Adios 2010!

2010 has been very good to Seth and I.  We started the year off with a new niece.  Alexis Grace Larson came into the world in January.  Seth was in the circle for her blessing.  That was such a special day for him.  February, and March flew by all too quickly with juggling work and school.  April came along and on April 17, 2010  Seth and I were sealed for time and all eternity int he Mesa, Arizona temple.  That was such a special day and the highlight of our year. 

Soon after we were sealed our little Gila Valley completed construction on our own Gila Valley temple.  It has been a true blessing in our lives to have a temple nearby.  It is a place of peace and serenity where we can go to be closer to our heavenly father.  We always feel so much better after attending the temple.

My little Sister graduated from air force basic training in May.  We are so proud of her accomplishments.  She did a lot of growing up in those eight weeks.  She is now stationed at Hollomon Air force Base in Almagordo, New Mexico.  She really loves her job and where she's at.

I have been busy with my achievement day girls.  We have had several days to just go and have fun.  They are awesome young ladies and I have really enjoyed this calling with them.

Seth and I have taken a couple of trips out of town, to Tucson and Phoenix.  This is a picture of us at a cardinals game in Glendale.  We had tons of fun that day.  I'm so happy we can go and do things like this together.

I finished my  last semester with my NAU cohort.  I'm definitely going to miss seeing these amazing teachers three nights a week.  Sometimes I feel like I've spent more time with them than I have with Seth.  They are all amazing people and are going to be incredible teachers.  With the end of school that also meant the end of daycare.  I miss my kiddos every day.  It's just different to not see their bright little faces every morning. 

Seth and I also took our annual honey moon cruise.  We have been so blessed to be able to do this every year for the past three years.  We had an absolute blast traveling with friends and family down to Cozumel, Mexico. 

With 2010 coming to a close that means we have lots of new things happening in 2011.  I have started a new job working nights at Dollar General.  I'm not too crazy about it but it will work for now.  I start student teaching in just a few days.  That is going to be an exciting part of my education.  I will graduate in May and hopefully teach in August.  Both Seth and I are looking forward to furthering our careers and moving on in life.  We're so excited for 2011.

Goodbye Daycare

I have been missing my kids lately.  I had been looking forward to the day that I would be able to quit and move on to student teaching.  It's amazing how quickly I can forget about all of the negative parts of daycare when it's time for me to leave.  I miss my kids.  They were always so exciting and kept me laughing.  I miss getting frustrated with them and spending all of my time with them.  They were always so happy and easily entertained.  Now I'm bored and I miss all of their little surprises.  I was in tears the night before I quit because I knew this would happen.  I'm very lucky that I can still visit from time to time.  I'm excited to see where all of these kids go with their lives.  They are bright little lights that will influence the world in big ways.  I just miss them.  Hopefully teaching will bring me as much joy as working with my little ones did.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas came and went this year.  Seth and I have noticed that we're kind of scrooges when it comes to the holidays.  Again we didn't take any pictures.  I  definitely think that's going to have to be my new years resolution to take more pictures.  But we had a beautiful Christmas.  Thank you to everyone who got us gifts.  They were awesome and we love them.  I hope everyone had a great holiday season.  Our has definitely been a busy one.  They just keep getting better and better. Merry Christmas everyone!

Cruisin the Carribean

Our vacation started off great this year.  We made it to the airport on time.  Our flights went through without a hitch and before we knew it we were in beautiful Tampa, Florida.  It was a little chilly when when we got there.  It was sprinkling and cloudy.  I guess living in Arizona taught us not to be worried about weather like that.  Our hotel was close enough to the pier that we could walk.  We had dinner at a restaurant that wasn't very good at all then froze our hinys off walking back to the hotel.

We woke up the next day to lots of wind.  It was also freezing.  Well we woke up and called Tanner and Amy to find out when they would be arriving so that we could all go down to the boat together.  Well their planes got cancelled and delayed.  We decided we would go down to the boat and just meet them there later.  When we went down to the lobby to get our free transfer to the pier they informed us that the pier was closed and that our boat wouldn't begin boarding until three o'clock.  We took a ride down to the mall.  It was a very ritzy mall.  And the ride over only cost us twenty bucks.  We had lunch at the mall then figured it was about time for everyone to show up so we took a taxi to the airport. That was another Thirty dollars.  When we got to the airport they Carnival informed us that they would transfer us to the boat from the airport.  Well our bags were still at the hotel.  Thinking it would only cost ten bucks or so to just send our luggage to the airport it ended up costing us twenty five dollars and an argument with a taxi driver.  From now on we will rent a car.  I'm never dealing with American public transportation again.  Ugh!

After that whole incident everything was better.  We celebrated Cindi's birthday at  Carrabba's and cruised the airport all night. 

The next day we were on a bus then on the ship.  It was a hassle to get through all of the security and people but we were finally on the boat and things were looking up.  We had tons of fun on the ship. 

There were lots of us together and that made this lots of fun.  It was still a little chilly that's why we're all wearing jackets. Thank goodness we all had an extra day in the airport.  Some of us had to buy coats and wait on luggage. 

This is at dinner time.  We always had something fun to do.  The servers would sing and dance and so did all of us.  Dinner was definitely our favorite time on the ship.  The shows were great.  It was definitely fun having all of our friends together. 

Seth and I on formal night.  We were a little under dressed for the rest of our crowd but still had a great time.

When we pulled into Cozumel, Mexico this is who else was there.  The Elation is the boat that we took our first cruise on.  We didn't get to go inside again but it was still pretty neat seeing it there. 

We took a two hour trip to Tulum and saw all of the ancient ruins.  It was so neat to hear all of the history of the area.  These people were so advanced that they had an entire calender.  They had the concept of zero.  They could also tell to the minute when the solstices would appear.  Their architecture has lasted for thousands of years because they built it at a slope in a completely defensible walled city.  It would have been better to have an lds tour guide but our guy  did a pretty good job as well.  Did you know that they all sleep in hammocks over there. No beds just hammocks.

This was the most beautiful beach.  You can kind of see in the picture a line where the water turns from light to dark.  That's where the water goes from shallow to deep.  There's also a reef around the space.  There is about twenty feet of space where a small boat could come in.  That's why their space was completely defensible.  No way of a water attack. 

The last day on the boat we celebrated the girls birthdays.  The guys brought out an ice cream cake topped with little pieces of fruit.  It was delicious!

We were sad to have to leave and come back to regular life but it was tons of fun.  Our servers were awesome.  We played Marco Polo with Marco all week long.  And Andrej reminded us of Antonio Banderas and turned all of the guys onto "black stone".  Pretty interesting guys. 

After all was said and done we had a pretty good time.  We were ready to come home.  Definitely a trip to remember.

Happy Anniversary To Us!

Seth and I celebrated our second anniversary this year.  The past two years have incredible to say the least. It's weird for me to look back at our wedding photos and remember that day. 
I can definitely say that our love is still the same as it was then.  It seems like the past two years have flown by.  We get to know each other more and more every day. 
The biggest goal that we have achieved as a couple this year has been our sealing in the Mesa, Arizona temple.  That was such a magical day.  We are so relieved to know that we will be together forever.  I can't imagine a better feeling than knowing that I will be with my best friend through time and all eternity. 

I'm so positive that as long as we have each other all of the bad things in life don't seem so bad, and all of the good things are so much better.  We complete each other and we'll have each other forever.  That's what I'm truly thankful for. 

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving came and went this year.  Seth and I are terrible when it comes to pictures so I have none for this holiday.  We made the usual rounds this year.  My grandma Beth had lunch with my great grandma this year.  Then we made it to Grandmother's and then to my Grandma Kay's. 
After all of the festivities in Safford we took a trip up to Phoenix to spend the weekend with my grandparents up there.  We stayed with my Aunt Wanda Thursday night.  We did a little shopping on Friday.  Stayed with my grandparents Friday night then came home Saturday.   It was a nice relaxing weekend.  Lots of fun and a great way to spend our anniversary.

Go Cards!

Seth got some tickets to the Cardinals game from work so we loaded up Scott and Amy's suburban (thank you) and drove to Phoenix to watch the game.  We had quite a crew with us, Scott, Hunter, Tanner, my Dad, Seth and I .    We all had a total blast.  The tickets also included the red zone tailgate party where Hunter met some cheer leaders.  We enjoyed hot dogs and drinks (for free) then headed up to watch the game.  It was Veterans day so for pregame ceremonies veterans from every branch of the military carried out an American flag that covered the entire football field.  It was incredible.  I think everyone takes for granted the service that those men and women perform for us daily.  There were so many people on the field and that's only a fraction of the people who sacrifice everything for us. 

The game started out ok.  then about two minutes in it got bad.  By the end of the first quarter it was worse and I think you know how the game turned out.  We did get to see a pretty good fight two sections over.  Two guys rooting for different teams got into it.   We watched the rest of the game then started the drive home.  It was a long day but so much fun!   Thanks guys!

We Love Due West!

Yes . . .  We have discovered Due West in our little valley.  While I wouldn't exactly call us groupies like some other people I know, we are definately fans!  They had a great concert at the Center for the Arts.  And it was great to be there with our family.  Thanks for inviting us and saving us great seats guys!