Temple Bound!

One of the resolutions Seth and I made at the beginning of this year was to go through and be sealed in the temple. Well our dream is becoming a reality. We have made a commitment in our lives and know that this is the right move for ourselves both individually and as a family. We are so excited to have the blessings of the temple in our lives and know that we will benefit from all of the struggles associated with it. We talked to our bishop at the beginning of the year to get things rolling on this goal. We've been taking a temple preparation class in Sunday school and we really enjoy it. Chris Angle has been a great teacher and has answered many of my questions and cleared up all of my misunderstandings of the plan of salvation. We're so excited to take this step in our lives. It's a great feeling seeing all of this come together. Just so everyone is clear our bishop said we will be ready in about four weeks. Seth can be in the circle to bless his new niece Alexis and we are looking forward to getting our patriarchal blessings. It's all happening so fast. Seth talked to the bishop last Sunday and when he explained everything to me I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement. I left church with a feeling of relief knowing that with the blessings of the gospel and our families we were going to be just fine and happy.

Vacation Shipwreck!

I know I'm late posting but Seth and I had a great time on our cruise this year. We started the trip by picking up some friends in Phoenix. We spent the night there then drove to Banning, CA the next day. The next morning it was just two short hours to Long Beach California where we embarked on the Carnival Splendor. At the time this was Carnival's newest ship in their fleet. This ship was built earlier this year. Our waiter, Wayan, was from Indonesia. He was quite the character! So was our cruise director "Goose". Seth got voted to be the biggest sucker on this cruise so he had to suck down a two inch jaw breaker to win something for me. I ended up washing the jaw breaker down to a quarter of an inch and Seth won a watch for me. We really had a great time. The girls that came with us got a little annoying at times but at least we had an escape in our room.

Which is where we watched the captain back our ship up on land into a jetty (or a small dock). The boat we were on had hit another ship in this same port about two weeks prior to our cruise. So, the crew was focused on not repeating history. They concentrated their efforts on not coming into contact with the other ship in the port that they didn't realize how fast they were going backwards. When they realized that they were going a little too fast they turned on the motors and tried to move forward but it was too late. The wave that we created swamped multiple boats. We also took an eight foot chunk out of the dock and punctured the hull of the boat. The hole was aproximately three by three foot. We also pushed the dock about five feet up on land. It really could have been a dangerous situation but it's something we'll never forget.

Because of the incident we spent an extra day in Puerto Vallarte, Mexico. It really was a beautiful place. On the first day we booked an excursion through Carnival to take us snorkeling then to Yelapa beach. It was beautiful but way over priced. We saw some interesting fish and the water was perfect. After snorkeling we took a boat to Yelapa beach. It's a native beach that can only be reached by way of boat or foot. There are no roads leading to this small town that has maintained it's native roots. They only recently got electricity there. We had an amazing lunch of fresh mahi mahi. (fish) Then we went swimming. This in itself was half the experience of the trip. These waves were huge! I went out into the water. Once I realized that I couldn't reach the bottom anymore I started heading in. Before I could get my feet underneath me I got worked by this ginormous wave! I had sand everywhere. Seth and I walked around the city on our second day in port. We went to the boardwalk and saw some great sand castles and sculptures. There was also a beautiful cathedral in town that is well known in Puerto Vallarte.
At three o'clock we set sail for Cabo San Lucas. Seth and I had been there before and we didn't have much time to spend there. We ended up taking a city tour. We went to a glass blowing factory, tequila factory, and chileno beach. We definately learned alot and really enjoyed our time there. We saw three sea lions and two whales while we were there! Blue whales migrate south during the winter to have their babies in the warmer waters. I was blown away when I saw these animals. I can't get enough. Everyone needs to book a whale watching tour sometime in their life!
After Cabo it was time to head home. Seth and I really enjoyed our vacation. It was great to get away and relax for a while but we were both ready to come home by the end of it. We also came home to a great surprise! We love what you did to the living room and are so blessed to call you family!

I am lost for words

I have sat and written this post over and over again. Sometimes there just are no words. All I can say is thank you so much for everything. We truly love and appreciate everything you did for us while we were gone this week. I wish someone would have been there to catch my reaction to this room. We are so blessed to have such a caring and loving family. We appreciate everything you do for us. We loved our cruise but we both are so happy to be home with you guys!

Phoenix and Fresno

Seth and I took a little trip up to Phoenix then to Fresno, CA this last weekend. We left Tuesday after noon and stayed with my grandparents. Seth had a NAPA meeting Wednesday morning so while he and my grandpa were at work I went shopping with my grandma. We had dinner with my great aunt Wanda and uncle Harold.

We left for Fresno Thursday morning. The last time that I was on an airplane I was three years old so I would equivalate this to my first time flying. It was all fine and dandy until I realized that the plane was ITTY BITTY! I seriously felt too tall for this thing. Like it was meant for children under the age of 10. But we made it.

While we were in Fresno we went and saw the Sequoia's. Those trees were so unreal. They lived to be 3,200 years old, 312 feet tall, 40 feet in diameter! Seth and I are the little spots near the base of the tree. The park has a very nice trail and display of the world's largest tree. They need to work on their bear proofing. We saw not one but TWO bears on this half mile hike. They were after pine cones that were falling from the trees. We managed to scare them off long enough to walk past and see what we were there for. It was all worth the car sickness that I suffered through on the forty-five minute drive up and down the mountain.

After our little escapade to see the Sequoias we went to Trevor and Torri Shipman's wedding. (We met these two on our cruise and have kept in touch.) Their wedding was beautiful! I have plenty of pictures and stole lots of ideas! We had a lot of fun.

Happy Birthday Seth!

Seth turned twenty three yesterday. So just to be thorough I thought that I would list all of the things I love about him.

1. He makes me laugh every day. (even when I don't want to)

2. His smile brightens the room.

3. You really never know what he's going to do next.

4. He enjoys traveling with me.

5. He's nice to my dog.

6. He cooks dinner.

7. He's a great listener. (Even when it's just me venting about work or school)

8. He makes me go to school.

9. He installed 2 new ceiling fans.

10. He had two new doors installed.

11. He put a bigger mirror in the bathroom.

12. He put a new light in the bathroom.

13. He put a new light in the hall.

14. He put in a new big fancy throne of a toilet in.

15. He always tries to make things easier for me.

16. He loves his family.

17. He works hard for me and the dogs.

18. He is a great uncle.

19. He lets me paint the house what ever color I want.

20. He tells me that I cook great.

21. He has a great heart.

22. He is always having fun.

23. He loves me almost as much as I love him.

Happy birthday honey I love you.

Survivor!

As most of you who read our blog may know Einstein ran away this weekend while staying with my dad. Seth and I were in Eager for the Slade Family Reunion when all of this happened.

Einstein has been sneeking out of my back yard for a while now. He found somewhere that he could dig under the fence and get into our neighbor's yard then get out. He's been awful curious and adventurous. When Seth and I left for Eager we took both dogs (Charlie and Enistein) to my dad's house to stay for the weekend. My dad was even contemplating bringing both dogs up to big lake for the weekend with him. Needless to say his plans got cancelled. Einstein dug out under my dad's back fence around eight thirty and got out into the desert. My dad and little brother Taylor chased him from eight thirty until about two thirty that night! They literally chased him for that long. He was in sight they could just never catch him. My dad even said that he was driving his truck following Einstein going about twenty-five miles per hour and Einstein was still getting away from him! He's FAST!!!!! They knocked on people's doors looking for him. A family that lives down the street from him said that he ran in their front door jumped on their couch then left again! After they couldn't catch him the night before they woke up the next morning and looked for him again. By twelve they decided to give up and put up flyers and just hope someone would call. Well they were putting up a flyer south of town when they saw him run across Discovery Park Rd. By Mount Graham High School and that cemetary. They ran into Dwayne Larkey who was walking his dog Molly. After getting a good laugh out of my dad and Taylor chasing Einstein through the state yard that's out there he sent his dog to round up Einstein. She cornered him long enough for Taylor to go pick him up. (My dad wouldn't do it because he was so mad) Well they got him home and sent him over to the neighbor's house that has little dogs and a block fence that goes into the ground so he couldn't get out again. We got him home and he has been sleeping ever since. He is covered in stickers and needs to go to the groomer to get them taken out. I'm sure my little guy had a rough weekend. I think my dad and Taylor had a tougher weekend. I'm not sure I even would have looked so long for him. They were troopers. We took them out for dinner when we got back as a thank you.

We're so happy to have Both of our dogs home with us! (Charlie was so good. She stayed home and didn't chew up anything!)

And the summer goes on......

Well its been hard to be living here in Winslow. I really miss being away from home and not getting to see jos. For such a crappy little town it has been quite exciting and lots of fun stuff for such a crappy town. I walked into work the other day and went to go turn on the computer and happened to look down and this is what i found.

Also i was out working on a valve and i just happened to have my camera with me and something awesome happened. i looked over and saw this happen with my own 2 eyes. the owner was washing his plane when it got caught by the wind and it went right over. For such a little town it has been exciting.

A photo from libby last week. 4 heavy air tanker.

Midnight Snack

So it wasn'.t really midnight but since we've been married ten o'clock feels like midnight. I don't know what it is but wow! Any who... So everytime I go to Olive Garden I always order desert, mainly because they have this amazing cheesecake that I love love love! Well a few weeks ago Seth and I went on a date with our good friend Mattie and Tasha to the Coronado Winery. Of course like all great restaraunts they had this cheesecake! So now it's like my new obsession! So of course I google it and find a nice fairly simple recipe that has a picture that looks just like it. So Saturday night we left Tanner and Amy's a little early to come home and bake. Seth even helped me with everything. He's so awesome! So after slaving over a hot stove for two hours we have to wait another EIGHT! So I stayed up all night just counting down the minutes until I could sink my teeth in to a slice of rich chocolaty goodness. Just kidding. But just letting a cake sit for eight hours is no easy task. Even if they don't always look just like the picture.

Now We're Cooking!

Tanner and Amy got us a barbeque for our wedding. However, it has been seeting down at the office for over three months now! Well not any more! The night before Seth left for work we finally had dinner on our new barbeque! So after sitting at home bored all day we went to bashas and bought some groceries, then went home and started cooking. It was windy so Seth thought it would be ok to leave the barbeque in the garage. Lesson learned! We probably will not do that one again. It looked like our house was on fire. When we finally decided that it was probably time to open some doors and leth things air out the garage was a giant smoke bomb! But the garage is still standing and the food was great! Can you guess who's plate is who's? Hehe. Oh and I thought I would include a pictures of Seth's Mustache. Doesn't he look like a child molester?

Nice to Meet You

Hey there,

My name is Einstein. I'm a Yorkie mixed but I don't know with what. My last owner says I'm about five but I play and behave like I'm two. I came here on the long drive to from Tucson to stay at my new home, after my new mom got lost and turned around in Phoenix and drove to Tucson instead of Safford. But I'm so happy she got mis-directed and came to get me. I've only been here one night and man getting used to sleeping in my own bed was rough! I already know that when I need to go potty I wait until someone lets me go outside! I'm just a cuddly mellow dog that knows when it's ok to play! I love playing with the kiddos and get along with other dogs just great! I can't wait to meet all of you!

Love,

Einstein

Fun Weekend

Last weekend Seth and I along with our friends Valerie and Daniel Young took a trip to Tucson. We left Friday night to have dinner at the train car in Wilcox. Yum! Then drove up and stayed the night in Tucson. The next morning we woke up and had a yummy breakfast at Waffle house then were off to the Pima Air and Space Museum. Seth had never been and we knew he would love it. The weather was perfect! Not too cold but not so hot that you were miserable either. We walked around looking at airplanes for three hours. The museum even had the crew from the fastest airplane in the world there to answer questions. After the museum we were off to the mall for some great shopping. However shopping is never as fun when you have to drag your husband from store to store or after walking around a museum for three hours. I was way too tired to really enjoy it. I did get a new pair of jeans though! After the mall we were off for more shopping. We went to Best Buy and Seth got a new GPS! Way awesome! We'll never be lost again. Val and Dan even got a new TV. Then we walked across the parking lot to one of my favorite stores "Cost Plus World Market" After all of that it was time for the Hockey game. Go Ice Cats! It was against ASU so the fans were very intense. Overall there were only two fights on the ice and one person who was escorted out. The gorilla even got in a fight with some white thing after it and a friend chased a bananna around the stadium. U of A finally won in double overtime 4-3. After the game we drove a long two hours home. Poor Val had to work at six o'clock Sunday morning.

Long Time No Blog

Hey there!

Sorry I know it's been forever since I blogged but with the wedding, getting settled into our new house, work, and the start of a new semester it's been crazy at the Larson house! First things first. Our wedding was beautiful! I'll attach pictures to this post. Thank you to everyone who helped make our day so special. Grandma's and grandpa's, Mom's and Dad's, Brother's and sister's in laws made our day great! Thank you.

7 Days!

Well here we go into full wedding mode. We have just seven more days until it's official. I'm not too stressed about it. All that's leftto do is cross the t's and dot the i's. We've finished the announcements, we found a house (whether or not we can live in it is still in the air), we've had the pre wedding parties. All that's left is to just do it. Thanks to everyone for your help, hope to see you there.

House Hunting!!!!

Can I just say that this sucks. We have gone and looked at so many homes. We have really liked allot of them but i have to make sue that we don't get into a house over our head. i guess we have just chose to buy a house at the wrong time. For me it is just allot of money. Also trying to come up with $8000 to pay for the down payment and the closing cost. then you think about the small repairs that your going to have to make. wow it all adding up so quick. We have to find appliances to go into the house also. Luckily we already have a new bed and all the couch's. So if any of you have any of you have any stuff you would like to donate PLEASE let us know. But i think we have found a house on the Hwy that we both really like. its a 3b 2 3/4 bath. and my fav part about it is that i have a 1000sf shop. i also like it becuse it is within out price range!!!!

Viva Las Vegas!

Vegas was a trip! It took a long, long, long time to get there but it was so worth it when we got there! We checked into our hotel. It was a little ghetto but we managed. Loreto stepped in gum first thing! Uck! But other than a few hiccups it was a great trip. He're are some pictures!