Bishop Hansen Does It Again!

Okay, so for the past week or so, we have been checking out the deer around here. Even though we didn't even put in for the hunt, there's something about me, I just love to be out there on opening morning! Corey had a tag to hunt, so that was my excuse to be out in the hills-" to find a deer for Corey to shoot!" So, we realized that the deer were starting to come down around the little town called "Summit". We had seen a few decent sized bucks and told Corey about them. He decided to come up this morning-the opening day of the hunt. He, Joe and Gene left the house at about 6:45am and I got a call at about 7:30am from Corey to tell me that he shot the three point that we had spotted for him! He always gets his deer so quick! Kiara, Lani and I hopped into the car and headed for Summit to take some pictures-they were so excited! Normally, I wouldn't say anything about this, but today is my birthday, and it was really a perfect birthday-because I love the deer hunt so much. Thanks, Corey for making my day so much fun! Oh, and way to go, you did it again!

Let It Snow!

So last evening, it started to snow and actually stick! I decided to let Kiara go out in her coat and boots to check it out since she doesn't really remember playing in the snow last year. I can't believe we actually got snow this early in October-last year it seems like it was more like the middle of the month before we got a snow storm! We woke up this morning to about 3 inches and it looked so pretty! I don't know what I was thinking-I didn't even take a picture of that. Here are a couple of Kiara enjoying it though! We were so excited-I think we are the only family in all of Cedar City that actually gets excited when it starts to snow! ha ha!

What? A Princess Eat Spagetti with a Spatula?

Alright, I know I already did a post about our "Silly dinners" but this one has to be put on our blog because it totally takes the cake! For those of you who would never have believed that Gene would dress up like a princess, here you go! I think the pictures speak louder than any words I could add! Enjoy! ha ha!

Is it me, or does Gene look like he's enjoying this a bit too much?!

I think Lani and Kiara dressed their Dad up rather well, don't you? Check out the lipstick and what is that- cleaveage? Ha ha!

Talk about a way fun night at our house! Hmm, does it seem like we don't have much to do here in Cedar City? :)

"Post #4" I've been tagged again!

So here is a picture of my precious little Lani when she was about 18 months old. She is in Bloomington Hills feeding the ducks and geese. Isn't she a cutie pie?! This was fun, I'd almost forgotten about this picture! Thanks, Angie!
Okay, now I tag you Brenna, Tyra, Caitlin and LeeAnn!
Here's what you do:
1. Go to your pictures.
2. Open your 4th folder and upload the 4th picture in that folder.
3. Post #4
4. Tag four friends.
Have fun! :)

Quirks, what are they? I don't think I've ever had any!

Okay, so I've been tagged by Hopie. I guess I have to list 6 quirks that I have. But like Hopie, I really am totally normal but guess I'll have to try to come up with something!

1. To this day, I still love to do Chinese Fire Drills with whoever will do them with me! I know I'm not a teenager anymore, but I can't get it out of my system! ha ha!

2. I have to put my Christmas lights up on my house the night of Thanksgiving-don't ask me why, I think the world will come to an end or something if I don't!

3. I love to cook! I'm not a good cook, but I like to pretend that I am. My poor family tries to humor me, but I know different! ha ha!

4. You think humming is wierd? Nah! I talk, walk, dance, sing, you name it, I do it in my sleep! If you don't believe me, just ask Corey! I almost scared him half to death on a camping trip once! ha ha!

5. When I'm deep in thought, I bite my hair, which I guess explains why I like to keep it long-I can't think straight without biting it!

6. I love to shoot rattlesnakes! I shoot them with a pistol and seem to always hit them right behind the head, strange, I know!

Okay, I'm done! Now I'm tagging you:

1. Caitlin
2. Brenna
3. Pauline
4. LeeAnn
5. Amber
6. Kristi

I'll be watching-then I can laugh at your quirks, too! ;)

"It's Silly Dinner Time!"


So, We had these really fun friends in our old ward in Hurricane that invited us to their house for what they called "silly dinner". They had to wear a certain type of clothing and whatever the dinner was, it had to be eaten with either their hands, or huge spatulas, huge serving spoons, etc. We never wound up being able to have silly dinner at their house, but now that I have kids, I thought we should try it!


Tonight Gene was working late and so I thought Lani and Kiara could use some extra fun! I told them that they had to play downstairs while dinner was prepared, so that they didn't know what to expect. I told them that they had to dress up like Hawaiian dancers. I made Mac n Cheese, peas and for dessert, rice pudding with whipped cream on top. They were so excited when they came upstairs, saw that I was actually in my Hawaiian Hula attire and I told them that they could only eat with their hands. They looked at me at first with these puzzled looks, but when they saw me eating with two hands digging into the food, they went crazy!

Lani digging in!

Lani's not shy at all, while Kiara is our "wipe your mouth after every bite" kid.

I think they thought it had finally happened-their Mom had finally lost it! ha ha! The looks on their faces were priceless! I did manage to get a couple of pictures even though my hands were disgusting! (Remember, we couldn't use napkins or anything to aid in cleaning us up, we had to literally lick our hands!)

Dessert, yum! Kiara still timid, while Lani eats with reckless abandon!

It really was so much fun and we plan on doing our silly dinner once a week from now on-but, next time, we'll include Gene!

"Enjoy The Journey!"

When I was a kid, one of my favorite times was "General Conference Time". I loved it because my parents always seemed to make it a special time where they usually invited one of our special friends to watch with us and then to have a special dinner afterwards.


I was thinking that I should try to have a tradition with my kids to help them get into "the spirit" of conference. I wanted them to grow up, like I did, always looking forward to conference weekend. I was trying to figure out what I should do, when Lani and I were reading her new "Friend Magazine" and we came across a story about a family preparing for General Conference who found this scripture:

"And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which King Benjamin should speak unto them." Mosiah 2:6

The family in the story decided to pitch a tent in their living room to listen to conference like the people in the time of King Benjamin did. I decided that this would be our new family tradition! I was going to try to build one out of blankets until I realized that Lani and Kiara had a perfect one that would be easier to keep up. I reminded my girls of the scripture in Mosiah and I made a sign that read "Our Conference Reverence Tent" and told my girls that for today, this tent was going to be just for watching and listening to the prophets that were going to speak to us-not to play in. We had breakfast in it, had coloring books and a notebook for Lani to take notes on the meeting. Kiara and Lani could see conference whether they were sitting, or lying down. They had blankets and pillows and they loved it! I was amazed at how reverent they were!

Conference was so wonderful and the talks always give me a renewed conviction to follow the Savior more diligently. I hope I can keep up this tradition for my children to help them to look forward to hearing the prophet's voice as I did while growing up. In a way I think this is what President Monson meant when he said, "Enjoy the Journey". We really had a great day and I think this tradition will last for a long time.