It'S a BoY!!

JUNE/JULY

He is here!! Kasen Shane Harris was born on June 29, 2010 at 9:45 a.m. He weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. At thirty seven weeks gestation, on the evening of Monday June 28th, at around 6:30, I felt the first contractions coming on. We started timing them when I realized that they were getting regular. All of my labors have been really long so we had Rob and Rachael take the other kids for the night just in case this was it. I called my Dr. at around 9:00 p.m. to give him a heads up. He said to wait a little longer to see if the intensity of the contractions grew. We were checked into the hospital at around 11:45 p.m. The contractions were still consistantly coming every five minutes although the progression was SLOW!! At five a.m. the doctor came and broke my water after I received the much anticipated epidural. Needless to say, it was a really, REALLY long night. At 9:00 a.m. I was still at four cm. By 9:30 I shot to a ten. Three pushes and Kasen was born at 9:45 a.m. Right away, he cried the sweetest little cry. I remember being so grateful for such a great delivery and a healthy baby. Kasen had a ton of black hair and had huge feet and large hands for a baby so small! He was perfect in every way!

All ready to go home June 30, 2010

Rachael and all of the kids made this poster and decorated the house, mailbox, and garage with balloons and decorations.

Kasen's first sponge bath. He loved getting his hair washed, but hated the sponge down part!!

FOURTH OF JULY

We spent the fourth of July in Soda Springs. Kasen and I stayed at Mom and Dad Heuseveldt's house while the rest of the gang attended the parade. We set off a few fountain fireworks that night at the house.

Parker really got into the catching candy thing at the parade. Tay and B were good help for him. Shane and the kids stood with the Rob Heuseveldt clan while watching the parade.
PARKER'S BIRTHDAY PARTIES

Parker had two birthday parties. One here with Shane's family and one in Soda with my family. He received a ton of Toy Story characters and loved them. Aunt Jen Balls made Parker two cakes because I was still recovering from having the baby. He LOVED them! Check out the pictures. One is a dinosaur cake and another is a spiderman cake. Happy fourth birthday Parker! We love you!

Parker couldn't wait to dig in!! (There were a few finger prints in the frosting. Hmmm!?)

CAMPING IN THE TETONS WITH GRANDMA AND GRANDPA HEUSEVELDT

It's nap time after a long day of fishing for the boys!

Taylor caught this one but wouldn't touch it!!! She drove the boat while trolling the rest of the time. (I don't blame you Tay!!)
Ok, I deleted this picture accidentally. I dont' know how to retrieve it!!! OOOPs!!

Brennen and his big catch!

Parker and his catch!

BABY SHOWER!

Rachael threw an awesome baby shower for me. It was a "Diaper Dessert" exchange. I was able to stock up on a ton of diapers!!

HOT DOG!

Right by our house is a canyon. We knicknamed this place "hot dog" because that is where we went and roasted hot dogs with the kids and some of their friends. It is so beautiful there!

BASEBALL FOR B

GRANDPA JOLLEY-GRANDMA'S BOOK

MAY

Our cousin from St. George visited us for almost a week! Taylor had a ton of fun playing with Maycee. We made German Pancakes for breakfast one of the mornings. (A family favorite!)

On Memorial Day Weekend, we went to St. Anthony. We visited Dad Harris's grave. We love you grandpa!!

While we were in St. Anthony, Shane's cousin Shannon and her girls and Shane's Aunt Debra visited as well. We went to the Assisted Living Center to see Shane's Grandma and Grandpa Ward.


Shane and Taylor went to an end of the school year "Breakfast with dads" at Taylor's school.
Taylor was in a singing group called "Valley Voices". For their end of the season show, she had a small part to memorize for the comentary. She did great!
In our school for fifth grade, students have to choose between being in the orchestra or playing the guitar. Taylor is learning how to play the voilin. This is the end of the year show for all of the parents.
Brennen was in a singing group for his school called the "Aftones". They sang at the Nursing Home, the Senior Center, and for the school at an assembly. He is the tallest kid in his grade. (Best looking one too!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TAYLOR!

For Taylor's birthday, it was a year for just a family party. We had family come to town from both sides for a hamburger bbq. I can't believe that Taylor is eleven years old. She is growing up so quickly into a sweet young lady. Love you Tay!

Cake anyone?

BRENNEN'S SECOND PINE WOOD DERBY

Brennen had an awesome car this year. He took second place in his Bear troup. He was pretty excited! Way to go B!

Catching Up!

Are you ready for all of my excuses? Our internet service where we live stinks and takes FOREVER to upload posts. (Fiber optic wires coming in soon!) I have been sick, ok, only for three months and for good reason! We had to get a new camera because our other one was biting the dust. I've been busy?? Doing What? Subbing, only a couple of days a week though. I've been playing match box cars and guy guys with Parker, ok, not all day! ENOUGH ALREADY! I just plain haven't been messing with the blog. Maybe because I heard a talk on blogging and facebooking not being worthy of a Mother's time and the guilt took over me. Hmm. It is my journal though so there's my start up excuse.
I am grateful for so many things that have happened this past year. I am so blessed! I can't not share all of these exciting moments with my family and friends. Here's some highlights of the year. We sold our home in Idaho and bought one here in Wyoming. The kids and Shane started a new year in school and have had a great year. I took an online class and received my certification for Wyoming Substitute Teaching. Parker started preschool. Probably our most exciting news of the whole year is that we are going to have another baby in our home in July! (I thought I was done with diaper bag toting days.) It's amazing as we look back on coming here to Wyoming the blessings of this move. I have loved being home for our kids and having the opportunity to bring another little blessing into our home. I am able to work subbing as little or as much as I want. (Lately, with the big belly issue it's getting less and less!) I won't be subbing for a few years after the baby gets here. What joy I find each day in being a wife and a mother. I am grateful for a Father in Heaven who has given me, and entrusted me with beautiful, good kids and an awesome husband. I know I don't' deserve it, but somehow, I have received it. I am grateful for this Easter Season to remember the death and resurrection of my Savior. I only hope that I can follow his example--that every day I will be able to try a little harder to be a little better. Life is good!

FOLLOWING: A TON OF CATCHING UP!

APRIL 2010

Happy Easter!Decorating Easter eggs-amazingly enough, we let Parker do his all by himself and not one spill, but we did have PLENTY of cracked eggs!!!!

Parker at the Dentist! This was Parker's fourth time at the dentist and I finally remembered my camera! He did great!

JANUARY 2010

We just love watching our kids play! Brennen was helping Parker to sled on one of our snow mounds in our yard. I hope he will always set a great example for his little brother!

Brennen received his "honors" award for reading at school. He has always loved to read and has caught the reading bug. This year his favorite reading series was the Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief series. He read all of the books within a months time. Not bad for just third grade nine year old! Most sixth graders are reading these books now. We are so proud of his determination in education. When the students get this award this year, they receive a camping hat and are honored in an assembly. Keep it up B!

Happy New Year! The Heuseveldt side of the family gathered at our house to celebrate and ring in the New Year! We had a ton of fun eating mom's famous prime rib dinner and an evening full of snacking, playing band hero (adults only!) Another wii was brought so the younger boys played wii downstairs. The girls did craft projects at the table while Grandpa Heuseveldt taught them how to play card and a lot of board games. We rang in the new year with pots, pans and honking car horns! The next morning, Rob brought over his snow machine and drove around our property with the kids all in tow behind him! (All eleven of them!)

DECEMBER 2009-CHRISTMAS!

Christmas 2009! This is the last Christmas we will have with just three kids! Yes! Exciting news in the Harris house. We are expecting number four! We love Christmas time for the opportunity we have to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We feel so grateful to know of his life and teachings and to be able to have the opportunity to follow him. What a blessing this is in our lives.
Santa finds the Harris kids every year. This year, Grandma and Grandpa Heuseveldt came to stay the night with our family. We loved having them here for Christmas. We then went to St. Anthony to visit Shane's family and enjoyed our time there too. This was a really fun year.

Parker couldn't wait to tell Santa that he wanted a Geo Trax Train. December was a fun month. Brennen had a big role in his third grade school play. He was the town mayor doing a great job!

NOVEMBER 2009-THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving was spent in Soda Springs. Parker loved spending time with his Grandpa Heuseveldt. The kids love listening to Grandma Heuseveldt's stories. She told the kids the story of the first Thanksgiving. In our genealogy, we had members of our family that attended the first Thanksgiving dinner. We love our genealogist! She does great work.

OCTOBER 2009-HALLOWEEN

Halloween was so much fun! We carved pumpkins designed by Tay and B. We had a really fun ward dinner dress up party. They had games for the kids, a spook alley, and an indoor "trunk or treat".

First snow of the season. Parker and I couldn't resist playing in the snow. Parker's favorite was knocking down our little fort!

SEPETMBER 2009

Happy, happy birthday Brennen dear! I can't believe he is nine years old! Where does the time go? Love you B-Man!

AUGUST 2009

We took one last opportunity to go to Lagoon before it closed for the season. This time, we took Parker for the first time. He absolutely LOVED it! He couldn't wait to ride on a train. He enjoyed a lot of the rides for kids. Taylor was really sweet and rode the kiddy rides with him while the big boys went on the big rides. This was so much fun to have the whole family there.

August has been a crazy month for our family. We sold our home in Idaho and were able to purchase one in Star Valley. It is out in the country on one acre. We absolutely love it! I didn't take any pictures of the move unfortunately so, the first day of school is the only glimpse you get of our house! Oh yes, I was the annoying mom taking pictures of the kids loading the bus! Tay and Brennen were so excited. Parker was lonely all day until they got home!

First day of school August 2009.

For the Harris Family Reunion in August, we went to Logan, Utah and stayed at the Crystal Inn. We attended the Martin Harris Pageant which was really exciting for our family. We are directly related to Martin Harris, witness of the Book of Mormon. Eldest son straight down to our Brennen through the Carolyn Young line. Oddly enough, this was our first opportunity to go to this. We really enjoyed it and spending time with some of Shane's family.

On our way home, in AUGUST, we were supposed to go swimming at Bear Lake. It was only forty degrees. No swimming today, but a beautiful picture on Logan Canyon overlooking Bear Lake.

JULY 2009

We love the twenty fourth of July celebration in St. Anthony. This year, I ran in the 5-K before the parade and was cheered on by my family. We were able to watch the parade twice, once at the Jr. High and then we went to Shane's sister Vicki's house and watched it again. The girls all went to the play "Seussical" during the celebration.

One of a few trips to Lagoon this year. This is our kid's favorite place to go! On this trip, Shane, Brennen, and I conquered the Fire Dragon and Wicked!!! Brennen laughed at his mother screaming the whole way through wicked. Yes, I'm wearing a dorky fanny pack. The thinking here is practical. No purse to battle and the camera was water proof in it which is a necessity!Um, yeah, the ride wasn't moving yet! Nice pose ya'all!

PHEW!!! THE END OF CATCHING UP!!