Dee & Donna Harrison

The Call Came!!!

2010-09-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

I (April) drove home on Friday to open my mission call! I have been called to serve in the California San Jose, Spanish speaking mission! I am very excited, but also kind of nervous! I report to the MTC on January 12, 2011. It just feels completely right and I already have a testimony that it is where I am supposed to go. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to serve the Lord and teach people this Gospel. It is the TRUTH! I don't know what I did to deserve to be born into it, but I am thankful every day that I was. I only hope that I can do it justice and bring it to the people that are being prepared to hear it...and not mess up! :) I feel so incredibly blessed to have my supportive family behind me with every step I take. They let me make this decision on my own but are so excited for me and the choice I made to go. I am going to miss them SO much but I know this sacrifice will be worth it. I cannot wait to forget about myself and all my selfishness for 18 whole months! I am so excited to dive into the Gospel and learn so much more about this thing that I love and is such a big part of who I am. I am thrilled with the idea that I might be the tool used to bring it to someone else and then they can be as happy as I am! I am a bit intimidated by CALIFORNIA and SPANISH, but I know I can do it with the help I am going to have. I have already had so much help and encouragement and little tender mercies that have helped me get this far when the adversary tried to convince me that I can't do this or that I am not smart enough, spiritual enough, or strong enough to handle a mission. But I am with help! Anyway, I am rambling, but thank you for letting me get my thoughts out! Thanks so much for all your support! :)

Adios!-haha
April

What I've been up to...

2010-04-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

Well...since nobody else posts, I figured I might as well update you to what has been going on at BYU lately...

MOAB!

This past weekend, our ward had a campout in Moab. We left on Friday afternoon and got back on Saturday night. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! It was hot, and I got burnt/tanned!

This is Delicate Arch, the one on Utah's lisence plates and every post card in the state. It was so amazing and the view was fantastic! Steph and I got up on Saturday morning and ran a few miles and then we trail ran up to and back down from a few of the arches. It felt great, although we were a bit sore the next day!

There was this cool slope with really soft dirt, so we ran down it and jumped and tried several times to get a good picture...this is the best we could do. Lindsay, Steph and me.

Me, by our beautiful campsite.

Campsite!

Dairy Farm!

For my early childhood education class, we were discussing the differences between a theme, project, and unit. Then, we had to plan a unit and a project investigation. For our project, my group and I decided to do MILK: From Cow to Carton! We planned the ideas, lessons, fieldtrips, etc. Then, we had to do one of our activites. So, we woke up early and went and toured a dairy farm about a half hour away from Provo. This Diary farm supplies welfare square and the bishop's storehouses! It was SO much fun!

All the cows walked into the milking barn single file, get hooked up and milked - 3 times a day! Each cow produces about 10 gallons of milk every day. With 4,500 cows - this dairy is busy!

The calves were so cute! When we arrived, one was being born. We got to get out of the truck and watch it, but it was coming out wrong so the guy had to hook up a metal chain and a pulley system to get the calf out. He finally got it out, but it was stillborn. While the guy was helping the cow give birth and trying to get the calf out, my friend (from California) asked our (gorgeous, but married) tour guide if it hurts the cow. I couldn't believe she actually asked that, but he responded hilariously. He said, "no, she really likes it, it actually feels really good to her." She asked, "really?" We all yelled, NO! and then laughed really hard. It was so funny.

Festival of Colors

Every year, there is an Indian Hindu festival of colors, and we have always wanted to go. We were determined to make it this year. It is at this temple thing they have and we throw colored chalk on eachother. We got covered, as you can see. We decided to leave before the big throwing-of-chalk - I guess you couldn't even breathe. We had fun, although we don't really care to go back again. Oh, and Steph's hair got dyed pink from the chalk - we had to have her friend open her salon and scrub it with a bleach solution for 20 minutes!

Thanks for letting me share! Hope everyone is doing great!

Pudding/Food Fight!

2010-02-03T13:58:00.000-08:00

Some girls that we are really good friends with in the ward decided to throw a pudding fight last night. I had been working on homework really hard all day, so I got talked into joining, and I am glad I did! This is my very first food fight! Besides pudding, we used yogurt, oats and flour.

This is the before picture of the girls! Kristi, Mandy (my new roommate), Laura, Me, Lindsay, and Bonnie

This is our "fierce" photo.
All of us!

This is the girl's after shot.

All of us, after the fight was over. One of the boys snuck ketchup into the fight...and targeted me with it, I think I had at least 1/2 a bottle squeezed onto my head. I shampood a few times last night, so I think I smell okay now!

WooHoo for food fights! We are probably going to do it again sometime. :)

Hope everyone is doing well!

BYU!

2009-10-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

At the end of last year, I realized I had hardly taken any pictures, so I am trying to do better this year!

This is from our ward Halloween Party! We had a contest- everyone got a little pumpkin and all the apartments tried to steal each other's pumpkins. The FHE group with the most pumpkins got this basket for a movie and pizza party. My FHE brothers are kind of borderline cheaters, so we won! I successfully stole two -without cheating! They were so proud of me.

This is Steph, Kristi, and Me in our costumes. You probably recognize mine, I wore it last year. Maybe one year I will make a new one! Steph's is awesome though, she is the house from the movie "Up!"

The other night, a few of us went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. We did the corn maze and a bunch of other stuff, it was a lot of fun! This is Robby, Steph, Me and Jacob. Kristie was there too, but she was taking this picture.

This is from a while ago, when Melissa, Ryan and Celeste came down and we went to Lagoon. I guess we like to take pictures in these head hole things. This is Steph, me and Audrey! We had a lot of fun! Thanks Dad and Melissa for winning tickets!

Hope everyone is doing well! Happy Halloween!

Lately...

2009-09-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Since there hasn't been a new post in a while...I figured I would give you an update!

Steph and I got to fire the cannon at the game! We get shirts next time that say "I fired George Q!" (George Q is the cannon's name)

Steph and I went to True Blue Football. There are big slip and slides with blue foam shooting down them...it was fun!

We did a freshman year roommate reunion, although Megan couldn't come, it was a lot of fun!

This is the six of us from freshman year, reinacting our favorite pic from that year! It was Kristie's birthday party! We had a huge party and our whole ward showed up! (At least all the guys :)) Hope everyone is doing well! BYE!

WE'RE FINALLY UP AND RUNNING!

2009-06-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Did you all give up on us blogging? Life has been crazy. After a big ribbon cutting ceremony with the governor and an all day open house on May 29th, we opened for business on June 1, 2009. We have received several truckloads of furnishings and had some wonderful help from friends and members of the student branch in unpacking and putting everything in the right room. Things are running more smoothly each day. This is our 4/5 age room. The kids have named it the "castle room" because of the big loft. You can see that each room has a carpeted area and a "wet and messy" area with easy-to-clean floors. We also put bulletin boards in each room to display the children's creations. Most of the classrooms also have a "sand and water sensory table" to put different things in

for the children to play with. There is also a painting easel and a handwashing sink on each of the wet areas of the rooms. This shows some of the "tummy time" activities that we have in the baby room. Each infant will have its own crib and developmentally appropriate activities to do. We are trying to avoid swings, vibrating bouncers, etc. in order for the babies to have more time being held and interacted with. We have four rocking chairs and lots of fun books and sensory toys and activities. We didn't put any carpet in the infant room so it would be easier to sanitize it. We use mats under the activities to make a soft playing surface.

This shows our wonderful "blowout sink" in the infant room. It got used for the first time today when our first set of twins (10 months old) had diaper blowouts at the exact same time. Weird huh? (We are getting another set of 7 month old twins on July 1st) They both fell asleep at the same time and then woke up 15 minutes later crying. They had both had very messy bowel movements. The little girl loved her "bath" in our super sink. There is baby bath soap in the soap dispenser at this sink.

This pic shows the "mobile" side of our infant room. We keep the mobile infants separate from the nonmobile ones. Notice the low "cruising" type of shelves which encourage the babies to get up and walk around the furnishings. My granddaughter, Celeste, loves this room.

Here is a sample of the "dramatic play house" that we have in each room except the infant room. We invested in some Community Playthings furniture which is Amish made and very durable. It is quite expensive but usually worth the extra money.

This is part of our toddler "potty training" bathroom. It has three child size toilets and some very low sinks that the children can use without help.

Our "super room" is one of the favorites in the building. On all of these rainy days, it has been good to let the children come in and run around and ride our indoor ride-on toys. The school-age children love to come in and play dodge ball. The basketball hoop came in today but is not yet installed. I'm sure it will also be a hit.
This is one of our two custodial closets. This one also has our washer and dryer and two of the three water heaters. The big 100 gallon water heater is to service our kitchen. Then we have two Rennai water heaters which service the classrooms and are set at 120 degrees and will never allow the water to get hot enough to scald a child.
We also have two of these wonderful storage rooms which will allow us to rotate toys and equipment. I wish I had one of these in my home.

We have had about 30 children each day since we opened. We are signing up new kids each day. Dee will be glad when it fills up so he won't have to worry about paying all of the bills. People have been very complimentary and are "spreading the word". I fear that we are being cursed by some other childcare centers and child care homes for "stealing" their clients though. I really think there are plenty of children to go around though. We are just going to be the best that we can be and I'm sure the business will take care of itself. We have some excellent employees and are very pleased with their work and dedication. Thanks for reading and for all of your encouraging words.

Baby Elsie's Blessing and Building Progress

2009-05-03T07:47:00.001-07:00

So sorry that I am so slow about blogging. There are not enough hours in a day right now. Elsie was blessed on the last Sunday of March and we all went over to their place for dinner afterward. Kara designed and made this beautiful dress (with a little help from me because she was afraid it wasn't going to get finished on Saturday) Elsie is growing so fast and cooing and "telling stories" a lot! Kara and Drew seem to love being parents.

These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago. We will try to go over and take some more pictures today because it has changed a lot already. It is supposed to be done by the end of May. This is the "Super Room" which is a small scale gym with a protective wall covering on the lower 4 feet to protect the walls from balls and ride-on toys. It will allow the children to exercise their large muscles when the weather isn't conducive for outdoor play.

This is one corner of the commercial kitchen. I will take more pictures of the appliances which are in now.
Here is a sample of the baby diaper stackers. We will purchase changing tables to go under them. They all require a hand washing sink right next to them.

This is part of our "potty-training" toddler bathroom. A couple of the sinks are low enough that we won't need step stools. The toilets are also in now. There are three mini toilets and a couple of regular size ones.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2009-04-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday! I just want to let you know how much I love you and I hope you had a great day today! You are an amazing person and father and I miss you so much! I love you!
Love, April

A few more picutes showing building as of 3-14-09

2009-03-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

I am measuring the rooms again to make sure my figures were correct. Our capacity is determined by the actual size of the rooms. We must have 35 square feet per child.

This shows all of the steel studs with a little of the wood reinforcement before they put up any sheetrock.

Here is the best picture showing the building as of today. This picture is right inside the entry showing the corridor and the two "public bathrooms".

Much Overdue Building Update

2009-03-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry that it has been so long since we have posted any pictures of the building progress. This photo shows the metal studs that went up to divide all of the rooms. It also shows that the electricians have been in and started the electricity work by putting in conduit pipes to enclose all of the wiring.

There have been lots of subcontractors doing plumbing, electricity, mechanical (heating and air conditioning) and drywall all at the same time.

Because it is very difficult to attach anything to walls with steel studs, I had to tell them everywhere I wanted to hang things so they could reinforce it with wood before the sheetrock went in. That took a lot of time and planning and I am sure I missed a lot of things. I told them that I have been in my present building for over 13 years and I am still making changes and adding shelves, etc. to the walls. I wish the studs were wood instead of metal. Hopefully we can figure out a way to make the steel studs hold. The duct work for the mechanical is almost completed. They are now wrapping all of the ducts with another type of insulation. There is a lot more to building a steel building than I could have imagined.
The dry wall is up in all of the rooms except the bathrooms and the kitchen. They had to have the plumbing and electrical work inspected before they could continue. They have also been sanding down the seams of the concrete floor to get it ready for floor coverings after the painting and drywall. They also finally installed locks on all of the doors so the building is more secure now. That big black hose is a portable heater that they are heating the building with while they are working. The temperature was in the single digits last week.

The target opening day is May 1st. However, Dave is not promising that it will be done by then. Melissa and I are now spending countless hours going through catalogs to determine the furnishings and equipment that we want to order. That too is overwhelming.

Welcome Baby Elsie Bott

2009-02-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

It is grandma's pleasure to introduce you to the newest member of our extended family. Elsie Bott is about 23 hours old here and she is a beauty. She has petite features and is very patient and mellow so far. I guess we should have taken the hat off so you could see her dark hair. It isn't very long but is quite dark and thick. That is quite a novelty in the Harrison family because all of our children had red or blond hair. Here are the proud parents on "the day after".
They are now all dressed and ready to go home. Kara made the cute outfit Elsie is wearing home. There - now you can see her hair. Now the real adjustment begins but I am sure they will do great.

BABY ELSIE IS HERE!

2009-02-19T04:18:00.000-08:00

Kara and Drew had their sweet little baby girl last night at about 7:37 p.m. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 12 ounces and is 18 1/2 inches long. She has short dark hair and looks great. I had the invitation of my life when Drew called me at about 1:30 p.m. and asked me to come and "sit" with them to give them moral support. The babies heart rate kept dropping and they threatened taking her C-section, but after a powerful priesthood blessing and some skilled medical procedures, her heart stabilized and all went well. Kara and Drew both did great and I was so proud of both of them. Kara was one exhausted little mommy last night when I left so I hope she slept well. I will take my camera up there today and take some pictures to post if it is alright with Kara and Drew. How blessed I feel to have another grand daughter here in Riverton and also for the opportunity to witness the miracle of birth and the power of the priesthood.

Building Interior Taking Shape and Kara Update

2009-02-17T20:28:00.000-08:00

The exterior of the building is nearly complete. The masons came in last week and put the brick on the front of the building. It only took them two days. The only thing left on the outside is the gutters and downspouts and some concrete work. Here is the completed look of the brick. I think it adds a lot to the boring look of a steel building.

This picture is dark and hard to see but it shows that the mechanical crew has been in working on the duct work for the heating and air conditioning of the building. It is still a big, open, and dark building here. The plumbers and electricians have also begun their work.
In about a weeks time, they got up nearly all of the steel studs. I wish they were wood studs because you cannot attach anything to the walls with steel studs unless they reinforce them with wood. Therefore, I have had to try to decide where I will be attaching anything to the walls, such as bulletin boards, cleaning shelves, bookshelves, etc. I have about 10 or 12 catalogs of early childhood supplies memorized and I am getting tired of looking at them. The next big task will be ordering nearly $100,000 worth of furnishings and supplies. It is a bit overwhelming. Here is Melissa and Celeste checking out the progress with me. It will be their new "home away from home" as Melissa will be the director of the new childcare. We meet with the licenser tomorrow to start the licensing progress.

Some of you are checking our blog to get an update on Kara since she doesn't have a blogspot. She is now 11 days overdue and the Doctor admitted her to the hospital tonight (Tuesday) to prepare her to be induced tomorrow. Please remember her in your prayers. We all hope she has an easy delivery that it will be a wonderful experience for her and Drew.

Roof and Kara

2009-01-27T20:45:00.001-08:00

Kara's little tummy poking out drew a lot more comments than our building so she consented to let me take pictures on Sunday. She was then 12 days away from due date, which is on the 6th of February. They are getting all ready and pretty excited, yet a little nervous.

Here is a profile of her in their nursery.

Now for the boring part - the building progress. They finished the roof on the south side of the building and about 1/4th of the north. Then it got too cold again so they started putting up more insulation on the inside. It was about 21 degrees below zero this morning! Luckily, the building will be very well insulated.

Here is a shot from inside the building showing half of the roof done (and Quinton throwing a tennis ball inside) He then took it out to "be the first one to throw a ball on the roof"! What a goof ball!

Inside the building showing the next layer of insulation going up on the walls.

Kara & Drew's Nursery Set

2009-01-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

We had a baby shower for Baby Bott last Friday and I spent a couple of long nights trying to get their nursery set finished. I only had the quilt and part of the bumpers finished but got more done this weekend. It has been super fun to work on. This photo shows their gorgeous crib with the sheet, bumpers and quilt I made.

Here is a close-up picture of the quilt. The sales lady in Provo sold me some pretty puffy quilt bat so it was a pain to quilt but I was pleased with the finished product.

Saturday I made them two of these valances for the windows in the room. Kara and Drew are actually holding them up right here. They said not to get them in the picture but that little black "bubble"on the lower right corner is actually Kara's belly :). Sorry Kara, I couldn't resist. I also made a diaper stacker and may yet make an organizer. It was fun!

Roof In Progress

2009-01-19T08:43:00.000-08:00

During the past couple of weeks, they have had to work around the wind and weather. First they put up all of the siding under the eaves (I think that is called the fascia and soffit). They cannot work on the roof when there is wind because the 40 foot roof panels would be too difficult to handle and they could decapitate someone if they got loose.

Then they put up this blue metal trim on the ends of the eaves.

Now they are starting to do the roof. They are about 1/4 finished with it. There is another storm in three days so I hope they can get a lot done quickly. I will post again at the end of the week to show more detail.

WE HAVE WALLS!!!

2009-01-04T17:25:00.000-08:00

The north and south walls are completely enclosed with this beige siding.

Excuse my finger. This is the color of the east entrance side. We were trying to coordinate the color a little with our existing blue and brick building. However, they didn't have any light colored blue so we had to settle with this color. The bottom section below the windows will be a tan brick to match the school. Yes, it is snowing while I am taking this picture.
They also insulated the siding while they were putting it up so this is what the interior looks like now.

However - we still do not have a roof . . . and consequentially . . .

. . . they will once again have to begin their work on Monday by shoveling out the snow! I hope they can fit a skid steer through the front door or they may have to do it by hand this time. They enclosed the big opening in the front where they were driving in their big equipment.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2008-12-14T16:37:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas From The Elves

2008-12-14T16:33:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Steel Framing Completed - Windows In

2008-12-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

It has been a few weeks since we posted the progress of the new childcare building. The exterior supports of the building are complete, including the roof supports. Although there are no walls or roof, the windows are all in. It looks so strange. Notice the blue trim around this picture. It took them all week to do that last week. There are only a couple of guys working right now because most of MidValley's employees are trying to finish up the elementary school which is two months delayed. That means that we too will be delayed.

This shows the finished steel supports and roof supports. This is the east end of the building which will be where the main door is. However, we have put in a change order to increase the size of the front door to allow large furnishings to be brought in.

My Ride Back to Provo!

2008-12-03T19:10:00.000-08:00

Dad came and picked myself and two other girls up for Thanksgiving (Thanks, Dad!), so one of their dad's got us back...on his plane!

We got to wear the headphones to protect us from the noise and so we could talk to eachother. I could also hear the airport tower people! He has a really high-tech plane and showed us on all of the screens what he was doing and what everything meant.

The first thing I thought when I saw it was...That is a TINY plane! Four seats including the pilot, but since it flies closer to the ground, I could see a lot more.

It was so much fun, he did zero gravity a few times and had us hold our cell phones out on our palms, pretty soon they were floating at the top of the plane! IT WAS GREAT!

Once we landed in the Provo airport, Steph, Julie, and Julie's boyfriend came to pick me up and they brought signs! Such as Harrison, April, and WELCOME BACK!

Building Update - November 23

2008-11-23T14:13:00.000-08:00

(Two weeks ago.) Much more steel on the building and less on the ground! Last week they almost finished with all of the round vertical support poles, overhead beams and the roof support slats.
This past week they finished up the top and worked on the horizontal wall supports. It is fun to be able to see where the windows and doors are going to be. No more big trucks will be able to drive inside the building any more. I suppose the walls and the roof will be next. I get an excited feeling when we walk around in there anticipating what it will look like. Dee and Melissa and I went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to see a new childcare center there. The owner is a very confident lady and charges $15/hour or $90/day for infants. Melissa and I didn't think is was worth it and that it was her "I'm the best" attitude that sold her. She has no early childhood background but was a "baby nurse" and a lactation specialist. She said she was a college drop out so I don't even know if she has a true nursing degree. Anyway, we plan to make ours even better, but not as expensive. We could never get away with that in Riverton. I'm sure we will be the most expensive one in Riverton though.

Roommate Pictures!

2008-11-22T12:59:00.000-08:00

So, before two of my roommates moved out we had a fun photo session one day! Here are the results.

Julie, Carmen, Me, Brittney, April, and Stephanie!

Now there is only four of us so we have two empty beds and more room in the fridge. I miss the other two, but it is kind of nice, and there is less tension!!! Actually, now there is no tension.

Steel Uprights on Building

2008-11-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

This past week they started putting up the supports for the steel building. Here are a few pictures of their progress. The kids loved watching the process out the window.

Notice a section of our white fence missing in the back. We had a big windstorm a couple of weekends ago (while we were in Utah) and a section blew over. It had been previously broken and the neighbors claimed that the construction workers hit it with their equipment but there were no marks on it and the building superintendent insisted that they didn't hit it with anything. The neighbor kids have been pretty rough on it before and have broken several slats. Who knows how it happened but Dee and Quinton and Ryan repaired it yesterday. It was necessary because they have 3 dogs and one is a mean Rottweiler.

Quinton receiving Eagle Scout Award

2008-11-01T19:36:00.001-07:00

Quinton received his Eagle Rank in scouting and his first palm on Wednesday, October 22, 2008. He resisted having a court of honor and just wanted them to hand him the award but finally consented. This is a new friend that recently moved into our ward congratulating him.

Three boys got their Eagles that night. None of them wanted much "hoopla" so we did a joint Eagle Court of honor following a regular boy scout court of honor.

This is Brother Powell who helped Quinton with his Eagle Project. He supervised him in sheetrocking, taping and painting a storage shed that will be used for canning and emergency food distribution. The shed is behind our Stake Center. Brother Powell is a recent convert and was wonderful to work with.
Dee and I with Quinton. Oops. I didn't notice that Dee's eyes were closed when I uploaded this picture.
Quinton, Nick Galloway and Ethan Billin all taking the Eagle Oath. The other two boys finished theirs a week or so before their 18th birthdays. The one on the right is already married.

Halloween at BYU

2008-11-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

I figured I would post some pictures of last night. I threw my costume together in about an hour...I guess I was a country girl or something like that. My stake throws the best Halloween party at BYU I am pretty sure. I wish I had taken my camera, but I didn't, so I will just tell you about it. There was a fun house, a maze, tons of games to win whole candy bars, a costume contest, and dancing! It was a lot of fun!

This is me and four of my roommates. Julie, April, Me, Carmen, and Stephanie.
Julie, Me, and Steph.

Concrete floor completed

2008-10-31T19:54:00.001-07:00

These pictures are a little out of order. I am still learning how to do this blogging business. After the plumbing was finished, they put on four inches of sand, then a layer of this blue moisture barrier, and then another four inches of sand. Then they compressed it and smoothed it out.

This should be the last picture of this blog. I gave up trying to put them in order. Here the concrete floor is all complete and they are bringing on the steel supports to begin the construction of the steel building.
After the sand work was finished, they put a grid of rebar over the entire floor.

This picture was taken after the sand work was completed and before they did the grid rebar. They did have to repair a few of the plumbing pipes that they hit during the sand instillation process.

Phew! Three blogs in one night and I am still not caught up. I will do a couple of more this weekend, hopefully.

Marching Band - Football Game

2008-10-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

Melissa and Celeste came to the RHS Homecoming game with us. (Ryan was hunting with his dad) Our football team is terrible this year but the marching band was performing and Quinton is the Drum Major leading the band so we went to watch him. Lots of people go to the games just to watch the band.

That is Quinton on the platform directing the band.

Quinton and Rex Amend, the other Drum Major, leading the band onto the field.

Happy Halloween from Smart-Start Academy

2008-10-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

Halloween is a fun day for children but I am glad that it is over. After seven parties in two days, we are all exhausted. Actually, they went very smoothly though. One of our parents makes some jello worms every year that look so realistic. Most of the kids won't eat them but they are sure fun. The parents plan all of the treats and most of the activities for most of the parties so we just have to deal with keeping the kids calm.

Celeste came as a giraffe for her first Smart-Start Halloween. She had her 6 month old immunizations yesterday and she was a little fussy today, but still a sweetie. I think is was a little too over stimulating for her.

Here is one of seven of our classes. We get some pretty cute costumes.

Snowy Weekend

2008-10-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

Riverton got nearly a foot of snow on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was 13 degrees this morning. I'm sure the weather will stall construction for a day or two. However, the temp is supposed to be back up to 60 degrees by Thursday.
They finished the underground plumbing but it is difficult to see our "forest" of white pipes due to the white snow. They also backfilled and compacted the dirt around the pipes. I think the next step will be to pour the concrete floor as soon as the ground dries out enough to work it. It will probably be a muddy mess for a couple of days.

Quinton's Tennis Season

2008-10-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

These are some shots of Quinton playing tennis that Melissa took . He finished up his tennis season last week at State where he had 3 wins and 2 losses. He tied for fifth in the state at 2nd Singles. He had a winning season and seemed to improve a lot. It was fun to watch him (especially when he was playing well).

Plumbing Update on building

2008-10-05T16:11:00.001-07:00

The Plumbers were in last week digging trenches and putting in the underground plumbing systems. The contractor commented "there is an awfully lot of plumbing in that building. I believe this area will be the kitchen and one of the bathrooms. I think it will take them the rest of next week to finish it as there are still a lot of trenches without any pipe in them.
Oops. I guess I should have rotated these two pictures before I uploaded them. I am still learning all of this tech stuff. Here is one of the trenches. After they dig them, then they put a remote control compactor in them. It has been interesting to watch all of the steps.

Patsy wanted me to post some pictures of the playground. I was hoping the "traffic signs" would show up. Maybe I'll put more of the playground next week. All of the sidewalks are the trike tracks for the multi-child ride-on toys. There are enough now that all 20 children per class can be on a trike. We usually only take out one class at a time.

This is the ball court with one of the basketball standards showing. The ball wall is for the children to throw and retrieve balls at to work on eye-hand coordination. We use the tables for finger painting or special (messy) outdoor snacks.

Mom's BYU Bowen Hall Reunion

2008-10-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

The reunion exceeded all dreams and expectations. It was SO much fun. All six girls from Bowen Apr. 13 were there. This is a picture they took of us and they arranged us in the same order as the portrait 37 years ago. 44 out of 63 women came to the reunion, including our dorm parents. (Our Branch President and counselor also came).
This was the "charger". I had never had a charger plate in my life so I learned what it was. We all wanted to take the plate with us. The reunion was held in the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni House and everything was so beautiful. Dad drove me there and came for the last hour or so. It was nice to be able to relax and not have to drive.

These are the ladies who live in apt 12 and 13. I lived with some of them the next year. The girl in the green and beige, center front, lived with us the next year, Anell Pasket Gibelyou, and the girl next to her is Melanie Gard's sister, Tamela Rencher.

Here are my actual freshman roommantes. Bonnie Payne Bond who was from Wausau Wisconsin and now lives in Woods Cross, UT., Patsy Polson Baird whom I grew up with and have remained friends with now from Idaho Falls, Kathy Bigelo Bulkeley from Bakersfield, California, myself (still the shortest), Lynn Abegg Herron from Sugar City, ID, now living in SLC, and Gwen Dearden from Fillmore UT. It was so much fun to share our lives and renew our friendships.

Quinton's Birthday and Building Update

2008-09-29T16:48:00.001-07:00

I don't know if Quinton was trying to act "cool" or like a nerd in his new goggles that Ryan and Melissa gave him for his birthday. He plans to start training to compete in a triathalon next summer. Ryan is going to be their "swimming coach" and Drew plans to compete with him.
We had Drew and Kara and Ryan, Melissa and Celeste over for his birthday dinner. He chose to have chicken and homemade noodles for his birthday dinner because he likes it. These are the forms that they built in the middle of the building sight. There are five of them and they will be the base for the big steel supports that will go down the center of the building.

The cement truck was there at 7:00 am when I drove into work this morning. They filled the forms with concrete and took off the forms this afternoon. The backfill is all completed around the foundation. Now I think they will start on the underground mechanical and plumbing procedures. There are no more piles of dirt around so they are about ready to let CWC have their pasture back so they can bring in their animals.

Here is a close up picture of the cement truck for Tayson. Big boy "Tonka Toys".

Insulating Foundation - Backfill

2008-09-21T17:34:00.001-07:00

Last week they put insulation on the inside of the foundation. It is supposed to prevent the cold from entering the building through the foundation. They also brought in the dirt work sub-contractor who started backfilling the ditches on both sides of the foundation. They bring in a bunch of dirt, spray it with water and then compact it with another heavy machine. The kids liked it because it vibrated the building and "tickled their bumbs" while they were sitting on the rug. It looks like the trenches are about half full. They should finish it up on Monday and then be ready for the plumber and mechanical to come and do the underground work before they pour the concrete floor. Dee asked what the difference was between the blue and yellow insulation and they said there is no difference, only the color.

September 15 building update

2008-09-15T05:13:00.000-07:00

They poured the next part of the foundation on Wednesday afternoon. The kids loved watching the cement trucks and the big pumper again. Then on Thursday they removed the forms which are sitting next to the concrete foundation. These bolts are sticking up out of several places of the foundation. We are guessing that they will be used to secure the steel posts of the building.
The building was delivered on Monday on three semi trucks. CWC is being very accomodating to let us use their pasture as a storage area and worksight. The little trailer is where the superintendent has his office and where we have our Wednesday weekly meetings regarding the construction.

Building update

2008-09-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

Two trucks arrived at the preschool this morning. They have brought the steel building. It's a few weeks early, but they had to get it while the could. They have unloaded it in the CWC Foundation field. More on CWC in a later blog.

September 7th Update

2008-09-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

The construction workers work four, ten hour days per week and since Monday was a holiday, they only worked three days last week. They about finished framing this part of the foundation and are supposed to have another concrete pour this week. I think the steel building is also supposed to be delivered this week, even though they are not quite ready for it. These are the two sets of "cubbies" that Ryan built for the preschool. They are really nice and provide a good place to store the helmets that the children must wear on the playground trike track. We have more boys than girls so they get the larger set. We still have several more children that haven't brought in their helmets yet so I hope they will all fit. We had to add an extra 3 year old class this year. The preschool is getting very large and a bit overwhelming, especially on the first two weeks while we are still trying to teach the children school manners. We have nearly 140 students this year. Is that crazy or what? I am glad that Melissa has agreed and is excited to be the Director of the new Child Care Center as I think I would be in a panic right now.

First Blog

2008-08-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

What is going on here at the Harrison household? I took April to college on Friday. Tomorrow is Labor Day. You know what that means! Labor all day! We have to get ready for preschool, which starts on Tuesday. Until I learn how to post pictures, all you will get is words. - Super Dad!

Foundation progress

2008-08-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

This photo shows the size of the new child care facility compared to the size of our present building. Notice our building, gazebo, etc. in the background.
Here is the blueprint, again showing the size differences. This blueprint is drawn to scale.

They poured the first part of the foundation last week. They hooked the cement truck up to this big "pumper" which reached across the entire width of the foundation so they never had to move the cement truck.
This shows the long arm of the pumper as they pour the north foundation. The men are Phil Christopherson, who works for Idea Inc., who will actually own the building, and Monte Ellison, the owner of MidValley Construction company who is the general contractor.

The first part of the foundation all poured, with the forms removed. They then wired some more rebar supports and brought in the supports for the next part of the foundation.
It will take them nearly two weeks to get these supports ready to pour the next phase of the foundation which is scheduled to pour on Sept. 11. Quinton wanted to "pose" for the photo, showing the size of the foundation. Note that he is standing on the foundation base.
There is still a water issue on the north west corner. They don't think it will be a problem though. Quinton threw a rock in the water to have an "action shot".

Framing the foundation and solving water issues.

2008-08-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

This foundation trench goes around the entire building sight. They finished framing the foundation and inserting rebar last week. They are supposed to pour the foundation this week. This shows the water work that they did to eliminate the water hole that we had on the north east corner of our lot. They knew they would have to design a way to fix that before we began as the hole would have interfered with the parking area. There were three water pipes emptying into this pit before they put in these manholes.
They inserted rebar in each of the sections of the foundation where the posts to support the big steel building will be. This shot shows that we still have a water problem. After rerouting a few water pipes, they were hoping that this water would all dry up. There were irrigation pipes, sump pumps and who knows what else draining in this area. This is the northwest corner of the building. They have a few options if the rerouting didn't work -of course for more $.
Notice the size of the foundation compared to our old preschool. The new building is going to make our present preschool look like the playhouse.

Quinton in Wyoming All-State Marching Band

2008-08-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

After the Handcart Trek, we took Quinton to Rock Springs, Wyoming where he marched in their parade along with the 200 member Wyoming All-State Marching Band. They will go to Hawaii in November.

Water Fun Friday!!!

2008-08-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Mom ordered this Little Tykes Crashing Waves water slide. We got it out on Friday and the kids had a blast! They played on it for about 5 1/2 hours, only taking a quick break for lunch.

It is about 17 x 16 x 10 feet! They climb up the left side, they can aim the squirt gun at the kids below, and then slide down!

There was quite the line all day long! We had to limit one child on each area at a time for safety reasons. There were always at least two teachers watching.

Although the kids had the time of their lives, the new sod took quite a beating. There was still standing water on Saturday.

"HOLY CRACKAMOLEY!" - That is what one of the little boys said as he went down the slide. Even the toddlers enjoyed going down with a little help from soaked teachers. We will set it up again next Friday! We had the most kids there on a Friday yet!

Digging the Foundation

2008-08-10T16:55:00.001-07:00

They finished digging the foundation this week for the new daycare. We thought you might enjoy some pictures of it!

Mom had me take a few pictures of the big equipment for Tayson. Big boy tonka toys!

The pipes in the background will be installed this week to replace an irrigation line.

Smart-Start Quality Childcare Groundbreaking

2008-07-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, July 23rd we had the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new day care. It was well attended by media and dignitaries as well as the daycare children who were in attendance that day. Here are a few pictures the Chamber of Commerce took for us.

A few last minute instructions for the children before the ceremony began.

This shows some of the people who attended with the balloons, gazebo, and new sod in the background. Things are starting to take shape in the playground.

The director of the Chamber of Commerce is speaking. That tan shed belongs to the construction company to house their tools. It will be removed upon completion of the center.

Here are some of the children decked out in their hard hats and shovels ready for the ground breaking. Notice the nice soft sand for the kids to dig into. The real dirt under was so hard that we didn't think the kids could dig it. The problem was, after the first shovel full, the kids wanted to keep digging and playing in the sand. We had to take the shovels to our own sandbox inside the fence for them to play with the rest of the day.

Let the dirt fly!

"You can stop any time now" The general contractor was about to hire some of these hard workers because they wouldn't stop digging.

The construction company ordered balloons and doughnuts to add to the celebration. It was a fun day for all.

Mom and Dad have a blog!

2008-07-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hello! This is April. Mom and Dad decided they needed a blog, because they enjoy reading all of yours so much. They are excited to get started and especially want to post updates on the new daycare here. You will have to be patient with them however, because they are brand new at this, as am I. I do, however, have a few more computer skills so hopefully I can get them to at least a sufficient level before I leave again! :) BYE!