Missed me?

I have failed miserably at keeping people up to date of what is happening. I will be giving a brief history since school has been out.

I have been frantically been working away at girl's camp. Three weeks left until I go!
We are doing Tuesday morning movies at the Tinseltown in Layton. It's been a good out and motivator to get the kids to help around the house. Also, we've been taking a couple of hikes on Saturdays to Adams Canyon. They have been great experiences. Our last hike we decided to take our little, white poodle and..... it rained! Luckily, we had packed our rain ponchos because the clouds were looking a little black. It sprinkled on us a little on the way into the canyon, but soon cleared up. We got up to the 1st or 2nd waterfall and wanted to continue on, but the rain started to pick up so we decided to head out. We had a great time getting muddy and slipping on rocks.

June was an awful weather month. My kids were able to get out their waterslide once and it was on a day that I wasn't even home! The rain kept us from being able to do a lot, so, yes, I did hear a lot of I'm boreds.

• Shyann had a piano recital the first Saturday of June. She did a beautiful job. She played a primary song duet with her teacher Miss Angela. Shyann has loved playing the piano and she seems to have such natural talent. I was so impressed. Angela told me that Shyann's song would be the highlight of the recital. Next to Angela's own daughter, I would have to agree.
• The boys were pretty excited to visit the dentist their first week out of school. No cavities!
• Chandler had scout day camp one day. He was able to receive 3 belt loops.
• Colby had his first backpacking trip with scouts. When asked if he would like to do it again his answer was "No WAY!" In the weather conditions he went in I would agree with him. He did say if the weather was warmer, he would go. They were supposed to hike 1 1/2 miles their first day, 2 miles the 2nd day, and 3 1/2 to 4 miles out on Saturday. However, the trail was running water, the stream had to be crossed with ice bridges, and their site was full of snow. Even the leaders were upset and so they chose not to go any further up into the mountains. On Saturday, as they hiked out, it downpoured on them. Colby was the only one who had packed a rain poncho so his pack stayed the driest. They had to use walmart sacks on their boots, which really didn't keep them dry. Everyone was miserable, but it was a great experience for him!
• The kids went to visit cousins at the end of June. Casey's sister-in-law put together a cousin's camp. So all of the Loveland Cousin's got together and had a great time.
• While the kids were gone, Casey and I went to visit my cousin Kelly and his wife, Anna, and their newly adopted baby girl, Gracie. They got her in December and the 6 month adoption finalized at the end of June. So we went to their house and enjoyed a cookout. Got to see cousins I hadn't seen for a while and Kelly's nice home. We had a great time.

July This month the weather hasn't been all that hot, at least not July weather. There have been a couple of evenings we've taken the dog for his walk and it's just cool enough to want a jacket. This month is getting closer to Girl's camp which keeps me busy with planning and shopping.

• The 4th of July weekend, Casey and I were in charge of his family reunion. All of his brothers, except Kerry who lives in Virginia, were able to make it. We also had his married niece, and nephews and their families come. We had a lot of fun playing games, eating, and visiting. Thanks to all for taking the time to come.
• I had a POET retreat on the 10th. POET is similar to PTA. It's been a great experience. I went with the POET board (13 of us), the principal and asst. principal. We left the school at noon. Got to the cabin around 2. Stayed up until 1 (playing games) and woke up to finish planning on Saturday. We left around 11. The principal and asst. left on Friday night.
• Colby is leaving for scout camp in the morning. Casey is going with him until Wed. afternoon. Should be a good time for them. Colby will get home on Saturday afternoon.
• The girls will also be doing cheer camp this week. It is something they have enjoyed doing the last two years. It is just at a neighbors home so it's low-key, but enjoyable.

The big plans so far in august are:

Girls Camp Aug 3-7. My mom is planning to help out Casey as needed while I am gone this week.

Aug 7-11 or 12 we are going to visit his brother in Denver. We will leave shortly after I get home from camp. We will see what time we take off, but we'll probably drive halfway and spend the night at a hotel.

I have had all these great and wonderful summer plans and activities for the kids and haven't been able to step up and do them yet. Of course, like I said the June rain didn't help us out. It's only been the last few days that I realized just how little time I have left with them before school starts. Colby and the girls start on Aug 17 and Chandler starts Aug. 24. I hope to get on that this week. I'll let you all know how it's going!

Spectrum Olympics

On Thursday the 13th, I spent the day at Layton High Track and Layton Park. But it was such a fun and great day! The Spectrum 3-6 grades had an "Olympics" day. This has been such a great program for Chandler to experience. They had the Opening Ceremony. The teachers carried the flag and all the groups walked the track. Then each group had a cheer. A student played the National Anthem. It was really awesome!

The Great Spectrum Teachers!

Mrs. Schofield, Mrs. Poulson, Mrs. Dent (Chandler's teacher), and Mrs. Sandberg

My sweet Chandler! Go Maroon Team!

The Maroon Team cheer!

Taking 1st in the 50 meter between 3rd and 4th graders. His time of 9.63 seconds wasn't fast enough to make it the final.

They had Team activities at Layton Park after lunch. They played volleyball, kickball, square soccer, and softball.
Four kids from the Maroon team were chosen for Tug-o-War. Chandler was chosen.

Chandler getting his medal.

He took Silver in Tug-o-War and Gold in Overall Team. Way to go!

Mother's Day and May Birthdays!

We love getting together as a family to celebrate birthdays. This year we were able to celebrate birthdays and Mom's Day! We went to my sister, Stacy's, home. We sat in her backyard chatting, playing outdoor games, jumping on the tramp and spending time together. What would a birthday be without dessert? We had awesome ice cream sundaes with the works! YUMMY!

Happy Birthday!

(Jae, Marinda, Erin, Michael, Dad, and Eriq who celebrated their days in May)

After 3 years and two more babies, we got a picture of my parents with their 18 grandkids! Can you believe all the kids, but Jacob, are looking at the camera? Grandma forgot!

My Family!

Michelle, Stacy, Mom, Dad, Me, Denise, and Erin

Growing up with all girls was quite the ordeal. We had wonderful experiences and the daily fights, but my sisters are my best friends! I don't know what I would do without them. I Love You! Thanks for everything you do for me.

EASTER!

Ok I did get pictures of us coloring easter eggs, but none of them were my favorite to post.

Easter morning is always fun with the kids "hunting" for their baskets. The easter bunny sure has fun finding places to put their baskets each year. Colby's was in the entertainment center, behind scriptures (kind of a dark area), Chandler's was in the ottoman, Shyann's was behind my DI stuff, and Shelby's was in a cabinet in the bathroom. I failed as the "family photographer" to get a photo of all my kids together with their baskets. One to remember for next year.

After church, we went out to my parent's home for our annual "Hansen Easter Party". We have a yummy potluck dinner to start. Then the kids have to stay in the house while the adults hide the eggs around the yard. Finally after 7 years, we were all able to be together. This was Erin's family's first time celebrating easter with us. All 18 grandkids were there! Each grandchild has a number (Jacob was 1 because he was the last, Marinda was 18 because she was the first). We wrote the number on their hand and they had to look for the eggs with that number. Kambree thought it was fun just to find eggs and grabbed any one that she saw. We have such a great time and the kids look forward to it every year!

Kenzy was great at entertaining the kids while we put the eggs out.

Jon carrying out the container of eggs - this was one very full container. I spent about 4 hours helping my mom fill the eggs. Each child got 20 small eggs and 4 large eggs. Can you add up how many eggs there were? A LOT!

Casey and Keith putting eggs into their sacks to go hide. It's a good thing my parents have an acre of land to hide the eggs.

All the kids checking out their goodies!

They had to empty all the eggs so that we can reuse them for next year. Thanks mom and Dad for a great party, again!

The Rest of Spring Break

There weren't many more days for photos, except Friday. That is why I put the rest of the week into one post.

* Tuesday, I put the kids to work. It was a beautiful day and boy did my flower beds need some weeding done. Of course, we only partially finished one large one. We kind of all gave up. Colby and Shyann found something better to do while Shelby and Chandler helped me. They didn't even complain once!

* Wednesday, two of my sisters and I went easter shopping. It was quick and fun! I enjoy spending time with my sisters.. That afternoon, I could tell I was coming down with something. I invited Michelle over to make a couple of bracelets.

* Thursday, sure enough, I caught something. I really don't know if it was allergies or a cold, but I wanted to do not much of anything. Don't you hate that feeling? Michelle wanted Denise and I to go to the zoo. She thought it would be fun to go do something together before Denise's last chemo treatment. I told her we would save that zoo trip for another time.

* Friday I wanted to go do something with the kids for their last day of Spring Break. My niece, Marinda works on a farm and so we decided to go with Michelle to the farm. After the farm, we went over to the Bird Conservatory Wetlands in Layton. Yeah, there wasn't much to see, but it got the kids out and walking. We ate lunch in one of the towers.

Chandler and Shelby petting a baby goat that Marinda had chased down for the kids to pet.

Chandler, Shyann & Shelby playing in the tower after lunch.

Colby, Kambree and me eating lunch.

The "gang"

Colby found this snake at the end of our walk. GROSS!

We had a really fun week. It was great being able to just spend time with the kids.

Spring Break - Day 1

We decided to go visit my sister, Erin, for the day. We haven't been to her home in Pleasant Grove yet and decided it would be a great time to go. Her kids weren't out of school, but it was Michael's early out day.

Playing in Erin's backyard.

We just hung out in the morning and then when Michael got out of school we went to BYU to the Bean Life Science Museum. It was a lot larger than we thought. Each of the girls had a paper with a picture of the animals that they had to find and the boys had papers with questions. It was like a scavenger hunt. The kids had a great time!

The kids in front of this huge elephant in the middle of the museum!

I had to get this picture of Chandler in front of a Gaur's head. He had a huge research project on The Gaur. This was really exciting for him to see what one actually looked like.

When we got back from the museum, we went to the park across the street to let the kids play.

Colby & Jacob

The view from the park.

Shyann's New Do

The day after Shelby's haircut, my sister, Stacy, called to see if Shyann wanted her hair cut now. Shy didn't. But then the next day, I was brushing Shy's hair and she told me she wanted her hair cut short. I told her I would cut a few inches off first and then if she wanted it shorter, we would go to Stacy's. She agreed and was very excited. So here is her new 'do.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

The girls with their new styles.