Gingerbread Houses...kind-of

Really they were made of grahm crackers, but whatever works, right?!?!?

Puppy Eyes

Larsen Christmas

Wow! Definitely playing catch-up when it comes to our blog! I feel lost without my computer (but it's kind 0f nice at the same time)! Last weekend we went up north to have Christmas with the Larsen side of the family, then headed a little further north/west to visit a church, then back to Fergus to visit family, and FINALLY home!! The kids did great despite all the time they spent in the car and all the different places that we stayed! Here's a bunch of pics from our time away!

Having fun with my niece and daughter!
Ellie cuddling with her cousins
A very happy kid being held by a very happy Grandpa!!
The cousins all braved the cold and wind and spent some time outside together!
Joey loved not being the youngest in this group, though I think he wanted to boss little C around too much!
Snuggling to stay warm

A pic of all the cousins!
And another one just for Grandma and Grandpa L!
Playing on a very cool snow fort at our 2nd stop...

...then sliding down the other side!
All four on one sled!
The last stop was to visit my beautiful cousins! We braved the snowstorm and went out for coffee and shopping...JUST the girls!!!

Pure Joy!!

Jet Lag

It's great to go through jet lag with a friend!!

The Journey Home!

Monday afternoon we began our journey home by heading to a hotel near the airport.

We checked in and then hopped on a shuttle to the airport so we could get some dinner and the kids could burn off some energy.

The kids enjoyed their BK...

...while Andy and I enjoyed the best beef noodle soup we've had...EVER!!!

Then they had fun at a little play area in the airport, and even got to see just how far we were about to travel!
The next morning we headed back to the airport for the long journey home! Joey LOVED that he got to put on headphones and watch "Toy Story 3" during our first flight!
By the middle of the 9 hour flight Ike was out!
So was Elle!
After the 3rd flight we hurried down to the baggage claim area to meet up with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kim, Kathryn and Emily!! What a great ending to an incredibly long day!!! It's great to be home!!

Meetings, Meetings.....

Last weekend our mission went away for a time of meetings with our director who was here from the States. Overall we had a good and productive time (aside from one of my kids puking in the middle of the night....guesses???...yep, Joey the Puker Larsen). We even had a little time for fun!!

Our whole crew plus our director
The kids enjoyed baseball with Matt as their pitcher!
Elle trying to hit the ball (she picked out her outfit that day...polka dots and stripes...hmmm)
Then she got a little help from Hannah! Check out Joey in the background and you'll get a picture of what he did all weekend...EXPLORE everything on the ground...grass, weeds, bugs, etc!
Ike getting ready to swing and Ethan staying as far back as possible!

And the hit...
An attempt at a fun Christmas picture of the kids in the tree, but as you can see we didn't get Ellie to go up, so it was a no go! Oh well!

Happy Halloween

I love the fun festivities that come with Halloween....dressing up, trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, and everything pumpkin! We don't really have trick-or-treating in this part of the world (though Ike's school actually did it this year), so instead we invited some friends over to do the other fun stuff!

We had firemen, cheerleaders, cowboys, farm girls, and even Secret Service agents show up!
We painted some pumpkins...
Colored some Halloween pictures...
Made some pumpkin, ghost, and Frankenstein pizzas

Carved some pumpkins..
And watched them glow...
The artists and their pumpkins!

Ellie's turn!

Poor Ellie is fighting some sort of virus that has given her a sore throat and a super cute hoarse voice (can I say "hoarse voice?). For a girl who doesn't like to take naps, she sure fell asleep pretty quickly after lunch, and without being told to!

To keep the boys entertained, I had them trying on all of the bargains I found in Taipei yesterday. Here they are in their fireman coats that they may use on Halloween (or at least I think that is what they are).

Sleepy Boys

I've been way out of the blogging loop lately. Truth be told, I haven't even taken too many pictures lately! This one made me smile, though! The kids get done with school around noon, and then Ike and I do some home schooling in the afternoon. I had gone upstairs to get ready for his classes and it got REALLY quiet downstairs. This is what I found when I went to get Ike for class....I guess they were pretty tuckered out from school that day!

Retreat time!

We were just blessed by a wonderful time with the Wiles! They spend half of the year traveling all over the world encouraging missionaries, and we were blessed to have them visit us again! Here are some pictures of our weekend retreat with them...

Taking time for a hike in a beautiful forest!
Joey found a pine cone to play with.
By the end of the first full day I had 3 very tuckered out kids!!!
Uncle Mike and I took Elle and Joe for a walk thru town while the others played games. We found this foot pool to soak our feet in (the town we were in is known for their hot springs).....
....I didn't know until after our feet were in the water that there were little fish in there to eat the dead skin off your feet....ewwww (Joey thought it was GREAT though)!!!!
Brother sister love!
A final meal together (well, 3/4 of us were there) before we all headed to our own homes.