Lone Survivor

Ryan and I read the book Lone Survivor together. It is about a 4 man SEAL team mission that went terribly wrong. As the title suggests, there is only one survivor and this is his story.They turned this incredible story into a movie. Obviously actors played the parts, but the actual surviving SEAL played a small role in the movie, which was an awesome surprise. It was incredibly moving, tragic, and also heroic. Some parts of the book and movie really hit home with Ryan, for obvious military reasons. As a military family we were reminded of the difficulty of serving a deployment in high combat areas. It was also interesting to see people who have no military background watching the movie. At the end of the movie there was a round of applause and then the theater was silent while people were filling out. It was almost just this quiet respect as people realized what it was like for soldiers who are fighting for our Country. There are tons of stories such as this where soldiers have lost their lives fighting for our freedom. Huge reality check!! Be grateful!

We're Stuck Like Glue

I saw this little questioner thing about spouses and I thought it might be fun to put on the record for our future generations. LOL. :) Plus, it makes me thing of all the good things with just Ryan and I! So, here we go...

♥ What are your middle names?
his- Tad
hers- Elizabeth

♥ How long have you been together?
2 1/2 years married and 1 year dating before that.

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
Umm.... 3 months? Not long.

♥ Who asked who out?
He officially asked me out, but I don't think I gave him much of an option. Haha.

♥ How old are each of you?
him- 28
her- 27

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
Mine because we live in NC. His family is in UT and we don't get to see them as much as we would like to.

♥ Do you have any children together?
1 son - Blake

♥ What about pets?
1 dog - Roxie (I have had her since college) and 1 cat - Oliver (just adopted him a few months ago)

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Hmm.. I feel like we have the same problems that any young family has. Getting settled in jobs, trying to get into the perfect little home, being new parents... the usual. LOL.

♥ Did you go to the same school?
Nope

♥ Are you from the same home town?
Nope

♥ Who is the smartest?
I am more academic but he is more street smart and realistic.

♥ Who is the most sensitive?
Me. Hands down.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
We love Outback and Kanki. Really anywhere... we love to eat! :)

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Italy!!!

♥ Who has the craziest exes?
Will I get in trouble for this?! We have a joke about Ryan having the past that pops up everywhere. LOL!

♥ Who has the worst temper?
Tie?!

♥ Who does the cooking?
Me but his food tastes better.

♥ Who is more social?
I have a few close friends, but he gets along with everyone!

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
ME!

♥ Who is the more stubborn?
Oh geez... I say he is and he says I am.

♥ Who hogs the bed?
That would be me again. I tend to roll into the middle of the bed. Luckily he likes to snuggle.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
Me, but not by choice. He wakes up easier, though.

♥ Where was your first date?
Bowling in Utah with Jerad and Kara. Double date!

♥ Who has the bigger family?
He has one more sibling than I do, but we both come from huge families!

♥ Do you get flowers often?
Yes. He is always good about that! In fact I sometimes have to remind him that we can't always afford them. LOL!

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
We are currently enjoying spending them with our own little family and making our little family traditions. The traditions come from both sides of our families.

♥ Who is more jealous?
Me. I think that's just a girl thing.

♥ How long did it take to get serious?

5 minutes. Hahaha... just kidding. We did move quickly though!

♥ Who does/ did the laundry?
We both only do half of the laundry. We have no problem washing and putting it into the dryer, but we hate HATE folding!

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
He is the computer geek. Thank goodness!

♥ Who drives when you are together?
Depends on the car we take. I can't park his truck so he will drive if we take that. I like to drive my Jeep so I often drive when we take that vehicle. I think we both drive equal amounts and we both think the other one can't drive. :)

Ok, hopefully you learned more about us as a couple. We are starting to settle out of the Newlywed stage...granted we didn't have that phase long to begin with. We are quickly learning that marriage takes work and acceptance of each other - the good and the annoying. :) In the end, we love each other very much and we love this little family that we have created! Can't wait to make another year full of great memories!

Jumpin Beans

It is winter time and we have been looking for things to keep our little man busy...while also affordable and not totally crowded. We decided to try out a local place called Jumpin Beans, and I am so glad we did! We planned our timing just right so that we had the place all to ourselves for about 30 minutes. It is a huge inflatable jumping area that is indoors. I think we all turned into little kids that morning and we had a family blast!

King of the Jungle

We have a King of the Jungle here at our house....Blake!!

As a little baby, Blake always loved the "I Like to Move It" song from the childrens movie Madagascar. Any time he was fussy or upset, we could play that song from the movie and he would just become so still and quiet. LOL! I guess it's really ironic because there is nothing soothing about the song. Instead it is very upbeat and energetic. Anyway, as Blake got older we purchased not only Madagascar, but also Madagascar 2 and Madagascar 3! These have been the only movies that Blake really seemed to be interested in and he would actually sit for at least half of them.

Now that Blake is a little older, he has grown slightly more interested in TV. Ryan and I thought that he might also like The Lion King because of the similar jungle theme in Madagascar. Ding Ding Ding!!! We were correct! Blake now refers to The Lion King as the "Roar" movie. :) What is even better is that he now "roars" at Ryan and I on the regular. He knows that the roar is supposed to be somewhat frightening, so we have to put on our scary faces when he does it. He loves to watch us react to his powerful roar.

Blake is almost two and his imagination is in full swing. It is starting with his lion actions and can even be seen in his independent play with his train set. Our little cub is starting to turn into a little King of the Jungle!.... ok, maybe a little Prince?!?! You get what I am trying to say, right!?! :)

Hey There, 2014

Wow. Time really does fly. I can't believe that we are already in 2014. We are starting off with some good news... I just put in the order for our 2013 Blog Book to be printed! Remember, we update this blog regularly during the year to serve as our family journal. We then print the blog at the end of each year so that we have somewhat of a family yearbook. It is our hope that one day we will have a bookshelf full of family history "yearbooks". We also hope that our children (and maybe even their children) will be able to look at these blog posts and learn lots about our family, things we have done, and wonderful moments we have shared!

 

I am all about Bucket Lists and I feel it necessary that we start 2014 off with our new Family Bucket List!!

What we hope to accomplish in 2014...

Go to Boone - We weren't able to do this last year, so we will try again this year!
Pay off Debt - At least a good portion of it...
Expand our family :) - Just waiting for the right time on this one.
Buy a house - We would love this! Probably towards the end of the year if everything works out.
Visit Utah - WAY OVERDUE!
Ryan get a new job - In the works right now and hopefully we will know something in a few months.
Try new things - Always!
Revisit Blake's favorite spots - Beach, Zoo, Parks, lots of things!
Make new Family Friends - I think this one explains itself. Maybe?
Run a race (5K) - Let's hope we can get in shape to do this one! Looking at one in the Spring.

Goodbye 2013

The Larsen Family Bucket List for 2013:

• Go to the zoo - We had a blast at the zoo this summer! Blake loved the elephants!
• Go to the beach  - One of the happiest times of the year. Also the most exhausting!
• Go on a couples vacation/get-away - Not really.... but we had lots of dates?!?!
• Weekly date nights (at least 3 out of 4 weeks a month) we did the best we could!
• Go to Boone, NC - Rolling this one over to 2014.
• Attend a concert - We loved Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line.
• Start family traditions - TONS!!! :)
• Go to as many sporting events as possible (baseball, football, etc) Durham Bulls Season passes, UNC football games, and more!
• Finish our basement - or at least apart of it (let's be realistic here) - Nope...not even close!! But that's OK, we are thinking about other plans now.
• Take family opportunities to serve others A for effort and room for more!
• Get bikes - including a carrier attachment for Blake Yes!! And we will ride more!
• Create many "firsts" for Blake to have as a 1year old Lots of firsts!!

Wow! What a year! We had such a great time as a family. This year was somewhat difficult on other levels, but that is life! I think we have grown and become stronger because of all of our accomplishments and challenges. Now we get to start our Bucket List for 2014! Let's see what it will have in store for us...

Christmas with Extended Family

We got to spend time with both sides of my family. We didn't get to actually see the Utah side, but we did skype with them and we received lots of gifts from them!!

The Dixon Side...
Everyone was together this year. All 3 little cousins got to see each other too. Very cute and fun!

The Wiggins Side...
We went over to my dads house on Christmas day to celebrate with him, Heather, and Memommy. Blake got all kinds of fun things there, too! We had a great afternoon!

We love all of our family and we know that they sure do love us! We are so blessed! It has been a fantastic Christmas for us! Wish we didn't have to end it.