We Still Trust in His Will

I just wanted to post this in honor of the baby that we lost last summer. Today was my due date.

Today we remember this:

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die...A time to get, and a time to lose...He hath made every thing beautiful in His own time -Eccesiastes 3

Thank you for the support of all of you in remembering us today.

No matter how much time passes, I still long for what could have been. But I also feel peace and trust in God's timing. We have grown stronger because of it. We've been able to have experiences to serve that we may not have otherwise had.

It just wasn't time. But when that time does come, our appreciation for God's gift to us will be much greater.

And now...Our New Niece

Kailyn Almina Bidwell was born on February 18th, 2009. 8 lbs 13 oz. 20" long. Congratulations to Jennifer, Rob, Sterling, Emmy, Josiah, and Cori. Um..I can't help but share some pictures (that I stole) of baby Kailyn!



Oh and I think it's cool that not only do I have a sister named Kaylynn, but I also have a niece named Kailyn. It's a great name :) I told Jennifer that Kailyn is at risk for being the secret 'favorite' like my sister Kaylynn. (My siblings would understand this.) Others may wonder what the heck I'm talking about...

Our New Nephew

Vaughn Allen Jaten was born to my oldest sister Amy and her husband Benson on February 12, 2009. He was 7 lbs 5 oz and 20". He's such a cutie. Congratulations to the Jaten family! We're excited for another new niece or nephew any day now from the Bidwells too. (Larry's oldest sister's family) Here are a couple pics of baby Vaughn. Amy-I couldn't help but share...hope that's okay..and I stole the pics from your blog..hope that's okay too! :D

A New Year

Can you believe it's 2009? 2008 came and went and it was quite an eventful year for us. Here's a review of some of what went on for us in 2008. Some things are little details..others were big events...

2008: What a year!

January 11: One year from the day we met. (March 24 made one year from our first date)We were best friends in no time. Here's a picture of us on one of our many dates.


January 12: Larry taught me how to snowboard

January-April: Larry and I did a semester at LDSBC together

January 15: Larry was promoted to Branch Manager *please note*: The following visual aid does not reflect Larry's typical job responsibilities (yes, that is a turkey suit)

February 27: We got engaged


April 1: I started working at my job with animal services

April 17:Bought our condo(officially moved in the 22nd)

April 19: I received my endowment at the Jordan River Temple

April 22: We were married and sealed in the Salt Lake Temple


May: Got braces on again..was told frequently from this point forward that I don't look old enough to be married..remind me that it's worth it and I can't complain about free braces will ya?

May-September on and off: Fostered the last kittens that I'll be allowed to foster

June 11: My 20th birthday

June 15: We found out we were going to have a baby

July 1: Dealt with the trial of miscarriage

August 13: My sister Heidi (who was also my roommate until I got married) left for her mission to San Bernardino, California

September-December: Another semester for me at LDSBC

November 1:Added our Cocker Spaniel 'Kassidy' to our family...destruction to home began


December 13: Got my ears pierced

December 24: Larry's 25th birthday

December 25: Our first Christmas as 'married folk'

--almost every month seemed to include some sort of surgery or sickness involved for one or both of us--

January 1, 2009: We now have 11:00 church instead of 9:00 church :)...k I just had to mention that randomly.

By the way I just happen to remember dates well. I really didn't write those random little things down on a calendar.

Larry and I have set some new years resolutions that we hope to accomplish...so far it's not looking so good but we'll get on track. I go back to school on Monday. Oi. I'm working part time too. And Larry continues his work as Mr. Boss at the bank. We look forward to good things this year. We've been very blessed and are so grateful to have all that we do, especially each other and the Gospel. We'll see what the year brings...hopefully good things :D I hope you all have a great year as well!!

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