A Day in the Life of ...... Part 2

Well, you have to know that your mother just had a 'mega tantrum'. I had spent over thirty minutes writing a wonderfully witty and insightful article, then pushed the wrong button and it disappeared. It is a good thing none of you were here.
So, anyway I will attempt to recreate it and try again [that is why this is titled part 2. Part 1 is lost forever somewhere out in blogger space.]
I had mentioned that there is just not much activity on the ever exciting HOUSE OF HARRIS blog site. In fact, when we do have a posting there are not even many comments which leads me to believe that no one out there is even reading them.
Hence, I am going to bore you all into doing better. I had the inspiration to each week take a day and tell what we do on that day. When you sons were on your missions I always wished that you would tell me what you do during the day. Now, you probably have never wished your parents would do that, but you are going to have to suffer through it anyway.
For my first day I am going to pick Monday. Now, to you ex-missionaries you might call this our P-day, and it is because by the time the day is over we are 'pooped'. We are able to sleep in a little longer on this day but seeing our age it doesn't happen anyway. So up, dressed, we grab a plastic grocery sack and out we go for our weekly 'trash pick up'. President and Sister Babb, our first counselor and his wife take the outside streets surrounding the temple grounds and we do the inside grounds. Now, you would think that it being the temple and dedicated grounds there just would not be any trash at all. WRONG!. The sad fact is that there is a lot of trash on the grounds. When asked why people just drop their things where they stand the answer came back, well it is just a tradition!!! Interestingly enough a lot of it is tucked away in bushes and shrubs, [I think they do try to hide it] so we do a lot of bending and stretching [good exercise for us]. This usually takes about 45-60 minutes. You would be shocked, surprised, amazed and all the other adjectives you can come up with when you hear what we do find on the grounds; anything from dead rats [which Dad picks us] to beer bottles [left over from bus drivers who are hired to drive youth groups here for baptisms]. Most of it though is wrappers from crackers, gum, candy, etc. Dad is thinking of keeping the next bags we pick up and taking them to our next PPI with the Area President. Maybe he can talk to the Stake Presidents about this. It is very sad.
We then come in, shower, have a little breakfast and usually will do our grocery shopping. The grocery stores here are very nice and modern and usually will have just about anything that the US stores will have, just not maybe at the time you want it. We do have to wait for the US things to arrive via air I suppose or maybe ship. But we certainly do not suffer from want of anything to eat. The time it takes to shop is not very long but the time it takes to clorox wash all the fresh fruits and veggies takes over an hour sometimes.
We are then ready to do our scripture and other reading. Then of course there is the nap time which is a must on the day the temple is closed.
I will usually use this day to bake as I love to give out cookies and banana bread to the gardners, office staff, etc. This is a fun thing for me to do.
From 7-8:30 we have our Family Home Evening here in the Casa de Huespedes [Guest House. There is a room just for meetings which we all gather in]. Once a month or so I will show a 'popcorn and movie' night here in our apartment which the seniors all seem to enjoy.
Well, loved ones there you are. I know this should generate some really thought-provoking comments and I welcome them all.
Remember next week, I will tackle the exciting Tuesday, so stay tuned for more in the life of...!

A Day in the Life of.....

Researching the Best Burger

In a comment to my last post about our ancestry, Todd questioned why I didn't use my energies for more interesting projects, such as what the "H.R." stood for in H.R. Pufnstuf. Frankly, I'm a bit embarrassed for him. It's one thing to acknowledge that he watched H.R. Pufnstuf. He was young; that's an excuse. But to openly proclaim he still thinks about it? Todd, there are other things to ponder. Give it a try.

But to answer his question, I think I've located the best burger in Portland. It's at a funky French restaurant called Le Pigeon. Premium beef on a grilled french bagette type roll, lettuce, pickled onions, homemade ketchup, some type of French cheese, a hint of horseradish. Frankly, I'm not sure what all was on it, but it was amazing. Just ask Kathryn--it was her birthday dinner, and I couldn't stop explaining how amazing it was. The only problem is that they only prepare five burgers a night. Not sure why, but that's the limit. So when Big D returns, the boys can take him there. Of course there will be six of us--one over the limit--but we'll let Todd get some Captain Crunch off the kiddie menu.

Campbell Name Cleared!

Yes, it's true. Recent research suggests we are not the vicious killers that historians have painted us as. For those of you muttering, "Oh, boy, there he goes again," do not delete this. Here's some background (taken from a Scottish newspaper article):

"For almost 317 years the entire Clan Campbell has borne the stigma not only of massacre but of the worst possible breach of the Highland code of hospitality. Early in the morning of 13th February in 1692, thirty eight members of the MacDonad clan were murdered without warning, as they slept, by Campbells lodging in their homes in the Glen; and forty more perished in blizzard conditions when they fled for their lives.

The signal for their murder was triggered by their Chief’s tardiness in taking the oath of allegiance to the then English King, William of Orange. The revulsion of other Highlanders - and of history - for this action leaves the name Campbell, even today, often accompanied by an inward shudder in the uttering. But a research publication, Glencoe: The Infamous Massacre 1692, written by John Sadler, a historian from Newcastle University, claims to present a different version of these events - and one relieving the pressure of this dark legacy on the Campbell name."

Well, I feel better already.

The new book admits that Campbells did the killing, but not as Clan members, but rather as soldiers of the English King. OK, maybe a technicality, but there's more. It appears the Campbells first warned the McDonalds. Not sure how that worked: "Angus, could you pass the mutton? Thanks. And by the by, we'll be getting up in the wee hours of the morning, and if you're still here, and happen to be sleeping, we supposed to kill you."

For those of you who want to know more (yes, Mike and Lee, you can read more), I'll attach a link. Personally, I feel somewhat vindicated, and I suspect the feeling is shared by Mom, Seth, Brigham and Jake. Did I miss anyone?

http://forargyll.com/2009/02/has-the-campbells-role-in-the-glencoe-massacre-been-painted-blacker-than-it-was/

DisneyLand/Newport Beach

Haven't blogged in a while, but thought I would post a few pics from our family trip to DisneyLand/Newport Beach Feb 22-Mar 1. Enjoy! Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes and congrats Patrick on the mission call. We love you all-Mike & Aim!

Mission Call

I received my mission call on Feb. 25. I have been called to serve in the Korea Seoul Mission!!! I report on May 20th to the Provo MTC and I can't wait!!! I will post a map of the mission map so you can all look at it. I am open to any inside information you may have (food, people, cities, culture)... Anyways I thought you would all like to know.

Happy Love Day

Happy Valentines Day to Grandma and Grandpa! I took these photos this morning at 9 am. Our little snow bunnies love being out in the snow--well, Satchel not so much, but Nina would stay out all day. When she came in a minute ago (it's just after 10 now), she saw the pics on the computer screen and let out a big guffaw. "Why are you doing that, Mom?" she wanted to know. When I explained, she said, "Oh! I do love Grandma and Grandpa."  

I know you would prefer a complete family photo, but Matt left to work in Park City at 5 am, and I had to man the camera, so it's just the kids for you today. Hope you are having a beautiful day, with lots of chocolate and mucho amor. Les queremos!

 

Hey Hey from the North Ogden Harris'! Sorry it has been a while since we "Blogged". We just got back from a great family trip to the Turks & Caicos Islands. So I decided to send out a few photos from the trip. Hope all are well and surviving the Winter? Skiing is still great in Utah so come visit when you can! I had to throw in a photo of Wakeboarding from the Fall! Kids are well and the snow continues to fall so being in 85 degree weather was a nice break.

Love, Todd,Keri and Family.

Annette, Bridget and Martha have come up to Seattle a number of times for their Highland dance competitions held in Bothell. Mom, Rachel, Jenna and I were able to go and watch (it's about time). We missed Martha dancing (hopefully we'll see her next time), but were able to watch Bridget do a few numbers. The dancing was really impressive and along with the cute outfits and live bagpipe music-we had a great time! I didn't get very many good pictures but I got a little video of Bridget (I hope she doesn't mind me putting this on!!). Next time they come I'll make sure to get some footage of Martha as well.

Holidays with the Mellors and Wis

Here is my Christmas Holiday post.
It's not Valentines Day yet-so I figure I'm posting ahead of schedule!!!!!
We had a wonderful WHITE CHRISTMAS this year! The snow was amazing (and a little bit annoying by the end) and it snowed really hard all Christmas Day which was so fun. Everyone was home except for Daniel whom we were able to talk to on the phone. He sounds like he's doing so awesome!! Also, the newest soon to be member of our family-Sarah was able to come and spend the holidays with us. She is wonderful and although both her and Joel got a little bit sick, I think she had a good time and is willing to put up with us :) We also knew she'd fit in perfectly when she came to our house and couldn't get enough Karaoke and also told us she loves hot wings (she's way up there in Bryce's book!). We tried to do minimal presents this year and I think it turned out nice. It was strange not to be braving the malls at all hours the few days before Christmas-but with the snow we probably wouldn't have gone out anyways.

A Harris Holiday

On Christmas Eve, my brother and sister and their families came over for lunch. We made sure to have someone take our picture so that Gma's photo book would be complete (haha). My niece and nephew posed with us and everyone joked that we should send this out as our Christmas card photo next year. :)

We got a real tree and it smelled so good. Satchel LOVED the lights.

"Lights on! Touch 'em!"

We heard that about 2,000 times this holiday season.

Santa brought Nina some drums. We are loving every minute of it!

more Feliz Navidad

Sara braved the Harris masses . . .

 . . . and even managed to smile about it.

After a delicious dinner, everyone waited for the good desserts. 

Matt made tiramisu and Keri made a spice cake with whipped cream topping.

  Sue and her energetic helper--is it Jack?

Kendrick was good at pretending he didn't want his photo taken. 

Oh, those boys are sweet. T&K's kids got a kick out of them.

Getting ready to head out . . . thanks for a fun party, Sue!