The Larsen Family

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission!!

2010-07-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

I have known all my life that someday my parents would go on a mission. It has always been about when, "the time is right". They have been VERY actively involved in the care of both of their parents for the last SEVERAL years. They informed us a few weeks ago that the papers had been sent and NOW was the time. It didn't seem real until YESTERDAY...we got a call at 8:00AM saying that their call had arrived. We gathered the troops and headed to my parents house. Dad passed the unopened call around to all of his Grandsons and talked to each one about where they hoped they would be called and how many years away they would be opening their call. Jansen wants to be called to Brasil, Kole to Japan, Trey to Mexico, Jarren wants to go to "Mickeys house", Jordan wants Australia and, Drew wants "a mission!!". It was a very special morning for all of us. The call was opened and they will be serving at BYU Hawaii in Honolulu!! We are very excited for them. We know that Hawaii has some great Missionaries coming their way. We will miss them SO much but we are thankful for their willingness to serve the Lord and for the example they are setting for our boys. THE CLINCHER...they recieved the call yesterday and will report to the MTC on JULY 12TH!!!

We LOVE you mom and dad---or should we say Elder and Sister McKell!!!

Tonsilectomy take "TWO"....

2010-07-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

Kole had his tonsils out at age 2 and Drew just followed suit. He had to have some dental work done and because of his age they opted to put him under anesthesia. We decided, and our ENT doc concurred that this would be a good time to get the tonsils out too since they were COMPLETELY blocking off his throat. This all took place last Thursday and it has been a LONG week. Drew has been a great sport but there is no question it has not been pleasant for him.

We love you Drew!!!

FLORIDA

2010-06-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

Our latest family adventure was a trip to Florida. We only stayed a few days but we all had a great time. We could have done without the humidity! I didn't post many pcis from Disney World because it is hard to get past the fact that we all look like sweat mongrels. Boy were we glad to be back home to our wonderful DRY heat! John spent some preparation time getting little movies downloaded on the iPod and we were off. Kole and Trey were great on the plane as always and now that Drew had the iPod filled with Mickey Mouse Club house he was an ANGEL!! John likes to take pictures of where we stay BEFORE the kids tear through it just so we have a memory. We were contacted by HILTON on the phone one night about 6 months ago--don't know why I answered-- anyway, they wanted us to come try out this resort to see if we would be interested in a time share through them. I insisted that I would need to talk with my husband and get back to them. However, by the time I got them off the phone I had managed to upgrade the studio to a 1 bedroom with full kitchen and King size pull out bed for a mere $136.00(TOTAL) for 4 nights!!! I decided I would tell John later and book the vacation. I think the place turned out to be pretty nice. THANKS Hilton for a great vacation BUT NO THANKS on the time share!! Kole has been practicing all month for a play that he will be in the first week in July. He was very disappointed that he had to miss two practices in order to go to Florida. The only way we could get him home in time for practice on Monday was to fly into Las Vegas and put him on a shuttle home. The shuttle had only space for ONE which meant he rode solo while John and I took Trey and Drew for their first Buffet experience at the LUXOR. Needless to say they thought it was pretty wonderful.

Spring Has Sprung

2010-05-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Drew helping dad fix the sprinklers. It was so cute, he just sat there for about an hour talking to John, looking in the hole, not being any trouble. Cute as a button.

John and the boys on the first fishing trip of the season--Kole said the last time he caught a fish was when he was "about 4 years old" Ouch dad--that hurts. That's not to say they don't go, they really do, John insists it's not his skill it's the locations they choose.

Kole and Trey are finally "big enough" to help mow the lawn. I can't say it looks professional by any means, and John or I usually have to go around and get the stray sections of long grass, but it keeps them busy, teaches them to work, and the excercise doesn't hurt either.

The next few pics are of Kole and some of the dance skills he gets from his dad.
(not sure what move the kid in back of Kole on the left is doing)

These pictures are all taken at cousin Jansen's birthday party--looks like these guys think they're too cool for the party.(They really did have a great time!!)

Drew contemplating how fun it could possibly be to crawl inside giant Spongebobs mouth...

All tuckered out--too tired for the cake.

New York

2010-03-04T12:37:00.000-08:00

Since I Had nine days off at one time, we decided it was a great opportunity to take a family trip somewhere. The votes were cast and New York won! My dear friend Mandi lives there so we called to let them know we wanted to see them while we were in town. They were so kind, they told us to ditch the Hotel and come stay with them. Our boys were so excited and off we went.....

First stop--ice skating in Central Park--one of the boys favorite activities of the whole trip.

Hey--someone had to sit out and sip hot cocoa!

Shake Shack after ice skating--who doesn't crave a milkshake in sub-freezing temperatures?? Look at the kids--they don't seem to mind. Mandi's twin girls Abbi and Emili--so cute!

We went to "The Museum" from "Night at the Museum" all the boys cared about was finding Dumb Dumb--well, we found him and were exhausted afterward. We'll have to go back just to have time to see more.

Drew and Claire--cute little "bed head" buddies!!

On our way to the Statue of Liberty--

Lets call this photo "Wind-whipped" It actually turned out to be a theme for our time in the city.

The boys on the Staten Island Ferry!

More "Wind-whipped". You get the idea!

Kole with Lady Liberty--we're obviously not pro's at wearing beanies--what can we say?

John is more...frugal shall we say than I am at times.. in all of our walking He suddelnly told us to stop for a picture. We had found ourselves smack dab in the middle of the financial district. Note: Wall St."sign. What the picture doesn't show is that I am at this point wearing John's shoes and he is wearing mine. It was my effort to convince him that a taxi was in order--he didn't look the Wall St. part let's just say.

The boys.

Mary Poppins on Broadway with Abbi and Emeli. They all loved the show. Trey was getting a little drowsy during the first half but his eyes popped wide open when the naked statues came alive and started dancing--hello people, this is a kids show!!!

Time Square with the girls--the pics a little blury but cute.

Try keeping track of 4 kids in this mess!! I loved it!

Taxi rides were one of the highlights for the boys.

Another highlight--I didn't bother telling the boys we have an M&M World in Vegas.

On our way to the "Top of the Rock" ( Rockefeller Center) Trey looking up--we were going pretty fast!

Top of the Rock--Amazing view, this photo (nor any that I took) doesn't do it justice.

Eatin some NY pizza on the curb in a parking garage after a long day--don't worry, we bought that curb with the $$ we spent on parking!

John building a snow man with no gloves--go John!!

Drew had to borrow most of his winter clothing from the girls.

Trey and Drew

Kole

The whole adorable gang!!

Thanks to the Peo's for a wonderful and memorable week!! We'll see you in DC!(ha ha)

Cabin Fever

2010-01-16T22:39:00.001-08:00

In the fall we went to the cabin on 2 different occasions about two weeks apart. The first weekend was conference weekend. It is such a peaceful atmosphere, the weather is perfect, and the boys get to squeeze a little fishing in on the side.
Oh, and I can't forget one of my favorite conference traditions..fruit pizza..with John in command on the finishing touches--yum yum!

2nd trip to the cabin...

2010-01-16T22:37:00.001-08:00

Our next trip to the cabin we were on a mission. About 3 years ago my parents took the whole family to Disneyland for a few days as a "pre-payment" for helping re-roof the cabin. We thought we were off the hook as the years passed one after another, but my parents didn't forget, they cashed in this last fall!! Dustin fell off the roof, and John fell as far as the scaffolding which "broke" his fall. No one got hurt and the new roof looks great thanks to the crew leader Corey(my cousin) and his expertise, that guy is up at dawn, back off the roof at mid day on the dot(for lunch of course), then works till dark. It was a great weekend with food, family and fun. John did get out of work on the 4th day, claimed he was sick. It only turned out to be the SWINE FLU..oh fine, I guess he can have the day (or 7) off.

Halloween

2010-01-06T09:09:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween!! Oh wait, looks like I'm a little late on this one too. I tried the whole day to get Drew to put a costume on, no luck...

Kole's Baptism Day

2010-01-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

Kole was baptized on Septmeber 26, 2009. We are so proud of him for making this decision. He sang "Baptism" and did an excellent job. We had so much family and so many friends who came to support him. I know it meant a lot to him. It meant a lot to John and I. He was baptized by John. Grandpa Gary and Grandpa Earl were witnesses, Grandma Eileen and Aunt Tiffany spoke about baptism and the Holy Ghost. Where does the time go???

One at a time.....

2009-12-31T19:07:00.000-08:00

I will attempt to update but judging by the last time I blogged this could take awhile.

First up...HAWAII. We only took approximately 900 pictures. To save time and expedite the update process, I will just post them to a web album(not all 900) so you can take a peak at the fun time we had. (I narrowed it down to 253 pictures, some of ours, some of the ones Grandma and Grandpa took. You may start to feel like you're looking at them twice. Enjoy!

Hawaii 2009 Pictures

click on above link to view pictures!!!

Hawaii, here we come!!!

2009-06-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

We are so excited and we feel so lucky that we get the chance to take another family vacation to Hawaii. This year will be a little different and a little longer. We are leaving Friday the 12th of June and will be staying 1 week on the island of Kauai. John's parents will join us there which will be lots of fun. The next week we will meet up with my family on Maui where we will stay for another week. The boys are very excited. Just imagine, beautiful ocean and beach, super fun 3 acre pool with a special play area for toddlers that features a pirate ship and cute dolphins they can climb around on. . . oh yeah I forgot to mention. . . . .

While mommy (that's me) was at her Emergency Nurse Pediatric Certification course, little Drew was innocently. . .

When along came 85 pound big brother to do a slider roo (it's a word). This was on Grandmas ground level tramp so he came running from the other side of the grass building momentum with each stride. Needless to say, little Drew got bounced a little too high and Grandma knew right away something wasn't right. Please note, it IS a rule that when baby is on the tramp, no one else is unless they are just sitting.

Hawaii will still be fun, just not quite what I had imagined. Drew got a waterproof cast which I think sounds cooler than it really is. You still have to worry about letting it dry out completely, here in La Verkin that wouldn't be a problem. The air is a bit more moist in Hawaii.

Lucky for us, Drew is a good sport as you can see by his cute pictures, Kole feels awful and I really don't think it will happen again. Wish us luck!!!

Brotherly Love

2009-06-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

What the boys love.....

2009-06-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

This is what the boys love to spend most of their time doing. They remind me every year that they would really like a pool in the ground that is bigger. Sorry boys , not until I get my dream house.

Santa

2008-11-29T15:50:00.000-08:00

Joseph Play Pictures

2008-11-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

JosephPlay2008

Kole and Trey are in the High School Production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." They are part of the childrens choir. This has been a very big deal especially for Trey. If you are familiar with his personality you know that he is extremely shy. I have been holding my breath at each performance waiting for a major show stopping meltdown. We are down to the last day and it hasn't happened yet. This is a good thing. I think part of this success has come from Kole being such a great big brother and making sure Trey is by his side the whole show, and the other part is due to the fact that the lights make it hard to see how many people are watching. I wish he had a little bit of a clue that there is an audience since it may have prevented one night where he had at least a 3 minute long nose picking session on stage. It was a moment where it was all I could do to sit in my seat and watch. Luckily for him he never has had the thought to eat his boogs. Oh well. Life goes on. You can click on the picture above to view more photos.

ADVENTURE AWAITS

2008-11-05T22:58:00.001-08:00

One thing the boys LOVE to do it go on hikes. This is Kole hiking Angels Landing in Zion for his 3rd time, and Trey on his 2nd time around. This is the last hike they went on with Grandpa Earl and Grandma Sherri before they left on their mission last year. What a memory. We love and miss them so much!!! Enjoy the pictures.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!

2008-11-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

I know it has been awhile since my first post. Maybe it is fear of the unknown blog world, however, after 4 months here is post #2. This post will consist of many random pictures. I will probably do that for awhile as I play "catch up" for those of you who I don't have day to day contact with. Oh and another thing, my camara broke so most of my pics will be from my phone camara, not the greatest clarity. Be patient...it takes John months sometimes to research any electronics we end up purchasing.

Isn't Drew cute!!

Me and my baby!!

This is Drew a few days ago at Trey's pre-school Halloween party. All the footage of our halloween this year is on the video camara, we'll get it on here soon,..., I mean, someday.

It never, well, almost never snows in La Verkin and when it did, the boys had a blast. This is last year but the pics are cute.

My new job!! Well, as most of you know, I finally completed school and I am officially a Registered Nurse! Thank you to my family and good friends who helped with the boys while I accomplished this life goal. I am now working at Mesa View Regional Hospital in Mesquite Nevada. It is about a 50 minute drive but hey, no kids, radio up....it's not too bad.

We had some time before catching a flight home, so we decided to take the boys to the top of the conference center. It was our first time up there. It was beautiful and the boys had a good time. Trey is a little camara shy....

Kole and Trey on their first day of school..

2008-06-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

The newest addition to the Larsen family, Drew Alan Larsen. basically I am just testing out how to blog. It should get more exciting with time.

The beginnings of a blog

2008-06-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog, therefore, it will be short. See.