Birthday Girls!

I cannot believe my babies have turned 7! It seems so unreal. They are beautiful little girls and bring such joy to our home.

Our blonde haired-blue eyed sweetie. She is such a talented little girl. So many things come naturally for her. She loves piano, singing, dancing, and doing the splits. She has always been one to watch intently and then when she is ready to try something, she does it perfectly. She did that as a baby before crawling or walking. As soon as she was ready, she never fell. Dancing at age 4, she could keep up with her dance teacher. Her piano she has sailed through and even passed up Colby who'd been playing for 8 months with a different teacher. Her latest and greatest accomplishment and successfully wheeling around on "Heelies" without falling.


Our brown-haired, brown-eyed beauty. This little one is going to keep us busy. Casey keeps telling me he is going to take a 6-year sabbatical as soon as she's a teenager. She's a fashion diva. Has to have her clothes just so, has to do her own hair. Has massive attitude that I never thought I'd hear from a 6-7 year old. She is strong willed. If she wants to do something, she'll do it. At 3, she broke her wrist because she was positive she could do the monkey bars. Then 2 weeks after getting her cast off, she went down a slide and had to have stitches from cutting her lip open. She wants to have fun in life and doesn't care about consequences.

Happy Birthday Girls! We are so blessed to have you in our family.

Denise's Update

Denise had her first chemo treatment on Feb. 27. Her husband had to work that night and so she called to see if I would be willing to spend the night with her. When she'd gone through this before, the meds they give her at chemo knock her out so she was afraid she would need help with her kids. Siena had a late night party and Brad's sister took Isaac, so I had Taegan and Kambree to take care of (I picked up Siena around 11 pm). Denise however, did awesome! She was a little tired, but she stayed up for mine and Taegan's "late night" party. We watched a movie and played a little Wii. Kambree only wanted her mommy to take care of her so that was a little hard. On the 28th she was even up to going to two baptisms. Her neighbor's little girl and our niece. By the end of lunch, she was exhausted. So she took home Kambree to get some sleep. Between Michelle and I we took care of Taegan and Siena. I took them home late that night. Monday was a difficult day for her, she was very sick. She started losing her hair about the middle of last week. She called me Monday night and said she'd had enough so she went up to our sister's home to have her head shaved. The kids all got a chance to cut off some hair and shave a little. She'll have her next treatment on the 20th. Hopefully she does just as well. She's eating just about everything, except our beloved chocolate.

Happy Birthday, Colby!

I cannot belive that my oldest child is 12. A Deacon!?!? When did that happen? It's crazy! This year, the kids bought him gift cards and his favorite candy bars. That way he can buy a DS or Wii game using the gift cards. It was a great day! He was a little disappointed because he thought we would take him out to eat right after school, but there's too many after school activities on Friday, so he had to wait until dinner time. We let the kids choose where they want to eat for their birthday and he chose K.F.C. We allowed him to break his gluten-free diet for this dinner, but that's it.

Here he is with some of his fun gifts!

He's into medieval books and really was excited to get this set.

(It's a model, but he wants it to sit on his windowsill)

I was really bad and forgot to get a picture of him with his cake. Happy Birthday! We love you!

Hansen Family Birthday Party

Sunday night, my side of the family (Hansen's) celebrated all the Feb. birthdays at my house. Denise had just gotten out of the hospital so that was one less thing we felt she needed. I have a nephew with horrible allergies, and Denise's home is the only place that is central without pets, so we usually celebrate everything at her home.

Colby loved all his new gifts!

These are the family members who have a Feb. birthday.

(Taylor, Taegan, Siena, Colby, Isaac, Jon & Rachel)

After opening gifts and cake and ice cream, the games began. We played "Curses" which is so funny. I love getting together with the family. We get a long so well and have so much fun!

What More Can Happen?

Last week a good friend of mine decided to help me make some freezer meals for Denise and her family. She said if she could help with anything, it would be this. We spent all day Wed. and Friday preparing quite a few meals. This got me really excited about doing freezer meals. It's the way to go, especially when you have crazy hectic and busy days. We are actually going to do some for her neighbor who just had a baby and has to go in for surgery and will be down for 6 weeks. It's a fair trade. But it is wonderful to have such caring friends around to help with kids or housecleaning or whatever it may be.

Denise got home from the hospital on the Monday after her surgey. Her staples were removed on Wed and Thurs morning she broke out in hives. She has had a difficult time kicking them because she wasn't sure what caused them. About two days later she got the flu for a day. This morning I had a phone call from my mom a little before 7:30 and asked if Casey would be able to get the kids off to school. I asked what was going on. She said Denise was in a lot of pain. I said I'm on my way. I got off the phone, told Casey what was happening, and headed out the door. When I got to Denise's she said she was having a hard time breathing and was in pain from her lower back up to her shoulders. I said we'll get the kids off to school and drop Taegan off at preschool and head down to the hospital. Well, mom showed up 15 minutes later and was able to take her down. I got the two little ones ready and dropped Taegan off to preschool and brought Kambree home. It ends up that Denise has 2 or 3 bilateral clots. They are going to keep her in the hospital for 2 or 3 days for observation and put her on Cumadin (blood thinners). I knew when this all started happening that she would be ok, but it was going to be a long road. I didn't expect her to have difficulties like these while she was still recovering from surgery. I guess that whole thing of "bad things happen in 3's" is true. However, I say it happens in 5's. (Aren't we at #4?)

My Church Callings

I received a new calling two weeks ago. I am now YW Camp Director. On top of this calling I am also Cub Scouts Secretary/Advancement/Awards, Nursery Leader, and Enrichment Leader Assistant. I haven't felt overwhelmed by any of my callings. The night I received my camp calling I prayed about it and felt that everything was going to work out. Amazingly enough, it has. Even with things going on with my sister and helping with her kids, I still don't feel crazy. I am beginning to get excited about camp. We had a great Camp Orientation last night because we are going to the Heber Valley Girls Camp. I have a great assistant and YCL Leader. My bishop said that I would be released from Enrichment, but as of yet, I'm not. The thing saving me with that right now is after Feb, we don't have ones planned for March and April. I love my callings and enjoy the fact that I serve in each auxiliary. I am able to serve with a variety of people and become good friends with those that I may not have. I am so grateful to have a husband who supports me with everything right now. Even when he has his own big calling to take care of.

Denise's Update

Denise was released from the hospital Monday night. Her husband was home Tuesday and Wednesday so I didn't need to help out. I checked in with her each morning and she was ok. She actually updated her blog one morning. On Thursday morning, I gave her a call to see how she was doing. She had broken out in hives. They took her staples out Wed. night and she thinks she had a reaction to the glue. She hasn't been feeling well at all. We found out this morning that they are going to do chemo on her. They will start that on Feb. 18. It will be the same kind of chemo she had before so she will be very sick. She only has to have 3 treatments that are every 3 weeks.