December 31st

December 31st, 2018

Well we did it. 2018 is finally at a close. I've thought a lot about how this year played out, and instead of viewing it as "the worst year ever." I've come to see it as a year full of growth. 2018 was hard. Probably my hardest year I've ever experienced. With recovering from the grief of Miscarrying Peyton at the end of 2017 to the joy of expecting Banks. Only to find out that my sweet little boy would live in Heaven. Danny's pharmacy closed and we were jobless for nearly six weeks. I didn't have any photoshoots lined up because I was supposed to be on maternity leave. Add that in with the unexpected hospital and funeral costs. Danny ended up getting a full time position at Jolley's pharmacy (where he interned) with a dream schedule, only to lose Scout for nearly 48 hours while we were heading back from St George. We found Scout and brought her home only to realize she had developed pretty severe separation anxiety. The next month brought Norovirus to our house - thankfully and by some miracle, Jones never got it. A few weeks later we found out we were expecting! Danny and I were able to take Tommy to Disneyland with us and meet up with 4 of Danny's siblings. Upon returning it was discovered that I had kidney stones and passed three of them! We hit a rough patch regarding family members and hurt feelings and I ended the year puking my guts out just days before 2019. Through all the ups and downs this year has given us I have never felt a stronger connection to my family and my God. Without them this year really would've been the "worst year ever," but because of them we were able to make it through. We relied on our faith and our family and accepted what we cannot change and were able to move past it. Grief still strikes and Christmas was hard without my baby, but I felt him. I feel him now throughout this pregnancy. He reassures me this one will be different. The prophet challenged us women to read the Book of Mormon in 12 weeks and today I finished. It has helped strengthen my testimony and provide comfort. Early on when I was reading in Jarom I came across something that has stayed with me the entire time I read. In summary, he says that it is hard work to write down the histories upon the plates, and that whatever was written down was worth the trouble and time. I am so excited for 2019 and the hope it brings. 

2018's word may have been "Hard," but 2019 will be "Hope."

December 30th

December 30th, 2018

I thought I could slip quietly and uneventfully into 2019, but life had other plans. Last night I felt a bit nauseous and hoped it would go away with sleep. I woke up to Danny leaving for meetings at church and Jones crying for him downstairs. I got up to go get him but instead had to book it to the bathroom. I had caught what Rob and Cindy had! I was really bummed to not make it to church since it was the last Sunday of the year and the third hour had been transformed into a Linger Longer! I was talking to Danny around 11 in between his meetings but had to cut our conversation short by running to the bathroom to puke again. Danny took Jones to church while I stayed home to rest. We ate dinner at my mom's and she had made a soup just for me. That was the first thing I had been able to eat all day and keep down. By the end of the night I was feeling more and more human. Since Danny has to work in the morning Jones is getting another sleepover at grandma's so I can get some sleep and work on picture of the day tomorrow. These two "little" fur balls have stayed by my side most of the day! They are the best little cuddle pups. 

December 29th

December 29th, 2018

20 weeks with my little photobomber! I can't wait to be done being pregnant and have these two be the best of friends!

December 28th

December 28th, 2018

Double date + Robert tonight! (Jones jumped in for the picture) We all went out to In-N-Out for dinner and then crashed Paige's birthday party! These guys need to get married so we can hang out all the time! Just missing Austin and Jenna! (They're in AZ for the new year) 

December 27th

December 27th, 2018

Hung out at Grandma's house today to play with the cousins before they leave for FL tonight. Jones is going to miss having Remy to pal around with! Poor Rob and Cindy have taken turns getting a stomach bug and have taken turns hanging out in the bathroom!

December 26th

December 26th, 2018

This kid finagled his way into a sleepover at Grandma's last night. He loves playing with all his aunts and uncles and has them all wrapped around his finger. 

December 25th

December 25th, 2018

Merry Christmas! We were blessed so much this season! It was so nice to talk to Makayla on her mission and Jones got way too many toys! I'm thankful for my little family and for my sweater tolerant dogs.

December 24th

December 24th, 2018

Merry Christmas from my family to yours. This was not how I imagined this Christmas to go. I had planned baby’s first Christmas pictures in the same Santa suit Jones wore, a Christmas card that cleverly incorporated both my boys and dogs in a comical scene and lots of cute baby presents. Thanks to my amazing and thoughtful sister and brother in law, Mindi and Billy, we were able to start a new tradition. She made me a lantern with Banks’ name on it and told us that they go sing Christmas carols at Addi's gravesite. Such a simple, tender mercy to pass this on to us. It was hard and very few of us were able to sing, but the peace I felt being surrounded by loved ones was exactly what I needed. I know my little guardian angels are watching over us and celebrating right along side us. Happy Christmas Eve!

December 23rd

December 23rd, 2018

Larsen Family Christmas Party! So much fun! We all loved the white elephant gift exchange (almost everyone, sorry Savannah!) And there were plenty of snacks and games to go around! We even video chatted with the Oregon crew! We love having family near!

December 22nd

December 22nd, 2018

Family picture + party day!! All of the siblings AND their spouses are in the same place at the same time! This hasn't happened EVER! We are only missing our two missionaries; Matthew and Aubrey and Konrad, Sarah and Nigel (The first great grand baby!) Not a bad turn out! It was so fun having everyone together for a picture! We've been planning this for the last few months and I'm so glad I booked us a studio! We would've froze outside! After pictures we went back to Bill and Mindi's for brunch! So good! We had the nativity preformed by all the littles and then present time! Later that evening we met up with my family at This is The Place. Rob and Cindy are in town and this was Hunny's gift to everyone. Spencer also caught a red eye home tonight. It was fun having him back at the house! Jones and the dogs probably loved him the most! 

December 21st

December 21st, 2018

We met up with Rich and Sarah and the kids at the Draper Tree of Life once Danny got off work! Afterwards we headed over to Chick Fil A for a snack/dinner. We even got to witness two proposals while at the park! Tis the Season! 

December 20th

December 20th, 2018

With no snow in the valley, I loaded up the Explorer full of snow gear and a few brothers and met up with Ed, Steph, Sarah and the kids at Jordan Pines. Great sledding was had by all! (Especially Jones once he stopped pouting and let Eddy take him down on the sled!) 

December 19th

December 19th, 2018

We spent half the day getting Christmas Cards addressed. Poor Spencer was a good sport about all the errands I had to get done. Then I dropped him off at his other Grandparents house for dinner. 

December 18th

December 18th, 2018

We took Spencer and met up with everyone at Temple Square to see all the lights! We even got to visit the giving vending machine and buy water for those who need it! 

December 17th

December 17th, 2018

Spencer is in town! Since we have Gary and Annie for Christmas we thought it would be a great Christmas surprise to fly him out here in time for the Robbins family Christmas party. He can't stay until Christmas like the rest of his family, but we'll take what we can get. 

December 16th

December 16th, 2018

I bet you can't guess which kid was most excited to tie Dad up for Father's Day? This is probably the first Father's day that Jones comprehends what's going on, and he loved it! He kept saying how fun it was to "tie up Papa" and get treats! 

December 15th

December 15th, 2018

All aboard the Polar Express! Despite Jones' face, we had a great time! Everyone showed up in jammies and we all had breakfast together. I was so happy that we had enough seats for everyone AND we stayed on time and ended at 9:56 am. I had a goal of being done by 10 and it happened! Bishop was a fantastic conductor and everything flowed so smoothly! I love my calling! 

December 14th

December 14th, 2018

Danny and my committee headed over to the ward house late tonight to get everything set up for the Polar Express! I'm so happy with how everything turned out! We set up a bunch of banquet tables down the middle to be the "train" for all the kids to ride. It's going to be so much fun! 

December 13th

December 13th, 2018

He fell asleep on the two minute drive home from Grandma's and was so tired he didn't even wake up during his diaper change! 

December 12th

December 12th, 2018

I made a tutorial on how to make Bokeh stars and this little model was just the cutest! 

December 11th

December 11th, 2018

Mr Jones went out on a walk with Dad in the snow. He's not to sure about all the layers he has to wear, or the fact that the snow sticks to his gloves, but he is for sure liking snow! 

December 10th

December 10th, 2018

All Kenny wanted was a nice picture of himself cuddling the dogs. I have to say, I like this one much better! 

December 9th

December 9th, 2018

Everyone loves baby Norah! It took forever between the swarms of kid kisses to finally snap a picture of her! I can't believe she's going to be one at the end of this month! 

December 8th

December 8th, 2018

At some point to day I passed my third (and hopefully final) kidney stone! I finally felt up to leaving the house. We met up with Amy, Karl, Tasia, Mom, Dad, Steph and the kids at Zupas for lunch. We went back to Mom's house for awhile and then headed down to Ikea to meet up with Bill and Mindi to get mom and dad's Christmas present! We are redoing their picture wall of all the grandkids and putting them on photo shelves, along with a fresh coat of paint! 

December 7th

December 7th, 2018

I am so happy to be home! Today was spent resting and sleeping off the pain. I still think I have another stone, but I don't want to go back to the hospital. Luckily I have some pain meds to get me by! Jones spent the day up at Mom's house in SLC while Danny was at work so that I could rest. So thankful to have family near! 

December 6th

December 6th, 2018

When it was finally morning the Urologist came by and to my dismay, told me to hold off eating and drinking for a few more hours to see if I could pass them myself. He'd come back and check on me. Apparently "a few hours" translates to the whole freakin' day! I didn't see him again until 5 or 6 that evening. Luckily around 3 I passed my first big stone. Shortly after my second, smaller one followed suit. It was then, after 22 hours since my last meal, that I was finally allowed to eat and drink. 

     When the urologist came by to see me he said I could be discharged. Due to short staff, my nurse was running all over the place. I didn't walk out of the hospital until 7:30 - only after my mom went to have her paged. I was still in a bit of pain, but wanted to go home more than anything. I hadn't seen Jones since the night before when I went in and had left him with my mom at home. 

December 5th

December 5th, 2018

     Yesterday I woke up for the day and went to the bathroom. As I sat down, I felt a sharp pain in my lower, right side. I figured it was from overdoing it yesterday and dismissed it. It wasn't until I stood up that I noticed my urine was cloudy with blood. I instantly feared the worst and rushed to grab my doppler from my drawer. I found baby and heard the reassuring, quick paced, whoosh of a healthy heartbeat. With that in the clear I just attributed the events to being pregnant and had a self proclaimed, "easy day." Feeling confident that whatever was wrong would right itself with a good night's sleep I drifted off.      
     This morning we had dentist appointments scheduled. As I got up and started getting ready I was disappointed to discover my pain in my lower right side of my back still remained, if anything it was worse. I cut my shower short as I was now having a hard time standing upright. Everything started hurting and I was doubled over on the bed. Danny called the OBGYN and the nurse who took our call said it was most likely a UTI or Kidney stones. She had us come over to the lab asap to do a urinalysis. I have never wished for a UTI in my life before, but having had one prior and never experiencing kidney stones, I figured I'd take the less painful option. 

     We went to the lab, I gave them my sample with the promise that they would call with the results. Danny still had work, so to give me some reprieve, he took Jones up to his mom's house for the day. I called my mom to let her know what was going on. A few hours passed by and then I got the call. The nurse informed me that I had a UTI, and that it probably didn't surprise me. She phoned my Rx over to Danny at the pharmacy. Thanks to my mom running up to the pharmacy I was able to start my antibiotics around 3. I spent the remainder of the day in agony as it hurt to sit, lay down, stand, you name it. By the time Danny had come home, I had taken my second dose of antibiotics but had gained no relief. The pain felt worse than labor. No relief and always constant. My eyes were puffy and swollen from having drained my tear ducts. Finally about 10:30 pm I was being checked into the ER at Altaview. 

     From check in time it took over an hour to get my IV and some pain meds. But once they hit, my pain scale went from a 10 to a 7. The first relief I had had all day. From there we were learned that my urinalysis from earlier in the day was a failed catch and contaminated by my skin cells. The lab had just assumed it was a UTI - awesome. After learning that we were able to do an ultrasound to check out my kidneys, bladder and baby. Since I was 16 ish weeks pregnant they couldn't do a CT scan to see if I did have kidney stones and how many. They don't show up on the ultrasound, only that my kidney is dilated. Another urinalysis confirmed that it was indeed, kidney stones. I was finally admitted to the hospital around 2 am. It was looking like I was going to need surgery so I wasn't allowed any food or drink until surgery was confirmed. But I was given a sponge I could wet my mouth with, so that was cool. -_- After a terrible night's sleep with my pain level hovering around a 7 (even with the [low] dose of morphine) I eagerly awaited the urologist to stop by in the morning to tell me if we were doing surgery or not.

December 4th

December 4th, 2018

We were so close to ending out the year without anymore "incidents" from these two trouble pups. Came home to find they had ripped open a pack of Christmas cards. Luckily the worst damage was a few scratches. These two are going to be the death of me! 

December 3rd

December 3rd, 2018

Today was solely dedicated to Christmas! We went and got our Christmas tree and spent the evening decorating it. We had to move it from our usual spot because it was so tall this year! Jones is loving all the lights and decorations everywhere! 

December 2nd

December 2nd, 2018

Nothing better than waking up to a house full of cousins! Jones was so happy that Sadie was there! Nancy made us a yummy egg/cinnamon roll casserole thing and then we loaded up the van to head to Manti! Once in Manti we ate lunch, hung out for a bit and then drove the two hours home! What a fun and exhausting trip!

December 1st

December 1st, 2018

Last day in Disney! I had Danny take my "bump-date" picture in front of the wall at Small world since I'm 16 weeks today! Then I grabbed a worker so we could get a picture together. We stayed until about 1 and then loaded up in the van to head to Nancy's for the night. We made pretty good time and rolled in around 8/9 ish. It was so nice to have real food for dinner! Steph and Ed rolled in about midnight or so, I'm not really sure since I was exhausted and had clonked out around 10! 

November 30th

November 30th, 2018

Another great Disney Day! So much more drier than yesterday! We spent a good chunk of it in Radiator Springs and Jones was obsessed with everything! He even got to meet Lighting McQueen and Mator! 

November 29th

November 29th, 2018

I didn't take many pictures today, based solely on the fact that it rained nearly the entire day! I'm talking, walking to the park, not even there yet, and I'm soaked, rain. My feet were in a constant cold puddle all day. But we still had a blast and it didn't stop us from enjoying our day! 

November 28th

November 28th, 2018

We met the whole family in Disneyland today! Jones loved everything! He even got to meet Winnie the Pooh while wearing his "Pooh" shirt! I loved being able to take things at his pace and ride all the kiddie rides with him while the big kids did the big rides. 

November 27th

November 27th, 2018

First full day in Cali was spent at Universal Studios! We headed straight to Harry Potter Land and got some butter beer! Jones loved Jurassic Park the best, with the Minions coming in a close second. The highlight for him was probably meeting Patrick and Spongebob. haha! Jones was so excited fro the tram (aka train!) but fell asleep about halfway through. Our first day was a good one, ending with a light show projected onto Hogwarts. 

November 26th

November 26th, 2018

We left for CA at 5 am Utah time. We pulled into Santa Monica with an hour left until sunset. It was the perfect way to celebrate being out of the car! Jones is just like his momma and wanted to play on the beach the whole time. We got some food on the pier and walked all the way down. Once at the end we saw a guy selling fish to feed a sea lion that was swimming below. Danny paid for a few fish and Jones LOVED feeding the sea lion. They dude gave us soap to wash his hands with afterwards, and my little stinker cried and said, "ew" to the soap. Nevermind that he had just held a dead fish! weirdo. We played on the beach and in the water until just past sunset when we got to experience the loveliness of CA traffic. 

November 25th

November 25th, 2018

Our little Maddy is 11! So crazy that she's that old! For her birthday she requested a "cookie cake." Which was much welcomed after all the sweets we've had this week. Jones, Danny, Thomas and I also loaded up the car and drove to Manti to stay the night at Amy's. Tomorrow we leave for Cali! 

November 24th

November 24th, 2018

Happy Birthday to the best mom around! The longer I'm a mom, the more I realize that my mom really is super woman!

November 23rd

November 23rd, 2018

Black Friday shopping was a success and we ended up buy most of the presents on our list! Among other things, Danny and I got new phones. The only downside was it took literally hours to get our phones moved over to the new ones without losing anything!

November 22nd

November 22nd, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving! This was the best we could get! hahaha! Jonesy just wanted to play and the dogs wanted to resume begging for pie!

November 21st

November 21st, 2018

The only flaw to my design was the fact that I did not measure my doorways before construction. I couldn't fit it out of my house! I ended up having to take the "roof" off of the train and scoring the back so that it would fold in. Once I solved that problem I had to enlist the help of the Corpron kids to help me carry it out of the house! Today the base coat was painted. Not too shabby!

November 20th

November 20th, 2018

Party planning is my calling. Literally and figuratively. haha. The RS is in charge of the ward Christmas party. It is Polar Express themed. So naturally I made a giant train engine to sit at the head of the banquet table for all the kids. 

November 19th

November 19th, 2018

Once a day in the fall, the light comes through this window so perfectly golden I can't help but stop and admire. Today I wasn't alone in admiring the light. Lucky me, my camera was near and I could snap this.

November 18th

November 18th, 2018

I love this pup of mine. We've come a long way from her terror puppy days. She is the sweetest thing and we love her funny, stubborn personality. 

November 17th

November 17th, 2018

Happy Birthday Sadie! We stopped by for her birthday party and when it was time to go, these two spent about 10 minutes hugging each other and then falling to the ground! 

November 16th

November 16th, 2018

This little monkey sure loves jumping on the bed! He did this for a good 15 minutes while we waited for Danny to get home tonight!

November 15th

November 15th, 2018

Danny found a new ice cream place up in SLC, so we stopped at the house and grabbed the only ones home to come up and try it with us. 

November 14th

November 14th, 2018

After working all day and feeling the tiredness of last night's party I sat down and decided that a Take 5 would be the best remedy to my fatigue. Only to find the box gone. A vague recollection of coming home to find the upstairs gate open began to flood my mind. I raced downstairs and out to the back yard to find my open box of candy bars and the remaining 7 wrappers strewn across the lawn. My sneaky, sweet toothed pups had found my candy stash and demolished it while I was out. They have mastered the "guilty" look. 

November 13th

November 13th, 2018

Tonight was the gratitude dinner and it was a huge success! The decorations were perfect and it looked almost like a wedding reception rather than a church gym! The food was good, Sandi Taft prepared the best spiritual thought and we all got to know each other a little more and enjoy each other's company. The journals were a big hit, along with the gratitude garlands. So thankful for all the help I had in putting it together. 

November 12th

November 12th, 2018

He is so helpful with folding laundry