Hansen Family Reunion

Every 2 years we get together with Carl's grandparents and ALL the family for a reunion. Usually it is at Kiwanis Park up Hobble Creek Canyon, but sadly someone else got our usual spot so we had it at Jolly's Ranch. Okay, so that last comment was pretty sarcastic, but if you didn't know I hated the Kiwanis spot , you would never know. This year was GREAT!!! There was a playground for the kids right across the creek. And the creek wasn't a big draw this year so I didn't have to worry about an accidental drowning. We played fun games, and danced and celebrated Grandma Hansen's birthday. On Friday most of the family went up to Deer Creek for some waterskiing and that turned out to be a blast too. The kids just played in the water and Caleb and I played volleyball. Carl helped Grandpa Craig out by driving the boat for everyone to waterski. It was great to see everyone. Carl has a huge, fun family with lots of cousins and 2nd cousins. Even after 13 years of marriage I still am not completely sure I know everyone. Carl's Grandparents have created an amazing legacy and I feel blessed to be a part of it.

Daddy showing his skills.

This was hilarious. they were doing the "tootie tat tootie tat" song with aunt Deanna. We got a movie of it but it wouldn't upload. Just watch out Dave and Ian, I have some pretty awesome humiliation footage now.

Freedom Run.......

Nothing like a little PEER PRESSURE eh? I somehow convinced Carl, Ian, Tom and Greta (who by the way HATES running) to sign up for the Freedom Festival 10K run. They all did GREAT! Ian talked a lot of trash about beating me and sadly he did, BUT here is my defense....1)I just hiked the stinkin Grand Canyon. It wasn't the easiest hike I've been on. 2)I had some pretty awesome blisters on my feet/heels. (see #1 for reason). 3) Come on Ian, I am 11 years older than you. 4) I live at 128 ft. above see level. I am just going to throw out that elevation may or may not have been a factor. So that being said, I will swallow my pride and somewhat psychotic competitive attitude to say "Good Job Ian" . I was only 5 minutes behind him, but in my head it was only 2 or 3 because I got stopped by the @#$!@% that let his stupid dog off his leash to chase a baby deer. The dog caught it and took it down right in front of me. Pretty traumatic. Luckily I got a kick in on the dog and another runner got him off so the deer could run away, but the whole incident had to have taken at least a couple of minutes. I spent sometime after the run looking for the dog owner to tell him what I thought of him. Sadly, I couldn't find him. Everyone did awesome, so thanks guys for running with me.


I learned this from my friend Misty..... re-inacting the race makes for some pretty great photos.
Please note how hard Ian is trying to catch me.

I love you Greta......

Seriously? How cool is he? Babe you are the best.

this picture does frighten me, but I have to ask, Is that eyebrow normal????

Hall Family

My brother Don and his family are back in the States after 18+ months in BFE. No really, they lived in Egypt. Now Jen and the kiddos are going to live up in Sandy while Don goes to Iraq for a year. So on Thursday we got together at Joe and Shirls house for a bbq. It was a lot of fun to get all the cousins together. We ate and talked and had a blast.....until during a pretty intense game of SPUDNUT, my Bro-in-law Joe practically tackled me and gave me whiplash. Thanks for that Joe. My kids sure love their cousins and we miss them. We didn't do much else on this day because Syd was sick the night before. Seven Peaks will have to wait till next summer......

Playing games

Cute girls.

Shirl, me and Jen.

Twin Peaks

So even though we had just backpacked out of the Grand Canyon 2 days before, Carl decided to knock off another summit on his goal to climb the highest peaks in all the counties in Utah. I respectfully declined to accompany him on his endeavor, so he took his younger brothers Ian and Dave with him. They had a good time, even with the questionable weather. For those of you not from Utah, summertime has these amazing thunderstorms. Probably one of my favorite things. However, it is not a great idea to be at 11000 feet when the lightning starts.

Ian and Dave

At the summit.

These 2 tracks in the snow are Carl and Ian's butt marks where they slid down the mountain.

The Hansen Boys.

Hot Pots.....

On the way to Springville from Las Vegas Carl wanted to stop at some hot pots pretty much in the middle of this field at a town called Meadow. (I think) He can always come up with a crazy activity to do. By pure luck, their swim suits were easy to get to so the kids and Carl tried it out. No thanks for me. I am not a huge fan of water, not to mention a creepy, black hole in the middle of a field. I guess the water was pretty toasty and it had that delicious hot pot/rotten egg smell going on. The kids had fun until Caleb got bit by some red ants on the dirt trail to the pots. Served him right for tormenting them.

It's called the "Grand" canyon for a reason.......

We left the kids in Vegas with Nan and Grandpa and headed to the Grand Canyon on Saturday. We were able to get reservations at Phantom Ranch on Sunday night. They are really hard to get and we only got one night, but we were still excited to go. We camped at the top of the South Rim on Saturday then started our HIKE down the canyon on Sunday. We hiked down the South Kaibab Trail to Phantom Ranch. The hike is rated strenuous and should take 4-5 hours. We did it in 3 hours and it was pretty hard. One would think that with gravity on your side, the hiking should be easy. At least that is what I was expecting. Not so. My toes hurt so bad from being jammed into the front of my shoes and I had blisters on the bottom of them. Going down about 8 miles was harder than hiking out 12 miles the next day. Don't get me wrong, the climb out hurt, but not as bad. I did end up with some pretty awesome blisters on my heels though. The only shoes I wear in the summer are flip flops and my running shoes, so my poor, neglected hiking shoes decided to teach me a lesson for ignoring them the rest of the year. Please note that the pics at the end of the hike, I am sporting a pretty fake smile. It was a great trip and really challenged me to push myself. Thanks Nanny and Gpa for watching the kids. And thanks babe for taking me on a fun getaway. Carl wants to hike North Rim to South Rim next. I hope he has fun and I sure will miss him while he's gone............

Top of the Kaibab Trail.

Our little lunch friend. Squirrells are actually pretty violent. This one chased another one off.

The Black bridge accross the Colorado River.

This stream is by Phantom Ranch. It was awesome. The temp was 106 in the shade.

We were just sitting in the stream cooling off when she showed up to get a drink. It was pretty awesome.

Carl was just saying how cool it was to be out in nature an experience quiet moments with animals when she decided to squat right in front of us. It was hilarious, not to mention that she was staring us down the entire time.

We stayed in dorms. 10 women I had never met were in my dorm. It was actually pretty cool meeting people from all over. This is my dorm house.

Check your beds for these little guys.

Starting the hike out. I still look pretty happy here. We left camp at 5:30 am to try and beat the heat. but it was already pretty warm.

The sun coming up and hitting the cliffs above.

I decided this is the way down the canyon.

This picture is so you can see the winding trail.

Please note the pained fake smile. I LOVED the trip, but I was pretty happy to get to the car and my beloved flip flops.