Capers of the Country Cousins

Steven--My Third child

2010-01-27T20:33:00.000-08:00

2010-01-03T18:32:00.000-08:00

We had such a wonderful Christmas. I had all my children and grandchildren and a big plus+++++Grandpa Larsen. The Wednesday before Christmas, we got together and everyone (well, the ladies), children included, designed their own Christmas Stocking. They all turned out darling and sooo individual. It was really fun. It was such a privilege to have Grandpa Larsen be with us from Wed. to Monday. I worried a little because when Jodi is here, so are all the grandkids. We had a house full most of the time. But when he got tired, he went to his bedroom and rested. We all went to the arena a couple times to watch the J.J., Steven, and Scott rope. It was really cold so Grandpa stayed in the truck. We all had a great time being together, eating, being together, eating, etc.

Happy Birthday to my baby!

2009-10-18T20:21:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my lovely daughter that has brought me so much joy! I love you very much. Where has the time gone? Twenty-Six? No way!!!! You have grown into a lovely woman, wife and mother. I am so proud of you. I love you very much!! You were a beautiful baby and sooooo good. It was a pleasure to have another addition to our family.

Pretty in blue!

Growing up--starting to get independent.

You always loved athletics. Basketball--your favorite.

Volleyball

Senior Picture.

Met the man of your dreams.

A beautiful bride and doing it the right way--at the temple.

And then came family. What a beautiful family.

Seth and Preston are adorable. Then Morgan joins the family. Yea. A daughter.

And it all started when you were born October 18, 1983

Newest Family picture 10/09

2009-10-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

Scott needed a picture of the family, so while Jodi and Shar was here last weekend, we took this picture. We will have to zap Chauncy in as soon as we can.

Some Summer Fun

2009-06-29T16:14:00.001-07:00

Hangin' Out--Just relaxin'!

Aiden loves the dirt--just rolling in it makes him happy

Morgan's 1st bath at the cabin.

The boys all ropin' for a quarter--well or double or nothin'. I think Justin and J.J. finally won.

Riley and Kashlee swinging on the hammock.

Grammy has to take pics of the puppies. I always put my grandkids in the pics to make the puppies look better!

At Home Depot, buying flowers to pretty up the front of the house.

Octuplet Mom has NOTHING on me!

2009-03-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

"What? What did you say Ms. Vetinarian? I have to wean my eight 2-week-old puppies?" GULP! I squared my shoulders, "Okay, if that is what we have to do."

I wish I had taken pictures of the maiden nursery bank! Everyone was there to help

J.J., Marlo, Shar, Chauncy, Steven, Cim, and Scott and I.

The puppies had to learn how to drink from baby bottles.
Finally, they all got some down, but I do believe that there was more was
on our shirts and pants.

There is a ray of light behind that dark cloud.

While we were at the vets, and Sadie was getting hydrated intraveinously (it took about 4 hours), our other momma dog crawled in with the puppies and let them cuddle up and suck on her. I asked the vet when I went to pick up Sadie if there was anything we could give the surragate mom to bring her milk. She gave me something that they have used successfully on horses, so we'll see. In the meantime, we have to bottle feed them.

The Gila Valley Arizona Temple

2009-02-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

We had the most wonderful experience this weekend--ground breaking for our own temple. It's only two minutes from my house. How is that for being blessed? It was such a spiritual experience to be there. I absolutely loved every minute. We dressed warm, and inspite of early weather reports that said it was going to rain, it was perfect weather. (I'm sure it was because of a lot of prayers.) The general authorities were Elder Wilford W. Anderson of the Seventy and Elder Neil L. Ander son of the Presidency of the Seventy. The spirit there was very strong. There is no better feeling. I love the gospel and my Heavenly Father. We in the Gila Valley are so blessed to be getting a temple. I am soooooo excited. Here are some pics of the program with a pic of the temple. They didn't scan as well as I wanted, but you can get an idea.

I even got to turn some dirt!

After it was over, Scott, his parents, J.J. and Marlo and I got to cook steaks and bisquits for the dignitaries. That was an honor, too.

Family & Christmas--WONDERFUL

2009-01-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas season. I'm so thankful that all my grandchildren live by me for this Christmas. Jodi was home which made everything complete. Christmas Eve, we adopted a hispanic family that have 5 children, two of which are in my 7th and 8th grade language arts classes. We took our gifts and we all went to their house and sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas. The father invited us all in. Picture this. A tiny front room. They have seven in their family and their was 15 of us. We gave them our gifts and all the girls gave me a hug. It was very sweet and touching. The family acted very humble but thankful. It was a wonderful experience.

We started our Christmas morning with Steven calling us about 5:15 so we could see Riley see his trampobine (that's what he called it).

Aiden was bright-eyed, butdidn't know what was

going on.

Next, on to J.J. and Marlo's house. The kids were so darling. Of course, Grammie isn't prejudice or anything!

Kashlee giving J.J. a kiss.

Justin loving his Star Wars Phantom Spaceship

The whole family with their gifts.

Next, we all went to Shar and Chauncy's--the boys were still asleep.

But not for long.

They found the things under the tree and on the couch.

But they needed to follow Santa's footsteps to find......

yes, you guessed it.

A trampoline: must have been on a lot of kids lists this year.

Check out that big smile!

Gifts all open, now a family picture.

NOW on to GRAMMY AND PAPA'S HOUSE.

Look at all the Huge presents for all the grandkids! Can you tell what they are?

Yep, mini chairs.

We all had a great time, but most importantly we love each other and enjoy each other's company. My goodness, we have so many blessings! I'm so thankful for our Savior and it is so important that we remember the true meaning of Christmas. Christ loves us all and wants us to all love one another. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I love you all very much, too.

Slowly but SURELY!

2008-12-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

My eyes were bigger than my stomach--no that is the wrong cliche. My head was bigger than my body--no that's not quite right either. My heart was bigger than my hands are fast--well that about explains it. Last fall I began piecing quilts for my grandchildren. Well, six twin sized quilts wouldn't be that bad to make before Christmas! HAA! I ended wrapping the ALMOST finished tops and putting them under the tree. Whoopie for them. (well, I don't think they thought that!) It has taken me all year to finish the tops, get them quilted (by machine by another lady) and finally bound. So here are the pictures of them all getting their quilt.

EVERYONE IS READY FOR THE SURPRISE!!

READY...............................SET........

GO!!!!!

AIDEN KASHLEE

Special last two weeks

2008-10-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

We've had a wonderful last two weeks. We had Shar's birthday. Oh, Oh, a quarter of a century! Us ladies went to the park for a noon picnic. We enjoyed each other and the kids loved the playground.

That evening we went to El Charro and had the back room. Both Shar and Preston, whose birthday was the 20th, opened some presents.

Then we had our 2nd roping on Saturday. We had 112 teams! Everything went off great.

Here's J.J. and Charlie. They got drawn together.

Lana and I watching from the sidelines.

Scott working the chute, and J.J. jumped in to turn that stubborn calf.

Shar and Karen Lines doing the announcing and bookkeeping.

After all the big cowboys left, the little cowboys got their turn around the arena. THANKS AUNT JODI! Lana and her boys took their turns too.

Hanging out after it was over.

Aiden wanted down in the worst way, so finally, Ciminy let Steven put him down and boy did he love the dirt!

Then today, Sunday, we had SCOTT'S 55th birthday.

Blowing out the candles

Opening the presents.

OH, what was in the purple box?

Can you see it?

Yep, it's a new puppy. Scott has missed his ride around in the truck dog, so I gave him one of our new pups. Of course, I picked the cutest one!!

Steven doing the balancing act with the cake!

After opening the presents, we played the sign game, where everyone has a sign and you pass your sign to another person in the group. They accept it by doing their sign and passing it on to another person all without the person in the middle seeing who did what!

Shar's sign was shrugging her shoulders.

Jodi's was pulling her ear.

I touched my nose.

Justin touched the top of his head.

J.J.'s was his little finger.

Ciminy's was an eye wink.

Sneaky Chauncy was "thumbs up

Scott finally agreed to play and became the "Smokin' Gun"

We've all had a great weekend and really do enjoy each others company. We are truely blessed to have such a loving family!

Our Black driver turns WHITE with fear!

2008-10-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

OMG(Oh My Gosh)!!! Do you remember the tunnel on the Superior Mountains? You know the one-- where as kids we held our breath from one end to the other. How about coming through that tunnel with 80,000 pounds at least 70 miles per hour and NO BRAKES!! That's when our black driver turned white! The good Lord was with him because he said he was praying like crazy. This is what it looked like when the truck finally stopped.

Thanks heavens for:

After hours of waiting and calling several towing businesses and waiting some more finally:

Looking things over, deciding the best way to proceed.

Scott getting in the action, tow truck driver too slow! Jodi even got into action and helped pull the cable. The tow driver said to her,"Wow, you're not afraid of manual labor." He even flirted a little, but he had no teeth. YUCK!

INCH by INCH the tow truck pulled it back! UNTIL......

the cable broke!

Hours later they finally got it fixed!!

Inch by inch---inch by inch we pulled and pulled!

FINALLY-we're almost back to the pavement!

YEAH!!!

But all the while, what was I doing? I AM afraid of MANUAL LABOR!

One of my students gave me a book to read, so I'm taking advantage of quiet time that I rarely get to read!!

Life goes on.

2008-10-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

We are all very busy but doing fine here. Shar is still sick with morning--no all day--well really mostly afternoon and evening preg. sickness. Kashley went to the eye doctor and doesn't have to wear glasses after all, but has to wear a patch on her eye 2--3 hours a day. I wonder how that will go. Riley has a stress fracture on the lower part of his body and has a soft cast--after a week they will be checking that out again. Our 1st real roping went really well. J.J. won third in the first draw roping. (We had 3 different ropings) We will be having one every month. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Time will tell. Teaching is a BEAR this year. My seventh grade classes are kicking my rear--so noisy and disrespectful!!! I'm stressed all the time. But the good kids are really GOOD, but there are way too many that don't care too much about getting an education.

Sunday afternoon--It's a Dog gone world!

2008-09-07T16:11:00.000-07:00

Oh, what a lovely day. The weather is beautiful and I was able to partake of the sacrament. I left after that though because one of my dogs was in labor and I wanted to save every dog I could. She only ended up having 4 though. I was hoping to have enough to buy Scott a really good roping horse. That may be enough if I can get the price I'm asking! Don't Tell Though---It is a surprise! Here's a picture of her last litter. Cute Huh!

My Family

2008-07-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

This is my family in L.A. a couple of weeks ago. Boy what fun we had!

New Beginnings

2008-02-23T07:56:00.000-08:00

Hello