Lindsay Land

Help Them Out...

2010-06-08T11:21:00.001-07:00

Our good friends, Reed and Heather Nelson, are in the process of trying to adopt. They have a beautiful daughter who is five years old and would love to have more children. Here's an excerpt from an email we received from them:

"...we have been trying to add children to our family for many years with little
success. After many attempts to have biological children, we have decided to add
to our family through adoption. Our Adoption agency, LDS Family Services,
informed us that many adoptions occurred via word of mouth. That is where your
thoughts, prayers and actions can help us obtain what we’ve been trying to have
for so many years."

If you know someone who is looking to place their precious little one with another family, please direct them to the Nelson's website (a link is provided on sidebar) or to the LDS Family Services Website:
https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/ct/eng/site/pregnant/

As parents who have gone through the many ups and downs of infertility we are praying the Nelsons will soon have a beautiful child to welcome to their home!

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

We spent a really nice time with my brother's family, over Memorial Day weekend. Nampa, Idaho is not exactly a destination spot for a three day weekend but it was so relaxing just to hang out with family, watch our kids play together, eat tons a junk food, see Ben's and Claudia's new home, go to church, and get Ben hooked on Arrested Development.

Here are a few pics - most of which are from our trip to the Discovery Center in Boise.

Thanks for the wonderful time Nampa Harris Family!

Good-bye Happy Hearts

2010-05-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

...and hello Kindergarten!

Grace has really enjoyed her two years at Happy Hearts Preschool. But she's excited to finally be starting Kindergarten in the fall.

Here she is with Teacher Pam.

Here she is with Teacher Susan.

Here's Grace with best friend from preschool, Gracie.

Grace, Gracie and younger sisters: Jane and Andy.

Congratulations, Grace on graduating from preschool! We love you so much and are so proud of you!

Spread Eagle...

2010-05-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

Need I say more?

Okay, I'll say a little more....

I totally LOVE

my baby girl!

Claire rocks!

One Week Old

2010-04-23T23:52:00.000-07:00

I love these pictures that Aunt Haley took of Claire (and Grace).

It was fun to have all of my brothers but one and their families get together this weekend.

Birth Day

2010-04-16T22:10:00.000-07:00

Claire Ruth Lindsay

Born April 16, 2010

12:11 p.m.

Weight: 9 lbs. 9 oz.

Length: 21.5"

Welcome to our beautiful baby girl!

We love you so much!

Somewhere Over the Rainbows

2010-04-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

A beautiful double rainbow showed in the sky this evening.

Baby's Room

2010-04-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

So, I'm technically overdue now but at least we have the baby's room done...or almost anyway. I think it turned out pretty cute. Shawn and I had a lot of "discussions" about how we wanted it to look. It ended up being nothing like either of us had in mind in the first place. Go compromise!

Glamour Girls

2010-04-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, we're not exactly glamorous but this is a very common occurance at our house. My girls love to play "hair and makeup" and since I love it when someone plays with my hair, it's one of my favorite things to play with them. So, this is how we passed our Easter evening with lots of brushing and clipping of hair.

Have I mentioned how much I love my girls? Love them, love them!!!!

(And by the way I want everyone to keep in mind that I am over 39 weeks pregnant in this picture so a profile of me is not exactly my shot of choice, but there's not reasoning with Shawn on things like these.)

Bed Head and Baskets

2010-04-04T20:37:00.000-07:00

A few pics from our Easter morning. The Easter bunny brought a couple of books to the girls and they got some great goodies from their grandparents. Grandma Lindsay was especially generous and they love their new animal hats. And the window clings and wall stickers kept them busy all through the Sunday sessions of General Conference.

Dying Eggs

2010-03-29T22:24:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time of year again...you know, the one time I hard boil eggs. Our little family had fun dying Easter eggs and it's getting more enjoyable now that the girls are a little older and have their own artistic sensibilities. Actually, what's really great about this is how much Shawn gets into it. He's such a little kid at heart.

Little Ladies Birthday Party

2010-03-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

Jane hosted a fun "Little Ladies" birthday party for her 3rd birthdy. We had Little Ladies Bingo, face painting, and spring hat decorating. She has such sweet, good friends that came. What a fun bunch of girls!

Jane Turns Three

2010-03-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

Wow! My baby is three years old today. A quick look back...

A Party in Salem

2010-03-09T22:43:00.000-08:00

Tonight was a Filing Deadline Party down in Salem. It was the last day for candidates to file their application to run for either Oregon's Senate or House of Representatives. Shawn is running for the House of Representative seat in District 30 - the district we live in. He invited the family down to the shin-dig held at the capitol. It's getting a little more difficult to do these events as I get larger with my pregnancy and still try to keep up with the girls and keep them out of trouble. I must be doing an okay job because Shawn keeps inviting us.

Baby Blessing

2010-03-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Shawn's mom who works for JetBlue she was able to get Shawn and Grace tickets down to California for Shawn's niece's baby blessing (Shawn's sister's little girl). Grace had a fun day with her dad and Shawn was glad he could be there. Here's some pics of Grace enjoying her plane ride and time with family. Our little niece Lindsay is pretty adorable...look at those big brown eyes!

My Low-Key Birthday

2010-02-24T21:21:00.000-08:00

I had such a nice birthday this year. My family took me out to the Cheesecake Factory for some food, I got cutes cards from my daughters, a sassy one from my husband, a couple of nice gifts, some other cards from family and it was perfect. Thank you to Shawn for keeping it small and for my girls for singing "Happy Birthday" to me all day long. No seriously, I think they sang to me at least a dozen times. Love it!

Got me a big slice of Caramel Pecan Turtle Cheesecake (below) as my birthday "cake" this year. Yum!

A Morning Off

2010-02-20T21:38:00.000-08:00

Shawn took the girls to a baptism this morning and it was nice to just hang out by myself. He snapped this photo on his Blackberry of the girls all dolled up. It just makes my heart melt.

J. Reuben Clark Law Society Conference

2010-02-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Shawn and I flew down to Salt Lake City for the JRCLS Conference. We made arrangements for the girls to stay here with friends and family and it was really good to get away together. We considered it one last small hurrah before baby #3 arrives. And it was such an uplifting weekend. Here's a quick recap:

Thursday afternoon we arrived in SLC and checked into our lovely Marriott room. We then went up to the U of U for a keynote speaker address by General Counsel to the LDS Church Elder Lance B. Wickman. There was a nice reception at the Museum of Art afterwards and then we went down to the Tabernacle to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearse. I didn't know this but apparently their practices are open to the public. It was neat to sit for an hour and hear them.

On Friday we went to back up to the Institute Building at the U and heard some interesting speakers in a few classes that morning. My favorites were one on the Supreme Court case out of Pleasant Grove, UT regarding the Ten Commandments being displayed in public and legal cases of Joseph Smith discussed in light of the new Joseph Smith papers. That afternoon Shawn had some group interviews with law students so I headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap. That evening we were back at the Tabernacle for a fireside by Dr. Steven Covey's and then went to a beautiful reception held in the Conference Center. We went back to our hotel afterwards and enjoyed watching some of the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics.

Saturday morning we had more classes to attend. And then a wonderful few speakers at lunch concluded the conference. They had invited four Regional Counsel Representatives for the LDS Church to speak briefly about their experiences. They were from Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Australia. When the conference finished I felt so inspired. If you have a bad impression of attorneys I think attending this conference would have helped to improve your opinion. There are good men and women lawyers out there trying to conduct their professional lives with integrity and by doing good.

Saturday afternoon we drove down to Provo to visit our alma mater. It was fun to visit BYU again. We hit the bookstore and then went to a basketball game where BYU hammered Air Force. We met up with friends from Kansas (where Shawn went to law school) afterwards and ordered some pizza and had a great trip down memory lane.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early and on our way back home. It might just be the pregnancy hormones but I missed our girls more this trip than at any other time when I've travelled away from them. I was definitely ready to come home and get some little girl loves on Valentine's Day!

Crazy Kids

2010-02-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

My girls crack me up! Jane is getting especially silly in her old age as shown by her funny face when trying to take off her dinner-stained shirt tonight. And not be be out done Grace pulls out her old stand-by: the cross eyes.

Zhu Zhu and Number Two

2010-02-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

As a parent of young children your life sometimes seems to revolve around what's going in and coming out of your children. Right now we are in the process of potty training Jane. Without all the gory details she has got number one down but wasn't too keen on number two in the toilet. Well, today she did it!! Yeah! As a reward or bribe or whatever you want to call it, she got a new Zhu Zhu pet (got her first one at Christmas).

Little Jilly (pink) joined Pipsqueek (yellow) in the maze of Zhu Zhu-dom up in our toy room. These are what Shawn and I have decided are the perfect pet....at least for us. Seriously, they are as cute as real hamsters but you can turn them off and the only maintenance is replacing the batteries occasionally. Love it! If only my almost three year old required as little maintenance. :) Wish Jane luck as she perfects her potty abilities and I am so looking forward to having only the baby in diapers in two months.

Fire Safety

2010-02-01T21:02:00.000-08:00

So tonight for our Family Home Evening we planned to have a lesson on fire safety. Shawn was prepared to talk about a fire escape plan, demonstrate what our smoke alarm sounds like, and then we were going to help the girls fill out a couple of ID kits we picked up for the police department. Sounds simple, right?

What we didn't take into account was how sensitive our little girls are. Grace cried the whole time through the fire escape training saying she was scared and she didn't like fires, etc. Jane followed suit but seemed even more scared that Dad might actually make the smoke detector beep (we never did get to that). Then we tried the ID cards but it was impossible to get our 2 and 5 year olds to keep their fingers straight. We ended up with ink all over the kids, the cards, and the kitchen table. Shawn and I couldn't help but laugh. Next week I think we'll stick with making Valentine cards.

Grace-ism

2010-01-25T20:48:00.000-08:00

Our church time moved to 1:00 p.m. as of the new year so I've been searching for creative and Sabbath-appropriate activites for my kids before church. Yesterday I pulled out an old cassette tape that was about honesty. It has an accompaning book and the tape has lots of catchy songs for the girls to enjoy. When it was finished the tape player stopped by making that clicking sound as the play button popped up. Jane whirled around and wanted to know what it was. I said it was the cassette stopping because it was done. Because they only listen to CDs and iPods, I doubt they had ever heard that sound before. I told my girls that when I was little we didn't even CDs but only cassettes.

Grace thought about that for a moment and then asked, "Is that because you were so poor?"

"No, Grace...that's because they weren't even invented yet." Wow...I'm old!

"Feeling Mortal"

2010-01-23T22:56:00.000-08:00

That's what Shawn told me today as he lay on the couch with a terrible cold and completely incapacitated by a back injury. And now that's how I'm feeling after a Saturday of "no husband".

Our week has been VERY busy (again) and of course both Shawn and I caught colds. Mine has been very mild but hanging on the last couple of days. (I've managed not to pass it to my kids so in my book, that's a successful illness.) Shawn's hit a day or two after mine and it's been much worse for him. It's just one of those really bad head colds.

Well, today he was out getting a couple of things done in the yard. I was upstairs when I heard the doorbell ring. I went to see who it was and saw that Grace had opened the door for her dad who was crawling into our entry. For no apparent reason Shawn's back completely tweaked on him. He had to crawl in from the yard and he lay in the entry for a while until he could finally drag himself to the couch.

I fluctuated between almost crying and almost laughing because he was obviously messed up and yet it was so random. Seriously, he was leaning down to turn the hose on or something and all of a sudden he couldn't stand anymore. He spent the rest of the day on the couch and I really tried hard to see to his every need but at one point I was helping him get upstairs for a shower and Grace was screaming because Jane had bit her (where did that come from?) and Jane was crying because I put her in time out until I could deal with that. And everyone was hungry for dinner and the house was a disaster and my back was killing me (did I mention I'll almost 7 months pregnant?) and I was exhausted because I hadn't had my normal afternoon quiet time where I put my feet up for 30 minutes (I realize how important this is to me now) and I thought: this will be funny later...it's not now but later it will be funny.

I'm happy to report that's it's just after 11 p.m. and I do find it funny....although my back still hurts. :) Here's to feeling mortal!

Cheater

2010-01-17T22:06:00.001-08:00

Okay, I know I'm cheating by back dating my blog entries. I finally have my beautiful, new, FAST laptop and hope to again rejoin the blogging world. I thought I would throw a few slide shows together to catch up on the missing months. Enjoy!

2009-12-31T12:29:00.000-08:00

Wow! We were busy this Christmas with so many good things. Above are some pictures from Portland's first snowfall this year (boy, the weather guys got that totally wrong!), Christmas Day, the Harris Christmas party, sledding on Mt. Hood New Year's Eve, and the girls enjoying their new trike and bike.

2009-11-30T10:59:00.000-08:00

Poor Jane, our slighted second child. This month we have zero pictures of Jane and a couple dozen of Grace. Grace did turn 5 years old and had loads of birthday fun and then there was her preschool Thanksgiving feast as well. I'll make up for it in March when Jane turns 3 and we won't take any pictures of Grace. :)

October 2009 Highlights

2009-10-31T21:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from October. We gave Grace an early birthday gift by taking her to Disney on Ice. They had a Princess pre-show and she was loving life. (Have I mentioned she LOVES princesses?) Also, there are some shots from Halloween - Jane as a cutie-patootie witch and Grace as a ballerina.

No-go in September

2009-09-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

We are expecting our third baby and I have never been so sick in a pregnancy. Also, did I mention that I caught the stomach flu this month as well? Anyway, no pictures were taken in September. I'm not even sure if I managed to be upright 50% of this month. Things are looking up for October though. And by the way, we are SO EXCITED to have a baby! Another IVF miracle that took three tries this time around. I will be so glad to be done with shots!

Harris Family Reunion 2009

2009-08-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing week of fun and family here in the Portland area and then out at the coast in Gearhart. Everyone of my Harris siblings and their families were able to be there. Can't wait to do it again!

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

We spent a beautiful weekend up at a house on Puget Sound with Shawn's step-sister and her family.

Cape Lookout

2009-06-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

We had our Ward Campout this weekend out at the coast. It was a ton of fun and the girls had a blast. I, of course, forgot the camera but Shawn got some great shots on his Blackberry - which of course he would never forget anywhere. Don't get me started. :)

Backyard & Barkdust

2009-06-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

We have finally completed our back and side yard projects. It took a lot of time and money and we still have lots of planting to do but we're hoping by next year we'll be out of major-project-mode and into maintenance-mode.

Preschool Spring Program

2009-05-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

Grace has finished her year at Happy Hearts Preschool. She had a great time and is looking forward to going 3 times a week next year!

Here is Grace singing a song with her class. She did a great job singing all the words but flatly refused to do any of the actions with the songs. She explained to me afterwards that she thought her hands looked pretty holding out her dress. What a princess! :)

Grace with Teachers Pam and Susan. See you next fall!

Remembering...

2009-05-23T22:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Dad for inviting us to join you at the Sunset Hills cemetery. It's become a little bit of a tradition to visit the grave sites of my great grandparents who are buried there on Memorial Day weekend. There are other family members - great aunts and uncles there as well. My dad brought supplies and flowers so we could spiff up their headstones and leave some flowers. Grace and Jane really got into helping with the clean-up.

The worst possible moment...TWICE!

2009-05-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

I don't think there's ever a great time for your washing machine to break down but mine has bit the dust twice in the last couple of weeks and both times have been terrible.

Break down #1: It's two days before we leave for the Netherlands. I have saved all my laundry to the last possible moment so everything in the house is clean when we leave. This is, of course, when the washer decides not to do the final spin cycle any more. It's broken down before but we repaired it and made do. Now, as I wring out a load of towels by hand (my arms are shaking - I do not work out my laundry wringing muscles very often) I think it's time to just buy something new. I run to Lowe's, Home Deport, Best Buy, and Sears which of course I have no time for because I need to be cleaning my house, packing, grocery shopping, etc. I found a good set at Lowe's but they don't have it in stock so I decide to wait. Lo, and behold when I get home the washer miraculously starts working again (thank heaven - literally). I finish my laundry, leave the country and the washer problems leave my mind.

Break down #2: Last Friday our washer conks out again. This is the night that Jane decides to throw up at 3am and then again all over our car on Saturday morning as we are driving to go shop for a new washer (yes, the irony is not lost on me). We now have car seat covers, bed linens and Jane's clothing that could really use a go in a decent working washer. After the car throw-up incident we just turned around and went straight home. We washed everything the best we could hand wringing and running small loads (which the spin will kick on sometimes if we do). We try again that afternoon and we now have purchased a wonderful new washer and dryer. It should be here tomorrow. Hallelujah!

Our new washer and dryer....

Back in the saddle again....

2009-05-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have taken an extended break from blogging but I'm going to try and get our family back up to date. For now, I wanted to post some pics from our amazing trip to the Netherlands a couple of weeks ago. See below and enjoy!

Funny Girl

2009-05-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

Grace was to dress like a clown or in crazy clothes for preschool today. This seemd to be right up her alley. She had fun finding a mismatched outfit and I realized that even when she was supposed to dress silly I still had a hard time relinquishing control of her wardrobe entirely to her. What is my problem? :) Anyway, we topped the outfit off by doing her hair in four pig tails with ribbons of different colors. What a cutie!

The Netherlands

2009-05-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

One of Shawn's clients took him to the Netherlands this spring and I tagged along. It was AMAZING!!! We had a wonderful time - especially thanks to our Dutch friends Arnold and Helen who graciously showed us around.

A quick recap on our trip:

Saturday/Sunday: On Saturday we left Portland on a direct flight to Amsterdam. About ten hours later we arrived but it was Sunday morning in the Netherlands. We caught a train to Leiden where Shawn's meetings were to be held then forced ourselves to get out and walk around. That evening we went with the staff of the ODA (Shawn's client) to a rockin' Indonesian restaurant. We had never had Indonesian food before and it was fantastic!

Monday: Shawn was in meetings all day so I went with a group of wives to the Keukenof Gardens - acres and acres of the most amazing tulip gardens. It was so beautiful.

Tuesday: Again, Shawn was in meetings all day so off I went with the wives group to Amsterdam. We hit the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum, Dom Square, and took an canal tour.

Wednesday: Shawn had meetings in the morning so my group went into Leiden's open air market that morning. Here's a new one I've never seen: white asparagus. As it turns out, it's very good (see dinner on Thursday). That afternoon Arnold (president of ODA) and his wife (leader of our wives group) drove us to our hotel in Utrecht. That evening we walked the streets as the partying was starting for Queen's Day, which is Thursday, and everyone is out. It was crazy but kind of cool to see first hand.

Thursday: Shawn and I walked Utrecht in the morning and that afternoon Arnold and Helen picked us up and took us on a beautiful drive across dikes and ferrys to Kinderdijk. This is a world historical site where there are 19 historic windmills all close together. It was incredible. We went to their home for a small rest (pretty neat to drive into a regular Dutch neighborhood) and then to an old historic city where we ate in prison converted to a really classy restaurant. Here I had white asparagus and it was wonderful.

Friday: Our first full day on our own, Shawn and I visited Hoge Veluwe. It's a huge estate that was turned into a national park. There are biks you can ride as you visit the beautiful hunting lodge, the large sculpture garden, the modern art museum, and just enjoy the paths around the grounds.

Saturday: We left Amsterdam that morning. We were missing our girls big-time and it was great to land an hour earlier than expected back in Portland.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T13:02:00.000-08:00

For New Year's Eve we made a trip up to the Tri-Cities in Washington to visit my two younger brothers and their families. We had lots of fun hanging out and celebrating the New Year. My brother Ben had bought his wife Claudia Rock Bank and Guitar Hero for Christmas. (Wasn't that nice of him?) Normally I abhor video games, computer games, gaming, whatever you want to call it but this was SO MUCH FUN! Granted, I was not good but Claudia had two guitars, drums, and a mike so we had the whole band going and it was a blast! In the past, Shawn and I have thought about getting a karaoke machine but this is 10 times better.

Snow Days

2008-12-30T10:46:00.000-08:00

December 2008 will be remembered as one of the snowiest (is that a word?) of my life in Oregon. Several weeks of storms cancelled school, lots of holiday parties, and made roads nearly impassable at times but it sure was beautiful! Here's a few pics we took during our snow days.

Merry Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T22:09:00.000-08:00

A very Merry Christmas to you! Just a few pics from our morning of presents and fun. It was a great Christmas this year!

View Discretion is Advised

2008-12-14T21:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, I debated whether to put these pictures on my blog so if I've grossed you out, you can at least know I wondered about the appropriateness of doing it.

Anyway, it was a beautiful, snowy Sunday evening. A huge winter storm had blown in and everything was closed down. It was a great time to make our gingerbread house and turn on some Christmas music which is exactly what we did.

Unfortunately during our lovely family time, Grace took a spill off one of the kitchen chairs and split the back of her head open. I didn't know she had until I took my hand away from her head and realized I was covered in blood. We haven't ever done the stitches thing but this looked like a pretty good candidate. I called the on-call nurse while Shawn cleaned Grace up (thank goodness he was home!) and was told that because of the storm, all the urgent cares had been shut down early. From my description she said it did sound like she needed stitches but that I would need to drive to the hospital emergency room. Of course, the highways were closed so whether we would actually make it to said emergency room was debatable plus can you imagine how crazy the ER would be on a stormy night with all other offices shut down? No thank you!

Enter our hero - Dr. Saunders - a friend from church and luckily a doctor not opposed to making house calls on a stormy winter night. We called to see if he could possibly help us out and over he comes with his suture kit and takes care of Grace right there in our family room. And I've got to hand it to Grace, she was way brave. He had the shots and everything and she held so still and got her four stitches like a champ.

Next year for gingerbread house night we'll try to cut down on all the blood and gore but thank goodness Dr. Saunders!

Zoo Lights '08

2008-12-09T22:27:00.000-08:00

We went to Zoo Lights again this year and had a great time. We lucked out on our timing, too. If we had waited for a later date we would have probably missed it because of all the terrible weather this December. It was much warmer (or I guess "less cold" would be more appropriate) this year than last. It was great to go with friends and enjoy the Christmas lights through the eyes of our kids.

Civil War & Legos

2008-11-29T19:23:00.000-08:00

My parents invited us to go with them to the OSU vs. U of O game this weekend. It sounded like fun and since OSU is my dad's alma mater my family has helped to make a luke-warm Beaver fan out of Shawn. But there was nothing luke-warm about the thrashing that OSU received from the Ducks. I finally told my dad not to make us watch any more and could we please leave. Pitiful!

Anyway, on a much happier note our good friends took our girls for the afternoon/evening while we were away and Grace and Jane had tons of fun going to the mall. Here are some shots of them at Lego Store. At least someone had fun this evening.

O Christmas Tree

2008-11-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

We're not one of those families that goes shopping the day after Thanksgiving but I do believe in getting the Christmas tree up ASAP. So today we hauled out the Christmas decorations and had fun hanging ornaments, listening to Christmas carols, and setting up our nativity scenes.

I love this video of Jane helping to "hang" ornaments. Mostly she just set them on branches and we had to go back and actually hook them around the branches. As Shawn and I would say, "So stinkin' cute!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T22:30:00.000-08:00

We had a very lovely and very low-key Thanksgiving this year. We spent the afternoon and evening at my parents' home enjoying some amazing food and visiting. My second cousin was there and it was nice to get to know her a little better. My mom made a ton of food and sent us home with a load of leftovers. Grace and Jane were well behaved and we had a chance to see some extended family that dropped by a little later that night. Here we are before we started in on the huge spread.

Jane lovin' the cranberry sauce.

Shawn does some story time with the girls.

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

2008-11-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

Grace's preschool hosted a Thanksgiving Feast this morning. She got to invite a special guest and we were lucky that Grandma Lindsay came back into town to be there with Grace.

I signed up for kitchen duty so I could hang around and see the action. Each of the kids had a chance to cut out a biscuit that we baked for their meal.

They served those biscuits, "Friendship Soup" which was all kinds of Thanksgiving ingredients (turkey, potatoes, carrots, corn, celery, etc.) all put together in a soup. There was also warm apple cider and Grace now LOVES it.

For dessert each of the kids had helped to make a heart-shaped pumpkin mousse pie. I had to snap a picture because they were so terrible looking it was adorable! I mean, do those look heart-shaped to you?!

The kids also put on a little program where they sang some songs and showed off all of their Thanksgiving crafts. Grace became got a little stage fright but I finally forced her to go up with her class and participate (she's on the very right). I wonder if she would have been fine if I wasn't there? Anyway, it was such a fun morning. And I think I will start a petition to get dishwashers in our churches like this one had. It did a load in about 3 minutes and it was awesome!

Play Make-up

2008-11-19T14:17:00.000-08:00

Grace's aunt, uncle, and cousin sent her this great play make-up kit for her birthday. While Grandma Lindsay was here visiting they had lots of fun with it. I guess Grace thought all the make-up was for a single use. :)

Grace's Birthday Party

2008-11-16T23:03:00.000-08:00

This year Grace's birthday landed on Sunday. She was a little confused that she still had to go to church. Here are Grace and Jane all dolled up and ready to go.

This evening we had some family over to celebrate. Shawn's mom flew in from Utah earlier this afternoon and is staying for a few days. Then Grandma and Grandpa Harris came and also Uncle Jonathan, Aunt Melissa, Grant, Elinore, and Lane. It was such a fun evening. Grace reqested lasagna for dinner and her party theme was Little Einsteins. Grace loves them so I made her a Rocket cake which used up all of the red frosting dye I had. I think we all had pink teeth when we got done.

Wow...four candles this year! Cousin Grant is getting pretty excited here.

There were lots of fun presents! Thank you everyone for making it such a wonderful evening.

Happy 4th Birthday, Grace!

2008-11-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

A little trip down memory lane....

Lots of Leaves

2008-11-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

Oregon is not like some places as far as fall colors are concerned because we have way too evergreens to really pull off a brilliant fall. Nevertheless, we have some beautiful colors floating to the ground around our new house this year.

Grace got into the autumn feeling by gathering (and gathering) loads of leaves. Jane ran around after her picking up one leaf at a time but couldn't come close to this huge bouquet.

The Switch Witch

2008-11-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

At our house the Switch Witch comes on Halloween night. Our girls choose a few pieces of their favorite candy to keep. The rest is left for the Switch Witch. She comes while they sleep and switches their candy leaving a gift behind. This is wonderful for their teeth, not to mention the fact that on November 1st we wake up and we're done with Halloween candy (minus a few pieces that they keep). This year the Switch Witch brought our girls Sleeping Beauty.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T23:17:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe the luck we got with our weather for Halloween. After heavy rain most of the day we pulled off a beautiful night sans showers with nearly balmy temperatures. Normally it's raining or freezing or both. The girls had a blast trick-or-treating with friends. Jane would run up to the door, hold her bag out and before she would get any candy she'd run away saying "thank you". I guess next year she'll catch on a bit more.

Grace (Snow White) and Jane (fairy) on the stairs before we headed out to get some candy.

Grace, Jane, and friend Amanda enjoying the great trick-or-treating weather. Notice the blue candy smeared all over Jane's face. Not very fairy-like. :)

Trunk or Treat

2008-10-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

We went to our ward's Trunk or Treat Halloween party tonight. It was lots of fun with lots of kids and tons of candy. There was a chili cook-off, games, and costumes. Here's Jane dressed up as a fairy.

Here's Grace and her nearly inseparable friend Amanda both dressed up like princesses.

Just Say "No"

2008-10-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

Jane consistently answers "no" to every question we ask her. Shawn used this to his advantage this evening. Enjoy!

"I Tie-did the Shoes"

2008-10-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

My girls have a total fetish with shoes. We often have a pair or two hanging around our outside doors because we don't wear them in the house. They love to try on and strut around in them - especially if they are daddy's or mommy's. Here Grace gave the shoe lace tying thing a try.

Handy Grace

2008-10-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

Grace saw a clip of Disney's little fix-it man, Handy Manny this morning. Later when she was playing she created her version of a tool belt. It includes her jump rope tied around her waist loaded with wands, flags, and batons. Hey, we have two girls. Toy tool belts have not been that high on the toy priority list.

Harris Halloween Party 2008

2008-10-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks again to Jonathan and Melissa who hosted a super-fun Halloween party. The kids were all over the place, Melissa dominated at "Old Witch", one pizza got burned, and "Thriller" rounded out the evening. What more can you ask for?

A Night at the Opera

2008-09-26T22:51:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad Harris invited us to go to the opera with them tonight. After a nice chinese dinner we headed to Keller Auditorium to see La Traviata by Guiseppe Verdi. It was really good but Shawn and I both decided that we probably would not have enjoyed it as much if it weren't for the English translation they provided above the stage. Even with detailed plot descriptions for each act there's no way we would have been able to really get involved with the performance without the translation there.

Pool Full of Fun

2008-09-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

I took the bumper out of Jane's crib recently and had basically just stuffed it in the bottom of the girls' closet. Grace found it and decided to have some fun on a Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure the entire list of toys that ended up in her little "pool" on our landing but I think there were lots of dress-ups, blankets, books, etc.

They sure know how to have fun and make a royal mess!

Here are the "fairies" getting some more appropriate Sabbath-day activities in by watching a Book of Mormon story on the laptop. Is it just me, or is that hilarious?

Layover in Denver

2008-09-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

On our way home from Mexico we had a layover in Denver. Shawn's step-sister, Jackie and kids were able to take a few minutes and come out to see us. It had been a long time since we've seen each other and it was great to get caught up for a few minutes. Thanks for being there you guys!

¡Viva Mexico!

2008-09-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

Xcarat is described as an eco-archeological site and resort. It's part zoo, part gardens, part ruins, part resort, and part exhibition, performance, and theme park. There was tons to do here but the best was snorkeling the underground river then lounging in the hammocks on the beach after we finished. We ate at one of the many restaurants that had a "ginormous" buffet. We caught some great performances around the park and really enjoyed the big Mexican spectacular that evening that was held in a huge arena and featured Mexico's history set to music and dance. We are now ready to go home and see our girls.

Mayan Encounter

2008-09-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

Shawn and I signed up for a fabulour tour today from Alltournative Off Track Adventures. We didn't snap too many shots because our camera didn't travel that well with some of our activities but it was way fun. We started out on a jungle hike where we saw a couple of spider monkeys. Then we participated in a purification ritual led by a Mayan spirital leader before we went underground for swim in a cenote. Next we kayaked, then zip-lined, then rappelled.

Lunch was served at a Mayan village and had some of the best food of our vacation.

We then drove to a ruin site called Coba where we rented mountain bikes and rode to some great sites. The big one is actually taller than the huge temple at Chichen Itza and we climbed it.

After getting a slight case of vertigo we headed down and back to Cancun. We were exhausted but it was an amazing day.

Luche Libre - Lindsay & Lyman

2008-09-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

Today we took a bus, then a taxi, then a ferry, and finally rented a golf cart to explore Isla Muejeres - just off the coast of Cancun. We attempted some snorkeling but the waves were too strong because of the hurricane and the visibility was pretty poor. So, we drove our golf cart around the small island enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful views of the ocean. We had some great lunch and did a little shopping. Later that evening after we got back to the mainland and were exploring some shops we snapped these shots of Shawn and Matt in their Luche Libre masks. (All of my other pics from the day were on our water proof camera and I haven't developed that yet.)

Chichen Itza or "Chicken Pizza"

2008-09-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

Today we visited the amazing Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza or as Matt likes to say it "chicken pizza". Our LDS tour guide, Helaman (he even has a brother named Lemuel) was great and we had some fabulously hot and sticky weather. Chichen Itza is HUGE and after giving ourselves blisters walking around all the ruins we headed to the nearby cenote to take a swim.

It was amazing as we descended the stairs to the bottom. This particular cenote is approximately 90 feet deep, filled with fresh, cold water and even some fish. Pam and I tried not to think about the fish. We also tried not to think about all that water below us. It was comforting though, knowing how deep it was as we jumped off the ledge about 20 feet to the water below. Crazy scary but man it felt so good to swim in that cold water. Did I mention it was way hot and sticky?

Our last stop was the Ek Balam. These ruins you could actually climb, unlike the ones at Chichen Itza. Although this site was quite a bit smaller than Chichen Itza it was amazing to climb to the top of the temple and look out over the flat, jungled landscape of the Yucatan peninsula.

Yikes! Ike!

2008-09-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

We touched down today in Cancun, Mexico in the midst of lightning, wind, and a torrential down pour. When we started planning our 10-year anniversary trip a few months ago we didn't count on hurricane Ike but oh well. Our kids are with Grandma and Grandpa Harris for the next six days and we're traveling with our friends Matt and Pam Lyman. By the time we got our luggage, got through customs, passed the gauntlet of time-share sales people and finally to our hotel the rain had stopped and we enjoyed an early dinner in some pleasant weather.

Tomorrow we'll head inland for some sunshine and leave the wind and the rain on the coast behind.

Our travelin' friends, the Lymans. Also celebrating 10 years of marriage!

Below is the view from our hotel room looking out to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Bennett Sisters

2008-09-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Thank you, thank you to our friends the Andersons for watching Jane for the entire day while we were cheering on BYU up in Seattle. Their little girl Elizabeth is just a couple of months younger than Jane. They sent me a few pics of their day together titled "The Bennett Sisters". Though I don't believe our Jane is as sweet as Austen's in Pride and Prejudice it sounds like she treated the Andersons to some sweetness while were were gone.

Go Cougars!

2008-09-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

We love BYU Football at our house and Shawn believes in cultivating this love at a very young age. Thus, we hauled Grace to the BYU vs. UW game this weekend.

We had a fantastic time and screamed ourselves hoarse with the nearly last second blocked kick that won the game for BYU. It's been a long time since I've been to a college football game and even longer since I've been to a BYU one. We went up with our friends the Nelsons and had a really fun day with perfect weather and our beautiful daughter being so good.

Grace went down at half-time to visit the cheerleaders. I must be getting old because those girls look very young. :) She enjoyed watching them, the UW marching band, and Cosmo. I don't know that her understanding of the game has improved much but she was fun to have around.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

We had such a great holiday weekend! My two younger brothers and their families came into town and it was a blast hanging out all weekend long. On Monday we took the girls to Enchanted Forest and they had fun running around with their cousins. Here's a picture of Jane taking a huge swig of her new favorite drink, Thomas Kemper Root Beer, at a BBQ a my parents' place.

Sporting Our New Tats

2008-08-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

Shawn's office had a family summer party at the zoo tonight. It was only about 900 degrees today (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating by 798 degrees) but it was stinkin' hot! Luckily they had plenty of watermelon, ice cream, lemonade, and water to help us stay cool. We had fun riding on the train and eating a yummy dinner. They had one of those air brush tattoo guys there so Shawn, Grace, and Jane all got temporary tattoos. Shawn got a dollar sign, Grace got a fairy and Jane a lady bug. I couldn't decide between the skull and cross bones and a barbed wire ring to go around my arm so I opted out.

Kazoo World Record

2008-08-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

We did a pretty corny thing today. We headed down to Hillsboro Days and participated in their attempt to break the world record of most people playing kazoos at the same time - or something like that. We signed our names and grabbed our kazoos and about two times into Do Ra Mi thought of about 100 other things we'd rather do with those kazoos. So, if they beat the record we were part of history....and the girls had fun too.

Washington County Fair

2008-07-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

For the past few years we've had the tradition of going to the Washington County Fair. This fair works well for our family because it's close, there's free admission and it's pretty small. We walk around and see the livestock, catch a couple of booths, ride the carousel, buy some junkie fair food and two hours later we're done. This year they had a tent set up with stuff for little kids to do. Jane and Grace enjoyed the "corn box" - something like a sand box but with kernals of corn instead. Here's Jane digging around and sporting her Gordon Smith sticker compliments of her dad. :)

Grace liked putting the rubber ducky in the trough and using the pump to get the water to push it down.

Jane and Grace hanging out in the corn box and having fun.

Two Princesses

2008-07-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to our friend Andy! We had a great time tonight at your birthday dinner that you cooked for us. :) The steaks rocked our world! Here are the girls in all of their dress-up glory. What a couple of beautiful princesses!

Stake Fair

2008-07-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

Today we took our girls to our Stake's summer fair activity. It was a beautiful day and a very fun activity. They had lots of entertainment with a talent show, all sorts of contests, and field activities. Hot dogs, popcorn, snow cones, and cotton candy were all provided. I signed up to help out and got assigned to cotton candy. I'm glad I wore an old t-shirt because when I completed my shift with my new friend Jackie (thanks for all your help, it was fun getting to know you) I was covered with cotton candy. I didn't realize what a mess it was going to make. I had it all up my arms and in my hair. I washed down as best as I could there but when I got home I had to shower and wash my hair twice to get all the stickies out. It was fun though and the plus side was that I had a break from watching my kids and had a chance to visit with everyone who came through the line to get some cotton candy. Shawn on the other hand spent his time running after the girls and having Jane scream at him (hence, the binky in the picture). Grace was loving life with the free snow cones. I think she ate two or three. Thanks Shawn for keeping up with them.

A Visit from Grandma Lindsay

2008-07-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

Grandma Lindsay was able to visit us this past week. We had fun hanging out. Thanks for coming, Grandma!

Oaks Park

2008-07-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to Oaks Park to round out the Harris family reunion. We have had such a great time being with family this week. Even though Oaks Park is not the flashiest, coolest amusement park out there it works well for our family. There are plenty of kiddie rides and lots of shade to enjoy a beautiful Oregon summer evening and a picnic dinner. Aaron & Erin, thanks for making the effort to come all the way to Portland. We hope you had a great time! We certainly did.

Stickers

2008-07-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

So, I got this cool Little Einstein sticker book for Grace. I was thinking it would be a great distraction on our car ride to Idaho for the 4th of July. She's really enjoyed playing with it and took it to bed to look at tonight. Then, when I went in to give her a kiss goodnight I found her covered, literally, from head to toe in stickers. She had them on her face (obviously), up and down her legs and arms, and all over her tummy and back as well. What a funny little girl!

Hot Air Balloon Ride

2008-07-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! That about sums up our amazing morning today. So, it's Day 3 of our wonderful family reunion here in Portland. And just when we get thinking that my parents can't come up with anything new to do we head out to Newberg and go for this awesome hot air balloon ride. Shawn and my brother Jonathan get roped into helping hold the balloon while they fill it up with air from these huge fans. There were 4 balloons all together getting set up and we had to be there at 5:30am. That meant a pretty early morning for us but it was beautiful. Our ride lasted about an hour and even included what our pilot called the "splash and dash" where he touched our basket down on the Willamette river for just a moment (enough to get some of our feet wet) and then clear the 50 foot trees on the opposite bank. It was calm and beautiful and thanks to the huge amount of propane we were burning, plenty warm up in that basket. We landed in a small field and all went to work on deflating the balloon. Our chase vehicle is a big van with a trailer to haul the balloon back. We went back to our starting location and had a lovely catered breakfast and the customary champagne toast. Though in our family's case it was Martinelli's. I might have gone a little overboard on the picture taking but I don't know if I'll ever do this again. Mom and Dad, thanks for the ride!

Mt. Hood in the Summer

2008-07-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

Day 2: So, our family reunion continues and today we took a drive up to Mt. Hood.

We stopped at Timberline Lodge to throw a few snowballs and make some small but cute snowmen.

We stopped for some lunch and then wanted to go down the Alpine Slide at Ski Bowl but it was shut down for repairs. We headed to Rhododendron to visit my Aunt and Uncle at her family's cabin there. Can I just tell you, it was so amazing. It was just the coolest, rustic little cabin in this beautiful setting under the trees right next to a clean flowing creek. It was one of the most relaxing afternoons I have spent in a while. That might have been due to the fact that I only took Grace with me and left Jane home with Shawn (who worked from home).

Grace went right to work trying to clear the forest floor of the thousands of clovers that grew up. She would relinquish a bouquet once it got too big for her to grip and then start a new one. She followed her older cousins around getting herself stuck in sticker bushes and we spent some time swinging in the hammock together.

Thanks so much Claudia and Tracy for the great BBQ dinner and letting us enjoy your home in the mountains. It was truly memorable.

Family Dinner

2008-07-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

So, after our wonderful extended family reunion over the 4th of July we had an immediate family reunion of our own here in the Portland area. One of my brothers and his family were able to come spend another 5 days here and since they live in Kansas, they don't often get a chance to haul their five kids out to see us. It was so much fun and kudos to my parents for coming up with some amazing activities for all of us. Day 1 (today) was a trip to the zoo. We had a great time on the train, seeing the new dinosaur exhibit, going on this 3-D motion ride (that probably should have had a rating of 8 and older) and then dinner and visiting at our place afterwards. Here's a snapshot Shawn got of the cousins gathered around our table for pizza, watermelon, and veggies that evening. We sent the kids outside for their icecream cones and had a nice time catching up and enjoying some beautiful Oregon weather.

4th of July & Harris Reunion

2008-07-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time traveling to Twin Falls, ID for the Harris Reunion over the 4th of July. There were lots of fun activities and still plenty of time to sit and visit. On July 4th there was a fun devotional followed by 4-wheeling, tractor rides, playing in a hay fort and at the stream. That afternoon we had fun down at the church with a service project and variety show. Then after a great BBQ dinner we enjoyed some fireworks for the kids and could see into town to observe the big show. The next day we had our Olympic Water Games and that's when the ginormous slip 'n slide was hauled out. Shawn had fun going crazy and risking life and limb to play with all the "boys" and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. My uncle commmented on how they probably weren't going to stop until we had to call 911. That evening after my Grandma Harris shared some thoughts with us we had a chance to drive down and see the new Twin Falls Temple and then go and visit my Grandpa Harris' grave. We had a nice Sunday School the next morning and then it was back to Oregon.

Sparklers!

2008-06-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

We bought some little sparklers last week and let the girls try them out this weekend. On Friday night Shawn helped them for their very first sparkler experience. They had lots of fun and Jane was especially eager to hold one. Then on Sunday evening our friends joined us for a treat and we used the rest of them. You can see little Amanda N. and Grace enjoying their sparklers together.

Four Eyes

2008-06-21T10:06:00.000-07:00

The whole family came in to the store to help me pick out a new pair of glasses. Grace had a lot of fun suggesting styles for me and found that she enjoyed trying them on herself. Shawn snapped this with his Blackberry. She looks very studious and, we thought, way cute!

A Letter From a Friend

2008-06-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

Grace's little friend Ruby Grace, who moved to Michigan a couple of months ago, sent her a card in the mail. It had a picture of Jasmine on it and Grace was so excited. She was apparently so excited that when I went to give kisses and tuck her in on my way to bed, I found her all snuggled up next to it. I think this is so adorable and we miss you too, Ruby Grace and family!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

We had such a nice Father's Day today. After church we had a yummy meal of baked salmon, rice, and fresh fruits and vegetables. (Love summer produce!) Shawn opened his gifts and Grace could hardly stand it. Jane unfortunately missed out on it all because after a morning of church she was in desperate need of a nap. After the rest of us finished our meal we relaxed and let Shawn take a nap for a little while. After he got up we went out in our yard for the rest of the day. He has done such a fantastic job on our front yard so we enjoyed lounging on the grass, playing games, and having a picnic dinner together. It was such a pleasant, low-key day with perfect weather and the best husband/father to celebrate.

Deer Sighting

2008-06-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, I had to resist the urge to make up a funny title for this entry with all kinds of puns with the word "buck" because most of them ended up being mildly inappropriate. So, we saw another deer in our backyard today. Grace was eating breakfast. I had just gone to turn on the TV (I like to get the forecast in the morning) and Grace says, "Mom, I see something. I see an animal." Thinking I'd see a squirrel or possibly a skunk I peeked out the back door and saw this buck standing on our patio. I ran upstairs, grabbed the camera, came back down and got one poor shot through the sliding glass door with the flash on before he jumped our back fence and was gone. It was kinda cool. Shawn took a look at my lousy picture and determined it was a "two-point buck". Weird how they live so close to us and pretty gutsy of him (the deer, not Shawn) to come in so close to the houses.

The Best Toy Ever...

2008-06-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

Cardboard boxes rock. The one pictured here happened to have been the means of transporting a replacement for a faulty refrigerator shelf to me (thank you, Whirlpool). And then, magically it has become the most popular toy in our house. Grace drags it around everywhere, climbs in and out of it, puts it on top of Jane, loads it with toys, etc. It's been hilarious to see what she does with it next.

Other toys that are not so popular at our house or at least with Jane: This cute little bear that sings "Raindrops keep falling on my head". It completely freaks her out.

Also, this adorable little puppy that barks and plays songs and even rolls around on cute little wheels. Jane can't look at it without running to her nearest parent and beginning what promises to be one of her premium quality fits.

I don't get it but I am grateful to Grace. If these ever get unearthed by other kids coming over to play Grace is good to protect Jane from the evil advances of "Raindrop Bear" and "Wheelin' Puppy". If she were a sister like I was she would be using these against her sibling. Yeah! Not all thing are inherited.

Bed Head

2008-06-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

Nice "do" Jane! Unlike her sister, Jane was born with quite a bit of dark hair. Her hair has lightened but she still can achieve some great bed head.

And of course, I can't help but snap a shot...especially because she wakes up from her naps so happy. We love you!

Waterfront Village

2008-06-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

I took the girls down for lunch with Dad and a quick trip to the Rose Festival Waterfront Village. It's free admission earlier in the day but we made up for that savings by paying out the nose for a nasty slice of pizza for the girls. Shawn and I refused to buy ourselves lunch seeing as the cost vs. taste vs. caloric intake was not acceptable. It was fun to walk around and see all the rides that Grace wasn't tall enough for and see all the ships that weren't conducting tours that afternoon. Okay, it was a little bit of a bust. There wasn't anything for little kids to do except that we did find the pony rides. Grace was too scared to attempt this so we walked around a little more and decided it was time to get Jane home for a nap. The upside? Shawn was relieved that he won't have to worry about buying Grace a pony any time soon.

June Bug

2008-06-02T13:32:00.001-07:00

Yuck, our whole family got sick this weekend. Nothing too serious, just summer colds with sore throats and coughs and all around yuckiness. We're on the mend today, not 100% but getting better.

Thank you, thank you to Mara and family for sharing your break-the-fast meal with us. It's not that I couldn't make dinner for my family, I just didn't want to. And trust me, we loved your meal a lot more than any thing I would have come up with. Can you say Top Ramen?

Shawn visits Aunt Mary

2008-05-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

Shawn was out of town yet again this weekend. His firm held an associates training in Seattle on Friday that icluded a night stay and a Mariner's game on Saturday afternoon. On Saturday morning he took some time to go and visit his Aunt Mary who lives in the Seattle area. Aunt Mary is the kindest, sweetest lady and the only sister of Shawn's dad. She has shown so much generosity over the years to Shawn and our family. We love you, Aunt Mary.

S'mores

2008-05-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

We got done with lunch today and Grace wanted a "junk food snack" (her words) and that didn't sound too bad to me either. So, I scrounged around in the pantry and decided to make some s'mores. A few graham crackers, mini-marshmellows, and chocolate chips later we had our treat. It was pretty good but it was a mess!

Memorial Day at the Oregon Coast

2008-05-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

After attending my cousin Travis' mission farewell on Sunday our family took off to spend the night at the Oregon coast. We stayed at a place in Yachats and had a really nice time. The drive was a little long but very beautiful. When we hit Hwy. 101 Grace was grinning ear to ear. She was so excited to see the ocean. We checked into the lodge and right off our girls scored crayons, coloring pages, and puzzles to borrow and do in our room. We headed to a family restaurant we saw on the way into town and had some really good, really big fish and chips. Jane was in heaven with a dill pickle and a lemon - one in each hand. She couldn't get enough! Of course, I forgot to pack my jacket so we made a quick detour to the local mini-mart where I purchased a Yachats, Oregon fleece - just what I always wanted! We went back to the lodge and had a walk on the rocks and paths on the beach. The next morning we slept in a bit, enjoyed the breakfast at the lodge, checked out and headed for the sea lion cave. We went to the look out where you could see the dozens of sea lions on the rocks below. Inside the cave there was a lone one on top of a high rock and a skeleton of one that was shot. It indicated that it was a female that was 3 years old. I told Grace this and she decided to name the sea lion skeleton "Grace" too because it was a girl and was 3 years old just like her. How funny! Afterwards, we went to Florence for some lunch (which took way too long so that's why there are pictures of the girls on "rides" at this restaurant). We went out to the beach for a short time but as it goes with a 3 and 1 year old...they were trashed and Shawn and I were too. So, we headed home. It was fun to spend time together as a family though. I'm glad we went.

Hanging with the Harris Fam

2008-05-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

It was great to have Ben, Tim, and their families come in from Washington for Memorial Day weekend. We had a really pleasant time hanging out, eating, and visiting at my parents' house on Saturday. Jonathan and family made it over too so it was all of us except Aaron and company. (Hey, we miss you guys!) Although the forecast was a little pessimistic about the weather on Saturday it actually cleared off for most of the day and gave us some sunshine and pleasant temperatures. The clouds came rolling in and the rain drops started falling right as we were packing up the ice cream bars from dessert after the BBQ. Then it was time to put the kids down and some of the adults went and caught the new Indiana Jones movie. It was great to be together!

Catfish 2

2008-05-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

Grace finished her Catfish 2 class today. She has been doing great. We'll take a break from swim lessons for the summer. That sounds a little backward but we'll have so much park time and swimming/wadding/sprinkler time at home (plus it will be a zoo at the aquatic center) so Catfish 3 will have to wait until fall.

Getting a little nervous before going down the big slide.

Feeling much better after going down the big slide.

Fun with her swim friends under the fountain.

Ducks in the pond quack a happy song.

2008-05-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

So, last week it was about 35 degrees colder than it is this weekend. We have had a chilly, wet spring and then BAM! it's like 95 degrees outside. I'm happy the sun is showing it's face but I prefer to be eased into it a bit. Oh well, at least is was beautiful on the weekend and we had a great time on Saturday doing an end-of-the-preschool-year party. Then today we got out of the house and hit the duck ponds over by the library. The crowd must have died down by the time we got there because based on how not interested the ducks were in our bread crumbs I'm thinking there were plenty of people earlier with lots of food to give. It's also possible that the ducks didn't care for our nasty Winco croutons that were older than dirt. But really, who are they to be so picky?

What a good looking family!

This nutria snuck back in the water before I could snap a shot of it but here it is enjoying a swim. It was pretty good sized and if we hadn't seen it on the shore moments before you might guess it was a beaver but it definitely had the "rat tail".

Grace loves to go to the park and go on walks but heaven forbid if she see an insect because it's all over after that. A little too much like her mom in that sense.

Finally, a good shot of Jane actually looking at the camera. I won't mention the 13 other shots I took before this one.

Big sister showing little sister how to properly feed the ducks.

Mmmm, bacon!

2008-05-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Let the cop jokes begin. We now have a new occupation to add to the family roster. My brother (the handsome one on the right) was sworn in as a police officer today in Washington state. And not a moment too soon because everyone is getting a little tired of the lawyer jokes and three in the family is plenty. Congratulations on the new job, Tim!

Pics from Japan

2008-05-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

Yum!

2008-05-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

Happy 25th birthday, Tim! Thanks for inviting us out to the Olive Garden. Grace has said several times since that the Olive Garden was a good restaurant to pick. Hope you had a good birthday.

Dad brings home the presents

2008-05-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Shawn brought home some great gifts from Japan for us. Check out the girls in their new Japanese outfits. Grace even got matching flip-flops. So stinkin' cute!

Grace is loving her "Hello Kitty" sticker and color book.

Jane got a cute little Japanes wooden toy which looks a lot like something she normally wouldn't get to play with so she's into that.