Best Buck Deal!!!

I'm always pleased to find great deals...this is the best one yet that i've come across this summer! Seeing as how it's been over 100 degrees every day since we've been in Texas, it just makes sense that the city has 3 or 4 public pools...the best one we've been to yet is the Washington Aquatic Park...it's on the opposite side of town, but worth the drive considering it only costs one dollar!!! Kids 2 and under are free, I only have to pay one dollar....it's so convenient because I can put a life jacket on Carter with arm floaties and let her loose...there's a separte toddler pool that's only a foot deep, so while she's playing and I keep an eye on her, I can still take care of Owen...thankfully he usually just snuggles in the stroller for a snooze while we play. The life jacket rental is free, there's life guards everywhere, the pools are SOOO clean, there's a few shaded picnic areas and outside food, floaties, toys, blankets and chairs are welcome!!!! We couldn't ask for anything more....I do believe this Sunday we're going to go in the evening for the family swim time!!!

Carter is getting to be such a big girl....she's very hesitant to get in the water and explore at first, but with a little silliness from her mother...and encouragement from her little "boyfriend" Jackson....she'll do just about anything!!! Jackson is such a sweet little boy, his family is from Utah, his dad is selling alarm systems, and his mom Christy is a gem! There's a few other "wives" that we're getting to know...it's a little tricky as they all live in the apartments because they're part of the original Midland group. It's nice thought that at least I still have Katoba and her girls here in the hotel as well, so we get to see a few familiar faces!!! The past two weeks John's cousin Kristy came out to visit her husband who is head tech (John's boss) and i've had fun getting to know her one on one, she comes to chat with me late at night when we're both all alone waiting for our husbands to come home....Carter adores her, and Owen likes to smile and coo at her too!!!

Carter and Olivia sure had fun riding on my back, it's the only way I could get them so play in the water at first! Later they got brave and branched out on their own!!! I have to say it was fun for me too! I know I look a little silly, but I just really didn't care, helping my kid have a fun time is what it's all about! I was so surprised that we got a few pictures together where we're both smiling and looking at the camera....it's SOOOO hard getting a two year old to look AT the camera, I'll cherish these few pictures! My Carter is such a funny girl...just silly to the bone, I SO enjoy the time I get to spend with her each day, laughing and teasing and snuggling...what fun we're having this summer!!!!

John's Birthday

We celebrated John's 29th birthday last Sunday. His birthday was on Tuesday, but these fellas work such odd hours, 6 days a week, so a Sunday celebration it was!!! We had croissant sandwiches, and Reeses Blizzard Cake, the Hotel has a nice lounge down in the lobby, so we gathered with a few friends and family. I meant to take pictures of everyone, but this is all we ended up with! It's been a while since John and I have been captured on camera together, so I really cherish these pictures!!! Thankfully on Tuesday morning we're scheduled to get family picutres done at Portrait Innovations...they're SO cheap, and for the price you get pretty decent pictures...YAY! The only picture we have with both kids is from Owen's blessing, so i'm even more excited to get this done...the best part is that I only bought a few clearnace items to complete our coordinating attire!!! Carter and I will be in sweaters, the boys in polos, we'll all be barefoot in jeans...I can't wait to see how they turn out!!!

Hotel Living...

Ok, so I've had a TON of people ask how it is living in a hotel....I know at first thought it would seem frustrating or annoying, but let me tell you folks, with a little creativity, it can be VERY easy, fun, and rather relaxing!!!

The biggest problem with where we're at now is that we're not in suites, so bye bye to the full fridge, stove, kitchen sink and dishwasher that we had in Iowa, and hello to....uhhhh....well, a teeny tiny fridge (yes we go to the grocery store a lot for fresh food)...a little microwave, and a multi purpose bathroom sink!

Cooking in the microwave is actually quite easy, and I bought a small George Foreman grill to do meats on....so the other night I made a delicious grilled chicken, Mexican rice, and refried beans....might I say it was delicious, and I got a huge kick out of being creative....yes, I have to cook in the bathroom because it's the only safe space (heat resistant counter) to use the grill and our toaster....Unfortunately as my mother so lovingly pointed out...the bathroom is, well....a bathroom so some necessary activities that don't usually go hand in hand with cooking also take place in there as well....AT LEAST not at the same time... right!!!

I just have to laugh at our daily life here....in the morning we brush out teeth, and get ready for the day, then I wash the sink so I can wash dishes and bottles, then I wash it again to give the baby a bath, and then wash the sink again so that it's ready for whatever comes next!!! It's pretty frustrating that we don't have a bathtub (only the handicap rooms have tubs, we have 2 person granite shower) so Owen gets bathed in the sink most of the time, although he's outgrowing it and I shower with Carter...I bet you can guess how well that goes with a two year old who hates getting splashed....I lure her in by drawing snakes on the glass shower wall (with bath foam) for her to "wash wash wash" then I surprise attack her with washing her hair and body...the screaming only lasts a few minutes...then she laughs and tells me all day that she had a "sssower" with "sneeks"!!!!

Thankfully, I have very well behave children...we brought a lot of Carter's toys, so she's pretty well entertained all day...Owen's a good little guy and doesn't fuss too much....my biggest concern in a hotel was being too loud for the hotel guests above, below and next to us, but I have to say we do pretty well, no complaints yet!!! We don't have a separate bedroom, so when Carter needs a time out I have to send her to the bathroom...it's really funny to hear myself say in serious mommy tone "Carter do you want to go to the bathroom".... or "Carter go to the bathroom until you're done crying".....it just sounds so funny especially since she's not potty trained and has no other reason to "go to the bathroom"!!!

Nap time is easy peasy...I just close the curtains, have Carter lay down on Daddy's side of the bed, tell her to close her eyes for a rest...and within minutes...SHE'S OUT!!! AND I can go about my business without her ever waking up, I can visitors, housekeeping can come and go, Owen can cry, I can watch TV, be on the computer....etc....and she stays asleep...yes I know I'm VERY BLESSED!!! Owen is starting to nap about the same time, and goes to bed about an hour or so after Carter...he wakes up to eat once in the middle of the night and then again in the wee hours of the morning, but hey that's pretty good!!!

Riding the elevator up and down, up and down to go from floor five to one to do laundry gets annoying, but Carter loves to have "my's earn" (my turn) to push the buttons, she's learning the numbers 1 and 5 really well!!! Not having to pay to do laundry makes up for it though...they have new whirlpool duets (my dream machines!) and don't charge a cent!!!

The kids and I spend time at the community water park with other wives and kids that are here for the summer as well, we go to museums, walk the air conditioned mall, skype with family, and most days just carry on a normal routine with play time, movie time, quiet time, nap time, food time....etc. We do miss Daddy during the day, if he's working locally he's often in and out all afternoon/evening which can sometimes be really hard on Carter....he doesn't get home until usually around midnight, so we really love our lazy mornings, we all pile in our bed and watch Sponge Bob, Phineas and Ferb, and Mickey Mouse Club House all morning, and then slowly get ourselves moving with breakfast and showers...a couple times a week we get to go out to lunch or dinner with John, my new favorite place is Sam's Club, just across the street, you don't have to be a member to get in, and you can get a Famous Nathan's hot dog, and soda for $1.70...or we can get pizza, soft pretzels, ice cream sundaes...etc....we also LOVE Rosa's Cafe and Tortillaria mmmmm!!! That's one awesome thing about this desert land....there are fresh tortilla's made and sold everywhere!!!

So far we've had great hotel staff taking care of us, I love having housekeeping come every day...it's nice to have everything freshened BUT I do miss caring for house and home (minus the scrubbing the toilet part!!!) We've really enjoyed having the internet again, and cable!!! Oh I'm SO addicted to the food network channel, TLC, Lifetime and BRAVO!!! We also enjoy being able to access Netflix....thanks Nana Pattie!!! The air conditioning is oh so lovely, and the convenience of the pool is nice as well all in all, it's been a really great experience, one I'd be willing to repeat.....well, maybe....there's still a few months to go before the final judgement can be made!!!

A few thoughts and ponderings...

Thinking back on being a little girl and teenager, it seemed that although I was happy- life just hadn't seemed to really start yet, I was always waiting to turn the corner and find some new adventure or experience that was just out of my reach. Well little girl, you've grown up (kind of!) and here's life....you don't have to turn a corner to find it, it will just plop in your lap!!!

This isn't a "woe is me" post, because let's face it, we're all living life and all could go on for hours about the woes of our existence....no this is more of a "gee, I feel like i'm actually getting it, and feel really smart today for living life"! I guess I just felt like I need to share a few things so that someday myself and my kids can go back and maybe learn a little something....the following than I guess should be titled "The Lesson's I've Learned from Life Plopping in My Lap"!

1. Making important decisions should always be made into a spiritual matter, not only does Heavenly Father have a plan of salvation for us, but he also has a specific life plan for us....if we ALWAYS seek to do His will and live worthy to receive inspiration pertaining to His will, then we will be blessed in time, beyond our earthly comprehension.

2. Having faith is an uplifting power. Allowing fear is a debilitating weakness.

3. Life is FULL of options....use your brain, the process of elimination, the advice of SMART friends and family,.....make a choice and get on with it.

4. Getting what you wished for is great, as long as you know what you really want before you make a wish!

5. SELF CONTROL is the key to much happiness!

6. Don't lose your education....USE your education. This includes things you learn from home, school, church, work, play and ALL other experiences you have in life....you're smarter than you think....believe in yourself, and ALWAYS believe in others.

7. We don't have to know the answers to everything.

8. Life will NEVER be "fair".

9. Being a mother is truly a gift, and the second greatest thing i'll ever do.

10. Being a wife, sealed in the temple to my husband is the GREATEST thing I will ever do. The first year of marriage I learned more about myself, the second year I learned more about him, the third year we learned about "us", the fourth and fifth years we learned about being a family as we added Carter and Owen....the rest....is yet to come! I'm so grateful that we have an eternity to continue learning, and growing together....life is so much better when you have a partner to share it with! How great is my love and my joy with him!

All about Owen

My Owen boy is a Momma's Boy!!! I LOVE IT! Carter has ALWAYS been a Daddy's girl, even as an infant she prefered to be snuggled by him, held by him and as a toddler EVERYTHING is about D-A-D!!! OH how I love that this little man at this point in time prefers his Momma!!!

We were so surprised to find out we were having a son, and even more surprised when he came two weeks early!!! He's been a little sweet ever since!

I really love my babies, those first few moments are so special and amazing, I love to hear their first cry so I can take a deep breath and know that I got them here safe and sound.
After that initial "i'm here" cry, Owen was SO quiet while the nurses were working on him...I kept having to ask if he was ok, I knew he had his lungs sucked out, and that he needed a little oxygen (pretty standard stuff) but he was SO quiet, surely there was something wrong I thought, the nurses and my mother in law and sister in law kept reassuring me as they were snapping pictures of the little guy!

At about a week old, Nana Powell whipped out her camera for a photo shoot, unfortunately this little guy is camera shy, and HATED being naked, as soon as we put clothes on him he settled down and let us take a few more pics.

Grandpa's little slugger is right! He looks like my Dad and my grandfather, although this is disputed by those who only know John's side of the family!

Owen on his blessing day. We blessed him in the bishop's office before my parent's left. Owen also goes pale when in a deep sleep so he looks like he's dressed for a funeral rather than his blessing in most of his blessing pictures.

He's usually pretty happy, but he'd just had enough picture taking for the day!

Basking in the sun. Owen was only slightly jaundiced a few days after he was born, but it cleared up quickly with a day in the sun!

At two months old he's alert and happy. He's starting to make baby coo's and smiles when he sees my face....i've been trying to find his funny bone to get his first real laugh (he chuckles in his sleep and has since he was born), but so far he's a tough nut to crack!

Taking a Sunday afternoon snooz

Carter loves Owen, but usually doesn't really involve herself with him much, she's on the go playing in her own imagination world...but lately she's enjoyed sharing her play food with him and last night had fun helping me give him a lotion massage before bed!

Brother and Sister....awwwwww....Owen loves to lay on the floor and listen and watch Carter play around him, i'm hoping they'll get along and play well when he gets a little older! What a joy it's been to have Owen added to our family, he's starting to sleep a little better at night and is a champ during the day. He's healthy and strong and just a little love. I know it sounds silly as he's still so small, but it's so much more different having a son, I never understood what my mom used to sayuntil I had two kids - that you love your children equally,just differently...I guess maybe it's just a mom thing!

I just love these two and can't wait to see what the future has in store for our little family!

All about Carter

I can't hardly believe that my baby girl is already two, and growing faster by the minute! She became a big sister on March 25th, 2011 and then had her birthday on April 6th. My mom was staying with us to help with Owen, and my Dad had just come into town to drive mom back to Oregon, so we had a quiet low key little party. Carter loves "keak", and loves to blow out candles.

She was slow getting started with unwrapping presents, but once she got the hang of it she did pretty good. She got pink Lego's (her fave gift to date), Mrs. Potato Head, books, coloring crayons and books, a princess tutu, purse and jewels, a new movie, play shoes and pink frog jammies.Our Carter is silly through and through. One of her favorite jokes is to pretend to be asleep...at random she'll close her eyes and softly snore, then peek to see if we're watching, this game can go on for hours! She thinks she's so tricky!!!

She also loves to color, even on my antique sewing machine-it's a good thing this was with chalk and wiped clean very easily!

She loves to go "sfimming", in her jumbled two year old speech she tells us about "sfimming" and "kick, kick kicking" Of course she can't really swim yet but we practice getting our face in the water, and stretching our body out and kicking our legs, she thinks it's great fun, and loves ANYTHING water....pools, bathtubs, puddles it's all the same...right???!!!

She likes to move it move it!!! Dancing is another one of Carter's favorite things, anytime there's a good dancing tune on she jumps up and starts to move it...she often will invite us to dance with her, and thinks it's great fun when we all join in!

Another one of Carter's favorites are "fwowers"....While riding in the car she can spot the most minute flower in the distance, and will exclaim "Mommy, a fwower!!!" Sometimes it takes me a minute to see what she does, this little girl has great nature eyes! I fear for my future flower beds....As soon as they bloom, the flowers will all be gone, she loves to pick them and smell them,and gift them to anyone around....what a girl!

I love my daughter, but I HATE snakes, unfortunately for me she LOVES them...so i'm doing some exposure therapy on myself to try to lessen my fear, so that I can help foster her love for slithery slimy things! This is her big stuffed snake she got as a prize on our long journey to Iowa, she also has a small rubber green snake that likes to shopping with us, as well as out to eat at restaurants.This picture pretty well sums up my daughter's personality. She's a silly, goofy, funny, lovable, independent trickster, who knows what she wants when she wants it, but has a heart of gold, and also loves to share. She has such a sweet spirit, we're truly blessed to call her our own and to have her for eternity. What a blessing she is to us, we love you Carter Grace, you bring so much happiness and joy to our lives!!!

Our 10 State Summer

As many of you know, the crazy Hansen's have up and gone on one hoopla of a summer adventure. John is working for Vivint, installing security systems. Originally we were supposed to go to Colorado, then it got changed right before we left and we were sent to Cedar Rapids Iowa....NOW, we're in Odessa Texas. I know, i'm WAY behind on updates for the kids, but let me get all of this posted, then i'll go back and post on the kiddies! So far we've visited/driven through 10 states in the last 3 weeks,and have racked up almost 2,500 miles; by the end of summer we're expecting to hit 2 or 3 more states and another 1,000 miles to get home, here's a little map showing our route to our supposed final destination of Odessa TX for the summer!!!

Most of our journeying has been steady and pleasant, with a two year old and newborn, we thought life could get a little crazy on the open road, but they've done MAGNIFICENT!!! We really have no justification in complaining about our kids...HOWEVER we have a definite right to complain about the weather we've had on the second leg of our journey from Iowa to Texas....pretty much the picture below best depicts our drive!!!


Thankfully we didn't see any of these along the road (well, there was a dark cloud that was low and reaching to the ground, but we're not storm chasers, so we didn't hang around to find out if it was a sml tornado or not!)BUT we did drive through those horrific storms you all have probably heard about that produced tornadoes throughout Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas...BUT wait you say...weren't you traveling through three of those states in the last two days....why yes, my friend we did, and the whole time we were watching the sky expecting to see a tornado drop down on us at any moment!!! (more on our actual storm driving experience to come!)

But let's back up a bit and start at the beginning....ahh, here's our peaceful non-tornado Rupert Idaho....we'll be back for visits!!!

From Idaho we traveled down through Utah...

And then drove across the great state of Wyoming...we stayed that first night in Cheyenne. An Antelope should be the state's official mascot, we spotted literally HUNDREDS of them as we drove through the southern part of the state on I-80, we had a nifty system using our blinkers to point out to each other our finds that our nature eyes spotted. (oh yes, we were driving in separate cars, Carter rode with John and Owen with me)

I love this silhouette...it's plastered on EVERYTHING in Wyoming...it seems Texas isn't the only state that likes to claim that they're where real cowboys come from!

Straight across Wyoming and then into Nebraska...it's just one of those states that you know exists, but you never in your life have a reason to go to!!! What a boring drive-the highlight of our journeying through the empty lands of Nebraska were seeing TONS of wild turkeys...they should make a turkey their state bird...for the record, the state bird of Nebraska is the Western Meadowlark.

We spent night two of traveling in Lincoln Nebraska in honor of our good friends son who was born the day before (they named him Lincoln!)Ok, well the turkey's weren't the highlight of our trip, it was actually when we went through Omaha and stopped at the Winter Quarter's Temple and visitors center. What a beautiful and somber place. The Winter Quarter's cemetery is actually gated in as part of the temple grounds.Carter loves "fwowers" so we stopped to smell them on the temple grounds.

From Nebraska we wandered into Iowa, but i'll fastforward and mention our quick side trip into Illinois (as it's not a part of our actual route to TX) We wanted to go to Nauvoo, but got moved to TX before we had the chance, so we took a quick trip over to Moline Illinois to visit the John Deere Pavilion, we had a lot of fun getting in the big tractors, Carter especially liked it...SO many buttons and levers to push and move!!!Here, we find ourselves in Iowa, the highlight of my trip...at the birth place of John Wayne!!! I don't know why, but I just love John Wayne-so we took a little side trip to see where he was born. Winterset Iowa, is also the little town where much of the film "Bridges of Madison County" was filmed...although many of the bridges are still in existence, we didn't have time to visit them.We spent two weeks in Cedar Rapids Iowa. What a beautiful place, it reminded me SO much of Oregon, the only difference is that Iowa is flat, and you can see the tree tops into he horizon, where at home you have mountains and hills in the background. Sales weren't as good as they hoped, so corporate decided to send us to Texas...that threw us for a loop, were expecting to get moved into Illinois. So we left Tuesday morning, May 24th. We enjoyed our quick stop at the historic Liberty Jail.

From Missouri we traveled into Kansas, and had an annoying new experience....who knew that Kansas had a turnpike...it's quite odd driving 75 mph on the freeway, only to come to a complete stop to pay a ridiculous fee to drive on a road that's not even well maintained, to then also have to pay a fee every time you exit or get back on the freeway.....how ANNOYING!!! I do believe the total cost of driving on the turnpikes in Kansas and Oklahoma totaled $26 for our vehicles combined...RIDICULOUS!!!

Well, goodbye then Kansas and hello Oklahoma "....where the winds come sweeping down the plains...." I couldn't get the songs from the musical "Oklahoma" out of my head the whole time we were driving through!!! Well, this state's pretty boring, like unto Nebraska, but I had another first.....I saw my first armadillo!!! Now, it was dead along the road and I know to most people this isn't very exciting, but when you're driving through OK, ANYTHING is more exciting than the butt of the semi in front of you! It was also interesting that towards south OK, the dirt is red, and continues to be that way here in Texas....isn't dirt supposed to be brown??? J/K!

We paid our last toll in OK, right before we crossed the border into Texas. Unfortunately instead of being able to turn East, and drive a few hours to all of the big cities full of tourism, and excitement....we had to head west towards...well, quite frankly NOTHING!!! I kept re-setting the GPS, because I couldn't believe the route we were taking was right! Pretty much no-mans land Texas consists of dirt, cactus, dirt devils,short shrub like trees, cotton fields, oil pumps, cemeteries and a few really cordial old men, who give your two year old suckers from their barber shop down the street!

For a few days we're staying in Odessa, then it sounds like we're getting moved to Midland-apparently they're trying to work out housing accommodations that we can settle into for at least two months....hahahaha, but that's just rumor I heard from another wife of a salesman. It's quite interesting living in a place where "y'all" is a common and acceptable speech quirk, where in other places it contains a hick-like essence. Their roads make no sense, their water is undrinkable (oh, yea we drink bottled water only, they have water jug filling stations all over town, usually in the parking lot of a gas station) and it's hot as heck...BUT at least it's a dry heat and not a suffocating humid heat like in Iowa. It's flat, dry, dusty and ugly...we're in the heartland of the oil fields, and industry, so there's not much beauty unless it's at night and you can look out over the factories and plants and see all of the lights on twinkling at night. THANKFULLY Midland is a little greener, more developed, and a seemingly slightly safer place to be....having three locks on my hotel door only makes me feel slightly safer.

Seeing the red dirt in OK, and also in TX, made me think of this song...NOW it finally makes sense....I always thought "Red Dirt Road" was an odd name for a street! Hahah, I just had to laugh at myself!!! Well, anyways, we're here safe and somewhat sound, John jumped right into work-things are really hoppin down here, so he's been busy, the kids and I are trying to find a routine again, it was nice to arrive and see a few familiar faces, it's nice to have friends in the same boat with us this summer! My bet is that we stay in TX for the rest of the summer, with a few short distance moves in store...BUT who knows they might up and move us to Alaska tomorrow!!! Hahaha just kidding!!!