A Family That Plays Together...

So Chet has had a lot of family here the last few weeks. We have had a wonderful time and miss them all now that they are gone. Here are a lot of our good times. :)



The good times kicked off with fishing at Butterfly Lake with Chet's grandpa, Papa Jay, and his wife, Grandma Cheryl. (Liv and Harris' great-grandparents)

Papa Jay was awesome at playing with each of his great-grandkids. He really took time to get to know all of them.

Liv's turn with Papa Jay.

Chet's second cousin Britlyn (holding Peach her tiny poodle) and her husband John came fishing with us and came back the next night for dinner. It was really fun to hang out with them. Liv and Harris loved the both of them.

The boys spent a lot of time on the tramp.

Harris and his great-grandma Cheryl played billiards for about an hour together. It was so sweet!

Chet's sis, Chelsie, and her husband, Chuck, went with us to dinner and a pre-screening of Harry Potter. It was a blast!

The whole fam at the zoo.

Could they look more like brother and sister?! Chet and his sis Chelsie.

We watched the black bears fight for about 30 minutes. It was very cool. Harris lovin Grandma Wendy holding him.

We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house and had some family pictures before we went.

Chet's parents have an awesome pool. A lot of time was spent there as well. Fantastic!

The Children's Museum is so much fun for the kids. This is Liv and James (Chet's little brother) doing their best anchor person imitation.

Goofin off in the helicopter.

Chet's Nana, Joanie, trying to play Trouble with the kids.

Harris worships his uncles Chrys and James. This was our last day all together so we went for a family hike in the hills above the Robinson's.

What a view! This giant pipe is where we usually hike to and then walk across.

Could these kids be any cuter?! Cousins enjoying our 24th fireworks on the last night.

The Huntress

Last night, Chet and I were sitting on the couch when our cat, Tiffany, came skulking into the family room. When she turned around and faced me I noticed that she had a mouse in her mouth! I decided the best course of action was to pick up the cat and put her back outside thinking that she would hang on to her catch. (at this point you have to imagine me running around and screaming like a little girl, it makes the story funnier.) Bad idea! She dropped the mouse, which ran across the family room, I in turn dropped the cat freaking out about a mouse loose in my house. The cat then ran across the room and caught the mouse again and then dashed up the stairs. Thinking "crap!" I grabbed the cat halfway up the stairs and of course she dropped the mouse again! The mouse started to climb the stairs and I'm freaking out that he is going to get lost in one of the bedrooms all the while I'm trying to keep the cat from getting the mouse again. So, here I am with the cat in one hand and trying to catch the mouse before it makes it all the way up. (I should mention that Chet is sitting on the couch with his foot elevated and iced from a terrible sprain from basketball earlier in the night) I yell at Chet to get me something to trap the mouse and he can't walk! Every time the mouse moves I scream afraid that it is going to "get me" or run up the stairs. Finally Chet hobbles into the kitchen and get a glass and tosses it to me on the stairs. I trapped the mouse in the glass and thought "ahh hes kinda cute now that he's not loose in my house" but hes gotta go! So I carried the mouse in the glass down the street (yeah it's like midnight at this point) to a field and let him go. What a night!

Chet Harris William Robinson

So, my little tiny boy turned 4 yesterday. I was working in Tampa all week but came home early to share his special day with him. I stayed at the airport Marriott in Tampa so I could catch a 7AM flight out to LA and then catch a connection to SLC. Can I just say that LAX is the most poorly planned airport I have ever been to? I have flown out of LAX a number of times in my 280+ flights I have taken over the last 3 years but I have never caught a connection there. I flew Northwest from Tampa to LAX and had a tight connection, the plane ran late to avoid some turbulence over the Gulf of Mexico and I ended up having like 30 minutes to get to my next flight. Usually that would be close but no big deal. Well, to catch my connection at LAX and fly out to SLC on Delta, I had to exit the airport, catch a shuttle to a different terminal, go back through security and THEN run through the airport to get to my gate. It was an absolute joke. But I digress, this blog isn't a travel blog or tlog...it is about my dear son Harris or Chet Harris William Robinson.

I wanted to take some time to reminisce about some of my favorite memories I have so far. I remember when Liv was an only child, Jaime and I knew we were to eventually have another but were not in any hurry to do so. My siblings and I were all around 4 years apart and I thought that was healthy spacing. It came as quite a shock when one day Jaime brought up the issue and I was forced to realize that Liv was over 3 and that it was time to discuss having another child! After the shock wore off I realized that some things would have to change (namely, we would have change residences. a 2 bedroom apartment would no longer do), so we began to look for a house on top of expecting a baby. I had started a new position at Marketstar earlier that year (2004) and had received the maximum 15% raise that they give when you go to a higher level position but I still worried about my ability to support another mouth to feed. In June of 2005, in fact within a 3 day span I was offered a much better job at Marketstar (I was able to increase my value there, so to speak, and brokered a 25% raise!), closed on my house and we welcomed Harris to the world! THAT was the craziest 3 days so far in my life, but those were all good things so it was a good kind of crazy.


So, those were the events leading up to Harris' birth. It was a different experience to plan for a baby (Liv was not exactly planned but very appreciated nonetheless). Harris was always a good baby but a little fussy to begin with. Turns out he had eczema and it was making him grumpy. When we took him to the doctor, the MD told us he had the "worst case he had ever seen". Once we got him the right prescription lotion he became a much happier and contented child.



Remembering Harris' early years, I definitely remember him being a little on the chubby side (we would say that he looked "healthy" and it would make Jaime so mad!). He had a good amount of dark hair and, honestly, looked just like I did at that age. I remember my father, Chet Sr., telling me that it was a trip because he looked like me so much. It was almost like he got to "re-experience" my childhood, this time in a much happier place in his life. ( My dad was 17 when I was born, I'll let you surmise why he may not have been in the most happy place in his life). Other than that, life was good. I had a good job, we enjoyed the new home and our children were wonderful and beautiful. (I wrote that sentence in past tense, but little has changed, remarkably enough.) I remember Harris making the cutest little noises and always being so affectionate. He loved to snuggle and to be held. To this day, Jaime still carries him all the time. Whenever Jaime would say that she couldn't do something because she was holding Harris I would tell her to put him down and she would get a shocked look on her face and say, "sacrilege!"). She still does that by the way.



Harris was born in June, obviously, and I remember him taking his first flight that August. I had to do some work in New York City and wanted Jaime to have that experience as well. Even though Harris was young we decided to have Jaime bring him along. I had no issue with it since Jaime was going to meet me there and I wouldn't have to deal with a baby on a cross country flight! Anyway, Harris did really well both going to JFK and coming back home. I flew home with them and Harris did fantastic. Since then he has always been a fantastic flier. He has also done numerous trips to Florida and takes many flights to Anaheim every year.




I remember one such trip in April of 2007, Harris wouldn't have been 2 quite yet, and he was constantly saying, "baby....dada....nahnight..." over and over again and in the absolute funniest voice I have ever heard. To this day, the memory of that still makes me laugh. He would use this funny inflection...

Another memory; Jaime has always forced us to listen to Disney music in the car. I remember that when Harris would listed to the color song from Professor Ludwig Von Drake (look it up if you don't know it, it is a classic) and would slap his tiny hand to his mouth to imitate his silly family and try to make the sound that drives the rhythm in the color song. On that particular CD, following the color song was Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins. This was so funny! Every time he this song came on he would kick his legs excitedly, while in his car seat, to the beat of the song. It also makes me laugh to remember...

So, another memory; Harris has always had an amazing sense of rhythm. At a young age he was fascinated by his Uncle Chrys playing the drums. For Christmas 2006, when he was just 18 months old, my parents got him this cute little drum set. He loved it and played it so much that he drummed right through the heads on the thing. For his birthday in 2007 Jaime and I got him a little bit beefier drum set that he also drummed through and finally we got him another last year that he still uses but it is almost destroyed. He loves to drum, it is so cute to watch. We will see if he sticks with it.







So, another memory; in August of 2007 we took the family to San Diego to see Shamu at Sea World. Harris was immediately transfixed by that giant whale. He did not stop talking about Shamu for...well, ever actually. We bought him this little stuffed Shamu that he still sleeps with every night to this day! We have taken many family trips since then (we do love to vacation together) but have not made it back to San Diego. We are headed back next month, Harris' choice. Liv got to go to Disneyland and Harris gets to go to Sea World (of course, I also am expected to fit a day of Disneyland into that trip but...). We visited the San Diego Zoo on that trip as well and Harris was absolutely terrified of the walrus! It was so funny! The disgusting creature would swim up to the Plexiglas wall of the tank and repeatedly spit his food out of his mouth and suck it back in. Admittedly it was gross, but it would freak Harris out! Ha ha!




So more recently; what is Harris into now and how is he like? Harris is your typical boy, he loves cars (and Cars), he loves to wrestle and fight and he loves boy cartoons. (he is way into Batman the Brave and the Bold right now). He and I spend a lot of time in the basement playing "Michael Jordan tackle basketball", I am not sure if it is officially licensed from the Jordan brand but Harris and I have fun anyway. Harris used to call it "Boozer bubble bubble" and tell me that I was "Boozer" and he was "fire, fire, fire, fire, fire FIRE!" Ha ha, that also makes me laugh. Aside from being a typical boy and into boy things, he is also amazingly affectionate and sweet. He and Jaime still spend a good amount of time every day just snuggling. He still loves to be held and to sit on laps. He absolutely adores and idolizes his sister. It sometimes gets on her nerves but in general, Olivia, is an amazing big sister and finds the sweetest ways to express her love. We often find them playing nicely together with Liv teaching Harris "school" or reading to him or sometimes just making up games to play.




Recent memory; I guess...Jaime and I both love it when Harris decides to be serious. Sometimes he will try to explain something to us and he will get this serious look on his face and kind of angles his face downward as he makes his point. It is so cute!

What else...oh yes, Harris is absolutely obsessed with video games. He loves to play all sorts of games on the Wii. He and I passed Lego Batman a couple months ago and are currently working on Lego Indiana Jones. Harris is an expert at Wii Sports Bowling, he can pick up spares better than anyone I have ever seen! We do enjoy playing Wii as a family. When we travel, Harris loves to play video games on our phone. People always seem to find it funny when he walks around the grocery store playing on mine or Jaime's iPhone. Kids!

Other things Harris is into right now ( I really don't want to forget some day...); Harris has always liked the shows Maggie and the Ferocious Beast as well as Little Bear. Those are really the only kids shows he has ever been into. Harris loves to watch the strangest shows on TV, on Saturday mornings he makes me watch either bowling, billiards or fishing! He will sit down and just watch them for as long as I let him!

Harris is also obsessed with eating fruit. Obsessed! The kid can (and sometimes does) live on cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries and grapes!

Also, Harris loves his extended family. He loves to play with Papa, make brownies with Grandma Wendy, wrestle and play with Uncle Chrys and James, swing with Uncle Nate. He misses his friends from Arkansas and talks about them all the time (he still makes me read the book from Auntie Chelsie and Uncle Chuck!). He adores Cousin Cami and idolizes Cousin Trevor. He always enjoys playing with Cousin Ryan. He gets so excited to go play at Auntie Jann's and Uncle Don's house! Harris has always had a special relationship with Auntie Lindsay, he loves her more than anyone except his mother. He thinks that Uncle Jake is "cool" (he is in a band, after all) and loves to go to movies with Grandpa Burke and Grandma Tony. He loves and misses Grandpa Paul.


Harris is so lucky to have such great relationships with his people that love and care for him. I want to thank you all for what you do to help raise my son, I couldn't ask for a better village...

One of the things I wanted to mention was how excited he gets, especially when playing a game or just really enjoys something. He is so expressive! When he bowls a strike in Wii bowling for example he will jump and twist his whole body around and say, "yes!" while kind of swinging his arms back and forth, it is hilarious! I know that Jaime will kill me for using this example but he kind of reminds me of Smeagol (not Gollum) when he gets excited about catching some food for Frodo, does this example show my true geeky nature? Probably). Anyway, he sweet childish exuberance always brightens my day.

This has been long winded, as my posts usually are, but I wanted to share some random memories of my boy. I really do love him and am so glad he was born. I feel so privileged that he has be given to my care during his earthly sojourn.

C R U I S I N G

Last week Chet and I had the opportunity to go on an Eastern Caribbean cruise for our 10 year anniversary. It was heaven! Here is a day by day rundown:


DAY 1- Miami

We got to Miami in the late afternoon and headed to our hotel. It was a really modern hotel called the SenSe on Ocean Drive in South Beach. It was very nice but way too modern! The chairs were see through plastic and there was chrome and glass and weird artwork everywhere! After checking out the room we decided to stroll Ocean Drive and find some food. We finally decided on Johnny Rockets and ate our lunch outside during a torrential downpour! I have never seen rain like that. It was so much fun! When the rain stopped we headed to the beach. We didn't get to hang out there very long before the rain started again. We walked across the street back to the hotel in the rain. We figured that we couldn't get any wetter. After getting back to the hotel and getting ready we headed to Chet's favorite seafood restaurant "A Fish Called Avalon". It was really yummy and a great way to end the first day of our vacation.

Our super modern room

There was a roped off area on the beach. This is what we saw when we got closer. Cute!Eating at "A Fish Called Avalon"

Day 2- The Boat

We spent the morning at the beach before we headed to the boat. When we got to our room on the boat we had to check out our balcony and then the rest of the boat. Pretty boring day.

The view from our balcony. Its not a very good picture because we took it with Chet's phone.

The Lobby of the boat.Every night they would turn down the bed and make a "towel buddy'. (No Chels it wasn't us making them every night) Stop looking at me swan...

Day 3- "Fun Day at Sea"

Yep not as "fun" as it sounds. We spent the day laying out on the balcony and reading and of course eating. Not a bad thing but I wouldn't call it "fun".


Towel buddy of the Night, a scorpion.
Day 4- Turks and Cacios

What a beautiful place! This was our shortest dock. We were only there from 7-2 but we made the most of it by getting up early and heading out. Grand Turk is a very small island only 6 miles long and a mile wide. The west side is white soft sand and calm blue water the east side is very windy and super rocky. We walked down the west side of the beach to get away from the crowds and found a beautiful spot to spend the day. The sand was the texture of corn meal and the water was so blue it looked fake! We dropped our stuff and headed to the water. We had a great time snorkeling we saw tons of fish and even an eel and a starfish! After several hours snorkeling we decided to go for a hike and check out the other side of the island. The other side was so different! The water wasn't as blue and the beaches were all rocky and there were conch shells everywhere! Like a conch graveyard. We made it to the end of the east side and headed back right when it started to rain. Chet decided to snorkel back as I walked along the beach. He made it about half way before it got too rocky and the water too choppy to be safe. We said goodbye to an amazing island and headed back to the boat for dinner and a movie under the stars.

Chet snorkeling back after the hike.
On the beach in front of the boat.

The rocky side of the island.In the amazingly blue water! (Wall-E under the stars.)Towel Buddy of the Night, a pig, I think...


Day 4- Half Moon Cay

Half Moon Cay is a private island owned by Carnival. WOW is all I can say about this island. It is so gorgeous! The water was even more blue than Grand Turk and the sand was so fine it was like flour! We immediately hit the water to do some snorkeling and were sorely disappointed when we only saw 1 fish! The water was so clean and clear there wasn't anything to see but water and sand! We were supposed to go on a snorkeling trip that day but the water was too choppy so it got cancelled. :( No biggie we decided to do our sting ray adventure today instead. When the time came we took the shuttle to the other side if the island to see the sting rays. We got all geared up listened to a short instructional and hit the water. Now I love the ocean and even sharks they fascinate me but I was way more scared then I though I would be! These giant things swimming silently around you and rubbing up against you like cats freaked me out! They have giant barbs that stick out of their tails that can kill you (like the Crocodile Hunter) and they are rubbing up against me because they want to be rubbed! It was a very neat experience. By the time we were done with the sting rays I was soooo fried (even with SPF 50!) I was done. When we got back to the boat we got ready and headed to dinner. After dinner Chet was thrilled to hear that they would be playing game 1 of the NBA finals on the giant outdoor screen. So we grabbed a drink and my book and headed to the Lido deck and enjoyed the game!



Reading on the most beautiful beach ever.One of the Sting Rays that we swam with.Watching the game.Towel Buddy of the Night-Aardvark???




Day 5-Paradise Island, Nassau Bahamas


Since our snorkeling trip on Half Moon Cay was cancelled we thought we would go today, but it was a two and a half hour ride on a catamaran and then only 40 minutes snorkeling! Umm, no. So we decided to spend the day at Atlantis. It is a resort on an island just off of Nassau and it is amazing. Since I was so fried from the previous days excursions we decided to go to all the different aquariums on the property. I love fish and anything that lives in the ocean so I was in heaven! There was a tank with manta rays that were the biggest things I've ever seen! They were close to 6 feet across! (That is actually quite small for a manta.) They, at one time, had one that was 18 feet across! She was so big she would scrape her fins on the sides of the aquarium! Awesome. After sufficiently fulfilling my fish watching need we decided to head to the beach. The beach was nice but not nearly as nice as the other two. We snorkeled up and down the beach and decided to head to the private lagoon that Nassau built just for snorkeling. I have to say that I was a little disappointed. The water was very dirty and it made it hard to see anything. We made the best of it and did get to see quite a few things so I guess it was worth it. We had a great time on the islands and were sad to say goodbye. When we got back to the boat we had dinner and then went back to our suite to get packed up and go to bed. In the middle of the night I woke up to lights flashing outside our window and thought "who is taking pictures in the middle of the night?!" but it wasn't a camera it was lightning! It was so scary! The lightning was right next to the boat flashing so bright I had to close my eyes. I could see it hitting the water and then the boom of the thunder was deafening! It was the scariest thing I have ever seen! I just knew we were going to die! (Chet slept through the whole thing.) Obviously we didn't die and made it back to Miami safely.



Looking at the Blacktip Caribbean Reef SharksThe Flying Fish fountain
The awesome Mantas!





Chet snorkeling in the lagoon
Last "Towel Buddy of the Night" fittingly enough a Manta
Day 6- Miami
After successful debarkation we caught a cab and went straight to our hotel. The Marriott South Beach. Now that is my kind of hotel! So beautiful and right on the beach and since Chet is a Silver Elite Member our room was ready even though it was only 8 in the morning. We quickly got changed into our suits and hit the beach. It was a beautiful day to just hang out in the water which is exactly what we did until it started to rain. We figured that since it was raining we would grab some lunch. Chet decided that he wanted to go to "Joe's" (a seafood place) we walked over there and it was closed so we decided to just walk up Collins Ave and find a place. We ended up at the strangest little place called "Manolo's". Great, Italian we thought. We were kind of right. It was an Italian restaurant inside of a Cuban bakery served by Mexicans. We were confused but the pizza was awesome! After lunch the rain had stopped so we did a little shopping and walking. South Beach is a strange place, one street is slums and the next is millionaire mansions. Like the Versace Mansion which is right on Ocean Drive just up the street from our hotel. It was very cool to see it. They have a plaque on the stairs where he was shot. We wanted to take a tour of the mansion but it was 40 dollars a person! Rip off! So we headed back to the hotel for more beach time until dinner. For dinner we ate at the hotel restaurant which overlooks the ocean. It was such an amazing view and a wonderful way to end our fantastic vacation.


The hotel pool and beachThe Versace Mansion, the second most photographed house in the US.



I have to say that the best part of the vacation was the time I got to spend with Chet. Sitting on the balcony playing cards and watching the lightning, being able to walk down the beach holding hands without the interruption of kids and remembering why we are best friends. Life gets busy with work and kids and all of the other daily distractions and we forget how important time alone together is. I am so grateful for the wonderful memories and the laughs that we shared. I am looking forward to the next 10 wonderful years with my best friend! Always and Forever!!!