Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Ohio. We only used our camera for the first few days, so there aren't as many as we'd like. But when you're having fun, who remembers the camera? While we were there, Chris's niece, Hayleigh, was baptized. We were so glad that we could be there! We were able to attend the Columbus temple, which was a first for me, and it was a wonderful experience. There was horse riding, shooting, naps, and more food than I needed. "The Girls" went to see New Moon--which was a lot of fun for me--and surprisingly enough, there were little video games played, which didn't bother me in the slightest. We also got some face time with the local missionaries, which made me think of Gordon. His most recent letter said that he was able to enjoy Thanksgiving and I'm so grateful for the loving families that made that possible! Chris and I really enjoyed our time in Ohio with family. We wish we all lived closer so we could get together more often.

Hayleigh with her 1st set of scriptures


Hayleigh, Keith, Mat, Eve, and Chris's Mom at the baptism


Chris's Dad, Maria, and Olivia


Ella, Lydia, and Maddie--so, so cute


Olivia and Lydia--try not to get those names confused--and Landon, who didn't want to look at the camera


A video of Olivia playing the piano with Maria


All in all we had tons of fun and can't wait to all be together again!

Thanksgiving and Finals!

What an awkward combination...Thanksgiving was great, but finals are a killer (2 more weeks!!!)! Chris and I had the wonderful opportunity to fly to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Most of the family was there and it was so much fun! We played BANG! quite a few times and had late nights talking and laughing! There was also a lot of watching out for the little "chillin's" that were there! But more info and a few pictures will be coming, if I can get my camera to cooperate!

Some Projects

Here are some pictures of the projects Chris has done for his Advanced CNC class. This is an advanced programming class for different types of computerized machinery. Chris had to create the designs and write the codes for the cutting process. For the brass heart, he used a wire EDM; for the name plate, he used a CNC mill; and for the Horse head, Chris used a CNC plasma cutter. I don't know what all of that means, exactly, but I really like what he has been able to do! He is so creative and comes home with all of these ideas for his next project!

Chris originally planned to make the brass heart as a key chain ornament to give me for my birthday, but it turned out bigger than I thought it would! The name plate says "HANSEN" and has a Bugatti symbol on the left and a football helmet on the right (I really liked this one when he brought it home!). And the Horse head cut-out is actually a gift for Chris's mom. He created the branding symbol (her initials) in the bottom right corner. I am so proud of Chris and the hard work he puts forth in all of his classes and I can't wait to see what he brings home next!

Birthday!

Saturday was my 24th birthday and it was a good one! Chris serenaded me with "Happy Birthday" and surprised me with a digital picture frame. He remembered me saying something about it over the summer and kept the idea in the back of his mind for months--I am so impressed! He also treated me to dinner and the ever famous G's Dairy Delights, an ice cream shop that Chris and I enjoy. My family showered me with phone calls and text messages, birthday cards and cake and ice cream. I am so blessed to have so many people who love me and I am reminded all the time. So thank you to all those who helped make my birthday a GREAT one--even though it is somewhat depressing that I am already 24!

Birthdays are Bosh

Saturday is my 24th birthday and I'm not all that excited. The thrill of getting older is no longer appealing to me. And I wonder if it comes to everyone as they get older and are forced to become more responsible. When you are younger, the joy of parties and presents is overwhelming and then you reach the teenage years and the world begins to open up to you. But after 21 or 22 the world starts to close back in on you. You have to have all the answers and you are expected to have your life planned out until at least retirement. Bills are piling up but money isn't coming in--only failing grades. The pressures to do everything and be everything are amassing, and all of this as you're being told that you must make something of yourself or you will be of no value to anyone. I really never asked to get older. Why couldn't I stay little?

Drive-in Movie!

On Saturday night Chris and I had the unique opportunity to go to a drive-in movie theater. We were pretty excited considering neither of us had ever been to one before. We pulled in, they told us which radio station to turn to, and we found a pretty good spot to park our car. There were some serious drive-in-movie-goers who brought couches and mattresses to put in the back of their car or truck, and some people set up camping chairs and sat outside their vehicle. It was too cold for me to do that! There was a concession area and Chris got a milkshake and I got something to drink and a candy bar. We saw "G.I. Joe" and it was really nice to recline our seats back a little and have control of the volume! One of the only draw backs was that a few people arrived late and their headlights shone right into our mirrors. Other than that we had a good time. I still like the theater best, but at least now Chris and I can say that we've experienced the excitement of a drive-in movie!

I know, I know...

I haven't posted very much the last several months and hopefully with internet access that will change. But I'm going to get you up-to-date on what has happened since I last posted. Well, as some of you know, Annabelle came to stay with Chris and I in Wendover, Nevada for a week. She celebrated her 8th birthday with us and we had a lot of fun with her. We took her to the park, to see ICE AGE 3, to the city pool (where there are 2 really fun slides--right chica???), we made a cake for her birthday, and took her all over the vast city of Wendover. She had some crafts that my mom sent with her, which we did a lot of, but her favorite thing was to take the cushions off of the couch and build huts with them. Annabelle also swears she gained weight while she was with us, but I don't know about that! Anyways, Chris and I had fun with her and we hope she had fun too!
Chris and Annabelle at our pool

Annabelle couldn't wait to get up and celebrate her birthday!

Some of the stuff mom sent

Enjoying the fruits of our labors!

Annabelle decorated her own cake...

Chris and Annabelle eating cake!

Annabelle's makeover and photo shoot

At the end of August, Chris and I were able to go with his family to the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple open house. It is beautiful inside and is built a lot like the Rexburg temple--with numerous flights of stairs and such--but has its own unique characteristics. Hayleigh, our niece, counted all of the pictures of Christ in the temple and I think she got to 32??? It was a wonderful opportunity to visit this temple. And for those of you who don't know, this temple is the 13th temple in Utah (which makes Utah home to 10% of all the temples in the world. Amazing, I know!)
Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Also since our last post, Chris and I have moved back to Rexburg, Idaho. There are a few things we miss from Wendover, such as seeing my dad on his work trips, the sun and warmth, Wendover Will, our branch (especially the Young Women!) and of course our pool. However, I am glad to be back, but I know Chris misses working. What an upbeat provider he will be! We are happy to get the ball rolling with school, though. We have spent the last few days unpacking and getting ready for school, which begins on Thursday. Both of us are a little nervous for this semester, but we know with the Lord's help we will make through yet again.

No, We're Not Dead!

I'm sure many of you have wondered why our blogging has stopped. Well, we are in Wendover, Nevada and have no internet. I have to go to the local library or to Chris's work to access the internet, but I'm not allowed to plug anything into the computers. So we are in Moab, Utah for the weekend and I am taking advantage of the internet available here!
Anyways, we had a lot of fun going down the river, having a barbecue, watching the fireworks and shooting off some of our own. Here are some pictures from this weekend.




Here are some pictures from our trip to Disneyland. It was Chris's first time in Disneyland so we stayed as long as we could both days. We were sore, but it was totally worth it!




This is a picture of Chris and his favorite car at the car show in Moab at the end of April. There were a couple hundred cars at this car show and Chris took about that many pictures! Boys and their toys!!


I hope this post has given you a look into what's been going on this summer. Annabelle is going to Wendover with us this week and we (hopefully) will post some pictures of her time there. Until next time...

What We're Up To..

Well, it's been a crazy past few weeks! Chris and I have been hard at work studying for finals and they are finally here! On Thursday our finals for this semester will be over and the following Monday we will be on our way to Wendover, Nevada, where Chris will be doing an internship for the summer. We are sad to leave our ward and our friends, but we have been preparing for this adventure!

We made a visit to Wendover last weekend to find an apartment and we are lucky we did. There are lots of people who go to Wendover to make some quick money at the casinos and then they are on their way, so you have to hit the apartment market at just the right time. Although our apartment isn't what we have here in Rexburg, we are happy to have found the one we did. We have a washer and dryer unit and a swimming pool, but we have no dishwashwer and no microwave. I guess this is how "real world" people live--making sacrifices in one area for something in another area! We didn't take any pictures of our apartment, but we really liked the landmark that welcomes you into town (too bad it's so far into town that only the locals see it). Say hello to "Wendover Will"! I have a feeling he and I are going to be good friends.
I also had my last big hoorah with Enrichment and I think it went pretty well considering we had to tell the sisters that it was getting late and we needed to start cleaning up! We had about 30 sisters from the ward show up (that's maybe half), and we fed them soup and salad in celebration of the Relief Society's birthday and did a service project. Our Stake Relief Society President spoke to us about service and then we made lap-quilts for the nursing home here in Rexburg. This calling has been very stressful for me, but I know the Lord helped me in reaching out to the sisters, and I have felt many blessings from magnifying my calling. Here is a picture of some of the lap-quilts we made.

Gordon's "non-farewell"!

Gordon had his "non-farewell" on March 8th and Chris and I were able to be there. It was really great to see him one last time before his mission and it was a lot of fun. We got to see Natalie, David and Rylie, Grandparents, and lots of other family members. We heard Gordon speak in church about prayer and faith and he did really well. He's going to be a great missionary!!! We love him and are so proud of his decision to serve a mission. He's been preparing for it his whole life and the time has finally come! Here are a few pictures from that day. I'll post more later.

Dad (Grandpa), Shane, Matt, and Gordon

Mom (Grandma), Rylie, Matt, Gordon, and Kaylee

Gordon and Kaylee

Gordon and Rylie

Some of Gordon's Friends...

More of Gordon's Friends...

More Friends...

More Friends...

Still More Friends

Gordon

It's Been a While...

Sorry that it's been a while since our last post--there's been a LOT going on! First of all, I had mild bronchitis for about 3 weeks. This did not serve me well. No one likes being sick and coughing all of the time, but it is especially bad when your classmates start asking if you've been to see the doctor yet. That's a tad embarassing! Also, it's been difficult with my calling as Enrichment leader to get meetings and activities together. But I was somehow able to pull it off--with the help of a few of my committee members!
Also, Chris and I have been busy with school. This past week we had midterms, which is always hectic and leaves little room in our schedules for anything else. But we were allotted a little break from school during Presiden't Day weekend and we went down to Utah to see Krystle and Corey. We were able to visit, sleep in, and play with Baily (which mostly Chris did). We also ate some yummy lemon chicken made by Krystle, and now Chris is on a "marinade everything" streak! We had a lot of fun with them and it was good to get to know them better (of course, I already knew Krystle!). While we were down in Utah, we spent a day in Wendover, Nevada at the potash plant there. Chris has an opportunity to do an internship there this summer and we were checking it out. We feel really good about this internship and Chris is in the process of filling out all of the necessary paperwork. We will try to keep posted about the internship and post pictures of Wendover when we visit again. We look at this internship as our little adventure!

Other than that, we are happy and healthy (mostly) and keep trudging on with school, friends, family, life, etc.!

An Update

This post is just to keep people updated on what's going on here in good ol' Rexburg! Chris and I are going strong with school, church callings (don't even get me started!), etc. We have some good leads on internships for this summer and are hoping things work out for the best. We also will be coming up on 18 months of marriage next week (the 27th) and can't believe how fast the time has gone! But we still love each other and like each other's company so that's a good sign!

The Past Few Weeks!

Well, the past few weeks have been adventurous, exciting, crazy, hectic and awe inspiring! To start off, Chris and I were to arrive in Ohio for Christmas vacation at 7:25pm on Tuesday, December 16th. Amongst all of the delays caused by snow and not having a pilot for two of our flights, we eventually landed in Columbus, OH at 8:30am Wednesday, December 17th. I will spare all the gory details.
Once in Ohio, being with family was a ton of fun! We played games (mostly MarioKart) and had some late nights of friendly competition. We ate a lot of good food with dessert practically every night (thanks Gail!) and are now both trying to lose the holiday weight. We visited Cosi (a science museum), went to the church sites in Kirtland, bought Chris some new steel-toed boots from Amish country, rode horses, went target shooting, put in a ceiling, celebrated Chris's and Marty's birthdays, etc. We caught up on our visiting and became, as usual, the favorite aunt and uncle/sister and brother/daughter and son!


After Ohio, we flew to Arizona for New Years to see Natalie and David's new baby, Rylie. she is SO adorable! We were also able to get family photos because guess what--all of us were together!!! Arizona was warm and I didn't want to leave my sister and her baby. Nonetheless, Chris and I left Mesa, Az and rode home with my parents, Gordon, Rachel and Annabelle to Moab, UT.
We left Moab the next morning and finished our trek to Rexburg, ID. Upon arrival to Rexburg, Chris and I met our home with 18" of snow and our parking space chock full of snow on top of ice. I always knew I didn't like Rexburg! In addition to all of this chaos, school started on January 7th for Chris and I and we are getting back into the school routine. Overall, we LOVED our break and can't wait to retire to Mexico.