Teachings for Our Time

2 weeks ago in church, I was called to be a teacher in the Relief Society . My assignment is to teach on the 4th Sunday of every month, which is a talk selected by the Bishop, from the previous General Conference. This week, was a talk given by President Boyd K. Packer, called Prayer and Promptings. When I was called, I knew that I would be teaching myself more than the ladies in the class, and today it held true. The main idea is that we need to do the things in our lives that will allow us to be in tune with the spirit, to allow us to communicate with our Heavenly Father. So it's just been interesting reflecting on my life, and listening to the ladies give their experiences,  it continues to show me that we will be blessed if we do the things we are asked to do. Well, just thought I would update you on my callings, (yes-to my dismay, I am also still the ward choir pianist.) Happy Sunday! :)

Family "Reunions"

So, this morning we got up early and hitched a ride to Seattle with Papa Denny to pick up Momma DeeDee. She spent the week at Ben and Megan's in Bothell to help with her new grandson! We got to visit for a little while, and hold baby. He totally seemed smaller than he did when he was born! But still a cutie, and so quiet! We are glad that he is good for his Mommy and Daddy, and that Meg is continually getting better. We love them so much!! (And we are getting spoiled with all the visits recently) Once we left, we went back to Ellensburg to meet Annette and Randy (Brandon's half sister and her husband) and their daughter Anna :D (who was put up for adoption at birth, but is now meeting all of her "other family" :) We were so excited to learn that she existed! I love having Nieces and Nephews older than me, and now I have another to add to the group! We had lots of fun and had a nice conversation. It was a looong day, driving to the west side and back-but we had lots of fun!

Uncle Brandon and Noah

Auntie Calley and Noah

I absolutely love this photo...truth is, he's crying!

Here is Anna, Chantal and Leah (Sisters!) Sorry Anna, I had to steal one-we forgot to take photos!

Noah James Harvill

Ben and Megan welcomed Noah James to the world one week early! He was born Sunday January 3rd, at 11:10 am. He weighed 7lbs, 3oz and was 19 inches long. We got to drive up with Brandon's parents Saturday morning to wait for the little guy, and got to meet him just an hour or so after he was born. He's a keeper! He has a Harvill chin, and luckily, not so much the Harvill head :) We are so happy to finally have a nephew! (and happy that Megan is done with the rough pregnancy she had) We love you guys!

Christmas 2009

Christmas this year was quite busy. On the 21st, Brandon and I drove to Bothell, to visit his brother and sister-in-law. (Ben and Megan) We hung out with Megan until Ben got home around 8, then went out for ice cream. Brandon's parents came up the next day, and we had our "Harvill Christmas" (Megan was 9 months pregnant at the time, and didn't want to travel too far from home) We had prime rib for dinner, and pumpkin pie and wassail for dessert while we opened our presents. Wednesday, Brandon and I came home, to hang out with my side of the family. My Uncle Mark flew in from Chicago, and my brother Dj and his wife Katie flew up with their baby, Anna. Levi and Claire also drove up to spend the week with us. Christmas Eve we had a little party, Nate and Mike came out, and Brandon's parents came by, we had a full house. We played games and ate some snacks, and went to bed late. Christmas morning we all got up and opened our presents. 11 adults, 3 kids, and 2 hours later we had some breakfast, opened up the rock em sock em robots, and Mom's new Wii, and played for the rest of the morning. We then had our Christmas lunch of turkey and the fixings. That afternoon Brandon and I went to hang out with his parents and some of their friends, Jenny and Rod. Jenny made some yummy food, and dessert-we opened presents and had good conversation. Once everyone had finally gone home (Monday) the house seemed extremely empty, and I finally had the chance to start catching up on much missed sleep. Needless to say, the holiday was a fun and happy one, and we are glad to have gotten the chance for so many of us to be together. 

Christmas with the Harvill's :)

some of the boys, doing what they do best

Me, Heber and Mark

Mark and Anna

ALL of our stockings

Our tree and the pile of loot

Brandon and Regan

Me and Mom :)

Brandon opening his big gift from Mom and Dad

Dad and Mark, reliving the past

Regan learning to unwrap

Anna showing him how to do it

All the boys shooting their guns

Merry Christmas!

Portland

I know, a month late-but at least I'm finally posting. So, the first week of December, Brandon and I took a little trip to Portland. It was part belated Anniversary, and part early Birthday for me. We drove down Friday morning, and stayed until Saturday Evening. While there, we went to the Lloyd Center Mall, visited Brandon's Aunt and Uncle in LaFayette, went to a lovely dinner at the Melting Pot, and visited the Portland temple. Our hotel in Lake Oswego was right down the street! So, long story short, we didn't go hungry, and we had a great time. :) I can't wait to visit again!

Leaves are falling all around...

In case you were wondering, (and even if you weren't) we have not fallen off the edge of the Earth. We have in fact, moved back to our little hometown of Othello. Boy, are we glad to be here! We originally planned to move right before Christmas, but certain things fell into place that allowed us to come home sooner than expected. I joyfully fell smack-dab into the middle of Autumn! For those of you who may not know, Fall is my favorite season-followed closely by Winter, but only because of my Birthday and Christmas. Apples, leaves, crisp air and rain! Not to mention sweaters, furry boots and scarves. I love Fall-the end. We are currently living with my parents, and will eventually make our way out on our own again. I am starting the dreadful quest for my Washington State massage license, and Brandon is working part time for his Alma Mater of jobs-KUO. In January Brandon will start classes at CBC in Tri-Cities, starting his long and dreadful quest for acceptance into the Radiology Technician program that begins this summer. Until then we will continue to eat my parents out of house and home, and enjoy the company. I will also enjoy, the lovely colors, wearing socks to bed, snuggling on the couch with the afghan-aand maybe, if I'm lucky, it will get chilly enough to turn on the fireplace. Don't worry though, we wont wear out our welcome too quickly, we have plenty of projects to help with, and have already been helping out a bit. We've raked leaves, fixed the dog run, cleaned bathrooms, made dinner and dessert, cut boards and painted a pantry. (I think I may have even loaded a dishwasher or two..!) It's my kind of life. This week we will have shelves to install, flooring to lay, more leaves to rake, and a mountain of laundry to tackle...maybe, if I really need to. I could get used to this.

Get me out of here!!!

Ever hear the saying mind over matter? Well, my mind has been in Washington for nearly two weeks.....and the matter at hand is becoming extremely annoying. I want to move already! We still have a few things that need to fall into place (literally and figuratively) but as soon as they do it will be AU REVOIR!! I am so outta here.

I Love my Mommy

I am grateful to have a Mother, not just a mom, but my best friend. I'm glad that she is willing to drop everything, and fly to the desert, to be with her little girl, in a time of great personal need. (I'm also glad that my Dad just happens to have a zillion frequent flyer miles to make this possible) Thanks Mom, I love you, can't wait to spend the weekend with you-and thanks Daddy, sorry you have to be halfway across the country and not on your way here.

Pros and Cons of leaving Phoenix (Calley's version)

Things I will definitely NOT miss about Phoenix/Arizona:

• Being 12-24 hours away from family
• Blistering heat 9 out of 12 months a year
• The Traffic (also Spring Training traffic around Tempe Diablo..)
• Cyclists hogging 48th street
• Sky-High electricity bills
• Getting in to a car that has an internal temp. of 200 degrees
• Butter Melting into a puddle after 1 day on the counter
• Mildew that grows in the shower over night
• Noisy neighbors
• Listening to the golfers at Arizona Grand at 6am
• Having dirty flip flop feet because it's too hot for shoes and socks
• Cockroaches
• Cicadas
• No room for Lucy to play outside/too hot to take Lucy on long walks
• Sirens blaring past at least once a day
• Living next to the I-10 freeway
• Assorted fruit going bad after 3 days on the counter (Bananas, Peaches, etc)

Things I will Definitely miss about Phoenix/Arizona:

• Having a bank, grocery store, gas station, costco, ikea, barnes & noble, movie theater, mall, target, petsmart and about 45 restaurants all within 15 minutes of home.
• The Mesa Temple
• Palm Trees
• Oregano's Pizza
• Watching airplanes taking off/getting ready to land at Sky Harbor
• All the good people we've met here
• Swimming Year-Round
• The cute little geckos/lizards that we have to shoo out of our house every night
• Thunder and Lighting (although there hasn't been as much this year...)
• Broadband Internet (but I'm sure I will adjust to life without it)

Happy Anniversary!

It's official! Brandon and I have a whole year under our belts! (on the 16th) It's amazing how fast it has gone by, and to look back at everything we've done over the last 12 months! I'm grateful to be married to my best friend, so that I always have someone to hang out with! We are definitely looking forward to the many years to come!