Hanson Crew

We welcomed 2015 tonight as a crew!  John woke up feeling a little sick, but we think it was side affects from a shot he just got.  But since the flu is spreading like wild fire here in KC and he felt like he might have symptoms, we had to cancel our New Year's Eve game party.  We were bummed, but a couple of the families that were coming also had sick children, so it worked out for everyone.  The kids enjoyed the countdown show in New York and we plays a board game.  Happy New Year!

I took the boys to IKEA today for free lunch and a tour of the warehouse.  They liked it!  And they kept saying how much it reminded them of Property Brothers!  We love HGTV here!

John turned 37 today!  Hard to believe we have shared half of our lives together now...he went in late to work, had lunch with office staff, and then dinner at Texas Roadhouse with us.  When we came out, we had a flat tire.  We were next door to Discount Tires so we slowly went that way, but it was closed.  John went out to put the spare on (without a coat in freezing weather) but we later found out it was flat!  So we waited for a tow truck to bring us air.  We made it home about an hour later.  Happy Birthday John!

Our winter break from school and some work include a lot of extra reading, electronics, and our favorite thing....SLEEP! Even Bear has been participating....

Bear enjoyed her first giant bone (around her size) Christmas morning while we opened presents.  She loved the red twisty stuff the most.  After we opened presents as a family, we went to Grandma Sue's and Grandpa Gary's house.  We celebrated there with them as the Cordova family.  We ate more food and got more presents.  It was a fun time!

My dad gave me gifts from his home while I visited him this month for the kids to remember him.  Ashlyn and I both got a Broncos shirt, Joshua got a grilling apron, and the younger boys got favorite Nascar cars that he kept in his Dale Earhart, Jr, collection.

Per tradition each year, we spent Christmas Eve with Grandma Peggy and her boyfriend Larry.  We enjoyed dinner and then opened presents.  We are so thankful for them and the time we have with them living so close.

My dad, Phil, passed away tonight around 9:00 pm.  He died in his sleep, which was very peaceful and not painful.  Here is his obituary: Phillip passed away December 17, 2014 after a short illness. Born to Joseph and Jessie Maestas in La Junta, CO. Phil enjoyed anything Nascar, throwing darts, and bowling. He loved his yard and fed all of his critters daily. Phil was preceded in death by his parents, brother Richard, brother Rudy, and stepson James. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Velma, daughters Karen Munez (Ben), DeAnna Hanson (John), Adrienne Valdez (Mario), and stepdaughter Brenda Tenney. Grandchildren Shawn, Lindsey, Ashlyn, Joshua, Caleb, Jonathan, Abigail, Alleigha, and Jacob. Brothers Andy and Dennis, sisters Louise Ponce (Paul) and Vivian all of Pueblo, CO, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. Phil lived and worked in Pueblo, CO, until he joined the navy in 1982 aboard the CV61 USS Ranger and discharged honorably in 1986. He made his ho...

2014 was a busy, but good year for our crew.  Deanna is homeschooling our oldest two kids full time this year, but with the help of a great co-op that meets twice a week called Engaged in Life Academy.  John stays busy working out, working at The Maids, and keeping up with church ministries.  Jonathan and Caleb are still attending Line Creek Elementary near our home and loves it!  Caleb has caught up in speech and reading and is starting to like to read now.  Jonathan hopes to home school next year for 3rd grade, but we aren't sure yet what our plans are for the next school year. I am in shock that Ashlyn will begin high school next year either at a school or home - how did that happen! John's Grandma Steiner passed away this year, but we were able to go to Omaha for the funeral and to see family up there.  Deanna's Grandma Nancy also passed away in Dec 2013.  She took the kids out to the funeral and was able to reconnect with a lot of her stepdad'...

So the Denver Broncos won the West Division title again this year!  This is 4 years in a row!!  We love Broncos football here :)  Way to go Denver!

We entered a video contest in September with The Maids and our video won! It captured two minutes of our morning meeting. We used the $500 prize money for our Christmas party! The kids and I worked on it together :)

Thanks for praying with us.  I made it to Bremerton, Washington in time to see my dad.  His liver and kidneys are both not functioning.  They are helping him stay comfortable while he passes.  We have had some great conversation while I am here.  I did not get to know my dad until I was 18.  My parents divorced when I was 4 and I was raised by my stepdad John. and mom.  I am so thankful I have got to know him these past 18 years.  He has come to visit many times and my 4 kids have got to know him.  We will miss him greatly, and plan stay in touch with my stepmom.  Please continue to pray for the rest of the month for our family.  Thanks!

I got a call today from my stepmom that my dad is in the hospital with only a few days to live.  He is only 60 and was just diagnosed yesterday with Stage 4 Liver disease.  Since then, his kidneys have begun to shut down.  I plan to go visit him this weekend with my sister Adrienne.  Please pray for him and our family.  Thanks!

We are starting a new Piper book we got at the National conference this year today.  It is called The Dawning of Indestructible Joy, and only takes about 10 minutes to read each night.  We look forward to celebrating this season of remembering the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Instead of opening on Thanksgiving this year, our outdoor mall near us decided to have a big event called Orange Wednesday the day before.  If you wore all orange, you could be stopped by a secret shopper and win a $25 gift card.  We won!!  You could also enter to win for some awesome prizes, including a few IPads.  We didn't win those, but we did win two free movie tickets to the new Hobbit movie!  We were pretty excited about that.  It was a fun evening with just Caleb and Joshua...we spent that free $25 gift card together and loved it!

My best friend Lisa took our pictures this fall and I got to see a few today!  They are awesome!  I can't wait to see more.

Because we are so busy during the holiday season at The Maids, we usually plan our Thanksgiving and Christmas parties around the craziness. This year we had a Thanksgiving breakfast before work started.  The kids and I worked on decorations and they helped cook.  We made pancakes, sausage, egg casserole, and provided lots of drink choices.  People wrote what they were thankful for on the leaves in the middle of the tables.  It was a great turnout!

Bear loves to go to dog parks and run around like she is a greyhound.  We found this new one right by Engaged in Life Academy in Parkville.  We may be going after we drop Ashlyn and Joshua off at co-op now while it is still warm....she is slowly working on her social skills...it has been a slow process, but has made a few friends!

We ate it up today!  Love the Papa Murphy's jack o lantern pizza each year!  We added some cookie this year too!

We had a fun night tonight.  Ashlyn did not trick or treat this year, which was weird and nice.  She helped hand out candy with Bear. She dressed as a character from one of her favorite books in the Percy Jackson series.  Jonathan and Joshua teamed up as Harry Potter characters, Harry and Ron.  Caleb stuck with his favorite TV show, Duck Dynasty, and dressed as Uncle Si.  I love how they dress as book and TV characters!  And yes, we got tons of candy!

She has been such a joy and blessing to our family!  I remember when she was just a wee little thing and now she is going to be starting high school next year!  Happy Birthday Ashlyn Diane!

Joshua celebrated his 11th birthday today with his two good friends James and Chancellor.  He has known these two since they were babies in the nursery!  We went to Texas Roadhouse and then went to see a movie.  It was a great time!

So I grabbed my camera to experiment with dog photography.  Hmm!  I don't know if we will try this again with Lisa for a professional pics...notice Ashlyn holding the dog still and begin pulled toward Josh....this is the best one we could get.

We have been shopping for bandanas lately for Bear and are having so much fun!  When we take fall picture with Lisa, we hope to include her in the picture wearing one...we will see how that day goes!

While we were in MN this weekend at a conference, Sue took on babysitting at our house.  She took the kids to their annual pumpkin patch/farm.  Caleb was at a birthday party this year, so he is missing, but the Cordova cousins made it this time!  It was a lot of fun according to our crew!

So today was our last DG National Conference in Minneapolis.  We have been going for 10 year!  Most of the trips were couples trips, but the last two were just John and I.  We have enjoyed the teaching and ministry of DG so much all these years! We are excited for what they will be doing going forward....Look at the Book (LAB) mini conferences all around the US instead.  We hope to get to one of those one day too.  Now we will need to find another conference to get away to next fall...any ideas?

Looks like Caleb's picture is hung in our Park Hill School District Building.  We believe this is from 3rd grade last year.  He looks so young. He thought it was Jonathan when he saw it.  We will get the picture when they take it down :)

I took all four kids to a matinee after school today to see Dolphin Tale 2 :)  And we were the only one there up until the Previews started and only a few more people showed up.  It was great and a great price!

Bear is no longer allowed to go to soccer games or practice.  This dog is crazy!  She acts like everyone in a foot distance from her is an enemy.  She barks at everything,  She tries to run after everything and everyone and is crazy!  This is a picture of her in the car where she continued to bark until practice was over. Picture me sitting on a fold out lawn chair enjoying the crisp summer air while Bear sits on the ground in front of me with her leash on.  Moments later, I am sideways on the ground, still in my chair, being drug across the field.  Pure embarrassment.  Maybe one day, Bear will be trained well enough to enjoy Soccer again!

 Last year, we brought a small tree into our dining room for our Thankful tree.  We used clothes pins to hang the leaves on the empty branches.  Since that time, we have added a buffet table in the dining room and have less room.  I decided to use our two front doors for the thankful area this year.  I asked Ashlyn to make a tree using brown packing table and tape.  She did great!  She cut the pieces and taped them up on the door.  We started making leaves to hang on the tree through Thanksgiving.  We will post a picture soon with some of our leaves...