******Loyd Harris********

Well, we knew it would happen soon, but Grandpa's passing was still a shock to most of us. I really think once Grandma went, that he just didn't want to be here anymore. He died two weeks to the day after she did. As Kenon put it, "that is the most romantic thing I have ever heard." Really it is. They were in love from the moment they met, until the very last moment. I keep thinking about the reunion that they are having right now, and it makes me so happy. The really neat part of this story is that my parents were at the temple earlier the day that he died. Grandpa's oldest brother wasn't a member, and that day they finished his work. My Dad is sure that not only was Grandma there waiting, but so were both his brothers. I love that thought. We miss them here, but I know they are somewhere playing cards and loving life again. Here's Grandpa with my Dad as a newborn.

Harris's school pics

Alright, ready for this? Harris's pics were in his backpack THE WHOLE TIME! What a spaz! I specifically asked him, "did you get your pictures today?" he said, "no, I don't know why not! Everyone else got them!" So I didn't think to look in the backpack. They've been there since yesterday. Man. Anyway, they are pretty stinkin' cute, I love that you can see his TINY little teeth in this one!

Riley's School Pics...

Oddly enough, Riley's pictures came yesterday, but Harris's didn't. Hmmm... I hope that is a sign that he forgot them, and not that they are so bad that the teacher didn't want me to get mad... :) hehehe... just kidding, I am sure he just forgot them, we are talking about the kid who lost his lunchbox 6 times in September alone... ugh. At any rate, check out how great Ry's picture is! YEAH!!! One down, one to go... I will post Harris's when they get here...

Mommy goes to Portland...

I went to Portland for my Grandma's funeral, and had a great time reconnecting with family. I really think that is what a funeral is all about. Celebrating the life of a loved one, telling favorite stories about them, and remembering/honoring the things you loved about them. Logan's birthday fell in the middle of the trip, so we went to his FAVORITE restruant, and check out the creepy mascot they have...

He may not seem so creepy, but he was asking for WAY too many hugs from Court for him to be nice... GUCK. We also had a sugar fest, which included the much loved candy corn... it's a vegetable, right?

Here's my favorite view of Portland... as seen from my AWESOME cell phone camera, going 60 miles an hour...

But while the cat's away...

Check out what a great dad David is... he took the kids to AF Canyon, which is just absoluelty GORGEOUS. Truly. It's a different beautiful than Portland, but you can't deny how amazing it is...

...and the SCARY rattlesnake warning sign... pay close attention to my drama queen Riley...

Here's a few more from the Canyon...

**Marion Harris**

Most of you don't know my Grandma, but she passed away on Friday. She'd been really sick, but it was a shock to most of us anyway. I kinda thought she was invincible, after all, she put up with my Grandpa for almost 70 years!!! She was an amazing woman, and I will miss her so much. I was lucky enough to have my parents here when we got the news, and we talked that night about our favorite Grandma memories. My absolute all time favorite was a few years ago when we were in Winnemucca for Thanksgiving. We all ate around 2-3 in the afternoon, and by that evening we were onto playing cards. We were all sitting around and Grandma asked David and I QUOTE. "David, are you hungry?" and he said, "well, yeah, I guess I could eat something..." and Grandma turns to me and says, "Jennie, get up and make him a sandwhich!". I promptly replied, "he has two arms, and two feet for that matter!" I guess times are are little different than when she and Grandpa got married... Here's a pic from their early relationship.

She will be so missed. I like to think that she's just getting things ready for my Grandpa who's been sick for a long time. It'd be just like her to want to go first so that things are ready for him.

................San Diego...................

Sigh....

This was us in San Diego. We had such an awesome time with our family. I know familes are forever, and being with mine makes me so happy that they are. We are all such good friends, it reminds me of how life is supposed to be. I guess it doesn't hurt that Todd's pool looks like it belongs in a magazine... :)

Don't ask me why, but I love this pic of David and I. It's like the paparrazzi took it of us or something... Maybe it's because we got to spend 2 seconds alone, maybe it's seeing him in swim trunks, I think it just reminds me of how much we love each other...

Riley's Birthday!!!

Poor David. Riley is getting so big, and he is STRESSED about her growing up. He's pretty much Steve Martin from "Father of the bride". She tuned 9 on the 9th, so since it was on a Sunday, Saturday before her party She and I went out for a "girl's day". She went to the local beauty school and got her hair done, nails done and a little make-up done too!

Here she is reading
"People"... (Zak Efron and Vanessa Hudgens from High School Musical were on the cover)

Here's the finished Product...

On to the Birthday party...

As you can see above, Riley is now an OUT OF CONTROL "High School Musical" fan. For those of you who don't have a little 8-14 year old, High School Musical is a Disney movie about, what else? A High School Musical. The b-day party was a hit with all the friends...

The cake... She thought it was the COOLEST!

Blowing out the candles....

Eating the cake...

And the Pinata... note that it was a pull string after the disastrous results from Tyler's party in 2003... It involves David swinging the bat, a child's head, as well as my head!! I guess that's all I'll say about that.... :)

And to finish off the day...

Riley got her ears pierced!!! What a day! We always told her when she was old enough to ask, that she could have them pierced. I think it was harder on me... She looked so stressed...

But the stress wore off quickly, and she did it! She was so brave, not a tear!!! Happy Birthday Ry!

Disneyland Part Two!!!!

So. Here's Disneyland as seen through the eyes of the Carters... We skipped all the little rides and really just hit the ones that everyone else wanted to ride too... thank heavens for Easypass! Gotta love it! We had a great time and loved getting to hang out with family! We stayed with Aunt Sherrie for the first two nights and stayed with Todd and Kristen down in San Diego for the next two. We got to be there for Dalton's baptism and that was a wonderful day! Thanks for having us everyone! :)

Here's the kids waiting for the tram to take us to the "happiest place on Earth!"

Here's the obligitory Disneyland picture. The one everyone has to take... the kids are so excited!!!

Three words for you...

Thunder Mountain Railroad, BABY!!!

Here's the "adults" going down Splash mountain the next day...

...and the kids going down... it's JUST going up the scary part!!! :)

I am putting this one on to show you guys how silly we'd gotten by the end of that first night... we have nicknamed this the "Gene Simmons" shot. See if you can guess why... :)

BROOZER'S BACK!!

So by now most of you know that our little puppy Broozer ran away! We got the call that he ran away while we were in Disneyland, and we made the decision not to tell the kids. We thought he'd e home safe and sound by the time we were. We were wrong. He was not ANYWHERE and I was starting to panic. The kids were devastated when Roxy (our old min pin) ran away, and I just couldn't face up that he was probably long gone by now. We looked in the pounds, called 3 times a day, and still nothing. I was preparing the speech to tell the kids when we got the call that he'd been spotted!! Within a few hours he was home again! Yeah! The below pics show why we were so sad! What a great little dog!!!

**PS** - The rest of the Disneyland pics should be back tomorrow! I will blog them ASAP! :)

Sleepy Broozer! What a week! Poor dog all alone on the rough streets of Provo! :)

Harris while he's "Broozer fishing"...

Jack and Broozer hanging out on the couch... Note that Broozer is SO relaxed with Jack that he's ASLEEP in one and the other he's just woken up!

Welcome Home Broozer!!!

DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So being the bone-head that I can be sometimes, I forgot my camera when we went to Disneyland. You know how it is, you are STRESSED trying to get to the airport, you leave in a hurry, you remember the forgotten item about 10 minutes after you've left, and for one second you decide whether it's worth it to turn around. In our case, I won't know for sure that it was ok to not get it, being that our little throw away camera pics aren't back yet. If they turn out, then I guess all will be worth it! But, I will share with you some pics that WERE worth something, they are the cheesy Disneyland pics that they sell you. We made Disneyland some serious cash, because we couldn't NOT get them, they were SO funny!! Here you go, and I will update the blog tomorrow or the next day when the other pics come in... :)







Here's the first time down Splash Mountain. MAN. This is the best ride EVER!! Note the look of sheer PANIC on Riley's face...
















They think they're pros now... I guess this was the third time for them. Riley had the camera figured out so she could smile at it while going down. Note the pleasant look on her face and the panic in Karin's. Over the years, Karin has not strayed from this face... I think we have 5 pics of the same look of TERROR! :) hehehe...









This one makes me laugh so hard I think I might pee a little sometimes... Harris's face is so perfect... he looks photoshopped in, I bet he wishes he was! They were TERRIFIED! I am laughing and Riley's eyebrows are vertical instead of horizontal! They wouldn't ride it again... I am so mean, because I can't look at this pic and not laugh! The gorgeous blond next to David is my Aunt Sherrie who lives in L.A. She is such a good sport to put us up for a few days and even come with us to Disneyland when it was 106 degrees!!! Seriously!!! I will post more ASAP!!

First Day Of SCHOOL!!!

What a morning! It's our first day of school here in Utah, and wanted to give you guys a peek! Riley is starting 3rd grade, and Harris is off to 2nd. They were excited but nervous this morning at having to start a new school. Again. But, I think they are normal kids, to show that, Harris asked me on the way to school this morning, "How many days until the weekend?" :) Can you believe it? Not one day of school down and he's already counting the days!

Riley and Harris on their way out the door.

Okay, ENOUGH with the awkward smile faze Harris!!! Not the greatest of Ry either... wait, why did I post this one, oh yeah it was the best of the bunch! ARGH!!!

Again, hello awkward smile.... Harris at his desk... he met one of his desk buddies yesterday at the "meet and greet". Turns out they are new to the state and in our ward! (I know, weird! Another LDS person in Utah???) Anyway, he was happy to start out with a friend.

Well hello my 25 year old looking 3rd grader! Owww... my heart hurts looking at her!

Cabella's

So. Those of us from Portland have NO IDEA what the big deal about this glorified "Larry's Sporting Goods" is. Until now. Today the kids went to go fishing at this cool little thing that Cabella's was putting on. First off, thankfully my Father in Law is a faithful Cabella's shopper. Last week they were here for Steven and Rachael's (our nephew and new niece) wedding. He signed my kids up for this fishing day. First off, remember that we are in Utah, where everyone has 10 kids and everyone is looking for a freebie. This store was large enough to accomadate all of us freebie lovers, and give out TONS of prizes, besides the fish that they stocked in their "pond". What a day! Super Dad (AKA David) went with all three kids! I was at home as my back went out yesterday, and so he took them all! Wow. They had a blast and Harris actually won one of the raffle prizes! Exibit A is above... :)

Here are some more pics of the day...

Riley climbing the Rock Wall... She has no fear!

The Boys trying hard not to be bored...

Jack looking STINKIN CUTE. He is obsessed with airplanes.

Riley and Harris showing you the Wide World of Cabella's

My little Fishermen... I dunno, do you call a little girl and fisher"woman"?