Cars, Cars and Shop til you drop!

The reason the whole gang came into town was for the Winter Nationals Drag Racing event. The boys (Eldon, Brett, and Mack) including Derrick and Beau all went out to check out the cars! Boys are so funny! They come home saying how amazing it was, then....they say something like this "you would have hated it! We were so close you could smell the special gasoline and the burning tires. It was like being sprayed in the face with pepper spray. And we had to wipe the burnt tire off our faces". Sounds like fun! Well for them anyways, they loved it and already started planning next year. Meanwhile, I am so grateful for a sister in law like Angela who like me, would much rather go shopping then wipe the burnt tire off her face. So after I finished working in the morning, we went and checked out the new mall off the South 202. For those of you who havent been there.....you definitely need to go! I didnt think i would be too impressed other than it being new, but i generally prefer indoor malls to outdoor malls in Arizona. Well, we will see how I feel in July, but this weekend, the weather was perfect to be outside and this mall is awesome! It is like a cute little downtown shopping district. Its not a strip mall, its a whole little town with different streets full of shops. We stayed there all afternoon. I was very good, but not great. I broke down and bought a new shirt and some super cute new shoes. I found this amazing watch at Buckle, but i resisted. I might have to go back and get it, because i absolutely loved it, but for now, ill be strong. After the mall we hit Target. I think we almost spent as much time at Target. ha ha, just kidding but I do love all the things in Target. Say what you want about the companies morals. I dont like their return policies but i love their products! Anyways, Angela and I topped off a wonderful shopping day with Gecko Grill, so you know i was in heaven! We had a ton of fun, so much so that i honestly could barely move on Sunday. My back was killing me! So we definitely shopped til we dropped. It was actually pretty funny on Sunday. Eldon got a terrible sun burn (on his face). You can completely see the outline of his sunglasses. It is so funny (except that he burned his face really bad) but he wouldnt let me take any pictures like I wanted. So here is Eldon with raccoon face and me who can barely move. You know we had fun when we end up like this! haha! Thanks for the fun guys! It was a blast and we definitely have to do it more often!!!

Cosmic Bowling :)

Brett and Angela and Mack came down for the weekend to play! It was so much fun to have a house full of family! And we didnt sleep at all! Friday night, we went out and got fat at Outback Steakhouse and then went to Brunswick for some good ol fashioned cosmic bowling. I havent been bowling in I dont know how long!!! My fingers totally were sore, but it was so much fun! Mack was pretty amazing but my hubby kept the competition close. The first game I pretty much stunk the place up, but Brett kept me company at the bottom of the scoreboard. However.....in the second game I actually bowled a TURKEY! yes, thats right, me, bowled XXX :) I was very proud of myself!!! We rocked and bowled the night away until about midnight and then came home and Angela showed me how she keeps her blog oh so cute! Thanks so much Angela!!! You're the best! We all had to get up really early Saturday morning so we all went on about 3-5 hours of sleep, which makes for an interesting day for sure. It was so much fun to say the least! We love when they come to stay and play!! Oh and PS apparently Mack is going to have the next Larson Baby!!! Since he didnt have a date, he made his stomach look like he was bowling for 2! ha ha!

GRRRRRRR!!

Ok, this one is a venting one, but just for a second. I dont know if i am just a freak, but i really dont like it when i do everything in my power to make something go a certain way and it really is possible to make that thing happen and then it doesnt and i have no way to change it. Let me give you an example. So we are trying to buy a house right now (we still dont know yet, that is not what the example is, so please still keep your fingers crossed for that). But, we are trying to be good, and save and planning for extra money that should come in....like tax refunds. Last year we got a nice chunk of change from the government, mostly because we paid for Eldons tuition. Well, this year we were expecting even more because we spent more on school, so we had our hopes up for a nice refund to help out with furnishing this house we keep dreaming of getting. We made sure we didnt take any deductions and put down all the numbers you are supposed to put down so you are in the clear. So did we manage to get the nice refund we were hoping...........A BIG FAT NOPE!! not only that, but we owe a nice chunk of change instead. Really not sure how that happened, especially considered all that we did do, and how much taxes we really did pay!!!!! GRRRRRR!! and here is my other complaint as well as an FYI for those of you who care, or have paid attention to any blogs regarding my health issues. Well it has only been about a month and half since my surgery. I had a recent check up because the pains were totally back and not even close to what they should be. I was a little concerned, but wasnt sure if it was supposed to be normal or what. Again....A BIG FAT NOPE! My body just doesnt like me. So it that short time frame, my body decided to grow another cyst to cause problems. The Doctor says that shouldnt even be possible with all the other fun stuff. So not really a big deal, but it just means i dont get to stay medicine free like I had hoped. I would love to let my body do the normal, natural thing, but for me the normal natural thing appears to be bad. Oh well....K, im done venting. Just needed to do something!

Happy Valentines Day!!!!

My Husband is amazing!!! I wish that would cover it, but its just not quite enough. The past few years that we have been together, we have taken a "break" from Valentines Day. There has always been something else big either right before or right after so we didnt really do anything. Well this year it didnt seem like there was going to be anything around it, so I said I wanted to have fun and just do something. Well a few weeks later, life got crazy like it always does, and I have been busy with work, and all my projects and lots of friends and family and just couldnt come up with anything good to get Eldon. So I told him not to worry about it because I didnt know what to do for him. Well....My wonderful husband, didnt let that change his mind and got all sorts of cute for today. He woke up early (even though he didnt have to work today and could have just stayed in bed) and even kept waking me up for work. You would have thought it was Christmas or something! So i come out ready to go to work and I see this super cute puppy on the table! (PS the words on the dog say "I Wuff You")

I thought that was so cute, but then when i looked closer, the dog was holding a very fun shaped box. He went to Jared!

haha, we always enjoy saying that, but he really did, and got me this beautiful journey diamond necklace. I thought it was so beautiful and especially significant considering some of the things we have coming up in life. Thank you Eldon for being amazing! And not just because of the great gift. You did do a fabulous job, but you really are the gift! I love you!!! Thank you for being my husband! Happy Valentines Day Babe!!

The Hunt

So we have been hoping to get out of apartment living for a while now. The market has been absolutely nuts!! so we were content to move into bigger and better apartments for much less mortgages and just wait. Well if you know me at all, you know that I am not a good waiter. I might be patient with people, but I am not patient with progress. So as nice as our little condo is, it is not a house! So with the change in the market and our lease soon to expire, we have been out on the hunt to find something to fit our needs now but still meet our future families needs as well, without braking the bank! Well Step 1- was accomplished by driving around all the of the East Valley for hours and hours and hours checking out over 150 homes to determine whether they neighborhood was good, the location worked for us, and how much work the house really needed! It is amazing how tricky listings online can be! So that was a pretty exhausting step, but worthwhile. From those more than 150 homes came about 35 or so that were deemed worthly of a second look. Meaning they would advance to Step 2- the walk through. This part has always been fun to me, however there was just one problem....our Realtor was broken (if you dont know what I am talking about go back a few posts to my dads knee problems). Well, he is finally able to kind of walk, so we spent 1 Saturday and tried to see about 6 houses on my favorites list.



Well, we were only able to get into 3 due to wrong combos on locks and not happy tenants, etc. But we went to look at my #2 fav house and .....We Loved It!!!

It wasnt perfect....but pretty dang close and the things that werent perfect, were just style and taste issues, the house was great! It is so cute and not too far (Sossaman and Baseline) and just happens to be only 2 streets away from Eldons big sister Misti! We decided it would be really fun to live so close to family and have them in our ward. We would also be in my cousin August and Melissa's ward, so even better. So because we loved it so much and Boys do not enjoy the walk through stage as much as girls (or at least Eldon doesnt enjoy it as much as me), we decided this place might work for us. So we moved on to Step 3- the offer... (scary music enter here) So we spent this whole past week gathering info and past tax docs,etc to get everything put together and will submit our offer tomorrow morning. Then we move on to Step 4 which i like the least.....the waiting part! Again, not so great on the waiting and not knowing part, but it is very exciting. We are really hoping they accept our offer, but we are trying not to get our hopes us. This house would be great, but there were still lots of houses on our list that we didnt even get to, so this process may start all over and thats ok....hopefully somthing is out there for us. We will keep you posted though! In the mean time....remember those fingers and keep them crossed :)

The amazing flying Brayton!

Our friends Dusty and Brittney came over for dinner Sunday night. They have a super cute little boy whose new favorite thing to do is flip! So when he came in and saw our new love sac, he hopped right up. So we had to take a few pics of his amazing tricks! But, he is so little and so quick, that my pics were just of his landings :) It was pretty funny though. They have better footage of his death defying acts on their blog. If you want to see something funny, click on the link to the side. Good Job Brayton! Honestly, this kid has no fear!!!

Love Sac Baby!

Our friends Drew and April are moving into a new house and decided they didnt have room for their huge love sac. I now realize why....it takes up our whole living room!!! So they called up and asked if we wanted it. We have always coveted their love sac. it is so comfy and just perfect for cuddling. Literally my answer was "heck yes!" so they brought it right over that night! k, this thing is so big that it took both Drew and Eldon pushing and pulling with all their might to get this monster through the front door! It weighs more than 75lbs and I no longer have a living room, but it is more than worth it! Thanks guys!!! We love our Love Sac!

Our Beloved Prophet: President Hinckley

Prophetic Passing

I imagine he's running to Marjorie now,

Yes, running, not waving his cane.

I see him embracing his father and mother

While they keep repeating his name.

I see him now meeting his forebears,

Brother Brigham and Joseph are there.

Sweet reunion of prophets,

united by service

That only such noble men share.

I see him embraced by the Savior

While Father says, "Good and well done.

So faithful in stalwart endurance, I welcome

My noble, most excellent son.

"I then hear the ripples of laughter

As he says the reception's just fine,

But he hopes that he'll get an assignment or two

Since there's no need to waste any time.

I can hear his clear voice in the stillness

At the close of this sweet Sabbath day,

Have faith and move forward

there's work to be done.

President Hinckley would want it that way.

Anna M. MolgardJanuary 27, 2008

Our cute little prophet is gone! It is so crazy to think that we wont here him speak and see him wave his cane at this upcoming conference. President Hinckley was the Prophet for most of my life, and is really the only one I can remember. He was so fun to watch. I had the wonderful opprotunity while attending BYU to attend at least one session of conference every time. When the cameras are off, (and even when they are on), he just shines with personality and warmth. He was always entertaining but still would give me goose bumps by the spirit that surrounded him. I will miss him very much, but I am so excited for him to be reunited with his beloved wife and I have always love President Monson. He is amazing as well and you just feel the love that he has for the members of the church! The Church is True and there is no doubt that these men and all before them were called of God!