Ari H

Utah...it never gets old

11:30 AM

First time we've all been together in 3 years



What's winter without snow? Thanks, Utah.

Any time I get to spend with our nephews is precious time



We made snow angels in snow that was up to his waist :)

She's the prettiest

Sibling dinner. Brett is always too busy for us. :(

Favourites

Bachelor party in a suite at the Jazz game

We did some research before our Utah trip for some new, great places to eat. Happy we made it to Sweet Lake - Biscuits and Limeade

Eggs Benedict is my go-to on any breakfast menu. This one with local eggs, fresh made biscuits and red quinoa hash browns gets two thumbs up from me. HOWEVER, the winner of the menu is definitely the pancakes! They are called Conspiracy Cakes. They grind the flour fresh every day and you can absolutely taste the difference. That's probably the conspiracy...

Before heading back to London, we took some family pictures in the snowy canyon



I love my people

Ari H

Larson Wedding 2017 + my newest sister!

11:00 PM



The cutest

We got to celebrate with Danielle at the Grand America Afternoon tea

Then it was off to set up for the rehearsal dinner!





It's so hard being so cute.

Standing around waiting to be call for family pictures.

Couldn't be a cuter or grumpier ring bearer.

Grand America ballroom for the wedding dinner



Ezra + Shirley partying it up before Ezra's bedtime


Wedding photo-booths are my favourite

This is the kind of thing that happens when you leave your phone with your friends. Joke is on you, dears.
They filmed our musical number so thank you! If you want to see it, let me know.

But seriously, every Larson wedding needs a Jon + Susanna. These guys saved the day in so many ways! Love you guys.



Woot woot! It was a beautiful send-off

Selfie with sparklers is not a good idea



Great day, sad it had to end because I adore my family but beyond happy to have gained a sister!

Cute little babushka kept us smiling as we checked out of the Grand and headed back to real life.

day trip from London

Temple and Croydon

4:53 PM

Weekends are so special. At this time of our lives, it means we get to soak up 48 hours of being together.

We attended the London England LDS Temple. It is about 30 miles from the City of London.
For people who don't have a car, the public transport from the City to the Temple consists of either hiring a small bus with a bunch of other people or taking the train and a cab or a series of buses and a bit of walking. 
We did the train this time and it worked out! We didn't sleep in or nearly miss the train so...oh wait, one of us slept in a bit. ;)
England has beautiful country. It's gorgeous and inspiring just to be out in so much green and fresh air in a place where mobile service is patchy. A nice little break from the city. 

One the way back home, we got off the train in East Croydon for a Costco run.
We wandered through the city to find FOOD before shopping. If I go to the store hungry, I buy sooo much more than I should. At Costco, that could be a mistake of terrible economic proportion...

We have been meaning to try the chain Yo!Sushi that is all over town.
Pleasantly found a small branch inside one of the many malls of Croydon. (Seriously, so many big malls all close together)

The coloured plates have different price values attached. At the end of the meal, an attendant counts up the number of each colour plate and hands you the bill. It could be really easy to spend loads of money by just grabbing off the conveyor. We stuck to pushing the red button at our table and getting the warm, fresh options that were not coming out as often on the conveyor belt. 
There is a refreshingly cold water tap right in front of you, both still and sparkling water are unlimited. You just pay for the cup.
Aubergine Salad (I looooove eggplant)
I had some chicken katsu curry. Taylor had a yummy veggie soup with udon noodle. We split a few plates of sushi. Sushi wasn't bad.
While I'm glad we tried it, I wouldn't recommend it over somewhere like Hare & Tortoise which is probably in the same price point.

We got our loot at the Costco and hauled it back home. We took the train to London Bridge station during the peak time that the train was experiencing severe delays and other issues due to the England/Wales Rugby game. It's an exciting time to be in London (isn't it always?....) Rugby World Cup 2015! I just wish I knew more about rugby...

bridesmaids

Valerie and Eston 2015

9:30 PM



I adore this girl. From the first time I met her, we clicked. We were assigned to be companions while serving LDS missions in Argentina. I hadn't spoken English for nearly 9 months (other than emails home to my family, which were awkwardly half Spanish, half English anyway) and Valerie was still working on her Spanish. It was an awkward and hilarious time. So many experiences that bonded us like no other 5 weeks in anyone's life could have. Without going into Too Much Information, she took care of me when I was crazy sick, we survived several days without electricity to heat our apartment or water in dead of winter, weird food and broken toilets. Extreme bonding time.
So when she not-so-slyly told me that she was getting married in March, I HAD to be there!

President and Sister Gulbrandsen are some of my most favourite people on the planet. Steff flew in for the day and it was lovely to see her. We were all companions at some point. Love these people.

I mean, we're really cute. haha

Some of the friends that just hung around the temple for a while. Mostly because of our insane love for Val Pal. (Jess, Katherine, the beautiful bride, me and Steffannie)


Oh yeah! Eston was there, too.... haha

All photo credit goes to Mikki Platt, wedding photographer extraordinaire, who also did our wedding pictures. I will forever be obsessed with our photos and Valerie's are just as amazing! Mikki has photographed cousins and friends since our wedding and she's not only a talent behind the camera but the sweetest person ever!

Alaskan cruise

London Update

5:10 PM

I realize that people don't know anything about our most recent announcement other than the fact that we're moving to Europe. We made the exciting announcement via every social media network we could and then left you hanging!


Our big move to London, England is still several months away. Taylor will take part of the global Goldman training starting in July in New York. That's the beginning of our move eastward. After corporate training, Taylor will spend time with the group with which he was hired to work. We don't know how long that part of his training will take since they haven't had an analyst go solo to the London office before. 

We don't anticipate getting to London before August 2014, although we are both extremely anxious to get there! Our favorite hobby right now is LONDON. Learning about the city, seeing one of the coolest Instagram accounts about London (seriously, check out @london account. You'll cry), looking at flats to rent, and for me, planning outings to make the most of our time in what will be our home for a while. 

About how long we'll be there....hard to say. We're thinking at least a year and legally we can't be there more than 6 years without applying for permanent residency. So do not fret. We should be back...should be. 😉

We have connected with some wonderfully helpful people that try to answer all of our random questions that crop up as we prepare to move. We are so grateful for them and their patience. 

We have narrowed our apartment search to Zone One for transportation ease as we will not have a car over there. We have these high hopes to cycle to work. If we can brave the near-constant rain. I hope my time in Juneau, Alaska has prepared me this. 

We hope to live very near Hyde Park. Northwest, to be exact. 
 
Can you imagine this being our Sunday walk? Yes, please!
It's just too good to be true. I can hardly wait to be posting pictures I take personally of this beautiful place. 


Some of our dreams and goals for London are to go see what we can see and do lots of it. 

1. Get a view of London and the Thames river from the London Eye

2. Visit the LDS Temple in Surrey once a month. (That's about an hour and a half drive from central London)

3. Visit York! So pretty!

4. People watch in Trafalgar Square. 

5. Visit every single museum they've got! I might do most of this alone but I'm sure I could convince Taylor to come to a couple. Plus, they're free. Hello?! 

6. See where the Queen lives. And perhaps sneak a peek of the royal baby. Keira and Jilian will be extremely jealous. 

Many, many, many more adventures to be had. 

I can't be sure but I think this is part of the financial district that Taylor's office will be near. It really does look like Fleet Street. If you look down the street, above the woman's head, it looks like a sky ride connecting the buildings? I believe that to be two of three Goldman buildings in the area. 

We are very excited to see it in person. But there is so much to do before we get there! 

Taylor and I will graduate within a week of each other and then head off on a cruise (compliments of my grueling and difficult work as a tour bus driver for two consecutive summers in Juneau). 

Where shall the Princess cruise take us? Alaska, of course. Round trip from San Francisco. :) 

Bless you for making it all the way to the end of this long-winded post. If you have any questions, comments or requests for occupying our couch (that we might have to get with a pull out bed) in London, leave those below 😄




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