My Week

On Monday, the Larsens went on vacation and left me in charge of the kids. Yes, all 6 of them for a week. Luckily I have done this twice already, so it was no biggie. Although I was drained by the end, after only being home half an hour I was already missing the kids like crazy! It was hard watching all of them, but I would do it every day if I could (oh wait, I already do) I LOVE these kids, they are so sweet! Yes, very energetic, loud, and crazy, but SO fun!

Here are a few stories and highlights...

I took the 3 youngest kids to the park. We stayed for about an hour. Wyatt started fussing so I was anxious to get them home, as I could tell my favorite part of the day was near. Nap time. The boys were already cranky, and hearing it was time to go home did not help. I picked up a boy in each arm. Will and the blanket in the left. Wyatt and the bag in the right, and off to the car, which was not close. My arms were burning as they both kicked and screamed to get down. I surrendered and let Will down hoping he would walk to the car. He walked part of the way then decided to wander. Switch. Wyatt walked while I held Will. Switch. On and off the whole way to the car. We made it! Put Wyatt in the car first, buckled him in then went to get Will. I couldn't find him. I looked through the front window and saw a little blonde head bobbing up and down, about the size of a nickel as he had crawled under the bushes that separated the park and the parking lot and made a run for it. Of course I jumped out and chased after him, by the end of the second run of carrying this little monster to the car kicking and screaming I was so ready for nap time.

Hugs & Kisses

Another day I took oldest 4 to mall to play on the toys- Jeremiah (friend from NJ) came with to give a hand. They totally looked like ours seeing how they all have blonde hair blue eyes and so does he, so I told the girls to give him a hard time and play along with it. While we were walking Caroline said "daddy pick me up" he just laughed and kept walking. She stopped. threw a "fit" and yelled "DADDY! DADDY PICK ME UP!" It was hilarious and he was SO embarrassed! So he picked her up. That went on till we got to the toys. I sat down for 5 minutes tops. Wyatt the 1yr came over to me to pick him up. Picked him up and I felt something warm. I knew it! He had peed on my me. The whole left side of my leg was SOAKING wet. So we headed back to the car. On the way there Isabel (the 8yr old) thought it would be funny to give me a hard time. So she said really loudly "mommy, daddy, can I sleep with you tonight" OF COURSE she said it right when we walked past a group of guys in my ward. Yep. It was pretty funny though.

Cute Little Feet

Will (2yr old) had a dirty diaper. While I was folding the diaper Will jumped up diaperless and made a run for it. Ran out the back door.. well the back yard combines with the neighbors without fences and of course everyone was out and saw me chasing this little nakey boy. Yes, the neighbor boy is my age. Home from college and had about 7 or 8 friends over for a bbq outside and Will ran right up to them and sat on one of their chairs then said "No Amba, i'm with my friends" haha. Wow.

Playing with the girls' hair

Miko, the cute, but annoying dog chews up EVERYTHING. Not only did he chew up 7 shoes (so 7 pairs of shoes down the drain since you can't wear just one) and my jacket, but I made a huge mistake of leaving the garbage in the garage while I took the kids to school. Came back to a garage full of chewed up garbage, diapers, and a dog with poo all over him. What a way to start off the morning, cleaning that mess up and giving the dog a bath. I was so upset, but it's hard to get mad at a dog that cute. The kids say the same thing, even when he went to the bathroom in the house 3 times and they had to help me clean it up. He's REALLY lucky he's cute!

Ice cream

Ya, this was a LONG week, and yet I'm sitting here with a huge smile on my face and missing those kids. Funny how that doesn't make sense to me, yet, it does.

Sweet Caroline

I LOVE MY JOB!

Time.

How do you get over someone you love? Someone you spent every day with, grew with, someone who became your best friend. How do you get over the pain of knowing that the promises he made, promises that mean the world to you, don't even cross his mind? How do you fall asleep without the tears on your pillow? How do you get his voice out of your head? The voice telling you you're the most beautiful girl in the world, the words I love you. His laugh when you get frustrated, because you can't find a thing to wear and you start to pout. The feeling of his arms wrapping around you when tears about to pour out, because you burnt the cookies. His smile when the song lyrics on the radio remind him of you, then he looks over and the look in his eyes are priceless. How do you move on from the one you were planning on spending the rest of you life with?

Time.

Find someone who drives and hour just to see you. Who stays, even though you're a complete bi.. brat. Someone who offers to go shopping with you when you've just got in an argument with your parents and want to spend that time alone. Someone who shows up at the mall anyway after being rudely spoken to, because he knew you would call him as soon as you got there wishing you had accepted his company.

Time.

Hold onto that one who is patient with you when you're shopping and can't find anything that fits, being hungry, cramping, and under a time limit (and about in tears). The one who doesn't have words when you show him the dress you've just tried on, he just simply wraps his arms around you and holds you. 

Time.

Appreciate the one by your side when you leave the mall with nothing. Frustrated and still hungry. The one who offers to bring you back to the mall after you drop the car off, and you harshly reject. The same one who shows up at your door knowing you would regret giving the cold shoulder and wished he was there to take you back the second you walk in the door.

Time.

Accept the one who continues shopping with the irritable girl who had been negative the whole night. The one who never complained, never reacted unkindly in return. The one who stays by your side and doesn't give up on you, even when you've given up on yourself.

Time.

Love the one you think of at night that brings you continuous smiles, instead of countless tears.

XOXO

There are two types of people in the world. There are the ones that love Valentines Day and then there are the ones who hate it. I use to be the one of the many girls who hated it, up until a couple years ago when I got a huge teddy bear and candy from a guy who liked me. Ever since then I've loved this holiday. I didn't think too much into this holiday except looking forward to getting chocolate and stuffed animals, until this year... I was noticing everyone's blogs and facebook statuses about this resented day, then I went into my room and noticed my beautiful flowers Jared got me and a heart shaped letter my friend Amy wrote me and I couldn't see how anyone could hate this holiday.

Later that night I got a surprise on my doorstep, Jared had left me a frog and a letter. A couple hours later Jeremiah brought me over chocolates. This day just kept getting better and better. Chocolates, Flowers, and stuffed animals are keys to a girls heart, so how could anyone not love this holiday?!

Ten minutes and ten pounds later I got the answer. My best friend Gabrielle came over. She was sad, so I asked her what was going on. Valentines Day had come to an end and she hadn't seen or heard from her boyfriend all day. The look on her face when she told me broke my heart. I hated seeing her so sad. The rest of the night she kept me laughing. I swore i've never laughed so hard in my life. When she left I thought about how grateful I was to have her in my life, then I thought about Jared, Amy, Jeremiah and everyone else who had made my day so special and I realized it's not about the material things. Sure, chocolate is great, and flowers are beautiful, but it's the people in your lives that make life fun and exciting. So i've come to the conclusion that everyone should love this holiday, because I am sure everyone has someone in their life that they've been blessed with. Someone who when you think of them you can't help but smile. So let them know. Not just on Valentines Day, but every day.

Photo Shoot

When I went back to Utah last month my friend JD took pictures of my best friend Gabrielle and I. He's an amazing photographer! He is very artistic and can turn a random alley into a great place to shoot pictures. It was a blast to spend time with my best friend Gabs and JD one last time before he leaves on his mission.

Palmyra Trip

I just recently took a trip to upstate NY with my boyfriend Mark and some of our friends. It was an amazing experience. It was a quick trip with a lot of driving (12hours total), but totally worth it. We drove up saturday morning, got there in the afternoon, then left Sunday morning. First we went to Joseph Smiths house, then the Sacred grove, then later that night we went to the Hill Camora pageant. I am so grateful to be a part of the church and to have the opportunity to be out East and experience so many great things!

Home Sweet Home

I made a surprise visit to see my family a couple weekends ago. It had been awhile since I had seen them and felt like I needed to be there and spend time with them. I was going to surprise everyone, but found out they were all going to be in Moab that weekend. So I just told my parents and surprised everyone else. Gloria walked in first and was shocked! I could have hugged her all day! Can you tell we are sisters by our unplanned matching outfits? I love her! It was so nice to be home!





The night I flew in my friend Scotty threw a bonfire for me, I hadn't seen these boys since before they left on their missions so it was a lot of fun to see them again and catch up on the past 3yrs!



Me & my best friend Gabrielle! I love her!



Matt & I



JD! My breakfast buddy!



My beautiful mom!



I can't wait to go back and visit everyone again! Love you all!

Boston

A couple weeks ago Nichole and I went to Boston to go to a Red Sox game. We stayed the night at Nichole's grandparents house in Rhode Island Friday night then headed into Boston early the next morning. We met up with my friend Chase who is from SLC, but just recently moved to Boston. We met at the mall there which was huge and Nichole and I instantly fell in love with it! We headed to the game straight from there to beat traffic, which wasn't very successful but it added more adrenaline to the exciting adventure!





Of course being as friendly as Nichole and I are we made friends instantly! The people in front of us were from North Carolina. When they noticed the seats by us were free they moved up to sit by us. The people above us were from Utah. Small world! One was a Yankee fan and was very brave to support his team by wearing his hat! Sitting next to us was Sam, he was our favorite, such a sweetheart! They were all hilarious and made the game a blast!





After the game we got a little tour of Boston. Even though it was dark while we walked around it was beautiful and really fun! I can't wait to go back!