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Pete & Sam

This is my son Peter on the left and his good friend (and neighbor) Sam.  Peter and Sam have grown up together, they go to school together, and tonight they performed in the Walnut Educational Center band concert together.  Peter plays the trumpet and Sam plays the baritone and they did an AWESOME job tonight. 

I'm proud of these young men and the character and personality that they possess.   They are also a ton of fun.  I get to drive them and a few other kids to school a couple of days a week, and they absolutely crack me up.  You ought to hear us all singing along with the "Finally Friday" song every Friday on KAT Country!

Watch the roads…

Today, the roadways of America underwent a subtle but monumental shift.  One more Larson is now loose on the streets of our city. 

Eric passed his driving test and did really well.  He said when he was checking the boxes his hand was shaking.  It is kind of a nerve-wracking thing, but the real rite of passage that he experienced was the whole DMV thing…paperwork, waiting, eye test, waiting, picture, waiting, test, waiting.  Ahhh…nothing like experiencing the full force of bureaucracy!

Congratulations Eric!  You did great!

Thunder drums…

Gena got a pretty cool email on Thursday night from the Modesto Bee newspaper.  She had won 6 tickets to the Gallo Center to see the "Jigu' Thunder Drums of China."  So we got dressed up last night, and headed to the center for a night of drums, BIG DRUMS.

It was amazing how they could make you visualize things like conversations, ducks, oarsmen rowing a ship, the sunrise, and more.  It was fun just being with the family.

Just Gena and me…

February 22nd, was the 22 years of marriage for Gena and I.  We took that day and drove over to the Bay Area on a wonderful cloudy, rainy day.  I know, I know, you're thinking, "What's wonderful about it?"  But we love cloudy, rainy days.

We had coffee, and walked, and shopped, and had a wonderful dinner.  We drove around and through the UC Berkeley Campus (see picture), and just had a quiet, fun day together.

I have the most wonderful wife in the world, and after 22 years, it's only getting better.

Happy Anniversary

22 years ago today, I married the most wonderful, beautiful, Godly, gifted woman ever.  I am truly a blessed man.  So today we get to celebrate 22 on 2/22.  That's got to be some kind of a good sign or omen or something. 

We're heading up to the city to spend the day together and have fun.  We have a trip planned in about a month and a half, so we're just taking a day today.  Some of our favorite things are converging: time together, the ocean, a rainy day, and good food.  Ahhh…I'm a lucky man.

Disc Golf Day

I took Peter and Kari and Peter's friend Ian disc golfing today.  We got through about 9 holes and then ended up at the playground with some awesome "ninja" moves off of the swings (see the picture). We also hiked along Dry Creek and saw a pretty big turtle out on a log.  The weather was great and we ended our journey with a stop at Cold Stone for Ice Cream.  I wouldn't trade today for anything.

My Favorite Hugo Picture

My sister and brother-in-law just posted some new photos of my new nephew Hugo. This picture is my absolute favorite.  Everytime I look at it I just crack up.

A rare treat

Today I was able to do something that only comes along once in a while.  I actually got to sit with Gena during a wedding.  I know that doesn't sound like such a huge deal, but I'm usually up in front DOING the wedding.  Gena usually has to come by herself, find a seat by herself, and mostly…be by herself. 

So how cool to come to a wedding (at our church even!), and walk in, hold hands, sit together, and enjoy everything together.  It was one of those little pleasures that doesn't come around often enough.

Oh…and the wedding went well too.  Congratulations Reggie & Lindy!

Daughter Day

A week ago I was able to have a great day with both my daughters.  I've been wanting to write about it;  I've had a picture on my desktop to post;  but it just hasn't worked out until this morning.

Last Friday my daughter Hannah called me from school to say that her car wouldn't start.  (Yes, this is the infamous prodigal car that came home after a week and a half of living the wild life. You can read about the stolen car adventure in an earlier post).  I went to her school and we got the battery out and took it to Wal-Mart for a full check.  They told us it would take about an hour or so and so we came back later (the battery is GOOD!), put it back in her car and everything was great.

But the cool thing was what happened in between all of that.  Driving across town several times, during the busiest part of the day, gave us about 2 hours just to talk.  We talked about school, and life, and future dreams and plans, and ministry.  My daughter is so great.  She has this heart that is so captivated by what God can do through her, and through the local church.  Now we laughed and sang songs on the radio and all that good stuff, but it's pretty awesome when your 17 year old daughter thinks that what is happening in your own church is so exciting that she wants to join your team and serve.  If I had 10 Hannah's, we could change this city for Jesus!

Later that same night, I had the privilege of escorting my youngest daughter Kari to the Julien School Father - Daughter dance.  I wore a suit and Kari wore a fancy dress, it was pretty neat.  She was a little apprehensive at first, and of course if you'd ever seen me dance, you'd be pretty nervous too.  But after settling in to a little "Twist and Shout", "Macarena", and "The Chicken Dance", we all relaxed and had fun.  The cafeteria was packed with dads and daughters just laughing and having fun.  Though I will say, that most of us dads had a momentary hearing loss when the girls would scream over a Hannah Montana song.  I think those were the only songs the dads had trouble dancing to. 

We ended the night with a slower dance to the John Mayer song, "Daughters."  None of the kids knew the song, but I have it on my iPod.  I love the line from the chorus that goes, "Fathers be good to your daughters.  Daughters will love like you do." 

I am a blessed man.  Two great daughters (I have two great sons too, but this post is for the girls), and I got to have some special one on one time with both of them last week.  I'll admit that sometimes I take all this for granted, but those moments make it all so real that time passes quickly.  Fathers, be good to your daughters, it's a blessing that comes back in a thousand different ways.

It once was lost, but now it’s found!

Last night around midnight we received a call from the Turlock Police that they had recovered Hannah's stolen car.  Yessss!

They actually caught the guys driving it, and one of them got away.  The other guy was arrested and was in the back of the patrol car the whole time we were there (which we didn't know until the end).  That was a little freaky.

The car was OK, except for an incredible amount of junk food wrappers and it smells like cigarettes.  A little clean up, a little vacuum, a couple bottles of Febreze (and a thorough airing out), and it should be as good as  . . . it was.

Oh, and we got a bonus too, a full tank of gas.  That actually ups the value of the car!

Thanks God!

Where did it go?

My daughter came back in this morning about 30 seconds after she had left. She's part of the Student Leadership team and this is Spirit Week at her High School.She had this bewildered look on her face, and she says, "Did you move my car somewhere?" We went outside and looked around and I said, "Honey, I think your car was stolen." It's a weird feeling to walk out and have this surreal moment of thinking, "I'm sure I parked it right there. Where did it go?"So after dropping her off and calling the Police Department, we're hoping the car turns up. The officer said that they recover 86% of all stolen cars in our city! I think that's a pretty good rate. I still can't figure out why anyone would steal a 1993 Saturn with a ton of miles and a stock AM/FM Cassette player. Go figure.What was interesting in this whole process was not the grief over the stolen car, but the realization that Gena and I would once again have to drive her to all of her activities. The loss of a vehicle AND a good driver is tough. Be praying for a quick car recovery!