Saint George!!!

A few years ago when we lived in Saint George it always became unusually crowded this time of year. The reason? Spring Break of course. Since Russ is now livin' the college dream and Spring Break was upon us, we figured: Hey! Let's go to Sunny Saint George! Plus we had family to mooch off of. I mean visit :) Last time we were there I forgot to bring my camera... not this time. I just forgot to take pictures. Everywhere we went I found myself saying "where's my camera?... shoot. still in the suitcase!" I'm such an airhead. But we had so much fun! We did the picnic thing, went out to eat, talked, laughed, played... the whole shabang. It was so good to be with our family and friends again.

Ok, Russ came to my rescue with a few pics he took with his phone.

Hahahaha... ok so it's not the greatest... at all... but here is Brecken sliding down this slide at a fun little place called Jumping Jacks. She seriously went down this about a hundred times....




And here is Taylor with Grandma at the best icecream, well, frozen custard place in the world. Nielson's Frozen Custard. If you haven't been, I suggest you take a little road trip to Saint George and go. It's that good. Taylor loved it especially ;) Isn't she cute?....



Thanks everyone for making it such a fun trip! We love you guys!!!

Last Night, A Beautiful Thing

Now it occasionally happens that Russ and I will have a little middle of the night visitor. You may have guessed the culprit. For those of you in the dark: We have a scaredy cat three year old that finds her way to our bed in times of crisis. Now I don't mind our little guest... It's kind of pathetically sweet. But it's hard to hold on to those sweet, happy thoughts when you have a foot in your face or an elbow in your back. Well last night our little guest was back.

How, you may ask, could this be a beautiful thing? Herein lies the beauty: Our midnight visitor went undetected. She came. She tossed. She turned. She even slept sideways. And yet I slept on in peaceful slumber. No elbows. No feet. How could this happen? Well, as promised, my queen bed is a thing of the past. That's right, I was kinged. And I will never look back!

Russ's brother Rich and his wife Vanessa are moving to Texas. Because of this they decided to sell their bedroom set. Since the green eyed monster has been living in me since I first layed eyes on the set (ok, not really, but I did really like it) we decided to buy it. And I'm in love all over again! (trust me, the pictures don't do it justice)...





Russ's dad and Rich went to a lot of trouble getting it here. Thanks a lot you guys! It was so fun to see you!!! And definitely worth the trip! (well for me at least :) )



Love you guys!!

ps Post Edit Below

A Foot in the Mouth

Last night as Russ and I were doing the usual getting ready for bed chit-chat it came up that he thought I looked like a certain girl. Upon which I told him I didn't think she was very pretty. To that he replied:

"Well, yeah, I didn't say she was to die for or anything"

Well. Thanks. Now, I know I'm just average... don't get me wrong here. But I would have liked to think that with all that bias that is supposed to go along with the whole husband thing, it would have bumped me up to "dying for" status. Apparently that was a little ambitious.

I had a good laugh and he tried to recover. Tried. But what can you do, he just told me I looked like a girl who was by no means to die for. When not ten minutes later...

Upon climbing into our queen bed soon to be upped to king (more about that later) he says excitedly:

"Man. Just think. Pretty soon we won't have to sleep so close to each other!"

Mind you, this was not a twin bed we were on here... we weren't even touching. Apparently when your spouse isn't to die for, having to endure a night with such close proximity is an unpleasant experience.

Needless to say I had another good laugh as he once again tried to redeem himself. Remind me to add to the list of things I love about Russ: Puts Foot in Mouth. Providing he hasn't shoved it too far in there, it's kind of cute.

Love you babe ;)



**POST EDIT** This is a picture of the girl Russ said I allegedly look like. He said this morning "I actually didn't think she was pretty when I first saw her" Apparently the kind of beauty I possess has to grow on you...



(I don't mean to sound cruel, I by no means think she's ugly, afterall I do look like her... anyway)

Milestones and Thoughts

Just wanted to throw 0ut a picture of my little six month old to show off her newest trick. Can you see it? Isn't that great??...



Ok, for those of you who aren't getting it, if you're studying her hands, her face, her eyes, mouth, whatever, you are way over analyzing. You're missing the trick. She's sitting up!!!....

OOOOOooooooh! You say. That's right. Babies aren't born sitting up. You better believe they aren't!! Big Deal you may find yourself thinking. And to that I say: Yes. it is a big deal. She has put months of practice into this. Thud after thud has been endured. She has strained every muscle in her body to get it to do this. And she is now enjoying the fruits of her labors. Which has caused me to think....

There are things in our lives that may be considered milestones. Some of us have reached them and some of us haven't. But there are several. Every time we reach one we have a Father in Heaven who is very pleased with our progress. He never thinks: Big deal. Millions of people pray to me every day, so you've finally established the habit. You think that's special? Or: Do you think you've accomplished something because you've finally forgiven? I have witnesses countless forgivenesses taken place. Yours is no different. These thoughts are not the thoughts of a loving parent. And I know that He is a loving parent. He has seen every thud, watched us strain, fail, and try again. And when we accomplish what He would have us accomplish... He is pleased. Very pleased. My-baby-can-sit-up-on-her-own pleased. I would say proud... but that's probably not the right word :) But pleased, definitely.

Anyway, I know I'm rambling... I just wanted to share the thoughts I've had as I've watched my girls grow and do things. It is so fun to be a mom. Hard? Yes. Always? No. A lot of the time? Yes. But worth it? Definitely. I know it sounds cliche, but, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

oh yeah... and I've been adding to the list of cute things Brecken says... you can see the link in the side bar at the top, just in case you're bored and want to read it :)

The Past 2 Weeks...

Although the Harrington household is usually a place of "not much happening" (some have used the term boring, but I contend) the last couple of weeks have been unusually active (we're going by the Harrington standard of activity here). So I'm gonna tackle it all in one post. That's right, it's long. But here goes...

Midweek Getaway

My mom and I planned a little retreat last week. We met up in Rexburg where my sister, Destinee, is going to college and had a little girl time. It was so fun! I loved every minute of it!

We did a lot of swimming (you know, pretend it's summer even though it's below freezing outside)...

Me and my babe...

Isn't she so cute in that little floaty?...

And Brecken (I promise she isn't drowning). Those of you who know her mortal fear of getting water in her face would be quite impressed...

The hotel we stayed at had theme rooms (very fun) so we took a tour. This was the Chivalrous Knight room. Cool, but I'm not sure how I'd feel if I woke up with that guy staring at me...

I know, I'm a dork...

All of is in the Knight room (I was wondering why Brecken was so excited to see this picture after we took it, silly girl)...

Destinee swiped my camera snapped a pic of herself (I love it)...

While we were there we went to a piano concert. We asked one of the performers to come back to the hotel with us and he agreed. Ok, so it was just my cousin, Mark, and his roommate that performed for us and Destinee's roommates. But if you could hear this guy play, trust me, you would have paid to go. It was awesome! (I didn't have my camera at our little 'concert' so this is Mark back at the hotel)...

And then there was more swimming (which for the Allens really just means sitting in the hot tub :) )...

Good times...

Thanks, Mom!!

At the Fair

I was originally going to call this Fun at the Fair... but that would be misleading. The most recent daddy daughter date was the Boise Kids Fair. Brecken had been excited for weeks. Literally. This was her excited little face right before they took off...

And here is a pathetic little clip while she was there. Apparently the Kids Fair wasn't exactly what she had expected. The animals, as she called them, (think Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, only monkeys and frogs) apparently terrified her...

(hahahaha)

But she did manage to squeeze in a little fun between meltdowns. Not sure if she was just rubbing her eyes or if she's wiping tears here...

She loved the pony. I guess it wasn't all bad :)...

And Yes It Happened!!!....

I drove past the bank, and on their digital thermometer... (drum roll please)... 70 degrees!!!!! Can you believe it? So of course it had to be a park day...

Going down the slide (Ok, more like posing on the slide)...



Here's me and Breck. No coats. I almost gave up hope that life existed without them...

But then of course the next day was back to thirty degree weather (I know, I know, some have it worse) Winter Coats didn't quite make it to storage yet. You can't see it in the picture but it's hailing. You might see some on the grass...

And then the next day it snowed and now it's freezing again. Sigh... Oh well. Life is good. Can't complain. Well, shouldn't complain. I still do. But we have had a good two weeks. Heck! We've had a good life... so far :)

27 Reasons...

Russ just celebrated his Golden Birthday. For those of you who are unaware what a Golden Birthday is, let me enlighten you. When your age, and the date of your birthday are the same... it's your Golden Birthday. For example: Russ's Birthday is on the 27th, and he turned 27, thus, his Golden Birthday. Oh, it's real. Then again, maybe you all knew that. I was only recently hipped to this. ANYWAY, in light of this, I just wanted to share 27 reasons why I love Russ. For those of you who don't want to read a big, long, shmoochy list... feel free to stop reading, or just scroll down to the pics.

(not in any particular order here)

#1 His looks (hey, I said no particular order) I will be the first to admit there is a bit of shallowness to me. One of the reasons I love Russ is because he is so good lookin'!

#2 His sense of Humor. Russ has a great sense of humor (I do have to tell you though, it was not as great before he met me :) )He is so funny. This guy makes me laugh when I'm mad at him... and then I can't be mad at him (and then I'm mad at him for making me not mad at him... it's a vicious cycle)

#3 He is a people person. He loves to talk to people, and people love to talk to him. It's as simple as that.

#4 His patience. This guy will come home day after day to a messy house, no dinner, and a hag for a wife, and not complain. I try not to abuse it, but even when I do (I am ashamed to admit) he just keeps on lovin' me.

#5 His sense of style. This may be one of the few marriages where the wife has to get pointers from the hubby (and he gives 'em). And the hubby never needs pointers, he always looks good (ok... there was one shirt he had that... well... it's gone).

#6 He is the best dad. Ever. He plays more make believe than a mime in charades. He loves his girls so much. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for them.

#7 He is a hard worker. Right now he is going to school (full time I might add), working, serving in the church, spending time with me, and being a good daddy. All of which takes time and effort, and he gives it.

#8 He is always serving. If there is ever a move in the ward, or a service project going on, Russ is there. Always. Not to mention all the little things he does for people every day.

#9 He does the laundry. That's right. He does it. And I love that he does it (yes there is a tinge of guilt... a tinge) We have a deal, I change all the poopy diapers, and he does all the laundry, I definitely got the better end.

#10 He is good at ping pong (or as I am now required to say, table tennis). The fact that he is good, isn't what I love about him, it's the fact that he tells everyone he's good. It's so cute to me. It's his one little streak of pride and it cracks me up that it's about ping pong.

#11 He takes me to visit family all the time. It really is a sacrifice for him. Not that he doesn't want to go, but he would rather not spend money and time and energy on it as much as he does. Don't get me wrong, he loves visiting family, but half of the trips I admit are unnecessary, but he does it for me.

#12 His enthusiasm. He gets so excited over things. Little things. Baseball. Ice cream. Kettle corn. Roller coasters. iPhones :) a very endearing quality.

#13 He's a good kisser. Enough said.

#14 He does a lot around the house. Ha! The more I write, the more I realize how lazy I am. Russ is always pitching in. Whether it's vacuuming, unloading the dishwasher or just watching the kids so I can, he is always doing something to lighten my load.

#15 I LOVE his laugh. Those of you who have heard him laugh, and I mean really laugh, know what I mean. It makes me laugh more than whatever it was that made us laugh in the first place. I love it.

#16 He is very forgiving. Always. And I need a lot of that.

#17 He's a good sport. You know the people who can't take a joke, who pout or a throw a little tantrum when they lose? Well Russ is not that guy. He is the opposite. In fact he'll be the first to make fun of himself. Which is good because he has a lot to make fun of (hehe just kiddin' hon)

#18 He's very sympathetic. Even if he doesn't get why I'm sad (let's face it, that happens) he tries. He is my biggest supporter.

#19 He is no Mr. Fix It. Why is this in the list of things I love about him? I don't know. But I think it's cute. Especially when he tries to fix things. Actually he usually ends up fixing it... he just prefers not to try.

#20 I don't know how to put this one... He's just fun. It's just fun to hang out with him. To talk. Play a game. Watch a movie. Anything. I just love spending time with him.

#21 He is extremely thoughtful. He gets me gifts that I didn't even know I wanted... and after I get them I wonder how I could have not been hoping for it because it is exactly what I want.

#22 He always tells me I look good. Even when I know I don't. You know the days. The days where you haven't showered, you're still in sweats, you're not wearing make up or worse-it's day old smudged make-up, ratty snarled hair... Ok maybe you don't know the days, but I do. And yes, he still tells me I look good.

#23 He will watch my chick flicks with me. Not only will he watch, but he will enjoy watching Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, and all of the other chickity flicks I can get my hands on... Sorry babe, you're secret's out.

#24 He does his home teaching every month. No, I'm not just grasping at straws here trying to come up with 27... I really do love that he does his home teaching every month. It says a lot about him.

#25 He can give a mean back rub. Let me tell you, you have cause to be jealous.

#26 He's very romantic. He definitely has a sensitive side and he puts it to use in the romance department.

#27 The thing that I love most about Russ is his testimony in Jesus Christ, and his good example of living the gospel. It is not uncommon that I will enter a room only to find him reading the scriptures or kneeling in prayer. His life is fitted around the gospel, not the other way around. He is truly the best man I know. I love you hon!

Whew! That was more than I bargained for. Ok, so I promised some pics (sorry they're a little on the lame side)...

We had our bff's (hahaha) the Goodlads over for Birthday cake....


Russ lighting his candles (I love that look on his face)....


He got 'em all in one blow! (I don't think he really made a wish)...


Happy Birthday Hon! I love you!!!!!!