Livin' the Larson Life: July 2011

Grandma and Grandpa Larson’s House

This past Spring, Grandma and Grandpa Larson moved in to an old 1910 farm house up in Lewiston. It is a gorgeous house, with a porch that I’m quite jealous of. The girls had a fun time playing at their house, with Natalie’s favorite being the garden (she wanted one after seeing her Grandma Beaumont’s, but now she wants one even more), and Maejae’s favorite being the brand new baby kitty.

First of all, these are just hilarious pictures. Natalie started to go through Arizona withdrawals and decided it was going to be swimsuit weather in Idaho (which, of course, it wasn’t). The girls like posing, and sometimes pretend their models.

I guess I better keep an eye on these two!

Natalie loved riding on the scooter, and took lots of trips up and down the driveway, and through the grass. By the time she was done riding, she had talked both Mommy and Daddy into taking her for a ride, and had goose bumps. Remember, it wasn’t swimsuit weather . . . nut – I don’t think she cared!

Here are Grandma and Grandpa admiring their garden (and the damage the pesky rabbits have done). I really wish I had a picture of Natalie on our first day in Idaho. She followed Grandpa out to the garden to take a tour of the yard, and the new vegetables. I quietly said to Nathan, “I hope she’s not bugging your dad.” Nathan assured me Grandpa was loving Natalie’s company. She sure loves gardens now, and thinks we should have one with strawberries and carrots. Someday . . .

Maejae was so cute with this little kitten. She would carry it everywhere, and hold onto it’s poor little neck. Sometimes she would get scratched and would cry, but that didn’t stop her from tormenting the poor kitty. I would love to get her another kitten, but we’ll have to wait until Copper outgrows his protective personality.

The girls played on the rocks with Daddy, spent time at the parks, played with their cousins, and even got to see some of her cousins play in their baseball/softball games. I think Natalie enjoyed all the cousin’s attention, and Maejae was just glad there were so many people to cuddle and carry her.

We loved our trip to Idaho, and can’t wait to go back again! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for an awesome trip.

Cour d’Alene

Nathan’s best friend lives in Cour d’Alene, so we took some time to go visit him and his wife. Riley and Nathan have been friends since about seventh grade, and he was one the groomsmen at our wedding. We all love Riley and his wife, Leanne, but wish they lived closer! Natalie calls him Uncle Riley – so maybe someday we’ll have to move to Cour d’Alene. It is beautiful there.

The water was cold, but I enjoyed putting my feet in. Leanne and I had a fun time watching some crazy guys jumping off the rocks into the water. I think I would have been too cold to swim back to the rocks, but they didn’t seem to mind.

Do you see how beautiful it is here? I loved it!

Our Month Long Road Trip

I love the NW. I love the trees, the rain, the clouds, the water all around, and the many activities there are to do. So, this June, we decided to take a trek up to visit both sides of the family. We started our trip by stopping in Utah to visit my sister and her family, and Nathan’s brother and his family. We spent our time hiking, eating yummy food, shopping, and hanging out.

Nathan took the kids on a Uncle Peter’s mini-bike. Maejae loved it, but Gavin and Natalie weren’t too sure about it. We made Natalie try, but she cried the whole time.

.The kids had an awesome time hiking, with Natalie leading the way, and Gavin running to keep up! Maejae took up the tail because she kept stopping to play with bugs, draw in the dirt, and throw rocks.

Maejae and I had quite a bit of fun jumping off rocks, jumping over rocks, and walking on the trail together. But, she eventually wanted to be carried . . . and let’s just face it – I wasn’t going to carry her while hiking and over 7 months prego.

Lucky for Maejae, Daddy is very nice, and agreed to carry her as long as she was happy. Here they are working their way up the trail, and posing for a picture.

At the end of the trail, there was a small waterfall with a creek running below it. We stopped to play in the water a bit, and take some pictures. I miss green hikes like these!

Easter Activities

Easter at our house is a little different. I always grew up with Easter baskets and a lot of Easter Egg hunts. But, Nathan didn’t, and doesn’t like the thought of making Easter something it really isn’t. So, we don’t do Easter baskets, and we don’t do any sort of presents or candy for our children. In fact, I don’t even think our kids know much about the Easter Bunny, except that he’s scary. But, we’re ok with that.

The girls know we celebrate Christ at Easter, and I think that has helped me get over feeling like my kids are missing out. Because really – they aren’t. They got to do some fun craft projects, and colored Easter Eggs. They even went to a couple Easter Egg hunts on Saturday and got some candy there. Natalie won a prize at the Midwestern Easter egg hunt, and Maejae got lots of chocolate (her favorite). So, all in all, they didn’t miss out on anything. Come Easter Sunday, we were able to relax, play a few games, have a nice dinner, and just enjoy our family after church.

Natalie’s Princess Castle

Pregnant Sisters . . .

This is my sister, Shelly, and her beautiful 6 month pregnant belly! And that’s our awesome mom in the middle. And then that’s me, sportin’ my tiny basketball stomach at 5 months. This is one of my favorite pictures of my sis and I . . .

The Train Park–A very late blog.

On Grandma’s last day here in Arizona, we took the kids to the train park. It was a little warm by the time we got there, so we enjoyed some time in the sprinklers, and got nice and dirty. I’m pretty sure the kids loved every minute of it.