November Adventures…

Whew! What a whirlwind of a month! This is gonna be a long one, I'm warning ya. November 2010 probably ranks up there with one of my favorites of all time, I think. It started with a visit from my sweet cousin Chelsie, who is now 21 and has grown into such an incredible young woman. I just love her. I babysat her when I was a teenager (she was definitely one of my favorite sitting jobs) and I am so thankful that we have stayed close (gotten closer, even!) as we’ve gotten older. What a blessing to have family that you can honestly say are friends, too! While Chelsie was here, we spent some time at the park (of course). We hiked about 5 miles on a beautiful day. Here we are at an overlook at the top of our hike.

Chelsie is tall! Not that it takes much to be taller than me. I think I am the shortest of all of the Larson cousins, even though I am far from the youngest...I say they took all the tall genes, haha. Here are some more pictures of our Shawnee Mission Park excursion.

This picture was taken with my camera lens half closed, but it actually turned out pretty neat!

Don't worry, I have now put a new digital camera on my Amazon Wish List. My 7 year old Kodak Easy Share is no longer cutting it. Hehe.

Chelsie and I also had some tasty cooking adventures (poor Steve missed out since he's on a different meal schedule with his crazy sleep schedule). We made some gluten-free stuffed green peppers, and they were delicious! See?

The best part about Chelsie’s visit was that I didn’t have to say goodbye to her when it was time for her to go home…I just went with her! Chelsie, Norman, and I had a road trip to MN! It was so great to have company for the 7 hour trip up there. We had some great talks, and wonderful laughs. We also decided that we are going to run a half marathon next August. I don’t know, maybe I was delirious from being on the road for so long? But I’m sticking to it…we’re even trying to get some of the other Larson cousins to join us (with limited success so far…hmmmm). The cool thing is that the race route goes through our own hometown, within a block of my parents’ house, and right by Chelsie’s parents’ house (so our family can give us Snickers bars as we pass the 11 mile mark set up a little cheer party there). It should be a great time…anyone want to join us??

Ok, so back to the MN trip. I hadn’t been there in over a year, so I had quite an agenda and still didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to. I was able to get some important visits in, though! On Thursday, I got to see my cousin swim in the section swim meet (go Amy!), after having dinner with my aunt, my brother and his wife, and my dad. Friday, my mom and I had a fun afternoon shopping together, and we were able to meet up with my friend Julie whom I haven’t seen in 3 years (she has had 2 kids since then!). Julie was one of my bridesmaids and is probably one of my oldest longest friends. We were in kindergarten together! I love my friendship with Julie because it’s the type that, no matter how long it’s been, just picks up where we left off. Love that girl!

Friday night, I helped my dad cover their motorhome (with a 30’ x 50’ tarp…in the dark…we made memories…haha). We had to be sure to get it covered because overnight, we were looking to experience the first snowfall of the season in MN! Norman and Rosie (my parents’ 15 year old greyhound/lab mix) loved it!

Norman and Rosie get along so well…though I’m not sure Norman is a huge fan of Rosie sleeping in his bed.

Now I usually am not a fan of driving in snow, but that 8 inches sure wasn’t going to stop me from a breakfast date at the Mall of America with one of my besties, Kazia. She and I go way back…all the way to a junior high slumber party. Kazia is the friend that could talk me into all sorts of crazy adventurous things back in high school, and we have such a history together. We’ve supported each other through so many things over the past 17(!!) years, and I am so thankful for her. Here is the gorgeous Kazia and her yummy Cinnabon treat (did you know they now make “just the middle” as a menu choice? That is, after all, the best part of any Cinnabon). My mouth is watering just uploading this photo…

I was also able to join some of my family for their traditional Sunday lunch at Perkins. They go there every week after church. Here are my cute grandparents. I just love them! Such a great example of an awesome Godly marriage…60 years and going strong!

After lunch, we headed back to “the farm” to see my grandparents’ newly-remodeled bedroom (their kids did a sort of “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” for their anniversary gift) and spend some more time together. See how adorable my grandpa is…doting over his beloved.

Sunday night, I was able to meet another one of my besties for dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants (yay for Margaritas!). My friend Stephanie and I were the 1999-2000 Miss Richfield Ambassador Princesses…whew…10 years ago already! Our year was honestly a bit of a “dud” for the program as we were stuck in the midst of a coordinator switch with little direction (they have since picked back up and are going strong again! Yay!), but I have to say my friendship with Steph is the best thing I could have gotten out of that year. She has become one of my best friends and we, too, have been through a lot together over these 10 years. She has become such a blessing to me and I am honored to call her a friend and sister in Christ.

Monday morning, I had coffee with a friend that I haven’t seen since high school! That’s over 10 years, people! Man, it was great to reconnect with her and hear about what God is doing in her life. Thanks for the great coffee date, Krickey Mae! After she had to leave for work, I stayed at the Mall (yes, I was at the Mall of America again…and I already miss it!) and met my BFF Gretchen and her little boy Aden (who had his 6 month shots that morning…poor thing). Gretch and I had a day full of adventures. Since Aden was in the car sleeping and we needed some more drive time, I hopped in and we made the trip to White Castle…YUM!

Oh my goodness, their sliders are incredible. And they’ve also started making sweet potato fries, which of course we had to try! After our tummies were pleasantly full, we headed to the Minnesota Zoo. It was chilly, but that wasn’t going to stop us from seeing the bears, beavers, wolves, and other animals on the trail. We also got to see the brand new baby dolphin! It was fun to be there pushing a stroller…can’t wait until it’s my kiddo in that stroller, though! When it was close to the zoo’s closing time, we headed back to the Mall (we had to, I promise…my car was still there) and got a little crazy. Gretchen’s hubby Ryan met us there (to be on baby patrol), so Gretch and I were able to go on a couple rides (pictures to come…they are on her camera) and we also got to try out the new Xbox Kinect as we danced the night away in front of a stunned captive audience. After Ryan was too embarrassed to be seen with us anymore needing to get home because he was tired after a long day at work, Gretchen and I wrapped up our day with some gelato and, of course, shopping. I couldn’t resist a couple cute outfits for the future baby Irwin (it’s hard to shop for a baby when you don’t know gender OR time of year he/she will be born…just sayin’). It was a great way to spend my last full day in MN.

After a morning walk with my parents and Rosie, and then breakfast with one of my theater buddies, Meredyth, we (Norman and I) hit the open road back to Kansas. We made it home just in time to see Steve before he headed off to dreamland. While we were gone, Steve had put up lots of fun pictures and did a lot around our apartment to make it more homey. I loved seeing what he’d been working so hard on all week! It was a quick turnaround, as I got home Tuesday night, and we left again Thursday morning…this time for our Waiting Families Workshop at CPO in Tulsa, OK. What a great weekend! We were hosted by the most amazing family. They actually haven’t adopted through CPO (they have 5 biological children, though), but they wanted to be a part of the ministry and have opened their home to families that come in from out of town. They even let us bring Norman! Their kids were so sweet and so respectful. And they LOVED Norman. Their middle boy Luke (who's 5) especially took a liking to him. We woke up Friday morning and as we were getting ready, we saw little fingers come under the door, passing along a doggie treat (which Norman was happy to eat). He also drew a few pictures for Norman and made the cutest little gift…a dog treat with a face drawn on it, gift-wrapped in a paper towel decorated with marker. Precious. These kids were so well behaved! They were very much kids and had tons of energy, but they were also such ladies and gentlemen. No arguments when their parents told them it was time to get PJs on, and sweet Luke even took Steve’s bowl for him after dinner! What a great host! We just latched on to everything we could while watching this family. I’m so glad God blessed us with new friends. Thank you, Wyatts, for opening your home to us for the weekend!

Our workshop was great. We were able to meet 16 other couples that are in the adoption process (actually, two already had their kiddos). It was so cool to listen to the different stories of how God brought each couple to CPO. Many already had children, and a few did not. Some had already been matched with birth moms, and most had not. There was even a couple that met with a birth mom while we were there that weekend! It just makes it so much more real and exciting that it could be us soon (we hope!). We were also so blessed to finally meet the director of CPO in person. What an incredible woman. She is such a servant and Christ’s love just radiates from her. She is funny, blunt, feisty, genuine, and such a Godly woman. After our workshop, we were even more excited to be a part of the ministry. I sure wish we lived closer so we could be even more involved. The workshop covered basically everything it could, from adopting a baby in the NICU, to trans-racial adoptions, to relationships with birth moms. They even brought in the attorney that we’ll use (for both birth parents’ termination of rights, as well as adoption finalization) and she has such a heart for these girls. They also brought in the doctor that takes care of the girls during their pregnancy (an awesome Christian guy who also has a clear love for this ministry) and the therapist (loved her!). We heard from several birth moms, adoptive families, and even some adults that were adopted (as infants) through CPO. Such a neat thing to hear all of the different perspectives. These birth moms are amazing to choose life for their babies, especially in a society when an unplanned pregnancy is often seen as an inconvenience that can be easily terminated. They are truly heroes, no matter what their story is. As the director says, “I couldn’t even give someone a kitten, much less a child,” so what these girls are doing is the most self-less thing, carrying a baby to term, knowing she is going to be placing that baby in someone else’s arms in order for that child to have a life that she isn’t able to provide right now. Just awe-inspiring.

Wow, so that’s our November so far. Super busy, and 100% wonderful. Things should slow down for a bit now…the next adventure up is the great 2010 Irwin Christmas Tree hunt. Stay tuned!

So much to catch up on...

Man, I have waited too long to post. Where did the summer go? Our trip to MN in June (pics still to be posted...stay tuned) seems like a second ago in some ways, yet in others, it seems like forever. What else have we been up to??

July brought a visit from Steve's parents to help us with some big projects around the house. We are getting it on the market just in case we move when Steve finishes school in May. YES...I said May! I am so excited that we are on the home stretch. Less than 8 months to go! It has been no secret that this has been much tougher than I thought it would be, being the breadwinner of our family while Steve is in school. So many things I would have done differently, yet also a great many things God has used to refine us (and continues to do so). Anyhow, back to the projects. The guys did some awesome stuff that week. They cut out a portion of the carpet by the back door and installed wood flooring.

Didn't they do a great job? They also fixed our cement step going out to our back patio. And they hung our bikes in the garage. It's a huge relief to have those things finished, and of course it makes it even more bittersweet to be selling the house, having it fixed up so nicely. But we will love the freedom and ability to pick up and move quickly if needed, so it will all be worth it.

In August, I traveled to Houston for work for 2 weeks. It was pretty neat, as I was traveling with the President of our company (Chesapeake Midstream Partners, L.P.) and other bigwigs from Chesapeake. When you travel with them, you travel in style. We stayed at the Four Seasons in downtown Houston (beautiful!) and were able to walk to the office where we worked during the week (my dream come true...I would love to either work from home or walk to work everyday). It was a great experience, even though I missed Steve and Norman tons. During my time in Houston, I was also introduced to my new favorite Starbucks drink...decaf skinny caramel macchiato. DELISH!!! I could drink those everyday, twice a day actually!

Soon after I returned from Houston, Steve took off for a week in California to visit his family. It was a great "last hurrah" before he had to start school again. Most of his time was spent at his folks' condo in Mammoth Lakes and he got lots of great fishing, hiking, and relaxing in. He even brought our "son" Junior with him (actually, Junior snuck in his suitcase...I have no idea how that happened). A little background on Junior: Steve gave him to me while we were dating back in October 2004. I decided his face looked like it was real, and started turning his head (and subsequently freaking Steve out...haha). Long story short...Junior has taken on a personality all his own and has become a part of the family. He's been a bit neglected since Norman came along (poor Junior), but he still makes an appearance every so often. He even came on Steve's dad's retirement flight with us and flew up in the cockpit with Captain (Grandpa) Irwin. Ok, so Junior could almost get a post of his own. Our families have embraced our silliness and played right along. Anyway...even Junior caught a fish while in Mammoth with Steve!

I wish I could have gone with the boys to Mammoth (I have actually never been there in the summertime), but I had to work since I used my vacation for our trip to MN. Norman and I did, however, get to have some fun and met some of my family up in Kansas City for the weekend. There were 5 of us, and 4 dogs. It was such a great weekend. We played cards, dominoes, and just hung out. So refreshing! And the best part about it was that on my way home from Kansas City, Norman and I got to stop at the airport to pick up Steve!

Steve started his senior year at OU August 24th and the past 4 weeks have been a whirlwind! He's already 1/4 done with the semester (the end can't come soon enough). My brother Eric came to stay with us over Labor Day weekend, and while he was here, we got a phone call from my sister with some exciting news...SHE IS ENGAGED!!! Her fiance Matt proposed on the beach in Hilton Head, SC. My sister is a beach girl, so Matt could not have picked a better place. I am so pumped for them! We love Matt so much, and are excited to officially have him as a part of our family! Here is a picture of the cute couple (this was taken while we were all in MN in June).

Perfect couple, yes?? Matt has made my sister so happy, and I love seeing the sparkle in her eyes. God is good! So now we have another thing to look forward to in addition to Steve's graduation this spring!

Finally, last weekend I headed back to Kansas City for a girls weekend with my best friend Gretchen. I will post all of the fun pictures from that trip (see how much you have to look forward to?!?) soon. MN trip first, I think.

This weekend, we had the pleasure of celebrating this sweet boy's first birthday! A wonderful way to spend our Saturday afternoon! I have also been working very hard at getting our house ready to be listed. I'm having a great time selling things on Craig's List...and our pile to go to Goodwill is massive! If I had it in me, I'd do a garage sale, but I just don't think that's feasible...so Goodwill donation it is!

Whew! That is my last few months in a nutshell! I promise I won't keep you waiting long for the MN trip post and the KC Girls' Weekend post! Until then...

2008 Recap

It's amazing how fast a year can seem as you recap all of the fun (and even not-so-fun) times in one place, isn't it? Here is a copy of our Christmas letter that actually turned into a New Year's letter :o) I tried to scan the letter with the cool backdrop that was with it, but it just didn't work. Here's the text...

Greetings and Happy New Year!

2008 was filled with many blessings for the Irwins, as well as a few hardships. However, as we consider the past year, it is evident that God has blessed us immensely. A quick recap of our 2008:

We were able to wrap up our January with a whirlwind trip to Hawaii as we celebrated Steve’s Dad’s retirement as a pilot with American Airlines. We were blessed to be on Captain Irwin’s final flights to and from Hawaii. Though it was a very short trip (less than 24 hours in Hawaii, actually), we were so lucky to be able to share in that special time with family.

In March, we were blessed to be able to send Steve for a “Guys Week” with his Dad, where they spent time skiing in Mammoth Lakes (which I would venture to say may be the favorite place of each of them). From what I heard, it was a great time, and I even heard rumors of some beard-growing from my normally clean-shaven husband. Now if that isn’t a Guy’s Week, what is?

We received a surprise blessing in April, as we discovered we were expecting our first child! We were so excited and anticipated a December 21st arrival. Unfortunately, with that blessing came one of our hardships of the year…over Memorial Day weekend in May, Liesl miscarried our baby 10 weeks and 1 day into the pregnancy. How amazing, though, as we truly were lifted up by the prayers and support of our family and friends from all over the country. Thank you, Lord, for our friends and family! May was also the official half-way point of Steve’s schooling, as he completed his 2nd year at the University of Oklahoma’s School of Meteorology. He has continued his employment with the National Severe Storms Lab, even taking on a leadership role with the summer S.H.A.V.E. (Severe Hazards Analysis and Verification Experiment) project and gaining some valuable experience!

June was a fun-filled month for Liesl, as she had the opportunity to participate in a professional musical production of The Sound of Music with Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma City. She was in the Nun Chorus, and made some valuable friendships through the experience.

In July, we were blessed with the opportunity to take a little vacation up to Branson, MO. Norman got to stay home with Grandpa and Grandma Irwin. It was the first time in Branson for both of us, and we really enjoyed it! We took a dinner cruise along the river, visited a couple wineries, spent a lot of time along the shops at the Promenade (highly recommend that!), and just enjoyed each other while Steve didn’t have to think about school/work, and Liesl had some time off work.

In August, before Steve started his Junior year of school, we had the opportunity to take a camping trip in some record heat. We made some memories, that’s for sure, with a heat index of 112 most of the time. Lots of cold showers, and sweating. Still, we do love camping and it was a wonderful way to wrap up our summer. Liesl was also blessed to be able to participate in another musical, Annie Get Your Gun, at the Jewel Box Theatre in Oklahoma City during August/September. She performed with that theatre last year, and it was fun to re-connect and also make new friends!

September brought some change. After almost 2 years with the Department of Surgery at the OU Health Sciences Center, Liesl was offered a too-good-to-pass-up opportunity with Chesapeake Energy Corporation. It is a great company that values their employees and she is really enjoying it. Another huge blessing.

In October, we were blessed to spend some more time with extended family as we headed to Colorado to be a part of Steve’s cousin’s wedding, and then we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary on October 8th. In November we had the privilege of hosting Liesl’s parents and brother for Thanksgiving. We sure miss our families, so we cherish the times we get to spend with them.

December has come and gone already…it’s hard to believe another year has passed. We wish your families many blessings as we celebrate the birth of God’s Son. In a time where the world has seen a lot of change and many hardships, it is a comfort to know we serve a God who is not surprised by any of this, and—better yet—has it under his sovereign control. What a blessing that is!

Hope you and your families had a wonderful holiday season, and we wish you a happy 2009!
With love,
Steve and Liesl Irwin

Camping Trip!

I’m a week behind in posting about our camping trip (oh yeah, and I still haven’t posted about our trip to Branson, have I?? Yikes!). Last weekend, Steve and I took a nice long weekend—Friday through Tuesday—and planned a camping trip. Of course, we happened to choose the hottest weekend of the entire summer…no joke. We originally planned to camp at Greenleaf State Park in Eastern Oklahoma, but decided it would be dangerously hot there, so we toyed with the idea of moving our little vaca north…WAY north. Like “surprise my family in Minnesota” north. However, at midnight on Thursday, I was pretty stressed about driving that far for just a few days, so we ended up on a trek to the Lake of the Ozarks State Park in Missouri. What a beautiful campground! Look at our campsite…right on the lake! Not bad for $9 a night.



See this nice little set up of our chairs with a prime lake view?

Don’t let that fool you. We spent very little time there. I brought 3 books…could hardly even read, it was so hot. We had a heat index of 120. CRAZY. We tried to cool off in the lake, but it was actually quite shallow (no higher than thigh deep, even out to the middle), so the water was pretty toasty (probably at least in the 90’s). We did venture out in the lake with Norman, hoping to cool him down (he sure is a cute little swimmer, minus the “I hate my life” look that he kept giving us for putting him in the water). We were walking in ankle or knee-deep mud. We sure did make memories! Norman was our little trooper.

He got several cold showers under the water spigots. We also took several cold showers ourselves…turned out to be the highlights of our days. Haha. I don’t think either of us has ever sweat so much…but hey, we were camping…you are supposed to be dirty, right?

We (and by “we” I mean Steve) did manage to get a fire going, even with wood that was so wet from the humidity that it was sizzling instead of burning. And our screenhouse came in so handy for keeping out the bugs in that crazy humidity.

Even though the heat was oppressive, both Steve and I agreed that our first camping trip with just the 3 of us was a success. And we were the only tent campers brave (read: insane) enough to stay past Sunday in our campground area. Several other campsites had dates of Monday or Tuesday as their departure dates. However, after we got back from the store on Sunday (ok, I admit it, we went to the Petco in town so all three of us could have some a/c for a bit), the campground was all but deserted. We almost thought they were kicking people out because of the heat. Nope. People were bailing left and right. We actually did leave one day early, too, though. We left Monday morning. Later this fall, we are definitely taking another camping trip and we will be so excited to need a fire to stay warm, and to fight over who gets to have Norman cuddle up to them in the middle of the night for warmth. We now consider ourselves professionals.