry for the blurriness but she finally did smile. She actually laughed a little bit as well.

On Sunday Sophie looked so cute I just had to take some pictures.

First Day of School Again

2009-09-09T21:30:00.006-06:00

Katie had her first day of school yesterday. She had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the snack even though she doesn't know what it was. She wanted me to tell her what it was even though I wasn't there. Her second day is tomorrow and hopefully she'll continue to enjoy it.

The Chaise is On!

2009-09-05T15:49:00.003-06:00

I loved playing on this when I was a little girl. It wasn't the most comfortable thing but I could pretend that I was a princess. I didn't know until a few years ago that my mom left it to me and first it was my in grandma's attic and then moved to my sister's basement. When we moved to Utah my sister was able to bring it down to us and it was in Julia's room for a couple years due to lack of space anywhere else. In February Julia said she wanted a desk so when we got her one this needed to move. Just the excuse we needed to find a place to fix/recover it for us. After many months it is finally finished. (We weren't too sad that it took so long because we still didn't have a place for it.) Josh went and picked it up last week.

Walaaaaaa! Doesn't it look great :) You can even sit on it without thinking it's going to break. If you're clean. I don't know if the color was the best choice with little kids around but I couldn't picture it any other way. Hopefully we'll have a better place for it someday so it's not just stuck away in our bedroom.

First Day of School!

2009-08-25T12:41:00.008-06:00

I don't know if Sophie was excited for the first day of school but I just wanted to put this cute picture up that Josh took a few days ago.

Everyone was ready for the first day of school to get here. Matthew not as much but he was excited.
The fifth grader.

The third grader.

The first grader. (He's not mad, scared or sad. Just thought it was too bright outside, even though it was overcast and rainy.)

Emma and Julia with their friend McKenna.

Sophie's Blessing

2009-08-25T12:34:00.005-06:00

This is a little old but I wanted to post the pictures we took of Sophie on her blessing day, August 2nd.

Lagoon Fun!

2009-07-26T17:18:00.026-06:00

We had a fun day at Lagoon yesterday. First we had to make sure we were tall enough to go on the rides :)

This is what Sophie did most of the day but luckily most of the time she was in the stroller.

This is what Sophie thinks of Lagoon!
The pilot and copilot discussing flying strategies.
These were two of Katie's favorite rides.Josh and Julia on the new ride, Jumping Dragon.

Matthew hated to wait until the ride started.

It was pretty hot but instead of waiting in the long line to get into Lagoon A Beach the kids decided to just play in the fountains.

Introducing Sophie!

2009-06-14T16:51:00.012-06:00

Sophia Noelle Harrison

Born: 6/11/09

Weight: 7 lbs. 4 ozs.

Length: 21 inches

A relieved mother.

A cute baby.

Some happy siblings.

The fearsome five.

Waiting to leave the hospital.

The happy father. (And Emma.)

Gestational Diabetes

2009-04-27T15:15:00.002-06:00

So I little over a week ago I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I met with a diabetes counselor as well as an endocrinologist last week to go over what I would need to do. They gave me the info on the diet as well as the info and supplies to prick my finger four times a day to test my blood sugar. They gave me certain numbers I needed to be under. After following the diet and exercising for a week my numbers were higher than they were supposed to be. I thought maybe I was doing something wrong without realizing it. I went back to the counselor today and she said I was doing everything right but my body was still having troubles. There wasn't any reason for why my numbers were still high, it was just how my body was producing hormones. So I get to start on insulin today! Yippee. So I continue to follow the diet I'm on but now am adding insulin as well. I go back to the endocrinologist tomorrow and he might adjust my dosage and my diet a little bit.

I met with my ob right after and she didn't give me any better news.....well I'd lost three pounds so she could tell I was following the diet.....not that the goal was for me to lose weight and she doesn't want me to continue to lose. She said the baby was just really big, I asked her if she could give me an idea of how big we're talking about. She said anywhere from 5 1/2 lb. to 7 lbs. The baby wasn't measuring the same up/down and side/side so she couldn't tell for sure. But I'm only 32 1/2 weeks so that is pretty big already. I have an ultrasound in two weeks so we can see for sure because gestational diabetes causes there to be more fluid. I was thinking maybe I would be able to have the baby early (as long as it was safe and the baby was healthy) so I could stop this diet/insulin thing earlier. Well she informed me that with gestational diabetes it takes even longer for the baby's lungs to develop. I was thinking maybe they would deliver at 36-37 weeks but she said they would wait until 39 weeks. But start me before 40 weeks to not have her gain that last little weight. So I think I see a C-section in my future:( Not at all what I wanted but we'll do what is best for the baby and everything will work out. The doctor wouldn't say for sure that I'll need a c-section but she also said I would have a hard time delivering a baby that was much bigger than Matthew and he was 7 lb 12 oz. And at this point it certainly sounds like she'll be bigger than that.

Sorry for this long post with all the details that most people don't care about but I figured I would just get the info out for anyone who cares.

Easter

2009-04-14T12:42:00.009-06:00

All dressed up in their new Easter dresses.We were glad that Grandma and Grandpa Harrison were here to celebrate with us.

We had an Easter egg hunt for the kids Sunday afternoon. We always debate whether to do it on Saturday or Sunday but with Emma's baptism on Saturday there was just no time to do it then. Sunday was a beautiful day so that worked out great.

Emma's Baptism Day

2009-04-14T12:25:00.007-06:00

Emma was baptized on Saturday, April 11th. It was a great day and we were grateful to have so many family members and friends who were able to come.

Afterward we had a lot of family come over for food and fun. We had a full house but the weather cooperated a little bit so some of the kids could go outside and play and some people could eat out there if they wanted.

Birthday Fun!

2009-03-31T13:18:00.015-06:00

The birthday festivities started on Saturday. Emma had a couple of friends over and we all went to Monsters vs. Aliens in 3-D. After the movie, which everyone enjoyed very much, we headed back home for presents and cupcakes.

That evening we went to the Pizza Factory for dinner. The kids were most excited about the garlic twist bread.

Sunday morning Emma went to the church for her baptism interview with the bishop. She seemed kind of nervous about it so we'd talked to her about what the questions were and that it would be very easy. But Josh and I were both worried, not that she wouldn't be able to be baptized, but just that she wouldn't say anything to the bishop at all. She refuses to shake his hand let alone talk to him. So we were amazed when she did just great. As soon as she got home she said, "That was so easy!

Monday we had a family party where she opened her presents and then after ballet class and dinner we had cake and ice cream.

Happy Birthday Emma!

2009-03-30T08:50:00.007-06:00

Today is Emma's 8th birthday! She is such a sweet girl and a good helper. We love having her in our family. Emma loves to be silly and can always be counted on to make others laugh.

Fun Skate Night

2009-03-26T12:03:00.008-06:00

Last night we all went skating......actually I should say scootering? scooting? Julia's orthodontist office had a free skate night and she could bring a friend so she invited McKenna to come along. We had been to this place once before for a free school night but it was packed then and only the skating was free. This time the bounce around area and laser tag were included and there actually weren't a lot of people there so it was more fun and less stressful. The kids went back and forth between the bouncing and the skating. Katie actually seemed to prefer being on her scooter and did much better at it than Josh and I expected. It made for a late school night getting the kids to bed but I think it was worth it. I think the kids agree.

10 Digit Dialing

2009-03-08T17:03:00.005-06:00

There is going to be a new area code in Utah so starting March 1st we had to start dialing 801 for all local calls. You need to call your next door neighbor? You must dial 801 first. How about your husband at work? 801 first. We actually weren't sure when the change was happening and Julia had a lens come out of her glasses so I was panicking and called Josh to ask if we had any screws for eyeglasses around. It just beeped at me and said I must dial the area code first. I changed over the speed dial numbers on our phone for people we call the most but there are still a lot of people we would call but not on a regular enough basis to put them in our phone. I call a lot of people through my church calling and last week had to keep reminding myself to use the area code. It would be nice if you could plug your cell phone into your computer and download the ward list.
Matthew's teacher is up to speed. This last week they were working on learning their phone numbers and she made sure to teach them the area code as well. I doubt a year or two ago they would've bothered to do that. It will be interesting once she has students with two different area codes. At the end of the month they will start assigning people numbers with the new area code.

Piano Recital

2009-01-31T09:20:00.007-07:00

The girls had a piano recital last Thursday. They both did a really good job. Emma was pretty nervous, and she forgot the name of her song, but she played well. Her song was "Money Can't Buy Everything."

Julia also played well. Her songs were "Raisins and Almonds" and "The Hokey Pokey."

It's A Baby!

2009-01-29T10:36:00.006-07:00

Oh wait you knew that........the question is boy or girl?

After waiting patiently Matthew will get to have a little Sister!! Oh he already has one of those doesn't he? Well he gets to have another one! I know, poor guy and poor daddy with only one boy to do all of the manly stuff with. I'll admit to being disappointed but I think it's mostly because I was counting on a boy so much. This whole time I've been thinking of the baby as a he and thinking of boy names. I thought I made a deal that I would have one more baby but it must be a boy. Somebody obviously did not get the memo. The sonogram technician was very confident that it was a girl. At the beginning she asked us if we wanted to find out and then she asked us what we had so she knew that we were wanting a boy. At first she thought the baby wouldn't cooperate to find out at all but then she moved. I think I'm glad about that because I would've been counting on it being a boy the rest of the time.
Well now we need to start thinking of girls names instead!

Bowling for Birthdays!

2009-01-25T18:24:00.018-07:00

Julia had a birthday party with some of her friends at Sparetime Family Fun Center, they went bowling, played some of the arcade games, had cake, and opened presents.

10th Birthday Celebration

2009-01-25T13:57:00.012-07:00

I figured we should post some pictures from Julia's birthday before she has another one.

The excited birthday girl.

A new purse.

An MP3 player

"Are you smarter than a 5th Grader" Nintendo DS game

A Webkinz hummingbird

A chocolate birthday cake.

She got all the candles on one try.

Happy Birthday Julia!

2009-01-06T10:20:00.009-07:00

It is Julia's 10th birthday today. I can't believe we've hit double digits! She is a great daughter and big sister to her siblings. She loves to sing and dance and is still doing great with her piano playing. Julia likes to play with her Webkinz and her new Nintendo DS she got for Christmas. She is having a party with some friends on Saturday. We are taking them bowling and she is very excited for that.

Katie's Christmas

2008-12-28T18:53:00.005-07:00

Katie had a very fun Christmas. She is always a happy girl, (Except when she's yelling at Matthew to leave her alone.) so the excitement of Christmas just made her even happier. She wasn't quite sure what to expect, but when she discovered most of the biggest packages had her name on them she was happy, and ready to get playing. Her favorite things have been the fairy dress up clothes, and the hungry hippo game. She's also had fun with the new baby dolls, and the little people dance and twirl palace. She also got some fairy card games that everybody has been playing with her. To top it off she got a ballet barbie, and some clothes.

Emma's Christmas

2008-12-28T18:31:00.005-07:00

Emma had a fun Christmas and got some fun presents. She got clothes, two new webkinz and some clothes for her webkinz, some new boots, a diary, a Barbie Christmas Carol DVD, and a pink Nintendo DS with a Littlest Pet Shop Game and a carrying case. She didn't want to write anything on the blog, but she has a pretty cute/funny video where she talks about her presents.

Matthew's Christmas

2008-12-28T18:19:00.006-07:00

I got transformers, a radio controlled car, a webkinz bat, zelda video game, k'nex/legos, kung fu panda DVD, and a clone wars DVD. ghbnjhghjbkjjuyughkj;;dffffghgvgfghcfdfgrftftrtjygfdgdehuikopdgfgfvvv fcbfgtdf gfbytyybtvvrhr fgbygfnf hg r

Matthew typed everything above himself (with some help in the spelling), and then he said he wanted to go crazy so I thought that would probably be okay. He went through opening his presents just like he went through discussing them on the video, very quickly. He has had fun and we've managed to get the driveway cleared off enough for him to drive his car around outside which he really likes doing.

Julia's Christmas

2008-12-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

On Christmas I got some really cool toys. I got a Nintendo DS, Lego Star Wars game, some brown boots, a game called Pictureka, some webkinz clothes, a webkinz bottle nose dolphin, a pretty bag, a watch, Prince Caspian DVD (which is not included in the picture), and a pretty necklace. When I went to bed on Christmas Eve, I slept in a sleeping bag in Emma's room. I tried to sleep but I couldn't I was in there for a while finally I told my mom and dad and they helped me take my stuff to my room, once I was in bed I fell asleep quickly. I had a very fun Christmas and can't believe the year is almost over.

by Julia

Ballet Recital

2008-12-24T12:15:00.004-07:00

Last Saturday Emma and I had a ballet recital. It was at the North Davis junior high. We did it with our friends Jordan and Mckenna and some other girls. We danced to the music box. I think our costumes were really cute. It was cool because once we were talking about costumes Mckenna and Emma wanted a pink costume, Jordan and I wanted purple and we got both. I had lots of fun performing and can't wait until we do our spring recital. The video of our performance is below.

by Julia

Enough for a Basketball Team

2008-11-30T20:00:00.002-07:00

Yes, we are expecting our fifth child. Josh says we are hoping for our center.....for the basketball team, get it? I'm about 11 weeks along and am due in the middle of June. Of course we are hoping for a boy but we'll be okay with another girl, even Matthew agrees with that. Once I'm not feeling so sick I'm sure I'll be more excited about this but right now part of me is wondering why we made this decision, especially since this means we will most likely miss John's wedding.
We do get to go shopping to buy a new crib and other baby things. We'll keep you posted!

School Pictures are Here!

2008-11-25T19:22:00.007-07:00

Clinton Elementary School 2008

4th Grade

2nd Grade

Kindergarten

2 Princesses, a Queen, a Senator, and a Super-Hero

2008-11-02T20:07:00.003-07:00

This was the trick-or-treating party we had for this Halloween. They were all very happy and excited to be getting candy. Katie lasted for about a half dozen houses, with Dad carrying her part of the time. Matthew lasted for about another dozen houses but then he was ready to go home too. The three older girls lasted a little longer, until we got a few rain drops then they were ready to go home and check out their haul. Everybody had fun, and surprisingly the candy is almost all gone already.

Snow Day!

2008-10-23T20:33:00.010-06:00

Almost two weeks ago on Sunday we woke up to several inches of snow. Usually it kind of creeps up on you. First you see it on the tops of the mountains and the next storm it will be little lower down until eventually it will be in your yard. But not this year! We had some rain the day before but it had stopped so I was thinking we weren't going to get anything else. Josh got up Sunday morning and told me we had several inches out there. For a second I thought he was joking. It snowed all during church and most of the afternoon as well. We decided to let the kids go out and play (is that bad?) Well I'm glad we did because the next day enough had melted that it just wouldn't have been any fun. The snow was completely gone after several days and we had some pretty warm weather but are now back to cooler but it's supposed to get warmer again. I guess that is Utah fall weather for you.

The kids sure had fun while it lasted though.

Cougar Craze!

2008-10-23T20:25:00.004-06:00

So this is what we've been eating every BYU game day for several weeks now.

(you can't tell from the picture but the ice cream is called Cougar Craze)

We actually forgot to have any before the game against TCU so I guess we can't blame it all on Charles. We did have blue Koolaid though.

Belated Birthday Pictures.

2008-10-23T20:17:00.010-06:00

These weren't pictures from her birthday but I thought they were too cute.

Roth Reunion

2008-10-01T11:11:00.001-06:00

I never did get around to putting up these pictures of my family at our reunion in August. We went camping up Logan Canyon and then spent the day at Bear Lake. It was a lot of fun for those that were able to make it.

My brother trying to set up a brand new tent with help from my Dad and niece.

My brother asked us if we wanted to play a Cheetos game and I was wary but decided I should join in since he was trying to actually have us do something fun together. After we said we'd play and got lined up he brought out the shaving cream. On the count of three we were supposed to put the shaving cream on our faces and our partner would throw Cheetos at our face trying to get them to stick. Emma, Matthew and Katie did not like this game at all. Emma was Josh's partner and she just stood there aghast at what was going on. Matthew was mad because he wanted to eat the Cheetos! I'm not sure exactly what upset Katie (people throwing things at her scary? parents.) But even though I usually hate stuff like that, embarrassing myself, looking like an idiot etc. It was pretty funny!
This is my brother, me, Josh and my niece.

Julia's Pictures!

2008-10-01T11:11:00.000-06:00

This is waiting for the Raspberry Days Parade at Bear Lake to start.

These are a couple pictures from the inside of Minetonka cave. It was quite a trip with a lot of stairs but it was fun.

Just hanging out at our campsite.

Happy Birthday Katie!

2008-09-29T13:02:00.006-06:00

It is Katie's 3rd birthday today. We just love having her in our family. Everywhere we go people comment on what a cute smile she has and lucky for us most of the time she is smiling. She loves to sing and dance and she loves princesses. My mother-in-law posted some cute pictures of Katie on her blog here.

Farr Better Ice Cream

2008-09-25T13:33:00.000-06:00

Several weeks ago we went to Farr's ice cream near the Ogden Temple for our FHE treat. It was delicious! I suggest the Lemon ice cream and Julia is all about Moose Tracks (which I like as well) but there are many other flavors that are wonderful.

If you ever come visit we'll need to make time for a trip there! We wanted to take Grandpa and Grandma this weekend but with such a quick visit there just wasn't time.

You should move HERE!

2008-09-21T13:15:00.012-06:00

*a rebuttal to Heidi's assertions that you should move to Kansas*

This is where we were yesterday afternoon.

We experienced sun, wind, clouds and even a little bit of rain. But best of all were able to see BYU totally dominate Wyoming. It was fun to be able to sing the fight song over and over again. For the most part the kids had fun. Matthew was hiding from the sun underneath the bench for most of the game and Katie joined in for a lot of it as well. They crawled out to eat the popcorn we bought before the last quarter.

I wanted to get a picture of us with Ty Detmer who was at the tailgate party. I figured that would put it over the top in favor of Utah. We didn't end up going over there. But he is carrying the Y flag at the front of the team.

This is at the end of the game when the crowd had cleared up. It was shady and very breezy up there at the top so it felt much better.

Oh, I didn't get a picture but we have wild sunflowers here too!

The Big Read

2008-08-25T20:56:00.009-06:00

I saw this on DeShawn's blog and thought since I'm such a big fan of reading this would be fun to do. I'm going to bold the ones I've read and I'll probably end up with a long list of books to request from the library. I've read 47 of these and just from glancing over the list I thought it would have been more. I'd better get reading!

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach, Alex Garland
104. Dracula, Bram Stoker
105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾, Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat
114. Les Misérables, Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
119. Shogun, James Clavell
120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
123. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison
128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession, A. S. Byatt
130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl
133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
144. It, Stephen King
145. James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile, Stephen King
147. Papillon, Henri Charriere
148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett
149. Master And Commander, Patrick O'Brian
150. Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz
151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett
152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett1
154. Atonement, Ian McEwan
155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
158. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
159. Kim, Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon
161. Moby Dick, Herman Melville
162. River God, Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
165. The World According To Garp, John Irving
166. Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore
167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches, Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White
171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco
175. Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr Fox, Roald Dahl
178. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner, George Eliot
185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith
187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine
189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. LawrenceLife of Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons
193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett
194. The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans
196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett
198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews

The First Day of School!

2008-08-25T14:33:00.007-06:00

Today was the first day of school for the kids.....finally. The girls were more anxious than anyone, including me. I couldn't tell if Matthew was excited or not, sometimes he would act like he was but most of the time seemed indifferent. He has been acting up the past couple weeks, I think out of nerves. It wasn't a normal day for Matthew though. They have the kindergartners go with their parents for 45 minutes and then he has a "show the teacher what you know" time (his teacher said to call it that so they aren't nervous about it.) He goes to that Wednesday morning and then his first regular school day is next Tuesday. My friend, Renee, watched Katie outside on the playground while I was in with Matthew and it was great that she did that. Matthew was being very clingy and didn't want to do anything the teacher told the kids to do but I think he was acting like that because I was there and he will be much better when I'm not there. (at least I'm hoping that is what will happen.) So it would've been a lot harder if Katie would have been with me. There were some younger siblings there and some were fine but others were not fine at all.

As you can see Matthew was not in the mood to pose for any pictures at all. I made him mad when I snapped this one of him.

The girls had early out today so they are home and said they had a fun day. They both have their best friends in their classes so they really like that. We'll see how Katie will be home alone with mom next week!

Brace Face.......no more!

2008-08-18T19:01:00.002-06:00

Julia got her braces off today. She was/is very excited. She was very excited that she could feel the roof of her mouth once more! There was an expanding retainer up there blocking access. She also commented many times that she could see her teeth! She will more than likely get them on again in a few years once she loses all of her baby teeth. These braces were only on her front eight teeth. She had the impressions done for her retainers and did well with that, it took a lot less time than last time she had it done. We will pick up her retainers tomorrow and we were told some good news, she only has to wear them at night. I assumed she would need to wear them most of the time, at least for awhile. So I was worried about her having to deal with them at school (I've heard many stories of retainers getting thrown away and people having to dig through the cafeteria garbage.) The orthodontist said they were planning to put in a fixed retainer on the bottom but her gums in the back were coming up so high on her teeth it would be too difficult/painful to do it. So we're going with a removable one on the bottom as well.

Pie 'N Beer Day

2008-07-25T11:08:00.009-06:00

Yesterday we here in Utah celebrated Pioneer Day, well some people did, others celebrated Pie 'N Beer day. At work we celebrated with pie and root beer floats. I thought it was a pretty good way to celebrate. I guess Pie 'N Beer day is for those pioneers who came to Utah not seeking religious freedom but rather, tall mountains, soft powdery snow, good jobs, and a cost of living lower than California's.

The Kids Reunion

2008-06-26T21:35:00.008-06:00

Last weekend our family attended "The Kids Reunion." You're probably asking, "What is a kids reunion and why do kids need to reunite anyway?" The "kids" are the group of guys I lived with in DT my freshman year at BYU. We had a lot of fun together that year, and following our missions, but it has been quite a while since most of us have seen eachother. Ben had the idea of having a reunion at his parents house in Midway, UT and so the reunion was on. Unfortunately not everyone was able to make it, but we did get to see Ben and Stephanie Brubaker (who did all the work putting this thing together) and their 3 kids, Phontaine and Hannah Judd with their 5 soon to be 6 kids (who drove all the way from Burbank, CA with that crowd), Myron (he hates that) and Tara Tanner with their 3 kids, and Brent Reeves. (Who was a great sport putting up with everyone else's kids.)

Ben had planned some fun activities which included horseback riding, boating and playing at the lake, a barbecue dinner, and a night out for the adults complete with babysitters for all 15 kids, of whom Julia, at age 9, was the oldest.

Julia said her favorite thing was tubing on the lake, and Emma said she liked the horseback riding best. She was a little too scared to try tubing, but Matthew went with Julia and came back with a big smile on his face.

We're hoping there will be another kids reunion in a couple of years and that even more of the kids will be able to attend.

Mr. Goodsmores

2008-06-26T21:30:00.006-06:00

During our camping trip Julia helped invent a new camping treat, or at least a new twist on an old camping treat. She calls it "Mr. Goodsmore" and if you haven't guessed yet, it's a smore made with a Mr. Goodbar candybar instead of a regular Hershey bar. The peanuts add a little something extra that make the Mr. Goodsmore the best thing to hit the camping world since sleeping bags. As Julia put it, "They're yummy!"

An online, exactly what you want, 5th Birthday.

2008-06-26T21:13:00.013-06:00

Matthew celebrated his 5th birthday on Tuesday. He has been very excited about it ever since Emma's birthday when we told him his birthday was next in the family. Over the past few months he has frequently asked if tomorrow is his birthday. During this time he has recounted to us all of the gifts he wanted for his birthday. These included: 2 video games, a toy sword and shield, a webkinz, and a lego set. So, guess what he got for his birthday: 2 video games, a toy sword and shield, a webkinz, and a lego set. He kept changing his mind on which lego set he wanted, but he was pretty set on the rest of the stuff. Lego Star Wars and Mario Kart, were the video games he wanted, and his friend Cameron had a toy sword and shield he enjoyed playing with so he kept reminding us of that.

The interesting thing about all of these gifts is that they are kind of hard to find in stores, but we managed to find them all online. This worked great, except that every time a package would come Matthew would ask what it was, and if it was a birthday present, and if he could open it now, and most of the time he knew what it was because he had asked for it and could tell from the box size. Actually, Mom sent the webkinz so I don't know if she got it online, but it came in a package to us. She also sent a fun game called Doodle Dice that we've had fun playing. We've also been playing a lot of Lego Star Wars, I think that's Matthew's favorite so far. (Until he gets bored with it.)

Yellowsnow?!?

2008-06-22T21:55:00.005-06:00

Our family vacation to Yellowstone National Park was postponed by a week due to snow but we had a great time and great weather this week. Katie had a little trouble with the name of the park and kept referring to it as Yellowsnow instead of Yellowstone. We did see some snow on the ground while we were there but fortunately none of the yellow variety. We saw a lot of amazing things including geysers, waterfalls, hot springs, buffalo, elk, and bears. After walking around the geysers near Old Faithful for a couple hours Matthew declared that while he liked geysers, he didn't want to see anymore for a while, especially if it meant walking to see them. Julia brought her camera, and together we managed to take over 200 pictures. I'll include some below, and hopefully there will be some more posts later this week with more details.

Old Faithful

Lower Falls

Camping Practice

2008-06-13T20:33:00.007-06:00

Since we decided to postpone our trip we said the kids would be able to sleep one night this week in the backyard. The girls were glad that McKenna could sleepover. They didn't want Matthew to be in the same tent with them so that is why there are two tents. Of course he didn't want to be alone so Josh slept out there with them and then Katie joined in. So I had the house to myself. I watched a movie and then went to bed. It was good practice because it was about the same temperature that is forecast for Yellowstone. So we know who needs more blankets and who was too hot. The weather is supposed to be beautiful so hopefully that won't change. I will need to change out some of what was packed because I packed all pants and long sleeves but we'll need clothes for warm weather.

Ready, set......don't go!

2008-06-10T09:11:00.006-06:00

We were all packed up and ready to go and then I did one final check of the weather forecast. Rain, snow and cold. Not at all what we want for a fun-filled trip to Yellowstone. I had been worried ever since May when some of my family members were talking about the piles of snow that were still up there. But we just hoped it would get better. We'd checked the forecast the week before and it was saying rain for the next two weeks. I was feeling a little better last Friday when we bumped into some friends from church who had been up there that week and he said it was great. It was overcast but they only got sprinkled on once. Well it looked like it was going to get a little colder but we figured we'd just be prepared for anything. Last night Josh went to pick up the trailer we were borrowing from a friend and I checked the weather and it was a lot worse. Very cold, in the low 20's at night, and 1-3 inches of snow! Anyway after much debating (we really have a hard time making decisions) we decided to see about postponing our trip. Josh was able to change our reservations this morning and they were so nice we don't have to pay any extra money or lose all of the money we paid and pay again, even though it was a very short notice cancellation. So we are set to go.......next Sunday through Thursday. The kids are disappointed but they don't want to camp in the snow either. Now what do we do with all this stuff for the next five days! (I'm thinking just leave it packed and just pull something out if we need it.)

3/4 of the way there.

2008-06-08T22:19:00.004-06:00

Saturday I went on a 75-mile bike ride. That's 3/4 of the way to my goal of 100 miles on "The 2008 Bike MS Harmon's Best Dam Bike Ride." It is a fund-raising event to promote multiple sclerosis research. If you're interested in finding out more about that you can click here. I'm mostly interested in going on a fun bike ride, and this has given me an excuse to go on a bunch to get ready. ATK has a cycling team and they have a big get-together at this ride, so I'm hoping it will be a fun event. The ride is in cache valley, so Andrea and the kids will get to visit grandma, grandpa and some cousins while I'm on the ride. I did 75 miles yesterday, because it's the last weekend I'll have available before the ride, June 28, so hopefully I'll be ready. At least I'll be ready for adverse conditions, I had to deal with wind, rain, hills, and a hard bike seat, but I made it home after 5 hours of pedalling... and several of rest breaks.

That's a big pile of rocks!

2008-06-08T22:03:00.004-06:00

We had a load of gravel delivered a few weeks ago which we used to fill in under the trampoline and the swing set. The kids had more fun playing on the pile of rocks than they do on either of the other things. They were also very helpful filling the wheel barrow for me to load to the backyard. It turned out pretty nice, although we ended up with more rocks than we needed so we have a small mound under the trampoline, I don't think anyone has bottomed out yet, but our kids are pretty small.

Soccer Saturdays

2008-06-08T21:52:00.008-06:00

We had a fun although cold spring watching Julia and Emma play soccer. There were a few cold days, and a couple games got rained out, but they also had a lot of fun. Below are some pictures of the highlighs.

Blogger's Block

2008-06-08T21:20:00.005-06:00

Andrea and I have been suffering from a newly discovered ailment known as Blogger's Block. This occurs when you have plenty of things that would be worth posting on your blog, but for various reasons are unable to actual post anything. Andrea's block stems mostly from the idea that every decent post will have at least one relevant picture with it, and she believes that she can't remember how to get the pictures from the camera to the blog. My block comes mostly from laziness. By the time I get a chance to sit down at the computer and write something, I figure I'd rather just sit and read a book, watch a movie, or best of all, go to bed.

Fortunately I've had a restful afternoon "watching" Ben Hur, so I think I'm going to be able to get a couple posts written.

We also have another option to help keep our blog up-to-date, Julia. She recently received an award in front of the whole school for being the best typist in the 3rd grade, (23 words-per-minute with no mistakes) and she is very good at using the computer. She also has her own digital camera, and I think she could learn how to get the pictures from the camera to the blog. So stay tuned for some posts from a guest blogger.

Huncle John

2008-04-20T21:09:00.011-06:00

I think it was Katie who first called John, "Huncle John," and she sure latched onto him. Of course all the kids think John is a "hunk" and have loved having him visit for birthdays and other times, and he's been great playing with them and letting them climb all over him. We're going to miss him now that he's graduating from BYU this week and will be in California for the summer and then in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown University for the next several years.

I askeded the kids to tell me what they like about Uncle John or what they like to do with him. This is what I got:

"Uncle John" (with a really cute grin on her face) -Katie

"I like that he's our uncle and he plays with us." -Matthew

"He tickles us." -Emma

"He's nice to be with, and funny." -Julia

We just wanted to say thanks, congratulations, and good luck in the future.

The Fake Yard

2008-04-20T20:36:00.018-06:00

We've heard from Heidi's blog about how she cleans the house extra well whenever company is coming over creating a "fake house." I just wanted to warn her that once she moves into a house with a yard she'll have to worry about the fake yard as well. We spent last weekend getting our fake yard ready, mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, and even putting a load of decorative rock in the flowerbeds along the back fence.

Okay, we would have done those things even if Mom and Dad weren't coming this week, and we were lucky to have John here who hauled most of the rocks. The kids helped out as well although they were bored with it before we got the job completed.

Tagged again.

2008-04-15T10:15:00.003-06:00

I was tagged again! This time by my sister-in-law Melissa. This one was more challenging for me.

What was I doing 10 years ago:
I was married and living in Provo while Josh was in school. I was a couple weeks from finding out that I was pregnant with Julia and we were getting ready to move to Wichita, KS for the summer (which I was actually excited about at the time).

5 things on my to do list:
1)Get my haircut
2)Pick up books from the library
3)Declutter and decorate my house
4)Call my sister
5)Figure out what's for dinner

3 bad habits:
1)I bite my fingernails
2)I read all the time (when I should be cleaning the house, cooking dinner, playing with the kids)
3)Gossipping

Places I've lived:Providence, UT, Rexburg, ID, Provo, Wichita and Mulvane, KS and Clinton, UT

What I would do if I became a millionaire (in no particular order):Buy my dream home and hire a decorator to make it look great, put money aside for kids college funds, travel

Jobs I have had:delivering newspapers, Arby's, early morning custodian at Ricks College and worked at a billing office for radiologists

things you may not know about me (that I am sure you are dying to know):
1)I really like reality t.v. (much to Josh's annoyance)
2)I've never dyed my hair (when I got my haircut once they were shocked when I told them that so I figure it's interestering/surprising?)
Can't think of anything else. I know pretty boring.

I tag Janis, Heidi, Amanda, MaryAnn, Suzie and Renee.

Tagged!

2008-04-13T18:43:00.002-06:00

I haven't ever been "tagged" before so this is exciting. My sister-in-law, Amanda, tagged me.

These are the rules.
1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. Tag 5 people

The nearest book to me is the complete series of The Chronicles of Narnia (all in one book).
The sentence is "Still there was no answer."
Not very exciting. I was going to do the book I am currently reading but it was even lamer.

I'm breaking the rules because I only have three people to tag. I tag my sister-in-law Melissa, Janis and Renee.

Princessceivable!!!

2008-04-13T17:41:00.011-06:00

Well you guessed it. (Amanda and Marz did anyway.) The kids' new favorite movie is "The Princess Bride", and they've been acting it out and quoting it for the last week or so. Fezzik is little tough to understand so the line from when he is about to fight "the man-in-black" was misunderstood to mean that he was out of halloween candy. This is the actual quote"

"We face each other as God intended. Sportsman-like. No tricks. No weapons. Skill against skill alone."

The other line that got misunderstood (at least by Katie) is the title of this post. Katie doesn't know the word inconceivable, but she does know about princesses, so the word "Princessceivable!" was invented. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but it makes Katie smile when she says it, and usually everybody else who is around as well.

Movie Misquotes

2008-04-12T08:36:00.005-06:00

The kids recently discovered a movie that we've had stashed in the movie drawer for a while and have decided that they need to watch it at least once a day, and usually twice. One of the lines is a little difficult to understand and was quoted as:

"No Twix, no whoppers."

Can any of you guess which movie this came from? I think somebody had candy on the brain. If nobody figures it out in a couple days I'll add another misquote that might make it a little easier. Good luck. May the force be with you!

Workin' up a sweat!

2008-04-11T12:27:00.004-06:00

This has been my home away from home for the past few weeks. I had been hoping over the last two years that the weight from four pregnancies would just magically disappear and my stomach would return to it's pre-pregnancy shape. Well of course it wasn't happening and in fact seemed to be getting worse. Last fall I started doing some walking on a trail near our house but then the cold weather set in and I really didn't want to go out in that. Matthew and Katie wanted to go out even less than I did. I knew work out videos weren't going to cut it for me and I figured if I was spending money then it would be motivation for me to actually exercise. So Josh pushed me :), I actually needed the push to start. I joined a gym and have been going 5-6 days a week. I had my first check yesterday and I'm actually making progress. I had weighed myself a few times during the 6 weeks and had actually gained weight! Very disappointing! But they did my measurements and I've lost 1 to 1 1/2 inches in all areas. Yea!! She told me that inches and body fat percentage would go down first for me and then I'll see weight loss. I was waiting for my clothes to fit differently and they didn't seem to so I figured I hadn't made any progress. So now I'm more motivated to keep it up. (But I don't think I'll be running any 5Ks :)

Put a sock in it!

2008-04-08T14:28:00.004-06:00

This was the family expression over the weekend. Josh and Matthew were playing a video game "Smash Brothers" and Katie's favorite characters are Peach and Zelda, the only girl characters. Whenever anyone plays this game someone has to be one of these characters or she will continue to ask for them. Both of the characters were on the screen but she kept saying (screaming) over and over again, "I want Peach and Zelda!" After about a thousand times (that's what Josh says anyway) he finally said, very exasperated, "Katie, put a sock in it!" I don't think it affected Katie very much. She looked at her bare feet and said, "I don't have socks!" But Matthew thought it was hilarious. I guess he had never heard that expression before and just thought it was the funniest thing ever. So over the rest of the weekend everyone, especially Matthew, would say it just to make everyone laugh. Sometimes Matthew says, "Put a sock on it!?" I don't know if he thinks that's what it really is or just thinks it's funnier.
I don't know if everyone has heard Matthew laugh when he really gets going. It is so cute and very contagious, we've had some nights trying to say family prayer where we can't stop laughing long enough for the prayer. We just hope that the person saying it can get it out while everyone else tries to stifle their laughter. It reminds me of my Ricks College days where a couple times my roommates had to pull someone into our apt. from the hall to say the prayer for us because we couldn't stop laughing.

This is spring?!

2008-03-31T10:13:00.003-06:00

Ugggghhh! This is not what I wanted to wake up to today! It's great in December and January but not when it is practically April. The girls were upset as well saying, "It's supposed to be spring." I informed them that it is in fact still spring, just not spring weather. So much for March going out like a lamb.

Happy Birthday Emma!

2008-03-30T15:05:00.015-06:00

We decided to celebrate Emma's birthday on Saturday this year. She was getting some presents that she wouldn't be able to play with on Sunday plus she decided she wanted to go to Village Inn for her birthday meal. John was able to come up on Friday until Saturday evening so it was great it have him here. Another plus was he was able to go to Julia's soccer game (she had yet to have other family members able to attend her games.) Emma's game was canceled because it was snowing at the time and the other team's coach was too scared of the cold.

Emma got several presents that she loves. WebKinz from Grandma and Grandpa Harrison, the movie Enchanted, which they are currently watching for the second time, a scooter, hula hoop and a lego set.

Birthdays and Snow days

2008-03-30T14:55:00.002-06:00

We had our first snowfall of the year on Katie's birthday. So I had the idea of keeping track of whether it snowed or not on the other birthdays in our family. I figured there was a good chance for Josh's and Julia's but still you never know how much you will get winter to winter, let alone that it will snow on those exact days. Well on Christmas Eve while at my sisters house celebrating it snowed quite a bit and then it snowed on Julia's birthday as well. As Emma's birthday got closer I had forgotten all about it, especially since it had been so warm. But yesterday while we celebrated with John here, down came the snow and it is snowing today as well. I was hoping it would at least be the last snowfall of the season but we're forecast to get more this week. If it snows on Matthew's or my birthday we're moving.

Easter Time

2008-03-21T16:18:00.005-06:00

Here's our little Easter bunny!

Having fun dyeing eggs and trying not to dye fingers.

Signs of spring

2008-03-21T15:58:00.007-06:00

These are our bulbs coming up that we planted last fall. I can't wait to see them all bloom. Some of them have turned brown from the frost and they have even been snowed on since they've come up. I love spring!

Kindergarten Readiness

2008-03-19T11:32:00.003-06:00

Matthew had his 5 year old check up at the doctor this morning even though he won't be 5 until June. We received a registration packet in the mail a couple of weeks ago for school and I realized that he needed to get all of his shots before school starts. I had forgotten that he needed to get the Hep A shots because those were not required in Kansas. He needs to have two shots, six months apart, and it would be best to have them done before school starts in the fall. The girls had this same problem when we moved here last year, they had one right after we moved and then the second one last summer. So they would probably let Matthew start having only one but I decided it would be easier this way. Well I guess easier for me.....Matthew did not have an enjoyable time. But he was already freaking out when they tried to weigh him, so by the time they needed to do the shots he had been crying most of the time.
One piece of good news is that yesterday Josh noticed one of Matthew's tubes was coming out and the doctor noticed it today and asked if I wanted him to take it out. Of course I said yes, I didn't want to be worrying about it. I was surprised at how tiny it was. He said his ear looks healthy and there are no problems. So I guess we'll look for the other one to fall out soon.

The First Day of Spring

2008-03-09T20:33:00.007-06:00

I realize that the official first day of spring is still a few days away but the weather has been so nice lately that we decided to have our first day of spring last Friday. I guess I should say that it has been nice compared to the last couple months. The high temperature was in the 40's, and as of yesterday all the snow has melted from our yard. I was off work Friday and the kids were all playing outside because it was a sunny day so we decided to put the mat back on the trampoline. Of course, this meant attaching the 80 some-odd springs from the mat to the frame, while staying clear of the protective cage and the spring-guard pad which I hadn't bothered to take off last fall. (These things sure are safe nowadays.) Matthew was a good helper distributing the springs around the base, and when we finally got the job done the kids had fun bouncing around for at least 10 minutes. Matthew seemed to be a lot more fearless than he was last year, and Katie even had fun sitting and watching. She only likes to jump when no one else is.

2-0 this week

2008-02-23T11:29:00.006-07:00

No, I'm not talking about the BYU basketball team this week, (Although I expect them to beat San Diego St. tonight and go 2-0 this week.) I'm talking about my soccer and basketball teams.

I've been playing on an indoor soccer team with some people from work for the last several weeks. We signed up for an intermediate division, but most of the time it has seemed like we've been a little out matched. The other teams were usually a little faster and better at controlling the ball. The result so far has been 0 wins and combined scoring of 11 goals for us and 37 for our opponents. It's been a little discouraging, but we've still had some fun. Thursday night our game started at 10:45 PM (and that's not even the last game of the night). This time we were playing against the second to last place team (We're in last.) and we managed to open up a 4-0 lead. Unfortunately we only had one substitute and we started to get a little tired. With about 5 minutes left the score was tied 5-5. Fortunately we managed to turn up the intensity and ended up winning 7-5. I even got credit for a goal. I was playing defender and stole the ball and was passing it to a teammate near the goal. One of the defenders tried to hit it with his head and it bounced over the goalie and in for a score. A bad pass turned into a goal for us.

This morning at 7 AM (Who schedules these things?) our ward had our last Elder's Quorum basketball game. We've been playing for the last month and a half, but our team has been pretty inconsistant. Sometimes 5 people show up, sometimes 9 or 10, and there have probably been at least 15 people who have played in at least one game. Unfortunately, we haven't played very well as a team (or individually for that matter) and have lost all our games. (Except the one when the other team didn't show up and we won by forfeit.) Most of the time it has still been fun to play but it does get a little frustrating. This morning we only had 5 players, including one who had never played on the team before. Fortunately, the other team also had only 5 players. We started out as usual, falling behind 9-2, but we managed to get back into the game, and with about 2 minutes left in the game we got our first lead of the season at 41-40. We hit another 3-pointer and it was time for the other team to try to foul us. They hadn't fouled us much the second half so they had to foul us 4 times before we would shoot free throws which meant that there were only 4.2 seconds left on the clock. The free throw missed but after 2 time-outs they weren't able to get a shot off in time and we had our first win of the season.

Tickets, Police and High Stress

2008-02-23T10:38:00.005-07:00

I've been stressing all this week dealing with tickets. The radio station announced last week that The Police were coming to SLC in July. So all week they were giving tickets away. Of course it's always good to get free stuff so I tried calling in whenever they played the Police song of the day (which they would play once, so I listened all day to make sure I didn't miss it.) And then I wouldn't be able to get through anyway. But the reason I wanted to win them was because I was afraid when they went on sale today they would sell out fast and I wouldn't be able to get tickets. But it was no problem, I bought them online and now we just have to wait five months to go to the concert. I've been a big fan for years and this is their last concert tour ever (or so they say) so I figure this is my last chance.

In Loving Memory

2008-02-18T12:33:00.008-07:00

My mom died twenty years ago yesterday. I was thinking about her much of the day but didn't think about writing a post about her. I don't think I'll ever forget that day when I was in my sixth grade class and a student from the office brought a note to my teacher and as soon as he started to come towards me I knew what it was about. This was the first and only time I ever remember being taken out of class. I remember walking down the hall shaking and I think hoping it wasn't what I knew it was.

The past twenty years have seemed like so long. So much has happened, finishing school, getting married and having children. But it also seems crazy that she has been gone so long. I didn't get the chance to know her as a person. At 11 years old, she was just mom.... the person who cooks you food, cleans your clothes and tells you to clean up your room. I'm grateful that she was very good at writing in journals so I can get to know her a little bit better. I don't think about my mom that much in my day to day life but I did think about her, especially big events like when Josh and I got married and each time we had another baby. I feel bad that she didn't ever see her sons return home from serving missions or see her children married or have a chance to be a Grandma during this life.

I am very grateful for the knowledge the gospel gives me that I know I will see her again. We will be together as an eternal family and she will get to meet the people I love.

Home Improvement

2008-02-18T11:56:00.007-07:00

We have been doing some home improvement in our house. I have been wanting a new bedroom set for years. None of the furniture we had matched and most of it was handed down from other people.

Before

Plus we had painted some rooms in our house in Kansas a few months before we moved and then this house had all white walls and we were wanting to change it. We already redid our master bath and this past Saturday we worked on our bedroom. We bought a new bedroom set and Josh picked it up on Saturday (minus the dresser which is backordered until May.)

We spent the day painting and putting the bed together. I ironed the curtains and bedskirt to the new bedding I'd bought. We also decided to get some curtains for the kitchen while we were at it. It was all pretty much put together by 10:30. After all of that work Josh needed a long nap which he took Sunday afternoon.

(If anyone wants an 8 yr old bed that's in very good condition let us know and we'll get it to you somehow.)

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T12:15:00.002-07:00

I went and helped with Matthew's class party this morning. They have all of the Tues./Thurs. kids there, morning and afternoon. So there were a lot of kids! I was planning to take some pictures to post here but that didn't happen. They had all of the helpers be in charge of one game and the groups of kids would then rotate. I signed up to be in charge of Zingo because out of the ones that were left it was the one I knew how to play. (Thanks to Grandma :) So I sat at this little table on a very hard bench for about 2 hours. owwww! So needless to say but there was no picture taking. The only time I saw Matthew was when he was at my table. Katie managed to keep herself occupied, once she saw that I wasn't going to let her play the game like at home she crawled under the table and sucked her thumb. Matthew had a fun day and came home with a bag full of Valentines.

Julia's First Piano Recital

2008-02-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

Recently Julia performed in her first piano recital. She did a great job showing off her piano playing ability. She has been taking piano lessons for about two and a half years now and really enjoys being able to play some fun songs. She does have to be reminded to practice, but who doesn't.

After Julia's succesful recital, Emma has decided she's ready to start taking lessons as well. She'll be starting in the next couple of weeks. This will make next years recital quite a bit longer since that will make five performers instead of four, of course the audience will probably be the same size with all the performers coming from the same three families.

Jordan, Julia, Sam, McKenna

We had a fun evening at the recital and have enjoyed having some beautiful piano music in our home.

May the force be with you.

2008-02-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the previous post the kids have been enjoying the new Gamecube we received for Christmas. (Did I say the kids? Josh is pretty heavily involved as well. Even I've played a few times, but only when Matthew really begs me to help him:) The most popular game by far is Lego Star Wars II. It takes you through the original Star Wars movies with different levels and things to accomplish. It follows the movies pretty closely. Matthew would play it all day every day if I let him.......oh wait I do.

When they are not playing the video game they are running around the house acting out the movies, luckily there are several versions of Princess Leia so the girls can both be her. Katie is even learning about all of the characters like Sleepio and 2-2 (C3PO and R2D2) but of course she likes Princess Leia the best, she is a princess after all.

Let it snow!

2008-02-03T17:02:00.001-07:00

We have had so much snow this winter. It has been a lot more than last winter and I thought that was a lot.....compared to what we would get in Kansas. Josh overheard people at church today saying that there hasn't been a winter with constant snow on the ground like this year in several years. The first few times it snowed our kids were out playing in it but now they are more interested in playing the video games we got for Christmas.

Yesterday during President Hinckley's funeral they commented that it was a beautiful day, one of the few days without snow and not even cloudy! Before we left for church Josh shoveled the driveway and when we got home it didn't even look like he had shoveled at all. And now it has started snowing again. The girls have early-out from school all week for Parent, Teacher conferences so I'll have to get them outside to play in this wonderful? snow.