Part 2 of My Life

 Russ' Senior year in Dental school he applied to do a residency. He applied to do both a civilian one and one in the Air Force. We had many discussions & prayed about which one he should do. He got accepted to both of them and we decided to go with the Air Force. We didn't have ANY money, insurance or know where we wanted to live yet and the Air Force provided all of these things. Plus, we figured the kids were young enough it would be OK to move around a bit.

 After 4 years in OKC we loaded the moving van and headed to Tucson, Arizona. Russ drove the moving van and I drove our car with Kristy in it. I was 4-5 months pregnant by then and as we drove on those straight, two lane highways I became very tired. At one point I dosed off or was in a trance and crossed over into the other lane. I woke up just in time as I was going off the road. As I turned the car quickly I did a 360 in the middle of the Hwy and went off the other side of the road. Russ was in the moving van behind me watching all of this & needless to say was frantic!! I was quite calm until we drove a little further and noticed several cliffs I could have gone over further down the road. We were so grateful we were being watched over!

After 5 long years Lindsey was born on November 23, 1987!! Needless to say all of us were thrilled and especially Kristy to finally have a sister.

When we moved to Tucson I was so worried about what I was going to do with Kristy when I gave birth to Lindsey. No one was coming to help me and I didn't know anyone. Shortly after moving there my visiting teacher showed up & volunteered to watch Kristy & assured me I could call on her anytime. In my 33 years of marriage she was the BEST visiting teacher I've ever had. If I had family coming into town she would watch the girls so I could "get ready for them." She was always there right when I needed her. This was another witness to me how important it is to do our visiting teaching, because we never know when we're an answer to someone else's prayers!

We had Lindsey's blessing in SLC so all of our family could come.

We loved Tucson and had some great times camping and fishing together.

One of our favorite places to go was "Old Tucson" where they use to make western movies.

Four generation picture…my mom, Lindsey, Kristy, me & my Oma (Elizabeth Auktor)

Many people think because Russ was in the Air Force they paid for his dental school….. I WISH!!!

They didn't pay one penny. The deal was if you did a year residency in the Air Force you had to pay them back two years of service.  When his residency was up we were excited to see where we would get stationed. When we heard we were going to Whiteman AFB in Knob Noster, Missouri we had no idea where that was. As the time grew closer, the more excited we got. Once again we loaded the moving van and headed East. We lived on base in Missouri which is a whole new experience in itself. They go around and check your yard every week and if its not mowed or you have weeds growing in the curb in front of your house you get a ticket???? They would have "yard of the week" and "yard of the month." Except for little technicalities such as these we really loved it there. We made many good friends whom we still keep in touch with.

One of Russ' favorite things he did in Missouri was go turkey hunting with a couple of his friends. It was quite the BIG ordeal when they went. Of all the times they went Russ was the only one whoever shot one! We actually ate him and he wasn't too bad.

While we lived in Missouri, Russ went to a Dental Convention in Atlanta and then we drove to South Carolina to see dad and mom Larsen on their mission. At the time we were trying to get pregnant again. While we were there I had a very real dream. I was at a very large, beautiful playground with lots of little children playing, but there were no adults there. A little boy came up to me on his bike and starting talking to me. I ask him where his mommy was. He informed me that I was his mommy and he would come to me as soon as he could. It startled me so much that I think it woke me up. A couple of months later when I got pregnant I knew it was that little boy in my dream.

About the time we could get out of the Air Force Russ' commanding officer asked him, "what would it take to keep you in the Air Force?" Russ told him if we got assigned to Germany we'd stay in. One day Russ walked into work and his boss told him an assignment for Germany came open that day & if he wanted it he had to let him know by 1:00. Russ called me and I went into his office & we talked about the pros and cons of moving to Germany. We then knelt down and prayed about our decision. When we finished our prayer we both knew we were suppose to go. As excited as we were, we faced a lot of challenges in the beginning.

This was "home sweet home" in Germany for nearly four years.

When we arrived in Germany the Gulf War was going on. We lived in a small village about 15 minutes from Sembach Air Base called Muenchweiler. Every time you went on base your car had to be searched for bombs or anything suspicious. Kristy started a new school in the middle of the year and would come home crying because she didn't have any friends. The language was a barrier when I would go places and I was 3 months pregnant with Jared and had to go to a German doctor because the base wasn't letting any civilians go there in case wounded came in from the Gulf War. This was back when we had no cell phones or email and so our only communication with family was by letter, which usually took a week to get. It was hard being in a new country with no friends and a different way of life. I could actually empathize with the pioneers as they left their homes and families to go to America.

On April 30, 1991 our third angel, Jared was born in Kaiserslautern, Germany. From then on life seemed to get better and better. The week Jared was born Russ was put in as our new Bishop. I left the hospital to attend Sacrament Meeting to see him get sustained and then went back to the hospital. Russ was only 32 years old and feeling very overwhelmed. He had already served in two previous bishoprics  before this calling. 

My parents came to visit us 3 times while we lived in Germany!! It helped having my mom born and raised there, so she loved coming to visit.  It was great having them come, as we felt so far away from everyone. We would always go on trips to other countries when they came. We had a lot of fun together.

One benefit of Russ being in the Air Force in Germany is when he had to get his Continuing Education each year we got to go with him. We would make a whole vacation out of it. We went to Denmark, Portugal and Sweden for his classes. Here are the kids on our Portugal trip. We stopped in France and Spain along the way and went to the World's Fair in Seville, Spain. On our way home from Portugal they had a truckers strike in France. They would literally park their big diesel trucks length wise in front of the freeway entrances so no one could use them! We had to take all these little back roads & sometimes they had those blocked. We thought we were never going to make it home. At one point it was very late and we were about out of gas. Villages in Europe close up very early & especially small ones. We prayed very hard we would find a gas station opened. We finally came upon one with its lights still on and pulled in. As we gassed up and pulled out they turned out the lights…our prayers were answered again!! It was a very LONG & frustrating day & night getting home.

One thing we loved while we lived in Germany was having the Senior Missionary couples over for dinner. They were like grandparents to our kids since ours were so far away. This is the Caldwells from Idaho and the Ericksons from California. The Ericksons actually lived with us for a week or two until they found an apartment. We grew to love them so much!

 Switzerland Temple Open house

In April 93' Russ had to spend a month in Texas. One thing about living overseas is that your ward becomes your family. While Russ was gone the three kids and I went with the Collins to Holland to the tulip festival. While we were there our car broke down! Needless to say I was a little freaked out being in a different country with no way to talk to Russ & not knowing what to do about the car. The Collins helped me and we took it to a place that took a couple of days to fix it. The four of us piled in their station wagon which already had 7 people in it for the few days we were there. It cost $500.00 and broke down again a few weeks later. Fortunately Russ was back in Germany the next time. As stressful as it was we had a great time.

Easter

We'd never seen one of these Golden Rain trees before. They are quite common in Washington. We had this tree in our back yard in Germany. It was so beautiful in the Spring.

On June 3, 1993 our last angel was born, Jacob Robert Larsen. He was born at the Landstuhl Army Hospital. We were so happy to have two girls and two boys!! After all the problems I had getting pregnant we feel so blessed to have had these four special children who have blessed our lives beyond measure! At the same time Russ was released as Bishop and put in as a counselor in the Stake Presidency until we moved.

Shortly after Jacob was born Jan, John & Andrea came to pick up John from his mission in Austria. They stopped to see us on their way so were able to attend Jacob's blessing. What a special treat for us.

Switzerland

The other day Russ and I were riding in the car and he asked me the question, "If you could go back to anytime in our married life, when would it be?" My immediate answer was when we lived in Germany with our four little kiddos. We had no TV, technology, sports, media, activities pulling at our time, etc.  It was just us. The kids grew to love playing & being together. We had so much fun exploring Europe and experiences all the different cultures as a family. He agreed.

Anne Franks House in Amsterdam

One of the things we loved was staying in people's homes. They were bed and breakfasts, but much cheaper than in the States. We stayed in this cute couples home in Denmark. They just loved the kids.

This was in Luxembourg at the American Military Cemetery. 

We ran into a family from our ward there.

We loved European pastries and every country we went to we had to try them.

Brugge, Belgium 

This was our local Backerei that we went to several times a week. We LOVED the bread there.

This was our chimney sweep who came once a year. I couldn't believe it the first time he showed up at our door step.

Buckingham Palace

For Christmas one year, Russ gave me a certificate to go to London to visit one of my friends. He took off four days of work to watch the three older kids and I took Jacob with me. I'll never forget when I boarded the plane in Frankfurt to fly to London. It was completely filled with men in business suits & I could see the look of horror on their faces that I was going to end up sitting by them. I was still nursing Jacob & planned on doing it once I got on the plane to put him to sleep….imagine my distress upon seeing all these men. As with most things in life everything turned out all right and I sat next to a kind man from Canada who helped me carry my belongings through customs when we arrived there. It was a really fun trip & my friend, Shannon Wilson was a great host and tour guide.

Do I have an AWESOME husband or what!

Venice, Italy

St. Mark's Square. Jared LOVED chasing the pigeons.

A couple months before we moved, Sherrie and Dave came to visit us for a week. We took a trip to Paris and walked our legs off. Russ brought only one pair of shoes & they were brand new. Needless to say he was in a lot of discomfort.

Sometimes we would have "campouts" in our living room.

One day the girls and I spent all day making these puppets….those were great days!

After almost four years our time in Germany was coming to an end. The packers came and they wrap everything in heavy brown paper to protect it. It goes by "slow boat" so we were without all of our "stuff" for 3 months. As we saw all of our belongings head out the door we talked about it that night & came to the conclusion that if the boat sunk with all of our stuff, it would be OK, because the most important things in our lives are our sweet angels fast asleep in our home.

I loved our life in Germany!!

To be Continued….