More Family Fun

As I'm writing this the kids and I have been in Oregon for 1 1/2 weeks, this makes our time away from John totaling almost 5 weeks...this seems like an eternity....so to fill my time and occupy my mind i've now resorted to updating the blog, that i'm thinking I might as well delete because I already put the same pictures on FB, and anyone who reads this talks to me regularly, is a friend with me on FB, or hears what i'm up to through the grapevine.... BUT in moments like these when I just need to occupy my mind and time, I find it quite soothing to blllaaaaahhhhggg everything off my mind!!!

Well the kids and I arrived in Oregon in fine form, again the traveling went great! We arrived in time for my sister and brother inlaw's super slip n slide bbq!!! Young and old had a grand time, the "seniors" visited and loved watching the grandkids play hard, and their children play even harder!

My Dad, and Brother in law Patrick's father, watching the fracas unfold!

Patrick and his friends used to do this every summer, so by now he's a champ at setting it all up, both of my brother inlaws are tall fellas, and big kids at heart, so of course they had to test it all out before the kids could really get going! The hills was quite steep and at the end as you can see there was a rather rocky creek!

My brother in law Randall just about took a dip in the creek, but managed to put the breaks on in time! My brother in law Patrick landed in it a few times, but that was after they whipped out the innertubes, he's skilled enough to know to pull up on the tube to land comfortably in the water!

My niece Abrianna is a brave soul, and jumped at the chance to go down with her dad...unfortunately the water had been running long enough that there was a lovely patch of mud waiting at the end!

My brother in law Patrick showing the kids how it's done!

Owen Boy and his Papa Powell! I think they look alike, actually I think Owen is a nice mix of both of his Papa's!

Owen and his Mama! Oh, how my heart melts over that sweet little face!

Nana, Papa and Owen having a quiet moment at the bbq!

Owen is such a happy little guy!

Cousins Abrianna and Carter, having fun! They just marched up and down the hill all afternoon!

Brook and Autumn posing for my novice photography shoot

Owen with his Auntie Brook (+cousin #6) and Auntie Kimmy (+cousin #7)...can't wait to find out if Owen and Parker will have any more boys in the mix!

Carter and Abrianna going down the kiddie slide together...Carter only went once, half forced by her horrible mother, but she was laughing by the time they got to the bottom!

As you can see this was quite the event...i've never seen a slip n slide that huge...and to have 2 lanes going, plus a little kid one too! I wish I could have gone down one, but I wasn't willing to risk my back getting re-injured and being miserable for the next few weeks!

Some Friends are just Family

After spending two weeks in Burley/Rupert, the kids and I shoved off for yet another adventure....our ultimate goal was to reach Oregon to stay with my family, but we enjoyed our week long side trip to visit the Randall Family!!! It's funny how you meet some people and you know right away that as Anne of Green Gables would say you're "Kindred Spirits"...well, that's how it is for me and my bestie Heather...

Home Sweet Idaho

I was so relieved to land in Idaho on familiar ground with family and friends!!! We enjoyed our time traveling about, but as they say "There's No Place Like Home"! While in Texas I almost started having a panicked feeling because it seemed we were just too far from "home" or rather our families, we've always lived close to one side of our family or the other, so it was frustrating to know that we couldn't just "make it happen" meaning to go visit like we've always been able to do in the past if we were just missing our family. We spent two full weeks in Burley/Rupert and did a few fun things! One Saturday we spent adventuring with John's Dad and Step Mom, we went to the Shoshone fair, Carter had fun visiting the animals and sharing a root beer with her Papa!!!! Thank you for the fun we shared that day Papa Dave and Grandma Debbie!

While staying with John's Uncle Mike and Aunt Debbie (for the second week we were there), I decided to stop being a lazy mother and start working with Owen on eating from a spoon...this is one of his "firsts" I think the look suits him, and completes his "old man" look that he has about him...not quite Santa Clause...it's more of a Colonel Sanders....KFC anyone?
I have to give a BIG thank you to Mike and Debbie for letting us stay with them, and truly making us feel welcome and at home!

The first week we were in Idaho we stayed with John's cousins on the Hansen side. Duane and Cortney were so kind to share their home with us, and best of all their little Zach plays SOOO good with Carter!!! They had such fun running about, playing outside and they even earned a slumber party one night, they both thought it was pretty neat to sleep in the same room!

Carter and Zach...AKA Harry Potter!

We had some wonderful R&R at John's sisters house. Heidi and Brooks have always opened their home to us, and let us join the crowd and fun! It was such a joy to watch Carter with her cousins, I really enjoyed spending time with our niece Brynlie....I've had so much one on one time with her older sister's since they were toddlers, but Bryn got jipped because I was so tired from having my own kid + pregnancy+ life stress + everything else by the time she came along...She's such a funny girl, and i'm so happy that I was able to snuggle and play with her, it's sad to me that she won't have as many memories with her Aunt Joy as Riley and McKenzie will, especially now that we will be living 8 hrs away for quite a few years.

Brynlie and Owen having some one on one cousin time!

Carter had SO much fun playing at Aunt Heidi's house! Riley and McKenzie do such a good job of being big helpers for me, the love Carter and she loves them, they had fun jumping on the trampoline, playing legos, painting and watching movies together! Thanks Heidi for letting us de-stress and find normal again at your house!!!

All of the girl cousins on John's side of the family!

Our last stop before we moved on was in Twin Falls. The kids and I spent some time with John's Mom and Step Dad. It was SOOO nice to kick back and relax some more!!! Carter loves her Nana Pattie : they color together, bake together, watch movies together, sort beeds together, draw with chalk together and anything else that can be done "together" they do! Carter is very hesitant around men, even those she knows and sees often (with the exception of her father of course)! So she's a little slower in warming up to Mark, but it doesn't take too long...or too much bribing for her to come around! It was sooo NICE to feel like I could really just ignore my chidlren and the fact that I was a mom for about an hour while I took a nice long soaking bath...A HUGE shout out to Nana and Mark for taking such good care of us while we visited!!!

Life as a Nomad

Well as most of you already know, the kids and I have left Texas, but have continued our nomadic existence! We weren't planning to leave as soon as we did but had a chance to tag along behind some friends for part of the drive to Idaho, so we left rather abruptly, quite sad I must say...but it was kind of liking taking a band aid off...just rip it quick and be done with it, so it all worked out in the end!

The kids and I drove 6 hrs the first day from Midland Texas to Albuquerque New Mexico, I was feeling great and wanted to go further but that was the only town close by that we could use our Marriott rewards in for a free night...so we pulled in early, got some dinner and went swimming and had TONS of fun...we're used to it being just the three amigos...Mami, Hija and Hijo!

The kids did AMAZING! We only had one cerifiable melt down from Owen, but we got him fed and stretched out, and back to new within no time! We saw alot of long lonely open road, especially when driving through the Navaho reservation in northeastern Arizona...I had the distinct feeling when the kids and I stopped to go to the bathroom and get a snack that we were not welcome there, kind of an eerie feeling, HOWEVER it totally makes me understand the flip side of the coin for other races, being the minority. The second day we traveled for 10 hours from Albuquerque to Provo, we arrived at midnight but I was so glad I pushed through, leaving us with only 3 1/2 hours on our third day of traveling!!!

I must note that I most thouroughly enjoyed the three hours from Chinley AZ, to Moab UT- My friend Kari (who we were caravaning with) road with the kids and I , it was so lovely to have an adult conversation, and to not feel so ALONE!!! Traveling with my kids was truly a breeze, I give all credit to the good Lord, who i'm sure had a pretty strong hand in our safety, and easy travels!

We truly were blessed to have this experience this summer... we enjoyed our time as a family, traveling, exploring new places, different ways of life and climate and meeting new people whom we now call our friends!!! This truly so far has been the ultimate Hansen family adventure! One we will always remember and maybe even semi-repeat in summers to come!

Weatherstone Lawn Concert

Every Sunday night the Museum of the Southwest here in Midland hosts Summer Sunday Lawn Concerts....I've been wanting to go for a long time and finally this Sunday it worked out! Carter as you can see wasn't too sure about it all...she sat in the stroller with a sour face for the first half hour or so.....then....she ventured out of the stroller, but landed right back where she started, although she started to get more interested....

Pretty soon she was up and playing with her necklace that she brought...I'm pretty sure she was just putting on a show for all of the people around us...most of them were elderly, and just loved watching her bounce about!By the end of the concert she was clapping along, and wagging her booty to the beat! It was fun to watch her have so much fun!Of course Owen boy is such a good baby, he just layed on the blanket and smiled, and cooed...I even got half of a giggle out of him! He seemed to really enjoy listening to the music and watching all of the dragonfly's...there were TONS of dragonfly's fluttering over head!I just couldn't help putting these photos on...I know they're almost identical but as his mother I love each and everyone of his little faces he makes, especially those smiles!Just a happy little camper, along for the ride!Owen, Mommy and Carter waiting for the concert to start! The group was called Weatherstone...they weren't too bad...singing a wide range of classic rock and roll!Carter and Daddy relaxing in the shade...apparently the old man in the background wanted to be a part of the photo...he turned, smiled and looked right at the camera too!I just love how soft and sweet she looks in this picture....I know these months are the beginning of the last pictures with the "baby face" look...she's just growing up too fast!Well, we tried to get a good picture of the two of us...John's arm is only so long to hold the camera out, and of course the sun was setting behind us, so we have a bit of a glow!By the end of the concert Carter retired to the stroller, and was rather insistent that Owen should sit on her lap....he liked it for about 1 second....I think he would have lasted longer if he hadn't of been so tired...usually he loves to be right next to her, listening and watching!John, being John makes friends wherever he goes....there was a lovely elderly couple sitting behind us that offered to take our family picture...she must have been watching the charades I was playing the whole time trying to get a few decent pictures! Bless her heart, she even invited Carter over to pet their Chihuahua, the highlight of course of my daughters day! There were a TON of dogs at the concert that she kept telling me about!

***A MOMENT WITH A TWO YEAR OLD***

While we were there, Carter had a bit of a melt down...NOW I absolutely hate it when parents don't remove their tantruming children from a mass crowd...why do they not get it that no one wants to hear their kid crying, especially when there's a concert or something else going on....our deal is always-

"I will count to three, you can stop crying or ....(if we're at home go stand in the bathroom if we're out and about we go around the corner...etc until she's done crying)"....so I counted to 3 and she continued to cry(usually by the time I hit 2 she says "I'm done crying" and stops)....so we went around the corner of the museum where she could cry it out...NOTE: going "around the corner" isn't code for getting a spanking.......anyways there was a wheel chair ramp that she started walking up and down-eventually she stopped crying...our conversation went as follows:

Me: "Carter I think you're done crying lets go back and sit with Daddy and Owen"

Her: "No Mommy I'm crying"

Me: "It doesn't look like or sound like you're crying, I think you're ready to go listen to the music some more"

Her (as she is now running up and down the ramp): "No Mommy I'm crying"

Me: "Carter Mommy would really like to go sit on the blanket with Daddy and Owen, come on"

Her (with a smile on her face, while now climbing the stairs): "No Mommy I'm crying"

****I just had to laugh, she was not very good at convincing me that she was still crying! Raise your hand if you think my two year old was just trying to finagle a few more minutes of playing on the stairs!!!!*****

4th of July

Well of course John had to work on the fourth of July, so the kids and I headed out for the parade in Odessa in the morning with some of our friends. First of all I can't believe that there were no parades...etc in Midland, what a stinkin deal!!! So we piled in their suburban and drove 20 minutes down the highway to partake in some 4th of July delight!Of course my children had to wear red white a blue! We didn't have to wait very long for the parade...if you can call it that! Lets see the flags lead the way, followed by a marching bad, a few trucks with banners and advertisements, a karate group, and the most hilarious display of auto-uniqueness...normally at most parades I've been to there's a lovely line up of classic cars, restored to perfection or close to it, you know a few model T's, Chevy's, etc....well here they had an interesting line up of Lincoln's and caddy's 2 or 3 were pimped with bright paint jobs and hydraulics, the rest were your basic factory line early 90's models....HAHAHAHA....i'm not quite sure why they were even in the line up...quite interesting!I have to say that BY FAR the most interesting float was one put on by a Baptist church...they had huge wood cut outs painted to represent the stone tablets that the ten commandments were on, and then they had a large cross with a man on it wearing a white sheet, splattered with red paint to look (not at all) like blood...now I understand sharing your faith, and I think church floats are great, but where's the taste in this? I almost took a picture to post, but it was just wrong, and in NO way did it reverence the life and sacrifice of our Savior...AND it was just plain creepy...the guy who was posing as Christ was "acting" lifeless and limp on the cross with "blood" dripping off of his head and body, I feel for any kids who don't know the story of the crucifixion, it probably looked like some dead guy dangling on a wood post on the back of a truck.....hopefully their parents could explain....gosh darn it...where are the missionaries when you need them!!!My other big beef with this rediculous parade was that NO ONE THREW CANDY...i'm sure there's a good reason behind it, maybe they've had too many accidents with kids running into the street, or maybe they're very anti-litter....who knows, all I know is that this parade was a BUST! Oh yes, and lets not forget to mention the MANY floats that were proudly adorned with the confederate flag not that I think it's a sin to fly it as it is part of our nations history, especially the history of the south, but gee I don't know it was just weird me being a northern girl and all, it's just not something i've seen in my neck of the woods before! Although I would like to note that that the number of star spangled banners FAR out weighed the number of confederate flags.Well at least my daughter seemed to enjoy saluting the vet who saluted her in play as he drove by in his vintage army jeep!!!

Everyone's been napping, and hopefully we'll find some fun later tonight at the fireworks, that are surprisingly still going forth even though we here in west Texas are in a HORRIBLE drought! Good golly, God Bless Texas!

A night at the movies!

We were going to go to the new water park in Big Spring, TX on Sunday after church...but the other families we were going to go with had to cancel. Carter has been mentioning "Cars 2" alot lately, and since it was showing at the drive in we decided to go! Thankfully Carter had taken a REALLY LATE nap that evening so it worked out well for her to be up late!Of course, my little cheeser, front and present with a big grin! She was excited, although i'm sure she didn't quite grasp the concept until the movie started, we kept trying to explain that we were going to wath the movie on the "BIG" TV!!! This was John's first time at a drive in theater too so everyone was happy and excited to be there!We popped kettle corn before we left, grabbed a few treats at the gas station...and still ended up having to buy an ICEE at the concessions....who can resist it when it's 9pm and 87 degrees outside???!!!Just waiting for the movie to start getting comfy, and sippin that ICEE!Oh, yes we did get a hot dog to share because I realized i'd forgotten to feed my child before we left, so here we are waiting in the concessions diner waiting for Carter's "hog gog"!Who ever decided to put 4 playgrounds (one under every screen and one at concessions) was a genius! Carter loved playing here, she's been asking to go slide for such a long time but it's always SOOO hot, and by the time it cools off it's bed time...she was so brave and finally.....Goes up the stairs all by herself..... sits down and gets ready by herself....Starts off without a shove.....and.....Without hesitation zooms to the bottom of the slide where she.....Does her version of a gymnastics landing and proclaims "TADA I FICK IT!" I don't think it sank in my telling her over and over that she "DID IT" not "FIXED IT" was the appropriate exclamationAll in all it was a fun adventure! The movie was cute as are most Disney/Pixar creations....it just doesn't top the first Cars, but it was still a good addition! And note...of course the jammies that were selected for the adventure...."Teee-moe-mell"! Oh how I love this silly two year olds mispronounced words!!!

Carter sat and watched most of the movie but got silly punch drunk towards the end, and couldn't sit still, it was also too exciting to have access to all of the knobs and buttons, and things of such that are in the front seats, all in all I think the horn got honked twice, the radio got turned off about five times, and she spent a good portion of the movie with her head out the sun roof or the window like a little puppy!

Owen ate a bottle, fussed for a few minutes then ZONKED, he slept in the back seat through the whole movie!!! What a good little champ!!!

I love that we've always taken our kids with us pretty much everwhere since they've been born. It can be quite the challenge, and sometimes ends up very badly with flared tempers, tears and exhaustion....BUT it's all in the name of family time, something that's very precious to us...John's work schedule allows for VERY LITTLE time together, we try to make it quality time, but so much of it gets eaten up by daily routine....sleeping, eating, bathing...etc....so we're SO thankful that we were able to spend this time together!!!