4th of July 2010

Our 4th was actually celebrated on the 2nd, at the annual "Harrison 4th of July Party". It's a classic party with all the family, loads of food, a game or two of croquet, and lots of kids playing hard. Every year it's a blast, and this year was no exception.

The party is always topped off with everyone sitting on Doug and Susie's front lawn to watch the fireworks. Although we SEVERELY missed our WA fireworks (everything there is legal), it was still a fun show. It was Logan's first year of joining the celebrations, since the past 2 years he has fallen asleep. He was absolutely entranced with the whole fireworks party as you can see:

(I know, I know, he still uses his middle finger as his pointer...
there is simply nothing to be done about it - believe me, I have tried.)

Korben was as happy as he could be with some sparklers, snappers, and a few glow sticks - oh, and with getting to help Dad use the blowtorch:

I had wanted to get a family picture during the day since our last family picture was taken a year ago. I should have know it would never happen with all the festivities. However, as I was going through our pictures I found two that when put together kind of made a family picture...for now, it will have to do. :D

Thanks Harrison Family for a great 4th of July!

Summer 2010

2 Years Old

I took this picture of Logan to remind me of how early on he became proficient at using the computer. We have a computer connected to our tv that has all of our movies and tv shows on it. Logan could easily navigate the menus to find exactly what movie he wanted and use the mouse to skip to his favorite parts. He could also connect to my blog, scroll through to find the Mother's Day youtube video and use that to link to the gummy bear video that he loved. At two years old. Amazing.

John's Wedding In July, John & Audi were married in Denver at a beautiful marina. Mike, Kara, Kimber & I all flew together, and shared a hotel room and a rental car. Needless to say, by the end of the 2 days we had laughed ourselves silly. At one point we had Mike, me, Kara, Kells, & Mom all packed in one car. The polygamist jokes were abundant and the laughter was non-stop. We played games Fullmer style which meant all night and overly exuberant. The wedding was beautiful and it was cool to see just how the Marines do it. It was great to see how loved John was by everyone and we were more than happy to welcome Audi into our family.

Gateway Children's Museum

When we moved to Utah I purchased a 6 month pass for the SLC Children's Museum. We went at least once a week during the summer until school started. The boys looked forward all week to our visits. I learned to dress the boys identical after the first visit because it made it easier to spot them in a crowd. It was also great to have the pass because there wasn't any pressure to see it all in one trip - so if the boys wanted to spend the entire time in one area I didn't feel like I needed to get my money's worth.

Both the boys loved the food conveyor. For some reason they figured if it was good enough for food, it was good enough for people. By the time we got to our last trip, Korben was using it as a surfing tool. It was great to see the boys play so well together and also to see Korben interact with other kiddos.

Cami & Ben's Sealing

In August, Cami, Ben & George were sealed in the Twin Falls Temple. It was awesome to be there with family and see such a wonderful ordinance take place. The best part was when they brought George in to join his parents. He had the biggest blue eyes that were in awe of all that was around him. I was so grateful that we lived near the family and could be a part of such a wonderful life event.

The Little Gym

Korben's teachers recommended that he join a club or group for the summer in order to learn from other kids in a group setting. We decided to have him attend the little gym for the summer. He absolutely LOVED it. It was a great outlet for him during the break from school and something we will probably do each summer since it helps him socially and physically.

Stadium Of Fire 2010

Just another one of the many perks of working for APX -
field seats at the Stadium of Fire.

A few of my favorite things:
* Jenny Oaks Baker - Holy cow that girl can play the violin!

* Awesome Fireworks - who doesn't love fireworks to the Music Man?

* Carrie Underwood Live - My first concert and at only 18 rows from the front it was awesome!

A few things I didn't like:

* The annoying girl in front of us that wouldn't stop standing on her chair...

* The speakers were so loud my ears were ringing for days
(does that make me old?)

* The fireworks that shot into the seats about 10 feet from us. A few injuries (minor), screaming, and police everywhere kind of puts a damper on a fireworks finale.

All in all it was a fabulous experience. Thanks Tessa for watching the boys, thanks Mike for a fun date, and thanks APX for the free tickets!

Irony of the Broken Toe

Yesterday I spent nearly 3 hours on the phone working on medical bills.

One of my phone calls was to an urgent care clinic that I had over payed. When I asked about a refund, the receptionist said, "Normally what we do is keep the money for the next time that you come in." And I said, "I don't really think that we will be coming in anytime soon. So if you wouldn't mind sending out a refund check instead, that would be great. "

It was during my last call, while Korben and Logan were watching a movie, that I heard Korben screaming. I don't know what he did, but he was in agony and in between sobs was saying that his foot hurt. I tried to touch it to assess the damage but he would scream and flinch away if I got near it. I figured he had just jammed it pretty good so had him lay down and he promptly fell asleep.

When Mike got home a few hours later Korben was still saying his foot hurt and wouldn't let Mike look at it either. Since Korben wouldn't even walk on it, we thought it would be best to take him to the clinic and make sure he was okay. Yup, the same clinic that I had called earlier saying I wanted my refund....how's that for irony?

When I was asked to pay the copay, I got to explain that I was the person that had called in earlier asking for a refund- oh yeah, and would it be possible to apply that money to the copay still? The billing lady made sure that I knew she had already processed a check, but they did let me apply the credit...crow sufficiently eaten.

After a checkup and two x-rays, the diagnosis was a badly compressed and slightly cracked big toe.

Korbs Foot

If you look closely at the x-ray, you can see a long foot bone then some small circles and then the toe bones. Notice on Korben's big toe how the circle isn't separate from the bone? That would be the compression. Those bones don't grow together until the teen years, so he jammed it pretty hard. You can't see it in the picture (cell phone camera), but he has a crack in his biggest bone (where that compression is) in the shape of a lightning bolt
.

Prognosis: Completely recovered after 2-3 weeks in a protective shoe.

Korben was such a champ with the doctor and during the x-rays. When he saw the pictures of his foot, he said, "Look Mommy, it's dry bones!" (Mario Party 7) and "I love x-rays!". When he saw his new shoe he said, "Wow! That's a cool shoe" - and even though he doesn't have to sleep in it, it's so "cool" that he wants to. He starts at The Little Gym tomorrow - hopefully the shoe will still be cool after it inhibits him from playing on the beam. :D

Korbs Foot

Logan 2 1/2

At 2 1/2, Logan is turning into quite a character. The time is flying and just when I get used to one of his antics, he comes up with another. He is stubborn and can be a handful, but he has me wrapped right around his little finger regardless.

A few things I want to remember about Logan at this stage:

Cuteness: The boy can be exasperating, but his cuteness seems to keep him alive. :D I think this picture is a complete representation of Logan in his current state - He looks so cute and sweet and yet you can see the mischief in his eyes and smile.

Jan-May 2010

Climbing: Man, this boy can climb! I sometimes want to check that his feet aren't turning into an extra set of hands because this boy is a MONKEY! It would seem that I have raised the most self-assured boy in world. He somehow knows his abilities and doesn't doubt them for a second. As his mother, this trait is terrifying and yet at the same time makes me in awe of him.

Jan-May 2010

Fearlessness: Since Logan is so self-assured, he seems to posses a certain fearlessness that keeps me on my toes. At one time I thought Logan was on the fast track to becoming an escape artist, but he has developed into quite the stunt man - his latest stunt being the climbing pole at discovery park.

This total lack of fear also makes him quite nonchalant about things and has me doing the panicky run across the room in regular intervals. I was able to catch a moment of nonchalance on camera at the petting zoo when he stepped out of one of the windows in the play room without a second thought - almost as if he was bored. It wasn't THAT big of a drop, but the fact that he didn't pay it any attention at all had my heart stopping for a second.

Jan-May 2010

Stern Logan: Logan has developed a stern voice and can be quite the drill sergeant when he wants to be. He is excellent at giving a 1, 2, 3 count-up, pointing his finger (the middle one of course) and telling you to get to time-out. He has also picked up a few phrases from movies that he uses to keep us all in line: "It's not about you!" - Incredibles, and "Is that clear?!" - Little Mermaid. :D

Imagination: Logan has an active imagination and is always babbling to his toys to do one thing or another. My favorite is when I am getting ready in the morning and he will get a deodorant stick (EVA) and a shampoo bottle (WALLE) and pretend that they are flying through the sky. He will say, "EEEEEVVVAAA", followed by, "WAAALLLLEEEE", and then he will gracefully land them and have them kiss with a resounding, "Mwuah". I wish I had it on video.

He also seems to think that he can make himself invisible. I will watch him stand very still and close his eyes and then try to sneak somewhere as if I can't see him. He also thinks that as long as he looks away from me, when heading somewhere he shouldn't, that I won't know he is doing it. Cute little imp.

My baby has grown up and is keeping me on my toes, and while I don't miss the "baby stage", he will always be my baby.

Love you Logan Spencer...

Discovery Park

I have lots of things to blog about...like 6 months of life that is missing from this year. Someday I will get to all those blogs in an attempt to keep up our family journal. There was a time when that journal was so well documented that all the silly little things we did were included. Now I am lucky to even get the big events jotted down.

In the list of things I want to post about, this one is the easiest to get to. :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since moving to Utah, we have found and fallen in love with Discovery (or in Korben's words 'Scovery) Park. It's an ultimate jungle gym, playland, and climbing set in Pleasant Grove, UT. I imagine it will be a favorite for my boys for years to come.

For Logan it is a place to climb and test his limits with dead defying stunts:
Discovery Park
For Korben it is a place to study and explore and hide in nooks and crannies:
Discovery Park
For Mike it is a place to be silly and pretend to be a kid again:

Discovery Park
And for me, it is a place to take all 3 of my rambunctious boys to be entertained for hours on end. Best of all - it's FREE. :D

Happy Mother's Day!

Sorry I hijacked your blog, Kate. Happy Mother's Day! I can't believe how fast time goes by. You've been a mom for over four years! It seems like just yesterday that we started dating.

You are such a good mom to our little boys. I couldn't have picked a better person to spend my life with. You are such a loving mom, and you always put the boys first. I love that about you.

We've done so many things together in such a short time! I can't wait to see what lies ahead. It has been 6 great years. It makes me so happy that I get to come home to you, and wake up next to you.

Thank you for showing the boys and I so much love every day! We miss you like crazy and can't wait for you to get back!

I love you!