Chase First Class Scout

Chase recieving his First Class Scout Rank and pinning the mothers pin on me in September.

After the boys recieve their First Class Rank, Grandpa Larson buys the boys a 4 wheeler or dirt bike as their reward for work well done. One requirement is that they have to earn it by the time they are 12 years old. CONGRATULATIONS CHASE!!!!! WAY TO GO!!!!!

Motorbike Riding

Every year around the end of August and first part of September we get to work on the dirtbikes. This means, changing tires, checking oil, checking chains, sprockets, etc. Yep, preprations for the Big Nasty Hillclimb in New Plymouth, Idaho. It is a 3 day weekend event which starts Friday night with the little bikes, meaning the 50 cc bikes up to the 125 cc bikes. Then if you aren't brave enough to camp overnight it means up bright and early on Saturday and driving back over for the qualifing of the pros for Sundays events, then Saturday night under the lights the rest of the trophy classes. So after a long day of walking around in the middle of a cow pasture getting fun food like Nasty Nachos, grilled corn on the cob, and don't forget the Shaved Ice, its home to take a well needed shower. Sunday brings on a whole new day of fun, the Pro bikes and the King of the Hill. Friday night Chase and Baylie and thier cousin Chaney did their best attempts at climbing the trophy hill. Baylie rode her bike first, she was the only girl in her class of about 17 riders, she places 11th. She also got to ride the 65 KTM which happens to be Stetsons old bike that he rode the first time he did the Hill climb before his accident. Loney changed the clutching on her bike so she would have to clutch and shift at the same time. Then came Chase, He is riding Stetsons old bike the 85 KTM. He placed 15th out of 20 riders. Neither of them won a trophy but they both did excellent at their attempts on the hill. Saturday night Loney and his brother Oliver were up to attempt their climbs. Loney placed 54 out of 67 riders, however his ride was better than than plus the fact that Mike Metzger and his buddies all rode in that class and had souped up bikes and they took the top 5 or so spots. Not fair if you ask me???? Anyways we don't go for the competition we just go to have fun!!! All and all we had a great year at the Big Nasty and plan to do it again next year. I think this is our 4th or 5th year doing this. It has turned into a family tradition. Maybe next year Loney will even attempt the "BIG" hill. That is if he has good life insurance and I am ready to deal with injuries. Who knows we will see I guess.

Baylie 3rd grade Pioneer Elementary

Chase 6th grade Ontario Middle School

Stetson 9th grade Ontario High School

baylie is loving elementry school and is determined not to get a bad behavior slip this year.

Stetson LOVES!!!!! High School "Oh the Freedom" He is really liking Algebra "I actually get it, It isn't me it was the teacher last year!!!"

Chase is loving middle school and has decided he wants to play the Saxaphone. Ear plugs anyone????

Baylie and her puppy Missy. Loney told Boo that if she was to find a good home for Pepe the Parrot that we would get her a puppy. So he finally delivered. She is a pure bred Golden Lab. She is a very smart puppy and Baylie is very good with her especially when i threaten to give her to someone who really wants her and will take care of her. I am of course stuck baby sitting her or should I say Puppy Sitting while the kids are at school.

Stetson was diagnosed with a Chiari Malformation Type 1 in July. Surgery was needed to take care of the fluid that was being forced into his spinal cord. Surgery was on Aug. 3 and went really good. The doctor ended up not doing everything they were planning on because when they got in and did the bone decompression the fluid started flowing and doing what it was supposed to do so the doctor decided not to open up and do everything. With that being said it made the recovery easier (supposedly) and didn't make him susseptable to chemical menangitis or other complications. He did very well and has made a good recovery a followup with the doctor on the 3rd will tell us more but he will have to have another MRI in 3 to 6 months to see if this did what it was supposed to do.

Before the surgery the doctor asked stetson if he had any questions. Dumb question on his part. Yeah, Stetson said, "Can you video tape the surgery?" and "Can you save some of the bone for me?" So the doctor saved him a piece of his skull and a piece of the neck bone that he cut out. Plus he video taped the surgery it was narrated too but the sound didn't come through.

Stetson was in the hospital from Monday to Saturday. He has come home and started High School. He is also completely off of any medication for pain.

Toys for Comfort

Stetson 2 years ago after his accident wanted to do something for the Childrens hospital in Boise. So he decided to do a toy drive so that the kids in the hospital would have toys to pick from for their birthdays, Christmas, and other holidays. We collected 600 plus toys that year. We didn't do it last year due to a surgery and some other things that came up but we definitly are doing it this year. Our favorite Arena Football team helped us out this year. At the final game the team played which was also the first playoff game that our team made it to, we did a kickoff. It wasn't advertised real well so the turn out wasn't great for the toys but we did get some, and as I told the kids, "Some is better than None". I think we got 12 or so to start off with. Thank You to The Boise Burn for their help.

On another note, Stetson was invited to attend a teen panel at the hospital for the designing of the Teen Room. The teen room was a vision of one of the patients that the hospital had. He past away last year. On the panel was this young mans brother and several of his friends. Stetson was invited because of his personality and because they thought that he could help with some ideas of what they could do. The teen room will be completed in a few months.

Stetson checking out one of the trains at the museum

Chases favorite gun at the Browning Gun Museum

Loney and my Dad getting a history lesson on some guns!!!

Kids up next to a Caboose at the Train Museum

Bay and Chase trying the Handcar

Chase trying his hand at the switchboard

Lost track of Days

Today we went with Oma and rode the trax line up to Temple Square. We have never been through the Conference Center and we went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and watch the Movie that they were showing. Before the show we went to lunch at the restraunt at the top of the JS Memorial building. It was a beautiful day. After the Conference Center we walked back to the trax but stopped at the mirror pond. Baylie got to see one bride and wanted to stay and watch her but it was time to go. So we rode the trax back to the station.

Park City Part 2

Loney and Boo on the Zipline



Don and Irene finishing the Zipline


Boo at the Finish Line of the Alpine Coaster

Irene didn't much like the coaster



Chase at the Finish Line

Park City Part 1

Fresh air and the Mountains!!!!

Park City Mountain Resort

Chase on the Rock Climbing Wall

Loney on the Alpine Slide

Stetsons Ride down the mountain

Irene on the Slide

Chase Albert finishing up his ride

Boo on her first ride

Monday Day 4

Today Loney decided we were in need of some SPEED!!!! We found an indoor cart racing track and went and raced!!! All of us had our own carts and the competitivness came out!!! You really have to watch out for Grandma Kathy!!! She was a DEMON DRIVER! She almost got me and her black flagged off of the track and I wasn't even doing anything!!! How is that fair??? Just Kidding we had a really good time! Uncle Shad was home for a vacation and went with us we had a great time with him too he is an awesome driver!!! (in a cart anyway can't say much for a real vehicle HAHA!)
DEMON DRIVER you better watch out for her!

The 3 Speeders! (loney in back, stetson in the middle, shad heading it up)

Miss Boo in her own car she was a good driver!

Chase Albert testing the pedals!!! Ready to Roar!

Stetson smiling away!!! He loved it!

all and all we had a great day! We are definitly gonna do this again as a family! I even have to admit that out of the 6 or 7 races that we raced that day I had the fastest speed on one of the races!!! Even faster than Loney!!!! Yeah ME!!!!

SUNDAY DAY 3

Today we went with my mom and my brother Shad (who is home on leave from the Air Force and just home from Iraq) to Lagoon. It started out as a crazy day with fighting kids and the works. Once we got to Lagoon we found our spot and went to ride some rides and of course the kids had to go to WICKED first. Talk about a crazy ride. With Stets in a wheelchair we got front seats on most of the rides. WILD!!!! they also let him and his family ride more than once if we wanted to but after two rides that was enough for most of us. So the next ride was Fire Dragon or the Colosus (SP?) that was okay for the first ride but then we got off and started to the next i was a little dizzy and quezzy in the stomach. So then Bay and her daddy wanted to ride the next ride which is the loud music playing one that goes in a circle and whoever is on the outside gets squished. They had a blast. So then it was off to the Centennial Screemer. Bay, Shad and Chase wanted to ride it but there could only be two to a car so I ended up going with Bay. By the time the ride was half over i was sick. I could not get off the ride fast enough. Yep! remember growing up and making fun of the people who couldn't handle the rides???? THAT WAS ME this time. So for the rest of the day i as out of the ride loop. The only rides i could do was the White roller coaster, the log ride and the sky ride. WHAT A BUMMER!!!!! But.... I did end up driving one of the dragster cars down the track 3 times. You know the Catapult???? the one where you sit in a sphere and they sling shot you up high????? Yep Loney and Chase did that and we have the DVD of it. Chase actually did it twice!!!!! That crazy kid rode every ride possible. That was a late night. So to a hotel it was for the night for just 4 of us, Bay went home with my mom for a sleepover with Grandma!!!!

DAY 2

Today we had breakfast and then we helped Irene get ready for her after wedding family get-together. That day was pretty much all we did. no pics again. She had the party in a pavilian in one of the parks in AF that was really pretty. There was a pond that people were fishing in and you could walk around. It almost felt like you were up in the canyon. We went for a walk and had our nephew "E" tag along and boy is he a smart kid. Every time we saw a bird he would tell us what kind it was. Now you have to know he is only 4 i think. As we got further along the path you could tell he was getting tired so Uncle Loney would tell him to get those feet movin. He would then stop, look down at his feet and tell them "MOVE LITTLE FEET!" It was so much fun with him on our walk. We were also able to see some of Loneys Aunts that we haven't seen for a while and get caught up on times. We also got to see Jill and Kevin who are good friends of the Larsons who run a Big O Shop in Sandy. It was so fun to get to see everyone. I think it is more fun seeing all of the cousins get together and play and make up games. That morning we all went to see Connor (nephew) play his last game of LaCross. It ended up being a really nice night.

SUMMER VACATION DAY 1

DAY 1

Arrived in Utah and went to Irenes first for the first couple of days. We arrived on Thursday and on Friday the plan was to go with everyone to Cherry Hill up by Lagoon. When we got up that morning it was raining so we had to change our plans. So we all decided to take the kids to Jack and Jills in American Fork (a bowling alley). After that we were all hungry so we went to Chuck E Cheese Pizza for lunch. Stetson hit it big on the "wheel of fortune" game which gave him 250 tickets so he was stoked! After that we decided to go see the new Transformers movie. WOW!!!! what a great movie. Chase of course came out of the theater with his eyes as wide as they come saying "We HAVE to buy that!!!" After the movie we just kind of hung out the rest of the day. no pics i didn't have my camera battery charged.

FLASH FLOOD!!!

On Thursday we had a big storm hit us. Chase, Baylie and I were at a friends house doing some scout stuff and saw the storm coming. Baylie had a softball game (if the lightning didn't cancel it)later that night so we all had bets whether she would be playing or not. After the scout activity we loaded up and headed to town and as we got to the softball fields they called it off (my luck, drive to town just to drive home again).

On our way home past the prison we saw a lot of water coming off of one of the fields and over the road. It was a lot of water!!! About 1/2 of a mile up the road was another spot where the water was over the road. As we came to the top of the hill just before you turn to come up to our house I had to stop, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it going home that way. As I got closer I could see we would be okay so I hurried home to get my camera because the water looked like a white water rafting adventure could possibly take place there. The water coming off of the road and down the field sounded like a waterfall. I grabbed my camera and went to take pics but it had calmed down considerably by the time I got back there. So the pics are only part of what there was.

UPDATE!!!!!!!!

Okay so i dont really update this very often but i keep saying i am going to get better at keeping it up. Just to get you up to speed....

My brother is serving in the Air Force in Iraq and will be coming home soon!!!! I got an email from him a little while ago and was telling us that he recieved the "Airman of the Month" for his group and they have only given 5 out since he has been there so we are really proud of him. He is one of our biggest hero's.

Stetson is continuing to progress in therapy i don't have any pics lately i will be getting some. He is walking on a treadmill on a litegait training system which harnesses him above the treadmill and they can change how much weight they put on his legs. He is at about 20 percent of his own weight and has gone from a speed of .8 / 1.3 mph to 2.5 mph in the last month and going for 2 sessions of 10 min. He is doing awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soccer is finally over!!!! Bay did pretty good at the end of the season but i think she needs to have a bunch of balls kicked at her so she wont be so scared of the ball hitting her next year!!! she was trying to get away from the ball not going for the ball most of the time during her games. i have some pics and will post them below.

Chase got to go to OMS (ontario middle school) today for a tour of the buildings. Every year the Middle School 8th graders take the incoming 5th graders for a tour of the school so they have an idea of how the layout of classes are for the next year even though they wont really be changing classes much. They have what they call self contained classes that they started 2 years ago. they will only change classes for pe, facs, art, and choir or band if they choose to take those (or even those might be required now who knows they are always changing things at the Middle School). He is soooo excited he came home tonight and wanted to get his binder ready!!!! school wont start for him for another 3 1/2 months!!!!!!! I dont think he is even remembering that he has to wear a uniform which means no more camo everyday to school!!!!

Loney is really busy working on the farm. Things are all planted but now he is busy trying to get all of the water on all of the fields.

This summer is going to be a busy summer, Stetson will be attending Boy Scout Camp for one week and the week before that he will be attending a Nation Youth Leadership Training Camp which will be at the same place of the Boy Scout Camp. he is also only 1 badge and about 4 merit badges away from getting his Eagle Scout!!!!

We missed the sign ups for Chase to play baseball this summer so he will probably be helping stetson with his stuff while he is away and helping me out around the house.

Bay will be starting softball here pretty quick since soccer is over.

Loney and I celebrated 15 years in March and I bought myself an anniversary present!!!!

I got a new GMC Acadia SUV crossover!!! I absolutely love it!!!! in fact the first weekend we had it i had each of the kids pick a friend and we all went to a movie and played at the Game World we had a blast!

2 Sundays ago we had a big storm come through the area and it even brought a funnel cloud with it. It never touched the ground so it wasn't officially a tornado but it did bring with it the hail. Yes i even got pictures of that. They started out as small stones and then grew!!! i just bit my tongue cuz i havent even had my new car for a month at the time and yes it has hail damage now :( Oh well life goes on!!!!

Well that should get you all up to date for now i will try to keep you all up to date. I see my sister in laws blog spot and wonder if she can do it with 4 boys all under the age of 9 ( i think) then i should be able to do it.