Sunday, October 31, 2010

The KIDDOS Halloween 2010

Wishing we were closer to these guys...!!!!
How ADORABLE are these guys????

HOW can they live in LOGAN and I live 2 1/2 hours AWAY??????

Sadies and Trick or Treat

Madeline asked Sam to SADIES and Cee Cee asked London...the theme was 70's...you can't see from the pictures, but Madeline has on the "Flashdance" leg warmers :) They went ice skating for their day date. With this group OBVIOUSLY it was a BLAST!

Spencer and Ali ended up going to the UVU dance...they are pretty darn cute together...
Sadly, the rain kept ALOT of trick or treater's away....I am wondering if we will have many tonight? The radio announced they'd be doing the rounds LAST NIGHT since Halloween fell on Sunday. Guess we'll see!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

LAST LETTER FROM JOSH BEFORE I SEE HIM!!!!!

Family!!!!

Well I am sure at this point mom is very very happy and probably even has a count of how many hours before she sees me. I am mostly scared. Home is such a foreign idea now. Not to mention, white people are weird. No offense to anyone, but all of you are officially weird now.
The week was pretty good though. we had a zone conference on Tuesday that went very well and then on Thursday we left for chyulu. we did exchanges there yesterday and it was way fun. I felt bad for the elder i was with because things just kept going wrong with the bikes breaking and then we got lost and a bunch of other little stuff but none of it was his fault but you could see he was stressed about it and felt that he was making a bad impression or something. but there was nothing that we could have done about it. i told him there was probably somebody that we had planned to see that God didn't want us to or something, and then as the day went on i said "ok, maybe there were three or four people that God didn't want us to see, but quit blaming this on yourself!" I dont think it helped much, but all i can do is try. He is an amazing missionary though and by the time we left to come back to Nairobi this morning i had him laughing about it so all is well.
I leave tomorrow for Kilungu Hills. I am pretty stoked for it. i might get a chance to e-mail on tuesday, but if i dont then i wont be e-mailing this week because i wont get back until hours before Mom and Dad and Spencer's plane gets here. But i will tell you all about when i see you, or possibly while i am with mom and dad and Spencer.
I said it when Mike came home and i am saying it again. I DO NOT WANT ALL OF THAT WELCOME HOME STUFF IN THE YARD WHEN I GET HOME. and since mom isnt there to force it, i am expecting it not to be there. i am a bit concerned about Megan. but Michael and Sam, i am counting on you to refuse to help and to possibly destroy anything that meg might make. Thanks.
Anyways, i dont really have a lot to say today. but i love you all!!!!! see you soon!
Love,
Elder Harris

Friday, October 29, 2010

Megan's Masquerade Ball was MAGICAL

I'm sad I didn't get to go later when all 300 guests were there!!! Spencer's truck is now LOADED with FOOD for the FOOD BANK. (That was the admission price). You are SUCH a GOOD GOOD GIRL Megan!! And I'm PROUD to be your Mom!!! I wish either ME or the Camera took better pics,,,almost all the ones I got were blurry. But this at least gives you an idea of the night. And I am sure if you check Meg's blog in a few days she'll have some rockin' pics on there!
Dane and Megan...Dane had the IDEA for the Masquerade...and Megan of course helped make it HAPPEN!!!
Several local businesses contributed food...the CUPCAKE CHIC donated dozens of cupcakes!
Megan and Abby...Abby the newest member of our family. We like her SO MUCH...like, LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS.
How cool is this golden dot stuff?
There is actually a THIRD brother dressed to match...wished I could have seen there "dance" routine...
Everyone in a mask!!!! :)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Look what we got last night!

Just some things that make me smile on my running route.









That we have our very own EXPRESS TRAIN at the Anderson's for the kiddos...THEY LOVE IT...he runs it several times a year for most holidays and changes the "theme" of the train ride.

When leaves pile up so I can shuffle my feet through them and make them fly.

The Sweet old Lady who likes to put out fake flowers when fall comes and most of the others are dead:)

The SKELETON decoration in the grave yard...this woman died 11 years ago and not a holiday is missed without it being decorated to the gills....still so loved...but the skeleton hit my funny bone.

Making it to the top of 200 and doing my Rocky Dance...

The Orchards and their changing fragrances with the seaons.

Sarah coming out to meet me because I was running late ...LOVE THIS WOMAN!




Letter from Josh 26 Oct 2010



Pictures of Josh's b-day celebration with the chocolate chip cookies they made that I sent to them....they also made homemade rootbeer!


Dear Family!

This week has been good. it has been great actually. It started off with elder Holland coming and visiting us. which was amazing. He went threw John 3 and 4 with us and gave his training from those two chapters. He started with John 3 which is where Nicodemus comes to Christ in the middle of the night and asks how a man can be saved. then Christs answer was to be born again. then Nicodemus asked how somebody could go back into their mothers womb. Elder Holland then said "Nicodemus' response is possibly the stupidest thing said in all of canonical scripture.Here he is, a member of the Sanhedrin, a very educated pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, and he is asking. . . what about my mother?" it was pretty funny. he then went to John 4 which talks about the women at the well. As Christ told her that He had water that would make it so that she would never thirst she got confuse just like Nicodemus had. she responded by asking how He could give her water when he had no cup. Then after wards Christs apostles come back with food and Christ tells them that He has meat that they know not of. and the apostles respond with the same confusion. They ask where He got the meat from and why He didn't tell them about it. He then explained that one of the major problems of the day was that the people took everything too literally. They had been raised that way, it was part of their culture and their traditions. Elder Holland then went back through all of the stories to show how Christ taught each of these people using simple examples that they would be able to understand and by doing so He "lifted" them, and helped them to come to a higher level and a better understanding of the gospel. By the time Christ left any of them, they understood what he had originally told them. He compared that to us as missionaries and how we need to "lift" people to a higher level of understanding and to help them to have a more sure knowledge of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and their love for us. He related this all to "teaching people, not lessons" which is one of the new focuses that was brought out in July at the mission presidents training.
It was a great meeting and it was wonderful to be with Elder Holland and Elder Snow of the presidency of the seventy for those few hours. It was a meeting filled with the spirit and filled with joy and excitement. A lot of the missionaries were scared at Elder Holland coming i guess because they thought he was just going to blast us the whole time, and they were very surprised at how funny he was. He doesn't show his humor as much in his conference talks as some of the others, but he really was super funny.
The rest of the week was good as-well. We went to Dar for zone conference and exchanges and what not and that all went well. it was fun to be on exchanges with those guys too. The day wasn't the busiest, but i was with elder Trickett and he loves to tract, i think even more than he loves to teach although he denies it, so we kept busy and working.
This week is crazy too. We were suppose to have time to e-mail yesaterday but then there were visa problems with a few of the elders and so we had to go and pick them up from their areas and bring them back to our place for the night and then get them to the airport by 5:30 am so that they could go to Tanzania so they wont be here illegally. We had a zone conference this morning and that went very well. i would say it was the best one this transfer, except that the area health guy talked for more than an hour on bleaching our fruits and vegetables. not that we shouldn't be doing it, just that it could have been covered in under ten minutes. We are about to leave to take another elder to the airport because he missed the flight this morning because he was suppose to be at the zone conference today. then tomorrow we have to figure out transfers and then on Thursday we leave for Chyulu to do exchanges there. i should be back by Saturday to e-mail and take a p-day, but that might change because we might go straight to the kilungu hills to stay for the next week. if we do that i will be e-mailing on Tuesday because that is their p-day in kilungu. It will be crazy, but i wouldn't have it any other way.
i had a few questions. first, when is my homecoming thing? or do you not know yet? and also i was wondering if Greg's engaged roommate decided to sell me the contract? and if not then can we go to Logan for a weekend to go apartment hunting? and i was also wondering if you could send me a copy of your flight plans, here and back. i guess sister broadbent is planning on going back for a short visit in may and they wanted to see your flight plans because she might want to do the same way we are through Amsterdam instead of through London.
anyways, i have to go. but i love you soooooooooooooooo much!!!!! i will write again when i get time.
Love,
Elder Harris

Friday, October 22, 2010

Waiting for the Josh

Josh...I am "nesting" like I do when I have babies...only this time I'm not going to come home and try to recuperate from major surgery:) I'm gonna feel GREAT! And we're going to PLAY. I dusted off SETTLER'S today and the card decks...I made lists of some of your favorite dinner menus to have the first week home...I am getting the yard put to bed so it won't need any work once we are home....I bought a shop vac to make cleaning the garage easier and getting the leaves off the pool cover easier....I am trying hard not to start my new book and to save it for the flight...I am organizing the closets and sorting out stuff....I am crossing my fingers that Greg's roommate who JUST Got engaged will MOVE OUT at Christmas and want YOU to take his contract....I am just mostly THINKING of YOU and your coming home most waking moments. ALMOST THERE BUDDY!!!!
LOVE YOU!
Mom

Boo-ed Tonight

We are so use to it being a date request when the door is door bell ditched that it was SO FUN to get this for the whole family! SNICKERDOODLES!! Just thought I'd share in case you DON'T do it in your neighborhood...the little kids ESPECIALLY love it. The deal is, they leave you a treat, and a note you copy saying you have already been BOO-ed, you put the note on the door, then make sure you BOO another family in the neighborhood in the next day or so. Snickerdoodles are so not on my diet. But just smelling them made me happy. And not that anyone is counting other than me...but I am 17 days now eating RIGHT. I amaze myself sometimes. Just FOREVER to go....

Tree be GONE :(

Travis said he was BORED...(yea, sure...) and wanted to help me with SOME kind of a project...so I went to Home Depot and rented a pole saw and between the 3 of us got 3 trees down...Don helped carry branches when he got home too. I love working in the yard. The weather was PERFECT! This next week it is suppose to get pretty nasty and colder, so it was great timing. I was so sad to lose those trees. The Florida girl in me could hardly stand it. BUT, they said their roots would get into the pool...so DANG. Travis...THANK YOU!!! Spencer you too. We were all so busy working I forgot to take all the pictures of it coming down in process. Now there is no more tree (s).

TUMOR BE GONE!!!

Taylor had her surgery yesterday at Shriner's in Salt Lake....my heart can't even give words to how grateful I feel for those who spend the YEARS dedicating their lives to learning and research to be able to help us when we have need. So far things are looking good. Looks like they got the whole tumor and we should have the biopsy report in the next few weeks. Lucky us she is convalescing here for a few days before the long ride home. Taylor is a trooper. Right now she is fighting the whole "throw up from your pain meds"....so pray that we can get her to keep her food down so she can keep her pain meds down and give her some relief. She's a trooper this one.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

New FAVORITE WORD

CORUSCATE:
to emit vivid flashes of light; sparkle; scintillate; gleam.

I've always wanted to SPARKLE!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVED this Book!

THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN KATE MORTON
Okay...so it could have been a combination of THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DAY following Sam on the golf course....or just not working and having NOTHING ELSE I could possibly do while following...but his writer is DELICIOUS...you will NOT be disappointed!!! The mystery was slightly predictable, but the characters become family and you love every detail of their lives and their secrets!!! INDULGE!!!

Sam at GOLF STATE

The Bammer and his HERO!! Coach Nelson is his baseball coach as well and this boy LOVES this GOOD GOOD Man....and I do too for the great example and teacher he's been to Sam!
Megan had to stay home and teach, and Josh...well you know...16 days from today!!!!!
Coach, McCade, Sam, Derek "Hutch", Jordan,Jesse, Hayden...all Seniors except Sam. Won't be the same next year:( Gonna miss these guys!
I just think its cool how it must be a "rule" that the score recorder write so well...check out his penmanship!

Live Scores

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West Jordan 67 @ Payson 34 Final
ALA 10 @ Salem Hills 40 Final
Pleasant Grove 3 @ Lone Peak 33 Final
Brighton 35 @ American Fork 12 Final
Westlake 20 @ Timpanogos 36 Final
Provo 34 @ Orem 13 Final
Timpview 48 @ Lehi 3 Final
Spanish Fork 42 @ Uintah 7 Final
Wasatch 53 @ Carbon 6 Final
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Lone Peak 1 @ Davis 3 Final
Woods Cross 0 @ Springville 2 Final
Snow Canyon 0 @ Lehi 1 Final
Timpanogos 4 @ Bountiful 3 Final
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Timberwolf golfers rally to finish third at 4A tourney


ST. GEORGE -- What a difference a day makes.

The Timpanogos boys golf team, like all the other 4A squads here at Sunbrook Golf Course, suffered through finicky weather, long delays and not-so-great scores.

Twenty-four hours later, the Timberwolves enjoyed a glorious southern Utah day and scores that matched at the 2010 4A State Tournament. Timpanogos trimmed nine strokes off of its opening day score of 318 to finish with a two-day team total of 627 -- good enough to earn the T'Wolves a tie for third with Highland at the state tourney.

"If you would have told me that we were going to shoot nine strokes better than yesterday, well, let's just say that I can't complain at all," Timpanogos coach Kim Nelson said. "I'm very proud of these boys and the way they battled. I'm happy with a tie for third. In golf, you always hope for better scores. But I figured if we polayed like we're capable of, this would be about where we would finish."

Only Bonneville, the new state champs after shooting a 294 on the second day and finishing at 601 total, and East (617) finished ahead of Timpanogos, which saw ace McCade Larsen shoot 76 Monday and 77 Tuesday to earn a tie for 11th place in state with a 153 two-day score.

Sam Harris, the lone underclassman for the T'Wolves, suffered through a tough 84 on soggy Monday. But the junior rebounded by trimming eight strokes off his Monday score with a Tuesday outing of 76.

"Sam really stepped up today," Nelson said. "Jesse Dodson has been there for us all year as well."

All of us watching at the 18th for the rest of the team's groups to come in...
St. George has some AMAZING courses...Sunbrook was a delight!
What a great two days with my boy and the family!!! BUSTIN' my BUTTONS SAM!!!!!!!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Going to make you SMILE Josh!!!

I came home from a long day of Real Estate yesterday...I was just sitting down at my desk to get the latest contract scanned when I looked at my computer screen and just about died. THEY HAD COME INTO THE HOUSE, TAKEN THE PICTURE, PUT IT ON MY COMPUTER SCREEN all while I was gone. What is crazy is that NO ONE ELSE was home either and it was Saturday!! I was SO SAD to have missed them. I had 't seen Chad yet!!! He just got home Friday. So I hurried and called Greg and they were on their way to a singles activity and then to guess where? WHISTLE WOK!!!! I told them they had BEST be BACK HERE sometime before midnight ---with GIRLS and with SUITS. I was so dang HAPPY to see them. I guess Anna is the only girl they could scavenge. I tried for Rachel Barrett, Rachel Bean, and others..but all were out of town for the UEA weekend. They had a blast in the pool and hot tub until midnight. Dad even went to Smith's and bought LOADS of treats for them. We REALLY miss you Josh...makes us feel like you really ARE coming home though when they come. Greg kept saying...I just feel like I am waiting and waiting for Josh to walk through that door...it won't be long Buddy...and you WILL BE!!!!
PS The pool is heated to 92 degrees so that is how they can stand it in this cold. We were going to try to keep it heated till you come, but its not looking all that likely since it keeps getting colder and colder...the HOT TUB will be ready and waiting though!!!

Friday, October 15, 2010

3 WEEKS 3 WEEKS 3 WEEKS!!!!

You have been out 101 1/2 weeks...I only have 3 more letters to write before we won't NEED letters!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEE HHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW!!
Dad just got home from Chile. Megan is way into this Masquerade Halloween Ball she is planning at a local Lindon Reception Center. She and some of her condo friends are inviting 150 SINGLE friends...hopefully her Knight in Shinning Armor will show up. She's still busy with teaching school and grad school. Michael is DATING alot...no ONE person in particular. We even saw him this week...he actually called to invite me lunch...I was so bummed I had clients I couldn't rearrange.
Spencer is down in Cedar City visiting Stephen for the UEA/Fall break. Sam has what seems and sounds like the whole Lone Peak Football team over playing Madden Football and from the sounds of it they are ALL VERY much enjoying it. He plays the State Golf Tournament Monday & Tuesday in St. George so don't forget to pray. Real Estate is still going strong and I'm thankful...
We are in FULL FALL GLORY. Yesterday and today may have been two of the MOST beautiful days I have ever seen. The mountains are all changed, the nip and fall smell is in the air, the sun was shinning so brightly with the sky this amazing blue. I hope it can linger until you get here. Travis and family will be here all this week for Taylor's surgery at Primary's. I am grateful for the distraction it will be in helping me through the "count down". I feel like a kid at Christmas! I love you. I am SO GLAD we are almost done. You're AMAZING. Girls are starting to count down too... BUT NO ONE MORE THAN ME!!!!
Have a GREAT WEEK, and miss me:) I'm a COMIN"!!!!!!!
MOM XXXXXXXOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lovin' the Garden!!

Harvesting the ornamental corn is one of those activities I just can't get enough of...you NEVER know what color it will be on the inside. I LOVE the LOOK of them, I LOVE the FEEL of them. I LOVE the nip in the air...yep, even if it means we close the pool soon. Megan is throwing this HUGE Masquerade Ball at a local reception center and spray painted some of the pumpkins GOLD just to see how they'd look mixed in the decorations...I think they look FABULOUS!!!

Sam's hair play

I love the way Sam is always "playing" with his hair. This was his Mohawk for the day....