Rainbow Gratitude

It is finally Spring!!! I can't tell you how much I relish walking outside in my bare feet through my vibrant green grass and wearing no coat as I hear the birds chirp and smell the wet pavement from the rain the night before. Living in Ohio we have a lot of rain, especially this time of year. I really love watching the room light up as I lie in bed at night and then hear the loud claps of thunder shake the room. It makes me grateful that I have a nice safe house that keeps me warm and dry. Along with the frequent rain comes rainbows. There really are few things as miraculous to me as a rainbow. I love to see them paint the sky with their beauty. Interestingly, so does Alden.

The other day we were getting ready to go to a play that a couple of Michael's seminary students were in. It had just rained and the sun was breaking through the clouds. Michael said, "Oh, I'll bet there is a rainbow." Sure enough, there was double rainbow lining the sky. Michael and the boys were so excited as they talked about the colors that make a rainbow and that a rainbow is God's promise to us that he'll never destroy the Earth with a flood. Alden's exuberance soon turned to seriousness, and he turned to Michael and said, "Papi, I think we should say a prayer to thank Heavenly Father for this rainbow" (this was of course in Spanish, but I'm not going to attempt to translate it). Alden then offered the sweetest prayer thanking God for blessing us with this rainbow. I love what an amazing kid he is.

The End of March Excitement

Our past few weekends have been filled with fun and excitement. Michael's birthday was on Saturday, March 22. We had a nice day and enjoyed a visit from Michael's parents. They treated us to dinner at the Packard Grille and then we came back and ate birthday pie (Michael's not a big cake fan, so I make him birthday pie instead). The next day, we, along with the rest of the Christian world, celebrated Easter. We had an uplifting and enjoyable church service, and then came home and dyed Easter eggs and had a little Easter egg hunt with Grandpa and Abuelita. It was one of the sillier Easter egg hunts that we've had. We hid all the eggs in fairly simple spots, yet the last 15 minutes of the hunt were spent with me, Michael, and his mom trying to locate the last hardboiled egg. We were quite certain that we'd find it this summer, but we weren't exactly looking forward to those prospects. Eventually we did find it, so no rotten egg smell in the Monday's house this July--Hooray!!! Hyrum especially enjoyed hunting for candy and Easter eggs. He was perfectly content with the first piece of candy that he found. He wasn't exactly interested in doing much of anything else, other than eating that piece of candy. That evening we also had our good friends Jeff and Laura Talbot and their two girls over for Easter dinner. Our kids always have such a great time playing together, and we always have such a fun time talking to them.


With it being Easter, I am reminded of the great and atoning sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the life that He lived to show us the way and then His willingness to suffer for our sins in Gethsemane and die for us. I know that He was resurrected on the third day and am so grateful for that peace and knowledge that I have that I can live with my family forever. What a great gift He's given all of us!


Last weekend, we took another trip to Toledo where Michael and I bought new furniture (this was a couch and love seat that we've been eying for nearly a year--our current couch is one that Michael's had since law school--needless to say, we're pretty excited!). We also took the boys the circus. Abuelita came with us and spoiled the boys rotten. They got glow-in-the-dark dolphin necklaces, a pony ride, and an elephant ride! Hyrum was very wiggly, but I think he had a great time too. It was the third circus that the boys and I had ever been to. Our first one (mine too) was last year. Circuses are great. If you haven't been to one, I highly recommend it (I imagine that I am one of only a few people who made it to 32 years old before seeing a circus).

Looking for a Leprechaun

Alden is so funny to me. He's so incredibly practical about everything. Things are very black and white in his world, but he's so amazingly cool. I love everything about my little 5 year old. We went to the dentist on Wednesday, and when the hygenist who was wearing Ohio State scrubs walked into the room, he said in his surprisingly adult sounding voice, "Oh I really like your shirt. It looks nice. I really like the Buckeyes too." He then sat up straight in the dentist chair as still as could be with his mouth open wide while his teeth were cleaned and examined. I really can't believe how much he's grown. Despite his grown-up ways, he is still a five year old. On St. Patrick's Day, he came home and told me that Mrs. Curl, his teacher, caught a leprechaun and was going to show him to the class. He said that when she opened the box to show everyone, the leprechaun had escaped. They looked and looked for him, but they couldn't find him. He came home and wondered if perhaps (a favorite word of Alden's) he had come to our house. I told him that leprechauns don't actually exist to which he adamantly told me that they do in fact exist. I still haven't convinced him otherwise. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that I'm right. I wonder how long he'll insist that they are real.

Since moving here, Alden has made a quite a few new friends. He loves the kids in his class, especially his friend, Jack, and he's also really loved his friend Thomas at church. Sadly, Thomas and his family moved back to Utah this month. We were sad to have them go, but Alden assured Thomas on several occasions that they'd get to see each other when we went to visit Utah. From all of our moving around, Alden has grown especially close to his family. The other day he told me that his cousins, his brother, and his grandparents were his best friends. I'm so happy that he loves his family so much. We had Michael's parents come for Easter, and he was bouncing off the walls with excitement to have his grandpa and abuelita stay at his house. He really is such a lovable, sweet boy.


He is really into calling people right now on the telephone. He loves to call me. Today I was just sitting here, and the phone rang. I was puzzled to see my cell phone number on the caller ID. I picked it up and heard, "Hello, Mom. This is Alden." He was in a chatting mood, so I suggested he call his grandma. He knew everything but the last 4 digits of her phone number (he's only called it one or two times). He's a smart cookie.

The other night after we had read stories for the night, I saw "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch sitting on Thobe's bed. I asked the boys if they'd like to hear one more story that always makes me cry. They are always excited about hearing another story, so I read the book and ended up crying harder than I remembered crying the last time I read it (what a cry baby). Anyway, at the end of the story, the mother tries to sing the song I'll love you forever to her grown up boy but is too old and sick to finish the song. Alden looked somewhat worried, like he always does when I cry, but I told him I was crying because I love him and miss my mom. I told him that I am so happy to be with him, so everything is the way it's supposed to be. Then Thobe asked me to lie down by him, so I did, and soon the room became quiet and two little boys, I assumed, were headed off to dreamland. Soon, Thobe's eyes closed and his breathing became slow and steady. It was then that Alden asked, "Mom, old people don't sing very well, right?" I realized that he had been thinking about the story. I told him that some do, but some don't when they are tired and sick. Then he said, "Mom, when I'm a grandpa, you'll be an old grandma, right?

"Right," I assured.

"Oh good. Well goodnight, Mom," he said as he relaxed and drifted off to sleep.

The Ides of Hyrum

Hyrum has become my crazy kid! He is into EVERY- THING! He gets into pots, pans, cups, the dishwasher, food, the toilet, papers, cupboards, pens, markers, toys, remotes, phones, clothes, and, well, you name it, he's into it. Just in the past week, he has hurt himself so badly that he has bled quite badly twice (in one week). He also is very determined and knows exactly what it is that he wants or doesn't want for that matter. Last night he did not want his dad to put him down, and when Michael sat him down on the floor to quickly do something, Hyrum threw himself so hard onto the floor that he cut his lip and bled profusely. He looks so different with a fat lip! He is constantly climbing, pulling, pushing, and running. I really think that he must have a guardian angel that keeps him safe from all his mishaps, and boy, am I grateful for that guardian angel! I can't keep up with him.

Despite being a holy terror right now, he is also so dang sweet! He jabbers and jabbers and jabbers. When I say, "Oh really, Hy?" He says, "Yeah," and then giggles and giggles. It's got to be the cutest thing I've ever heard. I can't get over how cute it is. He also has started singing the ABCs song. He says, "A B C D" really clearly. He also loves to sing, "Oh boy, I got joy." Of course the words aren't super pronounced, but they are certainly discernible and oh so cute! He also loves "I Am a Child of God." Today I was rocking him and he sang something that sounded just like "I am a child of God." It was really cute. I know I've wrote in here before that he loves music, but that love for music grows everyday. It soothes him when we're in the car or at night, and he loves for me to sing to him while I rock him to sleep or stand next to his crib. He also loves to dance, and at church, he likes to grab a hymnal and sing along with whoever is singing. It's so much fun to watch him.

Recently Hyrum has discovered shoes. I don't usually even bother with shoes until the kids are ready to walk around outside, but he discovered them and wants to wear them every chance he gets! I'll attach a video of the third time he tried on boots. I wish I had him on video the first time. It was hilarious, but this is pretty good too!

"It's My Fault Also"

I'm not sure where it comes from, but for some reason, both Alden and Thobe have this very cute little accent. Everything that ends in the letter "O" has a cute little accent on it. I don't think Michael and I talk that way, and I imagine that Thobe learned it from Alden. Where Alden got it, I don't know for sure, actually, I have no idea. Either way, every time they do it, Michael and I smile at each other and often imitate it after they've gone to bed (what a romantic way to spend the evening after the kids go to bed).

Anyway, I digress. We are still having issues with Thobe and potty training. Some days he's a champion at it and other, days, like today, well to put it nicely, he stinks (literally). I'm going to digress again. I think it's so funny that now that I'm a parent that I spend a lot of time talking about bodily excrement to Michael and other parents (as tempting as it is, I try to not bore other people who are not going through the nightmare of potty training). We went out to dinner with our friends Cortney and Emily Bird Saturday night. Their kids are our kids age and have similar potty issues. While we were eating we talked our kids peeing their pants and pooping their pants. This was a couple that we knew while we were dating who were also dating each other at the time. It's funny that if you told me back then that 10 years from now that we'd be sitting down to have dinner together and would talk about pee and poop, I'd think that you were crazy and disgusting. Such is the life of parents of young children, I guess.

Anyway, back to today. We got back from running a lot of errands (one of which was visiting teaching, which always takes longer that I think it will). At our last stop, I asked Thobe if he needed to go to the bathroom or if he could wait until we got home. He said he could wait, so we quickly went home. However, when we got home, I forgot and ran a couple things in the house and quickly checked my email (I was expecting an important email regarding my sociology class and wanted to see if it was there yet). Anyway, I then hurried up to get the kids out of the car. When I got to the car, Hyrum was asleep, and Thobe was waiting patiently in his seat (he doesn't know how to unbuckle it). I apologized for leaving him there and reached back to unbuckle him. He then said, "I peed my pants, Mommy."

"Oh, Thobe," I apologized, "I'm so sorry I left you out here. I'm so sorry. It's my fault, Thobe."

Then in his cute little innocent voice, putting an accent on the "O," he responded, "Oh, Mommy. It's my fault also."

What a fun little guy! I really love him!

A Weekend with Grandpa and Abuelita

Last weekend, we had stake conference and saw it as a good excuse to go visit Grandpa and Abuelita (I also had to speak in stake conference which was a first for me). Anyway, we met Grandpa and Abuelita at I-Hop for a yummy dinner on Friday night, and then went to their house that evening. That night there was a big snow storm (oh, how I can't wait for Spring! All this snow, cold, and gray skies could make even Jack Frost long for warm weather, blue skies, and sunshine). Despite the drab weather, we had a wonderful time. We enjoyed Abuelita's yummy treats and delicious meals (Chris always tells me that she can only cook about five things--that is a big joke. She might make five delicious things per meal--if you have a meal at Michael's parents' house you can plan on a tasty main dish, a vegetable with some delicious seasoning sprinkled on the top, an aesthetically and tummy pleasin' salad, some type of bread, and either fruit or some kind of delectable dessert. She also makes the best Reuben sandwiches or any kind of sandwich for that matter that I've ever tasted). The boys are always so excited to see their grandparents and vice versa. They love to read stories and rattle off Spanish with their Abuelita (she of course thinks that this Spanish thing is a complete waste of time--haha). She loves how much they are learning and is so pleased that they talk in Spanish to her. They love to watch sports with Grandpa and spent part of the time watching the 2005 Mudhen's championship game rerun with Grandpa. The boys love to play in the basement with all of the toys that are down there. We really need to go up there more often. We feel so blessed to be only 80 miles away!

Along with the snow came the potential for snowman building. After the snowfall subsided, Michael, Alden, and Thobe headed outside and built a very friendly snowman. Alden had two pairs of gloves on his hands, a hat on his head, and his hood from his coat on too. Thobe, as you can see in the picture had no gloves (he can't keep them on), no hat, no hood, and was lucky to have his coat on his body. Cold doesn't bother him, I guess. He didn't complain at least. They had such a fun time. After the three balls were carefully assembled, the hunt for snowman parts began. Over and over, the doorbell rang, and Alden, on his father's errand, came looking for important components for their snowman.

"Our snowman needs a hat, our snowman needs a nose, our snowman needs eyes."

They wanted radishes for the eyes, but unfortunately, those were already used in the salad, so Michael was resourceful and found briquettes ("two eyes made out of coal"--I must admit that the radishes were probably more creative). After the snowman was complete, we all got our shoes on and admired their work. Hyrum was the most impressed and kept pointing at the snowman saying, "What's that?" over and over again.

I'm so grateful that my kids have such an incredible dad. Michael is always doing stuff like that with the boys. They love to do things with him, and it's not hard to imagine why. I really love him for a lot of reasons, but I really love him so much for being such a great dad to our boys. He's really incredible!

We were also so grateful to Kathy and Bob Deck who watched the kids while we went to stake conference on Saturday night. The kids had such a great time! Thanks, Bob and Kathy!

A New Little Hansgen Boy

Yesterday, March 5, around 9:00 a.m., my newest nephew, Joshua Wells Hansgen, was born to Diane, my charming and lovely sister, and her husband, Doug, who is also charming but not so lovely. Joshua is by far their smallest baby weighing in at 7 lbs. 14 oz and only 18 inches long. As you can see from the pictures, he really is adorable. His three older brothers, Davin, James, and Bridger, are very excited (so I hear) about the new baby too.

I am also excited about this new little guy (clearly) and have been dying to see him! Emily sent the pictures to Michael's phone last night, and I finally got to view them an hour or so ago. My mom learned how to upload pictures to her computer and sent me the pictures I have here (who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks, right mom?). Anyway, I'm very excited to see my new little friend in person. I must admit that this is by far the worst part of living far away from home. I don't like it one bit!

Congrats, Di and Doug! I love and miss you so much!