Joleyn Larson Photography & Design

When the candlelight dinners are replaced by soccer games and Cub scout meetings, just where does the flame come from?

When David and I married 11 years ago, he was looking forward to years of candlelight dinners and romantic restaurants. Well, he was half-right. We’ve had a few candlelight dinners but mostly they consisted of hot dogs and macaroni and cheese on paper plates. At home. In our kitchen. And the candles? Leftover stubs from my son’s fourth birthday party.

And so it’s been since our wedding day, when David took on the rule of new husband and of father to my two preschool children from a previous marriage. It wasn’t long before David’s visions of spontaneous romantic moments started fading away.

While other newlyweds were dining at upscale eateries, gazing romantically into each other’s eyes, we were hurrying the children through the last piece of cold pizza so we could collapse for the night. While other newly married couples snuggled in close for the late show at the movie theater, we were picking popcorn out of the hair of the child in front of us at the matinee showing of Bambi

I have to give David a lot of credit, because he took it all in stride. We snuck in a hug, or stared dreamy-eyed at each other sitting in the bleachers at a dusty baseball field whenever we got the chance. It was mysterious—our romantic secret— trying to steal a few moments in those early years.

As the kids grew, life became busier and romance took a backseat to gymnastics, Boy Scouts, basketball games, school events, dental appointments—the usual parenting jobs took precedence over any mommy-daddy time. At times, it seemed the only moments we had together were in the car while taking a child from one event to another.

In the next several years we were blessed with two more babies, making our family of six complete. Our lives were full. We changed diapers, wiped noses, kissed boo-boos, tied shoelace after shoelace, and one by one we sent the little angels off to school. We watched the calendar—surely our time for romance was just around the corner.

It was a day in September, after putting the littlest one on the school bus for his first day of full-time kindergarten that my husband and I realized we were alone in our house for the first time in 10 years. It was an eerie feeling.

We thought about all those years of “lost romance.” But were they really lost?

What is romance, anyway? After all those years of tending to children, had we missed out on nurturing our romantic side? Had we overlooked a key part of parenting—taking care of Mom and Dad? We sat at the kitchen table, sipping coffee, waiting for the other to say something that had nothing to do with children. The quiet of the moment was quickly shattered as our dog came barreling into the kitchen, hacking and spitting, as though he were coughing tip a lung. Neither of us moved as we watched the dog vomit all over the floor, then go back to chewing the bone he’d been working on. Any thoughts of romance were obviously skirted by the mess in front of us.

I went to bed that night feeling as though our marriage was just about kids. Then it dawned on me—our marriage was about kids. When we married, we both knew we wouldn’t be alone for a long time. And we’d spent the last 10 years proving that it was wonderful just like that. Going to ball games, camping with the Cub Scouts, volunteering at the kindergarten class, and eating at McDonald’s was all worth it—because we did it together.

That’s when I realized that’s what romance is—simply spending time together. The more I thought about the past decade David and I spent together, the more clear my thoughts on romance became. We’ve been romancing each other all these years without even knowing it!

Romance is the phone call he made to me last month from the car on his way home to say, “I love you.” Romance is holding our newborn baby for the first time and believing he’s the most beautiful child God ever created. Romance is giving each other a high five when our son hit his first grand slam. Romance is that quick e-mail I sent David in the middle of the day to tell him he’s the greatest husband in the universe. Romance is watching him teach our teenage son how to tie a necktie for his first date. Romance is having someone to hold your hand and wipe away your tears when you get the phone call that your dad’s passed away.

Romance is sharing a life together.

For us, marriage and family go hand in hand. Our time to be alone will come. But until then we’re finding that a quick kiss, or a gentle touch in a busy day does it for Its. We know we’ll forever be grateful for the times we spent rearing our children—together.

And when our kids finally move out of the house, we hope they take the dog with them!

Gwen Morrison, is a freelance author, who lives with her family in Georgia.

our sunset tonight, so beautiful amongst the foreground of snow.

lil peanut {the next day} with some of her lil goodies from her nanna’s, bampa and her daddy.

this she got from her doctor for being so brave. one crunchy taco coming up! {what does the mommy get? i was brave too. }

our little one had her tonsils and adnoids removed this morning. what a little ball of courage she was. no fear and so calm. wish i could say the same for me.

in her room, asleep…hugging her little medi bear.

we stayed home this year for christmas. tonight we got dressed up and went to midnight mass. then we opened up our family secret santa gifts.

the kids blessed each other all week, secretly, for the person they drew out of the hat. tonight was fun.

merry christmas, everyone. god bless you all.

tracy jr., tracy sr., ryan, jhacie, me and  alex.

this week’s focus :: God with us

in these final days of advent, it can be very difficult to keep a sense of quiet and prayer with so much seasonal activity going on. think about ways you can keep the spirit of advent alive even as everything around you speaks of christmas.

Lots to tell you so sit down and have some hot chocolate and wrap yourself up in a fuzzy blanket and I’ll get started with our update.  We’ve been busy to say the least, blessed, but busy. 

Tracy Sr. is still an IT engineer with MDU resources, loving every minute of it.  He also coached the boys this year in football and basketball. I have to admit I loved seeing him with the boys like that. Melted my heart in so many ways. Continues to whoop up on the boys playing guitar hero too. As for me, my photography venture has been an amazing  journey. Keeping me very busy. I won a few awards too, which is always exciting for me. Still doing my Tuesday morning bible studies and loving each journey. I got to go to  a few women’s retreats too.  We have an introduction to the family this year…a new little puppy. A white Maltese named Marley…she was the runt of the bunch…weighing in at about 5 pounds now.  She is truly the sweetest little thing we could have picked out.

No major trips this year for Tracy and I, but we did take a family vacation this summer up to Red Lodge. The Bear tooth Mountains were again the main attraction for us all.  Thought we’d beat the “campfire ban” and went a little earlier…this time in June. To our surprise it was hard to find a lake that wasn’t frozen solid to fish in!  The kids thought we should have packed our snowsuits and  sleds. We visited Yellowstone Park as well. This time we finally got to see the elusive brown bear and three little cubs! Had tons of fun in front of the campfire, roasting marshmallows too. It was a wonderful vacation whether we were in shorts and flip flops or bundled up in gloves and fleece coats. It’s  beautiful country that we never get sick of seeing. Spent a weekend in Minot for the State Fair and the kids had a blast on the rides, so did mom. Also had some fun at the water slides too.

All the kids are in school now and doing very well. TR in 6th grade, Ryan in 5th, Alex in 2nd and Jhacie in Kindergarten. It’s been a transition period for me. So different being at home, and having all my kiddo’s in school, all day, every day.

TR our oldest (Seahawks fan), started 6th grade in the new Great Plains Academy. Definitely can be our shyest kid at times. He loves to draw, and is so into getting all the details just right. He played baseball and football this year, doing well in both. He sure has his Dad’s arm. He’s enjoying life as his blog would say. Yeah, he set one of those up, along with getting a cell phone, a my space, and an email account. Got to go to his first dance too. Man, 6th graders grow up so fast.  He’s quick to tell me too, how soon he’ll be driving, and then moving away for college. {sigh} 

Ryan (Go Colts!) our 5th grader is now the “upper class” at Lewis and Clark.  He’s still the athlete at heart—very competitive. Loves playing anything and everything.  His intensity brings goose bumps to my arms as I watch him.  He played baseball, football and basketball this year and is thinking about track for next year. He’s still really into reading, just like TR and you seldom catch him without a book in his hands. This is  a wonderful thing, until you find him awake at 2 in the morning trying to finish his newest book.  

Alex is in 2nd grade. {My little Wally…the Steelers fan.}  Loving school, loving his friends, learning to read. He celebrated his first reconciliation this December, and will celebrate his first communion this February. It was a wonderful experience that Tracy and I were able to share with Alex. He did a lot of tagging along with Dad to all the boy’s practices, just in case he got to help out or scrimmage. He loves it. Took up playing golf too. Still a cowboy at heart, loves hearing stories about his Bampa’s rodeo days. Saw the PBA when it came to Bismarck, and he was so impressed by it all. He’s quite the “crafter” too. Loves gluing stuff, cutting stuff, stapling stuff. You should see some of the things he’s created. Very creative little man.

Jhacie started school this year. All day, everyday kindergarten.   I could go on and on how that tugged on my heart strings, but I won’t. She is loving every minute of it being the social butterfly she is. I so enjoy sitting with her after school. She never leaves a detail out as she tells me about her day. She still has Alex as her full time guardian, and it is so sweet how he keeps an eye on her. They are two peas in a pod.  Jhacie learned to ride her bike this summer, played tball for the first time too. She loves shopping just as much as her momma, loves cuddling on the couch with a book, loves the cooking channel, and loves her back being tickled.

{sigh} I’m sure I’m forgetting so much that happened this year, but hope I got you caught up even if a little bit.  You can always check out our blog. I try to keep that up to date with lots of pictures as often as I get time too. 

May God bless you all this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Joleyn, Tracy Sr. ,TR, Ryan, Alex and Jhacie too!

hey there, you found us. i had some isses at the old address {www.thedigigirl.com/joleyn} so i moved the blog again.  i’ve been very busy working on the new look of this blog. made everything super wide, so i could post bigger pics. i hope you can all view this ok. laptops should be fine if you are at 1920×1200. i know the squarer resolutions will be cutting off  some of the page…but you should be able to see the pics ok.  one note is to maximize your screen when you get here. let me know if you have any viewing problems. another newbie is the cool flash header i installed.  the music has stayed the same, and look for more to come soon. anyways, it’s still under construction, so i haven’t sent out the official “launch” email. please bare with my construction, ok.

hope you enjoy the site, so far. leave your mark, let me know you were here.

This week reminds us that joy is within our reach, right here, right now. Happiness can be ours in the present moment. As we wait for the coming of Jesus, let us not wait until Christmas to rejoice, but let us rejoice in our waiting!

{gaudete :: rejoice}

Jhacie brought home his yummy recipe for snowman soup. Of course we had to make it and try it out.

Yummy!

what is a mom supposed to say when her son’s team goes 0-8 in his season. this was a tough year. ry-guy played his heart though. had the best game of his life on saturday. 15 steels, 18 points, i lost track on the assists. the guy was amazing and made his mom so proud….dad too. the first game was another heart breaker. back and forth all quarter, free throw after free throw, and then a last second shot that sent the other team into the lead by 1. on the edge of your seat the entire game.

 

 

what we do after those games….went to the community center and played some more ball! yeah baby!

We got our tree up this week.

Our sock family. The thing with these lil guys, was each of the boys had made a set of three, in Mrs. Miller’s kindergarten class. A papa, a moma and a baby sock. Well this year, lil peanut wasn’t in that class. I was so bummed out when I looked at the incomplete set. Three missing sock guys. Well, leave it to ol’ Alex to take Jhacie in her room, and show her how to make her very own. Using a brand new pair of socks, they carefully glued, cut and stuck all the eyes, nose and mouth on, along with the cute little hat decoration too.  See her in the front there. I think Mrs. Miller would be pretty proud.

Went a little bit shorter. I’m really liking this one.  

this was the toughest game they’ve played so far. came down to the other team nailing a free throw at the end of the game. oh how our hearts sank at that shot. ry’s face just about pulled my heart out.                    {sigh} this one hurt.

I got to open my Christmas gift early this year from TRacy…after a severe coaxing by TR that this would make my life so much less stressful….and after he promised I’d still have something under the tree to unwrap on Christmas morning….I caved in. A pretty new, wonderfully speedy, blue screen free…laptop! I’m in heaven as i try to acquaint myself with all it’s new features and gadgets.

 So today I’ll be spending the day glued to my seat as i install everything my old and abused computer once did.

 {SIGH} {LOVE} {THANK YOU}