Saying Goodbye to Shelby, and Our New Additions

 We had to say goodbye to our sweet kitty Shelby a few weeks ago.  We were lucky to have her in our family for 12 years, and she will be greatly missed.  She got really sick over a weekend and first thing Monday morning we took her in.  They put her in an incubator because she was struggling to breathe.  We did several tests to figure out what was wrong, but she wasn't able to pull through and passed away late that night.

We brought her home so that we could bury her in our backyard, next to our other beloved cat Xena.

 

 We decorated her box with love

She was always so tolerant as Hailey would dress her up.  Sweet Shelby was buried with this crown on her head.

Josie after her bath

 We boo hooed for several weeks and decided we needed to adopt another kitty to love.  We were set on getting a maine coon cat because that's what Shelby was and she was the most affectionate cat we have had.  We found a brother and sister maine coon that are 6 months old, and instantly fell in love.

Hailey and Josie

Josie and Jarvis

 Josie was found as a kitten with a broken tail, but it doesn't seem to bother her.  She is definitely more affectionate and sweet.  Jarvis is a little trouble maker and loves to play.  I think it will be fun to have such different personalities!

I believe this is Josie, but its hard to tell!

Snowbird 2013

This was our 3rd year attending the Octorberfest up at Snowbird Resort.  We had a good time, but it's a little bitter sweet for us.  We were expecting our third baby, and Snowbird is where we decided to tell the kids.  We came up with a fun treasure hunt of clues and the kids had a ball running around the hotel finding each one.  Sadly, we ended up miscarrying about a week later at 11 weeks. I was pretty sick with the pregnancy, so I couldn't do some of the rides that I normally do, but it was fun to watch the fam have a good time!  I am feeling a lot better now, have my appetite back, and am back into the swing of life.  Emotionally doing well, but have some hard days when I think about how far along I would be.  We were touched to have so many friends and family reach out in prayer and bringing meals through the couple months of me being sick and then through the recovery of losing the baby.  We feel so blessed to have such amazing family, friends, and church family!

Hailey on the trampolines..

 Carter and Dad riding the lift...

 Riding the Slide... Carter is old enough to go by himself, so Hailey took turns riding with myself and Dad

 The view for our hotel room was beautiful!

We tried to get a decent picture of all of us, but didn't do so well!!

 We just gave up and got a little silly!

The pool was right below our room, so I snagged a picture of the boys swimming.  Hailey and I hung out in the room since Mama wasn't feeling so good.  

 The ropes course...

 This is the first year that we have gone up, and there has been snow on the ground!  Most of it was melted, but the kids had fun throwing some snow balls!

 The balloon man was there as always and made Hailey a dog on a leash, and Carter a Bazuka

Carter/Cello

So Carter came home from school this year, and told us that he wanted to learn how to play the cello.  He started a few weeks ago, and has been picking it up pretty well!

Our family has a goal that someday we would all like to participate on our worship team at church.  Carter playing cello, Bryan playing guitar, Hailey playing piano, and me playing the drums.  Wouldn't that be so cool??!!  I am teaching Hailey piano now, but I need to get drum lessons. I have always been fascinated with drums and think it would be so fun to learn!

Hailey's First Parade

Daddy cheering his girl on...

 Hailey's dance class had the opportunity to be in Utah States Homecoming Parade last month.  She was so excited when she found out!  Her friend Payge came over to play and Hailey told her that she wanted her to come watch her in the parade.  She told her "Look for the girl with dark hair, brown eyes, and the purple shirt... that's me!"  I thought it was so cute!

Grammy, Dad, Quinton, Jillian and Stephen

Hailey is the top row, 2nd from the left

She did all the actions to the music and looked so cute and big up there!  When she got of the trailer she said "Mom, I had to sit there the WHOLE time, I couldn't even stand up."  All in all she had a good time, and she was happy that Dad and I snagged some candy for her!

Back to School 2013

 The Backpack Fairy did not disappoint again this year!  The kids got some needed clothes, lunchbox, snacks and supplies!

 Carter is in the 4th grade this year and has Mrs. Cazier.  He was a little nervous about his teacher because some kids had told him that she was mean :(  Turns out she is strict, but not mean!  Carter does well with very structured teachers since he has ADD.  He needs a very structured schedule and a teacher that tells it like it is!  He actually loves her, and so do I!  He's doing pretty well in school and I'm happy to say that we haven't had to medicate him this year!  He's struggles to get all of his work done in class, but he is testing well, and that's all that matters to me.  As long as he is testing well, I will stay as far away from medication as I can!

 Carter got his cast off in time for school, but still had a walking boot for the first week or two.  At least he was able to take off the boot to shower, so his classmates didn't have to put up with his smell!  I don't know if you've ever had a boy in a cast, but it gets really stinky, really fast, no matter how clean you try to keep it:)

Hailey is in Kindergarten this year and was sooooo ready!  She loves school and is doing really well!  She has Mrs. Searle, the same teacher that Carter had.  She loves her teacher and loves making friends with her classmates!

 

Larsen Family Reunion 2013

We had our annual Larsen Reunion up in Eden again this year.  We stay in a condo that fits ALL of us, and play for a couple days.

 All the kids had matching shirts, and got to decorate them to their liking.  This is Carter and Kai, can you believe they are only 7 months apart in age???

 Girlies making their shirts...

 12 year old boys....need I say more....

 The gang, minus my brother Bryan...

 Moms, "Family Council" meeting.  I told her she needs to change the name of this, it sounds serious hahaha!  She does a few short meetings telling about one of our ancestors and then has something fun for the kids afterwards...

Hailey, Bryan, Meili

 Playing with Bryans really fast remote control car...

 Izzy...

 Climbing a huge mountain of rocks...

Livvy...

 We played several fun little games...

The rest of the time was spent watching "shark week" and swimming.  Carter couldn't swim since he still had his cast on, so Carter and I went over to the clubhouse and played air hockey and basketball!