More pictures!

6th Month Update

As you can tell blogging is not my biggest talent. So here is an update from our family over the last 6th months! Check out the slide show for new pictures. Captions can be seen by rolling your mouse over the picture.

Winter:

- We took the kids skiing 4 times this winter and Julia loved it. Luke- not so much! Julia improved so much that she could even go on the chair lift this winter.

-Mike had to travel to Italy in November for work and I joined him for a week vacation at the end of his work assignment. We celebrated my birthday and an early 10th year wedding anniversary. We had an amazing time and I fell in love with Mike all over again!

-We zoomed over the holidays, spent all of January and February sick (all of us) and were finally healthy to go on a Disney Cruise to the Mexican Riveria with Grammie & Papa and the 2 great grandmas the first week of March.

- Just 6 weeks after the Disney Cruise we took Luke & Julia to Hawaii for a week in April.

Admist all the traveling Luke turn 3 yrs old in January and Julia turned 5yrs old in May. Both of them did gymnastics and Itty-bitty baseball in spring. We signed Julia up for Kindergarten in February and Luke up for his 1st year of preschool and I cried at both events! We also found out some exciting news this spring that I am expecting and the newest member of our family will join us the 1st week in October. We are all excited!

However, with everything going on this past winter and spring we still found time to just enjoy being together as a family. Mike and I are grateful for the opportunity we have to be parents. We feel extremely blessed that we have 2 healthy and active children- did you notice I did not add "normal" in that sentence. We also feel extremely blessed for Mike's talents and job. The greatest compliment I can give Mike is no matter what type of day he has at work he always comes home happy to see me and the kids.

Enjoy your summer!!

Summer & Fall Updates

Here is a quick run down of the past few months:

-Had a great summer attending Hayley's wedding in NY, camping on Martha's Vineyard, and camping up in American Fork Canyon. We can say that we vacationed where President Obama vacations (Martha's Vineyard), but I doubt he visited the luxorious Martha Vineyard Family Campground. The kids loved the camping and Luke would roll over every morning and first things ask Mike, "Dad, when are we going to the beach?".

- Julia participated in a 4 year old soccer league and loved it. We were a little bit surprised on how aggressive she could be. We had to have a few talks about letting other members of her team have a chance in kicking the ball. But it was sure fun to see her race up and down the field every Saturday.

- Luke succeeded at potty training with bribes of new hotwheel cars and tell him that if he wanted to do itty-bitty basketball this winter he had to be 3 yrs old and potty trained! Worked like a charm!

- Julia was a fiftys girl for Halloween and Luke was a cowboy. Julia called her Halloween costume her poodle princess costume, since she had no idea what a fiftys girl was. Mike was a ghost buster and Les was a skeleton.

Here are a few pics:

Kids love slimy fish- not Mom though!

This past week I spent Monday- Friday at a Continuing Education class at BYU to earn some college credit towards my re-certification in school counseling. So....we have no new pictures. Thought you would just like this one from our last camping trip. Mike is one of the best teachers around. He would never admit it, but he super patient when it comes to teaching our children- guess who will be the one to teach our kids how to drive! He is also really good at thinking of new things to teach them. Here is a picture of Mike teaching our kids to fish.

Next week I will post some new pictures of us at Cowabunga Bay water park and our new tile backsplash in out kitchen.

4 yr olds & Friends

It seemed like the day Julia turned 4 yrs old all she wanted to do was play with friends. I swear even on her birthday she woke up asking if she could have a friend come over. When we went camping in May she scouted out this little girl who looked about her same age, went straight up to her, asked the little girl to play, and they were instant friends for the rest of the weekend. She is social, sweet, good at sharing, creative, and full of energy- who wouldn't want to be her friend. But, she is my daughter- so I always think she is amazing. Anyways here is a picture of Julia and our neighbor friend Taylen. Taylen has a little sister who was born the day before Luke and they are crazy together. When you ask Julia who her best friend it is always different, but I think if she really understood what a best friend is she would say her brother. Julia and Luke are usually inseparable. They wake up asking for one another, Luke always does what Julia does, and Julia is usually the only one who can understand and make Luke happy. They run around all day being mischievous together. I hope their relationship always stays this way for them, but for right now I feel so blessed to see their little relationship blossom!

A break from posting

It has been a while since I have last posted anything on our blog. I would like to say it is because we were traveling around the world, or remodeling our house, or having more babies, or being super-mom- but in all honesty it was a chosen break. Yes- I was busy being a Mom to 2 toddlers, being a wife to a husband who works long hours and gets to travel around the world for work, and fulfilling my church calling. However, in no way was I busier than most of you. It was a chosen break for my own personal sanity. Have you ever noticed that no one posts on their blogs all the awful things their kids do, all of their horrible pictures, how much weight they have gained over the past few months versus how much they have lost, what their house looks like on a daily basis, or the mistakes they make on a daily basis. Back in the fall I would spend a hour or so a day looking at blogs everyday and what I noticed is that after I was done seeing all the amazing things people were doing, I felt horrible about my life. I was crabbier with my kids, frustrated that we weren't taking amazing vacations like all of my other friends, frustrated that I hadn't lost all of my baby weight with Luke, or had any big announcments. A good friend of mine from NY wrote this on her blog "Sometimes it seems hard to know who we are to the world, who we are to others, what whey see when they look at us, and what they think when they think about us. And so we use the people in our lives as mirrow for ourselves." (Thanks Tracy- you are always inspiring!) This is what I realized- I was using other people's blogs as a mirror and standard for my own life.

I do have an amazing life, husband, and kids- please don't think I take these things for granted but maybe you would have to live in Utah to understand how I am feeling. Utah has a culture of always being better than your neighbor-looks, possession, you name it. Since I didn't grow up in Utah this lifestyle of overstating all your accomplishments is sometimes a bit to take. So.... I decided that I would try blogging again- thanks to much nudging by the Grandmas. But I have limits- twice a week for 20 minutes (and this includes facebook!). My children need a happy Mom who is not does not spend her life sitting in front of a computer or constantly hooked up to the internet.

So....Here are some current pictures of the kids and a list of what has been going on:

- Luke turned 2 at the end of January

-Julia turn 4 in May

-Julia finished her first year of preschool
-Julia had her gymnastics graduation

- Mike had his birthday in May too!

- Julia had no cavities at the dentist

-We went camping at Palisades State park and had lots of fun hiking, fishing, swimming, canoeing, riding bikes

-Took a family vacation with an old mission companion of Mike's and his family to Lav Vegas in April

- Mike visited Singapore at the end of January and brought back lots of fun stuff for the kids.

-Helped my sister Hayley moved out of the BYU dorms and are excited to travel back to NY this summer for her wedding!!

Picky Palate

Check out this cool giveaway: http://picky-palate.com/2009/11/26/magical-santa-letters-giveaway/. Wouldn't Julia and Luke love this!!

September

At the end of September we headed to Hilton Head South Carolina with Grammy and Papa. We spent a week swimming in the ocean, riding bikes, playing tennis, and even some outlet mall shopping. Luke and Julia were addicts of the beach!

Sometimes it is so fun to get together with friends you met years and years ago. It is fun to see how their family has grown and yours too at the same time. At the beginning of Sept. we had the opportunity to head up to a ranch in Wyoming with our now Idaho Potato Farmer friends. We had a great time 4-wheeler, fishing, playing in the mud, and building campfires. We wore the kids out so much that for the 1st time they slept in the car on our way home.

Where did we go?

It seems lately that I haven't made my blog or really anything on the computer my priority. This is probably evident since my last entry was June 30th and it is currently Oct. 20th. So for the next few days check out some pictures from the last few months:

July:

Mike and I took a extended weekend trip up to Park City without the kids. Went hiking, golfing, and even hit the outlet malls. It was great to get some us time and some good amount of sleep. Especially since I came home and got bronchiotis the following week.

August:
-Flew back to NY with the kids to spend 2 weeks with my family.

-Luke started the Little Gym during Julia's preschool class one day a week. Luke loves the little gym and it is fun for me and him to have some one-on-one time together. Luke has a great time, running around, kicking balls, playing on the mats, and jumping off everything high thing possible. The comment I heard the most on his first day was, "Wow, your little boy has an amazing ability to kick a ball". My only reply, "Yep! Such a blessing when he decides to practice his kicking and throwing of balls in our house"

-Julia started preschool- We considered preschool a success, especially since when I picked Julia up from preschool on the first day, I asked her how it was and she shouted at the top of her lungs "Mom, we got to use glue!". My reaction- preschool is worth every piece of money, because glue, my house, and a patient mother don't mix well at my house.

"I don't want to go home!"

Julia wanted me to post some pictures of her in her new gymnastics class. She takes the 3 yr old gymnastics class at our local community center and loves it. At the end of her first gymnastics class she started to cry and I thought, "Oh no, she hated it". But no, no, no- she was crying because she didn't want to go home.

Mike's fishing buddy!

Last weekend we took the kids fishing at Utah Lake. Julia was a master of swinging her fishing pole all over the place and getting her line tangled. Luke turned out to be our expert fisherman. He caught his first fish ever Saturday (actually the only fish anyone caught). Mike let him hold the pole while he rigged up the other line and the next thing we knew Luke had a fish on his line. He was pretty excited and didn't want to throw the fish back. Mike was super proud, I was amazed, and Julia went back to throwing rocks in the water. Now every Saturday morning Julia wakes up asking if we can go fishing- she wants to get even with Luke and catch her own fish.

Love of Balls

Here is Luke's real true love- balls! Julia was wheeling her baby all around the house in her stroller the other day, so I said to Luke, "Go get a baby and wheel it around in the other stroller". This is what he decided upon!

Maren & Jordan's Temple

A few weekends ago we took the kids on a Sunday afternoon to walk the Mt. Timpanogos Temple grounds. Julia was quite disappointed that the Temple was not opened on Sunday. She couldn't understand why the people who worked in the Temple needed a day off to go to church. Her argument was this: "Why do they need to go to church when they can just go to Jesus' House everyday?". Even though the Temple wasn't opened she still thought the doors were pretty cool. What she did think was amazing was that her Aunt Maren and Uncle Jordan were married in this Temple. So now the Mt. Timpanogos Temple has a new name: "Mares and Jo-Jo's Temple". As you can see neither of the kids were too keen on getting their picture taken that day.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Here are the Hansen household we are pretty excited about our newly landscaped garden! Julia was especially excited about her pumpkins and the possbility they could grow to 20 lbs. Mike is ectstatic about his tomato plants and the many batches of authentic Italian pasta sauce he will be making. Les smells the basil plants everyday and is researching zucchini bread recipes. Luke, well since he doesn't really eat anything besides yogurt and fruit snacks he just ignores the garden. Check back in a few months and see if we can really grow anything!

The blissful month of May!

May is always a great month here at the Hansen household. Both Julia and Mike have birthdays, kids are no longer sick, the inflatible pool is previewed for the first time in the backyard, and flips flops can be worn everyday. We've had a great birthday month with Julia turning 3 years old!!! This is great news for Mom, because no longer when people ask me how old my kids are I don't have to say 2 and 1 years old and have people look at me like I am nuts . Now they are officially 3 and 1 years old! Julia loved her princess castle cake that mom made for her and all of her presents. She was especially excited about her scooter. Two weeks before her birthday she found a $10 bill at the park and after that event she kept telling me that I needed to take her to the store so that she could buy a scooter with "HER money". A week later Mike had his birthday and had a lively party with just the four of us. We were a little bit birthday-ed out from the previous weekend and Mike was happy with his pizza and brownie cake.

Sooooo............As we end May, let me tell you my favorite things about these 2 birthday people!

My Favorite things about Julia Elizabeth Hansen

• She is awesome at sharing with Luke and is truly a kind and loving big sister.


• She is funny, curious, and energetic.


• She is a big helper to Mom and is always willing to help when it is pick up time.


• She reminds me daily that Heavenly Father loves me (and her of course!)


• She always wants to say the prayer and loves to sing primary songs


• She loves to wear my shoes!

My Favorite things about Mike Quiz Hansen

• He is a mean griller and omelet maker


• He is a huge help with the kids


• He works very hard and supports our family so that I can stay home with the kids.


• He is my best friend


• He is a great teacher


• He still loves me after 8 years of marriage!

Enjoy the birthday pictures!

A picture to describe my house!

My 2 toddlers seem to take this to heart!

Who likes to sleep in their own bed- not me!!

I don't care what those hotel commercials claim about their beds being the most comfortable beds found anywhere- nothings beats your own bed in your own house. In the last 2 weeks we traveled to San Antonio, Texas for a week, came back home for 3 days and were off again up to Idaho for Easter visiting the Hansen Family.

I am going to brag a bit- oh so sorry- but we had a fabulous time in San Antonio! When we flew out of Salt Lake we were in the middle of a snow storm. When we landed in Texas it was 80 degrees and sunny!! We took the kids all over, wore them out completely, and loved every minute. Check out the slide show for pics. Click on the bottom of the slide show for captions!

My Aunt Karen and Uncle Joe live in San Antonio and they were sweet enough to have us over for dinner one night. It was a ton of fun to see them and our pep talk to the kids about no running, no touching anything, no screaming, no destroying anything was successful. Here is a picture of my Aunt, Uncle, myself, myself and Luke and Julia acting innocent and angelic!

New Pics & Life Happenings!

I thought my blogging vacation should probably come to an end seeing that it has almost been 2 months since I posted anything and the fact that both sets on Great-Grandparents (Dickens & Minicks) on my side of the family called on the same day last week wondering how we are doing. We have officially survived the winter season of the flu and are more than ready for spring to make its appearance here in snowy Utah. Yep, we still have snow on the ground here-aren't you all jealous!

Check out life's happenings in the past 2 months:

• Mike took Julia downhill skiing for the first time last weekend and she loved it! She was begging to keep skiing when it was finally time to leave the ski slope. She could ski down the bunny hill/rope tow hill all by herself by the end of the day. Our friends, Russ & Heather Christensen brought up their little boy Noah who is about the same age as Julia and the two of them had a great time. Look how tiny their skis are! Check out the slideshow for skiing pictures.


• Luke is officially a car fanatic. He loves to hop in his little tikes care that Mom rescued from the DI and beep the horn. He spends a good part of his day climbing in and out of it- even right after bath time!

As far as Mike and Les go we don't know where the time has gone. Mike recently laid 4 truckloads of gravel on the side of our house and Les has done the usual day by day activity: Take the kids on a animal outing (zoo, dinosaur museum, aquarium, pool-yep it has a monkey and parrot slide, cabelas-stuffed dead animal capital of the world, farm country, mall- even the mall has animals in it- just check out the carosuel, library), done a million loads of laundry, cooked to many dinners, worked out while watching "Sesame Street", and pretended to be a normal mother!