December 2008

Merry Christmas!

I am really late posting Christmas info and pictures, but once again we've had an adventure over the last 4 or 5 weeks. (I'll get to that in a minute). We had a good Christmas here--I was able to take off of work the week before Christmas which was really nice and allowed me to get lots of little last-minute things done before the big day. On the 23rd we all drove to Valparaiso to see my cousin and her family who were home for Christmas from Montana! Quinn and Clara had been writing back and forth with Stephen and Rebecca and so it was fun for them to finally meet them. We took the opportunity for a rare trip to Chuck E Cheese and we were even able to get a picture of ALL 8 Larson great-grandchildren (all they were ALL looking at the camera with no crying...amazing!) We stopped at Great-Grandma's for a short visit before heading home. Unfortunately an ice storm had developed during the day and our 2 1/2 hour trip home ended up taking us 8 1/2. We joked that if we'd just decided to go the other direction we could have been in Minnesota in that amount of time (OK, we weren't joking until later because it was a pretty miserable trip.) We made it home safely, though, and we were glad to have the chance to see everyone.

Christmas Eve was a full day, too. We went to see Tale of Despereaux (we love the book and have read it a couple of times) and then went to the Christmas Eve service at church. Clara and Zane sang in the children's choir--Zane looked like a total goofball, but he made us smile :o) Maybe someday he'll be able to stand still! We came home and had our traditional Christmas Eve food, punch and red velvet cake.

Christmas Day was lots of fun as the kids enjoyed their new gifts--and then a trip to Kokomo in the afternoon for Christmas with Matt's family. We headed to Michigan the next day for Christmas at Dad's with Scott, Brian and Courtney. Those of you who have known us a while will recognize Matt's most unique Christmas gift in the pictures. We had inherited an antique blow torch when we got married and Matt loved it (I always made fun of it and was tired of finding a place for it.) A few weeks ago we saw one on Antiques Roadshow and were talking about what happened to ours and couldn't remember. Well, Matt had a gift on Christmas from Dad (and Mom, it turned out). Apparently in a last fit of frustration before our move TO Minnesota in 2003 (the last-minute things weren't all fitting on the moving truck) we threw a bunch of stuff away, and that blow torch was one of the things. Mom and Dad were there that morning and before they pulled away from the house behind us grabbed in off the trash pile, thinking that we would regret throwing it away. Dad polished it and put the handle back on and Matt has it back!! This time I will not make fun of it...it was a very special gift.

Little did we know disaster was brewing back at home. We got home on Sunday the 28th and Matt went downstairs to the basement (newly re-carpted at Thanksgiving) and stepped into 3 inches of standing water. Oh yes! We had another major flood. Sometimes I just can't believe the trend of basement/water disasters that we've had. The ONLY good thing about having the flood in June was that now I knew exactly what to do and who to call. The restoration company was out the next morning at 8am and extracted the rest of the water and set up huge fans and dehumidifiers to dry everything out. It was a huge pain but we were thankful that the new carpet was saved. We had a couple of other water scares the week following due to other sump pump issues, but thankfully things are fine. The only problem is that I'm extremely paranoid--in fact I woke up this morning at 4:30 thinking I heard the water alarm going off again!

December ended with horse camp for Clara (it was a little bit cold but she had a great time) and lots of play days for the kids. We had my traditional birthday dinner at the Melting Pot with Brendon and Jennifer (I never take any pictures of us when we're together--it's always pictures of the kids--I am hoping to be better about that in 2009).

That wrapped up a whirlwind December! Here are the pictures. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas...



Janette