AND SO WE RELY....

Being in what feels like a distant land in the middle of the midwest for almost a year now has afforded us many moments of self reflection. While I have been able to invest a significant amount of energy in learning a new job, (this has been a blessing of the protracted separation), we have also had many ponderous moments laboring to understand the perplexity of our remote relationship and the wisdom of the Lord in our behalf. We have stepped into the darkness of this chapter of our life and have, as a family, partially moved to Missouri. Though in seeming reverse order, Kiely is here in Missouri now going to school and reshaping her future, rooming with me here in Rolla. Devery is enrolled in a graduate school program at Missouri State University two hours to the south. We, the three Missourian Larsen’s, (sounds like the title of a bad B movie) usually meet here in Rolla every two or three weeks. This time and these mini regional reunions are punctuated by daily and nightly conversations with Denise and the Colorado (Jantzen & Jorin) family (thanks Verizon) and regular connections with those who we lovingly refer to as haleyjon&gannon (pronounced rapidly). Denise and the Colorado kids remain in Grand Junction carrying on with home school and the constant pressure of life while trying to sell a residence. The marvels of today’s communication options have helped to ease the effects of the separation. Our plan is still that we will sell or rent our Grand Junction residence so that we can relocate together in Missouri. This has proven to be a longer process than either of us had anticipated, complicated by uncertain national and regional economic conditions. We have seen the hand of a loving Father in our lives in the past and have been able to retrospectively recount the wisdom of His actions. In this situation, the enlightenment has seemed more distant and the yearning much more acute. The nights on our knees and our own spiritual white knuckles have certainly intensified as we find ourselves in the middle of a test. We question and yearn to reconcile the alignment of our own desires versus the as yet unknown plans of a loving Father. While His remodeling of our lives will ultimately be worth the wait, we desire to satisfy our impatient curiosity and see a copy of the blueprints of what we will become. Short of this, we press forward and have faith. We have faith in the Lord, faith in each other and our children and faith in the outcome of this test. Together in faith, cell phones in hand, we go forward and……..rely.

HOMESCHOOL STARTS WITH A....GASP?!

We have started - and stopped - and started homeschool this past two weeks. September 1st brought excitement and enthusiasm for the new school year (especially since all their friends had been in school since Aug. 17!) - Sept. 2nd brought a severe cold to Jorin, Jantzen and me. By Sept. 6, I had pneumonia and the kids were coughing like crazy - and school petered to a measly couple of subjects per day. Today, Sept. 14th - we attempted a new beginning - I directed each subject from the couch - but Jantzen started fading - and had to take a nap...I hope she doesn't have pneumonia too! We really are excited and anxious to learn this year. We are starting with Ancient History subjects - and going from there...we did manage to make a canopic jar in art - for our diseased organs, I guess, should we need them...

MISSOURI TRIP

I wanted to post a few pictures of the trip we took to Missouri in late July...

Jorin turns 12! Rance ordained him and he was able to pass the sacrament
in the Rolla ward with Rance. He did such a good job!

We visited the Meramec Springs - This one spring pumps 96,000,000 gallons per day!
There was a visitors center, a cool old ironworks (1st west of the Mississippi), 2 museums, a fish
hatchery, original cabins, and other very cool and historical things. It was also beautiful! We loved our hikes here.

The kids' first look at the Mississippi River.
We walked along its banks
before going to the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

That little itty bitty door is where we entered and sat in a little "dryer" type unit as we
ascended up the inside of the Arch. Fun!! Breathe, breathe....


The windows at the top were suprisingly small - but we got a
great view of St. Louis down below! The Arch is the nation's tallest
man-made monument.


Missouri, the Cave State, has more than 5,500 caves.
We visited the Onondaga Caves, a National Natural Landmark, that are about
15 minutes from Rolla -
It was amazing to see all of the tall stalagmites, dripping stalactites, active
flowstones and many other different formations inside these caves!

The St. Louis Zoo was fun! It really was one of the best zoos I've seen.
- I took several pictures of different animals...
but one of the most interesting sights was of this woman who danced
for a crowd that was listening to a GREAT blues band - She was older -
and it was very hot - but she put on quite a show!

It really is very beautiful in this area. We enjoyed being surrounded by trees
and water. This river was still cold - in July - but fun to play around in.

The best part of this trip was being with Dad!
The worst part - leaving him!

The Last Camping Hurrah!

The last weekend of August we spent in the Colorado Rockies with our friends, the Nelsons - primitive camping. We drove on a rock-strewn path-type road straight up a mountain--- until we found a beautiful little lake - and pitched camp. It was perfect ( except for our missing family members!) The kids paddled around for hours on the little lake, Kerri and David fished - and I read, surrounded by wildflowers! It was so peaceful.

Jantzen - enjoying an early morning hot apple cider!

Jorin started our fire - even after a night's rainstorm soaked our wood! Hooray for scouts!

We went to Rifle Falls one day - enjoying the spectacular scenery and hike to the falls, cave exploring and a great swim in the river.

There were many caves to explore in this area - Jorin and Jantz loved it! We love camping and being in the outdoors - and this summer has afforded us many opportunities to get to know the little corner of the world we are currently in.