Spencer Carving Some Snow

Fun in the Snow

Christmas was a Hit

Well I guess all our hard work and shopping paid off. We had a great Christmas and the boys had so much fun Christmas morning. They woke up at their normal time, 7:30am and came into our room to try and persuade us to get up. After a bit of family cuddling time, Rob went downstairs to make sure the video camera was hooked up, then he called us down. Spencer was the first one down and he went straight to his Santa gifts. Powerful Pokemon cards, Ladanian Tomlinson figure, and Charger ball cap! For Carter, a sweet car racing track with Hot Wheels. Very shortly after their discovery it was off to their presents under the tree. Spencer had organized all the gifts the day before into their own piles by name, so that they were easier to open, and he quickly opened his first.



But surprisingly, after his first present his focus changed to having Rob open the present that he (& Carter) had picked out for him. He insisted he open it and was so excited! Rob then opened his John Elway, Denver Bronco t-shirt, so sweet....and I was so impressed.




The rest of the morning was typical. Carter opening every present he could get his hands on, whether it was his or not, he didn't care. It was hilarious! He had such a good time ripping off the paper and moving on to the next. The front room was covered in wrapping paper and the presents somewhere underneath all the mess. We are so lucky and had so much fun. Thanks to all of you for the Christmas presents! WE love them!








For the remainder of the day, the boys just played and played and played and we were able to talk to most everyone even my parents from Germany, yay! -(I must say mom, I'm so impressed that you didn't even cry on the phone! You're growing up over there lady....luv ya!) Rob and I got busy in the kitchen making Stuffed Flank Steak in the dutch oven, roasted potatoes, Hawaiian Nut Bread, and garlic-bacon green beans. It was yummy! but it was a 3+ hour operation. (yes, sometimes we wonder why we always do this on the holidays) And then we had a Christmas visitor, Sister Pettey, who came over to see all the boys' lute. She's so great! The boys grab her attention and love it when she gets down and plays with them. After all the excitement and sugar, we finally put Carter to bed. I fiinished helping Spencer build his Star Wars Legos, which he is so good at, and then he went to bed too. I watched one of my favorite shows, especially since it was Christmas, The Family Man, and then we called it a day. Merry Christmas!

Spencer's Special Day

The Birthday Boy

The countdown is finally over. Spencer turned 7 today. Miraculously, to start the day off, I beat him downstairs, (He's always the first one up in our household) and made him the breakfast of his choice. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. As soon as he woke up, he started asking if he could open 1 present. So after he was finished eating, I brought 1 down for him to open. A Charger's shirt and knit beanie. He loved it, especially the beanie! He ate the candy in the avent calendar, -which apparently he'd been stocking up as a special surprise for his birthday, about 6 candies, compared to 2, and is currently watching Scooby Doo with the school delay. I even decided he could have hot lunch today. -that's right, special treatment, for a special boy. Oh the simple things kids love- I'm sure he'll soak it all up as the birthday boy and have a million special requests because it's his birthday, but he really deserves it. He's the best kid. So sweet, obedient, fun, and darn cute too. We love our Spencer. Happy Birthday Bud!

Thanksgiving Trip

Thanksgiving Extravaganza!

This year's Thanksgiving was so wonderful. We were able to enjoy 2 turkey feasts with all of our wonderful family. -I know how lucky are we?! And the only way this was accomplished was that one feast took place during lunch, the other dinner. Needless to say, we had our fill. We traveled to Idaho to see all of Rob's family and had such a great time! Besides all the good food, it was so fun to see everyone, catch up a little bit, and just enjoy being surrounded by great people. Spencer and Carter had so much fun and were spoiled by all. (Thanks Gma & Gpa's, Aunts & Uncles!)
I was even able to travel to Utah with the boys and spend a wonderful day with my sisters and their kids. -Whenever we get together, it seems we laugh so much and it's never long enough, but I was so grateful to see them, especially Leslie and little Oscar. He is so cute and I loved seeing Leslie as a mom. She's the best little mom and is doing a great job! (I love you Les!)
We made the long drive both ways all in one day and Rob & I have decided that this is the way to go. The boys were so pleasant and it beats packing twice, getting a hotel, paying for the hotel, and wasting 2 extra days in the car.
Thanksgiving is such a great time to be reminded of the things I'm most grateful for--the long-living Harris tradition is to name 3 things we're grateful by putting 3candy corns in a small dish and passing it around the table. So staying true to my roots the 3 things I'm grateful for this year are: 1-My Family (who I love very much! & mom and dad I miss you tons!), 2-The Gospel (It's Truth, Meaning, and Direction it gives to my life), and 3-Sis. Pettey (because she gives so unselfishly to me and my family)
Happy Thanksgiving!

One Cute & Squishy Bubbas

Here are all his sexy poses

There's something about this little boy that just makes you want to grab that extra skin! He's so soft and squishy and so, so Cute! On this day, Rob thought it was time to start the potty training process. I, however, was not so sure. Mostly because I'm not ready to do it. He has been doing really well though, we've been at it for almost a week and I've actually been surprised with all his progress. It's not easy and we have a ways to go, but hopefully we'll get there soon.
And when that day when it comes, it will be so wonderful.....no more diapers to change, diapers to run out to the garbage, no more diapers or wipes to buy or pack with us! .....Oh yes, it will be a glorious day!

The Best Day Ever!

What a day Halloween was. It seemed so long in coming! I started off by going and helping out at Spencer's school for his Halloween party. It is always fun to go help out and to see Spencer in his element. I "manned" the bookmark station, and got off pretty easy. The other 3 mom's were in charge of cookie decorating, witch's hands, and pumpkin hats. The kids were great and I had a lot of fun. Then it was was off to the store to pick up some food, so I could make this cool spider web chip dip. I forgot to take a picture, oh well. Then it was time to finish carving the extremely thick pumpkin we bought at the pumpkin patch. I decided to make it half-elmo & half-Charger helmet. With the pumpkin done and out of the way, it was finally time for all the candy! (This was all the boys wanted anyways) We headed off to the Uptown Mall (a little strip mall) and trick-or-treated to all the stores. This truly was the best part.....after Carter caught on to the whole concept, he just started yelling "Tandy, Tandy!" laughing in between each store as they gave him candy. He would hold on to as many as those little, squishy hands would hold, and when he started to drop them because there were tooooo many!, he finally agreed with me that we put them in his candy bag. Spencer was great, and I know many of you are wondering if I finished the famous "Blaziken" costume, and yes I did. (tell me what you think) I think it turned out great and Spencer liked the costume AND even a select few Pokemon lovers recognized exactly who he was exclaiming to their moms--, "Mom,...look, it's Blaziken, ..that's so cool!" you bet it is, those few kids made my whole day! I worked on it intermittenly, but it probably took about 4-5 hours total, in creating the entire look. It lasted the whole day and is still in tact, so to me it was a success. I actually enjoyed doing and just love the homemade costumes that no one else has. After Uptown, we rushed home to eat some dinner, because I knew if they didn't eat dinner, then all they would eat would be junk food for the rest of the day. Carter had probably already had 20 pieces of candy give or take. Rob came home early, we ate our yummy bacon burgers and then it was off to our tri-ward's trunk or treat. This took all of about 30 minutes, which was great! and then we went to a Halloween party we were invited to. We had a blast! I have never seen such enthusiasm and such effort put into hosting groups and groups of kids and families on Halloween. Their whole family dressed up, decorated the house, came up with a zillion games, had yummy spooky food and drinks, and were so casual and not stressed out about all the noise, crazy kids, spills, and chaos! The boys loved it, especially Spencer. He participated in all the games, tried some doughnut bobbing, knocked the pinata, and played so hard his costume started to come apart, piece by piece.
After the party, it was on to our honorary Grandma, Sister Pettey's house! The boys love her and she spoils them with everything's she's got. They each got a goodie bag- Spencer some Pokemon cards, an entire Kit Kat, and some kind of sour candy and
Carter his favorite fruit roll, scooby doo snacks, and his 2 favorite yellow cars he plays with at her house. THEN....we went off in search of the "Pirate House" we had been hearing about. There are some amazing Halloween enthusiasts around here, seriously. Apparently this dad and son start at the beginning of the month and create a Pirate ship out of their front yard and front rooms. They went all out! Just look at the pictures. Carter thought it was very "stary!" but once they gave him a piece of candy, he tolerated Spencer and I's gawking of all the decor. Finally, we headed for home, where the boys were amped and checking out all their loot. This was one of my favorite moments as they both buried their heads in their pillow cases to look at all their candy, instead of just dumping it all out. Too cute.

Here is Blaziken


And here is the costume!





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