Prayers for Jared & Josh

My younger brother has a friend who was recently in an accident--a boxing accident. The young man had no clue that his life would change in an instant. At this point it is a miracle that Jared is still here. He has far surpassed the doctors' expectations. He has been in the ICU in Las Vegas since January 31st. My heart aches for his family, for my brother, and especially for Jared. Please keep Jared, his family the Garbetts, and Josh in your prayers. Jared's mom began a blog to record his journey.

I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for his children. For whatever reason this happened to Jared, Heavenly Father is mindful of him and his family. Reading their blog strengthens my testimony. I often wonder how my family would be handling this if my brother were in Jared's position. I'm grateful for their example and faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are so strong! It is because they know the Lord is on their side. They have a deep understanding and knowledge of eternal families.

I know that Heavenly Father is aware of my brother Joshua who is searching for light and truth in his life. I hope that through this experience his heart will be softened and that he may come to a knowledge of the fullness of the gospel. I know that first comes the trial of our faith and then comes the miracle. Love you Josh!

Happy 2011 and Christmas Recap

We're leaping for joy this New Year! (cheesy? yes!)

Nate and I are counting are blessings this year. We have school, jobs, the gospel, and friends and family that bring us so much happiness. We're looking forward to 2011 and all that the year holds in store for us. We didn't send out Christmas cards. Sorry folks. We'll do better next year. We really appreciated all of the love and Christmas cards we recieved this year. I had about 18 to open when I got back from Texas and it made for a very warming welcome. Love you all! A good friend took the pictures above and we thank her for that!

Here's a brief recap of our Holiday Festivities. We went to Houston again this year. There were two new additions to the family this year; baby David and Kate. The only person missing from this family Christmas photo is David who was peacefully slumbering during all of the commotion of family pictures. Don't look too closely at the family photo opp--you might see some strange things. All photographs are courtesy of the one and only Kate Lauritzen. Thank you very much.

We went to the Houston Temple one day to take a looksie.

This is one of my favorite photos ever. Grandma Carol is wearing 3D glasses. They appear normal in this picture. In fact, I have a picture of Brent and Grandma wearing 3D glasses from last Christmas when we all went out to Moody Gardens to see a 3D movie. These 3D glasses are in fact very different and very special, so she says. We did not attend a 3D movie this year, but Grandma still wore her glasses . . .everyday! She did not just wear them to the movies. She wore them around the house, in the car, at the movies because they helped protect her eyes from the glare (sunglasses do the same thing :-) ) It was a comical sight. Even funnier is the story behind them. Nate and I put them in a white elephant gift that she happened to choose. The glasses along with the movie the Holiday, white chocolate, and a bag of popcorn were in a Radio City Music Hall bucket that was once filled with popcorn from the Rockette Christmas show. Grandma loved her gift! I never knew the glasses were going to be such a hit. They certainly fell into the hands of the right person. I think they suit her very well!

Brent and Grandma Carol. a.k.a Nana Coco

Our darling nephew David Aaron sitting on top of his Christmas gifts!

Loved his camo pjs. The multi-talented Samantha sewed matching camo pajamas for their family.

The undeniably loco Lauritzen brothers! They are always such a hoot when they are together. It's fun to see them interact. They're definitely big kids, especially on Christmas.

We love being aunts and uncles to David! There was plenty of love to go around this year.

Speaking of L.O.V.E. This is Mr. Love himself snuggling his grandbaby. It was said of Craig, my father in-law, that he is 6' 2", 210lbs, and full of love. He was described in this manner over the pulpit during sacrament meeting at the Young Singles Adult branch by one of the YSA members. Us in the back row were dying laughing because the description helped him grow two inches and shed 20lbs. Though, the full of love part wasn't a fib. He truly is full of love. We're grateful for all of the time we were able to spend at home with Nathan's family. They are so wonderful to us. Our flight was cancelled the day we were supposed to come home, so we were able to spend a few extra nights with the fam. It was very relaxing. We got caught up on some movies for the year!
This is really short, but imagine them doing this for a whole car ride. Take it low boys!

Day 9

Today as I was running through this...

I kept thinking of this painting by Greg Olsen titled, "Lost and Found."

Needless to say, I constantly think of, worry about, and pray for my my younger brothers Jacob and Joshua, also known as Jaosh and Joake, or Jaker Bake and Bob. Now, whenever I go home I call every name under the sun before I get them right. Nate's name even gets thrown in the mix..."Danny, Jake, Josh, Nate, whoever the heck you are!" I'm very happy to go home next week and give them all big hugs!!

Words of Mormon 1:8 has become a favorite scripture of mine. It reads, "And my prayer to God is concerning my brethren, that they may once again come to the knowledge of God, yea, the redemption of Christ; that they may once again be a delightsome people."

In the same light, 2 Nephi 30:6 reads, "And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and delightsome people."

On day 9 I'm grateful for

Central Park,

(I'm secretly grateful for the hills in Central Park)

the song, "Manhattan from the Sky" by Kate Voegele,

&

surprises.

(Though, I actually dislike surprises because I want to know everything right away, and I want others to know too!)

Heavenly Father is still trying to teach me patience in oh so many ways.

Lauritzen Boys Bust a Move to All Star at Wedding

Here is the infamous All Star dance from the wedding. Enough said...

Nate and boys at the Lake

Nate and my brothers Jake and Josh hung out all day at the lake! We had a blast!