Happy Birthday Payten and Zoe

It always amazes me how fast time really does go by. It has already been a year since Brett and Angela had their beautiful baby twin girls. A day that started out so happy and full of hope, ended with devastating news that Zoe would not make it. Heavenly Father was calling her home. As tragic as that night was, it was truly filled with the spirit, and strengthened an entire family's testimony of the Plan of Salvation. This life is not the end, and that thanks to the restoration of the priesthood, families can be together forever. This 1st year celebration was filled with similar emotions from their first day on Earth. Payten had a beautiful birthday party. I doubt she knew it, but she was incredibly happy to have so much family around and to get so much attention. She especially loved all the balloons. She got yummy candy and fun toys, and then got to chow down on the cupcake!

This little one is beyond cute and adorable, and just like her big sister, knows exactly how to work it, and has everyone completely wrapped around her little finger!

Following the fun and exciting birthday party, the family gathered together to send our birthday wishes to the Heavens to our little Zoe girl. Brett and Angela keep the graveside decorated and looking so beautiful showing that Zoe is absolutely loved and remembered. "Zoe's Garden" as they call it looked especially nice for her birthday. We were so glad to be able to go to Show Low to be a part of such a special day, and to give our love and support to our brother and sister and their family. It was very sad, but also an incredibly sweet sentiment. I definitely felt the spirit there as we bonded together as a family. I really liked this new tradition as a way to remember Zoe and have a physical, emotional and spiritual way to show she is remembered, missed and loved as we send our wishes her way. Each family member wrote their birthday wish and tied it to a balloon, and sent it on its way. Happy Birthday Girls! We sure love you!

Im definitely spoiled now!

On Friday, we got to take a little trip in Nolan's (Eldon's oldest brother) plane. He did us a huge favor by letting us bum a ride up to Show Low for some family activities. We would have had to drive up and back (2 1/2 hours each ways) in one day. That drive really isnt that bad, but its lots of curvy Mountain rodes and just alot of time in the car! It took less than 45 minutes by plane! It was so nice! Eldon loves airplanes so that made it even more fun for him. We flew over Roosevelt Lake so we had an awesome view! Because the plane is so small, it was a little bumpy, but Nolan is a pro so it was actually pretty smooth! I will definitely take the turbulence of the plane over driving those curvy roads anyday! We are totally spoiled now. If we ever have the money, this is definitely going to be something we look into!
Nolan and Michele-It really meant alot to us to be able to be in Show Low for the family activities, and we wouldnt have been able to make it, if you had not been so generous towards us. Thank you so much! We love you guys!

Number 25

Congratulations to Misti and Ryan. They had a baby boy on Tuesday evening. Baby Seth is number 25 for nieces and nephews! He is so cute and definitely marked. He totally looks like his big brothers and sister. And he is so chubby! Misti had to show us his buff arms. He already not only has guns....he has bombs! Hehe, it makes me excited to see another Larson baby come out with chubby cheeks! There has yet to be one that hasnt been chubby, so that means ours will too hopefully. I love it! Congrats guys....he's adorable!

Its Sumo Time Baby!

Saturday was a family BBQ put on by Justin and Donna to celebrate the boys graduation. Since Nolan and Michele still had the sumo suits from the party the night before, they brought it to the BBQ for some good ol fashioned family wrestling. It was an absolute riot. Everyone got into it.

Even the little ones that really couldnt fit in the suit got a turn with a little help. You can see Jade in the suit....its bigger than she is!
Its good to know, even when you look like an Umpa Lumpa (sp??) That you can still get some love :P

Donna and I battled it out to the death....well really to the exhaustion. It was so much fun, but it is super tiring. We coudnt even get up on our own, luckily, we had a million kids around to help us out. Ha ha.

One of the funniest parts had to be Shelly's song. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. It was so much! Sorry its sidewiays, I forget that i cant fix video! Oh well, Its still funny!

Ride em'

Our family really knows how to throw a party! Following graduation, pretty much the whole graduating class and our family went over to Nolan and Michele's for a big bash! They definitely out did themselves. They had sumo wrestling suits, a photobooth, a media room, karaoke, picture slideshows, ping pong, WII, and....the best part, they rented a mechanical bull! When I heard that, i figured it would be this wimpy little carnival ride thing....nope, the real deal! Our family had a blast on it! Eldon unfortunately couldnt participate in the activities because of his broken wrist, and my back was killing me from the drive and sitting at the graduation, so i wimped out....but we had plenty of family that represented. I couldnt resist getting some video! Blake was the first to ride since it was his party.

Jessica was brave enough to hop on as well

and Mack tried to show everyone how it was done.....tried! Just kidding, he was actually really good!

Lobo Graduation

We are so proud of our nephews Blake and Rett! They graduated Friday night from Snowflake High School! It is crazy that they are already done with highschool and will be going off for missions and college soon! They can't wait to leave the nest, but I think their parents (especially their moms)wished they would wait just a bit a longer. It was really great to be up with family to celebrate the advancement of these two fine young men. The ceremony was very nice, but was a pretty typical highschool graduation (at least this year we didnt see anyone wearing skin tight zebra stripes spandex-trust me, you dont want to know). We were more excited to support our nephews. I do have to say that although we were smashed in the gym due to the weather issues, I am glad they moved the ceremony indoors instead of keeping it outside in the freezing cold rain! The Larson Family has a fun tradition for their graduates. Mama Larson makes the coveted lobo quilt for all her graduates. These boys are the first of (at least) the 3rd generation of graduates from this school in our family. Its kinda fun for me as well, because I went to Chandler High School and we were the wolves and were blue and white, so I fit in the family nicely (as will some of our other nephews that live in Chandler). Anyways....Congrats Rett and Blake! We are very proud of you and excited for what lies in store for you both in the future!

Did I miss something????

So let me just check....May, yep,

May 22, yep,

In Arizona, yep

not dreaming, nope....

It freakin snowed in May....in Arizona! Not kidding. And actually within the same week of having record breaking heat! ha. Only in Arizona I guess. Eldon and I were driving up to Snowflake for our nephews' highschool graduation. On Monday in the valley this week, it hit record breaking highs of 110 degrees, but Thursday, it was snowing! It didnt snow in Snowflake, but it snowed on the Rim, and a bunch in Show Low which isnt very far from Snowflake. We were very surprised, and actually a little disappointed. We were planning on heading out of the valley to get out of the crazy heat and up to the beautiful nice weather, and we get freezing cold. While back home, its 80 and breezy....figures! We just couldnt pass up getting proof, so this was on our drive up to Snowflake.

So you think you can dance

I absolutely love this show!!!! I enjoy American Idol every once in a while, but "So you think you can dance" is pretty much my favorite show! Its the only one I will tape if I have to miss it. The new season just started this week and I have been waiting since the show ended last year for it come back! During the auditions (just like in American Idol), people really think they can dance, even though they are completely delusional! It is a riot!~ But there are amazing dancers that audition as well. Watching them makes me miss dancing so much! It also helps in the motivation area, because it makes me want to dance, and I have these awesome dance workout DVDs, perhaps I will actually use them. Ha Ha....perhaps. Anyways, I just had to say that I love this show. If you want to know why, just tune in to Fox on Wednesday and Thursday nights from 7-9 (right now they are 2 hours, normally only 1) to find out. I'm sure you'll be hooked too!

Finding lost friends

I just have to say that I am so glad we have done this blog. Besides being the closest thing to keeping a journal that I have ever done other than my scrapbooking, it has been a wonderful way to find and stay in touch with friends. It is always sad when near and dear friends move away or move on with life. It is so hard to keep in touch with people when they are not a part of your every day life. Because of blogger, we have been able to find friends that I hadnt seen since college and even since high school graduation! Sad, I know. It kills me that I actually let people that I care for very much slip out of my life. This past week, I have found about 5 more friends (thanks to blog surfing). I am so excited to hear from them, and not just through one of those updated emails (which i do enjoy as well), but to have a chance to feel like part of their lives through the pictures, videos and stories. So thanks friends for finding me, and for being found!

Been Busy

This past weekend has been a very full one- so much fun but very full!

Saturday:

Eldon and I were split up trying to cover all the fun events. Eldon was celebrating Autumn Hardy's 1st Birthday (Drew and Aprils baby girl). We absolutely cant believe she is already 1! This past year really has flown by.

I was hosting a baby shower for my best Erin. She had a baby girl in February, but they didnt want to know the sex of baby until she was born and she arrived almost 2 months early so we waited for the shower until Abby was strong enough to be around people. It was alot of fun and it is always a perk to have the baby there to coo over.

Saturday night was spent helping out my sister in law Shireen by making a retirement gift for her friend. It is a fellow teacher of Shireens and the other teachers got together and made up a cute limerick to go on the sign

Eldon spent Saturday night registering for summer and fall classes! YEAH! his favorite thing. not so much, but he discovered that he only has 1 more semester or so until he will have his Associates degree in Business. We were very excited at that discovery! Good work honey!

Sunday:

Sunday morning started out with us attending my parents ward. It was nice to be able to say "Happy Mother's Day" first thing, but that wasnt why we went. Eldon's brother Hollis and his family are also in my parents ward. Our nephew Brady just turned 12 last week and was being ordained to a deacon. Eldon's parents came down from Snowflake to be there as well. So we were able to see both Moms at the same time and support Brady. Eldon was also able to participate in the ordination which is always a neat experience.

Next was on to another ward building. My best friend Erin (whom the baby shower was for the day before) had her little girl blessed. It was a very sweet blessing, especially since it was Mother's day! It also gave me the chance to see some other friends that I hadnt see for a while. After the blessing was pictures and an open house.

Following the open house, it was on to my parents house for Mother's Day dinner. It is always nice to spend time with family and eat yummy food that i didnt have to cook (my job was dessert). We also got to chat with my little brother in Honduras. I can't believe he has been gone this long, but this was his last phone call before he comes home. He should be back either August or September depending on if they release him early to start school, or if he finished his 24 months. He is doing awesome and really didnt sound homesick at all until we started to have to get off the phone and he wasnt quite ready to go. It was a pretty interesting phone call....if you know my little brother at all, you would know that he is like super obsessed with video games. He almost didnt graduate from high school on time because he spent too much time playing video games and not enough time doing homework. My older brother and Eldon were teasing my little brother about the new video games out and this is my little bro's reply "im sorry guys, but video games are just not a priority for me anymore, i am not just going to come home and sit around and waste time playing all the time". I think he shocked Eldon and my brother pretty good. Honestly, he shocked me too. Well see how long that attitude holds up, but for his sake, i hope for a while.

Things are definitely not going my way!

I really shouldn't complain because I really am so very blessed and my problems are really minuscule compared to others. But, it always seems like when it rains, it pours!!! So yes, this is a complaining post, but also informational about what is going on, but you were warned!

so first bad news....is the house. We didn't get this one either. I am super bummed because we thought we were totally in and going to get it and it was a huge house and way cheaper than all the other ones. We were on top for bids, but the bank decided that they are going to not do a short sale anymore and are going to take it all the way to foreclosure. This means the house wont be available at auction until probably 3-4 months or so. It is a really dumb move on the banks part because they could potentially get a lower amount at auction and will have to pay for the house for a few more months and they wont get the commission of selling the house. GRRRRR!!! apparently it wasn't meant to be, because it totally doesn't make sense. So we are on the hunt again. I started looking online at listings today and there are actually a few that didn't look too bad on paper, so we will see what the next few weeks bring, but I am definitely discouraged about the whole process. I never thought it would be this hard!

second bit of bad news....is my job. I still have one, so that part is good, but a few posts back I mentioned that the City decided to give me a lot more responsibility with a different job. When that happened, I was really overwhelmed and didn't think I would be able to do a good job. Over the past month that i have been doing the job, i really enjoyed it. I really liked the people I was working with, and was really started to get a handle on the new responsibilities and was started to make plans and move forward on things. Well, last week the powers that be, decided to change their minds...again! So they pulled a big "just kidding" on me, and moved me again. I basically got moved back to my old position only because of budget cuts and moves, its not the same job. i am going back to being over the Diamondbacks little league field, but I also got 2 more baseball fields added, as well as assisting with 18 soccer fields and overseeing all of Phoenix Special Olympics....so again, they added more responsibility for the same amount of pay. i really don't mind the responsibility part, because at least its all things i know i can do, but the bad part is they changed my schedule to 10-7 Tues-Fri and 7-4 on Saturdays....yep i have to work every Saturday now! So basically I wont get to see anyone because of this junky schedule, including my husband! and its back out in way north phoenix, so there goes our saving account with the way gas prices are! So needless to say, I am job searching again. I thought that i had just gotten a job and was hoping to stay put for a bit, but maybe this will bring new blessings (and a shorter commute!) I have an interview next week, so we will see, but not getting the house might mean I have to suffer and wait it out a bit so that I dont mess up our chances of getting a loan...We'll see.

The 3rd bad news...is my car. Whenever I try to be good and not go shopping to save money, it always seems like something else takes the money anyways. My car is having major issues. In the last 2 months we have spent almost 2000$ on my car, and it is still having bad issues. I love my little car, but I have wanted a new one for a long time and if it keeps up at this rate, i will be putting in more than it is worth! It just needs to start working and stop causing so many problems! It goes back into the shop tomorrow for more work :(

The 4th bad news....is me. For a while now we have been trying to figure out why my body is so messed up. With the surgeries and medicines that have been done recently, my body shouldn't be having the issues that I am having. it just doesn't make any sense. So we have been doing some testing to try to figure things out. One of these tests is a glucose/insulin tolerance test. It is a 3 hour blood test where they take your blood like every half hour (and you cant eat the whole time). I almost passed out after the test was finished! It was no good at all....but the results came back and they determined that I am hypoglycemic. Which means that my blood sugar levels get too low. I looked it up on WebMD and it was kinda scary. Basically, at the extreme level (which i dont think is me) it can get bad enough to cause seizures, loss of consciousness and even brain damage! Pretty sure with me, its just been causing headaches and nausea. So i have been trying to eat better (definitely no more soda, not even just no more Dr. Pepper), and trying to keep a log of my diet to figure out symptoms and warning signs of getting too low. So if you see me always eating now...its because I am supposed to eat at least 6 small meals a day and if I get any symptoms, snack more than that! I usually barely have time to get in 3 meals a day, let alone 6. But if it is the answer to my problems, its worth it i guess. I think this is part of what we were looking for, but Im not quite sure. I have an appointment next week to talk to the doctor about the results.

So needless to say I haven't had a good two weeks. Pretty much every aspect of my life is not going so well....except my husband, although he is broken, but still good :P He is wonderful and I am so grateful to have him, otherwise, everything else is not going my way! Sorry to complain!

First Time

We got to watch our niece and nephew Chandler and Jessica this weekend for a bit. These kiddos are so much fun to hang with. They are super good, and just enjoy being around family and having fun. They live in Snowflake, and so unfortunately, there isnt quite as much opportunity to swim up there as there is down here, so these guys are water dogs!!! They love it! It was a very warm day on Saturday so we figured it would be a great day to go swimming. We have seen people out by the pool for the last couple of weeks, and its been nothing but sunny so we thought it would be great.....we were wrong! I wish I could say eat your heart out to everyone not in sunny warm AZ, but even though it was like over 90 on Saturday, the pool was ice cold!! Eldon and I didnt even get in past our waists! But nothing stops these two! They lived it up and loved it....even with chattering chins! Eldon and I just enjoyed being outside and trying to get some sun on our pasty white skin! I will spare you my gross swimsuit pic! They also had never played Rock Band before. Sorry Wendi, but you know you are going to have to go out and get it! he he. These two were awesome and had a great time rockin out! They have guitar hero, and Chandler is freakin amazing on the guitar. He plays on expert and schools everyone! Jessica is a little stud too, and did great on the drums as well! It was a lot of fun to hang out with family. They were down to take care of some things, and for a fun reason, but its not my news to tell, so if you want to know the latest in Larson family news....you will have to call Wendi!