It's So Hard to Say Goodbye...tear...

Before I begin this story, I have to explain something. I have a pair of brown sandals that I bought my junior year of high school that I LOVE!!! Seriously, I love those sandals. They have a buckle on them and are made out of leather and are just perfect. Well sadly, last year I ripped side of the strap on one of the sandals. So I haven't been able to wear them since last summer. But this whole time I have had the best of intentions - I am going to take them to a shoe shop and have them fixed. I am just waiting for the shoe shop to come to me. Well the shop didn't move fast enough...

Arturo is a very organized person that doesn't allow clutter to gather. My closet is kind of messy and shoes are strewn all over the floor of my closet. He took it upon himself to sort through my countless number of shoes and get rid of ones that I don't wear.

There were two pairs of shoes that he pulled out that he was set on getting rid of. The first was a pair of black sandals that I also bought in high school - I got them from Fashion Bug - just so you know. :) Kristine had the same pair of sandals and they are darling! Well the sole of the show had pulled away from the shoe and they were looking pretty sad. But I couldn't bring myself to throw them away.

He took care of that - right in front of me he ripped the sandal!!! Can you believe it? Now the sole was totally ripped away from the rest of the shoe. I literally screamed when he did it! You would have thought I was watching a scary movie. I was shocked, but I was willing to let go of those sandals.

Then he grabbed the brown sandals. Oh no you didn't!!! Then he started asking me questions. "How long have these sandals been in your closet - broken?" A year. "How much did you pay for them?" Probably $25. "It will cost most of that just to fix them and you don't even know how well it will work." Then he started pointing out how worn they looked. I couldn't see it because in my mind they are perfect. He knew how much they meant to me so he was being a little more gentle - he didn't instantly ripped them apart.

But suddenly, out of no where, he ripped them! AHHHHH!!!! I screamed and I may have started crying a little. Those sandals are perfect, how could you do that to them? They are innocent! Then he made me do the same thing to the other sandal. He assures me that we will be able to find more sandals but I don't believe we will. Those sandals have treated me very well and have been part of lots of great memories. Farewell my dear sandals. I love you!

I have attached the video.

Warning: The footage you are about to witness is very emotional. Tissues are recommended.

P.S. I have tried to upload the video three times and each time it has been unsuccessful. I will keep trying though because the video is super funny.

Farewell Vany!

One of my really good friends Vanessa (Vany) is moving back to Puerto Rico. All of her family lives there so she is moving back. Arturo and I along with a couple other friends planned a surprise party for her. She truly had no idea it was coming. They were all waiting out our friends' house for us to arrive. We had cake and some yummy food before going to Memory Grove. Memory Grove is one of the most beautiful places in SLC and I love going there. It is like a little oasis.


We threw around a frisbee and played some games. It was really relaxed and fun. Teaching Vany how to throw a frisbee was fun too. One of the guys there told her, "It goes where ever your finger points." Well she knew exactly what he meant but decided to make a joke out of it. "Oh really? So if I throw it to the right and then point to the left, it will go that way?" We played with that one for a while, laughing non-stop.

Afterward we all went to ward prayer. There were a ton of people there and everyone sang "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again." It was the perfect evening and Vany had a wonderful time. I am really going to miss her. She is one of the sweetest people I know. She has been a great friend to me. Good luck in Puerto Rico Vany! We all love you.

Racing!!!

In Tooele at the Miller Motor Sports Park they have a deal where you get to do 5 go-cart laps for $5. It is on Wednesday evenings from 5-8. We got a group of us together and went last Wednesday. We got to the track at 7:45 and they said that we wouldn't be able to go because they already had a line and they wanted to be out of there by 8. Well Arturo doesn't give up that easily. He was very respectful but tenacious.

After talking to the manager, we were able to race. It was SOOOOOO much fun! Arturo and Joey (a friend of a friend) sped off really quick. So it was basically the girls who were racing by each other. Vany passed me on the 2nd lap and I couldn't believe it!!! I was not going to let her beat me. So my chance came when they guy waved the checkered flag. Vany got confused and thought it meant that we were supposed to stop. So she slowed down and what do you think I did? PASSED HER! I waved as I drove by and you should have seen how frustrated she was when we finished. It was all in good fun - Vany is pretty competitive.

We had a blast and we are probably going to go tomorrow too. :)

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Our ward went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. My Uncle Steve gave us a tour. He is in a stake presidency in one of the stakes that has been heavenly involved in the open house. Having my uncle give us a personal tour was a really special experience. It was gorgeous inside! It was breath-taking! The theme in the temple is circles. The higher up you go in the temple the closer the circles get. They become more and more inter-twined.

The windows have stars in them and they look like crystals. The celestial room was so beautiful I cannot even explain it. I know there are lots of beautiful temples and that I will get to see them when I am endowed, but for now, I must say that that temple is one of the most beautiful temples I have seen. I felt like I was truly in Heaven.

Temples are such a sacred and special place and I am so grateful that we have temples all over the earth. I am so blessed to have 7 temples all within an hour drive.

Larsen Family Reunion

I absolutely LOVE my family. Our family reunion was a total hit. My parents were in charge of it this year. I helped my parents plan activities but they carried it all out and did a fantastic job. We had a variety show, a store for the kids to buy toys and some candy with their Lars Dollars, one day was spent at Alturas Lake, then we had a testimony meeting and lots of good food. One of the things I really liked was the dutch oven cook off and when we played steal the flag with glow sticks. It was pretty intense! The Larsen family is FULL of boys. So playing any kind of game with the Larsen family is intense. It was a blast though and I loved it. All three of my brothers played and they were amazing!

My nephew Ty found a hike that he feel in love with. He went up that hike probably 10 times. Now keep in mind, Ty is 4 years old!!! Getting to know my cousins kids was fun. There are a ton of new little kids in our family so remembering all of their names was tricky. My cousins Kara and Emma were especially fun to hang out with.

We stayed in cabins as families and our cabin had a few visitors - aka mice! Nice. But don't worry, they were caught and taken care of. The area we were in was gorgeous and the stars at night we awe inspiring. My family gets along amazingly well and there were no problems. I feel so blessed to have such a great family.

Arturo was a great sport and came up to my reunion. He couldn't come until Thursday, so he rode 6-7 hours in the car with my uncle who he had never met before. My Uncle Steve is a great guy and they had a good time together. They thing that was NOT funny was when they finally got to the reunion. I say my uncle's car pull up so I ran out of the lodge to see Arturo.

Well when I got out there, Arturo was not in the car. I asked my uncle about it and he said that he could not come. Yeah right! I know that they are both joksters. But then he told me a story that Arturo's grandma called and needed help so he had to go to Payson. Now that I believed. I was totally bummed! I walked back into the lodge and tried to take it all in. Then a few minutes later guess who walked in? Arturo! He had been in the back seat hiding under the luggage.

It was wonderful and I love my family.