Independence Day BBQ/Birthday Party

On the fourth of July we hosted a small BBQ with Daniel's family to celebrate Independence Day and Lynny's birthday. It was a lot of fun, with good food and fun people. But the most fun part (at least for Daniel and me) was the BBQ-themed birthday cake we made. We got the idea and the directions from Food Network Magazine, which I LOVE, and decided it was perfect for our little shindig. We had so much fun making and documenting it. We've decided that Daniel and I make a good team when it comes to cake making/decorating. He does the functional aspects (like mixing the batter and cutting the cake to size) and I do the artistic aspects (like frosting the cake and making the small details work). Here are some pictures of us having a good time in the kitchen.

Cakes, hot from the oven.

Making the lettuce.

Lettuce assembling on the cake.

Daniel holding the cake while I make it look like a patty.

The finished product. Sorry, it's a little blurry, sorry. 

Daniel's brother, Quentin, eating our cake.

Lynny got a little nervous when everyone started singing

Camping, cousins, and family time

We went camping last weekend for (another) family reunion with Daniel's family. It was a lot of fun, even if we did get there late and had to pitch our tent in the dark. (I think the most disappointing thing about that was that I didn't get to make our dutch oven dinner, which I was really looking forward to.) But I got up early and made breakfast, we sat around the fire for a bit, and then enjoyed the whole big family group.

Lynny was so excited to get in her sleeping bag, and wanted George in with her.

In the tent, about to get ready for bed. George lost a sock in the sleeping bag when he was in it with Lynny.

The little girl who has always risen with the sun slept in almost an hour after everyone else was up. She also talked a ton in her sleep with a few choice exclamations during the night, including "Mommy!," "Cars? Cars?!," and "Meemo?" (Which means Elmo. That one's my personal favorite.)

George, just hanging out.

He's the smiliest boy I know. I can't get enough of him!

Daniel, breaking up kindling for the fire.

Me, making breakfast.

Lynny, still a little out of it.

This is at the actual reunion part of the day. Lynny carrying paper towels to the picnic area. Lynny insisted on being carried around by her grandpa (who she LOVES), until he asked her to "help." Anything for Grandpa.

And Daniel's cousin made this cool cake for the reunion. It has their grandpa's house, the sweet peas, white picket fence, broken walkway, broken down jeep (which transported the grandkids anywhere they wanted to go), the giant inner tube that they used as a trampoline, the mountains, and fish lake (which is where we were camping). It would have been Grandpa Hatch's 100th birthday this year, thus the number. There were some more details on the back of the house as well.

 Lynny's birthday was the same day as the reunion, but we didn't really celebrate much. We'll have a real family party when everyone gets back from their trip to Iowa (Daniel's sister just moved out there and everyone went to help with the move.) But she has gotten a few things already, and she loves them!

Lynny's new baby and high chair. She's "feeding" the baby bananas, of course, because that's what Lynny likes most of George's baby food.

This doesn't really have anything to do with her birthday or anything. I just thought it was a cute picture. She did that herself.

She got a big bag of stuff from Grandma Lynn, and her favorite (by far) was the bright pink crocs she sent. She has insisted on having them next to her pillow at naptime and bedtime ever since she got them, and she won't take them off during the day.

A souvenir from Great Wolf Lodge in Virginia: wolf ears. They were a big hit too.

When I asked Lynny what her baby's name was she said "Baby Nim." I think she was just repeating me, saying "baby's name." But Nim stuck.

Lynny put the ears on George. He loved it.

 And BIG BIG news: My sister, Molly, and her family are back in Utah! Hooray! I get to see her again, and Lynny finally gets to know her cousin, Olivia, a little bit better. So this week we've seen each other a few times, and we even went over to swim with them at Olivia's Grandma Jean's house. (It turns out that's a good activity for them because they don't have to share anything. Two-year olds aren't very good at sharing.)

Lounging in the pool. Again, smiling. What else is new?

Lynny doesn't remember swimming at the beach last summer, so this was really cool to her. I'm ecstatic she liked it. What kind of river guide's daughter doesn't like the water though?

Olivia has a little more practice at swimming than Lynny, and she was actually able to steer herself. I was quite impressed, but not surprised. Water runs in her genes, cus Charles was a river guide too.

Apparently floating is hard work. He crashed.

The girls also had a chance to jump on the trampoline. Olivia wasn't quite as comfortable as Lynny and preferred to bounce from the security of her bottom.

 And we broke out the camera at bedtime that same night for a few quick pictures. I realized this was the first picture I've taken of me and both kids since right after George was born.

Lynny is wearing her new jammies, also courtesy of Grandma Lynn.

The Library

I love going to the library. We go once a week, usually on Tuesday mornings, and we love every minute of it. We walk, and it's about a 40-45 minute walk, one way. So Library trips are a long ordeal. We walk there, take our time finding books (our library has a great kids section, and it even has a whole board book section!) and usually pick out one or two Sesame Street DVDs for the week. Then we check out, eat a snack, and walk home. (The snacking part is kind of crucial.)

By the time we're on the last leg of our walk back, I'm usually pretty bushed. It's just slightly uphill most of the way back, so I'm always so relieved to get home. I'll grab some water for me and Lynny, sit down to feed George and let Lynny look at her books. Sometimes we'll eat lunch then go down for a nice (long) nap; other times we'll sit and read for a little bit first. I love that time with my kids. And they love it too.

Summertime means family time!

When Daniel started back into school, he said he was going nonstop until he finished. Two semesters of full-time school later: complete burn-out. So Daniel took the summer off. And frankly, I'm glad. He's not driving the school bus right now--just working 9-5 at the dealership--so we actually get to eat breakfast together in the morning and spend time as a family in the evenings. It's only been a few weeks, but I'm loving it. I've missed having my whole family together. Here are some pictures of one fun evening we had at home.

We were looking for the aloe gel to put on George's freshly sunburned legs (we took a long walk to the library and I forgot to put sunscreen on us). Well, the aloe was in my drybag with all my river stuff (I haven't been burned since we were in Jackson) including my shortie wetsuit. Lynny tromped around the house in it for a bit until she decided it didn't quite fit right. 

Summertime is also family reunion time...at least for Daniel's family. (I haven't been to a Meppen family reunion since the summer I graduated from high school.) But Daniel's family has several each summer. And today was the first one: The Larsen reunion, or Daniel's maternal great grandpa's family. Everyone lives close by so they just sent out invitations to everyone to come play games at a park, bring a lunch (a birthday cake for Great Grandpa was provided for dessert...even though he's been dead a long time), and visit for hours and hours. I loved seeing everyone greeting each other, passing hugs around, and commenting on the growth of each kid. I imagine that's what it will be like in heaven someday. Everyone greeting each other, no matter how long it's been, just so excited to be reunited. I can't wait.
Here are some pictures from that.

The old man in the middle is Uncle Dewayne. He's the oldest living Larsen right now.

A tender moment between sisters, Aunt Karen and Aunt Edyth.

All of the Larsen kids, circa about 1930. The little boy playing caboose is Uncle DeWayne and the baby boy is Garth. They're the only two still living. And the second tallest girl is Bessie, Daniel's grandma. (Did you notice the duct tape holding the picture up? Love it.)

So, now, I'm thinking the Meppens need to get together for some extended family time. I'd love to see you all again, and frankly, there aren't too many of us so how hard can it be? How's about we get a family reunion in the works for next summer, or the year after?

What we've been up to.

Daniel has been done with finals for about two weeks now, and we're so glad to have him home in the evenings. Originally, we planned for him to take one or two classes over the summer, but after two semesters going full-time after five years off, he was really burned out. So it's been wonderful each evening around five when Daniel gets home and stays home. I don't feel rushed to get food one the table right when he gets home, knowing he doesn't have to leave again in half an hour, and I'm a much more agreeable Mommy because of it.
Something else we've had time to do now that Daniel is home in the evenings is start a garden! Last year we had great plans for a garden that didn't come to fruition. We lived in an adorable duplex in Salt Lake, with a perfect spot for a garden. We had the earth nicely turned over and beautifully tilled, ready to plant when we found out I was pregnant with George (yay!) and needed to find a place with more room. Our current apartment came available at the same time, our friends tipped us off, and we snatched it up. I drove past our old duplex a couple months later and saw that whoever moved in made good use of the garden prep we did, and had beautiful tomatoes growing and squash blossoms just blooming. I actually cried when I realized what we had missed out on. (The fact that I was pregnant played a large part in that, I'm sure.)
So a couple weeks ago, when Daniel's dad made the offer to us to use the backyard of their vacant house (in need of repairs, and not exactly rentable at the moment) for a garden, I was elated! So we've spend the last week prepping the soil and we'll spend this weekend planting starters (it's a little late for seeds, unfortunately.) I'm so excited for tomatoes, zucchini, squash, romaine, and a few other things we're going to try. When we have pictures that are worth looking at (as in, not just a big square of dirt) I'll post them.
Also, I want to take a moment to brag a little about how well my little boy is growing. We took him in for his four month check-up a little under two weeks ago and he was weighing in at 16 pounds 10 ounces. But then we took him in again today for his shots (which he actually giggled the entire way through...no crying whatsoever) and they weighed him again...18 pounds 5 ounces. That's about two pounds in about two weeks. What a chub! That's the 90th percentile for weight. Crazy. He's only ten ounces lighter than Lynny was at her one year check up. We're going to end up having to get a different carseat for him in the next couple of months, just because he'll outgrow the one we have for him now. Lynny was in that one until after her first birthday. It continues to boggle my mind.
And just so you don't feel like you've wasted time reading for nothing, here are a few pictures of my family.

I was cleaning my room one day with George laying on the bed. Lynny came in and started sharing her toys with him. I couldn't resist taking a picture. It was such a sweet moment.

George fell asleep in his jumperoo. That kind of excerise really wears you out, you know.

We don't get any TV channels, so we only watch DVDs. Imagine my joy when we discovered the library's Sesame Street collection. They even have the old school ones! This is the kids deeply interested in the letter "h".

We went to the zoo with Daddy's field trip last week. George got his first sunburn (it wasn't that bad) and it was a nice tan by the next day. Here he is, just as happy as can be, despite his pink skin. He never stops smiling.

Lynny, once again enjoying Sesame Street, which she calls "Meemo," or Elmo.

My boys napping on a Sunday afternoon. I can't get enough of sleeping babies and daddies.

Easter pictures

You know, in my head, Easter was not going to be a big deal. We would wake up Sunday morning, come out and find our humble Easter baskets filled with candy, some new church outfits from Gramma... I mean the Easter Bunny. Then we would hunt for the six hard-boiled eggs we dyed. And then we would go to church.
BUT...the Saturday before Easter we were at Costco and saw something. And in that moment our humble, simple Easter morning became this:

We found a giant (as in 53 inch tall) teddy bear. And frankly, we wanted it more for ourselves than for the kids, but they provided a great excuse. So now we have "Grizzly Gibson" sitting in Lynny' room. We figured that since we can't have a dog, we might as well get something else big and furry.
Lynny loves it. She'll sit in it's lap and read books. She'll have me drag it out into the living room so she can sit in it's lap while I feed George. It's awesome. We love that giant bear.
And here are some more pictures from Easter. (Of course the bear is included)

"Hey Lynny, how big are you?"
"SOOOO big!

George in his new church outfit. It's a twelve month size outfit, believe it or not. I had to hem the pants, but otherwise, everything fit.

Easter candy coma.