And...It's A Girl!

She weighs in 16.8 lbs and is 14 inches tall. Meet Roxy, our new weimaraner puppy! She is 8 weeks old now. Roxy is actually Reagan's puppy...her early birthday gift! (I mentioned to Jason a few weeks ago that it would be fun to get Reagan a puppy for her birthday. He agreed and set out Internet shopping....well, he had till August to figure it all out, but Jason is no slacker so here we are in June with a new puppy--we got her last Thurs! She was "a good deal," the color we wanted (dark--called a blue), and a girl even (so hopefully someday we can have our own weim puppies!).

Roxy is a mellow little puppy. She loves to sleep and sleep some more. She is super calm for the most part and I don't think she has barked yet...only a little whimpering when she needs outside. (She is a house dog for now--only until she can't fit through our fence in the back yard). She is great with the kids and is a people dog--she is always at your feet or sleeping within inches of someone. She even loves to swim with us in the pool. Too funny! We love her so much already!

We got Roxy last week in Casa Grande. Her parents are both papered, but she isn't which we don't mind of course. Her dad is a big blue--so big we could hardly believe. He reminded me of a great dane, at least he stood that tall! Her mom was a pudgy, short gray that looked just about like Peter. When we got there, Roxy ran to Reagan and started licking her...like she knew her already. Reagan said, "I think this puppy likes me." The owner of the puppies laughed and said, "It's a good thing, because she's yours." It was too cute! On the way home, we talked about a name. Jason liked Chole, but Reagan couldn't seem to remember it and Travis had all kinds of funny names for her. We passed a sign that said "ROX Construction/Real Estate" and so I suggested Roxy or Rox...it was a hit! So, she is our Roxy!

Roxy is loving life with the Larsons. Reagan pampers her and even dresses her up. Travis pulls her every which way and loves to walk her on her leash. Roxy just puts up with it all so far. Peter our other dog is pretty indifferent, but if she tries to lay next to him outside, he barks a bit and saunters off. Dogs are funny!

I Can Swim!

Reagan has been taking "official" swim lessons for the past 3 weeks at the Safford Pool. She has done a great job at swimming and has learned to be comfortable in the deep end. (I thought she was only afraid of spiders--but deep water had her going for a few days.) There as been a great ratio--about 1 lifeguard to every 2 swimmers so Reagan has gotten lots of attention and has enjoyed swimming each morning (minus the cold water).

Reagan and Travis have enjoyed swimming every day in our pool too....almost as much as Mom! (We haven't been to the public pool to swim yet this summer!) Travis has really taken off and today was swimming like a little fish! He was like this last summer, but hadn't felt comfortable just yet until today. He swims just under the water--mostly just kicking, but he can propel himself which ever direction he wants to go and isn't afraid at all. He loves racing Reagan and even swimming back and forth between her and Mom and the stairs and Mom! Very exciting! (I'll have to work on some pics of this soon!) I so love summer!

Gymnastics Camp--Success!

When I heard about gymnastics camp, I have to be honest....I had about decided Reagan didn't need to go and that she could just stay home and relax. But, with some friends going and some pleads from Reagan, I gave in and sent her last week to gymnastics camp at DeKuester's with Heidi and her coaches. And I was pleasantly surprised! It was a complete success!

Reagan has been working on her "bridge kick over" all year. For some, this may be an easy feat--but not for Reagan...despite her practicing, she just couldn't master it. On Weds. of camp, Heidi said, "Reagan, did you show your mom what you can do?" Reagan showed off and did her kick over! And even make it look easy! She also mastered her back bend this week too! Now, on to back hand springs! Crazy! We are so proud of Reagan for working hard and achieving something that was important to her!

Lazy Summer Days

Summer is here and in full swing. I think of lazy, lounging days when I think of summer. We are doing a bit of that and a bit of keeping busy too. Reagan has swim lessons every morning--which are going well....she has gotten over her fear of the deep end and is enjoying it now! She also has baseball in the evenings and is doing great hitting! Reagan and Travis both are enjoying playing with friends. We are getting great use out of pool--several times a day right now since it has been so hot! The kids are also loving just hanging out, working on the garden, and playing in the sandbox. Peter is a bit lonely these days and is enjoying us being outside with him so much lately. We are loving snowcones and Daddy being off in the evenings....we are loving the sun...the vacation of it all! We love summer fun!

Larson Family Fun--Memorial Weekend 2010

I'm not sure what Memorial Day Weekend would be without a trip to the Larson cabin on the mountain. We have been making the trek regularly for the past few years and it has quickly become a Larson family tradition that we enjoy...especially the kids! This year Joy had grand plans for our little reunion and all went well....I'm sure she was thrilled with the turn out as all of Jason's cousins (minus the DeKay's from Alaska) were present and accounted for (some of which I had never even met before!)

Friday was dinner in Solomon with water flooding fun for the kids and Joy's famous Mexican Food. Saturday brought a relaxing day of just hanging out at the cabin, visiting with cousins, eating, quilting, and laughing. The kids played baseball, caught bugs, and enjoyed lots of hikes to Cow Canyon. Reagan enjoyed leading the brigade more than once--only getting "lost" once which really just entailed the older kids making and unaccounted for trip with a distant "cousin." I think Travis just enjoyed the day of sheer dirtiness! Jason had to run to the top of the mtn. to be with his scouts for the morning and we finised the day with Conner's party at the pool--fun fun fun! Sunday was church like normal and out to Nana's for some R&R. Then, back up the mountain we went on Monday for more the same. The highlight of Monday had to be our hike up to Lady Bug Saddle on our way home. Uncle Scottie led the hike, which was great and at the end, the view was amazing and there were more ladybugs than I ever imagined! You could grab them by the handfuls! The kids absolutely loved it every minute of it! We definitley will have to make this a part of our future trips to the cabin!

All in all--it was a great weekend and thanks to Joy who put it all together!

Temple Dreams...Reality

I've always dreamed of how nice it would be to have a temple just up the road from your house. That dream is now a reality and I am loving it! Jason and I went the first week it opened. We left the kids with a babysitter (which they loved!) and drove the 5 short minutes up the road to our Gila Valley Temple. Crazy isn't it?! It was awesome....our session was full of familiar faces including our Bishop. It just felt literally like home...comfortable and peaceful...no worries or stresses...just the tranquility that only the Lord can give.

This week, I had the opportunity to go with the Laurels to do Baptisms. They were so excited--there was lots of help there ready and waiting for us and they told the girls they were the very first youth group to go through! I think the temple workers were just as giddy as we were! As the very first Laurel, Katie, walked down into the font, I got the chills and the strongest feeling of excitement ran through me. Maybe that is how the people felt on the other side that we were doing the work for. It was definitely an aweing experience...I loved every minute of it!

We are so blessed to have a temple here in our valley!