Progress

Science Party!

Click here to check out our afternoon at the museum.  The kids have been looking forward to the science party all week...who knew we would end up on the news!  Dylan is on the stage holding the letter "N" during the atom demonstration, and Izzy volunteered to have electricity run through her body.  Her hair started to stand up and she said her clothes were sticking to her.  They had "watts" of fun!  (attempt at electricity humor)

Swimmer of the Month

Every month, we get an email from Izzy's head swim coach.  It's a great way for him to highlight what has happened over the last few weeks, and give everyone an update so we know what to expect for upcoming events and meets.  It is always full of great advice and inspirational thoughts.  This morning, it was even more exciting than usual.  We got about halfway through the email, and read this:

Time for my Swimmers of the Month and I will start in the Blue Group by recognizing two swimmers that had absolutely awesome performances last weekend at the Winter Invitational.  This first young lady went 6 for 6 including a best time in the 50 back by almost 7 seconds.  She is a great listener and follows directions.  The second SOTM for the Blue group goes to a young man who also had a great meet going 5 for 6 including a best time in the 50 breast by almost 5 seconds.  Congratulations Isabelle Larsen and Hayden Ruggles.

Amazing, right?  She works so hard, and is a natural in the water.  We couldn't be more proud of her. Way to go, Izzy!  

Christmas Day

Our morning started with the kids reading a note that Santa had left for them.  We didn't have a fireplace this year, so we improvised with the fireplace app on our computer (behind Dylan).  It sounded like the real thing, but wasn't very warm ;)

We opened gifts.  We felt spoiled and loved by so many people.  There were gifts that made us smile, laugh, and cry.  Ok, I'm the only one who cried, but that's ok.  There were so many thoughtful things under the tree sent to us by people we love and miss very much!  It was fun to talk to parents/grandparents, brothers, and sisters.  We missed everyone, and hope you all know we were thinking of you!

We had monkey bread for breakfast, then spent most of the day relaxing and watching movies.  We never changed out of our pajamas.  It was great!  Later in the day, we had an amazing dinner.  Ham from Trader Joe's, local carrots and my mom's yummy veggie dip.  There were potatoes from Klamath Falls and asparagus.  Izzy made a great salad with homemade raspberry vinaigrette, candied pecans, and fresh raspberries.  We also had crackers and raspberry chipotle dip as well as some sparkling cider. It was delicious!

The weather was beautiful, so after dinner we spent a little time outside tossing around Dylan's football. We were blessed with an amazing sunset to end a fabulous day.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Kick Off Christmas 2013

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is going to stay at a hotel the day after Dylan's birthday.  We look forward to it every year!  Izzy had a swim meet Saturday and Sunday. She swam in 6 events, and set new PRs in each one. She killed it! After the meet, we took a little walk on the river trail while the sun was starting to set.

We all took an ornament off of our Christmas tree at home and added it to the one I saw when I was walking the other day.  No Scrooges at our house!

Then we headed to our hotel. We swam. We relaxed in the hot tub. We ate pizza and skittles and licorice. We played games. We watched TV. We sat in front of the fire. We slept.  We swam some more. It was amazing!  Our room was awesome.  It had a little kitchen, a sitting room in front of the fireplace, and a balcony that looked right out onto the Deschutes. Here's the view:

Now that we have spent a couple days relaxing, we are excited to celebrate Christmas! Hope you all have a happy and safe holiday. Love to you all!

Double Digit Dylan

On Saturday, Dylan turned 10!  No more single digits in the Larsen house.  We made him orange rolls for breakfast, opened presents, and went to the Black Bear Diner for dinner. Even Poppy got in on the birthday fun!  (Poppy Larsen, not to be confused with Poppy Brog.  Yes, we stole their elf's name.)

Notice the candles are Ducks colors...that Poppy is one smart elf!

Friends

Dylan's winter concert was tonight, and he did an amazing job!  We were so proud of him. I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures with his friends.  He has a great group of boys in his grade, and they all get along and include everyone. Here's a couple photos of Bucky and his crew:

Ellison, Dylan, Griffin, and Everett...Ray is photo bombing in the back :)

Dylan, Codiac, and Kyle

River Trail

When I have some extra time, I love to spend it on the Deschutes River Trail.  The sun was shining so bright today.  The air was crisp and clear, and the sound of the river was very calming.

As I was walking, I noticed a tree with some Christmas ornaments on it:

I particularly loved this little note:

Good advice for all of us!  I told the kids about it when I picked them up from school, and I think we might try to go add a few ornaments this week :)

Winter Concert

One of Isabelle's elective classes is choir.  She loves singing and has a beautiful voice. Her Christmas concert was last night, and I have to say that Luke and I were really impressed.  It was a nice change from the same old songs we would hear every year at the kids' previous school.  My personal favorite was Edelwiess.  Izzy's teacher is very passionate about music and teaching, and it really shows!  The kids seem to love her, and they all did a great job.

Peyton, Izzy, Grace, and Stella after the performance

American Girls

Izzy and Fiona got together after school yesterday to make cookies and play with their American Girl dolls.  I can't even begin to tell you how cute these girls are.  Two peas in a pod!

Delivery Day

It was a big day of deliveries at the Larsen house.  Izzy and Dylan have been saving up for some pretty special items and they both got delivered today!

Dylan got his new unicycle, and Isabelle got Kit Kittredge.  I wish you could have seen their faces...almost as good as Christmas morning!  Maybe better, because they had to buy them on their own.

First Snow

Izzy and Dylan get so excited the first time they see snow each year.  The first snow brings with it Christmas, Bucky's birthday, family, and holiday magic.  To celebrate, we drive up to Silver Fork for hot cocoa and french fries.  I am not a fan of snow, but I get excited to see it because I love the twinkle in their eyes while we sit and talk about anything and everything.  The warmth of the fireplace inside and the flakes falling slowly outside make for a perfect setting.  Obviously Silver Fork was a little too far away this year, so I did some research and found a new little place to carry on the tradition.  We went to a cafe downtown called La Magie.  It was darling!  There was Christmas music playing low in the background.  Snow was falling outside.  There were fries, hot cocoa, and...cupcakes!  There was a lot of giggling and good conversation.  I can honestly say it was the first time I felt the magic of the season.  Man, I love those kids. Here's to holiday traditions!

Wabi Sabi

The kids have a few favorite stores downtown, but the one they frequent most is called Wabi Sabi.  I think part of it has to do with the big sweet black cat, Neco.  We love all the downtown shops because they are locally owned small businesses, and it has such a small town feel to it.  The people are all genuine and friendly.  I have a new favorite shop that is floor to ceiling olive oil and balsamic vinegars.  I could stay there for an entire afternoon just tasting all of it!  I digress--that will be a post for another day.  Back to the kids!  Wabi Sabi has an annual japanese eraser diorama contest.  All you have to do is use at least one japanese eraser in a diorama.  There are four age categories and a lot of fun prizes.  While Fred and Kelly were here, Kelly treated the kids to some erasers so they could enter.  Their imaginations started working overtime, and they both spent over 5 hours each on their project.  I was impressed to say the least!

Dylan decided on the "Bend Zoo"

Izzy went with "Nothing Bundt Cakes"

I love the koala up in the tree on Dylan's, and Izzy's glass front display case at the front left of the bakery.  (You can always click on the photos to see them a little bigger).  The little details are so amazing to me.  It has been a fun project, and I hope they win a prize!  Everyone who participates walks away with at least a new eraser, so it was all worth it win or lose.  They just had so much fun creating them!

*UPDATE
Isabelle took 3rd place in the middle school age division :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving dinner was a little bit smaller than usual this year, but it was still yummy.  We had turkey breast brined in honey and salt (it was really juicy), mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, fruit salad, garlic balsamic green beans (yuck!), veggies and dip, and Izzy and Dylan's favorite, jell-o jigglers.  For dessert we had pumpkin pie and cranberry pudding cake with butter cream sauce.  Not bad for a first attempt at a holiday dinner.  I have never made a big turkey before, so taking baby steps with just the breast was nice.  As we took turns around the table sharing what we are thankful for, it became very clear how blessed we are.  Moving to Oregon was a big leap of faith, but we couldn't be more sure of our decision.  We can't wait to see what this year brings and where we are when Thanksgiving rolls around next year.

Visitors!

Fred and Kelly came to visit us last weekend, and we had so much fun!  Of course we forgot the camera every time we left the house, though.  You'll have to trust me when I say we saw and did a little bit of everything.  We watched Izzy swim and Dylan play football.  We hit the museum, Tumalo Falls, downtown Bend, and The Old Mill.  We ate yummy food and spent some good quality time together.  The kids even got to sleep over at their hotel on Saturday night.  Gotta love slumber parties!

We loved every minute of their visit, and can't wait to have them come back.  Hopefully next time it will be a little warmer.  We had a major cold snap while they were here; the high temperature was 34!  Yikes!  Now we are back up into the 50s and loving it.

Thanks for making the (long) trek!  We love you and miss you!

Flowrider

We went to a birthday party in Sun River and the kids got to play on the flowrider.  It was pretty hard to get a good photo with my phone; I wish we would have taken the camera. You get the idea, though...

So much fun!  The kids also tried surfing, but that didn't go as well.  Those pictures were a complete blur.  Luke tried surfing as well, but I took the smart approach (sit and eat 7 layer dip and watch everyone else wipe out).  Good times!

Da Bears!

Bucky is on a flag football team here in Bend, and he is loving it!  If he's not carrying the ball and getting in the middle of plays,

He usually looks like this:

or this:

He works his guts out every single play.  It doesn't matter if it is offense or defense; he is in the middle of it.  We get such a kick out of watching him.  Go Bears!

Clown College

I don't know how to turn this video.  You'll just have to turn your head to the side :)

We thought it might take Dylan a while to figure out unicycling, but he surprised us and picked it up really fast.  He loves it!

Cascade Dance

No pictures on this post...just a fun update. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! I was dropping Izzy off at a friend's house and stopped in to meet her parents. They were so nice, and I stayed to chat for a while. In the course of the conversation, I mentioned that I taught ballet in Utah. Amazingly enough, the dad had just built a studio, but had no one to run it. He wanted to start a beginning ballet program for young students, but hadn't had any luck finding someone to run it. Lucky for me, he hired me on the spot. I called Luke with the good news and we all went to dinner to celebrate. Afterwards, we went to take a look at the studio, and it is so cute! I will be teaching ballet and creative movement to 3-6 year olds, and I may even start a class for special needs kids. He was supportive of the idea, which thrilled me. It's something I have wanted to do for a long time. My niece is special needs, and her mom (my little sister) was told it would be good for her to get into a dance class to socialize. It ended up being a really bad experience. That was when I first had the idea...everyone deserves a place to be creative and make friends and be confident. So, here I go...wish me luck!

Halloween

This year Izzy dressed up as a zombie ballerina...

and Dylan decided to go as a Ducks football player.

They had tons of fun trick-or-treating, and came home with way too much candy! I was in charge of Dylan's class party. We played games, ate healthy snacks, and carved faces into apples to make shrunken heads. It was so much fun! The middle schools don't allow dressing up, so Izzy didn't get to wear her costume to school. Fine by me...I'd like to get rid of the holiday altogether, but that's not going to happen. I'll keep hoping in the meantime!
We hope you all had a happy and safe halloween :)

First Swim Meet

Today was Izzy's first swim meet. She competed in the 50 Free, 100 Free, 50 Back, and 100 IM. She did awesome!

Starting block

A quick breath

Tired girl and her proud dad :)

Pumpkins

Izzy and Dylan and their favorite little green guys!

Mike Wazowski

Yoda

Fun Run

On Friday, Dylan participated in his school's fun run. It was so much fun! I went to volunteer, and I was blown away. There was a giant arch of green and white balloons at the finish line and a sound system blaring songs like "Eye of the Tiger" to get the kids pumped. Parents lined the course with cow bells and signs, there were aid stations along the way, and snacks for the kids at the finish. They all got swag bags filled with prizes for participating, and there was a raffle after the race. Dylan won a really cool new lunch box. A big thanks to everyone who donated money in his name; he was so geeked out and took the race very seriously! He and his friend Codiac ran 11 laps in 20 minutes--the best in their class. Way to go!!

Kayaking

It's been a while since we took the kayak out for a spin. Since the weather was perfect, and we live less than two minutes from the river, we decided to spend an afternoon on the water. I wish that I could describe the smell of the junipers and do justice with pictures to the fall colors, but it's just not possible. Luke soaked in the sun and read, the kids played until they were ready to drop, and we all went home happy and hungry. Long story short, it was an amazing day!

Dylan tried his hand at skipping rocks

It was his first time in the kayak alone, and he did awesome! It seemed every time I looked over, I was watching the back of his head as he paddled away.

The sun on the water was brilliant. A big dose of vitamin D was just what the doctor ordered!

The kiddos wanted to pose on the otter. Isabelle LOVES otters.

Izzy shared the water with a paddle-boarder and her dog for a bit

While I was out on the water, the kids made little boats.

Dylan's boat :)

Unicycling

I couldn't help sneaking into the gym this morning to take a picture of Dylan during unicycling. What a stud! His elementary offers free unicycle classes before school, and he is loving it. Unicycling teaches things like centering, concentration, and neuromuscular training (linking the brain to the body to develop good nerve function). Dylan doesn't care so much about the benefits; he just thinks it's a riot. He was able to get up on the first day, and has been able to ride about 5 feet. It will take some practice and patience, but I know he can do it!

October Road

Izzy and Dylan in October 2007
Mike and Lori's cabin

Fast forward 6 years to October 2013
Shevlin Park