Jeff, Sarah, and Sean

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T22:52:00.000-06:00

MLA program at Texas A&M

2011-03-03T21:29:00.004-07:00

Just a sampling of some work I have done while at school.

The first is a cafe as part of a science park complex.

It includes a cafe, new entrance, restaurant garden

and other items.

2011-01-08T21:15:00.012-07:00

I know it's been awhile since we last posted, so here are some quick pictures to show our little lives.

Getting ready for New Years Eve.

Sparkling cider.

Just after midnight, and ready for bed

January 1, 2011.

Sean has a new friend, himself in the mirror.

Showing grandpa Harrison how it's done.

Christmas with the Harrison family, #3 for Sean

Sarah's family came to visit for New Years.

Sarah had this idea for a new bookshelf

for Sean. It is made out of rain gutters.

Side angle of the bookshelf

Christmas morning.

He's got it all figure out now. Grab, tear and play.

Sporting his new jacket from grandpa Slater

He got lots of books.

The after affect.

Flying to Oregon for a vacation.

At a nativity scene at the stake center.

Sean got to pet a lamb.

Visiting with Santa. A little scared,

but overall did good.

Christmas #1 with grandma and grandpa Frederick

The mom with her two sons. Me and my

brother J.C.

Most of the family over the night before grandpa's

funeral. He passed on the morning after we arrived.

Playing in the leaves.

Buying the Christmas tree, then taking it

home in a shopping cart.

Sean's new camera smile.

Yum yum yum. Thanksgiving dinner.

Van Gogh, I mean Sean finger painting.

Halloween (and other fall activities)

2010-10-30T21:31:00.015-06:00

Well, we have had a busy month. So, we decided to show you some of our Fall outings. As you can see, Sean is much bigger now, and can walk just fine on his own.

At the Bryan Fall Festival. Sean saw a lot of cool things he had never seen before.

Turning over the rubber duckies looking for a prize.

Petting a Boa Constrictor.

Standing next to the train, getting ready for a ride.
Choo chooooo, choo chooooo.

Sean got to ride on this big turtle. It crawled

all around and Sean loved it.

Going to the pumpkin patch. Gotta find the

perfect one.

Found it.

Now it's time to paint it.

Time for the best part, trick-or-treating.

He was a fericous looking lion.

Checking out the goods with mom.

"Where to next mom?"

Starting to get a little tired.

Break time. It was dark out by now, so he kept

going towards the lighted areas.

Okay, time to go home now.

Hey, how did this happen. Oh well, his first taste of candy.

He just pulled off the wrapper.

Checking out all the goods.

Pictures from Sean's Birthday (LONG)

2010-10-08T20:46:00.000-06:00

Last week, September 28th, Sean turned ONE! I can't believe it! Most of the festivities were held on Saturday, so that Jeff could be there. We went out for Mexican food, where Sean got to wear his party hat.

He did NOT like his party hat. (This picture makes me cringe, thinking he's going to snap himself - I just need to keep reminding myself that I caught it before it happened!)

He loves coloring (although we're pretty sure that the missing tip of the purple crayon ended up in his belly).

After the restaurants and presents comes his cake! If you know Sean, you know that he goes crazy for Veggie Tales - he is obsessed with it. So, I just had to do a Veggie Tales cake. Growing up, the birthday cakes were always done by my Aunt Shari - and they were amazing! I was so tempted to fly her out here to do Sean's (and I'm sure it would have looks much better)! Overall, it was fun, but I'm definitely going to have to take some cake decorating classes - I had no idea what I was doing! I'm just glad that I had a cake decorating kit that my cousin, Jon, gave me a while back. (Thanks, Jon!)

Hmmm, what are Bob and Larry doing here?

Daddy helping Sean blow out his candle.

What is this blob...

First taste

Not so sure

Tearing pieces off to throw on the ground.

Checking to see if Bob and Larry are still there.

Sneaking some cake to Bob and Larry.

Going to lick the chocolate off the tray

Finger Painting with Cake. Yum.

Cake Zombie

Hurray for Birthdays!

On his actual birthday (Tuesday), we went up to campus to have lunch with Daddy. Sean got his first Happy Meal of apple juice, apples, and chicken nuggets.

It was a very happy birthday. Thank you to everyone who helped make this birthday a special one! It's hard to believe that my baby is now a walking toddler!

Finally in Texas (howdy)

2010-08-04T20:59:00.002-06:00

Okay, so a little break from all of Sarah's updates. We are now in Texas, well, have actually been here for a couple of weeks. I drove the UHaul from San Francisco to here only to have the AC go out on me two hrs. outside of the bay. Sarah and Sean flew to Alamagordo, NM to spend a couple of days with her grandparents and met up with her mom, dad and Diane there as well. I got there late one afternoon and spent the night with all of Sarah's family, and took off super early the next morning to finish the drive.

We eventually all met up in Austin just before midnight and drove the final few hrs. to our new home in College Station, awaiting my first term as a grad student at Texas A&M. Our place wasn't going to be ready for a week, so Steve and Jen were gracious enough to let us use their house till it was ready. We have been in our apartment for a week now, still not fully unpacked, and are slowly (if at all) adjusting to the heat and humidity of east Texas. So far so good, and wish us luck on our new adventure.

Arizona

2010-07-23T15:11:00.001-06:00

Any guesses what this preview picture meant? Yup, my baby sister, Diane, just graduated high school (May 28th)! That meant a road trip down to AZ!

Huge graduating class!

My mom and dad

Congratulations, Diane! Have fun up at BYU-Idaho!

Pixar

2010-07-11T14:10:00.003-06:00

We love Pixar! And we're not just saying that because our friend, John, works there. :)

I've had lunch with John, Christy, and little Max a few times at Pixar, and what an experience! Not only is the food super yummy, but they have great displays and artwork of the latest movie. Oh, and then they have fun statues for fans to take pictures by! This is just a collection of random pictures from the different times we've been there.

Remember this picture from the preview? Well, we found Mater and Lightning McQueen in the parking lot! We just had to get pictures with these celebrities. ;)

(Do you like how both Sean and I are blinking in this second one? Haha)

Ok, this was cool. We walked in one time and there was a huge life-sized Barbie dream house! Even cooler - we got to go up to the second floor with an army guy as our tour guide! We even dressed in green for the occasion. Haha.

Checking out Ken's closet... Sean liked trying on the hats.

Yummy food

Thank you, friends!

Time to Update the Blog!

2010-07-09T17:22:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a very eventful month and a half! We've had a lot going on and so blogging has been the last thing on my mind. I can't say that things have died down, but life is supposed to be exciting! :)

If I updated everything at one time, it would be a huge, ginormous post that would make everyone's heads spin, including mine. So, I'll just give you a little preview of what I'm going to post over the next few days (hopefully).

Sean's first time in the pool!

2010-05-14T12:39:00.000-06:00

Play Date with Max!

2010-05-14T12:31:00.000-06:00

On May 7th, we got to have Sean's friend Max over to play. We had a blast! I wish we could have taken more pictures, but with our camera, we were lucky to even get these! (Sorry, most of them are blurry. Have I mentioned how much I dislike our camera??)

If babies could talk.... (Fortunately, this was all silent!)

Max: Oh! I want this one!

Sean: No, that's my ball!

Sean: Mine!

Max: I saw it first! And I'm the guest!

Sean: :(

Max: I win!

Sean: Mom, he took my toy.

They really did have a great time! They "played" really well together, especially after Sean got used to the idea of Max playing with his toys!

Sean's First Teeth

2010-05-14T12:02:00.000-06:00

Sean cut his first tooth almost two weeks ago, May 2nd! His second tooth came in a week later (Mother's Day). It's so cute seeing him smile with teeth! In a way, though, I really miss his gummy smile! He's just growing up so fast!

Update

2010-05-12T12:55:00.000-06:00

I really do have a good excuse for not posting lately! Our camera is dying/dead. Most of the time the lens won't come out at all and we can't take any pictures. Every once in a while, it will let us take a picture, but it won't focus... which means the picture is pointless as you can't see anything! Grrr!

We have some random decent shots that I'll try to put up soon, but mostly just a few blurry pictures. :( We'll have to get a new camera!

Favorite Photo Friday (On Saturday)

2010-04-17T20:45:00.000-06:00

After getting off the phone with my friend Christy, this is how I found Sean....

Poor baby. It was 7:30 and definitely his bed time!

Grad School Decision

2010-04-12T14:44:00.005-06:00

Well, we have now heard back from 10 of the 11 schools. We have been accepted to UCDenver, Ohio State University, Texas A&M, University of Texas Arlington and Florida A&M. We have thought it over and prayed about it and have decided on Texas A&M. Yay. Go Aggies! Wish us luck.

6 Months Old

2010-03-28T21:45:00.001-06:00

Happy 6 Months, Sean! I really can't believe that it's already been 6 months since he was born. He is such a joy to have around and he has such a personality! Sean is very expressive and energetic. I "knew" he was going to be a handful when he kicked me 24/7 when I was pregnant - I was right! He definitely keeps us on our toes - in a good way!

Here's what Sean's been up to:

He loves to roll around. That's his mode of transportation around the apartment. He can easily get from one side of the room to the other by quickly log rolling across. He is super close to scooting, which is scary, because he's already getting into everything! He tries to crawl inch-worm style, but can't move more than a few centimeters at best.
He's started solids! Yay! He already LOVES food!
He can sit up unsupported.
He's an outdoor boy and loves being outside.
He constantly laughs and giggles.
He's super ticklish - everywhere.
He loves rough and tumble play with his daddy.
He got to swing in a baby swing for the first time and thought it was the greatest thing in the whole world.

(Picture taken by Jeff!)

San Francisco!

2010-03-27T22:10:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday, we went to San Francisco with our friends John, Christy, and Max (8 1/2 months). It was quite a trip with the babies, but it was fun!

We hit Fisherman's Wharf first. Sean, of course, decided that crossing the bridge over here was much more exciting. By the time we got out of the car, he was asleep.

Yay! Sean's awake! Too bad he blinked.... Here's us and Alcatraz.

Daddies and Babies

Sea lions at Pier 39

(We then went to Ghiradelli's Square, but have zero pictures.... maybe because we were too busy eating the chocolate samples? Or was it my hot fudge sunday?)

My absolute favorite part of the trip - the whole reason Jeff and I were planning this trip to begin with!! The picnic in the "Full House park" as I call it. :) Full House was my absolute favorite show growing up - probably still is. During the theme song it shows them having a picnic in a park across the street from the Painted Ladies. For years I have dreamed of having a picnic there someday. (I really wish I was exaggerating here, but I'm not.) We finally got to go there! I can not tell you how giddy I was when I first saw the houses! (Jeff would be more than happy to tell you - he couldn't stop laughing at me!) It really just made my day.

Mommies and Babies

The park is very hilly - not flat like the show makes it out to be. We could tell where the picnic spot was for the show, but there were a ton of people there. So, we opted for a picnic bench next to the playground. It was still so fun to be there! I'll have to go back again before we move. I think I'll just squeeze my way in with all of the people! Maybe we'll even be able to drive by the actual house? Hmmm, maybe I'm pushing it.

The playground had baby swings - perfect for Sean and Max! They both absolutely loved it. Sean laughed the entire time! (I bet it helped having Daddy say "Boo!") We have a video, but need to get it up. (Add that to the list of videos we have promised to post....)

Overall a great trip! We were simply exhausted by the end!

Favorite Photo Friday

2010-03-26T22:27:00.000-06:00

For the past month or so, Sean has been rolling around like crazy. He gets into everything and he's not even crawling yet! One of his favorite things to do is log roll across the room... and then get upset when something blocks him...

This is where Sean ended up when I was trying to fold laundry. He started off on the opposite side of the room with me. Apparently laundry is boring.

Mom, why can't I keep rolling?

Much better.

Favorite Photo Friday

2010-03-19T22:06:00.001-06:00

Max and Sean have a play date! Let's play soccer! (This lasted about long enough for us to grab our cameras... then Max crawled off and Sean rolled away...)

Graduate Schools

2010-03-12T19:04:00.002-07:00

A quick post about graduate schools. I originally applied for the Masters of Landscape Architecture at quite a bit of schools to ensure getting into at least one. Well, we have heard back from 4 schools so far, and 3 have said yes. I have gotten into Florida A&M, Texas A&M and University of Texas-Arlington. University of Illinois said no, but no real lost there, were tired of the really cold winters. Once we hear back from most schools we will make our decisions. Wish us luck.

Sean is Sitting Up!

2010-03-07T20:53:00.001-07:00

Yay! Sean can sit up! He can finally sit up without falling over after a few seconds! He can last a good five-ten minutes without collapsing. It's a good start!

We tried to capture it on video... and got it! He kept looking at the video camera (which made him topple...), so Veggie Tales saved the day again! Yay Sean!

We'll post the video soon! Just wanted to share the good news! :)

Finally! Sean's 1st Haircut

2010-03-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well, Sean came into this world with his hair already covering his ears... but I kept putting off cutting his hair. He could make it to a year, right? Um, no. He really shouldn't have even lasted this long. Anyways, I finally convinced myself that it was time. Jeff and I teamed up for the job, and did pretty good, considering we had no idea what we were doing! Sean did really well, thanks to Veggie Tales. I just hate how much older he looks!

Before:

First Hair Cut!

After:

Favorite Photo Friday

2010-03-05T23:01:00.008-07:00

Today's "favorite photo" is actually a series of photos.... I'll just let the pictures explain.

This is Sean when I first put him into his crib (he LOVES looking at his mobile).

When I was finished making the bed, this is what I saw.

He's done this before, so I thought I'd capture his movements on camera - next time I'll get the video camera! It's a good thing he only does this during the day and not at night (so far)!

Whew! I'm tired just watching that! And that's only a portion of what he usually does!

Favorite Photo Friday

2010-02-26T11:38:00.001-07:00

Oregon!

2010-02-15T19:20:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend in Oregon! After the awful plane ride there, I was worried... but Sean did great! He was happy the whole trip! It was so much fun!

Sean was so spoiled - he even had an exersaucer waiting for him!

Sean with Grandma Netta and Grandpa Rich!

Sean with Aunt Nicole. (He thinks she's pretty - he couldn't stop looking at her the whole trip!)

Sean with Grandpa Jim.

Sean with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Novena. (Sean just woke up from his nap and he wasn't too happy about it.)

The flight back was a million times better! Traveling in the morning probably helped a lot. He had a few normal baby moments, but for the most part did absolutely amazing. What a relief!

Favorite Photo Friday (On Saturday)

2010-02-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

Yup, it's Saturday, not Friday. There's a reason for that - we're in Oregon! We flew at last night, so I was busy packing, cleaning, and trying to entertain Sean at the same time.

Poor Sean had an awful time with his first flight. He fell asleep for about 20 minutes towards the beginning, but screamed to the point of hyperventilating (literally - scared me to death) for the rest of the hour and a half flight. I felt so bad for the poor little guy, but there was really nothing we could do to help him. I think his ears were really hurting him. He didn't calm down until after we were off of the plane.

So, the only picture we took, of course, was when he was sleeping. We'll just pretend that this is how he was the entire flight...

Favorite Photo Friday

2010-02-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Sean at 4 Months (a little late...)

2010-01-31T15:52:00.000-07:00

Sean is now 4 months old, as of this past Thursday. It's crazy how fast this past month has gone! He has grown so much. Every day, Jeff and I marvel at the new things he discovers! We love this little guy so much!

Here's Sean at 4 months:

He can roll over (and much, much faster and easier than that first time caught in the video!). He's rolling over more and more every day, sometimes 2 or 3 times in a row (tummy to back)! He still can't seem to go farther than his side when trying to roll back to tummy. :)
He moves in circles! It is the cutest/funniest thing ever to watch! He will slowly rotate his body around anywhere from 90 to 180 degrees before getting annoyed that's he's not really going anywhere! He also does this at night. It's funny to go get him in the morning and see what position he is in!
He's a thumb sucker. He even pulls his ear with his other hand while sucking his thumb sometimes! Too cute. It's even cuter when he's hanging on to his blanket. I just hope that the thumb sucking doesn't last past his first year....
He grabs anything he can get his hands on... and then puts it in his mouth. He's gotten pretty good at it!
He's finally starting to like tummy time! He loves to stick his little bum up in the air by pushing off on his toes, make "crawling" motions with his lower half, and kick like crazy! He is even starting to reach for toys while on his tummy.
He loves to stick out his tongue, drool, chomp down on his bottom lip, drool, and is just starting to blow raspberries!
A new favorite of his (which I am not too proud of) is watching the beginning and ending theme songs for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He won't stand for watching anything else, but he loves those two songs. I'll have to take a video of him watching them.
He loves it when Momma read him stories. He's actually surprisingly attentive and loves looking at the pictures and at the words. I love it!
He loves bouncing in his Jumperoo, "standing" on our laps, bouncing on our knees, being upside down, and splashing in his bathtub.

Favorite Photo Friday

2010-01-29T22:22:00.003-07:00

Sean loves his bath! He splashes so much, there's more water on the floor than in the bathtub by the time he's done! Here is the little chub chub in the middle of splashing.

18 Weeks

Past Favorite Photo Friday pictures:

January 22

January 15

Favorite Photo Friday

2010-01-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

Man, it's hard to pick out one picture! So, I cheated this week and sent Elder Harrison two! Sean is 17 weeks and he's growing up so fast!

Past Favorite Photo Friday pictures:
January 15

Sean's Naked Photo Shoot (with diaper ;) )

2010-01-16T11:57:00.001-07:00

We decided to document Sean's chubbiness as this stage in his life. That calls for diapers-only pictures! Well, here's the chub-chub! Look at all of those rolls!

Favorite Photo Friday

2010-01-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

I started doing Favorite Photo Friday for my brother, James, who's on his mission. I wanted to be better about sending him pictures and updates on Sean, and thought that this would be a good way to do it this year.

I decided to go ahead a let you all see the pictures as well. Obviously, the pictures will all be of Sean. :)

I'll have to catch you up a bit, as I started the beginning of January:

14 weeks old

This is one of my favorite smiling pictures so far. He's definitely starting to get used to the camera!

15 Weeks Old

I know he's wearing the same outfit as in the last picture, but I promise they weren't taken the same day! In fact, he was only able to wear that outfit those two times. How ironic!

16 Weeks Old

Sean's been putting everything he can get his hands on into his mouth!

Sean rolled over!

2010-01-01T22:33:00.004-07:00

The video below explains it all. You will notice he is already twisted at the start, as we had started the video a little late. He first started out on tummy time. My parents (Jeff's parents) also got to see it as we happened to be skyping with them at the time. We are so proud of him.

Sean's Little Adventure at Outback Steakhouse

2009-12-30T22:18:00.001-07:00

Tonight we went with our friends John and Christy (and little Max) to Outback Steakhouse in celebration of their new house (Thank you! It was delish!).

I was holding Sean on my lap, playing with him, when an Asian lady from the table across from us came up. In broken English, she told me that she didn't have any food right then so she could hold him for me (the funny thing is, we didn't have any food yet either). I laughed, thinking she was joking. (I get tons of people always saying things like that - babies do that to people!)

Before I was finished laughing, she took Sean from my arms and took him back to her table. I was in shock! And so was Jeff and our friends. I was so surprised that she actually took him! Jeff went over immediately and tried to get him back. He had to explain that Sean was still sick before she let him go. (And only then after her teenage daughter translated for her - that girl was soo embarrassed for her mom.) The rest of dinner until she left was so awkward.

After she left, a nearby family asked Jeff if we knew them. He said that we had no idea who she was, and that he thought it was kind of freaky. They said that they, and all of the other families around thought that they were watching some kind of TV show - everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. They said they could tell that Jeff was not too happy about what happened!

On the up side, Sean didn't even cry with her - maybe he was in much of a shock as I was! I remember saying over and over again "She just took my baby! I cannot believe she just took my baby!" while Jeff was retrieving him. It all happened in seconds but made the rest of the night so awkward until they left!

What a night! It was still super fun and, again, super yummy. (Thank you, John and Christy! We owe you!)

3 Months Old!

2009-12-28T16:02:00.003-07:00

I can't believe Sean is already 3 months! He is such a happy little guy and already so different than he was even a few weeks ago! I love it! Here's a break-down of Sean now:

He smiles, coos, and laughs all the time and it's the cutest thing ever. He also has a fascination with the camera and video camera and stops whatever he is doing when it magically comes out... Hopefully that will change soon so I can get a picture of his cute smile!
I can actually put him down! This is my second favorite of his achievements! I love that I can finally eat something during the day! (I couldn't put him down for anything, including sleep, for the longest time.)
He loves to "talk" - to us, to his toys, to random strangers, to his reflection, and to his friend Max!
He discovered his hands and his feet. He started out staring at them for days (so cute!), then swatting at toys, and now he's starting deliberately reaching for them! He still doesn't grab them yet, on purpose at least (unless it's his Momma's hair!).
He loves being in the Baby Bijorn carrier, especially when Momma is vacuuming.
He loves his bouncer chair, overhead toys, and mobile. He loves the toys and talking to them. I have a remote to his mobile, so I randomly turn it off. He has to talk to get it to turn back on! He giggles like crazy when he gets it to turn back on! The other night, I woke up to him talking to the mobile in the dark. Too cute. (Much cuter than crying!)
He does better in public! Finally! He can go through all three hours of church (just about) without screaming. (This is huge - remember his baby blessing?)
He loves his Daddy. Well, this isn't new. :) He's was a huge Momma's Boy before, and now he'll let his Daddy take him almost as much as his Momma! (What a relief!)
He still rolls over from his back to his side and back easily. He's trying to roll all the way over and gets frustrated when he can't!
He actually likes being on his back better than tummy time!
He'll let me change his clothes and diaper without crying! (We're still working on Daddy...)
He'd rather sleep by himself than in my arms! (I cannot tell you how much I love this!)
He loves looking at the baby who's stuck in the mirror.
He watches me eat, and then wants to eat, too!
He loves movement. We dance and sway all the time!
He has some extra rolls... haha.
The big one? He's not a fussy baby anymore!! (At least, for the most part. He still has his moments, but nothing like he was before!)

Sean's First Christmas!

2009-12-27T14:54:00.002-07:00

We had a great Christmas this year! It was just wonderful.

We took Sean to see Santa on the 23rd. Even though it took a while waiting in line, Sean did great. We bought that Christmas shirt for him last month thinking that he would still be able to fit in size 0-3 months. Wrong! So, he's sporting it as a muscle shirt. (I can't believe that most of his outfits now are either 3-6 months or 6 months! He's so tall and chubby!)

Santa was great, but not very talkative! He didn't even say "Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!" Sad! Sean was very unsure of the situation, but was captivated by the people going up and down on the nearby escalator.

Christmas started later at 8:30, as both Sean and Momma were sick and sleepy.

Santa came! (And Grandparents... Thank you!)

Sean and his stocking.

Sean's present from Santa! He absolutely loved it! His reaction was Momma and Daddy's Christmas present!

We had a perfect Christmas - our favorite Christmas ever! At least, so far. We hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas.

O Christmas Tree!

2009-12-20T16:37:00.003-07:00

We went shopping for our Christmas tree at the very beginning of December and found the perfect one right away! (The cold air might have helped the process a bit....)

The tree is a bit bare where decorations are concerned, but that will improve over the years (especially when Sean will be able contribute with homemade ornaments!). You have to start somewhere!

Random Pictures of Sean

2009-12-15T12:11:00.009-07:00

Better late than never! He smiles and laughs all the time, but we have yet to capture it with out camera! (We have a million pictures of his after-smile face.) Even with the video camera, he'll stop what he's doing and just stare at it... Little stinker!

1 Month Old:

2 months old:

Big Boy!

2009-12-15T12:06:00.002-07:00

Not-so-little Sean measured at a whopping 25 inches at his appointment, putting him in the 97th percentile for height! He also weighed 12 lbs 12 oz, putting him in the 75th percentile for weight!

Our pediatrician: "So, is your husband really tall?"

Colds and Shots

2009-12-15T11:35:00.004-07:00

Little Sean got sick with his first cold last Saturday (5th) (and got us sick as well.) Sean was miserable for a whole week, poor little guy.

Then, on top of his cold, he had his first round of shots last Thursday (10th). Fortunately, he was starting to get better, but even then, shots are no fun. (His pediatrician said that the only time they don't give shots is if the he has a fever, which Sean didn't.)

Sean was a trooper with his shots! I was so surprised! Even the nurse said that he handled his shots better than most babies she has seen. (I think that was the first time anyone told me a had a well-behaved baby! Sean's our little screamer!) I guess after that long week of getting poked and prodded in the hospital, a few little shots were nothing. :)

Baby Blessing

2009-11-27T12:28:00.007-07:00

Sunday, November 22nd was Sean's baby blessing. Sean had a great weekend (thank goodness!) but screamed through the entire blessing. It wouldn't have been Sean if he hadn't! The whole ward laughed afterwards.

The blessing was beautiful and there was the strongest, sweetest spirit. We definately have a special little boy with us.

We were so excited to have 2 sets of grandparents and 2 aunts come out for the occasion!

Our little family.

Our good friends John and Christy Broadhead and little Max, 4 1/2 months.

Sean and Max by the end of the photo shoot!

Holy Cow!

2009-11-27T12:15:00.004-07:00

Sean was a cow for his 1st Halloween. He looked so cute in his little costume! (Jeff looked all over for a mini cow bell, but the only one he found was the size of his head! So, we settled for a regular bell.)

Camera is Fixed!

2009-11-27T12:10:00.003-07:00

So, a certain someone dropped our camera (I'll give you a hint - it wasn't me and it wasn't Sean...) back when Sean was 2 weeks old. Fortunately, we had an extended warrenty on the camera that covered the repairs. We just got the camera back a little over a week ago, so we are finally back to documenting Sean's life!

Dad and Mom and now little Sean

2009-10-24T15:21:00.007-06:00

Well, as most of you know by now, Sarah's big belly is now not so big, as our little boy finally came into the world. Sean David Slater was born on September 28, 2009 at 2:47 pm after a long induced labor. He came in at a whopping 8 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21 inches long. Well, no reason to bore you with too much information, here are some pictures. He sure is cute, he looks like his momma and dadda (duh).

Just a 1/2 an hour after birth.

I think he likes his daddy, either that or he is thinking "Man, I hope I don't have his hairline".

Momma and baby getting to know eachother.

Coming home from the hospital.

About a week old, just enjoying some tummy time.

Sometimes he gets a grumpy face, though this is a milder, cute one.

So small in his crib.

Prego Pizza

2009-09-13T21:14:00.004-06:00

Since we moved here, I've had people tell me about this magical pizza place that had pizza that would induce labor. I didn't really buy into it, but I looked up the place anyways and found that Skipolini's was famous for their Prego Pizza. Who would have thought? I even found reviews and testimonials from several websites of those who swore that it was this pizza that put them into labor. Ha ha.

So, we thought we might as well try, if for nothing else than the experience. When we were taking this picture, a lady coming in exclaimed, "Oh! I know what you're here for! Good luck!"

We decided to sit outside - they have such a cute patio area!

Yes, it's actually called the Prego Pizza!

The waiter offered to take a picture of the two of us - it was pretty obvious why we were there.

Mmmm! It was surprisingly delicious pizza - probably some of the best pizza we've ever had.

Obviously, the pizza did not put me into labor, but it makes for a great story anyways! The pizza was insanely delicious and the pizzeria is so cute - I definitely want to go back again, just not with the same intentions!

Jeff's family comes to visit.

2009-09-06T19:39:00.005-06:00

Sarah's family came to visit us back in early July, and my family, or part of them, paid us a visit around the middle of August for a quick weekend visit. Since it was so short, we only had a little time to show them the ropes. We went to this nice little indoor market where they have ethnic foods from all over set up like a mall cafe.

On Saturday we took them into San Francisco to go to Fisherman's Warf. We had a great time there with perfect weather, if not for the hazy skies from the San Jose forest fires. We ate lots of taffy, went to Ghirardelli Square and had us some yummy chocolate and ice cream. We were lucky enough to also get onto the deck with some old ships. They even had free admissions for the day to tour the old boats and ships. We also ran into the same tin man that Sarah's dad and sister got a picture in front of, but as of now he won't allow pictures to be taken of him unless you pay him. Too bad. But we sat just a few feet from him and ate some great seafood. That evening my parents took us to Babies R' Us and bought us a car seat. It is wonderful, thank you so much.

On Sunday they went to church with us, and we just hung out and played games till late that night. All in all, it was a fun trip and it was great to see the family.

The men in front of the chocolate factory.

The ladies were real excited to get in.

I think that Nicole wanted to push me in.

Sarah and I in front of the steering wheel on the old war vessel.

James goes into the MTC

2009-09-06T18:28:00.005-06:00

On July 29th, James entered the Provo MTC! (I am very late putting up this post, so Elder Harrison is now already out in the mission field. His first area is in Kansas City, Kansas and he's already had a baptism! Of course, his companion did all of the work before James got there. :) ) I flew out so that I could see him off, which was great! We spent Tuesday touring Temple Square and going to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. That was a fantastic experience!

We decided to take all of our family pictures the night before he reported, so that we wouldn't have to fight the crowds of new missionaries. Great idea, only we couldn't get a picture of all of us! :(

At the MTC on Wednesday, families are no longer allowed inside the MTC, or even pass the front signs. (They started this because of the swine flu scare, and have kept it since then.) So, we said our last goodbyes and farewells at the sign, and watched Elder James Harrison walk off with his luggage to enter the MTC. That was a long walk for us to watch, but James must have been ready to serve, as he didn't even look back once.

Sarah at 32 weeks.

2009-07-26T19:11:00.004-06:00

Sarah is now at 32 weeks, and her belly is getting bigger every day. It is now to the point where it is uncomfortable to sit, stand or sleep. Just 8 more weeks and our little boy will be in the world.

Sarah's Family Came to Visit

2009-07-26T17:36:00.018-06:00

My family came to visit for the 4th of July. It was a blast and I was so sad when they had to leave! They stayed in our apartment, which made it super fun, but probably not too comfortable for them at night on the floor. We were able to do so many fun things while they were here. I can't wait for them to come back again - I know it will be soon, but the focus will be much different with our little baby here.

San Francisco

The world's windiest road on Lombard St. - definitely a tourist attraction. We had to wait in line forever just to go down a short little paved road. Definitely a one-time deal, but a must for tourists like us!

The Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory!! The actual factory is closed, but it still has tons of yummy chocolate and free samples - definitely the highlight of the San Fran trip for us girls!

Just ouside the chocolate factory entrance was this weird dude dressed as a knight in shining armor. Diane wanted a picture, and my poor dad got roped into the picture by the knight for standing too close!

The Golden Gate Bridge

4th of July

After searching the bay area for a good place to watch the fireworks, we finally settled on Hercules.

Oakland Temple

Harrison Family Baby Shower!

My mom and Diane through me a baby shower while they were here! They even planned games, so they made Jeff, my dad, and my brother James stay and participate. Those poor boys! They were troopers! We had a blast (well, the girls did!) and I was so surprised! They really went above and beyond to make me and the baby feel special! (Most of the pictures are on Diane's camera, so this is the only one I have, curtesy of Jeff.)

Baby Crib

2009-06-12T18:08:00.009-06:00

The crib Jeff and I ordered finally came in! We drove down in our car to pick it up on Wednesday, but alas, the box was huge! There was no possible way that the crib box was going to fit in our car, no matter how many different times Jeff tried.

We were going to wait for my family to come out in July to pick it up, as they have more room in their vehicle, but Jeff did not want to wait that long. We ended up going back to pick it up yesterday (Thursday) after Jeff was determined to put it on top of the car with rope. As doubtful as I was about this working (I kept thinking of various awful senarios of our crib crashing off of our car), it worked out perfectly! Go Jeff!

Once home, we realized that we had not considered how we were going to get this rather large, heavy box up the stairs and into our 3rd floor apartment. Jeff could not carry the box by himself, and he would not let me help him carry it, althought I stubbornly tried to convince him that I could! We ended up pushing it end over end up the stairs, which thankfully worked!

Even though it was pretty late by this point, and Jeff gets up early for work, he really wanted to set up the crib that night. So, we did. It was super easy to put together, and I even got to help!

Now we have a beautiful crib! All we need now is the baby to come! :)

California Living.

2009-06-07T20:19:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone, we have now been in California for a little over a month now. So far it has been great. My job is going really well, and all the managers and higher up's have stated that I will be staying on once my internship is done doing estimating work for them. This is really great. A nice pay raise, benefits and everything else that comes with working full-time. Well, we don't have too many pictures of the area yet. Everytime we go out we forget to take our camera. A few weeks ago we took a trip into San Francisco, but our battery died as soon as we got into the city. We do have one picture though, of Sarah's pregnant belly. She is now 25 weeks along, and she can't wait for it to be over with.

Sarah at 24 weeks.

James Got His Call!!

2009-05-31T18:19:00.007-06:00

James (my brother) just got his mission call on Friday! Jeff and I listened intently via speaker phone as James opened his call... to serve in the Missouri, Independence mission! Wow! What a historical and special place to serve! He reports to the Provo MTC on July 29, 2009 - exactly 2 months from the day that he received his call.

Congratulations, James! You will be such an amazing missionary!

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

2009-04-30T19:21:00.002-06:00

In case some of you haven't heard yet, we are expecting a little boy on September 18th. We kept it from everyone for awhile until we could tell both families at the same time. We had planned on telling them at the graduation dinner but we were concerned that they were catching on, so we decided to have a pizza/movie night where we would tell them. We made a DVD out of the ultra sound video and superimposed in the beginning a "warning, do not copy" from a real movie. It took several minutes for them to catch on, but they eventually did, and both moms went berserk. It was great to see their reactions. We are very excited for it! Soon to come are some ultra sound pictures.

BYU Graduation!!!!!

2009-04-30T18:51:00.008-06:00

Hey, we finally made it, graduation day. And how sweet it was. It was also very long. On Thursday we had Commencement where all graduates attend. It started at 4 p.m., but we had to be there by three to line up for the processional. What a great experience, and we got to hear from Elder Nelson and President Urchtdorf. The next day Sarah had her graduation at 8 a.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. Mine was at 2 p.m. at the Marriott Center. After that long day we were ready for a break and just relaxed the rest of the night. Sarah's parents had to leave right away to get Diane back for prom, but my parents were able to be around for the next few days which was nice. We are glad to be done, and are excited for our new life in the San Francisco Bay Area where I will be working for a great company.

Outside Lavell Edwards stadium on the cougar.

Out in front of the main entrance to campus.

Right after commencement.

After Sarah's graduation with her beautiful flowers.

With President and Sister Samuelson. We were the 2nd to last group to be able to get a picture with them.

Both of our families after graduation.

General Conference

2009-04-30T18:33:00.006-06:00

For general conference Sarah and I were able to take my mom to her first general conference in Utah. It was a great experience to be there for the Sunday morning session.

All three of us just after the session got out.

Sarah and my mom just waiting for it to start.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir during "Music and the Spoken Word".

A group of missionaries singing outside the conference center.

The Salt Lake Temple. It turned out to be a beautiful day.

My trip to California...

2009-04-12T10:23:00.010-06:00

I went to California at the end of March and beginning of April for an event called Student Career Days, where 60+ schools converge at one campus for a few days of competitions, workshops and a career fair with over 60 employees all in the green industry. I made several contacts with some of the companies and I have a few choices for jobs when I graduate. After the events were over we spent the next few days just touring and relaxing in sunny, warm California. I felt bad though, as the whole week I was down there Sarah told me it snowed practically everyday in Provo.

This is the closing ceremonies at the event. BYU took 4th overall out of 60 schools. We were hoping for better as last year we took 2nd.

The Reddings Temple

All of us in front of the Reddings Temple, we came here after church.

It's a beautiful temple.

This is at Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. Those are some mighty big bamboo sticks.

A lot of cacti. The desert garden was really nice.

A long row of bonzi trees.

This part of the Chinese garden.

Sunny day at the beach.

Called the "Springs Reserves Gardens" in Vegas. That is one big cactus.

Searching for a job...

2009-02-24T19:33:00.004-07:00

I can tell you this much people, searching for a job, especially within my speciality and in this economy, is downright painful. I'm hoping within a month to be able to post that I have found work and we will be looking forward to moving. It's really depressing when you contact company after company and they are no longer hiring. Wish us luck and pray for us.
-jeff-

Pottery date night, sort of...

2009-01-24T16:39:00.007-07:00

Sarah and I found a poster in the Wilkinson Center at BYU advertising a cultural date night in the cultural museum making pottery. We expected it to be where we would get to make a pot on a turn table. We were a little off. It was more for single people on dates than married couples. Some of the games were very BYUish and the pottery portion actually consisted of just a ball of clay for us to kneed. But we made the most of the situation and even won their "pottery contest".

Here is our award winning pottery, a wishing well with a cobble stone pathway.

And these are the shirts we won for our award winning pottery.

Christmas Time

2009-01-24T16:23:00.009-07:00

Sorry for getting this out so late, but here are some updates of our Christmas break. We had a good time in Oregon, despite the fact that there was snow on the ground for most of it (we thought we could escape the Utah weather, we thought wrong). Christmas eve we watched a movie that Sarah's family always watched growing up, Christmas in Connecticut. Christmas was fun, just doing the usual opening up of presents, after which we headed out to Dad's in Sweet Home for the rest of the day. We ended up going to Michael Allen Harrison's concert in Portland, we just had to go the day after Christmas due to the bad weather. The rest of the break was just spent relaxing and playing games, including scum. Sarah really liked that game. We finally made it back to Utah a couple of days before school started, and here we are, just one more semester to go.

Driving through Keizer Oregon, we got to look at the Christmas lights Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning. We look kind of sleepy.

German pancake breakfast Christmas morning.

The Tillamook Cheese Factory. So many wonderful flavors of cheese.

Driving to Oregon...in a BLIZZARD!!!

2008-12-23T08:07:00.007-07:00

Just a quick note here about our little trip in the snow. We left for Oregon on the 19th of December from Provo. Just south of SLC we hit a snowstorm that was pretty heavy until just past Ogden. It was then great weather from there all the way to Boise. We spent the night with Nicole and left the next morning at 5:30 to drive to Monmouth, us in our car and Nicole in hers. The blue mountains were cake and we were way ahead of schedule coming into The Dalles. That's when the snow started hitting us. We tried to get some chains there, since the ones I had were not fitting right anymore, but they were all out. So we headed out to Hood River and the chains they gave us there were too big. But they had no sizes left, and the sun was beginning to sink and ODOT was beginning to shut down Hood River. So we took off from there. Immediately it began to snow even harder and the winds picked up. Right after we left Hood River they began to shut the town down except for emergency vehicles. We hit some stalled traffic as winds were getting around 50 mph. Then it got dark. We couldn't see the road, the winds were still 50 mph, and we were going around 5-10 mph in total darkness as our windshields kept freezing over. It was a blizzard for over 2 hrs. of driving. Right when we got into Troutdale they shut down I-84 behind us because of an accident and poor driving conditions. They just barely opened up I-84 today, the 23rd, 3 days after we went through. We finally made it onto I-205 and went down to I-5. After we got onto I-5 they began shutting down parts of I-205. But we kept pushing through, not wanting to stop. We eventually made it to Monmouth after 15 hrs. of driving only to hit an ice storm. But we made it. We are safe. Sorry we don't have any pictures but I think our nerves were too racked to try and snap some photos.

Football at Lavell Edwards Stadium

2008-11-10T12:02:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was the last home game for BYU this year. For the club I belong to at BYU, the Landscape Management Club, we clean up the east stands after each game. Lots of trash and hosing. Since this was the last game on this field (they are tearing up the field and putting in a new one in the spring time) a group of us got permission to play on the field following the game. I wanted to get pictures, but was unable to. But it was real cool to be able to play on that turf. I even threw the game winning touchdown. Well, I was just quarterback on the last series and we ended the game because everyone was getting tired. But a great experience to have my senior year here at the Y.

1st Grade!

2008-10-25T15:38:00.002-06:00

I just finished my first amazing week in a 1st grade classroom! (If you didn't already know, I was assigned to be in a 1st grade classroom Monday-Wednesday each week until the end of the semester.) My teacher, Mrs. Taylor, is so helpful - a great mentor. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the 20 kids have no trouble pronouncing and remembering my name! What a relief!

I get to start teaching lessons next week, so that's very exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time! I will let you know how it goes!

Our Primary Class

2008-10-19T21:11:00.004-06:00

As you probably already know, Jeff and I teach primary in our ward. Because there are not too many children in our ward, we teach ages 4-6 (preschool through 1st grade). It's a huge range in age, but we love it! We've been holding off on posting pictures, as we wanted a class shot. It seems like there is always at least one child gone though, so we decided to go ahead a post individual shots.

Going clockwise: Jordan (5), Andrew (6), William (5), Miriam (5), Jordan (4), Julia (6), and Eliza (4)

Hiking the Y

2008-10-05T16:32:00.005-06:00

We hiked the Y a few weeks ago. I haven't hiked it since my freshman year, but it was Sarah's first time. She really wanted to do it before she graduated. It was a fun hike. The view was awesome. It's a lot steeper at the top than it appears it would be. The way down wasn't as fun as I slipped on a loose rock and rolled my ankle. But all in all a great way to spend Saturday before school started.

Wow, are we Y fans or what!

2008-10-05T15:59:00.002-06:00

Well, we decided to finally start a blog. We noticed that many of our friends and family members already had them so we just wanted to jump on the bandwagon. We'll see how it goes. But since we are still in school expect to hear a lot about our classes and low paying jobs, and cheap outings. Life can be fun when you're broke though.