Brian came to visit

My parents both left town and so I convinced my brother to come to Seattle to spend time with Hollis and I. We took Brian on a short "tour" of Seattle, but he made it plain that he would rather do things than see things, so we played tennis and disc golf. However, we did take him to see the Fremont Troll. When we got there, we discovered a giant pair of glasses laying to the side. Hollis and Brian tried to get the glasses on him.

Eventually they succeeded. And it looked awesome!

Disc Golf

Hollis discovered that he loves disc golfing (aka frisbee golf). Disc golf uses special discs that are heavier. We found great course at Northgate that was really fun and not too hard. The middle picture is of the disc buried in the side of the hill after a really bad throw of mine.

I made this for Hollis

Disney has this cartoon maker and so one day I was at home when Hollis was at work and I made this for him.

Thor Bjørn is the name that Hollis keeps telling me that he is going to name one of our sons. It means "Thunder Bear."

Graduation Day!

Hollis and I are graduated! My parents and siblings came over from Wenatchee and Hollis's parents came up from Utah. My cousin Jessica and her sister Sarah also came over. In the morning I had a ceremony with the College of Education. Then we had fun taking pictures in our robes.

After taking several pictures, we walked down to Husky Stadium because we were walking in the UW graduation ceremony. We had different areas in which we were to line up. This is me in the area designated for the Masters students.

The stadium was full! There were so many people there.

My parents were up very high in the stands. They recorded this video. You can see me on the big screen a couple of times.

And this is the professional picture of me with my diploma cover. It was so nice to walk and get the cover. Hopefully I won't lose it (I lost my BYU one and had to get another one a few years later).

This is a picture of Hollis. He was on the big screen too!

In this movie, you can see Hollis walking across the stage. You know that he's on the big screen because you can hear me cheering.

And then after graduation, we went to a family BBQ. Hollis wanted me to put my hood on my head. And this is what it looks like:

Hollis's Convocation

Hollis' department had a convocation today. He was called by name and received a piece of paper (rolled in a cool scroll shape) from his department. It was cool because when they called the names of the students, they said the name of their area of specialization. This is the best picture I could get:

It was quite dark, and I only had my iPod for a camera.

Afterward, they had cookies and lemonade on the quad. Someone took a picture of us with my cell phone.

We're in front of Hollis' building, Smith Hall.

A little note to Hollis

I saw this license plate on a car the other day, and I just had to text it to Hollis.

A perfect note to him!

I'm Graduating!!

Look at this picture:

Do you see the paper in my hand? That is the warrant for my degree. And it's signed. That means that I'm all done! I am going to get a masters, and hencforth shall be known as "Master Crapo." Hooray!

Spring Colloquium, University of Washington

Last week, I finished one big requirement for my Master's project: presenting at one colloquium for the Curriculum and Instruction department in the College of Education. Most everyone uses a tri-fold board, and this time I saw some cardboard boxes. But I didn't want to use one of those things. They are over-rated. So I decided to make a mobile.

I suspect that I am the only Masters student in the College of Ed who made a mobile for their master's project. Yeah, it probably took a lot more work than a regular ol' tri-fold, but it was way cooler. And I used hangers.

Seek Thou First the Kingdom of God

This morning, I had the final for Plant Propagation class. A month ago the mid-term snuck up on me and I didn't study as much as I should have and unfortunately it showed in my grade. I didn't do terribly, but I definitely struggled with some of the questions. I was not going to do that again.

Yesterday between classes I went to the class website and pulled up each week's study questions that the teacher posts online going over that weeks material. I also pulled up all of my notes for the quarter to review and started into it. I got through about 3 1/2 weeks and then had to go to class. Then after class I went to the temple on an Initiatory assignment. It was great. Then I studied a little bit before I went to sleep that night (at 11, cause I'm trying to go to bed earlier so I can get up earlier). I planned on getting up this morning, showering and then reviewing it all a second time. This quarter I have been regularly working evenings and it is not unusual for me to get home around 11, get ready for bed, read a book for a bit, and then go to sleep. Because of this schedule, and because I am no good at staying up to do homework, I have gotten into the habit of finishing homework in the mornings before I leave for school. Unfortunately, during breakfast is the time I have set aside for studying the scriptures. This morning as I was getting my materials together to study and cereal in a bowl to consume, I thought, "I don't think I'll have time to read scriptures this morning. Which really is too bad, because I have been missing morning reading quite a bit recently." Then I remembered the scripture I had read last week, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." That scripture had struck me when I first read it. I remembered feeling that if I made my callings and responsibilities to God a priority, He would ensure my ability to accomplish all other things pertinent in my life, even if I didn't have the time to get to them. They would be ADDED unto ME. I decided that I was going to first seek the kingdom of God and I knelt down and prayed that I would remember the things that I had studied yesterday, and that I would be able to focus on the scriptures as I studied them, and that I would WANT to seek the kingdom of God first, because I couldn't help but think about how I really wanted to study in order to feel more confident about the final. Then as I ate breakfast, I started back into the Gospel of Luke. It was wonderful. I was reading about parables and read through about 3 chapters. By the time I finished, it was time to pack my bag and head off to school.

I got to class in time to sit down and pull out my notes for 5 more minutes of review. When my teacher passed out the final and notes went away, I ate my way through the final like I had never seen paper before, and really wanted to know what it would feel like in my digestive track. I felt really good about it all when I finished, and didn't blank on anything. It was wonderful. I don't know how I did, but I think it is safe to assume I passed the class.

It was one of those small things that probably won't drastically change my life, but will definitely help me when it comes down to putting the Lord before everything else in my life. Is it really that important to say family prayer morning and night, even if you have to wake other people up for it? Is it important to make time to have family home evening, even if you guys do spiritual stuff together all the time? Is it important to make temple attendance a priority even if you get out about once a month just fine? Yes. Yes to it all. And if ye do, all things shall be added unto you. Opening the windows of heaven and all that.