Grandma's 1st annual Halloween Bash

Grandma Harmon's 1st annual Halloween Bash was a hit! All the kids had such a great time seeing everybody in their costume - especially Grandma! Thanks for all the work you put into the food and the decorations Mom - it really showed and the kids will never forget it.

Stay tuned for more Halloween pictures.... I think Chad and I may dress up....

Where's Nathan?

Nathan has begun a new trick... At about 8 o'clock this morning I was sitting at the desk in our office working on some homework. I looked outside and noticed that Nathan was outside. Hmmm, the back door is locked... how did he do that? Then I realized - he went through the doggy door in the playroom. Now, I have blocked this doggy door by a table so that it wouldnt be noticeable - or better yet - a temptation. It's okay to be outside - I just want to know about it, so I'm not frantically searching through the house for a missing child. Worse yet, where he likes to sit is up against the house where I can not see him from any window. He likes to sit there and move the rocks around with his hands and feet and then he throws them-on the concrete. This creates the not-so-welcomed task of cleaning them up.
This would'nt be so bad if the rocks were'nt red rocks that dye hands and feet - and displayed in the above picture: faces. Oh well, boys will be boys!
Now it is later in the day and he has done it again. I guess I am going to have to either get use to this, or find a better way to block the door. At least I know where he is!

"Uncle Ben's" suprise

Caitlyn was so excited for Friday night because her friend Ellaree was coming over to play. When Ellaree comes over these two little girls go straight for the princess clothes to get dolled up for the night of playing. To their suprise "Uncle" Ben came in with Halloween suprise bags for all of the kids. Thanks Uncle Ben! Their day was a little brighter because of you. The bags are in great use and they are having so much fun with all of the toys!

Almost done

Chad is getting very close to finishing his current project at work. The 23 story condo tower in downtown Phoenix (across the street from Chase Field) has started inspections by the individual owners. In another 6 weeks they will all start to move in. It will be nice when this project is complete and he gets to move on to another building with different challenges.

Out with friends

We had a great time out with some friends in the ward. We first drove out to Glendale to eat at a Bulgarian restaurant. Since Chad found out that one of the guys went on his mission to Serbia (right next to Bulgaria - where Chad served his mission) the two of them have been planning on eating there. Apparently Bulgaria and Serbia are closely related. They both had a blast reliving the past and the rest of us had a great time listening to their stories.If any of you want to try it - it is really good and a fun experience! We can give you the directions

After dinner we all headed back to our place for a little Guitar Hero! Rock on! Everyone had a great time trying out their skills. Some got more into it than others...

I had to say something

In the previous post I poked fun at a photographer for not being able to take a decent picture. I thought that there would be no problem getting a picture of such a beautiful little girl like Caitlyn. Well, I was wrong. Even when she tried to do it herself it still turned out like this.

Sorry Mr. photographer, I can see how difficult your job really was.

On a more proud note, It appears that Nathan is ready to come and work for his dad. I am not sure if that hard hat is OSHA approved.

Eye of the beholder

Now, I know that a school photographer does not know how each child is supposed to look when they smile, but c'mon man. This was Caitlyn's kindergarten year. We were bubbling with anticipation about the results of her very first school picture. Imagine our diminishsed reaction when we saw what the "photographer" deemed a good picture. Jeez, When is retake day?

Visit from Grandpa

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit. While Grandma was learning to blog in the office, Grandpa rounded up the kids for a photo opportunity. The kids are always happy to see their grandparents!

We realized that we haven’t updated everyone on what we are doing between our sporadic emails! We’re excited to be able to share what is going on with us.
We have been married for a little over 7 years. We met as a result of Emily’s mom marrying the dad of one of Chad’s high school friends Aaron Harmon. From the first date (which Emily asked Chad to go on) they were inseparable. Well mostly, there were a few days that Chad thought he would be better off taking it slower. He was wrong and we married in July of 2000. (The year makes it easy for Chad to remember how long we've been married) Our families already knew each other really well, so it was really fun and easy transition. A lot of people say that the first year of marriage is the hardest, but that wasnt true for us. From the first day, we were very compatible and it was very easy to make the change from being single to married life.
We had two and a half years of newlywed bliss. Caitlyn was born in Dec. 2002 and Nathan came around in Jan. 2004. They are now 4 and 3, respectively. We have begun our new phase of life with school starting for them.
Caitlyn loves school and she is doing very well. She is a smart little cookie - beyond here years some times. School is a great opportunity to curve some of her sassiness! She is a girl who knows what she wants! She can definitely challange us on occassion, but we are confident that her strong-headedness will work in her favor throughout her life.
Nathan is also in preschool. He is learning so much and every day he expresses something new. He also meets with daily and weekly habilitators that help himwith his social skills and speech. He is truly our families little angel and we are all convinced that he was sent here to help us instead of us helping him.
Emily is a stay at home mom / business owner / full time student (ASU history major) and does a fantastic job at all of them. She will soon be done with school after she finishes teaching herself Spanish. No joke, she really is teaching herself Spanish. Go Emily!
Chad is busy at work. He is the Sr. Project Manager for E&K of Phoenix. ( http://www.e-kco.com/ ). It is really a great company and he loves it there. He has been able to manage the construction of some of the most prominent buildings recently added in the Phoenix area. It is such a great situation when you absolutely love what you do, and Chad has found that.