father's day

ah, fathers.
i have the best.

really, i do.

i couldn't ask for a better dad.
or for a better father-in-law.

they are both two of the best men i know.

and i'm grateful for them.

happy father's day!

anniversary celebration

what a lovely anniversary weekend!

we decided to start our celebration by going to the temple. it was great to be able to be at the place of our marriage ceremony - exactly one year later. it is crazy to think it's been one whole year already. it literally flew by. so many things have happened since our wedding day:

austin left on his mission
my first time out of the country
my first plane ride
chad left on his mission
both of us started new jobs
jack was born
president obama was elected
experiencing our first holidays as a family
starting our own traditions
family reunions
granny's funeral
birthdays
getting stitches
dane and jenee got married
kendyll announced another baby on the way
and so many other things.

it seems impossible that so much has happened in only 365 days. some days i feel as if branson and i have been married a lot longer than a year. we've been through so much together at this point, that my mind is momentarily confused when i look at a calendar and see only a year has passed.

but in reality, time is all relative.
and i'm learning to not take time for granted.

while at the temple, we decided to do sealings. it was amazing to hear again the words that declared branson reed larson mine for eternity. to have them fresh in my mind on the day celebrating our first year of marriage complete. it was such a thrillingly spiritual experience for me. it made me all the more grateful for a husband i get to have forever.

we decided it would be nice to get out of town for a few days. thanks to our good friend sarah, we were able to get a steal of a deal on a luxury suite at the newpark hotel up in park city.

it was a beautiful hotel - and the suite was unbelievable!

yes, our own private hot tub on our deck.
like i said... unbelievable. the view was great. the location was fantastic. all around wonderful.

in the spirit of tradition, we decided to eat our wedding cake on our first anniversary. but don't fret - i made an exact replica of the top of our wedding cake on thursday. frozen year-old cake just isn't appealing to me. at all. so i did the tradition my way - fresh, not frozen, but just as delicious as the one we had at our wedding.

and once again, we were tactful in our feeding each other.

mm mm... lemon cake.
my favorite.

but more favorite than lemon cake is this:

what a handsome man i married.

the rest of our trip was spent relaxing, shopping and admiring beautiful art in all of the galleries in park city. oh, and did i mention eating? don't be fooled by branson's skinny frame. we ate like kings.

our anniversary dinner at ruth's chris.
(which was definitely the most expensive meal of my life. also definitely worth it. had i only had the creme brulee, it would have been worth it. we all know how much of a critic i am about said dessert... and let me tell you - it was the best i've ever had. absolute heaven. i couldn't believe my tastebuds. it was better than mine. better than shannon mock's. blasphemy, i know. but i'm telling you - it's true!)

we made omlets saturday morning-
with bacon and hashbrowns.

lunch at redrock
(they have the most delectable bruschetta - sundried tomatoes and whole cloves of garlic. my mouth is watering just thinking about it.)

left-over steak dinner
with creamed spinach and mashed potatoes.

waffles for breakfast sunday morning
with strawberries, bananas and whipped cream
and bacon, of course.

we definitely ate well. that's for sure.

it was nice that we could make some of our meals right in our hotel room. it saved us a ton of money. so i figure, expensive ruth's chris dinner is totally justifiable because we only at out twice in the three days we were there. all of the other food came from our fridge at home. i feel good about it.

truly, it was a great weekend. we had a lovely time - even with the rain and lightning and loudest thunder i have ever heard.

it was comical to me how the weather panned out - i'm reminded me of last year at this time. now, this may be a little bit vain and selfish, but i seriously prayed that it wouldn't rain on my wedding day. i know, it rains on people's wedding day all the time. and everything always turns out fine. but, the date we had picked was in june. june. in utah. a time when it starts to get too warm. all air conditioners and swamp coolers are turned on by then. so i felt confident that the weather would cooperate with me.

as soon as i could access a 10 day weather forecast, i checked almost every hour. the first week of june was decent weather. but the second week of june - the week that mattered - was scheduled to rain. rain, rain go away... please don't rain on my wedding day. 3 days before my wedding, all local forecasts predicted snow on june 11th. snow? snow! i couldn't believe it. i'm not going to disclose the deal i made to guarantee no snow or rain on june 12th, but deal i did.

wednesday night, june 11th, i saw stormy clouds and my heart sunk a little. i started to convince myself a little rain never hurt anyone. and if i had to, i could take wedding pictures with a cute little umbrella.

but thursday morning, the sun was shining, there was no snow. there was no rain. there weren't even many clouds in the sky. it might not mean the same to everyone, but it was just another confirmation to me that it was right.

it turned out to be the most beautiful day. the perfect temperature. not too hot, not too cold. and it had rained just enough leading up to that day that everything was super green and in full bloom. oh, how grateful i am for that day!

back to my point: the weather this week was eerily the same. rain. lots of rain. snow in the mountains. but friday, june 12th, was beautiful. it made me smile, and once again reminded me of how much i am loved.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

i'm interested to see where we are next june 12th; what events will have happened by then, the things we will have endured together, the fun and exciting things we will do between now and then. there's bound to be quite a few.

one year.
365 {well, 368 days now} days.
too many memories to count.

yep. i definitely made the right choice.

first anniversary

one year ago from this very moment,
branson and i walked out of the salt lake temple as
mr and mrs branson larson.

i've heard it said that the first year is the hardest,
and if that's the case-
we're in for a fantastically beautiful eternity.

sure we've had our disagreements
and a few times when we've wanted to scream at each other
but we've always gotten over it in no time at all.

the key to our success?
we super love each other a lot.
and we've done out best to keep the Lord in our marriage.


branson reed larson,
i love you.
more than you know.
and i'm so grateful to be your wife.
and that you are mine for ever.

love,
shanna lynne

june

i love the month of june.

as a child, june was the start of summer break. it meant no school, waking up early to jump on the trampoline, swimming (kinda... more like standing in a shallow pool and splashing water at my brothers), baseball, and playing with friends.

now, june doesn't promise a break from school. or a break from work. but the things it brings to me are much better than that.

we started off the month with dinner at alex and sarah's house. they were kind enough to invite us over for a little bbq. sarah is quite the hostess, and i was impressed with how lovely the table was set. dinner was delicious and we had a great time chatting and catching up with them. they are good people. sarah told us some awkward stories and we laughed and laughed together. we're grateful for good friends like them.

in 10 days, i will be celebrating my first anniversary with branson. i can't believe how fast this past year has gone. we've been married one whole year. technically, 355 days. and some days it seems like only yesterday we walked out of the temple together, hand in hand as husband and wife. other days i forget it has only been one year. i have to remind myself that it has only been a year. somedays i feel like we've been married forever - like i can't remember what life what like without him. and then there are the most frequent days, when i find myself in awe of how much my love for brans has grown over the past year. brad paisley said it so well with his new song, "... and i thought i loved you then..." - i am truly amazed at how much more i love branson since we got married. i'm quite a lucky girl.

in 16 days, my brother will officially be halfway through his mission. as much as i can't believe branson and i have been married for a year, it's even more incredible to me that austin has been gone for a whole year. he is such a great missionary. i love getting the chance to talk to him almost every week through email. technology rules! ha ha but he is doing a wonderful job. he loves the people of canada and he loves spreading the word. and in a year, he'll be home to tell me all the crazy stories he doesn't have time to email.

the roses in our yard are the. most. beautiful. things. you. have. ever. seen. i am not joking. gramps had quite the green thumb in his day, and grandma has continuted in his footsteps. gramps planted basically a million things in the yard. but the most prized were the roses in the front. there are six or seven rose bushes, and within the past four days, they have all bloomed with the most gorgeous roses i have ever seen. i am just waiting for my camera to recharge so i can document the beauty.

at least twice a week, the ball field across the street lights up, and i can sit and watch softball games from my front room. occasionally (more often than not) fly and foul balls will sail over the fence and land in our yard. my favorite is when they send little boys over to retrieve said ball. they run over to our bushes, but as soon as they step into the driveway, it's as if they are on a secret mission and can't be caught under penalty of death. i have even seem on boy get down on his stomach and army crawl arcoss our lawn, pick up the ball, then army crawl back to the driveway, getting up and sprinting back to the field. if i remember correctly, i giggled for hours after that.

my brother taylor is graduating from high school. it makes me feel old. and then i remember i'm not really. and even if i was, thanks to my 16 year old face, i wouldn't look old. but i digress. tay has had quite the busy year. he was the editor-in-chief of the yearbook, in ensemble - the premier vocal group at olympus, in concert choir, the seminary counsel president, taking several AP classes and managed to maintain his 4.0. the kid is a rock star. he makes my high school career look super lame. i'm proud of tay and can't wait for him to start the next chapter of life.

the lower half of my index finger has most of the feeling back - only a little bit of numbness. however, the tip of my finger is still completely numb. i really did a good job of slicing through. it definitely wasn't a half-effort. heh. i've been told the nerve will grow back, which is good news. but it might take a couple years. i'm hoping not that long. the wound, itself, is still tender and still hurts some. i'm still careful not to use it much. and i've become adept at typing, playing the piano, writing, and all sorts of other things you need to use your hands for with only 9 fingers. i've gotten pretty good at compensating with my thumb and middle finger.

we have lots of other happenings this month, and i'm excited for them. along with the perfect weather. (until the end of june when it generally gets a little too hot... but right now, it's lovely.)

june is a great month.