At the Temple

John received his endowment in the Portland temple. We drove down from Vancouver to see the fam. Harrison was three weeks old.

I love this one of Gran and Neenaw holding Harrison in the temple.

Harrison Shows Up

Harrison was our first born-on-time baby. Brennan was 2 1/2 weeks late, Bella was two weeks late - exactly two weeks because we scheduled a C-section just in case I didn't go into labor, and I didn't - and with Harrison, we thought, "Forget it! We're having a kid on his due date, for once!"

Last few minutes of being two-kid parents

Let's operate!

Grannie joined us in the operating room

Fresh from the womb, covered in "cheese." Since the first two kids were born so late, this was our first experience with a "cheesy" baby. Mom's first words to him were, "Hello, Bob!" Immediately it was easy to see he was a carbon-copy of Hubby and Pa. A few years later, I brought Harrison and baby Carter to visit Hubby at his office. The receptionist had never seen us before, but she took one look at Harrison, picked up the phone and called Hubby down to the front desk. "I'm looking at your twin," she said.

Being weighed and measured

First inspection - they had me covered in blankets because that wonderful spinal anesthetic (seriously, I looked forward to it because it was so nice to be NUMB after hurting all those months) always made me so cold. The nurses would wrap me in toasty-warm blankets... ahhhh.

Grannie gets a tearful look at Harrison

Meeting Aunt Mel for the first time

First bath - not so sure about this...

Ahhhhh. He was such a good, calm, easy baby. He slept through the night his first night home. Not any other night after that, but...

The three kids

... with Mom

Hangin' out with Daddy

Being dressed for his first picture

Look how tiny he is in that car seat! Welcome to the world, Little Bear!

Pre-Birth Shenanigans

Just before Harrison was born, we went out with some friends, the Morrisons, and took our kids to Discovery Zone in Vancouver. At the time our families had five kids between them - now we have eleven. We took that "multiply and replenish the earth" thing seriously.
And what better way to celebrate being nine months pregnant... than by crawling into the ball bin and letting your friends cover you up till only your belly shows? Going...

Going... (that's Dave Morrison on the right)

Gone! Love that plaid belly!

Now for some bath time. It's weird to think that there was ever a time when I only had two kids, but here they are... Brennan was six and Bella had just had her third birthday...

STRONG MAN

What mean parents, making the poor kid freeze while we take her picture.

Looks like we're all happy again. This was our last night of "the four of us" with a few family members thrown in... yes, the plaid couch and loveseat set are Mom's old set. It went GREAT with the Pepto-pink carpet in that house. :)

Couch antics

If only we could all look like Angelina Jolie while we're pregnant. I was not blessed with that gift. But Harrison got the gift of a cute new blanket that Neenaw made for him (on the right).

No one can resist that Solitaire game.

Ernie: "When's this kid supposed to show up?"

Melanie: "I know. C-section births are so boring."

Good night, Bella girl!

Neenaw's favorite thing, doing the dishes. :)

Easter at Grannie's

We had a fun Easter time at Grannie's house in Walla Walla this year.

Tawnee giving baby Zane a bath in Grannie's sink

Dying eggs: Brennan, Tawnee, Kiley, BC

Brennan, Tawnee, Kiley, BC, Isabella

Kiley, Bella, Brennan looking goofy (it starts!!)

Kiley stuffing her cute little face with something yummy

Brennan holding Zane

Easter Egg Hunt! The weather wasn't too frigid - just cold enough for parkas and hats.

Bella

Kiley

The cousins

The parents get in on the act

Look at all those eggs... in my crystal ball, I see some deviled eggs coming to grace our table...

Blowing bubbles outside the front door

Kiley and Bella

Easter baskets! Yeah!!

Bella's haul

Aww, cute little matching dresses. Roz wore Bella's just last summer.

Let's see how Zane likes the floor.

Now for the family group shots. BC and Tawnee and the kids, looking very sweet...

Then a blimpy ugly hog-nosed woman with her unfortunate family. (I was pregnant with Harrison and about to pop, felt ugly, and thought, "I can either be ugly anyway, or be REALLY ugly on purpose" and took the second choice.)