Larson Family Reunion 2010

It was time again, for the Larson crew to get together for the annual RH Larson family reunion.  As always, it was alot fun.  This year, Mack and Valerie were in charge, and our reunion fell days before their baby boy Dax's 1st birthday.  So it was only right that we throw him a birthday party.  The morning started out with fun games of capture the flag and then an interesting game that included shaving cream and cheeto puff balls.  The kids had an absolute blast. 

 

After a tasty lunch, it was time for Dax to have fun with his cake, as is tradition with the first birthday.

It took him a bit, but he finally dug into the cake and made an absolute mess all over.  It was adorable.  We all got to join in on the yumminess (a different cake).  After a tasty treat, the kiddos all had a blast on the slip n slide.  I couldnt resist taking pictures of them.  It looks like i only have a few pictures, but really there are over 30.  They were just too cute, so i couldnt resist their different poses as slipped and slid.  

Following that fun, we all went to watch our older nephews (Garett and Caden) play a pre-season football game against Red Mountain.  They totally won!  It was wonderful!  We had a blast and created wonderful family memories.  That is what good family reunion does.

Families are like brownies...mostly sweet but full of nuts!

The only other titled that would be fitting for this post would be....you might be a redneck if....   Truly, that was the theme for the family fun that happened during this years 24th of July Celebration.  We had an absolute blast!  It was a weekend full of family, laughter, pranks, and crazy inventions.  We had every member of the family there except for a dearly missed brother Derrick and nephew JT.   So on to the redneck jokes. 

You might be a red neck if...

Your family rides around in garbage cans, or you park the family vehicles (garbage cans) on the front lawn.  Either way, both happened this weekend.  Eldon's oldest brother Nolan owns the garbage company in Snowflake and a good chunk of Eastern AZ.  Every year he is in the parade and the last few years, he has created a garbage can train, and lets our nieces and nephews ride in them in the parade.  All the kiddos absolutely love it and have an absolute blast!  After the parade, the garbage train was parked on the front lawn :).

You might be a redneck if....

that same garbage train tips over during the parade with your nieces and nephews inside...better yet, it tips over right into a pile of horse manure. Poor Jade was involved in the accident, but she showed how tough she was while showing off her boo boo

You might be a redneck if....

If your brother rides around in a mobile garbage can like he is oscar the grouch.   Ha Ha, again for the parade, Nolan and his boys created a monster garbage can by putting the motor of a four-wheeler onto a garbage can.  It is pretty funny to see move around, and it can even pop wheelies!  It was definitely entertaining.

You might be a redneck if....

If your son is also your great nephew, (long story, but true) and if you teach them young to ride a dirt bike.  Dax had fun getting rides on everything from the 4-wheeler, to the dirt bike.  Being on these vehicles is perfect for this little guy as he was beyond mobile since he learned to walk.  He is quick!

You might be a redneck if....

your father creates a monster bike for two!  Its Alive! j/k.  But RH really did create this tandum bike.  He welded 2 bikes together into one like a tricycle.  It is an interesting bike to ride, but is good exercise, and is good for a laugh.

You might be a redneck if....

Horse rides are given right out of your front yard :)  Our nieces rode in the parade on their horses for their school 4-H programs.  After the parade, the horses were hanging out just like the rest of the family at Mom and Dad Larson's house, so ponyrides were definitely a must during the day.  Sadie had a lot of fun!

You might be redneck if....

you create a swimming pool out of a garbage dumpster.  Seriously!   Nolan and his boys, once again were very creative and took a roll-off dumpster, made it water tight, filled it with water, and all the kiddos had a blast swimming in it!  The best part was seeing all the people's faces as they drove past.  Im sure they must have been wondering what in the world the kids were doing playing in the dumpster.   We joked that it definitely gave a whole new meaning to dumpster diving :P 

If you couldnt tell, everyone had an amazing time.  The Larson Family always is a joy to be around, especially when everyone gets together.  We really did miss Derrick and JT and wished they could have been there!  While we had the majority of the crew up there, we took some family photos.  We intend to photo shop our missing family members in for future pictures.   This is a picture of all the grandchildren except for Dax, who was napping and JT, who wasnt able to come up and our 3 little angels.  It is amazing how every single one of the grandchildren is so dang good looking!!

I think it is because of these two find people.  They are the ones who started it all, and made such a joyous family. 

 

And this is a picture of all the children and their spouses.  We are again missing Derrick, but we left a spot for him right up front.  Entire group pictures are coming soon, but I didnt get any with my camera.

And just because she is so dang cute and it sums up the feeling of the weekend.  Here is Payten enjoying her day with cotton candy and family.  :)  Happy Pioneer Day!

we have been busy

And I have been a slacker!!! Sorry! Its really hard to have the desire to hop on the computer when you are on it all day long at work! And the weekends have been full of trips, family, and fun little projects. Usually, when I take a while to blog something, I cheat and just back date it. Well, I am just meshing all our recent adventures into one giant blog, so sorry if this is really long (and it is really long).... like I said, we have been busy!

Going back to May.....

As a quick update, Eldon's family names their cars. Not sure why exactly why, but they do, so we thought we would follow tradition. It took a little bit to come up with the name but then we found the perfect one! The Black Pearl!! :D

If you know me, then you know that Pirates of the Caribbean is like my all time favorite movie... All of them. And it just fit so nicely. It is black, its a treasure (pearl) and like Jack Sparrow, I have been after the pearl for a very long time!

Ok, now to the events

Our sweet little niece Olivia had her Honor Choir concert. She did an amazing job and even though I may be prejudice, she was by far the prettiest girl up there.


My Grandfather (my Dad's Dad) passed away.

It was very sad, but (and i know it sounds morbid) a little happy. My Grandpa had been sick for quite a while and was really suffering from Alzheimer's to the point where he learned his beloved wife had passed away several times a day as if it were the first time he had heard it. Can you imagine your heart breaking with the worst news ever multiple times a day. He also physically was to the point of being dependant on others for pretty much everything. My grandpa was too proud to ever want to live like that, and he missed my grandma dearly, so for that sake, it was time and i am glad he is reunited with the love of his life. We went to California for the funeral. It was really hard, but got even harder when I saw my uncles and my Dad and how hard it was on them. My Grandpa was a great man, and I love him very much. He will be greatly missed!


On a happier note, a week after the funeral, we made a trip up to Snowflake to see our 2 Nieces graduate from 8th grade.

In Snowflake, Jr. High graduation is almost as big of a deal as the high school, so we wanted to be there. The weather was kinda crazy that weekend. While we were driving up it was raining like crazy but the Black Pearl (my X-terra) made it through like champ.... Eldon's driving helped too. :P The graduation ceremony was awesome, my nieces looked beautiful and all was good....until we got a terrible phone call.... well i guess it could have been worse, but still not fun. Hollis (Eldon's brother) and his family were also on their way up to the graduation, but their vehicle lost control in the bad rain storm, hydroplaned and spun right into a guardrail, broke through it, and drove down the cliff into the ravine.


You can see from the pictures it was a scary drop!! Thankfully everyone was OK... A few bumps, bruises and frightened kids, but no permanent damage! The car was totalled completely, but everyone was OK!

Once everyone finally made it safely to Snowflake, the family fun began. Nothing special, just good times together. The kids always love jumping on the trampoline

and the newest form of entertainment is a dual bike that Eldon's dad built from 2 separate bikes.

He is pretty freakin talented! It was pretty fun to ride.

That same weekend (it was Memorial Day weekend so we had a 3 day weekend that we turned into 4 for the graduation) we went camping with my family.

We got to break in our new tent,(not pictured) and see how Zeus did in the wild. I definitely think he enjoyed it....He was very dirty and not my white clean little pup anymore.
The X-terra did great as well! I am still really loving it!

at the end of the May (yes all that above was in the month of May) was the Brett and Angela's twins (Payten and our angel baby Zoe) birthday. It is definitely a bitter sweet day! We had a blast celebrating with Payten. She was super cute, loved her cake and her gifts and she especially loved Zeus! She just wanted to hug and squeeze him all night. Then we went to the graveyard to remember and send our love to Zoe. It was really cute, we let Payten send the first balloon and told to her give it to Zoe and she walked right over to her grave and let the balloon go. She was trying to put it on the ground, and was a little sad when the balloon floated off, but she knew that when we spoke of Zoe, that is where she is. I think the picture of all the balloons looks really cool and really shows all the love we have for our angel baby and how much she is missed!



PS....doesnt Zeus look funny. He just chills and is content to be held.

Christmas Mania

This was a very full and very happy Christmas! Christmas Eve we spent with my family. My Grandma, her husband, uncle and aunt and cousins came over to my parents house for some yummy super chicken rice and gravy (inside joke....but soooo good!!), opening a few presents, and playing some games on the Wii. My grandma even tried to play Wii bowling which was probably the most entertaining part of the evening, she just couldnt grasp the concept until right at the end, and then she was done.

We got to open one present on Christmas eve and as protocol goes it was ......Jammies! you gotta love Christmas Jammies, at least I do!

Doesnt he look cute!

The next morning we woke up really early to a phone call from our niece and nephew. They were told that when the first number on the clock was a 5 (yes 5 in the am) they could get up and open presents.....so we got a call at about 5:03 or so, saying that their clock said 5 and it was time to open presents, so we bundled up, grabbed the dog and went over to watch them open their presents. It has been tradition for Eldon and I to visit family with kids on Christmas morning and watch them open presents....it just helps to bring the excitement for the day.

They kiddos were so cute opening their gifts and were super good about taking their turns. I remember having such a hard time waiting for my brothers to open theirs! After that we went back to my families house to see what Santa brought. We were expecting the traditional "im gettin nuttin for Christmas" deal but Santa delivered again ( apparently he is recession proof ;) We got some wonderful gifts and had a blast playing with them with my siblings.

Wake up....Santa came!! Ha Ha

I felt like a little kid again! Santa even remembered Zeus and brought him a big bone and a laser light to play with. Just Watch....

Then we made the trip up to Snowflake to spend the rest of the weekend with Eldons Family. We had a blast with the White Elephant Gift exchange, and there is never a shortage of good food, great family and lots of laughs. Unfortunately, i was dumb and didnt take any pictures in snowflake, but we had such a wonderful time! Thank you to everyone for our great gifts and even better family memories! Merry Christmas!