The Hanson Gang

Torin's birthday!

2009-03-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

February 9th- my baby has turned 3! It was a very happy/sad day in our family. He is getting bigger and smarter everyday. It's hard to believe how fast he has grown out of the baby years! It seems like just yesterday he was a sweet little baby, but at the same time it seems like he's always been with us! Quite a strange phenomenon that is! Another strange phenomenon around here is that I seem to take WAY more pictures of him than the others. I think I'm trying to reverse the curse on last born! I also think he is just crazy-photogenic and he just keeps posing for me! It's awesome, I love it :-)! And yes, it probably has something to do with having a nice digital camera and just being able to snap away to my hearts content...

We had a monkey party for him with some of our closest friends. He LOVES monkeys, and he was thrilled with all his decorations and his 'monkey cake!'

I think his favorite gift was a special 'hand-me-down' puppy from Zach

January

2009-03-20T16:26:00.001-07:00

Here are some misc. pictures from January. The highlight of the month was probably recieving our new pet Julien! The boys love him, and I have to say I do too! And there are some other pictures of the boys just being boys... Gotta love chocolate fondue! Kaleb and Torin like to sleep together sometimes- I found them like this one night and thought it was SO cute! My 5 boys

Julien the leopard gecko!

Zach's Birthday

2009-03-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't updated for so long! A lot has happened since November! I just lose track of time I guess... Let me start with Zach's 11th birthday! My little boy is growing into a man! I can hardly believe that he is almost as tall as me, and growing more mature and handsome everyday! He wanted to have his 'annual' boys sleepover with 5 of his closest friends again. We had to cancel the first party because we had the stomach flu in our family, then we almost had to cancel it a second time because Zach was really sick with a horrible virus, but he recovered in time! 2 of the boys couldn't come on our make-up date, so we ended up celebrating it again 2 weeks later for them! All in all, Zach had at least 3 very fun birthday celebrations!

Christmas

2009-03-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas in Oregon with my family! We even got to see a bit of snow, and found a place to go sledding. Here are some pictures...

Our annual stop at a gas station in Mt. Shasta to play in the first sighting of snow!

The boys on Christmas morning- waiting to see what Santa brought! Yes, we make them wait until we are all up and together (to get pictures of course)- we are mean parents :-).

Thank you Nana!

Torin loved the presents!

Just what he wanted!

Sledding with Daddy!

They built a 'mossy' snowman with Papa!

Zach won the Turkey Bowl!!!!

2008-11-22T15:32:00.001-08:00

Way to go Falcons! It's official- they had an undefeated season and concluded it with a shut-out at the turkey bowl for a score of 27-0! Their season scoring total was 248-25! They only had 4 touch downs against them the whole season! Sorry, I know it sounds like I'm boasting... but well, I guess I am! I am very proud of my Zachary and what a great adventure this was for him. He has grown so much this fall through this football program. We are all thankful for the great opportunity for him to play... and now we're all grateful that it's over :-). We are looking forward to a relaxing, Thanksgiving week! Here are some pictures from today's game.

We love our sports!

2008-10-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

I just have to brag right now about a couple great things the boys did! Kaleb scored his first 2 goals in his game last week and led his team to a 2:1 victory! It was so exciting- he hadn't scored yet this year and he pulled in 2 in one game :-)! We were very excited. Unfortunately Justin missed it (he was working at Zach's game), but Mema was there to see it! Here's a picture of the first goal...

On another great note...

They have a new play for Zach where he gets to recieve the ball! So far he's just been blocking on the offensive line, but now they have a passing play for him and he's SO excited! They only run it on the extra point conversion, so he got 1 chance to catch in their last game and completed the pass! He was tackled right away and couldn't make it to the end zone, but we were so excited that he caught it! I was so nervous for him! They were playing a really good team that was their biggest competition for 1st place, and we won 6:0! Hopefully Zach will get more opportunities like this soon- he was really excited about it! I didn't really get a great picture of the catch, but here's a picture of him getting tackled, and another one from that game (he's #51)...

It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game...

2008-09-13T18:02:00.001-07:00

... at least that's what they always say- but I couldn't resist updating you on the boys' latest scores! Zach has been loving football. He is currently playing on the offensive line as a blocker. I'm so impressed with the level at which these kids are playing! They are amazing! I'm beginning to see why so much practice was needed! Today we travelled to Napa- we had a leave our house at 7am with all the boys! It was exhausting, but the games are so fun!

9/6: Clayton Valley Falcons (Zach) vs. Antioch (won 12 to 6) 9/13: Falcons vs. Napa Saints (won 25 to 6) 9/20: Falcons vs. Solano Mustangs (won 33 to 0) 9/27: Falcons vs. West County (won 33 to 13) 10/3: Falcons vs. San Leandro Crusaders (won 6:0)

Kaleb's having fun in soccer, and may just be our most aggresive player so far! Although, he does love clowning around on the field too!

9/6: Blue Flames (Kaleb's soccer team)- won 3 to 1 9/8: Blue Flames- won 1 to 0 9/17: Blue Flames- won 2 to 1 9/20: Blue Flames- won 6 to 0 9/27: Blue Flames- won 2 to 1 (great job Kaleb!)

Football!

2008-09-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

Zach is playing football this year for the first time for the Clayton Valley Falcons. He's been practicing everyday in August and just found out he officially made the team! It's been so good for him both physically and mentally. He's gotten pretty tough, and is even proud of his bruises :-)! Right now they have him playing as a defensive lineman because he's one of the bigger kids on his team. His first game is this Saturday, and I can't wait to watch him play! He's doing so well and we're so proud of him!

Soccer!

2008-09-02T11:02:00.001-07:00

Kaleb is playing soccer this fall for the first time. He's having a great time with the other 6 boys on his team! Their name is the 'blue flames' :-) His first game is this Saturday during Zach's football game. We will have to split up, and unfortunately I will miss it because I'm scheduled to work at Zach's game! Hopefully this won't happen every week. I'm very excited for him because he's having so much fun!

First Day of School!!!!

2008-09-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

The boys started school last week. For Zach, it was fun to be back at the same school and reconnect with some great friends from last year. He is totally at home at North Creek and loves it there! He has a great teacher this year and is very excited for 5th grade!

Levi started school for the first time EVER! He is in 2nd grade at North Creek also. He has a great teacher this year, and he already knows a few kids there and has friends in his class. He is such a social kid, he has already made a few new friends just in the first couple days. He is LOVING school and everything about it!

My little Kaleb started Kindergarten this year. He was SO excited to go, and is really enjoying it. He has a very sweet teacher this year. And he was so blessed to get 3 of his best little friends in his class! He is going to have so much fun. Tomorrow is cowboy day and he gets to dress up- he's very excited!

Torin and I are enjoying our quiet mornings together. He's never gotten any alone time with me before, and the house is SO quiet! The first morning the boys were gone he had a really rough time. We stayed around for their flag ceremony they do every morning, and then he laid down in the school courtyard and refused to move for a good 15 minutes. People were asking me if he was on strike! It was pretty funny. Then when we got home he still just cried and had an awful morning, but now he's getting used to it! I have to keep him busy, but we have fun together. I'm figuring out why he was such a late talker though, because when he's alone with me that's all he does! He talked more in 1 morning last week than the whole last year combined :-). He must feel the need to fill the silence! We are so thankful that the boys were all able to go to school this year, I know it will be a great experience for them!

Our trip to Oregon and Seattle

2008-09-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

The boys and I just got back (well, it's been a couple weeks but who's counting!) from a trip to visit our family up in Oregon and Seattle. We had a great time visiting with my parents in Springfield for a few days, then up to Seattle with my mom to see my sister Rebecca and her kids, then back to Oregon for another day. It was great to visit with everyone and see my mom's beautiful flowers, and my sister's beautiful children! It was my dad's 70th birthday, so it was fun to be there for that, and we had a good visit with Lynn and Clay and their 2 cutie kids as well! Now we are home and settling into 'crazy life' again. See the next couple posts for more info. Enjoy the pictures...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our trip to MT

2008-07-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

We got back from our trip to Montana last week! We had such a good time there visiting family and friends. We started out on July 2nd and headed to Boise to spend the night with our friends Joe and Heather. It was fun to see them and their beautiful children (of course I forgot to take pictures!). Then we headed up to Missoula, MT for Justin's cousin Karissa's wedding. It was a mini family reunion, and it was fun to see everyone again. Karissa was a beautiful bride :-)! From there we went up to Flathead lake where Justin's dad had arranged for us to stay in a cabin for 2 nights. The boys had a great time playing on the lake and they stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for a day while Justin, Torin, Lacie, Ben and I spent a day in Glacier National Park! It was so gorgeous- I can't believe I had never been. I am still waiting on the beautiful pictures I took there (Ben has a much nicer camera than I do, so I had to play with his!) After a couple days on the lake we headed up to Justin's dad's ranch in Lewistown, MT. Along the way we stopped and visited other friends in Helena (Klint and Jes Fisher)- they have a beautiful, old home (mansion), and our boys loved hanging out with theirs! I also stopped and visited my friend Erin Turner in Polson (of course I didn't take pictures at any of these stops- I don't know what's happening to me!) Anyway, it was great to reconnect with old friends just like no time has passed! So far in our journey we had seen a bazillion deer, several elk, a bear, a moose, and even some mountain goats- so exciting! We spent several days up at the ranch. The boys loved the tractors, animals, and painting bird houses for Grandma. Zach shot a gun and drove a truck for the first time!!! And Kaleb drove Grandpa's tractor "all by himself", now he keeps asking if he can drive the car because he can drive now! One day we took a trip to the local pool that had great waterslides and diving boards. The kids could have stayed all day- it was so fun for them. Kaleb was apprehensive going down the slide with me the first time, but then he went about 50 more times all by himself :-) Torin even went down with us a few times. After a wonderful stay at the ranch, we headed south to spend the night at Chico Hot Springs (just north of Yellowstone). We took another pitstop in our hometown of Bozeman, MT. It was fun to drive through town and see how it has changed, visit our old schools, and see the various home's we've lived in. We visited our friends the Brewsters while we were there, so that was great fun too! More beautiful kids :-) Then we were off to Chico for a night. We loved swimming in the natural mineral springs and the beautiful scenery (I highly recommend this place to anyone travelling to MT). The next day was spent in Yellowstone seeing tons of animals and geysers! It was fun seeing it again through my children's eyes- they had never seen anything like it! (We also found 41 of the 50 states on license plates on our trip- I'm a nerd, I know!) We even saw a grizzly bear eating a bull elk- that was crazy! Of course I forgot my camera during our stop at Old Faithful, but that was the worst thing that happened that day, so I can deal with it :-)! We spent the next day driving home and the rest is history! Great memories were made by all of us. And for those who were worried for our sanity, the kids were amazing in the car- better than I ever could have hoped for :-) ! Enjoy the slideshow...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Kaleb's Birthday

2008-07-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's a little late I know! Kaleb's birthday was April 26th, but I have finally collected all the pictures and they are ready to share! Kaleb had a power ranger birthday party with 4 of his best little buddies! We went to the Jungle to play for awhile, and then came home for cake and presents. They all go to Cubbies together at church, so after the party we took them all and dropped them off there. They sang in the car the whole way- it was so cute! Kaleb has been blessed with many wonderful little friends, and I'm excited for him to start Kindergarten with some of them this fall!

Nature in our backyard.

2008-04-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

Spring is here in California- actually, by the weather today it would be pretty safe to say summer is here- it was roasting!! We've had the special privelege to watch a mommy bird build a next right out our kitchen window in one of my hanging planters. The kids can look out and watch her anytime without bothering her at all. Torin especially loves to be lifted up to see her 25 times/day. We saw her babies the day they hatched, and now we can watch her feeding them! They are about a week old now.

Here is one of my beautiful roses. My bush is just going crazy, and I've been cutting them and bringing them in for a couple weeks now! I hope it keeps up this way- I love having fresh flowers around.

Happy 7th Birthday Levi!

2008-04-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

Levi wanted to tie dye a shirt for his birthday. It sounds pretty random, I know, but I thought it would be fun! We had his friend Mitchell over for a small party and sleepover- complete with tie-dyed shirts, and a cake to match!

What did the Easter Bunny bring???

2008-03-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hre is a video of the boys on Easter morning! As you can tell, Kaleb was the most excited :-) They all got Webkinz this year which was a really big deal for them. Way to go Easter Bunny!

Our day in San Francisco

2008-03-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Kristin from Florida came to visit us for a week. We had a lot of fun together and spent a day in San Francisco. We haven't spent much time there with the kids, and they had a blast! We rode the cable cars down to Pier 39 and enjoyed the water and sea lions! We miss you Kristin! (Click on play and the slideshow will open in a new window. If you click on the up facing arrow the pictures will be enlarged so you can see them more easily!)

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Our Easter

2008-03-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our family Easter! We had a wonderful day together. (Click on play and it will open a slideshow in a new window)

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

What mom's say...

2008-03-04T08:52:00.001-08:00

Hilarious! This is one of my favorites. Enjoy :-)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2008-02-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from our Valentine's Day. These are from the party at Levi's school that I helped out with, so Zach wasn't there. I was so excited to actually capture Torin's signature smirk! I also included a picture of the cookies I made since so many of you are asking about them! And yes, Justin and I actually got to go out that night. What a treat. Miss you all!

Happy Birthday Torin

2008-02-09T21:33:00.000-08:00

I guess that's it! The baby years have officially come to a close, and my darling baby is now 2!!! Okay, I guess maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic, and he will always be my 'baby', but this was still a sad day for me. I love this little guy so much! We had a very busy day with company from out of town, 2 basketball games and a karate show, but we still squeezed in a party for Torin! He LOVES dogs, so I thought that would be the perfect theme for him! He laughed everytime I sang happy birthday to him. Here are some pictures of his "doggy" party.

Thanks for praying

2008-02-09T21:27:00.000-08:00

Eliza is doing much better. She is home now and recovering! I just had to post this picture. Poor thing! One day I suspect she will look back on this and laugh :-) We love you Eliza!!!!

Pray for Eliza

2008-02-02T20:54:00.000-08:00

Please pray for my niece, Eliza, who lives in NYC. She is 11 years old and she was hurt very badly today in a skiing accident. She has multiple facial fractures, a large gash on her forehead, and some brain swelling. I don't know many more details than that. My heart goes out to their family. I can't imagine watching one of my children go through this! Thanks!

Some pictures I like!

2008-01-30T14:39:00.000-08:00

Just having some photoshop fun!

Visitors

2008-01-29T14:41:00.000-08:00

We have been excited this month to have several visitors! Sandi (Justin's mom) was here for a couple days before her move down to San Dieg0- we will miss her!

My brother, Scott, came last night for 1 night but I didn't get any pictures (sorry Scott). It was great to have him and he was very encouraging to me about starting some internet stuff-including this website. Now if only I can make the switch to facebook he will be so proud! Thanks Scott for all your help!

The Poe family (good friends of ours that deserted us to move to SoCal) came to visit for a few days. It happened to be Laura's birthday, so it was fun to celebrate with them! Baby Abby was so cute, and it was fun to have a little girl around for a change! Here's a couple pictures.

Basketball

2008-01-29T14:23:00.000-08:00

We are right in the middle of basketball season here. Zach and Levi are both playing and loving it! They are playing for a Christian league that we really like called Upward Basketball. We have 2 games every Saturday and 2 weeknight practices. It seems pretty busy, but I know we are only scratching the surface of how busy our lives will be one day (I'm sure Scott's family could tell me all about this :-)) Justin is coaching Levi's team, so that's been fun for them both! Here's a couple pictures for you, sorry they're a bit blurry!

Just keeping in touch...

2008-01-29T14:00:00.000-08:00

All right. It's 2008 for crying out loud, and I have been hopelessly falling behind in this whole keeping in touch thing! I figured this would be a great way for me to share pictures of our family and the boys without always bogging down everyone's email with them! I can also now stay in better touch by sharing what we are up to! So... here we go!