Meeska, Mooseka, Mickey Mouse!

Harrison turned one. I am so happy and so sad. I can't believe how big he's gotten and all of the new things he's learning. It's so crazy to me that a person can change and learn so much in just one short year! To celebrate, we went to a place called Jumping Jacks, which is pretty much a big room with lots of blow up slides and bouncy toys. He loved it! I have never seen this kid more hyper.

The next day we had his birthday party with my side and zac's side of the family. It was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party. My mom and I spent all afternoon decorating and we were pretty happy with the results.


Harrison loved his party. He had so much fun opening all the presents and eating his very own cake, as you can see, and his tummy is still paying for it!





Happy Birthday Harrison!

Starstruck

Last night was Zac's work Christmas party. It was a beautiful dinner, and the decorations I am sure cost so much more than our whole wedding. One of the perks about Zac's job is that we sometimes get to go to parties with some prestigious 65+ers , which is fun for me just as long as I don't have to talk to them, because a room full of them is really intimidating. No big deal, we'll just sit safely by Zac's work friends... the other 4 people in the room in our demographic, right? Uhm, no. They had place cards and seating assignments, all meticulously planned out so that us little people would have no chance but to sit next to and eat with the ones that make us nervous. Gulp. After the initial 2 minutes where we were politely and zealously bombarded with questions (one of these couples is not like the others) it was really fun to listen to everyone's intelligent conversations and politely nod. Does anyone else get really freaked out by being with important, fascinating people? In the end we had a great night and left without saying anything really stupid, and we even won one of the beautiful centerpieces.

And because it wasn't the type of place to take pictures since apparently no one else was starstruck, we decided to snag some sort of momento from the night. So after he left, we snatched the placecard of the gentleman sitting behind us who, I must admit, I have a little crush on.

Mr. Destructo

Oh Harrison. This boy keeps me busy. He started walking and needless to say is into EVERYTHING. I was making cookies last night and Zac asked Harrison if he wanted to give Maisey a dog treat. We are trying to teach him the difference between his toys and food and Maisey's toys and food. Either way, everything pretty much goes into his mouth and it grosses me out. So anyway, Zac pulls out the dog treats, hands the bag to harrison and says probably ten times "No, give it to Maisey." then "Good boy!" After a couple of minutes I realize it is quiet, which is weird. I look down and see Harrison and Maisey sitting on the kitchen floor, surrounded by dog treats that Harrison somehow opened the bag and dumped all over the floor. Maisey is going crazy eating treats and Harrison looks up at me with his cheeks all puffed up. Yes, he was having a feast too. Disgusting. These aren't just like little dog bones. They are called "Mar-o Treats"...gag... and they are stuffed with a nasty meat substance. No more lip kisses for awhile, at least until I forget about this whole incident. Maisey is just as naughty. As you can see in the picture below, she is right there with him when he gets into trouble. She follows this boy everywhere, and anytime she knows food may be involved I swear I can hear her tell him "Get some for me too!" Gotta love my two troublemakers.

Fall so far

I have been horrible about blogging lately. I figured that since I have so much to catch up on I would just do a slideshow, so here goes! If you care what the picture is about drag your mouse over the slideshow.

History

I am more proud to be an American today than I ever have been. I didn't think this election would effect me this way, but I have been so emotional and sobby ever since I found out that starting next year we will have an African-American President. This country that we live in is so incredible and last night is proof. It doesn't matter which political party you belong to. It doesn't matter what your beliefs are. A people who have been fighting for so long for the same rights as others and have suffered just because of the color of their skin finally feel vindicated. Congratulations! I am so proud to be an American and a part of history when the first African-American became President of the United States, most especially when so many African-Americans never thought they would live to see this day. Most of us will never understand, can never comprehend, the suffereing of so many because of the color of their skin. After the announcement last night I watched many people sobbing in disbelief. Whoopi Goldberg described how she felt about it this morning on The View. She said that she has always felt like she was an American but she feels like she can finally set her suitcase down. Sherri Sheperd sobbed as she told her son that he can be President. This is one huge, long-overdue step towards breaking down all the barriers for anyone who has suffered because of their skin color. I pray that one day everyone, no matter what their difference, will be given a truly fair chance at anything they desire. I applaud Barack Obama for the huge ceiling that he has shattered for all of us. What he has done is an incredible feat. I pray that none of us will take for granted this great country and the rights that we all posess. Thank you Barack Obama for being brave enough to face this enormous challenge. Congratulations to anyone who has ever been discriminated for any reason. This is a victory for us all.

Can I also say how great it is to see a President who outwardly adores his family? Love it!

Thankful Thursday

* The weather is just perfect so that I can open the windows in my house to keep it cool and I can hear the kids playing at the park across the street

* I was folding laundry this morning and Harrison was sitting right in the middle of the pile throwing clothes around when the "Elmo's World" song came on (for any of you that ever have Sesame Street on at your house)and he snapped his head up to look at the TV and started laughing. Love his laugh

* I am not wearing any makeup because I ran out of it yesterday, so I have been rubbing my eyes and face all day and it is nice for a change

* I think I know what I am making for dinner tonight

* The Office is on tonight

* Halloween is next week, which means I get to put Harrison in his monkey costume that I bought in August - it can't come soon enough.

* The laundry is done for the week

* Maisey is asleep on the couch, curled up like a cat. She is so funny.

* The pinatas I am making for the family Halloween party are almost done, and they are looking pretty good!

* The mountains by our house are so pretty, especially this time of the year, and I have a great view of them from my computer.

* Harrison is starting to eat more and more solid food every day. He turns 1 in about a month, which means no more formula! Can't wait for that.

* Zac is in cub scouts and last night was the pumpkin carving pack meeting. We managed to haul 30 pumpkins into the church and the boys carved them without any injuries and without ruining the carpet in the church.

* I get to vote, which is a big blessing. And I get to vote early, which means that I don't have to wait in the super long lines on November 4th. Plus I will probably get one of those cute stickers that says "I Voted" with a fingerprint on it.

Crazy Bus

We live in Provo and Zac works in Salt Lake. The commute is a bit long, not to mention expensive and Zac's work pays for him to have a UTA pass, so he rides the bus. He is an early bird and much prefers to leave at 5:30 AM and get home at 5:30 PM rather than leave at 6:30 and get home at 6:30. I have never thought that anything exciting happens that early in the morning, but Zac's bus experiences are starting to prove me wrong. On more than one occasion, Zac has called me and said "I am so lucky to be alive! The bus driver nearly drove us off the road 4 different times today!" So understandably, I am a little worried about his safety every time he leaves for work and I say to him at least twice before he walks out the door "Be so careful!" He gets to work at about 7 in the morning and Harrison and I are usually still asleep, so Zac doesn't call before 9 or 10 to make sure not to wake us up. Which is why I was a little worried when the phone rang at 7 this morning.

Zac: You are not going to believe what happened to me this morning! I am still shaking!
Me: (Freaking out) Are you okay?

He proceeds to tell me that when he got on the bus this morning, he sat next to a guy who had a backpack in his lap and was sleeping with this head against the window. No big deal. They keep the lights out on the bus that early because almost everybody sleeps. A couple minutes later they are on the freeway going 75, the guy puts his face against the window and starts to act a little weird. "He's probably just having a dream or something." So Zac sits back in his chair and tries to doze off. Then out of nowhere the guy chucks his backpack onto Zac and clings to the window, trying to open it. Zac is thinking "Holy cow, this guy is trying to jump out the window!" So Zac grabs onto the guy and struggles with him to get him away from the window. A man behind Zac sees what's going on and tries to fight him off the window so he can close it. With all the commotion going on, everyone just watches. They finally get the bus driver to pull over and the guy sort of gave up. Zac looked at the him and noticed that his eyes were rolled back in his head and yells for help. A lady in the back says "I'm trained. I can help him!" She looked at him and he came to. She said that he seemed okay and that they could keep going, but Zac wasn't convinced, so they called the paramedics. A firetruck, police car and ambulance later they said that the guy was okay to get back on the bus. Apparently the man had a seizure. He had one of those pill boxes that you put all your medications in for the month, so maybe he has epilepsy or something. Understandably, he was embarassed when he got back on the bus. He thanked Zac for helping him and they chatted for a minute before the guy leaned back up against the window. I am glad Zac was there to help him, but I am seriously considering chauffering him to work from now on.