taking a break

I realized that I totally missed my bloggiversary. I've been blogging for a year now. Crazy, huh. I've totally loved it, too. Its like I have this little support group of mommys on the internet and I love to see how you guys handle the daily ups and downs of motherhood. Shout out to all you bloggers who read and comment on my little corner of the world. Love you!!!

So, while Dave is off in Peru, I am visiting my mom and dad in Poky. Its been a nice little break from routine. I'm reading a book she has called "Rock-Solid Relationships" by Wendy L Watson (Nelson). I also plan on sewing Ana a cute little dress and make Jack's blessing day shorts, which will be the first Sunday in August.

My brother, who I haven't seen for a year, is in town, so its been fun to see him and his kids. I got an email from Dave Sunday night, but haven't heard from him since. For those who don't know, he's doing some health/medical related service down there with some doctors. I'm sure he's having a great experience. He'll be home Sunday afternoon. We're definitely missing him.

In Peru

So, I´m in Peru now!!

Last night when I checked in at the hotel there was some confusion with our reservation and it took them a few extra minutes to get me my room key. When I walked into the room there were already people sleeping in the beds with their stuff all over! I just walked out quickly, told the front desk about it, and got a different room. What a start huh?

I don´t have much time for anything else. If the next hotel has some computers to use I might be able to put up a couple pictures.

Happy 2nd Birthday

To Ana:

My little girl is growing up!!! We did your birthday party on Thursday since Daddy left for Peru today. We gave you some dress up skirts that I made and a trike, among a few other things. You got a shopping cart and food from Grandma and Grandpa Larsen. You had a beautiful butterfly cake that Mama and Grandma made for you. Leanne gave you some jelly beans, and you said, "yeah, candy first!" She also gave you a pictures of Jesus. Amy gave you a picnic basket and cousin Shari taught you how to use it.
Uncle Rick came to your party too and gave you bubbles that you had to go out and try.

Yesterday you came to Granny's house and she got you some bath letters and a new little dress. You had fun playing in the bath with them. We also went to a parade and a baptism.

Some things about you as a 2 year old:

*You know your full name and Jack's full name, too. You also can say when your birthday is.
*You are very friendly and social especially with kids.
*You talk in full sentances regularly. (4 and 5 words long, at least!)
*Though you aren't too interested in puzzles and books, you love to play pretend. You carry your dollies around saying things to them like, "do you want to go outside, baby? okay."
*You love to sing. I often hear you singing while riding in the car and playing with your toys. You know so many songs! Your newest song is, "Follow the Prophet." After church on Sunday, you came home singing, "Do as I'm doing. Follow, follow the Prophet."
*You like to carry your scriptures to church, say prayers (though you often roll around on the floor during family prayer, if you stay quiet at all), and you really like nursery.
*You say please and thank you often, though you think saying please means you get what you want, and this often leads to disappointment.

*You bring me so much joy as your mommy! Happy Birthday!

(Better/more pictures will be posted as soon as Dave gets back from Peru with the camera)

Lagoon Trip with the Larsens

Yesterday was the Larsen Family Reunion at Lagoon. It was a blast. We spent most of the time with Dave's parents, but it was fun to see the cousins running around having a fun time. Dave and I didn't ride very many roller coasters ourselves, but we did ride Wicked twice. It was cool. We spent a lot of time with Ana on the kiddie rides, and she loved it! We also went swimming, and Ana loved that, too. Here are some pics from the day.

Costanza Moment

This man would surely relate to what happened to me today.

So, I am living in Rupert, the town where I grew up. Quite frequently I come face to face with someone I went to school with but haven't seen since I graduated from high school. Some of these chance meetings have been great, others not so much. I could write a long post just about the interesting interpersonal dynamics that go with moving back home to the small town where I grew up but I won't - I'll just have to save that for later.

At church today I saw a girl I graduated with that I hadn't seen in a long time. During the meeting I kept glancing over and thinking to myself how much she looked like her little sister. After the meeting was over she walked by and I said, "Hi Bobbi!" She didn't hear me. So, I tapped her shoulder and said hi again. This time she finally heard, stopped, and turned to face me. Just then, her sister also stopped, turned around and said, "I'm Bobbi."

Oops...

All I could say was something like, "Oh, well that's pretty embarrassing for me isn't it..." After a couple laughs everything was fine and we talked for a while but afterwards I couldn't help but think about how stupid that was. But really, they look a lot alike. I even told her dad about what happened and he said some of their own family does that when they haven't seen them for a while. It was about 5 years for me so that made me feel a little better...

Small confession while on the topic of Bobbi G:
Most of my years growing up I had very short hair that my dad always cut for me with a set of clippers and an attachment. It was easy and I had no reason to change it - Until ninth grade. One day I was talking to a girl (you already know who) and she said something to the effect of "I wonder what your hair would look like longer." That's all it took. She was a cute girl, I was a 15 year old boy and my hair has not been buzzed of since then. That is just funny to me. What a classic story.

I hope you enjoyed both of my stories today.

*ps - don't forget about the mystery photo just below

Return of the mystery photo

Here it is again. It's been a while. I always feel like these will either be really easy or impossible. I guess we'll see how this one is.



Look for another post later today...

Guess away!!

4th / Summer Fun!!!

The summer is going by so fast! I can't believe it is already July! Maybe its because it was cold so long into June... Anyway, we've had a lot of fun so far this summer. Ana loves playing in water. She first started with the hose at my Mom's house a couple weeks ago. I love her expression in this picture. She loves getting "soakin' wet."

Jack is growing and changing so fast. He's not as fat as Ana was at this age, but he's doing well. He goes everywhere we go. I'm not really one to keep my babies inside (if you haven't noticed.) He was veggin' in the car seat while Ana played in the pool.
Yesterday was a ton of fun! They do a whole week long celebration for the 4th in this little town, kicked off by fireworks on Monday night. Thursday night Dave did fireworks with Ana. Nothing big, just ground flowers and smoke bombs. Yesterday there was a parade, and then Grandma and Grandpa did a big picnic in the backyard.

Here is Dave and Ana at the parade. She liked seeing the horses and flags, and the big airplane that flew overhead at the beginning.
After lunch Dave brought Jack inside. He is like this a lot - awake and alert, and not very fussy. I loved this picture of him.
Ana and cousin Rylee playing in the pool out back. All Ana needs is one cousin to play with and she'll be happy for hours. (literally.) Last week Dave's sister Terri was here and her daughter played with Ana outside all afternoon one day. I didn't see her all day. Rylee loves Ana and they play together a lot.

We took our first official family of four picture yesterday in our patriotic garb. I think it turned out pretty well. I saw it and thought I looked older. Or maybe I just finally look like I'm old enough to be a mom. We didn't end up seeing any fireworks last night. Ana was too pooped. And frankly so was I. So we played games with Dave's parents and watched Seinfeld. Anyway, in 2 more weeks Dave leaves for Peru for a week and I'm probably going to Poky to see my brother who will be in town that week. The Larsen family reunion at Lagoon is coming up soon, too. I have a feeling that the rest of the summer will fly by.

baby time

I'll have to post some pictures later, but I know its time to update my blog when I'm almost off of Dave's blogroll...

I'm really loving our little baby. Now, Ana was a fussy baby and mostly I couldn't wait until she was older, so I didn't really enjoy her baby stage. But this baby, I love it! He is mostly content, though he has had fussy times. I love holding him and cuddling him. Last night, at 4:30, he woke up to eat and didn't want to go back to sleep. He wasn't fussy, but he was wide awake. I sat there holding him and rocking him for about 45 minutes loving every minute of it. It was so quiet and still. How cool it is to be a mom!

Ana is doing pretty good. The last few days she's started whining about little things. Once in a while when she's frustrated she'll hit Jack. (Not really hard, but I can tell its not a love pat.) I'm not quite sure what to do. I don't feel like she responds to me like she does to Dave.

I don't understand parents who only have 1 or 2 kids on the basis that they only have enough love for 1 or 2. When Jack was born, not only did I feel so much love for him, but my love for Ana increased. I felt concern and excitement for her. I worried how she'd react and how she would feel toward her new little brother. I love her more than I ever since bringing him home. I love being a mother. Even the hard parts. It makes the good parts that much better.

Trip Home

I got back last night from my little trip home. It was really nice. At Mom and Dad's house, it always feels like home, and it was good to feel that. It was weird not having any of my other sisters living there, but it gave me a lot of time to just talk to Mom. I'm sure I talked her ear off. Tuesday and Wednesday we just hung out at the house. I did see my sis Heather who lives across town. I made a few thank you cards, watched some girly movies and worked a bit for my mom to earn a few dollars. Thursday I drove up to Rexburg with my mom. I didn't get to see any friends, but I tell ya, I miss that place. I really loved Rexburg. It was fun to see the Temple all landscaped and whatnot. I really could move back there someday. We also stopped to see my sister in IF on the way home. My sisters are my best friends and it is great to be around them. Thanks for a yummy dinner, Karianne. Friday I got to see a friend from high school and her two kids. It was great to catch up, Nanci! And I went to Dave's brother's house and visited with his wife for a while. It was a nice relaxing trip. Ana had fun at Granny's house, and the baby did great! My sister did pester me to update my blog more often, so I'll try. I've been really out of the loop!

MCAT scores

I got my scores today from the MCAT. I had guessed 30-34 and I got a 32. I wanted a 10 in each of the three areas but as you see I got a 9 in the physical sciences section. Oh well, I still think it will be good enough even though that nine really bugs me. The average score for each section for those accepted at UW and U of Utah is about 10-10.5 so I am right there with them. I also got an O, the letter not number, for the writing sample which I guess is just about average in that section. Here is how it looked on the screen -


Erin was proud of me as usual and now I just have to get my transcripts in and hopefully my first applications will be done mid July. So, even though I barely didn't do as well as I wanted it looks like I was in the 84-88 percentile.