Anyway, I wanted to share with you a picture of this girl's closet. This is before she was born and after all the baby showers.
Yep - dad says she already owns more clothes than he does and mom and dad won't need to be buying any anytime soon.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
A girl and her clothes...
Our good friends just had a baby girl two days ago. I held her and she is beautiful! I would post a picture of her - but I didn't get their permission - so just picture the cutest baby ever...
Anyway, I wanted to share with you a picture of this girl's closet. This is before she was born and after all the baby showers.
Yep - dad says she already owns more clothes than he does and mom and dad won't need to be buying any anytime soon.
Anyway, I wanted to share with you a picture of this girl's closet. This is before she was born and after all the baby showers.
Yep - dad says she already owns more clothes than he does and mom and dad won't need to be buying any anytime soon.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Just Don't Want To
We are back from our trip.
We are safe.
We had a blast.
We loved every minute that we got to spend together.
We have thousands of pictures.
But the truth is - I just don't want to blog right now.
We are safe.
We had a blast.
We loved every minute that we got to spend together.
We have thousands of pictures.
But the truth is - I just don't want to blog right now.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Will You Miss Us?
Since so many of you are going to miss us and be wondering about our adventure we thought we would steal a GREAT idea from my friend Erica and give you a picture itinerary.
May 7th: make our way from Salt Lake City to JFK International Airport (pictured above). We have a lovely 5 hour layover to get us nice and tired for the red-eye flight to Rome.
May 8th: depart JFK at 9:55 pm and land in Rome the next day at noon. We will be picked up by the cruise's shuttle service and taken to port Civitavecchia (pictured above). We will check onto the boat and explore until we leave port at 6:00 pm.
May 9th: explore the ruins of Pompeii (pictured above) near Naples Italy.
May 10th: spend a day at sea relaxing, reading, swimming, eating, eating and eating.
May 11th: spend another day at sea and continue eating.
May 12th: deboard in Alexandria, Egypt where we begin our Grand Cairo (pictured above) overnight adventure. We will visit Egyptian Museum Of Antiquities , Citadel Of Salah El Din, Muhammad Ali Mosque, Khan Khalil Bazaar, and our day will end with a SOUND & LIGHT SHOW AT THE PYRAMIDS (thank goodness we will have a tour guide to explain what some of these place are that I know nothing about and good thing my husband loves history). You have to pay to take pictures during the light show at the pyramids and you have to pay to ride a camel and see scenic views of Giza - but who knows - we might do both!
May 13th: start with a BREAKFAST CRUISE ON THE NILE followed by Step Pyramid of Sakkara, The Great Pyramids (pictured above) and ending with shopping and photo opportunities of the Sphinx. Because Egypt is a primarily muslim country we will be wearing clothes to cover our knees and shoulders and not have anything with loud prints.
May 14th: begin our Grand Overland: Jerusalem (pictured above), Bethlehem & Galilee adventure. We will visit the Garden of Gethsemane, Church of All Nations, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jewish Quarter, The Western or Wailing Wall, and Bethlehem. We will then have lunch and a shopping break in Bethlehem before travelling northeast from Ashdod on the approximately 60-minute drive to Jerusalem. We will drive along the Road of Courage, traversing the stony hills of Judea and continue north to Bethlehem passing Rachel's Tomb and the spend the night in Jerusalem.
May 15th: we will travel the approximately 100 mile drive to the Sea of Galilee (pictured above). Along the way we will visit the River Jordan, the Mount of the Beatitudes, Tabgha, Nazareth, Capernaum, and have a photo opportunity of the Sea of Galilee. After lunch (which comes with free WINE) we will travel north through the Jordan Valley to Nazareth. We will continue to Capernaum and then travel west through the Sharon and Jezreel Valleys to Haifa. We will then rejoin the ship in the late afternoon following a brief panoramic tour of the port.
May 16th: enjoy a much needed and relaxing day at sea and continue our great eating.
May 17th: spend a day in Ephesus (pictured above).
May 18th: see the highlights of Patmos (pictured above) and enjoy lunch while watching a folkloric show (Greek food is my all time favorite and I am so exicted!
May 19th: see the best Santorini (pictured above) has to offer.
May 20th: begin our stay in Athens. We are deboarding the boat at 6 am where Charity's wonderful mom is picking us up and acting as our wonderful tour guide for the next 4 full days and a little bit. The first day will include the Ancient Agora (pictured above), Agora Musem, Temple of Hephaistus, Roman Agora, Tower of the Wind, the Hadrian Library, the Acropolis and the Plaka.
May 21st: continue seeing Athens by enjoying the National Archaeological Museum, the Temple of Olympian Zeus (pictured above), the Temple of Poseidon and anything we missed the day before.
May 22nd: Epidaurus (pictured above), Mycenae and Corinth.
May 24th: leave Athens and fly to Rome with only 1 suitcase per person that can't way more than 44 pounds. Charity's mom is going to send home a box for us because I think that I will have bought 44 pounds of stuff by that point... :) We have rented an apartment in Rome that is right by the Vatican Museum. The first day, after flying to Rome, we are going to enjoy the Borghese Gallery (pictured above) and Gardens and end with a Night Walk Across Rome.
May 25th: begin heavy sighseeing of Rome by enjoying Palantine Hill, Colosseum (pictured above), the Roman Forum, Capitoline Hill, Piazza del Campidoglio, Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.
May 26th: tour the Vatican (museum steps pictured above), St. Peter’s Basilica, Piazza Novona and Campo de Flori.
May 27th: enjoy Capitoline Museums, Baths of Dioctetian – Octagonal hall and the Appian Way (pictured above).
May 28th: day trip to Tivoli Gardens (pictured above).
May 29th: fly from Rome airport (pictured above) to JFK and then home. When we arrive we will be in need of a relaxing - do nothing vacation - because we will most likely look like this...
We decided to come home on Friday so that we would have both Saturday and Sunday to do the following:
and...
We are so excited and hope that you enjoy checking on us every now and again to see what we are up to. We are going communication-less and will not be checking email, making phone calls, or checking in. We are going to just enjoy each other's company and see the world! Have a great May 2009 - we know we will!
May 7th: make our way from Salt Lake City to JFK International Airport (pictured above). We have a lovely 5 hour layover to get us nice and tired for the red-eye flight to Rome.
May 8th: depart JFK at 9:55 pm and land in Rome the next day at noon. We will be picked up by the cruise's shuttle service and taken to port Civitavecchia (pictured above). We will check onto the boat and explore until we leave port at 6:00 pm.
May 9th: explore the ruins of Pompeii (pictured above) near Naples Italy.
May 10th: spend a day at sea relaxing, reading, swimming, eating, eating and eating.
May 11th: spend another day at sea and continue eating.
May 12th: deboard in Alexandria, Egypt where we begin our Grand Cairo (pictured above) overnight adventure. We will visit Egyptian Museum Of Antiquities , Citadel Of Salah El Din, Muhammad Ali Mosque, Khan Khalil Bazaar, and our day will end with a SOUND & LIGHT SHOW AT THE PYRAMIDS (thank goodness we will have a tour guide to explain what some of these place are that I know nothing about and good thing my husband loves history). You have to pay to take pictures during the light show at the pyramids and you have to pay to ride a camel and see scenic views of Giza - but who knows - we might do both!
May 13th: start with a BREAKFAST CRUISE ON THE NILE followed by Step Pyramid of Sakkara, The Great Pyramids (pictured above) and ending with shopping and photo opportunities of the Sphinx. Because Egypt is a primarily muslim country we will be wearing clothes to cover our knees and shoulders and not have anything with loud prints.
May 14th: begin our Grand Overland: Jerusalem (pictured above), Bethlehem & Galilee adventure. We will visit the Garden of Gethsemane, Church of All Nations, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jewish Quarter, The Western or Wailing Wall, and Bethlehem. We will then have lunch and a shopping break in Bethlehem before travelling northeast from Ashdod on the approximately 60-minute drive to Jerusalem. We will drive along the Road of Courage, traversing the stony hills of Judea and continue north to Bethlehem passing Rachel's Tomb and the spend the night in Jerusalem.
May 15th: we will travel the approximately 100 mile drive to the Sea of Galilee (pictured above). Along the way we will visit the River Jordan, the Mount of the Beatitudes, Tabgha, Nazareth, Capernaum, and have a photo opportunity of the Sea of Galilee. After lunch (which comes with free WINE) we will travel north through the Jordan Valley to Nazareth. We will continue to Capernaum and then travel west through the Sharon and Jezreel Valleys to Haifa. We will then rejoin the ship in the late afternoon following a brief panoramic tour of the port.
May 16th: enjoy a much needed and relaxing day at sea and continue our great eating.
May 17th: spend a day in Ephesus (pictured above).
May 18th: see the highlights of Patmos (pictured above) and enjoy lunch while watching a folkloric show (Greek food is my all time favorite and I am so exicted!
May 19th: see the best Santorini (pictured above) has to offer.
May 20th: begin our stay in Athens. We are deboarding the boat at 6 am where Charity's wonderful mom is picking us up and acting as our wonderful tour guide for the next 4 full days and a little bit. The first day will include the Ancient Agora (pictured above), Agora Musem, Temple of Hephaistus, Roman Agora, Tower of the Wind, the Hadrian Library, the Acropolis and the Plaka.
May 21st: continue seeing Athens by enjoying the National Archaeological Museum, the Temple of Olympian Zeus (pictured above), the Temple of Poseidon and anything we missed the day before.
May 22nd: Epidaurus (pictured above), Mycenae and Corinth.
May 24th: leave Athens and fly to Rome with only 1 suitcase per person that can't way more than 44 pounds. Charity's mom is going to send home a box for us because I think that I will have bought 44 pounds of stuff by that point... :) We have rented an apartment in Rome that is right by the Vatican Museum. The first day, after flying to Rome, we are going to enjoy the Borghese Gallery (pictured above) and Gardens and end with a Night Walk Across Rome.
May 25th: begin heavy sighseeing of Rome by enjoying Palantine Hill, Colosseum (pictured above), the Roman Forum, Capitoline Hill, Piazza del Campidoglio, Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.
May 26th: tour the Vatican (museum steps pictured above), St. Peter’s Basilica, Piazza Novona and Campo de Flori.
May 27th: enjoy Capitoline Museums, Baths of Dioctetian – Octagonal hall and the Appian Way (pictured above).
May 28th: day trip to Tivoli Gardens (pictured above).
May 29th: fly from Rome airport (pictured above) to JFK and then home. When we arrive we will be in need of a relaxing - do nothing vacation - because we will most likely look like this...
We decided to come home on Friday so that we would have both Saturday and Sunday to do the following:
and...
We are so excited and hope that you enjoy checking on us every now and again to see what we are up to. We are going communication-less and will not be checking email, making phone calls, or checking in. We are going to just enjoy each other's company and see the world! Have a great May 2009 - we know we will!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The Joys of Home Ownership...
Our dishwasher was installed incorrectly and it has been steadily leaking since the day we moved in - drip, drip, drip, drip - you get the picture. We don't have a lot of need for our basement and the room that it was leaking into is a soundproofed room with extra layers of drywall in insulation. Needless to say, it has been dripping for a little more than two months and we have never noticed. Some friends came to visit on Saturday and commented about the bubble in our ceiling. We'd never seen it but we are really glad that it was discovered before we left on our vacation.
This mess, pulled from our ceiling, is some of the wet drywall and insulation that has been getting more and more wet over the last two months.
This is the "carefully" cut whole made in our ceiling by the plumber in an attempt to find the problem.
Doesn't it look like he was careful?
And this is just some of the mess that he left for us to clean up and also the point that I stopped taking pictures. We had to put the camera away when the ceiling started to rain and pour because at that point it wasn't just about a good story and a little fun - it was a FREAKING disaster.
Several hours of cleaning and re-cleaning have passed and we have given the plumber $240 to fix the problem - too bad that doesn't fix the sopping carpet, the drenched pad, the hole in the ceiling or the insulation.
But it does mean that we can leave on our trip without worrying about a leak in our home and that we will come home to a dry basement. The other stuff will just have to wait...
This mess, pulled from our ceiling, is some of the wet drywall and insulation that has been getting more and more wet over the last two months.
This is the "carefully" cut whole made in our ceiling by the plumber in an attempt to find the problem.
Doesn't it look like he was careful?
And this is just some of the mess that he left for us to clean up and also the point that I stopped taking pictures. We had to put the camera away when the ceiling started to rain and pour because at that point it wasn't just about a good story and a little fun - it was a FREAKING disaster. Several hours of cleaning and re-cleaning have passed and we have given the plumber $240 to fix the problem - too bad that doesn't fix the sopping carpet, the drenched pad, the hole in the ceiling or the insulation.
But it does mean that we can leave on our trip without worrying about a leak in our home and that we will come home to a dry basement. The other stuff will just have to wait...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
And we own this...
And now, we own this too! We have now have no car payment which is so exciting and I love that feeling! Maybe one day we'll own our degrees too...I don't know what we'll do with ourselves when we aren't paying student loans but I can tell you this we will be taking a trip to celebrate! Little by little we're chipping away at that too...
Thursday, April 16, 2009
For the first time....I feel....WICKED!
Yep - we saw it! Yep - it was amazing!
No - it wasn't our first time!
No - I didn't kill mr. wiggles in front of me (even though I really really wanted to)!
Yep - we love Missy for getting our tickets!
Yep - we recommend you see it!
I really think they should have a Wicked sing-a-long that we can all go to because I can barely force myself to sing in my head when I see Wicked! You too, huh?
Saturday, April 4, 2009
He's Home
You can bet that we were really excited to pick Elder Hansen up from the airport this past Friday. He served faithfully for two years in South Korea. He is our youngest brother and we love him and are so glad that he is home! Mom was probably the most excited and glad that he was coming home...
We picked up these balloons at Granite Bakery when we were picking up all the goodies to have at that house when he got home. We painted, laid new carpet, cleaned and cleaned and cleaned to get ready for his arrival. 
This was our first glimpse of the cutest missionary ever! 
Mom and son ran into each other's arms...
Then dad greeted him...
And he was so glad that Grandpa and Grandma made it to welcome him home!
And the brothers have now all finished faithfully serving their missions! The last of the three - home at last.
Mom and Dad with Nick.
We really are so glad that he has returned and he is just the same as he has always been. He is funny, telling jokes and the boys have already been chasing each other through the house like he had never been gone. He is glad to have ice, peanut butter, cereal and ice cream. He is having a hard time sitting on the couches and sleeping in his bed.
Conference weekend is a good weekend for him to come home. He is surrounded by family and friends and will have a spiritual weekend. Also, he met a Korean couple in the airport and it was fun to watch him bow and hear a little Korean.
Welcome Home Nick - we sure are glad you have returned!
We picked up these balloons at Granite Bakery when we were picking up all the goodies to have at that house when he got home. We painted, laid new carpet, cleaned and cleaned and cleaned to get ready for his arrival. 
This was our first glimpse of the cutest missionary ever! 
Mom and son ran into each other's arms...
Then dad greeted him...
And he was so glad that Grandpa and Grandma made it to welcome him home!
And the brothers have now all finished faithfully serving their missions! The last of the three - home at last.
Mom and Dad with Nick.
We really are so glad that he has returned and he is just the same as he has always been. He is funny, telling jokes and the boys have already been chasing each other through the house like he had never been gone. He is glad to have ice, peanut butter, cereal and ice cream. He is having a hard time sitting on the couches and sleeping in his bed.
Conference weekend is a good weekend for him to come home. He is surrounded by family and friends and will have a spiritual weekend. Also, he met a Korean couple in the airport and it was fun to watch him bow and hear a little Korean. 
Welcome Home Nick - we sure are glad you have returned!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Snow Again...
When we lived in our Townhouse, the HOA fee that we paid included our snow removal. So every morning, after at least 2 inches of snow, we could lie in bed and listen to someone else shovel our walks and driveway. This is a lovely sound and became one of my favorite Sunday morning sounds - to hear someone else shoveling my walk. Well - enjoyable sound no longer.
Now that we live in our own home, with no HOA, the snow just lies and waits for us. We got about 6 inches of snow last night and Oliver already packed the shovel away in the shed for Spring...so he needed to go and traipse through the yard and get the shovel and then do our driveway.
But, as I lay in bed this morning, I heard that all too familiar and comfortable sound of driveways being shoveled. And, sure enough, when we left for work this morning, this is what we had found! Our neighbor shoveled our driveway! YEAH! What a blessing!
Now that we live in our own home, with no HOA, the snow just lies and waits for us. We got about 6 inches of snow last night and Oliver already packed the shovel away in the shed for Spring...so he needed to go and traipse through the yard and get the shovel and then do our driveway.
But, as I lay in bed this morning, I heard that all too familiar and comfortable sound of driveways being shoveled. And, sure enough, when we left for work this morning, this is what we had found! Our neighbor shoveled our driveway! YEAH! What a blessing!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Under Construction
The truth is...
But our lives have been...
We have been really busy...
and...
We have been trying to balance both... 
But we finally have...
And this is happening at 5 pm today...
So hopefully our...
Will get more attention next week!
But our lives have been...We have been really busy...and...We have been trying to balance both... But we finally have...And this is happening at 5 pm today...So hopefully our...Will get more attention next week!