seeing the family

my brother, kyle, and his wife amy and their son jackson are in town now. me and the kiddos spent the day with them yesterday. i snapped a few pictures of the day.

it's always good to see your siblings when you haven't seen them for a long time. thanks for spending the day with us, kaipo. thanks for grilling the chicken for us, amy. thanks for having those amazing molasses cookies, mom. thanks for being super cute and perfect, jackson. and, of course, thanks for playing well together and with jackson willie and sierra!

4th of july

that morning, we woke up and got ready to go fishing. once we were ready, we crossed the street to go to our neighbors' annual 4th of july breakfast, which is always fun. the kids enjoyed running around with the other neighborhood kids, and b and i relaxed over pancakes, sausage, and eggs.

when we had eaten enough, we headed out towards thistle to try fishing in a place we tried in may. we didn't catch a lot of fish, but william got 2, and brian got 1. all three of which were cutthroat. the water level was really low--so we (brian and i) were feeling pretty sure we wouldn't catch anything, but then william said he saw some fish.so we stopped, and he threw in his line once and then caught a fish. he threw it in again and then caught another one. the water was so low that there weren't many pools to fish, and the fish got scared easily, but we were impressed that william pulled out two in that first spot.

after fishing, we came home, cleaned up, and got ready for a bbq. we had over b's sister and her family, my brother and his family, and my mom. we had grilled burgers, corn on the cob, pasta salad, chips, watermelon, cherries, plums, grapes--i think that's it. it was really good. brian cooked the burgers (and even singed his hair to prove it), and they were lovely. i love a good hamburger. by the time we finished eating, it was around 6:20, and we realized we needed to get our rears in gear. we skipped having dessert, and we (me, brian, william, sierra, and my mom) got to work making our homemade beach boys shirts for the concert. the pictures do a good job capturing them. we then threw on our shirts and headed over to the stadium for the concert.

this is a super cute one of willie. i like how he has no neck! 

i love this picture of sierra--she's so excited.

b standing by his pawpaws!

it was really hot on the 4th--so even though we didn't get into our seats until about 7:40, we were super hot! the show was all fine, but obviously the highlight for me and brian was the beach boys. the kids really enjoyed hearing them too (and they enjoyed the fireworks a lot too). the beach boys played more songs than we had thought they would, which was nice. below is the list of songs we hoped they'd play, the ones we hoped they wouldn't play, and the ones we figured they would play.

the songs we hoped they'd play
heroes and villians
good vibrations
in my room
be true to your school
i'm waiting for the day
don't talk (put your head on my shoulder)
hang on to your ego
don't back down
blue hawaii
wild honey

the songs we hoped they wouldn't play
california girls
kokomo

the songs we figured they'd play
i get around
salt lake city
surfin' usa
help me, rhonda
barbara ann
wouldn't it be nice
that's why god made the radio
good vibrations
kokomo
california girls

here is the actual list of songs they played. you'll see that they played both of the song we hoped they wouldn't play (although those songs were also on the list of ones we figured they'd play--so it wasn't surprising), and that we had guessed correctly most of the songs they did play. of course, we knew they wouldn't play hang on to your ego, i'm waiting for the day, and don't talk (put your head on my shoulders), but really we knew they wouldn't play those songs--they're all great songs from pet sounds, but they're not the "classics" from pet sounds.

1. let's get together and do it again
2. catch a wave
3. surfin' safari
4. surfer girl
5. don't worry baby
6. little deuce coup
7. i get around
8. be true to your school
9. that's why god made the radio
10. god only knows
11. sloop john b.
12. wouldn't it be nice
13. california girls
14. good vibrations
15. kokomo
16. help me, rhonda
17. barbara ann
18. surfin' usa
19. fun, fun, fun

that's brian on the big screen.

that's brian on the big screen too--a little closer this time.

that's the other brian singing along!

willie and b dancing.

the girls having fun.

sierra dancing to the surfin' usa (her favorite song).

the blazing pyrotechnics they had during the fireworks.

brian and i both agreed that good vibrations was the highlight. it was also interesting to realize that mike love saw himself as the "face" of the band. clearly i'm biased, but i thought it was too bad that brian wasn't more in the front. we did get to hear him sing (and he sounded good), but it's obviously not because of mike love that the beach boys are the beach boys. but at least brian wilson was there.

it was an exciting show--definitely one that we'll never forget!

wouldn't it be nice...

we decided a couple weeks ago that we should buy tickets to see the beach boys at the fourth of july concert here in town. we hemmed and hawed about it for awhile since the tickets were kind of pricey, but we figured it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. and brian wilson is performing with them, which seems almost too good to pass up.

once we got the tickets, b pulled out the old "wouldn't it be nice" autobiography that brian wilson published back in the early 90s. we were just looking at pictures in it mostly, but then i thought maybe i should read some of it before the concert. well, that turned into an intense week of me reading it every chance i got. it was such an engaging and enlightening and entertaining read. i learned so much about brian wilson and the beach boys. i gained a much deeper appreciation for him, specifically, and the beach boys more generally. it was one of the only things i could think about...so brian got to listen to me spout off a bunch of interesting things i learned.

brian decided to order pet sounds on vinyl and the beach boys new album on cd. we have been thoroughly engrossed in pet sounds ever since it arrived. we've listened to it (on average) about 2-3 times per day. it really is a great album. my favorite song (right now) is "i'm waiting for the day" and b's is "don't talk (put your head on my shoulder)". i really love "i'm waiting for the day" and the crazy interweaving of sounds...they're really quite dissonant at times, but all together it's just amazing. the timpani drums in it are really cool. i'd strongly encourage anyone to listen to this album...even if you're not a run-of-the-mill beach boys fan (which i'll admit i'm not--i don't love their surfing songs and car songs). it's a smash as brian wilson would say about great albums.

a week or so ago, brian and i stayed up and listened to pet sounds, then srgt pepper's (which was the beatles response to pet sounds), and then smile (which was brian wilson's response to srgt pepper's--unfortunately, brian wilson fell apart before he could finish smile in 1967. he wasn't able to actually release it until 2004.) it was really a trip to listen to each album back-to-back-to-back. it opened up my eyes to srgt pepper's (and made me listen to it with new ears) and to smile. it's really too bad that brian couldn't release smile when he started it back in the 60s. listening to it now, it's pretty clear that it would have been a smash (and very influential). who knows what it could have inspired the beatles to do next?

we are super excited to go see the beach boys, and especially brian wilson, on the 4th. it's so amazing that he's still alive and creating new things. with the life he's led, it's amazing he's still alive. and, btw, he just turned 70 last week as did paul mccartney.

brian still rocking.

a few final issues before i close his post. first, i'm not a fan of mike love. although i would be curious to hear things from his own mouth, brian sure paints him as a jerk in his autobiography, and i believe him. also, brian wilson was only 24 when he created pet sounds. isn't that amazing? that's so young...which would put him at about 25 when he first started creating smile. i wouldn't want to have lived brian wilson's life (it was way too rough), but wouldn't it be nice to have that much talent?

adoption

last week we got to adopt sierra. it was a special day. we feel very lucky to have sierra as a permanent member of our family now. below are some pictures at the court house. a few of the highlights were that i gave sierra a gold locket i received when i was about her age (she chose to put a picture of jesus in it), sierra received a new dress for the sealing from my mom, we had a lot of friends and family come to the adoption, the judge could whistle surfer girl by the beach boys (it turns out he's going to see them next week too), and we went to golden corral (sierra's choice) for dinner to celebrate.

also, we got sierra a new bike and bike helmet for the adoption. that was our gift to her. we'll have to take a picture of that sometime--it's a really cool looking bike. and sierra rides it so well.

the four of us, my sister-in-law cyleste, her daughter leah, and my mom.

the full group: the four of us; joanna and, eli, sonny, and louisa harmon; cyleste and leah; my mom; tiffany (sierra's previous foster mom); ann, jamin, eliza, ashton, kate, and benjamin rowan.

sierra with her adoption gifts from grandma.

sierra in her super cute new dress. this will be her sealing dress too!

everyone except me feeling (apparently) weird and full.

sierra with the chocolate fountain chocolate all over her face.

camping trip

we went camping last weekend with our friends, the harmons. it was a great time. joanna picked the campground, and it was perfect. we had trees to keep us out of the sun, grass covered ground (which made for softer sleeping), a nearby bathroom, a creek a short walk away. it was near mount nebo, which made it a littler cooler.

we all got up there friday afternoon and just relaxed for awhile--letting the kids run around, play, explore. we had foil dinners and then made smores for dinner. the harmons made homemade mac n' cheese dinners, which looked fun.

brian found a snake at the creek and gave it to the kids to play with for awhile.

sierra and louisa played in our tent for quite a long time. sierra had louisa laughing really hard, which was fun to hear.

sonny, eli, and w playing in the harmon's tent.

friday night, the adults sat around the campfire and had a good chance to talk, which was a lot of fun. we even sang several of our hootenanies to the harmons, which they liked. and anyone who likes our hootenanies is a-ok by us! joanna sang some campfire songs, which were new to us and really fun. after dinner, brian and jordan told some riveting stories that we all enjoyed.

the next morning, we woke up and had eggs and pancakes. the coleman stove wasn't working, so we opted to make it all over the fire, which worked out surprisingly well. the food was good. i took the boys to try to find the woodpecker we were hearing, but we couldn't find it. we did see a really nice stellar's jay on friday though.

after we cleaned up, we left the campsite and headed out on the nebo loop. it is beautiful up there. we stopped at a place that had bryce canyon-like rock formations, which was cool. we then found a good place to stop and go for a hike. we hiked for maybe 2 miles and enjoyed the nice alpine air and the beautiful scenery.

w, louisa, and eli with a catepillar eli caught.

eli with a butterfly on his shoe. we actually had several butterflies land on us on this hike. i huge yellow one landed on brian's mexico hat, and another big yellow one landed on the front of my shirt. it was pretty cool.

the view from where we stopped to take a break. so amazing.

jordan and b amongst the aspens.

after we got back from the hike, we had a quick lunch and then went our separate ways back home. along our way home, we stopped to see payson lake (we've heard alot about it but have never been there). it was a really beautiful lake with a sandy beach and trees all the way around it. maybe some time i'll take w and s there. it reminded me of lakes back in oregon.

on the drive home, w and s both fell asleep (that has never happened before). we woke them up when we were back in town so we could all go into the DI. as you can see, the fun never stops with us!