Yaaah...I mean...aaah!

It was the first day of school on Monday. All four of the kids are in school ALL DAY!! I am really going to miss them...wait...I can't stop giggling with excitement. It will still be a very busy school year but I am grateful for this day. Shane did a great job and was only a little nervous going to 1st grade. Jalyn has a fantastic teacher and I have really high hopes for her this year. Mariah has every friend she could want in her class and "the best teacher in the whole world". Jackson has a new teacher. I don't know her but she comes with amazing credentials so I feel comfortable with his class this year. What will I do with the time! Oh yeah, I will be in school myself. I paid tuition today and bought books. Go BYU!!

Happy 6th Birthday Shane!

My computer keeps dumping on me so I haven't been able to get online. I missed wishing Shane a happy Birthday yesterday. He turned 6! I can't believe my baby is so old and going into first grade. He is very excited for school, although a little nervous about the cafeteria! He will do great. Countdown to first day of school...3,2,1! Yeah!

Bingham Copper Mine

This is an amazing place to see. It used to be a mountain and has become a huge pit that is 2miles wide and waaay deep. I can't remember the specs. My friend Cindy was so brave and set out with her kids and mine to have an adventure. Apparently, they were all pretty good because they all came home with Slurpee's. They even brought me one!

Shane

This a picture Mariah took and I just loved Shane's eyes.
Just wanted to share it!

Brian Regan

Juli Downs came down from Burley to be my date at the Brian Regan concert. So funny! My cheeks and side hurt by the end of the show. Thank you to Kim Casper for getting there so early to save seats. She didn't even know that we would be joining them. It was nice of them to let us share their blankets. The second picture isn't so good, but it is of Brian...and look, we are only about 6 rows back. It was a blast! Funny! Funny! Funny!

Jalyn's black eye

Poor Jalyn Rose! She fell off of the back of the truck (not moving) and hit her head on the curb. It started out as a HUGE goose egg and now she is left with a purple eye. This happened Saturday, Aug 9th. On Sunday night she was complaining of an earache on the same side of her head. I was a bit concerned they might be connected so I took her to the doctor on Monday morning. Of course we got the concerned questions... How did this happen? Did you really fall off the truck or did your mom pop you in the eye? The standard questions. Thankfully we passed and we won't be having a "state" visit to make sure the rest of the kids don't have black eyes either. But Jalyn did come home with a prescription for antibiotics since she had a ear infection. She is concerned that she will still have her black eye when school starts on the 25th. I keep trying to reassure her that it will be gone. So add this to the other Harris stories of kids falling out of cars. Not nearly as exciting as Don or Darryl's stories but another story to pass down.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Chris is my half brother serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Spain right now. He turns 20 today. Good luck out there, Chris.

Happy Birthday Darren!

We miss you! See you on the other side!

Shane's rescue

Dad to the rescue!

I love the mountains!

On Sunday, went up Little Cottonwood Canyon and did a really quick hike to Lisa Falls. It was more of a climb but we had a great time. It is just spectacular watching water fall over rocks. It was very peaceful. Matt and the kids climbed up higher on the rocks but I was content to sit and listen to the water. We didn't stay long because there was thunder and we didn't want to get caught in the rain. But we stayed long enough to eat some lunch, scratch some knees, and perform one rescue. Shane got stuck a little ways up the rocks and he got nervous. But everyone came home safe and sound.

Funniest People I know...

So I was watching Last Comic Standing and I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in the jokes. I think too often the comics rely on gross, sexual and crude jokes to get the laughs from the audience. It got me thinking of who I think is funny. Three people instantly came to mind. Number one... my brother Don. He has a fun way of enjoying life and making sure everyone around him is laughing. Second...my good friend Andy from my BYU days. He has an incredible wit and he would send me letters on my mission that had me wiping tears from my eyes. And last but certainly not least...my good friend Lauri (also from my BYU days). She tells the best jokes. I can't believe she remembers as many jokes as she does. Thanks to each of you for bringing laughter and fun into my life and everyone around you. You guys are way better than any comic on tv!

13 Years!

Happy 13 years to Matt and DeShelle! August 4th was our anniversary and we celebrated by attending the James Taylor concert. We had a great time and we were quite surprised at how funny James Taylor is. He had us giggling between songs with his shy, witty humor. I love James Taylor and his rendition of "Steamroller" had us in tears of laughter. It was extremely entertaining. Thanks Matt for a fun night!

The newest Burton!

Congratulations to Ryan and Ashley! They welcomed their new baby boy to their family on Tuesday, August 5th. He came out with some rapid breathing so he is spending 48 hours in the NICU while they administer some antibiotics. Get better soon and hurry home to join your family. Jackson, Mariah, Jalyn, and Shane are thrilled to have a new cousin!

Stewart Falls (again)

While Don and mom were here in Utah, we took them to Stewart Falls. It is such a pretty place and the hike is pretty easy. Don and Jackson climbed up the falls. You can see the falls in the background of the picture. We had a great time.

Thanks Don!

My mom and brother Donald came out to Utah for the weekend to help stain the deck and do all of the grunt work at the "dumb Draper house". That's what I like to call the house anyway. Don worked his tail off and he did a fantastic job. The deck looks great, all the weeds are pulled and the yard is all cleaned up. Let's all hope and pray that we can get this house sold. It would be a huge burden off of us. Anyway, thanks again to Don and my mom. You were a HUGE help.

I Love a Road Trip!

It was time for me to get the kids in the car and take a trip. I love road trips! They don't need to be long for me to enjoy it, they just need to be on the road. This time we packed up and headed to Burley, Idaho. We have good friends from our Texas days that live there and it was great to visit and catch up. Shane and Juli Downs and their family were gracious enough to let us stay with them, feed us, get treats from their store (for free!!), and entertain us. We all loaded up in the catering van and traveled over to Twin Falls to attend the new LDS Temple's open house. It was absolutely beautiful. One of the paintings in the temple depicted the Shoshone Falls that are nearby. Who knew that there were gorgeous waterfalls in a relatively flat area? I showed my ignorance of the landscape when I asked but then we went over to the Snake River and looked down the amazing gorge.We didn't make it over to the Falls because I needed another reason to go back to visit at a later time. The kids had a great time and didn't complain much in the car. My kids have been taking road trips since they were born and after 30 hour marathon trips from Texas to California, the three hours to Burley was a piece of cake. We didn't even have to stop to go to the bathroom. My camera battery died after just these 3 pictures but Juli took a bunch. When I get more, I will post them. Does anyone else need a visit to give me a reason to hop in the car? Actually, I don't need a reason, just a destination. Thanks to the Downs!

Stewart Falls

We went hiking to Stewert Falls on Sunday, July 20th. We had a great time. All the kids got wet... nobody got hurt. Matt and Jack climbed up the falls and enjoyed a beautiful view. Thanks again to the Summerhays for a great evening.

Hill Air Force Base

We have lived in Utah for 4 years and I thought it was finally time to check out some of the local faire. So we picked the muggiest day to head up to Hill Air Force base and check out the cool "FREE" museum. I have to say, I was quite impressed. They have an airplane graveyard outside and then a ton of planes, rockets, helicopters and other flying stuff inside. The museum isn't aired conditioned but they do try to keep it cool with portable fans. Since it was a really muggy day by Utah standards, it just made us feel yucky. Jackson even said his hands felt sticky. So we learned a ton about planes and pilots and stuff. They had a display honoring Col. Halvorson who dropped candy parachutes to the kids in Berlin during WWII, and even a restored Presidential jet that JFK and President Johnson used. I was in awe at the size of the tires, the bombs, and the rockets. We had a great time with the kids and only one temper tantrum. (Apparently, Shane was BORED!) It was great to venture out to see Utah.

Happy 36th!

Happy Birthday Matt! Matt turned 36 on July 18th and he shares that birthday with a friend of ours named Mike. We went up to Mike's family's cabin near Sundance on Sunday to BBQ and have smores. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to sing to both of them and present them with this adorable cupcake dog. The kids all attacked it after we sang and I think Jalyn even had frosting in her hair. We had a great time at the cabin. We hiked up to Stewart Falls and every one of my kids stepped into the water. Can you get that close to water and not fall in? I will post pictures of that later after I figure out how to transfer the pictures from Matt's new iphone onto this computer. It seems so complicated. Thank you to our great friends for a super fun evening.

Matt's "Butler" award

Matt can now add award winning director to his resume and list of accomplishments. Last night, we had a ward activity where we were given a camera, props, and nursery rhyme. We had one hour to create a video of our play. We were given "Humpty Dumpty" which we all know is short and open to interpretation. Our team did a great job coming up with a story line and even adding sound affects. Matt was the director and camera man and did a superb job. Paul was our star and walked away with the best actor award. We had a great time and I think we all wiped away tears of laughter as we watched each show.