Derek & Tara Larsen

A new Favorite day.

2010-12-06T13:01:00.006-07:00

I have a new day to add to my list of FAVORITE DAYS EVER. This past saturday ranks up there with my wedding day, and the births of my three babies. On Thursday Holley turned 8, Friday was her birthday party with her friends, and Saturday was her Baptism. The day was very special and very full of the spirit. I'm so proud of her decision to be baptized, and of the amazing girl she is becoming. Holley, I love you SO MUCH. I've always known that when this day came it would be a special one, but I never would have guessed that it would have been as amazingly wonderful as it was, and how much it would fill me with the spirit, and with Joy.

After the baptism we had a family lunch at our house, and then gave Holley a few "baptism" gifts, and Derek did a little presentation where he read the poem "Three white Dresses" And showed on a powerpoint, (hooked up to our projector, so everyone could see well.) Pictures of Holley in her blessing dress and then in her baptism dress. (as he read the poem, so they fit in at the right times.) He then showed pictures of me in my "three white dresses" and talked to her about following in her mother's footsteps, and preparing to go to the temple. He had everyone crying. Especially me, and even himself.

When he showed my baptism picture we were all amazed how much it looked like Holley. It surprised me especially I think because I always considered myself such an awkward child, and my Holley such a pretty one. Here are the pictures.

Holley in her blessing dress.

2010-10-20T08:00:00.011-07:00

Apparently, when the surgeons removed 10 inches of internal organs, and a pill sized camera from my body, they also removed my desire to blog. I think now that I'm feeling a little better, I'm so overwhelmed with trying to play "catch up" from all the things that have been ignored the last year or so. While the desire is gone, the guilt is not, and I feel there may still be one or two of you out there that care, so I thought an update was in order. If nothing else I need to get a pic or two of my cute kids out there.

Daelyn

Daelyn probably keeps me the busiest. She is full of mischief and loves climbing on stuff and getting into things. She's still chubbier than my other girls were, and gets to wear all new shoes (despite all the available hand me downs) because her cute chubby feet don't fit into any of the shoes her older sisters wore. She Loves to dance, and is always full of giggles.She also loves to SCREAM, and is really loud when she wants something. I'm sure she learned this from her sisters. Here's a picture from yesterday, when she found a marker her big sister forgot to put away. I do believe she thought it was blush.

Brinley Just turned 4 on Sept 26th. She loves being a "big girl" now, unless it comes to doing chores. She loves playing "mommy" and so that makes me "grandma" She's so sweet with her little dolls though. She is a good little mommy. She loves her new Jammies that match Daelyns, and always tries to make sure they can wear them on the same nights.

Holley started 2nd grade, and has an AMAZING teacher. She seems SO GROWN UP to me now. It just blows me away. She'll turn 8 and be baptized this December. And I just can't believe it. She loves being with her friends, and is already wanting a cell phone. (keep wishing honey.) She is also a good helper when I'm really needing an extra pair of "mommy hands". For months she begged for me to paint her room. Derek took her and Brinley camping for labor day, and I stayed here with Daelyn, and surprised them by painting an accent wall in their room while they were gone. She also entered her rock collection in the county fair, and won a blue ribbon! Yeah Holley! Here are pics from the first day of school, and in their "newly painted room".

I love it when all three of them play together and get along. It seems sadly that more often its screaming and fighting, but I caught a couple pictures of them getting along. They love to play dress-ups together, and there are some from a day that Daelyn was climbing all over Holley and Brinley while they were laying on the floor, and they all just thought it was the funniest thing.

Derek
Derek, is busy as always. Still loving teaching in Pima, and being with his girls when he gets a chance. A couple months ago, he was called as 2nd counselor in the bishopric, and has been enjoying this new calling, and working closly with our wonderful bishop. He also spends a lot of his time taking our girls to games at the school to give me a much needed break, and get some daddy time in. Between all that, and the occasional "honey-do" he rarely gets any time to do something for himself, but never complains. He is so good to us, and I really don't know how I lucked out and nabbed such a great husband.

Me
As for myself, like I said, I feel like I'm on overdrive with all the things I want to get done. Christmas projects, going through closets to pull out all the stuff that is WAY to small, (it's been a while, I emptied off like 100 hangers, and our closets feel much more roomy now.) Purging the house for stuff to donate to the DI, (not to mention repeatedly putting some items back in the DI boxes, after the girls try to "save" them. I want to redecorate every room, I think I'm just aching for a little change of scenery. I cut my hair boy short again, to eliminate the stress of dealing with my hair, and free myself up to spend time on the things I want to do. I don't have any decent pictures yet though, maybe later.

Anyway, that's enough for now, don't know when I'll update again, but at least you all know we're still here.

So good to be home!

2010-06-04T12:45:00.004-07:00

All right, I guess it's about time I post another update. Hopefully this will be the last post for a while about my health issues. My surgery was on Tuesday May 4th. The day after my last post. The surgery went well, The main complication being the prednisone. I guess when your injured your body creates a "natural" steroid to help heal your body, but if you are taking steroids your body shuts down that natural response to fight the injury and the pain. So they had to give me really high doses of steroids the day of the surgery, and also high doses of morphine to help with the pain. The first few days post-surgery were much more rough than I had anticipated. Probably a lot because of the steroids. I had a lot of pain, and anxiety, couldn't breathe well, see well, walk well. As I started to feel better I was very tired of being stuck in the hospital. Mother's Day, and Derek and Daelyn's birthday were especially hard for me. I'm sure all you other moms could imagine how hard it would be to be away from your kids on mother's day, or your baby's 1st birthday. They kept me in the hospital a total of 2 1/2 weeks. (a few days longer than expected because of an infection I ended up with in my central line site.) Luckily for my kids, their AMAZING grandparents were able to be with them. Things usually seem to work out the way they are supposed to. When we found out I would need to have this surgery, my parents were in town for the temple open house. It was so nice to have them there as we got things ready to go to the hospital. They headed home sunday, and my mom turned around and came back tuesday, so the first week I was in the hospital my mom was able to be in town to help with the girls, and trade off with Derek to spend a little time with me in the hospital. Derek was able to use sick leave to be with me in the hospital for most of my bad days. My mom had to leave friday, but Derek's parents who had planned to come for the temple open house the next weekend changed their plans to be able to come a few days early, and stay longer. So they arrived sunday, and were able to stay til sunday. They did so much to help Derek and the girls, and it was so nice knowing my girls were being well taken care of, and having some quality "grandma-grandpa" time. I was SO APPRECIATIVE of all they did. I was hoping to be out of the hospital before they left town, and felt bad that I didn't get to see them more and to express my gratitude more to them. The same day they left, my sweet mom traveled back again, and stayed for another week and a half. I was so grateful to have her there when I was finally released, as the first few days home were a little rougher than I had anticipated as well. I finally got to come home on Wednesday the 19th, and it was SOOO GOOD to be home. It was so good to see my girls. Even though I got to see them in the hospital a couple times it wasn't the same. I was worried about my IV lines, and they were unsure of all the macines etc as well. I sat on the floor and Daelyn smiled and came to me and hugged me so tight for the longest time without letting go. It was so WONDERFUL!!!! Holley, and Brinley were so cute and excited to have me home as well. It felt SO GOOD.

Anyway, I'm doing much better, and still just so glad to be home. I'm still taking things pretty easy, as I still have pain from the surgery, but I'm able to do most of my regular household stuff. (Just not as much of it, or as fast maybe.) I'm not supposed to lift more than 20 lbs for a couple more weeks still. It's been so hard not being able to lift up Daelyn. What a blessing that the week I got out of the hospital was also Holley's last week of school. Since my mom left, Holley's been my super helper. She lifts Daelyn in and out of the crib, high chair, car seat, for me. And since Daelyn's walking exclusively now, I'm able to hold her hand and walk her to where I need her,(provided she's willing, and If not I call for Holley, who comes to my rescue and carries her for me.) Holley has accepted this responsibility well, and I've been very proud of her for being so willing and helpful. Brinley has also tried to be helpful, and lately loves to make her bed all by herself.

On a final note, the biopsy of the bowel that was removed in the surgery, was able to finally confirm Crohns disease. Although this is a big diagnosis, that I'm not sure we've completely wrapped our minds around, we are so grateful to finally have an answer and know what was causing all my problems. We found a Gastroenterologist in Mesa that we will be working with that we feel really good about. He's got me now tapering off the prednisone to take me off it in a few weeks. He's also put me on a prescription thats supposed to help protect my bowel from future damage. We have still to figure out how much this disease will change and affect my day to day life. But that's something we'll just have to learn with time. We're told it's a 50% chance that I'll have to have future bowel surgeries, like the one I just had. I hope I'm in the 50% that doesn't ever have to have another one, but we realize still that it's a possibility that we need to prepare for. As for now, I am free from the Horrible, miserable, cramping pain that I was suffering from for so long. Which is a very WONDERFUL thing. So grateful to finally find out what was wrong. Ironically almost a year exactly it took. I started having symptoms during my pregnancy but thought it was pregnancy symptoms, started looking into it after Daelyn was born and the symptoms didn't go away. Then to have the surgery so close to her birthday, and be in the hospital again, exactly a year after I was in the hospital to have her was a little ironic I thought. I'm also very grateful for good medical insurance, My itemized statement from the hospital was over 20 pgs long. I don't know what we would do if we weren't insured, what a blessing. So glad to be home and to be feeling better. Thank you all so much for your love, concern, and prayers!

ps Hoping soon to get around to posting happier stuff, pictures, 1st birthday, temple dedication etc, but thought some might be wondering about the surgery.

overdue update!

2010-05-03T12:16:00.004-07:00

So I know another update is overdue, but truth be told, I actually typed up a post a little over a week ago, while working on it My little Daelyn toddled over to me and tried to climb up in my lap. I picked her up, and with one slap of that pudgy little baby hand I love so much, she deleted the whole thing!!! It was probably for the best, the prednisone was making me pretty emotional that day. Then today I spent a few hours on and off typing up a nice long post, thinking all along it was continuosly being saved by blogger, but I must have lost my connection without realizing it, and something happened again that made me lose the whole thing. So if you are wanting all the details, you are just out of luck for now, but I can give you the basics.

I'm posting this from the hospital. The "capsule" from the capsule endoscopy I had done 3 weeks ago, was supposed to pass out of my body on its own, and it didn't. I've got an obstruction in my small bowel and the capsule is stuck there. The situation makes it urgent to do surgery, but my weight loss and, the prednisone I've been taking complicates it a bit. The Prednisone affects my blood sugar they checked me in last night and have me on intravenous 'Nutrition" to balance my fats and sugar, and everything so I'll be more stable going into surgery. So that will be a day or two before the surgery depending on how well my levels end up where they should. The Prednisone also causes problems with how well and how quickly my body will be able to heal after the surgery, so the surgeon told me to plan on being in the hospital about 2 weeks. They are hoping to do the surgery tomorrow. They will actually remove about 10 inches of my small bowel.

Despite this situation being less than ideal I feel SO BLESSED. I have AMAZING Doctors that I really trust. The surgeon is actually in our ward and made a house call to discuss the situation with us when we found out we needed to have surgery. He has done so much to help calm our fears, and help us feel good about the surgery. I have amazing family and friends, so many people offering up help and prayers. I've never felt more loved. Since I'm in the hospital anyway, the surgeon and the Doctors from my primary care are running a bunch of tests and consulting with other Drs to try and figure out what has been causing me all my problems. Even looking into my infertility/repeat miscarriage situation. (One of these Dr's is our stake president, the other is the Dr who has been working so hard to help us through this already. They are both men dear to our family. Really Good men!) Interestingly enough, a couple of the Drs that I'm working with, will be the Dr's attending to President Monson when he is here later this month for the Temple Dedication. I truly feel so blessed, my parents, and parents-in-law both being willing to come down to help. My AMAZING husband, so patient, and loving, and ever picking up all my slack and telling me to take things easy. My Sweet Holley, so Tender-hearted. This has been hardest on her, and she has been so worried about me. She's always there to hug me, or do anything she can to help me feel better. I'm so proud of how brave she's being through all this. Doing all she can to help with her sisters, and trying to stay strong. My Brinley, ever my comedic one. I love how her little 3 year old mind takes the little pieces of what she hears or understands about what's happening around her, and spins it in such a funny way. About a week ago for example she asked me quite matter-of-factly, "Mom, are you still chewing on that camera?" And my sweet baby girl. Daelyn really has been the perfect baby for such a time as this. She is such a content, easy-going, happy, good baby. Since about a couple months old, I could lay her down in her crib and she'd just put herself to sleep. And SHE HUGS!!!! I know many of you won't believe me, because baby's don't hug, but I have witnesses! Others who have experienced those sweet little chubby baby arms wrapping around a shoulder or neck and squeezing. They've said. . . "She hugs!!!! Baby's don't hug but she hugs!!!!" Oh how those sweet baby hugs make everything else worth it all. Can you tell I'm missing my girls. It's been one day but I miss their cuddles. A nice cuddle from anyone of them, is just about the best thing in the world, Oh how I love them.

Well there I go rambling again. and after I promised a short post. I'd better get this posted before I lose it again. Thanks again for all you love and concern. I'll try to keep posting updates on the surgery etc.

11 months and . . . .

2010-04-18T20:47:00.002-07:00

WALKING!!!!

I've really been trying to keep all the updates on the kids in chronological order, but I felt that this update was urgent. Daelyn has been taking a few steps here and there for weeks now, and then today she was like. . . "I'm gonna get this thing down." And she did! It's so cute and she's so proud of herself. You can't really tell with the binky in her mouth, but she's laughing and grinning from ear to ear. Just had to show ya! Enjoy!

December

2010-04-18T14:56:00.009-07:00

The week of Holley's birthday, she got to be student of the week, and take a "spotlight" poster to school!

Holley's 7th birthday!

Daelyn LOVED the Christmas tree and other decorations, we just could not keep her away!

Christmas!

Christmas eve Jammies! I almost didn't get them done this year, but finished them up Christmas eve day!

I LOVE this one of the girls!

July?

2010-04-18T14:23:00.007-07:00

I was just about to post some pictures from December, when I stumbled across some from JULY & august that I just couldn't pass up sharing. These pictures made my heart happy!

These pictures were from our camping trip to Alpine. I put socks on Daelyn's hands to keep them warm during the night, and in the morning, Holley and Brinley wanted their socks on their hands too.

Helpful Big sisters!

Sun Splash!

These two aren't the best quality as far as pictures go, but they are both the kind that make me just ache to be able to rewind time & make my little ones teeny again. The most frustrating thing for me about my health giving me problems when it did, is I feel I didn't get to "soak in" and just enjoy and cherish Daelyn's little baby days as much as I would have liked, or even as much as I was able to with Holley and Brin. There were times that I just wanted to hold her and rock her to sleep, but at times it just hurt too much to have her weight/wiggles and squirms against my stomach if it wasn't necessary. Don't get me wrong though, I was so blessed to have such a GOOD baby at a time like this, because I didn't NEED to rock her to sleep, I could just lay her in the crib and she'd go to sleep on her own, what a blessing, but I would have loved a little more cuddle time.

a few more.

2010-04-06T20:21:00.003-07:00

Wow, two posts tonight. Derek took the girls out to jump on the tramp for a while before bed so I thought I'd post a few more outdated pictures. I think most if not all of these are from November.

Family Scripture Study. Holley didn't quite make it til the end this night.

Pictures from this past fall, and medical tests update.

2010-04-06T18:02:00.011-07:00

Here are some cute pictures from October. I should be posting Easter, but we'll keep this all chronological and try to catch up on some of the old stuff first.

The girls at Apple Annie's!

Daelyn's 10 minute homemade costume.

Fairy & Southern Belle! (Wasn't gonna attempt homemade for these two this year!) They looked cute and loved their costumes!

My cute little Flower!

As for the update on the colonoscopy and all that . . . I feel kindof strange blogging all about all my medical stuff(who really wants to read about colonoscopys and intestinal problems?) but so many of you have been so kind to ask and be concerned that I want to keep you up to date. If you don't want to read all this junk, than by all means just skip it, but here is the latest low down for those of you who may have been wondering.

While waiting for results my weight dropped real low. Down to 100 lbs, which for 5'9" tall is much too low (approximately 30-40 lbs lower than recommended BMI.) I had to quit nursing Daelyn. The Gastroentereologist was not getting back to us on the results of the blood work and colonoscopy and our Family practioner was getting really concerned about my weight/malnutrition, so he called and said he wanted to put me in the hospital for a few days to get me on an IV for nutrition, and also an IV administered steroid. My Sweet hubby, got frustrated, and called the Gastroenterologists office. Derek finally got the Doc on the phone. Apparently my blood work came up positive for Crohn's but the colonoscopy didn't show much, so he wanted to do some MORE tests. He finally prescribed me something to try to help in the meantime though. So I started a steroid, and was able to avoid the hospital stay. My pain still is pretty bad, but it seems that since I've started the medicine, it's not quite as often, (I get a couple good or ok days a week.) It also seems to be helping me put some weight back on. I'm up about 5 lbs. I'm sure Gluten being back in my life is helping with that too. I feel like I'm eating well, but my body just does not seem to absorb any of the nutrition. I'm sure to see me people just think I'm not eating at all. (which brings up all sorts of bad memories from my youth of being called "anorexic" because I was so skinny, people don't usually feel sorry for the skinny girl, but that's a whole different post I'll maybe get to later.) I'm VERY HAPPY that I'm enjoying gluten again, and it does not seem to be linked to my problems. "Welcome back, bread, Pizza, Cake, etc, Oh how I missed you!"

Dr ordered an upper GI, that showed problems in my small intestines that had the radiologist perplexed. She said she'd never seen a case like it before and showed it to some colleagues in tucson who also found it "intriguing." Gastroenterologist found the findings "interesting" as well, and has shown them to other Dr's seeking opinions. Quotations on the words intriguing and interesting are because those are the word choices the Dr's used, make of it what you will. Basically my small intestines are dialated, (approximately twice the diameter of an average small bowel) and not properly functioning. Next step now is a capsular endoscopy. I basically swallow a pill size camera that will retrieve images of my intestinal tract. That will happen monday, I have to prep for it the same as the colonoscopy, which is the part I'm really dreading. It's interesting to me though how they can do something like that. I swallow the camera and then wear some device on a belt that picks up all the images/information from the capsule.

Dr still believes it to be Crohn's and has begun treating it as such, but still no "Confirmed diagnosis." I hope though to see improvement from the prednisone. In all my online "research" about Crohn's disease, symptoms, treatments, etc. My mind keeps going back to this funny post I read on one of my favorite blogs, and I thought I'd share the link to give you a crash course on crohn's as well as perhaps a chuckle or two. If you haven't ever read The Meanest Mom's blog before, you should, she is hilarious.Ms Crohn's disease Autoimmune pageant entry

Labor day!

2010-03-16T12:15:00.003-07:00

Here are some pic from Labor Day last fall. I didn't take any of these, but luckily Dereks parents were down, and I swiped these cute ones from Dales facebook page.

Thank you for all the comments of concern posted in my behalf. We're still anxiously awaiting the biopsy results, and will hopefully hear friday. I had a really rough weekend and was hardly able to eat anything. It seems everything I've eaten in the last while, has left me feeling miserable which in turn makes it hard for me to eat that food item again. Worried about the malnutrition, and desperate to find something I could eat, I felt impressed to try eating gluten again. I did, and it really helped with the Nausea(which I think was getting so bad cause I wasn't eating much, but I wasn't eating much cause of the nausea.) I'm feeling better today than I have in a while, I'm bracing myself for possible side effects from the gluten, but starting to feel hopeful that my problem is maybe not gluten related at all and I'll be able to continue keeping it in my diet. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Holley's off for spring break this week, it's been nice and relaxed having her home, and Brinley has enjoyed having her sister around to play with.

Where have you been?

2010-03-12T12:24:00.008-07:00

Man, I feel like a teenager coming home past curfew and trying to find the best words to plea my case of why I've been MIA. You should all know, that I have updated this blog in my head multiple times, but just not gotten around to ACTUALLY doing it. Some of you sweet loving friends have even emailed to check up on me, and I truly appreciate the love.

So, now do I give you all the long story or the short one? I'll try to keep it short, as I know many of you probably just scroll down looking for new pics of my cute kids anyway. I'll try to Cap lock on the key information if you want to really just scroll through for the fast update.

Basically I haven't posted in 6 months cause I've FELT CRUMMY, and if I do get a day when I don't feel crummy, I'm basically trying to play "catch up" around the house from all the days when I do feel crummy, and get NOTHING DONE. I've been having stomach pain, and cramping, Nausea, Diarhea, and rapid weight loss, which has left my weight at an unhealthy low, and I'm unable to gain any back. It doesn't help that I don't want to eat anything, out of fear it will make me feel worse. (I Really miss enjoying food.) We haven't known whats wrong, and I think to an extent, I've also put off posting until I knew what was wrong, we're still not sure, but we are finally getting closer to an answer.

It started during my pregnancy when I began having STOMACH PAIN, AND CRAMPING, I passed it off as just a pregnancy side effect that I didn't have the other times, and my OBGYN said it was probably, constipation, so I treated it as such, and let it go. AFTER DELIVERY, my stomach cramping and pain, was WORSE THAN MY AFTER PAINS. I again mentioned it to my OBGYN who, didn't really seem concerned so I let it go again. Things got worse so I mentioned it again, and he said it was probably IBS. I sought a 2ND OPINION, Dr did a little lab work and said, IBS. Watched a few IBS commercials and thought, "Hmmm, those women don't look like they feel like they are dying." Sought a 3RD OPINION. Dr #3 has been much more helpful and has really helped us dig, but it's been MONTHS of DEAD ENDS. He looked for parasites, did lab work, ordered x-rays, ultrasounds, and even a hyda scan. Still no answer. Suggested trying a CT scan, but I was worried about doing this, since I am still breastfeeding. He suggested eliminating dairy or gluten from my diet. After ELIMINATING GLUTEN, I noticed improvement, so we thought we had found the problem. Dr refered me to a Gastroenterologist, who did a stomach scope to look for ulcers and/or try to confirm celiac disease. Results from celiac biopsy test were negative, but being gluten free was still the only thing that had seemed to help, so I began transitioning to a GLUTEN FREE LIFESTYLE(end of Oct, first of NOV). I was still having problems, but thought that I was just having problems with Gluten leaking in to my diet. Then about mid January, the problems started to again get MUCH WORSE. Went back to Dr. who refered me back to the Gastroenterologist, and also an endocrinologist. Started thinking it might be my gall bladder. Endocrinologist did a bunch of labs that turned up that my b12 was low, and the Gastroentereologist, ordered a CT SCAN and then suggested looking into my GALL BLADDER a little further. Had CT, which turned up something (FINALLY....SOMETHING.) An inflamation in my bowel, which most often indicates CROHN'S DISEASE. Which all my symptoms seem to fit into, even the low levels of B12. So, the Dr ordered a Colonoscopy to get a biopsy to confirm if it is in fact Crohn's. YIPPEE! A COLONOSCOPY AT 30! LUCKY ME!!! Anyway, said colonoscopy happened Tuesday, now we wait 10 days for biopsy results.

Wow, guess that wasn't very concise. Still, I really did leave out a LOT of detail. 10 days has never seemed like such a long period of time as it does when I'm in miserable pain, and just want an answer so we can try to deal with this. So we wait, and hopefully next week we will have an answer. Crohn's Disease, would not be a fun diagnosis, but at least it's a diagnosis, and we would know whats wrong.

In happier news, my little girls are still cute, even though I've not been providing the photo evidence. Holley, is enjoying first grade, and just started taking piano lessons. Brinley is as silly as ever, and still keeps us laughing with her little antics. Daelyn is growing MUCH TOO FAST,(she'll be 10 months old tomorrow) and is such a sweet baby. She's crawling all over like crazy. She's not to far off from walking either.

Derek is the most AMAZING husband, and all these health problems have just made me SO MUCH MORE GRATEFUL, that I married him. I really don't know what other man would be able to do all he does, in the way he does. He picks up all my slack at home, and is my encouragement and "Faith Strengthener" on my lowest Days. Derek I love you so much! Thank you.

Here's a video of Daelyn, about where we left off last time. I'll be trying to post some pictures of the last 6 months now and in the days to come, (don't want to overwhelm you with all of them at once, but we'll try and catch you up.)

Holley's first day of first grade.

Playing dress-up.

My Chubby Baby.(at about 5 months.)

Brinley's 3rd Birthday.(Sept.)

Gotta go for now, I'll try and get more up soon.

A Smile to Brighten your day.

2009-08-21T16:09:00.004-07:00

Ok my day needed this one, so I thought I'd share! Sometimes it seems my babies are the most aware of when I need a smile or some love. This video is not from today, but I thought of it earlier when Daelyn really brightened my day with her usual smiley sweet disposition. She really is a happy baby! We went bowling the other night for FHE and a couple ladies were bowling next to us. I noticed that they were watching Daelyn who was contendedly sitting in her car seat, smiling and being happy. When they saw that I had noticed them they asked, "Is she always that good?" how grateful I was to say "yes!" I know that I'm a lucky mommy. I love that she is such a good sweet happy baby. Truly, there have been many occasions when her smile has really lifted my spirits.

(On this video she gives a real good smile right at the first of the clip, I tried to get more out of her, cause we usually do, but I guess she wasn't feeling it. This is from a couple weeks ago, and I just haven't gotten around to getting a better video. So the smile right at the first is what I wanted to share, but I didn't know how to not upload the whole clip. Anyhow enjoy the smile, and then you can ignore the rest if you want.)

Guess who cleans more at our house???

2009-08-21T11:36:00.002-07:00

I've always appreciated having a husband who helps out so much around the house. Maybe it's because the clutter bothers me more than the spots, and for Derek the spots more than the clutter. So, I'm more likely to reorganize a closet, or pick up the floor, than to scrub a tub, or the stove. Derek on the other hand has accepted that scrubbing the tubs is his territory (and does so very happy and willingly I might add.)

So the other day it was brought to my attention, that Derek maybe does a greater bulk of the cleaning than I realized. While I was mopping the kitchen, Brinley came in, and upon discovering me weilding a mop, she quickly scolded me saying, "Hey! That's Daddy's!!!"

I know I know! Cute and funny girl, great husband, I'm a lucky one.

Our Little Comedian.

2009-07-10T14:16:00.005-07:00

Brinley is our little comedian. I swear probably at least 50% of the laughing that goes on around here is prompted by this 2 year old. She is ALWAYS catching us off guard with the silly things she says or does, or the funny expressions and voices she comes up with. Most of the time she isn't even trying to be funny!

Example, Here are some pictures of what she did a while ago when we asked her to go get her pjs . . . .

She climbed up onto the shelf, and into the cubby, so that she could retrieve the pjs with her mouth!

So that being said, this is an actual conversation I had with her the other day. You have to know the names of some of our family members and where they live, but I couldn't belive how she kept pulling out the perfect names, Maybe all the names and cities were floating around in her head confusing her, and that's where it all came from.

Brin- "Mom, where's uncle Danny?" (said in a tone like, he should be here, why isn't he?)
me- "He's in New York."
Brin- (sounding very confused) "Who's New York?"
me-(chuckling) "New York is the City Where Uncle Danny lives."
Brin-(obviously still thinking) "oh"
Brin- "Where's Logan?" (my nephew, her cousin)
Me- "Logan lives in Layton"
Brin- "Layton? ... Where's Payton?" (another nephew, and cousin)
Me- "Payton lives in Layton too."
Brin- (looking a little confused still, and trying to figure out why Layton sounds like Payton) "Oh"
Brin- (looking at my inquisically again) "where's uncle Dax?"
me- (laughing now) "he's in Logan" (uncle Dax lives in Logan Ut)
brin- (Obviously Very frustrated) "NO.....UNCLE DAX???"

I was laughing so hard and she had this look on her face like she thought I was putting her on. It's even funnier if you could have heard the little tone in her voice.
Ah Brin, thanks for making me laugh. We love you so much.

(she's sitting by a big foam F in this picture because we were making a "happy fathers Day" Banner for Dad.)

Holy Picture Overload!!!!!

2009-07-02T19:33:00.002-07:00

Ok ok brace yourselves! 10 posts and tonz of pictures in one day, but I had to catch up all of June, and A LOT happened in June. So here's what you see as you scroll down. In reverse order cause the first will be last on here chronologically. I first posted pictures from the Larsen San Diego trip, and then theres the baby blessing, and extended family stuff, some photo sessions, and our trip to Yellowstone with the Mayhue side of the family. So once you get down through the San Diego pictures and the video clip of Brin at Lego land you'll know you are back up to speed with the comings and goings of the Larsen family. Sorry to overload you all at once, but there was so much great stuff, I couldn't leave any out!

These two Cousins!!!!

2009-07-02T19:28:00.004-07:00

I always LOVE it when these two cousins get together. It seems like whenever I see them together, I remember them playing together as 2 year olds, and then in my minds eye I can picture them hanging out together as teenagers. Holley and Parker are the best of friends, and every year we worry that when they get together, it won't be the same as before, due to the time apart, and the fact that Holley's a girl, and Parker's a boy. Yet we are always amazed at how fast they are off together having the best time. I truly hope their relationship never changes.

Yellowstone!

2009-07-02T17:31:00.007-07:00

Yellowstone was AMAZING! Everytime I've been there, thats the one word that is constantly in my mind! I love seeing all the animals, and beautiful scenery, the lake,and the waterfalls, but my favorite is all the hydrothermal stuff! It truly never fails to AMAZE me!

Drive to Yellowstone!

2009-07-02T17:14:00.005-07:00

Here are some pics from our drive up to yellowstone.

Idaho Falls, (Idaho Falls temple in background!)

Rexburg Temple. (Derek loved being able to drive around campus and remember all his good old memories, and was THRILLED to realize the temple is just across the street from his old apartments!)

all three girls asleep in the back seat, in one shot!!

Mesa Falls.

Mayhue Family Pictures!

2009-07-02T17:00:00.002-07:00

We were able to get some Mayhue Family Pictures sunday evening after the baby blessing, it was a stormy day, and we didn't think it was going to happen, but it cleared up just in time to get a few.

Daelyn's Baby Blessing

2009-07-02T16:45:00.003-07:00

Here are some pictures from Daelyns Baby blessing. Derek gave her such a Beautiful blessing, and I found her a Gorgeous blessing dress. It was such a wonderful Day, and it was so great to be able to have so much family there.

playing settlers with the Crossmans! Thanks So much for making the trip up, it was SO GOOD to see you guys.

Larsen Family.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Larsen

Grandpa Larsen

Photos of the girls!

2009-07-02T16:23:00.007-07:00

Our friend Emily took some GREAT pictures of the girls! I'm so excited to get some of these printed up and in frames. She did Daelyn in her blessing dress and some other poses I wanted. I even used some of them to update the profile photos on my sidebar. She posted some of them on her blog too! Click here to see them . . . (You have to look! SO CUTE!!)

Emily Harkness Photography

(then you can tell HER how cute they are too, SO CUTE!!!!)

She is in North Ogden, if anyone is interested in having her do some photos. I think she really captured my girls personalities in these pictures! Thanks SO MUCH Emily! We love all the pictures you took.

Uncle Tony!

2009-07-02T16:21:00.001-07:00

Here's Tony with Daelyn and Lily. I thought this was really cute, had to post it!

Violin Lessons!

2009-07-02T16:10:00.003-07:00

I've always wanted my Dad to teach my kids how to play the violin, but having moved out of Utah the opportunity had not really presented itself. Recently, Holley expressed a desire to learn, so we asked grandpa if he could squeeze in a couple short lessons during our vacation time. For me this was one of those incredibly awesome sweet moments in life.

Brinley REALLY wanted to play too, so grandpa let her try for a minute too.

Daelyn listening to the music.

LegoLand & San Diego!

2009-07-02T14:55:00.009-07:00

Here are some pictures from the Larsen trip to San Diego. Derek, Holley, and Brinley had a great time, and I was glad for all the pictures and videos they got so that I could see just how much fun they had.

Holley on the phone with momma saying goodnight.

Here's a video clip of Brin that I thought was cute.

Daelyn's name.

2009-05-30T13:40:00.002-07:00

I just realized I never posted about why we chose Daelyn's name, and I thought some of you might be interested. So here's the story to those of you who care to know.

The origin of Daelyn, is Dale, which is Dereks middle name, and his Dad's first name. We thought it would be special for her to be named in honor of her Daddy, especially since they share a birthday. We were still a little unsure about it though the first day or two, because it didn't really sound good with any of the middle names we were considering.

The morning after Daelyn's birth, I woke up in the hospital room, and the name Brielle popped into my head. Brielle was one of the names that I had on my list of names I really liked, but we felt it might be too similar to Brinley, and hadn't considered it as a middle name, and kind of forgot about it. When it popped into my head that morning my mind immediately tried it as a middle name with Daelyn, and I thought it sounded really pretty. We were still a little unsure, because we've always chosen middle names with a family significance. We eventually decided (after we were home from the hospital a whole day.) that since her first name had the "family significance" factor, we could choose the middle name that we just thought sounded really pretty. and wha La! Daelyn Brielle Larsen!

I also posted a ton of pictures today so scroll down if you haven't seen them yet.

2 Week update!

2009-05-30T10:18:00.013-07:00

Okay, here's a 2 week update, and I hope you're all in the mood to look at TONS of pictures cause I have a TON of cute ones! Don't mean to sound too prideful, but I think my kids are SOOOOO CUTE (especially little baby Daelyn)!!!! Seriously, this post probably has as many pictures as all my posts from the last year combined!

I can't believe how fast these two weeks have gone. Here's what we've been up to. . .
The weekend we came home from the hospital, my parents came into town to visit, my dad stayed for a couple days, and my mom was able to stay for two weeks.(She left just this morning.) We were totally spoiled by the ward and friends who brought us dinners for 5 nights. It was great to feel so loved. My Dad brought with him his camera, which is much nicer than ours, so we were able to get some pretty good pictures. The saturday after I got home from the hospital, Holley had her first dance recital. Derek went with her to the dress rehearsal and watched the recital then, so that he could stay home with Daelyn that evening while Grandma, Grandpa, Brinley and I went to the actual performance! I was really impressed with how well Holley remembered all her steps and moves! She did so well!
On monday, Derek had to go back to work, Holley back to school(final week), and Grandpa, back to Utah. Holley enjoyed having grandma here to walk her to and from the bus every day, and on friday she had her last day of school! I guess that makes her an official 1st grader now! She brought home a good report card, on which her teacher commented . . . "Holley is an outstanding reader. She will make a great first grader." We are so proud of how hard she worked, and how much she learned this year, we too are impressed with what a good reader she's become, she reads a verse or two all by herself every night at family scripture study, and has even been diligently having personal scripture study time. Just recently she borrowed an old set of Derek's scriptures cause she was interested in reading the Doctrine and Covenants, and her scriptures only have the Book of Mormon. We are so proud that she is making this kind of personal decisions at only 6 years old.
Saturday, (May 23rd) Derek had an incredible opportunity. A girl who has been in his seminary class for the last few years decided to be baptized and asked him if he would do it. This was his first baptism since his mission, and he felt nervous but VERY honored. That night we went out for dinner to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. (Thanks mom for watching all 3 girls for a couple hours.)
On Monday, May 25th (our actual anniversary, and Memorial day) Derek, Holley, and Brinley left for California for a vacation with Derek's family, (which was planned before we even got pregnant.) We felt it unwise for the baby and I to go so soon after she was born, so my mom stayed here with us. On Tuesday and Wednesday they went to Lego land, and then spent the next couple days at the beach. I've missed them SO MUCH, but it was a good opportunity to spend a quiet week with just my mom, and my new little one. We spoiled ourselves and watched lots of movies and relaxed. She also helped me do some cleaning and some other things around the house. It was a good week.
Mom left this morning, and Derek and the girls will come home tomorrow. So Daelyn and I will have a couple quiet days to ourselves. (which is why I actually had time to make this post.) I'll enjoy this time but can't wait to see the rest of my family tomorrow!
Here's all the pictures (hope you enjoy). . .

Holley's recital.
Her hair wrapped in rags! I think she's so cute with rags in her hair, she didn't really appreciate us taking this picture, but we thought it was so cute we couldn't resist.

On Sunday, my dad took a ton of photos for us. We got a lot of cute ones! Here's a sampling of some of the pictures he took. . .

Here are a few other pics from last week. . .
Brinley came out with these little gloves and wanted them put on her feet. She then started to waddle around the house saying, "I'm a penguin, I'm a penguin!" I have NO clue where she came up with this, but it was SO CUTE!!!!!!

Holley and Sadie after Holley's dance pictures,(which explains her clothes, hair, and the make-up.)

Brinley playing in the rain! I probably wouldn't have let her, but grandma was here, and I'm glad, cause she sure had a BLAST, and look how cute these pictures are!

Daelyn napping on the couch.

Here are some pictures me and my mom took of Daelyn a week ago! I thought they turned out WAY CUTE! You can even see she was still holding on to her little cord stub, it fell off finally the next day.

Holley and Daelyn last Saturday morning, Holley's been such a sweet big sister and wants to hold Daelyn every chance she gets.

Cute pics from last sunday.

Daelyn and her beautiful grandma Mayhue!

Daelyn napping on her Boppy.

Daelyn Brielle

2009-05-15T14:31:00.058-07:00

All right here's the post you've all been waiting for. Sorry it's taken me a while, I started it a couple days ago, but blogger isn't letting me upload pictures very well, so it's been a work in progress getting all those on here. (not to mention, I can only spend so much time away from the all-consuming task of sitting to stare at my beautiful new baby.)

Knowing that we'd be spending Derek's birthday in the hospital we decided to celebrate on tuesday night before we checked in to be induced. We did presents, and had cake and ice cream. It was also good to have some fun family time, before leaving our girls for a whole night and day.

Here's Derek with his cake, and it's 30 candles.

And the girls enjoying the yummy birthday cake.

Our friend Brandi came to stay with the girls. She got here in time to have cake and ice cream with us, and help get the girls ready for bed. After we got the girls all tucked in and sleeping, Derek and I gathered up all our stuff and headed for the hospital. Here's my final belly shot before we left. If you don't want to read the whole labor story, then here's the part where you can just skip through all the pictures.

Our Dr was so sweet to induce me late at night, so that we'd be sure to have her on the 13th. It was nice I thought to check in at night when all was pretty quiet. I've always just checked in got hooked right up to the pitocin, but this time, they tried this little pill that they insert up by the cervix. The nurse said that if I was close enough to going into labor on my own, that this little pill would get my contractions going, and push me into labor.
We were so happy when it started working well within just a couple minutes. And since I wasn't hooked up to the IV yet, I was able to walk around a bit, and get up if I wanted. I was even able to take a warm shower, which felt so nice, and helped with the contaction pain. We also were able to doze a little and get some sleep. (Derek a little more than I.) It was really a nice change from being in bed the whole time, hooked up to the IV and monitors.
The Dr came in and broke my water around 9 am or so. I progressed evenly but slowly,(more efacing than dilating since I was almost 4cm when I came in at 10pm) and made it to about 5 cm late morning(around 10 or 11?), and started thinking the epidural would be nice. The Anesthesiologist was AMAZING! When I told him how sick the last epidural made me, he even adjusted the medicines he used to hopefully help (which it did! I didn't throw up at all this time!) The Epidural was much better than the one I had last time.
The Epidural did slow down my contractions, and they ended up having to put me on the pitocin, but by that time, I was already stuck in bed, and on the IV, and it didn't take too much pitocin to get me going again.
They checked me a couple hours later, and I was extrememly frustrated to be at only a 6. Then my contractions started to get painful again, which made me even more frustrated cause I was still on the epidural, and my legs were completely numb, so I didn't understand why I was in so much pain.
They decided that the medicine had probably just settled too low, because I was sitting up more than I probably should have been. I layed back and hoped the medicine would rise to my abdomen again, and tried to settle in for a longer wait. Then the nurse came in and checked again, needless to say, we were relieved and surprised when she said that I was basically complete. (Like half an hour or so after they said I was only 6cm.)
They paged the Dr, and prepped the room, and had me do a couple practice pushes. Whenever I contracted or pushed, they would momentarily lose the babies heart rate, which told them there was a problem with the umbilical cord. This of course made Derek and I a little nervous and anxious. Once the Dr got there, I pushed through 2 contractions, and she was here. My fastest time as far as the actual delivery. (both others I pushed for almost half an hour.) Her cord was wrapped around her neck, but they untangled her, and she started to cry, and they laid her on my abdomen for Derek to cut her cord, and that's probably when I started to cry! She was so amazing, and she was here, and I was a bit pleased with myself for doing so well. I know thats not an incredible feat as far as labor stories go, but I'm gonna give myself credit for my own personal victories! I can't be as incredible as all of you other amazing women! (Like my friend Jocelyn who delivered her baby on Tuesday, and went from induction to 9lb 7 oz baby in exactly 45 minutes!!!!! You AMAZE me Joce!!!) I do feel that overall it was my best labor and delivery yet. Not being in the bed the whole time, not throwing up at all, not as much pushing, GREAT nurses, Great Anesthesiologist. (It was fun to have a couple nurses we personally know, and a couple more that have kids who Derek has taught in Seminary. Thats living in a small town for ya!)

She came at 2:14 in the afternoon, On May 13th 2009 (her Daddy's 30th birthday.) She weighed 7 lbs, 7oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. (My biggest baby so far, by 2 oz and 1/4 inch.) And Here she is . . . Daelyn Brielle Larsen
Here she is with my Dr.
Proud Papa (Happy Birthday!!!!!)
In our recovery room.
Daelyn & Holley. (we have video of her with Brin but haven't taken a snapshot yet, we'll have to get one.)
Home and in her own bed
I think they may have more in common than their birthday! What do you think?
With Daddy!
Our sweet little brand new Angel, Daelyn.

Cinco De Mayo Parade,Swimming, Lemonade Stand!

2009-05-08T08:15:00.003-07:00

All right, I didn't think I'd post again before the baby, but I said I would for cute pictures of the girls, and I think these pictures are pretty cute! Holley was in Safford's Cinco De Mayo Parade with her dance class. I thought she was so cute in her little costume, and doing her little "sitting dance" in the trailer. Her comment on it all when it was over. "I thought it was boring, cause we were going so slow, I wish I could have watched the parade with you guys." Next Saturday she will have her recital, and we're so excited grandma and grandpa Mayhue will be here for that!

And Here's Brinley waving back to everyone in the parade that waved to her. She was so excited to see Holley in the parade.

Wednesday was early out day, so I consented to let Holley open her first "Lemonade Stand." She was actually calling it a yard sale, and had kindof this whole bake sale in mind! I told her I would do Brownie's and Lemonade, and that's all. Her friend Connie next door came out to help, and when Connie's mom got the kiddie pool out, and invited Brinley over, Holley and Connie put their suits on, and the whole thing turned into a Lemonade stand/Swimming party. They had a lot of fun though, and made about. $4.50 (Thanks to generously tipping neighbors and family members.) That probably covers the cost of the lemonade, cups, and brownie ingredients! Worth it for the good time they had though!

Brinley wanted these little swim goggles on! Doesn't she just look like a cute little bug? I loved it!

a

5 days to go! (or less!) I'm cranky, & uncomfortable but excited, and getting a little nervous/worried. Derek worries about me and the baby, but for whatever reason, I worry more about all the things I won't be able to control or take care of while stuck in the hospital, not seeing and taking care of my Holley and Brin for a few days etc. We're praying that all will be safe and well! We'll post pics when we can!

The Baby bump!

2009-05-01T08:21:00.007-07:00

Ok, this one's for all of you who have wanted a better picture of my "baby bump." I had Derek take a picture of me yesterday to make sure we got at least one more belly shot. People are saying my belly is small, but it has been measuring right at term, as opposed to when I was pregnant wih Brinley, and I was much bigger, but my belly was measuring a week or two behind.(go figure) And even if I look small, I sure FEEL BIG! I've gotten quite uncomfortable, especially these last few days. At my last appointment, I was the Dr's last appointment of the day, so he took some extra time with us and answered all our questions about the rest of the pregnancy and possible induction. When I asked if he could tell what position the baby was in he said, "Why don't we do an ultrasound and look at her!" So we got another ultrasound, which was so fun! She's looking good, and still a girl! (Which I now have put more confidence in, because with only one ultrasound before, I still held a little unsurety.)

FYI, with Holley and Brinley both I was due on a sunday, and BOTH times, I was at church on my due date, and answering all the "when are you due?" questions with "right now." I both times was then induced the next day. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled to find out my due date was a sunday AGAIN, and have imagined the same sunday due-date scenario happening all over again. So I was thrilled when my Dr. said that since I was measuring at term, he felt ok inducing me anytime past 39 weeks! ("what? you mean actually have a baby before my due date for a change?") In fact he even said he'd be willing to induce me on sunday the 10th if I was interested in having the baby on mothers day! He basically said pick a day that week! (YEAH!!!) We felt a little torn between the 10th and the 13th at first, but I kindof thought I'd prefer being pampered on mothers day, and be able to eat, and not be in pain, and in the hospital. Not to mention having to ask another mom to babysit my kids for me on THEIR mothers day. SOOOOO. . . unless by some unforeseen miracle, my body learns how to go into labor on it's own, (which is NOT very likely given my history, and look at that picture, I've SO not dropped yet.) we're planning on an induction on May 13th! (Derek's Birthday) Derek's thrilled about the idea of sharing his birthday, we only hope she won't mind it in the years to come. My mom was born on her mom's birthday, and my brother was born on my Dad's birthday, so ever since we found out how close my due date was to Derek's birthday, I've thought it would be cool if the baby came on his birthday! So I'm now down to 13 days to go or less! Oh how happy I am that it finally seems to be in sight. The bags are packed, and baysitting arrangements are in place. We still aren't positive on a name, but we think we're getting closer, and that it'll be a nice surprise to be able to announce a name when we announce the birth! (just pray we are set on one by then.) Anyway, this will most likely be my last post before we post BABY PICS!! (unless of course I get really bored, or ambitious, or get some real cute pictures of the girls.) So wish us luck, and watch for pictures in about a week and a half!

PS I posted a couple more things today too, so scroll down to see Derek and the girls, (much more fun to look at than me 9 months pregnant!)

Derek and Holley's Daddy Daugher Excursion.

2009-05-01T08:14:00.003-07:00

Derek wanted to scout a stream he'd heard about to see if it'd be fishable so he took Holley on a little hike with him. I love that when he told me he wanted to go he mentioned from the first wanting to take Holley with him. I love how he finds these little opportunities to build memories and strengthen his relationship with his girls! I'm grateful to be married to someone who is such a good Daddy, and loves his girls so much! (I also appreciate the opportunity this often gives me for some quiet time at home!) Thank you Derek, I love you!

The girls!

2009-05-01T08:01:00.002-07:00

Here are some cute pictures I took of the girls last night! Derek was having his presidency meeting here, so I told the girls if they got ready for bed they could watch a movie in our bed! Usually they each take their own side of the bed, but I came into the room and found them both cuddling together on my side of the bed and I thought it was sweet so I of course had to take some pictures! I LOVE THESE GIRLS!!!!

Easter Weekend!

2009-04-13T13:43:00.003-07:00

Ward Easter Egg Hunt!

Dying Easter Eggs!

Easter Dresses!

Easter Bunny Cakes!

My Three LoVes!

2009-04-02T12:31:00.003-07:00

I Know, you're amazed, 3 posts in one day? But I had to give a seperate post to this sweet picture of my 3 loves! This was after church on sunday. Derek wanted to take a nap, and of course his girls couldn't resist some cuddle time with Daddy! I love the great Father he is, and the sweet relationship that both my sweet girls get to share with their wonderful Daddy! Soon there will be a third little girl wanting in on this Daddy time! I still can't hardly believe it! This picture truly reminds me of how blessed I am!

My Sweet Brinley Su!

2009-04-02T11:23:00.005-07:00

I just wanted to post something about my sweet Brinley. I've sure been grateful for her at this point in my pregnancy, she's been my escape, and my comic relief! She's either the sweetest most loving little thing you've ever seen, or a spunky little fireball, rarely anything in between.
The other day at dinner, Holley was having a fit about her food, she wanted the wrap that Brinley got, instead of the one she had, even though they were probably identical. We were trying to explain they were the same, and to convince her to just be happy and eat hers, and little Brinley just turned and held out her wrap and said ever so sweetly "here Holley!"
She's now consistently going in the big girl potty, Which in itself, makes me happy! (I don't want 2 in diapers afterall. She did revert for about a week or so, but is now doing really good again and is so proud of herself. She often exclaims to me one of the new phrases she learned in her training process! "I SO PROUD OF YOU." Silly how it can make my day, to have my 2 year old say she's proud of me when I make dinner, or do laundry, or even if it's cause I used the big potty too! She'll also make my day when she shares a cuddle, or says she loves me, or even just her little over the top way she says "Hi mom!" out of nowhere.
She simply seems to know when I need a smile or a laugh, and is ready to give it to me. Like the day we were driving home from taking Holley to dance class, and I purposely drove on the rumble strip, to see her reaction. I asked her "what's that noise?" and she responded with a giggle, "The car is lauging!"
I sure love the special Mommy-Brinley time we get to share while Holley is at school. It will be fun to see her as a big sister, and I hope it is something she will adjust well too. She talks excitedly about when her baby sister will come, and likes to put her hand on my belly and say, "give me five baby!"

I love you my sweet Brinley!

Here are some pictures from when she was sick a couple months ago. she wanted me to make her pancakes, which I of course did, since I felt bad she wasn't feeling well. She came in the kitchen to be with me and fell asleep on the kitchen floor, I went and got her pillow for her so she'd be more comfy. When she sat up and said she was hungry and wanted to eat, I handed her a pancake to try without syrup to see how her tummy handled it, and then she fell asleep again.

I then moved her to the couch so she'd be more comfy.

When she woke again and said she was hungry, I set up her little table and chair so she could watch tv while she ate her pancakes, and this is what I found a minute or two later.

The poor little thing just couldn't keep herself awake! So I brought her blanky over and tucked her in! I thought it was so cute!

Even just now, she saw these pictures and remembered the day, and pointed and said "Brinley Tummy hurt." I guess she thought it'd be fun to remenisce cause she just brought out her blanky and pillow so she could lay on the floor like she did that day.
Oh, how I love being her mommy!

My 4 month consolidated catch-up!

2009-04-02T10:25:00.004-07:00

Ok, so for those of you who have missed seeing any pictures from the last 4 months, I finally got around to downloading the pictures, so here are a few highlights in no particular order.

Diaper Cake I made for a friends shower! I was tempted to keep it for myself as a little decoration for the baby's room! Maybe I'll have to make another!

Sadie!

So when I downloaded all the pictures I realized this is the ONLY belly shot we've gotten of this pregnancy, and it was back in January, so I guess we'd better try and get a couple more pictures now that we are down to the last 6 weeks! (finally starting to seem like the end is in sight.)

The Weekend starting our spring break my mom came down for a visit, so we got a hotel in Mesa for a couple days so we could shop, and swim, and get in a temple session, (thanks to grandma watching the girls in the hotel.) It's amazing how fun "staying in a hotel" is for the kids, Holley thought it was the GREATEST Vacation ever! I have to admit, that albeit quit simple, it was a great weekend, and mini-getaway. Here's a couple pictures of Derek swimming with the girls. (Mom and I opted to go shopping instead.) Thanks again mom for coming down!!

Holley also lost another tooth while grandma was here! We weren't sure if the tooth fairy would find us at the hotel or not, but she sure did.

So when I found out that one of my best friends from high school got engaged, I was of course SO excited for her, but also a little sad, knowing it wouldn't work out to make it to Utah for the wedding or the reception. The announcement actually came on my birthday and I was SO THRILLED to find out she was marrying an Arizona boy, and they'd be having an open house down in MESA!!!! So this is a picture of that! It was SO GOOD to see you Sherri, and to meet Ryan, he seems so great! Isn't she a beautiful bride?

My Birthday! Derek and the girls made and decorated my cake, can you tell? They spoiled me! I did no dishes and changed no diapers all day! What else could a mom want?

And here are a couple pictures from Christmas morning. Like usual we didn't take many snapshots, mostly video, but we of course have our traditional family in Christmas pjs pic!

And that's the last 4 months! (See, you really weren't missing much by my absense of postings.)

Yes I'm still here!

2009-03-02T14:15:00.003-07:00

Ok, first of all, here are some of my excuses... Brinley has become a computer addict! So, thanks to nickjr.com I only seem to have access to my compter during nap time. I also try only to blog when there is no laundry sitting in baskets, and no dishes sitting in the sink, (which is almost always around here.) We've also just been busy in general, church callings family stuff etc. Plus your other random "speedbumps" (Derek having the camera at the seminary whenever I actually find time to download pictures, overnight stay at the hospital for a bad stomach flu, being pregnant hormonal and cranky, and therefore not in the mood to blog. etc)

In fact, even today Derek took the camera to the seminary, we still haven't downloaded anything from Christmas, or pictures of my belly or anything like that, so maybe you'll get those another time, but for now I thought I could at least scan in, and show you this picture...

We had our big ultrasound on New Years Eve. The Ultrasound tech printed off a ton of pictures for us, but this one is my favorite! I love how the baby is all curled up with her feet right in front of her face! Yes I said her, if the info hasn't trickled to you through the grapevine yet, the ultrasound tech said we can expect another SWEET BABY GIRL! Although I was kindof hoping for a boy, we are thrilled about the idea of welcoming another sweet girl to our family. At least we know we make cute ones, and have plenty of pink clothes. We will need to get a few things however, considering this will be my first spring baby, and most our newborn clothes are warm and cozy winter stuff. (which I don't think will do in the AZ summer heat!)

The ultrasound and Dr's visits indicate the baby is growing well and doing fine. We were worried a few weeks ago when I started feeling really sick out of nowhere. The Dr's concern landed me in the hospital overnight for blood work and tests to see what was wrong. It turns out I just had a really bad stomach flu and was dehydrated, so luckily everything was fine with the baby.

We are currently CLUELESS on a name! we've compiled a small list of names we both like, but none of them have hit us yet as "just right." So we're taking suggestions and trying to expand our list, and hoping something feels right before the baby gets here!

Other than the lack of name and summer baby clothes I am SO READY for this baby to be here. I've never been one to enjoy pregnancy, and quickly become anxious to just be able to hold my sweet newborn baby. This "anxiousness" sadly seems to result in extreme irritability, crankiness, short temper, and a tendency to complain. So for all my many friends that I've not called in more time than I should let pass, count yourself lucky, as I'm sure my husband is quite envious of anyone who doesn't have to see me cry or hear me complain.

Well, maybe not my most exciting post, but at least its an update! let us know if you have any great name suggestions! In the meantime I'm just hoping that the rest of this pregnancy will pass quickly.

2008-11-25T13:04:00.004-07:00

I figured it's probably about time I should post something again. It's been a while due in part to first Trimester morning sickness, and Derek loaning out our camera back in October, and still not having it back, thus no pictures. Anyway, I added the baby countdown ticker a while ago but haven't officially posted an announcement, Sorry! So here's the info... we are expecting, and I'm currently a little over 15 weeks along. The due date is May 17th (Grandma Larsen's Birthday!) It will be interesting to see what day it actually comes, that due date is less than two weeks from Derek's Birthday, Mother's Day, Our Anniversary, and of course UnHui's birthday, so we'll have to see what happens. Most of all we are THRILLED to be past the first trimester, and the heavy fear of another miscarriage. (The Dr had me in every 2 weeks through the first 12 weeks just to keep checking for a heart beat, I think he was as thrilled as we were to get to that 12 week mark.) Anyway, I'll be 20 weeks around Christmas time, so finding out what we are having would be a fun Christmas gift I think. So check back around then to see if we have another announcement to blog.

I started feeling pretty sick just after Brinley's Birthday, back in Septemeber, so while this is late here are some 2nd Birthday pictures. She had a great time, and loved being able to have Grandma Mayhue here to help spoil her and celebrate with her.

Oh Yes, and how could I forget, In the midst of all the morning sickness, we decided to get a dog! I know I know we are crazy, but she is a real sweetie, and the girls love her. We got her from one of Derek's students. She's an Australian Shepherd, and we named her Sadie, so here are some pictures of Sadie.

Cleaning up the play room!

2008-09-19T09:26:00.039-07:00

Brinley decided to try and climb in the cubby! Then Holley wanted to try too!

Labor Day weekend camping trip!

2008-09-19T09:26:00.035-07:00

We went for a drive, when it started raining, so we waited it out in the car for a while!

I LOVE THIS!!!

2008-09-19T09:26:00.032-07:00

One of my favorite things, is when my girls cuddle up together to watch tv or a movie! I love it when they show their sweet love for each other!

Holley walking home after school!

2008-09-19T09:26:00.029-07:00

I should have posted this closer to my first ride on the bus post, cause it was the same day, but it's a picture of her walking home after she got off the bus! I think it's a cute picture!

Guess who found Mommy's lip gloss???

2008-09-19T09:26:00.025-07:00

Cute and Happy Brin!

2008-09-19T09:26:00.022-07:00

Just had to post these especially cute pictures I took of Brin. These are actually 2 different days but the same dress! Maybe the dress just makes her especially cute!

Creatures on our door step!

2008-09-19T09:26:00.015-07:00

This summer we found this baby bunny on our back door step it was so cute and so teeny! (It is next to a regular brick size paver in this photo to give you an idea of how teeny it really was.) Brin would point to it and say "aaaa coot!" It had an injured eye and we think it had been abandoned by it's mother.

Then a few days later we found a couple frogs on the back porch . . . . .

anyway it all made me start thinking of all the different creatures we have had LITERALLY on our doorstep, since we've been in this home! Where we live so close to the open dessert, there really have been quite a few. Here's a little list.

4 baby bunnies. + 1 in the garage (a couple weeks ago)
1 Tarantula
2 king snakes
4 LARGE Wolf Spiders (2 made it into the house when someone opened the door! egh!)
5 frogs
& COUNTLESS Lizards! (In the Garage ALL the time too!! One almost got in the house.)
We also have seen prints in the mud right out our back door, that we are pretty sure were javelina!

Anyway, I thought it was quite interesting to think back on, and who knows what may have been there that we just didn't see!

Summer Pics!

2008-09-19T09:26:00.009-07:00

Here are some summer pics I never posted. I didn't really get very many good pictures, but thought some of you might be interested anyway.

Camping in Alpine
Brin napping in the tent.
Holley
Derek

Derek & Holley

Riding the 4-wheeler at the cabin
Brin was in heaven! Look at her just LOVIN it!

Dinosaur Park

Look at Holley's face! she did not like turning her back on the T-Rex!

4th of July Parade!

Brinley "tucking in" Skoshi with her own Blankie! Brinley was terrified of Skoshi when we first got to Utah, and was lovin her and giving her NO PEACE by the time we left! It was cute! I think my Dad got some cuter pictures of the 2 of them!

ROAD TRIP!!!! So nice when this happens!

playing in the water back in June! This is with the babysitter, when Derek and I were away at the husband and wife convention! (I still want to post a picture of us on the high ropes course if I can get my hands on one! We left our camera home but some friends got a couple pictures!)

Momma's baby is growing up

2008-08-14T07:44:00.009-07:00

I say to Holley, with much more frequency now days, "Who told you you could grow up?" I've never given my permission, but my baby just keeps growing up! Yesterday was Holley's first day of Kindergarten. I took her to school, and helped her find her classroom. It was hard to walk away but I did it, and didn't even cry. When we got in the car Brinley cried out "Holley! Holley!" Almost as if saying "hey mom, forget something?" but I did ok! Maybe it was in God's wisdom that I had much to distract me this day. Today I'm letting her take the bus for her first time. Brinley and I walked her to the bus stop and watched her get inside, and then she was gone. It happened faster than I imagined, I hadn't finished saying goodbye, yesterday I was able to walk away when I was ready, but today the bus just drove off with her, and as I turned to come home I cried. Last Saturday she lost her first tooth. She was so thrilled, but I just can't help realizing how fast she's growing and how soon her childhood will be through, I think of all the things I planned to do as a "stay-at-home mom of a preschooler". And then I just ran out of time. Maybe with Brinley, I'll be better to not take the little time I have for granted.
Here's Holley with her cute little missing tooth hole!
All ready for her first day! (Did I mention I almost kept her home from her first day of kindergarten, cause she woke up with her eye swollen nearly shut. she had an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite on her eyelid! Poor thing!)
In her class at her seat. Sitting by Paityn and Timbo! (two friends from her primary class.)
picking her up from her first day! She's so tall for her age, this is her with the rest of her class.
Walking to the bus stop.

The girls!

2008-06-10T18:14:00.002-07:00

Just wanted to post these pictures I took of the girls before church sunday!

Brinley Playing Dress-up!

2008-06-10T18:12:00.002-07:00

Yes, those are Mr Potato Head's glasses!

Memorial Day Weekend.

2008-06-10T18:06:00.003-07:00

We were in Mesa for memorial Day weekend and spent some time at the temple, here are some pics.

Holley's last day of preschool, and preschool graduation!

2008-05-21T16:25:00.004-07:00

Yesterday was Holley's last day of preschool, and today we went to her "preschool graduation". They all had cute caps, and they presented a little program, and a "slideshow yearbook", and gave all the kids their little diploma. It was SO CUTE, and I have to admit it made me teary. Holley has had a great preschool experience, and Mrs. Norton is such a sweet and amazing teacher who will be greatly missed. I can't believe my little Holley is so grown up! Next stop . . . Kindergarten! I love you Holley.

2008-05-21T15:54:00.004-07:00

"There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep." -
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here are some of the sweet ways we've found Brinley asleep lately!

Laundry Baskets are Such Fun!

2008-05-21T15:20:00.006-07:00

It never seems to fail that when I pull a laundry basket off the shelf on laundry day, both of the girls want SSOOOO BADLY to play with it. I've even found all my clean laundry in a pile on the floor and a kid in the basket instead many times before. Here are a couple of cute laundy basket pictures.

Gila Valley Temple!

2008-04-28T08:40:00.007-07:00

This weekend we received AMAZING NEWS! Two new temples have been announced for Arizona, one of them HERE in the Gila Valley! We are so thrilled. This will be such a tremendous blessing for the Saints here in this area. It has made us feel even more honored to be part of this amazing community. We will keep you posted on the progress of the project. I've added some links to a couple of short articles if you'd like to read a little more.
Here's a link to the Mormon Times Article. Here's the Ldschurchtemples.com announcement. and here's the Salt Lake Tribunes.

My Cute Girls!!!!!

2008-03-15T12:32:00.003-07:00

Here's some recent pics of the girls! Aren't they cute!!

Holley Loves to do her own hair and accessorizing!

Brin!

These sweet sisters love each other so much! A morning cuddle while watching cartoons!

Holley couldn't find the dress for this doll, and I wasn't about to spend my whole day looking for it, so I suggested she make a new one out of TP! I thought it actually turned out quite cute!

Home Improvements!

2008-03-15T12:22:00.004-07:00

I promised some of you that I'd post pictures of some of the changes we've been making around here! There are still things I want to do, but this is what we have so far!

Mayhue Family Pictures, Summer 2007!

2008-01-31T10:14:00.001-07:00

My Birthday Cake!

2008-01-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

Holley frosted and decorated my birthday cake all by herself this year! She even wrote my name on it by herself!! I had to show a picture!

Merry Christmas!

2008-01-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

This year's Christmas Eve PJ'S!

Danny and Casserole taking a Christmas Morning Nap!The girls playing with the Dress-up Clothes that Holley got from grandma and Grandpa Larsen!
Brinley's done!
Here is our 2007 Newsletter . . .

Merry Christmas Family and Friends,
Another year has already past. I can’t believe how fast time flies, especially when I look at our sweet girls! They both had milestone birthdays this year! Brinley turning one in September, and Holley, turned 5 earlier this month. I am amazed at both of them when I look at how much they’ve grown. I think I still expect to see Holley as a little 3 year old, and Brinley as my newborn infant. On one hand my heart aches as I realize, how fast they are growing, sad that I can’t keep them small forever, and on the other hand, so much Joy and Pride as I see the new things they learn, and the sweet, loving people they are becoming.
Derek, as usual, has been very busy this year. He loves teaching seminary in Pima, and really enjoys the students he gets to teach (most of the time). He also still teaches first hour in Thatcher, and so sometimes has to prepare 2 different lessons for one day. He is also still serving as Elder’s Quorum President, and working on his Masters Degree. (Only one semester left!!!! HURRAY!!!) It’s a rare occasion when we are all home together on a weekday evening. It seems most nights he has a class, Elders Quorum responsibilities or one (or both) of us have meetings. He is such a fun Dad though, and loves playing with his girls when he is home! I love so much to see the love that they have for him, and the way they look at him. Brinley is especially in a major “Daddy’s Girl” stage. I think that he also enjoys the scream of “Daddy’s home!” and the rush of little feet running to meet him at the door after work. He is a very good husband and provider as well, and will always go without something he might want, in order to make sure that his three girls are happy and taken care of.
I am loving my career as Wife and Mommy! I feel very blessed to be able to stay at home with the girls. They truly are my world, and I love being able to spend so much time with them. I truly can’t even put into words what they mean to me. I tried to hold onto Brinley’s first year as long as I could and enjoy each new stage and sweet moment with both girls. (I do wish they could stay babies a little longer.) I spent most of 2007 serving as the Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment leader for the ward—a calling that I loved and enjoyed very much although it stretched me and I often did not feel I really even knew what I was doing. I was pleased as I watched myself become more organized, and more confident with the calling. By October I was beginning to feel pretty confident, and so of course, in November I received a new calling. I am now serving as the 1st Counselor in the Primary Presidency, with 3 remarkable sisters, and quickly realized that I will love this calling as well.
Holley has had quite a big year! In August Holley started preschool. She has loved it very much. Her teacher is Mrs. Norton, and her favorite friend in the class is a sweet girl named Kenzee. It has been so fun to see Holley learning new things, and growing socially. (It’s helped her quite a bit with her shy side) Mrs. Norton said she is very loving to the other kids and try’s to make sure everyone is included. We were even told that she will get a very sad look on her face when they announce it is someone’s birthday because she didn’t have a chance to bring them a present or make them a picture. The class memorizes a new poem every month, and it is so fun and cute to hear her recite them. She is also very excited to be playing Mary in the preschool Christmas Program next week. Most recently we celebrated her 5th birthday, and last week she had her first haircut. (Not counting the one time last year she trimmed a little herself.) We weren’t sure she’d ever want it cut, but recently she expressed her desire to do so. She had enough cut off to donate it to “Locks of love,” and it now sits just above her shoulders! It’s very cute, and she loves it. Most of all, I love the sister that she is to Brinley. Nothing in the world makes me happier then to see them play together, and the love they have for each other.
Brinley is such a fun and energetic little girl and brings so much Joy and Laughter into our home. It is funny to see how different her personality is from Holley’s. She isn’t shy at all and will approach almost anyone, reaching her arms out to be picked up. However, just as soon as she is up, she will then quickly want to be put back down to be on her way to play or visit someone else. She loves her big sister, and it is so fun to see the way she responds to her. Holley will often hear her wake from a nap before I do, and will climb into her crib and I soon hear both of them playing and giggling. No one in the world can make Brinley laugh quite like Holley can. Brinley takes after her aunt Tawnya, in that she has an intense love for SHOES. She will stand under the shelf that holds her shoes in the closet, and cry for someone to get them for her. She also LOVES the family cheer we do together after family prayers. She will grab our hands and pull them together in the circle so that we can cheer “Choose The Right” and then will pull our hands in so we can do it again, (and again, and again.) We are so amazed by this sweet child, and I often still can’t believe she is finally here. She was definitely worth the wait.
As a family in 2007 we were able to enjoy a few fun camping trips together. Our favorite of which was a camping trip in the White Mountains, where the climate seemed perfect. We also got to camp in the Uintahs with the Mayhues when we were up in Utah for our summer trip. Tara was grateful to be able to make it to Utah for her Grandpa Muirbrook’s funeral in May. It was sad to lose him, but we know he is back with his sweet wife where he’s longed to be for some time now. It also makes us happy to think of the love we had for him, and he for us, and the sweet little relationship that Holley was able to share with him. Finally, we are proud to announce, that we finally have started some landscaping projects. (I know, I know, after almost 3 years in this house, it’s long overdue.) We’ve worked on the front yard, putting in a small, patio area, and a large full circle driveway. (Plenty of parking should any family and friends decide to come visit.)
All in all it’s been a great year, and we feel very blessed, especially with amazing family and friends. We pray the best for you and yours, and wish you a very happy Holiday.
Love, Derek, Tara, Holley, and Brinley Larsen

My hair Cut!

2008-01-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

I got my hair cut too!

Holley's First Hair Cut!!!!

2008-01-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

Before!

Cutting a pony-tail to donate!

In the Chair!
After!!! So cute!! We think it suits her very well! She loves it too!

2008-01-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

Carriage ride at Saffords "Christmas on Main Street."

Uhh, who's watching Brinley? The girls were outside while Derek was working on the pavers, and Brinley discovered a very fun mud puddle!

Holley's 5th Birthday Party!

2008-01-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast our little Holley is growing up! She is FIVE years old!!! She's getting so big, and we love seeing all the new things she is learning and doing!

Holley and her Party Guests!
Holley and Her Flower Pinata!

Opening Presents!

Halloween Pictures!

2008-01-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

I know this is late to post these, but I had to, they are just so cute! Here are our Halloween Cuties!

Fairy Princess Holley!

Minnie Mouse Brinley!
The girls the night before! We wrapped Holley's hair in Rags to get her cute little ringlets!

The County Fair!

2007-10-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

We went to the County Fair this weekend, and I thought I'd post some pictures of that too!

(Holley LOVED the rides!!!)

Cute Brin!!!

2007-10-14T20:37:00.001-07:00

Brinley is so Fun and is always finding new ways to make us laugh or smile!

We are so lucky that she's part of our family!

Brinley discovered how to make the glider rock all by herself,

and she was VERY pleased about it!

The best seat in the house! Brinley likes to climb up on the couch and sit on top of Holley! Sometimes it frustrates Holley, but I think it's funny and cute!!
This little girl LOVES her big sis, and following her around and doing what she does! Here are the two of them sitting on the couch reading books together!

Guess whos 1?

2007-10-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Brinley's 1st birthday! I can't believe how fast this year has gone! My baby's a toddler now, and is walking all over the place! She's still a cutie though!

Holley was extra sweet to her since it was her birthday, here's a picture of them playing in Holley's bed tent in the morning.

Then Holley threw her a little "tea Party" with water and Cheerios!
Here are her cakes! The little 1 is the one we let her eat/demolish all by herself, and we let Holley decorate that one all by HERself! She thought that was cool!
Brinley in the Korean Dress and her big sis!! With her fishing pole from grandma and grandpa Mayhue! She wanted to maintain the tradition Holley started of being sick on her first birthday. Luckily Brinley just had a bit of a cold, Holley had a horrible flu on her first birthday! it was very sad!
the birthday booty!

New York!!!!

2007-10-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

Derek and I were able to make a quick weekend trip out to New York City, to visit Derek's brother Danny and see his musical performed at the New York Musical festival! It was a fast trip but so worth it to see Danny, and "The Yellow Wood". Danny is very talented and we hope to see the Yellow Wood really take off. http://www.nymf.org/Show-177.html here's the festivals page on the Yellow Wood where you can find out more about it, and even listen to some of the songs, I know some of my family was interested in learning and hearing more after they heard the one that was on You Tube! (The recordings are Danny's recordings, and not the casts, so you can hear Danny's great voice too!) Here are some pictures from the trip!

Times Square!
The Manhattan Temple.
Waiting for the show!

Me with Casserole (Danny's dog, who shares his name with one of the Characters in The Yellow Wood) at Danny's studio apartment!!
Park near Danny's apartment! (His Neighborhood is Really Gorgeous!)

Danny and Derek waiting for the subway, and then one of the homes in Danny's beautiful Manhattan Neighborhood!
Michelle (Danny's Collaborator), BD Wong (Director/producer), and Danny.

My Summer Catch-up Post!

2007-09-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am, finally getting around to posting a collage of our summer! (In no particular order.) Hope you enjoy!

Holley's new dress.

Brinley "cruisin." She's on her feet all the time now, and even walking on her own a bit! I can't believe how big she's getting! (A year old next week!)
Cute pics of Brin!

Holley helping Daddy clean the garage!

When you don't have a lawn, and it's a hot summer day in Arizona, you improvise!
Sisters!!!
Sweet sleepy girl!

Lazy days!

uh-oh!
Brinley loves climbing up on the couch by herself and sitting there like a "big person" she'll grab the remote controls, and usually put them up to her head, and then jabber as if she's talking on the phone! It's super cute!

Cool Daddys! Cookin dutch oven cobbler for a family night with friends!!

Brinley being "cool" in Holley's hat! Brin loves immitating behaviors that she observes. Putting on hats, finding a brush, and brushing her hair, talking on play phones (or remote controls) she even successfully got one of my shirts on once! (tried to run for the camera but she'd taken it off again by the time I got back.)
Brinley in the dishwasher! We have a new olympic event in our home called "speed dishes" cause Brinley always wants to get into the dishwasher when it's open.
Holley's hair wrapped in rags!

Holley playing "make-up" with Brinley.
A rare cuddle!
This summer we discovered "water popsicles." We started making them for Brinley to chew on while teething but then Holley started asking for them! We figured healthier and less messy than the alternative.
Man, this guy can sleep through almost anything.

Holley's 1st Day of Preschool!

2007-09-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Holley's been in preschool for a few weeks now, and she LOVES it! She's made new friends, and loves to come home and tell me what she learned and did! They are working on letters, and memorizing poems, Holley already has 2 poems memorized and we love hearing her recite them!

Holley and her Teacher, Mrs. Norton

Holley with her folder (The teacher asked the parents to send a folder with a photo collage on the back, and she put a class picture and a picture of the student on the front!)
Ready to go!

Summer Camping Trips!

2007-09-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

Alpine!

Uintahs!

Riggs Lake!

2007-09-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, It's been forever, thought I'd better post something! Summer was great, but crazy! It flies by too fast! We enjoyed a great trip up to Utah, and a couple camping trips. Now Derek has started back at Seminary, and NAU, and Holley has started preschool! Her teacher's name is Mrs. Norton, and she LOVES it! She's learning so much already, and it's so fun to see her so excited about it and learning so much! She recently memorized a cute little poem, and it's so fun to hear her recite it. Brinley is growing like a weed! I still can't believe she will be a year old this month! Yesterday she took 3 steps on her own before falling! She'll be running before we know it! She's still just such a fun and happy girl, and has added so much to our family. I'm keeping busy with my calling as enrichment leader, and trying to keep up with both my girls, my husband, and my house! Derek and I are also currently teaching the temple prep course to a cute couple in our ward who are preparing to go to the temple later this month! It's been such a special opportunity! I'm posting this cute family picture we got while we were in Utah, and I'll try to post some more later, but the house is a MESS! So until then!

Fun Memory!

2007-05-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

This was about a month ago, but I had to share the story cause I thought it was so cute. Derek was at class, (for his Masters he currently has a tuesday night class from 4:30-10:00 pm) On these nights we've developed a routine that's less structured than the rest of the week. After Holley gets ready for bed I let her watch a movie in my bed til she falls asleep, and I'll hang out in the family room and have me personal time veggin in front of the tv or working on a project I've been wanting to do. Anyway, this particular night Brinley was just playing on the floor I assumed she wasn't sleepy yet cause she wasn't fussy and was just playing quietly. I looked down and found that she had fallen asleep right there in the middle of playing! It was so cute I couldn't resist taking a picture, the flash woke her up and upon waking up she saw me there and smiled at me and went back to sleep! So of course I needed to take more pictures and the same thing happened about 2 more times. But then she decided that being awake was more fun and decided she wanted to be up and playing again! It was a fun and sweet moment!

Silly Sisters!

2007-05-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

I can't even express how much I love watching these two girls love each other and interact with each other! No one can make Brinley smile and giggle like her sister. She gets a sweet sparkle in her eye when she looks at her big sis! And Holley sure is protective of Brinley, and wants to "take care of her" as much as she can! I thought these pictures show a little bit of the sweet relationship they share.

Look What Brinley's Doing Now!

2007-05-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

Smiling and being happy!
Being Cute!
Being Silly!
Being Sweet!

Sleeping
Sleeping
Sleeping some more!
Rolling all over the place! (Brinley has really started wanting to "get around" she can roll almost anywhere she wants to go and has even started inching forward with her arms. She'll reach for something with one arm, then the other, then the first again, and pull herself along on her arms!)

Sleeping again!
Sitting up by herself!

Easter Pictures!

2007-04-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

I know they are a little late, but here are some pictures from Easter.

Holley and Brinley with the Easter Bunny!

Tara and the Girls in our matching Easter outfits! Holley has been wanting to have "matching clothes" with Brinley ever since she was born, but the age difference has made it hard to find anything, so I made the girls their Easter Dresses, and my skirt so I could match too!

Here's our Easter Bunny Cake! Yummy!

2007-04-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

Easter Eggs !

Derek and Brinley!

2007-04-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

Brinley likes to help her Daddy work on the computer!

Sometimes it gets pretty boring though!

Here's some long overdue pics from our trip to Utah!

2007-04-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

Holley with Chico! (Great-Grandma and Grandpa Larsens little Bird) Holley sure got a kick out of Chico's singing and flying around the room and climbing up his ladder!
Grandma and Grandpa Larsen's swing.
Brinley and Aunt Lu!

Grandma Mayhue's slide! My parents recently built a new house. The greatest feature as far as the grandkids are concerned, is the slippery slide that comes off the back deck! It was our first chance to see their new house and EVERYONE has to try the slide at least once!

Brinley's First Trip to Utah

2007-04-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

We went up to Utah for our Spring Break and Brinley Did amazingly well on the trip up! If she ever did get a little restless I took off her socks and let her look at her cute little toes! (you'd be amazed how long that entertained her.) Holley wasn't with us for the trip up there because we let Grandma and Grandpa Mayhue take her up there with them after they came here for presidents day a week and a half earlier. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done to let her go. We missed her and were sure excited to get up there to see her.

2007-03-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

I went to Wal-mart to print off those pictures I took of the girls on the 16th, and the lady asked to see my originals to check for a copyright! I told her that was a compliment since I took those pictures, and she said, "Wow their really cute!" Anyway, it made my day and I wanted to post it!

Holley & Brinley Su Feb 16th 2007

2007-02-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures I took of my girls! I wanted to try to get a cute "sister" picture of the two of them to hang in their room. I also want to take pictures of Brinley often because she is of course growing so fast(she's 5 months old tomorrow!), and wanted something more of a portrait for Holley, because it's been awhile since she's had one. Ergo, the whole thing turned into a Photo shoot of sorts! Holley loved it and was totally hamming it up for the camera so we got a ton of cute ones of her! Brinley was pretty tired though, so she gave us a couple and then was ready to nap! Hope you think they're as cute as we do!

One of My Favorite Things!

2007-02-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

We've come to discover that as bedtime approaches and Brinley starts to get tired, and maybe a little fussy, we can take off her socks, and let her lay in her onesie, and her little toes keep her entertained for another 20 minutes or so! I love it! It's nice to let her entertain herself while we try to help Holley get ready for bed and tie up any loose ends from the day, but I usually find myself wanting to just sit and watch her, and love how happy and entertained she is by her very own marvelous and amazing feet.

2007-02-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some January Pics!

Brinley trying to suck on the tray of her swing! They do say babies will put everything in their mouths! Silly Girl.

Sweet sisters! Holley LOVES her baby sister, and something about the way that Brinley looks at Holley tells me she loves her sister too! I LOVE these girls! Am I a lucky momma or what?
Bedhead Brinley! All Smiles!

Brinley is the sweetest baby ever, but not much of a cuddler! So we take it every chance we get! I love that she fell asleep like this.
Both Girls cuddling Daddy during scripture study!

Arizona Snow Day!

2007-01-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

On Sunday evening(Jan 21), about 5 pm Derek noticed that there were some teeny tiny snow flurries coming down outside! You had to look really carefully to verify that it was actually snow. At about 7:30 Derek's first counselor in the Elder's quorum called and excitedly said, "Come over we're having a snowball fight." We looked outside to see that there were now very large flakes dancing out of the sky and actually starting to stick where they landed, and dust the desert landscape with snow. We went for a drive so Holley could watch the snow. Almost every house we passed there were either people playing out in the snow, or at least sitting at their front window watching. We went to bed thinking that it would probably stop snowing soon and maybe even melt by morning. In the morning Derek got up and got ready for work like usual, then one of the other seminary teachers called and said, "Have you looked outside?" Derek went to the window to see a nice thick blanket of white! It was so beautiful. They started checking the internet and the radio to try to find out if school would be cancelled or not. They were as thrilled as any student when they found out it was. Even though Derek has grown up with snow, Holley hasn't, and Daddy was excited to play with her! Holley woke up and looked out her window, and came running out of her room so excitedly, "Mom! Dad! Come look in my room, there's so much snow outside!" Holley was thrilled! Above is a picture we took of her in her pj's when we opened the back door for her to get a better look.
This was also Brinley's first chance to see snow so we had to bundle her up so she could go outside too. Good thing Holley was a winter baby in Utah, so we had some cute cuddly stuff for her to wear. (Don't you just love the hat, notice it has little pig tails on the back! Justin and Katrina McPheter's gave Holley that hat when she was a baby.)

Here is Holley and Mr. Snow! Notice the huge Smile Holley is wearing. The pants weren't 100% waterproof, they were more of a warmup pant than a snow pant, and we did have a good waterproof rainjacket but it was a 2t so the sleeves are a little short. We didn't have waterproof gloves either so we put a grocery bag on each hand between two pair of magic gloves, and used the extra length on the grocery bags to make up for where the sleeves fell short! We did have good boots for her that we bought at the DI last year so she could play in the snow in Utah, when we went up for Christmas. She seemed as content as could be despite the impromptu snow clothes.

Daddy with the Girls!
Mommy with the girls!
Tara & Brinley! Brinley isn't squinting cause of the brightness of the snow, she's asleep! Tara was watching Derek and Holley work on the snowman, while she was holding Brinley, then she noticed Brinley became very limp and relaxed, and had actually fallen asleep! Leave it to a good baby like Brinley to fall asleep out in the snow!
Derek and Brinley, still asleep.

Daddy with the girls, and Mr. Snow!

We wondered what they would do about all the snow on the streets! Here is a picture of an Arizona Snow Plow! Derek had taken Holley out to see if they could find and snow sleds at any of the stores here. The lady at one store said, "This is Arizona, it doesn't snow in Arizona!" To which Holley replied, "Daddy, tell her it's snowing in Arizona!" We heard Gila Outdoor did sell sleds, but when Derek got there, they had a sign on their door that said, "Are you kidding? we're out playing in the snow!" Holley has kept insisting that it isn't winter cause she hasn't seen any snow, and anytime she's seen a movie or TV show about winter, they say in winter it snows, we expained to her that it doesn't usually snow in Arizona. While they were working on the Snowman she even said "It doesn't usually snow in Arizona, but this is Arizona!"

Below are some pictures to try to show just how much snow we got. According to people we talked to that are native to this area, the last time they had this much snow was in the 60's.

snow on our roof.
snow on top of the garbage can, Derek stuck a ruler down on top of the lid and said that at least here, it was 8 inches.
Down our street and the desert landscape.
We've never seen this view of our house before.
This is a cactus plant at our neighbors, covered in snow.

more pictures of our sweet, happy, angel!

2007-01-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

I couldn't choose just one cause they were all TOO CUTE!!!!!!! and if you don't agree with that, then you're just plain CRAZY!

Our Christmas Jammies!

2007-01-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our "Traditional" matching PJ's on Christmas eve. Cute huh? Brinley was ready for bed!

Merry Christmas!

2007-01-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here are our Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses! Holley's is the small one in the background that is still standing, Tara's is the demolished one in the front. It kept falling down so many times that she finally gave up, cause she had to finish making Dinner. And Derek's is the replica of the nativity! That's the Seminary teacher in him coming out!

Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve. After Church Holley spontaneously decided herself to act out the story of the Nativity. The baby is even laying on some hay (pencils and pens from our pencil drawer). She even Got Daddy involved cause she needed a Joseph.

Brinley's True Personality!

2007-01-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pictures of Brinley smiling away after a bath! She is such a happy baby and smiles back at almost every smile sent her way. I can't tell you how much this sweet smile melts Momma's heart everytime she see's it! Brinley has been such an amazing addition to our family and we are SO GRATEFUL that she is ours!

Our 2006 Newsletter

2007-01-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
Two thousand and six has been a year full of blessings for the Larsen family! The greatest blessing started in February when we were surprised to discover that after 2 years of prayers, we were finally expecting another child! In March we were able to go back to Utah for Dax and Stephanie’s wedding (Derek’s younger brother). While we were there we announced our exciting news by making a shirt for Holley that said “I’m a big sister!” The reactions from both families were priceless! At this point we were extremely grateful to be past the first trimester and a lot less worried about having another miscarriage.
In May we were able to take a great family vacation with the Mayhue’s to San Diego where we were able to enjoy Sea World and playing at the beach. Holley loved the dolphins, and was even able to feed and pet them! In the summer the three of us enjoyed a camping trip in Arizona’s beautiful White Mountains, and at the end of the summer we went back to Utah again to visit family.
As the baby’s due date (Sept 24) grew closer, Holley proved to be a great “mommy’s helper!” Almost every day she would even help mommy put lotion on her legs and feet once mommy struggled to reach past that belly. She was so excited to be a big sister, and would often comment. “It’s toooooo long for my baby sister to come!”
The end of the pregnancy was rough on Tara as she was uncomfortable, and anxious to hold this baby we’ve waited so long for. The day after her due date, labor was induced in the morning, and lasted until just after midnight and at 12:13 a.m. on September 26, 2006 Brinley Su Larsen was finally here, weighing in at 6 lbs 10 oz, and 19 ½ inches long. We were so thrilled to have her here, and blessed that mom Mayhue was able to be here for the birth and for a couple weeks after to help out. Time has flown since Brinley’s Birth, and Tara has commented many times how she wishes the first month of Brinley’s life could have lasted as long as the last month of the pregnancy.
On November 5th, Brinley was given a name and a blessing here in the Thatcher 6th ward. We were grateful that both sets of grandparents were able to travel down to be here.
In December we got one of our Christmas presents early and bought a new Kia Sedona Mini Van. The old Buick that Derek had been driving just wasn’t going to get us many more places, so we decided to buy a new car. Tara’s wanted to be a mini van mom for a while, and we are all excited to have a bigger, nicer vehicle that we can feel better about taking on longer trips.
Derek is currently serving as our ward’s Elders Quorum President, and is still working on his Master’s Degree. He is now Teaching Seminary at Pima High School, which is a one man Seminary. He also still teaches one class at Thatcher, therefore, getting a lot of teasing from his students since the two schools are big rivals. Lately he’s been spending his small amount of free time working on creating storage space in our attic, and on improving his dutch oven cooking skills which he’s recently become quite interested in.
Tara is doing her best to spend as much time with Brinley as she can while she is still small, and loves watching the relationship that Holley is sharing with her new sister. She loves being a mom more than ever and feels so blessed to have two amazing daughters. She is currently serving as our wards “home, family, and personal enrichment leader.” She still enjoys her favorite hobbies, but has been spending less time with them so she can just enjoy her family more.
Holley amazes us with her little personality. She just turned 4 on December 2nd, and is such a loving little child. She loves being a big sister and is a really good helper. She loves to sing to Brinley, and Brinley will smile right back at her when she does. She is a great big sister. She is very excited for Christmas this year and very full of energy as the holiday approaches. A few nights ago she told mommy that she could feel Christmas in her heart. And she also asked why Santa has soap under his sleigh, (One horse soap’n sleigh.) She loves to play with her friends and “frapbook” (scrapbook) with mom. She also enjoys playing “pretend” and dress-up.
Brinley is a very good and happy baby. Right from her first week she has slept very well at night! We even had to wake her up to eat during the night. She’s seldom fussy and very happy. She loves to give a smile and coo to almost anyone who’ll stop and talk to her. Her sweet disposition makes her even more of a joy to have in our home, and we honestly can’t get enough of her. We are so very grateful that she is finally here, and that our family is growing. The Joy we receive from our family is growing too.
As we end 2006 we truly feel that we couldn’t be more blessed. We send you all our love, and wishes that this holiday season leaves you as happy and blessed. Love,
The Larsens
Derek, Tara, Holley, and Brinley

Santa Claus!

2006-12-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

The Girls sitting on Santa's lap at the Ward Christmas Party.

"One Horse Soap'n Sleigh!"

2006-12-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

Today Holley asked me if there is soap on the bottom of Santa's Sleigh. I really didn't understand why she was asking that, so I asked her "What do you mean?" and she said "Why does the song say 'One horse Soap'n Sleigh?" I thought it was so sweet! I love being a mom and seeing the world through the eyes of a four year old. The other night she helped me turn on the outside Christmas lights, and sat at the front window for a while looking at them. She then came to me and excitedly told me "Mom, I can feel Christmas in my heart." I was thrilled that at her age, she feels Christmas the same way I do, it's that warm happy feeling that we get inside, and I loved that her telling me how she felt allowed me to pause for a moment and share that feeling and excitement with her.

Our New Van!

2006-12-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm now officially a mini van mom! I've wanted to have a mini van for quite a while, but we didn't think we'd need to get one until we had a third child, but we recently learned that our old Buick, just wasn't going to make it that long. We started shopping around and researching all our options and both really liked the Kia Sedona! So on Saturday we bought it! Holley loves having a "big car", Derek loves how it drives, (and the keyless entry!), and I love how it looks, and that we have something more dependable than all the cars we've owned in the past! Here's some pictures!

Happy Birthday Holley!

2006-12-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

Holley Turned 4 years old this weekend! (Dec 2nd) She was so excited about her Barbie cake that mommy made. She didn't like having to wait so long to eat it and get the Barbie out though! I can't believe that she's already 4. I look at Brinley, and think it was just Yesterday that Holley was that age, and now she's a big 4 years old. They all just grow too fast! We are so Happy that Holley is in our family and that she's growing up to be such a sweet girl! Happy Birthday Holley!

Wonderful Aunt Steph!

2006-12-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

Dax and Stephanie were able to come visit friday night and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend since they had spent Thanksgiving with Stephs uncle in Chandler. Holley and Rhees were both so excited that Steph was coming, but Holley thought she was coming with Santa Clause, and Rhees thought she was coming with uncle Derek! (Sorry Dax!) Those girls wouldn't let Steph have a second to herself, but it's her own fault for being so much fun to be around! And yes, the girls were glad to see Dax too. (we love you too Dax!)

Daddy's girls!

2006-12-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

Brinley at about a month and a half old! Daddy and his sweet girls!

Holley Hangin with Grandpa!

2006-12-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

Holley was so glad to have Grandma and Grandpa stay in her room with her while they were here for Brinley's Baby blessing. Here's a picture of her chillin with Grandpa!

Brinley's Blessing Day!

2006-12-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry these pics are more than a month old, but I was waiting for whatever was causeing the pictures to not show up to be fixed. Anyway, Brinley Su was given a name and a blessing on Sunday, November 5th 2006! We were so grateful that both sets of grandparents were able to be here for this special day! She's such a great blessing to our family and we are SO GLAD that she's here!

Happy Halloween!

2006-11-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Brinley's first Halloween, and Holley's 4th! This year was the first year Holley really knew ahead of time what Halloween was all about, and we sort of missed the amazement on her face from the last couple of years when, in her eyes, these people just handed her candy for no reason at all. Holley has known that she wanted to be a "kitty" for Halloween for quite a few months now, but as it got closer, she started to insist that we should all be Kitties. So Brinley and I joined in as "mommy kitty", and "baby kitty". (Derek wasn't too excited about dressing as a kitty, but had to go to class for part of the night anyway, so he got out of it!) Both the girls got quite a bit of attention. Especially little Brinley, she sure was a cute baby kitten!

Brinley in her swing!

2006-11-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

All Dressed up!

2006-10-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

Today was Brinley's first time to church, because it was Holley's first Primary program and we couldn't miss that. Holley did great. She sang all the songs, and said her line loud and clear in front of everyone, from memory. It was "He created the land." We were so proud. It was a big day for both of our girls! The two cutest girls in the world, see for yourself!