Announcement

Gracie Kay Harris is getting baptized Sept 12th at 4:00 pm!!! All are invited. *Call "Hamster" (Aimee) for details.

Camping on the WA coast

Daniel (and someone posing in the background)

Rachel (playing in the sand and staying at least 20 feet from the water at all times)

Kris & Kayla (being adorable while babysitting my camera)

Daniel (posing with the football)

Mike (smiling)

Kayla & Joel & Rick (?)

Jenna (holding mom's hand)

Jenna (loving the ocean almost as much as her uncle Joel)

Kayla & Rachel (enjoying the beach)

Kayla & Jenna (ditto)

Joel (looking northwestern)

Joel (kissing) Me

Joel (watching the sunset)

Joel (watching the sunset with) Me

Plants (bathed by a setting sun)

Daniel (teaching Jenna about sunsets and the green flash of light)

Mama Mellor & Joel & Daniel (looking too cool)

(uncle) Daniel & Rachel

Mama Mellor & Rachel (proof she did actually touch the water)

Rachel (making an adorable face)

Rachel (flying a kite)

Jenna (holding on)

Jenna (really holding on)

Mama Mellor & Jenna & Kris (in the water)

Ditto (ditto)

Rachel (looking annoyed)

Mama Mellor (having fun)

Alyssa (leaping)

Rachel & Kris & Jenna

Daniel (throwing a frisbee)

Jenna (and legs)

And Now Introducing.....Easton Lee Martinez

Well, Desiree asked me to write a small blog on the Harris family blog about our new addition to the family. So, here it goes.

Weighing in at 9lbs 4 oz and stretching out at 21 and 1/2 inches long. We introduce to each of you our new 3rd baseman. Easton "Manny being Manny" Lee Martinez. The name Easton comes from a long line of wonderful baseball bats and other sports equipment. After many hours of negotiation and due to the trade deadline for names. "Dodger" Lee Martinez was ruled out by Des and Easton it became. Actually, I mentioned it to Des thinking it would never happen, but it worked!!
Anyway, the labor and delivery went very well. So well in fact, the doctor announced to Desiree as she pushed, that she was, "Good birthing stock," and that she was, "allowed to be prego again in six months." I don't remember anything after that. You all must know that in all actuality. Des is the most fun person to be around while giving birth. She thoroughly enjoys it and does an awful good job of producing offspring quite quickly. She also heals super fast. I think she may be a mutant. Plus, she's super hot!! Sorry, I got lost in my mind for a minute.
Anyway, we love you all and hope you enjoy this photo of the Boy. If you would like to see more and hear about Desiree's point of view. Go to kenanddesfamily.blogspot.com

He Made it!!!

Here is a link to Elder Harris' new Mission Site. I'll also add it as a link with the other blogs so that it can be easily accessed.

Elder Patrick Harris

From what Lisa said there will be regular emails and pictures there to look at! We're so excited that he finally made his way to Korea and is doing well!

Karaoke Time

Here is the video of Matt and Nina singing!
Enjoy :)

P-Town

We had such a great week in Portland!

Highlights for the kids: playing at parks, the Children's museum, the wading pool at Jamison square, watching "Wallace and Gromit" with cousins, and the beach.

Highlights for us: dinner at Le Pigeon (read more about it in Stuart's post here), Matt's "Danny and the Originals" reunion gig, best ever french-fries from the food carts, spending time with family and friends, a trip to Powell's, and the beach.

Here's Matty on drums, rocking us all with a D&O rendition of "Louie Louie." Yes, it's true, I married a rock star. (Photo credit: Menina Harris)

Stuey and the A stopped by to hear Matt play, even though Martha was starving. I don't know if the music did anything to rejuvenate her or not.

Can you spot our little pink cream puff in the wading pool? It was hot that day, so the water was muy popular with the kiddos.

Thanks to Stuart & A for hosting us. We didn't see much of Lee (he had the death flu all week) or Lisa (she was at girls camp). And we just hope Gus the Cat has recovered from the love our children lavished on him.

The Beach

We went to Cannon Beach twice because it's so close. The first day Martha got to go with us, which made it all the more fun. It was cool and overcast, and of course the water was FREEZING, but the kids loved every minute--even when their lips were blue and they couldn't stop shivering.

Satchel spent what seemed like hours chasing waves, back and forth, back and forth, laughing the whole time.

Martha was the brave (crazy?) one. She was out there in that water up to her shoulders. Aaaah! Just putting my feet in gave me a headache. At one point I thought she might have hypothermia, but she rallied and went back in for more.

Getting buried in the warm sand was one way to get out of the cold!

About 6:00 the tide went out and we were able to walk out to Haystack Rock. There are lots of tidal pools with all kinds of little creatures. Martha maneuvered through them all and actually went out and touched the big rock!

When we got home Stuart had homemade lentil soup and salad for us. The perfect end to our day.

And what a trip it was . . .

On July 25th we drove up to Seattle for the wedding. It was a beautiful event (as evidenced by Sara's pictures) and it was great to see everyone.

I asked Nina what some of her favorite things about Seattle were. She said, "The fairy costume and the park in the forest." Jennie had the costume in a toy box for Rachel to wear, so Nina squeezed herself into it and wore it almost every minute we were there. She even wore it to a park where the kids (Jennie and Alyssa included) loved climbing the big rocks and swinging.

After the park, the kids were so dirty and sweaty that we dumped them in the tub. Look at that cute Jenna! Nina and Satch hadn't ever been in a tub so big and they didn't want to get out. Nina lounged for quite awhile.

On Monday we took the ferry out to Bainbridge. It was the perfect day for it. Jennie made the ferry ride even more memorable when she started to feed the seagulls. She would hold out some bread above her head and the birds would swoop down to her. Somehow I didn't get a picture, but she had those birds literally eating out of her hand. Rick called her "crazy seagull lady" and pretended he didn't know her, but my family embraced the craziness and tried to feed the birds.

On the ride home, both kids were tuckered out. They did lots of sleeping in their car seats on this trip.

Monday was also Rachel's 3rd birthday, so we went over to the Wi home and had a fun party, complete with Korean tacos. (I hope Kris will post some photos because I don't have any.) Rachel was a darling birthday princess in every sense of the word. And there was karaoke! Matt and Nina did a duet of "I Want to Hold Your Hand." I wasn't there, but Matt said Bryce filmed it so I am waiting for the next YouTube sensation to explode.

The other thing Nina said she loved about our trip to Seattle was "pom-poms." Jennie was Auntie Extraordinaire one night and actually made Nina her own set of pom-poms. Nina was a happy girl. She also loves that Aunt Jennie took her horse riding. That was a first for her and so exciting.

Thanks to all the Mellors for putting us up and for putting up with us. We had a great time!

P.S. Jen, did Ricky ever fix Satchel's handiwork and repair your dining room chair?