Big Cottonwood Canyon

The Fam

Just realized I did not have a full family picture. This was almost a year ago but not much has changed, except that Kiyah cut her hair again. Have not taken too many pictures this year, hoping to get some updated ones of the kids soon.

Finally!!!! Kiyah's Birthday

I unfortunately forgot my camera....but when at Grandpa's one is not far away. Kiyah had such a great 4th Birthday party and loved everything about it.

I love Chase peaking in the corner....so funny!

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Great Big Happy Birthday to our little man Xander. He turned 2 on Wednesday and we had the family over to celebrate. He had such a good day and evening. He loves football so I made a football cake and he couldn't wait to blow the candles out. Such a happy little boy! We are so glad to have you part of our family. We love you!

National Penguin Awareness Day

We went to the Living Planet Aquarium for National Penguin Awareness Day. The kids had so much fun, dressing up like Penguins and seeing all the fish

Chase and Kiyah on a frog

This was so perfect for Kiyah. She has been in love with penguins since she was 6 months old.

Our penguin line up. Madilynn, Emperor, Chase, Gentoo, Kallie, Rock Hopper, Kiyah and Xander

In a row boat making faces. Last picture of the day as my camera ran out of batteries.

My Little Sunbeam!

Kiyah gave her first talk in church today. She was so freaken cute!!!!! She wasn't shy, she got up to the stand before I could even get close to it. She grabbed the mic and promptly held up the first picture and began her talk. She actually had most of it memorized, we worked really hard this week, and she did such a great job:

I like to pray to my Father above, to talk to him and show my love.
When I wake up at the start of each day, I like to kneel by my bed and pray.
As a family we ask for his watchful care. I love yo kneel in family prayer.
We always pray at dinner, breakfast and lunch, I know that praying will help me a bunch.
And at the closing of my day, I kneel again at my bed to pray.
I know that prayer will see me through. I need to pray and so do you.

2011 Happy and Merry to ALL!!!!

As the new year begins I like to always touch base. This seems more of a journal for me than a blog for anyone else to read. :-) Things are starting out this year a lot like they were last year. We want to get the basement room finished, I am still dealing with weight problems and Kiyah and Xander are still sharing a room.

For now things seem to be ok. Last year we tried to get pregnant and found out that I had something wrong with my ovaries....nothing too bad, just enough bad to make us not get pregnant and for me to gain weight that I could not really control. :-(

We still have not progressed with the basement bedroom, we were waiting for a refinance to go through and that never happened, of course, so we are still waiting on that. For now there is no rush because the kids are fine sharing a room.

Last year we lost our beloved T-Bone. He actually died shortly after his sister did which was interesting because he seemed to be healthier than she was. And about 4 days after that happened we got a new dog, Ollie. Porter was moping around and not eating so we knew that we could not get away without another dog for Porter. Both dogs get along great and are great dogs for us.

In about 2 1/2 weeks Xander turns 2. He is becoming such a active little boy. He uses his words so much more now and he picks up on things very well. He is always happy and is always ready for hugs and kisses.

Our little sweet pea, Kiyah, started Sunbeams this year. She is growing up so much. She has one little friend that is her age that she always totes around with her. His name is Blade and they are always happy to be together and are really good friends. Blade's mom even says that he is a better boy and happier when Kiyah is at church and in class with him. They are so cute together. Kiyah will turn 4 in April and is starting to become more aware of everything and is such a smart girl.

I am still watching the neighbors kids and trying to keep order to my house. Ryan is working with DJB Gas still and they are getting really busy......can we say its time for a raise. :-)

We love living in Salt Lake and being close to Ryan's family. It is really nice to have cousins close by that Kiyah and Xander can grow up knowing and being friends with. Hoping this year is good to everyone and that I can get some stuff marked off my list.

Snow...Glorious Snow

The kids were so happy to get some snow and get their gear on, this one was just the first little bit of snow that we got.

This snow fall dumped about 12". Kiyah is about to peg Xander with a snowball, mind you she only grabs with one hand and throws whatever is in there.

Xander looking in the window, he kept throwing snowballs at the window at me.

Such loving animals, trying to keep a little bit warmer together after the snow fall.

Day 5: Quote

A day (or month) late and a dollar short. Been doing a lot of stuff and have not been doing anything on my blog.

One of my favorite quotes is from Return to Me. "It's the character that is the strongest that God gives the most challenges to."
So PERFECT!!!!!!

My other fav is 2 Nephi 9:39 : (SMILE) Spiritually Minded is Life Eternal

Day 4: Favorite Book

I know....it is taking a long time to do a 30 day blog. But no one is really reading this anyway so I guess it doesn't really matter. :-)
My favorite book of all time is Memoirs of a Geisha. I pick this book up once every 2 years it seems. I love reading about the love story and the trials that she had to go through and even through all of that, she still endured and obtained her dreams. And now that I am writing this....I may have to pick it up again and read it one more time.

Sebastian Grey Harrison

Welcome to Sebastian Grey Harrison. He was born on September 25th at 1:03pm. He weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces and was almost 21 inches long. This is my newest nephew from my brother CJ and his wife Rebeka. Glad to add another boy to the Harrison side. That makes 6 boys and 1 girl on my side. Mother and baby are doing fine, went to a Hypno Birthing center and were in and out in a day.

Day 3: Favorite TV Show

It's been over a week....I know, but life is what it is. Oddly enough one of my favorite TV shows starts up again tonight!!!!! Love Grey Anatomy and Private Practice. So excited to see them start. Another one would be Biggest Loser and Brothers and Sisters. Love them all and usually never miss an episode. I know I need a life, but I love my shows.

Day 2: Favorite Movie

This is going to be difficult trying to narrow it down to just 1. I would have to probably go with the Lord of the Rings Trilogy!!! Watch the extended version of them at least once a year if not twice. Yup that is right, all 12-13 hours of it about twice a year. Can't get enough of Viggo Mortenson.

My Favorite Song

There are a lot out there but I have always liked Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve. I love rock songs that incorporate an orchestra. A close second would be Black Balloon by The Goo Goo Dolls.

Extended Getting to Know you Blog

This is an idea that I got from a friends blog, thanks Katie. Everyday you post something new. I will hopefully start tomorrow so we will see. Play along if you like.



Day 01 - your favorite song

Day 02 - your favorite movie

Day 03 - your favorite television program

Day 04 - your favorite book

Day 05 - your favorite quote

Day 06 - whatever tickles your fancy

Day 07 - a photo that makes you happy

Day 08 - a photo that makes you angry/sad

Day 09 - a photo you took

Day 10 - a photo of you taken over ten years ago

Day 11 - a photo of you taken recently

Day 12 - whatever tickles your fancy

Day 13 - a fictional book

Day 14 - a non-fictional book

Day 15 - a fan

Day 16 - a song that makes you cry (or nearly)

Day 17 - an art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.) (not interested, changing this to decorating ideas I like)

Day 18 - whatever tickles your fancy

Day 19 - a talent of yours

Day 20 - a hobby of yours

Day 21 - a recipe

Day 22 - a website

Day 23 - a YouTube video

Day 24 - whatever tickles your fancy

Day 25 - your day, in great detail

Day 26 - your week, in great detail

Day 27 - this month, in great detail

Day 28 - this year, in great detail

Day 29 - hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days

Day 30 -- whatever tickles your fancy

Ollie

I would like to welcome Ollie to our Family. He is a Walker/ Black Nose Cur mix and just the sweetest dog. He is 4 months old and just loves us so much. He will never replace my beloved T-Bone but will just be added to our hearts and home.

Please scratch my bellie

Very curious as to what I am holding.

18 Months and GONE!

Xander is officially 18 months and is in Nursery now! I am loving the freedom. He is doing so well right now. A little under the percentages but Kiyah was that way too. Just hoping to get him to gain a little weight during the next few months. His vocabulary is getting bigger and he keeps listening to new words and starting to pick them up better. We did find that he has a low tolerance to milk, so that creates some problems, but he seems to get by just fine drinking other things full of calcium and Vitamin D.

June Already

I can't believe we are almost half way through the year!!!! Things have not progressed the way we would hope but that is how life goes, right. The basement room is about half done. We have all of the material to finish it except for getting the floor done, but when the snow melts and the day is calling my contractor/ builder goes out fishing. Maybe I should stop paying him, I mean feeding him, then maybe the room will get done.
The kids are doing awesome! Xander is growing so fast and has such a great personality. Kiyah is still becoming more and more independent as the days go on. She is picking up so much from the little girls that I tend. We found out that Xander is lactose intolerant, which sucks for us, but I have found an all around nutrition drink that is lactose free so I am all for that.
Since the weather has turned towards Spring, Ryan has been out almost 2-3 times a week fishing. His new favorite place is The Cove out in Herriman. It is just a little community pond and he throws the fish back but he always does really good. He takes Kiyah out there too about once a week. She has already caught over 20 fish in the past month and a half.
We are still planning on making it down to San Diego this summer, 4th of July to be precise, and we are staying a week and hopefully going to love every minute of it. Hope all is well with everyone and here is to the rest of the 2010, may it be spontaneous and memorable.

So freaken' Cute

Need I say more!

Happy 3rd Kiyah!

For some reason it didn't save the rotated pictures, so just turn your head. A couple of shots for Easter/ Spring Time. And since it was Kiyah's birthday

This Year, 2010

I am looking forward to this upcoming year. As it is we are already into February....where did the last month go? Oh well. I hope that everyone had a good last year and that you get your wishes for this coming year. I have many goals this year and we will just have to take things one step at a time.

Xander just turned one last week and we had ALL of Ryan's family there. Ok Nana couldn't make it but we lover her anyway. He had such a good time opening gifts and eating his cake. He is doing great otherwise. He is almost walking, and he loves following Kiyah around the house. His first word was puppy, hence a puppy cake for his birthday.

Kiyah is two months away from turning 3 and she is being so independent!!! She is fully potty trained, love this, and if we do the things we need to she will have her own room around her birthday. She can read a little and seems to need me less and less and wants to do stuff "all by herself", as she always says to me.

Ryan is still working with DJB Gas Services and is doing well there. It is stable and secure and we love it.

I am still trying to lose baby weight and now that I am watching three extra kids all day hopefully the pounds will start to slip away. Like I said I am watching three more kids, my neighbors kids. She has three girls at 6, 3 and 3 months. It is interesting to go out shopping, but I still make it some days and we even head out and play at McDonalds every now and again.

Other than that we are still trying to do touch ups on our house. The next project is the basement bedroom. We want that done so I can put my office down there and Kiyah and Xander can have their own rooms. We are heading down to San Diego in the summer and can't wait!!!

Again we hope for the best for everyone this year. And we love getting together so by all means give us a call at the drop of a hat and we can do something.

Happy #1 Xander

Pictures from Xander's first birthday. Had a good time and Xander was so happy. Kiyah helped open the presents of course and Xander got to dive in to his puppy cake. He actually picked up his piece with both hands and eat it like a T-Bone Steak. Awesome! Love you little guy, you are the sweetest little boy and you have such a great smile.

The Kids

Just some cute pictures of the kids from this year