September Review

Back to School

The first day of school this year was on Thursday, September 2nd. There was some nervousness and excitement. I'm so glad my children enjoy school. Chad was looking forward to being back with friends and finding out about his new teacher (who was new to the school this year). Halle was excited that she had her best friends in her class and the teacher she wanted (Mrs. Nye - who had previously taught kindergarten). Sean was just looking forward to having school all day, having lunch at school, and riding the bus home with his siblings. Okay, I guess I was the only nervous one.

A bright looking crew! Sean - 1st grade. Chad - 4th grade. Halle 3rd grade.

A Story About Halle

Halle is usually a very helpful and obedient child. She does well at school and has the perfectionist gene. A couple of weeks into school I got a phone call from her teacher. She had gotten into big trouble. As I listened to the story the teacher told me I just could not believe that this was my child (let alone Halle) that had done this.

I was told that Halle went to the bathroom (they have their own stall out in the portable) and then locked the door from the inside and left it that way for the next person. It was a mean thing to do. This just didn't sound like Halle - she is a great tease for her brother but she has never been purposely malicious before - and especially at school. The teacher said she confronted her (there was proof that she had been in there). At first she said she didn't do it, then she started crying and admitted to the crime. They talked and Halle was warned that the teacher would be watching her and would have to call home and tell her parents what had happened.

After the phone call I confronted Halle. She admitted to doing the deed through big sobbing tears. She was so upset. I lashed out at her and asked her why she did it. Why would she be so thoughtless and mean?! Didn't she know the next person wouldn't be able to use the bathroom, or would have to crawl on the yucky floor to get under the door? She wouldn't answer and just kept crying. I was so mad and embarrassed - but tried to remain calm.

Later that night Chris and I both talked to her some more. She finally explained the whole story. While in the bathroom, she discovered that she could manipulate the lock from the outside of the bathroom stall. She was able to lock it from the outside. She locked and unlocked it several times in the excitement of her discovery. Then she heard another person coming into the bathroom. She panicked - knowing she wasn't supposed to be playing in there and hurry and got out when the other girl came in. She hadn't really thought about if the stall door was still locked or unlocked.

Then when a complaint was made about the bathroom stall door being locked she was panicked. She was embarrassed about what she had done and didn't want anyone to find out. But when her name was mentioned as being a person who was just in there - then she knew she didn't want to lie and confessed.

Once she told me this story - it made much more sense. I could definitely see Halle being bored and discovering something new. I knew that she would never do something like that just as a joke or to be mean. So not that is was okay - she still didn't think her actions through all the way - but now I understood how she had got into that predicament. I think she learned multiple lessons through this experience.

A Story About Chad

The school letters came rather late this year. The children were getting very anxious about who their teachers would be for the new year. They didn't find out until 3 days before school started. We knew 4th grade was going to be a surprise no matter what. Both 4th grade teachers were new to the school this year. So there were no expectations about teachers - just about friends being in the same class. Unfortunately (or fortunately) Chad did not get his best friends in his class. They got the new teacher, Mrs. Weigle (whose name I still can't remember how to pronounce correctly). Chad got Mrs. Smith. So to try and cheer him up and have some positive feeling towards this new teacher he had never met yet, I said, "Isn't great that you get the teacher whose name is easy to say. Isn't Mrs. Smith a great name to remember?"

Chad looked at me and was silent for a moment, probably trying to figure out why I had just said what I said. Then all of a sudden he had an epiphany and exclaimed, "Yea, mom. Mrs. Smith is just like Joseph Smith. Cool, huh mom?!"

I loved that his first connection with his teacher was to relate her to Joseph Smith. I love it when moments like that happen.

A Story About Sean

One evening I was fixing dinner. From the piano room I could hear someone singing. As I concentrated on the sound I could hear Sean singing the BINGO song. He was singing it from start to finish and adding all the claps as letters disappeared. I was already enjoying a small chuckle to myself to hear him singing and clapping when I decided to peek in on him. Not only was he singing to full lung capacity but he was conducting the song to an imaginary audience. He was standing on the very edge of the arm of the couch. Looked like he was trying to be the teacher. It was so cute I knew it was a moment I had to remember.

Sean creates his name out of play dough. He was so excited to be such a big boy and to have Mrs. Miller (who Halle had just previously had the last two years).

Chad the big 4th grader gets put right to work with his new teacher, Mrs. Smith.

Halle the 3rd grader knows how to stand out in a crowd.




Labor Day

For Labor Day weekend we just stayed at home and worked on a few projects that didn't get finished up during the summer. For Labor Day (September 6th) we had just a fun relaxed weekend. Our only activity was to go to the park and hang out together and then BBQ hamburgers when we got back home.

Three crazy munchkins ready to be spun, and spun, and spun. It makes me dizzy just to watch them.

Halle brought her new soccer ball to get some practice in for the new season.






Dad teaches Sean some football moves.







Chad practices throwing his football through the holes in the play set.



School Hawaiian Luau

Every year at Adams they have a school BBQ where the parents are invited to eat lunch with their kids. Usually it has always been a western theme. This year they decided to mix things up a bit and go with a Hawaiian Luau BBQ. So, what made it Hawaiian? How you dressed up of course. They still had the same menu - Cheeseburger, potato salad, watermelon, bag of chips, and an ice-cream treat. Oh, they did throw on some pineapple - I suppose that made all the difference, right?!

The kids decked out in their Hawaiian gear and ready for a fun day at school.




Grandma and Bompa were able to make it this year. Here they are sitting with Chad and his friends during his lunch period.




We went through the lunch line and had lunch with Sean since this was his first year of having school lunches. Sean enjoys his ice-cream treat first.



Halle came and joined us too.


Cross Country

I made Chad and Halle do cross country this year. It is a school activity where they practice running for an hour twice a week. Mostly I just wanted them to stay in shape and be active. But it also kept us very busy as Halle is also involved with soccer and Chad with football. And they are both taking piano lessons. So life have been extremely busy and a struggle to fit in homework, scouts, activity days and sports practices.

The first cross country meet was on Wednesday - September 29th at Mullen Road Elementary. They have never run in a race before and I was really nervous for them. But they both did a great job.

Halle coming to the finish line. She did great for her first race ever!!!! She came in 7th place for the 3rd grade girls and qualified to run the All City Meet with a time of 7.53 minutes. I was quite flabbergasted! I wasn't even expecting her to run the whole mile - let alone do so awesome.




Here comes Chad to the finish line. Chad has great long running legs - but still needs to work on some endurance. He did a great job too. He finished 21st for the 4th grade boys with at time of 8.33 minutes.

I'm just so proud of both of them for trying something hard and new. Sean is looking forward to running next year (and so am I).

California City Pass - III

I've never been to Disneyland more than one day at a time. It seemed quite extraordinary to be able to spend three whole days there. Our morning on the third day started out with tiny gastropods.

The boys had a blast finding plenty of snails on the bushes on the walk to Disneyland. Nanny was brave enough to join in the fun too.

A picture of the whole gang (minus photographer) in a tea cup.

Me and my girl.

Quite the catch - some grandparents and their grandchildren. I think we should keep them.

Another attempt at a family picture.

Part of our third day was an excursion to the Lego store (to appease the boys for not going to Legoland). They found plenty to be excited about! In fact they were all done with Disneyland once they got their Lego fix.

The boys wanted a photo with their Lego purchases. They saved up for almost a whole year so they could by stuff at Disneyland. And then they go and by Lego sets. Crazy boys.

C is for California Adventure and for the Caviness Family.

Chad's most daring ride was the Matterhorn.

Halle and Sean touch the poison apple.

Watch out here comes the witch!

Our last day of Disneyland comes to a close.

We got to watch fireworks 3 out of 4 nights. We watched from our Hotel a couple of nights. We missed one night when we saw the Electric Parade. But we got up close for the last night and celebrated with lights and music. They were crazy packed days but I hope everybody had fun and I hope my children remember it all for a long, long time.

Things to Celebrate

Finally after doing the dishes by hand for over 4 months (that is 1/3 of a year) I now have a new and perfectly working dishwasher. It is sooooooo wonderful!!!!!!!!!!

The same day I got my new dishwasher installed my washing machine got fixed too. (Yes, yet another appliance died on us.) It is so nice to do my laundry from home instead of running it to my in-laws and back again. I am also so glad it was an easy fix and easy on the budget. Although I do dream of a new washing machine and dryer (our current ones are older than our marriage) I'm a little sick of spending money.

I am also happy to be alive! We had a gas leak in our water heater a few days ago. I was actually the one that smelt it out which is amazing because I really have no sense of smell. 2 1/2 hours after we first called AVISTA about our gas leak (and several calls in between) they finally came out and fixed it. I was a nervous wreck as gas already totally freaks me out (I will never have a gas fireplace or stove!).

That's all for now.

California City Pass - II

On our second day of Disneyland we got to go in early. The first ride on the docket for the day was the teacups. Each kid had picked one must do ride for our trip. Chad's was the Indiana Jones ride. Sean wanted to do Buzz Light Year. And Halle's dream was to ride the teacups. It is so nice to fulfill your children's dreams. With a whole hour before regular opening time we hit all the kiddy rides before the lines became long (The Teacups, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Peter Pan, etc.).




Halle having the ride of her life. Too bad I get dizzy - so I just got to take pictures. I did go on Dumbo though! Chris took Chad to ride the Matterhorn - while they were doing that my mom and I took Halle and Sean to Dumbo. Sean wasn't tall enough to ride by himself so I had to get in. Luckily I made it through without getting too nauseated.

My three Mouseketeers.

We went to the California Adventure Park as soon as it opened. It didn't seem like there were very many people. We got fast passes for California Soaring then took some pictures and lazily walked to the Bug 4D show. We were the only ones at the show!!!!! It was fun but I didn't understand why no one else was there. But later in the day when we finally went to the Toy Story ride we found out where everybody was - in line for that ride!!!!!! It was the most awesome ride ever.

A quick pose by Mater and Lightening McQueen.

Enjoying the whole bug park to ourselves.

A huge Mr. Potato Head and a huge line - almost 2 hours of waiting, waiting, waiting. But so worth it!!!!!!!!! It was the greatest ride ever!

Our night was finally finished off by the Electric Parade - very fun.

California City Pass - I

Life has been a complete whirlwind lately. My goal this summer is to catch up on everything from the last few months (and if I really get with it maybe all of last summer too).

Our big adventure for the year was to take the family to Disneyland. My parents have been wanting us to go for the past several years - but since we knew it would be a once (but hopefully twice) in a life time experience we wanted to wait until all the kids were old enough to enjoy and remember it.

I bought a "California City Pass" for everyone and we took full advantage of it. We spent one week in California experiencing Disneyland, California Adventure, Universal Studios, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and the beach in San Diego (and also major traffic jams).

Our adventure started out on Sunday, March 28th. We attended 6th ward sacrament meeting since they have the early schedule this year. Our kids were so excited to see so many of their friends/acquaintances there. They were also extremely twitchy. They knew that as soon as sacrament meeting was over that we could be heading for the airport and then Disneyland. Who wants to sit through church and be reverent when you have Disneyland on the brain?!

The first leg of our flight was from Spokane to Salt Lake City. At Salt Lake City everything got a little crazy. We were originally supposed to just stop in SLC, stay on the plane, have my parents board the same plane, and then proceed to CA. But, no! It would be just crazy talk to let the airlines keep it that simple. At SLC they had everyone get off the plane. They gave us a different plane to depart from. Then a different one. And, yes, yet another one. We changed gates and planes three different times. We finally started boarding one (my mom had a first class ticket and boarded first) when they changed their minds yet again!!!!! After just 2 hours we were finally on our way to Disneyland.

Finally in California! John Wayne Airport in Orange County. The kids had no clue who John Wayne was but loved the statue.

Sean went right for the gun.

Chad trying to make everyone laugh.

After getting our rental car, driving to Disneyland, finding our Hotel and eating dinner it was quite late. But that didn't stop up from walking over to Disneyland and showing our kids were we would be having tons of fun for the next three days. You can see Sean reading a map and already planning what rides he wants to go on. My parents are just thrilled to be with the grand kids and to have Chris and I there to do the babysitting (official disciplining etc.).

We got loads of advise from friends that had been to Disneyland before. We tried to take full advantage of everything. We got up early every morning and were always at the gate before opening. Here we are inside the park but still waiting for the official opening so that everyone can run to the most exciting rides before the lines get ridiculously long.

The first ride we went for was Indiana Jones. We would have been among the first in line - but it was closed!!!! Which meant the fast pass was shut down too. So, our very first ride at Disneyland was the Haunted House. The kids thought it was so cool and totally amazing. Our second ride was Pirates of the Caribbean. Again the kids thought we had brought them to Heaven. After those two rides (with no lines at all) we headed back to Indiana Jones which was working again. The line didn't seem too long so we got straight in line. Little did we know there was another whole line winding around for ever inside. It was all worth it! Again the kids thought that was the most exciting thing they had ever done in their life.

The only character we saw the whole time was Buzz Light Year. We took a quick picture of Buzz in the background while waiting for StarTours.

C3PO talking to us. The kids were amazed to find their favorite Star Wars friends.

The best ride ever with a fastpass was the Buzz Light Year ride. The kids (and grandparents) enjoyed shooting at everything!

Princess Halle welcomes us to her kingdom at Disneyland.

The kids were enthralled with Jedi Training but were too chicken to volunteer to be Jedi. The sith really was pretty scary.

One of Sean's highlights was to touch one of the geometrically shaped trees outside of It's A Small World.

My little munchkin's ready for the boat ride and an experience of a life time with It's A Small World. And yes, they caught onto the tune and words mighty fast. Just thinking about this ride makes me sing the song - very contagious!

We watched the street parade. It was nice to sit down for a while and just relax. Sean loved dancing to the music as everything went by.

We took the jungle boat ride at night when it was dark - it made it kind of spooky for the kids which was great as mom and dad love to tease. Our very last adventure for the night was to go to the Tiki Tiki room. This is what my dad had looked forward to all day.

Memories of My Grandpa Hansen

My Grandpa Hansen was always ready for an adventure and always had a story to tell. He was a true artist - capturing what he saw with oil on canvass and creating pictures in our minds of the things all around us. He was a fun grandpa. It is hard to know that he is now gone. My grandpa Hansen passed away on Tuesday, June 1, 2010.

When I was little he was the grandpa with the scary bear head and huge deer head hanging in his office. He was very into deer hunting and camping. Camping with grandpa meant riding in the top of the camper - watching in all directions as we drove to Dinosaur land or Lake Powell in the orange truck. It meant brushing my teeth from a cup and learning how to relieve myself in nature.

Grandpa Hansen meant golfing and driving up to Hobble Creek canyon. Roasting marshmallows and wading and throwing rocks in the creek. He even let my drive a few times - way before I was sixteen!

I remember him playing the accordion and the harmonica. He was also a whiz at yodeling. He had a dog named "Otto." He had plastic gloves over his hands for many years because of extreme eczema. He loved to show us magic tricks (pulling off his thumb and making his finger stretch). He knew Morse code and was always on the radio. There was always a project going on. When ever we came over to play we would get out the huge box of Lego's and play all day.

As I got older there were more trips to Lake Powell with plenty of cousins to share in the fun. Grandpa always had a boat (even since my dad was a kid). He was a pioneer in boating and water-skiing. He taught hundreds of people to water ski - including me. He often forgot to bring his swim suit - but that didn't ever stop him from getting in the water or skiing himself. Being out boating always reminds me of my grandpa.

I was amazed at how he could strike up an interesting conversation with total strangers no matter where we were. He could always tell you the history of something and share with you the science behind it.

He loved family - I learned the importance of being a part of a family and part of an extended family.

Grandpa was king of ice-cream. My kids loved that great-grandpa Hansen was always offering them ice-cream. But beware - once your plate was clean of something he would fill it back up again whether you wanted more food or not.

I love you Grandpa Hansen!

My grandma and grandpa Hansen at our last family reunion in July 2009. My brother, Carl, is holding the bear head that used to scare me to death. It was used as part of a skit we put on for them.

The kids enjoying playing around with their great-grandpa. July 2008.