Josh and Sabrina's Greenland

Princess Harrison

2010-01-08T09:35:00.001-08:00

Harrison wanted to make a crown and wings. After we made them and he looked in the mirror he said "Harrison's a Princess!" I have tried to convince him that boys are Princes and girls are Princesses but I think it pretty much sounds the same to him.

Our baby is here!

2009-11-18T18:28:00.000-08:00

Our sweet little (not so little) boy is here.
Cole Trevor Green
9 lb. 1 oz. 23 in.

Thanks to Grandma Green for knitting the adorable beanie and cocoon for Cole!

Funniest Kid EVER!

2009-10-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Harrison and I have been taking Josh to work in the mornings. This particular morning it was pretty cold and I told Harrison to go get a hat. He grabbed 2 and began putting them both on. I put the jacket on him. He had to bring "strings" (his blanket) a ball and bear with him.

I took this picture of him and when I was getting my phone ready to take the picutre he pulled this super cheesy face.

I crack up every time I look at it!

Handsome little guy!

2009-10-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you to my friend and fabulous photographer Sarah Faubus for taking these amazing 18 mo. pics of Harrison.

These are just a few of my favorites:

It's another boy!

2009-06-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

We went in for another ultrasound today. It looks like baby #2 is going to be a boy! This little guy wasn't as cooperative as Harrison was and kept his feet crossed and his knees close to his stomach the whole time. The technician tried to get him to move so she could get a better look, but he wouldn't do it. We're excited for Harrison to have a little brother and think that he is going to be a great big brother. Everything looks good and there don't appear to be any problems with the new baby.

I think we've narrowed the names we are considering down to Ethan, Logan or Cole. What name do you like?

Two Weeks

2009-05-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

Two weeks from tomorrow we will find out if number 2 is a boy or a girl. I honestly don't have a preference this time around. I know a lot of people say that and secretly really have a preference, but in my case it's true. One one hand it would be fun to have a girl. Harrison is such a "momma's boy" that it would be fun for me to have a "daddy's girl". One the other hand it would be fun for Har to have a little brother. And since our baby will only be about 4 months younger that Jod and B's little boy, it would be fun for us to have a boy so that they could be buddies.

Here are a few names that we are liking right now:

Boys:
Logan
Ethan
Cole
Parker
Ian
Austin
Oliver

Girls:
Ruby
Iris (this is my pick, Sabrina doens't really like it)
Kennedy
Brooklynn
Emily
Taylor
Samantha

What names do you vote for?

Updates...

2009-05-12T07:48:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since we have updated our blog... Since I just taught a lesson on Sunday about keeping a journal and told the boys that this blog was basically our family journal, I figured I ought to update it. Here are a few things that have been going on:

Baby Number 2
We haven't done a very good job of letting people know this time around....so for those of you who don't already know...we're having another baby! Sabrina and the baby are both doing well so far and it has been fun to ask Harrison where mommy's baby is and have him point to her tummy. He is also very good about giving the baby kisses and raspberries. The due date is November 16th, so the two kids will be almost two years apart. We still don't know if it will be a boy or a girl, but should find out in about a month.

New Callings
Sabrina was recently released from being the Primary Secretary and is now the 2nd Councilor. She likes being in the primary and is really good with the kids.
In addition to being the Activities Chair, I am now a Deacon's Quorum adviser. It's been a long time since I've been in YM so it will take some adjusting, but I am looking forward to getting to know the boys and other leaders.

50 miles...almost
Sabrina, my dad and I went on a 50 mile bike ride in Tooele last weekend. The ride was supposed to go through some "ghost towns" but the closest thing we saw were some old barns. The ride was pretty nice and the weather was great. I got a flat tire about 2 miles into the ride that we were able to patch. I got another flat tire at about mile 37 that I wasn't able to patch. I didn't have a spare tube so I had to wait at the gas station while Sabrina and my dad rode the last 10 miles to the car. Sabrina and I got super sunburned on our legs. It is probably the worst sunburn I have ever had. There is also a reddish-purple line on my back where there was a gap between my jersey and my shorts. All in all it was a pretty good time. We washed our pains away with beef and chile verde burritos and diet Coke from Apollo Burger.

Har's First Words
Harrison has just recently starting saying words and making animal sounds. He can say "daddy", "mama", "ah oh", "ball", and "bear". He can also make the sounds of a dog, cat, cow, and fish. We were suprised at how fast he went from babbling to saying words and knowing what he is saying. It has been a lot of fun to try to get him to say new words and make new sounds.

From 2 Cars to 1 Car and a Bike
We decided to sell our Tacoma so that we could save a little money each month and pay off some debt. It is going to force us to schedule a little better so that we can both have the car when we need it, but I don't think it should be too much trouble. With some of the money we got from the sale I was able to buy a new (to me) bike that I have been wanting for quite a while. I love my new bike and have been riding it to work almost every day.

New Website
Last but not least, I started a new website/blog for open water swimming in Utah. You can check out the website here.

Smelling the Tulips

2009-05-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Harrison and I went to the Tatian Noni gardens in Provo.
They had thousands of tulips and beautiful flowers.

He actually smelled the flowers!

Then he found the secret garden and the path was paved with his favorite.... Rocks!

Mormons, Coca-Cola and Caffeine

2009-04-08T10:42:00.001-07:00

I stopped in at the Maverick this morning to get a drink before heading to work and happened to overhear a heated discussion by two employees about Mormons, caffeine and the Coca Cola Company. Their thought was that it was hypocritical for Mormons, who are supposedly not allowed to drink caffeine (false), to come in every morning to get their Diet Cokes. One of the employees also pointed out that the LDS Church owns half of the Coca Cola Company (also false). I felt bad after leaving the store without correcting them, so I will try to set the record straight here.

Myth #1 - Mormons are not allowed to drink caffeine
I always find it a little annoying when people say "Mormons can't (fill in the blank)". One of the most basic principles of the LDS Church is the principle of agency. Every human being is allowed to use their own judgment and make their own decisions. This is as true for Mormons as it is for anyone else. The gift of agency is not free and there are consequences (good and bad) for each decision that we make. Mormons are free to choose to drink coffee, alcohol, take drugs, lie, steal, cheat, etc. just like everyone else in this world. The difference is that most Mormons choose not to. A Mormon who chooses to drink alcohol, for example, would not be able to enter LDS temples. Temples are considered sacred by members of the LDS church and only members in good standing are allowed to enter. Mormons who want to enter the temple choose not to consume substances that are outlined in the Word of Wisdom.

With all of that said, it is not against LDS teachings to drink sodas that contain caffeine. While some leaders may have counseled against its use, there has never been an official statement from the church that bans its consumption.

I can see where the confusion may come from. The Word of Wisdom, a commandment for healthy spiritual and physical living, forbids the use of tea and coffee which both contain, among other things, caffeine. But sodas that contain caffeine are not specifically forbidden. I think caffeine and overeating could be lumped in the same "gray area" category. Although neither one is healty, they are not expressley forbidden. I can understand both sides of the caffeine argument. One one hand it probably does not have the same effects as alcohol or drugs, but on the other hand I think it can still be addictive. This is an area of the LDS doctrine that is left open for individual members to interpret. I have personally felt addicted to caffeinated sodas at various times of my life and as a result I have chosen to drink less. I think we give up a little bit (or a lot) of our agency with every addiction we take on.

Myth #2 - The LDS Church owns a large percentage of the Coca-Cola Company
This myth is so outrageous that it almost doesn't deserve talking about. The Coca-Cola Company is one of the largest companies on earth and is far too large for a single entity to own a majority percentage of. The largest single shareholder (Berhshire Hathaway) in the Coca-Cola Company owns about 8% of the company (a value of about $11 billion). Now, I am not one to speak about the financial position of the LDS Church and have absolutely no idea how much money they have available for investments, but my guess is that most of their investments are tied up in real estate, church buildings, etc. To be honest, I think the LDS Church has better things to do with their money than trying to buy a controlling interest in a large corporation.

Please click here to read more about this subject at Snopes.com.

Hopefully this has cleared up some misconceptions about Mormons and the LDS Church. If you still have questions about this or any other subject relating to the LDS Church, I recommend that you visit on of the Church's websites at www.lds.org or www.mormon.org.

Thank you for being patient with my rant...

NEW CAR

2009-03-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

I love our new car!
It's a dream come true.
I've always wanted a Toyota Highlander but I think I love my Hyundai Santa Fe even better...
Sorry mom.

Looking for a new car

2009-03-11T20:42:00.001-07:00

Monday I totalled my car on the freeway! :(
Harrison and I were in the car when it was raining and the cars in front of me slowed down to fast for me to break and the water on the road caused me to not get any traction.
We are totally fine. We were VERY blessed.

We are now looking for a new to us (used) car.
If anyone knows any good quality inexpensive and safe autos please let me know. I've been looking on line for the last 2 days and haven't really found anything.

Thanks for all the concern and support we have received from all our family and friends since the accident.

Puppet Show at the Library

2009-03-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we took Harrison down to the Salt Lake library for the 8th Annual No Strings Attached Puppetry Festival. There were several performances by different puppetry groups but we went to see the Tears of Joy Theatre's performance of Little One Inch.

We weren't sure if Harrison would sit through the whole thing or not, but we were pretty sure that he would have fun. We were really surprised that he did so well! He just stared at the puppets and would smile and clap every once in a while. He made it through about two thirds of the show before getting too restless to stay in his seat.

Harrison was entranced by the puppet show. He hardly ever sits still for anything.

We were really impressed with the show and the group that put it on. The puppets were amazing and we all had a really good time. I even found myself clapping and laughing out loud at the show.

After the puppet show we took a walk on the top of the library and had a fun time chasing Harrison around and watching him touch all of the plants. It was a great place to take some pictures of the city too.

Harrison and Sabrina on the bridge at the Library.

I love Salt Lake City.

This picture kind of sums up Harrison's personality.

He wanted to touch every plant that he saw on the roof of the Library.

Harrison and Sabrina at the top of the Library.

Big Smile... Bad Luck

2009-03-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

Josh and I had fun at the BYU vs. Utah at Utah.
I'm a little disallusioned because so far this year I've attended both football and basketball games that BYU played Utah and we have lost. I hope i'm not bad luck for BYU. Maybe next year my luck will change.

What Harrison has been up to

2009-03-01T21:39:00.000-08:00

Harrison loves sitting on the counter in the kitchen while i'm cooking. It's so much fun until he wants to climb into the sink and throw all the dirty dishes on the floor.

Harrison's first wall-art!

Save Now

DINOS

2009-03-01T21:35:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun taking Harrison to the Thanksgiving point dinosaur museum.
He wanted to touch EVERYTHING.

Happy 1st Birthday Harrison

2009-03-01T21:21:00.000-08:00

Harrison is just so much fun in his birthday suit. We have so much fun after he gets out of the tub and getting ready to get dressed.In Harrison fashion he stuck his pointer finger into his cake and then he shared his bites with his cuz Trevor who was helping him dig into his cake.

Here was my attempt at my first home made character birthday cake. The dragon turned out ok, just the icing was falling off the cake so i was a little bummed. So it can only get better from here.
We all enjoyed celebrating Har's first birthday. He loved playing in his new CAT lego dump truck. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Green.We went sledding at the cabin for Har's birthday. He LOVES the snow.

Harrison couldnt really care less about sledding. It's after he gets off that he loves. He LOVES to eat the snow and play around in it. Maybe next year will be the year of sledding.

Ute Fans in the House

2009-03-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

I'm not saying that I'm gonna let Harrison be a Ute fan but I do have to admit he does look adorable in his Ute clothes.

Josh has so much fun with his little 'H'.

Happy New Year!

2009-03-01T21:13:00.000-08:00

Harrison had fun celebrating his first New Year at about 7:00 pm. But unfortunately Josh and I didnt make it to midnight either.

My 2 Sweeties

2009-03-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

I am so lucky to have the 2 sweetest boys in my home! Josh and Har just love to spend time together. Usually Josh is wrestling Har but here they are just laxin.

Har has some interesting faces here. I'm still not so sure what was buggin him.

Bath Toys!

2009-03-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

For Christmas both of Harrison's grandma's got him the same bath toys. I guess they both knew how much he loves to take a bath!

The turtle spins around and made the water so rippley.

It's just so hard to make sure he just keeps sitting down so that he doesnt fall when he stands up.

Judgement for the Plantiff

2008-12-20T20:51:00.000-08:00

So last Thursday Josh and I were in small claims court. We were sueing our past tenants from our duplex in bountiful for over $4,000 in late rent, repairs and new carpet. After weeks of stressing over going in front of a judge to plead our case, the judge heard our side of the story and saw our pictures, invoices and all the evidence we could come up with and awarded us all we were asking for!
I've realized that many things are not as scarry as they seem when you are right and have the proof to defend yourself.

Harrison Plays in the Snow

2008-12-14T08:12:00.000-08:00

With all the snow we got yesterday we thought Harrison might have fun playing outside. After bundling him up in his coat, mittens and hat, we let him loose. Here are some pictures:

Harrison and Sabrina both love eating snowballs.

Harrison's attempt at making a snow angel.

Eating another snowball.

Having fun being buried in the snow.

Har and I making more snowballs.

BYU vs. UTAH

2008-11-24T17:58:00.000-08:00

So what I'm about to say might be appalling to some and maybe offensive to others but also I might have some agree with me. Utah fans of the game on Saturday night were the most abominable fans that i have ever encountered at a sporting event.
Josh and I went to the BYU vs. Utah game Saturday night and our seats were in the North East corner just at the junction of where BYU (visitor seats) and Utah fans sit. So naturally there would be some rivalry and picking on each others fans.
As the game started and we were having a healthy competition on the playing field I began to witness some Utah student fans begin to turn around and yell obscenities of the vilest kind every single play and for at least 10-15 seconds each time. Not just the guys but also the 3 or 4 girls that were with them. It was so obscene and vulgar that I was totally appalled.
After I was reeling from how my ears had been assaulted and my mind had been angered to my right was a couple of middle aged men with who i can only imagine were their adult sons began to yell obscenities to BYU fans as they walked up the stands. I could not imagine what provoked that language from just fans trying to get to their seats. But what infuriated me even more is that as they were yelling obscenities there were young 8-9 year old looking children walking up while these middle aged men swore at them. To my utter shock the younger men commented to them that there were kids with them. Which the men responded "I don't care"!
If that wasn't enough there was an adult family in front of us who were not yelling profanities but were just as taunting. All of the family was put to shame by the outrageous Mother!
But after a few days of reeling in my experience I must admit that were I not just so upset with the vulgar fans I would not have been so put out by the 2 generations of Ute fans.
I was saddened and upset with the appalling sportsmanship of these Ute fans. I have been to many BYU vs. Utah games held at BYU and never witnessed anything so outrageous.
I love my BYU. I am not however an avid sports fan. So I do enjoy watching my BYU cougars win but don't get upset if they loose. It is after all just a game.
I am very grateful that my husband has the common sense to be a light hearted, devoted Ute. But after this experience I will have to have some serious convincing and generous scholarships awarded to allow any of my children to attend the University of Utah.
p.s. sorry if I have offended any Ute fans.

Har can walk!

2008-11-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

We have been thinking that Harrison has been really close to walking for about a month. He has been able to stand by himself for a while and pull himself up on things and use them to get around. He has even been taking a few steps here on his own. I don't know what happened between last night and tonight but tonight he is walking!

I have a happy son!

2008-11-08T20:14:00.000-08:00

Harrison is so expressive and I just love to get him to smile. He doesnt giggle much but his smiles are just as good to melt my heart.
I just love that toothless grin from ear to ear.

"OoooooooohH" Harrison Said.
His smile is so big his eyes have to close a bit to make way for his cheeks!

Harrison is so expressive and I just love to get him to smile. He doesnt giggle much but his smiles are just as good to melt my heart.

Happy Halloween from Pocoyo

2008-11-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun Halloween getting Harrison dressed up as Pocoyo and taking him trick-or-treating to a few of our neighbors. The best part was the 100% tax we charged on his candy! Josh thought it would be fun to dress Har up like Pocoyo since he looks exactly like him. So I first though i'd try to get Muranda to help me crochet a beanie for the hat part of his costume. She was so great to teach me how, however i was so slow to catch on, it took me 7 or 8 tries to finally get it to resemble a beanie. Then Josh and I went to a few stores to try and find the right color of blue pajamas for the rest of the costume, but we were unsuccessful. Finally we ended up making the pajamas at my moms house and his radio trick-or-treat basket. The costume was a success... if i do say so my self.
We had so much fun Halloween night eating home made pizzas and carmeled apples and candy and taking harrison to a few doors to show him off all with Josh's family.
By the way Pocoyo is a Spanish cartoon. Pocoyo is supposed to be a 3 year old little boy.

Harrison and Joseph exchanged some curious looks at each other dressed up in their costumes

Wonderful Fall Leaves

2008-11-03T10:12:00.001-08:00

While we were up at Josh's home for Sunday dinner the whole yard was full of freshly fallen leaves. It didn't take Josh and Jodi much time at all to get Harrison bundled up in a huge pile of them. Usually when you sit him down he instantly takes of in a speed crawl or tries to climb up. This time he didnt know what to do. He looked around and had all these crunchy leaves around him and didnt know what to do. It was so fun to look at him in all of these leaves and admire two of gods wonders, the seasons (fall) and my baby Harrison.
Finally he tried to eat a couple! Wouldnt you too if you were contantly shoving everything you get your hands on into your mouth.

Alta Canyon Triathlon

2008-09-09T05:21:00.000-07:00

Jake, dad, me, and Sabrina flexing after finishing the Alta Canyon Triathlon

Last Saturday Sabrina, Jake, my Dad, and I all participated in the Alta Canyon Triathlon in Sandy. We all had a lot of fun and I was impressed with how well everyone did.

We got everything loaded up and made it to the Alta Canyon Rec Center at about 7:00am. We stood in like to get checked in and get our numbers written on our arms and legs and then we got our transition areas set up.

Swim - 400 M
This is an interesting triathlon because the swim in done in a pool instead of a reservoir, lake, or river. Since it would be really crowded and probably really dangerous to start everyone at once in a pool, they have you line up according to how fast you think you are going to swim and start you one at a time. Because the pool was so crowded and people were only started 5 seconds apart, we all passed people who thought they were faster than they really were.

Bike - 9 Miles
A few weeks before the race we rode the course to get familiar with it. It is a two loop course with a big hill going up one side of the loop and a long downhill on the other side. It's a really fun bike course with very little traffic. Sabrina got a new (used) road bike just before the race that she used. She was really able to notice a difference between the mountain bike she had been riding on the training rides.

Run - 5K
The run was also a two loop course and also had a steep hill and long downhill. On both of my loops I saw my dad riding up the hill on his bike. I also saw Jake, who was also running, on my second loop. It was fun to have so many people racing and to see them on the course.

I finished in a time of 1:07:03 which was 4 and a half minutes faster than my time last year. I ended up with second place in my age group and only missed first place by about 18 seconds. My dad, who did awesome on his first triathlon, also got second place in his age group. The swim has always been our strength in my family. Jake was the 6th fastest swimmer overall and I was the 4th fastest. Sabrina, who also did her first full triathlon, also did really well and only came in a few minutes after Jake.

Me, my dad, and our medals

Harrison had a lot of fun with Jod, B, and my mom

Deer Creek 5K Open Water Swim

2008-08-18T10:17:00.001-07:00

On Saturday the 16th I swam the Deer Creek 5K Open Water Swim at Deer Creek reservoir. It's a pretty new event that was just started last year by Jim Hubbard. There were several distances available to swim: 1 mile, 5K, 10K, and 10 mile. I'm not sure exactly how many people entered, but I counted at least 20 boats. There were at least three people that tried for the 10 miles.

We woke up at 5:30am the morning of the race after a short sleep (thanks to Harrison) and headed up Provo canyon. It was really cold when we got there and I am glad that we all thought to bring jackets. I was worried that the water was going to be really cold since I didn't bring a wetsuit. Luckily for me the water was much warmer than I thought, probably around 70 degrees.

I didn't realize what a fast bunch of swimmers I was going to be swimming with. At the start they all took off and I was just taking it easy. My thought was that I would catch some of them when they got tired...well none of them got tired and I ended up finishing second to last with a time of about 1:44.

I felt fine for most of the race, but my arms started to get tired on the way back to the start. It also felt like the water was moving against me on the final stretch.

Each swimmer had to provide a "paddler"; someone in a kayak for support, navigation, safety, and feeding. Sabrina was my paddler and did a good job of encouraging me and of giving me gels and Gatorade while I swam. I have never swam with a paddler before so it took me a while to figure out exactly what I needed Sabrina to do to help me navigate.

Jod and B came up to watch me swim and to take care of Harrison while Sabrina and I were in the water. It's nice to have family that comes to support me in all the things I enter.

When we got home, all three of us crashed for an hour or so. When I woke up I had this song in my head by Midlake:

Here is a map of my swim thanks to my Garmin Forerunner 305 and MotionBased.com. You can also click here to watch the satellite view of my swim on MotionBased.

Here are some things that I learned about open water swimming from this event:

Training:
I need to do a lot more. Seriously, I think the last time I swam before this race was the 1 mile swim at Spudman (and that was down river). I wasn't worried about finishing the distance and knew that I would be able to since Jake and I swam about 2.5 miles a month or so ago. I need to work on my speed.

Navigation:
You can't really tell so much from the picture above, but I was zig-zagging quite a bit and I think, besides a serious lack of training, this was what cost me a lot of extra time. We finally figured out where I needed Sabrina to be to help me navigate with about 1 mile to go.

Chaffing:
This is so stupid. I bought a bar of Body Glide the day before and then I didn't use it. As a result I got some pretty nasty chaffing on my neck, armpits, and some other places that I would rather not mention...

I had a lot of fun and am planning on entering again next year. I would like to try for the 10K next time, but we will see how much training I actually do before then...

P.S. Pictures to come...

So peaceful!

2008-08-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

I just love to watch my sweet boy sleep. I think he's teething right now and has been a sad little boy this moring. After a bottle and some teeting tablets he calmed down enough to fall asleep in my arms... (sigh)... and then i laid him down in his crib.
Can I just say again how much I love being Harrison's mom.

Bear Lake

2008-08-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

Josh had to go to Bear Lake yesterday for work and invited Harrison and I along. Boy was it a long day of driving but we had fun once we had a little time to hang out.

Josh has been there a few times and i've only been there once. This was Har's first time experiencing a few things.

The Mediterranean ocean like water and beaches. Bear Lake Raspberry Shakes

I have the 2 the cutest boys in the whole world!

Har and Josh love the water.

He loved feeling the sand on his feet

We spent quite a few hours in the car but we had a whole lot of fun being together!

Stephenie Mayer is a Genius

2008-08-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

While Josh, Har and I were in Barnes and Noble on Tuesday buying Breaking Dawn Josh said to Har, "Ok now Har, it's just you and me now for a few days until mom gets finished reading her book." I though how rude, but then really... how true. Thrusday I finished BD and it was in some ways the best and in others not my favorite of the 4 book series.
I loved this one because of all the loose ends that were tied up and all the answers to questions were answered and Oh so much more that I would never have dreamed of like.... just kidding like i'd spoil it for anyone still reading!
But I really think that Twilight was my favorite because there was so much EDWARD! then Eclipse came in a close second because there was a whole lot of Edward. Then Breaking Dawn because it completed the saga. And then New Moon because there was too much Jacob and way not enough Edward.
This series definately tops my most favorite reads list!

Great New Band - - Fleet Foxes

2008-08-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

This is one of my new favorite bands. They kind of sound like a mix of My Morning Jacket and The Beach Boys with some folk thrown in. They have many other songs that I like more than this one, but this one had the best video and sound quality. The band is definitely worth checking out.

Spudman 2008

2008-08-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

This year I was finally able to get into the Burley Lion's Spudman triathlon after three years of trying to get in. After having done the race I can see why it sells out so fast every year, it's a really fun course! The best part for me was swimming down the Snake River.

Here's the a recap of my race:

Swim: 1.5K
This was my best leg of the race, and I felt really good. I rented a tri wetsuit just for fun, even though the water wasn't that cold. I had a good swim time of 15:25 and felt like I wasn't trying very hard. I wished that I would have put a little more effort into it. I was one of the first few out of the water in my wave. I even caught up to and passed a few people from the previous wave. It was a lot of fun to swim down stream.

Bike: 40K
I had a pretty good bike ride. The bike is not my strong sport (neither is the run), but I was happy with my time of 1:08:55 and averaged just under 22 mph. The course was relatively flat (it's in Burley after all).

Run: 10K
I was really surprised by my run. I was expecting to have a pretty slow time since I hadn't done a lot of running before the race. I averaged just under 10 minute miles, which for me is great. The local residents turned on their sprinklers and pointed them into the street for us to run through, it felt really nice after a few miles of running.

Overall I had a lot of fun and am already planning on entering the race again next year (it will be on my 30th birthday!). I had my GPS watch with the for the whole race and have uploaded the data to MotionBased so you can click here to see the satellite map of my race.

Sista, Sista!

2008-07-27T07:40:00.001-07:00

Congrats Leslie & Jake Songer!
Yesterday was a gorgeous day for a wedding. My niece got married yesterday at the Salt Lake City Temple. She was so beautiful and I couldn't be more proud than if she were my own little sister.
My sister has the most beautiful yard and they had the most beautiful outdoors wedding reception last night. Harrison even had so much fun getting to play with his cousins at this wedding.

Leslie & Jake leaving the temple as husband and wife

The whole family wedding picture

my beautiful sister Teresa and Leslie the bride

Devin, Harrison, Allie and Susy

Happy Birthday to my Sweetie

2008-07-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Josh!
Harrison and I took Josh out to Eggs in the City for breakfast for his birthday. Josh and to go to Idaho for the Burley Spud Man Triathlon on Saturday. We were not able to go because my niece got married this weekend so since i wouldnt see him much on his birthday we went to breakfast.
Josh just turned 29! Harrison and I love him very much.
While we were out to breakfast we sat Harrison in the booth with us and i noticed that the seats were covered in black leather. I had my camera with us and though it looked like a tincy wincy photo studio.
Here's some pictures of Josh's birthday with our little family.

Harrison is 6 months old!

2008-07-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

Harrison is 6 months old and SO much fun. We went to the Dr.'s office today for his check up and the dreaded shots. He did such a great job. He cried while they gave him the shots and then was find after that.
Well it's official we have a very healthy tall and skinny boy.
He weighs 16 1/2 pounds and is 28 1/2 inches tall. He is only in the 30% for weight and has shot up to the 93% for height! My little boy is growing tall but not fat! All the food he's eating must be going to his adorable chubby cheeks.

Here are some pictures that we've taken in the last little while.

Being a mom is just the BEST!

Harrison getting his work out on

Harrison love his Grandma Great... and she like him too

Harrison having fun with his cousins

This was Harrison's favorite part of Lagoon. He had a blast with Allie and Kate

My two cool guys wearing their shades

Those are just the most adorable baby blue eyes i've ever seen

Josh had just made Harrison laugh... a little bit

Happy birthday Harrison. He eats so well in his new high chair.

He loves to eat, and eats so well... That makes me so happy

Allergy Tests

2008-07-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Sabrina and I both have struggled with allergies for years and over the 4th of July weekend we decided that we had had enough and decided to make an appointment with an allergy specialist. Come to find out it is a lot harder to get in than you would think. Some allergy clinics in Salt Lake were booked until November!

We were able to make an appointment with Dr. Hendershot at the Intermountain Salt Lake Clinic. We had to go off of all allergy medication for one week before the appointment so that they wouldn't interfere with the test.

The test consisted of a breathing test (to test for asthma) and an allergen test. For the allergen test they have you take your shirt off and lay down on the table while they write 42 numbers on your back. Once the numbers are written they stab 42 different allergens in your back and then make you wait 15 minutes to see which ones swell up (and yes, your back is itching like crazy the whole time). The allergens they test for include everything from different types of grass, weeds, trees, pets, etc. Your reaction to the allergens is based on a scale from 0 (no reaction) to 4 (strong reaction). There is also a 4P which basically means "don't ever go near it". I ended up having quite a few 3's, 4's, and 4P's and Sabrina had some 3's and 4's.

We got a bunch of sample drugs and well as some information on the NeilMed Sinus Rinse (make sure you watch the video!) and allergy shots. We ended up getting the Sinus Rinse (basically a squeeze bottle that you use to shoot saltwater up one nostril and out the other) and have been using it everyday to clear out our sinuses (don't worry I'm not going to put up pictures...). At first it feels a lot like doing a flipturn in the pool and getting water up your nose, but since it is going up one side and out the other, that feeling doesn't last very long. I guess this Sinus Rinse is supposed to be all the rage with Oprah (Dad and B would probably know for sure).

Anyway, it was quite an experience but we are glad that we did it. We really liked how friendly and helpful Dr. Hendershot was and would recommend him to anyone in Salt Lake considering an allergy specialist.

Oh, and of course all the nurses were going crazy over Har. :)

Think of me Fondly

2008-07-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

This is fun!

My friend had this on her blog and I thought I would be a copycat...

Memories

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my blog's comments.

Open Water Swimming

2008-07-14T07:59:00.001-07:00

With the addition of the 10K open water swim as a new Olympic event as well as coming to the realization that I am a much better swimmer than biker or runner, I have been getting really excited about getting back into swimming and especially distance and open water swimming.

Last Saturday Jake, Sabrina, Harrison, and I made a trip up to Jordanelle Reservoir so that Jake and I could get in an open water swimming workout. We ended up swimming a total of 2.3 miles and felt pretty good (not getting run over by a ski boat or hooked by a fisher is always a good thing). You may ask, "how do you know you swam 2.3 miles?" Well, I finally figured out a way to use my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch for swimming. I took the band off and put the actual GPS unit in a plastic baggie in between two swim caps (neon of course so that people could see us). It worked surprisingly well and we had a lot of fun looking at where we swam on the map when we got home. Here is the map of where we swam (thanks to the Garmin and MotionBased):

Jake and I (at least I think Jake is going to do it) are training to swim the Deer Creek Open Water Marathon Swim next month. I have been looking around for a while for a race like this in Utah and I'm pretty sure this is the only one of its type in the State. The plan is to swim the 5K this year and then try for the 10K next year.

Despite our family trying to talk us out of it because of little things like sharks, jellyfish, and sea lions, Jake and I are also planning on doing one of the many Alcatraz swims next year.

Leslies Engagement Party!

2008-06-29T14:00:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a long but fun and exciting day! My best friend got married and my niece 'sista, sista' had a bridal shower! I cant believe it! I should so not be old enough for my nieces to be getting married. I guess that's to be expected when you sister has a baby when you are only 5! And Leslie is not event my oldest niece, but i love her like a sister so that's why she is my sista, sista!
She is just adorable and i'm so excited for her!
Her Fiancee Jake is a great guy and will make her a great husband! I know that she will be an exceptional wife... maybe she will make Harrison a cus,cus soon! J/K Leslie... wait a while!

Best Friends Wedding

2008-06-29T13:49:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my "bff" got married! She married a wonderful man and I am so excited for her!
It was a beautiful day all day long. The ceremony was beautiful. I just know that they are so in love and will have a great life together.
I'm a bit jealous because they are going to go to Costa Rica for their honeymoon! I really want to go there some day. Especially after seeing Adam Barkers Costa Rica pictures!!!
Another exciting part of Brooke getting married is that lots of our old dorm friends came into town for the wedding and we had a batchlorette party for her with all the girls we haven't seen in so long!
Congrats Brooke and Jeff!

Utah Summer Games / Harrison's First Swim

2008-06-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we made a trip down to Cedar City for the 2008 Summer Games. We went with my parents, my sister Jodi and her husband Bernd.

Harrison actually did pretty well in the car on the way down, but things took a turn for the worse later in the weekend when he decided that he wanted to start waking up in the middle of the night. I had to spend one night on the floor because he would only stay asleep on the bed with Sabrina. He had a hard time taking naps by the pool because of all the cheering and start buzzers. It was nice to have my family there to help take care of him. My dad even took him for a walk every morning.

Jodi and I entered some of the swimming events this year instead of the triathlon. It has been over 10 years since I swam competitively at Viewmont High School. I entered 7 events including the 200M Free, 1500M Free, 400M Free, 50M Fly, 200M IM, 100M Free, and 50M Free. It was so much fun to be swimming again! I wish that I would have trained a little more (I only went swimming twice before we went down). I ended up winning a few medals in my age group and was disqualified from the 200M IM for making an illegal turn (it wouldn't be a real swim meet if I wasn't disqualified from at least one event!). Jodi ended up with a couple medals herself and also had a good time (even though she didn't think she did very well, she did awesome!). I think we have about everyone in my family wanting to participate next year. Sabrina was wishing that she would have entered a few events too.

Swimming in a 50M pool was quite a bit different than swimming in a 25 yard pool. For one, meters are a little longer than yards. Also you didn't get the boost off the wall because there were half as many flip turns.

The highlight of the trip for me was taking Harrison swimming for the first time. I was so excited to get him in the pool that I forgot to put on sunscreen and got a pretty good sunburn. Harrison loved the water even though he was ready for a nap. We even dunked him under the water a couple of times. Other than having water in his face when he came up, he didn't seem to mind being put under the water. I have been looking forward to taking him swimming for so long and I finally got my wish!

1st Har Cut

2008-06-10T15:41:00.001-07:00

Everyone knows that Harrison gave himself a mullet when he started rubbing the bald patch on the back of his head. Hiddeous thou it is Josh would not let me cut it or buzz it because he though it would look worse.
I just couldnt stand it any more so today i got out Josh's clippers and buzzed off Har's mullet!
I'm happy to say that it looks so much better!
I'm not sure what i should do with the hair? Save it for memories or toss it in the garbage can.... any suggestions?

Unemployed and Loving it!

2008-05-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

Thats right! After 12 year in the work place and after 5 years of my 1st career i'm hanging up my go to work 9-5 or (24-7 in my case) hat and taking up my new hat of 4 1/2 months taking care of our little king of the house.
I sold my preschool to my dad's company ILP and officially i was done with responsibilities last friday. I'm still helping get things changed over and on Monday June 9th when the summer classes start and i'm not there to worry about any of it will my bliss be complete!
I love my school. It was a great 5 years. Maybe the hardest 5 years of my life. I really feel like i was running it for 3 times that long with all the work it took to figure out what i was doing and keep it being successful.
I really believe that children should learn a second language when they are young. I'm very biased towards Spanish but really any lanugage would due. I might elaborate in a future post???
I have loved to watch hundreds of preschooler come into our doors and know "Hola" and leave joking around with their friends in Spanish. I have loved to get to know many hispanic women who have taught me so much more about the spanish culture and language. I have made many wonderful friendships with the parents of the preschooler. Although i will not miss having to deal with many of the diverse types of mothers!

Thanks to everyone who has helped me get through these past 5 years! It was great!

And anyone that would still like to have their child learn Spanish the school is still open!

New Toy

2008-05-10T19:18:00.001-07:00

We have been looking into getting a bike trailer for a little while, and with some of the money I got from my graduation we were able to get one. We got it from Costco and really like how easy it is to set up and put away. It is made for two kids which is good (eventually we would like to have a little brother or sister for Har). It also comes with a front wheel so that it can be used as a jogger stroller.

The first time we tried to put Harrison in it, he was too tired and screamed his guts out. This afternoon was so nice outside that we decided to try again. He not only let us put him in, he actually liked it! It was so funny to see him sitting in it, he looked so small! Here are some pics...

The Daily Plate

2008-05-05T09:21:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to put a plug in for The Daily Plate. It's a website that helps you to keep track of the foods you eat and the exercise you do. Sabrina and I have both been using it for about a month and we have both been able to lose some weight just by watching the calories that we eat. I have used other calorie counting websites and widgets, but they didn't have a database of foods as extensive as The Daily Plate. It's easy to use and it's free!

Josh Graduated!

2008-05-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Graduate!
Josh finally Graduated. He's been at it for just under 10 years. He has been putting himself through school and took a 2 year break to live the enchanted life in San Diego... (serving a mission) and he now has a Bachelors of Science from the David Eccles School of Business!

We are so proud of him! The best part was that he was able to have his baby boy participate in the festivities!
I am so grateful that he deemed getting a bachelors degree important in his life. Harrison will always know that education is an important aspect of our family.

After his graduation ceremony we went to dinner at Josh's favorite restaurant, the Red Iguana. We had some delicious food and after dinner my brother Paul commented to me that our parents both have bachelors degrees and now all of their kids and spouses have degrees as well! I though that was very impressive. Having a college education will be something that Josh will always be proud and grateful that he has.

He will even be glad that we made him attend the graduation ceremonies.
Here are a few pictures of graduation.

WAY TO GO JOSH!!! We are all so Proud of you!

Looks like Harrison could be a cute ute after all! He's so proud of his papa! but i wont say what he really wants to be...

New Blog

2008-05-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know about a new blog that I started called My Bilingual Kid. I have been trying to speak and read to Harrison a little in Spanish but I am going to try to get a little more serious about it and have set up this new blog to keep a record of how it's coming. Feel free to check it out and leave any comments or ideas.

Front Runner

2008-05-01T07:32:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of the last day of free fares on the new Front Runner train last night. It was standing room only when we got on in Salt Lake. Luckily someone offered Sabrina and Harrison a seat so they didn't have to stand. We got off at the next stop in Woods Cross to meet my mom, Jod, and B. The train we wanted to ride to Ogden was pulling up right as B was parking and he had to run and hop the fence to get on before it left.

Things seemed to be running a little slow, but we eventually made it to Ogden. B even made a new friend, Steve, on the way up. We had planned to eat at the Union Grill which is close to the Ogden station. I think about every other family riding the train had the same idea because we had to wait half an hour to be seated. I thought the food was really good and would definitely eat there again.

We ended up missing the train we wanted to catch home by just a couple minutes and had to hang out in Ogden for an hour until the next train left at about 9:00pm. It was a long ride home. There were a bunch of "hooligans" as my mom said and kids running around being loud. All the noise and the bright lights made it hard for Harrsion to sleep, so he was crying most of the way home. We found out while on the train that there had been an explosion at an oil refinery in Woods Cross that was slowing things down.

It was a fun little adventure and something that we would for sure do again but maybe on a Saturday when it's less crowded.

New Favorite Song

2008-04-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

I can't get enough of this song...or the video.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Trevor

2008-04-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

My Dad would have been 75 this April 20th. It's been almost 7 years since he died. Every year for his birthday and usually on the anniversary of the day he died all my dads kids, grand kids and my mom meet at the cemetery to have dove bars (his favorite late night treat!--He missed out on what would have been his down fall... Costco's ice-cream bars dipped in chocolate and nuts!). It was a beautiful day when we met on Friday evening to gather around his gravestone and talk.
We told Harrison that this is where his Grandpa Trevor is and that we wish that he could have met him. But I'm guessing that he's the one that has seen him the most recently and we are the ones that have been with out him for so long.
To say that my dad had a hat fetish would be putting it mildly. But one of the hats that we most remember him wearing was those grey felt hats that old men, Jazz players and bookies wear. Before Harrison was born Josh found one that was so tiny just a baby size. It was gigantic on him when he was born. We tried it on him again a few days ago and found out that it now fits! So we just had to have him wear it when we met for my dad's birthday. He would have loved it! And Harrison looks so adorable in it!

He has a balloon because every year my mom gets 4 BYU colored balloons and the 4 youngest grand kids get to let them off and send them up to their grandpa in Heaven.
My dad was a wonderful man. He was a wonderful professor at BYU teaching language development and theories in the MFHD department. But if you asked him what his greatest accomplishment was, it wouldn't have been all the degrees he had earned, he would have said that his family of worthy Latter Day Saints is his greatest accomplishment.
Just before he died he helped my sister Shawna start the Spanish Preschool that I now run (for another 28 days). What a great legacy he left! I'm so grateful that he was able to get that started before he died so that our children and so many other children have a way to become fluent in Spanish.Publish Post
I love and miss my Dad! I cant wait for that day when I will get to be with him again and introduce him to my sweet husband Josh and Harrison and maybe a few more???

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!
I LOVE YOU!

Salt Lake Marathon Bike Tour

2008-04-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I rode in the Salt Lake Marathon Bike Tour with my friend Jonathan. It wasn't really a race, just a ride, but it was a lot of fun. They announced that there were about 1,500 people who had registered as of the night before and that there were probably many more by the time the ride started.

We were towards the back of the crowd and it took about a minute after they announced the start before we could even start moving. There were all types of people doing the ride. Everyone from professionals to novices. There were all kinds of bikes too: road bike, mountain bikes, recumbent and tandem bikes. It was pretty well organized and the police had all of the roads closed off so we never had to stop. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and we only saw a couple wrecks.

At the end of the ride we checked our bikes in with the "valet" so we could get some post ride food. I was surprised to see 7-Eleven there handing out hot dogs and taquitos...pretty weird. I was hoping that they would have Coke Slurpees too, but I was disappointed to find out that they didn't.

After we had had our fill of free food, we picked up our bikes and rode Trax back up the the U where we started. It was a really fun ride and I am hoping to do it again next year...maybe with Harrison being pulled in a trailer.

Also...

I woke up at 5:00 am on Saturday morning and threw my bike in the truck. When I started it up it sounded as if the muffler had fallen off, it was LOUD! I had heard on the radio that people were stealing catalytic converters and recycling the metal in them. Sure enough, some idiot crawled under my truck and sawed off my catalytic converter. The guy I talked to at the shop said that it happens all the time and that they get about 3 cases of the same thing a week. I'm not really sure what you can do to protect yourself...take the bus I guess.

Harrison's new toys

2008-04-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

When Harrison was a few weeks old a friend of mine lent us her swing. He would have nothing to do with it. I kept trying for weeks to put him in it and he just screamed and screamed. So we gave it back. It only went front to back so I never new if he would enjoy a swing if it went sideways. Today he and I were on a walk and another friend was out her driveway cleaning out her car and asked if I wanted a swing for him. Her youngest is 3 and they don't need it any more. She showed me that it went front and back and side to side. I told her I'd love to try one that went sideways. Well they brought it over to us and he has loved it! I hope it will last more than just tonight! We also were given a little adorable toy that makes songs and has crinkly wings and looks like a light bright with out the light! I loved light brights when i was a kid!

Our Little Bear

2008-04-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

Harrison has acted like a little bear ever since he was born. Grunting and grumbling his way through life. Even only a few days old he would grunt in his sleep. Now that hes 3 months old, he spends most of the time while he is a wake grunting and crying. We love our little guy, and today he took a minute out of his busy day of gunting and grumbling to be the cutest bear i've ever seen!

No doubt he is My son

2008-04-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

Many of you have been telling me that Harrison looks like me. It's hard for me to say that, "yea he does" but here is a 2 month old picture of me and a picture of Harrison at 2 months.
I now confirm your allegations that Harrison does look like me.
Sorry that the pictures are bad, Harrison's didn't have the flash on and mine is a scan.

Twins

2008-04-02T20:56:00.001-07:00

Josh is just crazy about our son! That is the understatement of the world. He loves to be a dad so much he wants them to be just alike. To prove my point take a look at these two photos.

I have to say that as his wife and Har's mom, really I think it's just adorable...
My only concern is that he has to scar our son's head with a big red U.

Baby Slings

2008-03-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend there was a Baby Expo at the South towne expo center and so Josh and I though it would be fun to go and check it out. They had vendors that make and sell some really cute things. The first booth that we came to was a baby carrier/sling vendor. I had seen my friend Amber's and she seemed to like it and I'd always wanted to try Harrison in one to see if he liked it and if it was comfy. After a bit of whining on Harrison's part we finally got him in a sling. Once he got in it he about feel asleep. I really liked it! We saw a few more sling vendors and while we were walking around we remembered that Ikea has really cute fabric and thought that maybe I could get a pattern and make one. So after the expo we went down to Ikea and found some really cute floral fabric and a pretty orange solid fabric. I guessed that i would need 2 yard of each if i wanted to make it reversible like many of the slings at the expo. We went to Jo Ann's to find a pattern but they didn't have any in any pattern book... So we came home and got on line and found instructions! And this is what we ended up with.
Harrison loved it.. Well it took him a few minutes to settle into it but after he was in it he fell asleep and took a 2 hour nap in it! Holy smokes! I Love my new Sling! Best of all it was so super simple to make and i have high hopes that it will make going to work with the little guy a whole heck of a lot easier.

Getting around to Easter...

2008-03-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

My friend Brooke got Harrison the cutest easter outfit. it was a little white bunny outfit. We put him in it on easter sunday and didnt get around to taking pictures of him in it. So finally this week on Wednesday we put him back in it and took some pictures of him in it. He is just so dang cute!
Thanks Brooke!

St. Patrick's Day, 1st day of Spring & Easter

2008-03-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

Holy Smokes! How did all three fall in the same week. I just think that is criminal.
St. Patrick's is on of my favorite holidays, i've never figured out why but wearing green so you dont get pinched and turning all the food green you can think of, nothing could be more light hearted or frivelous.

For all you Easter Hunt goers, check out the Utah Family Magazine for lots of locations for free or very inexpensive hunts held tomorrow. They also have a website but it doesnt have quite as many listings as the magazine. http://www.utahdiscovery.com/uf/calendar.php?Date=2008-03-22&DayWeek=Saturdays

Have a Happy Easter!

More "Drawings" of Harrison

2008-03-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

These "drawings" are so addicting to make...here are some more that Sabrina and I have made:

A brave baby boy!

2008-03-17T15:28:00.001-07:00

I do realize that vaccines are an important part of a healthy life, but how can a mom ever feel good about submitting her son to a torturous experience?
Today was Harrison's 2 month appointment and with it came 3 vaccines. While Harrison was getting his vaccines he cried like he does when he's completly exhausted.(I didnt take any pictures of his vaccine day so this almost relays the feeling) But 1 minute after the shots were administered he was completly at peace. As we were leaving the Dr.'s office he was smilling and being happy at me! I guess he's a quick healer. He's a very tough boy!

"Drawing" of Harrison

2008-03-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

If you have never heard of Instructibles you are missing out. It's a site where people can post step by step instructions on how to do or make just about anything. Anyway, I found this cool instructible on how to make these cool images from pictures. Basically you trace the image (to do this I had to first make a light box...), then you can upload it to Vector Magic and have the drawing converted to a vector image. Once you do that, things get really fun and you can color it in. Anyway...this is my first attempt at one of my favorite pictures of Harrison (it's the picture on the left-hand side of our blog if you want to compare them).

2 Glorious Years!

2008-03-15T18:06:00.000-07:00

Josh and Harrison just before we leave Harrison for the first time!

Josh and I just had our 2 year wedding anniversay. March 11th. We were babysitting so we couldnt go out that night but we went to dinner on Friday night. Going out to dinner for an anniversary wouldn't really be something to post about if it wern't for leaving our baby boy for the first time! Josh's Mom and Dad were excited to come over and watch him for us. As we were driving off to Mazza i was about to cry. I was abandoning my baby boy! How could i be doing this. But it had to be done and we had a great dinner together. I just love my sweet husband so much. We have had an amazing 2 years together! By the end of dinner I was planning our future date nights once a week and who we will get to babysit in the future. I guess I got over the abandonment woes quickly!

Babysitting!!!

2008-03-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

I still dont know how or why I said "Yes" to my sister and the Loves. The first week of March Shawna and Ken went to San Francisco and we told them we could babysit. It really was not bad. She has the most comfie bed. Harrison did his longest stint... 7 1/2 hours! It hasn't been repeated since. It was only 3 days but it took alot out of us. Mostly Harrison and I. But he had fun with his cousins.
I have been babysitting for Jill Love who is on the SLC council for the last 6 1/2 years. She had some meetings in Washington D.C. and asked if Josh and I could watch her 3 kids for 4 days and 3 nights. These kids are great and they couldnt get enough Har-bear! But it was a whole lot of work. I am just so greatful for my 1 baby! It was good to get a glimpse of what life will be like in 6 years.

Harrison Learns to Smile (and Frown)

2008-03-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

Harrison is getting to the age where he is starting to smile (and frown). Here are some pictures...

Harrison is getting to the age where he is starting to smile (and frown). Here are some pictures...

Harrison's Blessing - Part II

2008-03-07T10:52:00.001-08:00

Harrison had his baby blessing on Sunday the 2nd surrounded by tons of family and friends. Our ward had a total of four blessings that day. There were three girls and our little boy (not a bad ratio for Harrison...). I think we may have set a record with the size of our circle. I was so nervous to give him a blessing because I had never done it before and because I didn't want to leave anything out. I think it turned out ok. There were a few interesting things that came up in the blessing that I can't take credit for.

Thanks to Shawna and Ken for letting us use their house for the lunch afterwards. It was so much fun show Harrison off to everyone he hasn't met yet.

It was a great day. Thanks to everyone who came and brought such good food and treats.

Harrison's Blessing

2008-02-25T13:16:00.000-08:00

In case anyone hasn't heard and would like to come to Harrison's blessing it will be on Sunday March 2nd at 12:30pm. The address of our chapel is:

1970 E Stratford Ave (2560 S)
Salt Lake City, UT 84106

He is getting so big! He now weighs 10 1/2 lbs!

More Pictures of Harrison

2008-02-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

I can't help but show off some pictures of my little buddy. He is so funny and makes me laugh every day. His new favorite trick seems to be peeing and pooping on me...he thinks he's pretty funny.

Here is Harrison in his new hat that one of Sabrina's visiting teachers made (it is so COOL!)

I started feeling sick and totally freaked out thinking that I was going to get Harrison sick. I bought about every cold remedy that I could find at the store but couldn't find a mask so I had to improvise... (I ended up not getting sick so Harrison didn't get sick either)

We were watching TV the other night and Sabrina just started laughing like crazy. When I looked over to see what was so funny I saw that she had put Harrison's hair in corn rows!

Spending time with Family

2008-02-17T11:57:00.000-08:00

Harrison, Josh and I were able to spend time with my mom yesterday morning. She has been home alone alot more lately and not able to get around so well. I loved being able to go down and spend the morning with her. We had some delicious breakfast and just sat around and chatted for a while. I wasnt so sure when i was going to get down to Provo again after that horrible storm but with Josh driving and me able to watch out for Harrison it was a much different and better experience. My mom cant get up to SLC so well and she wants to get to see her littlest grandson, so we love to get down and let her have a chance to "Grandma" Harrison.
After we left my mom's house we stopped by the Fishes house. Brynlee, Kristin's daughter was so anxious to see her little cousin. She has so many baby dolls and just loves them she acts like Harrison is just the best real live like baby doll. In the hospital she brought her american girl doll and i joked that if she want to trade her doll for harrison and she was really ready to take me up on that offer. I think i made her sad that i didnt come through on the offer.
It was really fun to see Tina and her family and my mom.
Family day was not over yet. We went over to the VanSkivers for a b.b.q. "Pie" and Wii! Harrison is just adored and loved by Josh's family! Being the 1st grandson on Josh's side is super fun for Harrison.

Yeah for Family!!!

Most Traumatic Experience of my Life!!!!

2008-02-14T11:57:00.000-08:00

What started out to be a great day of visiting my mom and spending the afternoon with her and Harrison turned out to be the most traumatic day of my life.
I had so much fun visiting with my mom in Provo yesterday, our second of hopefully years full of weekly afternoons together. Since my mom is home alone and i'm not working as much... I decided that it would be great if Harrison and I spent one afternoon with my mom a week. A little treat for both of us to look forward to.
Well.... it was about 3p.m. and i just noticed a bit of snow falling outside my mom's study (I almost put dads... it hasn't bee that for years) and though I better get going soon incase it snows alot.
By 4 p.m. i've got my things, baby bag, purse and Son all packed up and ready to go! By 5:30p.m. Harrison and I are having a break down absolutely at a stand still just past thanksgiving point with no way to move and Harrison is crying so hard and loud i think he might barf up his insides and I'm helpless to do anything about it. Finally after braving the storm 3 times to break off the ice from my windshield wipers we get past a semi stuck in the middle of I-15. His front 4 tires have chains on them and he's not going anywhere... as well as about a half dozen cars that look more capable than my little corolla. I dont know how i got through that but heaven sent angles to help us through that one! Well they were about to send the whole choir to help me out next. Just as i'm passing about 106th i'm doing 30mph in the left hand lane and all of a sudden begin spinning in circles... circle after circle i bet it was about 4 or 5 360's that i did before stopping sideways in the far right hand lane! I didnt even hit one car in that whole time i was spinning out of controll on the freeway. I can only thank the heavely angels that were watching out for us. I had this flashback of when i was spinning and wrecked in Provo canyon the winter my dad died and ended up upside down on the bank of the river...
Finally by 7p.m. Harrison and I finally pull up to our doorstep and out comes josh to a wife that home safely but not quite of a sound mind! But in the end no real damage except for the bumper that fell of on the way home for the sideways blowing slush weighed it down and ripped it off. I hope that we never have to be in a storm that bad again!

First Hickey

2008-02-10T18:43:00.000-08:00

It's hard to tell from the picture, but those are hickeys on Harrison's arm. Sabrina was burping him between feeding him and he must have got a little impatient so he started sucking his arm. Let's just hope that he doesn't start giving hickeys to the new little girls in our neighborhood!

3 weeks old and already a model

2008-02-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

My Son is just so adorable!
"Modeling is hard work! I dont want to do it any more!"
" Just wrap me up tight and i'll calm down"
He's an angel... a sweet precious angel!

Thanks to Nicole Hill the photographer at rubberball who needed a baby to photograph. She did such an amazing job photographing Harrison.

LoveRunner is back!

2008-02-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

After a short break, LoveRunner is back with some new members and will be playing a show at Kilby Court on Friday February 8th at 7pm. There will be some new songs as well as old favorites. Other bands playing that night are: Leslie & the Badgers, Declaration, and Gardensleeper. Tickets are 6 bucks. For anyone not familiar with Kilby Court who may be interested in coming, here is the address:

Kilby Court
741 South 330 West
Salt Lake City

Thanks Ronco!

2008-02-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

Sabrina got a Ronco food dehydrator for Christmas and we finally got it out last night to try it out. We saw an episode of Good Eats the night before about how to dehydrate fruit so we decided to give it a shot. We used our apple peeler/corer/slicer on some pears, green apples, and cameo apples (the best kind of apples!). We also peeled and sliced a mango and threw in some pineapple slices to top it off. We then juiced some lemons and mixed it with water to "treat" the fruit so that it won't turn brown. Now all we have to do is wait 1 to 2 days...

New Toy

2008-01-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

I heard about the Eye-Fi Card on one of my favorite websites, Make. After reading about it I decided I had to get one! Basically it's a 2G SD card for you camera with built in wi-fi capability. I love taking pictures, but I hate having to plug in the camera afterwards and upload the pictures to my computer and then upload them to websites or blogs. The Eye-Fi card does all of that for you automatically. You can set it up to put your pictures wherever you want on your computer and Eye-Fi is supported by tons of online photo sites (Piccasa, SnapFish, Costco.com, Flickr, etc) and you can set it up to upload your pictures to these sites automatically. One small downside is that you can only select one of these websites at a time. You can set up multiple profiles for different sites, but only one can be used at a time. You have to have your computer and camera on for them to sync. If you are out taking a bunch of pictures somewhere, when you get home all you have to do is turn your computer and camera on and all your pictures will be uploaded automatically. I bought mine on Costco.com for about $90 and I think that it will definitely be worth the price.

The Prophets Passing

2008-01-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

President Hinckley was the sweetest man and did so much for our church.
It was so sad to hear of his passing last night and to realize that he would no longer smile at us from behind the pulpit in April's Conference.
My sweet little Harrison will never know this great man. I hope that I'll be able to share with him my thoughts and feelings about him, and read to him wonderful talks he has given and tell him about the great things he as done for us and the church.
Sometimes prophets seem immortal that they will be around for ever, but they too have a time and God knows that his work was through and now he will choose a new mouth piece.
President Hinckley was a wonderful leader and we will remember and miss him greatly!

Josh is back to work

2008-01-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

Josh went back to work full time today. Harrison and I have been home together just the two of us. I was thinking that it was going to be too overwhelming but we have done pretty well. Josh came home from work for Lunch so we got to have lunch together as a family. That was so great! And our neighbor Becky who has a 2 1/2 month old baby boy stopped by to check on us. That was nice to have a visitor.
I'm sure its just as hard for Josh to go to work after a night of waking up when the baby does and being exhausted.
Every day is a new trial of being a parent but a delight because we have such a sweet and healthy baby boy!

Baby update...

2008-01-21T19:52:00.000-08:00

Well it's been almost a week since Harrison was born and our lives changed forever. The first few nights at home were pretty tough and we didn't get much sleep at all. Lately though, Harrison has been sleeping longer which is very nice for us!

Harrison finally got to meet his grandpa on Saturday! My dad has been working in Arkansas and wasn't able to fly home when Harrison was born. He got up early Friday morning to see if he could get on an earlier flight, but no luck. He finally made it to our house Saturday afternoon and then came back Sunday and Monday before heading back to work.

Sabrina is doing well and seems to be recovering really fast. Other than being tired she feels pretty good. It is so much fun to see her with her son! She is going to be such a great mom. As for me, I have just been trying to help out where I can and stay out of the way when I'm not needed. My favorite thing is to talk to Harrison when he is awake and looking around.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who has come to see us, brought us lunch, dinner and presents, and called. We really appreciate it all!

It's a boy!

2008-01-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

The big news today obviously is that our baby was born! Harrison Joshua Green was born at 12:40pm, he weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. He is so cute (as seen in the pictures below...)

It was a surprise to both of us when Sabrina's water broke at about 2:30am on Tuesday morning. Luckily she progressed pretty fast once we got to the hospital and didn't have to push for very long. Anyway, I'm sure you don't care as much about this as you do about seeing pictures so here they are:

This is one of the first pictures we took and it's one of my favorites. This was right after he was cleaned of.

Here are the happy parents!

Here he is getting his first bath. He screamed the whole time!

Mom and baby are doing well and recovering great, both are healthy and happy. Dad is keeping busy taking pictures and holding his new little son.

Thanks to everyone who has come to see us, called, or otherwise supported us! We really appreciate it!

Harrison is Due today!

2008-01-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

Well, today has come and about gone.... And not an single sign of the sweet baby.
We have a scheduled induction date. Unless nature takes its course we will go into the hospital on Monday night at 9 p.m. be given cervidil... a hormone to soften my cervix, then if this hormone doesn't start labor then Tuesday morning the Dr. will start me on pitocin to start labor.
So unless this week my body decides to give up the baby Tuesday the 21st of January will be Harrison's birthday.

Come on already!

2008-01-10T20:56:00.000-08:00

I used to consider myself to be pretty patient, but there is something about being a few days away from your first baby's due date and not knowing when he is coming that starts to wear your patience down. We have spent the last 40 weeks getting ready for him to come. The last few weeks we have made even more preparations including putting the car seat in the car, packing a bag for the hospital, getting his bed ready and his diapers stocked. COME ON ALREADY! We are as ready as we are going to be at this point, let's do it!

New Baby Stuff

2008-01-01T19:48:00.001-08:00

This is one of my new favorite things that we have for our little guy. In case you can't read the picture...the pacifier says "Mute Button"!

Here are some new shirts I made for the baby using freezer paper stencils and screen printing ink. Of course they had to be red! Too bad they will be too big for him to wear to my graduation, I guess I'll have to make some more!

Happy 2008!

2008-01-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

The new year was pretty uneventful for us. I have been sick since Christmas so we didn't feel like going out in 3 degree weather and staying up late. We watched "Stardust" and cooked a pizza and then made homemade Coke Slurpees using one of my Christmas presents. We were in bed by 10:00pm. Here are some pictures of the Slurpees:

Here's the machine in action! You just fill up the canister inside with ice and salt and then pour in whatever kind of soda or juice you want.

And here we are enjoying homemade Coke Slurpees!

Christmas 2007

2008-01-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas was pretty nice this year for the Green's. We had a lot of fun spending time with both of our families. We spent Christmas eve in Heber at Sabrina's family's cabin and Christmas morning at our house just the two of us. Christmas day we went to my parent's house and then to Louise's for breakfast. We finished the day off at Gram's. After all was said and done we ate way too much food and got way too many presents. Harrison even got a few! Here are some of the highlights:

Sabrina's mom got us a recumbant exercise bike that we put together downstairs. It will be really nice for Sabrina to be able to get some exercise at home while she watches the baby and it will be really nice for me to sneak in some exercise time without going to the gym.
We also got a Garmin Forerunner that we will both be using for training and racing this coming year. I have several triathlons that I want to do in 2008 and Sabrina wants to run the St. George marathon.

Here's a picture of my cute pregnant wife in front of our Christmas tree!

We hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas and we wish you the best in the new year!

Done with school!

2007-12-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

This week I finally finished all my coursework to get my B.S. degree in Entrepreneurship from the Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. It's been a long road that has lasted 10 years and has been through four different majors and two different universities. Following is a brief history of my collegiate career:

I started out at the U right after I graduated from high school. I began work on a Computer Science degree, but decided to change majors after the first couple of semesters. I transfered to Weber State University and started work on an Information Systems degree. After my mission to San Diego I went back to Weber State and decided that Business Administration was more my thing (this was partially influenced by something my mission president said to me). The U seemed to be calling to me and I transfered back and eventually settled on their Entrepreneurship degree. I have always had dreams of starting a business and I figured I may as well study something that I thought was interesting.

And now it's over! I don't really know what to think... It was kind of an anti-climatic finish when I emailed my final project to my professor. I expected trumpets to sound and angels to sing "hallelujah" or something but all I got was an email back from my professor saying "thanks".

I have been working full time and taking night classes, so it will be nice to just come home after work and not worry about going to class, working on homework, and presentations. Now I can focus on some of the things that I have been lacking: Spending quality time with Sabrina (and Harrison in a few weeks!), getting back into shape, reading, and the list goes on...

I think I am going to participate in the graduation ceremonies at the end of next semester (they don't have any ceremonies at the end of this current semester). I figure I might as well get a picture shaking some guy's hand after 10 years of work.

BUNKO!

2007-11-15T12:51:00.000-08:00

Who knew that bunko was so much fun!
Well i guess alot of people must but i've never played it before, until last night i'd only though of it as a marginally taboo game that mormon women played.
Well Danae Dunn invited me to go play with her and some of her friends and it was really alot of fun. I'd never met the people there before but to play the game you dont really need to know the other players very well.
And I won a prize at the end of the game. Not a very significant prize. I never won BUNKO, i didnt have the most wins, or loses, or even BUNKOed off. I just had my score card drawn out of the basket.
Well it might be a while before i go and play BUNKO again... the baby is coming soon and my time will be spent being a new mom. but I really had fun and maybe in the summer i might find a group to join and pick it up again!

Spanglishbookstore.com

2007-11-15T12:45:00.000-08:00

Josh just this past week launched his very own online books store! We are very excited and hope that all his hard work will pay off.
Josh has been selling spanish and bilingual books at our preschool book fairs for the past year. He has been really successful with them. So he decided that the next logical step would be to sell his books on line.
So if anyone is interested in Spanish or Bilingual books come and take a look.
We'll ship to you where ever you are! We think that the site is really easy to use but any feed back you might have would be greatly appreciated!
OK so go and check out the books at www.spanglishbookstore.com

Also the first week of December Josh will be doing his very first book fair for an entire bilingual elementary here in SLC! Wish us luck on that one too! We'll keep you posted to tell you how it turns out.

The 3 Baby Greens

2007-10-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

We were trying to decide who the little guy looks like.... We pulled out some baby pictures. They are alot older than he is right now... obviously... but we thought that he has some features from both of us. He is just sooooo cute!
p.s. from the ultrasound he weights 2 lbs. 7 oz. He is getting bigger!

New pictures!

2007-10-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

We went to see the sonographer again today to get some 3D pictures and video of our little son. Here are some of the better pictures...

Look at his little face!

This one is a profile of his head, you can see his little ear on the right.

Here is one of his face from the front. That's his little hand over his eye.

This is one of my favorites...just relaxing and all stretched out.

Here's another one all stretched out. That is his other hand on his chin.

Look at his cute little nose and cheeks!

Monster Clothes for our "Little Monster"

2007-10-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

Over conference weekend we made a few new shirt for our "little monster". We are pretty happy with how they turned out!

We also saw this shirt and hat at Old Navy, and I couldn't pass them up...

A fun family night.

2007-10-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

Last night was a fun night for Josh and I. We were looking at ultrasound pictures of a fetus at 25 weeks on the internet, and then our little guy started to kick. He kicked and kicked and kicked. Probably 3 or 4 times for a few minutes each time. It was so cool to feel him kick, (my belly even was moving when he kicked) and to see a picture of what a baby that size looked like while feeling them inside of you was so amazing. We were watching the kicks of an entire and complete little boy. It was amazing. We both go so excited thinking about when our son finally comes to our family.

Viking Man Tri

2007-09-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today was my last tri of the year...the Viking Man in Pleasant Grove. It was a fundraiser for the Pleasant Grove High School swim team. It was so cold and was raining off and on the whole time. Even though it was cold, it actually turned out to be pretty fun. Jod also raced and my Dad and B raced as a team (my Dad's first time!). This was the first reverse order tri that I have done and I liked the change. It was nice to have the run (my least favorite of the three) done at the first.

All in all I participated in 5 races this year: Utah Summer Games (as a relay with Sabrina), Echo Tri, Alta Canyon Tri, Ogden Valley, and Viking Man.

Next year I am hoping to do a few new ones including one in San Diego and one in Burley, Idaho.

LoveRunner at Velour

2007-09-21T12:44:00.001-07:00

Last night we played a show at Velour in Provo. It was a fun night. We had a "fill-in" drummer with us, who did an excellent job with only one practice with the band. Velour is one of my favorite places to play because it is such a nice venue. They have great sound and a really cool atmosphere. We played with the Darling Broads, Knotty Pine, and the Goodlife Experience. Photos courtesy of rock photographer Sabrina Green.

Here's me and Jonathan. (The smoke is from our wailing guitars)

Here is the whole band.

Ogden Valley Tri

2007-09-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 15th was the Ogden Valley Tri. It was the first time that I have participated in this race, and it was great. It took us about an hour to drive from Salt Lake to Pineview Reservoir in the morning. It was pretty chilly when we got there, but warmed up a lot by the time I was done. It is a really pretty area and a great place for a tri. I ended up doing a lot better than I thought I would. The sad thing is that I got a faster overall time here than at Echo and the bike course was a few miles longer here.

Here I am getting out of the water...I felt pretty good even though I hadn't really trained. The wetsuit I was using made it hard to move my shoulders. Next time I will rent a tri wetsuit.

Somehow I actually pulled off my fastest bike time at this race...faster than any other tri I have done. I lost my water bottle with about 1.5 miles to go and I almost hit a spectator who was crossing the road, oblivious to the fact that there were bikers coming down the street at 20+ mph.

The run was bad news! I had a pretty slow time (about 30 minutes). The first half of the course was a gradual hill and then turned into a single track trail run. By the time I got to the run it was getting pretty warm. I had been leap frogging this one guy the whole way. We ended up chatting with about 200m to go, it was his first race. I couldn't let him beat me on his first race so I took off right at the end.

It was a fun race that I think I will be doing again next year.

Removed Family Photo

2007-09-17T09:42:00.001-07:00

Sorry if you are wondering where my family photos are. But i've been asked not to have that on the internet. So i've removed it. Sorry for any troubles.

Just for fun poll

2007-09-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

I just added a poll to our blog to help decide our baby's name. So far I think we are probably going to name him Harrison and his last name will most likely be Green...it's the middle name we need help with. So here are the options (and explanations):

Joshua (his dad's name)
Averil (not sure if that is spelled right, but that would be his great-grandpa's name, my dad's dad)
Trevor (Sabrina's dad's name)
Ford (uh, hello...Harrison Ford!)

This is just a fun poll, we aren't taking it too seriously...let us know what you think!

Baby's First Kicks (first that dad felt anyway...)

2007-09-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

We were just sitting on the couch tonight watching tv when Sabrina said that she felt the baby kick. I put my hand on her stomach and he kicked two more times! Sabrina has been feeling him move a little but tonight was the first time that I felt him move. It's a pretty awesome feeling to know that he is in there and moving around.

Alta Canyon Triathlon

2007-09-08T15:19:00.001-07:00

Today I did the Alta Canyon Triathlon. It was a "mini sprint" which means that it was shorter that a standard sprint distance race. The swim was in a pool and was 400 meters, the bike was 9 miles, and the run was a 5K.

There were a few new things for me on this race:

First, I have never done a tri in a pool. It actually worked out pretty nice. We had to all line up according to how fast we thought we were going to swim. I got in the line at the end of the 6 minute group. Racers were started one at a time and were not allowed to dive. You had to first start your chip by putting your foot on the timing box and then jump in and go. Once you got to an orange flag, the next swimmer would start. There were four lanes and you would swim down and back in one lane and then move on to the second, third, and fourth and do the same thing. I passed the kid ahead of me after about 100 meters.

The second new thing was using my cycling shoes and pedals. I have used them on quite a few training rides, but this was the first race. They worked out really nice, but were a little weird to run in when leaving the T1 and coming into T2.

The last new thing for me on this race was that I actually won something! I came in 3rd in my age division and got a medal for it! I was 42nd overall out of the 172 racers who finished. I finished 26th out of the 65 male racers who finished.

Overall, it was a great even. I seemed to be pretty nice for spectators too since they got to see the racers at several points in the race. There was also a kids race that was a swim and run. We are looking forward to when we can do a father and son race day in a few years...

Thanks to Bina, Jod, and B for coming out to support me!

Custom Baby Clothes

2007-09-06T19:32:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pics of the baby clothes I made for our little guy. We found a good deal on the onesies and the shirts at the Carter's outlet in Park City. We got blank ones so that I could print something on them. Yes the second one is a robot, I know I am a nerd.