When you get older...

Well folks I Eric Larsen am growing up against my desires. ha ha. oh well. For all of you interested, I will share a nutshell full of what my life is like right now. Here goes!

I currently work two jobs. I work as a drivers Ed teacher and I also work at a company called Hoyt, they make hunting and archery bows. At Hoyt I tune and box bows, what joy. Its really not a bad job(I do actually enjoy it for the most part, waking early and workng long days is good for you) except for the immature people i have to work with. You win some you lose some, mostly win as long as you are wearing a smile. I work at Hoyt during the day and at the Driving school during the evenings and saturdays. I spend most free time eating, sleeping, cleaning and spending time with Lindsey my girlfriend, she is quite the sweetheart. I also still play the guitar when I have the energy and write songs with my roommate and good buddy Tyler, he is also quite the sweetheart and guitar player. If im not at home im usually over at ma and pa's hanging with them or Maren. well that will do for now. If yall need anything or just wanna talk give me a call cause i always love hearing from ya!

My So Called Life :)

Hey there! Maren Larsen here. I decided that I needed to get on the ball and contribute to my family's blog, since I am pretty much in charge of it for the time being. :)

About me recently....well going back a couple months or so....
I finished my Associtate of Science (AS) Degree at the Salt Lake Community College during the summer. Boy am I glad to have that done. I will begin working on my Bachelor Degree come Spring as I am taking the fall semester off because I deserve a small break from school...that and I also got a new position at my job. One highly coveted position that took over a month of interviews and presentations to obtain. Therefore I didn't want the stress of school and a new job especially after the huge stress of my last semester. I work at a company called Harland Clarke (formerly known as Clarke American, which then purchased Harland, thus creating the new name). My new position is that of a Performance Development Specialist, which is a fancy way of saying that I am a trainer. I train new consultant classes and I am over cross training associates etc. I love it. Its very enjoyable and I love teaching others. Oh, back to school. I am pursuing a degree in Secondary Education. Currently I am majoring in History with a minor in ESL. But we'll see how that goes for now and if I decide to continue on that path. Ultimately I want to teach seminary, but I know how difficult of a job that is due to many people pursuing said position. So I figure, I am fine with teaching.

Going back in time...to March (I know, that is quite the trip back, hoped you packed enough clothes for the journey)....I decided on a whim to buy a plane ticket to Michigan to visit one of my best friends, Tara, and her cute little family...and go to a concert while there. It was so fun, I flew in, spent a couple days with her, then rented a car and drove to Grand Rapids and stayed there the night. While there I saw Pete Yorn in concert (after getting his autograph he hugged me and kissed me on the cheek!!!). Then I missed my flight, stayed for a couple more hours, then headed home. It was a good whimsical trip and one I shall not easily forget.

Lets see....also back in April I went to Brazil with my friend Joe. We went back to the mission. I loved seeing many people that I taught and baptized as well as the families in the wards that I had formed great relationships with. I also visited my "daughter" (the sister I trained). We went to this awesome beach house in a small city called Mongagua, just outside of Sao Paulo. I loved it. I love Brazil and the Brazilian people. It was so fun to go again. I can't wait to go back next time...whenever that will be.

During the summer I enjoyed our family vacation to San Diego. Eric and I traveled in my car which was super fun....except for the lack of air conditioning in 120 degree weather in St. George and Vegas. Talk about HOT!!! It was pretty miserable. The rest of the trip was great visiting Legoland, the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Mission Beach and Knott's Water Park. I love family vacations, I hope we have more in the near future!

I also went on a trip of fun in the sun with my good friend, Suzy. We decided to take one last trip before she left on her mission. We went to San Diego. While there we went to Ensenada, Mexico, Sea World, Mission Beach, The San Diego Temple and the Del Mar race track to see Pete Yorn in concert. We then drove up further north and went to Six Flags and then to Santa Barbara to again see Pete Yorn in concert. It was quite the enjoyable trip. I love traveling!

I recently entered a contest that KUTV was having to promote Utah's Own products. Mom actually came up with this awesome recipe but she didn't want to be on TV so she submitted me in the contest. I was chosen as one of the finalist and was on television. Then because of many votes from people clicking on my recipe on KUTV's website I was one of the two finalist that was again on TV, but this time at the State Fair. I received 2nd place and won $200 in groceries to Harmons. It was so much fun and KUTV said they might have me come on again because they loved my recipe so much! It was so much fun, I rather enjoyed it.

I've been playing on a softball league with some friends of mine from high school. Its been a lot of fun. We have some pretty good players, so we've had some pretty good results. I definitely enjoy playing and hope to do so again come spring.

Also this summer I have been training with my sister, Teresa, and my brother, Tom, for the St. George Marathon. This will be my 3rd marathon and I'm quite excited for it. Training is quite brutal, but the race is worth it. The marathon is next Saturday, October 6. I'm hoping to have a PR (personal record) with this race.

Then the following day will be my 25th birthday! Life just keeps on happening, and I enjoy nearly every moment of it.

Tom creates his first posting

Well, here goes. Hello all Larsen Family and any others who might be reading out blog. I just finished writing a talk for church tomorrow, actually today because it is 1:50am, and I wanted to try to post something.
I encourage all to make it a regular habit to check this site and see what information is new from our fellow family members, and while you are reading up on others, place some comments about yourself. It doesn't even need to be long. The great thing about this blog is that it allows us one more way to help keep up on how each other is doing. So please bookmark this site right now. NOW!!! Okay that's better. Come back often.

Here is my latest input. I had a hockey game tonight, my first one in about two months and we lost pretty bad. We were playing a team that is out of our regular division and they were pretty good, but hey, it is fun anyway.
The St. George Marathon is less than two weeks away, so Teresa, Maren and I would appreciate any last minute encouragement we can get. We are excited to run it again and can't wait to finish. (Then we can stop all this running on Saturday mornings when we would rather be sleeping.)
That reminds me, Alan, we would still like to have you join us one of these years. It would be fun to have you enjoy the fun and joy that running for hours upon hours gives to your muscles. But seriously, it would be fun to have you run it with us. It is a lot of work and training, but there is also a lot of satisfaction that comes from finishing a marathon.
That about wraps it up for me, talk to you all later.

Birthdays & Anniversaries

(I decided to leave off the years for privacy reasons. E-mail Teresa if you need them. Please edit new events or mistakes yourself. Thanks! P.S. Note to those still getting married and/or having children: January is WIDE OPEN and February or July have lots of room. LOL!)

January:
(none)

February:
12- Eric

March:
12- Kurtis & Erica
12- Talmage
23- Bryce & Maxine

April:
3- Jordan
11- Erica
20- Alan
21- Kurtis

May:
22- Jefferson
23- Marcus
31- C. Bryce

June:
3- Brandon
4- Troy
12- Dylan
14- Sara
17- Connor

July:
4- Tom

August:
2- Maxine (Mom)
(3- Christopher)
9- Alan & Jodie
11- Savannah
22- Lily

September:
20- Bryce (Dad)
27- Dell
30- Jodie

October:
7- Maren
17- Tami

November:
4- Shannon
28- Tony

December:
1- Bryce & Sara
14- Nathan
17- Teresa
20- Dell & Teresa
23- Brooklyn
27- Hunter
30- Tom & Tami

Teresa & Dell's Family--September 2007

Dell: As always, he's working and playing while paragliding. He participated in a competition at Bear Lake September 15-16th and did well. His oldest sister, Heather, had been visiting from Illinois as well for two weeks. She's had dinner with us and been out to the Great Salt Lake to see Dell flying.

Teresa: She has been busy this past summer as a doula. She helped her friend, Shanon, deliver a baby girl in July. She also had a client who had a baby girl the end of August. She is also on the Utah Doulas Association Board, so she helps with their events and newsletter. Their most recent event was the After the Labor Day Picnic (September 7th). Of course, she's been busy taking the kids to Classic Skating and swimming all summer and training for the St. George Marathon coming up in October.

Brooklyn: Not only is she an official teenager now, she is in 8th grade this year and doing well. She loves her middle school and spends much of her time listening to music, editing her website, and sending email. She also loves taking pictures and video with the digital camera Dell gave her for her last birthday. Her favorite pictures are of the sunsets. She also attended Oakcrest Camp this summer in July for a week with her friend, Ashley. The following Thursday, they went boating with the young men and young women for youth conference.

Savannah: As a sixth grader this year, she gets to be part of the oldest kids at her elementary school. She also helps Jordan ride the bus to and from school every day. For her birthday, she received her own violin. She has been practicing it so she can be in the advanced orchestra this year at school. She will also be playing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" on her violin this Sunday at church (with a few other strings) in the Primary program. She will also give a short talk on her missionary experience inviting a non-member friend to attend primary.

Jordan: He is a first grader this year and loves school (most days). Sometimes the longer days at school are tricky for his short attention span, but his teacher says he's doing great. He has been reading with mom or dad at home as well as writing words with different chunks (like at, an, in). There is also a math homework assignment each week. He usually breezes through these since numbers are easy for him. When Jordan isn't doing school stuff, he usually wants to spend time with his cousin Trevor or play on the computer. He also loves to be outside climbing the rocks in our yard or jumping on the trampoline. Oh, Jordan also lost his first tooth this year.

Troy: Being three, being busy, and being the center of attention seem to be Troy's favorites. He loves to take your hand and drag you around to do things with him. Things like pushing him in a swing, watching him slide, getting him something to eat or drink, helping him on the computer, playing cars or trains with him, putting a puzzle together, reading him a book (that he picked himself), or watching his favorite shows with him. He still seems to be adjusting to the kids being back in school. Although he enjoys having one-on-one time with mom and dad, he often asks where the kids are, especially his brother. Most of the time, they play really well together when Jordan is home.

Family Newsletter

Alan & Jodie & kids: Dec 2007

September 9, 2007

We met together for our monthly family meeting at Teresa & Dell's home. We decided to create a blog to better manage our family newsletter & keep in touch. Maren, who is currently in charge of the newsletter, helped to set up the basic blog webpage for everyone. Teresa added the recent family pictures for the finishing touch. Happy Blogging to all of the Larsen family! =)

The Beginning

Larsen Family Autumn 2006

Bryce and Maxine Larsen fell in love and were married 35 years ago. They had 7 children: Teresa, C. Bryce, Tom, Alan, Kurtis, Maren and Eric.
This is about their family sharing their stories.