Fun with Hansen II

We had a great time with Aaron's brother's family who came out from Pennsylvania a few weeks ago! Maddie especially loved playing with her 5-year-old cousin, Ella, and all of Dave's kids were so cute with Kennedy. Here are some pictures of us (Hansen III) with Dave's family (Hansen II).

Do you think they look alike?

the Hansen II family:
Dave, Lily, Wendy,
Coleman, Mead, Clayton, Ella, and Macy

(my husband is so cheesy)

all of the girls

Hi Ken!

And a cute video clip of the girls playing:

Hailey's Wedding

Yesterday I got to attend the wedding of my childhood best friend, Hailey Smith. It was great to see her and her family again since I hadn't seen them in several years. Everything was so elegant and beautiful. Congratulations to Hailey and Steve!

Maddie turns 4! - Part II

It took a while to recover from the birthday party with eight 3-& 4-year-olds, but we're back with part II of Maddie's fun-filled 4th Birthday!

First, here are some facts about Madelyn:

Born: Friday, August 6, 2004 at 2:51 AM (after 31 miserable hours of labor)

Favorite color: red (Red is also her dad's favorite color, which is why Maddie likes to refer to him as "Matching-favorite-colors.")

Favorite food: crepes (that her daddy makes, with chocolate filling of course)

Favorite movie: Toy Story (the first one)

Favorite mischievous act: sneaking fistfuls of cake! (when will she outgrow this? and when will I learn she can't be trusted alone in the same room as a cake?!?)

Favorite mispronounced words: "crash cran" (trash can), "yolee bar" (granola bar), "skabetti" (spaghetti)

Dislikes: tomatoes, crust, and sun in her eyes (see previous June post, "Heard at the Hansen home")

Maddie's Quote of the day (said with great enthusiasm) : "Now that I'm 4 years old I get four-minute time-outs!!!"

We love you Madelyn!

Here are some more birthday pics. What a fun day!

Dinner at Texas Roadhouse
The servers sang while Maddie rode the saddle!

Snow White Princess cake

I must be turning into my Grandma Sylvia--
taking pictures of all of my cakes...

On the way to dinner,
Maddie covered herself in her new lip gloss
that Martha gave her for her birthday.

Maddie turns 4!

Today is Madelyn's 4th birthday! Every morning for the past week she has awoken with the question: "Is today my birthday?!?" This morning we finally got to answer, "Yes, it is!"

The day began with some fun presents from Mom, Dad, and Kennedy. Then Maddie got to go out to breakfast with her dad and to pick out some balloons for her party.



Her princess party has been in the works for a while now, and it was a great success!

We decorated wands...

played some games,...

and ate yummy cupcakes!

Megan, Shelby, Maddie, Raeya, Martha
Heather, Paige, and Luke

proof that Kennedy was there too!

And the day is not over yet! Stay tuned for Part II...

Pioneer Day

Last week I spontaneously decided to take the girls to the 24th of July "Float Preview Party" at the South Towne Expo Center. I had heard about it on TV and decided it was a nice air-conditioned alternative to a traditional parade. We had never been before, but I was pleasantly surprised! Maddie loved looking at all of the floats, and they even had free face-painting and balloons. I was completely impressed by all of the details in so many of the floats. I think we'll make this a tradition, and I highly recommend it to anyone else!

Bravery with Hair

So about two weeks ago I got really brave and got my hair cut shorter than I've ever had it before. I'm putting up some pictures so you don't have to look so shocked the next time you see me. I think I like it, but about an hour after the cut I was asking myself, "What did I just do?!?"

Aaron likes it a lot more than I thought he would. He says it's like he has a new wife. (I guess that is a good thing?)

I like it as a nice change, but I'm still trying to learn how to style it. And I'm missing not being able to pull it back into a ponytail. I probably won't keep it this short, so here's some pictures to prove my bravery:

Seriously So Blessed

For a good laugh, check out this blog that pokes fun at all of us blogging Mormon moms out there!:

seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com

(I discovered it in yesterday's newspaper--click here for the article.)