Summer Is On It's Way

It has been a while since I've updated. *coughchristmascough* So, I thought along with my updated summery background I'd ad a little update on life.

Busy.

The end.

Okay, no really. It's the end of the school year... ALREADY! This is the last week of school and I'm wondering where it went... and how I'm gonna keep the kids occupied. hmmm... manual labor? LOTS of manual labor? Yes, that and lots of running around barefoot outside from trampoline to trampoline in the neighbors' yards.

Caleb will be entering the 2nd grade! Big 2nd grader!!! I'm hoping for a miracle with that boy. The miracle is that he learns how to preserve the knees of his jeans. You would think the kid walks around on his knees all day at school! Seriously, how do they wear them down so fast?! It gets expensive... and embarrassing when you have to send him in tattered pants, because that's ALL HE HAS! ugh. Why do they even make boys jeans with knees in them. They should just replace that area with metal.

Rebecca is one step closer to middle school now. *sob* I don't like watching her grow up. :( It scares me. This year we had the big "maturation meeting" at her school with the nurse and the 5th grade girls and their moms. Can I just say... YIKES!!! Yeah... I think that's all I want to say about that right now. 0_0 Other than that, her favorite band right now is Lifehouse. YES! She and I rock out and sing to each other into our air microphones along with them. The girl has great taste. What can I say. ;)

I've been super busy helping plan the "Eclipse Party on the Plaza" up at Jordan Landing here in UT. So I'll continue, as I have been to occupy tons of time with that. Plans are coming together. We are just praying for sun on June 29th!!! No rain on that day, please!!!

My father in law is an old retired leathery cowboy and he always prays for moisture, but like with my wedding day, I'll have to have him change the wording in his prayers for a nice sunny day, just on that day, any other day can have moisture-but NOT that day. :)

All the women involved with this event are just awe inspiring! I am just so amazed that they keep coming back for more! It's like we all must be glutton for punishment because the tremendous stress of pulling something of this caliber together along with the already stressful and demanding lives we all have with jobs, family, volunteering, etc, etc, etc. just seems like more than a normal sane person would want to put up with, but ya know... somehow we just crave it. We crave the challenge and we crave the experiences of just being together as a bunch of crazy friends. What could be more normal than that, right?

Anyway, wish us luck!

And keep Logan in your prayers for his *last* semester of school. *knock on wood* It just doesn't seem like it can actually be that close but... it is! He's enjoying summer break right now but when he goes back, it's for the last semester. And then WORK. I've already been praying for the dream job to just fall in his lap for him. (ummm... yeah... I'll keep praying on that... )

Thus far this summer hasn't been too summery. It actually snowed this morning! (Dang that Papa, prayin' for moisture!) But I'm still holding out hope for warm days ahead, and the smell of dirt and sunshine on my kids at the end of the day. How I do love summer!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas from the HansenFamily to all our family and friends!

2009 has been a roller coaster of a year for us and we are ready to take on 2010. Logan has one semester of school left. Yes, one semester. (we hope... boyyyy do we hope!) It has been a long hard road for him and he's made it to the home stretch. We are so proud of what he's accomplished so far and continue to pray and keep our fingers crossed for these last months coming up.

He also continues to enjoy his calling in our ward/congregation as the financial clerk. It requires him to stay after for a couple of hours every Sunday, but serving in that capacity has been something he really looks forward to and a wonderful experience.

Doing ceramics has taken a back seat to writing papers, but Logan finds a little time every so often to do a couple of things here and there.

Lisa continues to drive her family crazy with her "Lucy Ricardo-esque" tendencies. Her website, TwilightMOMS.com, is still growing and thriving thanks to all her "partners in crime." At any given time, approximately 40-50 volunteer women from all over the world help maintain the online community. (For which Lisa is eternally and ever increasingly grateful for.) Amazing opportunities continue to present themselves and the site has received media attention in 2009, like never before, including pieces featured on World News Tonight with Charlie Gibson, The New Yorker magazine, The Today Show, CNN.com and lots more. Too many to list so feel free to just google it at your leisure. ;)

Lisa was also involved in an event held in SLC called the New Moon Experience which was basically a movie premiere party on steroids. (HUGE Thanks to all the TM volunteers for all their blood, sweat and tears!) There were Twilight Moms premiere parties held all over the country and each one helped to raise funds for ALSF, a foundation to raise money for childhood cancer research and families with children battling cancer. All together we were able to raise over $20,000!!! Many thanks to NY, SLC, Dallas, Austin, Anaheim Hills/Corona, Myrtle Beach and Macon! (Bring on Eclipse!)

What's Lisa up to next??? you ask??? Well, along with some of her fellow Twilight Mom administrators she will be involved in another website set to launch Jan 01, 2010 called Eve's Fan Garden. ( evesfangarden.com ) So, stay tuned. (Life is never dull for someone with such a short attention span)

Becca is quite the young woman now. And quite the pre-teen. As always, she is ALL GIRL - pink, sparkles, makeup, Hello Kitty, ipod and attitude! She loves loves loves to shop. Her special needs class gets to go on field trips every week and her favorites are going swimming or bowling. Sometimes they get to stop at the mall and she gets to put her super shopper skills to work. Becca's teacher and all the aids and therapists are phenomenal! She's such a busybody, and they keep her learning new things and necessary skills every day. And Becca loooves doing homework, turning it in and getting lots of happy faces and smiles on every page! When there's no homework, she goes crazy doing all kinds of crafts at home. We're so extremely proud of her growth this year and we continue to brace ourselves for the impending teen years coming quickly!

As much as Becca is all girl, Caleb is all boy! Legos are everywhere throughout the house always. Burping is a prestigious sport. He would melt his brain playing video games for 24 hours straight if it wasn't for the timer and parents enforcing strict time limits and game-free days. Caleb's getting very bold on his bike, trying all kinds of tricks. He's gone through 2 sets of tires just this past summer! Let's hope next year he gets curb jumping down and cuts down the number of popped tires.

In school Caleb is a great student! He's doing an amazing job learning to spell, read and write and do basic math. We're so proud every time he brings home his spelling tests and does his homework with very little help. But learning does have it's drawbacks- you know how you get to a point as a parent when you're conflicted about your child being a good speller because he can finally figure out what you and you're spouse are talking about when you're spelling words in a conversation, trying to be secretive? Well, we're there. No more "code-talking" for us. :(

Caleb also has a buddy in his class who, if we didn't know better, we'd think they were separated at birth. Those two are quite a pair! Lots of giggles and rough housing. Caleb's teacher is one patient woman! She has been fabulous and we're so glad he's having such a fun school year and is always progressing and growing.

All in all, this has been a great year. It kept us all running constantly to the point that we can't figure out how it is already December! We've been truly challenged and truly blessed all along the way and are looking forward to what the next year has in store for us. (well, the good stuff anyway.)

To all our friends and family, we wish you the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of Holidays! We hope that the coming year is abundant with laughter, blessings and joy! We are so grateful for you in our lives!

Season's Greetings!

The New Moon Experience

Don’t just see New Moon… Experience it!

TwilightMOMS, in conjunction with RLegacy Entertainment and The Mitch Hansen Band presents:

The New Moon Experience

November 19th – 20th at the South Towne Expo Center

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Join us for 2 days of Twilight Saga craziness and live the New Moon Experience by visiting Forks, La Push and Volterra all under one roof in Salt Lake City!

Check our blog for the latest news!

*Two Day Admission for the event is only $28!!!*

UNTIL TOMORROW! Sept 13th

A portion of the proceeds will go toward childhood cancer research with:

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

Click HERE for all ticketing options,

including reserved movie seating!

Sponsored in part by:

Reelz Channel, Game Crazy, Hollywood Video, Ken Garff Volvo

Tickets include at no extra charge:

• FREE! Tons of Twilight games, trivia, contests and chance at prizes!
• FREE! Performances by the band MTV calls THE number one Twilight entertainer, The Mitch Hansen Band!
• FREE! Pamper Yourself at Alice's Salon sponsored by Cameo Beauty College
• FREE! Souvenir photos from ALL Event photo booths sponsored by All Events Photo Booths
• And there will be plenty for the guys to do—FREE! Video games at Emmett's Lounge, motorcycle riding at Jacob's Garage and the big game on a flat screen at Billy's Place sponsored by Game Crazy & Hollywood Video
• Shopping among a variety of Twilight and family friendly vendors
• Much much more!
• Thursday only, The Volturi... er, I mean... The American Red Cross will be on hand accepting blood donations. Each donor will receive a free gift!

• The New Moon Experience supports Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation in raising money for childhood cancer research. A Silent Auction will be held for a hand made New Moon inspired quilt with proceeds going to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

There's something for everyone! Secure your tickets before they're gone!

Discounts available on Deluxe and Ultimate Experience ticket packages*

*Discounted prices are subject to ticket availability so hurry and secure yours now!

The Twilight Factor

The Twilight Factor

Lisa Hansen

FOX Cable news show, The O’Reilly Factor, aired a segment posing the question, “Is there a downside to marketing vampires and vampirism to teenagers?” Radio show host, Laura Ingram filled in for Bill O’Reilly and was joined via satellite by famed vampire author, Anne Rice.

Ingram begins the segment suggesting a new “vampire chic” as a result of phenom books, movies and shows such as Twilight and True Blood. Pointing out the amazing box office success of Twilight, she noted the popularity specifically with teens and wonders whether Twilight Saga vampire fantasy books and movies might be “blurring the lines” as to what’s acceptable, what’s good, what’s evil?

Could Twilight possibly be confusing perception of good and evil for millions of teens? Anne Rice doesn’t seem to think so. Speaking from her own personal experience with teen response to her books, Rice tells Ingram, “I really do think the teenagers understand that this is a fantasy. I mean, the emails they send me indicate that they do.”  Through running clips of the movie Twilight and the popular HBO series True Blood, she goes on to explain, “And of course everything depends on  the content of the book and the content of the movie, and there is a blurring of the line here… there is a question about that, but I really do think that we go to books and we go to movies to fantasize and we visit there and then we go home.”

While both women engaged in what was an interesting conversation, it was evident that Rice was not about to place judgment on another’s vampire work and it was apparent that Ingram has not read The Twilight Saga, or at least not enough to have realized that just because Twilight has vampires doesn’t mean it can be thrown into the traditional category of grim vampire stories or the new "vampire chic."

Rice discussed how her books were somewhat affected by where she was personally in her life. In the past she wanted to write about the dark and lonely world of being a vampire but she says she wrote those and then “it was over for me.” She said, “I changed and moved on to a new spiritual territory.”

Rice has recently rediscovered and renewed her dedication to her Roman Catholic faith and tells Ingram she even made a promise to write for God and Him only. Ending the segment Ingram remarks, “Maybe the authors of Twilight and True Blood and all those others, new ‘vampire chic’ endeavors… I mean, who knows? … maybe down the road they’ll actually come to the same conclusion. Redemption. Grace. We’re all certainly seeking it.”

We certainly are. In fact, Twilight author Stephenie Meyer came to that conclusion long before she ever thought she'd write a book, which is evident in the content of her books. Perhaps Laura Ingram might want to meet a few vampires who have dedicated their own eternal lives to the search for redemption and grace. A few vampires who have learned, “… just because we’ve been dealt a certain hand… it doesn’t mean that we can’t choose to rise above – to conquer the boundaries of a destiny that none of us wanted.” (Twilight, pg. 307) Fictional vampires that actually challenge the mind of the reader (whatever the age) to see the very clear distinct line between good and evil in our non-fictional world.

Perhaps the Twilight fans should introduce Laura Ingram to a good family who goes by the name “Cullen.”

• For more on this segment go to www.billoreilly.com
  
• Email your opinion to oreilly@foxnews.com Keep it short and pithy (not rude and disrespectful) and include your name and town… if you wish to opine.  ;)