Happy 90th Birthday Grammy!

Wow, it's hard to believe that 90 years ago today, my grandmother was born. I've seen the house she was born in in Salem, New Hampshire, and unfortunately the church she was married in has been torn down. She has seen so many things in her lifetime and I'm so thankful that we stil have her with us. I only wish she didn't live so far away. She lives in New Hampshire and I only see her every six months or so. It's not enough. Today she had her first birthday party; she didn't even have one as a child. I've attached a few pictures of her that I love. It's so fun to look at family history.

This was my grammy in 3rd grade in 1926

This is her with her father and sister in 1930.


Grammy in her 1st fur coat. Boy she thinks she's hot stuff!

This is September 7, 1936, when she and my grandfather were dating.

In 1978, My Great grandmother had a picture taken with her three daughters. the two ladies in the front row have passed away. My grandmother is the top right.

This is my grammy and grampy in 1988. My grandfather passed away in 1995.

I have more current pictures of her as well, but they're not with me. It's been great celebrating the life of this amazing woman. We've already planned her 100th birthday party for Vegas, but she's not sure if she'll make it.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary! It's amazing that we've made it to year number seven already. Time flies! In the time we've been together we've seen and done many things. We started our marriage with nothing but electronics and a sweet little iguana. As time passed. . .

We've moved together - Taylorsville, Salt Lake, Riverton, and Herriman

We've traveled together - California, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Russia, Armenia, and soon New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

We've purchased things together - we're on our 4th car together.

We've parented together - Kyson and Komodo.

We've helped each other grieve - Kris has lost a father, and I've lost a brother and a grandmother.

We've learned to appreciate each other - We spent 5 months apart while I was in school in Italy.

We've supported one another, held one another, and helped one another. It's been an amazing 7 years and I wouldn't trade the ups or the downs because of the things we've learned and the ways we've grown because of one another. Thank you Kris, for being such a wonderful husband and father. I look forward to the next 7 years.

The Blessings of the Temple

Today we had the privilege of seeing our nephew, Colin, sealed to his parents at the Bountiful temple. This is the third little baby they've been sealed to and I love watching it and being a part of it. Avery and Blake were the witnesses for this sealing and it was so fun to see the entire family at the alter together being sealed for time and all eternity. I got a little teary-eyed seeing the whole thing. Kris' brother has a such a beautiful family.

On a very different note, Kyson has a new "game" that he likes to play. It's called, jumping over daddy. When Kris lies down, Kyson crawls over him as if he was not even there. At times he gets a little excited and literally jumps over him, clearing him. One time he landed on his head and scared Kris. But he was just fine.

Using the Force

A week ago, Kris and I had the privilege of going to Kris' brother's for dinner. It was nice to be able to spend time with them considering we don't see them as much as we'd like. Rusty has taught his children to be Star Wars fanatics and so Kyson had the opportunity to join in. Avery and Blake love to play with their light sabers and "use the force." It's cute to watch.

Not only has Kyson used the force with his cousins, but he uses brute force with his new toybox. He pulls whatever he can out of that thing and it's bigger than him, so it stores a lot. He also has a new-found love of books, and grunts as he flips through the pages. He is just as happy as can be. My mother gave him a large toybox for his birthday and it's been such a great help with all the toys he has. He loves to pull all of his trucks and books off the shelf and scatter them all over the house. Oh I love having a baby that can make messes, but is too little to clean up after themselves.

I've Been Tagged

Thanks to my friend Marnie, I've been tagged to complete a few questions and my hubby and me. So here it goes:

• What's his name? Kristian Albert Hansen
• How long have you been together? We have been married almost 7 years.
• How long did you date? exclusively for 3 months, including engagement.
• Who eats more? Definitely Kris, but that doesn't mean I don't have an appetite.
• Who said "I love you" first? Definitely Kris. It took me a while.
• Who is taller? Kris
• Who sings better? Me
• Who is smarter? It depends on the subject.
• Who does the laundry? Usually me, but occasionally Kris helps out.
• Who does the dishes? Usually me
• Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Kris
• Who pays the bills? Me
• Who mows the lawn? Usually Kris
• Who cooks dinner? Both of us.
• Who drives when you are together? Usually me, though I wish it was Kris
• Who is more stubborn? I really don't know. We both can be pretty bad.
• Who kissed who first? Kris kissed me.
• Who asked who out first? Well, this is a gray area. I told him I wanted a date with him for my birthday and he asked me out.
• Who proposed? Kris.
• Who is more sensitive? Kris would say me, but I think it's him.
• Who has more friends? I don't know, we both have only a few.
• Who has more siblings? Technically me, but with the passing of my brother we both have one sibling.
• Who wears the pants in the family? I'm not sure. Probably me.

So, this is some info on Kris and me, I'm now tagging Julie, Heather, and Randy!

Catching Up

It's been almost two weeks since I've written and so much has happened. First, Mother's Day. Last Sunday was a wonderful Mother's Day. Even though we didn't get to see Kris' mom on Sunday, I had the privilege of spending Saturday with her. We went to Vernal to see her parents and both her mother and Carol said it was the best Mother's Day gift they could have received. Kris' grandfather has recently been put into a nursing home because his grandmother's health is failing while trying to take care of him. Now, he is getting the care he needs, but it has been worrisome for the family. I think that seeing her father gave Kris' mom some peace of mind. Carol loved spending the day with her parents and of course, Kyson. She's really missed seeing him while Errol has been so sick.

I can say that this year, Mother's Day has been more sentimental than normal. I have had such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for having such great mothers in my life - both birth mother and mother-in-law. I couldn't ask for more supportive people. Thanks Moms. Kris actually gave me exactly what I wanted for Mother's Day too. I'm not into gifts, so I told him I wanted help pulling the weeds in the front yard. I asked for the same thing last year, but got a gift instead. Saturday night I went to the grocery store, and when I came home he had pulled the weeds. It may seem small, but Wow, it meant more to me than Kris will EVER know. Thank you Kris - I loved my Mother's Day gift! I sure do love "my boys." We spent Satuday with Kris' parents and Sunday with mine. It's always nice to spend time with family. Kyson played in the grass and was just his typically good-natured self.

Now for an update with Kyson's eating. We finally got into the specialist and he spent Tuesday morning at Primary Children's Hospital getting an esophagram. He had to be tied down to a board and believe it or not, they used two ace bandages to tie down his legs and he still managed to get out of it. They put tubes down his nose and took a bunch of x-rays, but he was a good sport despite his sobbing. The good news is that everything looks great. He's recently started being able to eat those Gerber graduate puffs, and Cheerios without throwing up. We're so excited about it. We'll see what comes next.

Fundraising and Birthday Festivities

First and foremost, I want all who read my blog to be aware of a fundraiser that is being held to help the family of Nate Pemberton - the guy I mentioned about 4 weeks ago. He lost his wife and son. During their difficult attempts to save their lives, there were 2 ambulance rides, a life flight, 2 surgeries, ICU/NICU stays, and many other medical and funeral costs. The Pembertons have no insurance. Anyone reading this in Utah, whether you know this family or not, please come and help this family and have a family night of your own. To know any details, including activities and performers, check out a blog that has been set up jennipemberton.blogspot.com. Any help you can be would be fantastic.


Onto a lighter side, I finally have pictures from Kyson's birthday ready to share with you all. As I mentioned last week, we had a party for Kyson and went to the zoo. We had a nice turnout for his party, and I'm thankful people didn't go crazy with the gifts. He got a few toys that he plays with constantly and a new outfit. It was just perfect. We gave him a little recliner and it was cute to watch him attempt to open his presents sitting back in style. He was so excited about every gift he received, which I'm sure made his guests feel really good. The next morning he decided to relax in his new recliner by watching a short bit of The Jungle Book. Man, that kid has it made.


He the loved balloons. From the time since we picked up a few balloons for the party, Kyson just wants to play with the balloons. He goes up the stairs with them, he won't leave the house without them sometimes, and tonight he wouldn't get in the bathtub without them. He loves balloons. At least they're cheap - right?

He didn't know what to do with his cake. He just sat there when we sang to him, but I what else is a 1-year-old supposed to do? We originally put him on the patio outside to play with his cake since we knew he wouldn't eat it. It didn't dawn on me to just put him in the kitchen - senior moment. He really had fun demolishing his cake, but he didn't eat any, only touched his mouth.


Next comes out adventures at the zoo. The only people who decided to come were my parents and my sister's family. It was perfect though. Not too many people. It was fun to spend the day with my family and the weather was nice and warm. We saw so many animals and Kyson seemed to love them. His favorite animal though was the python. I think he likes the reptiles like us. There was one monkey that he sat and talked to with his baby chatter, and the only animal that scared him was the squirrel. he literally screamed and put his hands above his head. He didn't cry, just screamed. I wish they still had the lions and hippos, and it would have been nice if all the cats weren't asleep, but I must admit, the day was so nice and being with my family was so wonderful that I have no room to complain.


It was cute that as we left the zoo, all the kids we saw were crying - except Kyson. he'd been there all day without a nap and was such a trooper. What a great kid!