Happy Mother's Day

WE LOVE YOU MOM

A Tribute to our Mom

"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all mysuccess in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her."

-GEORGE WASHINGTON

This is our mom. Correction - our "super mom." If you asked her, she would never say that she did anything super or special. Well, I wanted to tell her and let everyone else tell her how super & special she is to us. So I want to invite everyone to share:

Three Lessons I Learned from my Mother

Lesson 1: Pray

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life."

-Abraham Lincoln

Sometimes the only one who understands is our Heavenly Father. I was sometimes irritated that mom would always offer the solution of prayer as the answer. Now I know exactly why she would recommend it. I need it everyday just to survive and I am forever grateful to a mother who believed in prayer and encouraged us not only to pray often, but to pray especially when you didn't feel like praying. That is precisely the time you need it most.

Lesson 2: Get to Work

"Women are the real architects of society"

- Harriet Beecher Stowe

Look at this motley crew mom had to whip into shape. Just like President Hinckley's Father responded to his complaints about how tough his mission was, with "Forget yourself and get to work," I don't think I ever went a day in my life when I didn't hear the words "You guys need to get to work." There was no way mom was going to accept a half done job, nor a sloppy effort. Plus we often had more memories of working together than anything. Remember cutting down the trees in the backyard or helping Mike with his Eagle project at Cabrillo Monument. Even work seemed fun when we were doing it together. Having a work ethic shaped who I am and what I accomplished in life. You can bet that the words: "You have to work to earn it" are commonplace in our house. Thanks Mom!

Lesson 3: Service is Love

"How thankful I am, how thankful we all must be for the women in our lives. God bless them. May His great love distill upon them and crown them with luster and beauty, grace and faith."

-Gordon B Hinckley

Now that I am a mom and I want to pull my hair out at least 5 times a day, I wonder how mom did it. Here is the secret....she was willing to lose herself in us. There was no question whose needs came first. Our needs were always on the forefront. I am sure that we neglected to notice how much she sacrificed for us during most of our young lives. That is why now I want to say thank you to my mom. Thanks for taking care of us. You still put us first and are willing to drop everything to come to our aid. Your children and you grandchildren love you much. You have left a great legacy behind you. Here is the evidence of that statement:

Cody's Art Show

Artist: Cody Larsen

"Fall Aspens"

"The Red House"

"Ice Cream in the Rain"

"Cody on a Rollercoaster"

"Dad"

"Pirate Ship"

Just thought I would share a little of Cody's artwork over the years. Nothing major. We just like to look at his brain on paper. Sometimes it is helpful. Sometimes it confuses us more. In any event, it is interesting. Enjoy!

The Twins are Six Months Old

Time to Reflect

Where did half a year go? Wasn't my mom just here when they were first born trying to help me navigate through each day? I feel like they have changed and the obstacles continue to get bigger. Honestly, sometimes I feel like I am losing my mind. BUT they are sweet as can be:

First Day Home from The Hospital Together

Ben on the Left, Dane on the Right
SIX MONTHS LATER.........

Here are "THE FATS" as Brett calls them

Stoic Benjamin

Smiley Dane

Twins in the Tub

Going Out for a Run

Truly I cannot complain. They are cute as can be and while tired, I know that they are special. We do have a lot of fun with them. I just wish they would sleep! :)

Kai's Bday Party

Happy Birthday 4th Kai Cassidy!

We feel like we celebrated for a week. She couldn't decide whether she wanted a chocolate or white cake. She also couldn't decide if she wanted square or round. So we did both. It took me several hours to get it all done, but I think they turned out okay.

We also did a birthday breakfast for Kai on her real birthday. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the camera to her party. She had a blast with all of her friends at the Gymnastics Center. They played in the foam pit, on the tramp and all sorts of other things.

Cody's Ultimate Football Experience

For those of you who don't know, Cody is playing Ultimate Football this spring instead of soccer. His team, the Buccaneers played a double header on Saturday. Everyone gets to QB. This is a picture of Cody at QB. Pretty fun stuff. Its just like Ultimate Frisbee, but with a football. Not too many deep routes are effective at this level, YET, that is by far the most popular play, no matter what the coaches say.

Here's Cody Listening Closely during Half Time

"D - UP"

Happy Easter

Ben, Dane, Cody & Kai all had a great Easter

Observatory Village Easter Egg Hunt

Lucky for us, our neighborhood does all of these great activities so I don't have to plan them. Just show up. We had probably 50 or so kids and lots of easter eggs. It was great. On Easter Sunday we got to visit with Pam and Randy for a nice Easter Dinner.

Twins Eating For the First Time

(Scroll down and pause the music if you want to hear the video)

Ben gets a "little" excited about eating.  Is that a Downey or a Larsen trait?  Hard to tell.  We knew he was ready for food one night when we were eating dinner.  As he was sitting on my lap he had his eyes fixated on my twice baked potato.  Just for kicks I brought it toward his mouth. Mind you, this potato was pretty big.  With no hesitation he opened his mouth as wide as he could with the full expectation of eating the potato.  He was a little upset with me when the potato had not made its way into his mouth.  Anyway, I hope eating food will make him a little happier.  So far he is frustrated with his lack of ability to run at 5 months and he lets us know it regularly.

Dane doesn't get quite as excited, but he likes to eat too.  We think he is back to 1lb more than Ben.  Dane likes to snuggle and takes his time to observe things around him.  He usually only gets mad if he is really hungry or tired.  We love them both....what a pair!