All of the siblings were there for Thanksgiving this year at Grandma Rose Larsen's house - when Mia first learned that her full name was Mia Rose Larsen, and that we were all Larsen's. She started adding Rose Larsen to the end of all of the Larsen families names. Hence, Grandma Rose Larsen. Everyone in our home has now adapted to this and they are now Grandma and Grandpa Rose Larsen. Ryan's younger sister Natalie and her family will be moving to Rexburg, ID for the next few years and it is our last time we would all be together for a while. Family pictures were a must, and we will just say that with eleven grandchildren under the age of eight it was an adventure.
Bottom Row: Andrew Kiehn, Landon Larsen, Taylor Larsen, Linda Larsen, Mateo Martins, Claire Kiehn, Jim Larsen, Grant Kiehn, Mia Larsen, Isabel Larsen, Elaina Martins
Little Chairs: Makenzie Larsen and Chris Martins
The Larsen family loves to cook, bake, and eat, which makes Thanksgiving a fantastic holiday. Linda (my mother in-law) is a fantastic cook and requires it's presentation to be just as spectacular. She spent days preparing and slaving. Lisa (my sister in-law) makes a delectable apple pie which is a holiday requirement for the rest of us. On Thanksgiving day there was a lot of preparation to be done and only one kitchen. Graciously, Lisa, Ali, and I volunteered to leave all of the children with the husbands and grandparents and we made the sacrifice of going over to Ali's to work on some of the dishes. It was a blast we prepared two side dishes, made some adorable treats for the kids (shown below), and we might have had some time to chat... a lot. It was some good times.
The tiny kids table. Minus Mia and Elaina (who was sick)
The bigger kids table. Oooh, they even got stemware and candles. They are moving up in the world.
Some of the adults. My mother in-law's friend Cate was also there for the festivities.
Me and my man. I just love that guy.
Ali, the last one to make her plate. She is also the creator of the fun turkeys we made for the children.
Ali was in charge of preparing a kids treat. I would have made some cupcakes and called it good. Ali is the super aunt that wanted to make it fun for the kids. This is what she, Lisa, and I assembled when we were in hiding. I mean helping.
Landon with his turkey.
Izzy barely able to resist eating the sugary goodness.
Mia had fallen asleep earlier and had to eat hers all by her lonesome when every one else was done.
They loved their turkeys.
To ease our finances in the Larsen family, the cousins draw names for a Christmas gift exchange so that we don't have to make purchases for all of the family members. Each of our children buys one gift and we call it good. My kids absolutely love going out and picking a gift for their cousins. This year we decided to exchange at Thanksgiving while they were all together so they could see their cousins get their presents. It was a lot of fun, they took turns handing their presents out and watched each cousin open their gifts. I love this tradition.
Claire got Mia a Squeekies princess castle. She was super excited, until we told her she couldn't open it until we got home since there were a million little pieces.
Izzy got a Wii World Zoo game from Mateo. She was devastated there was no Wii to play it on at Grandma's. I highly recommend this game by the way. My kids absolutely love it.
Taylor bought Landon a balloon launcher. He thinks it's awesome. Ryan and I hate it because it makes this super loud squealing noise.
Whenever we go up to San Jose, we always try to get over to my Aunt Ginger's house. We just love her and her family. I was living with them when I met Ryan, so I am kind of super indebted to them. My cousin Jason and his family are close to ours. We go camping together and always make an effort to get our kids together. Landon adores their boys. Saturday morning we headed over for some breakfast, Auntie always makes us food. She is so awesome.
Left to Right: Jon, Landon, JayRay, Mia, Jayden, and Izzy. They are all getting so big so fast.
The Kuhn family has a tradition of seeing a Christmas movie the day after Thanksgiving. I try to keep it going even when I am with the Larsen family. I remember when we were kids we went and saw a movie with all twenty something of our cousins one year. It was awesome. There may or may not have been some chanting going on before the movie started. And now it's the next generation, we saw "Rise of the Guardians," with some of our family. It was a lot of fun.
In the theater: Izzy, Claire, Mia, Jayden, Jon, JayRay, Landon, Andrew, and Ryan.
After the movie we went to In N Out for some lunch and then headed over to check out the construction of the new 49ers stadium. It is massive. Landon was so excited. He is a huge 49er fan. The kids looked at it for a few minutes and then spent a half hour running around in a gravel parking lot. Who needs Disneyland these guys were completely enthralled in this vast space.
L to R: Andrew, Landon, Jayden, Jon, JayRay, Claire, Izzy, and Mia
It was a wonderful few days spent with some wonderful family that I love dearly. Sure there are hiccups in our adventures and time together, but they can't get in the way of all of the fun and laughter we share together.
4 comments:
Turner and Hooch at the kaysville theatre! Such fun memories! How great that you are making these fantastic memories for your cute kiddos. Miss you tons.
Christy, it is hilarious that you remember that, because as I was writing this I was thinking of that movie. I sure miss you.
Looks like a fun Thanksgiving! You have a darling family. I love that Mia.
you've been so busy! What a gorgeous family picture!
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