10 for Tuesday--Giving Thanks!

Where did November go? Seriously. Well at any rate, I wanted to take a minute and give thanks for all that I have been blessed with and what better way to do it than with a top 10?

1- My husband. He is seriously the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I love that he compliments me in every way. Yea we are both stubborn and always want to be right, but he usually lets me win. He is great where I falter a little. I think we compliment each other so well. We are starting to get to the point in our relationship where we can read each others mind. It is a little scary at times, but fun too. He is a great husband. He is an excellent father. He is a better housekeeper than me and I know what a rareity it is to have a husband who actually helps out around the house.

2- My beautiful children. To the outside observer my kids seem like they would run my ragged and keep me going constantly, I call it curious. They are a little crazy at times, but I call it adventurous. They are always asking questions and never stop talking, I call it observant. They are all super smart and very interested in the world around them. I LOVE that. I hope they never stop wanting to know why. They have all been blessed with sharp minds and I am grateful for them.

3- Our little home. I know it is small and we are packed in here like sardines, but we have a place to call ours and it is warm. As inconvenient as it may seem at times, I am happy to have a place to live and enough to provide for our family. The essentials are covered. Sometimes money is tight, but we have what we need and there has never been a day when we have not had food to eat or a bed to sleep in.

4- Ryan's job. With the economy the way it is, he is in a relatively secure position. Education, though poorly funded, is a staple in our country. I asked him at one point last month if he was at all worried about losing his job and he said that it had never occurred to him that he ever would. His job security is a luxury not everyone has and I am grateful for that.

5- The Super Van. Having a vehicle that runs and gets decent gas mileage is a blessing. We took it in for a few repairs a while back and since then it has run great. Knock on wood. It is nice to not have to worry too much about it beyond the normal maintenance. Something I have taken for granted in the past for sure.

6- Talents. I have been blessed with a desire to learn new things and I am grateful for the abilities I have developed over the years. I like to try new crafty things and I am pretty good at a few of them. I love to cook. I am told I am pretty good at it. Plus I really enjoy doing things that take a long time to complete. I get a real sense of satisfaction when I complete something I worked on for a long time.

7- Good friends. Over the years I have been blessed with a select few that I still cherish. For me, it is about the quality not the quantity. I don't keep in touch with all of them as much as I would like, but they know who they are and I love them dearly. Having moved this last year it reminded me how important they truly are to me. I have yet to find my niche here so keeping in contact with my far away friends has become more important to me as of late.

8- Opportunities for Service. I have a tendency to get a little down when I have too much time on my hands, so volunteering in my children's schools has filled up the void for me. I have been able to help teach kids to learn letters and handwriting skills as well as help with fund raisers for the school. The best part is getting to know more about what my kids do all day long and the people who are teaching them. I am grateful for the good examples they are to my kids.

9- A small ward. When we moved here, Ry thought we were going to get to sit on the back row and "do nothing" in a sea of people. Not true. We landed smack in the middle of a huge stake with huge wards in the smallest ward that exists in Idaho Falls.(I don't know if that is true but it feels like it) It was hard at first to feel like we fit in here, but I have come to enjoy the smallness especially in Sunday School and Relief Society. (I like to sing but I am not super good at it so it is hard to do that when there are not tons of voices to drown me out.) It does not have the same feeling that Lamar did, but it is growing on me.

10- Idaho. For lots of reasons. I enjoy being close to my family and feeling a part of things. We can go to a birthday party with our cousins if we want too, before it was not even an option. I love the mountains and going camping. I love the wild life aspect of it. There was a moose just off the freeway the other day. We have good friends from when we were first married that we have been able to reconnect with being back here. Mostly I love it because when I moved away for college I was never going to come back. Circumstances changed and if it were not for being here I never would have met Ryan and had the life I do today. It is home and always will be.

Twilight

Saw it. Loved it. Can't wait for the sequel. Yes you read that right.

10 for Tuesday--My week in Pictures

We had a lot going on this past week. That always seems to happen when family comes to town. The camera seems to come out a lot more on those days too.

1- Clark Thomas Hansen got blessed on Sunday. It was his special day and my family all got to come and be there to celebrate it with us.

2- Maga found this cute outfit that he wore. It fit perfectly and he looked so handsome! 3- We had a big lunch at Gertie's house. We ate Chili and baked potatoes. She was sweet to let us all congregate there. My house is waaay to small for that many people to try and gather. Let's face it, it is too small for the people who live in it!

4- Saturday night the adults all got babysitters and we went to dinner and bowling at the Bowl-ero. It was so much fun to be with my family and have fun. The floor was extra slippery, but I don't think we got any pictures of anyone falling, although most of us did at one time or another.

5- Clark is smiling more and more at anyone and everyone who takes the time to talk to him. He gets a big fun grin on his face that melts my heart!


6- Along with the smiling, he has started to "talk" up a storm! He loves it when people talk back and listen to him. He has got a lot to say already!

7- Luke is learning to be more imaginative with his drawing. It used to be hard to get him to color a picture much less draw something on a blank piece of paper. While I am glad he feels more creative, I am not sure I like where he choose to put his latest masterpiece!

8- While I am not super fond of the picture, it is my reality right now. I love my sweet husband, but he is a little too free with the camera sometimes. After I looked closely at this picture though I realized it was rather humorous. This is me on a normal day doing laundry. Apparently I needed a nap.

9- He is cute huh?


10- I am shopping for a camera of my own. (Ryan brings the school ones home when he can for me to use) My birthday is coming up and I think that is what I am getting. Does anyone have a great one they want to tell me about? Leave me a comment and tell me what kind you have and how much you like/dislike it. I think consumer feedback is the best way to go when it comes to these kinds of purchases.

Stuck in the Middle

Out in the country they have animals. Some of these animals are bred for a specific purpose. To make any money at any of these such adventures one has to have A LOT of animals. I came across one such man today on my drive out into the country to take Luke to pre-school. A man and his employees were herding sheep down the road. This particular breed, Columbia, is all white and is kept for wool. They cross breed them with Suffolk males, who are taller and have black faces and legs, and sell the lambs for meat. Not just a few sheep but hundreds of sheep. After a lengthy conversation with my father, we decided probably 500. They had one black sheep in the mix. According to him this is how they keep track. He would know. He used to own a few himself. Not 500 but a dozen or so. I used to show them in 4-H. I LOVED IT!! Today I was reminded how much I loved it.

As we got closer to the sheep it became apparent that they were headed the same way we were and it made for slow going. It took about 20 minutes for us to finish the last mile to our destination. The man in charge, sitting high atop his Clydesdale (think Budweiser horses) "led us" through the herd by cutting a path for me to drive along. The sheep were still moving as I drove so they stayed with us for quite awhile. It didn't even matter to me that it took a really long time to get through. I loved being amongst them. The smell was familiar, although Luke thought they were really stinky. The sound of them was a soothing sound. Luke liked the fluffy dogs that were helping herd the sheep. Memories of being a teenager, teaching my sheep to follow me and be led by the chin with no rope came flooding back. They make great companions and fun pets.

I did not have a great camera to capture this moment on film. I did take a picture with my phone out my window at the passing sheep. Just a little glimpse of what we saw as we drove down the road at a snails pace. There were several other cars behind me and as we drove the sheep got more dense in between us so we were literally stuck in the middle of a herd of sheep. Surrounding us on all sides. It was a neat visual and I wish I could have caught it for you. I know I won't forget it.

So there now you know a little more about me you never knew. Ryan and I often talk about our "someday." It includes a home on land so we can have animals. He wants horses. I want a dog. And I do want sheep someday too. The other day Emma told me she wants rabbits. 4-H was fun and I want my kids to experience the satisfaction of being responsible for another life and learning to care for it. Then the pride of showing off what they learn and being rewarded for their efforts. "Projects" help build character and responsibility. I feel like these kinds of experiences helped shape me into the kind of person I am today. I love the feeling of seeing a project through from start to finish and doing a good job at it along the way. I did win Grand Champion Chickens one year. That is a story for another day.

Tuesday 10--Catch up edition

1- We had a double Halloween. Thursday the 30th we had a Trunk or Treat at the ward complete with Soup and Rolls before. It was PACKED! If any of you know my ward you know that is amazing! The YM/YW passed fliers out on Tues and invited the whole neighborhood. I think they all came. It was fun to have a packed gym, even if it was for the candy whore holiday that has no religious affiliation whatsoever except to the devil.

2- Friday the 31st we drove down to Pocatello and Trick or Treated with my sister in the University Neighborhood(all the streets are named after universities. Molly lives on Stanford, when we were little we lived on Rice, next to Tulane and Harvard...you get it). This is where we went to get all the good candy when I was young. Still the best! My kids got to knock doors which is almost unheard of anymore in a place I knew to be safe and fun. I think Ryan had more fun than they did, but Luke ran from house to house so he LOVED it too.

3- Then we went to Magas house for dinner and games. We played pin the nose on the Jack O Lantern and made Halloween book marks. Not to mention more candy. Then everyone headed over to the neighbors haunted house, got scared, and peed their pants. By everyone I don't mean me, by got scared I mean the kids, and by peed their pants I mean my sister.

4- We opted out of going to Stake Conference on Sunday. New baby, 4 kids, 2 hours in one room with a ton of people. Not very kid friendly. I know lame excuse, but whatever.

5- It has been raining for the past 3 or 4 days. I think the sun has taken a vacation from Idaho for a while. Who knows when we will see it again. Hopefully someday soon, but we may have to wait for March.

6- Halloween was unusually warm and we didn't really need coats. Kind of a first here. It did rain toward the end of the evening though.

7- I am planning a fund raiser for the library at the girls' school. Breakfast with Santa at Applebee's. Sounds fun right? I hope we get a decent turn out, especially because this is the first thing I have been in charge of at the school. It would be bad for it to flop.

8- I love the holidays. I am getting really excited about every thing we have planned for the FUN. Thanksgiving at Grandma Davis' and Christmas at Grandpa Hansen's. We have never spent Christmas with Ryan's side of the family so we are excited for that. The kids are old enough to appreciate their gifts too so trying to decide what to get them has been a lot of fun as well. It is still in the works, but I will let you in on the plan as soon as it is more confirmed!

9- I have enjoyed losing weight at LA but it has been hard to keep track of everything I have been eating. I feel like it is going slow, but I know slow is better and I need to do this right for it to last. I also am excited because I have been spending more time at the Apple working out. It is slow going as well cause lets face it I am out of shape. 4 kids will do that to you. I am on the right track though and I will keep going for as long as it takes! Will power stay on my side!

10- I started making all my own bread. Trying to save money plus I love doing it. I took a challenge from my friend Sunnie to try doing it. I just started this week because I had a lot of bread in the freezer and didn't want to waste it. So I will update you on how it is going. Oh and Shelley the recipe is there too so you will want to check it out!

Family Pictures

This week has been CRAZY! We did have our family pictures taken recently though so I wanted to share them with you. They are only posted for a couple weeks so if you want to see them don't wait. Here is the link. It is the Hansen Family (obviously). The password is rhansen. We are still deciding on the family picture we like best, but we have the kids picked out. Let me know your favorites! If you scroll down a little farther there are the Hansen Newborn pics there too. Clark as a tiny baby. That password is chansen if you want to see those ones too.