Life Like This

So, it's busy season. Eric is on day 12 of working 19 days straight, Saturday and Sunday included, so that about sums it up around here. The kids have been great and well behaved despite suddenly losing their dad to the work abyss. Because Eric had to work last Sunday, he wasn't able to come to church. Of course, it was Stake Conference and I just wasn't feeling up to chasing two kids around the wood floor for two hours by myself, so we had mini primary at home. A few days later, I was reading Scotty a story from the friend about a girl who discovers that her new friend doesn't go to church. After a little tension, the story resolves by the girl deciding that she can be friends with people even if they don't go to church. I asked Scotty what he thought about the story and about being friends with all kinds of people, and he thought for a minute before replying, "I think that's a good idea. I will still be friends with daddy, and he can still be my daddy, even though he doesn't go to church."

You miss one day and you're out around here, apparently!

Fortunately, Eric had two weeks off for Christmas before busy season kicked in so we had time to do lots of fun things.  Like the train park (complete with 2 different playgrounds, a carousel, a train museum, and a train ride).

And the zoo, where the bear was actually moving around. And then trying to break the door down....

And of course, Eric and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary in best way we know how: college football. The Insight Bowl (Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Oklahoma Sooners) was played in Tempe on the 30th so we took it as a sign.

ASU stadium

We ended up sitting on the Oklahoma side. Up in the boonies :)

Cadets from the Air Force Academy did pregame jumps

Some of the few who stayed till the end! It wasn't a very even game....

Thanks to mom and dad for watching our kids overnight, Grandpa Woodhouse for the giftcard for dinner, and Grandpa and Grandma Gould for the extra Christmas cash to help with the tickets :) I'd also like the thank the Iowa Hawkeyes for finally scoring in the fourth quarter to make it more resemble a bowl game. we had a great time!

Are you ready for some football?

It's no secret that we're football fans, especially college football fans. This year, we finally treated ourselves to cable (specifically Dish Network) and DVR. It seems like a splurge, but it's actually much more family friendly. No more Saturdays crowded around the computer trying to listen to the tiny speakers over the noise of kids. The kids need something? Pause. Watch it later. Record it and watch it in half the time by skipping through commercials, injury time outs, etc.

 Plus, our newest football fan is adorable.

Go Cougars!

What a Wonderful Week!

We had a jam packed week of fun in Colorado, with only a few pictures to document the awesomeness. We drove in on Thursday and Friday, and stayed up talking Friday night. Saturday morning was the sealing, luncheon, family naps, and reception. Then the party began! We sent Bekah and Grant off on their honeymoon, and April and I bailed with the kids while everyone else stayed to clean up. I figure six kids and two moms are more of a liability than an asset so we just got out of the way. And had lots of time to chat and hang out while waiting for everyone else to finish cleaning!

we plan for them to be roommates at BYU. Look out, class of 2031!

they are actually 3 months apart, but Ella was 6 weeks early and Alyssa has a ginormous head

 We stayed up playing games where I had the most winning night of my life, beating April at Nerts (though we both lost to Stephen and Emily) and winning BOTH rounds of Apples to Apples.

FHE with all the grandkids

Later in the week Eric took the boys to the aquarium so April and I could get crafty. We also headed down to Colorado Springs to tour the Air Force Academy campus, which was amazing even though it was freezing cold. Scotty loved the time with his Peeta (aka Grandpa Larsen) and seeing all the airplanes.

cold weather = a great excuse to wear baby Uggs and a strawberry hat!

the amazing chapel

this bench is reserved for prisoners of war and those missing in action

hey look! a real life cadet!

On Thanksgiving, everyone but the moms and babies headed out for our traditional Turkey Day Bowling. It was nice to have a little peace and quiet, to be honest, and we made some stellar pies while they were smacking things down with bowling balls. Eric tells me that Scotty was so excited to go and would anxiously watch his ball roll slowly down the lane and rejoice when it hit anything.

Kids can make everything much more fun! Dinner was fabulous and overflowing with food, and we had some good game time while listening to the kids watch "What About Bob?" in the background. It was wonderful to see family, especially Grandpa, though we missed Grandma Gay and it wasn't quite the same without her.

Friday night we headed out after the Auburn/Alabama football game, but only made it as far at Trinidad, Colorado before calling it a night. I thought out driving schedule would be contingent on the weather, but we ended up planning it around college football. So thanks, Boise State and Nevada, for making the much longer than planned Saturday drive worth it :o)

All I said was "Smile, Alyssa!" so obedient.

The best part about the whole trip is that I wasn't super sad to leave, as we're all getting together again for Christmas! My list of "things to do" just keeps getting longer and longer. I love Larsen time!

Farewell to Provo

Pictures galore!

WOW I have lots of pictures and videos from our many adventures, but I know most of you aren't that interested in every detail, so I'll just post a few...but yes, mom, the next post will include a slide show of EVERYTHING just for you.

Uncle Drew and Aunt Misty gave Scotty a whirly-go-puke for Christmas...he even had fun putting it together. So far he likes to dance to the music and surf...

Scotty started to figure out "Christmas presents" by the end of the week and would tear the wrapping paper by himself. He also though stockings were pretty cool, especially when they contained cookies for him. He even helped us decorate (and undecorate) the Christmas tree. Because Charlie bought such a tall tree, Leanne had to do a decent amount of hacking to fit the angel on top. Scotty kept finding pieces of Christmas tree on the ground and trying to put them back on...

We got to spend good time with family, including crashing with Grandpa Don and Grandma Gay a few times to watch football. We also taught them how to post comments on blogs, so this is your chance to strut your stuff!





Of course, we watched lots of football. Our favorite games were TCU vs. Boise State and the Sugar Bowl.






I had to post this next picture, but it requires a good explanation first. We headed over to Reed and April's to watch the BYU game and eat fabulous homemade pizza. Eric's dad, Charlie, worked late and grabbed some munchies from the store on his way out. Walking down an aisle he saw lemonade and grabbed a six pack to share. When Reed went to open it he noticed it wasn't just any lemonade, it was "Mike's Hard Lemonade"--meaning it's alcoholic! For the rest of the night we had to keep stopping unsuspecting football watchers from cracking one open...


We got too busy to return it right away, so the boys decided to wrap it up for Christmas and put it under the tree. So here you are dad, happy Holiday Five-pack :o)


We took advantage of the relatively warm weather and lack of snow by seeing lights at a local botanical garden. Charlie bought these awesome 3D glasses for $1 that made all the lights look like snowflakes. Plus, you look really cool wearing them. It was a fun little date for Eric and I as well.

Saturday, Charlie took the big boys to a hockey game, where the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Red Wings in a shootout. We took the little boys to see Zoo lights, and after convincing Scotty to keep his gloves on, had a great time.













Scotty's favorite part was the giraffes--he craned his neck all the way out the door to keep looking at the really tall spotted things with lumps on their heads. We also got to meet an elephant up close...he actually sprayed water at our feet! We all gasped and jumped out of the way, as it was WAY too cold for a shower.

Scotty also had a great time eating at "A Perfect Landing" the restaurant at the local small-plane airport. Great food and the kids love watching the planes take off. It was also nice to get to get a whole family picture.


Eric and I also celebrated our third anniversary! We headed to downtown Denver and stayed the Capitol Hill Mansion bed and breakfast. We also ate at Rodizio's, watched some football, and toured the Capitol building.

Well that about sums up a great two week break! Just a few more videos and one last comment: I was officially crowned the Nerts Wizard, and I'm wearing that sash proudly until one of you gets good enough to dethrone me!


April helping the boys ice skate:

Uncle Stephen is so rad:


Grandma Larsen taught me a magic trick:

I'll admit it...

We cheered for Utah the entire game.

and suddenly all of the commentators are Ute fans...

A world of adventure...

well I brought my camera to Colorado and am taking some wonderful pictures and video...but don't have my camera cord so no pictures here until we're back in Utah.

The past week has been filled with traditional Larsen activities: NCAA football video games for the boys, a LAN party playing Command & Conquer Generals, a billion games of NERTS (I was crowned "NERTS wizard" a few days ago and am considering retirement to preserve my sash), intense games of Acquire (Eric would like the world to know that he beat dad, Reed, and Meg all at the same time--complete victory that may never again be repeated....;o), and lots of chasing boys around and eating junkfood.

We've also crammed quite a few outings into the week already. We took our nephews ice skating for the first time, saw the lights at the Chatfield Aboretum, went to Zoo Lights at the Denver Zoo, watched the Avalanche beat the Red Wings in a shootout, saw a few good college football games, did a family temple session, took a girls shopping trip, and watched the first three episodes of the John Adams documentary special, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the Nativity Story, Robin Hood, Get Smart, Hoodwinked, and lots of Judge Judy.

We even got a few hours of sleep here and there.

Hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas and a *SAFE* new year.

Fun things...

My two favorite boys:Aren't they so cute?! Eric took Scotty to church on Sunday because I was sick and they happened to dress the same... (Scotty's also showing off his new shoes--check the bottom of this post) So, overall it was a really fun weekend for the Larsens. (we'll ignore the frustration of a certain Saturday event).

Friday for date night we used a 2 for 1 coupon for a BYU hockey game and brought Scotty--and he loved it! For all the drama we've had with football this season it was anyone's guess, but he did great. He found the stairs to be perfect sized Scotty chairs, so he sat on his own most of the game and stomped his feet, yelled, threw his arms in the air, danced to the music, flirted with the girls on the next bench.... He's starting to learn the "Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah" end of the cougar fight song which is hilarious. I'll have to catch it on video one of these days...

Saturday we went to this amazing cabin up Provo canyon to watch the game with our ward. This place was HUGE and gorgeous, with a home theater and lots of stairs to keep Scotty entertained.


He was pretty content to play with toys and get tons of attention, but occasionally he would wander off and we would have to go searching--his favorite place to hide was the walk-in shower in one of the MANY bathrooms... The game was frustrating, but hey, we couldn't have picked a better place to watch it!
For once I remembered to both bring my camera AND take pictures, so welcome friends!

This was an intense round of boxing as a halftime workout. The best part of this was Christine laughing at me everytime I swung the bat in baseball--but I won so I don't know why she found it so amusing ;o)Some of my favorite girls! I realized that I have like 2 pictures of my Provo friends...LAME.

In other exciting news, I've been entering giveaways the past few weeks. I got the idea from Deanna, who recommended a few sites. I have the buttons on the side bar of my Meg Magic blog if you're interested.

Anyway, I won these adorable baby shoes!

Who would have guessed that baby shoes would cost $40, but they were free so hey, Scotty is livin' it up in style now!

Blue and White Week

So, if any of you are around in Provo during the day and looking for something to do, head up to campus! From 12-1om every day this week BYUSA is sponsoring Blue and White week in honor of the football game on Saturday...

So far this week Scotty and I have gotten blue gushers, popcorn, blue cotton candy, blue powerade... Scotty got a little help from me and Cosmo to throw a football through the backdrop hole and win a shirt for me :o) He also got his picture taken with Cosmo and the cheerleaders. Talk about a lucky little boy!

Hope to see you all there. Scotty gets a lot of attention cuz he's so cute and little. And a total flirt...you should have seen him with the cheerleaders today!

What a weekend!

After a recruiting dinner (and an Italian Soda buffet!) on Thursday night, we headed out early Friday morning for Colorado. As Scotty only took one nap the entire week, I thought for sure he would crash in the car. WOW was I wrong...he slept for maybe 15 minutes, and only because uncle Stephen was petting his head! Still, we all managed pretty well for four adults crammed into a small car around a car seat. Scotty was determined to defend his space, and kept pushing aunt Bekah out of the way and yelling "no!" at her for encroachment.

Friday night we hung out with Eric's parents, watched 27 dresses, watched the latest episodes of The Office, and ate a ton of food. Saturday we slept in a bit and then headed out to Reed and April's. We left Scotty with his three cousins and drove out to the Air Force Academy for a great football game. We had fabulous seats, only met very polite fans (though I'm sure we drove them nuts with our yelling and chanting "Unga unga unga chunga"...it was our last football game as students!). You may notice that there are absolutely no pictures in this post! That's because I forgot to pack our camera. Lame, I know.

After the game (and napping in the car on the way home) we played games with family and ate some amazing food with Reed, April, and the boys then tried to get some sleep before our drive home on Sunday.

Driving in a car for 16 hours in one weekend tells you a lot about your kid. I for one, learned that Scotty thinks pig noises are hilarious. Even for hours. I also learned that hysterical giggles are always better than whining, and yelling is particularly loud in a confined space like the backseat of a car. I also learned that I am extremely grateful for McDonald's play places, and that fairly gross food is worth it if it keeps your kid entertained.

A moment of silence...

This blog will now observe a moment of silence for the travesty that occurred Thursday night.









Tomorrow is another day, and BYU football lives on in our lives and hearts.

BYU football....

notice the lack of exclamation points in this post. i won't even dignify this game with comment. (and group--thanks for the party--we just shouldn't have left after the third quarter because that's when it all went downhill!)

BYU 34 USU 14

5 Happy Things

I thought I could use a little more sunshine in my life this week, so here you have it.

Five things that make me happy:

1. My Cute Monkey. *almost* everything about him makes me smile, but my current favorites are how he baby mumbles and it sounds like "ba-Jamba Juice", how we waves bye-bye by flicking his wrist instead of moving his fingers, how he "buckin-bronco" rides pillows every time I make the bed, and how he puts his own diaper in the trash can every time I change him. My MOST favoritest happy Scotty moment today is how he brings me books and actually wants me to read them to him! I'm such a book junkie that it made me nervous that he didn't like books except as occasional chew toys....
2. Social activities! I don't know how I would survive being a SAHM without all of the groups and friends I have so close by. Thank you to everyone who comes to craft group, ladies day out, etc. and lets me drop by at random--you're a credit to my sanity :o)
Last week we had a "pamper yourself" enrichment including manicures by girls in cosmetology school and it inspired me to make a little change, so I gave myself bangs...

3. The sound of the key in the door--it means Eric is home! He is great about helping out at home and playing with Scotty, but there's something extra in knowing he's home for the day and I can get a break (or a nap!) if I need one. I love you, Eric! Scotty also loves it when daddy comes home because it means the door is open and he can make a dash for it.

4. Instant food. I love food, but some days it's just not on the priority list, so having instant food is tremendous. Even better when it's healthy, like grapes! But I would have eaten ice cream if our freezer wasn't empty...


5. BYU football. What can I say, it's our last year, they have a great team, and it drives my anti-BYU family nuts! :o) Seriously though, we have a good time at games, even if Scotty is not a fan. Our current motto is "Go Big or Go Home" and we apply it to everything, including school spirit and playing Ticket to Ride online.