May 2018

If we thought it was nice that boards were over, the first two weeks of May were even better. Jed didn't have school for two whole weeks. We got so much done, we had so much fun and best of all Porter no longer thought Daddy was stranger danger. They had some wonderful bonding time.

We tried to make the most of our two weeks of freedom. We spent a lot of time rock climbing, hanging our with friends, playing tennis and pickle ball, going to Jed's classmates wedding, and hiking in eastern Tennessee.

The hike was very fun and rewarding. We took the dog with us, which was risky, because she had to stay in the car over night while we were in the hotel. We were afraid we were going to come back to a shredded vehicle but she was perfect. We hiked in Tracy City which is about a half hour out of Chattanooga. The hike was called the Fiery Gizzard and at one point it was ranked one of the top ten hikes in the US (not currently though). Still, it was gorgeous and so much fun. The part we did was ten miles and Porter was a champ. He didn't cry once and seemed to enjoy himself. We hiked along a small river with waterfalls almost the entire way. The summit was beautiful. Zoey was so good but by the end she was so tired we had to carry her up the last set of stairs to the car. There was a lot of technical footwork and scrambling over boulders that we think it got to her paws. It was such a fun experience. We loved it so much we are going back to the area to do a backpacking trip near Chattanooga in June. At the very end of the hike, not ten feet from the end of the trail, we encountered a harmless but very large black snake. We measured it to be over three feet, we couldn't see the end. I'm one to exaggerate, but this is no joke. I was so thankful we didn't see anything like that until we were done with the hike.

The next weekend we went the opposite direction and went camping with the Hill's in Arkansas. We went to Lake Ouachita. The water was clear and beautiful and the weather was perfect. When we first got to the camp site I sat alone holding our place and watched all the snakes swim in the water around us. I heard a crash on a nearby forest hill and looked over to see a flailing giant snake falling down the hillside. When Jed came back I told him we were leaving. Of course we stayed but I wasn't ok with the snakes. Luckily as more people arrived they left us alone. There was a family near us that were fishing for catfish. The man caught 10 catfish. One of the fish was about 30 pounds. It was so incredible I've never seen anyone fish the way he did. He would see a fish and then say, "I'm gonna catch that fish," and he would. The Hill's brought their paddle boards and we had a really fun time on the lake. Porter seemed to enjoy it even though he had to be in his giant life jack that he clearly hated.

Since about February I started training for the Great American Half Marathon. It was part of Memphis in May which is a large international festival that goes on during the entire month of May. Every Saturday celebrates something different, World's BBQ fest, Beale street music festival, 901 fest, etc. I was very excited to work toward something and the top three finishers got a cash prize. I thought I could for sure get top three, maybe even win it. I worked harder at running than I had worked on it since my college days. It was really fun and rewarding. Come race day I felt so ready. I was a little disappointed on how I did. I didn't feel like my time reflected how I had trained. I got third place, $250, so that was neat, but I totally could have gotten 2nd. The first place girl was from Kenya and ran so fast I didn't have a shot. It was still fun. Jed and Porter had been so supportive all the months leading up to the race and cheered loud during. Porter wore a t-shirt that said "go mommy go." That night we got free tickets to the 901 fest. We enjoyed a sushi burrito, hanging with classmates of Jed's and watching a spectacular firework show.

 As always, Jed and I celebrated Memorial day in style.All of our friends were asking us why we were wearing fourth of July shirts. Come on people! We went on a fun family bike ride at Shelby Farms, cleaned up the yard, played in the kiddie pool with Porter, and then went to the Park for a party with friends. I love this time of year!

I finished my last days of working with the Tonkins. They have been so kind to us the last three years and it was sad to say goodbye. It will be really nice to be at home with Porter though. Even though he was able to come with me, he still needs the consistent schedule that home can offer him and even in just a couple short weeks, Jed and I have seen a difference in him. 

April 2018

Porter is on the move more than ever. He crawls so quickly and it is incredible to see how quickly he grows with each day. Babies are amazing. We love his sweet spirit that he brings into our home. He really was brought to this earth to bring joy.

April always brings general conference and general conference always brings conference dinner. This time around we only did it with the three of us. Easter was the same day and all our friends were coming over. We thought it would have been too much to do both. In between sessions Jed and I went and delivered meat (our ward had a smoked shoulder fund raiser for the youth) to families from our ward, who were in need. It was a very touching experience, especially on easter. There are so many people out there that need our service and this act really helped open our eyes. We are truly blessed for all that we have, even if it's just a little. The Hill's, Roberts', and Lowry's all came over for easter dinner. It was really fun. We feel so close to our friends here.

Our ward had a campout and Porter had his first campout. He did so well and we had a blast. We shared a campsite with the Robert's. It was perfect weather, unlike the last ward campout. It was encouraging to have such a successful camping experience because we want to do many more adventures with Porter in the future.

Jed and I got rock climbing passes to a rock climbing gym up in Memphis. We have had so much fun with it. We go at least once a week, and have enjoyed every minute. Porter is a champ and hangs out on the boulder matts while Jed and I take turns. It has been an added bonus of living here.

Senior Sendoff was at the end of the month. It's so crazy that Jed is entering his senior year. Because everyone is going to their different rotation sites, they do an end of year dinner before everyone leaves. It was at the lodge at the zoo and it was a perfect night. We got to walk around parts of the zoo alone and it was magical. The dinner was lovely and the class voted for awards at the end. It was fun to see how close Jed has gotten to his classmates. His class voted Jed as the person who "Makes the world a better place." What an amazing award. His class thinks the world of him and so do I!

We took a temple trip to St. Louis with the Hill's and Robert's in order to attend the endowment of Brad Moore. He works with Jed in young mens and was our home teacher since his baptism a year ago. He is an amazing man and such an example. Him and his wife Melissa are getting sealed in May. They have been so kind to us. It was the first time i've been to the temple since Porter was born. The Memphis temple is currently closed for complete renovation and St Louis is the closest temple. The spirit was so strong and Jed and I got several answers to questions we had been having. After the temple we went to the city Museum. It is this crazy museum that literally is a giant playground for adults and kids. We were climbing in the smallest nooks and acting like fools. It was so much fun. On the way home I really wanted to see the arch, so we drove by it quickly.

We tried to use our fire pit more often this year. We had a smore's and hot dog not with just to three of us and then we had a night where we had 6 families over for outside games, hotdogs, and smore's.  We really have been blessed with the people we have met here.

Porter had his first eye exam. It was so adorable and he did so well. The doctor at Jed's school was so patient with him, I was very impressed. So far so good, but luckily we will have an eye doctor in the family if anything happens!

 Jed and I went to our stake adult dance. We went to support because we were asked to. It was about what you would think it would be. We dressed nice casual because we were told that was ok, when we showed up all I saw were fancy dresses. I turned to Jed and said we are leaving. But luckily we didn't, the Hills were there too, dressed the same way, so it was all fun.

We got a baby bike seat from the Tonkin's and have had so much fun taking Porter on bike rides. He looks so cute even though his helmet is giant on him.

March 2018

March was a huge month in the Harrison household. Finally after years of school and months of preparation, Jed was finally taking his first boards exam. It had gotten really tense the last few months and the final weeks were equally intense. Jed worked so hard and sacrificed so much for this test. He went in confident and a huge weight was lifted from our shoulders the moment he stepped out of the testing center. Porter was excited to have his daddy back. I'm so proud of the hard work that Jed has put into his schooling the last three years. It means so much to our family. Even though the scores aren't released until May, it was still so amazing to be done. No matter what would happen, he new he could do it! After the test we celebrated by going out for burgers.

The Utah Jazz had an amazing season this year and really turned things around. We were lucky enough to go to a Jazz game with our friends when they came to town to play Memphis. Luckily it was a pretty easy game. Memphis is terrible this year and it was really sad how empty the arena was. Lucky for us, we got incredibly cheap tickets because of it($3!).

March Madness is a big deal at our house. Jed and I both make brackets and get really into the games. We were pretty excited for Porter to make his own bracket this year. His picks were based on what toy he grabbed. The left hand or the right hand. Needless to say his bracket was pretty terrible. But hey it's March Madness, anything can happen.

The weather began to warm up and we started to take advantage of hanging out outside. We are excited for all the fun things we will be able to do with Porter during the summer. If it isn't too hot! We started our garden. This year we are trying pots on the porch instead of in the corner garden. We have had terrible luck in the corner garden and hoping that we can manage the pots better. The corner garden didn't get enough sunlight, and the rain often washed out the plants.

February 2018

Valentines Couples 10K: This year Jed and I participated in our third and final Valentines Day Couple 10k in Memphis. The last two years we have placed second at this race and second place gets nothing so we've always left having fun but a little disappointed. We have sincerely been talking about this race since our last disappointment and have been determined all year to win. Jed and I worked so hard the last few months keeping one another accountable and getting in our miles, healthy eating (minus desserts!), and keeping positive about what we can do. We were feeling so good going into race week, as we both had great Saturday runs. Then, Thursday before the race, Jed and Porter got very sick. Jed didn't run the rest of the week in hopes of recovery. The night before we ate a fun pre race meal, went to bed early and Jed hoped his medicine would help him recover . The morning of the race we still weren't sure how things were going to go. We dropped Porter off at one of Jed's classmates house and hoped for the best. Luckily Jed was feeling a little better but the weather that day was heavy rain but high 50's (which was nice for a February race). We picked up our packets and warmed up. In years past we had decided to run together but this year we thought we had a better chance if we each ran our race. We had to trust each other to know that each of us were doing our part. I crossed the line 5th place overall and the second girl with a time of 44 minutes. I was satisfied with that time because I averaged a 6:59 pace and that is way faster than I have run since having Porter. I waited for Jed to make his way to the finish line and to my delight he was only three minutes behind me at 47 minutes. I was so proud of him. Despite being sick, he worked so hard and even Pr'd in the 10k. We ended up winning our individual age groups and the sweethearts division. We were so happy to end our tradition on the top. For winning we got beanies, 50 dollars to outback, a plaque, and two yeti mugs.

We often get together on the weekends with out good friends the Hills and Roberts. One Sunday the Lifferths joined us and we had a fondue night. It was so fun cooking foods in broth and trying out different sauces. Though we hang out all the time with them we don't have any pictures together so I made everyone take a picture so we have proof that we have close friends in Memphis!

For Jed's spring break this year we decided to go down to Dallas to visit Josh and Kayla Hagen. It was only for the weekend but we had such a fun time seeing Dallas and spending some quality time with great friends. We visited the Perot Museum, we did a scavenger hunt downtown, we ate incredible fried chicken and tacos, and enjoyed a beautiful day at the park. On our down time we watched the Olympics. We had such a fun weekend and it was so great getting out and exploring a new place. On our way home, we stopped at Little Rock to do a quick hike and stretch our legs.  It was short but pretty difficult. It was Porter's first "summit" and we look forward to many more in the future.