Snowball Fight

This year was such a great year for snow that we decided we better make one more trip up the mountain before it all melted away. Unfortunately for us it was a very cold day. We made the best of it and had fun hiking, making a snowman, and having a snowball fight. Or more accurately the boys had a snowball fight and mom watched. As soon as I got snow down the back of my shirt the fun was over and we headed over to the Neon Moon for pizza.

Spring Break (and a million pictures)!

A couple of years ago Alec's class took a field trip to Albuquerque. Rodger and Dean were unable to go with us so I have been wanting all of us to go back for a trip together. I set some school goals for the boys and told them when they were completed we would all go on a surprise vacation. So finally the goals were completed and we all headed off into the high desert.

The zoo was a must, but we also went to the natural history museum, the botanical garden, the aquarium, La Ventana, and the Lava Falls trail.

The Zoo:

Rodger finally has proof that he's King of the Castle
no matter where we go.

The Lorikeet feeding was definitely our favorite part of the zoo.
These little guys have no fear, and will climb all
over you trying to get the nectar.

The Botanical Gardens:

Since it was March the plants were just starting to bloom. I'd love to go back in the summer when everything is green.

They have this Children's Fairytale garden that I am completely in love with.

The Natural History Museum:






The Aquarium:

I wish you could see this touch pool better. The bat rays were very cool.

We spent forever in front of this tank watching the lobster feeding.

La Ventana:

View from the parking lot.

The boys found a cave and thought it was a great place for a picture.

Lava Falls:





Can I just say how much I love my family. We had such a great time together. A whole week was never so fun!

A Very Blessed Baptism

This past weekend we had the privilege of seeing our youngest son baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Rodger handled the actual baptism, and then my Grandpa, Dean's namesake, confirmed him.

My Grandpa was not a member of the Church for 29 years of my Grandparents marriage and he joined just in time to be able to baptize me. Unfortunately, he was never able to confirm any of us. So Rodger and I decided it was fitting for him to be the one to confirm Dean. Grandpa also turned 80 three days after Dean turned 8.



This was such a special day, and we are so thankful to our friends and family that came and made it all the more memorable.



I'm so proud that you have made this choice Dean, and I am so proud to be your mom.

We had the after-party at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I'll have to post pic's of all that when I can get the memory card from my Grandparents camera since I forgot mine.

My Funny Valentine

Dean Thomas Hanson was born in the wee hours of February 14, 2002, and he was the best valentine I ever got!

Dean is in second grade, and very bright. We do fight about school most days because he hates change. It's funny because he picks up new ideas very quickly, but he's always terrified he won't be able to figure it out. I am afraid I have passed on my perfectionistic (I'm aware I'm totally making up words here) fatal flaw to him. He is such a pleaser, and always wants to help out. He loves to do chores with me, and I can remember when we had to get him his own toy vacuum because he wouldn't leave mine alone.

I love Dean's sense of humor! He's a pretty sarcastic, I'm afraid he gets that from me too. He has a true knack for exaggeration also. His scout leader told me today that Dean really keeps her laughing during cub scouts. Speaking of scouts, he is so excited to finally be one. For the last two years he's been sad every week when Alec goes of to den meetings. So we finally got to get him his own uniform that he wants to wear all the time.

I told him I was sad that my baby was getting so grown up, and he told me that he hadn't been a baby for a very long time. Unfortunately he's right, and I'll be so sad when he won't cuddle with me anymore. He and Alec are the best of friends, and I hope they always stay close.


This year Dean's birthday fell on a Sunday so we had a small family dinner with a sleep-over the following weekend. Fortunately he decided he wanted a store-bought cake since I still haven't recovered from the pirate ship craziness last year. Rodger also continued his tradition of buying our children weapons for their 8th birthday. Obviously I was overruled.



Happy Birthday Dean....you'll always be my baby.

All That Glitters................Is Sometimes Snow

I have really been enjoying all the snow we have been having lately. I keep making the boys go outside so I can take pictures of them playing in it.

At this point, they are hoping that it will quit snowing so that I will stop making them come outside and pose for me.

I love when it snows and there is no wind because the trees look so lovely. These two were my favorite.

Happy Birthday to Me!

This year for my birthday we took a little trip down to hang out with my mom. I love that my birthday sometimes falls on MLK day because everyone is off from work and school and I can pretend it's all for my b-day!

My Mom kept the kids on Saturday so that Rodger and I could go on a date. We finally got to go see the Blind Side, and it was well worth the wait. I liked it so much that I tried to check out the book that it's based on from the library. I wanted to know more about the family and how it all came to be, but no help from the book. As it turns out it is a football book, all about plays and stuff, and the family story is secondary. Oh well. Anyway we also got to go out for Chinese food. I love PF Chang's lettuce wraps so much!

On Sunday my mom went a little crazy with cooking, so overall I ate way, way too much. I took pictures of the shish-kabobs because they were so pretty. She also made me a 3 layer, from scratch, lemon cake with cream cheese frosting.

On Monday we went to the best little mani/pedi shop for one of the best pedicures I've ever had. I will say that the massage wasn't the best I've ever had, but the polish was fabulous. They have tons and tons of styles to choose from, and they were pretty inexpensive. I'm going to post a pic, but I don't think you can tell how cute the argyle pattern is.



Anyway, I had a lovely weekend, and thanks to all my sweet friends and family for birthday wishes and gifts.

The Hanson's vs. the Volcano

Last year my mom gave the boys a very cool science kit. We have been using this kit in our homeschool on science days, and I have to say it's a lifesaver.

The boys did this project almost all by themselves. I helped them read the directions and gather the needed ingredients, but the creativity is all theirs.

They made the cone out of plaster one day, and after it had fully dried we got to paint it. The boys also glued on rocks and other "debris" to make it realistic.




Today we got to stage the eruption though, and that was everyone's favorite part. I love homeschool!