Lake Powell trip May 2009

Lake Powell is definitely one of the Hanson family's favorite vacation spots. We have a timeshare on a houseboat, so we are fortunate enough to be able to go quite often. We went down for Memorial Day weekend with my parents and Rob and some of his friends. Though we didn't have fabulous weather, we still managed to have a good time. We ate amazing food, played fun games, slept in, read good books, did a little sightseeing & a little wakeboarding. It was a very low-key, relaxing weekend. It's funny, Sienna is only 9 months old and this is her 2nd trip to Lake Powell. As you can tell from the pics, she wasn't quite sure about that life jacket, but she quickly warmed up and loved it once we got moving. I really need to do better at taking pictures of people other than just Sienna. If she weren't so dang cute.... I love this face Sienna is pulling. So funny!

Here's my dad as the "boat wrangler". (This is his new trick)

Get this thing off of me...now!!!

You're the meanest dad in the whole world!

Wait a minute...maybe this isn't so bad after all....

Hey, I LOVE boating!!!

Our little "nosy bear". This kid is SOOOOO nosy. Seriously, she gets into anything she can reach. She can't hear a sound across the room without rubbernecking to check out what's happening. She can't get a diaper change or eat or drink a bottle if there is anything else going on or anything within reaching distance. Rob told me about a clinical diagnosis that I think Sienna might have. It's called Fomo...Fear Of Missing Out. Poor little thing. I hope it's treatable.

St George Triathlon

A few weekends ago Dan and I went down to St. George for the St. George Triathlon. We stayed with our good friends Robyn & Bob and their cute family (thanks, guys!) and we loved being able to spend time with Amber & Matt Sim and the boys, who came from California. Unfortunately I wasn't great at taking pictures with (or of) our friends, so Caden and Gwen will have to represent for the whole fam. ;) We had a rough 5 weeks or so prior to the race, so we definitely didn't get to train like we had hoped. The last time I did a triathlon (a few years ago) I was 20 pounds lighter, with no children, so training this time was a whole different ball game for me. I honestly felt like the forces were against me in training. Between me and Sienna being sick, bad weather, insane work weeks, flat tires...it was a rough month or so before the race. My friend Amber and I were both sick during the race, congested and coughing up our lungs. Anyway, we knew that we weren't going to break records, but we knew we would finish and it was a good challenge. The morning of the race was a tad cold and was pretty windy, so they actually ended up canceling the swim. I'll admit that at first I was secretly (actually, it wasn't such a secret!) kind of happy to not have to swim, since that is definitely my weakest sport. I really didn't train much for the swim, but I figured that I would just bust out the breast stroke (or doggy paddle!) and though it wouldn't be pretty, I'd at least finish it. But then there was another part of me that was disappointed not to be able to do the entire triathlon. So, instead of doing the swim, they made us run twice the distance. A 10K might not sound too hard, but it was a tough, hilly trail run on that super fine red sand that sometimes felt like quicksand. What was crazy is that they made us (the Sprint event) do the same distance run as the Olympic athletes (only they trained for a 10K and got to do 2 5K's, which wasn't so bad for them). So, although we didn't do the full triathlon, at least it was still a tri-event. The whole event was pretty disorganized, and though we still had a good time I don't think we'd do that particular race again. I've heard the swim has been canceled for several years. Needless to say, it was definitely a challenge, but we had a good time. It was a fun weekend--hanging with friends, eating good food, enjoying good weather, crashing a couple of pool parties (which Sienna LOVED, by the way!) On our way home, we were able to stop and celebrate Mother's Day with my family, which is always a good time. We gave my mom a Blendtec blender, which I can't wait to try out.

Amber & I trying to stay warm before the race

How amazing is this pool? It was a friend of a friends. This slide was incredible.

My little swimmer. She seriously LOVED the water. She screamed at first, then got used to it and didn't want to get out. We even dunked her a few times and she'd come up smiling!
I love this picture.
Sienna loves to wave these days. Here's an action shot!
Just chillin' on her papa's lap
Little Gwen just lovin' on Sienna. She couldn't get enough of her! Thanks Robyn, Bob and fam for watching Sienna during the race and letting us crash at your place. You're the best!
Happy Mother's Day, Mama Hanson!
(By the way, I have the most amazing mom in the world!)
And yes, that is my brother Rob pounding fists with my 91-year-old grandma Tink. She's pretty hip.

Hanson Family Photo

I've been meaning to post this Hanson family photo for ages. This was taken back in December when Jeff and Carolyn were in town from Winconsin. Emily did a great job, as usual! (Which isn't easy when you have 3 little ones out in the cold!)

Sienna's photo shoot

Here's more photos from the photo shoot my friend EMILY did. This was meant to be 6 months pics, which turned into 8 month pics due to weather, scheduling & a sick baby! Better late than never, right? And at least we got it done before Mother's Day. I LOVE THEM!! It's so hard to pick a favorite.

Sienna pics

I finally took a few minutes to organize my photos on the computer, so I thought I'd post some cute ones from the past couple of months. These few are 8-month-old pics.

So what if I'm a month behind...

A hurt back. Crazy work schedule. A sick baby. Dan working a ton. Nasty head hold. Bronchitis. Traveling. "Training" for the triathlon (with a hurt back, a sick baby, being sick...so not nearly as much as I should have). The triathlon. Studying for my LCSW exam. These are all my excuses for not keeping my blog updated. It's not like I'm addicted to blogging, but since I'm using it as a type of journal, I'd love to be better at updating it. I really need to do better, particularly with important events in our lives.

Anyway, it's been about a month since my birthday weekend, so it's definitely past due! Dan and I went up to Park City for the weekend (April 25th-26th). My parents were kind enough to take Sienna for the weekend, so we were kid-free. We planned to take the road bikes and do the bike/run portion of the triathlon (which we had also planned to do the previous weekend when it POURED). Anyway, of course it snowed all day long. It was crazy. I swear the forces were completely against us with this race....but that's for another post! We stayed at the Marriott at the Park City Ski Resort. It was such a fun little get-away--definitely short, but sweet. We shopped at the outlets, ate at great restaurants, worked out (in the gym instead), sat in the hot tub, and just relaxed. I guess if you can't have good weather, then at least we could turn on a fireplace and cuddle up while it was snowing outside. It really was a beautiful snowfall--the kind with the huge flakes...but come on! It was almost May. Enough, already! Since it was in-between seasons, it really was pretty quiet, which was nice. It kind of felt like we had the city to ourselves. We had a great weekend. It was kind of a joint anniversary/my birthday celebration. I still can't believe it's been 4 years since we got married. I am grateful to have married Dan. He's a good man. He is a great friend, and not just to me. I love that he is the kind of guy who really cares about people. I am grateful that he is someone who people rely on and look up to (despite the fact that he's a Democrat!). And he is the BEST dad! Sienna just adores him. There is nothing I love more than to watch them play together. We've had lots of highs and a few hard times, but it's been an amazing 4 years. Here's to many, many more!!! LYG, Dan!

Here we are at dinner at a yummy Italian place on Main Street in Park City. It was so slow there that we took our sweet time and got great service from the waitress. She even hooked us up with a free dessert--a pizookie (which was not nearly as good as the ones from BJ's. Sniff, sniff...) The tables were covered with paper/crayons, so we took advantage and played a couple of games of MASH. I'll admit it's been awhile since I played, but it was definitely a good time. Wentworth Miller (from Prison Break) and I will be very happy, living in our shack with our 2 kids, and driving our audi TT. And Dan and Britney Spears will be very happy hauling their 7 kids around in their 15-passenger scout van. The waitress even made us do a MASH game for her. It was pretty funny. She used all the waiters and then 1 waitress, since there weren't enough guys and of course ended up with the only chick. Good times, good times. You can make fun, but admit it, you want to bust out a good game of MASH right now. I know you do.






P.S. I LOVE artichokes. LOVE them. I need to learn how to cook them. Are they hard?







Here's a few pics from my birthday dinner/party with my family. I got spoiled! My family is the best. And yes, that it a picture of my 91-year-old grandma Tink playing the Wii.