And they just keep coming....

The rest of my treasures, in a weird order but whatevs. They have to be shared.

Dave's baddest of bad Christmas sweaters (want to have a bad Christmas sweater party, Mom?) and the weird visor/wig gift from his brother Joe, which is indicative of most of Dave's gifts from his siblings. 

Fredericksburg. I really enjoyed our visit here.

As I was looking through these pictures it struck me as ironic that all the Union soldiers are buried at the top of Marye's Heights- the hill they tried to so desperately to reach the top of, but only in death did they actually reach it. 

It has become a tradition in our family to sit our children on canons at battlefields. 

Washington DC Temple Festival of Lights with Aunt Lesly:

Oakley's favorite part was the camel ride. Even though the camel didn't go anywhere. She could have sat on that thing for hours.

 A failed attempt at a grandparent/grandkid picture. Oakley wasn't having it. 

And the very same day, a success. All she needed was a little fresh air. 

Hey I just realized that Gabe's not wearing something neon in these pictures. How did we ever keep track of him?

Sporting their Christmas ties all the way from our Elder in Philly.

 Christmas morning. Mom, modeling her hat from Elder Harris, looks thrilled. :) 

My buddies on Christmas Eve. Everyone else was romping around DC.

Annnnndd... our monstrosity of a breakfast Christmas morning. It actually turned out okay, but it did look scary.

Santa's little helper. Santa's most adorable little helper. 

Santa's elves. Where did he find these guys?

Gabe, aka Hermey, hard at work. I think he actually wants to quit being an elf and study dentistry. 

Dee Andros?

The way way back. Gabe rocked it.

Oakley LOVED having Grandma, Grandpa and Gabe around. She suddenly had three extra people to meow at.

And Gabe. Trying to photobomb. Pretending to fall and actually falling. ahhhhahahahahaha!

It's too bad Peter won't remember his first Christmas cause it was a pretty darn good one.

Thanks for the fun times Harris clan! 

best buds forever

Oakley made a new best friend over Christmas vacay. His name's Gabe and he's pretty great. We miss him and his neon garb.

 I just couldn't keep these photographic treasures to myself. 

I like to call this collection "the boy and his kitty" :)

Calling All Fellow Resolution Makers!

Hey guys!

So I just can never let a New Years go without making some impossibly unattainable goals. So, I thought I might throw out a call for inspiration. Anybody out there as manic as I am about making goals? I'm actually just looking for some more lighthearted ideas. Like the kid on the the ATandT? commercial who says he's going to have more jelly beans for his New Years "revolution".

 I don't need any ideas on how to be more serious in goal making. I'm an expert there. I just want to have a little more fun this year. Not that last year was not fun with 4 graduations, 2 missionaries, and a wonderfully cute new grandson. Whew! I'm looking for goals that I actually look forward to and are FUN and of course SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely). See, there's my serious side.

Wendy's friend, Heather, had some great goals for 2013. Just three: 1) Run 13 half marathons in 2013 2) Try all 48 flavors of BYU ice cream and 3) Find one thing in her house every day to donate to D.I. (I could probably find 10 and never make a dent) And she achieved all 3.

So, that's sort of what I'm looking for. Additionally, I'm just interested in what you do. Maybe we could inspire each other. So send your comments about goals/resolutions and whether you set them or not. How you track them and if you've been successful. Your ideas would be much appreciated. I'll let you know what I decide to do. That's going to be scary for me because then I will be accountable. Yikes!!!!!

Christmas 2013 Mashup! (Part deux)

Okay, here we go for part 2. I love these pictures Bill took of the Jefferson Memorial.

One of these people are not like the others. One of these people just isn't the same. 

What a cute selfie!

Had to get Peter in here while his sister cooks in her new kitchen.

Oh yeah. We ran up this hill! (It wasn't as steep as the sign though).

Great views of the Potomac on post.

Boo Yah!

Beautiful lights at the D.C. temple.

Great visit with Uncle Don.

Vietnam Memorial

Mom and the kiddos

Fascination with the fish pond at Chatham.

Okay, I'm done guys.

Christmas 2013 Mashup! (Part uno)

Aye Aye Aye! Technology! Love it or hate it! I'm doing my best to stay positive while I try to get my blog to work. Looks like I am going to have to split this post into two, so be patient. Okay, so we had a super dee duper Christmas in Virginia with our cute little Shaha family. What follows is a picture montage of our experience. So here we go. Happy New Year Oakley having fun with her Dad at Fredericksburg, Va. (Civil War battle field)

I may or may not eat my crust.

We got to speak with our missionaries on Christmas!

Oakley's favorite view on her Grandpa's shoulders.

Best buds looking out the window of Chatham. (Also served as a Civil War Hospital)

Our celebrity, Uncle Don as Claudius.

Touring D.C. is serious business.

Timmmmberrrrrrr! I'm out of here!

With our friends, the Ereksons at Fredericksburg.

I've got my eye on you, Abe Lincoln.

Uncle Gabe 

Won't lose this guy.

Here we are at George Mason's house, Gunston Hall.

I love this picture Bill took of us at the Vietnam Memorial.

Who knew?

The Holocaust Museum

 More to come!