Celebrating Life Together

screenshot

2009-02-23T18:24:00.001-08:00

Santa Barbara Vacation Rental

2009-02-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a screenshot of the site...

ps... if you want to come to Santa Barbara to visit me and you want to stay is a SWEET place... check out the Santa Barbara Vacation Rentals from Lynx. Seriously... go check 'em out... some are sooo sweet... Meg loves Miramar Beach Cottage the best... figures that it is the most costly ;)

First Launch

2009-02-23T18:07:00.000-08:00

i think most of you have seen this... but my first website launch happened about a week ago. It is for Santa Barbara Vacation Rentals. Check it out and let me know what you think of it...

Phillies Fan

2008-11-13T08:07:00.001-08:00

Alright guys... if you haven't seen this, you are missing out!!! What a great supporter [of his own height :) ]... great clip... smile

Dad... making himself at home :)

2008-09-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hey guys... Dad just sat down to "watch" a bit of football at our place and is making himself right at home... I love it!!! :)

Yosemite 1

2008-09-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick post for you to see an amazing pic captured on my phone! That means no zoom or anything... this is really how close we were... thought it felt closer in person than even this shows! :) Love you guys!

Guts.

2008-07-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

Hey fam. So on a slow Thursday out here in Arlington, I decided to repair/upgrade my laptop. The computer store wanted almost $700 to do what I wanted to do (add ram, replace the CD drive) so I told them to go take a hike. Ordered the parts online, gathered my courage and jumped in. 3 hours later it looked like this:

Oops. Not to worry. All is working again (thankfully) and I spent a total of about $190 on the repair... pretty proud of that.

Love you guys.

2008-06-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

Don's going nuts with Jer :)

Home Sweet Home... almost

2008-06-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hey all... check out the new place. Meg and I are so excited to move in our stuff, paint, and live in this great place. Here's a brief tour of the outside only. No interior shots because you have to come in person to check it out... a little teaser to get you up here :)

Here's the entry to our little sunny courtyard. We are naming this place "The Ambassador" (see pic below for reasoning). So if you are referring to the place in the future, I will not respond unless you refer to it as such :) Our home is on the right as soon as you pass the flowers!

Here's the little grass lawn where we can hang out in the sun while dinner is cooking and play a game of cards or even bocce ball. Yes... that is our building (our home not shown), I love that aren't going to live in a box like most of the places around santa barbara, this is a fun and unique building... kinda like Don's with his SWEET view built on the side of a hill.

Here's another look at our fountain... and oh yeah... check out the blue sun-shiny skies and the mountains in the back... we actually get a better view of this from our windows since we're on the other side of the building :)

We got the keys to our place yesterday!!!! Still weird to say "our" place... but I love it :) We're pretty pumped to get in there and start making it our own!

So come on over, kick off your shoes (or sandals) and stay a while... the door is always open (not literally... but it's always open to our friends and family...)... We love you all!

Good to think about

2008-05-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

Saw this on my friend Dana Sanders blog and thought you'd like to see it. Get out there and fail!

Andrew's first baseball game

2008-05-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest blog... Sorry for the link again, but it should be pretty easy :)

NP makes the list :)

2008-05-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

whoohoo... we made it... number 460 in the nation ain't half bad :)

What the Weather?

2008-05-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

OK... so SoCal got OWNED with the weather yesterday!!! Toranados in Riverside, flipped trains and big rigs, freeway closures... flooding everywhere... 8 ft. walls of water chugging down canyons... rock slides... mud flowing through restaraunts, golf ball sized hail in Anaheim...

Absolutely crazy... check out these pics!

Here's the LA Times article.

Armageddon???

B and R

2008-05-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

Here's some shots from the walk... good fun!

Ty and Dad

2008-05-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

Here's some fun shots of Ty and I on the front lawn.

www.larsonfam.info

2008-05-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Go check out our new website at www.larsonfam.info

Give us some feedback!

phantom

2008-04-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

another great performance from David Cook... Phantom from a rocker

Cool Rehashing of Michael Jackson

2008-03-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

Just thought you would all enjoy this. Especially Mom and Don. Love you all.

Bath time

2008-03-04T21:37:00.001-08:00

Some fun bath time pics from last night...Jeremy saw Ty in the sink and wanted a bath too! Sorry for the short posts...I wanted to get the pics up and I only have the computer when Matt is home...mine should be fixed soon though! Love you all...miss you all!

the sword fight...

2008-03-04T21:34:00.001-08:00

I love these pics! Especially the one where it looks like Ty is about to chop Jer's head off. I miss you all!

Some fun with the fam

2008-03-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

Andrew's 5th Birthday

2008-02-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

Hey Dad. We wish you were here to share the excitement with us. Here's a few pics to enjoy in your absence.

Love you, Pops!

(Cupcakes!)

(Balloons!)

(Cake!)

(The Uncle/Aunt present)

(The mess)

(The Bear takes a swing)

(Check out this form!)

(Matty steps in to finish the job)

(As does Michael)

(Pinata broken, mid-air)

(The Vulture decend)

(Ty-Guy enjoying Mammo's kisses)

Mom wanted me to be sure to also tell you that she loves you!

Miss you, Pops.
Hope your days was relaxing.

The Fam.

The Kite Festival

2008-02-16T19:54:00.001-08:00

It was such a fun day! The next post gives some of the details. All the day was missing was you!

Not a dirt bike, Michael, but we thought of you!

The bear wins the prize for cutest kite. The boys would have loved it!

What a day!

2008-02-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

We started our day with Grandma having breakfast at Perkins - delicious! Grandma and I split a veggie omlette while Dad enjoyed the usual bacon, eggs and toast. We had a great time, with the added bonus of no dishes to do after the meal!

Then we headed off for a ride in the country. It was a spectacularly beautiful day. The pictures don't do justice to the beauty God treated us to. The ground was covered in a fresh layer of snow almost too bright to look at without sunglasses. There was a moment during our ride when I felt like I was in Antarctica! We saw nothing but white snow- and ice-covered earth set against a blue horizon. I stepped out of the car to take a picture for you and I FELT like I was in Antarctica! Wind-chill factor in the open countryside is crazy!

After enjoying the country setting for a while we headed back to town for the Kite Festival. Wow! I took a panoramic video of the happenings on the lake to give you an idea of what it looked like - it's trying to upload. Hope it works! I'll attach a couple of pics as well. The community came out on this beautiful, clear, but cold winter day. They're troopers here. Grandma was out for an hour - out on the lake! She amazes me.

We wish you all could have seen the kites and experienced the atmosphere. It was just beautiful. We missed you all. But we can share the day through these pics. You can enjoy the festival and the drive from the warmth of your homes! (Don, I hear it's pretty warm even outside where you are! In the 80's? We're supposed to have a blizzard tomorrow morning!)

So when will we be seeing your gorgeous faces on this blogspot? We love you!

I don't think the video is going to work. Bummer.

Happy Valentine's Day to our kids - all 8 of you!!!!!

2008-02-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

We sure love you all!

Andrew, you wanted a picture of Pappa, Maggie and I, so here we are wishing you all a wonderful day as you celebrate how very much you're are loved and what a blessing it is to give love away!!

Kids, Dad and I are so blessed to have you all. We know that one of the ways God loves us is through the people He puts in our lives. We couldn't have asked for more than He's given us in you. We're so proud of the people you've become - and are still becoming - as you let Him mold your character. Loving you fills us so much we feel like we're going to pop! And being loved by you is one of His sweetest gifts. We wonder... as we're made in the image of God... is this how He feels? He loves us just because we are. Is His heart so blessed as we love Him back? What a good and gracious God.

We love you. We miss being able to hug you, but we're sending love and hugs through this blogesphere!

We're looking forward to seeing you soon.

It's a gorgeous day in Clear Lake. : )

2008-02-08T10:41:00.001-08:00

WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!

Miss you, too.

And congratulations, Tyler, on the accomplishment! Way to move!

Blog question

2008-01-20T07:04:00.001-08:00

Hey Michael,

I'm finding the background makes it difficult to read the blog. Do you want to change that to a different color? I suppose I could knock on your door and ask you rather than post, but hey, maybe this will get the traffic going :)

Growing up!

2008-01-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

We got a fun picture of Tyler, Daniel and Nathan today...they are all getting big so fast! Just thought I would share! Love you all!

Need a luagh??? :-)

2008-01-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

One of the most hilarious rehashings of a pop song and pop event I have ever seen!!!
Poor girl! PS... this guy is from SB! I knew I loved that place for a reason :)

In case you missed it... here is THE miss south carolina.

And without further ado... the one who mocks her well...

So much fun!

2008-01-05T13:10:00.001-08:00

Last night Gma and Gpa came over to dinner. What fun we had! Gpa was on the floor playing with the boys while Gma helped with the finishing touches for the meal. After dinner Andrew challenged us all to a game of dominos. Gpa doesn't play games!! But he joined in and had a ball. After several intense moments Gma emerged the victor! Still engaged in the battled Gpa and Andrew duked it out for second. It appeared for a a moment theat Gpa was going to take down his great grandson, but Andrew came through! What you see toward the end is the victory salute shared by Gma and Drew with a dejected Gpa in the background. It was a fun evening.

Looking forward to a rousing family game this summer!

Just had to add a pic of Ty and his mommy. What cuties!!!!! It's wonderful to have them all here. : )

Love you all so much!

2008-01-04T19:02:00.001-08:00

Oh the fun we had sledding! Mom and Mammo even got in on the action (and note the stylish snowboarding gear we are toting!) Andrew is crazy and brave on the sled. He went from the tippy top (as he called it) of the hill (the one by the ice cream shop) all by himself and made it almost all the way down to the swings by the lake...crazy man! Jer had fun too...we raced Andrew and then he took a snack break! It was the perfect place to sled...no trees to freak out mommy but nice fast snow (it would also be a fun place to put a little one on a snowboard for the first time!) Mom got some great pics of me and my boys too...thanks mom! Wish you all were here! PS... check out the pic of Drew leaning against the car...4 1/2 going on 15...he is just so cool! :)

2008-01-04T13:20:00.001-08:00

Here are some fun pics from the past 2 days in Iowa! The first is of me and the boys enjoying the warmth of hot chocolate at Cabin Coffee (a favorite Iowa hang out of the boys). Then as you can see, the boys went to sleep, tired from a long day and miss Maggie decided she was tired too and found a bed right on top of Jeremy! As much as he tortures her...she loves him. :) Then we got fed up with taking care of children and locked them in the pack and play...no just kidding! The big boys wanted to play with Ty! They love their little brother! We are really enjoying our visit...stay tuned for some fun sledding pics! Love you guys!

The Hair

2008-01-03T08:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks Ben and Sarah Coleman for making it happen :)

WOW! So much to blog about!

2008-01-03T08:06:00.001-08:00

Ok, here's some action from the Larson/Thompson Christmas Morning:

Mah Christmas Tree!

2007-12-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

Thanks, Mom and Andrew for my lovely Christmas Tree! I have it all set up in my house right next to the couch in my family room where it makes me feel all warm and Christmassy!

Love you guys,
See you soon!

We'll see you all soon!!!!!!

2007-12-17T17:55:00.000-08:00

Looking forward to seeing you. We love you all sooooo much! : )

Christmas by the Lake

2007-12-15T14:19:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful celebration of a wonderful Gift!

If you look REAL close you can see Grandma and Grandpa in the window of this building. My neighbor made this storefront into a gorgeous apartment. Her sister lives there now and, as the next post explains, Grandma and Grandpa were able to watch the parade from the warmth of her home. But they were troopers! They walked all the way from our home to Main Street, then down to the lake, then back home - in the snow and ice (uphill both ways?!)!

Love you all so much!

Clear Lake Christmas

2007-12-15T13:48:00.000-08:00

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

Jack Frost nipping at your nose...

Yule tide carols being sung by a choir...

And folks dressed up like eskimos!!

I feel like I'm part of a song!

Grandma, Grandpa and I experienced Christmas by the Lake for the first time. It was, as Grandma described it, inspiring. Just as the parade was about to start the snow began to fall. I can't imagine a more beautiful setting! We walked down to a friend's home right on Main Street. Gma and Gpa got o watch the parade there in the warmth while I tried (unsuccessfully) to get some pictures so you all could experience the fun with us.
After the parade everyone walked toward the lake to watch the fireworks. Just beautiful. Happy birthday, Jesus! Hope You enjoyed the party!

Matt as a kiddo...aka...Jeremy

2007-12-12T12:04:00.001-08:00

Who do you think this looks like? Jeremy thinks it is a picture of himself! I found this pic yesterday and thought it was fun to see. Thought I would share. Love you all.

Enjoying Your Posts

2007-12-11T11:34:00.000-08:00

hey, family!

Thanks so much for the pictures and posts. I don't have great access to the Internet here because I don't want to drop $6.95 for 24 hours of service, but all your posts get delivered to my phone so I get to enjoy them there. The I-net is a little slower like that, so commenting doesn't always work out betweeen bits of work, but I am definitely appreciating getting to checkin on ya' here!

Miami is nice. Work is good. Things going well, but I'm looking forward to coming home and seeing ya'll!

love you, family!

the hike

2007-12-10T10:09:00.001-08:00

We have to do one of these when you all are here. We had so much fun on our "hike". It was really more like a walk with a bunch of snack breaks but it was wonderful to be outside with the boys! Hope you enjoy the pics!

2007-12-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

We had fun decorating the Christmas tree...but we can't wait to pick one out with you guys when you get here! Check out this pic of Tyler...I think he was mad at the flash! This was maybe the 20th pic taken of him in a row! What a cutie. Can't wait to see you Dad, Mom and Don!

2007-12-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

What a cutie! All dressed up for Joe's wedding!

Their singing debut!

2007-12-10T07:41:00.001-08:00

Here are some fun pics from the boys singing in church last week! Sorry they are not very good quality but I have to figure out how to take pictures inside the church, they always come out fuzzy and dark. Anyway, it was so much fun to see the boys sing. Check out the first pic...Jeremy took off his shoes on stage and wandered between the microphones to see which one would work so he could yell in it! Haha. Andrew was very poised and knew all of his hand motions and words. He looked very dapper. Hope you enjoy!

some fun pics

2007-12-10T07:11:00.000-08:00

Here are some fun pictures of the boys in the hats that Connie made for them for Christmas. They are all so handsome!!! Love you all

2007-12-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, guys, the house is cute and all, but I need to see my chickadees!!!!! All 8 of you!!

We love you!

Christmas around the house

2007-12-03T20:54:00.000-08:00

We are so blessed. Home is warm, comfortable and with the Christmas music playing in the background, the only thing missing is you!! God is giving us lots of opportunities to open the home to Iowa family and friends, though. Maybe next year we'll winter with some from California! : >

We were able to light the tree in the back - make sure Andrew and Jeremy know it's part of Jesus' birthday celebration. How good it is to celebrate how good He is!
We sure love you all. : )

Christmas around the lake

2007-12-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

Hi family! It's beginning to look alot like Christmas around here! It's just beautiful. Cold, but beautiful. The first picture you see is the morning of our first real snowfall of the season. I drove over to gma and gpa's to get the sunrise shot for you. We had a storm over the weekend that dropped snow, then sleet, then rain. All the beautiful snow on the ground is covered with a thick layer of ice! It's gorgeous to look at, but a bit of a mess to be out in. They postponed the Christmas-by-the-Lake outdoor festivities because of the ice. Hopefully the coming snow will be enough to cover the ice and they'll be able to have the celebration this weekend. It should be alot of fun.

Lady of the Lake has a different look this time of year!

Love you guys. Can't wait to see you!

2007-11-30T08:25:00.001-08:00

Hi all! Just thought I would share about our day yesterday...there were a couple of memorable moments. The first (we don't have a picture for this one) was that I got in trouble with Andrew's teacher because Andrew announced to his preschool class that Santa Claus wasn't real (haha). At first I was frustrated because I had told him not to spoil the "game" for other kids but then when I talked to him I realized I was really proud of him because he was just trying to tell the kids the truth, not be a bun. He told them... "Santa Claus isn't real, Christmas is Jesus' birthday!" So anyway, I got in trouble but at least my son knows the true meaning of Christmas. Now he knows he can go to class and pretend about Santa Claus with the other kids but he is free to talk to them about Jesus' birthday too (even though the teacher didn't really like that). :)

Second memorable moment of yesterday was this one you see a picture of...Tyler's first peas! At first he got the worst expression on his face when he tasted them but then he gulped down the whole jar...except for what you see spread all over his body!

Oh and thirdly, Jeremy got into preschool! He will be starting in January in the same class Andrew was in last year...he is very excited!

So that was our day...thought I would share!

Quick Thanksgiving preview

2007-11-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

Don't worry mom (and anyone else concerned)... I will be reposting later on with a much SLOWER slideshow that has captions so that you can savor every pic to the max!!! This was just a quickie so that you could get an idea before too much time passed by! There are thumbnails that can be looked through at the end of the show using the menu provided at the bottom! Hope this tickles your fancy till the real deal shows up. Love you all!!!!

"Willfully Leaving A Perfectly Good Plane At 13,000 Feet..."

2007-11-25T03:14:00.000-08:00

A peak into our thankful celebration!

2007-11-24T18:33:00.000-08:00

What a great start to the day! It wasn't quite as warm as your hike, Don, but it sure was pretty. It started snowing as we left the house and it was cold enough that the snow stuck to the ground. Just beautiful. We let the dogs off leash at State Park. They had such a good time. Maggie is FAST! The only problem is she enjoys eating ... let's just say she enjoys eating things squirrels drop in the park. Disgusting!

Not my favorite picture of me, but the men I walked with sure are handsome!

It's beginning to look alot like winter. Peaceful beauty.
(and coooooold!)

Dean and Murielle Hess and their son and daughter-in-law joined us for dinner and the evening. The dinner was great - and we didn't burn down the house either! How was your pie, Kristen? Mine was pretty good, but I think I had too many apples in it. I needed my snitchers! A 3, 4, 23, 25 and 28-year-old snitcher!

We missed you all so much. But it was good to hear you all having fun together. Thank You, Lord. You are so very good.

Thanksgiving Pics COMING....

2007-11-23T17:48:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom and Dad,

Thanksgiving pics are coming... and there are some GOOD ones. Just posting this in the mean time because I haven't had time yet to sift through and transfer then pics to the internet yet. We took a lot. Anyways, I made a iphoto album of the highlights, so it is only a matter of time before I get back to my place and upload the thing!

At the Gibson, working tonight, so I'll be all tied up until late, but this pic is definitely one of my FAVORITES. Thought I'd share.

Andrew wanted to wish you guys a happy Thanksgiving... and apparently now HE CAN WRITE?? While he's super proficient with his name he needed a little help with a couple of the letters in "Happy Thanksgiving". I made a bunch of little boxes for him to fill in with the letters. The rest is all him... especially the late, oddly placed, impromtu signature that falls between "HAPPY" and "THANKS-"!!

Also, he has Kristen's hitchhiker's thumb. Well done, dude!

Love you guys.
More pics pending.

Thanksgiving Day Hike

2007-11-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

Hey,

This is not the "main" T-give post, but I thought I throw some pics up and share a little bit about my hike with the boys and Eli.

I wasn't one of the "key" components in the kitchen, so I was primarily hanging out with the boys today, a job I thoroughly enjoy. So we decided to go for a hike and to take Eli with us. Eli was having so much fun. We were trying to get him in the car and he was so excited he kept jumping in the part where Andrew and Jeremy were sitting and I had to get him out and put him in the back, but every time he got out, he would jump right back where he wasn't supposed to be. It was pretty funny. Anyhow, we walked up an Edison access road back near Amgen. I knew we could go there undisturbed so Eli could go leash-less. The boys had a blast. Eli stepped in a Cactus, so I had to figure out a way to get the cactus barbs out of his leg without getting them stuck in my hand. I got most of it out, so we decided to go home so I could get the rest out.

Here are some pics.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

2007-11-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

So are the pies baked yet? Michael, I can almost smell your pumpkin bread! Maybe that's my pumpkin bread I smell! I baked several loaves and Dad and I delivered them to our neighbors tonight. It was fun to visit. One gal I had just seen in passing invited us in and we had a really nice chat. Discovered a bit about who she is and what she enjoys. Turns out she's the youth director (volunteer) at a local church and she's leading a Bible study for about 6 high school kids. Another sister. God is so good as He continues to connect us with His family - and others He wants to invite in!

Grandma and I baked today. We finished the pies - pumpkin and apple. It wasn't near as much fun making the apple pie without you guys snitching! I only used 8 apples and the pie is full. It usually takes 10-12 because of all that disappears from the bowl in the process!! I sure miss smacking your fingers. : ) I know I can count on you, Kristen and Megan, to keep that tradition alive. We'll bake together at Christmas - snitchers beware!

Grandpa is doing amazingly well after his surgery. He drove to Ames today for another doctor's appointment and some meetings at Iowa State. He's quite a trooper. He and Dad are planning some serious football game watching tomorrow! Did you all get your pics in?

So Don, what time are you putting your turkey in the oven? I bet you'll be starting about the same time we are. I need a picture of the finished product!

Matt, what are you cooking?!?!!

I have our camera batteries charging so I can take some pics to share tomorrow. I can't wait to see your Thanksgiving feast. How very thankful we are for you all! We love you. Miss you bunches, but with full hearts.

Looking forward to chatting tomorrow. God bless you all as you celebrate His goodness together. : >

Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T10:23:00.001-08:00

Well it is almost time to eat. I can already taste Kristen's crisp granny smith apples smothered in cinnamon-sugar that I am going to snitch tomorrow before they make it into the oven! Mom and Dad... I sure wish you were going to be here as well... i know dad would grad some of those as well and get major busted... he's not as sneaky as Don and I ;) I am going to attempt the pumpkin bread (recipe thanks to Don's 4th grade teacher... what was her name?) but I am not promising anything... I posted on my blog a picture of some super good looking bread (I am salivating already) and i hope to live up to that! I can't wait to get the boys involved as well tomorrow... I know they'll want to help out with everything! Don's defrosting his turkey as we speak and kristen and matt... well... they're at IKEA... some things never change :) Well I will definitely post some pics tomorrow of the cooking and eating and playing that goes on here. I love you mom and dad and can't wait till you come out for Christmas... we'll have to make up some more pumpkin bread (it is NOT a one holiday food... it is YEAR-Round!!!... and I am "thankful' for that!)
Post some pics of the Iowa feast when you get a chance... or of your bread/pies/turkey/etc... that you make... we'll compare feast and share stories...

happy almost! :)

The All-Nighter

2007-11-19T16:05:00.001-08:00

It's 8 minutes long, but here's a video if you want to know what we did!

Big Jer

2007-11-19T16:04:00.001-08:00

08.16.07 Snack and Juice

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Uganda 2007

2007-11-18T20:20:00.000-08:00

Jan and I with the two "baby school" teachers

Our last day afternoon at the school
The view of Lake Victoria from the village where we stayed
Some of the older boys playing the tunes for the show the children put on for us on our last day

Some of my favorite kidos from the baby class
The tall boy with the big smile is Fred. He melted our hearts. He was one of the children that Jan and I assessed and worked with independently
Here are some of the pictures from my trip to Uganda. I had the most wonderful experience working in the schools and getting to know the teachers and students there. Jan and I fell in love with every child we met and we wanted to stay and teach for a month! I made many friends and have already been keeping in touch with them through email. The people are all so gentle-spirited and kind and we felt very welcome every where that we went. I hope to go back again and look forward to seeing many of the same people that I met. They really made an impact on my life and I felt very privileged to be a part of the work that was done there in Bethany Village.

Saturday Evening...

2007-11-18T01:59:00.000-08:00

Hey Family,

Just thought I'd post a couple of the pics from the evening. I got to go out to NP and hang with the fam. We had a great time just messin' around and eventually playing Guitar Hero. Kristen made me a steak quesadilla... which was actually a a sincronasada. It was awesome... and the best part of my night. (No photo of sincronasada included. It was consumed too quickly). Anyways, here's some pics. I love you guys!

We're thinking it's best to try and start Tyler walking up on tall surfaces... that way he'll never be afraid of heights. Good idea, yeah? Well, he seems to like the idea.

Irresistible.

In it to win it.

Little does he know his soldiers are about to get all shot up.

Flexibility is 50% of fitness.

Michael Thompson: live from Larson Platz.

Guitar Hero in training.

More swagger than Jagger.

She melts faces and blows minds.

Style is half the game. It's a good thing no one got a picture of my kick.

Focus is the other half.

Bob Dylan: 1964... scarf? jacket? hat? NICE.

Rockin' the Caspah... on medium.

Love you, Mom and Dad! Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Going to the Pumpkin Patch!

2007-10-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun at the pumpkin patch today! There were hay bails and sunflowers and plenty of orange and white pumpkins. We had fun walking through and found two of the most adorable pumpkins...pictures of the carvings are coming soon...
P.S. I think that the two of us should live on a farm. Maybe we could even grow pumpkins ;)

Hit that.

2007-10-28T23:50:00.001-07:00

So I thought after telling y'all about the bull we shot I'd post a couple pics. This was down about an hour outside of Tecate in Mexico.

The camera you see in this first sequence is little 16mm camera called an "i-mo". It's housed protective crash-case. Just as we hoped, the bull had no intension of sharing his space with the camera. The guys in the ring are trained bull-handlers (more commonly called "idiots" by people with half a brain). Their idea here is to taunt the bull until he charges and then run for cover. Sounds like a brilliant choice of occupation to me, but hey, whatever you're into...

Setting the camera...

Calling (unnecessary) attention to one's self...

"This land is my land..."

"... it isn't your land."

Little i-mo keeps on truckin.

Most of the time the bull would stay on the defensive and hang out in the middle of the circle, ready for anything that might come at him, but as soon as we decided to dip the techno-crane into his territory he started feeling pretty threatened. He tried to gore the camera (worth about $150k all told) a number of times. Each time the crane operator in front would have to lift the 37 foot arm up out of the charging bull's path.

No crash-casing on this one. The bull gets within about 4 inches of the camera on a full sprint. The DP (who owns the camera) gets a little nervous.

Hanging a (pricey) camera rig on the crane...

Dipping the (pricey) camera rig into the hot zone.

When the bull isn't chasing the camera he turns his interest this man... who has made a poor career choice.

It was great to see everyone today. Love you guys! See you soon.

Celebrating Michael!

2007-10-22T18:38:00.001-07:00

Hey Michael!

I hope I'm posting a few pics that make us smile! What joy you add to our lives!! Happy Birthday! We love you!!!!!!!

Pics up.

2007-10-15T18:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Familea.
Got some quality pics up from our San Diego jot!

Check out the rest on the link below. Also check out some pics from the time with Michael and Megs. Got some high quality versions that we can print from. The web versions are pretty low quality files. Love you guys!

10.12.07 - Family Pics at the Beach Proofs

10.11.07 - Migs and Megs Engagement Pic Proofs

In Clear Lake.

2007-10-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

.... and enjoying the time with the fam. Love you guys, wish I were there to watch the Office tonight! :)
See you all soon!

2007-09-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

Good morning. I just took a few pics yesterday of our time hanging out with Daddo. It was really nice because he got here when the boys were still up and they got to hang out with him for awhile and then all of the kids went to sleep and we got a chance to sit down and hang out and talk about the Stella awards (dumbest lawsuits). :) Then my boys woke up and got to say bye to Papa. Jer was kindof grumpy but as Papa was driving away he said..Mommy, I want to stay with Papa. They sure do love their Papa. It was so good to see you you Dad...we all enjoyed the visit. Mom we miss you so much and can't wait to see you in October (less than 2 weeks!)!!

Brotherly love

2007-09-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Awwwwwww. The boys were enjoying some cuddle time with their baby brother this morning...thought I would share! P.S. I think it is already time for another haircut for Jer...his hair grows so fast! Can't wait to see you all...Don, we still on for dinner tomorrow? Love you guys!

Just some fun pics

2007-09-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a few fun pics of the boys from the past few days. Tyler is loving his swing...Andrew loves to walk around in my uggs and Jer loves to cuddle! They are good boys...it's fun to watch them grow! Love you all.

Kristen

First ever cousins sleepover

2007-09-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

We had our first ever cousins sleepover at our house the other night and so I thought I would share some fun pics from that. We had a fun morning getting ready for Matt and Steve to take the kids to the fair (Connie and I had Bible Study) They woke up and watched JoJo's Circus together...then we had some breakfast and got ready for the day. I had it almost perfect...the last kiddo was getting their shoes on and I turne daround to see that Jeremy had put almost a whole jar of Crew (like gel only more expensive...$15 down the drain) in his hair...so I had to strip him down, give him a bath and get him ready again. The last picture is of all three of them finally ready to go...success! We had fun. All the while Tyler hung out and watched his big brothers and cousin from the swing. We can't wait for the next sleepover!

A night out

2007-09-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

Just a fun pic of Matt and I on our quadruple date +1 (Granny was there too!) to Lawrys with the Larsons...it was a fun night to hang out and chat and eat WAY too much food! We also got to spend some time getting to know Heather (Joe's FIANCE!!!)...she is so sweet and seems to fit into the fam perfectly. Just thought I would share. Love you all!

September 22, 2007

2007-09-23T00:54:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

Today was the most beautiful day in LA than we've had in a very long time. I sat out on my balcony through sunset and drank coffee from my thermos (still the best purchase of 2007). Thought I'd share.

Love you guys.
Donny

Bringing back memories.

2007-09-22T07:13:00.001-07:00

What a fun evening! We took Grandpa to Clear Lake's Homecoming football game and he had a ball! (Is that a pun?!) This is the same field he played on 63 years ago! And he was quick to tell us that 63 years ago last night not only did he play in the Homecoming football game, but as the captain of the team, at half-time he got to kiss the Homecoming queen! And they won!! (Last night Clear Lake's team didn't fare quite as well.)

It was fun to see the community come out and support the team. Lots of parents, grandparents and friends - just like we see at NPHS. Although I don't think we see as much face painting! Isn't this little girl adorable! Hair, face and clothing all in the black and gold of the Clear Lake Lions!

Today grandma and I are going to tackle a few more boxes - china - it's like Christmas!

Love you all sooooooooooo much. Can't wait to see you in just a couple of weeks! Thanks so much for the pics - you're beautiful!

Michael and Don in the So. Cal. desert.

2007-09-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hey, Family.

It was really fun having Michael out on the set today! We shot the music video for an awesome band who I wont name here because of confidentiality concerns, not that these photos would give anything away, but who want to deal with people freaking out?

It was a brutal day in the desert. We shot on a dry lake bed called the Lucerne Valley Lakebed... appropriate I think since it's in Lucerne Valley and it's, well... It started out WAY cold and WAY dark at about 2AM out there. Michael and I were the first ones on set to show everyone where the place was and where to put stuff. The amazing thing out there at that time of the morning is the stars... so many and so bright-a stars that the closing your eyes and counting to 100 trick to adjust your eyes to the dark really doesn't even help you see more... we tried.

Anyways, we hit an awesome dust storm about halfway through the day that lasted about 3 hours. It was VERY dirty. Michael will attest to the fact that at the end of the day there was dirt in places he could swear he had already washed twice.

Anyways, I'm waaaay tired now, so I'm wrappin this one up. Just wanted to share a couple pics from the set. I enjoyed being out there and having the chance to work with Migs-a-tone, even if it was a busy, busy day!

Love you guys!

Bathtime for the boys

2007-09-19T16:00:00.001-07:00

2007-09-18T22:49:00.001-07:00

michael did a sneak attack and took the game...boo

Family fun...we miss you mom, dad and megs!

2007-09-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

First and foremost it is important to note that I, Kristen Larson dominated the game of Settlers that we have played thus far tonight. We are just starting our second game but we took a break to say hi, and we miss you Mom, Dad and Megs! So here are some shots of us saying hi to you...we love you! The first one, I had a little zoomed in...and my arm is a little short for the (many)self portrait...so I passed off the duty to Don so we could all say hi! :) Love you all...wish you were here! We will let you know how the second game goes.

Haircut day!

2007-09-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

So as you may have been able to tell from the mud pics below...the boys needed haircuts badly. So today was haircut day and they wanted to show off their new dos once again! Of course they included some silly face pics too! (note the sassiness of my Andrew...I'm in trouble!). Aren't they handsome boys!!!

Fun in the mud

2007-09-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

So Michael, were you wondering what the ring in the bathtub was from? Well here you go...here is the answer...these are the culprets! They had a blast painting with the mud, using the trash can (and apparently their bodies too) as their canvas...and all the while hunting for worms...wow they truly are all boy!

Love you all!

Enjoying the Mississippi

2007-09-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

Kristen, the pictures of you and the boys are adorable! My godness, they're growing up so fast. They are precious.

These don't compare with the pics that preceeded them (okay, that's a grandma talking!), but here is a glimpse into the guys' trip up the Mississippi. Gpa and uncles left on Saturday, Dad caught up with them yesterday. I drove him up to Red Wing, MN - beautiful old town on the banks of that beautiful river. I've seen a bit of the Mississippi in Minniapolis with Don - what a great time! Now I've been able to experience just a bit more of her life and history. Fun.

What was most fun was seeing the guys enjoying time together on that boat Gpa built so long ago. I asked him if he ever imagined the boat would afford him these kinds of special times as he was building it. He answered quickly, "Yes." This was always his dream. I'm enjoying getting to know what goes on in the heart and mind of the man. : )

The day before Dad joined them the weather was bad and Dad got a message from Uncle Steve that they had run aground and that they were taking on water. I thought, yeah, that's Uncle Steve for you. Just kidding! But no! They HAD run aground and had taken on quite a bit of water. They bailed as they continued to the marina. Found out the water was from the waves (yes, 5 foot waves on Lake Pippin in the Mississippi!) pounding against the unsealed windows. That was alot of pounding!!

We felt so sorry for the difficulty of the trip.................. until we got there and saw the harsh conditions they were staying in. The St. James Hotel. A lavishly restored 1886 beauty. I included a bit of the room and the view from their window. Don't feel a bit sorry for them anymore! Seriously, they're having a wonderful time together. If you look real close in the last pic you'll see the boat making its way home.

So... enjoy a bit of the cruise. Love you all soooooooooooooooooooooo much.

Some fun family pics

2007-09-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would share a few of the fun pics we have taken recently. The first one is of all 3 boys looking up at their Daddy who was singing to them. The second pic, lovely as it is, is of Tyler and I in our matching stripes...guess it was prison theme day. :) Sunday I dressed my cuties up in their jeans and beanies for church. They all looked so good so Michael and I tried for about 10 minutes to get a good pic of the 3 of them...they didn't cooperate...but the last 2 pics are a sample of what we did get. Can't wait to see you all in October! Love you.

All the faces of Tyler

2007-09-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

We have had fun the last couple of days taking some face shots of Tyler and all of his expressions. He is growing up! The last one is of course the best. The chubbs, the smile, the cheeks...what a cutie! Love you all!

Posting.

2007-09-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hey, All.

Matt, thanks for the prompting on the post. I know. I've been a slacker, but that's only because I haven't actually hit ground at my apt. for almost all of August.

So I don't really have many pictures of Puerto Rico. It was a really fun trip and the Caribbean is absolutely beautiful, but a couple things kept me from photo-snappin. One was the additional 40 hours we put into getting the Barco D7 screen (jumbotron, see below) working. The other was the fact that my camera was with me, but not altogether charged. Ah well. Next time. :)

On the other side of things though, it was a lot of fun to work in San Juan, which I found is actually the OLDEST city in the United States-- founded by the explorer Pico De Gaillo in the latter half of the summer of 1967... alright that's just to see if you're paying attention. It was Ponce De Leon in 1508. That's older than Jamestown by a long shot and actually the second oldest (western) city in the Americas according to Wikipedia. Cool.

The picture you see off to the left there is from Old San Juan. It's really where all the life (and tourism) happens in the city, but it's a very cool place because it really does feel very old world. The street and the city centers were designed and planned hundreds of years before they thought of cars or trollies, so the place can be a pain to travel around in, but it's cool being a part of something in the "new world" that holds a lot of "old world" feeling. Never been anywhere like it and I'd really like to go back and spend some time the more I think about it. It's like a lot of the older areas of Barcelona... only it's a port town with a history of high-seas piracy, slave trade, and all kinds of dubious international border confusions. My kinda place. :)

The venue we did the show at is called El Coliseo de Puerto Rico. It's out in the financial district of the "mainland" San Juan. It seats about 18,000 which, to give you perspective, is slightly larger than Madison Square Garden in New York and slightly smaller than the Staples Center in LA. They brought in some of the top people in the business to do the show. I'm still amazed at how much money people drop in this industry. Just on shipping it's in the hundreds of thousands. I guess it's not easy to move thousands of tons of gear all over the world! Dad, you'd be impressed. The gear fits in something like 5 semi-trailer sized shipping containers and travels either by ship, by plane, or by truck to each city depending on the cost and delivery time and where on earth is! It takes about 6-10 hours to set up once you have it all dialed in and about 2-3 hours to pack it back in the trailers for the next gig... which I'm hearing can make for a REALLY hectic pace when you schedule three shows over a weekend-- like this weekend for example they did New York City on Friday, Washington D.C. on Saturday (tonight), and Connecticut tomorrow. You can see why they call these dudes roadies! :)

Anyways, enough rambling. Here are some pics below. Wish I had some more for ya, but I was shooting with a borrowed cam as is!

Love you guys! Enjoy!

Doesn't he look big?!

2007-09-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

Andrew's first day of Pre-K was great! He really likes his teachers and is in the same class with a bunch of his friends from last year. He is growing up so fast! On his first day at school he got a gold medal and his teacher says he has very good manners. His favorite part of school is the fish tank in the new classroom!

The new fountain

2007-09-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

So they built a new fountain at the Janss Mall. Kindof an awkward spot but the boys had a BLAST getting soaked from head to toe. Great...unless you actually wanted to shop :) It reminded them of being in Iowa at the beach with Mammo and Papa so that was fun! Love you all!

Time to post

2007-09-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, I had to break up the weeklong no posting streak. Don, we haven't heard from you in ages, do you have any pics from Puerto Rico?

couple more pics

2007-08-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

At the pool.... andrew smiled ... kristen swung the kidos around ... then she danced with jer ... they all found the fountain ... and matt and andrew showed off their BIG jumps

Today in Iowa - 08-25

2007-08-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

Today started out with an early morning session on the wakeboard for matt and I. Well... we didn't get to as early as desired. Matt layed the jackets out on the back of the boat before we pulled out and I didn't notice. By the time we got to the other side of the lake to hop in we were wondering where they were. Time for a water rescue mission. We took the next ten minutes retracing our tracks to find the two jackets bobbing about 150 yards from each other. We then thoroughly enjoyed the session, both landed a ton of grads and also wake to wake frontside 180's. G'ma had breakfast ready for the whole fam when we got back and even banned us from dishes so we could relax. We then played in the lake, played some card games, and went to a crazy public pool with HUGE slides with the kidos. There was a high dive, basketball hoop and waterfalls galore! It was a great time. Drew even swam with his face in the water!!! We are off to dinner and a movie tonight as the youngins have a babysitter coming.

2007-08-25T14:01:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! I am here in Kauai, Hawaii with my family and I thought that I would share some pics with you from our trip this past week. It is absolutely beautiful here and we have been enjoying every second of it! We have had so much fun touring around the island, snorkeling (not my favorite thing), swimming, and relaxing. We went to a luau and have been playing at the beach and in the pools! The weather has been great and we are loving it here in Kauai! "Hello" to all of you from the Jordan clan. I'll see you all in a couple of days. I am looking forward to hanging out in Clear Lake with you all! Love you guys! P.S. You can thank my mom for pic of bud and I in our cool snorkel gear : )

Today around the Lake

2007-08-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the brief rundown. Mom and I rode around the lake in the rain and yes, we made it all 17.2 miles!!! Here is a pick of us half way around in Ventura! Tyler ate, cried, and smiled... we caught the latter in the pic thankfully. Kristen decided that it was her turn to sit in the kidos' chairs. We went out for a few wakeboard / sumo suit / tube rides. (andrew is a maniac - as pictured yesterday). and now we are watching a movie and getting ready to rest up for what we hope will be a beautiful day tomorrow.

The Storm!!!

2007-08-22T13:10:00.001-07:00

Shout outs from Iowa

2007-08-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy week here so far. Good, but crazy. We got here on Sunday evening and Monday was straight to the lake. It was good to get out on the water. Michael and I hopped on the new wakeboard and it felt good to get back in action on the board. I landed a few good grabs while Michael was working hard on the toeside 180's. He's getting pretty close to clearing the wake while spinning.

We've also gotten to work on our fitness too. On Monday, Michael and I jogged from house to house (john and colleen to grandma and grandpa's). This morning Kristen and I got to go for a jog as well. Good times.

The craziest part was the storm last night. Big wind, rain, and a ton of lightning. Scary, but fun. More to come when I don't have Tyler in my arms.

And Most Recently...

2007-08-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

We bought some goggles for the Sumo tube (not yet pictured). They work BRILLIANTLY and def. make us the coolest kids on the block... for the second year running. :)

See you all (Kristen, Matt, Tyler, and Megs) soon!

More Fun At The Beach

2007-08-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

Great day at the beach ya'll!
Couple of my favorite pics of the day here.

Love you guys!

Snacks and Juice.

2007-08-16T20:58:00.000-07:00

08.16.07 Snack and Juice

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What can I say, the kid loves his snacks and juice.
Waaaay too cute. :)
(Thanks also to Migs for videography!)

Pappa REALLY loves those boys!

2007-08-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hello all - especially Matt and Kristen!

Boy, your Dad reallllllly loves your boys! This afternoon I was heading out to do some errands and he had just taken over. As I was leaving I thought Jer might need to be changed, so I tossed Dad a diaper. Jer had quite a suprise for him!! It was so funny! Dad thought he was going to gag. Andrew was claughing so hard at Pappa and Jer was such a trooper. I can't tell you how much we're enjoying these guys.

Here's my new dryer, Kristen. I knew that clothes line would come in handy some day!

The boys enjoyed a slow afternoon. They had fun with their new monster trucks out on the deck. The deck is working out great as a safe place for them to play outside.

We closed the day with a ride in the jeep. We saw the corn fields up close! Andrew and Jeremy take ofter all the men in the family and really enjoyed the bumpy roads! We went to the Barrell for dinner of chicken, french fries and chocolate milkshakes! Then we spent the end of the day at the beach. They sure do like the water.

Jeremy asked, "Where's my mommy?" and I told him where you were, what you're doing, that you'll both be here soon and that you love them both sooooooooooooooooooooooooo very much. We talk about you alot. They know you'll be here soon, so they're feeling fine and having fun. They sure do love their Pappa! I do, too. It's been so nice having this time together.

Love you all! Michael is on his way and will be here tomorrow afternoon/evening!!!!!!!!!!! We're praying for safe travels for all.

Another beautiful day!

2007-08-13T20:16:00.001-07:00

Boy are we having a ggod time! We all went on a ride in the boat this morning - Kristen, I kept my hand on Jer at all times! Andrew was near me, well within reach and did a wonderful job staying on his knees or buns. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Look! Pappa is even teaching him to drive the boat. You should have seen the left turn he took!

These boys are precious. We are so enjoying our time together. Can't wait to see you all! Love you! :)

Hume Pics (with actual pictures)

2007-08-13T19:49:00.001-07:00

Here's a couple, I hope these work. We'll take more with the fam today:)

Hume Pics

2007-08-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I know this isn't much (hopefully they work), but here are some pics of Kristen and Tyler today at camp.

Evening fun at the beach

2007-08-13T08:09:00.001-07:00

Hi again!

this is part two of the post, but you get to see it first. We wanted to let you enjoy the evening with us. The boys really enjoyed the beach! It's fun because there's no undertow!

Can't wait for you all to get here so we can enjoy it all together.

Love you!

We're having soooo much fun!

2007-08-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

We're having so much fun! The boys were great on the plane. The "presents" were a big hit. And they really enjoyed "A Snoopy Christmas"! That was the only video they watched - there was just so much to do!

Yesterday we started at Gma and Gpa"s and the lake. They just began to get their water wings. In the afternoon we took a walk to the fountain - Andrew loves it!

Had a break, some dinner and then back to the lake - the "beach" We're off again to the beach in a minute, so I'll make this short. Just wanted you all to have a picture of the good times ahead!

We love you all MUCHO!