It's time to get with the program

So, it's only been about 4 and a half months since I last posted anything on here, and as a result, I've been told it's time to get with the program (by Chelsea). So I'm going to launch back in!

When we last chatted, it was early summer and Chelsea was singing the National Anthem at the Roadrunners game. Oh my. How things have changed! Because I am a stickler for continuity, I feel the ridiculous need to go back in time and try and catch up a bit. Especially since I thought this would be the closest thing I could come to a journal when I started it.

So, I'm going to now "pretend" to go back in time and post a few fun things from the past few months that I should have put on here. Kind of like Marty McFly, only not so cool.

Chelsea goes to Michigan -- GO BLUE!

It seemed like the time would never come, but on August 27th Chelsea and I flew out to take her to school at the University of Michigan!! Since she would be living in an apartment just off campus, I spent 5 days there helping her get set-up and ready for life on her own.

We'd been able to get her connected with her roommate, Erica Shirts, a violin performance major from Provo, Utah! And LDS, which is a great blessing. Erica had already been in the apartment for a year, and her roommate was moving out in early August, leaving a place for Chelsea. Erica had been gone all summer, and wouldn't be coming back to Ann Arbor until a few days after we got there, which would give us a few days to get Chelsea all settled before Erica got back.

Here's Chelsea in front of her new apartment at Broadview Apartments

And it was a darn good thing we allowed for plenty of time, because when we showed up at the apartment (which was supposed to be vacated by the previous girl, and perfectly clean), THIS is what we found:

Can we just say . . . heart attack???!!!! HOLY CRAP! We stood in shock for the first 10 minutes, cried for the next 10 minutes, and then got busy taking pictures! We couldn't imagine that anyone had actually lived like this. And what about that whole thing with the apartment being ready for Chelsea to move in on the 27th?? We got on the phone with Erica (still in Utah) and gave her the scoop. She got on the phone with previous-roommie, and gave her the word. The girl said she'd be there the next morning to get her stuff and clean up.

Well, that kind of put a kink into our move-in plans, but we filled the first day with necessary errands and looking for the stuff she'd need. By the next afternoon, previous-roommie had come, cleaned (well enough), and taken her stuff. The next surprise was realizing that after she took HER stuff, all that was left in the apartment was a tiny sofa and a kitchen table. Seriously, that was it. No chairs, no lamps, no nothing. (Other than what Erica had in her own bedroom).

At that point we got even busier! Chelsea had a bunch of meetings with her department during the couple of days before school started, which gave me some time to run around looking for cheap furniture. I ended up getting some great stuff at a couple of thrift stores. In total, I paid about $170, and here is what I got:

Coffee Table

4 Antique Kitchen Chairs

Two end tables for the front room

2 Standing lamps and 1 Table Lamp

Nightstand for Chelsea's room

A full set of dishes

Desk Chair

Shutters for decorating

The next project was dealing with the disgusting white walls. The room looked pretty worn out. She has her own bedroom that's big enough for two girls, but for now, she's got it all to herself! (Quite a difference from the tiny dorm rooms her classmates are in.) So, we decided to paint! Chelsea got her new friend and classmate Grace to come help us, and we went to town.

What a difference!

We also had to buy her a bed at Costco, and got some make-it-yourself Sauder furniture to fill in the rest of the necessities -- 2 bookshelves, a desk, and a behind-the-toilet cabinet. And guess who put it all together . . . ME! I have such a handy husband that I never have the opportunity or need to do such things myself. Well, I have to give myself credit, I did a darn good job!

Here I am tearing my hair out trying to put together the etagere (toilet cabinet)

So, after lots of hours and lots of work, she has an adorable bedroom and a great apartment! Here's the finished product:

The much improved (and clean) bathroom

with the cabinet that about made me crazy

The kitchen and dining area

The front room (complete with the coffee table, end table

and kitchen chairs from the thrift store)

We did take time out on Saturday to go to the first Michigan football game of the season. Amazingly, it was against the University of Utah! That stadium is unbelievable -- the largest stadium in the entire country! There we were, with 108,000 other crazy fans in "The Big House." It was just a sea of "maize" (Michigan-ese for yellow). I proudly wore my "Michigan Mom" t-shirt and sat with Chelsea and her classmates in the student section.

In the nick of time, I was able to finish everything before heading back to the airport. I left the same day Chelsea went to her first day of college. And, of course, I HAD to take her "first day of school" picture as well! She resisted, but I got the shot:

First day of school for Chelsea!

I was so sad to leave, as I knew I would be. I cried the whole way to the airport, but knew she was ready for this new adventure in life. I'm so proud of her, she's mature beyond her years, and if anyone can do this, it's Chelsea!

My son, the model

Business is really thriving at Tiffany's Treasure Gallery on eBay! And I've discovered a new secret weapon for increasing sales-- having my own male model! Who knew I could find one so cheap in my own home??! Alex is the PERFECT model. At 6'2" and lean as a string bean, he looks great in everything he puts on. I just pop up my handy-dandy backdrop and put him in front and he pulls out his best poses for me. Here, he's just being a goofball!

C'mon, show off that jacket!

OK, the finished product below: This is one of the photos I used to list this $400 (Retail value) Ralph Lauren RLX Sweater. Thanks to how great it looked in the photos, I made about $100 profit on it! Of course, Alex insists on being paid for his work -- in clothing! That's a deal for BOTH of us.

My husband, the Bonsai Guru (wanna-be)

Scott has had an intense obsession with Bonsai trees for years. There's something fascinating about the pruning and creating process that has him hooked. I obviously don't have the patience for such a hobby, but the patience required for bonsai-growing is one of the reasons he is so drawn to it. He loves the analogy of "God is the Gardner," and the idea that he can be the one to sculpt and create something wonderful over time.

Well, he's had some lovely bonsai trees, and a few NOT so lovely. I'm afraid we're currently working on the NOT so lovely variety. Of course, that's just in my opinion. He looks at these shrubs--um, I mean, fledgling plants, and sees nothing but pure beauty in progress!

About a year ago he went to Lowes and bought himself a couple of full-on fiscus trees. Like, 5-6 feet tall fiscus trees. He promptly went to work cutting (hacking!), pruning, and taking them down to a mere memory of their former selves. Since then, they've grown for a year, and it was apparantly time for another hard pruning., according to Scott. And . . . I will now reveal the atrocity we have living in our bedroom:

I have affectionately named her "Audrey II" after the plant that grew out of control in the musical "Little Shop of Horrors." I honestly can't believe this thing is living in my bedroom. It's just a darn good thing that not many people actually GO into my bedroom.

Check her out, the poor thing. Ravaged, chopped, and wired into all sorts of contortionist shapes. BUT, of course, Scott has a "plan" and a "vision" for Audrey II! I just don't know if I have the patience to wait for 20 years to see her come out of her "awkward" phase.

BUT, that's not all!! No, folks, if you look right here in my bathtub, you will see baby Audrey. And yes, she DOES live in the bathtub. Every day. All year long. Nope, no baths for us. Baby Audrey was doing really well, in fact, I really quite liked her. She was far more tame than her big sister, and I thought she had potential to really be quite a lovely bonsai tree. BUT NO!! Scott had another "vision" for baby Audrey. And with that vision, he went to work on her again this week. Cutting (hacking), pruning, and re-shaping her. Wanna know what baby Audrey thought about the gentle "pruning" she'd received? Take a look ---

Yup, that's right. She was MAD!!!!! And to fully illustrate her feelings, she promptly dropped almost all of her leaves. Poor Scott worried for a minute that he might have actually killed baby Audrey. (And I was secretly thinking "that'll show ya!") But in the past few days we've seen a little miracle. Baby Audrey is coming back from the brink of death, and has started to sprout little buds! That little fighter...what a gal!

So apparantly, I will have to wait another 10 years or so to get my tub back. But in the meantime, we will encourage baby Audrey to come back and be fabulous again.

And I will secretly pray that Audrey II has a tragic run-in with a runaway tree chipper . . .

First Day of School 2008!

You know what they say about mid-August every year? Actually, we sing about it. "It's the most wonderful time, of the year!" And I'm NOT talking about Christmas. It's BACK TO SCHOOL TIME!! Actually, it's not that I want to get rid of my adorable kids, but they NEED to be at school! I've had enough of the lazing around being unproductive. It's time to get to school and learn something! So, I had to take their annual "first day of school" photos on their way out.


Something happened to Alex's photo, but at least it shows he was here -- laces untied, wearing a DHS Ambassador t-shirt, and his new favorite plaid shorts. He's starting his Junior year of high school at Dixie High.

Nathan is ALWAYS so excited to get his picture taken . . . NOT. But he managed to at least give me a smirk. This is the boy who pretty much wears a blue shirt every day of his life. Anything else is a bit too "flashy." Nate is an 8th grader at Pine View Middle School.

And then there's Spencer. He'd take Marco to school with him if he could.

Ok, dog-gone (ha!), so here's the boy and his backpack, on his way to 5th grade at Sandstone Elementary. I can't believe my baby is in his LAST year of elementary school! That's the part that makes me kind of sad. I want to freeze this one in time.

Friends Party at the Terry Ranch!

I have such awesome high school friends! Every one of them is just amazing. And we're all fortunate to have some pretty amazing husbands as well! Last weekend Trisha Terry Mickelson and her cute hubby Mick invited all of us to spend the afternoon at the Terry Family Ranch up by Enterprise.

We did LOTS of talking, and had a blast going out on the Rhino and 4-wheelers. I totally want a 4-wheeler now!! Here's Nancy & Jason Hauck in the Rhino, with Miriam and Thayne Houston hanging off the back.

The house is so great, and has a fun game room in the basement. We shot a few rounds of pool, and the boys tried to keep the sky train from coming off the rails. Here, Scott gives us an optical illusion with a boot bench, while Rob Rowland tries to save the train.


Trisha and Mick made an awesome dutch oven dinner for us, accompanied by the good stuff everyone else brought. After dinner we played a few games and HAD to take advantage of a great photo-op.

Here's the whole crew!

Front Row: Rob & Billie Rowland, Thayne & Miriam Houston, Jason & Nancy Hauck, Mick and Trisha Mickelson, and us.

Back Row: Kim & Charlie Meinkey, Brenda & Ron Wade, and Toni & Barry Blake.

Larkin Family Reunion - August 2008

We were all looking forward to having the entire Larkin clan together for a big reunion this month, and were obviously disappointed when we found out that Travis and Maria's family was not able to come at the last minute. But, we carried on, and still had a fun few days together!


We started off by all going to see "Les Miserables" at Tuacahn. It was wonderful, as always. There's no setting quite as spectacular as this canyon ampitheatre! It just can't be beat.


Our next activity was a day at the Veyo Pool. Check out the bathing beauties here! We enjoyed playing in the pool, eating those famous Veyo corn dogs, and the kids participated in their all-time FAVORITE Veyo activity . . . catching crawdads in the stream! Those critters are creepy.

Hmm. . . I couldn't believe that I nearly saw a full moon, right in the middle of the day! Thanks, Jer, for that fabulous shot. It will be a favorite for life.

Chelsea's giving us a little wave and a shout-out from the pool!

Eli has discovered this really cool way to pose for a picture. ROCK ON, DUDE!

Sunday night we all got together at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a little family slide show, ice cream, and a few TRULY UNFORGETTABLE performances! We also celebrated the August family birthdays. No birthday gift from our family to Sienna would be complete without one completely ridiulous item. It all started back a few years ago when I forgot to get Sienna's present ahead of time, and so for a Sunday night birthday celebration, I pulled out the only thing I had that might "pass" for a 3-year-old gift. A lovely peach striped neck pillow. Now let me say, it WAS cute and fuzzy and cuddly and all, but I will never live it down. As a result, we've just made it a tradition to keep giving these fabulous, but non-child-friendly gifts to her every year. This year's gift? A lint roller. Ali was thrilled, she really needed one. :) Just check out that convincing smile!! (The girl hasn't figure out that it's a joke yet... but isn't she so polite?!)

Next, we moved on to the evening's performances! Chelsea first favored us with a visit from "Betty Sue" singing about her "Party Dress." The kids all love Betty Sue.

But the icing on the cake was Tacy and Tim's performance of "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli. It all started out innocently enough. Cute little Tacy came out and did a lovely ballet dance to the first half of the song. And then, it happened. TIM happened! In bursts Tim wearing nothing but his 1987 Dixie High School gym shorts, a headband wrap, long socks and some gym shoes. That's bad enough on its own, but then he tried to channel his inner-Michael Flatley and started to dance . . . with gusto!

He "dazzled" us with his amazing (yea, right!) leaps, spins, and poses. It was hard for anyone to really watch, since we were all laughing so hard we were crying!!

After a breathtaking solo by Tim, Tacy graciously joined him to finish out the dance with a bang. They attempted a few couples tricks, and gave the splits a try. Unsuccessfully.

Poor Jer could hardly stand it. All he could say to Tim afterward was, "For Pete's sake, HOW am I ever going to be able to top THAT one??!!"For once, someone made Jer look like the mellow, stable one! Gotta give that Tim some serious credit here. He tossed all pride aside, and gave us something we will NEVER forget!

Pioneer Day in adorable and historic Pine Valley!

It's pretty much become a tradition for our family to gather in Pine Valley at my parents cabin on Pioneer Day (July 24th). It's such a fun, historic place to celebrate the holiday. First thing in the morning, a little band drives all around the streets playing music to wake everyone up. Then there's a morning patriotic program at the historic Pine Valley Chapel, complete with a few more numbers by the band.
Along with that, there's a breakfast and a morning full of games on the lawn. It's all the classics -- running races for every age group, water balloon toss, licorice eating contests, pie eating contests, the works. Great, all-american fun! Grandpa gave the mop-pony race a try, and Spencer enjoyed a little ride on the wagon pulled by Craig Booth and his tractor.

Scott and Vasu pretty much win the balloon toss every year -- they've got it down to a science! Check out the video above of the END of this year's balloon toss!

Chelsea tried the water balloon toss with her friend Jordan Hammer, but I don't think they lasted too long. Spencer's preparing for a big catch here.


But the best part of all is at the end, when it just turns into a big water balloon fight! We especially enjoyed watching Nathan and his friend McKenna Labrum running all over trying to get each other with water balloons. McKenna lucked out -- Scott was all-too-willing to help her soak Nathan!