Temple Square

 This year we decided that we would take trax to temple square and let the kids have something else to enjoy. Brad and I also hate trying to find a parking place close so we aren't walking a mile to the Temple. My kids loved the trax and Temple square even through it was a freezing 28 degrees outside. Mom and Nikkie came with us to help with the kids and to enjoy this moment with us. I don't know if I would have even entered the Temple square without help. Going 5 days before Christmas it was so busy but the kids still like the lights. Abi doesn't remember last year but this year she couldn't get enough.      

 Brad took some great pictures. Brad and I bought a new camera for Christmas and we love the picture quality. 

 The kids on Trax after the Temple. Nikkie was helping keep the kids upright because they kept getting up to walk around. Once they thawed out they where bouncing off the walls of the trax!!! 

Reid family pictures

We went as a family up to the canyon in Tooele to get these beautiful pictures of my family. They turned out so good. I can't wait until next year to get more!!!!

This is a post mainly for those living outside of Utah who haven't seen the Frampton/Reids for awhile. This was a joint party for the three oldest Reid girls at the bowling alley in Tooele. I snatched a couple of pictures of my mom which is rare too.

 Debbie is explaining to Alivia how bowling works.

 Samantha got the competitive Frampton gene

 But Madison was getting into it too. If I remember correctly she won too!

 Are these three related?

 Abigail was being passed around to everyone. She didn't seem to mind.

 Alivia was very hard to get smiling in candid shots so I sat her down and made her smile for me.

 

Still alive in Central America

So it's been a very long time since we've posted on the blog.  I think the last time was in May.  This is mostly due to the fact that our camera was stolen and we haven't had photos to add.  Well we finally got a new camera so I figured I'd throw a few photos up.  Truth is there's nothing too new going on down here, but we're safe and happy and enjoying the 85 degree November weather.

Traci and I have been so happy to see our kids become such good friends.  They've all done a good  job of making friends down here.  But at the end of the day their best friends are each other.  Their friendship and our love for movies makes this is a common sight at our house.  

So Simon now sleeps in a big boy bed which is great.  However,  he doesn't ever want to go to bed.  For the last couple of months our nightly ritual has been to put him down to sleep and then we wait about two minutes when he appears again at our door.  He does so very quietly and sneaks his way back into our room.  He doesn't think we see him and he slowly makes his way to either a corner of the room or under our bed.  If he suspects that we see him he will cover his eyes because doing so clearly makes him invisible.  The above photo is of Simon about to begin one of his stealthy entrances into our room. We took video of it the other night but for some reason I can't upload it here so I put it on youtube, here's the link.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3lQPgIXQQs&feature=youtu.be

The two babies of the house crashing for the night.

A couple of weeks ago we found a great little hike close by our house.   We hiked right through some low level clouds.  It was really cool and a little spooky.  These photos also show Abe's broken arm.  He had the cast for a month, just got it removed.  It was a tough month for a kid that never stops moving, plays football every moment he gets, does training drills in his bedroom, etc.  

Up on top of the mountain.

We found a large overhang that was kind of like a cave.  Abe and Mag decided to do some thinking.

Traci kept with tradition by making the kids costumes for Halloween.  Her annual  sewing fest ended just in time for the kids to have their costumes.  I'm guessing that only the kids/teenagers of the family will be able to make sense of this.  The kids decided to be Fin, Jake, and B-mo from a cartoon called Adventure Time.  I've never seen it but apparently it's wonderful.  Maggie won best costume at her 1st grade Halloween parade.

Every year the Marines throw a fancy black-tie ball.  It becomes a pretty big deal with women spending hundreds of dollars on fancy ball gowns.  I definitely married the right woman.  Not only was she stunning but she also paid $10 for fabric and then sewed her own dress.  She looked amazing and everyone at the party was shocked when they learned she made the dress. 

We are so proud of Viv.  In the last few months she has completely come out of her shell.  She has been outgoing and has found ways to be social and interact with lots of kids her age.  Without any push from us she joined the school choir.  Here she is in the choir's first performance.  They sang a couple of great songs at a school carnival.  Viv says she was really scared but it didn't show and she rocked it.  She says next stop is the drama club.

On election day Abe woke up with a cough that was bad enough to keep him home from school.  As I left for work I found him on the couch watching CNN and making graphs to chart the election throughout the day.  He watched all day long and absorbed all the analysis and predictions.  By the end of the day it was time for him to go to sleep.  He was a complete basket case.  12 straight hours of election coverage will do that to a person.  Finally he had had enough.  He made his own ballot which I think sums up how everyone was feeling at the end of an election campaign which lasted way too long.  This is a photo of the ballot.  For those who don't know "White IV" is the running back for the Utah Utes.   I think he showed his wisdom by voting for the person who he's seen perform but never heard speak.

ZUR

So, David has created a new business. (Have to wonder at the timing...move away from home, start school at a crazy-hard college, start a new business in your spare time???)  Anyway, he has pulled his sisters into it as business partners.  The website is up and running (www.zurwear.com) and they are hoping to start making t-shirt sales.  Don't ask what 'ZUR' means... it's a creation from Dave's imagination...hoping it will one day be as well-known as Billabong, RUVA, etc, etc.  And no, he does not have any aspirations to be a model, in fact, he will be upset that this picture is being posted.  (I like it.)  Anyway, for those of you living outside of Utah and would be willing to wear a shirt and talk-up their business, the kids would be happy to send you a prototype shirt. Right now they have some extra men's shirts.  Just let me know.

Other than being thrown into a business venture, life at the Larkin household is pretty boring.  But, boring can be good.

Update from the South

Hey everyone, it's been a long time since we've posted anything. Mostly, we have yet to buy a new camera since our old one got stolen and so we haven't many pictures to post. We'll be seeing you all very soon but I thought I'd go ahead and put up some photos before too much time passes.  These were taken with my cell phone so the quality is low.

Life is going well. The kids are excited for school to be over for the year.  They're obviously heartbroken that we have to pull them out two weeks early to make it to D's wedding in Portland next weekend. Traci left this morning to head up early to the Northwest. That leaves me with the four kids and the dog for the next week. I also had a moment of weakness a couple of days ago and agreed to watch a friend's two additionally dogs while he is out of town.  That was misguided to say the least.  With the rainy season upon us, apparently the 3 dogs got into a mud hole in the backyard yesterday and were unrecognizable.  Traci spent hours cleaning the patio, house, and dogs after the mud Armageddon was over. Gratefully it all occurred while I was at work. Now it's a matter of surviving the few days without killing them. 

Last week Traci and I cashed in on some babysitting that we were owed by another family and took off for the weekend.  It was fantastic! I'll describe it a bit later with the pictures.

Anyway, here are some random photos from the last month or so. 

 Simon plays pretty hard at church and this is the typical after church lunch photo.

Traci recently finished painting Abe's room.  Abe opted for a Pirates of the Caribbean theme. I wish I had a decent camera instead of my crappy cell phone to do the room justice.  It turned out awesome!

These are my two favorite characters from the movie.

For Mother's Day the kids made their mom a cake.  They chose to make it a battlefield cake.  Why? Because "Love is a Battlefield"

For our weekend away we started about an hour north at a town named Ataco. It's a really cute little town. We loved this little church at the edge of town.

We spent the night at some hot springs. It is a series of pools and the water cascades from pool to pool. The top pool was almost too hot to enter, almost.  With each descending pool the water cooled slightly until by the time you reached the bottom is just a nice warm swimming pool.  We had a lovely romantic time.

We were the only guests there. The hot springs are right in the middle of a large coffee plantation.  I commented to Traci that I didn't understand how they could make any money with only us as guests.  Then the owner came out and chatted with us.  He was hilariously eccentric.  He is a wealthy coffee farmer and said his yearly income from the farm is about $4 million.  He told us that he built the pools because he likes talking to people and he thought they would attract people for him to talk to.
He then went on to tell us about a mineral mine that he has on the property. Apparently this mineral has been shown to be an effective anti-aging mineral and that it is being used to make lotions.  He has begun making another pool near the mineral mine.  He is certain that it is going to attract millions of "ugly women" from all over the world to come bathe in the waters.  He has made a website that promises that "ugly women" will enter the waters and when they leave the pool they will be sure to receive at least three proposals of marriage. He said he plans to have his 300 coffee farm employees line the road and propose marriage to all the ugly women so that he can keep his word.  Traci immediately fell madly in love with him.  I have to admit I did a little bit too.
We finished the weekend with a day at the beach without the kids which was beautifully relaxing.
Anyway, can't wait to see you all very soon!

Some pictures of my two favorite girls...

our new house

We are in the process of building a new home in Grantsville. This is whats gotten done so far. The house near us from start to finish took 7 weeks so hopefully we will be in the house in the end of May.