Speaking Larsen

THE HOLIDAY SEASON. A time of peace, of sights to behold, a time to reflect on the Birth of Jesus! Here's a few snapshots of what we did! Went to SLC to see the lights! It was packed with people!  But so fun to spend time with family and friends!   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Opened gifts, went to the Pack Party, and ate lots of great food! Santa came! Christmas came and went.  Just like that, too.  We celebrated in early November and then again in December, so I think that the kids have had enough for now.  We had a wonderful year, and truly are grateful for the Gospel in our lives. Dressed up like Mary and Joseph!

For a Nap. To Play in the Snow. To Play with Each Other.

If I bust out the camera, I get a load of shots like these. Melt. My. Heart. (Brooklyn's not in any of them, cause she was in bed I think.) Catelyn was headed out for an Activity Night with church and she just looks so grown up these days, I had to take a photo of her.  Landon and Jocelyn were just itching to be in a few shots. Good kids. I have good kids.

Jocelyn has picked up on something I thought only Landon might be into....lining stuff up (or in her case, circling them around some sort of centerpiece).  She lines up her little dolls and plays with them incessantly.  She's never without one, I swear it. On top of that, her primary teachers made a baby Jesus for her and her other classmates, and she adore that baby Jesus for a week.  Then he disappeared.  Weird.  {Honestly, I didn't throw Him away.  As if! I wouldn't toss out baby Jesus.} I"m sure He'll show up in the Barbie bin or something, someday. Anyway, she's pretty stinking cute about it.  She puts them to bed, as well, every night.  She's even shed tears over forgetting to put 'someone' to bed. Love it.

Nothing like getting a sharp poke in the ear. Especially when you're two and an half and ASK for it. When Brooklyn was a baby I went to have her ears done, but decided to hold off, since her one ear lobe was so tiny, and her ears were very different in size. So I waited. For her to grow into her ears. And to grow some hair. Still waiting on the hair part, so earrings seemed like a great idea. She asked for them, and since we both wanted them, we went and got them. She picked out a pair, and viola, it was done. She said, "Owwwww!" once, and then laughed when the lady gave her a sucker and began modeling for me and Kyle.  All to show off her new earrings! Yup, seriously, she loves them.  It's pretty stinking cute.  She is constantly telling me, each time we clean and rotate them, "Mom, never take them out, 'kay?" Okay. Deal. And I did mention that we are waiting on some hair, but some is sprouting. So we're hopeful! See, she...

Dearest Friends! Just a fair warning.... I am editing my list of "allowed readers" for this blog.  For the same reasons as taking my blog private, this one is getting a bit of a readers allowed face lift.  If you're still interested in reading, please let me know in the comments.  I won't be deleting until around Christmas time, as I know people are BUSY at this time of year, and may not check a private blog as regularly as a public one due to the lack of knowing when it's been updated. So with that, you should also know: Since taking my blog private, I wanted to let you know something. I hope this doesn't sound harsh at all though. Mind you- my own mother is in this group, so don't nobody go gettin' all worked up. *Gasp in Horror* I know!  My own mom! (just givin' you a hard time, mom!) Take a deep breath, it's not that big a deal.... Here it is: If you never comment, and more than a few weeks/months pass without a ...

All the Lynn and Cindy Pack grand kids!  Such cute kids! We left on Thursday, Oct 27th, right at 3 o'clock to drive down to see Chad and Courtney, Janelle and Ryan, and the cousins!  They didn't have school on Friday, and Chad had work off, so it made for a great combination to get away.  Kyle did have stay home, but he didn't mind that we left.  (He had big plans for pulling the garden down while we were away!)  Due to the construction that Utah ALWYAS has, I swear!, we made it finally around 7 or 7:30 that night.  They were so excited to see each other and play! I'd love to take the time to talk about each photo here, but I just dont' have the time.   We went. We played. We ate. We laughed. It was awesome. When we got back home to Idaho Falls, I think Brooklyn was more than worn out from our weekend trip.  She insisted she wasn't tired, but I have proof that she was lying.  Sunday we prepped the house and I made about 4 dozen ...

When left alone, and when all grows quiet.... A Mother's mind begins to conjure up images of disaster, But this time, thankfully, all was well. Also in the mist of silence, I found her on my bed, reading to her 'friends'. Jocelyn loves to look at books, and can be found 'reading' to Brooklyn sometimes! The newness of potty training empowers her (so she thinks) to run around ne-ked! Seriously there are rare moments of quiet in my home, and this one morning last week, was one of them.  I was working in the kitchen, and I could hear nothing.  No TV, no bickering, no "pretend you're....", and it was immediately frightening. Until, I found them, and quickly grabbed my camera.  Usually best friend or completely fighting, these two girls had found that playing alone, even when they had each other, wasn't all that bad. It lasted 12 minutes.

On Wednesday, Brooklyn decided she didn't want to wear her diapers anymore.  So.  OCTOBER 12th. Two and a half years, plus four days old! Here we are, with nearly a week under our belts, and only a few accidents.  She's doing great!  Went to town and to church in her new undies, and I was the super nervous one, but I gotta say, she's a little champ.  She is loving it.  As are we! (Still hangin' on to that paci though...) ( And still can't let go of Bear Blankie) But seriously, one thing at a time, and if diapers are the first to go, Halle-stink'-lu-iah! Thank You, Dora!  THANK. YOU.

She's got talent, that's for sure! Unfortunately, she doesn't have a large clientele. . . or fortunately, depending on how you look at it!  But then again, I think I might be the source her inspiration.