Larson Quest: July 2011

Sunday, July 24, 2011

My New Hobby

Heyy! This is Noelle, my mom's daughter (: She has no idea im doing thisss but..... I have a new hobby of posing for and taking pictures. I just started so I dont have many pictures up yet but look and keep posted on my website!! http://beyondthebroken.deviantart.com
Thank You! comments on the pictures are appreciated!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Strong Enough- Matthew West

Sometimes I just want to scream, "Are you crazy, God!

I can't do this! I am not strong enough!"

So when I heard this song this morning,

I just had to post it!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Sand Lake 2011

For possibly the last year, we spent our family vacation at Sand Lake in Northern Minnesota.

I say that because though it is a wonderful place with lots of amazing memories...

I am tired of cooking and doing dishes three times a day on "vacation".

We stopped in Minneapolis on the way up and back and were able to see the Daigles.

Noelle and her friend, Alli, at the hotel pool on the way up.

Teme joined a water basketball game and

Sabrina played with Oliver in the shallow end!

Fishing off the dock with Daddy, and Matt.

So patriotic!

We had lots of fun tubing, knee boarding and skiing.

Though my skiing turned out to be quite expensive.

First, I noticed that I lost my watch, a pretty

inexpensive Timex sport watch. Sabrina says it is in Oceana.

Then...I noticed that I lost one of my diamond earrings!

I know, why on earth was I wearing them:(

Teme and Tyler Gerdes.

Feeding the ducks, with Anna.

4th of July!

But the bugs were so bad that we didn't last too long outside.

The best part of vacation, kayaking the Bowstring River.

Noelle and Alli.

Teme wasn't sure he was going to make it until he took the lead.

Then he was ready to stay in the lead!

Working hard or hardly working?

P.S. Jake was in Europe when we left so he did not join us this year.

Splash!

Splash is the neighborhood private pool that we belong to.

Both Teme and Sabrina have been taking swim lessons.

They both would like to go swimming every day.

I am trying:)

Thank goodness Sabrina is a pool favorite.

So other moms help me keep her busy,

like by letting her do their hair!

They finally started letting Teme go off the diving board!

He loves it and is very brave!

He does like handsprings off the board.

Sabrina and her swim instructor, McKenzie.

Teme Update

Teme has a very busy summer with Physical Therapy twice a week,

tutoring for over 3 hrs every week day and lots of swimming and biking!!

He is continuing to improve in walking with his prosthetic.

He is using either a cane or for short distances walking without assistance.

The goal is that he will be able to wear it all day for school in about six weeks.

A close up of the "bionic" leg and the shoes that Teme bought himself:)

Teme is loving his new bike. Brent helped us add stabilizing wheels.

The local bike shop wanted $200, I found these on Amazon for like $20.

We don't expect that he will need them much longer.

We also added toe clips to help him keep his leg on the pedal.

I think the biking is really helping to strenghen his legs and hips!

We took some photos for a photo album to send to Ethiopia with friends.

Teme wanted to flex, he certainly has some muscles!

Teme's "private" tutor, Mr. Worthley.

They meet from 10-12:00 each weekday.

Miss Mangrich, Teme's UNI tutor.

He meets with her from 8:15-9:30 each weekday.

He is working hard to learn to read.

More birthdays!

You can tell we are all getting too old! I have no pictures for anyone else's birthday celebrations. Noelle turned 15 on May 28th. We took a bunch of girls down to Cedar Rapids for pizza, a teen dance club and an overnight. It was pretty fun, kind of interesting at times, and continues to live on as she met a boy there. Wow!

Jake turned 19 on June 17th. Mostly he just wanted cash. He left for a trip to Italy and Spain the next day. Poor guy! But we did celebrate with lunch at Newton's Cafe with Grandma and Grandpa and Franco. Franco and Jake ate the biggest tenderloin sandwiches you have ever seen and then couldn't manage to eat the fancy birthday cupcakes!

I turned 45 on July 11th. I celebrated with dinner at Montage with Mom and Dad and the family! Mom and Dad got my table refinished for me. Scott is sending the girls and I to Colorado to see Heasslers and meet our new nephew Hudson and our blogging buddy, Brandi!! And Jake and Noelle took Teme and Sabrina bowling and to Taco Johns so I had like two whole hours with the house to myself!!