Annual Cabin Trip

Every year for the past few years, we rent a cabin/hotel (whatever seems fun) with our friends. The criteria for such a place are the following: needs to comfortably accommodate 8 adults & 8+ children, have snow, snowmobiles, and close enough to get to. This year we rented a nice little cabin near Heber City, Utah. Not a tedious or long drive for us, but far enough away to call it a mini-vacation.


We cabin-nobbed with the Hughes, Jorgensen's, and Jobes. It snowed early that day, and we had a huge snowstorm the weekend before. Lots of snow === lots of fun. It was a lot of fun.

Look at how much snow there's been!

To get to the cabin, you needed 4-wheel drive or chains. Thankfully we have our Trailblazer and not our tiny Corolla. Everyone was able to drive up to the cabin except for the Jorgies. It took the men about 20 minutes to decide which vehicle and who were going to go down and get the Jorgies (who were waiting in the lower parking lot). In the end, all 3 men--Tom, Cam, & John--decided to go. John was going to take their ford (front wheel drive with front chains) which had enough room to shuttle the Jorgies up, and Cam & Tom were going to follow in Cam's Truck "Optimus".

They left excited about their mini-adventure. I looked out the window about 10 minutes after they 'left' and saw Optimus still in the driveway. I thought nothing of it. I thought they were only a tiny bit stuck. Another 10 minutes went by and there was Optimus in the same place with Tom running towards the cabin to get a shovel. Someone was definitely stuck. Turns out, John was unable to make a turn and got stuck in a snow drift of some sort. Optimus couldn't get out cause John's car was blocking part of the driveway. After 30 minutes of digging, packing snow, and sly maneuvering the manly men were able to get the car out of the hole and somewhat out of the driveway. You're probably thinking "YAY!!! The car is unstuck!" Unfortunately, it was even more stuck.











However, it was enough out of the way for Optimus to exit the driveway and get the Jorgies. On Saturday, the men were able to get the Jobes' car completely unstuck.

The kids had fun playing with each other despite tears and misunderstandings. They enjoyed playing in the snow.

Noah & Ben

Mikey, Claire, & Isaac.
Ike would not sit up. He was a limp noodle in that sled.

The best parts of the trip were when the kids were in bed. :P

Bed time boys!

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching Benjamin and Isaac play with the other kids, but it was nice to just hangout with our friends without having to worry about ending the night short because the babysitter needed to get to bed. I enjoyed talking/catching up with the girls.

Tom had a lot of fun snowmobiling with the hubbies. There were no major injuries on the snowmobiles (thank goodness). From their report, the boys didn't get into as many 'stuck' situations like they did last year. However there was that ravine and Cameron meeting each other unexpectedly. :P

Unfortunately, I had my bouts of headaches, nausea, and just plain pregnancy annoyances. It didn't make the trip any less fun, but I'm sure next year it will be even more fun. I'm more than grateful to the girls. They let me to take a nap while keeping an eye on my boys. Thank you, girls!!!!


I can't wait till next year.

Oooooh!!!!! On our way through Heber on Center Street, we saw the coolest (figuratively & literally) tree in someone's front yard. Enjoy!!!!

Elder Bubs, Farewell!

Tom's cousin Ryan aka BUBS entered the MTC (Missionary Training Center) this past Wednesday. He is called to the Texas Dallas Mission. :) Just thought I'd announce that. The whole family is very excited and proud that he choose to go on his mission. We're sad as well. Benjamin and Isaac will miss him very much at Family Dinner and other occasions.

For those who aren't familiar with the LDS/Mormon Faith and want to know more about us, I suggest going to this website: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here's a brief explanation about LDS Missions (taken from the MTC website):

Missionaries dedicate 18 months to two years to missionary service. Approximately 52,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are currently serving as full-time missionaries. They are called to serve in one of 334 missions in approximately 120 different countries around the world. Missionaries begin their service at a Missionary Training Center, where they prepare to become messengers of the Lord, bringing glad tidings to families around the world. As representatives of the Church, missionaries believe that people throughout the world can obtain life's greatest happiness from following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Now for pictures. YES!!!!! PICTURES!!!! On Monday, we went to Jump on It! for Family Home Evening. Bubs and Leilani, Melissa and Bryce were there as well. This outing was mainly for the boys to spend one last time with Ryan before he left on his mission.

Ike Ryan Ben

Please be aware that our camera's shutter speed is slower than molasses. Thus the pictures might/will be fuzzy. A new camera is on our wish list, but until then. . . C'est la vie!

Look out for that crazy kid, Tom!!!! She's about to pounce on you.

Jump Jump Jump!!! Ben and Ike has soo much fun jumping and sliding, running around the huge trampoline area. Tom had he's share of fun as well.

Again, please be aware that our camera's shutter speed is slower than molasses. Thus the pictures might/will be fuzzy. A new camera is on our wish list, but until then. . . C'est la vie! :P

Okay, Last Post of the Day. . .

I know you've been bombarded with news and tidbits of our lives today. I've only been feeling better now (2 weeks after the end of the holiday Trifecta) to be able to post the wonderful things I've posted. Okay, they MAY not be wonderful, but they ARE interesting none-the-less.

Right before we left for the playhouse (this is on New Year's Eve), Benjamin comes running up the stairs in the garage and tells Isaac (quite forcefully) that Ike shouldn't come into the garage because there was a scary bird with sharp claws and beak that bites. (whew! longest sentence ever--in this blog.) Tom and I exchanged that parental "yeah right" or "What a wonderful imagination our son has" look.


But lo and behold, Benjamin was telling the truth. There was pigeon who decided to spend the night in our garage. At first Tom and I were baffled. How in the world did a pigeon get into our garage?? AND how long has it been staying here?? We were fearful it had a broken wing. Fearful in the fact that we had no idea what to do in that case. Luckily, the wing wasn't broken. Unluckily--for the bird--he/she/it had what looked like a broken leg. She/he/it/whatever was fortunately able to fly away. So here are a few theories on how that bird ended up with the broken leg and thus decided to take refuge in our garage:

1. A cat. Yes a cat. There are many outdoor cats in our neighborhood. Everyone here seems to LOVE cats. We think maybe a cat may have pounced on our poor bird, but was unable to finish the job.
2. Mean teenage boys. Why do we say that? After some sleuthing, Tom found an air-soft pellet casing next to some (well a lot) of blood near our garage. You put two and two together.
3. It's part of the Pigeon Gang of Provo, and some bad stuff was going to go down the night before. It needed an alibi. So it broke it's leg and randomly flew into an open garage that was closing for the night.
4. There was no pigeon at all. Just a trick of the light.
   

Regardless of what happened, we now have a pooped stained corner in our garage.

Okay, I'm am done for the day. It's already 2008, and I'm already behind. :)

Happy New Years everyone!

Larson Family Reunion

The Larson Family Reunion kicked off the 28th of December. Who was all there? Is that what you said? I'll be more than happy to tell you. :)

Neil & Judy

Dave

Lora Beth
Tom & Aimee: Benjamin & Isaac
Jim & Cindy

Vaunee Ann & Jerry
Millie
Ryan
Janel
Karen
Heidi

Mary Lou & Jay
Sean & Angela
Robin & Brad
Ryan & Lailani
(Please forgive me Lai if I spelt your name wrong.)
Melissa & Bryce

FYI: All names are organized under each Larson sibling.

It was great seeing the family again. It was a shame I wasn't feeling all that great to enjoy all the festivities, but we had a lot of fun. Let me tell you that these reunions are filled with stories, games, laughter, and indecision. . . .

Indecision? you say. . . Let me explain: Everyone in the clan is an intellectual, well-versed individual. When deciding what to do, we go through all our options, the alternatives to those options, the alternatives to the alternatives, and then some. For instance: During Friday Night dinner, we were deciding if we were going to go tubing down some hill in Soldier's Hollow and hot potting. What if some wanted to go skiing that morning? Or would it just be easier to find a local hill and go sledding instead of driving 35 minutes to go tubing? Or should we just go hot potting and go sledding some other day? What were the details involved in tubing? in Hot Potting? On and on we went. It took us forever to agree on the activities (I think it was a good hour of discussion). :) Aren't we wonderful!?!

I, unfortunately, only took pictures of the family while we were at Soldier's Hollow; and most of those pictures were of Benjamin and Isaac. What can I say? My boys are cuties!

The reunion was great. We all went to Desert Star on New Years Eve. It was a blast having the whole family there. I definitely enjoy it when the Larson Clan gets together to Pow Wow. :)

Benjamin's 4th Birthday!

Can you believe it's been already FOUR years????!!!! There are times I sit down and wonder where all the time went.

Our oldest son, Benjamin, turned 4 on the 27th of December. And guess what?!? He got a mini birthday party. :P He's friends Mikey and Gavin came over to help eat cake and celebrate with him. The Benson's, Hughes, Grammy, and Jimdy were there.

I think Ben's favorite activity that day was the making of the cake and blowing out the candles. He is such a creative, imaginative, persistent, knowledge-soaking kid. Tom and I are truly blessed to have such a lovable compassionate son.

When our friends left, the family had fun "chewing the fat" and playing with the boys. Ben and Ike sure like to play "Ride that Horse!"

Christmas 2007

I want to wish all a very Late, but VERY sincere, MERRY Christmas!!!
I hope every one's Christmas and New Years was delightful and full of friends and family.

Our little family enjoyed our first Christmas in our new home. Christmas decorations were hardly present this year. I won't go into details on why nothing but a tree went up.--Isn't our tree adorable?--BUT I will say that seasonal decorating can be way overkill when you have nothing in your living room.



We opened presents, had our Christmas pancakes (yum!), and took naps. :P It was very enjoyable. Nothing much to report. :) Ben and Ike enjoyed opening presents.

After every opened present, Ben would exclaim, "I've always wanted one of these!!!"

It took Ike a few presents before he gotten the hang of opening gifts.

He was more interested in Benjamin's presents than his own. On the other hand, Benjamin was more interested in Isaac's presents than his own. Strange how sometimes we (as parents) get little things like gifts all wrong. :) I am happy to say I now have Kitchen shears!!!! I'm still excited about them. (Side note: I know Tom is probably chuckling as he reads this. He had no clue his 'appetizer' gift would be the hit of the day.) Tom finally got his It's a Wonderful Life DVD.

After our loverly naps, we went to Grammy's house to spend a wonderful evening with her and Jimdy (Aunt Cindy & Uncle Jim).

Here's Grammy reading If You Give a Moose a Muffin.
The boys enjoy stories as much as they enjoy sweets.

To Benjamin!

Benjamin graduated to Level 2 in swimming this past Friday! Woohoo!!!! After 9 weeks of Level 1 swim classes, Ben is finally moving on to the next stop on his Swimming Journey. I thought this day wasn't going to come for awhile--Ben hated getting his face wet. I'm so proud of him. He doesn't mind putting his head under water. AND! He loves to swim (dog paddle) around the pool by himself with a pool noodle tied around his waist.

It's amazing to me how fast he learns and grows. He's no longer my baby. :( Now he's a great helper, loves to play with Ike, and has an imagination that runs wild. He's a sponge that soaks up every little, trivial and non-trivial thing. Soon he'll be in Kindergarten, then high school, dating, college, getting married. . . *sniff* The cycle of life continues no matter how much--sometimes--I want to freeze time and keep Benjamin and Isaac at this age. :)