Graduation Day

Edward and Krystal graduated from Southern Utah University on May 2, 2009. Krystal finished her degree in Art Education. She is now a certified teacher. Edward will finish his internship this summer and then he will be an official outdoor recreation graduate. Don and Becky were able to go to Cedar City for the ceremonies. Pres. Monson spoke at the commencement exercises in the morning. Edward and Krystal were awarded their diplomas together at Krystal's convocation Saturday afternoon.

Proud parents!

Sister-in-law, Mirriam Larson also received her Master's Degree that day at S.U.U. We all celebrated with a hamburger dinner at Paul and Mirriam's house.

We were unable to attend our son-in-law's graduation up in Logan the day before because of CEU's graduation. Josh earned his Masters degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. We are very proud of him and wished we could have been there too. He has worked hard.

April, 2009

April was full of company for us.

Olivia

Hyrum and Noah

Michael and Carly were here on Conference Weekend. Then Edward and Krystal came. Edward had a week-long training course up at Entrada above Moab. Krystal stayed here and relaxed. Then Katie and her girls were able to come down the Friday before Easter. They stayed until Monday morning. Of course the weather decided to be stormy but we still had a good time together. The next weekend Amelia and her children came down. Amelia's good friend Nautani had her reception on Friday night. They stayed for the next week because Olena Perkins went throught the temple and another of Tyler's sisters, Holli, and her family were sealed in the temple on Friday, April 24th. They went home on Saturday but had to come back on Monday for Tyler's grandmother's funeral on Tuesday. It was fun having everyone here. Here are a few pictures from April.

We had a picnic at the sanddunes down by Montezuma Creekwith Katie's family. It was a little chilly but the rain held off until we were going home.

Easter Dresses and coloring eggs (and Josie's hands)

Busy Week

This last week I (Don) was invited to speak to the single adults in town on being judgmental. I told a lot of stories and think I did OK. Friday I had the Transitions kids and we talked about how to treat friends. (The Transitions kids are handicapped children who work at a store in town to help them transition into society. They come to the campus for lunch at the cafeteria and a lesson from Dr. Larson twice a month.) We ended by asking, "What is the first rule of friendship?" The answer is "Be Kind!" This is now the Transitions mantra.
Saturday I had to go to Green River for a meeting I set up for all the stake presidents in SE Utah. We were setting up an LDS. Relations Committee for our Sector to improve communications between the BSA and the Church. We were supposed to have Elder Pocock with us but he had family concerns keep him away. It was a good start. The Stake Presidents are committed to talking quarterly. It will help reinforce training in the districts. I got to wear my new Scout uniform.

Spring Break 2009

We began our spring break by going to Provo on Friday, Mar. 13th and staying with Grandma and Grandpa Pope. Then we drove on up to Katie's in Idaho on Saturday. The girls weren't told that we were coming. It was great to see their surprised looks. The grown-ups went out to dinner at a Steak House that night. We went to church with everyone the next day. Katie was sustained and set apart as the Enrichment Counselor for Relief Society. On Monday night we went to the Museum of Idaho with the Searle's for FHE. There was a exhibit of items brought up from the Titanic. It was cool (especially the pretend iceberg that you tried to see how long you could hold your hand against the cold.)

Tuesday we drove down to Logan and visited with Megan and Liz. Josh was in Castle Valley doing his last reading for his Masters project.

Next, after a stop at Gossners, we drove down to West Jordan. We had St. Patrick's Day dinner at Tori's with Amelia's family there too. (Tori's kids weren't told we were coming either.) Tori had made a great corned beef and cabbage. The trifle was yummy too. Then we stayed at Amelia's that night. On Wednesday after playing with Hyrum, Noah, and Olivia, we drove to Orem for a quick visit with Michael and Carly. Her ring is very pretty. We then continued down the state to Cedar City and went out to dinner with Edward and Krystal. The next day we came home and brought Edward with us.

Friday was spent working on school stuff (research paper for Becky and grading for Don). Saturday we took Edward back to Richfield where he met Krystal who took him the rest of the way home.

Sunday, Becky went to Bluff for a branch conference. Don lead the ward choir. In the late afternoon we went to the Draper Temple Dedication that was broadcast at our Stake Center. It was a great ending to a week spent with family.

This is a line of parked cars on I-70 that we were in because of a fire in this semi trailer. It was some start to our vacation.









Rachael and Josie












I wasn't very good at taking pictures this trip.
I didn't get everyone. Here are a few that I took.


(Grandma holding Liz, Tyler with Olivia, Amelia with Hyrum, Kendra with monkey and Sophie being excited when we came.)

Christmas 2008

We had a nice Christmas at home after all the wedding stuff in St. George. We actually felt like we had celebrated Christmas with our family while we were together for Edward and Krystal's wedding but we did celebrate at home too. This picture is at the dining table just before starting our traditional Christmas Eve Dinner.
Megan and Josh are wearing the crowns found in our traditional English Christmas Crackers.
Genny, Anthony, and Shannon were able to be with us too. Anthony wasn't able to be to the wedding but he braved the storms and finally arrived in Grand Junction a day after he was supposed to come.

The aftermath.

Liz was a little overwhelmed. But it was fun having two of our granddaughters share Christmas with us.

Edward and Krystal's Wedding

Edward and Krystal were married Dec. 20th in the St. George Temple. We are excited to have another daughter.

All of my family, except missionary Don and son-in-law Anthony, were together for the happy event. Most of us stayed in a vacation home that was two blocks away from the temple. This is the first time that all 14 of my grandchildren were together at the same time. Katie and her girls made t-shirts for everyone that said, "My Idaho Cousins (heart) me." Baby Joseph is upstairs asleep for this picture. It was a lot of fun being together. There were eight children two years old and younger. It was good just to be together.

Some of the grand kids were ready and waiting for dinner on Friday night.

Grandpa had an armful at one time but he loved it.



Scott's family came from Houston. This was the first time we had seen baby Joseph. It was good to get reacquainted with Ian. Genny and Shannon came from New York. Anthony was still dancing in the Nutcracker. One of the real blessings of this wedding is that the weather was good long enough to get everyone to St. George and home again. I had been really worried.
Here are our beautiful grandchildren. It was quite the circus trying to get them to stay still and be happy long enough to take the picture. We laughed and laughed.


Here is our family picture taken after the luncheon. We have a wonderful family. We are so proud of each of them. We are blessed to be their parents.

Thanksgiving 2008

We had the joy of having some of our family home for Thanksgiving. Amelia's family isn't in this picture because they were at Tyler's father's house. They were with us some of the time. We also were able to get to know Edward's fiance, Krystal, and Michael's girlfriend, Carly. It was good to be together and get to know each other better.

On Thanksgiving evening, we had a family talent show. Some family members weren't too excited about the idea but it ended up being a lot of fun. I think we have started a new tradition.

Amelia was volunteered to be the Master of Ceremonies. Hyrum told some great jokes.

Madi, with help from Marissa and Josie (the cow) told the story of her great-grandfather Larson and how he milked his cow Josie three times a day to earn money to go to college.

I (Grandma Larson) read the story to "Over the River and Through the Woods."

Noah was going to do a sommer sault but decided to be shy. Kendra was shy too.

Grandpa told a story of the Monkey Bunk family.
Edward captured the children's attention as he told how "The Thip went Thailing" Other acts included Tori doing "My Name is Chubba." knock-knock jokes by Sophie. and Krystal showing us her painting of the Palmyra Temple.
Curtis enjoyed teasing Madi.Edward and Krystal didn't have much quiet time together.
Friday after Thanksgiving, my girls helped me finish a quilt for Edward and Krystal's wedding. The kids loved playing under the quilt. The men went and cut down our Christmas tree. They were back before we even had the quilt up on the frames.

The downside of the whole weekend was that Josie and Grandpa really weren't feeling very good. After Thanksgiving, everyone got sick with colds.