What I've been up to....

My new Halloween wreath made out of black burlap and black tulle.

Crocheted beaded socks

Sophie's newest bracelets.

Growing up WAAAY to fast!

Last month Sophie had a couple of Firsts! First off, she has started dance classes. Her class is half ballet and half tap. She definitely LOVES tap waaaay more than ballet, but she is having fun coming home and "teaching" mommy her new steps. Momma is having fun living vicariously through her little girl. Little girls in tutu's and tap shoes... SOOOO cute!

Sophie going to her 1st dance class

Her other big day, (which momma is still not handling well) was Sophie's 1st day of Pre-school.

She is having a blast, (although there are still some tears shed every morning) and thankfully she absolutely LOVES her teachers.

On her way to her first day... check out that smile, can it get any bigger! :)

Surprise... SUPRISE!!!!

We had the opportunity to pull off one of the BEST suprises EVER this summer!!!

Jon's grandparents both turned 90 in July!!!!

We received the invitation to the party two weeks beforehand and we both knew INSTANTLY that we had to find a way to make it there. No one in the family knew that we were coming. (which I have to say was a HUGE feat since they are ALL on facebook, and I live on facebook)

It was awesome we walked in and everyone was in the kitchen so we sent the kids in... and then the screams and the tears came. I have to say if you ever have the chance to pull something like this off... DO IT!!! It was such a blast and we will remember that day for the rest of our lives!

Aren't they SOOO adorably cute?!?!?!?

Aunt Corinne, Jon's dad Ken and Aunt Karen

The whole Larsen family

I am SOOO blessed to have married into such a wonderful, loving family!

I am STILL here... I swear!! :)

Well, I feel like I have been saying this every other post, but I am going to try and catch you up on our summer, and all our crazy fun that has been going on.

Before, I start with pictures and individual events let me let you know what's going on with the boys.

First of all, we still have them. But there was information that was given to me that was wrong, so things aren't necessarily as good as we thought they were. We did have our last court hearing where the judge ordered to terminate the parental rights of their birth parents. Unfortunately, we are still stuck at that point in the process. The social worker did finally get all the paperwork done that she needed and it has been sent to the Attorney General. Next, we need to have ANOTHER court hearing where they will finalize the termination. Then, (if they terminate... which they should) then the birth parents will have an opportunity to appeal the decision. (which I have heard through the grapevine that they are planning on doing so) Finally, AFTER the appeal process (if everything is still in our favor) THAN we will be able to start the adoption. So, I'm sure you can imagine that this whole process is EXTREMELY hard for someone with absolutely NO patience. Heavenly Father is gonna make me learn patience one way or another.

We have news, News NEWS

We finally had our court hearing on the 9th. After 2 1/2 hours in the courtroom, the judge told us that he needed to review everything before issuing his verdict. Which we FINALLY got last Wednesday. The judge has decided that the parents would have their rights terminated for ALL 5 of the kids in the family. (Joshua and Jeremiah have an older brother and two older sisters that are also in the system) They now have 20 days to file an appeal, and than after that we can officially start the adoption process. As you can see we aren't done with the whole process YET, but we are rounding 3rd and heading towards home plate...... YAH!!!!

COMPLETE denial

I guess since it has happened I HAVE to finally admit it.... Yes, the rumors are true! I am

30!

Yikes, I have said it... that REALLY means it's true. :(

I did have a FANTASTIC birthday, so I'm not completely sad about the fact, but I always thought when I was growing up that I would feel different or have my life the way that I completely wanted it by the time I hit 30. And that is DEFINITELY not the case. But enough about the sad lets focus on the happy...

I woke up to ROSES, a brand new laminator (that I've been begging for... for FOREVER) and CHOCOLATE! The cutest part of this was Sophie running into my room before I had seen everything, and telling me that there were flowers and M&M's. She was too excited to hold in the secret. :) We had a fun morning with the kids playing in their pool... and than it got crazy.

I was KIDNAPPED! That's right, I was blindfolded, put into a car that I didn't know and with people driving that wouldn't talk to me. I was driven around for 20 minutes before we reached our destination. When we finally got there, they took the blindfold off to reveal my two best friends Amber, and Josie had taken me to Olive Garden for lunch. After there we all went and had spa pedicures done. It was an AWESOME afternoon... and my birthday celebration didn't stop there. We then all met (Josie & her husband, Amber and her husband and than Jon and I) at our house... which is where we left ALL 7 of our kids with a babysitter and we went out for the night. This included Sushi for dinner, games and cake @ Josie's and than bowling.

I am TRULY blessed to have the friend's and family that I have. They ALL made my birthday SOOOO special, and if I would have known turning 30 was going to be this much fun I would have done it along time ago. :)

Update...

We finally had our court hearing for the boys. After 2 1/2 hours in the courtroom, the judge told us he needed to review everything and get back to us. So, hopefully we will have a verdict sometime this coming week. I will post the results as soon as I know anything.

Our new results...

I am going to preface these newest results by saying that both Jon and I have been a little stressed the last couple of weeks, and when we are stressed we eat. So ta da.... here goes....

Franna:

Starting weight: 146lbs.

Current weight: 145

Loss of 1 lb. (.7%)

Jon:

Starting weight: 241lbs.

Current weight: 239lbs.

Loss of 2 lbs. (.8%)

Not great results by any standard, but at least it was still a loss. Hopefully, after this next court hearing is done we can settle back into normalcy and work hard to meet our weight loss goals again.

Must Read!!!

I just finished it... and it was FANTASTIC!!! I can NOT wait until the library has the 2nd one in for me... and then August the third will come out. YAH!!!

Happy Hurricane Season

Happy June 1st... which means its HURRICANE SEASON! YAH!!! I'm so excited.... NOT!!!

Please everyone keep us all in your prayers that we will make it through another season with no major issues.

New addition

This is the new addition to our family and my husband's new love. Jon had lost his phone about a month ago, and after a couple of weeks of looking we finally broke down and got a new phone. We decided to upgrade the type of phone and join this new 3G era. Ofcourse, as always happens we found the phone about a week after buying the new one. But it actually works well because now we will have an extra phone to leave at home as a "home phone".

Court=NO fun!!!!

Yesterday we had another court hearing. What a roller coaster!!!!! It started out good hearing that they had decided to terminate the other parents rights due to their failure to complete their service agreement. However, it quickly went down hill when we realized they had decided to rehire their attorney. This is the attorney that has managed to get them all their previous extensions. After waiting til we were the last group in the waiting room we finally got called into the courtroom. This was VERY interesting because sitting at the table was the twins' father in shakles. He had been arrested Friday and was transferred over from the jail. You would think that showing up in handcuffs would AUTOMATICALLY end this case. However, somehow their lawyer still managed to get yet ANOTHER extension. (even though the judge said they are already over the legal limit for time on this case) Luckily, this extension is only for two weeks. So, we will be heading back to court June 9th. Funniest part of the experience though... after we had been dismissed the judge stood up and was trying to lift up this big file...which he quickly realized he was unable to lift, so he calls over his bailif to come get it. This file was the case file for the twins and their siblings.

Hopefully, June 9th we will have better news!!!

Two weeks down....

Well we completed our first two weeks back on our diet. Drum roll please..............

Franna:

Starting weight: 149 lbs.

Current weight: 146 lbs.

Weight loss: 3lbs (2%)

Jon:

Starting weight: 252 lbs.

Current weight: 241 lbs.

Weight loss: 11 lbs (4.4%)

We are continuing with our goal to lose 2% at each weigh in... so that puts our next goal at 3lbs for me and 5lbs. for Jon. Wish us luck!!! :)

Happy.... Scared... Crazy

June 25th this is where you will be able to find me.

I can NOT believe I am actually going on a trip by myself... with NO children! What am I thinking??? This is the first time EVER since having Sophie that I will have spent a whole night away from my kids. I am super stoked and can't wait to be able to sleep in.... but, I am also already missing them. How do working moms do it? The thought of missing all the little things is making me feel so sad and REALLY guilty. Ok someone tell me that they will be fine, that they will survive and that I'm not a horrible mom for leaving them.

Ok. Done thinking like that! I am going to have a BLAST!!! I'm gonna see my family and enjoy every minute! :)

Can you tell I'm a little stressed about this?!?!?!

Well, we are at it again.....

Unfortunately, not all of our weight loss techniques have stuck with us since last year..... So, we are at it again.

So, here's the new stats.... (I can't believe I am sharing this online.. AGAIN!)

Franna:

Starting weight: 149 (up 14 lbs from last year)

1st goal: Lose 2% in the next TWO weeks (3lbs)

Major goal: Lose 10 lbs (139lbs)

Jon:

Starting weight: 252 (up 27 lbs from last year)

1st goal: Lose 2% in first TWO weeks (5lbs)

Major goal: Lose 22 lbs (230lbs)

Please don't judge us for falling off the wagon. This is just one more way to show we are definitely human and NOT perfect. We will probably struggle in this area for the rest of our lives. So we just ask for your love and support.... and if you see me eating something you KNOW that I shouldn't I give you my full permission to SMACK me upside the head! :)

Momma's Day!

What an amazingly, FANTASTIC day I was treated to yesterday!!!!

I was concerned about how the day would turn out, because I had given Jon a special request for the day. I wanted him to make my day great without spending ANY money.

As ALWAYS my husband VERY pleasantly surprised me!!!

I woke up to an amazing pancake breakfast in bed. Followed by my children surprising me with their BEAUTIFUL pictures they had colored. Jon had also made Tulips out of their handprints, and the Tulips had a special poem to go along with them.

After Church, (and ofcourse a Sunday nap) I was surprised with a get together over at our friend Amber's house. Our friend Josie was also there. Then our husbands all cooked us dinner, and fed the kids. I didn't have to lift a finger for anything. :)

Best part of Mother's day was that it didn't end until Monday. I got to sleep in late on Monday, and woke up to Jon doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen.

Spoiled? YES

Loved? YES

BLESSED? YES

Spring beach pics

Thanks to a contest on Facebook, we won a free session on the beach with our photographer. Go here http://jerushagoss.zenfolio.com/larsenbeach to see our new pics.

New revelation...

#1 Thing I learned this last weekend... I never, EVER want to own a big dog.

We took care of our friends 6 mo old golden labs. He's a good dog, but WAY to much for me. The kids had a blast though!

That looks like it hurts!

(Before)

(After)

Jeremiah had his first experience with the dentist last month. Thanks to a chip getting increasingly worse, he had to have two teeth pulled. So, now our lil man looks like he got into a fight and lost. I was shocked at how well he handled it though. Not a tear was shed from our lil tough man.

Sophie turns 3!!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my Princess SOPHIE!!!!

I love this pic of all my munchkins. Check out Jeremiah with his hands in his pockets. He's such a "cool dude!" LOL!

(I found this shirt @ Carter's and thought it fit Sophie PERFECTLY!)
It reads "I'm only here for the cake..(and the presents!)"

Sophie designed and looked forward to this cake for months. Thank you Amber for making Sophie's dream cake.

Top 5 things I LOVE about my daughter:

(This is hard to narrow down since there are SOOO many reasons)

1. She LOVES to snuggle and be cuddled ALL the time

2. Sophie loves to learn... She reminds me every day when it's time for school, and she loves to show me EVERY new thing she has learned.

3. She LOVES being a girly girl... which makes it SOOO much fun to shop for her.

4. She is a GREAT helper/teacher! She Loves being asked to help us out and even more she LOVES to teach the boys how to do things. (ofcourse she also loves to tell them what to do...LOL)
5. Most importantly.... She LOVES Jesus, loves going to church and learning all that she can about the Gospel, and ALWAYS fights for the opportunity to pray.

I am VERY blessed to have been given the opportunity to have Sophie in my life. I Thank God for her every day and I look forward to the coming years and watching her become even more of a little lady!

The best ever!

I need to spend some time BRAGGING about my amazing husband!!!! My husband on average is an awesome guy but lately he has been on a quest to win the husband of the year award. It started last Thursday night when he got off work early to come home and spent the rest of the night giving me a massage and a pedicure. Then, Friday he spent the entire day watching the kids while I headed to Mobile for a MUCH needed day of shopping with the gals. Now unbelievably the spoiling did NOT stop here. He proceded to wake up with the kids Saturday AND Monday morning! I am SOO grateful to have such a wonderful husband who cares about me and his children so much. I am TRULY blessed to have such a great eternal companion!

I did it!!!!

I am very proud to announce that I just completed and received my YW medallion. I didn't grow up in the church and wasn't able to complete personal progress as a teenager, so I was THRILLED when I found out that as a leader I was eligible to get it now. Now, when Sophie is complaining it's to hard or that she doesn't want to do it she will have no excuse! Thank you to all of you wonderful, amazing women that inspired me to work towards this accomplishment!!!

Sick, Sick and more sick!

Sorry I haven't blogged much lately but we have been dealing with A LOT of sickness in our house. It started with Joshua having bronchitis... which meant breathing treatments. (which AMAZINGLY he handled VERY well.)

And than we have all and I mean ALL of us have had the stomach flu. So, I have spent lots of hours washing "puke" laundry and cleaning the carpets. The boys managed to get sick the same night which at least then we got it all done and over with at the same time. Knock on wood we are all healthy now and are looking forward to getting out and playing again.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Can you believe we had SNOW in Biloxi, MS?!?!?!

Family Update

So I used to be really good about blogging and staying up to date with news, current events and pics......until, I got on Facebook. Now, it seems really hard for me to update both. So, I apologize if you only follow our blog, for lack of current info and lack of attention to the blog on my part.

Family tid-bits:

• We still have the boys--good news.... they pushed back the court hearing until May 25th---BAD!!!!
• Jon who had gained some weight back from last year lost an OUTSTANDING 8 lbs. last week. (I on the other hand who has gained 10 lbs back have not lost ANYTHING)
• Sophie is 2 going on 20... she puts me in my place ALL the time
• Joshua and Jeremiah are ALL boy through and through!!! It's a VERY good thing we dont own any breakable knick knacks because they would not survive in this house.
• We have decided that as soon as everything is settled with the boys we will be moving to Utah. So either later this fall or early spring we will be on our way. YAH!!!!
• I am still trying to figure out why when we have 3 of the exact same toy my kids still need to fight over them.
• I also think it's funny and ABSOLUTELY adorable that my kids fight over when they get to say the prayer at meal time. Which has forced me to establish an assigned meal to each kid to say prayer at. (i.e. Jeremiah-breakfast, Sophie-lunch and Josh-dinner)

We are exhausted all the time and pull out our hair the majority of the time but we love life and we love our family... We miss you all.... and I am going to try and be better about more frequent Larsen updates.