Hansen family update

It has been months since we’ve sent out an update. Fall is finally here in Missouri and it has been so nice. The leaves are turning beautiful and the air is crisp instead of humid; I love this time of year along with all the up coming seasons. We have taken the boys down to play tennis and they’ve spent many days outside in the sandbox and playing ball out back; it’s been great.

We finally just finished a MAJOR undertaking of painting our wood fence and deck! Wow, it always takes way longer than you plan and always costs much more than you anticipate, but the end result is beautiful. I never knew that when your wood fence turns dark it is mildew and you have to remove the mildew with Clorox spray (which is quite an interesting process) or it will turn your fence black under your stain; a whole extra step that could have been avoided had we painted the fence when we first built it—I guess we live and learn, we are just excited to be done.

Cory and I are doing well. We are excited to fly to Billings for my sister Crystal’s wedding on the 28th of December. We are leaving on the Friday before Christmas so if we get stuck in Denver (heaven forbid) we will hopefully make it before Christmas (just kidding mom; we’ll be there). We are excited, but as much as I’ve traveled by air with the boys the last year, it is never something that I look forward too. But it will be a trip worth taking.

Briggs had his 3rd birthday a few weekends ago complete with Mickey Mouse and giant bubbles. We had a lot of fun. My parents were able to come to Kansas City for 5 days over conference weekend and we had a great time! We took them to the Independence Visitors Center where there was an exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls, we went to some good restaurants; my personal favorite is any day I don’t have to cook, we took my mom to my favorite store Hobby Lobby, which there is never enough time to look at everything. We did a lot of hanging out with my brother and his family, and while the guys attended the priesthood session, my mom brought some Halloween crafts for us to paint together; it was really fun! But it always goes way too fast!

Well, a little about Briggs . . . The first thing that comes to mind is that he LOVES football! It is funny because Cory always says, “I always wanted my sons to enjoy football, but I just never knew to what extent Briggs would take it.” I think it is safe to say that he is a FANATIC. He goes play-by-play with the guys on TV, and even stands in the wide-receiver position before the ball snaps then he’ll runs up the hall and back to catch the ball that Cory will throw to him. It is hilarious. He will often ask me to watch football during the day it instead of cartoons; I don’t know many three year olds like him; but he is soooo fun! He also likes to push Ethan’s buttons and tackle him when he doesn’t want to be tackled. I think Ethan has gotten a little soft! He is a good brother to Ethan.

Ethan is almost 15 months now and is our sassy fun little boy; and when you aren’t paying attention to him he has a screech that will rival most little girls; he always makes us laugh and has a quick smile. He loves to play in the bath and chase Briggs. He doesn’t like when you tell him no so to release his anger he will go to great lengths to find an object to hit. Cory remembers one day telling him to not do something and Ethan turned in about 3-4 circles trying to find something to hit and then walked over the our ottoman and just gave it one hit, always accompanied with an obstinate grunt. It is hard not to laugh because it is sooo funny! We’re not sure where he learned this from because Briggs never hits, but it is sure hilarious. He is learning to feed himself and is getting better for the most part. He loves to put everything in his mouth and pour water over himself in the tub. What a fun little boy! We love being parents and feel so very blessed!