Pajama Party

The kids got some new pajamas and were so excited to wear them tonight at bedtime. They got all riled up and crazy. I think "this pajama thing" is the direct result of getting so many unique and wonderful pajamas from their Grandma.

In their little world; Pajamas=Love!!!!!!!

It reminds me of that Christmas when Mom made all those pjs for the kids at the shelter in Phoenix and we delivered them downtown.(I can't remember how many?) I'm not sure my kids can remember the experience but I won't ever forget thinking about the kids who would wear those snuggly pajamas. I hope they knew "Pajamas=Love". Those were not second rate pjs either, they were just as fancy and beautiful as the family jams.

As always, the drama crew wanted me to put the picture on the blog. Maybe.... Blog=Love too!!

Fernbank Forest & Fernbank Science Center

I am in Atlanta this weekend and today after Emma's basketball game we went to a local science center and natural area which is run by a local school district. We had a fun day of exploration and learning!

We also had fun inside taking pictures inside of a kaleidoscope.

Happy Birthday to Joe

Happy birthday to Joe. Happy Birthday to Joe. Happy 11th birthday cute little monkey. Happy birthday to you (and MANY more....!)

Joe celebrated his birthday so many times I can't even remember where this picture was taken. He went out to eat (and had a birthday dessert) at least three times. Celebrated with Gram and Gramp and had a special toy shopping outing with big bro Josh. Still on his radar is a "friend party" .. which we have learned is more successful in late January or early Feb.

We love you Joe and we are all glad that you are ours!

The beach in the rain

The day after Josh's graduation we went to the beach on the base. It was cold and rainy but still a lot of fun! Joe was the only one brave enough to get in the water. It was Jaylin's first trip to the beach!

Video from Josh's graduation

We started the day with the flag raising ceremony and there was some fantastic brass band music. The song on the video was my favorite! Then the video goes to where we were cheering for all the Marines in the audience, Jayson and Dad being among the many of the few there supporting the new. The last part of the video is a small part of the graduation. The graduation was inside because there was a threat of rain and it was nearly impossible to take a good picture. Josh was in the last row the third column from the left.

North Carlina museum of history

Debby and I went to this museum before we went to South Carolina for Josh's graduation. It is a great museum. We didn't get to see all of the displays but the ones that we saw were really cool. The first display was about North Carolina furniture, textiles, and pottery. It was very fascinating and made Debby and I want to go and explore the areas where the pottery was made.

This quilt is one of the coolest that I have ever seen. It is a representation of a cotton boll. This is what the note next to the quilt says: "The combination of red and green for the cotton bolls is striking against the white background. The cotton boll pattern is based upon the ancient Greek anthemion, a popular architectural motif."

I remarked while we were at the museum that I know a lot more about the Navajo people than I do about the Cherokee. It is interesting being in North Carolina to learn about the Cherokee people and traditions and to know that is is a small part of my heritage. This is a sandstone carving which depicts the Cherokee story of creation. Here is what the sign says: "This sculpture tells the story of creation of the Cherokee people and the things they considered sacred. The turtle represents Mother Earth and the continent where we live. The owls are messengers from the great Spirit. They carry the message of death to remind people to get their lives in order before they die. The snake symbolizes Cherokee unity and power and is a warning to tread softly in Cherokee territory. The dogwood flowers stand for the beauty in each day. The old chief on the top has died, and the medicine man wearing the owl mask prays for his spirit to go to the place of peace. Feathers hang from the rear of the sculpture, and they represent the Cherokee nation and its thousands of years on the land. Cherokee warriors always wore their feathers hanging down to show membership in the Tsalagi tribe. At the top of the feathers is a round medallion. The circle and lines mark the four directions from which the Creator is called in prayer. At the base of the sculpture are two circles containing drawings that represent the ancestors who have passed. The medallion drawings originated from gorgets that are thousands of years old. One drawing is of the rattlesnake, which represents unity among all clans of the ancient Cherokee, and the other is of a woodpecker. Woodpeckers symbolized the bird clan. In the design, they are pointing in the four directions. A salamander, carved on the left side of the turtle, stands for the little creatures in the world. They are also important to creation.

This is a piece of pottery by a contemporary Cherokee artist. I thought that it was absolutely beautiful!

The next generation of Ward Triathletes

Katie jumped on her Dad's stationary bike this afternoon and said"I'm going to ride 10 miles!" And she proceeded to do it! I was pretty impressed with not only her dedication but also her cool sweatband.

Life is a bowl of Ice Cream

A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general... Offering his guests ice cream, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large container of ice cream and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal -- some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite. Quietly he told them to help themselves to some fresh ice cream. When each of his former students had a cup of ice cream in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and began to patiently address the small gathering... "You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems." He continued...''Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the ice cream. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we eat. What each of you really wanted was ice cream, not a cup, but you instinctively went for the best cups... Then you began eyeing each other's cups....'' ''Now consider this: Life is ice cream. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the ice cream that God has provided us... God makes the ice cream, but he does not supply the cups. Enjoy your ice cream!'' The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything they have ... So please remember:

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care Deeply.
Speak Kindly.

And remember -- the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.

question

Dan & Kris -
Would it be possible and/or appropriate to link to your smugmug sites from here?

I'd like to be able to download/order some of your pictures.

thanks

NC Snow Storm

I just thought that I would upload some of the photos of the storm that we had here. We didn't get near as much as Atlanta but it was enough to for me to get "snowed in" on Saturday. I still have great fear of NC roads in the snow after seeing the stop sign that Dan ran over!

By the way ... that is ice on the trees, not snow. It was funny to me that it was reminiscent of what blooms look like rather that what a winter storm should look like, especially the second photo.

On-Line Chat

I posted this so that everyone would see what I had commented to Charlie's post about the book review.

I suggest that we do an online chat each Sunday night between 9 - 9:30 until we run out of things to talk about. If everyone can finish the "Ultimate Gift" by next week we could do the review then.

Mom and are will both have finished the book by the end of the week.

Love you all,

Dad & Mom

Winter Wonderland Part Deaux

So it doesn't snow for 3 years in GA then all the sudden it snows twice in 1 week! Crazy times down here in the south. Emma was sitting at the kitchen table, looked outside and shouted hey it's snowing! This time we got about an inch of accumulation. The kids had a really fun time. We made four snowmen of various sizes. Everyone but me made snow angels, but I didn't take a picture. The day was topped off by Duke winning so it was a good day all in all. Sorry to spend all my blog time talking about the weather but Snow in GA is a BIG deal!

Cool Calendar Tool

Here's my calendar... let me know what works for the book club.



If we can't find a time for everyone that works do we just want to start discussing it in text?

More Pictures from Josh's Graduation:)

Proud of Our

MARINES

We are all very proud of Josh, another Marine in the House WHAT WHAT!! we are proud to say that we are related to our MARINES Grammpa, Jayson and now Josh we love you guys:)


I Love this pictures they were my favorite. We had tons of fun hanging ot with eachother and so sad it had to end so quick, Great grammpu, grammy, and aunty you all are welcome anytime anyday:)

Jaylin 3 Month Pictures:)

Jaylin Rosario Anderson

Our baby girl is growing:) Here are some pictures at her 3 month. She is a Dallas Cowboy, just like mommy and daddy:)

A little video for you all:) Hope you like it. Aunty Kristy thank you for recording her voice:)

Winter Wonderland

It snowed in GA today! That is the first time in three years that it has snowed so the kids were really excited. It didn't really stick on the roads but the deck had about a 1/2 inch. We went out and had a snowball fight. I don't think enough will be there to cancel school for the kids but they were excited to see the white stuff come!

Josh's Graduation

January 11th 2008


It was such an exiting day for all of us:) We couldnt wait to see Joshy. Eventhough we went through before with Jayson's Graduation the feeling was as exiting as his. As soon as they said there OORAHH we ran to Joshy and gave him a big hug. With tears, smiles and laughs we so happy to have our Joshy back:)






Here is Great Grammpy holding Jaylin for the first time.

She was very happy all day to have finally meet there Great Grandparents:)

Here is Great Grammy holding Jaylin. She was so happy that she got to spend time with Great Grammy and Grammpy.
















Great Aunty Kristi what a beutiful picture:) We had so much fun taking photos especially the one where you put a banana peel on Jaylin head she looked asorable:) We miss you alread Guitar expert:)

Sky Bus

Today in clinical orientation at work, I found out about an airline that serves the Greensboro airport. It doesn't go anywhere that you all live however because it only serves small airports. The fares have the potential to be so low that if you were ever in a town that the airline goes you could just hop on a plane and stop by and see me. Per the people in orientation with me it is a good airline. When you are buy a ticket, all you are buying is a seat on the airplane. It costs more to check bags, for food or drink, or to pre-board.

Top Readers!

Emma and Katie recieved a very cool honor this week of being the top readers in each of their respective classes. They participate in a program called Accelerated Reader(AR). The main idea is that they take a computerized quiz to test their comprehension of each AR book they've read. They are awarded a certain number of points depending on the length and level of each book.

In this picture, they are wearing their "AR hats", where they pin stars and paws that they earn with the points. Chas is just being cool there in front, he loves to have his picture taken. Go figure!

Dan and I both love to read and are pretty darn happy that the kids beg each night to read "just a little more!" It's hard to be grumpy when they "just want to finish the page, chapter or book."

Skiing on Mt Spokane.

Shelby and Matthew and I went Cross country skiing. Had a great time. The trees all looked like the had been spray painted with snow. Looking out towards ID and MT

Matthew and his Friend
Shelby and I

Chuck with CLW

I like this photo of Chuck on Christmas eve. They both look very content.

Noise Canceling .... (what)

I recently purchased a pair of noise canceling headphones. I bought them because I was sick of not being able to watch a movie on a plane, or listen to my music etc. I had my first chance to try them out this week when I flew to Miami for business. The headphones were nice as I was waiting for my plane and listening to music but I couldn't beleive the difference on the plane. I had to turn the volume on my laptop way down because the movie came through so clearly. After a few days in Miami I flew back home. Once again I listened to the headset enroute. What really amazed me though was the way I felt once I got of the plane. Until I had tried these noise cancelling headphones I always got off a plane tired and cranky. After this trip I felt no worse than I would have after an hour car ride. I didn't get the top of the line headset from Bose. They want crazy money for those. The pair I bought at Target was worth every penny though!!

Loss of a Friend

Sometimes you can see the end of the road, other times you're blindsided. We got blindsided this week by the early passing of Chad Wright, a fellow swimmer in my aquatics club. It's amazing to me how emotionally crippling it is to loose someone dear to you. It's been a real blessing to be able to reach out to others who knew him. In this case it's been through a guest book blog.

View/Sign Guestbook

I had the honor of writing/editing the tribute to Chad from our team. It's as follows:

It is with great sorrow that we learned of Chad's passing. He was a dear friend and a long-time member of our swim team. Chad loved swimming and was an accomplished freestyler.

He traveled with our aquatic club to several championship meets; and like everything in life, he participated fully. He was a great contributor to many of our social events and in particular loved anything theatrical especially if it involved dressing up. At one party he came dressed as Superman, à propos for he was.

Chad was an amazing person. He was good natured, fun-loving, infectiously kind, happy and free-spirited. Chad never stopped smiling. He loved adventure, art, good food, friends and conversation. Conversation often turned to his family, particularly his nieces, nephews and younger sister. It was obvious how important they were to him.

Chad placed no judgements on others. He loved unconditionally. You could talk to Chad about anything. He was intelligent, creative, caring and sincere, and never caused drama or tension with anyone. Chad was inclusive, had many friends, had a unique way of bringing people together, and could find common ground with anyone.

Our hearts go out to all of his friends, family and “adopted” families around the world. He had a flair for life, was an amazingly loving friend, and will always be remembered and loved.

Adieu notre cher ami. Puissiez-vous trouver la paix où que vous alliez.

Here is a little video that I took Monday. The apartment doesn't look too much different today. I have an air bed that I borrowed from Dan & Crystal and a beach chair which still has sand from ME in it but no other furniture. I do have a framed picture of the family up and that brightens the whole apt. The movers will be here tomorrow and I will be glad to have a desk to sit at (rather than my beach chair and a box for a table), a real bed to sleep on, and a couch to sit on (oh, yea, and kitchen supplies to cook with).

Success

After many futile tries I finally found on my own how to create a post! Now if I could learn to post a photo--that's next. I wanted to tell you all that Stacey has created a video on the Larsen Web page of her New Year's vacation to the Washington Olympic Pennisula where David would like to host the sibling reunion. After watching the video I can see why he wants us all to go there. It is gorgeous--maybe as beautiful as ME! Look at it if you get a chance. Love you all, Mom

2008 Sudman

ITS TIME!!!!!!!

Noon on the 7th, you need to be online to register for the 2008 spudman. Don't put it off, it close within a few hours of opening.

Resolution Run

Joe crossing the finish line ... Go go go Joseph!

Joe and I rang in the New Year by running our first 5K together. Joe had a great first run, finishing in 35:10 (282 of 358 runners) and I beat my last race time by 1:48 for a 30:57 (206th place). Mostly we had fun running through one of our favorite places - Patterson Park. This particular race supports Earl's Place, which offers transitional housing as well as training and other services for homeless men.
Graduates of Earls Place were on hand after the race to feed racers chili, cornbread and homemade cookies (yum!) prepared by members of St. Elizabeth's of Hungary Catholic Church - a key partner for Earl's Place. We cheered for their accomplishments and for the winners in each category --- I have something to aim for as there were plenty of folks, including a 69 year old, who beat me across the finish line!

STILL (and my time is running out, so I'll brag while I can) .... the family record is

1. 1st - Mom
2. 
   2nd - Joe
3. 
   3rd - Josh

Daaavid?

Are you getting ready to push me out of my chair ....?!

Just teasing .... I had (or am having) fun leading the pack with you.

Love,

Deb

ALTA!

I went skiing on my last day in Utah and took some video to share with you all =). It was a great day of skiing and quite cold and windy.

Back to School

Wow! It is so quiet around here! The kids are back to school, Dan is at work and I am left a lone woman. We have had such a great vacation, hanging out together, playing a million games and watching college football. We went to the Zoo to see our big baby panda, saw a fabulous frog exhibit(picture above) at the Museum of Natural History and found time to go Geocaching and see some great old formal gardens and a house that is an exact replica of the White House right here in little 'ol Georgia.(I took a picture as we went flying by on the road!)We've been shootin' hoops, riding bikes and playing with friends. Man, I'm exhausted! I think I'll eat some bon bons and take a nap. I can't wait to hear more about everybody else's Christmas "break"!