... that our missionaries came home?!?!

All of our Harrison missionaries made it home just in time for Christmas!!! Mom and Dad went down to Argentina to pick up little Trent and they all flew home the weekend before Christmas. Almost all the siblings made it into town and the lot of us converged on SLC Airport to welcome the RMs.

A sweet sister in our ward had this adorable banner made! So perfect, and big enough for all of us to hold!


While Matt and I were frantically cleaning the house and trying to move everything out (thanks Tracy, Lance, Renee, Brooke, and everyone else who helped clean!!!!!), the grandkids got together at Lisa's place and made posters to hold! This was my particular favorite:

Please note:
-Greetings.
-"Conichiwa" and the random Spanish that "came from Asher's math book."
-The plane is on the ground, because they are coming home.
-They are not in "argintina" or "tokeeo" anymore, they are in "amirica."

So great.

Their plane finally landed and we got into position:

And waited... and waited...



They look happy to be back, right? Mostly because of the babies though! Can you believe it? 5 new grandbabies they had never even met!



We love our missionaries and are so glad to have them home!!! So proud to be a Harrison!!!

... that this happened AGAIN?!?!?!?!?!?!

It was a miracle.

I knew that it was about time for the second Hobbit movie to come out. I was trying not to think about it too much because I thought that the possibility of going to two Hobbit premiers in a row was pretty slim.

Guys. Heavenly Father loves me.

I was minding my own business at work when a guy from a neighboring/partner office walked up to my desk and asked me for a favor. He had been given 6 tickets to the second Hobbit premier and HE WANTED ME TO FIND SOMEONE TO TAKE THE LAST TWO TICKETS. My eyes about popped out of my head and my jaw hit the floor. I think I scared him a little bit cause I grabbed my chest and started hyperventilating. The first words I could utter were, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????" Then I rambled on and on about the premier last year and how we dressed up and Matt won the costume contest and oh my gosh there's another contest this year and I am so excited and can I keep them for myself and are you sure I don't have to give them to someone else and I love the Hobbit and my dad read it to me as a child and THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE!!!!!!! And then I noticed that he was slowly backing away towards the door. So I started running around the office showing the tickets to everyone and hyperventilating to anyone that would listen to me. IT WAS THE BEST DAY AT WORK EVERRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

Fast forward a month and a half, and I am scrambling for costumes. Luckily my husband has shown me the magic that is Deseret Industries. I found the perfect pieces for our new costumes and recycled a few from last year. The results:

And would you believe it?

WE WON THE COSTUME CONTEST AGAIN!!!!!!!!

Okay, really that's me being modest because duh, obviously we won. Technically, Matt got 2nd place to a little boy that dressed up as an orc. But can you even really compete with an 8 year old? So basically Matt won. And we have a $25 Visa gift card to prove it! Because just like last year, Matt acted out a scene from the movie and everyone loved it. Seriously. I love this man so much.

I LOVE THE HOBBIT AND COSTUMES AND WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

... that Matt said:

In the theaters at Catching Fire:

Matt:  "What should we yell as the movie starts?"
Me:
Matt:  "Should we yell, 'May the odds be ever in your favor?'"

Me:  "Please don't."

When I asked him to help with dinner and then told him he was doing it wrong:  "Your wish is my instruction."

While eating frozen yogurt on a date night:

Matt:  "I love frozen yogurt.  It goes down clean, it acts as a laxative..."

Me:

Matt:  "Okay, with this body, anything is a laxative..."

When I asked him if he wanted a sip of my boba drink:  "Yes, I'll have a snot ball."

On eating healthy:  "Muddy buddies are the perfect food source.  Except for McGriddles."

Again on eating healthy:

Me:  "Have you eaten anything today at all?"

Matt:  "I had a donut."

Me:  "That's not food."

Matt:  "It had fruit filling, so it's good for me."

On being cool:  "I feel like since I've seen MC Hammer in concert, that makes me better than other people."

Again on being cool:  "My mullet after high school was my crowning achievement in life."

When I asked him if he could find scriptural evidence that everyone should go to BYU:  "Any scripture that says choose the right!"

When I told him that it was Michael Buble singing on the radio:  "Whenever I feel like warm caramel is being poured all over my body, I know it's Michael Buble."

Being a good role model to our 4 year old niece:

Matt:  "Do you want cereal for breakfast?"

Mira:  "Um, no cereal please, too much sugar."

Matt:  "WHERE WERE YOU BORN???"

Driving to the second Hobbit premier/costume contest:  "Right now, we are husband and wife and I love you more than anything.  But when we get up there, we are competitors!!!!!"

Flexing in the mirror after watching Man of Steel:  "What a coincidence..."

On deformities:

Matt:  "Something's happening to my goiter."

Me:  "You don't have a goiter."

Matt:  "No, that's his name. Something's happening to Goiter."

When I caught him opening a bag of candy:

Matt:  "These were opened!"

Me:

Matt:  "………… By me."

Being considerate:  "Honey, I just crop dusted the whole hallway.  Do NOT come out here.  I care about you."

When I asked him to send me a birthday picture:

Putting up Christmas decorations:

Me:  "What is that?"
Matt:  "The Mistle Toad!!!"


I love my Matty!!!

... that I have the greatest friends?

I've been thinking a lot about friends lately.

It is my belief that people come into your life when you need them.  I know that my Heavenly Father has sent me many many friends over the years, people who have helped and uplifted me when I needed it most.

But I have also noticed that sometimes those friends leave when you, shall we say, don't need them anymore?  It's happened to me more than once.  People change, life changes, and before you know it, the people you thought you couldn't live without are gone.  And it's not necessarily a bad thing; sometimes people just move on.

I consider myself a fiercely loyal friend.  Good and true friends are, for me, few and far between, and I cherish them when I find them.  It's hard sometimes for me to accept when friendships fall apart, but it always makes me that much more grateful for the friends that have stuck around.

These are two of the best friends I have ever had.

I met Jimmy and Choc while I was in college and we have been friends ever since.  We have travelled, helped each other through breakups, roadtripped, moved out of state, been to weddings, birthdays, and so many parties together.  No matter where I go, these guys are always looking out for me.

A few weeks ago, Jimmy and his wife came into town and that ALWAYS means getting together for a dinner at Red Robin with everyone.  I love that no matter how long it's been, all we need is a burger and some fries and it's just like old times again.  No catching up needed, no awkwardness.  Just the best friends a girl could ask for.  I love these guys like brothers, and they will always be two of my very best friends.

I love Jimmy and Choc!

... that it's called birthday week??

Did you think my birthday would only be one day of celebration??  YEAH RIGHT!!!

Kar and Zach came over for dinner after they got back from Thanksgiving in California and brought me birthday Oreo cheesecake!!!

G was mesmerized by the candle until we started singing Happy Birthday

She loves to dance!!!

Thanks for the birthday dessert Kar!  Love you!

... THAT IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOORAY FOR ME!!!!!

Matt made me delicious chocolate chip banana pancakes to start the day off just right

And even sent me BEAUTIFUL flowers at work!!!

(Flowers at work may possible be my new favorite thing ever.)

My coworkers spoiled me too with cupcakes and presents



I love my coworkers!

After work, I opened more presents, then did some celebrating at (you guessed it) Cheesecake Factory!  My favorite!!!

Then came Matt's real birthday present to me: an evening of shopping!  Matt hates the mall probably only slightly less than the University of Utah campus (or The Place That Shall Not Be Named).  He would do anything to avoid shopping with me.  But not on my birthday!!!  He really does love me.

I also got phone calls and texts from everyone I love, and even a special FaceTime birthday song from my favorite little booger.

I love my birthday!!!

... that the holidays are here???

Happy winter!!!

Actually, not.  I hate Utah winters.  One word: Snow.  And another word:  Cold.  It got down to 2 degrees last week.  2 DEGREES.  Disgusting.

Okay, enough being bitter.  Because the beginnings of the holidays were actually nice!  Most everyone was going out of town because everyone is going to come here for Harrison Homecoming Christmas Fest 2014, but Tracy and Marc were staying and invited us to hang out with them and their family for Thanksgiving!  Hooray for getting out of making Thanksgiving Dinner for myself for another year!!!  I actually got out of all cooking for Thanksgiving because they asked us to bring a pie, and anyone who knows us knows that Matt is the dessert master in this family.  He actually made the whole coconut cream pie all by himself (mostly while I was sleeping in on Thanksgiving morning)... then made breakfast for us and Lance... then put up the Christmas lights.

I have the greatest husband in the world.

After the lights were up, we all drove down to Utah County for dinner at Marc's parents' house.

It was a nice relaxing evening and dinner was fabulous!!!  And Marc's parents didn't even act like I was crazy when I asked them if I could have the bones from the turkey.

My mom makes this amazing Chinese-style turkey rice porridge with her leftover turkey every year after Thanksgiving, and she and I basically eat it all ourselves cause no one else likes it as much as we do.  And they were just going to throw it out!!!  So I wrapped it up, took it home, and made my momma proud.

My Asian is showing.  But I don't even care cause this was DELICIOUS.

Happy Thanksgiving!

... that I love my Baby G!!!

Right before Kar and Zach left to head to California for Thanksgiving (color me jealous), Kar brought G to visit me at work to say goodbye :(

We played at my desk,

Played with bubbles,

And ate lunch, including a delicious mini Oreo crust cheesecake that Kar brought me because she loves me.  Oh, and did I mention their color coordinated outfits?

I die.  SO ADORABLE.

I love being an auntie!

... that I love my husband?

On Saturday, I sat through three quarters of the BYU vs. Idaho State Football game.  In the snow.  Even when we were up by 45 points.

This is what love looks like.

I love my husband!

... that I finished it???

Kar asked me to make her a baby blanket forever ago.  Like when she was still pregnant.  She found some great fabric

Beautiful pink paisley minky with a brown back, and a little satin for the ruffle trim.  And I only had to vacuum the front room 52 times cause of that dumb minky.

Aaaaaanyway, I have never sewed a blanket before.   So I kind of just made this up as I went along.  I was constantly terrified that I was doing things wrong (and believe me, I was), but hey, that's what a seam ripper, AKA my best friend, is for.

I started by cutting the satin into strips for the trim.  Then I folded the strips in half and sewed the ruffles into it.

Yes.  I pinned and sewed every single ruffle in that darn trim.  ANNOYING.  Especially when I had to rip a lot of the ruffles out and redo them again to make the corners.  DOUBLE ANNOYING.  But long story short, I finished the ruffles, sewed two corners together, sewed the trim to the blanket, finished the other two corners, closed it up by hand, and voila! A blanket!

I hate to brag, but I'm gonna, cause this thing is BEAUTIFUL.  And it only took me 5 months!  Hey, I'm a working adult with a demanding calling and husband, quit nagging me, okay???  Now you know why I haven't been posting any refashion posts lately, I made a promise to myself that I would finish this blasted blanket before I sewed anything for myself.  Good thing I love this little face.

Speaking of how much I love this little girl, I didn't even get mad when she came over for dinner last week and then barfed all over herself and Kar and the family room floor.  I even gave her one of my shirts so she wouldn't be cold after we gave her a bath.

It almost fit her.

Love this little booger :)

... that Matt said:

On keeping the commandments: "Bacon is the reward of the higher law."

On fighting:  "I was constantly fighting in high school.  I earned my reputation with my fists.  And my fetal position on the floor."

On being a carnivore: "Meat brings people together!"

While looking at pigs at the fair: "Think of it as 'bacon on the hoof.'"

On finally getting his first full-time attorney job: "I've waited until my thirty first year to start doing adult things."

A chat conversation at work about leaving for vacation when we get home:
Me: "We will be fast like the wind tonight, right?"
Matt: "Yes honey, we will paint with all the colors oooooooof theeeeeeee wiiiiiiiiiiiiiind!"
Me: "That's not what I meant."
Matt: "But we will!!!!!"

Our chat conversation at work when I got tickets to the second Hobbit premier and costume contest:
Me:  HONEY!!!!!!! THE BEST THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN EVER HAS HAPPENED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matt:  What? YOU MET MARIAH CAREY IN PERSON!!!!!!???????
          A whole bag of Brite Crawlers stuck together end-to-end in one long glorious gummy gaggle!
          You are the new CEO of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory!?
          You held your breath for three minutes straight?!
Me:  Not your best guess...
Matt:  Hedgehog licking your face!?

On candy and pop culture:
Matt: "You want a Rolo?"
Me: "No thanks."
Matt: "But honey, you only roll once."
Me: "What?"
Matt: "ROLO!"
Me:
Matt: "YOLO!"

On date night: "I have a lot of ideas, and they all end with 'ittle Caesars.'"

On going to the bathroom:  "I have to pee so bad, I could pee both of our pants right now."

On being a comedian:  "You don't want to reuse a theme too much.  Except 'number two' jokes.  Those are always funny."

When he accidentally starts singing the song that I hate for the tenth time in a row: "You came in like a wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrainbow, and butterflies, ice cream, and candy......"

Twenty minutes later:  "You came in like a wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrainbow, my beautiful wife, the love of my life....."

Ten minutes later:  "You came innnnnnnnnto my life, I love you so much......"

"My lips are incredibly epic."

I love my Matty!!!!!

... that we went to Vegas?!?!

My sisters and I have been wanting to meet in Vegas for a long time.  It's the perfect halfway point between Utah and California which is nice, plus HELLO!  It's Vegas!!!  Kell and Kar found tickets to a Faith Hill and Tim McGraw concert that they wanted to go to, I agreed to watch the kids, and Matt heroically stayed by my side.  Then Jake found out about "Operation: Vegas Party" and wanted in too.  So all the United States Blicks were in Vegas together!  Magical!!!

Matt and I left work a little early on Friday and made the drive in pretty good time.  We decided to meet up with Kar and Kell for a little dinner at Holstein's in the Cosmopolitan (as soon as I said "burgers" Matt was sold).  As soon as Cutter saw us, he ran right to me and jumped into my arms!  He wrapped his legs around me, buried his face in my neck, and didn't let go for a full 5 minutes.

Made me feel like a million bucks!!!  Melted my heart right into a big puddle of I-don't-care-what-you-do-the-rest-of-the-weekend-you-are-a-perfect-angel.  I love this boy so much!!!!!

Dinner was awesome and it was the perfect spot to hang out and catch up.

Kell, I don't know what is going on in these next pictures, but I am SO glad I got it on film!!!

Fin was left out of the ice cream eating for .5 seconds hahahahahahahahahahaha

Cutter asked that I "make him a fort" in which to watch his show on mommy's phone

After dinner we made our way down to the Bellagio where we watched the fountains

And walked around for a bit

And then called it a night.  Sort of.  Obviously, we went home and stayed up waaaay too late talking to Kim and Byron.  Harrisons don't know the meaning of the word "tired" when family is around!

The next morning we all congregated at the Aria for the brunch buffet

Miss G entertained herself

After stuffing ourselves for several hours, we burned off some calories walking around the Shops at Crystals, then met the Rex's over at Circus Circus for a little arcade time

Cutter won a "fire whale"

But was a little disappointed when he didn't win the giant minion.  So Matt won him and Fin each one.

The King of Claw Machines.  It only took him 6 tries :)

We played several rounds of this game.  Zach was determined to win, but alas, it was not meant to be.

That night, Matt and I had babysitting duty while everyone else went to concerts.

 This pic pretty much sums up the night: Cutter a blur of excitement and energy and the girls just loving it.  We watched Peter Pan, Matt took Cutter swimming, Cutter put on a one man dance party and rhythm show, we tried to feed them everything we had in the hotel room, then we broke down and Matt went for a Wendy's run.

Fin asking for "Just one more" sip of soda hahahahahaha


Who can say no to that girl?  I actually said to her at one point, "Eat some french fries first and then you can have some more soda."  I am ashamed of myself.  At least she ate some oatmeal too.

After that, it was bed time.  All the kids were a little overly tired and it was a little rocky.  Cutter and Fin were both crying for mommy and daddy, but they calmed down when I laid down between them.  I held their hands while they fell asleep, and it was one of the sweetest moments of my life.

We had breakfast with the Williams the next morning, went to a sacrament meeting, then headed back early.  We were both eager to get home, it had been a long weekend with not much sleep.  But that's the way family time always is and that is how it should be :)

I love family vacations!