SHADY

We're sad in our house right how; our sweet dog, Shady, passed away on the evening of Tuesday, May 11. She had never really been sick before; just a healthy and happy dog who still had lots of "puppy energy" when company came by - or a squirrel invaded her space! By the time she let us see that she wasn't feeling well, she was already approaching the final stages of kidney failure. What a strong little girl she was! Just a month ago she was walking with us all over the neighborhood and prancing joyfully for us when we came home. It has gone quickly for her -- and for us -- we are still a bit in shock that she's really gone. We will miss her caring watchfulness over our family and her sensitive soul. We've loved you, Shady.

Mendocino Trip

Bert and I somehow escaped all the busy-ness of late and went to Mendocino together for a while -- just the two of us! It rained some, and shone some, and there was a lot of wild wind and waves -- we had a glorious yet relaxing time. We sure do love the California coast.
We stopped at several State Parks, beaches (and gorgeous Mendocino Gardens) and had walks, picnics, and rock-hunting expeditions (heart-shaped rocks are especially a treasure!) When it rained we just read in front of a cozy fire. A super-nice way to spend our 32nd anniversary (Wow!32?!?!)
Here is a video taken while we sat at our picnic table in Salt Point State Park. If you want to listen to the wind and waves, just pause the music down below...



Bert at the picnic table adjusting his camera settings -- actually, you might hear his camera beeping in the background during the video above... It's almost like you're there with us!

Reed's Binkie

Above is a picture taken of Reed exactly one year ago! (sigh)

But now to the present... so, we've been teaching Nate to drive the little green Aveo (with its clutch) and all that that involves! We remember what it was like to learn how to "slip a clutch" way back when... it can be a real task. He's doing fine and we keep reminding him that one day it'll seem fun. While he was cleaning the car this last weekend he found something -- under the seat there was a forlorn and forgotten little pacifier, left behind back when Reed was here with his parents in November.
Sniff.
We sure miss the little guy...

East or West, Camping is best!

One of the things our family LOVES is camping. We used to just go out and enjoy the Great Outdoors in our tent, but Bert's Dad had an old Aristocrat Land Commander waiting to be used (and rescued!) so we upgraded to trailer camping. We replaced the potty, refrigerator, linoleum floors and light fixtures. We also reupholstered the seats and hung new curtains and voila! we were ready to roll. We've gone all over in our little trailer -- well, mostly all over California. But since California seems to have a little of everything, we've had lots of fun seeing the sights. Here is a picture of us camping by Lake Oroville in Northern California in the Spring.

We love travelling with our little Aristocrat; it's super light to pull (about half the weight of other trailers its size) and small enough to fit into most spaces. We're trying to make our trailer last as long as possible (it's circa 1964). It only sleeps four (cozy) or sleeps two with much more room. So Bert and ML have some more excursions planned for our future; including at least one trip to Utah, and a trip to Yosemite.
Trailer camping has been great because it's inexpensive (compared to hotels, etc.), and you're right there where you want to be in the middle of the trees and mountains. Food tastes better when camping, and nature walks can take you a long way without seeming like your really exercising! So our little trailer is fun for us; when we step inside of it to clean it or re-stock it, we are swept up in memories of fun family times, great sights and great smells, and can't wait to get out in it again! It may be getting old and creaky, but we love adventuring in our little trailer.

Reed on the phone

We just had to share this video. Hopefully this process will work, since the whole "video post" is new to us. But it makes us happy and thought you might enjoy it too! (Note: you might want to pause the music down below first...) Now be patient and watch the WHOLE video -- and tell us; do you think he's ready for a phone call from Oma?

Reed

Have we mentioned how much we love our little grandson, Reed? He's part of the cutest family in Utah, in one of the cutest houses in Utah! We are so happy for the blessings that have come to their family -- and the rest of the Larson family. We had to share a picture of Reed's first (and only?) house, and Reed's first Sunday-go-to-Church tie. He's a sweet stylin' guy...

California Missions

One of the things that Bert and ML want to do is visit all of the California Missions. These are not only historically noteworthy, but they are beautiful and tranquil in their own way. Some of them are like a little oasis of meditation in the middle of a big city; others are off the beaten track and lovely in their solitude (like Misson San Miguel Arcangel). We have been able to enjoy quite a few of them, and we still have quite a few more to see! Our personal favorite is the Carmel Mission, but Bert is pictured here in the garden of another little gem located just outside of Solvang, California. It's called Santa Inez Mission, and it was extra fun to go there because we were also able to enjoy the sights (and tastes!) of the cute Danish Village in Solvang.

A different kind of day at the beach

We've been having some pretty good storms here lately (we definitely needed the rain) but apparently it got pretty windy and wild at the coast. On a recent trip to the beach with Susan and Laura while they were visiting, we found the beach looking pretty interesting. Tons and tons of tree trunks, tree limbs, and all other kinds of wood had washed ashore. Way WAY ashore! The waves must have been huge. Usually its cleaned up pretty quickly, but a week after the latest storm it was not only all still there, but visitors had turned it into a strange sort of lumber wonderland. All over the beach, people had used the wood to build little huts, spell out words, make walls, forts -- it looked so odd! We'd never seen our beaches look anything like this before. This is a picture of Laura lifting a log as she considers her own architectural wonder...

The Old Backyard Shed

Before we built our "new and improved" shed, we had an old shed. It was falling apart, had termites, and was way too non-functioning for its own good. We knew that the old shed would need to come down and a new shed would be taking its place. Unfortunately, our old shed was covered with a glorious bouganvilla, so ML put off its necessary removal for as long as she could (sorry Bert!) merely for beauty's sake. But finally this last summer Nate took on what had become a huge and invasive plant (Bert's story) and ML mourned the loss of a long-blooming friend (her story). Nate emerged victorious and the new shed was able to go in. But ML is now laying down the gauntlet -- a new bouganvilla will return in its place, and a friend will be reborn! Although, like with human friends, plant friends take time...

Tuckered out twosome

Recently Brent, Caroline and Reed came to visit us as they attended a wedding here in California. It was so fun to be with them, and we actually got to be "babysitting grandparents" for a little bit (a role we're hungry for!). Although Reed was sick, he still would try to play and participate with the world around him. Oma, Reed and Shady went for a nice long walk one day, and afterwards there were two tired puppies in the house! A satisfying day...

Being Oma and Opa

Among the happiest things that have come into our lives recently is our grandson, Reed. We love him heart and soul, and truth be told he is absolutely adorable in every way possible. Thank goodness for Skype, so we can try to keep in touch with he and his Mom and Dad in Utah. But we're not Grandma and Grandpa - we knew before he was born that we wanted to be called "Oma" and "Opa". Here are some pictures from way back when, when we were feeling over the moon and new at the whole grandparenting thing. We're in heaven....
Of course he's much bigger and busier now, and still all the way in Utah, but we hold him in our hearts.

Our littlest house

Here is a picture of our new shed, along with our dog, Shady. Our little house now has its own little house! It has yet to be officially christened, but we are calling it our "Bert Sanctuary". (It's other nickname is "Bert's Baby") Bert's waited a long time to be able to have this space for his own. He's been able to arrange all of his tools there, and when you only have a one-car garage, that's a big deal! When the weather improves, we'll offically "launch" the shed -- and officially pull all the weeds that have grown around it! Shady has already adopted this little place as her own new adventure spot - she runs in there at every opportunity. Apparently Bert's just going to have to share...

Welcome to our "Little House in the Big Garden", the new blog spot for the Larson Family. Unfortunately, our old blog ("The Larson's Day") was viciously hacked/attacked, rendering it unreadable (and very unenjoyable!). It was unsalvagable. It was sad to say goodbye to all of our old posts, pictures, and shared comments. We hadn't realized how much of our past year or so was documented there...
So we're now looking forward, with high hopes that our new site will be able to set out on it's new journey with good news and no bad mojo.
We hope you find us!
We also hope you find us somewhat interesting -- play with the fish!