McKenna's Piano Recital 9-25-08

Grandma & Grandpa were able to come to the recital because they worked a morning shift at Temple Square this day. Aunt Felicia and Great Grandma Dina were in town visiting from California and were able to come too. It was their first time seeing Claire and they adored her!

Here are some pics of our "little Mexican Grandma" Dina holding Claire. I can say little because at only 4'6" McKenna is quickly catching up to her in height! Claire is 3 mos. old here. Grandma is 90 years old and as sharp as a whip!

First Day of School & Misc September Fun

The girls first day was August 18th. They were a little nervous, but mostly excited for school to start. Hans had given them each a Father's blessing the night before, and that seemed to calm their nerves.

Mitchell started school a few weeks later. He goes to Mrs. T's pre-school, and no, she doesn't have a mohawk, & wear lots of gold chains! Her real last name is Polynesian and difficult to pronounce, so she has the kids call her "Mrs. T". :) Mitch really enjoys school & I enjoy the break it gives me, to get stuff done, or just spend some alone time with Claire.

Speaking of Claire she is growing up so fast. Here are some more recent shots of her. She is now 3 months old! It's crazy how fast time is flying by. I cried when she went up a diaper size.

This was so funny! It was labor day and it was raining off and on all day. We decided to stay indoors and make cinnamon rolls and watch movies. It ended up being a really great day. While making the rolls I noticed Mitchell had suddenly disappeared. I could hear him whimpering, but couldn't find him. Finally, I opened the door to our kitchen pantry, and this is what I saw.

Mitchell is deathly afraid of flies. Yes, you heard me right, the average everyday housefly terrifies him to no end. He frantically yells "Shoo fly shoo!" as he jumps up and down nervously. Well, this time he decided to hide from the fly in the pantry. Too funny!

Mommy/Daddy Daughter Date

Hans & I took McKenna and Meghan on a mommy/daddy daughter date on Friday. We went to the BYU World of Dance performance. It was fabulous! Each of the dance companies at BYU performed, the Ballroom Dance team, the Modern Dance team, the Cougarettes, the Ballet, & the International Folk Dance teams. The girls loved it! We had an elegant gourmet dinner at Taco Bell first, :) and then went to the BYU Creamery on 9th East for ice-cream afterward. We had such a great time and the girls were as giggly as little girls can possibly get. They were on cloud nine! Hans & I really got a kick out of their excitement. It was more fun watching them, & their priceless expressions during the show than it was watching the show itself.

Skits with Hansen Cousins

This is a clip of when we lived in our newly built Grayledge Circle house in Highlands Ranch. It was April ‘06. Amber and Uel's family were visiting us from El Paso. This is one of many skits the cousins would put on for us. Lexi was almost 8 years old here, McKenna just turned 6, Meggie 4, Cade 2 1/2, Mitch almost 2.

Mitchell The Dance Revolution Robot

One morning I came downstairs to find Mitchell transformed into....this. He informed me that he was a robot. McKenna had taped a cardboard "Dance Dance Revolution" sign to his chest-hence the name "Dance Revolution Robot". You gotta love the creative use of plastic grocery bags here. He insisted on wearing the costume for the better part of the day, and it took a lot of not so gentle persuasion to get him out of it. :)

Claire's blessing

It was such a special day for us as a family when Claire was blessed. It was Sunday, July 27th. She wore the same blessing dress that Meghan wore, and she looked precious in it. We had her blessed during our sacrament meeting (Sunset Hills 1st Ward.) Hans gave her such a beautiful blessing. He even got a little emotional towards the end, which I've rarely seen him do. I'm so grateful Hans honors his priesthood and was able to bless her like he did. He is such a great husband and father. The kids and I are so fortunate to have him in our lives.

We had a lot of family there for the blessing which was so nice. I don't think we've ever had that before with the other kids, probably because we didn't live by much family before now. Grandma Sherri flew out from Denver, Grandma and Grandpa Hendershot came down from Temple Square when they were off shift, Bob and Jennifer were there with their family, along with the Bakers, and the Robertsons. The Robertsons were here on their annual US visit from Guatemala, and the timing worked out perfectly for the blessing. Afterwards we had a big family dinner at our house and had such a great time. I wish I took more family pictures. Oh well, at least I got some of Claire in her pretty dress. :)

Claire loving her bouncy seat