Larsen Family Reunion...Sort of.

In June we had a family reunion of sorts with Steve's family. Actually his sister Stacy and her family couldn't make it and Samantha and her family came for part of the week and then his parents for the end of the week. Anyway, we were just glad that they came. We had so much fun with everyone and it was just great to get to spend time together. This was the first time Andrew and Jon had been out here so it was great to have them stay with us. We did lots of fun things. And if we look hot and sweaty in these pictures, its because we were. Seriously so hot. So sweaty. The joy of humidity and summer in Kentucky.

We went to the Louisville Zoo. The kids had a blast and loved posing for their photo-ops. I have never been that hot. Okay, maybe on my mission riding a bike in South America, but it had been awhile. We had fun anyway!

We went to a Cincinnati Reds game one night. It was my favorite thing we did. I am not huge into baseball but there is just something about major league games. They are so much fun. The kids loved it, too and were good the whole time (except for the car ride home). What cute cousins they are.

Steve, Samantha, Jon and Andrew. I think even the little guy thought the game was great.

Steve is always happy if there is baseball involved and Davis is too busy slurping down the snow come aunt Jenny got him to smile for the picture.

We went to Huber Farms on Sam and Jon's last day and when Grandma and Grandpa got here. We got to ride behind the tractor and picked yummy strawberries. Davis broke a jar of jam in the store there and I was super embarrased. They were really nice, but still. A little embarrassing. The best part was the strawberry bread that we bought. Yum.

Me and (my sister!) Jenny. Love her!

Do we look hot and sweaty? Yep, we sure were.

Michelle, Steve, Samantha and Steve. We were just missing Stacy.

What a fun time to be together. We are so glad the Hastings and Grandma and Grandpa came to visit!

Our Utah Trip

Here goes the catch up. We went to Utah (yes, at the end of may/beginning of June). We had a fabulous trip. It was our first time back since we moved so it was so fun to see our Family and Friends. We ate out pretty much every day at all our favorite places (cafe rio 7 times in 2 weeks!) and really just enjoyed spending time with everyone. Here are some of the highlights (or the things that I actually remembered to take pictures of!):

My mom had a birthday party for Steve and I since our birthdays are in the same week with both of our families.

This is my new nephew Andrew (Steve sister Samantha and Jon's baby) on his blessing day. I was so glad I got to be there for his blessing.

Jon, Samantha, me, Stacy and Sheldon. I am so lucky to have such great brother and sister in laws.

Davis playing with his cousins Mylee and Tyler at my mom's house. She got them this cute fishing set and it kept them entertained for quite awhile.

My cute cousin Rachel was married to Garrit while I was there. I am so glad I was able to be there for their wedding. It was beautiful!

Davis and Steve with Great Grandpa Black. When we went to leave Davis ran up to Grandpa Black and gave him a hug and said I love you grandpa! It was so cute!

These were my roomates at the 'Cherry House' where I lived after my mission at BYU. Love them! So fun to see them and Michelle's sweet new baby Ruby.

We have some great friends Tammy and Marshall that we were able to see and this is Davis with their little girl Emma. They hugged goodbye! They were really cute together.

We were able to see a lot more people and really enjoyed staying with my parents and Steve's parents. I neglected to take more pictures, of course but we had so much fun with all of our friends too. I especially had a great time with my girls Cami and Jen from our old ward (we had a great girls night out) and Steve had fun golfing with all his buddies. Thanks to everyone who took time to hang out with us. We love you and miss you!

We are still alive!

Yes! We are still alive! We made it back from Utah (had a GREAT time) and of course I didn't take hardly any pictures because I am a slacker...but I will soon post what I did take. Things have just been crazy ever since, I have been trying to catch up with work, get my house together, go to girls camp and do Young Women's stuff. Steve finally found a swing/play set while we were gone so he has been working non stop on putting it together (are you serious how hard and time consuming they are to put together?), trying to get things ready for him to go out of town again, and now we are ready for another round of summer fun with Steve's family coming to visit this week. So, not much time for blogging but we are enjoying our summer time together and with our family. I'll post again when things slow down!

Update on us

Here is a little update on what we have been doing lately...minus pictures because apparently I am terrible at taking pictures lately!

First, I am writing this as it is pouring rain AGAIN outside while I am supposed to be running. Steve is playing basketball with all his ward buddies (he was the basketball coach this season but now that the season is over they still get together and play every Saturday morning and apparently holiday mornings, too). It has suprised me a little-he never really played b-ball until we moved here and now he is religious about it and can't get enough. Great for him, bad for my running schedule! Especially when it rains for 3 weeks straight. We have had a good week of weather but it would rain on Memorial day, right!? I still can't get over that we don't have a sprinkling system in our yard. It really rains enough to not need one apparently.

Davis and I survived a full week with Steve out of town, preparing us for the month he will be gone this summer. Lets just say it isn't very fun without him here. I hate it! But, I like that he has a great job so I guess I will deal! I also know lots and lots of friends/family that have it way worse than me as far as husbands traveling goes so I try not to complain too much (but still a little!)

I told our friends last night that Steve turns 31 on Thursday but it is really 32 on Tuesday so apparently I am getting old this week too and losing my mind! We are celebrating his birthday today. I really can't believe that we are getting well past 30. It's just crazy. I get to celebrate my birthday this weekend with our family in Utah...yes we are heading out this week for our first trip home since we have moved here. I am so excited to see everyone, see my mountains again and my mouth is already watering for cafe rio. Steve and I were planning last night how many times we are going to eat Cafe Rio while we are there. Alot!

I am now working about 8 hours a week for a cute place called the Chatterbox. I am doing early intervention with kids 0-3 years old on Tuesdays and on Thursdays I see private clients at the office. It has been good and I feel like I am slowly getting the hang of the early intervention. It is so different from what I was doing before. I can't say it is my favorite thing but I am working on it! Davis gets to go to a little preschool class that they do at the Chatterbox on Thursdays while I work and that has been great. They have kids that need intervention and typically developing kids to act as good 'models' for the others. It has been good for him and hopefully he is being a good 'model'!!

The other day one of our neighbors said 'Davis really has a lot of energy'. I think that was a nice way of saying 'your kid is out of control' but anyway, he is energetic and lots of fun. Steve said that he thought Davis' sentences were twice as long when he got home from his work trip and several people have told me lately how well he talks which you all know I just love! It is fun to hear what he has to say...most of the time! The other day he was being a real poop demanding dinner while I was trying to finish cooking. Later he was eating and said 'mom, I driving you crazy.' Needless to say I felt bad that I must have said that to him. He picks up on everything. Steve taught him to say 'toots' whenever anyone toots which can get a little embarrassing. I mean seriously. Boys are gross.

Grandma and Grandpa Wright Come to Visit

I am a little behind on posting (I feel like I start every post that way). My parents came to visit a few weeks ago and we had such a fun time with them. Davis loved them being here and really loved all the attention! We spent a lot of time just hanging out and enjoying time together. It was so fun to have them all to ourselves for a whole week.

I just love the smile on Davis' face when he came down the slide. He just loved it. I've never seen such a big smile!

Grandma and Davis. So cute. Enough said!

We took Grandma and Grandpa to Huber Farm in Indiana. Davis loved these race carts and wanted Grandpa to take him around and around the track.

Like I said...couldn't get enough of the race cars.

Had so much fun feeding the goats. This was a really greedy goat and kept taking all the food from the baby goats.

I just keep cracking up every time I look at this picture. I love that Steve is so goofy all of the time (well most of the time I love it).

Thanks for coming to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We can't wait for your next visit.

Davis' First Prayer

This was Davis' first prayer last night (without any help from us)

Heavenly Father
Thank you for this day
Thank you treats
Thank you grapes
Thank you Jesus
Davis
Mama
Daddy
In name
Jesus Christ
Amen

He's getting it! It was a sweet parenting moment to hear my little boy pray all by himself..especially to thank Heavenly Father for treats and grapes! I love it!

Recipe Swap

I have a friend in my ward that has a fabulous crafty/idea blog called Nannygoat. She has a great idea to simplify cooking and grocery shopping...you can check it out here. For part of it she is doing a recipe swap and I think I am a little late, but I found some great new recipes to try from those that were shared so I thought I would share one of my favorites too. I can't take credit for this recipe...I got it from my friend Kristen who is a great cook! It is my husbands very favorite and even the picky child will eat it!

EASY Chicken Cordon Bleu
-2 packages thin sliced chicken breasts (I just cut my regular chicken breasts in half length wise and do as many as I need to feed whomever I am feeding)
-Plain bread crumbs
-8 slices deli ham
-8 slices swiss cheese
-1 cup sour cream
-1 can cream of chicken soup

Dip chicken in bread crumbs. Place a slice of ham and a slice of cheese on top of chicken breasts. Roll chicken up and secure with a toothpick. Place in greased baking dish. Mix sour cream and soup in bowl. Pour over chicken. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.