MAY I HAVE THE ENVELOPE PLEASE...

Andrew's Mission Call has arrived!!

He has been called to serve in the... DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, SANTO DOMINGO

WEST MISSION ~Spanish Speaking~ Elder Larsen will report to the MTC on August 12, 2009 Yoo Hoo!!!

"I hope they call me on a mission..."

We have received news from the Stake President that Andrew's Mission Call was sent from Salt Lake Church Headquarters on Friday April 17th! We should get it in the mail on Wednesday or Thursday of this week... Whoo Hoo!!

Easter 2009

Tia is hiding in her tent like a big Easter egg :0)

Zachy on "the hunt" Cheese!

Yeah! Easter candy!

Josh's 1st Easter!

The girls at church, Hailey would not sit still

The whole gang!

The boys!

How cute is this?!

Zachy

We celebrated Easter this year by having an indoor egg hunt on Saturday (it was WAY too wet and cold outside). We picked Krista up from her treatment home on Sat. night instead of Sunday night so that she could go to church with us. I made the girls matching skirts (which were very cute, if I do say so myself :0) I went to church for the 1st time since my surgery, huge mistake since there is no comfortable way to sit on a hard bench with stitches in my, ummm... lower region :0) After church, we had Easter dinner together but then strangely enough forgot to eat dessert. An Easter miracle in and of itself for our family, hee hee.

I love Easter, It is always a wonderful time (of course) for me to reflect on the marvelous life and unbelievable sacrifice that our Savior Jesus Christ made for us. I am so grateful for the Savior and for the blessings that we are able to enjoy because of His sacrifice. Speaking as an extremely imperfect person :0) I am very thankful that "perfection" is not required from me in my very flawed human form (kinda makes me sound like an alien :0). We are given an infinite amount of chances to become a better person because of Heavenly Father and Jesus' love for us.

Birthday Fun

March 23, 2009 was Krista's 5th and Josh's 6 month birthday

Krista's birthday dinner - Mac-n-cheese and hot dogs Big 5 year old girl ~6 months old~

~Mommy and Josh~

Josh is a snuggle bug!

Joshua is home!!

Finally Home!! On the airplane In the hotel

Cheese!

Big Sister love

Lisa (Josh's birth mom), Joshua, Gilda and Dorothy (Lisa's sisters)

Hailey and Joshua's first hello

We picked Joshua up on Friday March 20th 2009 at the agency in New York City. It was a wonderful (yet emotional) day.

New York City

World of Disney Store

FAO Schwarz Times Square Toys R Us

Picking up Joshua Children's Museum Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate Dylan's Candy Bar

Central Park Zoo

Mon. March 16th - We flew to New York (our flight left at 11:15 PM). Tues. March 17th - Arrived at JFK at 5:30 AM (it was a long night, luckily Hailey slept the whole flight). We took a taxi to the hotel (who needs Disneyland when you have NYC taxi's, I spent the whole week carsick:0). The hotel let us check in so we went to our room and slept until 1:00 PM. We walked down to Fifth Ave, went to FAO Schwarz, the World of Disney Store, saw some of the St. Patricks Day parade (it goes from 11 am until 5 pm). Wed. March 18th - We went to the Central Park Zoo, Dylan's Candy Bar and Serendipity 3 for frozen hot chocolate (that alone is worth a trip to New York). Thurs. March 19th - It was our 16th anniversary :0). We rode the subway and went to the Children's Museum of Manhattan, H&H Bagels, Zabars and Artie's Deli. (I had Matzo ball soup, which I love and haven't had in years! I wish that I could get it here in Utah). We took the subway back to Times Square and walked around some more. Fri. March 20th - We picked up Joshua at the adoption agency!! We spent a couple of hours talking to his birth mom and her sisters. His poor birth mom was so sad! It was really hard for her, her sisters are a great support for her. (See next post for more details) Sat. March 21st - We went to Times Square Toys R Us. They have a 3 story ferris wheel in the middle of the store. The cars are different toys like Barbie's pink car, a red Little Tykes car, the Mystery Machine etc. It was very cute! We went to the airport and had dinner (JFK is like a little "city" in itself). Our flight left NYC at 8:00 PM and we arrived in Salt Lake at 11:30 PM. By the time we got to bed it was 2:00 am.

Whew! A whirlwind of a trip, but so much fun.