The Harris Family in Kona

Faith in God Halloween Party

2010-10-23T14:30:00.002-10:00

Halloween time!

2010-10-07T13:56:00.002-10:00

Those who know me, know that I LOVE holidays. And that I LOVE to decorate for holidays. My favorites are Halloween and Christmas. Last year I did some major clearance shopping at Target when everything was 75% off. So I was excited to open up those bins and get decorating! Everything was cuter than I remembered. :) Oh, and I couldn't resist getting these cute matching halloween outfits for the girls

Alexandria loving her apple.

Kona Inn tide pools

2010-08-29T20:31:00.003-10:00

Sorry I haven't been updating my blog very much lately. Now that I'm on Facebook, that is where I do most of my updating. And I think everyone that reads my blog is my facebook friend, you aren't missing out. I'm pretty good at posting pictures on FB so everyone knows whats going on in my life. Now, on with the post.......

Saturday we went down to the shore to check out the tide pools. The kids had fun and it wasn't too hot.

Hanging out on the Sea wall
Gabriella getting up close and personal with the fish
Olsen checking it out too
Found a sea slug
And Gabriella found another one
Vana, no touchy because they hurt.
Oh, and did I mention it was a beautiful day?

Alexandria stayed close to the sea wall
Looking over for crabs
Gabriella is trying to give her mother a heart attack. Way too far away for her to be so close to the edge.
Both lookin' for danger :)
Heading back to the stroller.
Yeah, a picture with daddy
My view from looking straight up from laying on the grass.

4th of July!!

2010-07-04T11:49:00.002-10:00

Yesterday we had our neighbors over for a 4th of July BBQ. We had such a great time. Of course, whenever you plan a party it is bound to rain. :) Didn't stop us though.....

Decorating the backyard. I would like to thank Oriental Trading Company for all the cute decorations.
Waiting for the party to start.

My pretty firecrackers.
Added a little soap to the slip n' slide.
Everyone had a good time.
The rain didn't slow them down at all. Only the parents moved under cover. :)
The guys
The girls
SPARKLERS!! Olsen did get a good burn on his fingers, but he still had fun.

Just some cute pics

2010-06-16T14:10:00.002-10:00

Here are some cute pictures I took of the kids the other day.

Baby fell and bit her tongue and the only thing that made her feel better was a popsicle.

She LOVES popsicles!
Pretty Gabriella

Cool Olsen.

Before and After of the side and backyard

2010-06-12T22:20:00.002-10:00

This last month Byron and I have really been concentrating on our backyard. After finishing the deck last year we kind of got burnt out of working on the yard. We turn our attention to the inside and Byron made those wonderful built in selves in our bedroom. Well now that summer is on us again (thou it is basically summer all year round here) we've been going crazy working on our backyard. Here are some before and after shots.

The lovely princess are building a bridge to the huge mound of excess rock we have from when we had to clear a space for the deck.
To tell you the truth, I think the kids liked the before because it was much more adventurous :)
Pretty plain looking....
Working on it. Byron cleared a path and laid paving stones. With the stacking stones we were able to make a little garden and plant some citrus trees and a banana tree.
Planted some palms to line the grass and the neighbors yard. Also got some big pots and some hanging baskets.
Finished product. Just image the beautiful white fence we will have someday to block out the neighbors ugly yard........ Also imagine all the flowers, plants and trees bigger.... That is just going to take some time...... I do want to get a few more pots to put on the side of the house. So it's not completely done. Just mostly.
Byron latticed in our gas tanks (for our stove) and our garbage cans. Nobody wants to see those thing when walking by. He also framed out a space where we are going to pour concrete to put our grill on (hopefully this next week or two). Where the grill is now is going to be a bench so people can talk to the person grilling.
Finally put plants in the hanging baskets and the big pots. I also just oiled our teak table so it now looks nice and shiny :) Don't mind Byron out there, he is just putting up the extra shade screen because we are having people over for dinner tomorrow.
Now that we've worked so hard in beautifying our yard, I've really enjoyed our deck more. I no longer feel it's a random space attached to our yard. It is now more inclosed and pretty so I like hanging out there more. The plants and trees also give a bit of privacy. Whenever we would eat dinner out there before I felt like I was in my neighbors living room......

And then one day we will have a fence and it will be perfect :)

Faces of Alexandria

2010-05-19T11:17:00.003-10:00

My little girl is so cute that I had to share all her little face she made the other day........ :) She makes me happy!

Alexandria's 1rst Birthday!

2010-05-17T11:40:00.002-10:00

Last Saturday we had a party for my sweet baby. She seems so young, I have a hard time believing she's one. Maybe it's because she isn't walking on her own yet. But she is perfect and loved by all. :)

Eating chop suey (her favorite)
Fun family parties.
Eating more chop suey with daddy
Cake time, that hat lasted for about 30 seconds
She loved the cake
mamma and daddy
Olsen really wanting that candy!
One of the ribbons from her presents. Looks cute on her.

What we've been doing this last month

2010-04-08T14:44:00.003-10:00

Here is a brief overview of what we've been doing this last month in pictures......

Gabriella and Emma had a tea party with a dino
Alexandria loves to eat in her highchair
We like to ride bikes with neighbors.
Alexandria had her first taste of chocolate. I think she likes it.... :)
Had a visit from Jo and Gary. Haven't seen her is YEARS.
Olsen with his spiky hair and making the shaka
Gabriella being cute
Alexandria being cute
Alexandria loves to play outside in the kitchen
Oh, the ice cream man came by
Gabriella passed out in the middle of eating her mac&cheese
Olsen's class was studying the O and couple weeks ago and made an Opihi picking kit. This is why I love Hawaii. It came with a opihi, a "knife", and a net to hold all the opihi.

Easter

2010-04-06T23:44:00.003-10:00

Easter was great. It was wonderful to hear conference and then we headed up to the grandparents where kids had a blast riding bikes and playing with cousins.

Gabriella riding along
Olsen now hows a new trick where he stands on the bar. I didn't take a picture of it..... :(
Gabriella making her new smirk.
Happy couple
Alexandria loving her walking
Seriously love this girl

I couldn't get these two to take a good picture together......
Easter egg hunt

Counting up the goods
Her smirk again
Breaking into the candy

Bath time

2010-03-09T11:55:00.001-10:00

Three little monkeys sitting in the tub......... It's nice that they all three can take a bath together.

Day at the Hilton

2010-03-07T10:53:00.002-10:00

As you all should know by now, I like to take the kids to the Hilton as a fun little get-away to the day. They have a train, boat and dolphins, so they think it's pretty. I think it's cool because it's free. We went last week and brought along our buddy Noa. The kids had a great time.

Riding the train and looking at the water
cheese
Gabriella listening and not climbing all around........ NOT
Baby girl hanging out
Now on the boat cruisin' around
Watching the dolphins. They were jumping up and doing tricks.
Alexandria trying to grab the camera nonstop
Walking through the waterfall
Gabriella posing doing the shaka
Want to show you Alexandria's third tooth. Her other top one still hasn't come through yet. It looks kinda funny :)

Pine Trees BBQ

2010-02-22T15:02:00.004-10:00

Saturday afternoon we went to the beach with some friends and neighbors for a BBQ. It was a beautiful evening and I even tried to surf (sort of, it was terrible). Everyone had a great time.

The boys pushing the girls around on the buggie boards.

Pine Trees is nice because you can just park on the beach. Here is our little set up.
Gabriella and Emma eating pizza.
Alexandria is hanging in the shade
Byron saw a whale while I was out "surfing".

Olsen and Gabriella trying to surf together.
Olsen did much better by himself
Gabriella tried, but couldn't quite get it.
Olsen snorkeling
Doing the "shark"
Ah, now Gabriella can stand on the surf board. :)
Daddy and baby

All the kids throwing rocks at the waves. Loving the sunset....
Kid group shot. They had so much fun!

Valentines Day and Tea Parties

2010-02-20T13:30:00.002-10:00

Friday the kids had a Valentines party at school. They had a lot of fun and had a lot of treats.

Once upon a time Snow White, Belle and Sleeping Beauty had a tea party. Juice boxes and nori (seaweed). I'm not kidding when I say we eat the seaweed like they are potato chips. They are yummy.

Byron's new project

2010-02-19T21:25:00.002-10:00

Byron has been working hard this last month and a half. He made a window box, table and shelves for our master bedroom. I LOVE it. Can't wait for it to be completely finished. Here are pictures of his progress. I was surprised how fast he did it. I guess I was use to how long it took for the deck, so this flew by.

January 16th.
Alexandria was really helpful in finding all the loose screws around.
January 25th
January 29th
February 13th The two selfs are up and now we need to put the middle one up.
So the shelves weigh a million pounds and I had to help carry them in. The middle we had to lift over our heads and screw it in place. Well, I'm no She-Ra (thou I did try) and so Byron set up a pulley system to help lift it. Found out is was a HAIR too big and had to take it back down so Byron good trim it a bit.
Pulley system.
February 15th

I was over trying to hold up the shelf and called in Byron's brother to help. Here is the almost finished project. Now we just need to paint it........
Oh, and I have a very cute baby!!

Alexandria's new swing

2010-02-11T09:45:00.002-10:00

Byron picked up a little swing for Alexandria. She is still 50/50 on it. Some days she likes it, some days she doesn't. These pictures are from a day she liked it. Oh, and Gabriella dresses herself.....

Just being cute eating a train track sitting in the sun.
Olsen is concentrating really hard and coloring his white Speed Racer car into a red Speed Racer car.

ZOO DAY

2010-02-08T18:13:00.003-10:00

Wow, I can't believe how much I've slacked on my blogger. I think I was a little burned out or something. Anyway, my children are still adorable and I still take some pictures of them.
A couple of weeks ago a neighbor family and I took our kids to the very LITTLE zoo in Hilo. It is actually a zoo and garden, so the grounds looked beautiful. Not many animals thou........

(Pictures taken with my phone, so the quality is not the greatest.)

My double stroller became a bus and we loaded the four kids in it.
Dear Chris pushed all the kids around.
I had Alexandria in my baby bjorn. I love that thing.
Kids goofing off.
Gabriella getting up close and personal with the lemur.
After the zoo we went to the coolest park that had a million little bridges for the kids to run around on.
Alexandria was just cute sitting there.
Japanese sculpture
Playing Tarzan with the trees roots.

New Year's Eve

2010-01-12T20:32:00.002-10:00

New Year's Eve was the best this year. We all went to Out Back for dinner and then came over to our house to do some fireworks. Everyone was gone by 9:30 and I was in bed by 10:00. I wanted to go to bed early because I was starting my new wake up early and walk routine (which I have been doing). Then the older cousins went to another family's house where they did the BIG fireworks.

Opening the fireworks
Kelsey with her new haircut

The swingset was popular
Olsen LOVES fireworks.
View of your deck. It is the most wonderful thing. Thank you Byron for building it for me.
Seriously, Olsen really loved the fireworks.
Gabriella trying to figure out how that works.

Sisters are fun

2010-01-05T21:00:00.003-10:00

The Sunday after Christmas I dressed the girls in their cute matching Christmas dresses that their Grandma got them. Everyone at church thought they looked cute too. :)

Big girl

2009-12-29T20:48:00.003-10:00

First off, I just have to say my baby is so yummy. I really can't stop kissing and nibbling at her all day. Oh, and don't even get me started on how delicious she smells...... You would think this was my first baby instead of my third. I guess they are all so yummy you have to have more :)

Here is a picture of her sitting in a cart for the first time. And yes, it's a target because I love that store.
Then we went to Costco and the sisters got to sit together.
Sister love.

Alexandria Crawling for the First Time

2009-12-26T15:25:00.002-10:00

As you can tell from Marta's live commentary, we were pretty excited to see Alexandria crawling for the first time.

Christmas Morning

2009-12-26T12:25:00.003-10:00

This has been a fun Christmas. The kids are old enough where they really get it and the anticipation of Santa was so exciting. In fact Olsen said Christmas eve that he should go to bed. He has never said that before :) So here are a million pictures of the kids Christmas morning.

Olsen had no problem to start opening presents.
Gabriella kept saying "my presents?" So cute.
Of course Olsen got some sort of sword.
Alexandria liking her new toy.
The many faces of Alexandria

The caos that is Christmas morning. Olsen is trying his new roller skates.
Hollywood star.
Holding her new notebook and purse.
More funny faces of baby

Olsen loved the new slot cars that "daddy" got. He would lay down by it and just watch the cars go round and round.
Petting his new roaring T-rex.

Gabriella saves the day

2009-12-25T11:51:00.002-10:00

Alexandria was a little nervous around Olsen's new dinosaur, but luckily Gabriella was there to rescue her.

Oh Christmas Tree.........

2009-12-14T19:40:00.002-10:00

I love our tree. Last year we bought an artificial (I felt evil at the time, but now I'm okay with it), but it's a really nice one that actually looks kinda real. It is so easy to set up and take down. And it doesn't die 2 weeks before Christmas! I've had the worst luck keeping trees alive. Oh, and there NO MESS!
Olsen looking rather serious in front of the tree.
And Gabriella just looks grumpy. I didn't have much luck with them this morning.
These are pictures of some of my favorite ornaments....

This one I got in Italy in 2002. I had to follow in my sister Heather's foot steps. :)

Alexandria fell asleep on my shoulders while walking through Borders

2009-12-05T23:42:00.000-10:00

Alexandria sleeping

2009-12-03T10:48:00.002-10:00

We just moved Alexandria into her own room Monday night. I know it's weird, but she seems like such a big girl now. I took these pictures yesterday with my phone.

Alexandria taking a nap.
Just being adorable on the couch......
I love her teeth!

Harris Park

2009-11-25T21:58:00.002-10:00

This is the craziness that is my backyard. My neighbor said it's not the Harris house, it's the Harris park. We've always got anywhere between 5 to 10 kids in the back. I must say, I do like that they all come over here because I like to know where my kids are. :) It can get a little too crazy and that's when I say it's break time and everyone go home for an hour. Then everyone comes back and it's playtime once more.

All of them holding still for the picture.
How it really is!
And my little Alexandria girl playing so nicely inside with me.

Harris Tradition

2009-11-18T10:20:00.002-10:00

What started out as some cute little snapshots I took of Olsen on a whim at the beach, has turned into a very cute baby tradition. Now when the baby turns 6 months old or so we make our way down to Pine Trees (a stretch of beach that you have to have 4 wheel drive to get too) and look for a cool spot to take pictures.

What a fun day..... Parade and Beach

2009-11-14T19:49:00.004-10:00

We had a great family day today. First we met family down on Alii Dr. for our town parade. Byron's brother Willie is band director for Kamehameha School and they performed in the parade this morning.

Family sitting on the curb watching the parade.
Alexandria being held by her cousin Alema. Yes, the flower is huge, but it was so cute on her I had to have her wear it.
Kamehameha School band. The best on the Island of course.
Willie making sure they stay in line.
We also decided it was time to head to the beach as a family. It's been awhile.... So we loaded up Byron's truck and headed to Pine Trees. We had to use his truck because you need 4 wheel drive to get there. It was a perfect day at the beach.

Gabriella and Olsen checking out the water.

Alexandria hung out with me on the sand.
Olsen picking up the white coral rocks to take to his dad.
In the middle of the water there is Gabriella floating on her back.
Byron needed the white rock for the Alexandria sign. Got to keep up with tradition you know...
Alexandria had fun playing in the little tide pools.
They all had fun playing in the tide pools.
The Harris kids.
Daddy helping the kids to catch some fish.
Taking a water break.
Silly faces.
Gabriella loves the water
Olsen is looking around for fish or crabs to catch.
Gabriella is on the way.........
To help Olsen look.
All in all, it was a wonderful fun filled day!!

Last day of soccer

2009-11-12T20:17:00.002-10:00

Two Saturdays ago was Olsen's last day of soccer. It was fun and I think Olsen is a natural athlete. Anything that is active and fun he is into.

On the field, all the parent are holding umbrellas. It was like a sea of umbrellas. And yes, we were one of them. It is too hot not to bring your own shade. Daddy and Alexandria hanging out in the shade.

Gabriella decided it was her turn to have the umbrella all to herself.
Olsen was getting pretty good at getting the ball.
Come on Olsen! Make a goal!
Afterwards they had a little award ceremony where all the kids got a trophy. Olsen is waiting for his name to be called.
Got to stand on the box with his award and trophy. The coaches were great and the kids had a great time.

Sweet baby teeth

2009-11-09T15:04:00.002-10:00

Little Alexandria got her baby teeth a little earlier than my other two. Don't think I shared a picture of her cute teeth. She is getting so much personality. She love to smile to anyone who smiles at her. Oh, and she has the cutest growl sound, grrrr as loud as she can!

Here she is helping me get ready. Sitting in the middle of my bed with a bunch of toys.
Her cute little teeth.

No teeth, just cute.
If you are wondering where the wild things are, look no further. They are in my backyard.

Halloween

2009-10-31T21:01:00.002-10:00

Brace yourself for the worlds cutest Snow White! She had so much fun dresses up this evening. I let her wear lipstick and blush and boy, did she feel like a princess. I even got into it and curled her hair.

My two trick-o-treaters.
Daddy having fun taking pictures of Gabriella
Alexandria went as our little pumpkin.

We had a little party in our neighbors yard (their backyard is just a continuation of our backyard) before all the kids went trick or treating. Here Alexandria is with Lana. Lana is Noa's (Olsen's best friend) little sister.
The kids eating at the kids table.
Gabriella and Olsen out trick or treating, but Olsen just fell and called it a night.

Halloween and fighting Grandpa

2009-10-25T15:21:00.002-10:00

Last Sunday we picked up Byron's parents from the airport after being on Oahu for the weekend and had them over dinner. And whenever Grandpa and Olsen get together, there is sure to be sword fighting.... Gabriella got into the action this time.
Gabriella saying some stern words to Grandpa.
Olsen playing dead. Oh, they had to show off their Halloween costumes to grandpa and grandma.
Better watch out for this one, she's sneaky.
On Thursday I had a Halloween party for my Faith in God girls (8-11 year olds) It was fun and the girls had a good time. Here is some of them, we had ten girls come over.
We made homemade rootbeer with dry ice. Yummy!
I dressed up as a witch and my baby was a cute skeleton.

Here's Alexandria with her cute candy corn t-shirt. She was looking adorable in it.

Rock star children

2009-10-18T21:22:00.002-10:00

Olsen got a little toy guitar for his birthday and the kids like to take turns playing "rock star". Apparently they love to be rock stars.

Pay no attention to Gabriella's outfit. She likes to dress herself and it is a battle I choose not to fight. Oh, and she will only wear skirts at the moment....... silly girl.

Olsen really gets into it. It's pretty cute.

Going for a ride

2009-10-14T22:00:00.000-10:00

This is how Alexandria feels about her car seat.......

Soccer!!!

2009-10-05T09:36:00.003-10:00

We signed Olsen up for peewee soccer and it is dang cute to watch him play! There are no real teams, just learning different aspects of the game.

Learning to control the ball.

Practicing throwing the ball in
Passing the ball.
Break time. Cooling off under the umbrella. Even at 8 in the morning it's hot.
It was picture day so here they are gathering around to line up.
Group shot
Yes, my boy will be the one with his finger in the mouth!

Olsen's Party

2009-10-04T09:46:00.002-10:00

Wow, this month has been about one birthday party after another. I think there has been a party every weekend! Oh and I think there's another one next weekend. Yesterday Olsen had his first friends party. So FUN! We had pizza and chips for lunch, then cake and ice cream. I think we will do friends parties on 5, 8, 12 & 16 birthdays.

Waiting for the monster truck jumper to fill up.

Olsen sneaking around to scare the kids inside. They took turns being monsters.
More kids = more craziness = more fun.
Everyone gathered around to sing Happy Birthday
It was so windy the candles wouldn't stay lit.
We also had a soccer pinata, but I forgot to take pictures. I was little busy making sure no kids got hit by a swinging stick. :)

Olsen's school party

2009-10-02T13:22:00.002-10:00

Today we had a little party for Olsen at his school. They are so wonderful. I brought cupcakes, but they had ice cream, balloons, crown and little presents for him. They did the same thing for Gabriella 2 weeks ago.

Olsen being silly with his birthday crown. He is also wearing his favorite monster shirt I got for Halloween.
Gabriella came for the party too.

This week his class talked all about Dinosaurs. Yesterday they made dinosaur eggs.
And when you open it up, there is a little dinosaur in there. He thought it was pretty cool!

Happy October

2009-10-01T21:31:00.003-10:00

Just need to show off my very cute baby. Do you like her onesie? Saw it at Wal-Mart and had to get it. Then I needed to take a million pictures of her in it.
Oh no, I'm falling over..........
All I do is kiss and nibble at these cheeks!

Gabriella's favorite picnic spot. She moves that table from our nice new deck to be in that little spot. She cracks me up. Here she is eating cherrios from 5 different little bowls. She will also sing and talk to herself while having a picnic. How cute is that? :)
She was being so adorable I had to give her a popsicle.
Gabriella and Nivee with the princess cake I made for G's birthday. We had a big family party this weekend for the all the birthday girls in the Sept. There was 4 of us.

Alexandria Laughing

2009-10-01T21:11:00.002-10:00

Alexandria has started really laughing now.

Gabriella turns three

2009-09-19T14:45:00.002-10:00

My little girl is three now. She is getting so big and I can't believe that is such a little person, no long a baby. We did cupcakes at her preschool then she opened presents when daddy got home.

Opening her new tea set. She loves to have tea parties.
Her new little princess luggage
This is exactly what she is saying at this moment "nothing in there!"
She also got a new princess bike. I didn't to be, but everything she got was princess-y. She didn't mind one bit.

Olsen boy

2009-09-15T21:53:00.002-10:00

I LOVE my boy!! He is so cute and so loving. He melts his mama's heart.

Being silly in his new hat.

He loves his baby sister

Ward beach party

2009-09-12T19:16:00.004-10:00

Today we had our ward beach party. So fun to be with some of by favorite people. It's fun to hang with them outside of church. I think the kids had a good time too :)

Olsen and Gabriella chillin' under the umbrella eating chips
Alexandria got a lot of love from Aunties all around
Showing off their shaka
Jill and her nephew twins.
Byron making sure the BBQ is done right.
Gabriella playing in the water with Makamai
Spot the white girl
The youth playing dodge ball

Being silly

Alexandria getting more love and everyone chilling in the shade

The boys (and girls) jumping off the wall.......

My girls

2009-09-11T21:38:00.002-10:00

This is my new favorite picture at the moment. Alexandria is my pretty in pink girl.
Gabriella being silly.
Seriously, I think Byron is getting a little nervous that Gabriella is getting too pretty.

Tea party and going for a drive

2009-09-11T16:02:00.002-10:00

Today Noa and NIvee came over to play. It was perfect. Olsen had his buddy to play and Gabriella had hers.

Gabriella and Nivee having a tea party
Nivee was very gracious and poured the water
Then they decided to hitch a ride with the boys.
Good times to be had by all.

Labor Day

2009-09-09T18:55:00.004-10:00

On Labor Day we decided to hit the pool for a little cool down and some time in the sun. Since we were having a BBQ at our house that evening, we didn't want to be out too long. So it was perfect.

Olsen's friend came back from Brazil. You can't separate the two!

Olsen swimming
Gabriella having fun under the mushroom shower....
Everyone gathering around baby.
Olsen's turn in the mushroom
The boys had so much fun in the water.
Mama and baby
Can't get enough of her.
Olsen showing off his shark
Best Buds. Seriously, it will be funny if the graduate together and we have this picture.

Alexandria

2009-09-03T16:38:00.002-10:00

So I took a million pictures of Alexandria today. She was just so cute sitting there I couldn't help myself. Whoever invent the Bambo chair for infants is my hero. Baby loves sitting in there and I can get some work done while she watches me. So helpful.

This is how Alexandria helps me while I clean the kitchen.....
Now these are just cute pictures of her

I love her feet in this picture.
Gabriella needed to come show some love to her baby sister.

Funny Faces

2009-09-03T11:36:00.002-10:00

My kids make me laugh. The other day the kids were sitting on the couch and started making funny faces. Had to take pictures.

Alexandria smiling for the camera again. Daddy is holding her and that alway makes her happy.

Alexandria Smiling

2009-08-26T13:40:00.001-10:00

Finally!! I got a picture of Alexandria smiling. She has the cutest smile, but she would never smile for the camera. Till today. So enjoy these cute pictures of my baby girl. :)

Party at Utah

2009-08-20T20:18:00.004-10:00

Okay, real quick because I'm way tired, but here are some pictures of my weekend in Utah. It was so fun to see family and to show off my pretty little girl. Seriously, I think I only held her when she was hungry. Many aunts, uncles and cousins couldn't get enough of her.

Friday night at Amalie's we celebrated mother and Dad's 50th, Christian and MayLynn's 25 and the wedding of Alison and Adam.

The three brides...... :)
Catherine holding Alexandria
Grandma Susie and Alexandria
Family visiting
Alexandria and Hudson born one day apart.

Cute cousins together
Amalie and Blaine hosting the party. They set it up so nice and festive.
After Hudson's blessing we had lunch at mom's house.

Alexandria hanging out
Michael and Christina's family with the new addition. Don't they look great with 7 kids?
Well, I wouldn't let them have my baby girl. Here they are without the addition.
Graham and Michael's boys. Can you tell they like each other? :)
Jansen hanging out in the backyard.
Graham and Cara with their two.
Amalie with her 5
Christina and Alexandria

Today was Gabriella's first day of school.

2009-08-10T10:02:00.002-10:00

The best part of the morning was Olsen giving counsel to Gabriella on the drive to school:

"Sister, be a good girl and no crying, ok?"

And then she replied, "Ok."

And she didn't.

Some vid clips of Gabriella

2009-08-03T23:17:00.008-10:00

While Olsen would yell out "Superman", Gabriella would call out her own versions.

Gabriella loves you

Ready for church

2009-07-26T10:41:00.002-10:00

Believe it or not I wasn't running late for church this morning and was able to get a couple of shots of the kids.

Sisters

Almost impossible to get three kids to look at the camera with a real smile at the same time. The kids are cute though.

Princess

2009-07-23T17:00:00.002-10:00

Princess Gabriella Elizabeth is tired. I took these shots 10 minutes ago when she passed out on the floor in the living room. She is so pretty even when sleeping. She got a new pair a princess shoes yesterday from Target and I think they wont give blisters like the Disney ones do.
She got into the lipgloss. That is what she has all over her face.
Cute picture of baby. I love kissing her!

Random Shots

2009-07-18T10:59:00.003-10:00

Last Sunday I had the girls dressed in the matching dresses Monica gave them. I'm so in love in dressing them alike. And I'm glad I have a sister that supports me in that. Here they are hanging out on my bed before church.

Alexandria and her cousin Winter chillin'
My attempt to get her to smile for the camera. You are just going to have to take my word for it, she is smiling a lot now :)
Gabriella just looking cute
The kids are liking their backpacks because they can be like Dora and Diego
Giving baby uma's, but it looks like Alexandria is getting tired of it.

Happy kids

2009-07-14T12:41:00.005-10:00

The kids love their swing set. It has been so great. In fact, it's kind of become the neighborhood park. A lot of the neighbor kids come over and play. It's and fun.
Olsen is my monkey boy and loves to climb
Somebody get this kid a coconut tree

Gabriella loves to swing and play in the "castle" tower and be a princess. So fun to watch them play.

I'm not kidding when I say Alexandria is getting prettier and prettier everyday. She is starting to coo and smile more and more. It melts my heart. Of course she never smiles when I have the camera out..........

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-05T08:04:00.005-10:00

For the 4th we went to Denny's and watch the fireworks for there. It was perfect. Will write more later, but got to go to church now. And the screaming baby on my lap isn't helping either. :)

My three sweethearts!

2009-06-27T10:51:00.000-10:00

Random shots

2009-06-13T21:26:00.003-10:00

Alexandria taking her first bath. It took FOUR weeks for you umbilical cord to fall off!! It was a very think cord.
One of Olsen and Gabriella's favorite shows right now is Dora the Explorer. They like to put on the boots and backpack and explore around the house. I love it.
My sleeping angel
Pretty Gabriella. I love this picture of her.
A picture of Alexandria awake. I notice I have mostly sleeping pictures of her.
Chillin' with her brother.

Monica and Dan in town

2009-06-10T18:52:00.004-10:00

It was so fun to have Monica and Dan in town this weekend. My kids got spoiled. Seriously, spoiled! Gabriella LOVES her Na-Ka. She would ask for her every morning and whenever Monica wasn't here. :) We blessed Alexandria on Sunday and had a big lunch on our new Lanai, but I forgot to take a single picture because I was too busy cooking and setting up for 30 people. I could kick myself. I will take picture of Alexandria in her blessing dress this week.

Monica just flew and needed some baby time.
Monica and Dan
Monica helping Gabriella with some princess crafts she brought her.
Alexandria in the cute little sleeper Monica got her
On Tuesday Monica invited us to her hotel for some fun swim time. Here is Alexandria chilling on a lounge by the pool.
Monica teasing the kids

Alexandria was perfect the whole time. She was either sleeping or chilling.......
Swim time
Can you tell that Gabriella is had a fantastic time with her Aunt?

Olsen really liked doing his own thing in the pool.
He is also getting pretty good at swimming. As long as he can touch the ground if he needs too..... :)
Getting a ride

Dancers in Paradise

2009-06-09T09:53:00.004-10:00

Here is the second episode of Dancers in Paradise. In this episode, they spotlight each of the finalists. Pania's spot is at 11:36.

Deck pictures

2009-06-01T12:34:00.003-10:00

Okay, I have to confess, I'm so sick of working on this deck. We have worked on it EVERY Saturday since Christmas. But we are getting closer. Just need to finish painting the post a light brown color and then Byron will do the electrical stuff. The structure is done and that is the main part.

The kids like to make towers and bridges with the scrape wood.
Some of the slates are hung

Byron put up the angle braces and the rest of the slates this weekend. He is my hero.
Here is the picture I took this morning. I'm getting excited. It is going to be the best deck and and pergola you've ever seen!

Sleeping girls

2009-05-30T11:01:00.006-10:00

Here are some pictures from this last week. Sorry I haven't been posting lately, but I've got 3 good excuses.... Little Alexandria LOVES to be held and only held. The minute you put her in the swing or bouncy seat she starts too cry. But its okay, it's my job and it's a full time job. And she is really cute and small. We love her.

I put her on her tummy for some tummy and time and she fell asleep.

Last Saturday Gabriella played so hard she fell asleep on the couch.
Alexandria 3 weeks old.

Bowling with boys

2009-05-29T20:55:00.004-10:00

Here are some pictures from about a month and half ago. It was Kelton's 5rh birthday and there about 8 kids bowling. Needless to say, everyone had a blast. We had two lanes with bumpers and small launcher thing for the kids. Olsen and Gabriella had so much fun. I also love the bowling shoes on the kids. So cute.

Shannon laying some ground rules for the kids
Daddy helping Gabriella

Olsen in his mid-air kung-fu moves
Gabriella hanging tight

Jamy time

2009-05-19T10:41:00.002-10:00

Here are some pictures of the kids all ready for bed last night. They love being with baby.

Some more picture

2009-05-17T17:01:00.002-10:00

Baby Alexandria changes everyday. Can't believe she is 10 days old today. Here are some cute shots of the kids.

Alexandria taking a nap. I've been lucky, she already has her days and nights down for the most part.
Gabriella hanging out with her best friend, stickers.
Olsen holding Alexandria today
Olsen showing that he can multi-task while holding baby
My first gardenia bloom...... I picked it today and now my house smells yummy.

Sisters......

2009-05-11T17:27:00.002-10:00

Now that Alexandria been around for a few days, Gabriella decided that she likes her and wants to hold. This baby is LOVED in this house, that's for sure.

Some cute shots of the girls together today.

All three. I'm love this picture.

My girls

2009-05-10T22:11:00.001-10:00

My pretty girls. They are so cute and fun.

Sleeping Alexandria
Princess Gabriella
Showing off her twirl

Alexandria Olivia Harris

2009-05-09T12:33:00.003-10:00

Baby Alexandria made her entrance into the world May 7th, 2009 at 11:20am weighing 8 pounds 3 oz and 20.5 inches long.

About 1 hour old.
Her crazy long fingers and fingernails.
Hanging with Daddy
I love this little girl.

Olsen LOVES being the big brother and hates sharing her with Mama and Daddy. He is a good brother.
Gabriella likes little sister, but doesn't really want to be by holding her so here are a couple of cute shots of her the day before Alexandria is born being very cute.

Silly Olsen

2009-04-29T20:05:00.002-10:00

This boy makes me laugh. The other day he wanted to wear his boots, hat, gloves and sunglasses. It was so funny I had to take some pictures!!

Painting the beams

2009-04-26T09:12:00.002-10:00

My poor body. I was way stupid and over did it yesterday (I've learned my lesson and will not do that again), but all beams are painted and some are hung. The kids were good in the morning and than grandma and grandpa picked them up to go to a birthday party.

Painting away
Gabriella is cooking some food for Olsen
Olsen thought it was yummy
It was a beautiful, sunny hot day. Perfect for painting.
Here is a picture of it this morning. The post are primed, but those will be painted a light brown where the pergola will be white. It coming together...........

Easter Saturday at the Frechette's

2009-04-22T19:34:00.003-10:00

Our neighbors celebrated Easter on Saturday because the dad is a fireman and had to work on Sunday. We were invited with two other families and everyone had great time.

Gabriella sitting at the table waiting for lunch
Olsen and Noa having fun playing cars

Me and my preggo belly
Gabriella collecting eggs
Looks like Olsen missed a couple in the tree
Found one on the swingset
Enjoying the fruits of their labor
All the kids back at the table for cake
Easter Sunday looking very cute

Water time

2009-04-16T20:18:00.002-10:00

I noticed that most of my family is under some crazy snow in Utah today so I thought I would show what we were doing today. Enjoying the play pool.

Jumping in
Olsen using his shield.
Hiding from the hose

Fighting back with his sword.

My bunny is cuter than your bunny

2009-04-10T09:01:00.002-10:00

At school yesterday Olsen became a little bunny rabbit. He loved it and I had to force him to wash is face before bed. So cute.

Here he is hopping around like a bunny

Just a little bit more and then on to the pergola....... I bought primer, so I will be painting non-stop soon.
My cute little ones.

2009-04-05T10:41:00.002-10:00

The decking is almost done! Byron has been working hard.....

Gabriella trying out the balance beam
Just looking pretty
How it looks this morning. Only a little bit to go.
Gabriella loves playing with her brother. I got them to stand still to take a picture with their motorcycles.

Baby girl's Nursery

2009-04-04T14:16:00.004-10:00

So the nursery is ready, where's baby....? That's okay, baby still needs a few more weeks to cook.

In case you can't tell, those are butterflies on the wall. I didn't want to hang anything over the crib, so I thought these stickers were perfect.
That bassinet will actually be coming into our room and the futon that our friend is borrowing will go in it's place. But I thought it was cute how it is set right now.
Olsen showing off his motorcycles.

Olsen Riding His Bike For The First Time

2009-03-31T23:24:00.004-10:00

Olsen begged for me to take the training wheels off his bike so I eventually relented expecting a few days of a frustrated little boy. It turns out all he needed was two minutes. Literally.

Another deck update

2009-03-29T08:53:00.002-10:00

Friday night Olsen and Gabriella had a sleep over with Grandma and Grandpa and all their Hilo cousins. I was told the kids did great and had a lot of fun. Byron and I had a nice night off and had dinner with our friends (don't remember the last time we did that) Anyway, on Saturday Grandpa brought the kids home and helped Byron lay some of the decking down. I think Byron thought it would be pretty quick and would be able to finish most of it in one day. Well, it's very time consuming to screw down every plank, so they didn't get has far as they thought. But it still looks great.

Olsen helping hammering a nail. That nail only use was to keep Olsen occupied while Daddy and Grandma did the work.
Evan making sure the job gets done right.
We are about a 4th or so of the way done.
Olsen pretending he is riding a horse on it this morning.

Deck

2009-03-22T09:23:00.002-10:00

I love my husband. He has been working so hard every weekend on this deck. Yesterday he put up all the beams for the pergola. Next week he hopes to put down most of the decking and after that he will work on the pergola. And then the painting will begin. That is going to be not so fun.

Olsen with some tool "helping" daddy.
All four post up!! I can't wait.

My boy amazes me

2009-03-18T19:04:00.004-10:00

This last week Olsen has been asking for the "little wheels" off his bike. But we wanted to wait till we had more time to spend with him and teach how to ride a two wheeler. Today he convinced daddy to take them off before he had to dance tonight. Byron held the bike for a second and then Olsen took off on his own. The boy is a natural. We couldn't believe it.

Seriously, the kid had no help from us. He went up to the street and he LOVED having all that space to ride.

Gabriella taking a nap after church. We love nap time in our house. :)

Oh, and this girl is completely potty trained! She did it in one week! I take no credit for it, it was all her. She only had 3 accidents and they were all in the bathroom. It is so nice to not have to change any diapers. Even if it is for a few more weeks :)

Princess Gabriella

2009-03-11T20:46:00.003-10:00

Gabriella has become a princess. She will even tell you herself. She goes around and tells everyone "I'm a princess" She has been favoring Sleeping Beauty lately which comes out sounding more like "dirty". Another favorite is Snow White. She will only wear dresses, and if she could, only the costume princess dresses. I have to hide them sometimes so she will wear a regular dress.

The other day I hear "help, help" coming from the baby room and I see Gabriella stuck in the up-side down glider ottoman. And of course I run for the camera to take a picture instead of helping her out :) Notice she is wearing a princess dress.
Today I walked into the baby's room and I see Gabriella just sitting on the window sill looking very sweet and cute. Had to take a few pictures of it.

Olsen is showing off the little squirrel a teacher painted on his hand at school.

He actually sick tonight and fell asleep during prayer. It was pretty to look over after the prayer and see him passed out with his arms folded. No wonder he was so quite during the prayer.

Sleep time

2009-03-01T16:06:00.002-10:00

Olsen is a funny sleeper. He likes to have about 5 blankets with him at all times. Lately he has been making a little nest with them. He surrounds himself with the blankets and pillows. It was so cute I had to take a picture of it.

Just thought I'd share a cute picture of Gabriella too.
I'm so proud of my husband. He is building this deck single-handedly. He got this far on Saturday.

4 wheel fun

2009-02-28T15:32:00.001-10:00

These are from the other day. The kids have so much fun.

Gabriella is getting pretty good driving by herself. We just might have to pick up another one soon.

deck update

2009-02-27T12:44:00.003-10:00

Okay, so after it's taken my dear sweet husband 2 1/2 months to jack-hammer 10 small holes, the actually looks like its going somewhere.

The beams are down.
Byron (with the help of Gabriella) doing some more work
Finished with one side
Started the second side on Tuesday after work. I think he will finish it on Saturday. It is so nice to see it progressing finally.

Play time

2009-02-19T09:02:00.002-10:00

Monday the our next door neighbor and all his cousin's came over to play. Olsen and Gabriella had fun, but it was a little overwhelming for me. :) I just made sure they played outside and it was fine. The kids had so much fun.

This weekend was also a sick weekend. This is them passed out on the couch. I took them to the Dr. yesterday and they both have a double ear infection and Olsen's asthma is acting up. We had million prescriptions to fill yesterday. I think they are feeling better today, Olsen went back to school.

Tree climbing fools

2009-02-13T17:23:00.002-10:00

My kids love to climb trees. Besides driving the 4 wheeler, it is their favorite thing. Unfortunately Plumeria trees aren't very strong and they keep breaking off branches. We are going to have to plant a better trees for climbing.

Church Christmas Party

2009-02-03T13:48:00.002-10:00

Forgot all about these pictures from our church Christmas party. Better late than never.

Lila, Gabriella any Shyla hanging out by the stage
Gabriella joined the Hula dancers on stage. She was trying really hard to follow along. She will be my hula girl.
Gabriella with Santa.
Lollipop are her favorite
A very sweaty Olsen making a funny face with Santa. Don't let the look fool you, he loved being with santa.

Riding bikes at Grandma's

2009-01-31T10:52:00.002-10:00

This week we've all been sick with the cold. Not fun, but better then the flu if you ask me. Anyway, Tuesday Olsen didn't go to school so we went to Grandma's to hang out. The kids love to play up there.

Olsen's peddle fell off so he is trying to peddle while holding the peddle to bring it to me. We need to take off is training wheels soon. He's getting pretty good.
Gabriella has got the hang of it. She still needs to concentrate by sticking out her tongue though. :)

Kauai with Monica

2009-01-28T09:02:00.004-10:00

Noon on Friday I left my husband and kids and headed over to Kauai for a fun weekend with Monica and her friend Michelle. It was the first time I ever left my husband and kids, but somehow I managed. :) It was fun to get away before baby is born.

Michelle, Monica and me checking out a beautiful waterfall.
The two sisters
Another waterfall we checked out.
Hot-tubbing at night. That was fun.
On our way to the beach. This is beautiful scenic spot on the side of the road.
Showing of my pedicure.
At the beach. I don't remember the last time I was able to relax and read a book at the beach. Normally I'm making sure no children are drowning.
Taro fields.
The most northern tip of Hawaii. There is a light house. It closes at 4:00 and we got there at 4:30, just missed walking around it.
Sorry it's sideways. This camera doesn't automatically rotate it, so you get it sideways.....

Driving around the neighborhood

2009-01-24T16:32:00.002-10:00

Olsen & Gabriella Showing Some Style

2009-01-24T15:38:00.001-10:00

Gabriella Sleeping

2009-01-22T15:04:00.001-10:00

This is haw I found Gabriella sleeping the other night. She has a hard time staying in her bed.

Best Buds

2009-01-19T22:22:00.003-10:00

I can't imagine a better brother and sister. They really do have so much fun together. I see these two together and I think how lonely it would be to be an only child. They go on their own little adventures everyday. So fun to see them think of new things to do. Here is a run down of todays adventures... Oh, should mention that I bought some umbrella's for them and they have used it as a sword, gun, fishing pole, oh and as an umbrella to shield from the sun.

Sitting it out for a bit drinking some pop after 4 wheelin'
Gabriella pretended to fall and Olsen jumps on her
Playing horsey
Now Olsen pretends to fall down and Gabriella jumps on him.
Olsen makes a bridge with extra ply-wood
And invited sister to try
She didn't quite get it
They set up their chairs and started fishing. Olsen attached some string that daddy was using for leveling the deck to their umbrellas made fishing poles.
They are some very clever kids

Tree climbing monkey

2009-01-16T13:17:00.003-10:00

I'm not kidding when I say my kids are monkeys. The other day they were playing in the pool in the front when they decided to take off into the neighbors yard and play in their tree. They love climbing that tree. So here are some cute pictures of them.

Gabriella is hanging upside down. It's hard to see her, but is standing tall.
Olsen picking a flower for Gabriella

My favorite tropical flower is the Red Ginger, and my finally started to bloom
Olsen and Gabriella have so much fun together. Here they are just cruisin' on the 4 wheeler.

Christmas Parade

2009-01-11T17:55:00.002-10:00

I never posted these pictures of the parade. It was our best year yet. I guess after 4 years you know what works and what doesn't. We didn't take any during the parade because it was raining and I didn't want to get my camera out. Fortunately it stopped raining half way through, but it was pretty funny sitting with umbrellas.

Setting up.

Back after the parade

We took a little trip to the Hilton to watch the dolphins

2009-01-04T00:32:00.002-10:00

Baby #3

2009-01-03T09:49:00.004-10:00

Here is a 4D shot from my Ultra sound on Tuesday. She looks a little alien, but you can make features on her face and see that she is about to suck her thumb. It was pretty cool because she was sucking her thumb during the U/S

Happy New Years

2009-01-01T18:35:00.002-10:00

There's snow in them there hills.
We have had some major snow storms on the top of Mauna Kea. I've never seen it so low on the mountain (all of my 6 years I've been here). Willie and his kids went up to see the snow and I meet him there to pick up two of his girls so stay over at my house. We couldn't go all the way up because it is too high for the kids (their lungs and body aren't strong enough yet) so we meet at the base of the access road. The kids still had fun though. It was really chilly and lots of rocks to climb on.

Can you see the snow peeking though the clouds?
Uncle Willie brought some snow down with him and the kids got to play in the snow a bit.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-26T21:33:00.003-10:00

This Christmas Eve we hosted the family dinner. We had Navjo taco's, but I made sure we had some Degn traditions like pig-in-a-blanket and Sprite with limes and cherries. Unfortunately Byron had to dance at the show that night, but we still had a good time. I also took some picture of my Christmas decorations as requested by my mother. It is always fun setting up for Christmas. I love the Holiday season.

Gabriella with Daddy before he had to leave. She was starting to not feel good and had a fever.
There is my SIL Val frying the the scones for our tacos. And it's a shot of my decorations above the cupboards.
Our Tree, I went light on the ornaments this year. Next year I think I'll do a bit more
Set table with the Bethlehem scene in the back. I love that set I got at Sam's Club while visiting Monica a few years ago.
Ana, Jessie and Mom enjoying dinner.
The girl cousin's hamming it up for the camera.

Christmas Morning

2008-12-25T14:29:00.003-10:00

The kids had a wonderful morning. Olsen loves getting presents and Gabriella kept saying WOW every time she opened a present. So cute. Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Opening presents.
Olsen got a 4 wheeler and is in heaven
Doing his stand up trick
Gabriella showing off her horse and princesses
Olsen has been asking for roller stakes for months (he would but cars under his feet and try to skate) so Santa brought him some. He thought they were great till he went on the cement. Then he didn't like them at all. I guess we'll have to practice later
Gabriella is sick today and is cuddling with daddy while he fights with Olsen
Our next door neighbor saw Olsen on his 4 wheeler and came running over. So Olsen had a buddy to play lightsaber and ride his car all at the same time.
Gabriella just hung out and is wearing her new necklaces. She loves pretty things now.