Word on the Streets

celebrating 140 years the 4th of july '09. . .

my dad grew up on a farm. i think most of who he is and what he knows how to do (fix everything! be down to earth and casual with others, and be frugal!) originates with his experience on the family farm.

july 2009 marks 140 years that the farm was settled by our family and in business of farming the land. my uncle and his wife who live there decided it was time to celebrate! it turned out to be a huge family reunion and one of the best times at the farm i have ever had. my uncle, cousin robert, my dad and aunt spent days getting the farm grounds cleaned and looking the best they have ever looked. they also spent time working on the farm house especially the bathroom--i will forever be grateful to a cousin who made it possible to bring the bathroom into the 21st century! most of us tented on the side lawn and enjoyed the shade of the big trees. the food was delicious and the kids just ran themselves out doing what i and my cousins used to do when we would visit in the summers as kids. there were pony rides, atv rides, feeding billy goats, exploring empty sheds, playing in the creek, a tree swing and of course driving tractors. probably the best part for me was being with all of the family there at one time together. my dad's family is so seldomly all together in one place. there was just something extra unique about this time together. i think most of us felt it was a chance of a lifetime--something not to be missed. 

morgan plays in the creek that runs through the farm. my grandmother used to wash her hair with this water because it is soft and the water in the house is hard.

on the way home from the long weekend we asked out boys to help us count up how many "firsts" they had had during our trip. the list was longer than i thought. it always makes me thrilled to expose our children to so many new things. many of the things rod & i found ourselves enjoying as "firsts" too.

aunt loretta's new home

my mother's sister has retired to a beautiful new home in cedar hills, utah. it is spacious and decadent. it was our first stop on our trip. it was such a comfortable and inviting place to stay after the drive from vegas. seeing her place made me so very happy for her and this stage of her life. she is in a good place surrounded by good people and family.

meeting up with family

this was crazy fun for the first day. trying to remember everyone's names, children and where they live now was a bit of a brain overload, especially for rod for whom most of them were new. most of my 1st cousins are older than i am so many of them have children not too much younger than i and my siblings. this makes keeping things straight even trickier but at some point my children and husband just called everyone "cousin" and isn't that the way it should be anyway?

family photos

when i suggested that we take a series of family photos to some of my cousins, aunt and uncle, i sort of got a few laughs. one even said, "isn't that sort of like trying to herd cats?" i agreed but i was determined to get everyone on board. and it worked for the most part. when we began the sky was a perfect overcast afternoon which makes photo taking heavenly. periodically the sun would come out here and there so i tried to deal with the lighting issues but everyone was super at getting together their respective family when their time was called to sit for me. i was able to get the groupings i needed. we did a first cousin's photo--this would be all of the grandchildren of morgan w. & mary d. harris. only one was girl cousin was unable to make it. but looking at that photo makes me laugh--there are soooo many men in my dad's family! it is a varied group and they are all different but each one of them has a memory of time spent working on the farm (be it short or long). most all of them have stories of growing up being sent to the farm to help with the work. some of them even nicknamed it "little russia." regardless of whether they loved or hated it the fact remains that it is part of their life's experience--part of their family history. even though we girl cousin's don't necessarily have those same memories as the boys we too still have memories that bind us to the farm. it is the one place that connects everyone of us as cousins. that connection was awesome to see through the viewfinder o fmy camera and while editing the photos later. 

my grandfather's name on his mailbox 

the harris grandchildren (my first cousins) with uncle dave, aunt sharon, and my dad morgan d.

my uncle, my aunt, and my dad & mom behind him with all my siblings, spouses and our children

camping at the farm

this was one of my favorite parts of the trip. i am NOT a camper. i will admit that i crave being clean and having a shower each day with a blowdryer for the hair. but for this trip we decided to join the cousins camping on the side lawn. some friends of our let us borrow their two room tent which made sleeping with the children so easy! the weather was great! i love to sleep with it cooler outside and under a big down comforter. rod had gotten us blow up air mattresses and with the sheets i brought and the down comforter i was almost more comfortable than in my own home. the boys went to bed easily because they had been in the sun all day and running non-stop. granted we only stayed overnight one night but i think that is the way to go when one stays at the farm. it is the experience of camping but having the amenities of the farmhouse to enjoy as well.

the 3:00 am wake up call

the farm property backs up onto I-15 freeway. from the farm house you can hear the cars traveling on it in the distance. it is a very rural stretch of highway and exceptionally dark since there are no town lights or lights on the highway other than car headlights. there are two south bound and two north bound lanes with a grassy divide in the middle. off either side of the north or south bound shoulders is a fairly good drop off into tall grassy ditches. i mention this because on friday night, the 3rd of july, we were sleeping out in our tent. at 3 a.m. in the morning i heard a screeching of tires and scraping of metal and it woke me up sharply out of a deep sleep. as soon as i heard it almost immediately i said outloud, "that was a car crash. someone has just crashed on the highway!" i just knew that was what it was and yet when i asked rod if he too had heard it he said it was just in his dreams. but he was now awake and we both sat there wondering what do we do. i could not shake that feeling of dread i had upon first hearing the noises that woke me up. in my head i could only imagine that it was some family with young children in a van or something traveling by night to get someplace for the 4th of july. all of these "what if's" were running through my head. what if they ran off the side of the highway in to the tall grass no one would ever see them from the highway? what if they were all seriously injured and had no way of getting to help? what if they had to sit it out until day light? what if they were freezing and in shock? and so rod and i sat there waiting--for what I am not sure but just waiting for some kind of confirmation that we had not been just dreaming if someone really did need assistance. 

and then we heard a car horn. someone was laying hard on their car horn. over and over as if to say, "here i am. help me." and that is when rod jumped up, got dressed and with the flashlight went out to our truck and set out to find the accident in case there were anything he could do to help. similarly my aunt who heard it too woke my cousin up and he too went out looking. i stayed back until enough time had passed with neither rod nor my cousin returning that i knew they had to have found the accident. my brother in the next tent over was awake too and i asked him to listen for my boys if they happened to wake and i went in and got my dad so we could drive to the edge of the property in his truck and see if we could see anything. from the edge of our field we could see up on the highway a few headlights of stopped cars and then we called rod. he told us that a man had rolled his truck and was pinned in his truck. my dad and i drove closer and could see the condition of the truck. only rod and my cousin and aunt were there and one other car. they were keeping the man talking and reassuring him that the paramedics were on their way. the man had fought with his wife and left to go golfing up north. he was driving back home that night, had fallen asleep at the wheel and rolled his truck so many times that he was lucky to be alive. he said he was married and had two little children at home. when the ambulance finally got there rod, my dad and i returned to the farm house. it was a scary wake up call and made me so grateful that we had been safe in all of our driving that weekend thus far. it only takes a split second and your entire life can change in an accident like that. 

the one thing i am still most struck by regarding that experience that night was how intensely strong i woke up knowing that someone had just crashed. it was so vivid in my mind and it was only after asking rod and talking about it a bit that i second guessed my gut feeling. and when i heard the car horn it was as if everything in me said, "see, it is possible to just know things are actual and true even if you can't see them." it was not a premonition because i knew it happened at the very moment i heard it but i could not see it and was not really even that close to the actual site of the accident. it was just an intense feeling. it was difficult to relax and go to sleep for a time after we returned to our tents.

i understand the man survived the accident. considering what the truck looked like, i would say he has been given a miraculous second chance at life.  

the big 140 year bash

my aunt and uncle are very active in their community. they put on a wonderful celebration for the public and family to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Harris family farm. There was fried chicken, fresh fruit, homemade potato salad, baked beans, rolls, homemade sheet cakes, and Aggie ice-cream. they had a country band, a cowboy poet, pony rides for the little ones and two huge belgian draft horses pulling a 1900's restored wagon giving rides to all. it was such a treat to see my uncle thoroughly happy. he was relaxed and smiling from ear to ear during the entire party. my aunt was thrilled too with the turn out and it was fun to see them among friends. 

morgan rides as aunt nikki leads

jack enjoys his ride

my uncle dave greeting friends

morgan on the "other" horse at the farm

time spent with the next generation of cousins at the farm

the great grand children of my grandparents are now enjoying the farm and hopefully will have more future opportunities to play together there. it was awesome to have all the great grand children and even some great great grandchildren getting to know each other more.

my nephew and niece--cousins the same age play together

morgan and stella on the back lawn

my cousin robert and our cousin's grandchild who was wiped out from a long fun day.

learning to drive

as a kid on the farm you get to have one of the greatest freedoms ever--learning to drive every possible new and old tractor ever made since 1900. well, if they don't actually start you can certainly pretend to drive and steer from that seat way up high overlooking the world below. and with a little help from grandpa or anyone with the know how you can actually help steer one of them around the farm for a joy ride.

morgan and ann marie

jack and stella and lauren

my brother, stella, and my dad

berkeley, rod and morgan

atv riding up gardner's canyon

this was a huge first for me at the farm. i have never gone anywhere off the farm when i have been there. i have only gone out into the fields. i mean on the farm everyone is always working. there is no down time. so this day off was unusual and so much fun! my dad and cousin's took rod and i and our boys on a four wheeler ride up into the canyon across the valley. it was a spectacular ride. it is beautiful up in those mountains and so much fun with everyone who went. it was an extra bit of work for my dad to trailer up two of our 4 wheelers from the cabin to the farm but i was extra thankful that he thought to do that--for that ride alone was worth it. spending time doing those types of things with our boys and my dad are things i hope to remember and i hope our boys remember too. we were creating memories with their grand-dad on the farm.

getting gassed up for the atv ride. this ain't your typical chevron line-up! the gas pump on the farm takes a little know how as well.

getting to see my dad and uncle relaxed

at the farm if you are my dad or my uncle it seems you are either one of the two--working or asleep.

this weekend was a great opportunity to catch both of them doing things that are different than the daily grind of fixing broken sprinklers, machinery or bailing. my dad only has one brother and he finds possibly the most happiness in life at this point being on the farm working side by side with him.

thanks uncle dave, aunt sharon (and dad and cousin robert) for making that weekend at the farm so enjoyable!

images of my grandmother's home

images from the grounds:

and so they must grow up beginning today. . .

ever since jack and morgan were about four just about to turn five years old i have been asking them if they could not grow up. i have wanted them to stay age four, then five forever. and today morgan proved to me that he just cannot simply stay little forever. both boys have had these perfect little white picket fence-like teeth completing their smiles. until today when morgan lost his first tooth! and so the years of holes in the smiles begin. 

both he and jack actually have the same tooth loose right now. morgan was chewing on the wii remote cover and then lost his balance making him bite down hard on it loosening his tooth much more than it was. he came to me crying because it hurt and was bleeding. it was sort of sweet seeing him slightly scared and nervous about loosing this first tooth. i felt the same way he did but i was lamenting the loss of his perfect baby smile. so i grabbed my camera and began taking photos of course. then i decided we would try some different foods to see if it would come out with ease. morgan was already hungry so he was willing to try, especially when i pulled out marshmallows first! 

as he was chewing one of the things on his plate he reached in his mouth and pulled something out while i wasn't looking and put it on his plate. then he said to me, "mom, the blood part just came out of my mouth." he had not realized that it was his tooth since it was a little bloody still. when i pointed it out he got very proud of himself and kept feeling the newly formed void in his line-up of front teeth. he has been happy all evening since then. a number of times tonight he has come up to me and declared, "i sure am glad i got my tooth out!"

me too, buddy! me too. sort of--it just means that i can't stop time and you have to grow up. and this is milestone #354 for you in a long list of milestones to come. [or some crazy # like that--i've lost count.]

i think morgan was proud to be 1st in something. jack usually takes the lead in things but in this case morgan is the big brother leading the way. yeah bubby. i love ya and your new look.

 

little b's big birthday bash at nan's house. . .

our little miracle niece turned six while visiting us all here in vegas. she is petite in size only. she reads better than most adults and has as much determination to accomplish a task as an olympic athlete. she is a power pack of everything good and right in the world. we got to celebrate her birthday the old fashioned style--in the backyard with lots of water, cousins and made from scratch sloppy joes, chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream. a pure summer's delight!

happy b-day miss blanche.

the slideshow:

harris cousin's camp '09. . .

this year jack and morgan were able to go to grandma nan's cousin's camp at our cabin. when you are 5 years old you can attend the day and 1/2 camp. nan puts lots of time and planning into this and it was all based around a theme from the scriptures. there were boat races, an obstacle course, fishing and finishing off the cousin's club house. one of the best activities was grandpa teaching the crew how to nail a nail in the wood stump. the cousin's had the time of their lives. 

excellent recovery and lots of down time. . .

we have been recuperating around our home and taking lots of down time around the home. 

with tessa's surgery finished we have provided her with a good amount of quiet and peace to return to her normal self. the vet was so happy with her recovery that he removed her stitches earlier than expected. she is much happier and well on her way to managing just fine with mono-vision. the boys have taken great care to pay extra attention to her and jack even offers her his mr. polar bear for comfort once in a while. that is a great sacrifice considering he realizes that she does have the ability to shred him completely. but she never indulges. 

the boys have been entertaining themselves with typical five-year old in-home activities. they move from legos to setting up the thomas track to playing pac-man. i just love that game! how many hours did i waste in my youth trying to conquer it? i don't even wanna know. i limit their time with dear old sir pac-man because i know how addicting he is! 

sometimes i find it so refreshing to just stay close to home for awhile. we have enjoyed the past few weeks. things will start to speed up soon enough.

a quick tessa update for those who love her too. . .

****update as of 6.8.09 at night

tessa came through the surgery very well! she is very tired but the dr. said things went very good. he was able to also do a preventative procedure to the other eye which might save her from losing sight in that one similar to the one she just lost. so that is very good news indeed. recovery time now. i expect her to start feeling incredibly better as of tomorrow. the dr. said dogs who go through this feel better almost immediately because the pressure in their head is eliminated. we will wait and watch how she fairs. but we all feel so much better on the whole.

our tessa had a very long day today. an emergency procedure was done by our wonderful dr. paetz to maintain her right eye until dr. brinkmann, the ophthalmologist, can remove her eye tomorrow and correct her good one if needed so it does not suffer the same fate. earlier today she bumped into a door accidentally (which is easy to do when you can't see out of one eye!) and it ruptured her globe. gross i know but it has bumped things up to happen tomorrow rather than waiting till wednesday as originally planned. she has had a fabulous week at our awesome dogsitter's home while we were in hawaii. and today we cared for her all day after the accident. we went from the red-eye return flight to the vet's emergency office. needless to say our boys were in bed at 6:30pm dead asleep and we have finally showered ourselves and eaten something. "tess-girl" as our friends the timms call her is on heavy pain meds tonight and sporting a head cone. she is a little like a drunken sailor trying to walk. but we feel even more sure that doing the eye removal tomorrow is the right thing. here's to holding a good thought and hoping she comes out of the procedure with ease and considerably less pain going forward. 

thank you all who have sent such kind notes regarding her. you are all so very kind. this beauty is a large part of the "streets crew". 

photos from tomorrow forward will be taken from the other side most likely.

aloha! family time in maui, hawaii. . .(part six)

Saturday today and we checked out at 11:00 am. The remainder of our day has been spent at the pool. Free snow cones and lots of reading and pool play. Not a bad day. Marriott has a suite for us to shower up and get back to normal. We are all clean now and heading out for some fish tacos before we hit the airport. This vacation has just been a riot. Can we do it again next year same time and same place?

aloha! family time in maui . . . [part five]

friday morning we took darren and nikki back to our favorite snorkeling spot and this time we all four went out far into the bay together and saw about 7 sea turtles. there were also schools of fish so thick that they were all around you! it was a really great way to start the day.

then we packed in the van and went to rent mountain bikes so darren and rod could bike down the back trail of haleakala, the volcano. it was a long day in the car and in the back of it nonetheless but jack and morgan were amazing passengers. we got the bikes and shuttled the men to the top of the volcano ourselves. that drive was about a one and 1/2 hour road with 3/4 of it being steep switch backs. i was really glad the boys were not carsick at all and that we opted out of the road to hana. it would have been two days of full driving in the van for them.

the drive was a stunning climb and once at the top it reminded me a lot of the top of mt. fuji in japan. the wind was strong and it was a little chilly since we were only in our swimming suits! we found the trail for the guys and they geared up and set off. i have to say i don't ever worry about rod mountain biking because i know he is cautious and careful. but there was something about this lava rock gravel trail that dropped off the edge of the volcano that made me think twice if i would see him and darren again. rod and darren had a map from the bike shop where the guy outlined how to ride from the top all the way back to haiku where the bike shop was. it would take a them sometime to decend that far on bike. so nikki and i drove down the volcano and went to a children's park that was off the road they would be coming down near the bike shop. it took us a far amount of time to drive down and of course we stopped in makawao at komodo bakery to pick up a few "essentials" [like butter rolls that will put 14 pounds on you in a bit and doughnuts that melt in your mouth!]

it wasn't long before darren and rod came flying down the road and found us. they had had a great ride and were bushed. nikki and i secretly were wishing for mama's fish house again i think for dinner but we landed at aloha mixed plate instead and called it a night.

aloha! family time in maui, hawaii [part four]. . .

it is thursday already of our trip and we let none of today go to waste. rod and i decided not to drive the road to hana this trip. we let nikki and darren go by themselves on the drive. we planned instead to take the boys up to honolua bay to snorkel. i felt a little guilty about coming all the way to maui and not doing the road to hana but when we finally decided not to go i realized that i was sort of self-imposing that guilt if anything and with little kids in the back of a van it would have been just pure torture. i have done it once and will do it again but i would rather do it in a topless jeep and when i can drive all the way around to get to the seven secret pools. when the boys are older, i am sure we will be able to do that. it gives us another reason to come back, right?

so while darren and nikki set off on the winding road, we went west and had a great adventure of our own. the path down to honolua bay is nothing short of lush with greenery. it was a mini hana excursion of our own. we even found a swing made from roots of the banyan tree. each of us took a turn on it. (my free shootsac bag that i got at WPPI as a gift with purchase of my lens bag has been with me on this trip and proven to be a real winner! photog friends will know shootsac--right girls? it it a perfect beach tote.)

the water at honolua bay was calm and though a little chilly it was excellent for snorkeling. it is not a sandy soft typical hawaii beach. it is a rocky boulder shoreline. and entry to the water can be a little tricky but we were able to find a great spot that allowed us easy access into the water with a little guy along at our side. the boys were champs at snorkeling. they don't have masks or snorkels to use but they wore their swim goggles and were able to spot tons of fish. that bay had large schools of fish all over and even some huge fish that had they been carnavors i would have feared for my life! further out people were seeing up to 10 sea turtles but it was too cold out that far for us to take the little boys. they swam just fine in their life jackets but it didn't keep them as warm as they needed to be. it was even cold for me but i can keep moving enough to stay warm. there were all kinds of fish in the bay to view and rod and i thought it was better than molokini for the quantity and variety of fish. the visability was good but molokini in that respect takes the prize--it is just world class for clarity. we came in and sat on the rocks for a long time just watching other snorkelers and the big charter boats that came into the bay and anchored. one of them was so impressive and beautiful. it must have been a multi-million dollar vessel. it makes a great photo.

after honolua bay we went by and picked up a pizza and took it to kaanapali beach. we made camp in some shade with our beach chairs and gobbled up pizza in no time. then i took jack out to snorkel some more in the water there and rod started a large sand castle with morgan. later i retired to the chairs and rod spent the rest of the time riding the waves with jack and morgan----in and out and in and out with the waves. i loved hearing the laughter of the little boys. they were having the time of their lives. "these are the things i don't want to forget," i thought to myself as i watched. "this right here is all worth the effort and time of coming."

the wind began to pick up so we returned to the hotel and since we were so sandy we stopped by the hotel pool. we found four open lounge chairs right next to the pool so we grabbed them and jumped in. we must have stayed there for another two hours or so. i could not believe that jack and morgan had any energy left at all. it had been a very long day of sun and water.

darren and nikki returned from their day and brought some of the best treats home from komoda bakery in upcountry. i hope to get a photo of that place while here. it is the most inconspiquous storefront one could ever find. but oh the doughnuts and the rolls! heavenly. it is on our top ten list for maui. we all met back at the room and devoured the bakery goods. baths, showers and a little bit of easy dinner followed by a movie and we called it a day. a very good day. what a place this is! we go from place to place enjoying the water and sand and sun. we live outside here. it is the most wonderful atmosphere. as i write it is sunset. rod is out taking photos. i did that last night and tonight it is his turn. darren and nikki are at roys for apps and molten chocolate cake. yummy! sunsets here are delicious enough for me. i have the big sliding door open so the sound of the surf rings over my lanai and into our room while the last of the golden rays pour through our windows. and the best part of all...it is quiet in my room because boys are in bed. do we really have to leave in two days? this is turning out to be one of our best vacations yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

rod took this photo of the hawaiian sunset. isn't it smashing!

aloha! family time in maui, hawaii [part three]. . .

yesterday (wednesday) we spent the day at kaanapali beach. darren and nikki went to a timeshare presentation for the morning and rod and i took jack and morgan to the beach to score a good spot. there is no one here really at this time of year so the best beach spots are easy to come by we are learning. the entire morning was awesome. we took jack and morgan out with us to snorkel and just off the shore found great places to spy fish. the water was calm and refreshing--just the perfect temp. darren and nikki joined us and we ordered pizza and had it delivered to us on the beach! how great is that? after more snorkeling and playing on the beach we decided to load up in the car and drive up the highway to find some landmarks mentioned in our guide book. (btw-maui revealed is a great book!)

first we found the blowhole. we thought we would hike down to it but we were able to see it from the top of the trail out off the cliff above and since it wasn't shooting up a ton of water we decided just to hang out up top and enjoy the views. the winds were strong and the sea raging below. people had made cairns all over (rocks stacked on top of each other). it was amazing given the winds that they stay standing. it is such an amazing sight to me to stand on top of the mountain's rim and look out at the surging coastline. that water churning below and smashing against the black rocks makes me respect the ocean's power and fury.

we continued on the highway to another turnout where we went in search of the olivine tide pools. again after a little hike we could see down to some tidepools where people were sitting. then we hiked across and down to another trail where we saw more pools. there was a group of people in front of us at those. they hiked down to the pools and we stayed at the top becasue the trail was a bit too steep for us with jack and morgan. and the pools were right at the edge of the rocks where the surging water crested. it has a strong element of danger to it. the boys in the family in front of us hiked down and all the way out to the very edge of the rocky point where the water shot up and sprayed. it made us all nervous. seeing someone out there on the edge like that knowing the power of the ocean and how one rogue wave can sweep you off the rocks and into the ocean makes me always wonder how they dare to be so dumb. nikki joked if they had ever heard of the darwin awards. tempting nature like that is never something i'll understand. we were content to stay safe uptop. queen's bath in kauai was much safer when we went. this was too precarious for us.

further down the highway the road became a one lane county road that took us to a tiny little village. in the village there is a pink trailer that sells hawaiian shaved ice and a green tea house that sells the best banana bread and dried mango. we stopped at both places. hawaiian ice done the right way is my very very favorite treat here. i could eat it each day on the hour! the village was where we turned around and came back. we made it just in time back to kapalua for our early bird dinner reservations at sansei sushi. if you go at 5:30 you get 25% off anything you order before 6:00pm. we would recommend that to anyone going. the ahi poke, the butterfly roll and the rainbow roll were top notch. very fresh and delicious. it helped that we also had $75 coupon from marriott for that restaurant. with the 25% off and the $75 certificate we still paid about $120 total! so if you go, just expect to leave your retirement with them when you leave! that is some pricey ahi if you ask us. but the experience was good and the discounts made it doable. i'm putting mama's fish house up higher on my list of "to do agains." rod however, being the sushi nut, would rank sansei higher. go figure.

we ended the night with the walk along the coast at sunset. it was such fun! a great day for the middle of the vacation.

morgan plays on the beach collecting coral bits

jack and rod snorkeling

our real estate for the day

ka'anapali beach and black rock behind us in the distance