Good bye 2011!

Mommy and I have been talking about our final post of the year a lot. She was completely unsure about how to proceed. Last year we did a summary of our year but this year Mommy kept feeling like there were other things she needed to post. Now that we're actually sitting down to post, turns out Mommy can't remember ANY of what she wanted to post....the irony.

Maybe quickly we'll highlight the week since we've posted! We had a wonderful rest of Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We got great presents from them. Flashlights of our own and a tunnel to play in! Mommy also got full workout gear for teaching Group Kick. (Doesn't she look a little scary?)





We mostly just spent the rest of the week playing off and on with family. We've spent a lot of time with Aunt Becca and it's been fun. She went with us to Jumpin' Jacks (also known as the Frog Store/Place) and helped us have SO MUCH FUN!



And our doggy and our kitty (who is still on probation and can be let go without notice for the next 30 days...) have developed a serious bond...

Where's the doggy?



Oh there she is...



Now it's seems appropriate to do a small summary of our year. It's been a great year....

In January, we spent a lot of time with family. Mommy and Daddy played LOTS of Mario on the Wii. And we started the year out with snow!

In February, Mommy got called to work with the youth in our church, we played outside A LOT, Daddy ran in a half marathon, we went to the zoo and the aquarium and I got to go see a gymnastics meet at the U. Oh and we bought a new car!

In March, we enjoyed warm weather, went to California and did Disneyland, the LA zoo, the Long Beach aquarium and played with Grandpa Great and his dog Chloe, and then our Romney cousins!

In April, Daddy completed his first triathlon, I went on my first backpacking trip with Mommy and Grandpa, Grandpa turned 50, Mommy had a birthday and our Preslar cousins came and stayed with US!

In May, we started enjoying the lake and hot weather and we went on a HUGE Disneyland trip with our Preslar cousins and stayed with our Romney cousins and basically had a huge party all weekend. It was awesome.....oh and Mommy started a new job with Dr. Graf.

In June, we had a lot of family time with Mommy's cousins and uncles and aunts. We saw lots of little puppies in Midway at Double Grandpa's house and of course we played at the zoo and had cousin time in SLC.

In July, we got to go see Ariel on Stage (awesome!), I learned how to be brave and jump and swim in the pool (mostly with floaties) and Cara turned TWO!

In August, we enjoyed a terrific trip up to SLC and played at a great water park with Oma. We also went on our second annual camping trip (it rained...) and we tried out the new St. George carousel!

In September, we hiked, we played, we swam (a lot!), and Daddy completed an OLYMPIC distance triathlon! And hello! I turned FOUR!!

In October, we did a lot of fun Halloween activities and spent most of it dressed up. We went to Moab for a weekend with Daddy's awesome friends and they ran in a half marathon together!

In November, we reveled in a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving because Uncle Marty came home from his mission two days before but we also did some crying as we lost Grandma Great a few days before he came home. We did the traditional Angel's Landing Hike and I was amazing and so was the weather for once! And we also added a cat to the family, named Gadget (or Toothless or Jorge or Giorgio or Gadgeter depending on when you ask me). Whoops and Daddy had a birthday in there too.

In December, we said our goodbyes to Grandma Sharon and celebrated Christmas in every way we knew how. We took our Christmas trip up north and loved spending our first night (on purpose anyway) at the Preslar house. Mommy also got a new calling (too soon for her) to be in charge of Singing Time for Primary.

It's been a good year for our family and we only hope that 2010 can be just as awesome!

Merry Christmas!!!

Good morning and a Merry Christmas! Santa came to my house and I was so excited! This was the first year that I came into Mommy and Daddy's room before they were awake. I couldn't sleep when I woke up in my igloo that Mommy and Daddy had built for us. At first, I thought Santa hadn't come because I didn't see the presents on the couch...which is why I woke up Mommy and Daddy! But they showed me where my stocking and presents were! I got a CAMERA! Mommy will help me post pictures later but I just wanted to make sure I got my Merry Christmas wishes out there!!!

Okay we've downloaded some pictures and made some progress including going to church and kind of cleaning up our mess. :) I am going to let Mommy take over and do a guest post from here:

Christmas Eve was pretty much a laid back kind of day. We invited Eric and Becca over for waffles and bacon which was nice until it resulted in all our smoke alarms going off and not stopping. We finally had to unplug them all. Then Pete helped me slick up the house including mopping with my new Shark, something I hadn't done since my old Shark broke (and lets not talk about how long ago THAT was.) Somehow that got us into a cooperation spirit and we delved into making our girls an igloo to sleep in. (Down comforters are great because they already have that white block look!) Of course they loved us!



We then made the trek over to my parents house and enjoyed the annual Christmas Eve pizza and a hot tub. (Ironically I just realized we do the EXACT same thing for New Year's Eve....). It was wonderful and the girls got their new jammies.



We tucked them into their igloo WAY past their bedtime and got everything set up for Santa. And then tucked ourselves in but not before checking in our penguins.



Cara gave a little wail over the monitor at about 2:30 am and so I went and pulled her from the igloo and tucked in to my side. And then at about 5:45, I felt Pete spring out of bed and I began to realize that we were once again being assailed by our smoke alarms. Siena made no movement through the whole thing. She did however come open our door at 7:30 which surprised me because I hadn't heard any noise from her room. She whispered to us, "Mom, Dad, there are NO presents under the tree!" She sounded very disappointed. (A funny side note, Pete's dad told them every year that Santa hadn't come and that they had been robbed and there were no presents. He found it pretty funny that Siena seemed to be playing the same joke!) We pulled a crying Cara out of bed and trudge into the living room to show Siena that Santa had come, the presents were just tucked on the couch!

Siena had asked for a "Purple Camera" very specifically from Santa which had made Cara ask for a "Pink Camera", unfortunately all Santa could find was a "Pink Camera" for Siena. This resulted in Siena and Cara being confused about whose present was whose and they kept saying the pink camera was Cara's. (We've straightened it out now..) The usual flurry of wrapping paper commenced and I think the girls had a very satisfying Christmas. Check out their loot!





We attended our church meetings and enjoyed a lovely sacrament meeting in which both Siena and Pete got to participate in. And of course we had to attempt at least one family picture in front of the tree especially since the girls have such lovely dresses that I ADORE (and paid too much money for..let's be honest...) I remember having a hard time getting these same pictures last year!

Larsen Family!

This is the fun card we did with my Mommy's family! Merry Christmas, From The Larsens!

Holiday trip up North!

We did it! We went up and visited the frozen tundra known as the Salt Lake Valley!

Of course we hit the zoo twice despite the fact that the temperatures were barely at freezing.






We also played hard with cousins and friends. We got to have a sleepover at Romney, Chase, and Emma's house and our friend Ruby's! It was a great trip full of fun holiday stuff. Thanks for the waffles and movie, Aunt Rachel. Maybe next time we'll do it in St. George where there is never any smog!

Family Pictures

We took family pictures back right before Thanksgiving and they are finally all ready to go and we got our prints and our Christmas Card and Mommy is VERY happy. So here are our fun family photos!

First some pictures of me :)



This is the one Mommy and Daddy picked to get a big copy of



Now some pictures of that stinker, Cara.



This is the big one of her



And now a lot of pictures of us and Mom and Dad



Our favorite that was made big



And for the finale...the best picture ever taken of Mommy that probably captures her best:

Winter is here...um I mean fall?

Last Sunday we woke up to a splendid sight...you would think a fresh blanket of snow wouldn't you? Isn't that what most people love to see...my Mommy is not most people and she would be happy for maybe a moment.... No we woke up to a cold morning that meant that all of the fruitless mulberry trees in our neighborhood had dropped their leaves all at once. And their leaves are HUGE. It was a very fun morning walking to church making leaf angels and wading through huge piles of leaves on the sidewalk. In fact, part of our neighborhood's road was COVERED in these leaves, so much that you couldn't see the road!





And of course, Mommy and Daddy are in to the full swing of Christmas. We've been watching Christmas movies since Thanksgiving (we've seen The Santa Clause probably 30 times...it's Mommy's favorite.) And Daddy had Uncle Eric and Uncle Marty and Uncle Marty's awesome friend Craven help us put up our lights this year...



Didn't they do a great job?

Just kidding!! That's not our house. They really did do a great job though! That house is a famous one around here. Everybody loves to drive by it. They get it all done up every year. We love how our house looks though!

The Funeral

Disclaimer from Mommy: Please forgive me if you find the documenting of my grandmother's funeral offensive. I wanted to capture this moment in time like any other, as it was a celebration of her life. That does include at least one picture of her and her casket which I found beautiful....





Grandma, yesterday we finally had the opportunity to pay our respects and acknowledge your life. It was beautiful. The weather threatened to be snowy and bitterly cold but we were pleasantly surprised with a crisp mostly sunny December morning. My mom arranged everything wonderfully. Uncle David was able to finally make it and Aunt Teresa came with Uncle Rick and Kathy. You had friends come and share their memories and their love. You will be greatly missed by your Kmart shoppers!





The graveside service was poignant and touching. Your daughters loved you very much and spoke of how much you had taught them. Marty reminded us that we will see you again and that our Savior made that possible.





Pete played the cello for you to help send you home. I hope you were able to be there and listen.

Grandma, we love you. Siena insists that her doggy, that she took from your house, go with us everywhere, including your funeral. She had it kiss you for her.





And of course it was nice to be able to be with family. I enjoyed seeing Kathy again and picking out your final resting place with my Mom and sister. The girls love it...they get to see horses like the ones you used to work with.