Larson Family

Baby Update

2012-01-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

Baby Xander Update

Gestational Age: 38+ weeks

Measuring: Right on Target!!

Approx Weight: 6 lbs 5 oz.+ (this weight was at 37 weeks)

Status: Healthy, growing and perfect!

The countdown has begun. In less than a week, we should be holding this sweet little boy in our arms. I am beyond exstatic. It still feels so surreal that the time has finally comes. This has been the longest pregnancy ever!!!! But it is finally time and we are so anxious to bring this sweet little boy home. Unfortunately due to some recent happenings, Carolyn is no longer able to come to Arizona to deliver the baby. We are not very happy that our plan did not work out, but that has been how things have worked in our life lately, so we will move forward and change our plans to go to Florida. Since she wont have the chance to see his nursery in person, and because we think it is super cute, I just thought I would share a few pics of what it looks like. Of course, it will be so much cuter once there is an adorable little boy living there. In the mean time, enjoy....

I made these letters to go above his crib.

our friend made this cute little chair. Love it!

Unlucky Lucky Number 7

2012-01-15T22:05:00.001-07:00

So we had a happy little secret. No one knew. Which was big for me, because I am terrible at secrets. Unfortunately, the happy little secret became a sad announcement to share. I was pregnant, but at our 10 week appointment, there was no longer a heartbeat. We were devastated. This little one was the 7th biological child of ours. We were so very hopeful with this pregnancy. This was the first time that I had become pregnant without medical assistance. That in and of itself was a huge step forward. This was also the first baby other than the twins to make it beyond 6 or 7 weeks. We were in absolute shock just at becoming pregnant, and then as the days passed by, we began to have hope that maybe this one would be the lucky one.

Our hearts are broken once again. Once again, we suffered the heartache and pain of losing another child. And once again, I had to endure a procedure to remove a baby that would never come home. This little one brought hope again to my heart that it may be possible to have a biological child, but now we do not know. This little one did however make it far enough for testing to be done. So we are currently anxiously awaiting the results to see if there is anything that can be done in the future to help me to carry a baby to term. I am already missing the sweet feeling of being pregnant. Even though I am miserable when I am pregnant, it was so very fun to have a happy little secret inside me. Someday we will have you again little one. In the meantime, you brought us hope.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

For Christmas this year, we spent Christmas Eve with Eldon's Family. As is tradition, the kiddos made "spud nuts". They are homemade donuts that taste just like Krispy Kreme donuts only better! This kiddos love to put the frosting on!

Eldon was testing out our new camera for Christmas. So here is our cute puppy Zeus!!! He is a very happy puppy, who smiles all the time, but not for the camera. He was not so thrilled with his puzzle toy on Christmas. He couldnt figure it out. A few days later, he was a pro and gets every treat out of the puzzle every time!

Our niece Shelly may hurt me for posting a pic of her just out of bed without any make up on (even though she is gorgeous anyway) but I couldnt resist because of her face. She was so stinkin excited for this gift.... it was a Justin Beiber singing toothbrush. Ive never seen anyone so excited for a toothbrush for Christmas, but she was in Heaven! hahaha!

My Christmas morning was awesome! Watched my lovely niece and nephew open their gifts while enjoying a very relaxing massage in this chair! Lets just say that I was greatly coveting this chair. Zeus enjoyed the view of the gifts from the safety of mommy's lap in the chair too.

Our little nephews helped to bring the Christmas spirit to the morning. They were very cute opening gifts. Our nephew Dax is 2. He really liked the gifts but wasnt too sure about the wrapping paper. This little boy is all BOY! He got a gift of a toy car. One button made the car make noises from the "radio". He made the funniest frowny face. He didnt like it at all. The next button made a "vroom vroom" noise. Man, did his face light up to hear the car noises! So cute! And just because he is adorable, I included a picture of our newest little nephew Ryker. We think he looks alot like Eldon. So cute! It was a very Merry Christmas! We were grateful to spend it with our family.

With our Gratitude

2011-12-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

To our Dear Friends and Family;

First, we must apologize for the delay in this letter. While our gratitude is abundant for the love, support, and generosity of those around us, we still find it very difficult to bring ourselves to finish projects related to our sweet babies. Second, we must give a huge THANK YOU to our family, friends, and co-workers, whose generosity has allowed the memory of our sweet little boys to help and uplift so many others.

It is so amazing to us how quickly time goes by. It seems like just yesterday we were entangled in the stress and sorrow of the loss of Ethan and Tommy and yet, it has already been two years! During the past two years we have become ever so grateful for the knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father who leads and guides our lives. We have come to learn that while we do not know the meaning of all things, (especially related to this loss); we do know and feel our Heavenly Father’s love helping us through each day. Just as with their 1^st birthday, it was very important to us to make Ethan and Tommy’s birthday a memorable one full of love and celebration for the joy they brought to our lives. December 3^rd was actually a very dreary one. It was raining off and on frequently throughout the day and we were incredibly concerned that the weather would ruin our plans at the cemetery. Thankfully, the clouds parted from the exact minute we entered the cemetery to the exact minute we drove away and not a single drop of rain fell. It was a sweet thought to think that the Heaven’s could pause for just a short time to allow us to honor our sweet little boys on their birthday and “send our love to Heaven” with a balloon release. Following the balloon release, friends and family joined us back at our home for a birthday dinner. It truly is so comforting to be surrounded by those we love during difficult days. We are very grateful for those who were there in person and were able to share in this special day and for those that were there in spirit and thought as well.

As part of the tradition for Ethan and Tommy’s birthday, we prepared bereavement boxes, similar to the gifts Stefani received during her time in the hospital. These boxes were created through the love, time and talents of our sweet friends along with the generosity of so many who gave the needed items to fill the bereavement boxes. These boxes were donated to the hospital that took such good care of Ethan and Tommy and will be distributed to other women and families who will suffer the tragic loss of a child. We desperately wish gifts like these boxes were not necessary, and that there wasn’t a need, but unfortunately there is. We are again, so grateful for the blessing to be able to take such a difficult trial in our lives and turn it around into an opportunity to help others who will experience our grief and know our pain.

We know with a doubt that we have been beyond blessed during our struggles and trials, and with this specific one, this fact has been abundantly clear. Words cannot accurately express our gratitude for the love and support we have felt and continue to feel on a regular basis. We are grateful for the role each of you play in our lives and for your help in ensuring that Ethan and Tommy’s memory will be preserved and will help to make a difference to others.

Thank you for all that you do for us and our sweet little boys! All our love!

Eldon and Stefani Larson

Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan and Tommy

2011-12-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

It is crazy how quickly time goes by. It seems like only yesterday that we were wrapped up in the heartache of losing the boys, and now we are remembering what would have been their second birthday. It is our tradition to have a gathering of our friends and family to remember the love our sweet babies brought into our lives. This year it was pouring rain. I was so worried that our plans for the cemetery would be ruined by the rain. It stormed off and on all day. The entire drive to the cemetery it was sprinkling. The second we pulled into the cemetery grounds, the rain stopped. It was still cold, but thankfully, it wasnt wet.

We were surprised and honored by the many people who showed up to show their love and remember Ethan and Tommy. There were quite a bit more people than we expected which was a wonderful surprise!!

I love to see the balloons fly. Sending our love to our sweet babies in Heaven. Amazingly, the rain stayed away until the very minute that we drove away from the cemetery. Our sweet babies held off the rain so they could have their balloon release. It was very special and it touched my heart greatly! Ethan and Tommy, we love and miss you so very much! You have brought so much love to our hearts and to our family. Just your memory makes us strive to be better people each and every day. We are grateful for the lessons we learned from being your parents and strive to make you proud of us. We love you babies!! Families are Forever!

Remembering our Sweet Boys and Making it Count

2011-11-28T22:14:00.001-07:00

It is amazing to me how fast time flies by! It has almost been 2 years since we lost our sweet little twin boys, Ethan and Tommy. Because the anniversary of thier death is fast approaching, we will once again celebrate the love their brought to our life and remember them. We have decided on 3 small things and would like to invite our family and friends to participate if they so desire. We are very open about the loss of our babies and like to be surrounded by our loved ones during difficult times and would like to allow others to remember with us. It means so much to us to have the support of our loved ones during a difficult time!

1. While I was in the hospital delivering our precious babies, the bereavement program at the hospital provided us with an abundance of gifts and momentos to take home and remember the boys. This was done through generous donations to the program in an effort to prevent any woman/family who was not going to be taking their baby home from feeling empty handed. When women go to the hospital and deliver a heathy baby, not only do they get to take home a beautiful child, but they are generally overwhelmed with the out pouring of love and gifts from family, friends and even the hospital. When a mother does not give birth to a healthy child, whether because of miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death, this out pouring is not always present and she also has to endure the heartache of leaving the hospital without her baby. During the next two weeks, we will be collecting items to make a donation in Ethan and Tommy's name to the bereavement program of the Banner Desert hospital. We realize that times are tough right now for many people, so if you are not able to participate in this, we understand. Even if we are only able to help one mother, that is one more that will feel that she is not alone and that someone cared for her, as other's cared for me during our difficult delivery. Any dontations of items or money to purchase items would be greatly appreciated. We will be making the donation on during the weekend following December 3rd. Items being collected include the following:

boxes (such as photo boxes, gift boxes, etc.)
journals
pens/pencils
candles
picture frames
photo albums
disposable cameras
small scrapbooks (that pictures and names and details can be added later)
small stuffed animals
small recieving blankets
Beanies/hats
booties/socks
poems
music
bath/relaxation products
lotions
baby lotion
kleenex
hair bows/headbands (for baby girls)
Any other baby memento/trinket
baby jewlrey

**Many of the babies may not be full term, so item sizes can vary from new born/infant to premie and even smaller.**

2. On Saturday, December 3rd, our boys' birthday, we will be doing a balloon release at their grave site. The boys are buried at the City of Mesa Cemetary in Mesa. We will be meeting at the cemetery at 3:30pm and once everyone has arrived we will "send our love to heaven" to the boys by releasing balloons. Everyone is encouraged to bring a balloon with either a message to the boys or a goal or improvement you will try to work on for the next year in their honor.

3. Following the balloon release, everyone is invited back to our home for dinner to celebrate our eternal family. Please RSVP for this part so i know how much food to have to feed everyone.

We hope that everyone is doing well and that you know of our love and gratitude for each of you. Our friends and family have been a huge part of healing during this difficult trial in our lives and we are grateful for each part you have played.

Love
Eldon and Stefani

Baby Update

2011-11-21T15:59:00.002-07:00

Baby Xander Update

Gestational Age: 28+ weeks

Measuring: Right on Target!!

Approx Weight: 2 lbs 8 oz.

Status: Healthy, growing and quite flexible!! (as displayed from the pics below)

Bump Watch:

Here is big brother Austin showing how big the belly is and the love they have for baby Xander! Carolyn says he loves to give her strawberry kisses (you know blowing on her belly) and will kiss her belly or pat it and say "hi buddy" frequently.

The newest photos are beyond adorable and I am so ecstatic to have them! He is already super cute and I am beyond in love. Carolyn said he is perfect and growing well. He apparently kept his feet up by his head during the entire ultrasound, so we will see how bendy he is when he gets out. Eldon is pretty glad for this fact as he is definitely not flexible in the least!

The latest news besides his inevitable cuteness, is that Carolyn has decided to come to Arizona to deliver this sweet bundle of joy. We are so incredibly grateful for her selflessness and willingness to sacrifice her comfort to ensure his safety and to make the first few weeks of his life more comfortable. We are truly blessed to have been picked by her. I couldnt imagine an adoption being more smooth or more "meant to be". We are getting so very excited to welcome them both into our home! February is coming so quickly, but not soon enough. We will keep you posted as we get information, but in the mean time we are just grateful to begin the third trimester safely. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers and keep all fingers, toes and eyes crossed for continued health, safety, and success!

Moonlight Madness

2011-11-01T14:56:00.001-07:00

This year for the ward trunk or treat, we went dressed as Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad Wolverine! We thought it was pretty funny! And Eldon looked beyond amazing! And it only took him 2 weeks to grow out his beard to look like that! The best part was that Eldon's little girlfriend (Rylee) showed up dressed as little red riding hood as well, so everyone teased that he traded me in for a younger model. Ha! She was adorable! So were some of our friends from the ward. I was pretty impressed with the costumes and creativity of the ward. It was a great night and so much fun!

Captain Jax Sparrow and the Minions! hehe

Terje was the cutest little pirate princess. And to the right are two of my lovely young women. They helped pass out the candy for our car. Made my job easier!~

I thought this family was awesome all dressed up as the toy story crew!

We inherited some children for the evening since their parents were out at a football game. So for the night, this was the Larson family photo!

And because we can... the Larson Family Funny Foto!

Our sweet pumpkins

2011-10-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

It was only appropriate that our pumpkins be a pirate (for me hehehe) and the scariest thing imaginable for Eldon...the red ring of death! Just had to share, cuz it was funny and I think we did pretty good!

A Walk to Remember

2011-10-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

This year was the 19th annual Walk to Remember at the hospital where we delivered the boys. They put on this walk each year to remember the footsteps of sweet babies lost to still birth and miscarriage that they never got to take. This year, the walk was very lonely. Unfortunately most of our loved ones were not able to join us. While we appreciate that everyone has very busy lives, it was still difficult not to be surrounded by our normal support group. We do appreciate their love and sentiments from long distance though, but definitely missed their faces that day. We are very grateful for sweet Natalie and her family for joining us on the walk. She has only met us once, and her family had never met us before, but they were sweet enough to be there to support us during a difficult walk. We had cute family shirts made to support "Team Larson". Hopefully in the future, there will be more shirts at the walk, because if I have to say so myself. They are quite cute!

It is an unfortunate sight that there are hundreds that are there to walk. We are grateful for all those who remember the babies and their families who have suffered such a great loss, but it is terribly tragic to realize how many understand the pain we feel. For all those mothers and fathers and family members and friends of precious angels in Heaven, we are sorry and our hearts go out to you. We will always remember our sweet little boys. Not a day goes by that we do not miss them dearly. To Ethan and Tommy, we love you so very much and we will always remember the great joy you brought to our lives and how your memory continues to change our hearts and our lives. All our love, Mom and Dad.

Time flies when you are having fun

2011-10-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

At least that is what we are hoping as we anxiously await the arrival of our sweet little boy. We have been having a lot of fun lately out on the town with some sweet friends. Thought we would share a bit of what we have been up to. First my work had spare tickets to a Diamondbacks game. We were able to get like 30 tickets, so we were able to bring a bunch of our family and friends to enjoy the nosebleeds with us! We were having so much fun that I didnt even take any pictures :( but our cousins took some cute pics of their kiddos having fun with us! (Of course, because we are so much fun! hehe) Go Diamondbacks! P.S. we won which made it even better!!!

About two weeks later my sweet friend Jenny and Hubby had amazing tickets to an ASU Game. Since Eldon had never been during his student years at ASU, and the tickets were pretty awesome (with dinner included) we couldnt pass it up. Sorry to my fellow classmates since we passed up my 10 year high school reunion to go to the game instead, but we had a great time! P.S. ASU won that game too!!!! Guess we are good luck! Go Devils!

Arizona's weather has been a bit strange this year. It has been unusually hot, but for about one week, it got chilli (as a teaser before it got warmer again). For that one week, it actually felt like fall, so we decided to celebrate fall at the local farm. It was alot of fun. They had a corn maze, yummy chilli and cornbread, cute picture ops, go carts, and lots of opportunities to crack jokes with our good friends.

Baby Update

2011-09-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

Baby X Update

Gestational Age: 18+ weeks

Measuring: Right on Target :D

Status: Healthy and Growing!

Baby Bump Watch

Latest happenings:
During Carolyn's last check up, not all the news was good,, unfortunately. It was discovered through some blood work that Carolyn was showing results for an antigen called Anti-Kell. Its similar to the Rh factor in how the mothers body detects a foreign substance in the baby and attacks the baby's red blood cells. This can be incredibly dangerous for the baby and in severe cases can be fatal. Unlike the Rh factor, however is that there is no preventative measure to take like a shot. It is incredibly rare and there are only treatments of blood transfusions in utero to assist the affected baby. After everything we have already been through in our desire to have a family, this was the last thing we wanted to hear. We asked some of our dear friends and family members to remember this sweet baby in their prayers and fasting. While we prayed and patiently waited, Carolyn went to see a specialist and our sweet little baby was thoroughly checked. There are specific checks that can be done to monitor the baby and see if he is affected. During this appointment, it was determined that so far, he is perfectly healthy and measuring right on target. More tests were done on the birth father to determine if he was the cause of this, and his tests showed negative meaning, this antigen resulted from a blood transfusion Carolyn had about a year ago. This was actually exactly the news we wanted to hear, as it would mean the chances of this sweet baby being affected were lessened from this cause. At this point, because baby X is doing well, he will just be regularly monitored to ensure that he does not show any signs of being affected, but so far, he is doing great and hopefully will continue to do so! It is absolutely the best result we could ask for. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for answering prayers and protecting this sweet little baby. I am also so incredibly grateful to Carolyn, first for being honest with us, even when it wasnt good news. That is so important to me. Second, for being willing to do what was necessary, tests, monitoring, etc to help to save this baby. That is so important to me as well. We still have quite a journey Im a sure, even if it is just waiting for February to get here. hehehe. We ask that you continue to pray for our wonderful birth parents, and especially for our sweet baby boy, Xander, that he will have the strength to grow strong and to be safe and healthy! Thank you to everyone for your love, for your support, and for your prayers. We know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all us, we just hope that his plan includes us bringing this sweet baby home.

Baby X....He's a boy!!!

2011-09-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

Even though I was thinking pink, our sweet little baby had something else in mind. He is all boy and wasnt afraid to make that known in his last little photo shoot. We are grateful for our little exhibitionist, and are just happy to know the gender so the few things I can plan for, can be started! YEAH!! We hope you enjoy these beautiful photos as much as we did! And to keep with his nick name of baby X, and a middle name for his birth father, our sweet little one will be named....

Xander James Larson.

Profile

He is sucking his thumb, so cute

Silhouette


love this, sucking his thumb and grabbing his ear

Thumbs Up, all is well!

So shy and sleeepy

Too many pictures.lol

100% no doubt

Perfect little feet

These last ones are our favorites. Our birth mom has the best sense of humor and sent these ones special... In this order, it shows the little one's sense of humor (which we learned with his last little joke). This one is better....

Baby X says... "That's right.... Im a man!"

"Hahahahahahahah, just kidding! That was my cord, hahahahaha!" As he slaps his knee in laughter.

"But.... I am a boy :D"

He he, i love it and am so excited to see his little personality in person! February needs to hurry up and get here soon!!

Pink or Blue????

2011-08-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of Carolyn's upcoming appointment, we are taking guesses on the gender of our sweet Baby X. If you want to get in on this simply click here and make your guess. Honestly we want a healthy baby that we can take home and love and cherish, but I am just dying to know whether its a boy or a girl, so I am hoping this little one isnt shy!! Take a guess, and Ill let you know in just a few days! Eeek! (imagine a squeal of delight!)

Good DNA

2011-08-21T19:13:00.001-07:00

We are very grateful for the gift of Baby X. If you cant tell, we are really beginning to get excited. A baby is such a precious gift, especially for us. But we are not just grateful for any baby. This baby is going to be special and absolutely just wonderful. How do we know, you ask???? Because Baby X has good DNA!!! It is very obvious to us that Carolyn has good DNA to pass on. Besides being quite lovely herself, she has 3 great children to prove her baby making ability :) Stetson is beautiful, super smart and quite talented from what we hear. Natalie is following in her big sisters footsteps and has quite the sense of humor to boot. Austin has a personality all his own and is quite the handsome little man. But Carolyn is only part of the make up of our sweet baby to be. The other half comes from Chris. While he doesnt have any other children for comparison, he is pretty handsome himself and also has You Tube to show off his talents and skills. Chris actually is quite talented, especially in one particular area. He has quite a unique talent for Yo-Yo-ing. With his permission, I am posting this to show some of the uniquely talented DNA our baby will be inheriting and because I think its pretty dang awesome to see!!! Click the link below and Check it out!

Chris's Skills

The best Anniversary Gift

2011-08-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

This year for our 5 year anniversary we took an amazing trip to Florida. For the fun Disney Part, see the next post, for the amazing gift part....keep reading! :) One of the main reasons we chose Florida was because there are some very special people we have been wanting to meet in person who happen to reside in Florida. For our anniversary, we got the chance to meet the amazing individuals who are making our dream of parenthood finally come true! Over the past couple of months, we have grown to love and admire Carolyn and Chris and it was a wonderful experience to meet them, Carolyn's two youngest kiddos and one of her best friends Kasey. We had a wonderful day talking, seeing the "Worlds most famous beach". sharing stories and giggling with her cute kiddos. It was a wonderful gift to meet them and I am so grateful we were able to take this trip. I think it helped us all to bond and feel more comfortable with each other which I think is so important in an open adoption. It was a great day in Daytona Beach!!

Natalie wanted a pic and Austin just had to get in on the action.

Carolyn and her cute kiddos


Look theres a baby in there!!!

One big happy adoption family!

The best 5 years of my life

2011-08-20T22:15:00.001-07:00

We have been married for 5 amazing years! It is crazy to me how quickly time goes by!! Not everything that has happened during the past 5 years has been happy and wonderful (although most truly was) but I cannot imagine going through both the most joyous and the most painful experiences in my life without the most amazing man by my side. Being lucky enough to have Eldon as my Eternal Companion is truly the greatest blessing and treasure. We have been through quite a bit over the past few years, and I am ever so grateful for him as an amazing husband, a caring man, and as my best friend.

To celebrate our union, we decided to take a fun little trip to FLORIDA!!!!

Our First day in Florida started out at Disney's Magic Kingdom. It was similar to Disneyland in California, but still quite different. It was interesting to think you know where things are and to head in that direction and then find that it doesnt look the same at all. For those of you who know me well, you know that I love Pirates. The Pirates ride here was definitely different. The entrance is totally different and the ride is similar but shorter. The best part that was different, was they had a Captain Jack Sparrow show and he let me up on stage to become part of his pirate crew. It was AWESOME!!!!! he he.

Day 2 was the Epcot Adventure. We went on a ride that took us on banked curves at 65 mph, soared over California, talked with a turtle and toured the world all in one day. You cant beat that! One of the funnest parts was in Japan where I got to pick an Oyster and found a pearl! Oh and in France we had yummy treats including something similar to what Eldon had on his mission called Napolitanas. He put it on facebook to tease his mission buddies and ended up finding out that one of his mission buddies lived in Florida, and the best part, he buddy and his family was able to join us for Day 4 of our adventure.

Day 3 was a break from Disney for the best Anniversary gift ever. (see post above)

Day 4 was Hollywood Studios. This park was crazy busy!!! But had a lot of things we had never done before. The Rockin Roller Coaster was pretty dang fun. We also went on a backstage tour, saw a car stunt show, and Indiana Jones Stunt show, watched Beauty and the Beast as well as saw a Jedi Training sessions. It was quite a day full of fun!

Day 5 was Animal Kingdom. This was our final day, so it was only a half day because we were flying home. We started out the day on an African Safari. It was pretty entertaining. Our guide was hilarious. We saw some cool animals. Next we ventured over to Asia and took a trip to Mount Everest to see the Yeti. The ride was pretty good, but it was pretty funky to go backwards and loop in the dark when you cant tell which direction you are headed. We saw a few more animals, including a bugs life show before the heavens opened up and it poured on us. We were absolutely soaked by the time we got to our car to head to the airport. I didnt get a pic cuz Eldon wasnt too thrilled at this point. I thought it was pretty funny though.

All in all, we had a wonderful trip to Florida. It was pretty hot, definitely humid, full of great memories to cherish and a wonderful way to celebrate the best decision we made... our marriage.

Meet the Parents....The Birth Parents that is

2011-08-03T21:36:00.011-07:00

I asked our amazing birth parents if they minded if I shared a few facts and stats about them, so that others could learn a little about the people that our changing our lives. So it is our pleasure to introduce you to our amazingly giving new friends....

Our Baby's Birth Dad                               Our Baby's Birth Mom
Name: Chris                                                Name: Carolyn
Age: 25                                                       Age: 32
Height: 5'10"                                               Height: 5'8"
Hair Color: Brownish Red                           Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel                                         Eye Color: Brown
Religion: Catholic                                        Religion: Christian
# of Siblings: 2 half siblings                          # of Siblings: 6
Birth Order: Youngest                                 Birth Order: Youngest
Children: None    Children: 3- Stetson (17) Natalie (7) Austin (6)
Job: Food Service                                        Job: Customer Service Rep
Favorite Color: Blue                                    Favorite Color: Yellow
Favorite Food: Steak or Pizza                      Favorite Food: Chicken Gizzards
Hobbies: Weight Training, Running, ,             Hobbies: Going to the beach, fishing,
              Boxing, Surfing, Cooking                             hanging out with her children
Feelings about Adoption: "Adoption gives   Feelings about Adoption: "My thoughts on
             people who havent had luck               adoption have always been positive. This
             having a baby, the chance to               is both the hardest and easiest decision I
             experience the miracle of life"             have ever had to make. Hard because                                                                      I look at my kids and know that there                                                              will be a face missing. and easy because                                                                      I know that Stefani and Eldon are going to
   make great parents and they will raise
                                                             the baby in a safe and loving home.

We are so incredibly grateful for these two amazing individuals. It hurts my heart to know the sacrifice they will make, but we are so grateful for their selflessness and positive attitude towards adoption. We pray that everything continues to move along smoothly over the next several months. We are so incredibly excited for this opportunity for a chance to finally bring children home. These two courageous and wonderful people will forever hold a special place in our heart.

Already a little Joker

2011-08-02T19:52:00.001-07:00

We had a little bit of a scare this past week, and learned that we already have a little joker in the making. Our beautiful birth mother had her routine appointment this past week. She wasn't getting an ultrasound or anything, just a typical monthly visit with a heartbeat check. Unfortunately, the doctor wasnt able to find a heartbeat! If you know me at all, you know that I was dying for the 20 minutes or so while Carolyn was waiting for an ultrasound to see what the little one was doing. Eldon tried to keep me sane while I prayed that my text message notification would sound letting me know what was happening. Fortunately, everything was just fine with the baby! Heartbeat was 164! Not sure why the machine didnt register the heartbeat, but we are so very grateful everything is okay. And, for all the trouble, we got a new little picture! Our birth mom added the comment from Baby and said the picture looks like he/she is rolling around laughing. Very funny Baby X, but lets save the jokes tell you are here in person!

Such a Special Service Project

2011-07-11T20:47:00.002-07:00

During Girls Camp, We had the amazing opportunity to work on a service project that has very special significance for us. All the young women (about 300 plus) helped to create bereavement boxes to donate to the hospital. This was not necessarily done in our boys' name, but it was their memory and our birthday project that promoted and gave the example for these special gifts. We were so very honored to have our sons' memory be the example to promote such love and service for many others who will suffer so greatly.

Each of the young women took part in the project. Some made the scrapbooks. These books hold very sweet poems that brought peace and love to my heart when it was the most broken.

My young women were especially sensitive and sweet during this project. Each came and gave me hugs and showed their love, affection and support and cried sweet tears right along with me. I have to be honest, I bawled with every hug. Of course I was sad, I will always be sad and miss my babies, but there was an incredibly sweet spirit there as these Young Women worked to serve others that will have such a difficult road, and it just meant so much that the feelings simply could not be contained.

They each put so much love into their projects and I am forever grateful for their service. Even though none of these boxes were for me, I truly felt their love and service towards me as they worked to serve others.

While some worked on the sweet memory books, Others sewed tiny blankets to wrap those most precious babes for their families to hold and cherish.

I wish that there was not a need for any of this. I wish a mother never had to know the pain and heart ache of losing a child. But because this sadness and tragedy does happen, I am so grateful for people such as these beautiful young women who can give the gift of memories to women who will have only that... memories.

Other Young Women worked on creating homemade bath salts to help those mothers find some comfort and relax after such a tragic experience. These gifts, no matter how big or small, truly mean so much!

Our oldest young women at the camp worked to put together all the items into beautiful boxes. Within the boxes were the scrapbooks, the blankets, the bath salts, home made beanies (which some girls also worked on sewing) as well as a journal, pen, candy and a sweet, small stuffed animal.

Together, the Young Women created 48 boxes! It was amazing the power they held. In just 2 hours, these amazing young ladies created one of the most memorable gifts that could be given to a grieving mother, and they created enough to touch 48 lives. What a truly precious blessing. I am so very grateful for my experiences at camp and this tender experience will forever engrave these wonderful young women to my heart. Thank you ladies for your love, for your service and for your care. You are amazing and you have no idea how much of a difference you have just made to so many women, and to so many families.

I am also grateful that the camp leaders are allowing me to join them when we deliver these boxes to the hospital and that they have chosen to donate these gifts to the same hospital that took such good care of me after losing our sweet babes. I am still constantly afraid that it will be as if my sweet boys never existed because their time was so short, but I am forever grateful for those that allows us to use their precious memory to serve and show love to others. We will always remember you Ethan and Tommy and will work to be worthy to be your parents. All our love to you and these sweet young women. Such a blessed experience.

Girls Camp Fun

2011-07-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

This year, I was privileged to attend Girls Camp with some amazing young women. For those that do not know, Girls camp is a week long (4 days) church retreat for young women ages 12-18. It is full of giggles, fun, spiritual experiences, life changing lessons, and dear friendships. I went as one of the leaders. Our group had 27 amazing young women. I learned so much and hopefully taught some things as well. We played silly games like "Big Booty" and "little Sally Walker" and I learned a new game called Ninja. Yep, pretty much like it sounds. You pretend to be a ninja and chop each others arms off. Even the Bishop played! lol. He was actually pretty good at it. We also went on a long and tough hike, completed the "enchanted race" challenges as a team, told scary stories, went on a snipe hunt, had many spiritual devotionals, shared stories and laughs and learned about our Divine Nature as children of a Heavenly King. There is just something amazing about being in the woods, away from technology and the distractions of the world, and being surrounded with amazing bright and brilliant young ladies that helps to bring perspective to life, and brings about such a profound feeling of divine love. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to go and to serve and learn to love these young women. We had such a great time and I am glad for the new friendships and sweet memories that were made.

Oh Baby Baby!

2011-07-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

All I can say is that We are so very blessed! I am so incredibly pleased to share with our family and friends that thanks to the most amazing couple, we have been picked to adopt a BABY!!!!! Can you tell we are freakin excited! Because we are and that is the understatement of the century! Our desire for children has been so great and unfortunately we have been left wanting for far too long. Our journey has been a difficult one to say the least, but we are so grateful for the light at the end of the tunnel. We began our journey on the adoption road about a year ago, but shortly after beginning, we paused in our tracks. For many reasons and reasons unknown, we just werent able to move forward with our adoption process and so we paused and waited and attempted a few more fertility rounds. We just didnt understand why nothing was working, both in adoption or fertility. Well, we now know. In 2011, we picked up where we left off and sprinted down the road to complete our paperwork. We seriously spent every free hour working on our paperwork and our adoption blog, trying to make it just right. The average wait with our adoption agency is 2 years (pretty standard). That was just far too long for us, so we felt we needed to help the process along and find our own baby. We sought the help of family and friends to spread the word. We also decided to post our adoption profile on a website called www.parentprofiles.com. This is a website that advertises on the top adoption websites that appear when you google adoption. One day short of our first month posted on this website, we were matched with the most wonderful couple and given hopes of a miracle. Before this match, it felt as though the way had been blocked and doors had been closing all around us. Now, the way has been cleared and everything has been so smooth and easy. This amazing couple shares many of our feelings and thoughts on adoption. This adoption is completely based on love and joy and will be a beautiful gift from amazing individuals. How fast these two strangers have become dear friends and more. We will share more information as the pregnancy progresses, but for now, things are going well and we couldnt be happier. This truly is a blessing and we are so excited and grateful.

Introducing Baby X as it is affectionately called until we learn the sex

Baby X is scheduled to join the world on February 9, 2012 in Florida.

Adoption....Its about Love!

2011-05-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

Well it is officially official! We are now certified to adopt! Now we just need someone to give us the opportunity for the greatest blessing...children. We are recruiting our family and friends to spread the word. Our adoption blog can be found at www.larsonfamilyadoptionhope.blogspot.com. Our profile with LDS Family Services is available at www.itsaboutlove.org and can be found by searching our names: Eldon and Stefani. We are also advertising with parentprofiles.com which is a wonderful website that advertises for adoptive couples on websites such as adoption.com, adoption.org, 123adoption.com, etc (all the ones that pop up when you google adoption) and again, our profile can be found by searching our names. We also have pass along cards which are like business cards with all this information. These cards can be given to anyone who may be interested in placing their child for adoption. This is a non threatening way to help spread the word. If you would be willing to pass along any cards, please send us an email or message with your address and we would be thrilled to send you some. You just never know where a connection will come from. We really appreciate all the support we have been given from all our friends and family. We truly are blessed! We know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and for our family. We are hopeful that we will be blessed with children soon and in the mean time, we appreciate any help, and support and ask that you keep us in your hearts, in your thoughts, and spread the word!!! XOXOXO

Camping Trip

2011-05-31T20:10:00.001-07:00

My family decided it was time to go camping before the woods got too crowded for the summer. So my Dad, my big bro and his wife and their pup along with Eldon and I and Zeus, headed up to a favorite camping spot that has this beautiful river, clean toilets (an absolute must), tables and camp fire rings so you can actually still have a campfire despite all the fire warnings. The only problem was, the weather in Arizona right now has not been the usual Arizona weather, so it was actually really chilly!!!! During the day it did warm up and was quite nice, so we took a little hike. It was a lot of family fun. The pups both did an amazing job and didnt even need to be on a leash, which was wonderful!!! Definitely something we will have to do again soon....as long as it warms up a bit ;)

My brother trying to be Dopey with his hat.

Fun and Personality

2011-04-17T14:22:00.002-07:00

Our dear friend Bekah finished editing our adoption photos. This second set had some funny personality pictures. I think they do a great job of capturing Eldon and I. What do you think?

Spread the word

2011-04-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family and Friends,

Its not official yet, well...we are not officially certified just yet (another week or two should take care of that) but we are seeking the help of our loved ones. We are Hoping to Adopt!!!! Just in case you werent aware. We ask that you please keep us in your thoughts and in your prayers. Please be listening and paying attention to others around you. Situations for adoption can come from anywhere. (Our cousin found her birth mom through the help of a neighbor who met the birth mom at the car wash!) We would really appreciate you remembering us if a situation would arise. We have created an adoption blog with information about who we are, what we hope for and our thoughts on adoption. Please feel free to share our blog with anyone who may be interested in placing a child for adoption. The URL is www.larsonfamilyadoptionhope.blogspot.com. Also, I created a button. Please feel free to take the button and post on your blog or site. We would greatly appreciate any help and support! We are very excited and hopeful about the opportunity to have a family. You may be the key to connect us with our sweet little one. So, thank you in advance. We know we are truly blessed with wonderful people whom we care about deeply and who care about us as well. Thank you or everything.

XOXOX

Eldon and Stefani

Catching Up

2011-04-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

So I was chastised last week for not updating my blog for a while by my sweet grandma. I honestly didn't realize that the last post was Christmas (I am really behind I guess). So I have caught up, or tried to at least with some of the high lights. Bear with me that there are several posts. Hopefully you'll enjoy, and I will try to stay on top of things better. In the mean time, here is a quick update on some things that have been happening.

1. Eldon changed his major. He is now studying Air Transportation Management. He was studying Aeronautical Engineering but while sitting in his like Calculus 5 class, he decided he did not want to do these equations all day long. The reason he got into that field in the first place was his love of airplanes and with this education he would probably design some part to a seat belt and never see an airplane. So with this new field of study it will allow his to work either at an airport or for an airline or something along those lines which hoping will allow his closer access to his passion....airplanes. It actually put him ahead of schedule for graduation. We are hoping either August or December 2012!!!! Yeah not too much further! He also loves the fact that for his degree he gets to take classes like meteorology, air traffic control, and ground school; which is the first portion of his pilots license which he would love to get. He seems much happier with his classes and more excited for his future. We will see what the future has in store, but it is looking bright and we are starting to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. :)

2. We are hoping to adopt. More updates will be coming very soon on this topic. We have finished all our paperwork and completed our home study. We are waiting on the official approval from the courts which hopefully will be coming in the next few weeks. We have created an adoption blog which we will be blasting out once we have the official court ok, asking our family and friends to share with others and get the word out about our desire to adopt.

3. I am very proud about this one. Our stake young women's needed a service project for their girls camp this summer and they chose to do bereavement boxes. They are using the example of the bereavement boxes we donated in memory of the boys on their birthday. They will be donating 50 BOXES!!!! That will help so many women. I am incredibly honored that they would select this project. It means a great deal to me that our sons memory can help others during such a difficult trial.

Pioneer Village

2011-04-09T18:12:00.001-07:00

For a work retreat, I got the chance to take a walk back in time to the "Wild West" at a place called Pioneer Village. It is in North Phoenix hidden away off the I-17. It was actually a pretty neat place. It definitely makes me feel spoiled to have things like central heating, and um, i dunno, a TOILET! we joked when we saw the outhouse, can you imagine potty training especially in the winter...ha ha. "Hurry up honey, and just go, its freezing outside!" ha ha. We got to see some very old historic buildings and homes and we got to watch an old west gun fight. We even got to dress up and take some cute photos, and some of my co-workers played "hold up" in the bank. It was a good time and nice to take a day out of the office and go play.

Eldons New Birthday Gift

2011-04-03T18:34:00.005-07:00

Eldon was so excited for his birthday present this year. He has been planning on what he wanted to get for a few months, and even cheated a bit and bought it a couple weeks early so he could enjoy it during spring break. It is a super big, super cool remote control car. It can go like 30 miles an hour and is practically indestructible. Eldon has taken it to the skate park to test it out on jumps and ramps and had a blast. He also likes the fact that it is totally customizable. He can change rims, wheels, shocks, etc. Also, if something breaks, he can fix it like a real car (only much cheaper). He loves it! Happy Birthday honey!

Happy 28th Birthday Eldon

2011-04-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

Eldon turned 28 this year! To celebrate we went out to dinner with some dear friends at Joe's Crab Shack. We had a wonderful time, Eldon got to eat some wonderful crab (he loves seafood, me not so much, so it was a big treat for him!)

I even got brave and experimented with some Calimari (squid) Can I just say YUCK!!!! I wont be that brave again! Our little friend Jackson got brave and wanted to try his first crab. hehe.

The best part was Eldon's birthday song. At Joe's Crab Shack, they make the birthday boy participate too. Eldon had to get dressed up in hula gear and sing along saying "Hula Hey, Its my birthday!" I got it on video. Its a little slow in the beginning because the waitress is giving Eldon instructions. We were dying laughing though. It was great! He had a wonderful birthday, we had a wonderful time and we are grateful for those who helped him to have such a great birthday!

Planes, Planes & More Planes

2011-03-19T16:16:00.002-07:00

Eldon like airplanes (to put it mildly). So he simply couldnt resist the opportunity to visit both the Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport "Aviation Day" and the Luke AFB "Luke Days Air Show". He was in heaven to say the least. It was pretty cool to see all the different airplanes and helicopters. Eldon could name each one by sight practically. We got some pretty cool pics as well. The best part (other than Eldon's pleasure of course) was the Luke Thunderbirds and their jet show. It was pretty neat, and amazing to think how fast they were flying.

Lookin Good

2011-03-01T18:32:00.001-07:00

Our dear friend took some Spring photos of us to add to our adoption profile. I think they turned out pretty great. We are still waiting for a few more to be edited, but I thought Id share. Hopefully some kind and generous person sees these pictures and thinks we are so dang cute and adorable that they just must give us a sweet little baby to add to our little family! Who knows, maybe it will work. In the mean time, we have some great family photos. Enjoy!

Christmas Time Fun

2010-12-29T20:54:00.005-07:00

We were able to go up to Snowflake for Christmas Eve and enjoy some of the fun traditions of the Larson Family Christmas. It was a lot of fun and we were really glad to spend time with our loved ones. Check out these super cute family pics.

We drove back home Christmas morning to spend time with the Seals side of the family for the remainder of the day. My little brother surprised our family for his gifts, he gave us all matching outfits so we could take a new family photo. Our last family photo was at his mission farewell (more than 4 years ago). We went out to the park by my parents house and took some super cute family pics, if I do say so myself

Hand Made Ornament Exchange

2010-12-29T20:01:00.001-07:00

My cute friend has a super fun Christmas tradition of doing a homemade ornament exchange party. When she asked if I wanted to participate, I have to admit at first I wondered what in the world I would do with 17 homemade Ornaments (especially with the hopes that we will have a house full of children some day who will provide a great deal of homemade specialities to add to our tree) but after she explained a little further and directed me online, I was in. She invited 17 different people to participate and then each person had to make 17 of the same ornament. This cute little guy was my creation. I wish I could take credit for the idea (I found it online), but I did make it from scratch. My wonderful hubby even helped me. The Marshmallows are made out of clay, which I had to spray paint white because they dried gray (grrrrrr!) the chocolate is brown foam and the graham cracker is cork. The rest is paint, ribbon, and wire. I am pretty proud of how cute they turned out, but I have to say making 17 was a lot of work! It was really neat to see what the 17 different people came up with. We each did something unique and different! It was a great time and I am super excited for next year's party. I am totally hooked and already have planned my ornament for next year :P

Bereavement Donations

2010-12-29T19:47:00.002-07:00

It was very important to us to try to do something positive in Ethan and Tommy's memory for their birthday. We decided that it was most beneficial to "pay forward" the gifts of love and support that we recieved during the hardest time of this trial (right after the birth and the loss). When I was in the hospital delivering the Boys, I recieved a huge outpouring of gifts. Most of the gifts came from the hospital. The gifts were a variety of mementos and keepsakes to help us preserve the memory of our sons such as a scrapbook, pictures, picture frames, candles, beanies, blankets, etc. Those precious items have become very special and sacred to me because they remind me of my sweet babies. We decided that we would celebrate the Boys' birthday by making a donation in their honor to help show love and support to other Mothers and families that would have to endure the hardships that we have gone through. I was incredibly blessed to be able to request for donations from our Ward Relief Society, the entire Police Department where I work, and our dear family and friends. We were completely stunned by the outpouring of love and generosity we recieved on behalf of our sweet babies. Over several months we collected a huge amount of items to donate in loving memory of Ethan and Tommy.


This was a gift basket for the loss of twins

I was also able to make little scrapbooks to give as gifts to the Mother's so that the special moments and information might be able to be preserved in a way that was cute and ready to share. Each scrapbook contained 5 tags that pulled out to reveal different poems about the loss of a baby. These poems were my absolute favorites that i have found and helped to share my thoughts and feelings about the loss of my sons.

We are absolutely so grateful to everyone who donated items, money and time to help to make this possible and such a special event in our lives. I truly hope that the loss of our Sons and our family's sacrifice may be able to bless and benifit others, even if it is in dealing with a tragic loss of their own. Thank you!

Happy Birthday Ethan and Tommy

2010-12-04T20:16:00.003-07:00

It is hard to believe that it has already been a year since we lost our sweet boys. The days approaching their first birthday were incredibly difficult ones as we prepared to celebrate their memory. Eldon and I decorated their plot. Because it was December it was important that they have a Christmas tree and gifts, but we also needed the balloons for all to know it was their birthday. On their big day, we a balloon release in their honor. "Sending our love to Heaven". In good Seals' family fashion it became a competition to see whose balloon could reach Heaven first. It was actually quite sweet and entertaining and definitely lifted the somber mood.

Following the balloon release, family and friends joined us for dinner at our home. It was a very sweet day and I am incredibly grateful for everyone who supported us, both on Ethan and Tommy's birthday and over the past year. The love and support we received has made all the difference in the world to us, and we know that we are truly blessed with incredibly people in our lives. Thank you to everyone and Happy Birthday to my sweet darlings!

Giving Thanks

2010-11-26T18:25:00.003-07:00

Recently it seems I have been a little bombarded with the notion of being grateful for all that I have and the need to stop worrying about the few things that I do not. While this is definitely easier said than done, I do feel that this is something that needs to become my focus. I have done a very good job recently of murmuring that while I know I am truly blessed, there are a few things that I desperately long for and do not seem to be getting. I am very grateful for this bombardment and for the little reminders that have come my way.

My sister in law Misti's family created a wall of gratitude. For FHE, they gave their kiddos sticky notes to write the things they were grateful for and then they stuck the list on the wall. Seriously, they filled up a good chunk of their livingroom walls. It was amazing to me the things that they were grateful for.... like fabreeze, spoons, forks, the number 40, etc. While I chuckled at some of these items, I realized that I would be lost without Fabreeze, spoons, forks and the number 40. The kiddos, Im sure were having a good ol time just trying to fill up the wall, but it was a fabulous reminder to me of all the things that I take for granted.

A few weeks later, the state of Arizona had a fabulous state wide stake conference. It seemed to me that the entire conference was based on the topic of remembering Heavenly Father in all things, especially remembering to thank Heavenly Father for all the gifts that he gives, which is many. This struck me very hard, because it was specifically stated that our focus needs to be on showing gratitude for the gifts we have rather only focusing on the things we do not.

I am definitely trying to get the message. So while it is quite easy for me to focus on all things I lack, I am going try to show my Heavenly Father that I know that I am truly am blessed and that while my life is definitely far from perfect, it is good and I am grateful for all that I have.

Trunk or Treat

2010-10-24T20:01:00.002-07:00

We went to our Ward's Trunk or Treat. It was a lot of fun. They sure know how to throw a party!!! Some people decorated the trunk of their cars, and we even had Snow White's magic mirror which told fortunes to the kiddos. They really enjoyed it!

We have a wonderful bishop who is so much fun! His wife too! I thought their costumes were hilarious. Especially because he really is a very young bishop. Karen's costume was just awesome! The butt pad was the best!

There were so many great costumes. The whoopee cushion was hilarious. And I absolutely adored this little lady bug. Amara, was so good the whole time, and just so stinkin cute!!!

This little girl, Riley, absolutely loves Eldon! It is so stinkin cute! At church she will run up to him as if she hasnt seen him in forever. She snuggles and giggles and flirts. Its so funny. Her mom text us after the trunk or treat to tell us that she said she had "fun wid Edon". So cute. I was rolling because we even brought Zeus to the party, but she had fun with Eldon! ha. We might have to fight because i am a jealous girl, but it just goes to show that Eldon is going to be a wonderful father!!! Next to Riley is her big brother Jaxon.

My good friend Nicole and her hubby came along for the ride. It was alot of fun. Eldon and I went as ourselves.... nerds! And Zeus was a pirate. The kiddos thought it was really cute to get a treat and pet the puppy. He always does so good with kids, especially crazy scenes like this one.

Bobbi made a great pregnant nun. She really is pregnant. It made it even better that her hubby Kyle went as a priest. Hilarious! And our good friends little girl, Sophie made a beautiful queen of Hearts, especially when liking icing off her lips from the yummy Halloween cupcakes.

We had a wonderful time with our dear ward friends and are excited for the rest of the holiday. Happy Halloween!!!

A Walk to Remember

2010-10-16T15:07:00.002-07:00

A Walk to Remember

By: Tim and Julie Smith

We walk to remember the steps you've never taken

and all the memories that might have been.

And we grieve the loss of you, O child of our dreams
and long to heal the ache that's deep within.

We ask the Lord to lead us to trust and gratitude...

and acknowledge that we'll never be apart.
We'll treasure the gift and the grace of your life
For we'll always hold you in our hearts
We'll always hold you in our hearts.

Misti and the Kiddos and my sweet friend Nicole came out to support us and our babies today.

This morning, Banner Desert Hospital (the hospital where we delivered our precious stillborn twin baby boys) hosted a Walk to Remember. This was a walk to remember the steps these sweet little babies would never take. It was a very sweet memorial. There was a fabulous turn out, which made me a bit sad because it meant there were so many other families that were grieving just like us. We were very grateful for the family and friends that came out to support us, and for the support we were receiving from afar.

So many balloons! It was an amazing sight!

My sweet friend Chari and her son Weston (who was one of my babies when I worked for Easter Seals) came to walk with us. Thanks!

Getting ready to walk. So many beautiful white balloons.

We walked a quick mile around the neighborhood, and then came back to the amphitheater for a memorial service. They allowed any parents that wanted to share a poem, story, or song in remembrance of the children they had lost. They then presented each family with a small memorial gift. We then had a balloon release sending our love to our babies in Heaven. It was an incredibly sweet memorial and I am really glad that we were able to be a part of it

Sending all our love to Heaven. You will always be in our hearts!

We have been busy

2010-09-06T14:27:00.002-07:00

Prepare, this post is full of pictures. We have been in our house for almost 2 years. We have been busy making it not look like a short sale. We have worked really hard with the help of various family, friends, and of course HGTV (He he, i love that channel. But Eldon says it gives me too many ideas.) We have made some significant changes to the house and it is looking alot more like my vision of it. I love when people from the ward come over and see the house because they knew the previous tenants (it was a rental before we bought it). Everyone who has seen the house before, has a hard time believing it is the same house. So since we are so proud of our house, i thought that i would share some of the before and after pictures. We are not bragging, but definitely beaming. The first big change we made was painting every room in the house. I dont like white walls and now no walls in the house at all are white. We also tiled the kitchen and entry way because the disgusting blue laminate flooring definitely was not working in my house.

The next big step was putting in granite counter tops because the ugly blue definitely had to go!

Next was getting our entertainment center, couch and book shelf to make the living room look comfy, cozy and stylish.

Then we decorated the guest bathroom and bedroom. I am really glad to have a nice and comfortable place to offer family and friends when they come to visit.

Next I got a desire to texture the walls of the master bathroom. It looks like venetian plaster. i love it!!! And I am so proud that I did it all by myself!

The office and the master bedroom came next. The master bedroom is still missing some beautiful art pieces that my nephew is working on, but he is holding them ransom from me, so once he finishes them, the bedroom will be completed!

I also have been working on the Shadow Memory Boxes for my baby boys. They are finished for now, but i am sure with how picky I am, and how precious they are, that this may change in the future.

The next big projects came after we lost the boys. I needed something to occupy my mind and help to bring some joy into my life, so Eldon let me do alot of the projects that had been on hold for a while. So i textured the kitchen and with the help of friends put in fake bricks. I got a buffet and painted our table.

I got my coat rack and bench for the entry way.

Then we put in carpet because the old carpet was beyond disgusting!

We also put in french doors where the ugly and annoying sliding door was.

It made a huge difference. I added curtains, new light fixtures in the kitchen and hallway and master bathroom.

Most of our changes have been made on the inside of the house. We really havent done much with the outside, but after the boys died, we bought baby rose bushes to go outside the house. They have only bloomed sparatically, but they are still growing.

We will do more in the backyard and front in months to come. Most recently for Mother's day, Eldon bought me cupboards for the laundry room, so that was finally painted and the cabinets added. I absolutely love it!

There are definitely more projects that i would like to complete like the nursery, changing the cabinet colors through out the house, tiling the bathrooms, changing the countertops in the bathroom, adding canned lighting in the living room and then moving to the outside for grass and a pool. Poor Eldon :P Oh well, its a good investment, and I am having a blast discovering new abilities and talents as we transform our house into our home and into something we can be proud of.

Larson Family Reunion 2010

2010-09-06T14:26:00.003-07:00

It was time again, for the Larson crew to get together for the annual RH Larson family reunion. As always, it was alot fun. This year, Mack and Valerie were in charge, and our reunion fell days before their baby boy Dax's 1st birthday. So it was only right that we throw him a birthday party. The morning started out with fun games of capture the flag and then an interesting game that included shaving cream and cheeto puff balls. The kids had an absolute blast.

After a tasty lunch, it was time for Dax to have fun with his cake, as is tradition with the first birthday.

It took him a bit, but he finally dug into the cake and made an absolute mess all over. It was adorable. We all got to join in on the yumminess (a different cake). After a tasty treat, the kiddos all had a blast on the slip n slide. I couldnt resist taking pictures of them. It looks like i only have a few pictures, but really there are over 30. They were just too cute, so i couldnt resist their different poses as slipped and slid.

Following that fun, we all went to watch our older nephews (Garett and Caden) play a pre-season football game against Red Mountain. They totally won! It was wonderful! We had a blast and created wonderful family memories. That is what good family reunion does.

Our Disneyland Anniversary Adventure

2010-08-15T10:28:00.007-07:00

For our 4th anniversary, we decided to celebrate by going to the happiest place on earth.... Disneyland!!! We had alot of fun for 2 days at Disneyland and California Adventure. So much fun, that i really didnt take out the camera much :( Oh well, i got a few great shots to share. Since we had both been to Disneyland several times before, we decided to do some of the things that we had never done before. We started out at California Adventure. We did the normal fun rides like the Tower of Terror, and talking to Crush the turtle. We had never done the Animation Academy, so that was a new treat. We learned how to draw "Dopey" from Snow White. We found on the back lot a Monster's Inc ride. It was cute. Eldon had never been to Muppets 3D, I think he had fun at that. We rode on the Farris Wheel, that was fun to see the view of the park. For a special treat, we had a fancy dinner at Wine Country Trattoria to get amazing tickets for the new World of Color. The dinner was alright, definitely not worth the money, but the seats were! Check out some video...of course I love Pirates of the Caribbean, so I was ecstatic when this came on....

Also, this one gives a better view of the show.... Amazing!!! Sorry about my camera's focus, but still amazing!

The next day we spent playing at Disneyland. We went on the pirate boat, went to the pirate island, went and saw Michael Jackson's Captain EO...much better as child (definitely lame now). For our anniversary lunch, we went and ate at the Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Again, big fan of pirates, unfortunately, the lunch was much better in my dreams, but still something that i had always wanted to do. We of course rode some of the awesome rides like space mountain, the jungle cruise, pirates, and Finding Nemo Submarine rides. For Eldon's sake, we rode on the Chevron Race way, and because i am a nice wife.... i let him drive :) We had a really good time, and a very happy anniversary. I think the best part was the buttons that Disneyland gave us. Everyone in the entire park, including other guests were wishing us Happy Anniversary. It was alot of fun! It also got us a few perks, like cuts in a few lines. Cant beat that. Although we had a blast, I will say that by far, Disneyland is not the happiest place on earth, the happiest place on earth is at home in the arms of my loving husband. I am so grateful for four amazing years of bliss. They have been the happiest years of my life, even with the heartache we have experienced. I am so in love with you and so excited for a future full of love and happiness with you. Happy Anniversary my Love!!! Thanks for a wonderful time at the second happiest place on earth.

He did it!

2010-07-27T20:13:00.001-07:00

My amazing husband passed his real estate exams (on the first try no less) and is now licensed to be Realtor! He is working for Smith Preferred Properties. It is a great company that works hard to give everyone a quality and preferred type property for their money. I am very proud of him and his efforts and we are very hopeful that this new career venture will provide us with some answers for our hopes and prayers. If anyone is in need of real estate help in buying or selling a home, please think of Eldon and pass on his name to your family and friends in Arizona. Thanks!

Families are like brownies...mostly sweet but full of nuts!

2010-07-27T20:12:00.002-07:00

The only other titled that would be fitting for this post would be....you might be a redneck if.... Truly, that was the theme for the family fun that happened during this years 24th of July Celebration. We had an absolute blast! It was a weekend full of family, laughter, pranks, and crazy inventions. We had every member of the family there except for a dearly missed brother Derrick and nephew JT. So on to the redneck jokes.

You might be a red neck if...

Your family rides around in garbage cans, or you park the family vehicles (garbage cans) on the front lawn. Either way, both happened this weekend. Eldon's oldest brother Nolan owns the garbage company in Snowflake and a good chunk of Eastern AZ. Every year he is in the parade and the last few years, he has created a garbage can train, and lets our nieces and nephews ride in them in the parade. All the kiddos absolutely love it and have an absolute blast! After the parade, the garbage train was parked on the front lawn :).

You might be a redneck if....

that same garbage train tips over during the parade with your nieces and nephews inside...better yet, it tips over right into a pile of horse manure. Poor Jade was involved in the accident, but she showed how tough she was while showing off her boo boo

You might be a redneck if....

If your brother rides around in a mobile garbage can like he is oscar the grouch. Ha Ha, again for the parade, Nolan and his boys created a monster garbage can by putting the motor of a four-wheeler onto a garbage can. It is pretty funny to see move around, and it can even pop wheelies! It was definitely entertaining.

You might be a redneck if....

If your son is also your great nephew, (long story, but true) and if you teach them young to ride a dirt bike. Dax had fun getting rides on everything from the 4-wheeler, to the dirt bike. Being on these vehicles is perfect for this little guy as he was beyond mobile since he learned to walk. He is quick!

You might be a redneck if....

your father creates a monster bike for two! Its Alive! j/k. But RH really did create this tandum bike. He welded 2 bikes together into one like a tricycle. It is an interesting bike to ride, but is good exercise, and is good for a laugh.

You might be a redneck if....

Horse rides are given right out of your front yard :) Our nieces rode in the parade on their horses for their school 4-H programs. After the parade, the horses were hanging out just like the rest of the family at Mom and Dad Larson's house, so ponyrides were definitely a must during the day. Sadie had a lot of fun!

You might be redneck if....

you create a swimming pool out of a garbage dumpster. Seriously! Nolan and his boys, once again were very creative and took a roll-off dumpster, made it water tight, filled it with water, and all the kiddos had a blast swimming in it! The best part was seeing all the people's faces as they drove past. Im sure they must have been wondering what in the world the kids were doing playing in the dumpster. We joked that it definitely gave a whole new meaning to dumpster diving :P

If you couldnt tell, everyone had an amazing time. The Larson Family always is a joy to be around, especially when everyone gets together. We really did miss Derrick and JT and wished they could have been there! While we had the majority of the crew up there, we took some family photos. We intend to photo shop our missing family members in for future pictures. This is a picture of all the grandchildren except for Dax, who was napping and JT, who wasnt able to come up and our 3 little angels. It is amazing how every single one of the grandchildren is so dang good looking!!

I think it is because of these two find people. They are the ones who started it all, and made such a joyous family.

And this is a picture of all the children and their spouses. We are again missing Derrick, but we left a spot for him right up front. Entire group pictures are coming soon, but I didnt get any with my camera.

And just because she is so dang cute and it sums up the feeling of the weekend. Here is Payten enjoying her day with cotton candy and family. :) Happy Pioneer Day!

Its about Love

2010-05-01T20:26:00.001-07:00

I am sorry that i have been a slacker in blogging. I just didnt want to overload my blog with unhappy posts and while we truly are greatly blessed, it has been hard for me not to focus on the sad things. This post does have a little bit of sad, but also some hope and a request for help. First off, after several months of waiting, we finally got the headstone for our little boys. They finally have their resting place marked so all can know they were here and now they have the proper place to put flowers, so now the gardner cant steal mine! We are really pleased how it came out, and we are very glad that their plot is no longer just a mound of dirt! Since losing our twins, my optimism for having a family has really decreased significantly, but our desires have only gotten stronger. Unfortunately we have already suffered another miscarriage since our boys, which only brings more dismay. So while we will forever try to get our own little ones here, we are turning to adoption to assist us with our desires to have a family until we are blessed to have our own. We are looking into adoption with the State of Arizona. This course began in March when we almost had the opportunity to get a cute little 6 week old girl through some friends. The birth father ended up stepping in, so, now we wait to see if he changes his mind and decides to let us have her or to see what else Heavenly Father has in store for us. All the websites I have read, have stated that many adoptions come through personal contacts, so I am reaching out to our family and friends. If you know of a little one who is need of a good home, or have any recommendations or connections for adoption, we would really appreciate your help. I know that we will be able to have a family someday. Heavenly Father has promised both Eldon and I in our patriachal blessings the blessing of raising a family, but we may need help in getting our family here. We ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers that we might be guided by our Father in Heaven and be able to know his will for us and to follow it, and if adoption is his plan, that we might be led to the little one/s that are meant to join our family. We appreciate all the love and support we have recieved in our recent trials and heartaches and hope that future posts can be filled with more happy news.

Happy Birthday Eldon!!!

2010-04-01T21:31:00.001-07:00

To the most amazing man in the world (and the hottest too), Eldon, I hope you have a wonderful birthday. I know you are not looking forward to growing older, and while I am hating how fast times flies too, I absolutely love that if I have to grow old, I get to do it with you!! I am sorry this birthday really hasnt been anything special, but hopefully you will have a better birthday weekend, then your actual birthday! I am so very in love with you! I am beyond grateful for the blessing you are in my life. You truly are the most amazing man ever and I dont know how i got to be so lucky to have you as my eternal companion, but i will forever be grateful that you chose me to spend your life with. I love you baby!!! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Forever in our Hearts

2010-01-24T18:50:00.013-07:00

It is with very heavy hearts and tear filled eyes that we introduce to you, our precious little twin boys, Ethan Dere and Tommy Mons. They were born still on December 3, 2009 at 24 and 1/2 weeks.

Ethan Dere Larson & Tommy Mons Larson

I hope you will understand that although this is an incredibly difficult post to write, I need to show the world my sweet little boys. I need you to understand if possible how much I love them and how much I miss them, and how important it is to me that their existence is recognized and not forgotten. I apologize if this post is difficult to read, I understand.... it is difficult to write. But these boys are my babies and it is important to me to preserve these memories and to never forget.

Obviously from previous posts, the entire pregnancy was anything but easy or typical. There were complications from the very start, but we were certain things were going to work out in the end. To our utter devastation, we were wrong and the absolute worst thing imaginable happened, we lost our beloved little boys to an identical twin disorder known as twin to twin transfusion syndrome. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, it is a connection between the babies in which one baby takes the nutrients of the other. We were not able to find this out until after the death of our little ones. The entire pregnancy we believed the boys were fraternal twins, but tests showed they were identical twins that split very early in the pregnancy giving the appearance of fraternal twins. They had two sacs but shared one placenta, which is very very rare. Because the boys were so far along, a normal delivery was needed rather than just a surgery, so we went through the traumatic process of delivering our babies knowing we would not be bringing them home. The boys were born 3 hours apart after 16 hours of labor. Ethan was born first just before 11am weighing just over half a pound and measuring a mere 9 inches in length. Tommy was born just before 2pm weighing only 2.3 ounces and measuring only 6 inches. Tommy was the first baby we lost at 21 weeks and because of such was much smaller than his brother. Once they were here, we were able to spend 2 beautiful days holding them and spending time with them. Even though their spirits were already gone, I cherished the time I could hold them and rock them and feel like their mother.

And then we began the hideous task of preparing for their burial. We were beyond blessed in this trial with the generosity of others. Eldon's work, Stone Creek Furniture made a beautiful wooden casket as a gift for the boys. It was absolutely perfect and nicer than anything we could have purchased. My work generously paid for the burial. Our sisters Michele and Angela purchased Ken Doll Tuxedos for the boys to wear... They looked so cute even though the doll clothes were still too big!

Eldon's mom and my mom worked together to line the casket and Eldon's mom made beautiful baby blankets for both boys. Many others helped by helping us get flowers, create the programs, and find the perfect songs and poems to make the day very special. The funeral service was very sweet and although I cried through the entire thing, I know it was the most sweet and beautiful service we could provide for our precious little sons.

I honestly can say that this experience is the absolute most difficult thing that has ever been required of me. I have never felt so much sadness or pain as I have losing my babies. I am trying to find a way to heal, but it is a very long road that I imagine will take my entire life. One thing I can say, is that despite being taken through utter despair, I was not left to endure this trail alone. Even still 6 weeks later, we are being shown the Lord truly does love us, and so do many others. We have been absolutely amazed and grateful for the abundance of love and charity that has been shown to us during this difficult time. Even and especially small things such as a hug or a quick note have meant the most and really do make the burden a bit lighter to bare. I am especially grateful for the nurses at Banner Desert Hospital and for their kindness. Their thoughtfulness allowed me to have mementos such as molds of my babies hands and feet and pictures of foot prints as well as many many pictures that I will treasure forever. And to everyone else who called, emailed, text, visited, brought meals, prayed and even thought about us during this difficult time....Thank you. I am still overwhelmed by everything and probably still in denial and am just trying to find the strength to acknowledge the reality of the situation and that I am not going to wake up from this nightmare, so I have not really been ready to taken the steps that I long to, to appropriately express my gratitude, but please know that it means so much, especially now to be loved and thought of and we truly have felt it and are grateful. We are also so very grateful during all of this for the gift of the restored gospel. I simply cannot imagine trying to go through this without the knowledge that Eldon and I have an a marriage that is sealed for time and all eternity. Our family is eternal and I will forever dream of the day when we will be reunited with our precious little boys and we can be a family that is whole once again.

Also, I just want to add from the safety shield of a computer that it is ok to not know what to say, unfortunately there isnt anything that can be said or done to bring my babies back. However, "Im sorry", "I love you", "I m thinking of you" or even just a silent hug means a great deal. My biggest fear is that my babies will be forgotten or it will seem as though they never existed. I need them to be remembered, I need to be able to talk about them, even if it makes me cry, I need to feel like their mother, so please bare with me while I start my journey of healing and be patient with me while I grieve.

2009-12-03T07:42:00.003-07:00

Unfortunately, we have lost our other little boy. We thank you all for your prayers and support. We really do feel loved and cared for.

2009-11-10T20:16:00.003-07:00

We Just wanted to let everyone know that we lost one of our boys yesterday. We are coping with the loss, and are still very optimistic for our other little boy's future. We will keep everyone posted on how our little fighter is doing. We are so thankful for all of the prayers and support- they really do help.

Just like that

2009-11-08T14:39:00.005-07:00

the roller coaster ride that we stepped on 5 months ago just took a dive right into a dark tunnel. We cannot see whether the next turn has a light at the end of the tunnel or a giant brick wall to slam into. 2 weeks ago, i went in for my monthly ultrasound. It was supposed to be really exciting, i was supposed to be able to figure out the flavor of the other little peanut inside me. Instead we were given some very heart wrenching news. My babies are very very small....scary small. The doctors think there is an issue with the placentas that prevents enough blood getting through to the babies. In short, my babies are starving and not growing like they should. The doctors also added that if we don't do anything, we will lose both babies!!!! So after being completely devastated, we decided along with my doctor that the answer was obviously to not "do nothing".

So my whole world is upside down for the moment just trying to get these little ones to stay with me. I am now on oxygen 24/7 which i have to say is incredibly not fun! Fortunately, they make portable oxygen tanks, so for now, i am still able to work with the portable tanks. The oxygen helps to enrich the blood that is getting to the babies. I have to take blood thinner, which is in hopes that thinner blood will be able to penetrate the placenta wall better and get more nutrients to the babies. I also have to sit in a luke warm hot tub for one hour everyday (rain or shine) to help promote better circulation. Thank goodness my big brother has a hot tub with a temperature control or i would have already been admitted to the hospital for the duration of my pregnancy. I also am on a eat eat eat diet. Which is fun, but will not be fun when i am trying to lose the baby weight later. But for now, the desserts and soda (yep doctors orders to drink soda :)) are a nice change. I also have to have appointments 2 times per week to monitor the little ones and make sure they are still fighting with me.

One baby is about 3 weeks behind and the other baby is about 2 weeks behind. Both are in jeopardy, but obviously one is doing better than another. we are very hopeful that all of these new remedies will help my little peanuts grow bigger and be able to at least make it to survive, and even better thrive. A few good things did come from this big mess (other than the desserts and soda) was that we had to do an amnio test to determine if the babies were chromosomally normal or if there were additional problem to deal with. thankfully from the test thus far (we are still waiting for the final complete results, we only have a partial) from the partial results, the babies are chromosomally normal. We also were able to determine from this test, that our little ones are both BOYS!!!

So if we can get these little babies to continue fighting like their parents are, we will have two cute and adorable little boys to cause trouble and mischief. All i want is those little trouble makers! So we are asking our friends and family to join us in this fight and if you dont mind to add our little boys to your prayers. We need all the help and faith we can get to make it through this and bring these wonderful little babies into our family and our home.

Its a Boy....and A Surprise!

2009-10-17T09:05:00.005-07:00

We were so excited to go to my ultrasound and find out the flavors of our little peanuts. Well.... It didn't quite turn out like i would have liked. We did discover however, that our kids are already being difficult :) I am kidding.... well kind of. My parents say its just payback already, but we had one baby that would not hold still so the tech had to beat my stomach to make it stay still. We barely were able to see that it was a rambunctious little boy! And the other baby was being difficult and hiding behind my belly button. Apparently ultrasounds cannot travel through air, and there is an air pocket behind the belly button which the picture cannot travel through. We had the technician and the doctor try to make the baby move out from behind my belly button, but no luck. So just to torture their mom.... I will have to wait another 3 weeks to find out what we are having with our other child. Fortunately, i am posting this late, and will know in about 10 days...if they cooperate this time. Because one baby was hiding and was was a wiggle worm, We didn't get any good pictures either. The only good one was this one where can see both babies together. I really like the twin pics. I think it is fun to see them both together. We are very excited to be expecting a little boy. Eldon really wanted to have a little boy, so we know we at least got one, so he is pretty happy about that. We are hoping the other baby is a little girl so we can have the best of both worlds, but we will be happy with 2 little boys as well! I just want to know! As for me, sorry I don't have a belly picture to post. I just haven't taken one, but i will update soon. My belly is definitely sticking out. My co-workers make fun that all of a sudden, I just popped out and am very apparently pregnant and getting bigger each week, and that i already have the pregnancy waddle. Well, to my defense, i am glad to look preggo, much better than just looking like i am getting fat! And the waddle is only at the end of the day, when i am tired from working all day and my muscles under my tummy are tired. Life has been a lot easier for me lately. Still not a fairytale by any means, but the morning sickness is finally under control for the most part, and i have been back to work for over a month, so that is definitely positive. I am very tired each day, so my bedtime has been moved to before nine...lame I know, but oh well. I am starting to feel movement, so that is really fun and been the best part of this pregnancy so far. We are really excited and glad that everyone is healthy and things are going good, and we are just waiting for the next ultrasound so the planning can really begin!

bedrest already

2009-09-01T15:02:00.004-07:00

this is more for journaling and personal purposes, so sorry if this is boring, but last week and yesterday were two of the scariest days ever. Last week I started bleeding, not much, but enough to make it a very rough and scary night since I wasn't able to get a hold of the doctor. All I could think about all night was losing one of my babies or both. It is amazing to me how important these little ones are to me already. i have only been pregnant for 3 months and only known about having 2 for about 6 weeks, but the idea of not having two is one of the worst thoughts i can imagine! We are still adjusting to the idea of instant family of four but now all our planning revolves around 2, not 1! Thankfully, the doctor was able to see me the next morning and we were able to do an ultrasound, and again thankfully, my little ones were doing just fine, and had grown quite a bit. The bleeding was caused by the placenta coming away from the uterus lining, which is still not a good thing. the connection provides blood to the baby, so it is pretty important, but the nurse said the baby could lose up to a quarter of its blood supply and still be ok, so the amount of blood that i was losing was not enough to harm the baby. however, it was important that the blood stop, so i was put on strict bed rest for a week until the bleeding stopped. I was beyond bored! but thankfully my dad and my little brother was able to come and help me out so that i was able to stay off my feet. They also kept me from going insane by myself. so the bleeding stopped, so i went back to work on Monday. the day was rough, but went fine, but last night i started bleeding again and this time it was worse, so again, I was sitting here fretting about the potential of losing one of my precious little ones. I had another ultrasound and this time went to a special imaging place, so i was able to see better pictures of the little ones. Thankfully again, everything is just fine, as far as the doctors can tell, the babies are perfectly healthy and growing on schedule. The ultrasound also didn't give any reason for the bleeding, which is good and bad. There doesn't seem to be anything to be concerned about, but yet, still blood, so we will see what happens, but my biggest concern is that both babies are doing good. Baby A was very cooperative and Baby B was very stubborn, so apparently I am going to have a difficult one. Which fact I am totally fine with if I can just get them both here safely and healthy. so here are some fun pictures from today's ultrasound. It was really neat, the clinician showed me the 2 halves of each babies brain, the 4 chambers of the hearts, 4 arms, 4 legs, and 2 healthy cords doing what they are supposed to. I was 5 days too early for the doctor to tell me the sex, which is really frustrating!!! So close to not having to wonder anymore!

so here is both babies looking at the tops of their heads.

here is baby A, and it was sucking its thumb (sorry dont know gender and I have had too many guesses that keep changing so I am not going to guess yet). Since Baby A was being so cooperative, we got a great 3-D Picture.

it looks like the baby thought it was too bright, even though there wasnt any light. Maybe it was just sleepy and rubbing its eyes :)

This is Baby B, upside down. Its legs were crossed which was super cute to see!

Can it be, already 3!

2009-08-30T15:38:00.004-07:00

This is going to be a quick post, and is about 2 weeks late, but I wanted to write it. Eldon and I have now been married for 3 whole years. I cant believe that 3 years ago, we were dying for the day to come when we would be together. The time has absolutely flown by! And now our world is completely different. we have come a very long way in 3 years.... Married, moved 3 times, bought a house, bought 2 new cars, got a dog, changed jobs I can even count how many times, and are expecting 2 little miracles in a few months! Crazy Crazy! I just wanted to tell Eldon how much I love him. I am so grateful that he chose me to be his eternal companion. I truly am the luckiest girl ever! It has been such a happy 3 years! We have definitely had our highs and lows, but I have never been happier in my life and it is all because of the amazing man that I married. Happy late anniversary honey! I love you with all my heart!

Joining the Club and then some

2009-07-31T18:43:00.004-07:00

We are thoroughly pleased to announce that we are finally joining the club..... The mommy and daddy club! It has been a long road (many have longer but still) of more than a year of hoping and trying with 2 failed pregnancies, but we are finally pregnant! I am about 7 weeks along (which is still a bit early, but we are just too excited to keep the good news to ourselves!) This little bundle definitely took some work so we are hoping the work will pay off and everything will go smooth.

We also just had our first ultrasound. We were really excited for an opportunity to hear the baby's heart beat. Unfortunately, it was a little too soft to hear, however, we did get an even better treat. The doctor started the ultrasound and immediate stated a very interesting little tidbit..... Can you tell from the pics (sorry they are blurry, its hard to have a picture of a picture)

If you know anything about ultrasounds early on in pregnancy, you know that this early, the baby is very small and its pretty difficult to distinguish anything, but you can see the yolk sac which is the black hole looking egg in the picture. The interesting little tidbit was that there happens to be 2 little black hole looking eggs which means.....WE ARE HAVING TWINS!!!

Definitely a shocker for us! We were absolutely not expecting that little surprise and are still pretty much in shock, but absolutely elated for this little roller coaster ride we stepped on to. We are very hopeful that everything will be safe and smooth for our little ones to join our family! They are due to arrive sometime around the end of March....like the 22nd or so, but twins usually arrive early, so I am guessing late Feb, early March, but we will see when they feel like having a birthday. :) Because there are two sacs, it means they are fraternal (not identical) twins. so who knows what the flavor will be. Eldon and I have both had many dreams about twins and they typically involve and boy and a girl, so that is my guess, but we will see what Heavenly Father has in store.

So since there are two, I have pictures of each, but its really hard to make out. Hopefully we will have better ones to post in the future when they are bigger than a little dot on the screen!

So here is Baby A.

and here is baby B.

Everything looks good so far and my blood work and hormones are right on target. Although we couldnt hear the heart beats, we were able to see them flickering on the screen. I am doing ok. I already definitely feel a difference in my tummy (but its probably in my head). I have been fairly nauseous, but havent been sick yet. Mostly, I am absolutely exhausted and just focus on keeping my eyes open at work. So if we go a bit in between posts...thats why! But with the exciting news, i will try to keep the blog updated on events. And just for posterity, even though I dont like the picture (So bare with me) This is the belly shot at 6 weeks. I was already chubby before, but have now added a few pounds and have a swollen abdomen.

we have been busy

2009-07-03T14:31:00.018-07:00

And I have been a slacker!!! Sorry! Its really hard to have the desire to hop on the computer when you are on it all day long at work! And the weekends have been full of trips, family, and fun little projects. Usually, when I take a while to blog something, I cheat and just back date it. Well, I am just meshing all our recent adventures into one giant blog, so sorry if this is really long (and it is really long).... like I said, we have been busy!

Going back to May.....

As a quick update, Eldon's family names their cars. Not sure why exactly why, but they do, so we thought we would follow tradition. It took a little bit to come up with the name but then we found the perfect one! The Black Pearl!! :D

If you know me, then you know that Pirates of the Caribbean is like my all time favorite movie... All of them. And it just fit so nicely. It is black, its a treasure (pearl) and like Jack Sparrow, I have been after the pearl for a very long time!

Ok, now to the events

Our sweet little niece Olivia had her Honor Choir concert. She did an amazing job and even though I may be prejudice, she was by far the prettiest girl up there.

My Grandfather (my Dad's Dad) passed away.

It was very sad, but (and i know it sounds morbid) a little happy. My Grandpa had been sick for quite a while and was really suffering from Alzheimer's to the point where he learned his beloved wife had passed away several times a day as if it were the first time he had heard it. Can you imagine your heart breaking with the worst news ever multiple times a day. He also physically was to the point of being dependant on others for pretty much everything. My grandpa was too proud to ever want to live like that, and he missed my grandma dearly, so for that sake, it was time and i am glad he is reunited with the love of his life. We went to California for the funeral. It was really hard, but got even harder when I saw my uncles and my Dad and how hard it was on them. My Grandpa was a great man, and I love him very much. He will be greatly missed!

On a happier note, a week after the funeral, we made a trip up to Snowflake to see our 2 Nieces graduate from 8th grade.

In Snowflake, Jr. High graduation is almost as big of a deal as the high school, so we wanted to be there. The weather was kinda crazy that weekend. While we were driving up it was raining like crazy but the Black Pearl (my X-terra) made it through like champ.... Eldon's driving helped too. :P The graduation ceremony was awesome, my nieces looked beautiful and all was good....until we got a terrible phone call.... well i guess it could have been worse, but still not fun. Hollis (Eldon's brother) and his family were also on their way up to the graduation, but their vehicle lost control in the bad rain storm, hydroplaned and spun right into a guardrail, broke through it, and drove down the cliff into the ravine.

You can see from the pictures it was a scary drop!! Thankfully everyone was OK... A few bumps, bruises and frightened kids, but no permanent damage! The car was totalled completely, but everyone was OK!

Once everyone finally made it safely to Snowflake, the family fun began. Nothing special, just good times together. The kids always love jumping on the trampoline

and the newest form of entertainment is a dual bike that Eldon's dad built from 2 separate bikes.

He is pretty freakin talented! It was pretty fun to ride.

That same weekend (it was Memorial Day weekend so we had a 3 day weekend that we turned into 4 for the graduation) we went camping with my family.

We got to break in our new tent,(not pictured) and see how Zeus did in the wild. I definitely think he enjoyed it....He was very dirty and not my white clean little pup anymore.
The X-terra did great as well! I am still really loving it!

at the end of the May (yes all that above was in the month of May) was the Brett and Angela's twins (Payten and our angel baby Zoe) birthday. It is definitely a bitter sweet day! We had a blast celebrating with Payten. She was super cute, loved her cake and her gifts and she especially loved Zeus! She just wanted to hug and squeeze him all night. Then we went to the graveyard to remember and send our love to Zoe. It was really cute, we let Payten send the first balloon and told to her give it to Zoe and she walked right over to her grave and let the balloon go. She was trying to put it on the ground, and was a little sad when the balloon floated off, but she knew that when we spoke of Zoe, that is where she is. I think the picture of all the balloons looks really cool and really shows all the love we have for our angel baby and how much she is missed!

PS....doesnt Zeus look funny. He just chills and is content to be held.

Our Dog has class

2009-05-10T20:12:00.004-07:00

At least that is what our bumper sticker says. Zeus graduated from obedience school yesterday. They had a little ceremony of sorts. We got to take pictures with a little graduation hat on and they played musical paws...like musical chairs but you have to get your dog to do a trick before you can sit down. It was a little lame, but the classes were great! Zeus learned how to sit, lay down, shake, come, stay, do push ups (sit and lay down over and over again), and he is just a more obedient dog over all. We still have our struggles...like he wont leave one of my decorative pillow alone (he likes to eat the buttons) and rarely we will have an accident :( but it has been a long time. He still chews on fingers when he is really excited but he doesn't really try to hurt and he is getting better at that. We are taking a break from the classes for a bit, but the next class we are going to put him in is a trick class. He will learn to play patty cake, crawl, take a bow, and jumps and stuff. We are excited for that, but are glad to have our Saturdays without a class in the middle of the day. Good Job Zeus!

Bountiful Baskets

2009-05-09T20:23:00.002-07:00

Check out our latest find. Its a co-op for produce. It is called Bountiful baskets and it is all over the phoenix valley. Basically, this company buys produce wholesale because they buy in bulk for all the people that join. Some of it is fresh from local farms and other products are the same are you would get a store. This was our first week trying it, and we love it! It costs 16.50 each time you do it. (the first time there is an additional 3.00$ charge) Pick ups are on Saturdays and you select your location from about 30 different location choices. you go to the location at the designated time and they have 2 small round laundry baskets full of food ready for you. The food is different each time, but basically you get about $50.00 worth of fruits and veggies for 16.50. This week got a huge bag of potatoes, a huge bag of broccoli, a giant cauliflower, a carton of cherry tomatoes, 3 very large cucumbers, a carton of strawberries, about 4-5 oranges and 4-5 apples and 4-5 plums, 2 big peppers, a large package of ready made salad, and 2 bunches of bananas and a cantaloupe. I think that is everything. Anyways, it was a lot of stuff( ps. its hard to tell from the picture, but the laundry basket is a large one....it takes up half my table) which made us wonder if we would really eat it all. So far we are doing really good. We figure as long as we eat at least 16.50 worth of it, we are doing good. Everything is really tasty and helped us at least this weekend to eat healthy. If you want to check it out go to http://www.bountifulbaskets.org. I definitely recommend it!!!

New Neighbors

2009-05-03T20:19:00.002-07:00

So the house next door has been vacant since we moved in, unfortunately, we now have some new neighbors that we hate! Bees!

The home is still vacant, which makes this an even bigger problem. No one want to take responsibility to take care of it. Fortunately, we do live in a neighbor with an HOA, so they are giving the current owner 2 weeks to take care of it themselves or they are getting a bill from the exterminator that the HOA hires. Still not fun! We havent been stung yet, but last week when Eldon was trying to mow the lawn they kept bugging him! Yikes!

bye bye blue racer

2009-04-27T19:02:00.006-07:00

A bit to Eldon's dismay (not really), we said farewell to the blue racer. It was time. She had served us well and lived to see over 140,000 miles and was still running like a champ, but it was not to be. Eldon kissed her good bye and I said HELLO beautiful to my new X-Terra!!!!!!! I have been wanting an x-terra since high school basically and the chance came to trade in the altima and get a gently used 2007 x-terra with only 25,000 miles on it for basically the same monthly payment. We jumped at the chance and I couldn't be happier. It is beautiful black, has all the upgrades that i would want (especially the mirror with the compass....if you know me at all, you will know why :P) and it is my dream car! How many people can say that they have their dream car?!? Not many....but most people don't dream about an affordable family SUV. I am just so excited for all the benefits of having a big car again (not like the tracker was very big, but it felt like it.) And now we have room in the car for a baby seat.....all we need is the baby! that will be next step hopefully. I just love it! Thanks Eldon for letting me have it! I love you!

Yeah for Date Night

2009-04-20T20:24:00.005-07:00

Last weekend we went out for date night! Yeah, I love those! It has been a while since the two of us actually planned to go out together and do something. We eat out all the time, but this one was planned. Eldon went with me to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a new garbage can for the bathroom ( i have been wanting a nicer one that matched everything and the dog has been getting into the other one, so the new one comes with a cover) and if you know Eldon....this is huge. He hates goign in this store, and he did great. We went out to eat at Rubios and then it was off to see the much anticipated movie Monsters Vs. Aliens in 3-D at the IMAX theaters by our house. We had been really wanting to see it. It was really funny! We really enjoyed it and the glasses are just the icing on the cake ;)

Happy Birthday to Eldon

2009-04-20T20:10:00.005-07:00

Ok...so I am a little late posting this, but we have been busy. Eldon celebrated his 26th birthday this year on April Fools Day. Yep, my baby is an a fool! We decided to celebrate it right this year since last year he was in the hospital on his birthday. We had a bunch of friends and family over for some cake and ice cream.

It was really nice to see people we hadnt seen for a bit, and spend extra time with those we had seen. A bunch of our family was out of town, so they werent able to make it, but we had a great time eating yummy food, playing rock band, watching Zeus enjoy all the attention from the little ones and spending time with our loved ones.

Happy Birthday Eldon! I love you sweetheart with all my heart! I hope that you did have a very happy birthday and hopefully this year will be much happier than last!

The only way to ride

2009-03-15T19:19:00.004-07:00

We have been wanting to work out more, but we feel really bad leaving our dog in the evenings and on weekends since we are gone at work so much. So we were at Walmart and saw this cute little basket and thought we would try it out. He loves it. he just sits in it while we do all the work. It is pretty funny. I think he enjoys it and it accomplishes our purpose to work out and not leave the poor puppy home. The neighbors think it is pretty entertaining as well.

Why Mormons build temples

2009-03-15T19:11:00.005-07:00

The HBO series Big Love has stated that they are going to air a depiction of the ceremonies that take place in the Mormon temples. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and someone who has taken part in these sacred ordinances, I am beyond appalled and disgusted at the media udder lack of respect for religion and things that are sacred. It is very natural for people to be curious of something that they are not privilege to, however, it is not meant to be secret, it is meant to be sacred and special, and only for those who are worthy and ready to make and keep promises to our Heavenly Father. A main principle of the Church's teaching is to be loving and Christ-like, although I am sure everyone would love to just beat up the people to have created this disgusting mockery, the church has taken a difference stance and once again showed that would prefer to take the higher road and use this curiosity as an opportunity to teach and enlighten regarding the temple. This is a video that was recently created by the church regarding the purpose of our temples.

New Theme Song

2009-03-09T21:16:00.002-07:00

We thought this was hilarious! This is our new theme song because we have become a little chunky since we got married. You have to watch the whole thing. It is so funny!!

MIA

2009-03-08T19:21:00.003-07:00

Sorry that we have been missing from the blogging world for a few weeks. There really hasnt been a whole lot to blog about and i have been super tired lately, so sorry! I have gotten a few phone calls asking about how my new job is going. I made it through the first week of being an HR supervisor for the police department. It was definitely different from running a sports complex that is for sure, but it was good. The first week was full of pretty standard stuff....a lot of policy reading (especially since i am in HR now) and following people around trying to figure out what they all do. Everyone was very nice and very welcoming though. I walked in on my first day to flowers and a candy dish with M&Ms from my 2 supervisors to welcome me. I thought it was very sweet. My new staff are very nice as well. All 3 that i direct supervise and the additional 4 underneath one of them that fall in my chain of command are all older than me, which is no surprise....just makes it interesting! My old staff from the sports complex have called me several times telling me that i need to come back! I definitely enjoyed what i was doing, and i really appreciate being missed (its means i must have done a good job) but one of the things i am loving about this new job is the hours! I get to come home while it is still daylight outside. We had dinner with one of our friends this week during the week! Amazing! That hasnt happened in so long! and Eldon and I got to enjoy a weekend together! That part was really nice! All in all i think it will be a good change....so we will see.

As for Eldon, my dad pointed out that i never acknowledged that during all our stress and chaos of worrying about me losing my job, Eldon got a new job. He is an engineer for a custom furniture store, so he spends all day designing furniture in a CAD program of sorts (he can explain it better) but he is loving it. It is full time so the extra money is very handy and he really enjoys what is doing, he also had a great boss (my cousin) and gets to work with my brother, my mom, my dad, and my cousin (poor guy ;P) since they all work for the same company. He also has recently begun a new hobby of working on the backyard now that it is warming up. we finally went out and bought a lawn mower and he has been very diligent about watering, picking up weeds, picking out rocks, etc trying to get his lawn to not look so dead. It is still in the beginning stages since he just started this past week, but he already looks a million times better. Its not so scary to walk outside (you can actually see the ground). And since Eldon has been working on the lawn, he laid down some seed which means we have birds trying to eat the seed, so Eldon taught Zeus a new trick (sick em'). He is doing awesome with chasing the birds and as soon as he sees them, he bolts to get them off the lawn. Its pretty funny. Today he spent about hour outside just keeping them off. We are hoping maybe it will give him an outlet to not be so destructive while we are away at work.

Well that is our life in nutshell at the moment. Sorry we were MIA, we will try to stay more current.

My little boy

2009-03-08T19:14:00.005-07:00

Poor Zeus!....Again! We are just mean puppy parents, but our little boy (as cute as he is) has been growing up and starting to present some of the undesired male dog qualities that tend to come around his age....so we had him fixed! I know, like I said, we are mean, but its for the best hopefully. The vet did a great job. They fixed him, pulled out 4 teeth (baby teeth that were not coming out and the adult teeth were already in), and made him a cyber puppy (we had him microchipped). We are very glad everything turned out ok. He looked pretty funny though with the cone and his leg. Its kinda hard to see in the picture but they had to shave one of his legs to put in the IV, so one leg looks like a poodle. :P We will see if it works.

Lots of prayers and lie detectors

2009-02-13T20:46:00.004-07:00

Crazy title, but it fits for the past couple of crazy weeks. I will start from the beginning but its a pretty simple story. Back in November, I was told that the state of the City of Phoenix (where i work) budget was not good and to be prepared since i had very low seniority for pending cuts. Well I figured I would be proactive and started looking for a new job. I really liked my job but I have had terrible hours and it is over 40 miles from my house and there is alot of stress and alot of after work phone calls, etc. So I have been applying for jobs since them knowing that the potential Dooms day would be March 2! Well a couple of weeks ago, I still had not found a new job (even though I have applied for pretty much everything but Walmart (last resort)) and March 2nd was coming closer and closer. To top it off, I got the dreaded "phone call" from personnel for a meeting down town. Well the meeting was to tell me that yes, I was going to loose my job because of the budget cuts that would be happening. I was devastated!!!! We just bought a beautiful house and things were going so well and then...........disaster! So I came home and emailed all our family and said that we really needed some prayers because I was freaking out! Everyone was amazing. Even friends that knew of my situation said they were praying (even outside my faith, were just praying that something would work out). Well let me just testify that prayers work! The next day however, there was a bit of brighter news, the City told me that there was an opportunity for a job in personnel for the Police Department but I would have to interview and then i would have to pass the background check process which includes a polygraph test (lie detector), well the interview couldnt have gone better, I walked out with the job if I could pass the test. Well I have been a fairly good girl so I really wasnt too worried, until I got to the test. Can I just say that it is scary!!!! Every little thing that you have ever done like going potty on the side of the road (public exposure), fibbing to your boss about being late or being sick (dishonesty), taking a pen from work (theft), using illegal fireworks at the family 4th of July party (illegal use of fireworks), i mean everything....they even check your credit. So i was freaking out! Well, today, Heavenly Father answered our prayers soooooo much because I got the job officially!!!! We get to keep our house and continue to move forward with all our goals, and even better, this job is a Monday thru Friday, 8-5 kinda job so no nights, no weekends, no holidays and it is only downtown Phoenix so I dont have to drive near as far, and the job ends when it ends (no phone calls at all hours of the morning and night!) And it is a lateral move within the City, so my pay and my benefits stay the same! Can I just say that I am so very very very grateful for answers to prayers because I just dont know what we would have done. And thank you to everyone who offered prayers and good wishes on my behalf. It means so much! Thank you!!!!!

My poor Baby!

2009-01-15T14:37:00.005-07:00

Poor Zeus... he has mean parents. We got his rabies shots and left out of town...he developed a huge lump on his back from the shot and it is really tender (of course we didnt know until we got back)....we get back from our trip and take him to the vet for his other vaccinations..... and those makes him sick too. And then 3 days later, he is super sick again. The vet isnt sure what is wrong but at best....he ate some weeds or something that made him sick...at worst Parvo!!!! Scary!!!! He has to be on a special diet for a few days and is just resting (he doesnt even want to play....sad :(

My question is....what the heck are we going to go when we have kids.... we are dying watching our little puppy be so sick and so sad, i cant imagine watching a child!

My Sweet Little Grandpa

2009-01-15T14:33:00.004-07:00

Eldon and I got the chance to go to California to visit my sweet little Grandpa. He is getting pretty sick, so we wanted to make sure and visit before our opportunity passed. We didnt take too many pictures (pretty dumb of me, I know)...but we did get a cute one of 3 of us. We had a really great time hearing some old stories and spending time with my uncles, aunts and cousins in California. We also got the opportunity to go and visit my Grandmothers grave. I havent been there since her funeral, so it was nice to go and see her, especially after hearing my grandpa talk non-stop about the love of his life. I know he wont read this...but I love you Grandpa. Thanks for a wonderful trip!

I <3 Hobby Lobby

2009-01-15T14:25:00.003-07:00

I found Hobby Lobby about 4 or so years ago in Ohio with my best friend Erin. It was an amazing store with awesome deals..... well its better (at least than what i remember). There is now a Hobby Lobby in Arizona and it happens to be about 3 miles from my house (YEAH!!!). I just wanted to show off a couple of things i found there for my house! I love it!

Happy New Year....Bring on 2009

2009-01-04T20:21:00.002-07:00

This year we were bums a little bit in the fact that we didnt send out Christmas cards....this was for 2 reasons...first of all, life was just crazy and Christmas came and went before I even knew it...but second because i felt like we should send out Thank you cards instead and since i cannot thank every single person that has touched our lives in the past year, please consider this a personal thank you to everyone! When looking back at this year it is amazing to see the giant roller coaster it has been. I think it is safe to say that we have had some massive ups and downs this year. We have moved, searched for homes and been rejected (5 times), bought our first home, changed jobs, been in the hospital a combined total of 5 plus times (i feel like i am missing one or two in that count), both had surgeries, got a puppy, traveled to Vegas, Disneyland, Snowflake (on numerous occasions), totaled a car, bought a new car and been beyond blessed in all of these adventures. I simply cannot imagine having to endure all of these things both good and bad without the amazing gift of the friends and family that we have. almost every prayer has been answered through one of our many "angels on earth" and we are so grateful that you are part of journey and have hopped on to ride the roller coaster with us. I am sure we definitely do not take the time to say thank you enough for the blessing you are to us and for the fun memories, good laughs, tough cries, countless prayers, huge hugs, yummy dinners, help cleaning and thousands of priesthood blessings ;) that we have experienced with you all in the past year. I dont know if you can know the impact you have in our lives, even if we only keep in touch through these blogs or if we see you every day, you are important and have touched our lives and for that I say Thank you so very much!

Lil Jenny Got Hitched!!!

2009-01-03T22:10:00.004-07:00

My old roomie and and one of my best friends Jenny got hitched last week. I am so excited for her to get to join the old married lady club :P She absolutely deserves to be happy and she seemed really happy that day. I am sure i am posting this before her because I am pretty sure she is still on her honeymoon, but i thought it was fun.... So Congrats to Nate and Jenny! We wish you all the best and welcome to the Club! Its the best club to join!

Christmas Mania

2008-12-29T21:23:00.005-07:00

This was a very full and very happy Christmas! Christmas Eve we spent with my family. My Grandma, her husband, uncle and aunt and cousins came over to my parents house for some yummy super chicken rice and gravy (inside joke....but soooo good!!), opening a few presents, and playing some games on the Wii. My grandma even tried to play Wii bowling which was probably the most entertaining part of the evening, she just couldnt grasp the concept until right at the end, and then she was done.

We got to open one present on Christmas eve and as protocol goes it was ......Jammies! you gotta love Christmas Jammies, at least I do!

Doesnt he look cute!

The next morning we woke up really early to a phone call from our niece and nephew. They were told that when the first number on the clock was a 5 (yes 5 in the am) they could get up and open presents.....so we got a call at about 5:03 or so, saying that their clock said 5 and it was time to open presents, so we bundled up, grabbed the dog and went over to watch them open their presents. It has been tradition for Eldon and I to visit family with kids on Christmas morning and watch them open presents....it just helps to bring the excitement for the day.

They kiddos were so cute opening their gifts and were super good about taking their turns. I remember having such a hard time waiting for my brothers to open theirs! After that we went back to my families house to see what Santa brought. We were expecting the traditional "im gettin nuttin for Christmas" deal but Santa delivered again ( apparently he is recession proof ;) We got some wonderful gifts and had a blast playing with them with my siblings.

Wake up....Santa came!! Ha Ha

I felt like a little kid again! Santa even remembered Zeus and brought him a big bone and a laser light to play with. Just Watch....

Then we made the trip up to Snowflake to spend the rest of the weekend with Eldons Family. We had a blast with the White Elephant Gift exchange, and there is never a shortage of good food, great family and lots of laughs. Unfortunately, i was dumb and didnt take any pictures in snowflake, but we had such a wonderful time! Thank you to everyone for our great gifts and even better family memories! Merry Christmas!

Disneyland Family Adventure

2008-12-15T22:52:00.006-07:00

Our Family just got back from a 3 Day family reunion at Disneyland and California Adventure. It was a lot of fun! My little brother and younger cousins hadnt been for a very long time (or ever) so it was really neat to see their faces and my parents and other siblings had never been to California Adventures so that was new to them. I had been to both a few years ago with work, but there were still a few things that I got to do that I had never done.... Tower of Horror, Toy Story midway games, Speaking with Crush the turtle (that was awesome!!), the haunted mansion (changed for Christmas to the nightmare before Christmas), and the Finding Nemo submarine ride. My favorite has always been and will always be Pirates of the Caribbean...it was fun looking for Jack Sparrow in the rides...he pops up a bit, but they really didnt change much of the ride. I also really liked Crush the turtle, the Toystory midway games, and California Screamin. It all was a very good time and I am really glad we got to see our family. I wish it could have been longer and we could have spent more time together, but we had a lot of fun! Thanks Grandpa for making it all possible! We love you!

Zeus also had an adventure while we were gone in California. He went and stayed with our good friends Jason and Kristy and their pup Bella. He played with a bunch of other dogs and got to wrestle and tease. But at first....he wanted to go to California with us and put himself in my suitcase. I thought it was so funny! We missed him very much, but are so grateful to awesome friends who took such good care of our baby while we were gone. Thanks Jason and Kristy!

Wii Want to play

2008-12-07T21:15:00.003-07:00

My parents recently got the Wii video game system with Wii Sports. Its pretty fun. Eldon and my lil bro Christopher were trying out the boxing. The pictures dont do it justice, but its pretty funny to watch. We also took some informal family pics with our new addition Zeus ( and with my short hair). They turned out ok, i guess. We will have to try again though with a better background other than my parents couch. Oh well....Fun times on a Sunday evening.

Its Christmas Time at the Larson House...

2008-12-06T22:11:00.006-07:00

And we are decorating our very first house....We need a bigger tree, but we still like it! Here are some of our Christmas decorations including the first gift under the tree. We are still working on the outside. Its a bit more difficult than we first imagined...but those pics to follow soon. Enjoy! I did!

The Emperors new clothes

2008-12-06T21:58:00.005-07:00

We went up to see Eldons family in Snowflake the weekend after Thanksgiving and just had Zeus clipped-- well they cut him really short, we were afraid he would freeze so yes....we are now people who have a dog ....with clothes....but look how cute and dashing he looks in them.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T21:39:00.002-07:00

Ok, So I am a little late with this post....i have been sick and we have been busy, but I just couldnt pass up the opportunity to publicly thank my Heavenly Father for all the amazing blessings he has given us and to remind myself that despite quite a rough year of 2008, We should never complain nor be ungrateful for we truly are blessed. So....I am reminding myself....in a generalized list. I thought about naming each thing individually, but my family takes up more than 50, so i will keep it simple for any readers, but mostly this is for me.

I am so grateful first of all for my savior, and for his amazing sacrifice so that we could repent and have the opportunity to return our Father in Heaven. I have done some stupid things in my life, and have learned the meaning of repentance and am humbled at the thought of the things the savior suffered for my mistakes, my sorrows, my pains. We do not know such love and I am so grateful for his gift and for the continuous gifts of love he gives in the great big and the small and simple things in my life.

I am so grateful for my amazing husband. I am absolutely head over heels in love and cant believe i have such a wonderful man to be my eternal companion. He is handsome, loving, sweet, loving, caring, helpful, patient, stubborn (when i need it), thoughtful, smart, hard working, funny, playful, and my everything. Eldon I love you!

I am grateful for the wonderful family that i inherited when I married Eldon. The Larson family is beyond words. It is crazy and perfect at the same time. Everyone gets along and loves being together and spending time together. We always have a blast together and I am so grateful to be a part of such a happy family. I never wanted to be an "in-law" nor to have any, and with this family, you are family just the same and that is exactly how it should be.

I am also so very grateful for my own amazing family, for the chaos, and the calm. I love the memories I have of growing up and the fun I had with my own brothers playing "super stef" and "super boog" on the trampoline. I love that we are still good friends now and have a great time together. I love that my parents are always there to support me in good times and especially in bad. I am grateful for the person they helped me become.

I am grateful for amazing friends who taught me so many valuable life lessons and who continue to love and stay in touch in various ways (yeah for blogs!). I wish we could spend more time together but I cherish all our time and our memories together.

I am grateful for the blessing of 2008- especially for our health. It has been a rough year healthwise but we are still here and probably better for all our trials this year and yet through everything, we have a beautiful new house, an adorable new puppy, a great new car and hopefully another new car shortly! We both have work right now and are able to pay our bills and even donate a bit to those less fortunate than us.

And From all our trials this year, I am especially grateful for the gift of the priesthood. We have had numerous priesthood blessings this year, and I dont think that we would be where we are without the amazing gift and blessing of the priesthood and the gospel as well.

And just incase i missed anything or anyone important....Thank you for the gift you are in our lives and the blessing and joy you bring.

Santa visited the Larson house early this year

2008-11-17T11:06:00.005-07:00

Introducing the cutest little pre-Christmas present ever.....The mighty Zeus!!!

He he. We have been wanting a puppy for a very long time, but wanted to wait until we had a house with a yard, well we got one, and found the most adorable little boy online. He is maybe about a foot long and weighs just over 1 pound, which is mostly fur. He is just a big puffball. He has such a wonderful personality. He loves to cuddle, he doesnt bark unless he is playing and even then it takes a lot to get him riled up enough to make noise. He is great with children and other dogs and is just so freakin adorable. He would be perfect if he was totally potty trained, But we cant have perfection right away I guess. He is close though.

Congratulations Divers

2008-11-17T10:59:00.003-07:00

For the past couple of months, I have been coaching 2 different High School Diving Teams- Red Mountain and Skyline. It has been a blast to be back in the diving world (blast from the past :P) But it was alot of fun and I had some really great kids. Last week was the state finals and I had 3 divers make it to the state competition. Ryan placed 7th, which is awesome for a sophomore, and two of my senior girls from Skyline, Lauren and Khazia placed 3rd and 15th. They did awesome and I am very proud of them, and proud to have played a small part in them getting to this point.

Bye Bye Blue....Hello Beautiful

2008-11-17T10:49:00.003-07:00

Before.....

After.....

We got new granite counter tops!!! No more ugly blue (sorry Donna :P ) I am so excited. It has made such a difference in the kitchen! Now I just have to stain the cabinets and the kitchen will be beyond beautiful!!!! I just wanted to say thanks to Valerie and my Scot! They hooked me up with my beautiful new counter tops!! If anyone wants granite- Epic Renovations has the best stuff!! I would definitely recommend them to anyone!

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-11-02T22:40:00.005-07:00

Happy Halloween Everyone!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween. I really enjoy this holiday but for the past couple of years we have been bums (not literally, bums as in, not really done much). This year my cousin August and his wife Melissa threw a Halloween party. It was a lot of fun. They had a costume contest (we were in second place by 1 vote), yummy food, a donut eating contest ( my sister Nauni won for the girls ), bowling with pumpkins, and just some fun times. Eldon and I were Hercules and Meg from the Disney version of Hercules,

but everyone thought we could be the couple from 300....didnt see it, but I will take their word for it. (Check out my hot hubby!! )

Nauni and my cousin Melissa were scary fairies

and my Brother and Cousin August were MAC and PC from the commercials.

I thought it was pretty creative. We had a blast hanging out with family and meeting new friends out on this side of town, but we were a little sad not to be at our house for trick or treaters for the first year....oh well. This year, Halloween was for us and we had a blast! Hope Halloween was happy for you all as well!

My First Time

2008-11-02T22:32:00.004-07:00

Lame, I know, but yes this year was the first year that I carved a pumpkin all by myself. Eldon did give me some good pointers, but I did it! This is definitely a tradition that I want to keep. It was a lot of fun, but I had no idea that pumpkins dont last very long. :( It didnt even make it to Halloween. Sad, oh well. I am still proud of myself. Eldons pumpkin is the transformers symbol for those of you who arent in the know. and mine is eating the small pumpkin. I was laughing so hard carving the small pumpkins scared face that i think it turned out more like a smile ( or at least that is what my grandma saw when she "oh its cute" ha. oh well..... Happy Halloween!!

Back from the Dead

2008-11-02T22:16:00.005-07:00

Hopefully!!! Many of you may not know, we basically died (at least from our social lives) for the month of October. Eldon had his surgery to remove his giant kidney stone and then had to deal with a stint for a week (not fun, but he was a good sport). He kept me company while I was on bed rest- and no not for a happy reason like a baby.....for a stupid cyst that burst and caused internal bleeding and so much pain that I thought I was going to die, and resulted in my first ever hospitalization. I never want to go through that again!!! It was absolutely miserable. Hopefully that is all behind us. We are feeling much better and back to work and school and starting to pick up on some of the things that dropped off....such as the blog. (So sorry for the long time with no posts :) One of the good thing that came out of all of this was the great company we had. I am so grateful to Mom and Dad Larson for coming to our rescue when we needed some extra help (its no good to have both of us out of commission). We also had Mack and Valerie out for a few hours to visit and see our new place. They brought their dog and I thought it was so funny.

the dog (Damage....yes that is the name) apparently was cold at our house because he snuggled right up to my heating pad and blanket....please ignore the ugly pictures of me, i just had been released from the hospital, but i think it is funny.

We also had Misti's family out. They entertained us with Rock Band. It was a riot. The kids were really good!!!! Grant Man rocked it on the guitar

and Olivia hit every note singing.

Issac really liked the drums and liked that Uncle Eldon helped him win!!

Thanks for playing with us guys!! It was a lot of fun. We had some other wonderful visitors as well, but I didnt take any pics. Sorry! Anyways, that was our October basically. No fun...hopefully the rest of the year goes much better.

Eldons Bullet

2008-10-05T15:50:00.005-07:00

My poor Eldon-We spent a good chunk of Saturday in the Emergency Room. Between the 2 of us, we just cant seem to stay out of the hospital. Eldon woke up with sharp pains on his right side. About 3 years ago he had kidney stones and it felt similar to that....but worse. The ER got us right in and drugged Eldon up pretty good....It turns out he has a 9mm (yes the size of a bullet) kidney stone. They said he had a 10% chance of passing it on his own, so we will have to have some kind of procedure to remove the stone next week (hopefully sooner than later). Poor Guy!!! On the bright side- we got to watch conference in the hospital room (which i would have been at work and missed. Ha)

Its Official!!

2008-10-05T14:55:00.005-07:00

We are big adults now! We have a house!!!!!!! I know I posted that we had an accepted offer, but now we have keys and are in the process of moving in (all our stuff is here thanks to our wonderful family, but its not all put away yet-hence still in the process). We are loving all the room-although we have a lot of stuff and it is amazing how quickly we are filling up this house (Where did we put it all in the apartment???) We love having a garage! But now have to remember to make sure and not just drive away with the garage door still open :P, and our new appliances are bringing great joy as they work sooooo much better than our junky apartment ones! We have already begun the many projects that we have lined up. First was painting....man oh man is there alot of walls to paint. Thanks to the amazing help of alot of family and friends all the wall are painted. There are quite a few touch ups that need to be done-but for the most part-no white walls :) I dont really have pictures yet just because there is just color on the walls but no decorations just yet....We have also have embarked on changing some of the flooring from the nasty vynal to tile. Thanks to our amazing brother and sister Justin and Donna, we were able to put in beautiful tile floor in the entryway and kitchen.
Here is the before.....

During

And After (mind you, i still have some more work to do in the kitchen- and the tile looks different, but it is just different lighting)

The next projects are decorating, changing the cabinets, and getting the granite countertops that I am so excited for. They should be in in a couple of weeks :) Yeah for home makeovers!!!