HEY YOU GUY-YS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cinderella Ballet

2011-03-06T18:01:00.002-07:00

Blake has always said that every guy in the world needs to be the dad of a 3 year old girl. And we've had the absolute pleasure of being the parents of 4, 3 year old daughters and it really is the sweetest experience ever.
We took the 3 little ones to the Cinderella Ballet not really knowing what to expect. We arrived early so the girls would have a chance to hang out with the dancers before the show, and they were so sweet. As soon as they saw us, they walked over with a basket full of heart-shaped suckers and gave one to each of the girls, then they talked to them, asked them princess-y questions and told them about their parts in the ballet. But as soon as Ava caught a glimpse of the Prince she squeezed my hand and said, "I want to go see Prince John", and my heart just melted all over again.

From the moment that we walked through the doors of the concert hall, they were completely mesmerized.
We had such great seats directly behind the Orchestra pit so the girls could really see what was going on everywhere. And the music was so beautiful, I wanted to just sit there with my eyes closed and take it all in. But my very favorite part of the whole night was listening to Ava just chat her little heart out about everything that was going on during the ballet. She followed everything so perfectly and was so enchanted by the story and the dancers, I watched her and light in her eyes more than I watched the actual ballet. It was a magical evening indeed.

Fancy Pants Dinner

2011-03-04T12:26:00.003-07:00

The fabulousness of this night left Blake and I completely anxious to do is all over again next year. It was SOOOOO much fun!

We spent the evening with some of our most favorite people in the world, surrounded by the most scrumptious food and twinkling lights.

I'm totally disappointed that I didn't take more photos, but I was just having waaaaay too much fun. So whatev. Maybe next year :)

Training for Black Friday

2010-08-11T23:56:00.003-06:00

Notice the lack of orange circle around the Corned Beef or Batteries?

This is what our Wednesday's look like.
Bette up bright and early, scouring the ads for everything her little heart desires.

Typical

2010-06-11T23:20:00.002-06:00

Who says Children these days are lazy???
I find Ava's desire to watch "UP" on the computer, while watching "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" on my iPhone quite intriguing actually...

Primrose

2010-04-22T17:06:00.002-06:00

So in addition to Ava's "tippy-toe" skills, and "talking back" skills...we now get to add "drawing on my face with a marker" skills to her resume. I'm thinking of hiring her to do my make-up for me every morning before I get out of bed. Maybe my best idea yet!!

I know how you feel girl...

2009-12-07T12:01:00.001-07:00

...I'm not a fan of the snow either!

The Gathering of the Esquerra's '09

2009-10-08T22:17:00.002-06:00

Robert and Jennifer sure know how to rock out a fabulous Family Reunion! I love seeing the sweet Esquerra's that roll on into town every once in a while! BEST. FAMILY. EVER!
We began the festivities with an awesome trip to the temple to do some family names...so precious! Breakfast at Oma's house along with some killer tie-dyingness followed by a day of fun games and just enjoying the fam!
So sorry that it's taken so long to get these pictures up...I'm trying to catch up on this blog...promise!

Thanks Esquerra Family...you're the best and we love you!

Ava's baby

2009-10-04T23:16:00.002-06:00

You would think that a house with 4 girls would have baby dolls strewn about all over the place. Wouldn't you???
Well not the case here. At least not until little miss Ava came along with her tender little heart and obsessive personality. Her baby doll, who's name is yet to be determined, goes with her at all times. And if she doesn't go with her, we are in big trouble.
Her birthday is at the end of the month and it is taking every ounce of strength that I have to not cave and give her the new baby doll set with the stroller, swing and bed, that I bought last week, right NOW! I can't wait! And maybe I won't wait...she doesn't know that she's supposed to get something for her birthday right? We'll see how the next couple of weeks go...

i love you

2009-09-28T01:23:00.001-06:00

Stadium of Fire...Jonas Brothers...yada, yada, yada

2009-09-07T22:55:00.002-06:00

..please pardon my lack of complying to the "Rule of Thirds"...

2009-08-30T22:14:00.001-06:00

Does this little angelic girl with the packaging from a bundle of hangers on the top of her head look like someone who just hours earlier drew all over her mommy's new MacBook with permanent marker???

Dear Marco and the couple standing behind me at Wal-Mart tonight...

2009-05-22T00:31:00.002-06:00

Dear Marco,
You don't know me and I don't know you, and I'm sure you'll never read this. But I just want you to know that I am positive that you are an amazing person! You seemed a little stressed tonight, i'm sure working the graveyard shift at Wally World can make you want to pull your hair out at times, but I just wanted to Thank you for being so kind as you scanned the Marshmallow Mateys that I promised Bette that I would get for her.
I hope so much that you have a good life and that your family shows you that they love you and appreciate all that you do for them and how hard you are working for them! I often see people riding bicycles down the street on Hot days like today with a cooler in one hand that they probably brought their lunch to work in. And I say a little prayer in my heart for them asking Heavenly Father to please have someone waiting for them when they get home from work to greet them with a hug and a kiss and tell them thank you for working so hard for their family. I don't know why I felt such great love toward you like you were a member of my family. But I hope that my smile and friendly conversation helped you to not be too stressed about the long line behind me.
And if anyone out there is ever at Walmart around midnight and the man with the kind face behind the register is Marco...will you please give him one of the friendliest smiles that you have, no matter how big of a hurry you might be in? Thank you so much!

And dear cute couple standing behind me in line to buy a 12 pack of Dew and a pink plastic Ruler,
I wasn't trying to eaves drop, but I couldn't help hearing the sweet things that you were saying and having said to you. I think what caught my attention at first was hearing you (guy) saying so sweetly to you (girl) "I just want to take care of you, I worry about you" I also heard you (girl) say "I'm sorry" about something, I don't know what, but what was the sweet response from you (guy)??? "Sorry for what? For being so amazing???" I also observed from the corner of my eye a little huggin' going on and it just made my little heart so happy!!! I am so happy for you two! Because I know that you are going to have a wonderful life together!
How do I know this you ask??? Because I have my very own sweet "guy standing behind me at Wal-Mart" in my life too. Who says those exact same things with the exact same sincerity, who is the reason that I have no feelings of Jealousy at all that one might have from hearing such precious words being said to them.
Man, I love you guys too! And I don't know ANY of you!

Sincerely,
Me (the girl with a bag of Marshmallow Mateys and a stack of about 20 Lean Cuisine Three Cheese Ziti Marinara..yum)

I did it!

2009-04-02T18:18:00.002-06:00

all right everyone,,,who's ready for Conference Bingo...MOMMY STYLE????
I put together a couple of cards, just in case some of you out there are feelin' a little competetive and want to play against the hubbs- maybe the winner gets the others candy??? Speaking of... Hershey's Bliss Chocolates are the perfect size for the squares!!! Here you go, ENJOY! And ENJOY CONFERENCE EVEN MORE!!!!! I love Conference!

wow!

2009-03-24T13:09:00.002-06:00

This is amazing - as you listen intently, follow along with the words forward and backward, make sure you read as well as listen.

This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 year old. The contest was titled 'u@50' by AARP, and won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awestruck and broke out in spontaneous applause.

So simple and yet so brillant; take a minute and watch it.

Thanks for sending this Pam & Levi!

2009-03-09T01:46:00.002-06:00

I write tonight about an unusual phenomenon that has been occurring on my computer desk lately. A stack of dollar bills has been growing steadily for the last 6 months or so. "Hmmmm, I wonder why Blake (the hubbs, not the kid) keeps leaving dollar bills on my desk?" I think to myself. But then I remember how, early in the morning, before he leaves for work, I can hear him putting change in his pocket for his daily Jamba Juice. Why would he rather pay with change when he has a stack of money on my desk? Weird? I don't know you tell me.

So when I asked him about it he answered with, "I thought you were saving it for Disneyland or something." ( I do think in "Disneyland Dollars, you know). This is getting weirder and weirder. Finally I asked the kids if they knew where this money was coming from. Well it turns out that Blake, (the kid, not the hubbs) would throw a dollar onto the pile every time he'd buy a song from Itunes. Wow, really??? I was wondering how all of those dang cool songs were getting there! But that got me thinking about something else.....

Do my children realize how good they have it when it comes to getting songs that they love?

And for those of you who may be worried about the songs they are buying..don't worry..they're good. Anyway, back to the point....

I remember having to sit next to the stereo with my finger on the pause button while the play/record buttons were already set hoping with all my heart that the dang DJ would NOT talk during the intro to one of my favorite songs so I could have the most totally awesome mix tape in the world!!!

And now look how easy it is to just click the buy now button and upload it onto an ipod and off you go....MAN!!!!! Kids these days....I'd complain about it a little more but if it weren't for them I would have had no idea how to even figure out how to put my totally awesome work mix together.

What would people say???

2009-02-01T23:54:00.004-07:00

IF they were to complete a sentence about you, that began with "I....".
What would people say???
Well we found out what they'd say about my love one night as we sat in my living room playing a rousing game of Partini.
I don't know about you, but I find it completely precious that those who know him best know what an amazing and loving guy he is. Because he SO is! I love him with all my heart! For shizzle my nizzle!

Do you know who we are?????

2009-01-26T21:52:00.002-07:00

Us bloggers we???? We who sit at the end of the day and journal. About our day...about choices that we've made, some quite significant, and some just stupid. We write about things that we want to remember in the future...some funny, some sad, some happy, and some just stupid. Instead of journaling with a pen and a notebook or a fancy journal that our aunt may have given us on the day we were Baptized when we were 8 years old (that still has yet to be filled), we journal on expensive computers. We type. DO YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE?????

WE ARE DOOGIE HOWSER M.D.!!!!!!!!
Boy Genius. Who at the end of a long hard day of being an extraordinary teenage doctor would sit at his DOS system computer and journal with bright lime green letters on a dark green screen with a huge blinking curser. And what would he write about? Choices that he made, some quite significant, and some just stupid...
I bet that it was quite stressful being a young Doctor when he should have been out having milkshakes with Winny (sorry, wrong show). But I'm guessing that the part that we didn't see once he ended his journal entry for the day was the rousing game of Oregon Trail that he would rock out before going to bed at night.
I may be wrong....
Anyway, who'd have thought that this is what the future was going to be???

Isn't it annoying....

2009-01-25T13:52:00.002-07:00

When you go to check someones blog and they haven't updated in over 3 months??????
I KNOW...I KNOW! I can't stand it when that happens...what is with these people???

I promise to do better........starting tomorrow :o)

somethin' for the rest of us....

2008-09-30T17:02:00.006-06:00

Is anyone as anxious about Conference this year as I am??? It's not that I don't look forward to Conference every single year, I am just SO looking forward to the peace that I feel in my heart while I listen to the inspired words of our amazing church leaders. Especially right now, with the trials and craziness in the world today...I love conference as much as I love Disneyland and my family!!! (I hope that didn't sound weird).
Anyway, so you know how each year the kidlets usually get a packet with fun Conference activities like Bingo and word searches and such??? That got me thinking, "what about us mama's????"
So I've designed a couple of pretty pages that you can save to your computer and print if you'd like...who knows, I may even design a mama's bingo that you can play with dove chocolates instead of m&m's ..mmm that sounds good! One is for things to ponder, or favorite quotes you hear. And the other one is for writing goals. If anyone can think of any other fun thing you'd like to see, just let me know! And I mean that!

Last week we had the Missionaries over for dinner. They were Awesome! While we were getting dinner ready, Reagan was strategically placing Books of Mormon all over the house...I think she wanted them to know that we were Mormon too :o). Anyway, before they left, Elder Munroe read some scriptures from the war chapters (My Faves) and left us with the message of how we can have protection from harm with the Armor of God that we receive from following the counsel of our Church leaders. Then Elder Carver tore a phone book in half with his bare hands!!! Very impressive.

Helmet girl

2008-09-25T01:10:00.004-06:00

MMMMAAAAANNNNNNNN has my Reagan had a tough few weeks! You've seen the pictures of her stitched up eyebrow...but OH that was just the beginning of it all. The stitches happened on a Friday, Monday was Labor Day-no school, Tuesday she woke up early, early in the morning with a fever, I suspected that she may have had strep throat, but I decided to give it a few hours before making an appointment and she said that her throat didn't hurt, so we left it at that. Tuesday night- Fever was down. Wednesday morning- Fever was up, still no sore throat. Wednesday night- Fever was down..this went on for the next couple of days. So Friday I'd had it with this wacked out fever and took her in for a strep test and to get her lovely stitches out. By this time she had missed an entire week of School..poor kid. Strep test came back negative (which means good in the medical world, for those of you who watch The Office...WHICH IS STARTING AT 8:00 TONIGHT PEOPLE!!! WHOO HOO!) sorry. Back to my loooong story. Saturday she was all better and excited to get back to school on Monday. Sunday...oh Sunday, My mom was visiting from Orem (I know that we live in Orem too..I'm just sayin') and all of the sudden we heard SCREAMING coming from the bathroom so we go running in to find Reagan with blood overflowing from her mouth and when we finally got her calmed down enough for her to explain what had happened...does anyone want to guess??? She said that she was jumping from the bath tub to the toilet and slipped and hit her mouth on the toilet. WHAT IN THE WHAT??? Don't ask me why she was doing acrobatics, I know that accoustics are better in bathrooms but what does that have to do with handsprings??? Well, she had a huge cut on the inside of her lip that hurt so bad that she couldn't really eat, which meant no school Monday either.In the following days she stubbed her toe, slammed her finger in a drawer and hit her head with the car door as it was opening. I told her that maybe we should put a helmet on her so she wouldn't get hurt as much, so she asked, "what color will it be?" I told her that we could maybe just use her Bicycle helmet...but she wanted a new one. Later that night we were getting ready to read scriptures and pray when Reagan walked into the room wearing this:
She put the two fireman helmets together all by herself. And that's when she declared "I guess I'm just going to have to look like this for the rest of my life!"
Chin up my darling little Reagan...life only gets harder! J/K...sort of. Hang in there!

2008-09-11T21:33:00.000-06:00

Why do I do this to myself?????

2008-09-09T23:57:00.004-06:00

I know how it's going to end...I keep hoping that it will change...but it still ends the same way e-ver-y TIME!!!! And i just sit there and cry and cry and cry. Just thinking about it is making my cry. If any of you out there are emotionally constipated...this'll get you going! Thanks to my dear wonderful big sis. Lori- you're the BEST EVER!!!!! Love you!

My poor, poor Reagan!

2008-08-31T05:43:00.004-06:00

7 stitches are not going to slow the poses down that's for sure!
What a crazy day in the life of my newly 6 year old little one! Friday, while playing at a neighbors house, she turned around too fast while trying to walk around a doll house and smashed her head on a wall. I feel so sad just thinking about it! So anyway, off to the E.R. we went (every time we go, I still feel a little weird about the fact that it is nothing like the show j/k). There was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth in the back seat of our Expedition that day (minus the gnashing of teeth). But my sweet little sweetie pie was such a brave little soul! I think that she was more angry about getting hurt than anything-she kept yelling, "I HATE GETTING HURT!!!!!!" with as much air as she could force out of her little lungs. I hate it when she gets hurt too, it breaks my heart to see my little ones in pain :(. Anyway, while we were sitting in the pediatric room of the ER waiting for the plastic surgeon to come and stitch my baby up, Blake thought that it would be a great time to tell her about all of the many, many times that he's had to get himself stitched up...I noticed a lot more scars on his face that I'd never really seen before that day...and I'm pretty sure that the total number of stitches that he's had in his life are floating somewhere around the 8000's. Well after he was done regaling us with his lovely stories, Reagan was still nervous so we jumped right into one of the many adventures of "Princess Reagan and her Princess Friends" that I tell her whenever she's having a hard time. All of the stories begin with, "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little princess with the darkest brown eyes you'll ever see and pretty black hair, and her name was...." and then Reagan pipes in with..."Reagan Rosemary Harrison"...and then our story continues with whatever creative junk that I can pull out of my head at the moment. This day the Adventure was about how one morning Princess Reagan woke to find that there was no color left in the world because Malificent had cast an evil spell and the only way to get the color back was to climb to the top of the very highest mountain and find an Orange Orange, a Yellow Banana, a Blue Blueberry, a Red Apple and a Purple Velvet Flower. Sounds simple enough right??? Wrong. I had to figure out a way to keep that story going until she was stitched up and ready to go home. So of coarse Princess Reagan, Mulan, Shang, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and the rest of the princesses happened upon many absurd mishaps along the way, but indeed they finally succeeded, Thanks in part to the great Doctor and his Awesome nurse who thought that the whole story was just about a Fruit Salad....mmmmm, fruit salad, yummy yummy. And might I just add that I was SOOOOO impressed with Mt. Timpanogos Hospital! The plastic surgeon did such an amazing job and was so kind and gentle with easing Reagan's fears about what was happening. She only felt a little burning when he was dripping the drugs into the cut, but only enough for her to say "Ow, that hurts". Then when he was nearly finished stitching up her eyebrow she asked him when she was going to have to get a shot. So clearly she didn't see him shooting her the 6 times that he did! We were out of there in less than an hour and on our way to get Reagan an ice cream cone for being such a little trooper. Not the grandest day of her life, but she made it through, and I feel so blessed as always to be able to be her momma!

NOBODY SAY ANYTHING!!!!!!!

2008-08-27T14:05:00.002-06:00

AND I MEAN IT! NOT ONE WORD PEOPLE! So My Love took the little ones out of the house while the bigger ones did their homework so I could have a few minutes away from the computer and just relax. (Maybe I was being a little too much of a cranky pants) ANYWAY...WHAT IN THE WHAT, WHAT?????????? REALLY!!!!!!!!! I just got to the Book Jacob...The last chapter of the first book...WHAT??????????????? I am seriously beside myself! I have so much editing to do, and I PROMISED myself that I would get it all done before continuing on, but...WHAT??????????????? Okay, I'm done saying WHAT??? now. But you want to hear something funny? Do you? SO after I got done reading The Book I decided that I should get my nightly Scripture Study in then, since I had a quiet house...So as I finished the last chapter of 2nd Nephi...where do you think I landed???? THE BOOK OF JACOB! WHAT????????????????

Do I know you?????

2008-08-24T23:45:00.003-06:00

So if it's true that in the pre-existence we got to choose our families...
#1 HOW IN THE H' DID A BUNCH OF CRAZIES LIKE US END UP TOGETHER????
and #2 I AM SO GLAD THAT WE DID!!!!! Yes it's true, at any given time (like perhaps at a wedding reception) Someone will start quoting lines from "Big Trouble in Little China" or "The Monster Squad" and 4 other people will chime in and in 5 minutes or so, pretty much have every single line worth quoting, quoted! Yes it's true, that's my little nephew Jazz showing of his "Nakee Raegee's" for all the world to see, while his brothers and uncles try to rein act an album cover for who knows what rap group from the early 90's. And Yes it's true....Below you have photo's of my younger bro Mikal playing out the famous scene from "Flash Dance"....
I've said it before and I'll say it a thousand times... I Love this crazy family of mine with all my heart! There is no other group of people that I would rather spend eternity with!

Memory Tag

2008-08-07T23:42:00.001-06:00

I kept forgetting to play this...sorry it's taken so long!

1- Post in comments a memory of when we met or a funny story.
2- Post the same instructions on your blog. (see how many people play)

My neighbor's Block Party can beat up Your neighbor's block party!

2008-08-07T23:30:00.004-06:00

SO I realize that it's been a few weeks since the 24th of July, but how could I not blog about the BEST DANG BLOCK PARTY??? Let's see...do I begin with talking about the cotton candy, or the snow cones, or the dunking booth, or the huge blow up slide??? Or maybe I should talk about the thousands of dollars in fireworks that had necessetated a Bail Bondsmen to be on Stand-by incase "someone" who had to be on a plane the next day got arrested! And what would an amazing Fireworks display be without the one and only "ROCKET CHICK" ??? She was discovered by "someone" in my ward at a "ghetto" 4th of July celebration in Provo..so now she has a standing invitation for the ROCKINGEST 24th Party in the World! ( yes, I know "rockingest" isn't a real world :o) Anyway, Thanks Amanda for the invite- WE had a BLAST!!!!

Poolside

2008-07-19T02:24:00.003-06:00

Uncle Mike and Aunt Karalee

What's a summer without swimming??? My kids are little fishes who can't get enough of the water! We had such a great time with Mike and Karalee at the pool (they are, after all their absolute FAVES!) And why wouldn't they? We've gotten season passes to Seven Peaks in the past but with a new baby, gas prices and that pesky little Crypto..We decided WAY against it this year. But my kids talked me into going once this year so we went last week. I will always see Bette's HUGE smile in my mind when I think of how fun going down the little slide was for her. She'd go down, run to me, give Ava and I a hug and run back to do it all over again. She got knocked over by a few kids and her face would be completely underwater at times, I totally thought that would freak her out, but each time she just brushed it off like it was no biggy. I was very impressed, she surprises me every once in a while. And my squeaky little Reagan was actually big enough this year to not get knocked over by the smallest wave in the kiddie pool, so right away she was already talking about how she wants her birthday party to be at Seven Peaks this year. I, ever so sweetly told her that we're most likely going to need to plan something else, but in my mind I was screaming "No way in H' are we going to have a birthday party here!!!!!" My nerves were completely shot by the end of the day with holding Ava and keeping my eye on Reagan and Bette for 5 hours...and cringing each and every time water would splash on us, I had visions of tiny little bacteria going into our mouths and down our throats (Like on the T.V. show HOUSE). And to those of you who may be wondering why I didn't invite you to come with us, I knew that I wouldn't be very good for a conversation because I was absolutely focused on leaving there with as many children as I got there with :). All in all, the stress of it all was so worth the beautiful smiles on my little ones faces. Even Ava was kicking her little legs as soon as she saw the water, which I don't understand because we can barely wash her hair in the tub before she's trying to climb out.

Well, Hope you all are enjoying your summer! Be Safe!

this is Reagan

2008-07-06T19:57:00.002-06:00

I am my mom photography assistant I learn at church is special to go to

Don't pee your pants

2008-07-04T01:47:00.002-06:00

I saw this on Adhis' blog and I just had to share...I was falling out of the chair laughing when I read through the comments on this article!!! (Be sure to click on the image to make it bigger if you can't see it that well)
So here are the comments:

by getitfixed: I'm glad they caught this guy before he did a drive-by on the rival gang in Provo with his pea shooter. He could have put out an innocent bystanders eye!

by I Can't Be Serious: We should go easy on this guy... After all, with gas prices at their current levels, even a pink tricycle is starting to look good to me....

by Billy_Jack: Those gang initiations get better and better...

by Grimalkin: Maybe it's part of a big theft ring. Maybe they were going to strip it out for parts and sell them to shady bicycle repairmen. You can't put anything past these guys.

by johnseeholmes: It sounds like this guy is really having a hard time transitioning off of his mission.

by Truestory4: He probably figured it was safer than a 2-wheeler. Maybe he was drunk and needed that extra stability to stay up right. next he'll be stealing big boy bikes with training wheels.

by ToddE : He is part of the Buttercream Gang. All the others have bicycles. Just wanted to go help widow Jenkins who had fallen again.

by UtahCelt: Well... Every one knows that tricycle theft is a gateway theft to more hardcore robberies. Next it will be electric wheelchairs from the supermarket, razors, wheelies, then up to the adult sized bikes.....

by UtahCelt: See what rising fuel prices are driving gang members to do!!! Maybe now we will have pedal-bys instead of drive-bys....

by Cindy132: What type of gangs do they have in Utah County? Little Raskals?

by UtahCelt: I wonder if the police had to do a PIT manuever to spin out the suspect. Was it a high-speed pursuit?

by Observer317: The answer is "yes" on both questions. The officer had to walk briskly after the tricycle, and put his foot in front of one of the back tires. There was no damage to the tricycle, but the pursuing officer’s shoes were scuffed in the altercation.

by UtahCelt: Did the gang member have big floppy shoes, rainbow wig, red nose and go by the name "Homey D. Clown"?

by justapeon: what I want to know is if he was sucking his thumb as he peddled along.

by UtahCelt: I am trying to picture a gang member earning his street creds rollin' phat a Dora the Explorer tricycle with gold spinners....

by Jose V.: Wow!!! I better put my Hotwheels away!

by sundancer: Joyriding down the Boulevard on a stolen tricycle? This is even better than the police beat at BYU...

by x11x: I'm glad KSL did this story, now every time I see a gang banger I can picture him peddling away, flashing a gang sign, and roll'in phat on 3 inch wheels.

by Frankjohn: I can just see the news reports "And the fleeing perpetrator suffered severe puncture wounds to the crotch area when police attempted to spike the tires of the stolen vehicle..."

by Observer317: And everyone laughed at me when I put “The Club” on my Big Wheel. Well, I still have my Big Wheel, who's laughing now?

MY FAVE is this last one about the Big Wheel HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

"Did someone dare you???"

2008-07-02T16:32:00.003-06:00

So my mom called me on Monday to tell me a little about a conversation that she had with Reagan the day before as they were sitting in church together. It always makes my heart drop just a little when people start a conversation with me by saying, "I just wanted to tell you what Reagan said...". Anyway, here it is:

(While looking at the burn on my mom's leg)Reagan- "Oma, what happened to your leg?"
Oma- "I got off of the motorcycle the wrong way"
Reagan- "Did someone dare you???"
I can't quite remember what my mom told me that she said after that. But she did tell me that as they sat after they had talked about it for awhile, Reagan was looking at her leg out of the corner of her eye... and very slowly reached over with her hand and pulled down one of the ruffles of my mom's skirt over the burn .
We had a great laugh over that...Reagan is a HOOT!

Color me bad...(Oh wait) Mine

2008-07-02T02:48:00.003-06:00

A lovely time we had at Color Me Mine a few weeks ago! I love hanging out with my girls. Reagan decided that it was her very most favorite place in the whole wide world and wants to live there when she grows up...we're sure going to miss her :(. Kaitlin, although not quite as enthusiastic as Reagan loved it too! I tried my hand at painting a bowl for My Love for Father's Day and ending up wiping the whole thing clean and starting over 3 different times because he couldn't possibly be expected to eat cereal or ice cream from a flawed orange bowl! I finally accepted the fact that I'm not the best ceramic painter in the world and will forever see the vision that I had for that bowl in my brain and that is just going to have to be good enough! He Loved it anyway...my perfect simple dear husband! For the three days that it took to get our pieces back, all Reagan could talk about was how she was going to eat a piece of garlic bread on her brand new flower plate that she made all by her very own self. I don't even know how she was able to chew her garlic bread with the great big smile she had on her face through the entire dinner. And my darling sweet Kaitlin's beautiful mug met it's untimely demise not even two days home from the Riverwoods...as I was loading the dishwasher that day, the handle hit the edge of the sink and broke into two pieces. My ever so sweet Kaitlin was so gracious about it because she knew I felt horrible about breaking her art! I guess we'll just have to go back again!
I've been meaning to photograph the finished pieces for weeks now, I'll get them up soon for sure! They look so great!!! (The girls' do anyway).

Family Reunion Schedule

2008-06-17T19:10:00.003-06:00

Here it is...you can click on the image to make it bigger!

Bette's FAVES

2008-05-24T22:01:00.001-06:00

Fabulous Family Night

2008-05-07T01:15:00.003-06:00

SHOOT... I totally meant to post this earlier and tell you what a fun time we had at the Children's Museum at The Gateway! I hope everyone (that wanted to) had a chance to go and see "The Body" Exhibit with Sesame Street. Reagan and Bette learned SO much about everything from how our brains work to digestion and poop...wowsers, they covered just about everything.
This was one of the funnest family nights! We started the night off at Rodizio Grill in Trolley Square. I absolutely LOVE eating at Rodizio or Tucano's with Reagan because every time one of the servers would come by with their huge skewers of meat, Reagan would ask "Is that steak?" and if they said yes, she'd say "YES!!!! I want it!". By the time we left I swear she had eaten her weight in steak. And I feel it's also important to note that she actually tried, and LOVED the Rattlesnake! She is the last person on earth that I could ever imagine eating rattlesnake but she surprised us! She has a great time watching people cringe when she tells them all about it!
After our amazing dinner we headed off to The Gateway. Blake and Kaitlin decided that they would rather go shopping at Zumies and PacSun then go to the Children's Museum so they had a great time bonding with their dad and I had a blast with the little ones! This is a rather interesting time in our lives, I knew there would come a day when Blake and Kailtin would be "too cool" for the things they used to love, I just didn't think it would come this soon. They are such wonderful kids though, andI wouldn't miss this for the world!!!

Blake's First "Melodrama"

2008-05-02T16:05:00.002-06:00

Check out how much taller he is than the rest of the 6th graders...We have no idea how that happened...we're all such shorties in our fam.

Dashing Dan Saves the Day!!! Blake was a total Rock Star in his first Play at School. He played the Hero who saved Beauty Bell from Robbers...or something...I think that's what the 6th grade play was all about! It was so great to see him up on stage working his magic! We were so proud of him, he was a total natural. We thought that he'd totally want to be in more plays after seeing how great he did, but after the show, the first thing he said in the car was "Man I'm glad that's over with, I don't think I ever want to act again!". He's lucky I'm not a psycho stage mother :0).
Anyway...Great Job Bud, WE LOVE YOU!!!

Wonderful Week....

2008-04-18T23:52:00.004-06:00

What a completely just WONDERFUL week we've had with the LOVE OF MY LIFE being home!!!!
This is the first whole week that he's been able to take off since before Ava was born (we planned and saved two weeks vacation time for when Ava was born so we could have those days, that we'll never get back, to just spend with her and rest and not worry about work...but that didn't get to happen because, to put it lightly, one of the guys he worked with pretty much had no soul) But now...oh these last few days have been GLORIOUS! We'll save our traveling vacations for later,(when Ava can tolerate being in her car seat for more than 20 minutes) we just wanted to have a great relaxing week and we SO HAVE! Monday, Blake took Blakey and Kaitlin long boarding in the canyon...all they've been able to talk about since then is...long boarding in the canyon again! My children have the most absolutely perfect dad for them! He truly cares about their individual interests and loves them so much! He always walks through the door after a crazy day of work with his arms wide open for hugs and a HUGE smile on his face!!! These are the moments that matter most and he dedicates his life to making these moments last! Tuesday and Wednesday, were spent in and on the yard, Reagan and Kaitlin caught a butterfly. Reagan also got 2 new rose bushes this year, every year she gets a new rose bush for her birthday-because her middle name is Rosemary! Thursday was definitely memorable... I spent the day shooting Ben and Alicia's wedding ( loved it...I'll post about that in the next little while) and while I was at the Salt Lake Temple I met my very most favorite Photographer in all the world KATE BENSON!!!!!!!!! (Can you believe it Karalee...we were just admiring her work the night before). I saw her walk by and I completely just froze because I had only seen pictures of her on her website- And she is as stunningly gorgeous as her work...WOW! Anyway, later we were in the same area and I couldn't help but ask if she was Kate Benson and when she said she was I was just like a gushing idiot...I seriously almost started to cry! I hope she doesn't think that I'm a total psycho... But I want to be just like her when i grow up!!! She is absolutely AMAZE-A-ZING!!! And to top that off, every once in a while I would look up and see my dear cute hubs with baby Ava in her carrier on his chest, and pushing a stroller with Reagan and Bette inside. He so graciously came along with me so Reagan could match the flowers on the temple grounds, and so Ava wouldn't have to wait to long to be fed, and most importantly to be there to support me and offer me his beautiful reassuring smile because he knew that I was nervous out of my brain!!! I can't even say how much I ABSOLUTELY, TRULY, LOVE THAT MAN WITH EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE!!!! One night I was climbing up the stairs at 3:30 in the morning after working on pictures and he came walking down the hall because he came to find me, but then he couldn't go back to sleep because he's used to getting up that early and eating breakfast, so we shared some left-over Chinese food at 3:30 in the morning..."I live for little moments like that!"
Ahhh, what a wonderful time we've had...watched my new FAVE movie "Dan in Real Life" five million hundred times...was pleasantly surprised to find that "The Office" is in the funny groove again ( I was super worried about how weak last week's episode was) but when I watched this week's episode on-line tonight...Heck yes "The Office" is back. This episode had me "AAAAAHHHHWWWWWW-ing and gasping and laughing the whole way through and Jim telling Pam that his proposal is going to kick her a**--- probably my new favorite line from a sitcom EVER!!!!
Sorry this was so long...even sorrier that I have no pictures to show, I didn't dare do anything with my camera out of fear that something tragic would happen to it and I'd have problems with the wedding pictures and when we took Blake's camera with us to the zoo today - With our BFF's - The memory card was full...figures! I'll leave you though with a little somethin' somethin' that I like to call MY NEW FAVE MOVIE!!!

"this corn looks like an angel"

Jordan

2008-04-09T18:52:00.002-06:00

I gotta have more COW BELL!!!

2008-04-08T02:23:00.003-06:00

What a DAD right??? Playing ROCK BAND DRUMS with his baby girl on his lap!

Qua-ah with his poor bandaged hand (or as Reagan calls it, "his poison hand")

So to Celebrate Qua-ah finally getting out of the hospital after 8 days...we had a little Welcome Home Gathering for him so he could be surrounded by his family and have some REAL food...mmmmmm gooood. And it wasn't long before ROCK BAND was hooked up and the fam started ROCKING the walls of the Harrison home. We even got Carl singing..WHOO HOO! But when "Don't Fear the Reaper got started" Blake RAN down to his drum set and brought up his cowbell...oh yeah!!!

It's always a great time when we're together as a family!!! We are soooo blessed to be so close to my side of the family...to be a part of this truly great group of people who know what it's like to be "Family". After everyone leaves and the house is quiet, Blake can always be found with a sweet smile on his face. And he always says something like..."see, this is what a real family is like." I couldn't agree more. The kids always look forward to "Qua-ah" (grandfather in Hopi) stopping by for a quick game of UNO or JENGA or sometimes a long game of Disney Monopoly. Reagan especially loves doing her homework with him and telling him "make sure you sign Qua-ah, not Carl".
And Kaitlin has found a new passion for sewing with my mom Oma, she always gets so excited for the new pieces of fabric that Oma shares with her.
Thank goodness for these completely wonderful people in our lives. My kids have the best Aunts and Uncles, who always bring their wonderful spirits into our home when they stop by.
We don't have to worry about "the stench of contention" or the gossiping and drama that some people just need to make them feel important when my beautiful family is here. Goodness and love and respect for each other... this is family! And that is why there are often a bunch of gorgeous brown people parking their cars in front of our home and walking through our open door!

6 more days!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-05T18:28:00.000-06:00

She's lucky she's so cute...

2007-12-23T00:59:00.000-07:00

Every family needs a Bette!!! She is the biggest, sweetest, beautiful little NUT in the world! I was talking to Mike one night while he was at our house and we were laughing our faces off because of how crazily silly she is and I think it was then that I realized that it was probably because her name is Bette. I've never seen any sweet little girls with names like Emily or Sarah (which I love...) act as nutty as my little Bette Spaghetti.
So Thanksgiving night after everyone left our little "after party" I was sitting on the couch in our family room just relaxing and holding the baby when I got that feeling of dread that you get from realizing that it has been a little too quiet with a 2 year old in the room. When I got up enough courage to look behind me into the kitchen...there she was with her hands just swimming and squishing around in a bowl of the yummiest cream cheese frosting for Lia's super delicious pumpkin cookies. I didn't know what to say so I just stared at her for a minute waiting to see what she would do...and what comes out of her mouth with that cute little grin on her face??? "Mana Mana!!!" (You know, that Muppet sketch, "Mana mana doo doo da doo doo"...if you don't know what I'm talking about look for Mana Mana on YouTube.com)
I was laughing so hard!!! I often wonder what the thinking process in her 2year old little brain is like. I imagine it went something like this:
"Uh-oh, I'm totally busted...Okay she's looking at me but she's not saying anything yet...she's still looking at me...how do I get out of this............Oh what the heck............MANA MANA.........Okay she's laughing, I kinda thought that would work."
Every family needs a Bette!

Blake's Birthday

2007-11-04T13:31:00.000-07:00

So it wasn't the complete surprise that I was going for but Blake couldn't have been more happy about his birthday this year. There were only two things that he really, really wanted while I was preggers with Ava- He wanted me to send him out in the middle of the night for some absurd craving and he also wanted the phone call while he was at work saying "It's time to come home, we're having our baby today!" . He's never gotten the phone call because I've either gone into labor in the middle of the night or been induced. The poor thing never had a chance to get his phone call. So I was determined that whatever time of day I went into labor this time I would wait until Blake was gone so I could call him, (even if he'd only been out the door for 5 minutes). Anyway, that plan kind of got messed up when he was with me at one of my appointments and I had flunked my first diabetes test and with that the doctor said that if I did have gestational diabetes then she would most likely induce me early. So Blake of coarse asked if we could have the baby on his birthday...and whaddya know, she said that would be fine. So, Blake was banned from any more Dr.'s visits from then on and because I passed the second diabetes test I told him that the plan for being induced on his birthday was off, which technically it was because at every visit she would tell me that I definitely wasn't ready, whoo hoo! Then when I was talking to some friends they were like "just schedule being induced on Blake's birthday, send him to work and give him his phone call then" Brilliant!!! SO that was the plan. I had a photo shoot before my Dr.s appointment the day before Blake's birthday so I wouldn't have to find an excuse to get out of the house to get to that...everything was going according to plan. I was so excited until everything fell apart at Blake's work and he was going to have to end up going in and working practically all night long. What the CRAP? Anyway to make a long story short, I guess the reaction on my face made Blake think that something was definitely up and the little stinker got it out of me. So... he didn't get his phone call but knowing that we were going to have our baby on his birthday was more than wonderful!

He woke up to his Birthday sign and balloons and at 7:00 we went in to the hospital, I got some dang good drugs in my system and at about 2:43 in the afternoon our little Ava was born. She was so small and precious! What a great way to spend Blake's birthday. We had Mike and Karalee pick up some take-out from Mimi's, Lia taught Kaitlin how to make a marble cake...and we had a Beautiful little baby girl!!!

So I wrote this 3 months ago...

2007-10-23T00:29:00.000-06:00

I thought that I would have added more posts than I have for this, my family blog... I think the main reason for why I haven't is because with about 10 days to go before we have our baby I'm feeling a bit like an old rusty car that drives down the road hoping not to hit a big bump because if I do I'm just going to break apart, hubcaps rolling away and everything. hahahaha. At least that's how I was feeling as I chased Bette from the kids school clear to the park nearby. That girl is not only a little stinker sometimes (giggling and shaking her head while I yelled "Bette Stop!"), but she is FAST. Blake was saying the other day how she is going to be so surprised when I'm not preggers anymore and can catch up to her again--- we'll see.

So Bette will be 2 years old on Thursday and I have been feeling quite horrible about the fact that she doesn't have a scrapbook to call her own!

She's so sweet as she looks through Reagan's book and asks "Bette???" as she looks at the pictures of her big sis, and I'm going "You bet that is Bette...". So my mission for the past few days has been to get as many pages of her sweet life done as possible. She is such a darling little girl! I've never seen her type of personality before in anyone. She is NOT a cuddle girl at all, yet her favorite things are stuffed dogs, pillows and soft sheets. She loves to jump off anything that she can climb onto and throw or stack anything that she can hold in her little hands. Just tonight at Family Home Evening, Reagan was saying the prayer and as she was saying her sweet little "Bless Nana that she'll feel all better soon, and bless the baby the she'll be healthy and strong...and Please bless Bette that she won't destroy our entire house.." Bette was throwing our Halloween Pumpkins across the living room floor! She is a hoot!!!

There are so many times that I think as I'm holding her (when she lets me) or just looking at her "I hope you can feel how loved you are." because she is always so go go go.

I know that she can sense that something is going on with the baby, but I don't think that she can quite grasp what exactly is going to be happening in the next little while. For the past few nights she has been falling asleep on the floor, she'll climb out of her crib so she can sleep on the carpet. I don't know if she thinks that she's getting kicked out of her crib or what, but that worries me. At least she brings her "Lillies" and her pillows with her so she can be comfy. That's my Bette, she's a little Nut and I love her with all my heart!!!

Christmas List

2007-10-02T18:34:00.000-06:00

All right here it is... 2007 Christmas List!
(Sorry for any typos... I just cut my flippin finger with scissors hahahaha)

Dad- Alohna
Mom- Mary
Matt- Bette
Gary- Jordan
Angela- Brian
Socorro- Mike
Jake- Cedric
Josh- Jai
Susi- Qua-ah
Soni- Ckezra
Joseph- Ataylee
Mary- Blake
Kevin- Josh
Lori- Oma
Jordan- Joseph
Jai- Reagan
Jazz- Ava
Deja- Carl
Carl- Kaitlin
Atalie- Deja
Alohna- Socorro
Cedric- Lori
Cai- Kevin
Alaisa- Blakey
Ataylee- Matt
Ckezra- Gary
Cyeele- Jazz
Blake- Cai
Amy- Atalie
Blakey- Lia
Kaitlin- Sonrisa
Reagan- Angela
Bette- Jake
Ava- Bethany
Mike- Amy
Brian- Alaisa
Bethany- Cyeele
Lia- Susi

Why the title???

2007-10-01T14:52:00.000-06:00

You know that song... I think it's a Leann Womack (spelling???) song, "That's who I am" the chorus goes something like:

I am Rosemary's granddaughter

the spitting image of my father

and when the day is done my mama's still my biggest fan

sometimes -I'm clueless and I'm clumsy

but I've got friends that love me

and they know just where I stand

that's all I really need

that's who I am.

So I'm not completely crazy about the song itself.. I love it because my Nana Rosemary ROCKS!!! Reagan's middle name is Rosemary after her, and if it were up to me I would name all my kids after her. She is such a fabulous woman with an amazing heart.

We all love her so much! I am so grateful for her sweet testimony that she is so willing to share with us. I love the sweet example that she has set for all of us, It's so nice to have someone so steady and strong to look to, especially when there are so many nut-cases out there trying to pull everyone in so many different directions....ahhhhh how great she is!!!

That's probably the reason why our family is so awesome because we have such an awesome Nana!!!

So here begins the Family Blog...if anyone has anything they'd like to share just let me know! I love you all!!! Thanks for being so wonderful, supportive, kind, non-crazy, etc., :)