Jonathan Robert Larsen

 Uncle Jay

 Uncle Jay

When I was 32 years old, I had 3 children. Heather, Holly and Timothy. My father-in-law had told me for years "You should not have an odd amount of children. It's too hard to pair them up when you go places." Well, we really didn't care at that point, we had our 3, they were 12, 10 and 8. That was it for us...

But God had a better idea. He brought this sweet baby into our lives. Jonathan, you had 5 people who loved on you all the time and a whole church of people who loved you. You were the easiest baby I had ever had!! (I loved them all, they were typical babies, but you weren't! Probably because you were entertained 24/7 by the other 3)

You were always laid back and easy going. - still are to this day. You always go with the flow. We moved you from Wichita to Enid, to Jamaica, to the Panhandle of Oklahoma and then when you were in 4th grade we settled you in Ringwood.

You really never gave me a minutes worth of trouble. Well, maybe that one time when you were a teen! : )  But I promised I wouldn't talk about that!!!!

I used to say that you kept me young! You used to say that I was the oldest mom in your class!! I can honestly say that you have blessed me above and beyond what I ever expected when I got the surprise of my life and found out I was going to have ANOTHER baby!!!!

Happy 26th Birthday to my youngest son. Jonathan, you have made my life richer, you have made me a better person and you were a gift from God that I am so very thankful for. You were my rock when you were much too young to have that responsibility and I love you.

I've loved watching you run track and play basketball. I'm so very proud of you and the direction you are taking your life. You amaze me.

Thank you for being a GREAT son.

HaPpY bIrThDaY!

You are LOVED!!! 

P.S. I didn't get your card mailed!! Will mail it the day AFTER your birthday. - It's my age......  : )

Another Pinterest Recipe!!

We are continuing our cooking experiments!!

This recipe can be found H.E.R.E.

This evening we had:

CHEESY CHICKEN, BACON & TATER TOT CROCK POT BAKE
(that is a mouthful)

Ingredients:
1 (32oz) bag tater tots
3 oz jar bacon bits (I used Hormel)
5 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 3 since there are just 3 of us)
1 1/2 cups grated Colby cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Monterrey jack pepper cheese
3/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

(I didn't have the pepper cheese so I just used the mild cheddar jack - that's what I had on hand)

Directions:
1. Grease the bottom of the crock pot
2. Layer 1/2 tater tots on the bottom of the pot
3. Sprinkle with 1/4 jar of bacon bits
4. Combine the 2 cheeses, and sprinkle 1/3 of it over the bacon and tots
5. Top cheese with the chicken breasts
6. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper to taste
7. Top chicken with another 1.3 of cheese
8. Sprinkle with another 1.4 of bacon bits
9. Add remainder of the tater tots
10. Top with final 1/3 of the cheese
11. pour milk over the top
12. Set crock pot to high and cook 3-4 hours.


I only used the 3 chicken breasts but had enough potato mixture left for lunch the next day. - Which was very good reheated.

This was a very filling, tasty meal. Plus very easy to prepare. We all really enjoyed it.

Randy gave it a 5

Andru gave it a 5

I gave it a 5

 

Lawrence, Kansas

Last weekend, a high school friend, Becky, had a book signing in Lawrence, Kansas. We decided to make a weekend of it. I had never been to Lawrence before and must say it's a great town and we had a good time.

We started out on Massachusetts Street because that is where the book signing was going to be. We walked from one end to the other - the weather was beautiful! When looking up "things to do in Lawrence" I discovered that Massachusetts Street - or as the native Lawrence-inians ( I made that word up) call it Mass Street is a historic street which gives you an authentic downtown! From 6th St to 11th St there are art galleries, boutiques, kitchen stores, toy stores, bars, many sidewalk cafes and I think we counted 3 old fashioned barber shops - with the poles out front and everything. Not leaving the ladies out we also saw a couple of spas. I loved the kitchen stores but my VERY VERY favorite places were the book stores!!! Surprised? : )

The Dusty Bookshelf

I've blogged about this store  H.E.R.E.

The other bookstore, where Becky had her signing was "Signs of Life Gallery." This was a great store, too, and I really enjoyed it. There was also an art gallery upstairs.

We asked the young man that worked there where he would suggest we eat - since there were so many places on this street. He said "the BEST hamburgers in the world can be found just down the street on the corner of 8th street. Called "The Burger Stand."  So we gave it a try. Now you have to understand, Randy's favorite place to get a hamburger is "Five Guys Burgers." So he wasn't sure about "The Burger Stand."

The Burger Stand @ the Casbah

OMGosh.... Far exceeded our expectations. You can find their website H.E.R.E.
Best burgers EVER...

 One of the nicest, friendliest waitresses I've ever met.

We shopped some, exploring this wonderful street and just had a great time.

From Massachusetts Street we went to Watkins Community Museum.

Randy loves history and we both love museums and this was a great museum. The exhibits were very interesting and the building was an old bank building and it was gorgeous. 

At the museum we picked up a brochure featuring a self guided tour of the old houses in Lawrence. Several blocks of houses showcasing "House Styles of Old West Lawrence."

We saw Folk, Prairie, Queen Anne, Craftsman, FolK Victorian, Colonial Revival, Victorian Revival, Gothic Revival, Tudor, Richardson Romanesque and many more. You could experience this tour by driving or walking, it was starting to get pretty warm so we drove.

We enjoyed drinks at Paddy O'Quigleys. 

And that evening we dined at Longhorn.

Between all of our fun, sight seeing, eating, etc we spent much of our time:

 READING!!!

 We had such a good time! 

We have such a good time together!

We both highly recommend a visit to Lawrence, Kansas!

(if you make the trip, be sure and take some quarters because on Mass St they have parking meters)