Lots of new posts

I've had a lot of catching up to do. See lots of new posts below. I finished our August vacation posts and also one from first day of school and our new swing set. Stayed tuned for more Fall posts.

Swing set

In September we bought a new swing set and put it together. It was a lot of work.
Katie helping:

I helped too. Don't worry, I did more than just put nails in the holes :-)

Almost all done. The kids couldn't wait to play on it:

Here it is all finished:

We also had help from my brother Colby and our neighbor Shawn. Thanks!

First day of school

Katie started Kindergarten this year at the end of August. She was really excited but also nervous. She got a Tinkerbell backpack, lunchbox, and folders, plus all the usual crayons, scissors, glue, etc. Chris and I went with her on her first day for orientation. We met her teacher and saw her classroom. We went early so she could have breakfast. She was able to sit by her cousin Alex during breakfast time. Chris left after orientation to go to work, and I asked Katie if she wanted me to stay. She said she was fine, but I stayed (for me) until after lunch time. I left her playing on the playground. She was having fun playing with a girl we know from church who is in the other kindergarten class. I must say it was really hard for me to walk away and I was a bit teary eyed on the way home. This was a bit step for both of us. She had a lot of fun on her first day. On her second day she had fun too but she was a bit teary eyed when I picked her up. I asked her what was wrong and she said that she missed me. She has gotten used to going to school now and really enjoys it. She loves her teacher and her favorite thing to do at school is to paint.
Here's a picture of her on her first day:

Summer Fun, part 5

See the rest of our August vacation in the last several posts below (when you get to the aquarium you'll be at the end of our vacation). We went to Utah around the beginning of August for my cousin Alivia's wedding (see an earlier post) and spent the following week there having fun. The first weekend we stayed at my brother Derek's house. The cousins had a blast together. They had so much fun sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor. It was so cute. They were lined up all in a row. We also had a really nice time visiting my mom, Grandma Hansen, and a few other Hansen relatives on Sunday. They had a really nice lunch for us and we played games like croquet, ring toss, bean bag toss, and a few others. I was bummed I didn't get any pictures because I accidently left my camera at Derek's house. But Deedra got some great pictures and posted them on her blog a few months ago. Then we moved to my grandparent's condo for the remainder of our trip.

Here are some of the kids having fun playing with boxing gloves:

And playing video games:

Derek and Rachel had a fun Wii game where you learn to dance. We took turns dancin it up. I didn't get pictures of everyone, but here's a few:

Katie and I:

My brother Stillman:

My nephew Garrett:

My sister Deedra:

And her husband, Curtis:

We had a lot of fun with Derek and Rachel's family. Thanks so much to them for letting us stay at their house.

Summer posting update

Just a few more pictures to add from our August vacation. Pics hanging out at Derek's house. Stayed tuned.

Visiting Jess and Diane

On Monday we moved over to our grandparents condo to spend the rest of the week there while on our vacation. That evening we went and visited my aunt Diane, uncle Jess, and their dog Ralphie. We had a nice time visiting and eating Papa Murphy's pizza.

Katie took the above picture of us and this picture of Ralphie:

Lagoon

On Tuesday we went to Lagoon. Here are the kids all ready to go:

First stop - the terror ride:

Katie's favorite ride was the carousel:

The adults took turns watching the kids and taking them on rides while the other two went on the adult rides.

Michelle and the kids had some fun running through the fountains:

We watched a show that had singing and dancing from different musicals:

We all went on the rattlesnake rapid ride together. It was a blast! Here we are all nice and wet:

This was my favorite ride (I think it was called paratrooper):

Here we are hanging out at the top:

Time for a ride on the ferris wheel:

Look at that view!

We had a fun day and we were all pretty tired out.

Still working on summer posts

I'm posting backwards. Below is Wed - Sat of our August vacation. Check back later for Monday and Tuesday's posts.

The Lion House, Discovery Center, and Clark Planetarium

On Wednesday we slept in and then went to lunch at the Lion House Pantry on Temple Square. Here are the kids playing in the water at the oval pond just outside the Salt Lake Temple:

The food was excellent! Katie and Alex chowing down:

Michelle and Jayden:

Chris and I:

Stillman enjoying his tapioca!

After lunch, we stopped for pictures in front of the Salt Lake Temple:

Then we rode the train over to the Gateway Mall and visited the Discovery Center.

There was so much to do there! What a fun place for kids!

Katie loved the water play area and spent a lot of time there:

Then we headed over to the Clark Planetarium to watch a dome movie. Here's Stillman, Michelle and kids on the huge elevator:

A picture of the planets:

Hanging out on the moon!

And Mars.

The dome was pretty cool. We watched a movie about the stars in the time of the pharoahs. We were all pretty tired out from going to Lagoon the day before so most of us fell asleep. After the movie (and our nap) we headed back to the discovery center and let the kids play a little longer. Then we headed back to the condo for some swimming, PF Chang, and a movie: Charlie St. Cloud. It was a pretty good movie. Stillman and Michelle and the kids headed home the next day. We're so glad they were with us for part of our vacation! We had so much fun with them!