Speaking Larsen

Another year older and wiser too!  Our JOCELYN JOYE is six years old!  It's the Family Year, so we're only doing family parties and low-key stuff, but the best part for the birthday child is picking the restaurant of their choice to go out to dinner!  Jocelyn chose Chuck-a-Rama! We went out Saturday night, as her birthday fell on a Sunday this year.  We opened presents with both sets of grandparents and BJ and Paula present.  We had cake and ice cream and lots of laughter. Of course the morning started out by letting her wear whatever she wanted, and Grandma Mac brought doughnuts!  (The maple bars and chocolate bars are always the first to go!) She had lots of fun gifts, and the only one I didn't catch on camera was the massive Lego/doll organizer from Mac and Kelly and the musical jewelry box from Lynn and Cindy. Hair Chalk from Paula and BJ.   Headband from Cindy Dream Movie from Betty! ...

Due to an excessive amount of snow, school was canceled, and we took advantage of it! I hooked up the sleds up to the back of the Durango and pulled the kids around the 'hood for nearly 3 hours.   By the end of the day, nearly a dozen kids had had a turn.   I am super cautious, set down rules that can't be broken if they want to play, and go super slow, but they still love it! I think they try to fall out and tip over on purpose a bit too much, but it's all good. This time we had so much snow, that we didn't put holes in the bottom of the sleds, which we kinda did last time we did this.  It was beautiful weather- sunny and still to play in the snow. You'd think a "snow day" would mean terrible weather, but this particular time it just stormed so much, that cars and buses were stuck and getting out of some people's drives was next to impossible  I can't even imagine what some of the country roa...

Well, I had a meeting yesterday morning in regards to Jocelyn and her speech therapy.  She NO LONGER qualifies!  Woot Woot!  Maybe that doesn't sound right.  But I promise, it's worth a celebration! This girl is so bright! She took to correcting her sounds like a champ, like a barbie to the beach, like a duck to water, like a toddler to diapers.  Seriously,  Jo knocked out sounds so quick we (her therapist and I) were shocked.  She was technically done in May 2012.  But her teacher and I held her case open, over the summer, just in case she slipped backwards and would need more help. At the beginning of this year of school, the therapist at school contacted me about placing her in a group session instead of individual, as she was doing really well from her initial evaluation.  I gave the green light to that, and off they went.  Once a week for 30 minutes they've worked as a group, and now Jocelyn is at a...

Last night, we drove out to Ririe High to watch the girls perform for the first time for this dance season!  It was so cute, so funny!  We had a wonderful time, which was made even sweeter when BOTH grandmas came.  But even more delightful was what they brought with them! Grandma Betty!  It was a complete surprise to us, that all three grandmas indeed to relish! We laughed and hugged and then watched the girls dance, and then drove home in the blizzardy weather to our warm house. It was a pretty wonderful evening, even if the kids were up to late and we slept in a little.  When we got up, we had 15 minutes to have the kids out the door.  They made it, however, and then I pulled them out of school early to go hang out at the farm with Betty, and to celebrate Cindy's birthday today! I could watch those two little sweet faces dance for hours.  They're my Dancerellas!

This January brings a new adventure for Landon and his friends.  I am his Basketball Coach.  Shocking, I know.  I don't know much about the sport- other than the basics.  But I know all about fun, and I know each of these kids by name and that is what counts. There is a great kid by the name of Joel Carter who is a senior at Bonneville that Kyle and I have recently become friends with and Kyle suggested I ask Joel to help me, as he is well acquainted with the game, and plays for Bonneville. Kyle will help if and when he can, but games are on Saturday mornings, a bad time for Kyle.  With Joel and Kyle's help, we're gonna be just fine on the skills.  We had our first practice though, and both Joel and Kyle weren't able to attend so I was on my own. Landon and his friends gathered around me and I tried hard not to panic.  What was I going to teach these kids?  It didn't help that there were two dads sitting there watchin...

You do this too, right? What?  You invented it? Well, my deepest thanks! This year, everyone was old enough to understand the idea behind the swords and we let the kids stay up an extra hour playing because it was so dang funny.  Kyle and I were dying, it was that great.

Catelyn had her first solo dance competition on December 2nd!  She did a great job!  This is her coach, Kirsten Helsing, who is also one of the Young Women in our ward, and a favorite babysitter of ours.  She's a senior this year and is the captain of the Bonneville Bees dance team.  She is more than qualified to teach and choreograph songs for Catelyn and we're so glad she took the 'job' of coaching Catelyn! This competition was in Blackfoot, and she took 2nd place.  Her music stopped playing due to technical difficulties, but she pressed on, and finished with a smile on her face.  We're excited to see her dance more this spring. Her routines are to "Call Me, Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepson and "Bicycle Race" by Queen.