2

after spending 2 weeks with some of my favorite people. in 2 of my favorite places on earth, i have a lot of pictures to share.

it hasnt been long since we saw beautiful stella and lovely taryn last, but even still, it felt like 2 long!

right when the stells bells got here she wouldnt stop laughing. she loves when people fake cough and when you do she just giggles away!

i love this one, because taigen was laughing so hard that she was crying and you can see a little tear running down her cheek.

she is just precious

oh and 2 of the cutest girls around! :)

after the whole ordeal with my dad and 2 nights in the hospital later. we spent the 4th of july weekend in 1 of 2 of my favorite places. island park. oh how lovely you are. we have been going since before i can remember, spending all sorts of fun summer days floating the river (with leaches... yikes) roasting marsh mellows, riding motorcycles, eating eating eating, and going into west. it has been 3 years since ive been there and sam hasnt been in our 3 years of marriage. so it was about time!

every morning consists of the men cooking up some absolutely delicious breakfast usually consisting of bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, fruit, and whatever else they decide. 2 good! (ok now im just trying to insert 2's wherever i can)

i know im always in these red sunglasses but i stole them from jace who will be leaving for 2 years on september 1st. i gotta represent! :)

of course we spent a day in west yellowstone. this used to be my favorite thing to do while we were in island park. always delicious ice cream (pistachio for me) the dollar store, indian beads, screen print t-shirts, and pizza.

stella's little sunglasses. isnt she so cute?

kinda cute on her 2. and kinda buggyish...

i seriously have the coolest family.

oh yeah i pierced my nose while i was there.

sam did 2

sike! we love the dollar store in west.

my dad rested for the most part. but it was so good to have him there still. we took turns spending time in the trailer rubbing his legs and back. he loves when he gets his back rubbed. it is something i know i will always treasure. i have been able to spend a lot of one on one time with him in the past few months just talking about life and learning more about him and his testimony.

and lately he has been on a kick. maybe a few too many pain killers or something, but oh boy i have some good stories!

these 2 sure are cuties!

last summer my family started a family talent show. this year my cousin emily had the best idea to re-live our cheerleading glory days! 5 out of 6 of us were cheerleaders so of course it was only natural! :) bah! i think this was seriously one of the best moments of the trip. if the cheer wasnt so inappropriate i would love to share... unfortunately/fortunately thats the hansen family for you... inappropriate!

'grandpa...'

'she is normans trophy'

the kids had fun dancing and playing with sparklers at the talent show

oh man! this kid has MOVES! this is my cousin andy and his wife jens son tayson! he is a rock star! so funny to watch! we missed you andy and jen! and addie and brit!

i give sam a lot of crap about where he is from. preston... :) but really i love where he is from. it is one of the prettiest places.

these are from his yard.

sam and ken had lots of fun trying to get the moss out of the pond. they decided they wanted fish in it so that they could practice their fly fishin skills. in preston they have skills... have you ever seen napoleon dynamite?... bow staff skills, numb chuck skills... something like that

i just love these 2. look at that scrunched face!

we had to spoil these 2! it has been over a year since we saw them! it has been so much fun spending time with them and enjoying their fun little personalities!

we spent a night at downata! wow, its been a long time since i have been there.

man she is cute! so funny too.

so is he! every time i would say 'gabe, let me take your picture' he would do this pose!

he loved dunking sam! i do 2! its funny how once you get in a pool you want to act like your 12 again and just dunk the crap out of other people... or is that just me?

after we spent a few days in preston we headed to another of my favorite 2 places. bear lake.

we had a big family reunion and big it was. i love being with family. especially when i havent seen them in forever. i havent been to bear lake in the summer time (at the beach) for 3 years either!

some of the arizona clan!

isnt she precious? she always interlocks her little fingers like this. oh man.

aunt shana and grandma. some of the sweetest ladies

all the kids! well the younger generation.

my cousin landon. he is always a crack up.

i have the best brother.

and husband.

taryn has a picture of all the hot dogs on her blog, i think this picture is of her taking that picture. :) i just thought it was funny!

little bear ears.

when we got home, we enjoyed a lunch with some of our old neighbors. they are still like family to us. always so much fun to see them and reminisce

wednesday night my little brother went through the bountiful temple. what an amazing experience. we missed ryan and taigen, but it was so wonderful to have my dad there with us. the temple just gives you another reassurance that families are eternal. and that no matter what happens, that is the truth! jace is going to be the most outstanding missionary. he has wanted to serve a mission since i can remember.

a boy in my aunts ward just got back from bolivia on his mission- a different mission but still... and he came and talked to jace about the culture and what he can expect and showed us pictures. it got me so excited so im sure jace is on cloud 9 looking forward to such a great experience.

i know he is having a hard time knowing that he is leaving for 2 years with my dad's health and all. but i also think he knows that no matter what happens, serving a mission is what he needs to be doing. im so pround of him! im so grateful for the men in my life.

we are super models!

life is good. i know my last post didnt seem like i thought so, but my family is so blessed! thank you for all of your prayers. i can feel them. and i know my dad can too. i love you all.

x0x0

curve balls.

curve balls seem to be everywhere i look right now. some good some bad. but none-the-less they are there.

my dads health has been declining in the past few weeks, and its pretty obvious. he went in 3 weeks ago for a CAT scan and 2 weeks ago he got the results. he has been traveling to huntsman for the past 8 weeks on a trial run of chemo, well in order to keep going with the trial your cancer cant grow more than 20%. his results show that the cancer has grown more than that. therefore this trial of meds is over. i wont lie its has been pretty upsetting for me and if im not mistaking, for the rest of my family. i think i expected this trial to be 'the' miracle of all miracles, but what i need to realize is that we have had a huge MIRACLE the past 4 years! yeah, i need to realize that...

in the midst of finding all of this out, the CAT scan showed that the pain he has been feeling in both of his thighs are in fact 2 VERY large blood clots. this constituted a 2 night hospital stay with mesh being put in his thighs to keep the blood clots from breaking up and going to his heart or lungs. also while in the hospital the doctors drained over a liter of fluid out of his lungs. oh and he was put on oxygen. poor guy. he just keeps going. and things just keep getting worse.

he went back into huntsman for a check up today. his hemoglobin is at 6%. from what im aware the normal persons' should be around 15ish%. (the iron-containing oxygen-transportmetalloprotein in thered blood cells of vertebrates^[1]and the tissues of someinvertebrates. Hemoglobin in theblood is what transports oxygen from the lungs or gills to the rest of the body (i.e. the tissues) where it releases the oxygen for cell use.)

He obviously hasnt been feeling well, and the doctors say this is a BIG reason. he will get a blood transfusion tomorrow. hopefully this will help.

the doctors also said that there is a possibility of another trial that he can do. but until his hemoglobin is up- at least 9% or more, he cant. we shall see... please pray for him. i know prayers are what keeps him encouraged. and me.

in happier news, the past 2 weeks have been spent with all three of these little babes. happiness is family, especially these sweeties.

we have spent the past 2 weeks at family reunions and doing all sorts of other fun things. but those things will have to wait for another post entirely.

... more to think about. ah. pray for me on this one too... i promise ill tell you about it next week. but it will have to wait for another minute or two.

x0x0

a ride.

i just drove home from preston. driving always gets me thinking, thinking and excited to do more. to create, to inspire, to BE PRODUCTIVE.

then i got home. and i got on the computer. now i have no motivation. why does the internet do that to me? i just get lazy or something every time i turn this big old screen on. however searching the internet does still inspire me. it makes me want to do so much.

like look like this... i love her outfit. i want to wear it everyday.

(photo emersonmade)

and have the loveliest house just like all of these. as you can see im still really in the mood to decorate and these things are my inspiration!

(nienie dialogues)

i love the bright colors.

(martha stewart)

i really want a cute little bench for our house. when we lived in our old, old house, like 3 houses ago i would drive by this house nearly everyday that had the oldest bench outside. i wonder if it is still there. think anyone would mind if i just borrowed it? :)

(martha stewart)

i love this couch. minus the dog. sorry people im not a dog (or any animal for that matter) person

(martha stewart)

seriously? love.

(martha stewart)

ok everything about this entry way is perfection to me. martha you have some serious talent. (or the people that work for you do)

(anthro)

this reminds me of some really cool containers i saw while visiting kirland ohio last year. they were used in the first bishops store house. i want them for my own store house!

(anthro)

i think these are seriously divine.

in other news. my aunt jodi asked my cousin carli and i to help her with her stakes 4th year adventure. they needed some craft ladies, and we come highly recommended :)

anyways. this was like no girls camp ive ever been to before. it was more like a luxury retreat. the house we stayed in was a 3 million dollar home that was incredible!!

this is the upstairs kitchen.

and the backyard. holy.

we are rock stars/junior leaders/craft divas/ just plain awesome

we did a little kayaking in a near by pond. i do love me some kayaking.

and then we rode in a private plane. ive done this a few times, but this was by far the funnest ride ive ever been on. we did free falls, quick climbs, dives, and he even turned off everything in the plane and we just sat there coasting for almost 30 seconds. i thought we were going to die. but it was awesome!

hmmm?

they were afraid we were going to barf, so we had to take some bags to catch it. nope we didnt throw up. which is surprising because i get motion sick very very easily!

fathers day weekend was spent kayaking some more, roasting hot dogs over a bon fire, and catching crawfish. i think the crawfish were the highlight. before i knew sam i didnt even know we had these in idaho.

my mom bought me these shoes. yes i love them. (dont mind my sick toe nails)

my father in law insisted i wear a helmet. so i did. and i was safe. he also insisted that i wear some old shorts and a shirt that he had in his truck so that i didnt get my clothes wet. so i did. and i was dry.



we had a splendid weekend. sams sister katy and her kids were supposed to get here from south korea on friday, but unfortunately immigration wouldnt let them out of the country. so after a lot of frustration and figuring things out they finally made it to san francisco last night. its been over a year since we have seen them! we cant wait! taryn and stella come tomorrow too. ah love having family (especially the little stinkers) around. we have lots of fun ahead!

x0x0