My Family Rocks

I miss them. All of them. I don't know if it is that Thanksgiving is 5 days away and I won't be seeing them for the first time in my life, or the fact that I have been living here for nearly 6 months but it is officially official. I am homesick. We also miss the Palmers and our wonderful Sundays at their home. It was so nice having them only 5 minutes away when we lived in Logan. But we are going home in less than 3 weeks so I guess now is as good as ever to be missing them, because soon enough we will be crashing at Joan and Randy's waiting for Santa and singing Christmas carols with the neighbors at Jeff and Teresa's. Each member of my family is busy doing great things, and for those of you who know and love them as much as I do I thought I would give you a little update on all their great accomplishments.

My Dad is still undergoing treatments, but is also back to teaching and just started the basketball season. Of course I am not home to see his exhaustion, but I know I am tired just thinking about all he is doing. However, he is doing as well as we could hope and for that we are grateful. His team is doing really well so far and he has great confidence in them this year. We are all so thankful for the strength, humility, and humor he brings into our lives each day.
Mom is superwoman as usual. I think she has about 25 jobs at the moment- teacher, wedding coordinator, decorator, saleswoman. She is still busy teaching preschool and all the little kids love her. She is also planning and decorating weddings which has really taken off. She just started selling a jewelry line which has also been doing really well. Basically she gets to have parties with all her friends once or twice a week and make a little money while doing it. I can't think of a better job for her. She is still working with the young women (now in the stake) and is constantly looking for someone to serve and uplift. All the while trying to take care of a sick husband, two teenagers and their friends, a daughter who lives across town and one who lives across the country. She is and always will be my hero.

Kyrsten and Sam are still free spirited hippie children. Okay, not so much hippies but still free spirited. I wish I could be more like them. They are still busy with school and both currently have jobs. Kyrsten is now studying graphic design/art which she will be amazing at. She is so creative. The two of them are completely in love, and between the disc golf, unicycling, and Office parties have enough hobbies to keep themselves occupied.

Jace's football team just won the state championship! He had an absolutely amazing game scoring two touchdowns and making 6 catches. I am still sad I missed it. Soon he will start basketball and try for another state title. He continues to fend of all the ladies who are after him and just enjoys life. He is such a good young man and I love him!

How beautiful is Taigen? She is cheering on the rams (like some other Hansen girls I know) and (hopefully) staying out of trouble. I can't quit comprehend that she could potentially get her driver's license in 6 months, but I guess its true. She is more technologically advanced than anyone in our family, and is always making my day with sweet text messages or emails. I swear she is 14 going on 25!

And then there is us. Last weekend we made it to Cleavland and had a great time battling the rainstorm (some of us were more lucky than others), catching up with rock and roll legends, and WITNESSING the greatness that is Lebron James (not so much the greatness that we hoped for from the Jazz). Today we watched one of the greatest rivalries in college football- OSU vs Michigan. I basically felt like I was in the the North Pole, but it was still a pretty fun game and of course the Buckeyes won!! This week will be the first time I have ever had to work on a major holiday which will be weird. We still get to have a little Thanksgiving celebration with some friends. I even wanted to attempt to make the turkey, but can't now that I will be working all morning. Maybe next year I will give it a shot. One thing I know for sure is that in approximately 20 days we will be on a plane headed for the mountains and our families and that is definitely something to be thankful for!