September Field Trip

In September we took our field trip to the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper, Utah.  This is the Aquariums new home and it was the first time I had been to the new building.  Both DeeDee and MiMi had been their on summer school field trip.  We all were looking forward to it and it didn't prove to be a disappointment.

We took our little friend Cici with us and we all had so much fun.  First, the older girls wanted to be eaten by the Megaladon Shark teeth.  The littler kids didn't want to get near them.

They had a really beautiful Orca picture area.  All of the kids had fun playing on the Orcas while I took pictures.

It was fun to see all the animals they had at the old Aquarium building in the new building you could tell they were able to make better and more

interesting exhibits for their animals.  The river otter exhibit is better than the one at the zoo.  The 3 brother otters at Loveland just love to play.  It is so fun to watch them.  The Jellyfish exhibit was also very beautiful.
Next, was the penguin exhibit.  Once again, they took the old exhibit which was nice but kind of small and made it bigger and better for both the penguins and the patrons.

 This was the only picture I could get My Boy to pose for.  He was just running around looking at everything and having so much fun.  We moved on to the South America exhibit.  What an amazing thing.  It was beautiful and included birds, snakes and lizards as well as the fish.  They have a really fun rope bridge for everyone to try.

 At this point MaeMae was really tired.  I had forgotten to bring the big stroller and she would have slept the entire time if I would have had it. Oh, well...(*sigh*).

 The last exhibit is the coral reef exhibit.  They have built a glass tunnel for patrons to walk through and go under the sharks, turtles and other fish.  DeeDee took these great pictures.

All of the exhibits were beautiful and enjoyable to view.  The staff was willing to answer any question and share knowledge with us.  It was wonderful.

Each of the older girls was able to check off their Aquarium passport.  It was a great school field trip day.  I somehow managed it all on my own.  I look forward to my Mom being retired so I can take her to these things.

The Larsen Family 2014

It was time again for family pictures.  So, our family and my brothers family went for a Sunday picnic to Murray Park.  My brother Aaron the hobbyist photographer and full time graphic designer brought his nice camera and took some lovely pictures of our family.  It is so nice to have MaeMae and our new dogs.  Our family feels complete.

 We had a heck of a time with my boy.  He simply refused to smile.

 He did finally break a smile when his cousin started jumping around to catch the babies attention.

 Sweet little MaeMae 5 months old

 Big Sis DeeDee.  She is my helper. 9 years old.

 My free spirit. MiMi. 7 years old

 My very sober child, LeeLee.  3 year old.

 That's My Boy.  Love him so much! 2 years old.

Mark & Ruth.  Still in love after 13 years.

Perler Beads

I bought DeeDee a container of Perler Beads for her and she has enjoyed them immensely.  She even has started making her own patterns.  These are a couple of the things she has done recently.  My favorite is the cupcake.

 

Lapbook Reports

As promised here are the pictures of my 4th grader and my 2nd grader with their reports.

DeeDee chose to do a report on Sea Lions.  She loves sea mammals.

She chose what pictures she needed to match her report information.  I am so proud of her.

MiMi wanted to do Butterflies.

I walked her through it and she learned all sorts of new things.

They both had a lot of fun and I am so very proud of both of them.  

The great thing about doing it in this form, is that it folds up and you can keep it in a file drawer to look at later.  I need to get a file drawer organized for all the lapbooking we are going to do.

Happy Birthday to Me!

This year I turned 38 years old.  I have had some interesting age realizations recently.  I dropped off our cute little sister missionaries after going with them on a visit and realized I was old enough to be their Mother.  I am a Mother to 5 beautiful children.  I had my last baby this year (Thank Goodness!).  I am an Aunt and loving it.  I am a Wife to a man that is so perfect for me that I constantly marvel at that realization and thank God for him everyday.  I am a Granddaughter who was lucky enough to grow up with all 4 Grandparents (and one is still living).  I am a Decendant to many wonderful and amazing people.  I am a Niece and a Cousin who is so grateful to have grown up knowing my Aunts, Uncles & Cousins.  My life is full of miracles.  My life is full of the Spirit of God.  MY LIFE IS BLESSED.

Thank you for your support.

The girls made some super cute potholders for all of our friends and family who contributed to our school.  And of course I forgot to take a picture of the potholders.  We did get pictures with a couple of our helpers. (And of course I forgot to take pictures with all of them).

Thank you Aaron & Bronwynn

Thank you Stephanie.

Thank  you to Grandma & Grandpa Thorup, Grandma & Grandpa Larsen, Matt & Christine Oldroyd & John & Lisa Overbaugh.  We love you all and are so grateful for your help.

I love my LeeLee

I am homeschooling my older 2 children but, I don't have any qualms about sending my 3 year old to preschool.  I just need to get her out of the house.

I walked her to her first full 3 hours of preschool and when I left I was grateful for the feeling of motherly concern and hope I had for her.  She can really get on my nerves sometimes.  I love her.