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.

Surgery

So Denise went in yesterday for surgery. She met with her oncologist on Tuesday and the operation was either Wednesday or wait until Monday. We were all prepared to help as soon as possible. I went over at 9:45 so they could leave at 10 for the hospital. She went in for surgery at 1:15 and I didn't hear from my mom until 5:45. There is a possibility that this tumor, called an intraepithelial carcinoma, is a different cancer than her previous one. When they did the CT scan a week and a half ago, the tumor was about the size of a football. When the doctor went in to remove the tumor, it had at least doubled in size. The doctor was surprised by how HUGE the tumor was so he is going to weigh and measure it. They also took biopsies of her lymphnodes and organs. They had to make the incision above her belly button all the way down. They were able to remove the tumor intact (Phew!) and complete a full hysterectomy. We will find out the results on Friday. With this tumor, there is a possibility that she will not need chemotherapy. That's what we are praying for. I know she will do anything so that she will be here for her children. As her family, we are all prepared and making plans to help her out. She has had so much support and love from friends and family. It is so great to see how many are willing to help her. Thanks for all the prayers!

Visiting Southern Utah.

Casey's mom and her husband bought a 2nd home down in Washington (just outside of St. George). We decided to take a break from everything and go down to visit during the 3-day weekend. We had a great time and are so grateful to them and their generosity.

Shelby and Shyann putting on the "green" at Casey's mom's home.

On Saturday, we went to a Dinosaur Discovery Museum. This place has natural casts with the original footprints of dinosaurs. It also has only 1 of 5 in the world of findings of a dinosaur "squatting" track. After exploring and having fun there, we decided to go climb the "red rocks" in St. George. The kids could have stayed all day long.

At the "red rocks" area in St. George

Sunday was a very enjoyable day. The meetings were all wonderful and there was a great spirit in the lessons. After lunch, we decided to go on a couple of tours. We went to Brigham Young's Winter Quarters home, the Tabernacle, and the Temple Visitor's Center. We watched a wonderful video called "The Stonecutter". It shared the message that we should all be fulfilling our callings to our very best without excuses. It was very touching.

In front of the St. George Temple

Yesterday, we went over to the Tuacan theater to see what it looked like. Then we drove into Snow Canyon and went for a hike. That's a really fun place with a lot of hiking that we can look forward to doing next time we go down. There is a lot of lava rock. We were only able to do one quick hike before we needed to get ready to leave.

We had such an enjoyable time and look forward to going down again. It's time to get back to reality -- work, school, dance, scouts, piano, church callings, and all the fun things that go along with being home.