The Hanson Crew

We replaced our 5 year old propane gas grill this past weekend. It was rusted out and not starting very good. We splurged a little and got a Stainless Steel Infrared grill. It is supposed to cook more evenly. We also were excited to hook this one up to the natural gas hookup on our house that was on the patio. So no more propane trips! It is supposed to save some money too. We cooked some steaks on Sunday, and they were amazing! We are planning to grill more now that this one is more dependable :)

While the kids ran through the sprinkler yesterday, I worked on a small painting project I have been putting off for awhile. I am very pleased with how it turned out. My bedroom is all coming together and this part only cost $7 :)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader...and in 3D!

We have been working on our kitchen update for some time now. We hired someone to cover all the interesting layered wallpaper we found, we painted, put new lights, put new flooring, new windows, and now we finished up the cabinet work. Our friend Aaron stained them the color of our kitchen table. We also bought some new hardware for them all, which really made the new stain pop more. Here is a before picture of the kitchen when we first moved in... And here are some pictures of the "new" cabinets...we are very happy with the way they turned out! One day we hope to update the counter tops and add a backsplash . Our next project is the hall bathroom floor, we are going to attempt to lay tile for the first time...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My best friend Lisa and her family were Carol's photographers for the wedding. So they were able to make the trip a vacation and a work trip all in one. We got to spend one day hiking with them and drove up to a summit together (plus we still could talk each day like we do here and hang out when we could). Lisa was also kind enough to fix our hair for the wedding, which is always a huge treat since we are not too hair savy and Lisa does such a good job. Today, Nate posted some of his Rocky National Park pictures on his blog . You will have to go check it out - they are really good and should be postcards...here are a few of our pics with them in Colorado together. We are looking forward to our annual Minneapolis trip with them in Oct, no kids that time though :) The slideshow I have been promising of our trip is still coming - the laptop took a quick trip to Las Vegas and just made it back. All the pics were on there.We have some good scenery shots as well as some good family

Woke up a little late and got the kids ready to go Took Caleb and Joshua to school by 9:30 (well, maybe a little after) - by school, I mean the home of my good friend Lisa who has graciously decided to help them with handwriting, reading and anything else they shouldn't forget by fall twice a week! Hung out with my best friend and printed some family pictures she took before CO Picked up the boys and headed to meet some friends for lunch at McDs Played and hung out there for a little while and jumped back in the car Drove a long way to a Kohl's down south where we had a free $10 card to and bought some Food Network tongs for $2 Drove another half hour to Cabella's (a different way home but still on the way by the store) Toured the aquarium, animal statues and all the other "manly" things we all desire someday to own - the boys are thinking a boat... Drove back home to put our new tongs to work on our new waffle maker Ate breakfast for dinner, followed by homemade

On Monday, John and I were able to have a date night...a much needed night after some major wedding planning, road trip driving, and lots of work stress. Were were excited to go see Date Night at the $2 theatre after dinner. It was pretty funny and our sense of humor. Here is a clip if you haven't seen it.... After the movie, we went to JcPenney to spend some of John's birthday gift cards. We don't actually go shopping much together, especially without children. So he bought a 2-knife Chef set he had been wanting and we got the kids a waffle maker. They have been wanting one for awhile... Then we all made waffles before bed. Here are my two favorite cooks at work...

The hall bathroom floor (we removed the horribly smelling carpet that came with the house this week in preparation for some new tile)...and our kitchen cabinets will be done this week too and they look amazing!!! New dark stain and new hardware = brand new look thanks to our friend Aaron! I'll take some pictures of that too this week and share them with you.

We got the new battery cord today so the battery is charged...now off to make that slide show of pictures...

We celebrated Father's Day yesterday with John's family. The kids and I gave him a roll top desk awhile back (a garage sale deal I found) for his gift so we were planning on only have pie. Then JCPenney sent us a free $10 gift coupon, so we got him an organizer thing for all his "stuff" he loses everyday. I think he liked it (plus it cost hardly nothing!).... We gave Grandpa Gary a picture frame with a new Estes park picture in it. We also saw my step dad a week ago in Pueblo which was a great visit since we hadn't seen him in a few years. My dad Phil is visiting from Seattle in a couple weeks too. Happy Father's Day to all our dads!

Since Caleb decided to get a little curious a few days ago with our wire cutters, we have been unable to plug in our laptop, which holds all of our Estes Park pictures. Our new battery cord has been shipped! So we have yet to make a slide show to share with you all. Thanks to Facebook though, many family members have posted wedding pictures to share with you. So here are a few more of the wedding... The 4 generation Hanson family posing for Lisa. The one she took obviously will look better and we will all be looking her way (or at least I hope most of us will!) Here I am getting the ring from Jonathan's pillow. Yes, both Caleb and Jonathan carried the actual rings....which made both John and I nervous until this moment pictured above! Here they are walking down the isle. Caleb would randomly pat Jonathan on his back to get him to walk faster with him. They both did very good and were very cute! Here we are awaiting Carol's walk down the isle. An outside ceremony made fo

While we were in CO, Joshua lost his first tooth! He was probably the last student in his class to loose it and therefore, was extra excited. He lost it in the car driving back from go carting to the hotel. We were going to put it under the pillow at the hotel, but he wanted to wait until we got home. So on Monday morning, he was so excited she came by his bed....here he is...

So we got back yesterday from Estes Park, CO, where we were all able to participate in John's sister's wedding. Because we were all in the wedding and were in charge of most of it, I managed to not take any pictures at the wedding or reception. My best friend Lisa took tons of pictures though (she was the photographer) and I will share those with you in a few weeks. In the meantime, here are a few our Aunt Sandy took... I was the Maid of Honor, John read scripture during the ceremony, Ashlyn was the flower girl, Joshua was the Bible bearer, and Jonathan and Caleb were ring bearers. The ceremony was outside right in the mountains... Here is Chris and Carol during the ceremony while "We Were Made to Worship" song played. And here they are as Mr. and Mrs. Chris Cordova....they were both very excited and patient for this moment! They are in Canada now on their honeymoon. Here is Carol and Caleb dancing at the reception. The food and location ended up being just wha

And we are already missing Colorado scenery, wildlife, and of course, their weather! More pictures of our trip coming soon in slideshow form...

So our Colorado vacation is well under way and we have officially arrived in Estes Park! Before we got here today, we were able to visit some family and friends in the Denver and Pueblo areas. We took some pics of each visit and I thought I would share some with you... We went to Pueblo City Park to ride some kiddie rides (after our favorite pizza place) with both of my sisters. From left to right: My older sister Karen, old family friends who haven't ever met the kids, Ralph and Nancy, my niece Lindsey, and my younger sister Adrienne hugging her daughter Abby....you know the others. Here are the kids getting ready to ride the roller coaster - the boys smiled the whole time, even Jonathan! Auntie Adrienne with Jonathan at the park. Her husband Mario was there too, but we didn't get him in a picture. We stayed our first night with John's Aunt Linda...she looks just like John's dad Gary, except is a woman of course. Her son Steven played great with the kids and was ni

The ceremony site and reception location has been reserved. The invitations have been designed and sent out. The flowers and cake are ready to be delivered. The dresses have been bought, altered and cleaned. The boys have bought their matching suits and have been told their important roles. Maps have been printed on where to go and snacks have been decided. Hair dos have been picked out and worn for a day and shoes are all packed. We are ready!! Up next, an outdoor wedding with a Christ-centered Rocky Mountain outdoor ceremony. We will post pics when we get back.

Meet John's boot. He had to wear it for 5 weeks when he fractured his foot. He is all done! And just in time to go hiking around Estes Park. We are excited and glad to store it until the next time he misses a step or feels like running around in the Kansas City rain a little faster and with a little hop :)