Our Decision to Move

I just thought that I would maybe clear up a few things.

In December, Dan came to me with the question of, "There is a job opening in St George and I wondered if I should apply for it?" I asked him why he would want to, and the response was something like, "For You". This I didn't understand in the beginning, in fact I pretty much rejected the idea. I said that there was no way we could afford to live there and that I didn't want to uproot our family.

As a few days went by, it nagged at me that I had rejected such an answer as "For You". I started looking on the Internet to see what kind of house we could get there and a few things like that. I have 2 pets that I am VERY attached to, and it is important to me that they remain with us. What I found is that it is very similar to here, only more places allow the pets. After thinking about it and researching for a day or two, I told Dan that I would go if he decided to.

What I found out is that the reasons he even thought of this in the first place was because the cold here is really starting to affect my health. I am in horrible pain in the cold and it has been so bad this winter that I have spent much of it in bed.

I don't know how to explain how much this has meant to me. I feel unworthy of the attention, but honored that he loves me enough to do whatever he needs to to make me feel better. Also, our kids have never been out of this county and they need to see a little bit of the world. It wasn't easy telling them of our decision, but I think they are actually getting a little excited now. Jake will miss his friend Max and some others, but is genuinely excited to go. The others have finally decided to embrace it. They have googled to see where they might attend school and some things like that. Dan and I went there last week and looked at some places. Things will come together soon.

The decision of August was completely Dan and I's decision. It is because it's a time that the kids won't have to end or start school in the middle of anything and gives us time to get things in order. Dan is still not sure when this transfer will happen, but we will deal with that if need be. At the worst, he would have to make a trip up here about every 2 weeks for a month or two.

We are not selling our house, as we feel we should keep it in case something doesn't work out. If any of you know someone who is looking for a 5 bedroom house to rent, let us know. We will miss many people here. We have come to love many just like family, but feel it is time for us to move on to a new adventure.

I know it is a while away, but we are getting a lot of questions and I thought I would clear up a few. We are not running from anything and it has been hard making the decision to leave family and friends, but be assured, we have not taken this lightly. We just feel it's best for our family at this time.

Thanks to all of you who continue to support our family.

~Christy

Our Family

So the past few years have been quite the time for our family. It seems that someone is always sick or having some kind of "emergency". We are all still alive , thank goodness, a little worse for wear, but doing ok for the most part. I almost feel scared to say it, but things seem to be turning around for us right now. We are just hoping life stays on this course, at least for a while.

Recently we had family pictures done. I thought I would post some. People want to look at them all the time and so I thought this would be an easy way, and if you really want one you can copy/steal it from here. :-)

This picture is the one we chose to enlarge and hang on our wall. I spotted the tree when we got there and told Sherry(the photographer) that I wanted a picture at the tree. She agreed and I think it turned out pretty nice.

I have no idea what Kyler said in this picture, but whatever it was must have been funny. Rarely do all four of them talk together and actually laugh. I'm glad we have a picture to prove that it really does happend, rarely.

This is one of our favorites, not sure why, just cute. The wind was blowing and it was a little chilly, but I think they turned out pretty good.

OH MY GOSH!! They are touching and everything. THey look like they might just love each other. I love this picture. Kyler may be a brute and claim that his sisters are just an annoyance, but look they are smiling, at least as much as Kyler smiles, and look happy and everything. I can really say that I have good kids, they are just going through things like the rest of us.

OK, so trying not to let the gray hair blind you, it has been fixed since. I knew it was there, but wanted to cry when I saw just how much it stood out.

Obviously this is Dan and I. Dan isn't all that fond of this one, but I like it. I have this one sitting right on top of my computer desk I am at right now. That way I can look at it all of the time.

B&W has fast become more to my liking. I posted another of the kids earlier on the side bar of this blog.




I am really glad we finally had these done. Our family is growing up (Well some of us) and I'm glad we caught some of this time in photos. I look forward to looking at them in a few years.

We are really happy with the photographer. She is in our ward and does a great job. I linked her name to her website above. Her name is Sherry Ward. I recommend her to anyone, she is patient and does a great job. I have also linked her name above to her blog if you would like to see some of her work.

I hope that those of you who are reading this find it interesting.

Just an update on the Impending move to St. George. The word we have gotten is that we will in fact be moving, we just don't know when. All we do know is that it won't be before June 1st. Thanks to all of you for supporting us in our decision.

~Christy

Just Thoughts

So this is a picture of Dan while in the Navy. It was near the time he was done with his enlistment. I can only tell by the rank on his sleeve. Dan isn't real fond of this picture, but I really like it.

I have been thinking a lot lately about fate. What is fate really? Does it actually exist? Or is it that we were doing what we should have been at a certain moment? One could argue that it's the same, but I'm not sure that it is. I feel like there is a difference between something just happening because of some kind of cosmic thing, and listening to your "gut" and following it, even if it seems illogical. I have been in a lot of discussion lately regarding Dan and I and the fact that we are together and doing pretty well. We have a home and 4 children and are now raising teenagers. I don't feel like it was fate, but I truly feel that we were supposed to be together. We simply followed the illogical path and listened to our "gut". We have had the opportunity to go through some pretty hard things, but I believe that we are the perfect match for each other. One balances the other. Many of the things that have been going on lately in our family have been things that we have had to really listen to each other and what we really "feel" is correct. Our lives have been and could still be changing. Once again, we are chosing to take the illogical path that we aren't sure where it will lead us; however, we know that however and wherever we end up it will be the right place for our family.

This is a picture of me, before we were married, sitting at Dan's parent's house after coming home from church. Dan's family used to make homemade burritos on Sunday's. Dan and I would go there and have burritos, then go to my house and have dinner. Sometimes we stopped off at the Thomas' and had taco's as well. We called it dinner hopping. Sometimes we would bring Stephen along as well. We usually ended up at M&M's (Marsha & Mike) house for dessert or something. Good thing we had better metabolisms then. Life was good and fairly carefree then.

As I said before, I have been thinking about these times a lot lately . It wouldn't be hard to look back and say "Oh my gosh, I was crazy", but it is quite the opposite for me. Dan and I really are the completion of each other. I see this in many people. My wish is that more people would see their significant other that way.

This is a picture of Dan and I with Stephen. The three of us could be found together at almost any time. As we now have 2 teenage kids we have started to understand and more appreciate the importance of having good friends. We stayed together and helped each other through A LOT of things as teenagers. Again, I believe that it isn't fate, we were looking for good friends and found them. If I had not met Stephen I probably wouldn't have met Dan, and if I had not met Shannon, she may have never met Stephen. One more was added to complete our little group and we still to this day are friends who are there for each other. Not as much as before because life gets busy and things pull you away, but still there. Shannon will kill me for putting this pic in here, but it is so far the only one I can find. We were always

together. The 4 of us even went through the Temple and were sealed to our spouses and our kids on the same day. Not sure why I can't find more pics. Just four days ago we were all sitting around talking about what things are going on in our lives and making plans. Good friends are important. There is no argument there.

My hope is that those out there who are looking for answers as to why things happen will listen to what their hearts tell them. Keep good friends and give their loved ones credit for the part they play in their lives. Things don't just happend for no reason, there is always a reason, it's just a matter of looking for it and then following what you know to be right. Even if it seems illogical. Dan and I are living proof of that.

~Christy

More pictures and memories

OK, so I warned you that there would be more pics. Things around here are either going 100 miles per hour or at a snails pace. We rarely know what pace each day is going to be until we get up in the morning and find out. Anyway, hope you have fun looking at some of these pics.

OK, so I posted a picture of just me in a previous post. This is a picture of Dan and I at Sweethearts Ball February 1988. Yes, I know we look like babies, everyone tells us. It's weird to look back and see ourselves. This dance was our first official dance and we had a great time. Scary to think that it was 21 years ago.

So fast forward a few months to I think November and we are preparing to go to Senior Ball. This picture really does not do justice to how good Dan looked that night. My friend Shannon(Who is married to Stephen, whom you have probably seen in other pics) and I had gone to the beauty college to get our hair done and I was not very pleased with how they made me look like an old woman, but I toned it down a little and went anyway. This dance was held at then UVCC and we had a great time.

OK, so now we fast forward to Christmas time 1994. This is is our family picture. Kyler was our only child at that point, although it's likely that Megan is in this picture as well. You just can't see her. Kyler had such blond hair and pale skin that you can't see it. He really isn't bald. I love the long tie and the smile.

This photo was taken at my nephew Tobias and his wife Jackie's wedding in January of 1997. Kyler was a ring bearer and had a western cut vest and cowboys boots. Kyler did a good job and was escorted down the aisle by 2 lovely ladies.

Dan is holding Megan and it is quite likely Aubree is there as well, but as Megan before, you can't see her.







So this is somewhere around January or February 1998 after Aubree's blessing. Megan is peeking around the corner. The entire experience of pregnancy with Aubree was very unique. I spent almost half of it in bed. It was very possible at this point that this picture would be our complete family. But, as you all know, it isn't. Life wouldn't be complete without Jake.

This picture is of Kyler 3, Megan 2, and Aubree around 6 months. Megan had cut her own hair clear to the scalp right in front. I think I didn't a fairly good job of covering it up for the pictures.

So, haircutting seemed to be a thing for our girls. Not only had Aubree lost her front teeth, she cut her hair as you can see as well. This wasn't too bad though, not long after this picture was taken, she took a pair of scissors and cut right down the side. You see how long her hair was? It was about an inch long maybe 2 when the stylist was finished trying to make it look good. She was mistaken for a boy many times, so I think that that was what bothered her enough to not do it again.

So this is Jake, at 1 1/2 years, who's name is actually Jonathan Kirk Hansen. He was named after two uncles. One of mine and one of Dan's brothers who had passed away as babies. It seemed fitting as dates aligned and some other things that really attached to them. We came up with Jake as what he would be called, because if you put JK together and say it, it's Jake. He knows the story and will be glad to relate it to anyone who asks.

Jake was the child we knew was waiting for us. Although he was a stinker trying to be born. I actually went in to labor twice with him. Dan said he came out for a look and said no way, and went back. This is pretty much what happened, but the doc made him stay. Now our family is complete. The poor kid has to be the youngest child, and just ask him, he signs his name that way, Jake the Youngest. He is a good kid though.

OK, I think I have loaded you all up with enough for now. I will try and post some more later. Thanks for all of you who comment or tell us you like reading this blog. It's nice to know you are loved.

~Christy

The Gym

Christy and I have been going to the gym in the mornings. Christy takes a water aerobics class and I hit the treadmill, then I swim. We meet in the hot tub at the end of her class before we head home. We have been doing this for a few weeks, and so far I have gained 10 pounds. I just don't get it, it feels like the more I work out, the more I gain. I would just lay around and eat, but I have to do something to get my body moving. I am trying to get up the motivation to go first thing in the morning (5:00) like I have done before, but it is tough with my other job. Hopefully I can get up the motivation to start up. Last time I made the early morning run I lost 30 pounds.

Changes are coming in our life. One change is in process, and another is just in the hope stages. I think that an exercise regiment will provide continuity throughout this process, or at least it will be a distraction.

Warning

OK, now that I have subjected you all to our past, I am going to try and post some more either tonight or tomorrow.

Just thought a warning would be in order.

~Christy

Oh the memories

Recently, Dan and I both found old pictures. Dan has been scanning and facebook posting like a crazy man, but I just found some this morning. It's somewhat scary to see some of these, but it is our past and we did actually look like that. We were definitely in the 80's decade. Anyway, here goes. Hopefully I can name and date most of them. Don't laugh too hard.

This picture of me is just before the Sweetheart Ball 1988. THis was the first official school dance that Dan asked me to. It's really cute how I was asked. You might all think it's corny, but I found it endearing. Dan was working at the McDonalds down on BYU campus. He was a delivery guy, (They dielivered there, it's true) any way, He asked me to the dance on the back of one of those tray liners from McD's. I still have it. In my memory box.

Gotta love the huge glasses and the hair. However, look how skinny I was !

There were many dances in between, these are the pics I chose to post this time.

This was Junior Prom 1989. Just one or two days before Dan went to boot camp. I love this picture of Dan. This prom was at the state capitol and it was really cool. Getting there and home safely was certainly an adventure. We almost drove over tire rippers in his mom's brand new car, went the wrong way down a one way street. We made it though, and now we still have memories.

Our friends Shannon and Stephen were also there with us but aren't in this picture.

These are our engagement pictures. My uncle took them. It was really fun. Gotta love the cuff in the pants and Dan's mullet.

My uncle died a few years ago. I miss him.

My uncle also took our wedding pictures. Somehow we never got a picture of just Dan and I on our wedding. This one is a photo that had Stephen - the best man, and Shawna - the Maid of Honor in it and we cropped them off.

Had the 80's fluff and feather. The zipper on my dress came open during the reception, my cake melted, and my garter fell off my leg on the way back down the aisle. It was quite the day, but a very good one, and certainly one to remember.

This is one of my very favorite pictures. It was taken not long after we got married. Yes, I have big hair, but look at my blonde haired blue eyed Dan. MM MM MM.

There are many more pics I could post, but I will save them for another time. I have pics from when I was a baby and family pics and everything. Sooooo excited.

I am soooooo behind

I have been attempting to sit down and write the blog entry for about two weeks. I have been incredibly busy, and something has come up every time that I plan to do this. I am very behind, so get comfortable with a warm beverage because this is going to be a long one.

Everything at this moment seems to be going along well, but I will wait to exhale for a while because something is bound to happen that will knock us off track again. I am feeling very grateful that I have a job. In fact I have two. I feel blessed that I enjoy the jobs that I have and enjoy the people that I work with, either one is better than flipping burgers, or doing stucco. I am grateful that I have roof over my head when so many are losing theirs. I wish that I could say hat I have done this all on my own, but we had the help of many to get into this home, and to make it ready to house our family, and we continue to receive encouragement and support from friends and family.

Let it snow…February is not spring. We know this by the blizzard that is coming down outside our window. It has either been raining or sunny for the last week, and most of the snow had melted. Just when I thought there was hope for spring, we get dumped on again (this may seem like a life metaphor, but I will not go there today).

Kyler is home, and more or less back to his old self. He spent 4 days in isolation and the doctors and nurses had to come in wearing aprons, masks and gloves. Kind of a tough experience for a kid his age. Kind of a tough experience for a kid of any age. The second time that he went in, he was not in isolation and there were some volunteers that came in and played video games with him in his room.

The Utah State Drill Championships were held at the McKay Center and I had the opportunity to guard the back hallway from parents, wanderers, and unauthorized others. I enjoy working in this area of the arena during this event because I get to see all the preparations that the girls go through before going out on the floor, and can tell by their body language how they did when they were out there. I was fun to watch the teams work themselves up to go out and perform. They stretch, then they go through the same routine that they have done a thousand other times to make sure that it is right. They work, sometimes for hours, to make sure that their hair, make-up, and costumes are just perfect. They make sure that their props are as perfect as they can be. They do their chant, and go out to the floor in formation, and stand at attention until the group before them finishes their routine when they march to their starting position. For some, this is the end of a journey that may have started in a dance class as a young child, for others it is a continuation of the journey. This is the only event that I know of that there is no continual scoring system. The team and fans have no idea who wins until the winner is announced. You do not know where you stand throughout the competition.

The circus came to town. They brought elephants, tigers, bears and ponies, but no clowns. Some of the stuff was entertaining; the first time. After the fourth time, I realized how much of a show it is. I can’t believe they get anyone to work there, it is the exact same thing, two times a night, every night. It must get redundant. Christy brought Aubree, Jake, and Jake’s friend Max. They all got their face painted, and Jake and max rode the elephant. The circus workers were nice and I was impressed by the motorcycle riders in the dome every time they did it.




I have been spending most of my free time ushering at the UVU men's and women's basketball games and the Utah Flash games. We have a new cheering section at the men's games. They paint their faces, dress alike and sit by the opposing bench and badger the other team and the coaches and they seem to really get into their head. It is my job to keep this group within the sportsmanship rule of the NCAA. They keep it clean, yet annoying, and it is fun to watch them work on the other team. P.S. Dick Hunsaker is the UVU men's basketball coach.

I really enjoy working the girls games because they are grateful to the fans that are there and they have a good time. There are not a lot of people that come to these games so I get to watch more and crowd control less. And the team is fun to watch. The cheerleaders provide most of the time-out and half-time entertainment.

I will not be able to post before Valentine's so I will take the time now to show appreciation for my partner. She has been with me for almost 20 years now and we have been through some rough times. She fights for her children, even if it against me. She is still as cute as ever and we connect on so many levels. I do not know where I would be now without her. She keeps me on course and grounded. I love and appreciate her.

I will be working the state wrestling tournament this week and will not be able to post (or relax) for the rest of the week, but I will try to get back on as soon as possible. Thank you for your interest in our family, and if there is anything that we can do to improve this blog, please let us know.

-Dan

Dan, and some randomness

Well, I thought I had better put something on here. Since it's been a week. I think Dan will have something more interesting on soon, but I am posting so you all don't just stop reading.

As many of you know, the first few years that Dan and I were married, he was in the Navy. He was pretty much gone 2-3 weeks out of every month. Not always straight days of being gone, but nevertheless gone most of the time. Somehow, I learned to just be by myself and take care of things. This was the only choice I had, there was nothing I could do about it so I dealt with it. I became quite independent during this time. I missed him but was OK on my own. I had my friends and work and other things to take up my time.

OK, so fast forward to now. We have been married for almost 20 years and I am not all that independent anymore and miss him like crazy every time he leaves the house. I guess I'm reverting or something. I have to wonder why this is. I know that it drives him insane that I have to call him or talk to him before making pretty much any decision. Although I think he appreciates that I don't just make them. I think part of my problem is that I can remember being the independent person who had the ability to do things myself but the happenings over the past few years have changed me. I don't always think for the better, but in some things I believe I am better. Probably the fact that I can no longer do most of the things I used to do, and am not able to work helps feed the dependency. Anyway, I just hope that someday soon things will work out so that I don't feel stuck between a rock and a hard place all of the time. My poor kids and husband have to be tired of the roller coaster that is me.

So, the reason for writing this in the first place was hoping that Dan will read it. I just want him to know that I really do appreciate his willingness to listen to me and try to help me work through things. We don't always agree, but he does try hard to help me. I am very aware that I have become pretty dependent on him, in more ways than I probably should be, but I do depend on him. He is my counselor, does A LOT around the house, helps me to try and teach our kids good things, works himself sick to keep us in our house, and cared for in many different ways. Dan works at home now except for one day a week. That day is today and I feel like a fish out of water. I miss him. Somehow knowing he is just downstairs makes a difference. After today, he will be working like 17 hour days for the rest of the week. He amazes me that he can do this. He takes his role as the provider for our family very serious. There has not been one day since he was 14 that he hasn't had a job. It gives me a lot of security knowing that he takes this so seriously. Especially now that I can't help. I just hope he knows that I miss him just being here. Not just for what he does, just simply because I love him and like to just have him here with me. I know I said this before and that it sounds kind of corny, but he does complete me. He fills in where I lack. I LOVE YOU DAN !!

I have a friend who is right now going through a hard time. Her significant other had to move far away from her. I have tried to help her through this time as she feels lost and misses him. I fear that I am not the best one to talk to because of my previously mentioned reasons, but I think she is doing great and she has no idea how much she has helped me to open my eyes and just remind me what I already knew. That is that I am very lucky to have Dan. She reminds me on a daily basis that there aren't many Dan's out there and that I should appreciate every minute I have with him. She has a good man too, just different circumstances. My hope is that she will find happiness, hopefully with him, but if not, with someone else who cares about her the way she should be. OK, now that I have probably made her cry, I will stop. She doesn't need to cry anymore, she'll dry up.

OK, well, this is where I will end my rantings. I hope that this interests some one. I don't want to bore people.

~Christy

Trying to Update

So, it has been a while since we updated the blog. We have had a little bit going on around here. The truth is, I have started to post several times, but haven't been able to figure out what I want to say. It has been quite the month for us and I am just amazed that we are all here and reasonably healthy. Yes, we all, except Dan and Kyler, have a cold now that we are trying to get over, but that is to be expected. This seems to happen to me after any stressful thing.

Everyone who attended my church services on Sunday has heard my feelings on the past few weeks. I needed to make sure that my ward family knew that I appreciated them for the care and concern and service they showed my family. I, along with many of my family have not had the best attitude for the last little while. I personally was losing faith in humanity in general. Too many things were NOT happening. The experience of watching the medical staff with Kyler and knowing that my family at home were being served by many was very much an attitude adjustment. It gave me peace to be able to stay with Kyler. Kyler's pediatrician, Douglas Hacking, came in on a Sunday when he was not working just to see Kyler. He said he just had to come and see him. This is why I love our pediatrician, not only is he an EXCELLENT doctor, he is very nice. We were very impressed with this. Also, the staff on the pediatrics unit at UVRMC was wonderful and I have to especially thank Margaret for helping us deal with some things. My brother Travis also works in the Pediatric unit quite often and having him there was very comforting to Kyler as he was a familiar face that was loving and caring. Kyler is very nervous, especially with doctors and hospitals, so the familiar face meant A LOT ! Also, I have to thank Aunt Di, for her generosity while we were there. I took a huge stress off of us. Also, thank you to all of the teachers and his wonderful counselor at school, Mrs. Casper, and Coach Blevins at MVHS.

OK, so, everyone wants to know what actually happened to Kyler, so here goes: Kyler was put on some medications at the beginning of January. We were given no warning of a bad side effect with any of them. Anyway, he had taken this medication for about 2 1/2 weeks during which time he seemed to not be himself at all and slowly but surely got sicker and sicker. We didn't realize he was sick for a while, we only noticed that he wasn't being himself. He came home one night after wrestling and said to me, "Mom, I can't eat", this is when I knew something was terribly wrong. The next morning he woke up and he was breathing hard and shaking and kept telling me he was going to fall down. At first I thought it was a cop out but soon he did fall and just looked terrible. I kept him home from school and made an appointment with the doc that prescribed the meds because I thought it was a reaction to medication. This doctor looked me in the face and said "Reactions to medications don't cause a fever. Call your pediatrician". I didn't really agree with her, but I did as she said, after all she's the doctor right? Dr. Hacking sent us for tests at the hospital and told us to return to his office the next morning. During this night, Kyler developed a high fever and what looked to be the start of a rash. He would not eat and was throwing up everything he drank. Thursday we saw one of the partners in the pediatricians office who looked at the test results and said that the rash was a concern, but all of the tests had come back normal. (Go figure, he is my son) Anyway, he said to return immediately if anything got worse but that he couldn't find anything so it may be a virus. The next Kyler woke up and he was so hot you could feel him from across the room, the whites of his eyes were very red and looked to be swollen, he was throwing up constantly, and the rash was so bad he looked like he had been in a tanning bed for days. I think I called the doctors office 6 times that day. The nurse kept telling me to give him flat Coke and that it was just a virus and would not make an appointment. Oh Man, LOOK LADY, HE WILL THROW IT UP!! AND THE MEDS TO KEEP THE FEVER DOWN AS WELL!! Finally on the last call, she made one and when we went there, she got a piece of my mind. He had lost 7 pounds in 24 hours and had a fever of 106. While we waited for Dr. Hacking, the other doc peeked his head in and said Kyler needed to be in the hospital and then Dr. Hacking agreed. I took Kyler to the hospital and he started having what was either a seizure or a very sever panic attack on our way in. They got him in there and brought down his fever. Dan and my brother Travis gave him a blessing and I think that gave him some peace.

So fast forward a day or two. The disease control doc was called in because the rash looked like Measles. Kyler has had all of his immunizations(He plays school sports, it's a requirement) so they thought it was a long shot, but were cautious. The CDC guy sad that this was a reaction to medication. He knew what meds and everything would cause this. Kyler was on 2 of them. We were also told that this syndrome is fatal when not caught in time, and that he was getting closer than is comfortable to that point. It took me a day or two to not go strangle the doc that told me this wasn't the problem and who had prescribed the medication and didn't warn us. I eventually realized that doctors make mistakes too. That's why they call it practicing medicine right? I am still leery to take him back there, but don't worry, I am past the strangling place :~). Basically what happens with this reaction is that it burns your body from the inside out. Kyler could not keep anything down because his insides were being burned and were all mangled up, and the high fever, and the dehydration. Basically like a burn victim. The rash is an outward showing of what is going on inside. The name of this syndrome is Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. You can google it if you want, I recommend not looking at the pictures. Kyler will have this for the rest of his life and every time he has a reaction the problem gets more severe. Hopefully this is never a problem again. He has was started on new medication before leaving the hospital and seems to be doing fine.

I thank everyone for their concern during this time. Kyler seems to be doing better and has a renewed vision of life. Hopefully the next post will be about something wonderful. It's about time don't ya think?

~ Christy