5k Walk and Church Busy-ness

On Saturday, my mom, dad, Jared, Annie, and I all participated in a 5k walk/run put together by one of my mom's friends in honor of her late husband.  Jason and Leila came along to support us.  My mom, dad, and I were the walkers who may or may not have "cheated" by skipping over a small leg of the race.  Jared and Annie were good to run for a good portion of it.  It was an absolutely gorgeous spring day and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  Based on how dead I was the rest of the day, I'm more than a titch out of shape so it was good for me to get out and moving.

The multitudes...Can you pick out our group?

The Cool Kids

Studly

Finished!

They had several people in costumes wandering around the start/finish line and Jason couldn't resist snapping this picture:

Sunday was busy as we tried to pack in a cousin's missionary farewell, sacrament meeting talks in our ward, and a primary lesson.  Thankfully, the cousin also lives in American Fork so we were able to hop back and forth fairly easily.  Michael is the 5th grandson (6th grandchild) on my dad's side of the family to serve a mission.  He will be serving in the Baltimore Maryland mission for the next 2 years.  I am proud of his choice and know that he will be greatly blessed.

A Return to The Happiest Place on Earth

Last week Leila and I tagged along with my family on their Spring Break trip to Disneyland!  I sure do like having an annual pass and will be sad when the time comes when I won't be making multiple trips to Disneyland each year.  In the meantime, I'm just enjoying myself and making as many memories as possible.  Highlights from this trip included:

Leila--She is so fascinated with people and LOVES being outside.  Needless to say, Disneyland was a perfect combo for her.  When we went into the parks our first evening there, she couldn't whip her head around fast enough to take in all of the sights and sounds.  She also liked squawking at all of the people walking past us which brought a smile to most of their faces.  I also couldn't resist making a little Minnie Mouse sunhat for her (which she refused to keep on for very long...oh well).

My Little Minnie

Leila's "first bath"--While we were at lunch one day, I was talking to my mom about giving Leila a bath when we got back to the hotel.  My mom asked if it was her first bath of the trip, but my sister Ashley momentarily thought she meant her first bath...ever!  This pushed her funny button and she was quickly in tears from laughing so hard.

World of Color Heartache--Okay, I know this sounds odd to be listing under highlights, but let me explain.  Jason wasn't able to come with us since he just started his job and has like zero PTO built up.  This meant that we were apart for the first time since we were married almost three years ago.  I was doing surprisingly well with it all (Disneyland offers plenty of distractions) until we watched World of Color one night.  Ashley and Taylor had just joined us so our party, but not our family, was complete.  A tug of emotions had me missing Jason.  That tug became a tidal wave once the song "So Close" was played during the show.  This is one of "our" songs.  Needless to say, a call home was in order shortly afterwards.  It reminded me just how blessed I am to have such a loving husband.  He even let me go to Disneyland without him!

Enjoying the Storybook Canal with Auntie Annie

Answered prayers--One afternoon Jason's parents came to take Leila for the day so that I could have some "alone" time and they could get their Leila-fix in.  After I finished sending her on her way, I was getting ready to head back into the park when my heart dropped: my annual pass was missing!  I knew that I'd had it when I separated from the group.  In fact, I had made sure of it.  Frantically I began retracing my steps through Downtown Disney, repeatedly.  I struck out.  My dad came to my rescue ready to purchase a replacement pass but thought about checking the Lost and Found first.  Both lines for the Lost and Found and Guest Services were really long, so we split up so as not to waste too much time if it wasn't in the Lost and Found.  I finally made it up to the window and explained what I was looking for.  The lady went to check in the back and I wasn't feeling very hopeful.  Lo and behold, she walked out with my pass and I proceeded to lift my arms up in the air, smack the counter and say, "Thank goodness!"  After over an hour and a half of searching and waiting, I was so incredibly relieved and knew that Heavenly Father had been looking out for me.

Shadow Tag--One night my mom and I were sitting at some tables near the Matterhorn after feeding Leila a late dinner (poor girl had her schedule so out of whack).  I was holding Leila when suddenly she started pawing at the table.  At first I thought she was intrigued by the pattern on the tabletop, but my mom pointed out that she was playing with her shadow!  How fun!

Rainy weather--It doesn't even need to be said that when we go to California, we hope for nice weather, especially when we are going to be outside most of the time. We didn't get nice, sunny weather this trip.  It was a little chilly, especially at night, and rained off and on all week.  They were only able to do fireworks one night while we were there due to high winds.  Thankfully it wasn't pouring enough to make us miserable.  Instead we were able to enjoy low crowds and hot chocolate.

Family--That's what this trip was all about after all.  I got to spend some much needed vacation time with my family.  It was fun to watch my siblings interact with Leila.  Each of them are forming their own type of relationship with her.  And my parents LOVE having a grandkid to spoil at Disneyland (and all the time).  Travelling with a 6 month old isn't easy, but everyone was really patient and helpful.  Thanks guys!

Leila is 6 Months!

 

My baby girl is growing up and I can't believe how quickly the past 6 months have flown by!  Here are her 6 month stats:

Weight: 15.3 pounds 31st percentile (up from the 11th percentile at 5 months--she's chunking up!)
Length: 25.62 inches 33rd percentile (up from the 23rd percentile at 4 months)
Head Circumference: 16.75 inches 56th percentile (up from the 54th percentile at 4 months)

Basically her head is average sized but it is certainly still the biggest part of her.  The rest of her is catching up fast though!  Her hair is finally starting to fill in and her eyes are getting darker.  Other highlights:

She now rolls over both from stomach to back and back to stomach.  She is almost always kicking her feet, especially when she is on her stomach.  She also sits up really well by herself as long as I balance her pretty well to start with.

She isn't as content to just sit and snuggle and constantly wants to go, go, go.  She is very observant of everything around her and loves watching people.  She's got her hands figured out and will reach for and grab anything and everything (especially Auntie Annie's hair).  She has also discovered her toes and loves to suck on them whenever she gets the chance.  She also pulls her socks off on a regular basis.

She is becoming more vocal and makes some funny noises, especially when she gets excited.  She LOVES watching Elmo and it surprises me how much it holds her attention.  She enjoys being outside and likes going for walks now that the weather is starting to warm up.  She has been eating rice cereal for about a month and will be starting other baby foods soon.

Easter and The Book Thief

For Easter, we went to my parents house, had a delicious dinner, and did an Easter egg hunt.  Jori and I hid the eggs this year and we prided ourselves on coming up with some pretty good hiding places.  I even thought one was lost forever when I pushed it back to far into the swingset.  Problem solver Jared worked out a way to get at it though.  He sprayed the hose through the pipe and eventually the water pushed the egg out.  Wouldn't you know that Annie was waiting nearby to snatch it up quicker than quick.  She didn't think it through very well though because Jared had a running hose in his hand and she quickly ended up very wet!

Finding eggs with Daddy

Searching high and low

Chilling with Grandma

We also held our first Larsen Book Talk.  Taylor had the idea to do a little book club within our family.  Each month a different family member is supposed to choose a book for everyone to read. Then, at the end of the month we get together (physically, or through Face Time) and talk about the book.  For the month of March, Jared selected The Book Thief.  This turned out to be a very powerful book with lots to talk about.  For those who may be interested, this book follows the story of a young girl in Nazi Germany as seen from Death's perspective.  Three adjectives I would use to describe this book are emotional, thought-provoking, and intense.  I really enjoyed the story and would certainly recommend it.  Good choice Jared!  Now on to the new Mary Higgins Clark book for April...

Jason's Bday

Jason's birthday was last Saturday and we partied hard.  We started off the day with a hearty (albeit sugary) breakfast of banana chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, and orange rolls.  Then it was time for the birthday boy to open some presents.  He opened up some cards from his family and gifts that included a Chili's gift card and an iPad skin.  My gifts to him included a shadowbox containing Leila's newborn outfit that we brought her home from the hospital and a newborn picture with her birth stats, a new TV stand, homemade decorative throw pillows, and new couches!  Well, the couches are on back order, so they'll get here eventually...

We dropped Leila off at my parents and drove up Provo Canyon to do some geocaching!  We had 3 caches we wanted to find and, after some searching, managed to find all three of them.  Definitely a fun activity!

We wrapped up his birthday with a birthday dinner at Rodizio Grill where they sang Happy Birthday to him in Portuguese.

I sure do love this guy!

April General Conference

The very first talk of this session of General Conference really stood out to me.  President Boyd K. Packer's talk, entitled "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them" hit home to me now that I have Leila in my life.  He talked about how activity in the Church should strengthen the family.  Specifically, he said, "The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is to see a husband and his wife and their children happy at home protected by the principles and laws of the gospel, sealed safely in the covenant of the everlasting priesthood."  He also stated that parents learn more about what really matters from their children than they ever learned from their parents.  Even though Leila is only 6 months old, I have already begun to see this in my own life. And I am grateful for the blessing my membership in the Church has brought to me and my little family.

While Jason and I were soaking up the conference, Leila was having fun exploring a new toy!  What a great example of pure joy she has brought into my life!

Sesame Street

Leila (and I) have discovered the wonderful world of Sesame Street.  If I ever need to drag out time between feedings or naps by 10 or 15 minutes, Elmo and friends usually do a great job!

Hogle Zoo

My old roommate (and good friend) Laurel came to visit on Friday!  We met up at the zoo and had a great time catching up!  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I even got my first bit of sunburn for the year!

After the zoo, we spent some time wandering around the new City Creek Center in downtown Salt Lake City.  This outdoor mall is HUGE!  Neither of us were paying much attention as we wandered around and we got lost, repeatedly.  The worst was when it came time to go find our car.  We had somehow managed to go up some fire escape stairs instead of the main escalators and therefore had no idea where our car was at.  After at least 30 minutes of wandering around, we finally managed to find it and get on our way.

Thanks for a great day out Laurel and come back soon.  I miss you!