Three

Sand-bearded faces

Can this princess survive two big brothers?

All is well in the Larsen household. James is down to half-day tantrums, so we are seeing improvement. My mom has been visiting from South Carolina for the past week. She has been a huge help with the boys... I am really going to be sad when she's gone. Ruth keeps growing and changing. I am loving every minute of it.

Ruth Ann Larsen!

Finally here after 7 hours of labor and a "sunny side up" entrance.

born July 29

8 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches long

These picture are all a good representation of what she looks like these days... asleep. So far, she is very calm, even when her brothers are creating havoc and when the dog is barking. James follows her around and says "mine.. mine!" When he holds her, he is gentle for about 30 seconds before he starts poking and pulling. When mommy rescues the baby, he throws a huge temper tantrum. Hopefully, he'll adjust soon.

Proud brothers. David especially loves having a sister and picks her a flower almost everyday. On the way home, he requested two more siblings. ... we won't be thinking about that for a LONG time.

5 days later... David turns 5! Joseph's mom helped us out by throwing a birthday party. David was lucky to have 9 cousins in town plus his Grandma Mumford, so it turned out to be quite the party. He requested hamburgers, watermelon, chips, pickles, and chocolate cake. His cousins decorated a chair just for him and he was royally spoiled.

Here is a close up of his face.. is that excitement or what? We are so grateful to have David in our family. He is so patient with his little brother and showers us with love every day. It is fun to watch him grow. Yesterday, he finally mastered pumping his legs on the swing. He also loves to be read to and to have things explained to him. His favorite gifts? new legos and Megatron!

Update

Happy 31st birthday Joseph! We celebrated with lots of visiting family and carrot cake, of course. We have had months of family visits, so the kids have been in cousin heaven. Every morning, the first thing David asks is when we are going back to grandma's house. Lucky kid.

Joseph's latest hobby is the Ukulele. He is getting really good and it is fun to sing songs together. David was interested for about 5 minutes. Luckily, I got it on camera!

We have been very blessed to have mild weather throughout June and most of this month. It has hardly been above 80 degrees, except for the heat wave that came through last week. Here is our future gardener (as long as it involves water).

Well, the week is finally here. Baby girl comes on Thursday. My real due date isn't until August 3rd, but the doctor expects this baby to be large so I am being induced 5 days early. It will be quite wonderful to shed my wonderful support hose and be able to hug my loved ones really close. I guess that pregnancy is one way the Lord teaches us patience. Any guesses on her size?

Happy Father's Day

In primary, each child was interviewed about their fathers. Here's are David's thoughts:

My dad's favorite food is... "lettuce"

My dad is ____ years old... "a long time. Older than my mom"

My favorite thing about my dad is... "(he) plays games"

My dad's favorite thing about me is.. "when I sing 'I am a Child of God'"

My dad's favorite place is... "Disneyland"

The funniest thing I ever saw my Dad do is "jumps and flips"

My dad likes to... "play with me"

I like being with my dad most when... "he builds stuff with me"

If I could give my dad something special it would be... "a saw"

The first thing my dad does when he gets home from work... "yardwork"

My dad is the best dad ever because... "He likes to do my favorite things"

Pure happiness

Happiness for James is a warm shower with a bar of soap.

My happiness is found when I look at this adorable smiling face.

Final Day

One perk to being married to Joseph is that he can find unusual places to visit. Before we boarded the plane to go home, we visited a revolutionary war battleground. David got to try out this real rifle.

How can you resist these little cuties?

Peek-a-boo!

Here's one of all the gang. Thanks for the good time!

South Carolina Part 2

Joseph flew out to SC for the weekend, but because of a major thunderstorm pulled in at about 3:00 am. The next morning, however, we were in the car ready for a mini road trip. The kids were angels until our very last hour in the car.

First, we drove a few hours to the Biltmore, built in 1920. It is the largest home in the United States.

View from the balcony. To pacify James during the tour, we snuck candy to him. It worked pretty well.

After the tour, we jumped in the car and drove through Smokey Mountain National Park until we reached the Tennesse/ North Carolina state line.

View of the beautiful Smoky Mountains. After living in such a deserty place, all the greenery felt so good on my eyes. I felt so rejuvenated.

I never realized that the Appalachain trial borders the two states and actually runs through 14 states. We couldn't resist a little hike.

This is heaven for a little boy: plenty of sticks and enormous rocks.

I really felt like I was in different country as we drove through the border towns to the Smokeys. We pulled off into a gas station to use an ATM. As I waited in line, I noticed a man taking a wad of money out of his shoe. He remarked, "I got me my bank right here!"