JJES Harmons

a real live girl

2011-02-22T14:08:00.001-08:00

the girl is growing up. she is 8 months now, although these pictures were taken probably around 6 months or so. things she loves: chewing on things, baths, avocados, sweet potatoes, buttons, glasses, and sticking out her toungue. lovely girl. we love her.

hawaii

2010-10-07T16:46:00.001-07:00

threes company

2010-07-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

SUKI

2010-07-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

first bath

2010-07-18T22:53:00.000-07:00

beautiful gals

2010-07-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Lou

2010-07-18T22:45:00.000-07:00

Eli, Louisa, & friends

2010-07-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

some specifics

2010-06-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Joanna was induced into labor (baby had stopped growing in there) on Thursday night at around 8pm. Joanna delivered naturally at 11:59pm and Louisa made it just before her midnight curfew (and a minute before her uncle's birthday).

birthday: june 17, 2010
weight: 5 lbs 9 ounces
height: 17 inches

despite her size she is very healthy. defining characteristics include dark brown hair, long fingers, and long narrow feet.

more Louisa

2010-06-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

Suki and fam

2010-06-20T13:03:00.001-07:00

Louisa and friends

2010-06-20T12:59:00.001-07:00

introduing: Louisa Natsuki Harmon

2010-06-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

Waiting in the waiting room

2010-06-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

just hours before labor would be induced.

Arches

2009-10-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Arches National Park for the weekend with la familia Jarvis. Much fun. The weather was perfect and the rocks were red.

Notice - no pictures of actual arches. I ran out of batteries for the camera after a few hours there.

Rock Canyon

2009-10-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

Went with some cousins up in Rock Canyon - a very fun spot close to our house.

BYU Football Game

2009-10-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we were able to go to the BYU vs. Utah State football game - and had some pretty great seats. It was a night game and very cold that evening. We came prepared with coats, scarves, hats, gloves, and most importantly a thermos of hot chocolate that we smuggled into the stadium.

Puff Pancake

2009-10-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

My favorite thing to eat growing up was Puff Pancake. It's that eggy kind of puffed up breakfast thing that you eat with berries and powdered sugar on top. Very tasty. Well Eli and Sonny inherited my love of said delicacy and are easily persuaded from grumpy mornings whenever we have it.

Wasatch Festival

2009-10-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

Halloween Costumes

2009-10-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

The boys decided they wanted to be Sokka and Aang from the series "Avatar: The Last Airbender." Joanna obliged and made these costumes from shirts she found at DI.

If you haven't watched the series yet (3 seasons worth) do you and yours a favor and do so soon. It's great. Great for kids, great for adults, funny, cool, exciting, great characters, etc.

2009-10-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

A short hike up in the trees at Deer Valley.

Sonny and a bear on Park City's Main Street

Taking the lift up to the mountain was probably more fun than the ride down on the famed Alpine Slides.

2 sets of brothers

2009-10-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

Miyazaki inspired lunch

2009-10-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

We saw the movie "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" and Joanna decided to replicate the meal made by Sosuke's mother in the film. Never thought that embellishing Ramen with a little ham, egg, and green onions could make such a difference.

September

2009-09-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

After attending the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple we went to the Provo temple to take pictures with the boys. These are some of the few non-silly pictures. After that we went to the park, and there happened to be a movie-in-the-park night. It was a fun night, even though the movie ended being rained out.

Leah gave the boys some bikes that her kids had grown out of. Sonny started off a bit reckless, and Eli very timid. After some practice, they kind of evened out.

Drinking orange juice one morning, Sonny saw the picture on the carton of the straw in the orange. He wanted to try it, so I found a sippy cup straw and cut a hole in the orange. I don't think he was able to get any juice out of it. But it was cute seeing him try.

2009-08-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

Back in provo

2009-06-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

Father's and Son's campout - Harbison Forest - South Carolina - 2009

2009-06-27T22:08:00.001-07:00

Lake Murray, SC - May 09

2009-06-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

Snapping Turtle

2009-06-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

We were driving down the road out in Irmo, SC, and almost ran into this snapping turtle. It was in the middle of the road, so we decided to turn around and rescue him. He was quite large, and tricky to move because his neck was very long and he kept whipping it around to try to bite us (Jordan and I both took turns moving it). Also his long toenails were scraping against our hands.

USC Graduation

2009-05-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

After skipping out on my undergrad commencement ceremonies back in '02 it was kind of nice to go through the formalities this time around. Also nice to go through it with some great friends.

The picture above was taken on our way back out to the car. Eli and Sonny are showing what we were all feeling at this point.

7 year anniversary date at Congaree Swamp Nat'l Park

2009-05-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

fun at preschool

2009-05-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

Green Lips

2009-05-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

Eli's Fun Run - H.B. Rhame Elementary

2009-05-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

Easter Egg hunt at St. Andrew's Baptist Preschool

2009-05-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

USC Horseshoe

2009-05-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

The Horseshoe at The University of South Carolina is beautiful. I was lucky that it was situated right between my internship, the computer lab (my GA), and the building where my classes were. I walked across the horseshoe almost everyday I was at campus. In the early spring and late fall we would often have picnics down here with the boys and play "red rover red rover" and "ice cream and lemon-ade" with them.

Benjamin and Boys

2009-05-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

Sonny at the Zoo

2009-05-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

Lady and Son

2009-05-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

The many faces of Elijah Josef Harmon

2009-05-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

Eli is our resident comedian. He's got the faces, dances, accents, and the stage presence now he's just got work on his smashing watermelon routine.

Disney World Trip (Feb. 09)

2009-05-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun on with our friends the Allisons at Disney World in February.

Sonny's birthday

2009-04-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

Miscelaneous photos - jan/feb - 09

2009-04-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

2009-04-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

January 2009

2009-04-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Sonny & Eli Sing

2009-01-30T08:02:00.000-08:00

Sonny has been singing lately. This is the LDS primary song, "I Am a Child of God." One Sunday the boys made crowns and decorated them. They wore them the rest of the day, and for part of it wrapped their Grandma Laura blankies around themselves for kingly robes.

The final frontier

2009-01-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

last night joanna and i watched a few programs on the national geographic channel - the first one was about discoveries made in space from the Hubble Telescope. The second was about advances in the medical field related to reviving people after they've died - using extended periods of induced hypothermia. they were both really good programs that were fun and interesting to watch. needless to say we ended up going to bed WAY too late.

anyway, the Hubble Telescope program was fascinating. it touched on new discoveries like 'dark matter' (the invisible, cloudy structures that hold together galaxies) and 'dark energy' (one scientist called it the Dr. Hyde of gravity - which is causing the universe to expand at an exelerated rate). Supposedly this dark energy is pulling the universe apart at an exponentially excelerated rate that will eventially rip apart all atomic matter (that's the hypothesis - they referred to it as "the big rip").

they're getting ready to send a new telescope out that will be positioned between the earth, moon, and sun. it will be able to point to areas of space that we have not been able to look at and they're specifically going to be searching the universe for Earth-like planets that exhibit signs of life.

here's a link to an article about the way the black and white hubble images are interpreted scientifically to create these beautiful images. An art historian did her thesis on the artisitic qualities of the images.

http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/050303/hubble.shtml

Christmas

2008-12-29T08:14:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas vacation at the McElfatrick's in Germantown, MD. The food was amazing and the company was great.

When we arrived back in Columbia we had SIX packages waiting for us! We had two Christmas mornings!

Partying with the Reids

2008-12-29T00:39:00.000-08:00

Random

2008-12-29T00:20:00.000-08:00

Here is sonny with Randy the banana man:

And some videos of Sonny brushing his teeth while Eli plays the keyboard:

Harbison National Forest

2008-12-29T00:08:00.000-08:00

Halloween

2008-12-29T00:02:00.001-08:00

Sonny

2008-12-28T23:56:00.000-08:00

bikes, playground, jumpy thing

2008-12-28T23:45:00.000-08:00

Cool Kids

2008-12-28T23:39:00.000-08:00

Our friend George gave Eli and Sonny these sunglasses. Sonny wore them constantly for about a week.

Various soccer pics

2008-12-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

Asheville with friends

2008-12-28T23:23:00.000-08:00

In September we went to Asheville and hung out with friends Vaughn and Margaret and Jessica and Jamie. Good eats.

portraits

2008-10-22T20:19:00.001-07:00

"Step in the name of love" Eli dancing - parts 1 and 2

2008-08-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

Painting

2008-07-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

Lizard Boy and Lizard Dad

2008-07-23T17:10:00.001-07:00

Sonny pictures

2008-07-23T16:49:00.000-07:00

New Ghana shirt. Joanna made this shirt for Sonny from fabric that Grandma Laura got in Ghana. He was very excited to wear it to church.

Sonny said, "mommy look I have sharp teeth" while holding this pose.

Contemplating one of the more serious books that Sonny's ever read, "Scat Cats"

crazy dances

2008-07-08T10:27:00.001-07:00

Brushers

2008-07-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

reading in a tent

2008-07-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

simon says

2008-05-29T20:01:00.001-07:00

morning humming bird and blocks and puzzle

2008-05-29T19:16:00.001-07:00

Sonny reading in bed

2008-05-29T18:33:00.001-07:00

An explanation of all the pictures of blocks

2008-05-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

Eli has rediscovered his blocks lately with great enthusiasm and many unique and different structures. The first thing he wants to do every day after preschool is to play with blocks. He's built some pretty cool structures and so I decided that I needed to start taking pictures and videos of his buildings.

Maybe I'm just a biased father who sees genius in everything he does but it seems like these buildings have a unique sense of design to them.

Anyway, there's A LOT of pictures of blocks on this blog now and this is a kind of explanation.

Enjoy-

Building with two trees and slides on a fence

2008-05-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Tower and lines

2008-05-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

"A dark place for bad guys"

2008-05-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

A Modern looking building (various angles)

2008-05-29T13:08:00.001-07:00

Pointy Structures

2008-05-29T12:59:00.001-07:00

different stuff

2008-05-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

First T-Ball Practice

2008-05-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

Games

2008-05-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

they always seem to be in the best of spirits right before bed time. we call it the "magic hour" - but it's more like 15 minutes.

spring

2008-05-04T12:24:00.001-07:00

A little late, but this was Easter weekend for us. Sonny figured out a great technique for coloring Easter eggs: hold the egg firmly, and just dip your whole fist and egg into the dyeing liquid for a second or two. Keep a hold of the egg; remove; repeat. Sonny's really turned out to be some of our prettiest eggs. The next pictures are our boys sleeping on some beanbags I made out of an unwanted Wal-Mart futon and some beautiful fabric from Ghana (thanks to Jordan's mom who is a missionary there).

Today before church. Our boys just looked so cute, we had to take some pictures.

ghostesses and dog mistakes

2008-02-27T11:12:00.001-08:00

this is one of Eli and Sonny's games they play, and they call it "Ghostesses." It's really fun to see them play well together, and when they play ghostesses, Sonny walks around following Eli, and he bumps into corners of walls and such. It's pretty funny.

We go to the zoo a lot because it is really close to our apartment. We can actually hear the moneys sometimes when we're on walks at our apartment. Eli and Sonny love the carousel, and it works effectively as bribes when needed. I know that's not the best parenting technique, but it can come in handy.

This is Eli and Sonny in the first apartment we lived in down here. We only lived there a month, and we call it "our stinky apartment." There were bad smells lingering in the cupboards--I think they were coming from the apartment next door through the thin walls or something. All these pictures are from last fall, because our newer ones were on Jordan's laptop which broke when our cute little dog (we had him for two weeks, and realized we didn't want another toddler in the house) bit the laptop cord, and fried the whole thing. The dog was okay, but the all the stuff on the laptop is irretrievable.

p.s. ESOL is English for Speakers of Other Languages.

blogstart

2008-02-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

I never feel like i have enough time for blogging, probably because i want to make it look good and sound good. but i've decided that this is the issue that paralyzes me many times in my life. i'm just going to get started. so this is our little family blog to keep in touch with friends and family. nothing fancy--just pictures and stories.

So we moved to South Carolina in August. it was an awful drive, with Sonny throwing up and miserable from day 3 on. Jordan is starting an MSW program at University of South carolina in Columbia. It is a 2-yr program, so we'll see what happens after that. Here is the state house in Columbia, proudly flying the rebel flag. beautiful building, though.

This is Eli and Sonny this summer in our living room. They are entering a fun stage of playing better together for longer intervals before one of them ends up bugging the other one. Eli started preschool in january, and sonny started going to the childcare 3 mornings a week where i am teaching ESOL.