Stand in Holy Places

New Beginnings was this Wednesday evening.Young Women's Theme for the Year 2013 is 

Stand in Holy Places.

     Oh, how I love the changes the church has implemented for the youth. It is awesome! It is titled Come Follow Me. The leaders both in Sunday School as well as Young Women's are instructed to teach the way the Savior taught. It is awesome!
The youth are talking and interacting more and it just makes my heart swell with joy. Leticia is the Laurel President, which allows her to conduct most of the meetings. She has grown leaps and bounds over the years. She can stand in front of others and speak so clearly and carry herself with such grace.
Our leaders are amazing! They go above and beyond in their callings. The decor is over the top, refreshments always have a theme, and the girls get something special to take home each gathering. Someone is magnifying their calling. I so appreciate it, honestly my two oldest haven't had that great of experiences their first few years in this organization. One year, the leaders cancelled all young women activities for the entire summer, um, hello isn't that when the girls need the most direction. Oh well, I believe everything happens for a reason and those ladies needed to learn what they did and my girls will be OK in the end.
Anyway, I took the little ones over to a lady in our stake's home. I so appreciate her being willing to help me out. I really don't have family or many friends I can ask for help in situations like this so thank you Sister Clark, you are awesome. The girls had such a great time and were so well taken care of. I love the people in my life who are inspired and are willing to help me out.
Onto the evening, it was an awesome event, as usual. Disappointing? Not in the least. Sister Guevara organized a treasure hunt that we had to perform with our daughters. I went with Sierra. Corby with Malia and Teesh went with a leader named Rachel. It was fun to read the clues and search for the treasure. Each girl had to bring back her treasure and tell the group what it meant to her as well as an experience they might have had with the topic. Sierra's was missionary work. She talked about how many of her friends aren't LDS and so she is given the opportunity to share her testimony in tiny ways but can feel the spirit. Oh how thankful I am for the opportunities the Lord provides for these special young tender girls. Leticia's treasure was " For The Strength of Youth" pamphlet. Teesh shared how having this little book in your possession at all times really does provide the strength to make good choices.   Malia's was on the word wisdom. She talked about how eating good foods will help you feel better.
What a wonderful evening this turned out to be. 2013 will be a year to never forget.







After the Treasure Hunt, we watched a video, wow has the church come a long way with their videos, AWESOME! We mingled a bit while partaking of delicious cookies and other assorted items and then jetted out to grab the rest of our family.
I love attending meeting and feeling the spirit. Sundays rarely provide opportunities with my little ones and being a single mother. Time and a Season. I'm grateful for tonight.

blast from the past

Leticia has been Highland's Girls Varsity Basketball Manager for the past two years. She has really loved this experience. She has been so devoted and dedicated to this volunteer opportunity. For the last home game, the players recognized the seniors. Teesh told me her parents needed to be there and that she would be receiving an award. Later that night Teesh asked if I would be bringing the little girls, I said yes. She asked if I would please have them look nice with matching clothes. I smiled and said sure I could do that. Then she asked if I knew I would be going in front of everyone, I said yes. She said so are you going to look nice. Teesh, are you embarrassed of your mother I asked? She sheepishly said, "well, sometimes". Fine! I will wear matching clothes, brush my hair, and put on makeup. The things I do for my offspring, jeez! :)

It was such a touching evening as the team shared their memories of each of the seniors. Coach Chatterton personally came up to me and told me he could not have had the year he had without Leticia and all her hard work. It was a great moment. I even shed a tear, sniff sniff. I don't know about this Leticia-will-be-moving-out-soon stuff. Emotional wreck I say! Grandma Hansen, as usual, came to support Teesh. She is such a great grandma to my children.

While all this was going on, the team began warming up on the court. I watched the girls pass the ball, do lay ups, and shoot around. Wow, what good memories I had come flooding back to me. I played high school sports and what good days those were. Watching the teams made me so emotional. I could only stay for a short time as carpool duties called, but I loved being a part of this evening for Leticia. You make me proud little daughter of mine.

Here is Teesh behind the table performing one of her many responsibilities as manager



Teesh being told about how great she has been.

Group shot! Senior with parents

Teesh displaying her wonderful memories. It was great. See the yellow figure beneath the balloon? It is a rock figure with yellow yarn hair, adorable. Someone went to a lot of trouble. The evening couldn't have been better, way to go Leticia. You are beautiful inside and out!

Girls, Girls, Girls

Have you ever asked yourself what it would be like to live in a house full of estrogen? Well, it is your lucky day, I am going to show you what it is all about, the good, the bad, and the ugly!

When you go to Costco you get to spend $146.00 on products like this every couple of months:

You get to have hair everywhere! Hair on every surface. Now this probably isn't that big of a deal but to those of us who have a hair fetish it is a bit much. All my girls have long gorgeous hair and it shows up every where I turn. I will spare you a photo because it grosses me out just contemplating taking that blasted thing.


Moving on......

Girls share clothes, accessories, and makeup. Girls want the bathroom all to themselves, girls love to text, talk to friends, be social. Girls love Drama!

What I love the most about my estrogen filled home is the friendships I am developing with these future BFF's. I love the deep conversations I enjoy with them about the hardships of day to day drama. I love hearing the good days they had. Malia made my heart smile picking her up from school one afternoon. I asked how her day was, she had a huge grin and said it was a great day. I inquired why so great, her response, "Bryson was out of uniform and the shirt he was wearing made him look so cute". 
Sierra will tell me about how hard life is and I love to listen to her and l love that she trusts me with the info. Leticia has some big adult decisions coming up and I love that she bounces ideas off me and wants my opinion.

Yes, I spend a lot of money on paper products, food, accessories, and clothes but..... bring it on. I love my girls. I love the house full of estrogen.(Most days;))

Estrogen homes have best work ever jobs. For some odd reason no one wants to fill the pitcher of water for dinner. So one day, Bria took one for the team and said she would complete the task. She said, "Mommy I am doing the best work ever", yes, you are sweetie.

My three oldest play the piano. In an estrogen filled home, sweet music can be heard either by the piano, guitar or Ipod.

Estrogen homes have lots of messy unkept hair days but so much love given to our babies and stuffed animals. Do you see the cell phone in Ada's hand, she is starting off young!

Estrogen homes have girls who don't want their pictures taken but their wise mother takes the shot anyway for future blackmail purposes. We see you Teesh!

Estrogen homes have big helpers, Ada setting the table for dinner but taking some time to properly pose for Clarissa.

Estrogen filled homes have lots of love to share. Sierra giving Malia a huge bear hug!

So the long and the short, estrogen homes have a lot to offer, I highly recommend it!

Roadie to I.F.

My parents are serving their 4th mission in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Sunday, was their farewell, I know we don't call it that anymore, but I still do. My girls had a church basketball game Saturday morning so we didn't hit the road until after 2 PM. With Tangled playing and everyone settled, Sierra drove us to our destination. If you were in the vehicle this is what was commonly heard, "Sierra, stay between the white lines sweetie, Sierra, you need to slow down, see the red lights ahead of us, Sierra, turn down your music." Holy freak, when we arrived, I breathed a sigh of relief and said a little prayer of gratitude. Love that Sierra, but she is going to give me heart failure with her driving skills.
We were the first to arrive around 5:30! Booyah, you ask why I am so excited about that? I'll tell you. We got to choose which room would be ours for the night. Love my parents to death, but the bed accommodations in their home leave a lot to be desired. There is one king size bed and the rest full sized in my parent's homestead. Oh yea, great night's sleep with Corby size 6'2" and me  5'9" snuggling in a full size bed. Since we were first, we so snagged the king size and not a minute too soon as Pam's family showed up 10 minutes later. Sorry, you snooze you lose sista!
My mom had a spaghetti dinner with garlic bread ready for partaking. I brought the fixing for a green salad. My Mom is the hardest worker I know. She makes everything from scratch when we all get together which is no small task. We all try to help, but she wants to make it as easy on us as possible. My Mom is an amazing woman. She has had rheumatoid arthritis my entire life and lives in constant pain but you wouldn't know it. She rarely complains. She is a great example of not allowing excuses and circumstances to dictate her life. If I can accomplish half my mom has, I will feel like I lived a great life.By the end of the evening, Brad and Teresa and 5 of their 6 children were there, Pam and Kevin with 4 of their 6 were there and my family of 7. We played card games and watched BYU sports. It was a great relaxing evening until little Ada Rae came to sit on my lap and was burning up. Are you kidding me? This little squirt seems to fever with no other symptoms every other day as of late. I kindly excused myself and put her, as well as myself, to bed. Good Night! I also wasn't in the mood to debate my philosophy of antibiotics. I have multiple nephews who are doctors, or soon to being doctors, so they share freely their opinions of the stupidity of my approach to antibiotics. I believe in antibiotics. I believe they have a place but I like other remedies first. My sister-in-law is convinced Ada has strep but I am not feeling it so I will do my thing and you all do yours. I have never been fond of traditional medicine. Fine for you and your family but not for us. And guess what next morning Ada was fine. Deep thoughts! I know this can be a heated discussion so it is best to not go there. Free country do what you want and I'll do the same. Love to everyone and their choices, thank goodness the good Lord provided us with brains to think for ourselves, huh!
 LaraLee and her two youngest sons as well as Kyle made it to the meeting. So my parents had 4 of the their 6 children there. Church was at 9AM. My parents have three bathrooms with their master mostly off limits so it was an early morning to get everyone out the door. We surprisingly made it and even early. The temperature in Idaho Falls was below zero (very typical for Idaho) and all our water bottles in the Yukon were frozen solid. My parents did a great job on their talks, My dad went over 15 minutes so that was a little embarrassing, but that is my dad. 
The Stake President came over to the house to set my parents apart and we had lunch. We played a few more card games and just relaxed on the couch. Teresa and I spoke a lot about college preparations and she gave some great sound advice to Teesh. It is always refreshing to have someone else share their opinions on topics because teenagers seem to listen better to others.
We hit the road about 8 PM to make for a quiet sleep filled ride. Corby drove while I talked his ear off. 
It was a great weekend!
I forgot Clarissa so no great photos. I am really becoming a forgetful person and it is so annoying!

Snow

We live in Utah! 

Utah snows in the winter! 

We love the snow! 

We love the four changing season! 

We love to ski, sled, have snowball fights,create snowmen, create snow angels and absolutely enjoy the winter season.

 This year has been a bit much for the snowing though. We shovel our driveway, sidewalks, and streets so we can maneuver around only to find ourselves back out the next day or sometimes a few hours later doing it all over again. I feel like I am developing a too close for comfort relationship with my snow shovel these days!

Malia I see you, hang in there someone will rescue you

 

 Isn't it beautiful! I love snow .I really do but this year we have made up for the past years of less than normal. And let's talk temperatures, brrrrr! (that is saying a lot coming from a girl who wears flip flops and no coat most days)

Corby earning his keep

Malia by his side!

Corby sporting his new winter coat. He needed a new coat so bad, his old coat was over 20 years old. So, welcome to the 20th century honey!

Teesh, interesting shovel, but hey whatever works!

We all worked so hard, and even a few neighbors joined in to help us after they cleared their driveway. We don't have a snow blower, on purpose. I think some chores should be done with good old fashion hard work and snow shoveling is one of them. Seeing how I am the snow shoveler 90% of the time it is OK to have this philosophy. If we continue to have this much snow every year, I might rethink my logic. Look at the pile of snow on our grass. Holy Moly wintertime.

Malia and our neighbor, Brooklyn

  

There's the cement! We knew it was there. Grandma Hansen came down to hear Teesh give a talk in Sacrament meeting and after this storm, decided to stay the night. She is always so good to support our family in our activities. 

I wish I had photos of this event but wasn't in attendance so words will have to suffice. Our neighbor, Niki Guevara, called to tell me about an awesome deal at the Canyon's Resort. For $39, you get ski rentals, ski lessons, lunch, and a ski lift pass for all day. Malia and Sierra played hookie from school and left at 7AM with our neighbors. They had a great time and learned a lot. They both have wanted to learn to ski so what an opportunity this was. Sierra was suppose to take photos, but understandable so, she didn't take many. Corby and I have always loved to ski. We usually go only once or twice a season(darn money is too tight for more than that) but lately it has been zero. I would love to have a skiing family. Put it on the bucket list!

Teesh later told me she would have enjoyed that opportunity. Sorry, misread that one completely. I'll make it up to you sweetie I promise.

Just one more reason we love Utah, the greatest snow on the earth!

365 Thank Yous

I sort of belong to two different book clubs and this book was introduced to me through one of them. Now, let me set the record straight, I am not much of a reader, I have read probably 10 books over the past year. I enjoy reading but that hasn't always been the case. I am not the kind of person when I have a spare minute I'll grab a book but every so often I find a good book and will enjoy it.  This book had a profound impact on me. I don't know if it is because I can relate on so many levels or what, but wow talk about life changing. I will try to describe in my own words what it is about but it is a small 227 page book that is a very easy read. I highly recommend it the next time you are at the library, check it out.
When author John Kralik's life hit a desperate low, he decided on New Years Day that if he could focus on what he had instead of what he didn't have, that perhaps his life would become at least tolerable. He was losing his law firm, getting a second divorce, had strained relationships with his 3 children, and just felt like it would be easier to have a heart attack than to continue the path he was traveling.
He was walking in the mountains one day and heard a voice tell him if he couldn't be grateful for the things he had, he would never get the things he wanted. He learned that he did not even know how to spell grateful correctly. He decided to write 365 thank yous the following year. I don't want to spoil the story but it was an amazing transformation that occurred in his life as well as mine.
I too, have made it a goal to send out thank yous to those people who have taught me life lessons. I truly believe that if we train ourselves to look for good we will see good. The opposite is also true! I honestly can say I use to be so positive and optimistic but through the rough patches of life, I have allowed myself to become the opposite. Through this read, I learned that it is necessary to forgive others and remember people can change. If we choose to allow people to move past their wrongs we all can enjoy a more  enriched abundant life. If I can forgive others than maybe others will be willing to give me a second chance as well. We are all here learning and growing and yes we make mistakes. The real tragedy is when we never see the growth that happens when we look past mistakes. I know I am guilty of this and will try this new year to be less grudge holding and look for the good in others. And maybe as an extra bonus others might do the same for me.

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Welcome 2013

There are a lot of changes in our life with the new year, let's discuss what has and is all happening in the world of the Corby Hansen Family.
Corby won an all expense paid trip for himself and a guest to Cabo San Lucas for 4 days. I have fingers crossed he chooses me as the guest. We go in April, just a few days before the half marathon I will run with Teesh and Sierra. He was also the top sales manager in the nation for his company for the year 2012 , wow, buttons are popping for sure! He deserves these two awards, he works like a red headed step child! We are lucky to have him on our team.
I was released as the CTR 4 and 5 primary teacher and now teach the 15 to 18 year old Sunday School class. I basically went from teaching my two youngest to two oldest. Bria was so concerned about the change. She asked me if I was still going to be her mother. I reassured her yes still the mother just not going to spend all 3 hours at church with her anymore. I welcome this change. It will be a hard transition,  the church did away with manuals and it is mostly a discussion that the youth are to carry. I am excited for this new chapter. The days of showing up at church and sitting and listening are over, to stay strong in the gospel we have to come having studied the topic and share and teach instead of just listen. I feel this change was inspired and will change the world as we know it. I am nervous but excited. I hope that since Sierra and Teesh are in my class, that won't have an impact on them sharing things. I feel excited and hopeful for this new and exciting change. And what an exciting trip to get to look forward to in April. Anyone up for watching our herd while we endure the beach!

A new hairdo

When we bought our home in Taylorsville, the plan was to live here for 2 years and then move to where we would sink our roots in deep for the remainder of our child rearing years. Well, 8 plus years later, we are still in Taylorsville. For many reasons we just don't feel it is the right thing for our family to move. Our house is actually pretty great except for a few areas, kitchen, dining room and bathrooms. I love our bedroom sizes and amount. I love our backyard. I love the floor plan. I love that if people drop in, there is a welcoming room that basically stays tidy and the rest of the house is hidden(unless I invite them in). The things I would change if able would be like I stated, our kitchen, dining room, basement and  bathrooms. Our kitchen has a bunch of odd sized cabinets and our counter tops were the exact ones I grew up with. It was funny because I didn't remember this fact but would have this feeling of dejavu and one time my parents stopped in and my mom said, "oh, this color was in our Ucon home". And there you have it!
 Our dining room can barely fit our table and chairs seating for 8. We have toyed with the idea to build out but it would cost so much money and hardly give us much change. Plus our backyard is tiny, which we love  so there would be even less of a backyard.
So last November we decided to focus on updating our basement first since that was the most economical spot to begin. We painted the walls (Christmas Eve) and had the carpet replaced. We got all new furniture downstairs and even got a 55" television to add to the scene.
I have always wanted a home where my girls would want to bring their friends over to hang out here and now I feel like the basement is conducive to this wish. Next year, we will work on the bathrooms and maybe the kitchen.
Try as I may, I am unable to locate the awesome before basement photos. So just use your imagination and visualize white boring walls, beige plain carpet with red stains from the previous owners and old mismatching furniture. OK, do you have the image?
Here is the after shots now.......I just love the two tone paint. I love the white trim with the darker walls.

Under the TV, I would like a plug in fireplace with mantel. The ambiance is amazing and we could use a bit more warmth in our basement.

Got the bargain of the century on this lovely sectional....booyah! Still kind of have mismatched furniture, but this blue recliner will be with us through the eternities. It is so comfortable and where I sat to nurse all my sweet babies.

We figured if we have the toys behind the tv area the family can all be together and everyone is happy and fulfilled.

  This nifty little black item was supposed to change my life as I knew it,  it hasn't exactly lived up to it's full potential. Each cubby has all our toys. One cubby full of dishes and kitchen fun, another dress up, dolls and clothes, barbies.....you get the picture. Well, I need to attach pictures of the items or something on the outside of the cubby because there isn't a family member who is capable of putting like items with like items. So my brainy idea has been nothing but a glorified huge toy box that the girls shift through, dump out to get to the one desired item. Oh well, kids will be kids I guess.

Our family room downstairs is really long so we divided a section of it off for our office. I don't particularly love this idea but we need all 5 bedrooms right now. It is messy but well used. See the work out bench there. While I blog, Corby pumps iron. One day I will get organized and my desk will be clean but for now this is real life and how it looks 90% of the time. Just keeping it real people.

The next new and improved hairdo was replacing my rug and decor in the family room just off the dining room. I bought the items 8 years ago when we first moved in. The rug was black, which I loved but after 8 years of constantly vacuuming and still having it look dirty I traded it in for a lighter color. I also had the room accented in maroon and brown. I changed all maroon to an avocado green and cream. I rearranged the furniture in the room and have to say I am well pleased with the outcome. I also changed out my curtains from tan to green. Check it out!

If you look super close, you will see our family photo is sideways. Costco's photo machine was down so I couldn't update the frame, so yes, we are on our side!

 
 I changed out our curtains from tan to green. I had to hem them and for the sewing abilities I hold, it took a lot longer than it should have. Don't look too closely, but I have to say they look pretty great. On the curtains are brown designs, tying in the dining room with the living room. I also left a tiny bit of maroon, my fave color, see it, next to the table decor?

Our next house hairdo will be the bathrooms.......this June! I'll keep you posted, literally;)

Two Week Break

Between Christmas and New Years is kind of a hard time. I love that we are out of our rigid routine of homework, carpooling, lessons, and so on but what I get are teenagers who sleep in till noon, lay around on the couch and are basically bumps on a log. Now, I am all about a little R&R every now and then but two weeks is a bit much.
Ok, my girls didn't do nothing everyday but almost :)
Here are our last two weeks in a nutshell.

Friends came over and hung out a lot. Conner and Sierra making one of our families favorites,

I know these sound gross but they are so delish! It was a bit of torture for Teesh and I because we have not had any dessert items in over 3 months so to smell these cooking was a bit too much. Corby would like to do the no dessert challenge with us but he can't quite commit. He will say he will begin on Monday but we all know what that means, no biggie not everyone is as cool as Teesh and I and that is OK!

I love this photo for many reasons, the pink apron Sierra gave to Connor, the squash cooling on the stove top and the Frito in the lower corner. We have lots going on here and really only one is good for you but hey it is the holidays!
 

I have more photos of the rest of my family but I have seemed to have lost them. I tell you this getting older bit is not that much fun. I swear my mind is losing it big time. When I locate the missing photos I will be sure to add them.
We are back into the swing of regular life again and I have to say it feels good.
Here's to 2013 and routines!

New Year's Eve

We don't really have traditions to bring in the New Year. Sometimes we celebrate with family, sometimes with friends. This year it was the friends category. My work out buddy, Misty, had us over to her pad. She has 6 children, oldest being a boy then 5 girls, so we have a lot in common. Our two oldest and two youngest are similar ages but her middle two and Malia don't mix too well.
I made some appetizers and she provided veggies and we settled in for a full night of games.
It is so fun to hang out with others when our children get along so well. Seriously, we were there from 7:30 PM to 12:30 AM and not once did the girls argue. They get along so well (they spend so much time together at the daycare and also attend preschool together) I love that they have such cute little friends.
We played Slide 5, Mormon Bridge(have to be careful with this, Misty and her clan are not LDS), Catch Phrase, Scattergories(Corby's all time favorite), and a few other games.
When the magical midnight hour struck everyone sent a few texts wishing loved ones a new year and then we continued our game. No kissing. no pots and pans banging, no screaming just a quiet little moment to bring in the new year.
As with most,  some of the resolutions we as a family propose:
1) Jennifer will take over the allowance ledger and payroll department
2) We will try to be more kind to each other
3) Weekly Temple Attendance
4) We will be following a 95% plant base diet
5) And my most favorite, putting little girls in bed and teaching them to fall asleep with my assistance. Don't judge me here. I was a good mom to my first family and my girls could sleep without my presence, but somewhere along the struggle to get them here I slacked and they think I have to lay on their floor when they go to sleep. UGH for sure!
6) Jennifer, Leticia, and Sierra will all run a half marathon in April

I think we will stop there for family goals, don't want to overwhelm ourselves and end up not doing anything. Every new year we have an FHE about individual goal setting. We discuss how we felt last year went and what, if any, changes we need to implement for this upcoming year. The girls have 4 categories, 1)Spiritual, 2)Academic, 3)Physical, and 4)Entertainment. They must provide a goal for each category. I then type up the goals, laminate them, and hang them in visible spots in the house as reminders. I have to say some years are better than others, but this system seems to work well.
So cheers everyone to goals, and to 2013......We have high hopes for this being a bright new year!