It's been a fun week

Christmas has come and gone already. We had a good time celebrating Larry's 25th birthday on the 24th. Larry wanted to go snowboarding but I suggested that we go sledding to save money. -I felt bad about this because I really wanted to spoil him on his birthday. We went to flat iron mesa where it was freezing and there was nothing but ice and patches of grass. Any of you who are familiar with flat iron would understand that we were wise to not attempt sledding on this. (FYI for the Balsmeiers, the hill is really steep.) Of course, the snow we could have used would come in abundance on Christmas instead...We then drove around to find a place where Larry could get the sushi I promised him. But, being Christmas eve, they were all closed. We went home, ordered pizza, and watched movies instead. Larry reminded me frequently that I should have let him go snowboarding. It was a nice guilt trip. I promised him he could go soon.

I got Larry a birthday cake and tried to find the right one. I knew he wanted butter cream frosting and yellow cake. Unfortunately there wasn't much of a selection. I chose a cake that had a plastic thing in it that said "Happy Holidays" and had snow flakes on it. To reduce my guilt for buying him a cake that really wasn't a b-day cake, I had them take the holiday thing off and write "Happy Birthday Larry." He wasn't fooled and reminded me several times that I did not get him a real birthday cake. (He's kidding really, but likes to point out the joys of being a Christmas Eve baby.) Okay, I'll be honest. I had reminded myself for months that I would do a really good job on getting him a good b-day cake. However, it was midnight the day before his b-day when it suddenly came to me that I hadn't gotten his cake or made the arrangements I wanted to...oops. This will be held over my head for approximately seven years.

Anyway, I got Larry an art set with a bunch of art supplies. But his favorite present was the one I bought on a whim: a balloon art kit. Since then our house has been taken over by balloon animals. On Christmas I also gave him a balloon architecture kit and some new clothes and stuff. Larry surprised me with real pearls. My name means pearl so I thought that was cute. He gave me a necklace, bracelet, and earrings. This explains why Larry took me to the mall a couple weeks ago to get my ears pierced. Yes-I'm 20 years old and finally got around to it. Our dogs seemed to enjoy Christmas too. They ran into the living room and shredded their presents open like little kids.

We visited Amy, Benson, and Jinx on Christmas. We were their only visitors because, due to the snow filled roads, the others couldn't make it. Larry enjoyed driving through the snow just fine as other cars and trucks were stuck in the snow. We then visited with Jenny and my Dad. And later we had some friends over for dinner. On Saturday we headed over to my moms house for a get together with the Landvatters. Larry entertained the kids by making balloon animals on demand.

This post is getting really long so I'll wrap it up. I hope you all had a merry Christmas and that you have a very happy new year! By the way, we wanted to say congratulations to Sterling for getting baptized. And happy birthday to Jonas on the 29th.

Here are some pictures of Larry's works of art...
Horsey

Flowers

Penguin-Larry made this one up all by himself :D

2 horses in the Parthenon

dragon fly

Larry, I'll do anything for you

Isn't this adorable?! Larry wanted this on our blog for all of you to enjoy! :D

Christmas is coming

Well, it's already that time of year again. Christmas is coming up quick...and that means Larry's birthday is coming too. I can't believe he's going to be 25! Surprisingly, I'm ready for both his b-day (on Christmas Eve) and Christmas. I'm surprised how excited I am; not because I want presents, but because I can't wait to give Larry his presents. He's fun and easy to shop for. This is our first Christmas together as a married couple, but we spent last Christmas together too. Anyway, of course Christmas is not about presents. It's about Christ. Yesterday in church our Bishop spoke and talked about this little present that was under their tree every year. When he was young he was disappointed because it was supposed to be the best present and all it had in it was a little piece of paper that said "the greatest gift of all." Later in life he realized its significance. The greatest gift of all that we've been given is the gift of Eternal Life, from Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for my Savior and I know He lives and loves all of us. I'm grateful that our Heavenly Father was willing to send His Son as a sacrifice for us.

sick of being sick

I'd just like to say that I'm always sick at the most inconvenient times. I've been sick with strep throat and the flu and I'm not happy about it. To make matters worse, it's the last week of school and I haven't been able to go. (I've been missing work too) I hate missing school! We all know I'm a nerd like that. I just like knowing what's going on. And of all the days to miss I had to miss today. Why is that a big deal you ask?? Because Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke at the devotional today. LDSBC is a small school so it's a lot more personal. I had been looking forward to being there for an address by an apostle for a long time. It was also a big deal because Elder Nelson announced that John (Larry) Richards is replacing President Stephen Woodhouse as the new President of the college. I have a lot of LDSBC Pride in me and I was so disappointed to miss that. All because I'm sick. I'll stop complaining because I have a lot of blessings and I know better than to complain...