Amazing Talent

Well, we have been in Utah since late last Friday night...but I thought I would just take a minute to tell you about something cool that happened a couple days ago. (Before I forget!)

When Brad and I got married, we received a gift from my sorority - a framed print of the LA Temple, signed by the artist, Chad Hawkins.

Well, a few years later, my parents bought a house up in Layton, UT and to our surprise, one of their neighbors was Chad Hawkins! So, I hoped that some day we'd be able to meet him in person. Well, they are no longer neighbors, but still friends and my mom said we should email him and maybe we'd be able to meet him at his studio in his house. He wrote back quickly and said that we were welcome to stop by.

So...we did, and it was amazing! We picked out a few things to buy, (some books, temple recommend holders, prints) and he signed all of them for us. His latest book is something like "Faith in the Service" where he went to Afghanistan to interview members of the church who are serving in the military. WOW. I can't wait to read it all! He is incredibly talented, but most of all such a nice guy and I hope to keep in touch with him. I was wishing I had brought my camera -- oh well. I did tell him that I was going to write a blog about him though! That made him laugh...

We learned that this all began as a project for school (he was 17) -- the Salt Lake Temple, and it has been his all time best seller. A-MAZING! He then said that at the time he thought it could be a way to fund his mission (to Frankfurt, Germany) -- little did he know that his future would be filled with art.

Please take a minute to check out his art, if you haven't already!

http://www.chadhawkins.com/index.html

Sweet Baby Greyson

Here are a few pics of my friend Kristie's (the one I posted preggo pics of earlier) new baby Greyson...such a sweetie!!!




Thanks guys! I hope you like 'em! :)

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Joshy turned 3 on Saturday! I can hardly believe how fast he is growing up. He has been a constant source of entertainment for us, and I remember thinking that no one could top Jakob's personality (while I was still pregnant with Josh and imagining what boy #2 would be like) - that's not to say he tops Jakob, but he is definitely a good match! We love this sweet boy and especially his enthusiasm for everything!!! If you know him, you know what I'm talking about!

Here's a picture of him opening the Bumblebee toy he wanted so badly...he'd sing the song for us all the time..."TransformeRRRRRs, robots in disguiiiiiiise!" He was very excited to finally get it!

We had "The Great Rocket Race" around the park, and Joshy was "Rocket" - here he is in his cute headband:

At the end of the day, he was all tuckered out and fell asleep in his new Handy Manny pjs on the couch - notice the bag of Lays next to him? Don't you just love leftovers from parties??? I'm pretty sure he had at least 2 bags of cheetos before grabbing that one...

We tried to light his candles while we were at the park, but they kept going out. So, we just sang to him at home after church on Sunday. He loved it! By that point, the jets on Rocket had already been eaten...so the cake doesn't look as good as it did originally! I had fun making it.

Happy Birthday Bubba!!!!!!!!!

Way To Go James!

My little brother James just graduated from Cal State Fullerton on Saturday! Yea!!! We are so proud of him, seriously, he has busted his butt this past year!!!!

It was SUPER hot - and we were all dying - but I'm sure it wasn't as bad as it was for all the grads wearing their black caps and gowns!

Here's Drew with Grama and Grampa M. under the umbrella (that we were later asked to put down "for safety reasons" - LAME!)

Here's my sister Sonya holding a naked Drew (he was so sweaty!) and my sis-in-law (James's wife) Sara, holding her sweetie, Bella.

The babies finally cooled off enough to fall asleep once we found some nice shade!!!

Here's our graduate with his beautiful and proud wife Sara!

And last but not least, me and my little bro! Congratulations James! You did it!

After the graduation, we went to lunch at Maggiano's - a family favorite. It was wonderful of course, and we all left feeling quite full! Thanks Mom & Dad!!

Beautiful Belly

This is my friend Kristie in all of her pregnant glory...we took these about a month ago, and I feel so bad that she hasn't seen them yet. She has since had her little boy - CONGRATS - and today I went over to take some pics of him. So, since it has taken me a month to pick out my favorites and edit them, it will probably take that long to do the same for the baby pics. But for now, here are a few of my favorites:

It was so much fun taking pictures of her and her little guy Garren was such a cutie pie too! I hope you like them!

She Has A Cool Name!

This is my new sis-in-law SHERI (I'm "ShAri") and my bro-in-law Matt at the Newport Beach Temple. They just got married on May 2nd, and we couldn't be happier!!!

Here they are at their reception, giving the traditional kiss after cutting the cake, which by the way was DE-LISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're so happy to welcome her into the Hanson family...she's rad and we can't wait to be able to spend more time with them!

Congrats you two!!!!!

Fun FHE

A few weeks ago (the beginning of that busy week I mentioned in the "I Need A Coke" post) we decided to start planting our garden for an FHE activity.

The boys chose to plant pumpkins first, and then zucchini. (We still have other seeds to plant, but so far that's all we've actually put in the ground!)

They had a fun time...partly because they got to walk around in the dirt barefoot, but mostly because of the anticipation of what was to come. In fact, the next morning, Joshy came downstairs and looked out the window and asked, "Where's our pumpkins?" :)

My "SWEET" Mother's Day

My husband always says he's not creative. Well, he proved himself wrong with the awesome Mother's Day candy-gram he made for me! Check it out:


The morning was really special, with a yummy french toast breakfast made by my wonderful husband, and some sweet gifts. Brad actually gave me some perfume (Ralph) that I used to wear, WAAAYYY back when we met. I love how scents can just bring back memories/feelings that we once had. Thanks honey! Also, we were lucky to have my mom in town this weekend, so she got to spend Mother's Day with us. What a treat!

My mom took a picture of us before church...but unfortunately we didn't get a single one with the boys actually looking at the camera. That's OK, they still look cute! I love my boys...all 4 of them!


Our Sacrament meeting was really special. I have never sat through a meeting where all of the talks were about mothers. It was awesome. I really enjoyed listening to what everyone said, and wish I had written down some of the cool quotes that were given.

When it was time for the Primary kids to sing, I have to admit I was a little nervous because I was worried that Jakob would get up there and just act goofy. Boy, did he prove me wrong! He sang so sweetly and every so often he'd glance my way and smile...as soon as his little dimple showed up in his cheek, I had to try pretty hard to compose myself. I didn't want to be a blubbering mommy!!!! My heart was so full and I was so proud of him for doing such a great job!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family...though it may be trying at times, I love them more than anything or anyone in the world. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has entrusted these strong little spirits with me, and hope that I can be the kind of mother that they so deserve.

Our Little Yankee

Jakob's first tee-ball season is finally over! He had his last game on Friday night, and since we'll be out of town for the team party, he received his trophy before anyone else! He was so excited and very proud of himself ( as are we... ) and wanted a picture of his trophy. This is his first trophy (of many I hope!), and it proudly sits on top of his dresser in his room.

One of the things I'll miss about Jakob's games is hearing Joshy cheer, "GO ANKEES!" He wouldn't say the Y - it was pretty cute. :) I am glad Jakob had fun, and hopefully over the summer we can play around at home a little and improve some of his skills. We'll see!

Dear Mom,

When I look at this picture of you holding me,

I know that you love me.

When I hear the advice you give me,

I know that you love me.

When you tell me that I'm a great mom,

I know that you love me.

Do you know how much I love you?

I hope so...

With every passing day/week/year,

I appreciate you more and more.

The sacrifices you made for my happiness may not have

been acknowledged then,

but they are now.

Now that I am a mother too,

I am beginning to understand just how much

love, patience, long suffering,

charity, service and worrying

you have done for me.

Thank you for loving me enough to guide me

and teach me how to be an honest, considerate

and respectable person.

I love you mom,

Happy Mother's Day!

After this busy week, this is how I'm feeling today:

More details and pics from the busy week to come later.

Maybe.

If I ever get my blogging groove back.