Christmas 2016

 

Due to our Disney World Trip, we didn't do any other traveling around Christmas, but we still made the most of our time home together. On Christmas Eve, we helped set up luminaries around our neighborhood, then had the missionaries over for dinner. Elder Black's family does a big breakfast for dinner with biscuits and chocolate sauce gravy. I'd never made it before, but I've definitely craved it since! It was yummy!

   

 After dinner, we decorated "gingerbread" houses. They weren't anything fancy, but it kept us busy. My roof fell down, so I decided to create a nativity instead. Besides the strange marshmallow sheep, I thought it turned out pretty cute!

 It was pretty warm on Christmas eve, so we walked around the neighborhood to see the luminaries on our street.

These kids sure make Christmas fun!

We had just enough time before church on Christmas to see what Santa brought us. Ty got a Lego Firetruck and Teddy Bear, and Lucy got a kitchen. The kitchen was in the playroom, so when she first went to her stocking, she was most excited about the raisins!

After church, we all got to work playing with our new toys.

Even Tim had fun with this straw he got to build from his parents.

 

Merry Christmas!

Holidays in Rome Georgia

Happy December from the Larsen household! I usually start the month of December with a calendar and pen ready to fill in any and all festivities, but there wasn't quite as much going on in Rome. We took it easy and also missed a few things due to our trip to Disney World (no complaints though), but managed to do the essentials. Here are a few of our good times.

 Above: We love going to the YMCA, and make it more in the winter. These two  cuties are the perfect match for this photo op.

Below: We invited my friend Jennifer and Lucy's friend Ella over for some cookie decorating where we had lots of fun and made lots of messes.

 I try to get Christmas pictures of the kids in their cute church clothes every year, but it's practically pulling teeth. They're cute kids, though, no matter what they are wearing.

 What's a celebration without a trip to Honeymoon Bakery? It's hard to resist their cute pastries.

 Lucy finished up her semester of Kindermusik, or "moosic cass." She loved it and asks to go several times a week still. We went ahead and signed Ty up as well for next semester and he can't wait!

 Decorating for the ward Christmas party can get boring for these cute friends.

 The look on these kids' faces doesn't quite express the excitement they feel about Santa. (Ward Christmas Party)

We invited a few friends over for our annual Christmas Eve Eve drink tasting. We also did my family's Christmas Eve dinner, which is Clam Chowder and Cornbread...yum!

The younger kids enjoyed playing upstairs while the older kids and adults concocted drinks for our contest. Lucy would taste the drinks then simply say, "Good."

 

Some of the flavors were a little ...wild! But it was lots of fun! Tim ended up winning with his strawberry lemonade, but we may have to do a rematch soon.

Disney World Trip: Animal Kingdom

We had heard Animal Kingdom is a nice, slower-paced park, so we saved it for our last day (and the day we drove home). Though it was different, we enjoyed it, especially all of the cool African and Asian sections. Ty and Lucy wore their authentic shirts Aubrey brought them from Africa. We started with the safari which ended up being a little more up close and personal for me. The kids were acting up, so Tim pulled a handful of peanuts out for them. I don't know if the ostriches could smell them or something but they came close. We were just in a jeep with nothing between us and many of the animals!

This park has a Wilderness Explorer program (like Russell from Up) for the kids, and Ty really got into it. He loved searching for the workers with their badges and learning about something before getting his sticker badge.

The highlight of the park for me was the Lion King show. It had music, big (not real) animals, dancing, trapezes, and a fire dancer. It was pretty incredible!

After the show, we stayed in the Africa area for lunch. We basically got kabobs with some sides, but the kids loved it. I especially liked the live music as a man just walked around playing some stringed instrument that was broadcast over the speakers. He came and played for us for a minute or so and it was really cool.

Lucy used the top of the tupperware to make a few calls.

"Namaste"

The kids could have spent the rest of the day in this play area in Dino Land.

We took the train out to Rafiki's Lookout, but didn't have time to get off. It was a nice calm way to end the trip.

All good things must come to an end, sadly. We dropped Aubrey off at the airport and made the 8 hour trip home with great new memories!

Disney World Trip: Magic Kingdom

After our first day at Hollywood Studios, we spent two days in Magic Kingdom. We got there just as the park opened both days, so we were able to do all of the rides we wanted (Ty ended up riding the Thunder Mountain Railroad on a loop for the first hour or so!) The trip highlights for Lucy were meeting characters, so we have a LOT of those pictures. She loves to say she met "Rella" or "TiggerPooh" and then say, "nice...hugs...tisses."

 

Pooh and Tigger were taking a break as we finished, so Pooh walked Ty out while holding his hand then gave him a big hug. It was cute!

Aubrey got Lucy and herself some Minnie ears for this special occasion.

 

"Rella"

They have a special thing for meeting Belle called Belle's Enchanted Tales. You start in her house and then go into a room where you get transported back into the night of the ball with Beast. They tell stories and some of the children get to play parts before taking pictures with Belle. It was pretty cute and Lucy got to cut up front with her cute Belle dress.

Tea Cups (no extra spinning in mine!)

We got some of "LaFous Brew" at Gaston's Tavern (an apple drink) and Ty got to sit in his chair!

For some reason, Ty wanted to wait in the hour line to do Peter Pan, after we had already used a fast pass for it. So we did. The line had some fun things to look at, though.

Ty loved Tom Sawyer Island and we went both days.

 

Aubrey was a huge help with the kids... I don't think she minded.

Hanging around the park: