Larson Family: May 2012

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Blake's blessing & cute cousins

Me and my newest nephew, Blake.

Blake Michael Sharp was blessed on May 13, 2012 — Mother's Day. I was so glad we were able to attend and glad that Derek was there to participate as well.

Karen and Mike hosted a great gathering at their house afterward. Lots of eating and lots of kids running around crazy — loving their time together. It was a great Mother's Day.

Mike, Dylan and Blake Sharp with Uncle Derek.

The Sharp Family

Lydia and Blake

The next day Derek left for home and Lydia and I settled in for a few days at Karen's. It was so fun to hang with my big sis! And although there were some upsets with Lydia and Dylan (what do you expect when you get two 2-year-olds together?) we all had a wonderful time.

Dylan showing Lydia how to handle a trampoline (or a "mountain" as Lydia calls them. Not sure why.)

Kate, Dylan and Lydia

Aren't they adorable!?

Lydia and Mommy on a train ride in Fort Worth, Texas.

Surprise! Daddy's here!

We'd only been in Texas just shy of two days when we had a big surprise.

Derek arrived!

As I mentioned in the last post, Derek wasn't able to join us on this trip because of work, but some sneaky work on his part and the generous help of his Skywest connected cousin (thanks Ryan!) he was able to secure a buddy pass to come for the weekend as a surprise. It was a wonderful Mother's Day/Anniversary gift (our 7 year anniversary was Monday, May 14 — the day he left to come home).

Only my brother, Kevin, and his wife knew they were coming since Kevin was the one to pick him up at the airport. He got in a little before midnight Friday night. We adults were all still up visiting and it was such a fun surprise! Even more fun was the next morning when Lydia woke up and came into our room. She touched his foot and said "hi Daddy" in a normal tone, just like any other morning. Then she stopped, looked over and then looked back to me with wide eyes and said "Daddy's here!" She was thrilled! So was I.

We spent Saturday at the Dallas Aquarium and then went to a fun dinner at BJ's Restaurant with the whole crew, which by now included Derek, Lydia and I, Karen, Mike, Kate, Dylan, Blake, Kevin, Leslie and Colin, my parents and Mike's parents who were here for Blake's baby blessing to take place on Mother's Day.

Enjoying a family day at the aquarium!

Lydia adores her cousin Kate!

Leslie and Kevin — two of our four great hosts for the week.

Texas, here we come!

Our much anticipated trip to visit family in Texas finally arrived on May 9.
Because of work, Derek wasn't able to join us. However, he drove Lydia and I to Las Vegas Wednesday evening after work, stopping for some dinner and Daddy/daughter bonding time at the McDonald's in Mesquite. 10 days is a long time. I knew they were going to miss each other.

We were fortunate to stay with Derek's aunt and uncle in Henderson, who were kind enough to drive Lydia and I to the airport at 5 a.m. Thursday. Such an early hour really was going above and beyond. Thanks Paula!

My anxiety over the whole flying-alone-with-a-child thing turned out to be worse in my mind than in reality. Although I though the security precaution the demanded that I wrench Lydia's blanket from her fingers as she sobbed hysterically and the TSA agents pretended not to notice was extremely ridiculous, we made it to our gate without further incident and plenty of time to spare.

Lydia was an angel on the flight. The only upset came when she didn't want to put her seatbelt on during our descent into San Antonio where we had a brief layover. However, when the plane touched down and she could suddenly feel how fast we were going it scared her and she looked up at me with worried eyes and said "Mommy, I need my seatbelt!" Good idea. As if I hadn't been wrestling with her over that fact for the last 10 minutes. After that she was all about buckling up.

Lydia's first experience with headphones. Listening to her favorite music (I'm a VIP) on the iPad was a great distraction.

We arrived in Dallas to the welcoming arms of Leslie and Colin. Lydia was thrilled to see the first of her cousins! And we were ready for the week to begin.

Meeting baby Blake for the first time. Adorable!

Lydia and Colin. Such cute cousins!

Monday, May 7, 2012

So proud!


Does this guy look smart or what?

On May 5, 2012 Derek earned his Master's of Education degree from Southern Utah University. Technically he has one class to finish this summer but, hey. He's worked so hard! I couldn't be prouder!