Dell's Sister Heather's Youtube Debut

The Forgotten Carols

I was thrilled when Brooklyn asked if we could see "The Forgotten Carols" (by Michael McLean) as the second play she needed to attend for her 9th grade drama class. I had seen the play a few years ago with Dell, my parents, & my friend Kim. Ever since then I've always wanted to take my kids when they were older and could really grasp the important messages portrayed in this beautiful musical. I purchased the DVD last Christmas (the 15th anniversary addition) and watched it with my family. Out of all my kids, Brooklyn seemed to enjoyed it the most. I even found a book with the sheet music for a bargain and Brooklyn learned to play the "music box" song on the piano. She loves to play it year round. Still, it isn't quite the same as watching it live on stage and really getting into the spirit of this wonderful show. So the two of us treated ourselves to an early birthday present (we both have birthdays this month) and went together (well, I paid, of course).

It was as fantastic as I remembered and Brooklyn and I both shed tears during the performance (it's a medical condition called lacrimocystopexy--our bladder is attached to our eyes, LOL). We stayed after and now have the autographs of the cast, including Michael & Lynne McLean, shown in the pictures with Brooklyn and I. Of course, the best part is the spirit of the Holy Ghost testifying of the truth of their message about the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. From the very beginning of the play and beyond the end, the spirit was so strong. It was so powerful it is hard to describe the joy and peace and love that is felt unless you experience it for yourself. My heart overflows with gratitude for the opportunity to share this special experience with my daughter tonight.

Merry Christmas! I Believe!

May 2008 Update!

Dell is still cutting ads for Money Train and his SUPERDELL for Governor campaign, as well as trying to organize the help he's been offered with his campaign, and do radio spots on talk radio, etc. He can probably give you a better idea than I can of all the things he's been doing. So far he seems very positive about the support he's getting. He also loves flying a ton over Utah Lake now that we live so close.

I've been called as the new cub den leader for the 8 year olds. I was supposed to be the assistant, but now the main leader is leaving town for three months and so I'm scrambling to learn what I'm doing without much training. Thankfully, the wife of the scout master has been helping me out some as well as my mom (she helped my 5 brothers and has been a scout leader herself--and so has my dad). I'm in charge of approx. 9 boys (depending on how many show up). :) What an adventure it is all turning out to be. The timing is great since I'll be able to be a better help to Jordan next year when he becomes a scout.

The kids are doing excellent. We went to Lagoon a couple of Saturdays ago as a family and had a great time. Eric and Teresa and their boys joined us as well as some of my family. Troy had his 3-year-old preschool graduation at Miss Tami's (my brother's wife) Thursday. He'll be continuing preschool with my friend Nisha next year (and in June for the summer program) since she lives much closer. Jordan is finishing 1st grade and will attend a summer reading program at his school 5 days a week in June. Savannah is so excited to go to middle school (7th grade) with Brooklyn next year. Savannah went to Lagoon yesterday for a second time this year (and it's only May) as part of her D.A.R.E. graduation. Her friend Stephanie and her family took her with them. And of course, Brooklyn will begin high school credits next year in 9th grade as well as Seminary. She recently bought a skateboard and loves trying to learn how to ride it. I just hope she doesn't injure herself especially since we don't have health insurance until July. She still loves to dye her hair red, partially since it annoys her dad so much, and mostly because she gets more compliments and attention. Our new school district gets out for the summer May 30th, but returns to school Aug. 18th. The kids are excited to get out earlier than some of their friends but don't look forward to returning a week sooner in August. Oh well, you win some and you lose some! :)

Deja Vu!

I just took Troy to get some updated photos. Does he look like his daddy or what? I'd recognize that same enthusiastic smile anywhere! And boy did he love showing off for the camera. The Target photographer commented that he started her day off on the right note. She also said he looked just like his dad (who wasn't with us--Dell was in Arizona--she recognized our last name and asked if we were related). By the way, I paid to be able to put his picture on my computer for screen savers, etc. P.S. Happy Birthday Eric! (My brother, of course!)

New Year, New Things!

I just posted a long entry on my family's blog. To avoid repeating myself, I'd like to refer you to go to the Larsen Ledger link on the left side of my blog. This is also a great place to look for updates with us and my parents and siblings and their families. :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We spent Christmas Eve with the Larsen's (as we do most years). We met at Mom & Dad's between 5 and 6 PM. We ate together, read from the Bible while the kids acted out the story of Christ's birth, sang Christmas carols around the tree, and exchanged gifts. Everyone had a great time, especially Mom & Dad who received new cell phones from Maren & Eric.
Christmas morning, the kids got up around 8 AM. Dell took pictures as the kids rushed for their gifts (and I directed them to the correct piles). Dell loved his digital photo frame. He put pictures on it right away and we all enjoyed looking at pictures of all of us. Brooklyn loved videotaping all of us with her new video camera. She and Savannah also spent the day Instant Messaging each other on their IM-ME's. Savannah also took a lot of pictures of us and her presents on her digital camera. Then she had fun downloading them to her computers. Jordan loved his transformers, especially his Ultimate BumbleBee. He also played his Transformers game on his Nintendo DS Lite. Troy loved his Nintendo DS Lite (a much anticipated item) and played his CARS game and his Little Einsteins game. He also loved his "UnderDog" movie. He kept calling it the UNDERWEAR DOG movie. We tried to correct him, but he insisted it was UNDERWEAR DOG! LOL!

Later, we headed to Dell's Dad's house. We ate with his dad, Bill, and his step mom, Alice Ann, and her children and grandchildren and Dell's brother, Eric, and his wife, Teresa, and their two boys. We exchanged gifts with Dell's family near the end. Alice Ann (as always) gave the most creative and wonderful homemade gifts. She made all of the kids flannel tied blankets and gave all of the married couples pj's with pictures of their spouses on the t-shirt. We all opened them together and laughed and showed each other. Then we put on the shirts and Bill snapped photos of each couple. She also made each family a calender (our third year she's made them) with personalized photos and birthdays and anniversaries. Wow! She always puts SO MUCH WORK into our gifts. Thanks Alice Ann!! :) Of course, all of our gifts were wonderful!

Now we're looking forward to celebrating New Year's Eve with family and anticipating new changes in 2008!

Brooklyn's 14th Birthday

Brooklyn celebrated her 14th birthday by going to the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie with her immediate family (& Trevor) and her friends (Melissa, Chantel, & Jessica). Then she had some family come over to our house for pizza, soda, cake and icecream. Aunt Teresa & Uncle Eric came with Alex & Trevor. Uncle Tom & Aunt Tami brought Lily & Jefferson. Uncle Kurtis also made an appearance with his new car (a Toyota Rav 4). He took Brooklyn, Savannah, and Teresa for a drive through the neighborhood. Whee! She especially loved to wear the shirt that mom bought her. It said, "I'm here for the presents". Brooklyn was seen smiling a lot at the party. This was partly due to the fact that she got her braces off the day before. Yeah! She was also seen listening to music often on her new MP3 player. It was a gift from Ashton (a boy she's friends with at school). Overall she seemed to have a wonderful time. Luckily everyone was able to travel safely since we had quite a snowstorm overnight.