Evan and Jamie

Kevin's cousin, Evan, got married the first Saturday in June. Even though we left Logan in plenty of time, due to construction and traffic jams, we barely made it to Draper for the lovely outdoor ceremony.

The Happy Couple

The Cake

The Vandalized Car

The Guests Enjoying the Delicious Food




The View


Erin, our Socialite, with Her New Friends

More Relatives

Cousin Shannon and Daughter Chelsea

More May Adventures

Playing in Dirt is Fun to Do!

Dallin and Erin have spent time digging and playing in the dirt pile by our driveway. This was left over from the Neighborhood Enhancement Project by Logan City. It looks so much better than the paved parking spot that used to be there. We have yet to landscape it--another project we'll get to "one of these days."

Ice Cream Indulgence!

Janell sent Dr. Young a graduation present of ice cream!
Thanks, Janell--we loved all the flavors and varieties we tried.

Dallin's Daily Dumping of the Bookshelf

This boy LOVES his books. He loves to pull them from the shelf, sometimes chew on them (although that phase is mostly over), occasionally draw on them, sit on them, throw them, look at them, and point to the pictures in them. Here he was caught in the act of dumping. Note that only one book remains on the shelf above him.

Lunchtime Entertainment

And here is a silly video of Dallin falling asleep at lunchtime. Most of you have probably already seen this since Kevin sent it to everyone on our Christmas card email list.

Completed Quilting Projects

April FINALLY finished making Ian's panda bedspread. We got the panda panels a few years ago, cut out some of the strips, and then let the project sit for awhile...(not quite as long as it took Kevin to write his dissertation, however). Piecing it together was pretty easy, but the machine quilting took several days to do after consulting books from the library, watching videos on YouTube, and practicing on scraps. Ian is very happy with the finished product and it now lies upon his bunk bed.

Then for some other crazy reason, April decided to do more machine quilting on a little lap quilt for Erin. Erin chose some cute cat fabric. The backing is soft fleece which April doesn't recommend using in the future due to the stretch factor--it makes the machine quilting much more difficult.

Update on the spiderweb quilt: 5 blocks completed, 37 more to go!

Happy 89th Birthday, Grandma Young!

Uncle David and Aunt Jackie planned and perfectly executed a surprise birthday party for Grandma Young on her 89th birthday, May 25th. Grandma thought that David was just taking her out for a birthday dinner at Golden Corral that evening. However, Jackie had invited all the guests 30 minutes prior to the party room, and we were all waiting when Grandma walked in. She was so surprised! We didn't catch her expression on film, but the photo below shows what a great time she had. She is such a sweet lady. We're glad we were able to help her celebrate this year.

Ian was excited that it was an "all you can eat" restaurant and filled his plate to capacity.

Erin would have eaten 3 times as much ice cream if her mom would have let her.

Dallin ate cottage cheese (his current favorite food), and a few green beans.
By that time everyone else was eating desserts, so he had some cookies.

Megan and her Grandma enjoyed their ice cream too.

Here is Grandma Young with her living children and their spouses

(one son passed away in a welding accident many years ago,
one daughter lives in Oregon and wasn't able to make it to the party).

Here is Grandma Young with one grandson and some cute great-grandchildren.

Here is Grandma's only great-great grandchild (at the moment).

And another photo of Grandma with more posterity...

Happy Birthday, Grandma!
We love you!

Farewell, Arthur

We first met Arthur when he was 6 years old and his family moved into our neighborhood. When he was 12, his parents entrusted his care to us for a month of desert field work. We kept him very safe doing lizard surveys on the bombing range.

He enjoyed his time with us so much that he returned with us a couple more years.
He liked to catch the Sonoran Desert lizards and snakes,
and he became pretty good at finding horned lizards too.

Last January he turned 19 and submitted his papers to serve a mission for our church.
He was called to serve for 2 years in Argentina.

He gave his farewell talk on Mother's Day,
and many friends gathered in Idaho for the occasion.

Here he is with his family.

Good luck, Arthur! We're excited for you.

Kevin V. Young, PhD

It's official! You may now address Kevin as "Dr. Young," and you may ask him any questions because he now has all the answers!

Today we attended our first graduation ceremony (we were doing field work for all our previous graduations in 1993 and 1995). The graduates gathered in the Field House to line up for a processional walk to the Spectrum where the graduate student commencement ceremony was held. We met a former 18th Ward member and friend, Lisa R., who was also getting her PhD. She used to be Megan's Primary teacher several years ago.

Ian and April waited outside along the walkway to take photos of the processional walk.

Here are Kevin and Dr. Brodie waiting for the remainder of the graduates to file into place.

Kevin's cheering section:
(actually Dallin only lasted through the National Anthem,
then he and April retreated to the back for a ride
in the stroller until he finally fell asleep)

After watching 400+ other graduate students receive their hoods, we were pretty tired. Kevin was almost the last to receive his. He thought that seemed appropriate.

You can also view the entire ceremony here. If you just want to see Kevin, however, you can skip to the times 9:30 and 110:40 once the video has downloaded.

Parents (+ Aunt Nancy): the real reason why they hold graduation ceremonies
Thanks for coming!

Dr. Brodie welcoming Dr. Young into the PhD ranks

Judy and Dr. Brodie with us

Dr. Young with his family

Table of luscious desserts made by Judy Brodie for the family reception she and Dr. Brodie hosted at their home following the commencement exercises:

Beginning of May

Karate Update

May 1st was Ian's Karate test day. However, since he can't earn any higher than a brown belt at this point, he didn't have to do any parts of the test. He participated in the sparring and had a fun time. His teacher invited him to join the adult class which will start in June.

Yet Another Use for Duct Tape

Please join us in ooohing and aaahing over this amazing prom duo outfit! Amelia and her friend Colton spent many hours and we forget how many rolls of duct tape making their prom clothes. We were glad they stopped by to show us in person. Amelia did admit that it was very uncomfortable to wear, but it was worth the effort.

Sewing Helper

April has been working on more sewing projects when she gets the chance. Often that chance doesn't come until late at night or during naptimes due to a curious and super cute little helper.

Farewell to Snow College

Kevin enjoyed his year teaching at Snow. The Science Department had a farewell dinner for the professors who were retiring or leaving for other reasons, so we went down for another visit. We took Grandma Tsukamoto along too for a little vacation for her.

They gave him a sweatshirt as a memento, which came in handy
during our chilly walk in Maple Canyon.

We drove a different route on the way out and found something close to April's dream house. Enlarge the photo to better appreciate the bear-shaped address plaque.

Lambs were abundant, and we watched them jump and play in the fields.