21

Katie got her own hard-back copy of the Book of Mormon for her birthday (so she doesn't have to steal mine off the nightstand) and each night, she works hard to read about one verse. She's also figuring out the other tasks associated with reading, like following the lines of words from left to right, then top to bottom, chapters, and page numbers. It's a lot to take in when you think about it. At the grocery store tonight, Katie looked up at the aisle marker and said, "Mom, look! We're on page 21!"

Rainbow Bright

Last night the girls and I went outside to water the garden, harvest our strawberries and peas, and play outside as the evening cooled off. Our activities got cut off early by some lightening, thunder and rain sprinkles. So, we sat under the patio and watched the storm. I enjoyed it more than the girls, but it was a phenomenon to them too. We came inside for jammies as Dad came home and announced that we needed to go outside to see something. Straight south of us was a HUGE and bright RAINBOW! I don't know that I've ever seen a complete rainbow crossing the entire sky before! It even had a reflection rainbow to the west. It was amazing and beautiful. Katie is still talking about it today and added it to her birthday wish list-she'd like a rainbow for her birthday! I'm so glad that we live in a world where our loving Father in Heaven showers us with such amazing gifts!

"Oh! I stink!"

Amanda has pretty much gotten the hang of taking care of her own toileting needs. She occasionally has accidents, but for the most part, when we're at home, she trots off to the bathroom when she needs to. This morning, she did just that. I walked by the bathroom to offer assistance, which she didn't need. As I walked away, I heard her say with great expressiveness, "Oh! I stink!" I laughed to myself and went back to the bathroom and asked her to repeat what she'd said. "I stink. I need some of that spray so Daddy won't think I stink!" she said pointing to the air freshener! She's got a pretty good handle on the whole thing, don't ya think? :)

PS--She's way too cute to be that stinky!

Happy Birthday, America!

Bo, Raimi, Ellie
We partied all weekend long to celebrate the creation of our great nation. Saturday found us in Salt Lake for a mini Larson reunion at Granite High, the Alma Mater of Grandma N and her siblings. Katie and Amanda loved playing with their second cousins from Las Vegas (Mia, Luke, and Ella) and Ellie got to meet her second cousin, Bo, who is almost a month younger but looks a few months older (he's a big boy!) Mia, Bo, Raimi, Ella, Ellie, Mandy
It was hot but we were grateful for a little shade and some cold drinks.

Despite the heat, a little cold, and being 3 days out from a ton of immunizations, Ellie always seems to have a smile for Mommy!
Katie loved playing with the older kids, especially Mia. Mandy played a mean game of Skip-Bo. We had a picnic, concert, family catching up, and an awesome firework show. We got home after 1 am. It was a killer night!
Monday morning, Independence Day, Brett, and Grandma N took the older girls to the 6 am hot air balloon launch. The weather conditions mandated that the balloons couldn't fly, but they inflated for show anyway. Don't the girls look so tired? Hah!
The new balloon this year was Darth Vader. (Cooh Perr)
Ellie (and by default, myself) merited a break, so we stayed home for a nap.

We decided to let the crowd sit in the heat of the parade, and we went to the water park. While half the town was at the parade, we jumped right on the slides with almost no lines!Grandma N and Amanda on Cave In.
Daddy and Katie on Cave In.
Mom and Katie on Tube Run.
Dad and Mandy on Tube Run.
Ellie had her first time on the slides, and she did great! It was overcast, and not really crowded for a holiday so we had a great time.
We topped the day off with an early birthday dinner for Katie at Brick Oven (now that's lovin' from the Oven!) complete with free root beer and birthday sundae!

Aren't I?

"I'm the lost princess, aren't I, Mother?" Mandy announced loudly at lunch today.
Yes, we watched the ending of Tangled today.

Lucky Sevens!

I'm not usually a fan of odd numbers (I know it's weird) but this time, I'll make an exception. I just celebrated seven years of marriage! Here's my top seven reasons why I love Brett so much! (and it was really hard to keep it to JUST seven!)

7-He's fun to watch get into his skinny jeans!
6-He takes me to the temple every month--even if it's on the last day!
5-He makes a yummy dinner on the grill almost weekly (tonight he grilled Manti turkey and pineapple)
4-Almost every treat he has, he shares half with me.
3-He's not afraid of poopy diapers (or panties), or bathing girls, or sharing a bathroom with four girls. . . .yet!
2-He lets me warm my cold feet up on him.
1-He makes me laugh even when I don't want to.

We had a great anniversary day, and the best of the anniversary date is still to come! Despite his personal preference, he's taking me to see Les Miserables musical later this month. He's so sweet!
On May 6 we went to Trafalga to ride the go carts.
Katie and Mandy stayed with Grandma N while Ellie, Brett and I went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving point. After having such a cold, rainy spring, it was hot and sunny! But the tulips, gardens, and walk was beautiful. We spent lots of time picking out our favorite tulips that we'll eventually plant at home :)We took Ellie to Emmett and Ethel's for lunch and a mini Sundae. We then headed to BYU for standby tickets to see the Carl Bloch exhibit at the MOA. We were led to believe we may not get in at all, and if so, we'd wait in line forever. Turns out, we waited about five minutes before being admitted! I'll take it.By this point, Ellie had only had cat naps through the day and was at her limit. We got Pier 49 pizza for dinner and went home to watch Morning Glory (from the Library) while Ellie napped. We all felt much better! :)The next morning, Ellie went to a friend's house, and Brett and I did sealings in the Provo Temple. We only did two couples, but it was enough to bring back sweet memories. I loved kneeling across the alter from Brett again!On the Sunday before our anniversary, he got up during testimony meeting and went against his norm: he bore testimony and included personal stories too! He talked about the important covenant of marriage and that he is grateful to be sealed to me and looks forward to spending eternity with me. I wish I could remember it word for word, but I was blushing and distracted by my children who decided to get rowdy when Dad left the bench. Anyway, it was heartwarming and reassuring to me that he does love me!Brett, I love you so! We've done some growing, which hasn't always been a painless process, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat! Happy Anniversary!
(PS We got ourselves his and hers Red Sox DVD's-2004 season and 2007 season!!)

New Bikes!

Amanda got a new 12 inch two-wheeler bike (with training wheels) from the Easter bunny. It was just a few weeks ago that she figured out how to pedal the tricycle, and now feels so big that she has a bike like Katie's. She has now taken quite well to the bike, we just haven't yet made the connection with the brakes! She usually slows down or stops by driving into the grass, or getting Mom or Dad to grab her.
Well, with the renewed interest in bikes (and the snow finally stopped), Katie has been on her bike a lot too. We've been debating taking off Katie's training wheels since last fall, and on Wednesday, the training wheels came off. Brett spent about an hour running up and down the sidewalk holding onto Katie's bike seat while she pedaled wildly. No progress toward riding her bike independently.
Thursday, we took off Katie's bike pedals. Brett showed her to coast by pushing off with both feet simultaneously, not alternating feet and "walking" the bike. Still no progress. Friday, we faced freezing temperatures to again try the bikes. This time, Katie put both her feet up on the front wheel hub and coasted between two houses--no push off or anything! She's got it!! After practicing that for a bit, we put back on her pedals and she completed the process.

All in all, it took Katie about 3 hours to learn to ride her bike without training wheels! It took about another 30 minutes to add in how to start, how to stop and step off, and she's all GO! She had almost no crashes in all this process, until yesterday when she's showing off to a neighbor, and she's now chalked up two minor crashes! So fun, and we're so proud of our girls!
The beginning

Getting the coast

We've got it!!