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Christmas Part 2 – Larson Style!

February 2, 2010 at 7:26 pm · Filed under Family Updates/Events

I know, it’s a little late to be posting Christmas but I really just haven’t had time!

On Sunday afternoon we headed out to the Larson parents house, where everyone but my oldest brother Darren and his family were able to make it. (If you guys read this- we missed you lots!) When we got there we opened some presents from Grandma and Grandpa and the Darren Larson family (who had our names this year). Thanks everyone for the great gifts! My parents gave us a food saver, it’s supposed to help out with food storage and such…looks awesome, can’t wait to give ‘er a try! Russell’s big floor puzzle was a hit – we’ve already assembled it a few times! And of course Bryn loves her Littlest Pet Shop stuff!

Ash being a stud

Monday we headed out to the sugar bowl for some sledding and had a great time! Ok, well at least I did! The kids were whining and crying that they didn’t want to go sledding, but we forced them to so that mommy could go down a few times! I love sledding! I also love hanging out with my brothers and their families, so that was another reason we went. Bryn ended up going down once with Justin and I managed to coax Russell to go down with me a few times. And even though he laughed both times, he said that it “made his tummy feel funny” so he wouldn’t go willingly one more time. Oh well, when it looked like the kids were freezing, Justin took them back to the van so I could hang out with my bros. Despite Justin’s urgings to stay as long as I wanted and have fun, I felt guilty that they were all waiting for me and just went down a few more times. After sledding was done, the rest of them were going to grab something to eat and go swimming, but Justin and I just didn’t have the energy to take our kids that day, so we just headed back to Grandmas house.

Me and Russell - he looks a little scared

A few years ago, I’m pretty sure it was at Christmas time, we (and when I say we, I mostly mean my brothers cause they did most the work) anyways, we made a hot air balloon. Our attempt several years ago was successful – we used a dry cleaning bag attached to a Styrofoam plate with candles on it (roughly). However, as it got higher in the air and started floating across town, our excitement turned to panic as flaming pieces of the styrofoam plate started falling to the ground! We ran as fast as we could stomping out the small fires until finally the balloon came down. Phew! I think it was this memory that made my mom forbid us “kids” from doing it again this year. However, we are over 18 and chose to go ahead and try again anyways. THIS time though, we had a “safety string” attached!

So we found a bag and attached the bottom open end to a half a pop can. Inside the pop can we made a bunson burner of sorts…rolled up cardboard soaked with fondue fuel! Our first attempt didn’t fly, and neither did the third, but the second try was a success! I was going to put up a video of it, but can’t get it to work. Here’s a pic…

Home-made hot air balloon

That was our project for the year… The kids had lots of fun staying up way too late playing with their cousins. We adults played a new game Blokus which is really fun and kind of addicting. It’s a strategy game, but definitely involves some luck! We also played lots of Bananagrams – my family enjoys word games. If you haven’t played those games, you ought to!

Bryn!

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Christmas Part 1 – Holladay Style!

January 4, 2010 at 6:43 pm · Filed under Family Pictures, Family Updates/Events

It’s hard to believe that another Christmas has already come and gone! We started out on the 23rd of December at Justin’s parents house. All of Justin’s siblings were able to make it out and we had a lot of fun with everyone.

Christmas Eve we had a massive fondue for supper…very yummy. Normally we read and have the kids act out the Nativity and things like that, but this year everyone forgot! Russell and his cousin were asking to go to bed at like 7:00 so they opened their Christmas Eve pjs and were in bed and Russell was asleep soon after…no talking or goofing around, he just went right to sleep. Bryn was a little more difficult, and Asher was up until probably 10-ish, but gradually they all got to sleep. Us adults stayed up playing cards quite late – “Shoot the Moon” in this case. Justin’s family is different than my family in a lot of ways…one of those being that his family doesn’t seem to get as excited about things (including holidays – which is ironic considering their last name) as my family gets. Perhaps we just have different ways of expressing our excitement? (I haven’t quite figured it out yet.) In any case, Justin’s family is really nice and we enjoy hanging out with them. What I was going to say though was that sometimes it’s hard for me to hold in my excitement in order to fit in with the rest of them…but I think I did ok.

My kids are usually up by 6-ish but of course Christmas morning they sleep till 7:30! Why can’t they do that other days? Russell had asked for a telescope and a few books for Christmas and all Bryn wanted a pink doll (they both got what they wanted). Santa had no idea what to get Asher, but he did ok in the end…everyone was happy! Even I got a nice hoody and a touque with gortex around the ears…NOW I’m prepared for Canadian Winters!! (Well, I guess I still need boots, gloves and a coat…but heck it’s sure nice to have warm ears!) Oh and we got socks…Justin and I traditionally get nice wool socks in our stockings! Justin got a shirt and scarf as well. Justin’s parents made us some more of those bean bag cookers, and are also replacing our Temple clothes that were stolen out of our car, so we’re excited about that.

Bryn opening her beads...this present is a favorite!

Russell hugging his telescope

Asher got some cool trucks from grandma and grandpa.

Christmas Day was beautiful weather wise, so we spent at least a couple hours out there playing. They had a huge snow drift (many actually) and my father-in-law and Justin and the other brothers made a pretty sweet slide down it…complete with stairs. They also helped the kids dig a tunnel through another drift. And what visit out to the farm would be complete without quad rides?? Not this one! Driving around in the snow made my muscles ache the next day…I had to hang on tight! Almost got thrown off it a few times!

Me...heading down the slide!

Justin on the quad.

More quadding...that's me and Justin (check out my sweet new toque).

Russell in the tunnel.

Justin’s sister, who is prego, had come with their little girl who happened to be sick. When we went to bed Christmas night, I was awake all night listening to his sister make trips to the bathroom…apparently she got sick too. At about 4 in the morning, Asher threw up, and continued to do so throughout the night, and by morning I was feeling quite ill. A night from H E double hockey sticks for sure! We got our things together quickly and headed home. The original plan was to go to Stirling but we ended up staying home for a few days instead, to make sure we wouldn’t pass anything to anyone else at my parents house.

To be continued…

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November Highlights

December 5, 2009 at 9:17 pm · Filed under Family Updates/Events

Wow, it’s been so long since I posted something on here! It’s not that I don’t think about it, I just haven’t had time lately! Where to begin…

Nov. 8 – Happy Anniversary to us!! That makes 6 filled years together! I’m trying to remember what we did that day…oh yes, it was a Sunday. I likely spent the morning doing the mom thing and doing last minute preparations on my YW lesson, did the church thing, and yeah, that’s pretty much it! We haven’t even gone out for dinner or anything yet to celebrate…we should really get on that! OH…how could I forget! We don’t usually get each other gifts on our anniversary, and actually, I shamefully admit that Justin has gotten me something more often that I have for him. Such was the case on this anniversary as well! He bought me an iTouch! One of the biggest reasons I wanted one of those was so that I read scriptures and conference talks without kids ripping pages out of my books. Don’t get me wrong…I like some of the other apps too! But yeah, it’s been so nice to have everything right in my pocket, wherever I go. The kids think it’s pretty fun too…we put some math, reading, and other apps like that on for the kids. Russell mostly likes to look at the maps, weather, and the APOD (he’s on a geography/weather kick right now). Bryn likes to practice drawing letters and play on the piano app. Anyways, it’s quite nice to have.

Nov. 19 – Happy Birthday Justin!!! Now officially 28 – he’s catchin’ up to me! We didn’t do too much for his Birthday…he was at work all day. When he got home we had some birthday cake and sang to him, but it was pretty low key. I took pics, but can’t post them, I’ll explain that later.

Russell also had a field trip that day, but was quite nervous about it. It was one of the first ones I couldn’t accompany him to, and they were taking a bus to the Galt Museum. When he woke up that Thursday morning he said, “What day is it?” I said, “It’s Thursday!” He said, “Oh maaaan! I was hoping we could go right to Friday and skip this day!” He told me he wasn’t going to like it, but he actually did really well…loved it even!

Nov. 20 – Justin’s staff party, and I must say it was waaaaaay different than any staff party I’ve ever been to! I remember going to the Sobeys staff parties when I worked there, complete with the alcohol and the type of environment that entails. Those were always interesting to go to, but definitely not the type of environment I like to put myself in. So to go to Justin’s party where the Bishop of the town was present and said the opening prayer, conversation where we could actually hear each other without yelling, and a fun little “get to know the staff” game at the end….was quite a change! I was sure they were going to open it up for a little testimony meeting at one point! No skanky dresses, no loud drunks, no foul language, and when we got home, I didn’t have to throw all my clothes in the wash and jump in the shower to get rid of that smoky alcohol smell! (Though let it be said that I did always have an enjoyable time associating with my co-workers…we had a lot of fun together!) Anyways, everyone was so nice and friendly – and Justin is loving his job, so it was great!

Nov. 22 – The Primary did their presentation in church. Russell had been doing his part in the practices so I was hopeful that he’d come through for the real deal…which he did! He did awesome! It was so cute to see him up there singing the songs, and even funny in between when he’d pop up and wave at us or give a thumbs up to his friend sitting on the front row bench. Well at least it was all fun and cute until at the very end when he started signing “donkey”! Why must my boy go and make a “donkey” of himself on stage?? I asked him why he did that and he said he was telling his teacher how we wave goodbye to Grandma (Larson) when we leave her house. And yes, she knows we do that and waves the same thing back…it’s not something we do behind her back! I won’t explain, it’s a long story…we’ve done it for years probably!

Nov. 25 – I had the opportunity to sit down with Russell’s teacher Joy and have parent/teacher interviews. I got a good report…she said he is “very knowledgeable about many things” and is just doing really well. Her only concerns were that he didn’t know how to zip up his coat, and that he is shy and doesn’t play a whole lot with the other kids yet…at recess he likes to sit with the teachers and talk. So, I taught him the other day how to zip up his coat, and it really doesn’t bother us that he doesn’t have a lot of friends right now. We don’t think it’s too important to have a lot of friends at that age – I’m sure the friend stage will come sooner than I’d like anyways! Besides, he plays just fine with the friends he does have when we go to their houses or they come to ours…we’re not worried. So yeah, we’re glad he’s doing so well, and that he enjoys it for the most part.

Nov. 26 – Russell had an appointment with his cardiologist (Dr. Harder) in Calgary, so Bryn and Asher spent the day with Grandma while we went to that. The report was good! Russell checked out fine, and we were only there for 2 hours! That’s got to be a record time for any hospital trip we’ve taken! And we don’t need to go back for another year.

I had been so excited to do some Christmas shopping in Calgary, so we had a list of stores we were going to go to and had borrowed my parents GPS so we could find them faster. We started out just stopping at the Deerfoot outlet mall. After we had been there for a while, we went to take a bag out to the car (we had taken Justin’s parents car that we’re borrowing for Justin to drive to and from work every day), we found that we had been robbed! Someone had broken into our car and stolen all of Justins school bags and books and laptop, our digital camera, my parents GPS, and they even got into our trunk and stole all our Temple clothes! We were (are) devastated! Hence, no pictures for this post

We’re still waiting to hear if insurance covers anything, or if we want to even make the claims (depending on if it makes our insurance go up).

Russell got pretty scared when the whole thing happened…cried really hard when I told him grandmas GPS was gone. He loved looking at the maps and plotting a course from two places. When we went to the Police station in Calgary he was looking exceptionally sad so one of the police officers took us back to show us the police cars and motor bikes – that made him feel a bit better. That was really nice of them to do that. Then the other day I had driven with the kids to one of our friends house to drop something off, and so I was just going to run in. Russell said, “What if some bad guy stoles us?” I told him I was just running to the persons door and that I would be right back – he’d be fine. He said, “Maybe we should make a big sign for our van that says “No

Strangers Allowed!!” ” Maybe we should! Has anyone ever tried that before?

Those are the highlights of the month…hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with the posts a little better!

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Huge news!

November 7, 2009 at 11:03 am · Filed under Family Updates/Events

Just over a week ago, Justin was interviewed for a job in Glenwood. On his way home from the interview, they called him on his cell phone and offered him the job! Woooohooooo!! We are so excited to finally have work! He’ll be teaching Grade 5 in Glenwood. Although he would prefer a couple grades higher, we are really excited he’s in the Westiwinds Division, as that is the division he really wants to teach in. So hopefully this is a good “foot in the door” job for him. He’s covering for a maternity leave, so it’s just contracted till the end of the school year. But that’s ok…its something! He’s been kept quite busy with subbing up until now as well…we’ve been SO blessed!

We don’t really want to take Russell out of school, and it is a temporary contract, so we will most likely not make any big moves. However if rent goes up too much here, we won’t be staying…at least in this house! We’ll see how it goes and make our decisions carefully and prayerfully. Just the fact that getting out of this tiny place is actually going to happen (even if it isn’t for a little while), makes living here more bearable! Like there’s light at the end of this very squishy tunnel! Things around here are really different (extra busy), as I’m trying to adjust to Justin’s 12 hour days. We hardly ever see him anymore! As soon as he gets home he tries to spend some time with the kids right before they have to go to bed, and then he’s back to work on the computer preparing. I expect it’ll be crazy like this for quite a while. This past week was especially hard though cause I was sick for 3-4 days. No, not with H1N1…just the regular flu. Bryn had some high fevers there for a little while too, and Russell and Asher had colds, but we are all feeling somewhat better now.

In other news…Russell made me proud the other day. In Kindergarten he’s been going to gymnastics – only 4 times, but I was a driver for their class, and it was a good thing. Russell is quite shy and needs a lot of encouraging to believe that he can do anything. Especially when it comes go going to new places and trying new things. Anyways, such was the case at gymnastics. Long story short, he absolutely refused to go in the foam pit every time…like he’d start crying even when I just wanted to talk to him about it. On his last day there, I got him to go in! Woohoo! (Ok, I’ll admit, part of the reason I wanted him to go in so bad is because that is the only way I would get to try it! And yes, it was fun…although since Russell would only stay in one place and hanging on to the foam blocks for dear life, I wasn’t able to climb around in it like I had hoped!) But on the other hand, I was actually really proud of him for going in and just trying it. Small as it seems, it was a big accomplishment for him! I only had my cell phone with me so the pics are pretty bad but it’s the best I could do.

Gymnastics - doing some stretching

In the foam pit!!! (If you look close at his hands you can tell he's hanging on for dear life!)

Getting his medal

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30!!!

September 18, 2009 at 7:55 pm · Filed under Alana, Family Updates/Events

My birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!

On Sept. 6 I officially left my twenties! I feel so old! Actually I don’t, I still feel much like a, well, a spring chicken must feel! But when I say, “I’m 30″ – THEN I feel old. It seems that everyone dreads turning 30 (or 40 or 50..), and I got to thinking…why is that? My conclusion is that there were a few people who started to “boo hoo” on their 30th birthday, and then everyone just thought, “Hmm…that must be how I’m supposed to feel when I’m that age!” And so the tradition continues on – everyone feeling sad at 30. My dad on the other hand, he looks forward to turning another year older. And though it’s true that he “goes against the grain” (to put it nicely) in some things (aka – idiosyncrasies *it’s ok if I say that, he’s my dad) I definitely appreciate his optimism…I think that’s how it ought to be!

Well, leading up to my big day, I’d talk to Russell about it, and pretend to be all sad that I was going to be 30. Every time he would say, “Don’t worry mom…that’s not old!” Thanks Russ! But then, the day before my birthday, we were having the same conversation and he said, “That’s ok to be 30…that means you can weigh more!” I said, “What? What do you mean?” Russell said, “Oh, well when you get older you weigh more!” Hmmm…never thought of it that way….bring on the cake!

Bryn and Russell chowing down on my cake

My birthday was on a Sunday this year…which really isn’t my favorite day to have a birthday on. I do love the Sabbath, but not particularly at this stage of life. It’s just soooo much work and I never just get to sit and listen and soak it all in. I consider myself lucky if I can close my eyes for one whole prayer during the three hour block. If I didn’t know how important it was, and that the church is true…there’s no way I’d torture myself like this! Anyways, in the morning I opened a few presents (thanks Justin!) and then spent the rest of the morning trying to prepare a lesson for YW – I had to teach ALL of them that day. I decided I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It being the first Sunday of the month, we’d be meeting with the RS first, which would take up 20 min or so, and then I was going to leave 10 min at the end of class for testimonies. Well, it went as planned…all up to the part where RS took up 20 min. When we left to go to our class upstairs, the Bishop was there! He said, “Mind if I sit in your class today?” I didn’t say out loud what I said inside, and he ended up sitting in. Lucky me…Bishop there, me not overly prepared, with a lesson on what else but personal purity…no pressure! Oh, and my object lesson broke so I couldn’t finish that either, which I counted on taking up some time. Sheesh…what a disaster! I’ll probably get released soon.

Ash loved the cake too....of course

After church we headed out to Stirling for my favorite meal of all time….at least in the summer time. A meal straight from the garden – potatoes, beets, carrots, peas, and chicken (not from the garden). Mmmmm! The previous day, Justin had bought me a birthday cake from DQ (seems to be a tradition since I don’t really want to make my own cake), and that was delicious too!

I was talking to a friend of mine and she was saying that when you turn 30, people respect you more. While I could always use a little more of that, I’ve been told I don’t look like I’m that old. I’ve stopped pulling out my grey hair – maybe that will help! But let me just say this – if one more person asks me for photo ID with my credit card….I’m seriously gonna LOSE it!! That really, really irritates me…I’m 30, for crying out loud! Do I look like a thief? Huh? Is that it? *Deep Breath* K, I’m ok now. Anyways, 30 isn’t that bad…feels much like 29 and I’m guessing 31 would feel.

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The best “un-camping” I’ve ever done!!

August 23, 2009 at 7:25 pm · Filed under Family Updates/Events

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go!

Every year, Justin’s family goes camping at Pole Haven. They take the quads and horses, and have a great old time! Normally we join in the camping, and pay dearly for it the next day (or week), but this time I had to put my foot down. Justin will be mad if he sees this next statement, but since our kids don’t read this I think it’s ok – here it is: I HATE CAMPING!!! Well, let me clarify, I hate camping IN A TENT! When we get a trailer, with a bathroom and heat, I’ll be more than happy to go to the mountains and camp as long as he wants! But until then…no thanks! Seriously though, it’s so much work for such a rotten sleep, which makes such cranky kids (and parents)! You go through all that trouble to pack 500 pairs of clothes for everyone, just in case it’s hot or to make sure no one will get cold, or just in case it rains, or just in case someone gets wet, or has an accident. We put up the tent, unroll the sleeping bags, pile on every single blanket we could find in the house. See where I’m going with this? The nights are crazy…everyone freezes, or if they don’t I’m awake wondering if they are, freezing myself, hoping I don’t have to use the bathroom during the night… One or more of the kids inevitably cries most of the night, and I end up in the van with them, starting it to warm us up every 15 min, driving the other campers nuts! PLUS – in the morning, when you’re dead tired and in a horrible mood from no sleep, you still have to pack up everything…the clothes, the sleeping bags and blankets, and tent, etc…only to take them home and have a huge mess in the house until you can get it all put away! I don’t know about you, but I hate that job! And then there’s the “no toilet” thing… I purposely try not to drink anything or eat too much while camping, just to ensure I’ll not have to “go” in the woods. And it’s the only time I’m actually glad when my kids are still in diapers! Seriously though…who tortures themselves like this on purpose, and often during the summer time? Crazy people, that’s who! I’m sorry if you are one of them, but I don’t take my statement back. (Wow…vent much?)

Anywho, this year I boycotted the actual sleeping over night, but said I’d be happy to go out and stay as late as we wanted, as long as we could drive home after to a warm bed and flush toilets. So that’s what we did, and it was SO much more enjoyable than previous years! I love being out in the mountains, having camp fires, riding the quads, spending time with the family. And the previously rainy days proved to be beneficial for quadding!

Gettin' muddy

Bryn and Dad (Bryn LOVES the quad!)

Russell and Dad

The best part was seeing the kids have so much fun with their cousins! Those kids get along really well, and have a great time together.

Most of the cousins

Littlest Cousins

Playing in grandma and grandpas camper

Checking out the moon

Russell has been really into learning about the Solar System lately…like REALLY into it. So he had a great time looking at the moon and pointing out the craters to his sister and cousins. (Usually it’s still light when he goes to bed, so for him to see this was a treat!)

I think it was around 11 o’clock we headed home that night, and after only a few minutes on the road I looked back in the van to see this most wonderful sight:

Russell....WIPED!

Bryn and Asher....ZONKED!

We drove home, transferred everyone right into their warm beds, had a great nights sleep (the kids even slept in till like 8), got up feeling refreshed, and headed back out to the campsite for more fun! Now that’s more like it…all the fun parts of camping without any actual camping! They don’t call me Brane for nothing!! (And yes I meant to spell Brane like that.)

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Hiking with the Holladays Part 1

July 14, 2009 at 3:32 pm · Filed under Family Updates/Events

Last week we took the kids to Waterton three times. Which makes more trips to Waterton in that one week then we went all last year! And we plan to go a bunch more times before the summer is over. We’ve been going for a “short” hike each time we go, which if you know my little family, can be quite challenging! This hike I’m writing about today is the easier of the three we did. Stay tuned though for a post about a more disastrous trek up Bears Hump!

Monday we went for a hike up to Blackiston Falls. It was fairly easy and only took a half an hour or so to get there. As soon as we pulled up, in the van, to Red Rock where the trail begins, it started pouring rain. We were a little disappointed but had come prepared, so we dawned our rain coats, and had a little bite to eat while we waited to see if the rain would stop. We decided to just get going, rain or shine, but as soon as we stepped out of the van it stopped raining!

Heading up in our rain coats.

The kids did really well, we took our time and had lots of rests along the way. The trail is fairly flat, and the stroller went up nicely. (Justin was a little surprised I put up his “pumpkin” picture as he called it…but I say there’s nothin’ wrong with that raincoat! …as long as he is the one wearing it…snicker snicker) I absolutely love the scenery so I stayed at the back (not because I couldn’t keep up, though) and took some pics. There were still fresh raindrops on all the leaves and flowers, and I love that pic I took a while back of the strawberry blossom so much that I just had to try more, so here are a few shots I took:

Some leaves with rain drops

A random flower.

The kids

The kids had fun watching the waterfalls and throwing rocks in the water. We were really wishing we had brought lunch with us to enjoy right there, but we’ll have to do that next time. I love how Russell is trying so hard to keep Asher safe in this pic. He’s such a good big brother!

Waterfalls

Oh, I just realized I never put a pic of the waterfalls…

The actual falls you are meant to hike to are seen from 3 different look out points. However, if you hike for 3 or so minutes longer down the same trail you’ll come to these falls, which are amazing and you can even have a picnic there and dip your feet in the water. Definitely worth the three extra minutes!

As soon as we finished our hike and got back into the van, it started pouring rain again….was that good timing or what!

We spent two other days the same week in Waterton, so this post is

To Be Continued…

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Asher Turns 1!

June 24, 2009 at 9:17 pm · Filed under Asher, Family Updates/Events

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHER!!!

My One-Year-Old

I can’t believe he is one already! He is such a happy, cuddly, easy going boy…so fun to have around! ”Asher” means happy and lucky, so I think we named him right…he is happy and we are SO lucky to have him in our family! Asher was born on June 9, which was actually the calculated date, so he came right on time! I remember that day well…

The night before he was born I was up having contractions the whole time…and I was pretty sure it was real cause I could feel it in my back (I have back labors). My parents came in bright and early in the morning to get Russell and Bryn, but I was still talking and smiling…obviously not ready to go to the Hospital yet. But they, and Justin, insisted I go in. So I did, and I was right…they sent me on my way again. I insisted that we go out to Stirling so I could be with the kids (I hate being away from them) while we waited, so that’s what we did. Justin had not been feeling well that morning, so as we drove to Stirling I was bending over with contractions, which were getting worse, and Justin was trying to drive while feeling really queasy! As soon as we pulled into my parents driveway, Justin ran in the house and threw up. Of course, Justin couldn’t help it, but it was really bad timing for him to be sick! I don’t think we were in Stirling too long before I felt like I should be getting back to the Hospital, so off we went…again! By the time we got to the Hospital my contractions were such that they put me right into a delivery suite. Justin left for another bathroom run just as I was getting my epidural…poor guy! I remember pushing and Asher’s head just wouldn’t come down…they had me hang like a monkey over a bar attached to the bed thinking that gravity would help…that was a horrible experience! I just remember being SO exhausted – no strength left in me at all. I also remember the Dr. telling Justin (who was trying so hard to be supportive and encouraging to me) to sit down cause his face looked green. I felt so bad for him! Anyways, they decided me squatting at this bar wasn’t helping, and as soon as they let me stop that, there was progression and Asher was born! Wooo hooo! I wondered why it was hurting so bad to push him out, when I had this epidural and I wasn’t supposed to be able to feel the bottom half of my body…turns out they turned it off when I started pushing so I’d be able to tell when to push or so it wouldn’t stop the contractions! Unbelievable! I was so mad when I found that out! But anyways, there he was – my new little boy! Well, not so little…he weighed 9lbs 5 ounces!

Some of his milestones for his first year are walking, saying a few words like mommy, dadda, eat, and ball, and he can sign baby, car, airplane, eat, milk, please, and thank-you. Nice work Asher! For his party we did the usual…had the grandparents and my brother and his family that live close, and some good friends of ours come over for cake and ice cream. I don’t intend to start throwing birthday parties with friends their age any time soon. Here’s a few pics of the celebration:

Opening Presents

Here he is opening presents. We got him a little book, some shorts and a kid pool for the backyard (more of a present for all three kids). They love the pool, and even I enjoy jumping in after a long run. It’s quite refreshing! Ash wont get in unless the water is on the warm side, so we end up hauling pots of hot water out there to add to the water coming out of the hose. I’m sure you’ll see pics of this fun present in a future blog somewhere…or on facebook.

The Cake

Ash looks fairly unimpressed with his cake. ”My brother got a cool train cake for his birthday, and I get this pathetic 1 run-way airplane mess???” That’s what it looks like he’s thinkin’. I wanted his name to be spelled in the same color. Yellow wasn’t my first choice, just because it’s a little hard to see, but it worked ok. I had to open like a thousand boxes of smarties just to have that many of the same color. Anyways, that’s what it ended up as…at least it tasted good!

"Eating" the cake.

Asher wasn’t too crazy about eating his cake. I did get him to touch it once or twice though. I toyed with the idea of smearing some cake on his face and all over his chair, just so I could get “the picture”…but I guess this is his “picture” so that’s fine. I put a piece in his mouth, but he didn’t like it. I should have just cut up some fruit and put there…he’d have liked that way better!

The Ice Cream Was Better!

Grandma Larson gave him some ice cream…he liked that a lot better.

(For some reason I can’t get my words and pictures lined up tonight…it’s driving me crazy! Oh well..it’ll have to do for this one.)

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We’re Fools Either Way!

June 17, 2009 at 7:51 pm · Filed under Family Updates/Events

Well, here’s what’s been going on lately…

Last Wednesday Justin had a job interview at the school in Milk River. He’s had 5 or 6 interviews though throughout the past few months, and each of them has been a no go. Well, Thursday they called back and offered Justin the job. Woohoo! We were so excited! The only problem was that it’s was only a little over half-time job AND probably for only a year. We are so excited to get out of this tiny little place we are in, and so we were so happy about the prospects of finally moving! We took another look at how our finances would be and found that we might barely be able to afford a small house and were considering moving to Stirling (as that is only a half hour drive from Milk River). If we didn’t move, and stayed in this house, the rent plus the gas used to drive 2 hours each day would be absolutely ridiculous! So we didn’t know what we were going to do. Either way we’d still be scrapin’ to make ends meet! On Friday Justin called them back to accept the job and decided he’d go in the following Wednesday to sign the contract and get the details.

On Monday, we were going about our day, when the phone rang. It was Taber Middle School. Justin had sent in a resume for that job posting as well, and was actually really hoping to hear from them, as their job description better matches his schooling. They wanted him to come in for an interview this coming Friday! This being a full-time job, and something he wanted more, he agreed to the interview and hung up the phone. Now what? He was supposed to go sign the Milk River contract on Wednesday.

So, after some deliberation, we decided it’d be best if he called Milk River back and was honest with them…let them know that he would be having this other interview and hope they’d understand a guys prerogative to do what was best for his situation…letting him wait to sign the contract until the following week. Well, no such luck…he called and the job was revoked!

On the one hand, we had a job…part-time, yes, but still a job. On the other hand, an opportunity at a full-time job, that he’d be crazy not to at least try for! We’re fools either way! How many interviews has he had and not got the job?? Sounds like a really crazy thing to do, I know…the odds are against us! As much of a gamble as that was, we feel like we’ve made the right decision. So, here we are…jobless again, and anxiously awaiting Friday’s interview which we will most likely hear back from on Monday. Our fingers are crossed and we are prayin’ hard!

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Swimming

May 11, 2009 at 9:01 pm · Filed under Family Updates/Events

We went swimming with our friends, the Hills, oh…probably a couple weeks ago. Every once in a while I like to take the camera swimming with us – this was one of those times.

Ash in a fish

I think we’re going to have to get Ash a life jacket pretty soon. He’s starting to not enjoy sitting in those fishes as much as he used to. Actually, I don’t think he’s ever really been thrilled about sitting in one of those things, but now he is starting to protest a bit.

All three

There’s all three swimmers. Gotta love Russell’s cheesy smile. We used to be regular swimmers, like once-a-weekers but Russell’s surgeries and sickness and a newborn kind of put an end to that. Bryn is the more adventurous swimmer, but Russell is warming up to it more and more. I think Russell takes after me, I’ve never been too fond of deep water. In fact, it creeps me right out to even go in the deep end of this pool…and I can touch all the way across! So yeah, I’m slightly phobic. When I was young, the swimming pool in our little town had big thick black stripes marking the lanes and I always thought they were holes in the bottom of the pool. So it was really stressful for me to go swimming, trying to avoid these big holes in the pool that I was sure I’d fall through to who knows where if I stepped on them!

Hence, Bryn likes to swim with her dad and Russell likes to swim with me. I wonder what Ash will be like… But anyways, Justin convinced Bryn to try swimming and she did not too bad. Russell didn’t want to, but after seeing Bryn swim he got a little braver and gave it a go. He did amazing for how scared he was, so I was quite proud of them both.