Monday, December 24, 2012

Happy New Year!

Warmest wishes for a wonderful New Year from the Harris Family! May 2013 bring many blessings.
Maggie and Nick - celebrated 11 years of marriage and countless kiddo joys!
Kate - 9 years old, Third Grade
Liam - 6 years old, First Grade





Go Gophers!

Not sure if I mentioned it, but I have been working at the University of Minnesota for 2 years now! I am blessed to teach courses in Leadership Development and absolutely LOVE my job. The people I work with are terrific and the students are a joy.  This truly is a dream job for me.  It is great fun to be a part of a University and our kids love supporting the teams when we get the chance to visit a sporting event or two. I am lucky to have the most amazing husband in the world who supports my endeavors completely. Go Gophers!




A New School Year!

Time flies. We have a third-grader and a first-grader this year! Kate loves reading (especially if it is Harry Potter related) and math and basically anything having to do with school. Never have I seen a child so excited each day for homework.  She is involved in dance class (jazz and tap), swim team, science club, and french club. Liam is a reading machine, as long as it is non-fiction material, and is loving being a Tiger Cub Scout.  He is also doing swim team, french club and science club and loves his activities. He was a little leaguer this summer and loved his baseball time.  If he can spend time building or crafting or engineering things, then he is a happy guy.  We adore them, their brains, their hearts, and their enthusiasm. So proud to be their parents!





Tap-tastic

We were so proud of Kate as she chose to enter herself in her school talent show this year! She did a fantastic duet performance with her friend, Susie, and wowed the crowd with her tapping skills. I was bursting with pride! Look at that smile! :)



Marvelous Minnesota

One of the things we love about where we live is the ability to experience both gorgeous nature and fun urban life truly all in one day.  This particular day we strolled along Minnehaha creek and then headed back into our neighborhood for a fun lunch.  There are also pics of the kids at the ONE AND ONLY Minnesota State Fair - an annual favorite. Liam and Kate got to do a cool ropes course and they also spent time in a very neat exhibition called the luminarium - a light experience that they loved.


Walking Minnehaha creek

Silly siblings

 Quality time.

 Ready to climb!

 Loving. Every. Second.

 In the luminarium.


Kate's First Communion

Our beautiful daughter is so full of peace, serenity, grace, and kindness.  She works hard every day to reflect her values by her actions and we are so incredibly proud to be her parents. The reflective process of communion and making an effort to reflect values resonated with her and she really loved this day. So did we!



Four Generations


This summer we had the incredible treat of having my Grandfather (my mother's father) come to Minnesota for a visit. It was pretty wonderful for the kids to have the chance to spend some time with their 90-year-old Popsi.  I know it was so special for my Mom to have her grandchildren there with her father. We loved catching up and chatting and trading memories.



















Fishing for fun


These posts are ALL out of order (this is what happens when I fail to blog regularly and have to play catch up), but I had to post the pics of the kiddos fishing this summer. The kids just love having lake access all summer long (thanks to Nia and Gramps) and they take full advantage of every aspect of it. Thanks to some special time with Uncle Patrick and Auntie Jillian on this particular day, they loved playing catch and release.






Incredible Istanbul

Nick and I were completely blessed to be able to take a trip to Istanbul, Turkey in 2012 - just the two of us! What an incredibly terrific trip! Not only did we get in a huge amount of sightseeing, we also were able to attend the wedding of a dear friend from Yale and spend lots of time eating, drinking, and being merry with our group of pals from Yale that we have kept in touch with. It was a total treat.  Istanbul is gorgeous and we loved finding our way around and experiencing culture there. From touring mosques, to cruising the Bosphorus, to an authentic Turkish bath experience, to an outdoor wedding at dusk at the edge of Europe while looking across the bay to the shore of Asia.....it was outstanding. Once in a lifetime wonderful.

Gorgeous weather while sightseeing.

 Beautiful mosque architecture.

 Nick at the mosque.

 Beautiful. Everything was beautiful.

Gorgeous skies in Istanbul

So lucky to be here.

 By doing this move on the column, you are "healed".

Another "magical" weeping column.

Giant ancient medusa head its side.

The Yale lads at dinner.

 Touring Istanbul.

 Getting ready to head over to the Grand Bazaar.

 Wandering Istanbul - looking for the Grand Bazaar.

Found it! Grand Bazaar!

 Traditional Meyhane dinner with the Yale lads.

 At Topkapi palace. Lovely. I found Pansies! :)

The Turkish Tiles were stunning artwork.

 Overlooking the sea from Topkapi Palace.

 A group of students at Topkapi Palace.

 The waiting room of the Ayasofia Turkish Bath/Spa. Incredible.

 At the wedding. Standing in Europe. Asia behind us.

 The Yale lads at the wedding.

 Wedding at the edge of the Bosphorus.

 Wedding venue - a gutted ruin on the outside. Modern gorgeous on the inside.

 Yale ladies.

 At the Wedding in Istanbul. Lots to smile about!

 Night view from the reception.

 At the Spice Market

 Spice Market

 We saw the James Bond movie, "Skyfall" being filmed while we were there! So neat!

 Walking across the Bosphorous.

 Day Cruise along the Bosphorus with friends.