Dad's Birthday Video

I've been trying for quite some time now to get this video on my blog. Hopefully today it will work. I made this video for my Dad's 90th birthday party, and have had many requests since to put it somewhere for everyone to see. I hope you enjoy it!

90th Birthday Party

My dad turned 90 years old on December 4, 2009. We had a big family party to celebrate. There was about 80 people there...all immediate family! My dad is still doing really well and is a very young 90 year old. He was born on the farm where he still lives in 1919. He was the youngest son in a family of a dozen kids (he has a younger sister, Norma). In 1942 he joined the Coast Guard and served for the remainder of the war. He never regretted that decision because it was while in the coast guard that he met my mom in Seattle, Washington and they have been married now for 64 years. Aren't they just cute together?Amazingly enough, all nine of their children and their spouses were able to celebrate with Dad at his party. Here are the three girls: Me, Lynae and Maralee.

We were also able to get a picture of the six boys without too much protesting. Here are my older brothers: Standing from left to right; Lorin, Craig & DeVere. Sitting: Thad, Daryl & Bert.

All of us and the people crazy enough to marry into this family: sitting: Craig, Mayela, Lorin, Dad, Mom, Maralee, DeVere, Lynae. Standing: Aaron, Joan, Bert, Glenda, Thad, Lisa, Julianne, Daryl, Lex, Kristine, and David.
It was a great evening with family and a wonderful occasion to celebrate!

The biggest surprise ever!!

Friday December 4 started out like any other day. It was my dad's 90th birthday and we were planning a big party for him with all the kids grandkids and quite a few of the great-grandkids as well. I had a lot to do with decorating at my church cultural hall and helping cook all the marinated turkey. Aaron took the day off and hung up our Christmas lights besides being the main chef all afternoon. The church looked great all decorated and I came home to get everyone ready to go back and celebrate with dad. Then things started gettting a little strange. My brother Craig showed up at my house --not too strange since he was coming for the party and would be staying overnight with us. Then my sister and brother-in-law arrived at my house as well. I wasn't expecting them to be at my house before the party, but that was fine too. I was showing off our finished guest room to my sister downstairs when Shenna called from the kitchen to say that Aaron need my help with something out on the front porch. I went upstairs and out onto the porch, not to find Aaron needing assistance, but to find Jon Schmidt - composer and pianist extrordinaire - standing at my door! Aaron had arranged a private concert just for me in my living room! It was my early birthday present! Even now, with pictures as evidence, it is hard to believe that he was here and playing my grandmothers 109 year old piano...it's a good thing we've taken care of it. The kids were so excited and had their requests ready for him to play. It was so much fun to just sit in my living room and listen to some great music with my family. After he played here at my house for awhile, we took him over to the church to share him with my dad and the rest of the extended family. He signed some of his piano books for people (yes, everyone has known he was coming for months--except me of course), ate with us and mingled before putting on quite a show for the crowd.
My nephew Josh, who is one of the best piano students I have ever had, got to jam with him for awhile on the piano at the church. I think they both had a good time with it.

All in all, it was the biggest surprise I have ever had! I'm really amazed that Aaron could pull it off and that everyone kept it such a secret. Not once did anyone slip up about him coming (which is also amazing since my family is so big, you would think SOMEONE would have goofed). I still am in shock. The evening was wonderful and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.

I just thought I'd share some recent pictures of the family. It seems like life is just zipping by lately with no hope of slowing down. I can't believe that next week is Thanksgiving already.

I guess this is my "thankful post". I am thankful for my two little boys. How I wish they would stay little, but though I think I am in control, I can't keep them from growing. My favorite line from the play "Peter Pan" by J.M Barrie states "young boys should never be sent to bed; they always wake up a day older.".
I'm thankful for a "handy" husband. There doesn't seem to be anything he can't build, fix, or do. He is definitely a keeper. He recently finished building our new workshop and he loves it!

The two most beautiful girls I know. I couldn't ask for better daughters. I am so lucky that I was blessed with them. I am so glad that they like to talk to me and tell me about things that happen in their lives. They certainly have enriched mine.

Happy Halloween!!

Okay, so River (the dog) didn't dress up,,,but the picture was so cute. He looks funny every day!

All the kids before trick-or-treating. Shenna was actually on her way to a party, but I made her get in the picture anyway. She borrowed the suspenders from Grandpa Hansen.

Kiera came up with the idea of being a hershey's kiss, so here is our rendition.

Enoch wanted to be Darth Vadar. I finally found a cheap light saber that glowed red uptown...thank you locally owned stores!

I sent Aaron on a mission to find Samuel some good looking fatigues and he came through! I was thrilled that the pants and t-shirt fit and the jacket was just a little large....but fit good enough.

He was a great special forces re-con dude!

Sam is 9!

I can't believe that it has been nine years since our son Samuel joined our family. He has certainly added spice to our lives! Our family wouldn't be what it is without this great kid. He loves to be running around and playing. He also loves to draw and doodles all over everything (just look at all the margins on his schoolwork!) Right now his favorite toys are Bionicles and Bakugan. I love that he is such a good reader and he does well in school. One of his best friends is his little brother. He loves to laugh and tries to make us laugh all the time. He is generous and giving to his sisters, brother, and friends.

Here he is with the spider cake he had for his birthday. I made him say "happy birthday" and caught him mid-word. If I hadn't, his eyes would have probably been closed! "The best gift ever!" Samuel and his new rip-stick in the driveway. I took him over to our church parking lot down the street so he could try it. Maybe I'm biased, but I thought he picked up the basics really fast!

Triathlon!!

TRIATHLON [trahy-ath-luhn] noun : An athletic contest comprising three consecutive events, usually swimming, bicycling and distance running. Not for the faint of heart.

Kiera and Samuel had the opportunity to compete in a kid's triathlon last weekend! It is called Utah's Kids Tri Tri Tri Again and will ultimately be comprised of three events; spring, summer and fall. This was the fall triathlon where the kids swam, biked and ran their way to the finish line. I must say, I am one proud mom of their accomplishments.

Kiera was not only the youngest competitor in her division, she was the only girl! At 11 years old, she competed against two 15 year old boys. They swam 50 yards, biked 3 miles and ran 1 mile to finish. She stuck with it and amazed even me. To quote Aaron, "If she could keep that pace up for a 5K, she would leave me in her dust!"
Notice the ever-present ipod. She has learned something about racing from her dad already!

Samuel was able to do the whole race with his good cousin and friend, Jarom. They swam 25 yards, biked 1 mile and ran 1/2 mile for their race.

Samuel is in the lead here towards the end, but they finished together, just like they started.

The weather was just ideal for the race, and the kids really had a great time. They were tired, but when their medals were awarded, it was worth it. It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We are already looking forward to the spring 2010 event! Thanks Norm Peterson for putting this on and letting us take part!

Vegas adVenture

Well, I just had to get out of Dodge for the weekend. Where should we go? To Aunt Maralee's for some fun in the sun in Las Vegas. On a side note, what a great weekend we picked since the weather turned really nasty at home!

Aunt Maralee with the kids in her 1950's room. The vintage pinball machine is always a hit, as is the working jukebox with all those great 50's songs.

Kiera just HAD to climb the rock wall at the Adventuredome. She made it to the top with no trouble at all.

Shenna loves anything Italian...so we were off to Venice (really the Venetian) for some fantastic scenery and shopping. The gondoliers were fun to watch and listen to as well.

My VIP's even got to pose for a picture with the Blue Man Group! So much Fun!
Thanks Maralee for helping us has an awesome weekend!

Brigham City Peach Days 10K RUN

Aaron completed his first official 10K yesterday in Brigham City. This race has been his goal from the start when he began running this past spring. The Peach Day's 10K is considered one of the hardest in Utah as the route is quite hilly, being that Brigham City was built on an aluvial plain. I volunteered to be the official photographer. You be the judge of how well I did though. See the itty bitty person in the above picture? You can barely make him out in the black shorts and white t-shirt, but he is there. Next time maybe I'll use the ZOOM.
For just running 10 kilometers, he doesn't look too shabby. He was so happy to be finished, he didn't even notice the time on the clock. Luckily my brother Daryl was at the finish line and remembered the official time which was 59:51.00. Not bad for a person who has never run competitively before. I must also mention that just the day before the race, he measured the distance he had been running to train and realized that he was a mile short, so this is the furthest he has ever run!

The Three Casts

In the continuing saga of Enoch and his leg, he has had a total of three casts over a period of eight weeks. In a way, the eight weeks have gone by fast, but here it is, the middle of August, and school will start in less than two weeks.

His first cast was red in honor of his relatives who are UTE fans.

In honor of his Uncle Daryl -who didn't like the red cast - Enoch chose blue for BYU.

After six weeks of a long cast up to his hip, he was able to have a short walking cast in his favorite color....orange.

Finally, the big moment arrived! The final cast is getting cut off! He is very used to the noise of the cutter, and was excited to be able to wiggle his toes.

He doesn't look extremely happy, but this is just after the whole thing came off. For being in a cast for eight weeks, his leg doesn't look too bad. Now he is working on walking. We went swimming and he's had a bath.....so nice!

Woodbadge, Family Camp, NYLT

When Aaron was asked to be on another Woodbadge staff this year, we knew we would be in for a fun time! This special course combines Woodbadge training with NYLT training and then rolls the whole thing together with a family camp experience for all! Our council has been doing this for 5 years and we have had the opportunity to be there for 3 of those 5.

I took this chance to be a member of the family camp staff for the second time...this time over the 6-7 year old boy's group. It is a good thing that was my group. There is no way Enoch would have been able to be there if I couldn't have been with him. Having a broken leg in a cast is no way to spend a fun week of camping, but Enoch was a trooper and we found many activities that he could still do. He also had 11 new friends to be with. Our group was called "THE DIRTY DOZEN" and boy, were they ever! What a great group of kids. We were off from sunrise to sunset and exhausted by supper.

Enoch with some of his new friends in his wagon

Samuel during a skit with his group. They were called the Dragons and spent their time working on cub scout requirements intermingled with having loads of fun.

Shenna had a blast being in one of the older groups. Half the time they weren't even in camp. They spent their time swimming and water skiing at a nearby lake, hiking to and through a cave, river rafting (and moss fighting), rapelling and many other high-adventure activities. I was a bit jealous myself!

Does not this face just scream joy? Target shooting with six year olds!

After we are sufficiently dirty enough, they take our official family camp picture by the lake.


Kiera also had a grand time with her group of 11 year-old girls. She wants to be adopted by the leaders and spend her days doing crafts and relaxing on the lake shore. I haven't the heart to tell her that they really don't live there. We are now home and I'm sure the scout camp is VERY quiet now. Back to reality. Do we really have to?

Our Summer "MIS"adventure

This summer, we decided to spend a few days backpacking through a mountain range. We went with my brother and his four kids. It started out a lot of fun. We hiked 5 miles up to this beautiful lake. It rained all night the first night, but then cleared up for Friday.
Enoch had so much fun fishing in the lake. He caught his first fish and really started to cast great!
We decided to play a game of red rover in the meadow. Doesn't it look like fun? Unfortunately, that is where the fun ended. Enoch fell in his quest at getting through the line and hurt his leg. After awhile, we realized that this was no bruise or sprain, but most likely some kind of fracture.
Here he is in the tent a bit after the accident with his leg wrapped to keep it immobilized. He had to sleep one more night before we could get down the mountain.

It took quite a bit of ingenuity to rig up this contraption we used to pack him out. We all had to work together to get all the packs, tents and equipment out. Some boy scouts were there with some horses and they helped get some of our stuff down to the trailhead. And yes, it is officially broken. The x-ray shows a clean break in the tibia. The kid was amazing through the whole ordeal. We are so proud of him!

The Graduates: Lyssa, Ashley, NaConi

There are many rights of passage that we all go through in life. One of these is graduating from High School. Three of my beautiful neices ( I have 16!) took this step this past week. Sadly for me, I was actually a junior at a certain university the year they were born! They are truly making me feel ancient. But as I blog, I want to wish them the best that life has to offer them. I hope they will always remember that

hard work + determination + a good attitude = success.

I LOVE YOU GIRLS!

THE DOG UPDATE

Remember that cute little puppy that we brought home back in January? Well, I know it may be hard to believe, but this is the same canine. He has been such an adventure to have around.

He is a very smart dog and catches on to everything - good and bad - very quickly. My neighbors all say that he looks like he is having a bad hair life. No matter how much we brush him, his fur always looks unruly.

WHAT A GORGEOUS DOG! We are so happy we made him part of our family!