Hansen Family Hike at Heise

First of all, happy 4th of July, people!!!!!!!  I love my country dearly and am soooo grateful for the freedoms we enjoy.  We are lucky to be born in such a land.  We must continue to uphold it's values both from within and from without.  God bless America!

 

On a change of note, I love it when my family comes to visit during the summer because we rarely get to see each other since we are literally spread out all over this great country of ours.   It's been so nice to have one of my sisters and all of my nieces and nephews (except for one, Canyon) visiting our neck of the woods for a week or two.  It was funny seeing the reactions of when the cousins all first met each other again...it was shocking to see how tall everyone has gotten! 

Two days ago we all went and hiked the Heise trail together.  I couldn't help but think of the last time we hiked this very same trail - all these kids were half their age and now the majority of them are teenagers!

Quite a crew, isn't it?  :)

All the girl cousins - from left: Aubrey, Nichole, Kaylee, Christine, Drewe with Brooklyn, and Zoe.

All the boy cousins (minus Canyon.)  An entertaining lot right here for sure.

Ronin just couldn't help himself - the water was too enticing.  

My older sister, Penni, and her daughter, Nichole.

Me and Jed....yep, we're still alive and kickin'.   ;p

Arizonians and a Floridian - Zoe, Christine, and Drewe.

After the hike we went for pizza!

Ronin with his dad.


Aubrey and Connor.

While the adults were chatting it up, the kids apparently got bored after they were done with their pizza.  We looked up and noticed they were playing the game Red Rover on the golf course just outside the restaurant.   I haven't seen anyone play that game since I was in Kindergarten!  So cute.  :)

Red rover, red rover, send Rig-don right over!!! 

He's going for it.....

Oh, he didn't break the line....now he's ours!!!

Yep...Carson is very much like Troy.  :)

After that they played the Partner Tag game...
Rigdon with his cousin, Ethan.

Love my Rigdon dude.

After the games, we all chilled out at a nearby park for a little while.  A few of us wandered by the river for a little bit.  Carson was skipping rocks, the others dipped their toes into the river.

A select few completely immersed themselves in the river...very cold water- - brrrr!

Love FAMILY!!!!!    We miss you Jodi, Ben, Carson, and Todd!  Wish you could have been here with us too!

More Summer Fun

Sumer is just flying by, here are a few thing we've been up to.  :)

Fourth of July was spent at a nearby water park as a family with my mom and brother and his family.  Getting in the water sounded really good since it's been blazing hot these last two weeks.  Connor brought along his friend, McCade.

Aubrey with her cousins from Florida and Arizona - Drewe and Zoe.

Rigdon chowin' down.

Later that evening we had a BBQ with some family, friends, and neighbors....

Neighbor, Les Devries.

...and ended with some fireworks to top it all off.  :)

As far as the rest of the summer goes.....

Hangin' with Drewe some more at home.

 
I decided that the kids (particularly the boys) could use some practice on their handwriting.  The school system here really doesn't focus on penmanship, especially when it comes to cursive. 

I'm not so sure the boys were as enthusiastic as I was about their practice writing sheets.  Aubrey was excited about it, but then again, she's already got really beautiful (and legible) handwriting.

It's becoming a lost art and I'm determined that my children will at least be able to sign their signature instead of just printing it.  My 12 year old niece, Drewe, informed me the other day that she only knew how to print and didn't know how to write in cursive AT ALL PERIOD.  Say what???  She wanted a copy of my writing packet so she could learn it too and I gladly gave her one.


Rigdon had dental surgery on his mouth two weeks ago.  Such a little cutie.

Coming out of la la land after the surgery.

It took awhile for him to fully become alert.  

Among the several different procedures done, a tooth was pulled.  Who's ever seen a tooth with three roots instead of two?????  I'm still puzzled by this. 

Connor's spending a lot of time with his Grandpa on the golf course. 

 My dad has been teaching him the in's and out's and Connor's really starting to improve and get a knack for the game.

 

We took Connor and Aubrey mountain biking for the first time last week.  It was long, tough going at times, and a bit muddy. 

But they really enjoyed it and said they would like to do it again.  :)

Me and my buddy.  :)

All done and ready to go home. 

But first we got a shot by the trailhead.