Saturday, February 5, 2011

2010 Wrap Up

Yes, I've been out of the blogging world for a few months, but all for good reasons :) Life is so good!! But has been so busy! Here are some of the highlights from the end of our 2010:

Uncle Kurt's Return from the Helsinki Finland Mission! We were so happy we got to be there to watch him step off the airplane :) He looked so great and though he has an added sense of maturity and growth, he still has his wonderful sense of humor! My sister Lizzy and her husband Dave who live in CT couldn't be there, so we had them on Skype :) Bree had been so excited all day, and had been telling Gabe how much he was going to love Uncle Kurt. Even though she was barely 2 yrs. old when he left, she acted like she remembered him perfectly. She was so diligent about praying for him daily and could not stop talking about him all day. His plane didn't come in until 11 PM, and as soon as she saw him she got a little nervous, and went and hid under the benches! But it didn't take long before she and Kurt were best friends again! Gabe warmed up in no time as well...and as Bree said in her prayers just this week, "We are so grateful Kurt is home!"

NOVEMBER FUN! Our little Bree bird has had a busy Fall! She is LOVING pre-school (and all the fun things they get to make), hiking with daddy is a new favorite, she joined a soccer team and for the most part had a great time (though she is by far the fastest on her team, hopefully the connection between "running fast" and "kicking the ball" will come! I didn't think I would get so into it while watching her! Had to remind myself constantly, "...she's only three years old...she's only three..."), and of course, Bree loves dance :) She is a natural and did such a great job in the Christmas concert! Gabe of course is her biggest fan through it all! He LOVED the soccer games and never stopped cheering, "Ra ra ra ra ra, gooooo Bree!" And you would have thought Bree was the star of her dance class with how excited Gabe was watching! All smiles the whole time :) Such a proud brother!

~THANKSGIVING in UTAH~ Snow snow snow! Oh Bree and Gabe loved the snow...not to mention Robbie was in heaven as well. He loves to plow the driveway! (And yes, Gabe is in a pink snow suit...but we can't be too picky when we don't have any snow stuff!) The kids loved the carriage ride, the Christmas lights, and Thanksgiving at the ranch was awesome! (Unfortunately we didn't get many pictures there.) AND we got to spend a little time at Opa Rollie and Oma Phyllis's! I love my sweet grandparents and love that any time we are there our time is filled with music of some sort. Bree and Gabe love them! But of course the best part of being in Utah is cousins! Gabe couldn't get enough of baby Summer (sometimes we'd have to break him away from holding on to her!), and Bree and Grace were by each other's sides most of the time, laughing and running non-stop. So fun! Thank you Grammy and Grandpa for such fun!

~CHRISTMAS~ Then in no time at all we were back in Utah for a Christmas we have been waiting for...the first time the Henderson family has been together in EIGHT years!! Each of our missions have overlapped...I went to Hungary starting in 2003, Michael left for the West Indies in 2004, Lizzy left for Croatia in 2005, and then Taylor left for Russia in 2006 (then Lizzy came home and at least there was only one missionary out at a time, not two!), and then Kurt barely missed Taylor as he left for Finland the end of 2008. So this Christmas was a gift for our sweet mother...all of her children home at last! It was such a blessing to have that missionary spirit in our home though, and we all made such amazing memories, learned so much, and are each SO grateful we had the opportunity to serve! But oh Christmas was such a blast! My mom had the most delicious meals planned (and each of the girls got to plan a breakfast...nice work ladies! They were all delish!) We did a fun service project, played outside, the boys played golf (it wouldn't be a trip to St. George without a round of golf!), and we even had a mad game of Around the World ping pong (I even won a round!). The only damper perhaps was our fault...Bree and Gabe had the flu the weekend before we got there, and the Robbie came down with it the day before...we offered not to come, but Grandma Carrie said no way! Alas, after an amazing German meal on Christmas Eve, Kurt, Taylor, Michael, Rachel and Lizzy all woke up in the night with some variation of the flu...needless to say opening presents wasn't quite the same with half the family passed out on the ground! Oh I felt SO bad! Fortunately by the end of the day everyone was feeling much better, and we still had a fun filled three days afterwards :) A Christmas to Remember, that's for sure! Thank you mom and dad for such an amazing time! I LOVE YOU FAMILY!

All in all our 2010 ended with a bang. What a wonderful year!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

It's a...

BOY!! We are SO excited! Bree of course since she knew I was pregnant has been very vocal about wanting a girl. But Robbie and I always say, "but it could be a boy" and have referred to the baby as he OR she. Last week when we found out Bree didn't have school today, and my appointment was in the morning, Robbie said we should all go together! So we have been talking about it all week long and this morning Bree informed us that she, "would be happy if it was a girl or a boy." And boy was she! It was the cutest when the doctor said, "Well it looks like it's a boy!" Bree started jumping up and down and squeeled with delight. I am so happy that Gabe will have a little brother and that hopefully we can get some more boy stuff around this house :)

And just to report, Bree had a successful soccer game last week! I was amazed actually at how into it I got though...there was this girl on the other team that was really good, super fast and scoring like crazy. Well, Bree is actually really fast (fastest on her team by far) and I was like, C'mon! You are faster than her, go take the ball away! Then I'm like, oh gee mom, she is 3 years old and hardly even has a grasp around the concepts of the game yet! Funny.

Fall is upon us and I am glad becaue most all of my maternity clothes are for winter! We can't wait for Thanksgiving in Provo and just hope there is some snow for Bree and Gabe to play in! We got out the winter hats and gloves today for our morning walk (I know we're in AZ but it was chilly!) and they were SO excited...Gabe wanted to wear his all day :) I'm so grateful for my beautiful children who make me laugh every day. Tonight at dinner Robbie asked them what their favorite boy name was for the baby and Bree said, "Kee" and Gabe said something even more weird. But as we were talking about names I felt my first kicks! Three in a row! It was like, "Hey I know you guys are talking about me!" We can't wait for this sweet baby to join our family!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Where does the time go!

Has it really been over a month since I've been on here?! Crazy! It's been a full and fun month here at the Harmon home. Here are a few highlights:

On our way to Provo for Robbie's brother's wedding, we spent a week in St. George! We enjoyed a wonderful General Conference, got to cheer on my brother Taylor in the St. George marathon (Go Tay!) and wanted to watch Sarah's last soccer game...but it got rained out :( we were SO bummed. The kids had a BLAST playing in the play room, on the trampoline, playing with the cat, feeding Sarah's dog Chooky, and Opa Ralph even came down while we were there! It's always a treat to see him since we hardly ever get to. And at 92 we treasure every time! He just LOVES Robbie :)

Then we went up to Provo where Robbie's brother Tanner married the wonderful Kassi Anderson. They were married in the Mt. Timpanogos temple by her grandfather. Everything turned out beautifully...after a week of rain, many prayers were answered when we had a clear sunny day for the pre-ception, and the day of the wedding was so nice too! We're so happy for Tanner!!

And then we got to spend the week after just playing! (Well, Robbie had to work every day, but could play in the evenings!) The highlight (as always) was the ranch... Gabe absolutely LOVED the horses. He couldn't get enough of feeding them...as you can see almost his entire hand is in the horses mouth, and he would squeel with joy!

He LOVED the four-wheeler, the scooter, and grandpa's truck. Such a boy! And it was so fun watching him. Bree loves it all too, but this was Gabe's first time being old enough to really enjoy the ranch.

Bree loved spending time with her cousins Grace and Summer, her grandparents and aunts and uncles...but for some reason, Uncle Adam just has a special place in her heart. And when he is around she only wants to be with him!

Bree loves being a princess at Grammy's. With so many fun dress ups and girly things, she is in heaven. (So fun...at Grammy's house :)

Gabe was a little bit of a stinker however...if I even left the room he would cry out, "Mommy! Mommy! And start crying if I didn't answer immediately. I don't know if he was afraid I was going to leave him or what, but it sure made it hard, especially since he wanted nothing to do with anyone else :( It comes with the age I guess, and living away...but boy was it hard! He was a little like that in St. George too. So sitting with Grammy to read a book was BIG! Hopefully Thanksgiving will be better!

Halloween was...halloween. We had fun and all, but after a ward party the weekend before, and then Bree's preschool halloween party, I was all halloweened out. I tried for a few days to just let the kids have candy when they asked so that it wouldn't be a big deal...but after six or seven peices and I said that was enough Gabe would lose it. It was like they never have candy or something! Well, ok, so at my house they don't. But they have other sweet things! So Friday all the candy suddenly was "gone" and we were done with Halloween :) On Sunday the kids didn't even know the difference :) But the best part about that weekend was a surprise visit from Grandma Carrie, Grandpa Lon and Sarah! They worked it out with Robbie and got in late Thursday night and he left the from door open and they just slipped in and slept in the guest room which is right by the front door. Friday morning about 6 we went out with the kids for breakfast, the kids were sitting on the bar stools and I went to get the cereal, I came around the corner and screamed when I saw them! It was the BEST surprise ever!! They hadn't been here since we've lived in Arizona and I had so been wanting them to come. And the best part was, Gabe was a completely different grandchild. He sat on grandpa's lap, went with them places, let them help him...and didn't care about mommy :) It was the best.

I was so excited too because they got to come to Bree's first soccer game! Well, I was excited until we were there. As you can see, the lack of nap that day and all the excitement didn't prove helpful to her soccer skills...yes, my child cried the entire time. We tried everything. Don't you hate when you are the mom that people are feeling bad for!

It was so much fun having them here though. I decided it's totally different having family here than being there. Though just being around family is great, letting them be around the kids when they are in "their" element is ideal :) We can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas! More fun in Utah!

AND...I guess I haven't posted anything about being pregnant yet?! I won't say much, but we're 18 weeks along and we find out next week what we are having! So expect another post soon!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

My Sweet Little Girl~

I have gotten better at my journal writing lately, and maybe that is why I haven't thought of blogging much. But Bree and I had the sweetest conversation yesterday that I just had to share (and I'll do a real update soon!). I had gotten Gabe up from his nap and we went in to wake up Bree, only to find her sitting down next to the bed by the iHome on my nightstand. I said, "Oh you're already awake!" She said, "Yes, I was just listening to songs." (For the past few days she has asked for music while she does her quiet time (that usually turns into a nap) so I always turn on a playlist of spiritual music. It has several hymns on the piano and then several EFY songs.) The song that was on at the moment was a song that reminded me of a city I served in on my mission in Hungary. I told her about when I first heard that song I was in a city called Gyor. We were trying to teach a family of a father, mother, and their five year old daughter about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While they would let us come over and listen to what we were teaching, they were never willing to go to church or do anything else. It made me so sad that they were missing out on the blessings they would receive from following Jesus, and when I heard this song it gave me hope that maybe someday they would want to listen. Bree thought for a minute and then replied, "Mom, when I am older I am going to go to that city too and that little girl will be bigger and she'll be my friend and I'll teach them about the Gospel. I think they will listen to me." I kind of just looked at her and smiled and said, "Oh that would be so neat Bree. I really hope so." And then she said, "Mom, I think they'll like me better than they liked you." :) "I think so too Bree. I think so too..." Oh I love my sweet little girl.

Monday, August 30, 2010

PLEASE VOTE!!

So as some of you know I participated in and have stayed involved with the Distinguished Young Women program (formerly America’s Junior Miss...it was that thing I won my senior year). Since the city and county in Mobile, AL have had to cut their funding, this very important event for the Gulf Coast area is in jeopardy. This event has an economic impact of more than $2.5 million for the Gulf Coast area each year! This month Pepsi is giving away $250,000 grants to programs in the gulf and we are in the running! All we have to do is get the most votes! We have gone from 10th place earlier in the month to now 4th place!! The voting ends August 31st...so would you please vote? We are two spots away from winning! You must be my friend if you are reading this on my blog :) and I would be especially grateful if you could vote and forward this message to your friends as well (you can count it as my Christmas gift!). Just click: http://gulf.refresheverything.com/distinguishedyw
Be sure to click vote for this idea AFTER you log in for your vote to count.
THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Our first visitors!

We love our new house. Plenty of room for the kids to run, a back yard to play in, and best of all, a guest room! And we had our first guests this month!! First came our dear friend the Lopez family. They lived downstairs in our building back at Baity Hill (grad-school days...oh so long ago :)

and I loved Nicole from the second we hung out. She is just an amazing mom and just a real woman. Amazing. We were SO honored to have them in our home! Bree talked about Maddox every day from the time we heard they were coming. We had a blast at the pool, the train park, and just hanging out at the house. It was going to be Nicole's birthday the following week, so one night we got the kids in bed and made home-made Cafe Rio and celebrated early! I had been working on her birthday gift for the previous month and was so grateful she loved it (she made me feel like she loved it so much...it made me feel so good :) especially since it took a lot more work than I thought! (Thank you for the help Heather!) We really had such a great time and are so grateful they took time out of their San Diego vacation to come visit us!! We love you guys!!

THEN, last weekend one of my friends from Dancers' Company at BYU got married (Horray Alisa!). Oh she was such a beautiful bride. So two other friends also from company came down and stayed with me! Lisa and Amy were an instant hit with Bree. Bree had to wear her pink dress to the temple to match Amy, and she wanted Amy to "babysit" instead of me :) These girls are both amazing dancers and amazing women. I loved getting to talk with them and learn from them. We had such a wonderful time and I was blessed to get to spend time with these beautiful women!

So, now our guest room is available for anyone else who wants! (Hint hint family!!) You even get your own bathroom!

4th of July!!

It seems like the 4th of July was ages ago, but I have to do a little recap because it was simply the best week of the year so far! The most special part about it was that my sweet 92 year old Grandpa Ralph was chosen with his three brothers and one brother-in-law to be honored as one of the Freedom Award Recipients. Every year they choose three or four people who have "Demonstrated unusual or extraordinary devotion to the cause of freedom and America’s traditional values" and honor them all through the week. They hold a beautiful awards gala where the recipients get their awards, give a little speech and they show a video recaping the reason they were chosen for the award. We got to go last year and this year too and it has been one of the most inspiring events I have ever attended.

Then they get to ride in the parade (he's the one on the left), and they honor them at the Stadium of Fire (he got to meet Carrie Underwood...but after he shook her hand he leaned over to my dad and said, "Who is she?"). He was SO excited about everything, SO cute in his tux, and I was SO proud to be his granddaughter. I was priviledged to help him put his WWII journal into a book (with lots of historical context, maps, etc...) as my Honors Thesis in college so I have spent a lot of time with him talking about his WWII years. I have an amazing grandpa. And Carrie Underwood was amazing by the way. Probably my favorite perfomer! During "Jesus Take the Wheel" she broke out in "How Great Thou Art"... I get chills again just thinking about it. And since my grandpa was being honored we had lots of cousins in town whom I haven't seen forever! We had a breakfast at the park and a big game of baseball. As we were finishing my grandpa came over and said, "Well I want to hit!" Robbie was pitching and was so relieved when grandpa hit it after like 10 swings :) He didn't want to be the grandson-in-law who struck out the 92 year old grandpa!!

Also that weekend we had our first ever Henderson Family Reunion, with just my siblings and parents. We stayed together in a cabin at Sundance and oh how gorgeous. One morning the guys went golfing and us girls went for a run and then did yoga/toning exercises on the patio...it was so fun :) We had a family "talent show" which was hilarious, did family pictures, played games (Ya Big Booty!), and of course had delicious food. My parents put so much time and effort into making it a memorable weekend and boy was it. We all just can't wait to be together again for Thanksgiving when my brother Kurt will be home from serving in Finland! The first time our family will all be together in EIGHT years!! (All of our missions have overlapped!) I love my siblings (and their spouses) so much and can't believe how blessed we are to have eachother! It was truly a wonderful weekend. Thank you mom and dad!

Harmon's Haven