Month in Review & BIG Changes

So, once again it's been a while since I have posted.  Lots has happened in the past month.  The biggest news is that Justin found a new job!  Yeah!  We are so excited (mostly)!  However, the job is in Salt Lake City, which means we will be moving to Utah in 2 1/2 weeks.  We will be living with my mom in Pleasant View for at least a few months while we get back on our feet.  We have mixed feelings about the move.  We are sad that we have to leave our friends here in Henderson, our amazing ward and our new home that we love.  But, we are excited for a promising new job, being closer (much, much closer...) to my family, and the opportunity for me to sell cakes.  Justin left on Sunday, started his job yesterday and will be back in 2 weeks to move us.  So here I am again, sorting through stuff and packing boxes and being a single mom of 4 for a few weeks (Luckily, Renea and Larry will be taking Josh and Jordan up to Panaca on Friday for a week or so, so that I can get more stuff done.  Thank you so much Renea!!).  And to top it all off, I agreed to make a 4-tier wedding cake next weekend.  Life is definitely crazy here!

Madison's 8th birthday is today.  Happy Birthday Mad!!  We went to the Shark Reef with Stacie and her kids to celebrate and then came home for pizza, cake (to see more pictures of her cake go here) and ice cream and presents.  The kids had a ton of fun!  It's hard to believe she is 8 years old already - it's amazing how fast kids grow up!  She is so excited to be baptized in a month.  She told me today now that she is 8 she is much more responsible and grown up.  She cracks me up!  She also wrote herself a birthday poem:  

My Birthday

by Madison Hansen

Today is my b-day,

I love my b-day.

Mom made a tinkerbell cake

but the tinkerbell on top is fake.

We bought ice cream.

It will make me scream!

Happy B-day!

 

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My 30th birthday was on Sunday.  Justin has been teasing me a lot lately that I am going to be old now.  But honestly it doesn't bother me (I'm pretty sure it bothers my mom though - love ya mom!).

We (the kids and I) spent most of July up visiting my mom and keeping an eye on Chris and Maren while my mom was at school everyday and Popi was at work.  We had a lot of fun going to the trout farm, going to parades, watching fireworks, going swimming, playing the wii, going to the movies and hanging out with the family.  The last week we were there we went up to Lava Hot Springs for a big family reunion.  Justin flew up to interview for a few jobs and then came with us.  We had a blast staying at the old schoolhouse inn, going swimming, tubing the river, roasting marshmallows, playing games and hanging out.  Thanks Mike and Mom for a fabulous trip!!

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While we were at Lava we celebrated Josh's 3rd birthday with a pinata (Thanks Arianne!), cake (with chocolate chips, a helicopter and a rainbow per the birthday boys request), ice cream and lots of presents.

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I am working on creating a new blog for my cakes: iceddelights.blogspot.com. Let me know what you think!

Michael is getting so big.  He will be 9 months old this weekend.  He is crawling everywhere, including up the stairs, pulling up and walking along everything, babbling constantly and eating everything in sight.  He thinks everything around him is hilarious and that sleeping through the night is optional.  He also doesn't have any teeth yet, although that doesn't stop him from eating!  This is a picture from the stake 24th of July activity - he LOVES watermelon!

Memorial Day at Granny and Papa's

We went to St. George over Memorial Day weekend to attend Justin's parents' sealing in the St. George Temple. They were sealed by Justin's Grandpa Banks, who also sealed us. It was such a neat experience! Congrats Larry and Renea!! We spent the rest of the weekend in Panaca with all of Justin's siblings and their spouses and all the nieces and nephews. On the way up to Panaca we stopped at the volcano just outside of St. George. Everyone except Renea, Emily and I (and the 4 kids under 3) climbed all the way to the top. We also celebrated Christopher's 15th birthday while we were there with a skateboard cake. The kids had a blast hanging out with their cousins and sleeping in a tent in Granny and Papa's backyard.

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Dance

Madison's End of Year Dance Review

She did a fabulous job!!

Preschool Graduation

Jordan graduated from preschool on May 14th. Granny and Papa were able to come down and attend, which made it extra special. We have some awesome video of him picking his nose during the program - good blackmail when he's a teenager, right? He is really excited to be going to kindergarten next year!

Wow! I have tons to catch up on since I last posted! Here's what you missed:

• I was released from the cub scouts and have a new calling as the 1st counselor in the Primary. I work with some amazing women and it is tons of fun!
• I started an Etsy shop. It doesn't have a lot in it yet, but I'm working on getting more things made and listed. Check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleMonkeyStore
• Justin has been playing stake basketball and loving it!
• Justin is looking for a new job (if you know of anything let us know!)
  
• Jordan graduated from preschool (pics to follow)
• Madison had her end of year dance review (pics to follow)
• Madison finished up 2nd grade and received lots of awards (straight A's, perfect attendance, etc). She is looking forward to 3rd grade.
  
• We are trying to potty train Josh, only somewhat successfully
• I spoke in church. Justin was supposed to speak too, but I guess I got a little long-winded (I know, hard to believe, but true) and left him no time to speak.
• We took a trip to Panaca (pics to follow in another post)
  
• Michael is now 7 months! Where has the time gone? He is sitting up, scooting everywhere and will soon be crawling. He is also working (still) on cutting 4 teeth, which is so much fun!
• I am still teaching piano lessons and will (most likely) be getting 3-4 new students this next week.
  
• Justin, with the help of his dad, finally finished patching and texturing the hole in the bathroom wall where we removed the medicine cabinet. Now it is all painted and looks great!
  
• We (well, mostly Justin and his dad) cut out a wall so we have access to the dead space under our stairs. We will eventually put a door on it and use it as a food storage closet.

... and that's our lives in a nutshell!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I don't post much (Beth does most of that), but I wanted to thank all of the wonderful mother's in my life. I grew up with a great mom who took excellent care of me and my siblings and was super fun to be around. We learned the gospel in our home at her feet and we were encouraged to become our own people. I love you mom!! Happy Mother's Day!!

I have been blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law that I get along with famously. I tell her I won the in-law lottery because she is so wonderful and I feel like a natural part of the family. She raised such a wonderful daughter that I could never thank her enough for what that has done for my life. Thank you for your daughter!! You are wonderful!! Happy Mother's Day!!

My sisters are great mom's too but I don't have a lot of experience with them as mothers but their kids don't seem to be too messed up so that says something. They were wonderful sisters to grow up with and I love it when we have a chance to spend time together. Thank you for all you do. Happy Mother's Day!!

I have some wonderful sister's in law that are excellent examples of mothers as well. Your children are growing up wonderful as well. I don't express my love for you much but thank you for what you bring to my life. Happy Mother's Day!!

I grew up close to my aunt who was, in many ways, like a mother to me as well. Thank you, Aunt Carol, for being there and helping to raise me. I'm sure you don't get thanked for that much so for you too, Happy Mother's Day!!

Of course, grandmothers can't be forgotten either. They taught my parents how to be good parents. I love you and owe much to you too. Happy Mother's Day!!

Now, for the one closest to me: my wonderful wife.
She deserves the prize!! She has to put up with me, which really isn't easy. She takes care of our children and she is raising them as wonderful little people. She is amazing. I can't ever find the words to express what she means to me. I have tried writing poetry and songs but I don't ever feel like they say nearly enough. She is so wonderful and beautiful but she seems to not know it. How crazy is that? There are things I wish I could do better for her because she deserves the best and sometimes I feel like I am not giving that to her. She is the most wonderful woman I have ever met (sorry mom). Thank you for all that you do for me, Beth. You are wonderful and amazing. I am constantly in awe at you. I won the wife lottery too. I love you soooooooooooo much. Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Spring Break Fun

We spent the entire week of Spring Break up in Utah. Here are some of the highlights:

Visiting Grandpa and Grandma Banks:

It was great to see them. We also visited my Grandpa and Grandma Pippin and my Grandma Holladay (our kids have 5 living great-grandparents!), but unfortunately forgot to get pictures with them. Grandma Holladay was at my Aunt Joyce's house, so we got to see the whole Glen family too - so much fun to catch up!

Hogle Zoo:We had lots of fun at the zoo with Arianne, Dustin and Boston. Our favorite animals were the baby elephant, the giraffes and the huge gorilla that came right up to the glass!

Playing in the Snow at Mamah and Popi's:
Rather than stay in Sunny Southern Nevada, we decided to spend our spring break in the cold and snow. The kids, except Josh, loved playing in the snow (although it did take lots of convincing to get them out there). Even Mamah got in on the snowball action! Josh was extremely upset about getting snow on his boots and then had a complete meltdown when he fell off the sled face first into the snow.

Easter:
Coloring Eggs... Easter Egg Hunts... A Visit From the Easter Bunny...
One Big Sugar High

When we got home we discovered one of our (dead) cypress trees had blown over in a wind storm while we were gone. Luckily nothing was damaged by it.
Jordan had a lot of fun helping Justin clean the mess up. We have a couple more cypress trees that are dead and are definitely going to be taking them out soon so they don't get blown over too.Also this month: Michael's 1st Food - oatmeal cereal. Yummy!