Kayla's Birthday

My little Kayla is now eight. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.

For her birthday she wanted to invite a couple of friends to go with us to the Mayan for dinner. So Emilee and Rachel came along for all of the fun. We had a great time and the kids loved the diving.


After we were all done I had the kids get all together for a group picture outside the Mayan.

Happy Birhtday Kayla. We love you are so glad you are part of our family!!

Was this Really a Good Idea?

Kayla just turned eight. In our house when you turn eight you can get your ears pierced. (Unlike myself who had to wait until I was eighteen. Dad thought that by that time we would have come to our senses and not want them any more....boy was he wrong. Me and my 4 sisters all got our ears pierced as soon as we were 18.) Kayla was so excited to finally be able to get her ears pierced.....that was until we got to the place.

The lady that did her ears took forever to get ready and every second that passed Kayla looked more and more worried.


I assumed that she would have someone help her so that they did both ears at once. So when she got ready and was just going to do one ear at a time I had to ask for her to do both together. Watching Kayla I wasn't sure that after the first one was done she would want they other one done.

After all was done Kayla loved the results and couldn't quit looking at herself in the mirror for the rest of the day.

Build A Bear

As most of you know we are moving. We put our house up for sale the beginning of May. So I have had to keep my house spotless for weeks. This has meant a lot of harping on my kids to "clean up their stuff." So as a reward for being such good helpers, Craig and I decided to surprise the kids and take them to Build a Bear. They have always wanted to go. So meet the new bears in our family:

Tulip

Josh

Alina

And last but not least Tinkerbell.

All About Jarom

Jarom and Liina graduated from Medical School up at the University of Utah. Dad is a professor in the college of Pharmacy so he was able to hood Jarom and Liina.

This is Jarom and Liina with Mom and Dad after graduation.

Sometimes you have to wonder how many big life changes you can make at one time and not be insane. Jarom has managed three. He and Liina had their first child about a month before (see previous blog) They graduated from Medical School, the next day they blessed Hannele and then 4 days later moved to Charleston South Carolina for residency. In talking to Jarom he is very nervous to be out of the school and into the "real world." Not that residency is the real world....actually I think it sounds a lot harder. He does like to call me when he is at the beach so I can hear the waves.....maybe residency isn't that hard.

It is Good to Be Baby #21

My brother Jarom and his wife Liina finally had their baby today. A GIRL! This is their first child. Jarom, although very excited to be having his first baby, thought it was anticlimatic for the rest of the family....meaning the Hansons. Jarom is the youngest of six children....so his new baby is grandchild #21. Jarom thought that the excitement of the rest of the family just wouldn't be there. Granted babies are not a new thing in the family. My youngest sister just had a baby a little over two weeks ago....Grandchild # 20. But as my sister Kerry pointed out to Jarom this is the first Hanson grandchild and that is something none of the rest of us can claim. So in honor of Grandchild #21 (she doesn't have a name yet) I dedicate this blog entry. We are so excited that you are finally here!!!

Liina was induced yesterday morning. It was a very long day and night for the both of them. I went up there last night to bring some entertainment in the form of DVDs. I also brought Jarom a shake. As you can see he didn't feel to bad about eating it when Liina could only have ice chips. After a couple of hours of chatting and listening to Jarom's kidney stone story, which was his way of telling us that he knew what Liina was going through, I headed home figuring that baby #21 wasn't going to make an entrance at a reasonable time. I was right. She was born at about 6:30 this morning weighing in at 7lbs 5 oz (I think) and about 20 inches long.


With babysitting help from my friend Liz, I was able to make it up to the hospital to see the newest addition. When I got there this is how I found Jarom. Granted it had been a long labor....almost 24 hours and he did deserve some sleep. Of course Liina was awake and feeding the baby (get used to that.) Since I was the only visitor at the time I was able to take some pictures. I do have to say she is beautiful. And she couldn't have a prouder Dad. As he kept saying she is the cutest Hanson baby ever.

She was starting to wake up a little bit. I love the new born faces and stretches.


She was wide awake and checking out her dad. She has Liina's nose and Jarom's mouth, and has the "holes" in both ears....which is a trait passed on by both families.

I love this picture. They were getting ready for the next picture and trying to get her so we could see her face.

Here is the Hanson Family. Congratulations!!!

Update 4/18/2008: Her name is Hannele

Zion's National Park

This year for spring break we stayed close to home and just went south to St. George. All we were really looking for was the sun. My sister Kerry and her family came down from Spokane Washington and spent a few days with us in St. George. They have had a very similar winter to ours.

We spent a day in Zion's park hiking. We had to ride the bus around to each spot. This is a picture of Kayla, Elsa, Amanda and Kate on the bus. They loved it.

This is a picture of Anna, Zach and Abe at the Zion's lodge. We stopped hear to eat lunch.

This is Kayla, Elsa, Anna and Abe taking a break during our hike up to the Emerald pools.

This is a picture of the lower Emerald Pool.

Amanda did really well hiking almost the whole way by herself. She loved the water falls onto the green rocks below.

40 Isn't Really Old

The dreaded birthday finally came. Craig turned 40. He was a little depressed about the whole event. I opted not to have a big celebration but just have a get together with family. So we went to my sister's house for dinner and games. Her son's birthday is the same day so it was a double celebration.

I did bring his favorite cake from costco...which is carrot cake...but I forgot the candles so we improvised.

I personally don't think he looks this old, for one thing he still has all of his hair and he is as good looking as the day we met. There are lots of reasons I love Craig. For one he will always be older than me. Some how that makes my birthdays a little bit easier. Craig is alway quick to help anyone anytime. Even though he works at least 50 hours a week and is taking 12 credits at Utah State. When he is home he tries to make my life easier by helping with laundry or cleaning the house. Or taking the kids with him to run an errand so I can have a break. He always is worried more about me than himself. He doesn't get much sleep but he doesn't complain.....although he can't manage to stay awake at church. He decided a few years ago that he didn't want to do what he was doing for the rest of his life so he started back to school. This has been a very long process and he is set to graduate in December. He stuck with it even though there were many times that it would seem easier to give up. He loves spending time with the family and tries to be to all of the kids important events at school and sporting activities. I could go on and on but really all I want to say is Happy Birthday Craig and I am so glad that I have spent the last 17 years with you!!!