October is OVER???

I can't believe how quick October went by. We were crazy busy. Here's a few pictures of only some of the things we were busy with!

We went over to Yakima to attend the blessing of the newest Larsen, baby Lael. We played at the park for a while, and enjoyed beautiful weather. Kedric had a blast playing with boy cousins (he only has one on the Glauser side, and he lives in Utah). 

Here's little Lael. She's so cute and so little!

Celebrating my Dad's Big 6-0!! We had a blast seeing old friends. It was a hat party. Everyone LOVES my Dad. 

Kedric is a rascal! He's in a toddler bed, and has been for 3 months. Only recently he has decided that it's more fun to sneak in his closet and play with toys instead of go to sleep. Here he is CAUGHT!! He's dumped out all of the little toys, and obviously thinks he deserves a gold medal because that's what he put around his neck! 

He's also learned the art of climbing! Can you guess what he's trying to get here?

I watched a cute little 8 week old boy, Jalen for a few weeks. The kids loved having him around. I realized how hard 3 kids can be. Bravo to all you women who can do it. I was stressed! :)

The kids love to dance, and sometimes that's the only way I can get any exercise (if I dance with them). One day, while we were rocking out to Hannah Montana, Kedric was totally doing the "deacon shuffle," with one hand in his pocket, nodding his head and rocking from one foot to the other. Too funny. (Side note: Mothers of 5 year old girls do listen to Hannah Montana, and learn to like it! :)

Reilyn is seriously into breakdancing and calls herself a "B-girl." Here she is doing some of her freezes. 

Joel and Marta came to visit. It was Joel's Birthday, and the next day I took family pictures of them. Our kids LOVE them (we do too). Here's Kedric sleeping in Joels arms. I think Joel was liking it too! 

Carving Pumpkins! Every day when we would come home (from anywhere), Kedric had to lift the tops off of each pumpkin and say whose pumpkin was whose. 

Oh Halloween!! Reilyn and Kedric were Hansel and Gretel (they wore their Leiderhosen). I was the witch that tried to eat Hansel! :) My kids were pretty scared of me. I'm pretty scared looking at this picture of me. 

Here's a picture I took of them in my studio a couple weeks ago.

Taryn and Maizyn. Tinkerbell and Bumble Bee.

Gramma Jadeyn. (she has lipstick on her teeth)

The cute little grandkids!

Heather and Alex were Jane and Tarzan with their cute little monkeys!

Tarzan was attacking the soldier. 

On top of all of the fun we've had this month, I've been busy with Young Women's, photo shoots, creating a website, logo designs, business cards....finding out that the house we're renting (we just moved into 3 months ago) is in foreclosure because the owner is not paying his mortgage, so we're looking for a new place to live!! I realized how simply life really was in Germany, and I'm missing it! I'm glad it's November. Remember to VOTE!! 

Tagged

I figured since I had been tagged twice I should probably follow through... I was tagged by Kim and Kristen to post the 4th image from my 4th photo folder. Well this was of some other people from a photo shoot, so I decided to go to the 4th folder from my personal pictures and this is what I got!  This is from Reilyn's 4th Birthday party when we were here in Washington last summer. The are playing a game of "Oink, piggy, oink." Taryn is spinning Reilyn around. I don't know why Ceci has a bat. It looks like she's ready to hit Reilyn who is blind-folded. The bat is NOT part of the game! We always have fun with everyone!!  So I tag Taryn (since she's in this picture) and Heather. 

Good things

First off, I have to just say that I LOVED general conference. There were so many good talks. Many that I felt were answers to my prayers. I really liked Elder Holland's talk about angels. "There are angels both seen and unseen." President Uchtdorf's message of hope was so inspiring! I loved the messages from President Monson. I loved how he urged us to Enjoy the Journey... NOW. And how he said, "the Lord is not asking us to walk across the country, he's asking us to walk across the street." Super good talks. We went and watched the last session at my parents house this afternoon with lots of kiddos running around, so there are a few talks that I want to watch again. 

September seems like it is the month filled with birthdays! There are so many, Melani, Grandpa Glauser, Alecia, Dad, Grandma Facer, Travis, Kedric... I'm sure I'm missing several...

My Dad had his 60th this year! I just have to say that he is SO awesome! The only thing he wanted for his birthday was for all of his children to attend a temple session together. We all did, and it was an awesome experience. He has that quiet confidence that was talked about in conference. He is such a good person, and Christlike in so many ways. I love you Dad! This picture was taken when he came to visit us in Germany. This is one of the towns he served his mission in 40 years ago.

And little buddy, Kedric. He turned two. He is such a funny kid. He's so entertaining, loving, and caring. Yet, he does throw tantrums, and gets a mean streak more than I'd like. He gets mad a lot lately. He does get so excited to see his cousins by greeting them with a big hug, and most of the time, it's so big he ends up tackling them to the ground! He's all boy complete with the low, grumbling voice. He loves nursery, coloring, singing, and dancing. He loves to follow Reilyn around doing whatever she is, even if it is dressing up like a princess!  Here's so pictures of his birthday...

cousins, Maya and Eva. According to Kedric, they are Maya and Maya.

little Maizyn....

the whole gang

I had to throw in pictures of the sesame street cupcakes. Reilyn helped me decorate them.

Reilyn and Kedric are such good friends. They have such a love-hate relationship, but oh the joy when I catch them playing so well together. If I would've taken this picture two minutes later, they would have been fighting and crying in it! :)

Mountains, Monsters, and Princesses....Oh MY!

NO, you are not dreaming, you are actually seeing a new post from me! We have been so busy with moving and getting settled. When our things finally came, our computer was broken, so it has been a LONG time since I've posted. We are alive and well! 

After living with my parents for about a month, we found a great house in the Tacoma area (between Puyallup and Spanaway) in a cute little subdivision. Behind our fence in the backyard is a horse pasture. Reilyn and Kedric love looking and talking to the horses. Our ward is a great mix of people. It's huge. And a lot of new families just moved in. James was just called as the Gospel Doctrine teacher and I was called as the 2nd counselor in Young Women over the beehive class. I'm excited to work with the YW again. James is working at Madigan hospital. He's helping run the Dental Clinic, and cleans teeth a couple times a week. I'm slowly trying to get my business up and going here. I've taken a few Senior Pictures, and have some family shoots scheduled in the next couple of weeks. Reilyn started Kindergarten and rides the bus to school! Kedric loves having his own couple of hours with me while Reilyn's away. 

We've done some really fun things the past couple of months. 

The Swiss Alps! We took one last trip right before we left Germany. The Alps are so majestic. Reilyn said that she wanted to live there. It was so fun to see the cows in the mountains, and hear their beautiful bells chiming. 

Sesame Place! We surprised the kids, and stopped in Philadelphia for a couple days before we made our way to Washington. We took them to Sesame Place, which is a huge amusement park just for kids. They had a blast. I think Kedric said "Melmo" (Elmo) about 100 times the first hour we were there. Reilyn keeps begging to go back.

The kids reading the map of the park

Their expressions were priceless.

Reilyn's dancin' to the music.

A Royal Party! For Reilyn's 5th birthday, we had a Princess Party. Everyone was to wear their best princess dress. We decorated crowns, had Princess Tea, Queen Grandma told the story of the Princess and the Pea, and we determined whether they were true princesses by having them lay decide which "mattress" the "pea" was under. We then played pin the kiss on the frog. We had a lot of fun. My mom and Alecia did a great job decorating the "Castle!" 

We are glad to be back in the states. It's been so fun to hang out with family and cousins. I do feel like a foreigner sometimes. My family says I act like one, especially when I'm driving. I think I'm adjusting pretty well! 

I'm going to get back on the blogging wagon. I need your blog addresses again! I saved them in my favorites on our old computer that died, so I don't have them anymore! Please send them to me, so I can catch up with you!! Thanks!

I had to share this picture. It's at the Larsen Family Reunion. What silly family! :)

Sergeant Larsen

A long overdue and well deserved promotion for James! He is now Sergeant Larsen (officially on July 1st). I'm proud of you sweetie. You deserve it, and you've been a good soldier!

Here's a picture taken back in April. But my most recent of him in uniform. This is how I see him everyday. Isn't he a good-lookin' soldier?

And this is one that I just took last weekend. So handsome!

We're down to our last week here. We're going to Switzerland this weekend, and then we'll be living in a hotel for a couple of days until we head to the states! Last night I was looking through some old pictures and realized how long we've been gone! We are so ready to be back with our families. So, the next post you'll see will be from the states, (probably with Elmo in it too-- we're taking the kids to Sesame Place in Philadelphia on the way home). Tchuss Deutchland!

3 years later....

We had a friend click the camera for us (since it's hard to get a family picture when I'm the photog) so that we could have a picture in front of the Fortress. We will miss seeing our cute town everyday.

Here's a picture of us 3 years ago a couple months before we came to Germany (this was in San Antonio where James went for training).

I can still remember the anxious feelings of not knowing what to expect. I remember thinking, "Reilyn's going to be going into Kindergarten when we get back." I remember bawling at the airport when we said goodbye to my mom, Jadeyn, and Melani. And being scared out of my mind. We did it. We made it. We have learned so much. We have had so many hard times, and yet have been blessed so much. We are ready to come home and be near family again. Ready or not, here we come! :)