Larsen Kids

Evelyn, Sophie, Elijah, Lucas Oh my!

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:05:39 GMT

Last Friday we were able to go and participate in Sophie’s last ballet class for the summer. It was a lot of fun. As a special bonus I got to see my dear brother, Jeremiah, who took off the morning to see his little ballerina! It is always such a joy and treat to see everyone! There aren’t many pictures of Molly and me, but we all know how that goes :) – oh, and thanks Jer for taking the photos!

The Fruit of the Spirit

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:24:35 GMT

Warning: Some moms might be completely grossed out by the way I let my children eat…It obviously is in need of improvement, however, not a battle I’m taking up at the moment – hehe :) if you are one of these moms…sorry, shame on me :)

It should also be noted that I had to hide the camera, that’s why the angle is weird. My kids don’t perform for the camera, I have to trick ‘em.

Adoption Day

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:33:42 GMT

A year ago today (August 28th) was one of the most amazing days of my life. It was the day that Evelyn was declared legally our “natural” daughter. A day of completion. After much heart ache, many tears, much prayer, a drawing nearer to God than we could never have understood otherwise and the incredible and unnatural joy we felt throughout the entire process…Evelyn became ours! To those who have never adopted it may be hard to comprehend just how special this day is. The only real comparison I can come up with (and I’m pretty sure it’s biblical) is that of the day a sinner comes to repentance before the merciful and Almighty God. The day a sinner is drafted into the family of God. The joy and the rejoicing that takes place in heaven on the day any lost sheep is found and brought home is most certainly the same joy and rejoicing that takes place when a family on earth adopts a child.

I felt the same joy I felt when I became a believer. The same joy you feel when you hear someone else has become a believer. There is an understanding and a bond in Christ. The same goes for adoption. We felt an incredible bond with those present at the adoption hearing, and feel this same bond when we hear of others adopting. It’s so very similar to when, as a believer, you hear someone is interested in becoming a Christian or has, it’s incredible! In some way this day is more special than her birthday, it’s a reminder for me of a new birth in Christ’s family. A reminder of the day I became a member of His family. It’s something you never forget. It’s so intricately connected to my understanding of Christ and His care for His children. I really hope I can write about this more at a later date. For now, here’s to a wonderful day of recollecting on God’s blessings to us.

Evelyn Kate – we love you!

How we celebrated this year – Daddy made a special breakfast! We had gluten free German babies! We then had some special family time with just the 3 of us while Elijah took his first nap. We read some stories about adoption and told Evelyn how special she was. Then we went to the mall to play (cuz it was kinda cold). Evelyn and Elijah enjoyed playing and then Evelyn enjoyed playing on the carousel. We also let her pick out a $1 toy at Target. All day we kept saying, “special”. Today is special! And it was. After nap we played in the yard and had special smoothies. We also had a family picnic on the ground and watched a movie. It was simple but so special!

The End of Summer

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:30:02 GMT

well, summer has been a little different here. It’s been fairly cool and only now seems to be warming up. We STILL have lots of things to post about. Birthday parties, adoption days and the like, but again, all I have time for is posting more videos.

Here is Elijah doing his new trick – waving!

Another trick – Standing!

Evelyn is potty trained! We have accidents every so often, but I would say she did it! – that’s what this video was supposed to represent, instead she was just bein’ cute saying, “I Yuuuvvvv youuuuu”

Elijah started dancin’

Jack sent David home with a banana for Evelyn. Evelyn thought it was so special.

Peace turned out to be a good 2 week lesson. But getting my kids to perform for the camera is so hard. Wish I could catch her understanding and enthusiasm for the fruits of the spirit. It really is precious!

Top six Elijah pix

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:28:40 GMT

I still need some help from my Photo Shop pro, husband…but here’s what I got so far.

Final 6 for Evelyn

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:57:21 GMT

Here are the final 6 photos for Evelyn’s 2 year photo shoot. There are others that we love, and maybe you do too. If there’s is another you like more let us know and we’ll send it to you :-)

Summer, Family Night, Birthdays, Joy

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:25:16 GMT

It’s been a busy summer of fun and lovin’. We so enjoy being a family in our new home. We’ve also been able to spend time with people we love.

These first two videos are just a sneak peak into our day here at the Larsen estate.

The two below are part of our lesson on the fruits of the spirit. This was Joy week! Evelyn “got” some of it. More than I expected so I’ll say it was a success. If nothing else it was a great topic of discussion for all of us that week.

We’ve been trying to capture Evelyn singing “her” hymn (click her if you need to be reminded what “her” hymn means) for about a month now. We finally got it! Not perfectly, but we were stoked to capture it on “film”. It makes my heart so warm to hear her sing this beautiful hymn.

This was our family night before our long trek to Northern CA for our beautiful niece, Juliett’s birthday!

As you can see, Elijah has taken an interest in the guitar.

You know, I think we could start a family band!

I came into the room to find Evelyn thought Elijah needed his hat. It was adorable, she put it on him herself.

Our trip for Juliett’s birthday was short but worth it…more about that in the next post dedicated to the birthday girl!

Verses, Playing and Climbing

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:21:00 GMT

We’ve been busy having fun and growing here! I don’t think I’ll ever get over how fast kids grow. We’re soaking it in and enjoying all the moments as they come! Wish you could be here with us!

More Happenings Around Here

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:05:31 GMT

My Girl

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:08:12 GMT

I’m so blessed to be Evelyn’s daddy.