Triple Crown Weekend

And no, I'm not talking about horse racing!  This last weekend was a big one for my family as we tried jamming as many events into one weekend as we could, including a wedding, a missionary homecoming, and a baby blessing!

One of the reasons for packing in so much was to make it easier on out of town relatives to be a part of as much as they could.  This meant that my cousin, Alicia came up with her kids a few days before the craziness started and I did what I could to get in some play time with them!  I drove up to my grandma's house Thursday night so that I could hang out, meet her newest addition, and just let the girls play.  Ellie is nearly 3 months older than Aiden, not that you could tell it from this picture!

Leila has so much fun playing with Aubrey, Hailey, and Brynn (she says their names in that order) and would be adopted into their family in an instant!

On Friday, we met up at the Thanksgiving Point Museum of Natural Curiosity.  Alicia's sister Rachel, my sister Annie, my brother Jared, and our cousin Laura and her son Jacob also joined in on the fun.  It was quite the party!

Saturday was my sister Jori's wedding day.  They got married in the Salt Lake temple and were sealed by Ben's grandfather.  Such a tender time as I was gathered together with so much of my family (both physically and on the other side of the veil) within the temple walls!  Thankfully, my in-laws had come into town (for the baby blessing on Sunday) and were kind enough to offer to help watch my girls while Jason and I went to the sealing.  They even got them all ready and drove them up to Salt Lake so that they'd be there for pictures.  They also took them during the luncheon and basically saved me from losing my mind trying to be mom and a helpful member of the wedding party!

The luncheon and the reception were both held at the Underground Social Hall in Provo later that day.  This seemed fitting as this location was where my dad was working when he and my mom started dating (although at the time it was a restaurant and he was the sous chef).  Between the dessert table and her "friends", Leila was in heaven and couldn't be torn away from Aubrey's side most of the night.  When the Sorensens/Perkins were trying to get some family pictures, Leila was screaming from the other side of the room that she wanted to be in their picture too!

The next day, we all descended on my home ward's sacrament meeting to bless Ellie and hear Jared's homecoming talk.  My quiet, good-natured little baby decided to scream through the entire blessing.  Go figure.  Regardless, Jason still gave her a beautiful blessing which included that she would be a calming, spiritual strength to our family.  Spot on!  I sure do love my Ellie Charlotte and she looked positively radiant in her blessing dress that my grandma Larsen made for her!!

After sacrament, the party continued on at my mom's house where we all gathered for family, food, and cake.

We even had almost all of the Larsen great-grandchildren present--just missing the newest addition, Hunter!

Ziebarths stayed an extra day to get in some more quality time with their granddaughters.  I am certainly grateful for all of their help this weekend!

Were we crazy to pack so many big events into one weekend?  Probably.  But was it worth every ounce of exhaustion?  Absolutely!

Phone February

February 4

Ellie's big, toothless grin makes everyday a little brighter!

 February 6
Jason lives in a house full of girls, but he assures me that he wouldn't have it any other way!

 February 7
Ellie with her great-grandma Larsen.  This was taken during Jori's bridal shower at my grandma's house.  Too bad I didn't take any other pictures..,.

February 14

Valentine's Day is a pretty hard day for me anymore and I never exactly feel like celebrating.  But Jason got tired of me moping around the house so I decided to go and get my hair done and just take a break from the girls.  What better gift could I ask for than a few hours of me-time?

Scary "Before"

After

 Two of my favorite valentines!  Look at how hard they are studying each other.

 February 16
Ellie was being extremely (and unusually) fussy this afternoon but I had a mountain of laundry that needed to get done, so she got to hang out in the baby carrier for a while.

 February 20
Ellie has decided that she doesn't like floor time anymore while Mommy's working.  She'd much rather sit up on my lap.  Can't say I fight it too much.  I couldn't ask for a cuter co-worker!

 February 21
Our whole little family went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point (yes, Ellie is under that blanket somewhere...it was cold and windy!).

Leila always plays hard here and was exhausted on the way home...

That night my mom and Annie came over to babysit so that Jason and I could have a date night.  We couldn't resist trying out this stocking cap that my Grandma Marshall made for Ellie.  Leila now calls it "Ellie's silly hat."

 February 28
Leila still hasn't been sleeping well but last night she made it all the way through the night, in her own room without Mom or Dad coming in.  Since this was the first time in like 3 weeks, we wanted to make a big deal out of it.  So she got to go to the "chicken nugget park" (aka McDonald's playplace) with Daddy.  They went to a new place that had a little rock climbing wall and she informed Jason that she needed her helmet before she rock climbed.

Jared Has Returned with Honor

My brother Jared has been serving his full-time LDS mission in Calgary Canada for the last 2 years.  He had an incredible mission and returned with honor on Friday.  We made it up to the airport in plenty of time to wait for him amongst a crowd of people who were also waiting for missionaries.  I even made some signs for my girls to "hold."

 

An anxious, proud mother

Jori's professional sign

His flight arrived on time and just a few minutes later, he came down the escalators as the last of a group of missionaries.  He looks so good!  Leila gave him the biggest, longest hug I've ever seen her give anyone.  She has been so excited for this day and asked me all week, "Go see Jared on Friday?"

After the airport, we all made our way up to Bountiful where we had a get-together with extended family.  Then the next day my mom hosted an open house so that some of his friends and the home ward could come and say hey.  Mom made cupcakes and cookies and decorated with all sorts of red and white stuff.  Leila loved stuffing her face with little chocolate balls and cupcakes and Ellie enjoyed being passed around and having everyone admire what a doll she is.