Let's celebrate the Fourth -- Again!

Have you ever wanted to see first-hand how our nation's capital celebrates the Fourth of July?



Mike and Vanessa with Max and Addie spent the holiday weekend in Washington, D.C. Here they are in front of the white house!


In front the of J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building



Here they are at the Air & Space Museum





and in and around DC for the celebration. . .





Here's the Declaration of Independence in Chinese (!?)



And here they are at the D.C. Temple









And here are some photos from Max's T-ball team.






in other news. . .

BJ got highlights in his hair.

Maggie has some stories about Aubrey, Cooper and Sara.

Melanie has left Munich and is staying with Gittlers in Gleiszellen.

Nels got twenty stitches in his chin after a bicycle encounter with a huge decorative rock in somebody's yard.

Rachel and Nels have re-read all the Harry Potter books this week.

Bill and Lisa returned from a week in the Wind River Mountains with Ericksens and two llamas.

Promising pictures of lots of these lightly-sketched events in next Sunday's blog.

The way it was -- this week -- July 19, 2009

Nels' big news is that he got his haircut. For your pleasure, here are the before and after photos! Let's start with AFTER!

>

And Before!



So maybe you can't tell just how long his hair was getting. Anne cut off FIVE INCHES!

Pay no attention to the fact that on successive Sundays, Nels is napping on the Family Room couch. Pure coincidence.

BILL

Bill's 40th Skyview Reunion was last night. He renewed acquaintance with a couple dozen friends. One girl told me at the end of the night that Bill had been the talk of the class, because he joined them as a senior as a cute, smart California boy -- Bill said afterwards he'd never had the chance to talk to her before in his life! What you don't know people are saying about you!

RACHEL

Ray spent the weekend at a Youth Conference Mission, enjoying her immersion in all things New Zealand-ish and mission-ish. She wore one of Maggie's mission outfits, complete with worn-out shoes!

MIKE & VANESSA

Vanessa's going to help us capitalize on our own natures while being tolerant of our liabilities (and others' too!) through Carol Tuttle's book "It's Just My Nature." Vanessa was able to attend a Carol Tuttle workshop during her most recent Utah visit. We're going to get ourselves a copy of the book and get figuring ourselves out, but we'll be turning to Vanessa for help, you can bet! Here's the link to Carol Tuttle's info: http://www.caroltuttle.com/cmd.asp?af=1013381

BJ

BJ entertained Bill and Lisa (& Rachel) on Friday night at his most amazing and beautiful apartment complex. We swam and hot-tubbed and watched Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie up their sparring ante as Mr. and Mrs. Smith on the big screen in BJ's apartment. Family members are not likely to believe this, but I didn't fall asleep once during the movie! Rachel laughed at the end that she and I were the only ones awake. So, it was an anomaly. I love BJ's apartment complex. Part of me wants to shake off the huge house and its incessant demands and find a niche in his nice little Italian villa.

AMELIE

We're looking forward to Amelie's visit in Payson beginning Monday night. And we promise photos next blogging day.

MAGGIE

Maggie's enjoying her last month before graduate school begins again in unyielding earnest, promising no time to think about personal things or engage in personal activities (so she's been told). We've loved having Maggie live at home in this fast-vanishing interim. She's always up for a conversation about what's happening in this or that arena. Her witty incisive insights and even better questions make great conversation. I know I should illustrate rather than tell, but the quality of her wit exceeds the quantity of my memory.

MELANIE



Melanie is staying a few days with Serena and Roberto at a place on this lake (Como) in Italy.



Serena is the cutest expectant mom!

BILL

Every day Bill comes up with a new Chuck Norris joke emphasizing the intelligence, the ubiquitous presence (and violence) of Chuck. Recent dailies include: There is no chin under Chuck Norris' beard, just another fist. Another one. Chuck Norris once aced a calculus test by writing in the word "violence" as the answer to each question. Chuck Norris solves all problems with violence. OK, one more. Chuck Norris was the fourth wise man. To the baby Jesus, he gave the gift of beard, which Jesus wore proudly until the day he died. Today's edition: You probably didn't know that Chuck Norris discovered Mars. That's why there is no life on that planet.

MOM

This week I'm discovering the Community of Christ hymnbook. Each day a new hymn (or even better, a familiar melody with new words).

Hansens will have no blogging next Sunday cause Bill and I will be in the Uintahs battling either merciless sun or pounding rain, and loving every minute of being away from the 21st century (except for the extraordinarily wonderful sleeping bags and dehydrated food).

Pleasant dreams to you all!

Potpourri of Hansen Summer Stuff

We shoulda posted this in June (when we actually took the vacation), but it took a while to put this little presentation together. Fun, though.


You can tell from this video that when we arrived (the first slides are evening in Waikiki) we were TIRED OUT! We'd been up about 40 hours straight. It's hard now to even look at the pictures, exhaustion oozes from my face. By the last days in Hawaii, we look as relaxed and happy as we felt! Parasailing was the best! It was hard to come back to work!

MIKE & VANESSA

We promised photos from their Fourth of July in DC, and they're still coming. . . We discovered this week that Vanessa is the quickest ever at helping Bill and Lisa find online directions to wedding reception centers that have non-existent addresses in time enough not to miss the reception. Monday is Max's last T-ball game of the season

BJ



BJ's Patio of Fire pictures are coming in now! When BJ's Michael Jackson tribute comes in, I'm gonna post it here.

AMELIE

When the cutest little clip from Cooper comes in, I'm gonna post it right here!

MAGGIE

Maggie is 23 and has never really had a car of her own. She says Am's husband, Cody, is gonna give/lend her a car. Maggie bought a keyring to give to Amelie that says "I love Cody" but she's considering hanging it on the rearview of the car, just to remind her who gave her the wheels!

MELANIE

This is the view from the top of Mel's hotel this week. She also visited. . .

NELS

Nels is distributing resumes like a madman. He had such a responsible position with his last employer (a private school that closed its doors), he should be snapping up a job, but not so. Nels was sometimes in charge of the entire cafeteria -- making meals for up to 60 people all on his own, opening, cleaning and closing the place, never called in sick, was super dependable. If anybody knows of a job for our Nels other than landscaping at the law office (he does great at that), speak now.

RACHEL

Ray is teaching piano lessons and playing bassoon in the Sunday night city band concerts, rubbing shoulders with the folks who have lived a lifetime in Payson. She's also teaching piano lessons and mowing the HUGE lawn at the house.

THE PATIO WAS AFIRE! (as expected!)

Friday was the 8th Annual (no quibbling, there's been a concert for eight years now) Patio of Fire Concert!!

As BJ announced: Best show ever this year!! We had three sets, with three opening bands. Willie Nelson started, followed by Reuben Holdaway and then some from the Blues Brothers. Meels on Wheels [BJ's band] headlined the 3 sets and even had a "chic set" (ode to the girl bands). What a blast!!

The audience filled the hillside there. Couple hundred people, maybe. The sound system was great, and the fireworks fired up the sky after the concert to the tune of some pretty inspiring patriotic music. Nice job, BJ & Friends.

BJ rested post-concert by bloodying up his head in a game of water basketball on Saturday.



No stitches. Just stopped the game for awhile.

In other news. . .




Rachel passed her driver's test! Now we just need a trip to the DMV to get Rachel and Nels' smiles plastered on official holographic cards that cops can look at when they write Rachel and Nels speeding tickets.

So Nels and Ray may have passed their drivers' tests . . but they are now wishing they had jobs, and are a little late on the summer job lookout. While keeping their eyes open to be economically useful, they make music and write and mow lawns and do landscaping.

Meanwhile, Melanie is currently in . . .


ROME! And word is that the pope has blessed her phone. Or something on her phone. . . Or that he would have . . .

and while Melanie celebrated the Fourth of July in the ancient city of the seven hills, Mike and Vanessa celebrated the day in the nation's capital!



They took Max and Addie and explored the National Treasury and museums aplenty. We can't wait to find out what Max's favorite part was. They'll come home tonight and share photos we'll post next week! Sunday they went to the DC Temple grounds.



They sent Mom and Dad a phone photo of the temple, leading to reminiscences of that day over thirty years ago when a couple of kids all dressed up in their wedding finest were there contemplating and committing to a family just like the one we have!

Amelie reports that the bird funeral opportunities in Burley appear to have increased . . .

Maggie convinced Bill to run 5k yesterday morning, and convinced Lisa to hang up a few pictures on some bare walls, already. She also organized and labeled our linen closet, and can give the best Minnesota-accented tour of the linens! Her help is lovely and encouraging to all who dwell beneath our roof.

Maggie and Cammie had an interesting coincidence. Cammie handed out a pass-along card to a Spanish-speaking couple at a Sonic Drive-In who asked directions to Park City. The couple looked at the picture of the Salt Lake Temple on the card and exclaimed "That's the place we wanted to go see tomorrow but we wondered if there would be anybody who could speak Spanish there and tell us all about it! That's why we're here in Utah!" Well, Cammie and Maggie assured Alfredo and Rosa (originally from El Salvador, now from California) that they would be most happy to meet them at Temple Square and make sure they learned (in Spanish) anything they wanted to know. And they did. How fun for Maggie and Cammie to be missionary sisters together!

At church yesterday, Maggie and Cammie got adopted as Primary helpers. Cammie played the piano for the whole shebang, and Maggie taught the six-year olds about Ammon and the incident of ahem. . . the arms. . . by illustrating with a box of crayons. Oh, not that they used the crayons to draw pictures of the scene. Oh no, they used the box of crayons to imagine a . . box of. . arms. As they acted out the scene, Maggie's students expressed appropriate horror at the grisly box passed from servants to king. They may never look at crayons the same.

Our family owes thanks to Mike and Vanessa . . . . Lisa followed up on their brainstorm for her study by . . .


. . . finishing the COMPLETE overhaul! Now Bill and Lisa each can work at (a clean) desk and have access to all the stuff they need at the same time. Good work, everybody!

Lisa also went to see the Tabernacle Choir sing at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver. She didn't have a ticket to get in, and it was sold out. But she hung around the entrance till somebody fessed up they had an extra ticket (at $120) and they'd give it to her for free! It was a spectacular concert. She got a ride from a Colorado family who found out about Nephi's Courage, and told her that their oldest boy Levi (now 27) used to ask the Primary Music Leader to sing "Levi's Courage." It was his favorite song.

Thanks for sending mom your news and pictures. It makes the blog a snap to put together!

Honoring Bill, who's honoring. . .

Bill's Father's Day request was to spend the day at the Fairview cemetery, so Dad, Mom, Maggie H., Nels, Rachel, and Meisha drove an hour or two down the road and found the pioneer burial grounds. There were at least six sites honoring six different families in Bill's family history.

*John William Pritchett (Maggie Ann's father) and his wives
*Samuel Napoleon Bonaparte Pritchett (John William's father, joined the church in Virginia in 1845)
*James Mitchell Pritchett (the venerable uncle who first joined the church in Virginia)
*Wilford & Emma Terry (Grandpa Wilford Hansen's aunt & uncle, the one he was probably named after) They had nine little babies buried next to them.
*Peter Niels Hansen and Marie Jensen (the first converts in the Hansen line)
*Maren Jensen (Mom to Marie Jensen)

We spent the afternoon getting to know these folks a little bit. Since we'd brought along family histories, it was easier to see how people were related and how long they'd lived in Fairview and stuff like that.

Meandering around a cemetery is very relaxing and thought-provoking. You can't help but think about why people do the things they do.


In other news. . . . This is almost a picture of Addie. Cody Forsyth tossed her just a bit too high for Maggie's viewfinder. She really does have a head.

Addie was the spotlight child in Primary today. In case you were wondering if she is All Girl or not, her favorite color is. . . pink, her favorite toy is. . . polly pocket, and her favorite food is. . . salad. . . with balsamic vinaigrette!

Max celebrated his 6th birthday at the video arcade (since the miniature golf and go-carts were rained out). In his first crack at the Price is Right Wheel, Max struck the jackpot of a thousand free tickets. Guess Mike and Vanessa can come back as often as they want for miniature golf and go-carts!

Vanessa did NOT fall down the stairs yesterday, though Addie still maintains last fall's event in her late-breaking news folder. It scared us too, Addie.

Mike created a lawn of lush beauty with the help of Ghostbusters Poison Packs (take that Lawn Zul!)


BJ & Maggie spent last weekend in Moab! In addition to seeing a number of spectacular arches, they discovered a new love: mountain biking!

BJ's Patio of Fire is THIS FRIDAY!!!!!!!!

Amelie's Aubrey found a dead baby bird in the driveway and tearfully asked Amelie what to name the bird before the funeral she wanted to give it. Amelie, who wasn't terribly into the idea suggested the name "Flappy," though the poor bird was apparently lacking in the flappy department. "Cooper, would you like to say a few kind words for Flappy?" Aubrey asked. Cooper gave the eulogy for Flappy the Baby Bird's funeral by unceremoniously poking the poor thing and shouting, "Flappy! Are you dead?"



One of these things is not like. . . . but they ARE all from Hawaii!!

Maggie started her new job as a ACT prep teacher at BYU this week, once again making science intelligible and irresistible to the average Joe. She also revamped the linen closet and gave each item a long-awaited place to belong.




Melanie covered the most miles of any Hansen recently, driving to San Diego ten days ago with Michelle, then touring a bit in Dallas (the site of this photo), on to Boston, and tomorrow to London by way of Switzerland. Europe awaits!

Nels passed his drivers' test this week. Bill has been dutifully supervising hours of driving to far-flung places to pack in the requisite 40 hours. Nels also scrubbed out the (mini) fridge and went to the Manti Pageant.

Rachel played her first Payson Band Concert in the Park tonight, the cutest little bassoonist you ever did see. She also served as the only Youth Camp Leader for our ward's girls camp this last week.

Mom and Dad -- the return from paradise

This is Mom and Dad, taking a turn at blogging the family site. We are glad to be home because we missed everybody, but when we remember Hawaii. . . well . . . Before the memories fade into the paper-moving that is our daily fare, we thought we'd post a few photos and give out a little advice.

Here are some key points to remember about Hawaii.
1) Forget what breathing experts tell you. Learn to breathe through your mouth so you can catch on quick to snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. Then the striped and polka dotted fishes and turtles are yours! And no sputtering and scraping your knees on coral that some people (!) have to do to get the hang of it! (Also don't forget to put sunscreen on the back of your husband's legs.)

2) When you go to the Polynesian Cultural Center (and you will because there is a magnet drawing you there the moment you step out of the airplane), you don't have to go to the luau. Oh, it's OK if you want to try purple rolls made out of taro, and real kalua pig. But the very best part of the PCC is the people you meet at the pretend villages. Because they're not pretend people. They are really from the places they're pretending. . . er. . . telling you about, and their stories are the most interesting part of the place. Invite somebody from the Fijian village to take you on the homemade river raft and talk about his family back in Fiji. Do the crafts they have in the villages and find out what those kids miss most about home. That way you can use the extra hours when everybody is busy eating to have a real treat. Eat luau back in Payson when you get home. Don't miss the Horizons show, though. It's guaranteed to surprise and impress you. The 2:00 p.m. show on the water is worth watching too. That's where this clip is from.

3) If you want to climb Diamond Head crater (the tallest mountain on O'ahu), forget the bus from Waikiki that takes you there. It doesn't even start running till 7:30 a.m., and the hike is gonna be a hot ol' one. Call a shuttle and git out there early! And wear real good shoes (unlike some tourists who try to wear their sandals because they forgot to bring any good shoes and end up walking back in bare feet and their husbands have to carry them piggy back out of the sticker patches).
4) When sunning yourself on the beach at Waikiki, keep one eye open for weddings that happen with no fanfare just a few feet from your hotel towel sprawled on the sand. If it's just the couple and the preacher, they might not mind if you take a picture of them, and they might ask you to take one with their camera. Cause maybe they changed their mind about not wanting anybody there.
5) Be sure to see the Honolulu Tabernacle. You can go there on Sunday for church just about anytime cause three wards meet there. It's got classrooms and stuff just like a regular building, except that the hallways are open to the sky! And instead of the chapel being where you expect, the center of the building is an open courtyard with green stuff and flowers. You get into the chapel through a door just like a classroom off the hallways! And what a HUGE resonant chapel it is! Also take a minute to look at the mosaic of Christ on the outside (the only LDS church with a mosaic of Christ).
6) When you go to Pearl Harbor's Arizona Memorial, you may get so wrapped up in the museum exhibits inside that before you know it, it's time for your movie and ferry boat trip. Instead, be sure to rent the little audio presentation and leave plenty of time to go outside and listen. That's where the best overview is. Also, go see the U.S.S. Missouri battleship first, so you have an idea just how big the U.S.S. Arizona that was sunk in the water beneath the memorial site really is. Then take a flower to leave at the Arizona memorial.
7) Don't bother paying beaucoup bucks to swim with dolphins. Just take a bus to the Kahala resort and watch them up close for Free! There are no crowds there and the dolphin trainers love to talk about the dolphins with you.


8)Enjoy the orchids on the garden wall at the Kahala resort (and everywhere else you go on O'ahu)!





9) Play the grand piano at the Kahala resort and smile when passing folk talk to you like you belonged there or something.

10) Spend an evening on the empty Kalaha beach, just you, the sand and the surf! MUCH less crowded than Waikiki! (And the bus takes you back for $2)






11) Parasail! (But follow all safety instructions! An experienced parasailer in Hawaii made headlines April 30 for dying while trying to dive in the water from 40 feet up-- I'm sure 40 feet seemed like nothing after being up 800 feet!!!!)