The Ultimate Hansens

Mom Hansen can see the summertime light at the end of the BYU spring term tunnel. And since she is taking no summer classes, she's gonna keep up on this here blog. Oh boy, does it feel good already!

First off let me write about my Bill. He climbed the P mountain (That's P for Payson) with me not long ago and we learned all about the geology of our very own mountain from geology expert Corinne Hurst.

Bill is also running 4 or 5 miles most mornings before we head to the office. We spent a weekend at Capitol Reef National Park (Utah), where in addition to taking it easy, we climbed 1000 feet to an amazing overlook. If you know Capitol Reef, you know the major cliffs that face the Visitors Center, and those are the very cliffs we scaled (from behind, naturally).

we got lots of sun (which felt good after our rainy, cool spring)

And we parked our tent in a spot that was cool and green and shady!

Connie and Boyd Ericksen went with us and fed us yummy food.

And we had lots of fun too.

For Mom's birthday, Bill arranged with Don Cook, the BYU carilloneur, to let her play a few songs on the BYU carillon. So last Monday, Lisa got to play I am a Child of God, and a couple of other Primary songs, together with a duet with Don Cook -- and it is SO cool to play with the bells right above you that are sending out their beautiful sound a looooong way.

Do you see keys on that keyboard? I don't think so. Those are dowels that you bang with your fists. It's perfect for those angry piano days.

Mom also just got back from a week at Camp Koholowo in Payson Canyon where (for the first time in 15 years) there were no Hansen young women campers! That was sad. But the Young Women of the Spring Creek Ward were as lively as ever. Here's the conquering of the rock wall. That's Lisa up there. And yes, she reached the top and hit the buzzer!

MIKE & VANESSA

The Rochester Hansens have been hosting Rachel since she graduated from Payson High School in May. For three weeks they have been entertaining her and letting her hang out at their place. For Memorial Day, Mike was the high councilman in charge of a Regional Young Single Adult Conference at Hill Cumorah, so the night Rachel arrived on the plane, she was whisked off to do midnight baptisms for the dead (thanks to Mike's quick thinking to get her recommend faxed out there at the last minute and cleared with various leaders!) Then she got to tent with Anjuli and Alexandria (daughters of Bill's brother, Galen who lives in West Virginia, who are apparently in the same Region as Mike -- go figure!!) at Hill Cumorah.

Rachel reports that Max and Addie and Ella are amazing, and she is really enjoying Vanessa and Mike. This is a not-very-recent photo of the Rochester Hansens -- taken when Grandma Lisa was there for Ella's arrival (last October)

This is Max. His 7th (!) birthday is this week.

And one of my favorite photos of Max and Addie!

BJ

He has turning 30 all wrapped up!

This is BJ at the Birthday Surprise Party that Maggie threw for him at his clubhouse. Lots of people showed up and we had a smashing good time! Thanks, Maggie!

BJ earned himself a 4.0 again at UVU. We are awful proud.

BJ popped a tendon in his middle finger (while pulling on socks or something ordinary like that) that means he has to keep his middle finger immobile for the rest of the summer. So his finger is now all cradled in a white plastic cast that looks (says Maggie Chu) like baby Jesus. (!) The really sad news is that BJ can't play any bass guitar for Patio of Fire or for anything else in this Summer of Music! So he'll be shining up his vocals to wow the crowd.

Friday, July 2 IS 2010 Patio of Fire!!!!! Mark it. Know it. Prepare to Live it!!

AMELIE & CODY

Look at this remarkable swingset. Now hear this. Cody MADE this playset! Take a look at the slide on it, wouldja? It is a kid's paradise. Amelie says the kids went down that slide and flew off the end halfway into the yard. I woulda loved a slide like that when I was Aubrey's age. And Meisha just taught me how to get a picture from my phone to this blog. I am SO grateful!!

And here's how the Bowers family looked the week before Nels left on his mission:

And before that:

And this is how Amelie looks just driving around Burley. Beautiful.

MAGGIE

This is a picture of Maggie presenting her department's research at a BYU research convention. She's very professional. And smart. And warm too. Maggie continues to work on her Master's Thesis.

And here are some photos of the trip Grandma and Grandpa T. made with Maggie (and Mom and Dad) to San Diego to see cousin Mark get married.

This one is of a family Maggie worked with on her mission: La Familia Ortiz. They were just coming out of the temple after having been sealed while WE were sitting there waiting for the happy bride and groom. Nevermind that Maggie had been looking for the Ortiz family for months because they had disappeared from the ward there and no one knew anything of their whereabouts. It seems as though God answered Maggie's prayers by putting them at the temple on the very, very day -- at the very, very hour when Maggie would be there!

And here's Maggie and cousin David (John's boy) doing some "Bible Bashing!"

And enjoying the beach . . .

And here's all of us that went to the wedding. That's Grandma and Grandpa Tensmeyer who made the trip possible for all of us!

Maggie recently took a spontaneous trip to Boulder Colorado, which was super fast, because she has so much work she has to do back in Provo.

Although Spring and Summer are work-work-work times for her, she did find time to sign up for -- THE RICHFIELD TRIATHLON!!!! She will be training her mind, then her body, then her mind, then her body, then her mind. . . . .

MELANIE

Melanie gave a spectacular senior piano recital at BYU. She played marvelously and I would really like a copy of the sound recording because it was amazing. She played Mozart, Haydn, Boulanger, Rameau, Schoenberg and Faure.

Press play and watch BJ give Melanie flowers after her performance. It's really and truly only two seconds long, after it buffers.

And this is Melanie with her Piano Teacher extraordinaire: Scott Holden.

And this is Melanie with Chris Melear. They are enjoying the snowcones we served as refreshments (along with cotton candy).

Here's the Hansen crew celebrating the ultra-successful recital.

And here's Melanie's recent haircut.

NELS -- ELDER HANSEN

Nels continues to prosper in Berlin, New Hampshire. Looking for people to teach is the challenge there. Nels reported that their neighbors in the apartment building where they live approached the missionaries and said they'd noticed the peace the missionaries evidenced in their lives and asked to know more. Tentative baptism date is at the end of June!

Berlin is a beautiful little New England town. Nels says they encountered a bear in the middle of the street the other day. Did they teach Nels defensive moves for bears in his New Hampshire culture classes at the MTC, I wanna know?!

RACHEL

Rachel's big news is . . . GRADUATION!!

And here is a picture of our TWO graduates, Rachel and Maggie Chu!

And here is Rachel with Kyle Butler:

And Rachel with some of her very happy friends:

And Rachel with some vry happy feet!

MAGGIE CHU

Maggie Chu amazed the whole School District by being the first Foreign Exchange student to figure out how to graduate from Payson High School. It was a real accomplishment and we were proud of her too!

And here is one of our last photos of Maggie Chu before she left for Taiwan.

She'll be back here in August, and will be in her own apartment in Orem attending UVU.

MEISHA

And here's a graduation photo that includes Meisha, who is the only child home today (Sunday).