Christmas 2007

Christmas was great this year. We had the boys for the holidays and Dawn took the week off from work between Christmas and New Years to hang out with the kids. Even though she had plans to take the boys to the movies, the Plaza and some other places, the boys were adamant about staying home and playing with their new games.



We had Beef Tenderloin En Croute and mushroom orzo for Christmas Eve dinner. Of course we had several desserts, including an old Larsen favorite, Triple Chocolate Silk. On Christmas day Gianni fixed seafood over pasta.

Hayden was doing a happy dance as he opened his presents.

The boys were so surprised and excited to get a Nintendo Wii for Christmas. We didn't see them much after that.

Gianni spent some time catching up with old friends on Skype

Fall 2007

Sealing at St. Louis Temple

On October 20, 2007 Gianni and Dawn were sealed in the St. Louis Temple. We were so excited to have so many family members and friends come to our sealing. This was the first time that the Larsen family was all in the temple at the same time; Dad came New York, Kym and Mark came from California, Heather, Aaron, Katie and Ashley came from Budapest and Nate came from Arizona.

Dawn's friend Debora Jones came from Chicago to be at the sealing. Dawn and Debora met in 1996 when they both lived in Louisiana.

Stephen (14), Dawn, Hayden (12) and Gianni

While the Larsen family was together, we celebrated Nate's 30th birthday which was on October 10th. Nate's career has prevented him from attending several family events so we were really excited to have him with us on our special day.

Stephen (14) Ashley (3) and Katie (5)

Getting used to the US

After living in Italy for 40 years, it was a pretty big adjustment for Gianni to start life over again in a new country.

Some of the new things Gianni enjoys here is living near church history sites and temples, eating breakfast at McDonalds, having a full-sized gymnasium and kitchen in our church building, watching the NCAA tournament and appreciating appliances like garbage disposals and clothes dryers.

There are many things he misses about his country. Holidays are difficult since they remind him of what all of his friends and family are doing in Italy at that time. It seems that the Italians are far more social than we are in America - he says they always have people over to the house to eat (what else?) and play games. While he has made some friends here, he misses the social culture of Italy. Another thing that drives Gianni crazy (literally) is the speed limit. In Italy he often travelled at 160 mph on the highways, so the 55-75 mph limit speed limit is painful to obey.

Gianni and Joe watching his favorite soccer team, AC Milan

Learning a new language has been frustrating for Gianni since he is very eloquent when he speaks in his native tongue. Even though he has made great progress in learning English, he is still very self-conscience about it.

The biggest challenge for Gianni in living in the US is not having a job that is commensurate with his abilities and experience. Since he cannot apply for citizenship until October 2009, he is limited in what jobs he can apply for. Gianni's expertise is in safety and security and the US is more cautious about "foreigners" since 9-11. Right now he is working for Brinks, an amored truck service, but this doesn't bring him much job satisfaction.

Vacation at Tantara

Last summer we discovered a great place for our family vacation at Tantara, which is at the lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. We had so much fun last year that we took Gianni back there this summer. The kids loved being on the boat, tubing and parasailing.

Despite Stephen's unusual bowling technique, he did pretty well.

On the way home we stopped by some caves in Missouri. Hayden loves anything with rocks.

Nauvoo

Gianni and Dawn travelled to Nauvoo to see their good friends, Tammi and William Burke, sealed in the Nauvoo temple. This was the first time Gianni had been to Nauvoo and it was so much fun to see his excitement visiting significant Church history sites. Dawn was very excited to go to the fudge shop in Nauvoo.

Tammi and William the morning they were sealed.



Gianni, Joseph and Hyrum

Gianni and Dawn in front of the window at Carthage Jail where the Prophet was killed by a mob.

Carthage Jail

Hayden Receives Aaronic Priesthood

Hayden turned 12 on May 5th and received the Aaronic Priesthood on Mother's Day. I have to say it was the best Mother's day I've ever had. I was so proud of Hayden's decision to take on this wonderful new privilege and responsibility.

Hayden was surprised by visits from Grandpa who flew in from New York and Aunt Kym and Uncle Mark from California. Grandpa actually conferred the Aaronic priesthood on Hayden and Gianni and Uncle Mark stood in the circle along with bishopric members and his Young Men leaders. It was really a special day.



While Grandpa, Kym and Mark were visiting we went to the Independence Visitor Center and Liberty Jail.