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Hansen's Halloween

IT'S BEEN CRAZY AROUND HERE - STOMACH VIRUSES HAVE MADE THEIR WAY THROUGH ALL 5 OF US ONE BY ONE, KEVIN STARTED A NEW JOB (WHICH, BTW, IS AN ANSWER TO MANY PRAYERS AND IS ALSO DREAMS COMING TRUE ) AND THE HOUSE IS GOING TO BE DONE SOON (KEV'S DONE THE PLUMBING AND ELECTRICAL AND NOW HE'S PAINTING AND DOING FLOORING) SO HERE'S SOME "BETTER LATE THAN NEVER" HALLOWEEN PICS!!!

I have to give a shout out to my friend in the ward, Tammy Billman again this year! Last year she taught me how to make some really cute pumpkin stands and this year - a scarecrow. And I can't believe this but I really made and painted that all by myself!!!

I've always taken my kids to storytime at the Library every week since Audrey was less than a year old This year the Idaho Falls Public Library had a Halloween storytime followed by a Parade/Trick or Treating Event.

There were so many people there!

It was very fun for my Woody and cow!

After storytime Kyle always plays on the computer while I read to Kaden and find the books and or c.d.s we'll be checking out that week.

It's always so fun to read books with Kaden at the Library because it's the time he sits and goes through numerous books all the way through. He doesn't always do that at family reading time in the evening - it's hit or miss whether he'll sit through it all.

(Although he's getting a lot better lately!)

When we got home that day I had to get some shots of them in the leaf pile. Way to go Kaden, you got your older brother good in this picture!

Oh and I've got to add that I love the store here in town "Once Upon A Child!" It's a used children's clothes, toys, books and baby gear store. I always start there and get whatever I can before I go retail. I got these costumes there for $4.50 each!

I got to help with Kyle's preschool party on Halloween morning. Audrey didn't have school so she got to come with Kaden and I and she was so excited to see Ms. Krista again. (She was Audrey's preschool teacher too.)

Audrey got to read the ingredients for Ms. Krista to make her traditional "witches brew" that turns her into a frog every year! You know, the usual stuff skeleton boogers (marshmallows), bat's blood (fruit punch), stuff like that!

And here we are - Halloween night - we have one Hermione, one Pirate (the outfit was a Jack Sparrow costume but Kyle doesn't know who that is yet so he said he was Captain Hook) and one Spider!

O.k. so here's two awesome things, number 1 - I got the Pirate and Spider outfit at Once Upon A Child for $4.50 each also!!! The only costume I had to buy retail was Audrey's. Number 2 - my kids are getting a lot better at getting their pictures taken (not all the time, but sometimes) and they're all even posing at the same time in this one.

This was the perfect costume for Audrey - she's been so into reading,watching and playing Harry Potter and I have to add, she looks and acts a bit like the character!

Kyle was going to wear the Woody costume for Halloween and then changed his mind to this one the day before. I thought it looked great. Of course he has to pose by the owl like his big sis. He wants to do everything she does!

It was so cute. We have this Wee Sing for Halloween c.d. and it has a song that goes "crawl, crawl, crawl little spider, Halloween is here. And every time Kaden would put his costume on before and on Halloween he called it his "crawl, crawl, crawl little spider."

This is at the Woodruff 2nd Ward Trunk or Treat. Audrey is here with Natalie and Emily, 2 of a group of 7 girls in the ward that are best buddies. She misses seeing them at school! Luckily she's made some great new friends at school but these girls will always have a special place in her heart.

This is Sam, Natalie's brother. Audrey and him were in Kindergarten together last year and went up to the 1st grade together until Audrey was moved to 2nd grade reading. Audrey writes about him in her journal. Although she has at least two boys at her new school that have told her they love her, she has not moved on and still only has eyes for Sam.

Speaking of Natalie and Sam, here's Kaden with Kera (Sam and Natalie's sister)and their mom, Courtney who is one of my best friends from the ward! Kyle, Kaden and Kera are best buddies and love play dates together!

This is Kaden with my friend Jenny's son, Tyler. They are two of the 16+ adorable little children I get to teach in Nursery every Sunday (I got called a couple months ago and am having a BLAST!)

And here is my other best friend from the ward with her precious doll Grace. Grace is one of those cutie pies I get to care for every Sunday in Nursery and between that and the babysitting trade Kim and I have so we can work in the schools, she has taken a real liking to me. When she sees me she'll demand to be picked up and she'll actually snuggle me for awhile. She is "Baby Grace" to Kaden and he actually pretends to be her a least once a day!

Well Audrey was throwing up soon after the Trunk or Treat - she was only able to Trick or Treat to 3 houses, so she spent the rest of the night vomiting downstairs. The boys didn't want to Trick or Treat anymore, they wanted to hand out the candy and and had a blast doing it!

Although the 2 year old couldn't resist having a treat himself while looking at and touching all that good stuff to be handed out!

In Loving Memory of Kiersten Marie Gemar 7/15/95-10/15/08

This is Kevin's first cousin's oldest daughter.

Kiersten Marie Gemar, our beautiful, sweet daughter and sister, passed away on October 16, 2008 of natural causes in her sleep.

She was 13 years old. She was a precious spirit and will be missed dearly by her family and friends. Kiersten was born on July 15, 1995 to Graig H. Gemar and Shelli Searle Gemar. She was their firstborn child and the oldest of 5 children. She was so responsible for her younger brothers and sisters and always looked out for them. She always had an arm around one or was playing with the other or doing something funny to make them laugh. Kiersten was always happy and it was very rare not to see a smile on her face. Her bubbly personality was catchy and she made friends easily. Even when she was little she was a little social bug and always had to be a part of anything that was going on. She was such a bright light in our home. Kiersten grew up in Shelley, ID until the 6th grade when she moved down to Firth. She adapted so well to the move; it was just another big adventure to her. She was a cheerleader at the Firth Middle School and enjoyed being a part of the squad. Kiersten always had so much enthusiasm and energy and it showed in her cheering. Kiersten was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She loved attending Young Womens and never missed the weekly activities. Kiersten was blessed with many talents. She was a natural performer and loved to be on the stage. Her face would just light up and she would smile so big. She loved to dance and took lessons for 9 years. She was a beautiful pianist; her fingers would glide along the keys and her tenderness showed in her playing. Kiersten was very family oriented and loved to do anything with her family: camping, fishing, swimming, motorbike riding, sharing in holiday traditions, playing games, and cooking for them. She was very selfless and always looked out for other’s needs above her own. She had such a soft spot in her heart for little children and loved her cousins. She never turned down an opportunity to baby-sit because she enjoyed playing with and nurturing the children. Kiersten was a spark of energy. She had such a zest for life. Everything was a big adventure to her and she really lived life to the fullest. We will miss her never ending smile, her sweet personality, and her big, tender heart. We love you Kierst.Kiersten is survived by her parents, brothers and sisters, Jason Graig, Rachel Savannah, Sierra Michelle and Trevor Lloyd all of Firth; grandparents, Joey & Sharon Gardner and Greg & Amy Gemar, great grandparents, Heber & Dorothy Hansen and Wayne Christensen all of Shelley; and Forest & MaryJane Lloyd of Coarsegold, CA, numerous uncles, aunts, and cousins. She was preceded in death by two grandpas; Gerald Searle and S. Graig Lloyd.If you would like to make a contribution to the Gemar family, their extended family has set up a bank account for them. Just go to any Bank of Commerce and tell them that you would like to donate to the account of “Josh Searle in care of Kiersten Gemar”. Thank you. Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m. Monday October 20, 2008 at the Firth Stake Center (823 North 675 East) in Basalt with Bishop Blaine Wilding conducting. The family will receive friends Sunday evening 6:00 till 8:00 p.m. at Nalder Funeral Home (110 West Oak) in Shelley and Monday morning 9:30 till 10:40 a.m. at the church. Burial will be in the Shelley Hillcrest Cemetery.

This is Kiersten holding Audrey when she was a newborn.

When Audrey was born I used to take a picture of EVERYONE that held her. I must have 100 pictures of different friends and family members holding Audrey. I'm so glad I did that because now I have this very special photo.

The viewing, family prayer and funeral on Monday were some the saddest hours of my life. But, I know there is a purpose for everything and I'm sure this beautiful girl's spirit was ready to do other things in Heaven. We will miss her dearly. I will continue to pray for her immediate family for there grief and will appreciate life and what blessings - especially people - we have on this earth even more than before.

Audrey starts second grade

Well my little reader was busy with books this summer. She read over 100 books and got a lot of awards through the public library's summer reading program. At the beginning of the summer her favorite books were Junie B. Jones. Then, she moved to Babysitter's Club - Kid Sister books and read almost all in the series. Now she's starting the Harry Potter series and loves it. It was cool for her to get to put her name up on the board in the children's department of the library.


As of today, my babydoll is a second grader! (She is skipping first grade.) This is before back to school night. She wore that dress the first day of Kindergarten a year ago and it's amazing to compare the pictures. She's grown so much and looks so different!

Since she is reading Harry Potter, playing magic is something the kids are doing more of at home - hence the broom for this shot!

This is what her new school looks like. (Since we have a house currently getting built in the zone for this school, we are starting her here instead of having to transfer her during the year.)

It's an older school and very unique. It's rather big so it has a separate cafeteria and gym, and also has things like a science lab, a big computer lab and even an auditorium!

She got to "sleep in" compared to last year. I didn't have to wake her up until 7am - and that was allowing extra time to get ready (school starts at 8:45am and she catches the bus at 8:10am.) Last year at the other school she went to, school started at 7:55am so she was getting up closer to 6am to catch the bus at 6:40am!

I love to have her in my signature "tiny ponytails going up her head" hairdo that I made up many years ago. (No she doesn't have to put her head upside down for that!)

So grown up - where DID the time go?!

That backpack was love at first sight for her.

Of course she was more ready to go than I was ready to let her!

Mrs. Puckett is her teacher and I can tell she's going to be great! There's a deaf child in the class so there is a Sign Language Interpreter there all day - they are going to learn a lot of sign language this year!

I was so glad she was running to me with open arms when she got off the bus at the end of the day. I missed her so much! (I'm sure I'll get used to it though.)

And the end of the day means reading in bed - she started the first Harry Potter book last week and is only a couple chapters away from finishing!

GIRLS SEATTLE (AND FORKS) TRIP!

Kim drove us down to Star (near Boise, ID) in this little number of hers. We slept and my best Ricks College friend Allison's house that night. The next morning the three of us and Allison's friend in Star, Jessica boarded a plane at 6:30 am for Seattle, WA.

It was pretty down by the bay.


Ally and Nettie.

Pike's Place Market had so many beautiful flowers that smelled just as amazing as they looked!

The place where they throw the fish was so fun to see.

After that we split a plate of sushi (although we had to get it to go and ate it while waiting for the underground tour to begin.) It was the first time for Jessica and me.

This was very interesting.

I learned a lot.

I had no idea Seattle used to be several feet underneath where it is today!

Who would've thought!

Under downtown Seattle....

On the streets of downtown Seattle - right above the last picture!

The Space Needle.

Kim and I on the top of the Space Needle.

Gorgeous view from the Space Needle.

And another one!

One more!!

We rode the monorail back to the hotel.

This is the view from our hotel room.

And this was what the hotel room door looked like. (Ally found a great deal online - it was really cheap but nice - the only thing is it was a little to "artsy" for us mormon girls. We were glad our husbands or kids weren't there to see the "artwork")

Outside the hotel on the way to the Stephenie Meyer "Breaking Dawn" concert!

Before we entered into the concert! From left: Jessica, me, Ally and Kim.

Justin Furstenfeld (from Blue October) played the guitar and sang - he was so AWESOME!!!

Stephenie answered questions - she was so cute and funny and adorably entertaining!

I had the best time!!!

This is us waiting before we got our book signed! Jessica's shirt she made said:

"My heart belongs to my husband

My neck belongs to Edward!"

The next day we were up bright and early again to go pick up our rental car and head to the Pacific Northwest Olympic Peninsula! (If you haven't read the Twilight Series, some of these explanations won't make sense.) We stopped in Port Angeles and got a picture in front of Bella Italia where Bella and Edward eat together (well Bella eats...) in the first book.

The scenic drive was breathtaking!!!

Can we say RAINFOREST?!

Lucky for us, it never rained while we were in Seattle on Tuesday or here on Wednesday!

The scenes were awe-inspiring!

The city reminded me a little of Shelley, ID.

The writing on the 2nd window to the left in this picture says Welcome Twilight Fans.

Inside they have a Bella Burger - see it on the menu?!

With your purchase - what else?! But of course - free vampire teeth!!

Every store in town has gifts based on the books. I took a picture of this lady who worked in the visitor's center because she had a "I Love Jacob" pin and she grabbed the bumper sticker "Werewolves love La Push" for the shot!

!
Right outside the Visitor's Center was Bella's truck!

I couldn't get over all of these intensely-green ferns and moss-covered trees!

First Beach in La Push was so gorgeous!

I couldn't have imagined how unbelievable it would look in person!

We wanted a shot of us with the beautiful scenery behind us but the guy who took our pictures zoomed in! We should've known he was looking at something besides the water when he said "Oh yeah, this will be great for the boys at home."

Have you ever been to the Cheesecake Factory! I hadn't until Kim and I stopped in Boise on the way home. Hello! The Godiva Chocolate Cheescake there is out of this world!

ALLISON - THANKS FOR PLANNING ALL OF THIS AND FOR INVITING ME!

KIM - THANKS FOR GOING WITH ME!

JESSICA - THANKS FOR BEING ALLY'S AWESOME FRIEND SHE BROUGHT!

ALL 3 GIRLS - THANKS FOR A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE - YOU ARE ALL SO WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL ON THE INSIDE JUST AS MUCH AS THE OUTSIDE! I HAD THE MOST AMAZING TIME!!!