A FHE To Be Remembered: Gila Valley Temple Open House

Families can be together forever....it's what this life is all about! I just wanted to write down my thoughts before this day ended. It was just another crazy day in the Larson household...work, cleaning, kids...the usual. But, this evening was something special. As a family, we were able to attend the Gila Valley Temple Open House. Jason and I had been twice already, serving in various callings. Today was different though, we were all together.
Both kids patiently sat through the video and oooohhed and ahhed at all the beautiful temples it showed. Then, it was time for our tour. I loved walking hand in hand with Reagan, whispering answers to her simple questions and watching Jason hold a content Travis in his arms. I was truly amazed how both my small children knew how important it was to be reverent there. They were on their best behavior and seemed to realize what a sacred place the temple is. The kids had been looking forward to going inside the temple since we saw the wall start to go up. Reagan was so excited today, she even forgot to ride the bus home. She said she thought we were going to just pick her up from school and go straight there! Silly girl!

Reagan's favorite was the Baptistry "because I'm going to baptized there." She was bummed when she found out she had to be 12 to do baptisms there. Her next favorite was the Celestial room. "It's the most beautiful!" Her daddy asked her if she wanted to be married at this temple. Her reply was so serious, "Okay, but who can I marry?" Wonder how many times in her life she'll ask that question....
When I asked Travis what his favorite part was, he said, "The pictures of Jesus." They definitely were his favorite--as we walked by each painting with Christ in it, Travis whispered and pointed Him out each time. It just testifies to me that the veil is thin when children are small--Travis has no doubt, just by glancing at a picture--he knows who Jesus is.
I love every part of our temple and my favorite was just being there today as a family. Its beauty amazes me--every detail in order. It felt good to be there this afternoon...peaceful and whole...united and strong.
I am excited for the rest of the open house...I have loved serving and look forward to continuing my service there--during the open house and especially after the temple is dedicated. I already feel like the temple is "Home".

We are so blessed to have the temple in our valley. I am so excited and grateful that my children will grow up "in the shadow" of the temple--for it to be a part of their/our everyday life!

Goodbye Grant...

We adopted Grant--our blue weimaraner-- from the pound in Tucson. His dark coat and solemn eyes melted our hearts. We wanted him to be a part of our family after just spending a few minutes with him.
Over the past four years, Grant has become our "favorite." He went on ranger rides with us, on camping and hunting trips and entertained us with his "seriously playful" attitude. We have always thought he had to have been someone's house dog because he is so well behaved and calm (for a weimaraner anyways!) when inside or around people. He was great with our kids and seemed to enjoy their banter.
Grant recently had been losing weight and become less and less active. We were convinced something had to be wrong with him, as he just wasn't himself. I worried it was cancer, Jason hoped for it to just be a worm. We were both wrong.
Last week, Grant was diagnosed with Diabetes. His glucose was over 400 and the vet said our only option was to treat him as a human--with insulin twice daily, blood sugar checks twice daily, urine checks, human meals with balanced diet, and very close monitoring. Lots of resposibility--emotional, financial, and physical for a busy little family. We were so torn...
He faded fast...by yesterday, he was so thin...wouldn't eat...or even stand up. It broke our heart to lose him--he was a part of our family...even if he was "just a dog."
Goodbye Grant. We love you and will miss you. (Peter already does...we can tell because of all the howling he has been doing since you've been gone.) Tell Monson hi for us....

A Special Day at the Mesa Temple

On Saturday, Jason's youngest brother Seth was sealed to his wife Josylyn for time and all eternity in the Mesa Temple. Not only was this day so special and awesome for Jos and Seth-- it was an amazing event for the whole family as it was the first time for the entire Larson family (parents and all six kids and their wives) to be in the temple together! Rose and Kent were beaming the whole time. At the sealing, I know in my heart I felt a completeness--like we were a whole....I'm sure they did too.
I am so excited for our temple to open soon (the open house starts this week!!), but the Mesa temple will always be "home." Jason and I were sealed there, his parents, and his grandparents. It is a definitely a part of Larson heritage and I love that. I'll look forward to coming back to"visit."

"The Easter Bunny Came!" and "A Tale of Poppies"

The Easter Bunny just cannot come to your house if there aren't eggs dyed and waiting for him to hide, so the kids set to work....

We did glitter eggs this year. (Reagan got to pick!) They were messy of course, but turned out quite beautiful.

Must have worked because the kids woke up the next morning and sure enough--some one visited us! I was woken by gleeful screams of "The Easter Bunny came!" over and over again. Reagan and Travis were thrilled with their Easter goodies!

After getting ready, it was time for a trek out front for a Easter Egg hunt. Reagan was a pro and even helped Travis find eggs after she met her limit. What a good big sister!

Cute new Easter duds! Thanks Nana!

The Easter Bunny left another surprise--turtles! (Red Eared Sliders to be exact...)

Reagan loved her turtle and quickly named her Alice. As for Travis, he wasn't too sure about a turtle that wouldn't show his face!

Daddy had a nice little habitat ready to go for the new pets, but the kids would have rather just held them all day!

After enjoying Conference, it was off to Nana and Poppa's for more egg hunting and some fun cousin time!

Next, was a drive toward Three Way. There we found a million and one poppies and got some cute cousin shots...

It wasn't easy, but I think we got some good ones...I even found one with Travis smiling in it!

We were bribing the kids with cookies and promised goodies...guess it worked! Cute kids huh?!

Travis didn't last long--at 4p and no nap, he was pretty unconsoleable. (He fell asleep within seconds of getting into the car!)

The scene was breath-taking! I've seen poppies in this area many times (as I grew up just a few miles from here), but never this many! It was amazing!

We love spring!

Think "Popcorn Popping"

March 11, 2010:

All of our trees were out in beautiful bloom and Jason managed to catch a few pics before it got cold, windy, and rainy! Travis said they look like popcorn popping...I have to agree!I think we are ready for the warm weather...I know my kiddos are!

Happy Spring!

"Three of a Kind"--Reagan's First Grade Musical

Reagan was excited about her first grade musical "Three of a Kind" for weeks! She had her part memorized in a day and couldn't wait to be one of the "three blind mice." She came home telling me exactly what kind of mouse she wanted to be... "A girly one okay, mom? Maybe with lots of pink and a tutu and a bow...sort of like Minnie Mouse." And, so the dream began.Here's our blind girly mouse. Not bad huh?! Thanks to the help of Reagan's Aunt Dana, Reagan's dream became a cute reality! Reagan with her blind mice friends Kiley and Grayson.
Performance time!

Not scared a bit as usual! Way to go Reagan!

Singing her heart out...Reagan loves music with Ms. Lawson!

Awesome job organizing an entire grade of first graders Ms. Lawson and

great singing and acting first graders! The show was amazing!

Spring Break 2010

We spent spring break close to home this year. Our week was full of food, fun, baseball, fishing, and sun!

On Monday, Reagan went to a D-Backs spring training game with Nana and Hunter. She had lots of fun...but was pretty restless Nana said. Back home, Travis got to play with his cousins while Dana helped my design and sew a mouse costume for Reagan's school musical.

Tuesday, it was off to San Carlos Lake with the Allreds. We camped just up from the water and enjoyed some fun in the sun until Friday! Jason got his wish and managed to catch a few more fish and Reagan and Travis had the best time getting dirty and hanging out with their cousins. (Thanks for inviting us and sharing your ketchup!)




Hansome little guys aren't they?!

Don't ya just love those faces?!

I love my Daddy!

Fishing is hard work sometimes!

The kids swam in the lake--the water was freezing so it was short lived!

Yumm...we love camping food--especially fish!

Jason planned ahead and had gotten us D-Backs spring training game tickets a few weeks before...so we headed all the way to Peoria to see the Diamondbacks get hammered by Seatle. It was a beautiful day and the kids surprised us both--they were glued to the game or maybe it was just the people watching they enjoyed! Either way it was a great experience for everyone (with not trip out of the stands even....the cotton candy man came to us so no worries there!).

We were sad to see one of our favorite D-backs had moved over to the dark side. Brynes is now a Mariner! Yuck! We'll miss him!

We did a little shopping and crashed at hotel that night and even managed to let the kids go swimming at the pool! Not bad for a spring break in Arizona!