My One True Love

Today is mine and Chet's 10th anniversary and I wanted to write something beautifully eloquent about why he is my one true love and soul mate but I am not very good at writing so I am going to list some of the reasons that he is those things.

Reasons why I love my husband:

He loves me more than anything in the world!
He loves his kids more than anything in the world!
He has an amazing testimony.
He is my best friend.
He takes me to Disneyland, pretty much whenever I want.
He is very hot.
He buys me flowers every week.
He buys me Pepsi.
He lets me sleep in.
He is smart.
He helps around the house.
He lets me be crazy sometimes.
He listens to me when I need to talk.
He teaches me.
He gets excited about his favorite music.
He works very hard every day at his job to provide for us.
He makes me laugh.
He makes me feel beautiful.
He is my best friend!

I am so grateful that after 10 year of marriage and 14 years together he is still the first person I want to be with. He is my best friend, my soul mate, and my one true love. Happy Anniversary Hounnh! Always and Forever olive jew!

Soccer Games

A soccer mom I am not! But I now have 2 kids that play the game and they love it. Friday night was Harris' first game. He was so excited! For his birthday (back in June) he got a really nice ball from his Auntie Lindsay and Uncle Jake. So he has had a lot of time to practice. I was so proud of him. He is usually very shy but he got right in there and gave it his all . He even had the ball a few times and once kicked it all they way down to the goal only to have it kicked in by another team member. He didn't mind though. He was just so proud of himself for getting it down there! My sweet baby boy is a great soccer player!



This is his game face. Can you see the focus? (Soooo cute!)

He loves his ball! He is taking it in for the coach to use.

Running for the ball with the coach cheering him on. (That girl was a beast! She made all the goals for the other team.)
Practicing with his team.

On Saturday Liv had her first game. She did awesome! She is a forward which means that she is always after the ball. (I think.) She got it several times and knocked a few people down to do it. :) Unfortunately they never scored. You see, their coach has never played soccer! So, he has no idea what he is doing. Fortunately one of the boy's mom played in high school and college, so at half time she went in and took over. (She is now the new assistant coach.) They did a ton better after that. Liv was in the whole game so by the time it was over she was exhausted! I think it will be good for her to build up endurance. She had a great time and hopefully with the new assistant coach they will make some goooooooooals. ;)



Here she is practicing before the game. She is right handed, but kicks with her left foot?


Kicking towards the goal.

I am so sad that this picture is fuzzy. Look at that face!!!

Yep, that is her in the front, in the yellow, in the thick of it with the boys!

First Days of School

Yesterday was Olivia's first day of school. Not just a new grade but a whole new school and curriculum! (For the A.L.L program.) I have to say that I was way more nervous than she was. She was so excited that she got up at 6:45! (School doesn't start until 9:15) We got ready and headed out the door. When we got to her school we had to figure out what we were doing! It was crazy! There are over a thousand students there right now because the new elementary isn't done yet. After we got it figured out we said our goodbyes and left. I was so nervous for her! New school, no friends, new routine..... Finally 3:30 rolled around and I went to get her. She was beaming from ear to ear! I was so relieved. She loved her teacher and made two new friends and actually got to do school work. I hope that the rest of the year goes as well!

And today was Harris' first day of school. I was dreading today! Most of last year was spent with him whimpering in class until we came and got him. Today was 180 degrees different from that. He was actually excited! He said "Mommy, you don't have to walk me to class. Just open the big door for me." What?! When we got there, however, he had changed his mind. When we got to his classroom he took his name tag off the door and hung up his bag on its hook and sat in his seat and waved goodbye. Yep, waved! I didn't get a hug or a kiss or anything! I suppose that it was a good thing that he was excited and not sad, even though my heart was breaking a little. When I got to the car I had to suppress my tears. Not that he was in school but that my baby is so grown up! I am so glad that he had such an awesome teacher last year that he was excited for this year. Lets hope it continues!

Road Trip

On July 29th we packed up Chet's car and headed out for Cali, road trip style. Since I hate to drive we made sure to make lots of stops along the way. Our first stop was in Beaver at the DFA store for some squeaky cheese and ice cream. (I remember stopping there with my family when I was a kid.) We continued on to Fillmore and went to the original state capitol. It was actually not as boring as I thought it would be. There were lots of really cool pictures of the locals that helped build the building and lots of antiques that family's who have lived in the area since the beginning have donated. After we had our fill of Utah history we made our way to Las Vegas where we spent the night at the Golden Nugget. Yep the Golden Nugget. We stayed there because they recently did a 30 million dollar renovation on the pool and built a shark tank with a pool around it and a slide through it. The tank went all the way down to the bottom of the pool so when you were under water you couldn't tell that there was a tank there! It freaked Harris out. He would go under and then pop back up as soon as a shark swam by and say "too close, too close!". We had a great time at the pool and got a good nights sleep before we finished our journey to San Diego. (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.)



7/31
Solana Beach was our first stop in Cali. We spent the day with my dad playing in the waves, boogie boarding and building sand castles. Harris and Liv both did great on the boogie boards! They both got slammed at least once but got right back on the board ready for more. That night however both the kids had sand scratches on their tummy's. Liv said the cutest thing to me when she got out of the shower, she said "Mom, I have sand scratches on my nibbles.". Suppressing a laugh, I just smiled and said "I'm sorry, do you want the Neosporin?" Could she be any cuter?!





8/1
We went to Sea World two years ago for the first time as a family. While we were there we bought Harris a small stuffed Shamu that he fell in love with.(He's holding it in the picture with the Shamu character and it's in his shirt at the show. He had to show Shamu to Shamu.) He has slept with that Shamu every night for the last two years! He was so excited when we got to the Shamu show that he was shaking! (Sea World is like Christmas to him.) We went to both Shamu shows that day and got there an hour early for the second show. It was worth it! We were right next to Shamu! He was hanging out right in front of us for the whole hour before the show started. Harris was in Shamu heaven! It more fun to watch Harris than the show. His eyes would just light up every time Shamu would jump out of the water. Needless to say it was hard to leave. Harris was so sad he cried. It broke my heart, but I promised him that we will go back next year.



8/2
The San Diego Zoo is awesome! When we got there is was already lunch time and they were doing some of the animal feedings. We jumped right in line to feed the giraffes. The kids thought it was great and a little gross. The giraffes would stick their long blue tongues out and take the biscuits from the kids hands leaving behind a trail of slime. When we were done with that we made our way through the zoo with our map in hand. The next stop we made was to see the new elephant exhibit. It was awesome. It did a history of ancient animals in California. Like the Woolly Mammoths, and Saber Tooth Cats. (Which the kids are sitting on a statue of.) Which lead to the big cats and the elephants, obviously. We made our way to the Pandas and then the hippos which Harris had to sit on the ground and watch swim. That was cute because last time he was terrified of the hippos and wouldn't even look at them. I really wanted to see the Okapi. They are a giraffe and zebra mix. They are beautiful! Well, the San Diego Zoo is ginormous and we got lost trying to find it! When we did finally find it it was way in the very back of the cage eating! Lame. Oh well. All in all it was a fabulous day.





These are some pictures we took of the animals that we got to see. It was the Panda's 4th birthday that day. He was so cute! The Okapi is in the next picture. Can you see him? The Capybaras are giant rodents that love the water and were swimming around the whole time we watched them. And finally, the most awesome lion I have ever seen! He was gorgeous and knew it!



Chet's grandparents and great-grandparents (Liv and Harris' great and great-great-grandparents!) live in the San Diego area so we were fortunate to spend two nights hanging out with them. The first night we went to dinner at the Fish Market, it was wonderful. The next night we got together they were kind enough to invite us over to their house for a home cooked meal. Chet's grandma Cheryl is a wonderful cook! It was such a nice break from eating out. After dinner, Harris played ball with Papa Jay, his great-grandpa, and Liv learned a little bit of guitar from her great-aunt Lauren. (Who just turned 24.) I am so glad that we had the opportunity to spend time with them and look forward to spending more time with them on our various trips to Disneyland.



8/3
We never go to Disneyland in the summer (too busy!) but since we were in California and we have annual passes we had to go see the new "Summer Nightastic" . I really wanted to see all of the things that they were doing for it but some of them overlaped, so we chose the parade and the fireworks. The parade was kind of lame. I was very disappointed. It was just some dancers and some characters dancing around in the street and then riding around in these little chariot things. The fireworks, on the other hand, were amazing! They were the coolest fireworks I have ever seen. I did wish that they would have played more songs though. We also spent some time in California Adventure where Harris got to do Grizzly River Run and Mulholland Madness for the first time. He has been wanting to do GRR forever and he finally got to do it. Yay! Chet and Liv did Screamin and sat in the front which is their fave. I was happy walking around and looking at all the renovations they are doing. It is going to be so much better when its done! I can't wait!



It was a wonderful week! I am so grateful for the many opportunities that we get to go on vacations together. I look forward to every single moment I get to spend with my family.

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.