Team Harris

Too long since last post...

2010-08-19T20:10:00.001-07:00

Hangin' out

Ellie teaching her dad how to fish

Cousins

Ellie looks so happy:)

Emily and her Neice Angela and two beautiful girls Ellie and Lilly

Summer is pretty much over. We were lucky enough to have a few visitors and lots of fun. Here are some pics:

Happy 4th Birthday Fisher

2010-07-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Fisher's birthday on the 4th of July this year (a day early) with friends and family. Emily did all the decorations and the cupcakes. We had a wonderful time.

Drumming Up in the World

2010-04-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

Cousin Addison let Fisher play on his real drum set. No more pots and pans!

A wonderful explanation of Autism

2010-04-07T21:50:00.000-07:00

A mother of a 4th grader with Autism wrote an amazing post about how she explained her son's autism to his classmates. There are many adults that can learn from it too.

Click Here

April is Autism Awareness Month

2010-04-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

April is Autism Awareness month and if you are reading our blog you probably know that our son has Autism. It has been a while since we have posted an update on how he is doing. He has been going to school for 9 months now. He goes 5 days a week for 6 hours a day. His entire time at school he spends with one of his three exceptional therapists--Melanie, Cassie, and Cory.

We have seen many improvements over the last nine months. He can understand and follow simple directions like sit down please, take your shoes off, or let's take a shower. He asks for things like "eat please" or "drink please". He makes a great deal of eye contact now when we are talking to him and will look at us when we call his name (most of the time). These things may sound insignificant for a 3 1/2 year old to do, but they are huge for us. Simple things like him putting 3 words together, "more drink please" bring us great joy, the same joy that parents of typical kids (thats the term we use in the Autism community) experience when their children ride a bike or do something else for the first time. It's all relative and we are beginning to understand and accept this.

We tend to sometimes get focused on "what Fisher can or can't do" as compared to typical kids. But have realized the joy that we find in "what Fisher does" with no comparisons to others. He loves to eat popcorn(and not share it), he loves to give kisses to Mom and Dad when we ask for them, he loves dinosaurs, horses, snakes, trains, hot wheels and most toy animals. He has favorite tv shows--the backyardigans, dinosaur planet, and a really cheap horse DVD. He knows where the toy aisles are in certain stores. He loves to ride in the car. He loves to cuddle with mom. He loves to play in the backyard. He has the climbing ability, balance, and fearlessness of a mountain goat. He is strong as an Ox. He can read words like elephant, camel, rhinocerous, baby, and more.

Some people with ASD like Temple Grandin describe their brains as thinking in pictures instead of words. I think this is how Fisher thinks, it's almost as if a picture show is playing in his head because of the stimuli around him and sometimes we understand what that is and sometimes we don't. Sometimes he let's us inside his head, but mostly he doesn't (not in ways we understand).

We tend to answer the question, "How's Fisher doing?" with a "good". And he is doing good. The joy we feel because of him is the same as parents of typical children feel. But we rarely bring up the challenges we are faced with everyday or the things Fisher doesn't do. He's not potty trained, not even close. He doesn't play with others, rarely even his parents. He doesn't count to ten or say his ABC's. He doesn't sleep in his room. He rarely sleeps through the night. We can't let him out of our sight for any amount of time. He hits. He bites. He pinches. His mom can't do anything alone while he is home. His dad wishes he would bother him like that. He doesn't understand directions unless we (and his therapists) have worked on them over and over, sometimes for months.

We don't tell many people about how hard it actually is, or tell them the whole story. We don't expect people to fully understand what we go through everyday. We are thankful for our friends and family.

So don't be afraid to ask either of us questions about Fisher. If you want to know more than "how he is doing", then ask us specifically. If you want to educate yourself or others about Autism I will list some links that we have found helpful.

A ten minute talk from someone with ASD

Autism Society of America

A wonderful book about a family with an Autistic son

A short video on the signs of Autism

Great weekly articles from a mother with a son with Autism

A blog by the Author of the above mentioned book

There are always more resources, some good, some bad, but these are some of the ones we find useful.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Feel free to share it. If you take one thing away from this, I would say take this...next time you are out in public and you see a parent struggling with a child you think is behaving badly or has a lack of discipline, don't be so quick to judge the child or the parents. Remember, 1 in 110 children are now born with Autism, and it affects every one of them differently.

Tonsils, Adnoids, and Ear Tubes

2010-03-09T21:46:00.000-08:00

Fisher has had about 6 ear infections in the last 6 months and a continuous one for about the last 4 weeks. So after a few trips to the pediatrician and a trip to the ENT, it was decided that he was going to get tubes put in his ears and his adnoids and tonsils removed. I guess the tubes would be an easy one but the tonsil removal causes some pain and risk of bleeding for a week. We are in for an exciting week. Luckily, I was able to take Tuesday thru Friday off of work to stay home with him and Emily.

This is a picture of Fisher when he had one of many of his ear infections over the last 6 months.

The night before his surgery he enjoyed one of his favorite snacks--popcorn.

Here we are just before he headed into surgery, we were twins.

When we got home he slept all day long. Thanks to Aunt Ginny for bringing over some movies and food for us parents.

Drumming, Drumming, Drumming

2010-01-17T15:19:00.000-08:00

Our First Visitors of 2010

2010-01-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

Emily's cousin Tina, her husband Nick, and there beautiful daughter Sofia aka "da business" came to Idaho for the first time. We had a wonderful time during their 5 days here. Below are a few photos.

The Allen's on frozen Lake Fernan.

The hill which temporarily restrained us from getting to the top. I foolishly drove us down an icy hill which we were unsuccessful at conquering for about 20 minutes. With a little push from Nick we made it out. What would a trip to Idaho be without an icy road adventure?

Fisher pushing Sofi on the truck.

Fisher and Sofie at the Children's Museum in Spokane.

Me with someone who's head has been surgically replaced with a small child.

Thanks for visiting us Allen family, you are welcome anytime.

Xmas '09 (a little late)

2010-01-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from this Christmas.

Presents waiting for Fisher under the tree.

Christmas night doing puzzles with Uncle Gary.

Not a Xmas gift, but Gramma Doris gave Fisher the train that Alex played with when he was little. He loves it.

Fisher opening one of many while sitting in his Jeep.

Coming down the stairs to see what Santa brought.

Fisher's present from Aunt Ginny

2009-12-26T21:50:00.000-08:00

Fisher Reading his word book

2009-12-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

Holiday Card Pictures

2009-12-15T10:14:00.001-08:00

So we took some pictures for our holiday card which will be mailed out shortly. These are some that did not make the cut.

Halloween

2009-11-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

The pinata and birthday girl.

Handy Manny (Roque) and Ladybug (Christine)

Cheech (Shilo) and Chong (Nick)

Pirate Fisher and his teacher Melanie

Elk 2009

2009-10-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

My 6x6

Aunt Ginny's 5x4

Our two bulls shot 20 minutes apart

Weekend Getaway

2009-09-27T20:31:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to get to go back up to Aunt Ginny's and Uncle Gary's place again this weekend. Fisher got to ride on the 4 wheeler a bunch, which is one of his favorite things to do. Emily was lucky enough to be able to shoot quite a few grouse on Saturday night with her wonderful guide Grouse Gary. Only 2 weeeks til Elk season opens up, so Alex is getting extremely anxious for it to get here.

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

So we spent our Labor Day Weekend up at Aunt Ginny and Uncle Gary's house on the St. Joe river. Perhaps my favorite place on earth, especially with Elk hunting just around the corner. Nick and Shilo came up with us and the older two of the Johnson clan showed up on Sunday.

We hunted for grouse, shot a few...Emily shot her first bird ever and is pretty excited about it. We will post her first dead animal/holding a gun picture as soon as Aunt Ginny gets back from camping. I am excited that Emily seemed to enjoy grouse hunting and I look forward to her killing other things too:). Fisher enjoyed rides on the 4 wheeler and was there to witness his mom's first hunting success.

On our drive home we went through a freak hail storm. It was the hardest hail storm I had ever seen. We pulled over until it ended, it only lasted about 4 minutes. But check out the video, it looked like a snow storm came through.

August

2009-08-27T11:34:00.001-07:00

August has been a busy month for us. Emily started at a new salon in Hayden and Fisher is continuing to do well in school. The top picture is of us with Jon Totten at my work Luau. The bottom picture is of when my old college roommate Scott Jurgens honored us with his presence all the way from Princeton. The rental car company screwed up and gave him a hummer for the week.

Fisher's Crappy Day

2009-08-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

So I usually just put up good stories about our family on here, but I figured I'd share this one.

On Monday, while I was a work and Emily had gone downstairs to check on the laundry, Fisher decided to take of his pants and diaper so he could go poop in the corner of the family room. When he walked downstairs Emily noticed he didn't have any pants or diaper on, so she came upstairs to find what he had done along with footprints of poop spread around the family room.

She gave him a bath and then got a bucket of water to scrub the floor, while scrubbing the floor, she stopped to grab another rag, and in those 10 seconds Fisher picked up the bucket full of water and dumped it all on the carpet!

When I got home, I borrowed a carpet cleaner from Roque and Christine and cleaned the carpets. Wait there's more...Instead of sittting at home waiting for the carpet to dry, we decided to go have dinner at Applebee's. Christine, Erin, and her two kids joined. While eating our meals I smelled something coming from Fisher's direction. He had pooped again, and this time his diaper was not on right so he stuck his hand in to fix it. He then wiped what was on his hand on his shirt and pants. So we left Applebee's and headed home.

And that is the story of Fisher's(and our) Shitty Day!

Update on Fisher

2009-07-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

So it has been awhile since we posted about Fisher's Autism. He started school on July 1st. He goes 4 days a week. The school is a Montessori based preschool for kids from about 2-6 years old. It is made up of about 70% typical kids and the rest are kids with many different kinds of disablilities. Fisher days consist of Emily dropping him off, at this point he meets up with his IBI (Intensive Behavorial Intervention) Therapist Melanie. She spends the entire day with him, and she is wonderful. He joins the class for snack, lunch, outside play, and circle time as he can behave properly. If he has trouble following the rules of the class Melanie takes him to his own therapy room where she can work with him one on one.

In the short time he has been at school he is working on staying seated while he eats and drinks, cleaning up after an activity, following directions, transitioning between activities, playing with his peers, and some sign language among many other challenges that come up from moment to moment. He also meets with a speech therapist and an occupational therapist on a weekly basis.

The other day when Emily went to pick Fisher up he was sitting at a picnic table with a bunch of other kids eating pretzels and drinking water. This may not sound like much, but it is a big deal for us. Fisher also told me "put me down" when I picked him up the other day. It showed that he is learning to use language to express his needs rather than physical actions.

We have also seen many small improvements in him following directions. We just take it one day at a time and also are very thankful for the support we are getting from our family and friends.

Swimming at the Johnson's house. (one of my favorite activities)

This was Fisher leaving for his first day of school.

4th of July and Fishers Birthday

2009-07-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a collage of last weekends events. If you click on the picture you can see a bigger version.

Quite the week

2009-07-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

So Monday (see post below) we had a mouse in the garage and minor surgery for Fisher. And Tuesday, I had a job interview at NIC for the Assistant Dean of Students position. Wednesday was Fisher's first day at School which he will go to 4 days a week now, and on the way to drop him off I got the call that I GOT THE JOB! So starting tomorrow I am the new Assistant Dean of Students at North Idaho College. The job responsibilities include Judicial Affairs (student discipline), Multicultural Affairs, and New Student Orientation among other things.

Oh, and the picture has nothing to do with anything, just didnt want to post without one.

Monday was a Funday...

2009-06-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

So the morning started out with Emily texting me saying that she just saw a mouse in the garage. Actually the text said "There is a mouse in the garage, and I F*****G saw it. I didn't realize the great fear she has of mice. Well after she had my dad come over to set a trap and get the cooler and towels she went with Fisher on a boating outing with her friend Carrie and her two sons....

She called again around noon and said that Fisher had a fish hook stuck in his ear. I met her at the urgent care and the doctor said he wouldn't mess with it because of where it was in his ear. Stuck in the cartlidge....
So we went to the ENT specialist and he said he would remove it but we would have to go to the hospital for surgery because he would have to put him under to do it. So we came home for 2 hours to wait until the surgery time. Meanwhile, Fisher could care less, he didn't even touch it and really didn't acknowledge it was there.

Here we are in pre-op, he had gotten pretty cranky and uncooperative so Emily laid down with him. He fell asleep. Lucky us.

The anesthesiologist came in and said he wouldn't need an IV if he wouldn't wake up when he put the mask on. So Emily went in with him, he didn't wake up when the gas mask went on and went out. They made Emily leave the room and she came out to the waiting room looking extremely concerned. No more than 5 minutes later the Doctor came out and handed me the fishing lure and said everything went great...

10 minutes later we went into his room and he woke up cranky shortly after. Not a bad days work. Oh, by the way, when we got home the mouse was in the trap.

More June Pictures

2009-06-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

So to start off the month we decided not to take our usual vacation to California. Instead we spent 5 relaxing days at my Aunt and Uncle's house up the St. Joe River. I got to spend some time with my new fly rod and had a great time catching westslope cutthroat trout with my Uncle. Emily, Fisher, and I took some rides on the four wheeler with Roxy running ahead. We also went on a family drive up Marble Creek, caught some fish, and shot ground squirrels. Once we got home we were able to finish up some projects in the backyard and around the house.

Aunt Ginny gave me a popsicle.

Emily faking her amazement with the beautiful outdoors.

Uncle Gary flyfishing on the Joe.

Fisher and Uncle Gary.

Emily and I before the George Lopez show.

St. Joe Trip #1

2009-06-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Camping '09

2009-05-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went camping with my dad and the Johnson's at Heyburn State Park ( about 40 minutes away from Coeur d'Alene). We biked, hiked, and fished. It was a great place to camp and we hope to go back.

Hiking at Heyburn State Park

on the hike...

posing on the hike...

Leaving on our bike ride to Harrison.

Largemouth Bass on Heyburn Lake.

Spring Time

2009-05-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Fishing on Grampa's boat

Just being a boy

I love to eat whole apples

Doin' Work

Hangin' out with our friends "Raining Jane"

2009-04-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

Easter Basket

Fisher loves the dirt, he learned how to escape the back sliding door and went out in his pajamas.

Easter Sunday at the Johnson's.

On a serious note...

2009-04-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

We would like to take this opportunity to talk about something that has affected our family very much over the past year or so.

Our son, Fisher has recently been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Yes, this means he has Autism. There are many different ways and degrees to which Autism affects children. It seems at this point that every child affected is differently and to different degrees. We have known in our hearts for a while that Fisher has it, but we haven’t been ready to share it with the world, or even fully admit it to ourselves.

We have been very fortunate to have been put in contact with wonderful people through the Idaho Infant Toddler program and now with the Idaho Dept of Health and Welfare. So far the people we have dealt with have been extremely helpful and sensitive to our needs. There are many resources out there on the internet that give useful information and I will put some links up at the bottom of this post. We have struggled over letting others know what is going on with Fisher, sometimes I think it is out of fear about how people will interact with us or him, or if people will treat us differently. But now it is a relief to let others know what we are going through. We don’t want people to be fearful of sharing the joys they experience with their children, or the new thing that their child did.

Fisher does exciting and new things every day, they may not be the same things as another child the same age does, but we still like to share experiences with other parents. We don’t want special treatment for Fisher, or for people to feel uncomfortable around him. We just ask for a little understanding when he doesn’t respond to situations as other children would. Our love for him and our experiences as parents are not lessened by his challenges, so we do not seek sympathy…just a little understanding. If you are wondering how he is doing…just ask. If you are wondering how we are doing…just ask.

We have been told by many of the professionals that we have met with that if things go well with developmental therapies and lots of hard work that Fisher may be able to function alongside other children his same age in school with little or no notice from others. That is a long ways away, with a lot of work between now and then. We are optimistic about the future. We are not defined by the challenges in our lives; we are defined by how we meet them.

Here are some facts about autism:
· 1 in every 150 children is diagnosed with autism

· Autism is 4 times more likely in boys

· Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability

· There is no cure or medical detection for autism

· Autism is a spectrum disorder. There are 5 developmental disorders that make up the Autism Spectrum -Autism, Asperger's & Rett's Syndromes Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and PDD/NOS

· Autism is more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, Down’s syndrome and AIDS combined

· Autism is the only developmental disorder in which IQ scores can be improved through intervention

· The national cost for autism is $9 billion. With the rising numbers of diagnosis, the cost in 10 years will be $200 -$400 billion

· Cost of lifelong care can be reduced by 2/3 with early diagnosis and intervention Parents are the first people to notice autistic behaviors in their children. If a parent thinks there maybe something wrong, they should seek out testing.

· Signs of autism: Lack of or delay in spoken language, repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)

· Signs of autism: Little or no eye contact, lack of interest in peer relationships

· Signs of autism: Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play, persistent fixation on parts of objects.

· The testing for autism is ONLY deficiency based, and does not account for a child’s inability to communicate verbally to measure IQ

· There is no known cause or trigger for autism

· Characteristics of autism: Insistence on sameness; resistance to change, Difficulty in expressing needs, and using gestures or pointing instead of words.

· Characteristics of autism: Repeating words or phrases in place of normal, responsive language, Laughing (and/or crying) for no apparent reason; showing distress for reasons not apparent to others.

· Characteristics of autism: Preference to being alone; aloof manner, Tantrums, Difficulty in mixing with others, Not wanting to cuddle or be cuddled, Little or no eye contact.

· Characteristics of autism: Unresponsive to normal teaching methods, Sustained odd play, Spinning objects, Obsessive attachment to objects, Apparent over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain, No real fears of danger.

· Characteristics of autism: Noticeable physical over-activity or extreme underactivity, Uneven gross/fine motor skills, Non-responsive to verbal cues; acts as if deaf, although hearing tests in normal range

· Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of most of the more prevalent childhood disorders

· Autism is diagnosed in all standings of socioeconomics, race and location; meaning no one is immune

· Autism is a condition whose treatments are specifically excluded by some insurance companies Inclusive classrooms work best for children with autism. Inclusion works when teachers believe all children can learn

· Because some people with autism cannot use words, they use behavior to communicate

· Embrace differences, embrace autism

· People with autism do not lie, do not judge, do not play mind games; Maybe we can all learn something from them

· Discipline does NOT cure autism

· When a child has autism, questions are appreciated, parenting advice is not

· Just because a person with autism cannot speak, does not mean they have nothing to say

· Normal -It’s just a dial on the washing machine!

Links:

http://www.autism.org/

http://www.autismspeaks.org/

http://www.panhandleautism.org/

We decided to post this on our blog, because it seemed overwhelming to explain the situation from the beginning to all of those people who are interested, over and over again. This now gives everyone a starting point to continue the conversation. We will continue to post updates about how are family is doing on our blog.

And More of the Trip...

2009-03-26T23:30:00.001-07:00

Greg, how we like him, with his mouth full and unable to speak!

Fisher's girlfriend Prairie Dawn.(Shelby Grossmont)

Disneyland with Mickey, Angela, and Ellie

Fisher and Papa.

The Happiest Place on Earth.

More of the Cali Trip

2009-03-26T23:22:00.001-07:00

Fisher and Papa in front of Papa's car.

Girl's night out.

Go Kristy it's your birthday...

I had a rough day.

Sisters...

Fisher and Mom's Trip to Cali

2009-03-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

They got a chance to watch President Obama take off from the Long Beach airport. That's Fisher and Noah playing with the hose.

The Laker vs. Sixers game at the Staples Center.

Fisher did really good on the plane rides.

Sorry it's been so long...

2009-03-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

My computer that I use to do all of our posting was out of commission for about a month. Finally got it back. Here are some photos that we took since the last post.

2009-01-19T18:59:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since we have blogged. We have both been working our jobs and Fisher has been playing. Here are a few pics.

Exercising.

A serious pose for dad.

Whenever he stands on the edge of the couch when people are here, they look at us like "aren't you going to stop him?". He loves to climb.

More pics

2008-12-26T11:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day 2008

2008-12-25T16:47:00.000-08:00

Fisher's Dinosaur "Kota" from his Uncle Nick.

Christmas Card (video)

2008-12-24T19:04:00.000-08:00

So my friend and boss Dean is on his usual trip to Mexico over the holidays. With all the snow here in Coeur d'Alene, he sent this funny X-mas video card.

Enough winter posts already....

2008-12-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

Neighbor Dave, we love him

When it finally stopped on Thursday night.

The roof.

I know, those of you who live here know all about our severe weather, and those of you who don't live here like Dean Grosfeld say, "You moved there, you knew what you were getting into".

But here is the outlook for this weekend:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPOKANE HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH LATE SUNDAY NIGHT.
5 TO 9 INCHES OF SNOWFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE SPOKANE AND COEUR D'ALENE AREAS. THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY FALL ALONG AND SOUTH OF I-90 WITH LESSER AMOUNTS TO THE NORTH.
A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.
THIS WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... COEUR D'ALENE... POST FALLS... HAYDEN... SPOKANE... CHENEY... DAVENPORT... ROCKFORD.

More to come....

Snowpacolypse Day 3

2008-12-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

They finally plowed the street early this morning. It is still snowing, but not as hard. We are suppose to have a break tomorrow and then another big storm beginning on Sunday. Whomever thought it was cool to have a "white christmas" obviously didnt live here.

The Snowpacolypse is here

2008-12-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

Still snowing. It has been consistent since yesterday morning. Compare the pictures from this morning to those of last night.

swing set

Picnic Table!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

2008-12-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

So as promised in the previous post we have now officially started the snow part of winter. After 4 days of single digit temperatures we now have snow. It officially started at about 5am this morning and as of 10:30pm it has not stopped. We are suppose to have 18" by the morning, which means I get to shovel before I go to work.

Winter is here

2008-12-17T13:08:00.000-08:00

Well if we were wondering if it going to be a white Christmas or not we have our answer. It has been snowing since early this morning and we are suppose to have 18 inches by tomorrow afternoon. I will post some pictures tonight.

Last word on the election

2008-11-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

Many people have chosen to voice their negative opinions about our President-elect Barack Obama. The wonderful thing about this is--America allows us to do this. But after reading many negative things about the most historical election in U.S. history, I have to put my two cents in.

Many people have stated that they don't understand what is so great about Obama, why would all these people vote for something as ambiguous as "change". Here is my attempt at answering that:

For the last 8 years many Americans have felt our goals, aspirations and political interests for our country have been ignored. We felt disinfranchised, ignored, and even insulted at times by our leadership. Our voices were not being heard. Obama gives Americans who have felt like this for so long, a President who feels the same way we do. Through his eloquent speaking and dynamic personality, he has become a leader who expresses what we have felt for almost a decade. Contrary to many naysayers, it's not how he says it-it is what he is saying. The life circumstances that he has experienced, where he has come from, where he is going--is inspiring. To us, he embodies the spirit of America.

If you are a person who has not felt this frustration over the past 8 years, I don't expect you to be able to relate to the way those of us who voted for Obama feel. I do hope that in 4 or 8 years, if you feel the same frustrations I have felt over the past 8 years. That you will do something about it. As over 64 million Americans did on Tuesday. That is the beautiful thing about our democracy.

VOTE!!!

2008-11-04T08:01:00.000-08:00

Today is the day that you have the chance to do exercise a basic right of your American citizenship. So take the time an go vote. Emily and I voted last week. It should be an exciting night.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-28T10:27:00.001-07:00

We went on our annual pumpkin picking trip, this year we went to Carver farms just across the Washington border. Fisher had a great time and so did we.

Raining Jane

2008-10-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night we went and saw our friends Mona, Chaska, Mai, and Becky play at The Knitting Factory opening for Sara Bareilles. We had a great time and were able to have some drinks with them afterwards.

Alex and Mona

Mai, Mona, Shiloh, Emily, and Chaska

Emily and Chaska

Mona, Sara Bareilles, Emily, and Chaska

Elk Update

2008-10-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

So we ended up with a very successful Elk season this year. Out of 4 of us we got 3 elk. 1 Bull and 2 cows. It was an exciting and exhausting week with my dad, aunt, and uncle. I can't wait til next year.

Elk Hunting '08

2008-10-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

I got my bull on Monday morning at about 6:50am. It is a 5x6. I am still up the Joe hunting...hopefully my dad will get his now. I have seen elk every day since Saturday, all cows until this one. I will blog more when I get home.

Terrible Two's or something close!

2008-09-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

So fall has begun here. Along with the terrible two's. Fisher is getting so big and so daring these days! He climbs on any and everything. Couches, chairs, tables and people. He amazes us everyday.

Alex and I were talking the other day about how he only says hard words like pirate ship and choo choo train and picture. I looked over at Fisher and said "son why don't you say easy words like mom or dad (he rarely says these) and he looked up and said mom, dad, roxy and ran away like it was no big deal! So he definitely has alot more to say. He also is getting soooo tall. We have started to measure him on the inside of the pantry door in our kitchen. He
is 37 inches.

Speaking of the kitchen he was being so quiet the other day when I was picking up HIS TOYS so I went looking for him and found him in the kitchen with the salt shaker in hand shaking every last grain of salt out of it. So we had a huge salt mess on the kitchen floor. And a couple days later same thing happened Alex and I were doing other things and found him in the kitchen again but this time he had the refridgerator door open and had about 1/2 dozen eggs cracked all over the kitchen floor!!! So we are making sure from now on we have no more kitchen catastrophies. I can just see him hiding in the oven or something!!!

So on another note we now have a new swing set. It is a used one but absolutely perfect size for Fisher. He loves it! i've poseted some pics of him acting crazy and also a video of him on his new toy!! Hope you enjoy. Happy Fall!!!!

This Weekend

2008-09-08T08:53:00.001-07:00

So we went to my aunt and uncle's house on Sunday for my aunt's suprise birthday party. My Uncle and Cousin took her out moose hunting in the morning while everyone showed up at their house. When they got back, she had gotten her moose! What a birthday!

Jack Johnson concert

2008-08-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Last Friday and Saturday we went to the Jack Johnson concert with the Varelas at the Gorge. The Gorge is an amazing natural ampitheatre on the Columbia river in Central Washington(about a 3 hour drive). It holds 20,000 people and it was full. We "camped" in a field next to the ampitheatre along with about 14,000 other people. We had a wonderful time.

Harris' Californian Vacation Part 3

2008-08-04T21:49:00.001-07:00

The Grossmonkeys at the fair.

My second ride at the fair.

Fisher's first horse ride, he loved it.

Harris' Californian Vacation Part 2

2008-08-04T21:30:00.001-07:00

Stacy and Jessica aka The Nanny.

Alivia, Mallery, Emily, Fisher, Aunt Cindy, and Brooke(we missed you Bailey) at the famous Joe Jost's in Long Beach.
Alysse, Aunt Gina, Alex, Fisher (he fell asleep at the table), Emily, and Alexa at Fish in a Bottle for Sushi.
At the Orange County Fair.
Kristi and Emily with lunch at the fair.

More pics from the vaca....

Harris Family Californian Vacation Part 1

2008-08-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

So my dad decided we would drive to Southern California to visit friends and family. We left at 11am on Sunday and got to Katie and Moises house Monday morning at 8:15am. It was a long drive, but my cousin Rachelle kept me company in the back seat while my dad drove and my mom slept and watched One Tree Hill on DVD.

On Thursday we left to Parker Arizona on the Colorado river, we went with Stacy and "the Nanny" (Jessica), Katie, Moises, and Noah, Bob, Nicole, Aubrey, and Brooke, Dean, Kristi, Chase and Shelby, and Meredith. We had a great house right on the water in the Moovalya Keys. My dad let me swim all day and even floated with me for hours in the tube while we fished.
I had a good time playing with all the kids including wrestling with Noah.
We went back to So Cal on Sunday and stayed with the Grossmonkeys. Here is a picture of my Mom, Katie, and Kristi during girls night out. Dad, Dean, Chase, and I watched Espn and NFL network all night.
One of the things I looked forward to was bath time with the Grossfeld's children of the corn(Chase and Shelby).
We had a great time in California and at the river....(another post to follow)

-Fisher

Fun Day on Lake Pend Oreille

2008-07-07T10:11:00.001-07:00

Rochelle in front of a waterfall

Checking out the scenery
Emily tubing
Fisher did this for hours
Grandpa's boat with Rochelle tubing

4th of July and Fisher's Birthday

2008-07-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

Fisher, Journey, & Ryland

Mmmm... Cupcake
Opening my presents with Mommy, Evelyn, and Journey
Me and Gramma

Good fish bad pic...

2008-07-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

This is the biggest Kamloops Rainbow I have caught. Lake Pend Orielle with my dad last Thursday, it was around 9 pounds, 29 inches long. The picture doesn't make it look that big though.

Summer fun.

2008-06-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary!

2008-06-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday was our 5th Anniversary. Doesn't seem like that long at all. We went to Spokane for the night while the inlaws watched Fisher. We had a great time. A picture of us
at the Safari Room at the Davenport.

Just hangin' out

2008-06-09T21:15:00.001-07:00

One of my new horses.

I skipped my nap and fell asleep in the chair like my papa.

Pike on Lake Coeurdalene

2008-06-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

15lbs 37 1/2 inches

Change...

2008-06-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

In this day and age where there are many negative commentaries on the state of America, we have had a historic night. American people of all generations have come together to nominate Barack Obama to the most honored and influential position in the world. This is a commentary on how America has changed it's views on race and diversity and a commentary of how America feels about its current political leaders. It's an important day. 16 months ago, many people said this would not be possible. 6 months from now we will do the impossible again. And generations from now, some of us will be proud we were involved, and all of us will be honored to witness this great change in America.

Fisher

2008-06-02T10:23:00.001-07:00

The flooding is subsiding.

2008-06-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

The NIC Beach

NIC Beach
The boat launch at Booth
With our biggest winter in a long time and the unusually cold weather lasting through April, all the snow decided to melt with three days of 80 degree plus weather.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

So I painted a picture for my mom for Mother's Day. My dad framed it for her. Here it is.-Fisher

K and K Derby Lake Pend Orielle

2008-04-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

So I fished 2 days so far in the K and K fishing derby on Lake Pend Orielle. We got skunked the first day. On Tuesday we caught six rainbows, the biggest was about 6 pounds. And we caught 3 Mackinaws, this was the biggest at 10.5 pounds.

Spring Salmon Derby

2008-04-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

Link to Press Artcle

On Saturday and Sunday, my neighbor Paul and I fished in the Red Covey Memorial Spring Salmon Derby on Lake Coeur d'Alene. Paul bought a nice new boat about 2 months ago so it was her maident tournament voyage. 1 hour into fishing on Saturday morning we hooked into a good one. Paul and I agreed I would fight the first fish and that I did.

At first the fish just turned sideways and didn't want to move. I was thinking we had a small one with some weeds on it or it was hooked up in our other lines. It took about 5 minutes to get it within 40 feet of the boat, once it was there it came to the surface and we knew it was a good one. It came to the boat 4 times and screamed away 4 times. After 20 minutes she finally came to the boat for good. Paul did an excellent net job and we both noticed our knees shaking when she was finally in. There is a lot more pressure when a Derby is on the line. It was definitely the biggest Cda Salmon either of us had caught.

We couldn't weigh it in 'til the scales opened in an hour and a half. It weighed 9lbs 13oz. Which showed us our estimations of 10 pounders we caught in the weeks prior had been off by about 3 pounds, oh well.

Here are the pics. The one with Paul in it makes it look bigger. We won $350, a nice rod and reel, and a tackle bag.

Fisher and his horse dibbles (he learned to make horse noises)

2008-03-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

Growing up

2008-03-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

So you're saying I've got a chance....

2008-03-24T17:22:00.001-07:00

So this has to play out exactly for me to get 2nd place in the pool.

A post from Fisher...

2008-03-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

So I was playing on the couch with my horse Seth Cohen and I may have accidentally got too excited and swung the horse and hit my mom in the head. It swelled up like a golf ball within seconds and my dad took a picture of it. Sorry mom.

Latest Pics of Fisher

2008-03-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

A pirate says arrrrr!

Me and my friend Liam

Happy Easter

My Easter basket.

Fishing Report-Lake Cda Chinook Salmon

2008-03-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

The 80's were back (for one night)

2008-03-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

Another wonderful Email forward...

2008-03-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

So I got another email forwarded to me that was supposedly something written by Jay Leno about the state of America. Here is the link to the supposed email. One, Jay Leno didnt write it, and two...here is my response to it:

Maybe so many Americans are dissatisfied with our country because we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Just because there is hunger and genocide in Darfur, or wars in the Middle East, or religious persecution in China, or communism in North Korea, doesn't mean we should be happy with what we have as Americans. We are dissatisfied with the potential as a country we aren't fulfilling. We should be the world's leader in hope and help, not military occupations and wars, we should be the world's leader in making our environment better, not the leader in making the most greenhouse gases.

So maybe the fact that we are dissatisfied with the current leadership and the state of America, is the same thing that makes America great. Yes we have religious and political freedoms, relative security, the choice to join the military, and the best of all--the freedom to question our government, all these things make America great.

The simple fact that other country's and people have it worse off than us--doesn't make us great. We expect and demand more from America and our leadership, don't settle for what we have now, and strive everyday to make our country better....that's what makes our country great.

The day we stop, as a people, questioning our government's leadership--is the day we no longer are "the greatest country in the world".

Primary

2008-03-04T21:59:00.000-08:00

Looks like Hillary won in Ohio and maybe by a slight margin in Texas. It doesn't look like enough though.

Click here to see how the delegates will play out. A cool interractive page.

All-Telling Tuesday Tomorrow

2008-03-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

So tomorrow's primaries will hopefully bring an end to the question of who will be the Democratic nominee for President. Check below for real time updates of delegate counts.

Obama tops national polls...

2008-02-27T20:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/26/schneider.poll/index.html

For those of you that know our friend Nick...

2008-02-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

He was on a plane to Honolulu the other day. Click Here.

Proposed Deer and Elk Hunting Season Changes

2008-02-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

Cow season to be reduced and other things...

Teamsters Endorse Obama

2008-02-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

Probably the most important union in the U.S. endorses Obama. ARTICLE

Lunar Eclipse

2008-02-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

Hawaii and Wisconsin

2008-02-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

Keep it rollin'!

Looks like Hillary will take her last stand at the Alamo, and we all know what happened there.

Sunset

2008-02-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

I took this pic with my phone when I was leaving work the other day.

Pics

2008-02-17T09:58:00.001-08:00

Emily's sister Gina and her boyfriend Johnny came to visit.

Fisher's cousin Alyse

The Girls

Another Girl

Gina and Johnny

2008-02-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

Delegates? Superdelegates? What does it all mean?

2008-02-11T13:24:00.000-08:00

Pledged delegates:
Democratic candidates campaign for the nomination of their party in a series of primary elections and caucus events. The results from these primaries and caucuses determine the number of pledged delegates committed to vote for each candidate at the Democratic National Convention. Pledged delegates are allocated to each of the 50 US states and some territories. Under the party's Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.[3]. Pledged delegates reflect the preferences of the voters, but are not actually legally bound to vote for the candidate they are pledged for. However, since candidates may remove delegates who they feel may be disloyal, pledged delegates generally vote for the candidate they represent.[4] In 2008, a total of 3,253 pledged delegates will be awarded through the primary process.

Superdelegates:
In addition, there are a total of 796 unpledged delegates (known as superdelegates) who are free to vote for any Democratic presidential candidate at the convention. Superdelegate votes are given equal weight to the votes of pledged delegates. In 2008, the superdelegates include 221 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 48 senators, 31 state and territorial governors, 397 members of the Democratic National Committee, 23 distinguished party leaders, and 76 others. They represent approximately 20 percent of the total 4,049 delegates.[5][6]
While officially uncommitted until the convention, the superdelegates may publicly endorse a candidate at any point in the process. The presidential candidates compete heavily for these endorsements. News organizations survey the superdelegates periodically throughout the election season and try to calculate how many of them have committed to each of the candidates. The media often includes these superdelegate estimates in their reporting on the race, leading to differing delegate counts from various news sources. This article reports superdelegate estimates from the 2008 Democratic Convention Watch blog.[2]

From Wikipedia

The Boy

2008-02-10T12:19:00.000-08:00

Before my haircut

Mom giving me a haircut

Old school blogging

Daily business

Obama Sweeps

2008-02-09T23:35:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama swept all 4 of today's Democratic Caucus' and primaries. Taking Washington, Nebraska, Louisianna, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Depending on which source you believe, he has taken the delegate lead.

New York Times...about Kootenai County

2008-02-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/obama-the-shock-of-the-red/index.html

Yep More

2008-02-07T11:44:00.001-08:00

Friday, February 8, 2008
Event with Michelle Obama
Fox Theater
1001 W. Sprague Ave.
Spokane, WA 99201
4:00 PM Doors Open at 3:00 PM

More Politics

2008-02-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

So I have had a discussion about the "electability" of Obama and Clinton versus McCain today a couple of times.

Here is an article about it.

Looks like the race on the Democratic side may not be decided until the Convention. Hopefully its decided by March 5th.

Below is a list of upcoming Democratic primaries:

February 9, 2008
Louisiana
primary OBAMA WIN

February 9, 2008
Nebraska[32]
caucus OBAMA WIN

February 9, 2008
Washington
caucus [33] OBAMA WIN

February 9, 2008
U.S. Virgin Islands
primary OBAMA WIN

February 10, 2008
Maine
caucus [34] OBAMA WIN

February 12, 2008
District of Columbia
primary [35] OBAMA WIN

February 12, 2008
Maryland
primary OBAMA WIN

February 12, 2008
Virginia
primary OBAMA WIN

February 19, 2008
Hawaii
caucus OBAMA WIN

February 19, 2008
Wisconsin
primary OBAMA WIN

March 4, 2008
Ohio
primary

March 4, 2008
Rhode Island
primary

March 4, 2008
Texas [36]

March 4, 2008
Vermont
primary

March 8, 2008
Wyoming
caucus

March 11, 2008
Mississippi
primary

Idaho Democratic Caucus-Obama takes Kootenai County and Idaho!!!

2008-02-05T20:57:00.000-08:00

Looks like the poll I posted earlier was pretty accurate.

At NIC the results were:

953 for Obama

218 Hillary

Looks like Obama will have his largest margin of victory in Idaho!

Democratic Caucus Update 2

2008-02-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

So I honestly didn't think this many democrats lived in Kootenai County. It's amazing, and from the looks of it Barack Obama has inspired many who have stood silent in the past, to become involved.

Whether Obama wins the nomination or not, I think over the next 8 years we will be at the mercy of the younger generation. It scares many older people, it excites me. Now I don't have any previous caucus experience to compare this to, but the excitement is contagious and I commend the Idaho Democratic party for moving our primary to a date that matters and changing the format to a caucus.

23 minutes until we officially begin Caucusing.

Live from the Idaho Democratic Caucus

2008-02-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

So it's 6:04pm in Idaho and we are sitting in the gym at North Idaho College. It is an absolute blizzard outside and there is a long line to get in. A quick head count looks like there are about 350 people here so far. They will stop letting people get in line at 7pm. Could be a huge turnout even with the weather.

Early Returns by watching the next 10 people who walk through the door:

Obama 7
Clinton 2
Edwards 1

If the internet keeps working I will post pictures.

Vote Tomorrow. Super Tuesday.

2008-02-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

Bonus Photo!

2008-02-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture from the summer. Just to remind us that there is not alway snow here.

Weather Update

2008-02-01T08:41:00.001-08:00

The Governor of Idaho has declared our county a disaster area. Click Here to read more.

We got about 4 more inches last night, and it is still snowing as of 9am this morning.

Snow...again.

2008-01-31T17:21:00.000-08:00

The news just reported that we got 46" of snow this January, the 4th highest January on record.

This is what happens when you don't shovel...

2008-01-31T16:56:00.000-08:00

My Dad's house.

More Snow...

2008-01-29T22:25:00.000-08:00

I know this whole snow thing gets old for the Idaho peeps, but for those warm land dwellers I thought I would take pictures in the same place I took them in the post a day and a half ago. So scroll down and check out the snow a day and a half before and check out tonight.