Hope...

...you had a Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

To The Himalayas and Back Again!

Greg just got back from a 19 day trip to the Indian Himalayas with his brother. We are SO happy they made it home safe and sound after being gone for what seemed like forever!

Here is the picture I took before they left...

And here is a Seuss-esque children's book excerpt Greg wrote before leaving for his trek.

"Dad did not ride a bike.
Did not sing in a mic.
He went to the mountains
To take a long hike.

Dad hiked with a yak,
His bag on the yak's back.
There was a noticeable lack
Of public restrooms.

Will Dad ever come back?
Will he stay with the yak?
Will he cough and hack
And ride back on the yak?"

We are so happy he did make it back with the help of that yak. :)

Yesterday, Rachel and I surprised the boys and met them at the airport in Portland when they flew in. We were so excited that we had butterflies in our stomachs. And, they were VERY surprised to see us standing there. Greg had grown a full beard...the longest he has ever had it. Martin had one too but shaved it before coming home so he wouldn't scare his baby daughter. :)

It couldn't have been a sweeter reunion with our boys.

Life is complete again with Greg home. We all feel that way!



Parker and Lauren missed their dad desperately! 

Parker would pray "please help 19 days not to take as long as it sounds" and he would worry about whether his dad would make it back safely.

So, I cherish these photos of Greg's reunion with the kids.







He filled a journal with his adventures and filled several memory cards with pictures! I will post more pictures when we can.

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Daddy and Lowden threw up some serious points!

Bennett on the left with the brown hat and Mommy totally focused and ready to shoot.  And, my score was WAY higher than this says.  Must be a computer glitch.

My mom, Parker, and Lauren had a LOT of fun!  

More pictures from our trip to California are coming!  I just wanted to post these for now. 

Quick Vacation Quotes...

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Southern California.  I only took 718 pictures!  (eek!)  Here are a few from our trip for now with a few of my favorite quotes.

(Lauren on the beach at Coronado.)

Lauren: "Are their snacks on the plane?"
Me: "I think they have peanuts."
Lauren: (With concern in her voice) "Well aren't they hard to open?"
Me: "I'll help you open the peanuts Lauren."
Greg: "Come now Margaret. She's just trying to think of things to worry about. She's coming along quite well." (Poking gentle fun towards my tendency to worry.)
NOTE: Turns out they don't even have peanuts on the planes now! I miss those nuggets of snackness in the sky.

(Bennett in front of the Hotel Coronado...which isn't where we stayed)

When Bennett heard there was a pool at the hotel, he said:
Bennett: "We forgot to bring a towel."
Mom: "The hotel has some that we can borrow."
Bennett: "That will be fine."

What Are The Hansens Up To?

Lauren drew this picture a few months ago.   Little did we know that it would be prophetic of times to come.

We will now be seeing a lot of this at church.......now that Greg has been given a new calling.

Two weeks ago, Greg and I were celebrating our 14th Anniversary at one of our favorite local eateries. We were eating dinner when we got a call from the Stake President.  When he found that out we were eating dinner, he told Greg to call him back when we were finished.  That was really smart since I don't think Greg could have eaten another bite of food after what the Stake President had to tell him.  After dinner, we called him back and he asked to see us the next morning in his office. 

After wondering what that meant most of the night,we found ourselves in his office the next morning.  At which time, Greg was called to be the new bishop of the Santa Clara Fourth Ward. Greg was very humbled that the Lord felt he was ready to serve in this way.

Last Saturday, Greg sat the kids down and told them about his new calling and that he would be sustained the next day at church (Sunday, January 18th).  As soon as Greg told the kids this news, Lauren asked in a sweet voice, "Will we see you anymore daddy?" Greg assured her that she would. 

Parker quickly asked then, "Will you still play with us?" And again, Greg assured him that of course he would still play with him! We just all love him so much...we can't help asking questions like that!

I took this picture before we left for the church yesterday afternoon before his calling was made official. I will have to compare it to what he looks like when he is released.

After sacrament, Bennett marched into Primary and announced to his Primary teachers that his dad was the new prophet. (Which he is not.) But it's cute all the same.

When Greg got home last night, we played the Apples to Apples Jr game together.  While playing, Lowden turned to Greg and thoughtfully said "Now that you're the bishop, I hope I can still look at you in the same old way I have."

We are all very proud of our, as the kids fondly call him now, "Bishop Dad"!

Lauren's Special Day

December 6th, 2008 was Lauren's baptism day.

We are SO proud of her for making this choice to be baptized and for the little lady she is becoming.

Here we are, proud parents, with our little girl before her father baptized her.

Many friends came to support her including...

Her babysitter, Ariel.

Her Uncle Martin, Aunt Rachel, and cousins Olivia, Christian, Morgan, and Baby D.

We all LOVE Baby D!

Her friend, Lily, who is in her church class and her class at school.

(Aly was there too but slipped out before I could get a picture of her.)

On Sunday, December 7th, she was confirmed with The Holy Ghost during our sacrament meeting by her father. We were excited our dear friend, Jessie, was there.

Her grandparents, Kent and Ludene, were there to hug and congratulate her.

We love her SO much and are very grateful to have her in our family.

Congratulations Lauren!!!

Snow Day

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Look what we woke up to today!

Happy Turkey Day!

From: Us

To: You

We're So Glad When Grandma Comes To Town...

Glad as we can BE!

Lauren at Eight

This little girl of ours turned 8 last week!  She are so proud of the girl she is becoming.  She had a great birthday. 

Here are some highlights:
1.  She received her own set of scriptures from us which she was very excited about.  They are red and they have her name engraved on them.

2. She got her ears pierced last Friday night! If you asked her how it went, she will say "it really hurt." She was a little nervous about doing it, but she also really wanted to get them done. So, after a little coaxing from myself, Aunt Rachel, Morgan, Olivia, and Lizzie (all who happened to be at the mall at the same time.) She decided to forge ahead as long as she could sit in my lap. I was so proud of her! She didn't even flinch when they lady put them in. (They are little pink flowers.)

3.  We had some yummy lemon cupcakes with sprinkles and we took her to the restaurant of her choice, Red Robin.

4.  I took her to pick out her birthday book at Barnes and Noble (our birthday tradition).  Ironically, she picked out "If You Give a Cat, A Cupcake!" 

5.  She is excited to get baptized in the beginning of December!  I just got her dress the other day!  We are so proud of her for making this choice.

6.  She was happy to have a new bike for her birthday.  One with fenders (essential in Oregon). 

Lauren is eight. And eight is great!☺

Dear Birthday Boy,

High Lakes Fish Stocking Adventure

The Fish and Wildlife department from our county needs help every two years with stocking high lakes with fish. We participated in this two years ago and LOVED it! So we were happy to do it again this summer. They sent us this packet in the mail with maps to our lake and directions on how to release the fish.

First, we made our way to the fish hatchery to pick up our hatchlings.

Greg went to get our fish and I took the kids to look in the outdoor tanks. As we were looking around, we discovered this neat little miniature golf area that teaches kids about how the hatchery works.

You start with 24 imaginary fish and with each stroke you lose one fish. Along the way, are these great signs that explain what dangers fish encounter.

The kids LOVED this!

When we were finished, we found dad and set off with maps in hand to find Swan Lake.

It was a beautiful drive through smaller forest roads. The views were breathtaking!

We found a whole hill covered in wild, pink rhododendrons.

Greg and I both carried 3 gallons of water and 300 fish hatchlings in our packs.

It was a little heavy but it was worth it for all 600 of those cutthroat trout.

It was an easy trail downhill. Carrying that load uphill might have been a different story. ☺

Greg insisted on taking this picture of me as I tried to get over these logs in the middle of the trail. I include it for his sake...it's not really my favorite picture. Bennett and Lauren chose to go under the logs.

We found this patch of snow in a shaded meadow and built our last snowman until next winter.

And after fighting off mosquitoes, crossing by log over a creek, going under and over trees....we made it to:

SWAN LAKE!

We pulled our bags of fish out of our packs. See all those cute little guys (girls) swimming about and my cute guy holding them!

We floated the bags in the lake for about 10 minutes so the water temperature in the bag could acclimate to the temperature in the lake.

We sat and enjoyed the view in the meantime!

We said goodbye to the fishies one last time!

Then, we released all 600 little fish to their new home. We were happy to report back to the Fish and Wildlife people that there were no fish mortalities.

And, we made our way back to our home by way of A&W and a stop for boating at Fall Creek Lake.

It was a perfect day!