Larsen's Loop

This year on Christmas Eve before anyone could open their gifts, we each had to share what our favorite Christmas gift we ever received was. Some had memories of a favorite toy or high tech gadget they had received. Some were sentimental about being together with family each Christmas. Nan's favorite gift to get are the hugs her grandchildren always give to her. So immediatley without prompting they all lined up to give big hugs to Nan. She is definitely amongst one of our favorite people to hug. We love Nan and Pop and the wonderful love that they always have for each of us!!!!!

Cute cousins celebrated Christmas Eve at Nan and Pop's like we always do. We had soup this year then all opened gifts from each other. The kids always love getting matching "Jamms" from Nan. Melinda, Lana and Tayler. The whole Larsen crew!

One of Matt's favorite traditions is to cook his family Christmas morning Breakfast. Here are a few fun clips of some of our family this year. Always adorable and oh-so photogenic, Lindsay and Travis above. Colton and his friend Audrey. Sammy, Copeland and Zach (the cousins). Photo op for Caleb's last Christmas with us all for a couple of years- Travis, Lindsay, Caleb and Brad.

Thanks to all who participated in helping guess where Caleb might get called on his mission a couple of weeks ago. We had about 20-25 people guessing. Each chose a location in the United States and also made one foreign guess. The winners were my daughter Tayler and Matt's sis Lindsay- Both chose Italy which was the correct guess. Still so excited for him....I keep having all these Mom's tell me how sad it is to send your kids out on a mission. Maybe it's the adrenalin kicking in or maybe there is something not quite right with me (most likely the later). But I can feel nothing right now but pure joy and excitement for this new chapter in Caleb's life. What a wonderful thing to experience for 2 years of your life!!!!! Best of luck my boy!

So the other night as we were decorating the tree and it looked complete, we began to think about what next Christmas might feel like without our Caleb. It will be really different not having him here with us while he serves a mission for two consecutive years. Mimi our youngest started to get really sentimental and sad and when Matt went to pick up Caleb late from work she said, "Mom could we take the star off so Caleb can lift me up one last time?" I thought this was a sweet request and so we did it. Caleb gave Mikayla that last boost to the top of the tree for awhile. He hugged her when it was done and she proceeded to sob into his shoulder for the next 5 minutes or so. What a cute big brother he has been to her....we'll all truly miss him while he's away!

Okay after our wood floor makeover project, I decided our oak railings could also use an update. Let's face it after being in a house for over 13 years, you need some kind of a face lift. I used a hand sander and a product called TSP to take off the shiny finish ... this took the most time. I had to do a little at a time so I didn't get to overwhelmed. The white spindles didn't need a complete strip. I just lightly sanded where I could and then wiped it down good again with the TSP. I love the end results. We used the same Ebony colored stain we used on our floors for the newell posts and hand rail (it's made by a company called Bona) and 2-3 coats of high gloss white paint for the spindles. I am so happy with our new look, it paid to do it myself, it just took sticking with it.

This year Mimi invited 12 friends over for a party. We had pizza and went swimming at a great indoor pool. Miguel had a great idea for decorating with balloons. When we yelled "Happy Birthday" he had a string he pulled and all the balloons came tumbling down. (Miguel is quite ingenius!) Here our birthday girl begins to open her pile of presents. It was a fun night.

Our little Mikayla got baptized last week on her birthday. This made it an extra special day for her. We are proud of her decisoun to get baptized. She loves reading her new scriptures and has a beautiful voice when singing all the primary songs for us. Love you Mimi! Our families all came to show their support of her. We love you all!

Matt came home last week carrying an armful of roses and declaring his love for me (love letter and all)! I am a very blessed girl. Married happily to my Matt for 22 years! What could be better? Also my sister Dede was in town for a visit. I felt lucky to get to spend some time with her while she was out. She is a great sister and we all love to see her as much as we can! f

For Miguel's 9th birthday he decided to go to FAT CATS with our family. We bowled and had yummy pizza. It was a very fun night celebrating a wonderful boy in our lives. WE LOVE YOU MIGUEL!

Last night we celebrated Halloween at our ward trunk or treat. The kids had a blast and Matt and I got to sneak our favorite treats from their treat sacks!

A few friends and I planned a trip to St. George. It is a rare occasion when we all can arrange for sitters and time off from our busy schedules but somehow we pulled it off. The weather did not disappoint. It was absolutely beautiful this time of year. Above is a picture of Ann and Lisa taking the bus into Zions Canyon. We enjoyed two hikes. One was the Riverwalk and the other Emerald Pools. The sights were specatacular, I love Zions. My cute friends left to right: Ann, Pam, Me, Lisa and Michelle.