2013!

Hello Everyone!

Is anyone else having a hard time believing it's nearly February of 2013? Yikes! We are so excited to have the new website up and running and would have written much earlier if we hadn't been up in Canada last week. Life is certainly very busy, but we are doing well!

We have been enjoying our winter so far, with a few trips up the road for some sledding, a day trip to a Bovarian village (Leavenworth) for New Years and our week up North. We are excited to get the boys on skis at least once this season! Overall, life is pretty basic these days, as Todd is spending every waking moment either working or studying for boards (March 2) and I am wading my way through my Canadian immigration paperwork. We spent four+ hours today at a doctor's office in downtown Seattle getting the little boys' and my physicals out of the way. The boys did amazingly well (despite Hudson yelling "I. Don't. Want. A. Ketchup!".... ketchup=checkup. Ha ha!) We have a ways to go with the paperwork, but we're making it through slowly but surely. Now i have to figure out a system for cataloging/monetizing everything we own as we pack.

Our trip to Canada went well (despite a snow storm during our drive home). Todd's sisters, Cathy and Angie, both recently had their first babies, and it was so fun cuddling newborns and catching up with everyone. Jackie kept us running (as she always does), and we went swimming, curling, five pin bowling, hit up a junior hockey league game, played in the snow in Waterton, and attended a Christmas tree burning bonfire with friends. Todd and I spent a couple of days up in Edmonton with the practice Todd will be working with initially. We will be living in Edmonton for the first year, at least, and assess our next move as time progresses. We have about four different options down in Southern Alberta, near Todd's family, and the practice in Edmonton is hoping they can convince us to stay. So, I guess time will tell. Right now I'm nervously trying to research schools and neighborhoods so we can prepare Ryder as much as possible for the upcoming changes. The poor little guy doesn't do change well. :/

I am also anxiously reviewing our Pacific Northwest bucket list, as our days here in Issaquah are numbered. Ryder has a mid-winter break in a few weeks, and while Todd studies, I plan to take a few day trips with the boys around the Sound to explore a bit. I'm crossing my fingers for dry skies.

The little boys are happy and well! Hudson is talking up a storm and is such a little man. He imitates his brothers constantly, which usually ends up with me being very amazed at the big boy phrases and play noises coming out of his mouth! He is currently obsessed with superheroes, and as the other two boys skipped this phase, I find it fun and refreshing to play something new with him. :) Cannon just finished soccer and started up t-ball in his sports class, and it's definitely the highlight of his week. He was so giddy this week when he got to take in Indy (the gecko) for sharing time at school!! Ryder is busy, busy with his many passions and endless energy. School is going great, and he's enjoying a basketball league at the moment. He has recently taken it upon himself to read a verse or two from the Book of Mormon to the family every night and explain the verse to Cannon. It's so fun to see his enthusiasm and pride in his ability to read and bear testimony! I'm loving the stage of our family and frequently find myself wanting to freeze time!! (and there are moments where I want to freeze time just so I can have a little breather from the chaos!!!)

We love you all and miss you terribly!! Is there anything we can do to get anyone to visit us before June??? We'd love to have visitors! We plan to attend the Horne family reunion in July, as long as all goes well with the move. We hope to see all of you there!!!

Love you lots!
Jenny and family

Winter Wonderland

Hello Family! Winter has finally come to Erie, and we are in a white winter wonderland! It's beautiful. The girls enjoyed an extra long weekend break with Martin Luther King day on Monday, and school canceled because of the snow on Tuesday. We were quite snowed in! :) Below are a couple of pictures from our holiday fun. We had a quiet Christmas here at home. It was a wonderful day and we joined some friends for dinner. I, of course, am still always homesick for family, and found myself reminiscing of days playing in the snow at the cabin, skiing at Dodge Ridge, sledding at the Strawberry Store. So we rented a little cabin and spent New Years in the mountains....Cooks Forest, Allegheny National Park......the girls ice-skated on a local pond, and we spent hours sledding. Pair that with games, hot chocolate, and movies while curled up in front of the fire, and you've got perfect family time! All we needed was milkshakes from Swensen's on the way home! Christmas Eve:

Christmas Sunday:

Kate the poser:

Sledding queens:

Kate LOVES making snow angels:

Sisters:

We are looking forward to a busy month ahead! Elli has a couple of gymnastics meets, one of which is in Philadelphia. We are going to make it a family trip and visit the sites and explore the city. Ashlan has a figure skating competition coming up as well, and she has been performing half-time shows with the club exhibition line, the "Westminsterettes", for the city and university hockey teams. She loves it! Kate keeps us laughing....always, and will dance anywhere, anytime....in the kitchen, in the the grocery store isles, in the restaurant lobby. She also loves to make up songs. The other day while in Sam's Club she sang at the very top of her lungs, "You're the Mom!! You're the boss!!" (with verbrato)...we got lots of looks and smiles. I can only imagine what they think I drill in her head at home! :) We love you all so much! The Gruwells

Whitney Update

Hi everyone! We have missed the family website and reading everyone's updates! I'm committing to posting AT LEAST once a month. I think its something we all can do. :)

So I'm sitting here this Sunday afternoon feeling a little sorry for myself. Zach just got called to cover an avalanche and will be gone until probably 10pm or later. I know you all know how that goes. I didn't know he was on call so wasn't even prepared for the possibility. Ok, I'm done with the pity party. :)

A New Beginning

Hello Dear Family!
It is a new year and a new beginning for all of us!  We (Dad and I) have missed our family website and reading everyone's posts and enjoying their pictures.  It is such a good way to keep a family history of some sorts and so at Jenny's suggestion and with Amy's help, we are attempting to transfer our family website to a family blog....We hope that ALL of us will do our best to post at least one entry every month that tells what is happening in each family - pictures would be great, too!  We think this will help us stay "connected" and informed as to each family's activities....

Welcome!

Hi mi familia! And welcome to the brand new Hansen blog! We are really hip now. ;) Below you will find a couple of video tutorials that show you how to login and how to post, add pictures to your posts, etc.

We are going to set the blog as private as soon as everyone is added as an author so if you already have a google account send me the email you want me to use to send the invitation to contribute to the blog. If you don't have a google account see the video below that shows how to create one.

I'm excited!! (click the "read more" link below to view the videos)