Dad - Rockin' the Shades across the Globe!

From Hawaii

to Panama

to Washington

at a wedding (I'm not sure whose...)

in Kuwait

with a camel

in Greece

in Bavaria

and Trier

Apparently, he got into some trouble in Rothenburg...

...and the shades were confiscated. Poor Dad. :)

Cruella Deville

Mom has always had the creative juices in the family. As a kid I was always impressed with the costumes that she would pull together for Halloween. One year mom made a Captain Hook and Peter Pan costume from scratch! I couldn't wait 'till I was old enough to wear Captain Hook! It looked so authentic! One of my most memorable costumes was her infamous Cruella Deville ensemble. I remember her putting a lot of work into it. The most exciting part of the costume was when she had to do her hair. I remember thinking, "How in the world is she going to get her hair to look like that?" Somehow she got that hair to stick straight up! At the time, Collin was a baby (maybe 18 months old) and he already had a little dalmatian zip-up costume. I vaguely recollect mom commenting on how malicious she must have looked carrying her child around as a puppy when she was Cruella Deville! Something that I love about Mom is her ability to make projects like this sound so fun and exciting. This wasn't even my costume but I still wanted to be involved in making it! Whenever she would work on her costume she would go around the house singing, "Cruella Deville, Cruella Deville, If she doesn't scare you, No evil this willll....." I love Mom!

 

Alabama

Melanni, Jesse, Ariana 

I remember these pillow cases, even the texture and how they felt!

 



 I have a vivid memory of almost drowning in this pool during one of my swimming classes. At the time I was sure that I was going to die and no one would notice, but now I look back and I'm pretty sure I would have been just fine...I think my teacher would have noticed if I didn't come back up for air! We were playing Ring Around the Rosy in the pool and I lost grip on my neighbor's hands and I slid down the edge of the where the pool got a little deeper. I remember feeling totally panicked because I couldn't breathe and somone from my swimming class grabbed my hand and pulled me back to safety. It was the kid in the black shirt and yellow shorts (swim suit?). After that, she (he? I always remembered it being a girl, but I honestly cant tell by this picture) was my hero!

 I don't remember this particular trip to Dad's work, but I have always enjoyed going to his work and seeing the aircraft he flies. The shirt I'm wearing was one of my favorite shirts. I'm pretty sure I had school pictures taken in it after we moved to Panama.

 Mom always did such a good job of dressing us up and doing our hair! I remember roller skating around this house on the concrete. It was a good house for skates!

Did we call this lovely vehicle 'The Beast?' I think we did, but if I am remembering wrong, we should have! I remember the guy who came to buy this car from us was wearing a wife beater shirt and he had long hair. I was scared of him but fascinated at the same time. He was probably a really nice guy, but as a kid I was totally intimidated by his appearance!

Grandma's Toy Closet

I'm so glad we have a picture of Grandma Larson's toy closet at their house in Chehalis! You can see Christian James having a grand old time with his cousins. Grandma had such fun games and toys to play with in there. I remember playing Chinese checkers, Othello, and dominoes.

What do you guys remember about that closet?

Remember our old van?

This is the van I had to learn how to drive in on the narrow streets of Germany. I think there were 12 seats in it: 2 in the front and 10 in the back. One of my first times driving it by myself, I drove home from church and Dad followed me home in another car. He said I nearly gave him a heart attack the whole way home because I drove too close to the right side of the rode and almost hit several parked cars.

Also, I remember on a trip we made to Keukenhof in Holland (to see all the pretty tulips), there was a man who asked if he could buy our van. I think he wanted it for his band to travel around in.

Oh, and this picture was in the folder for Melanni and Murray's wedding, so I'm not sure what's going on here. Maybe Dad and Christian James are fixing something on the van?

Tschüß!