Ice Fishing

It is one thing I've tried only once and don't plan on doing again.
Ice Fishing
It looks cold. Very cold.
And my boys love it!

Orrin and Grandpa picking their spot

Grandpa Earl caught this one and as you can see the boys had fun with it.

Tallon and Vivin waiting for their line to move the tiniest bit so they can start reeling it in.

The fishing wasn't the best and the kids were getting cold, so off they went to do some sledding

Tallon and Tyler's way of keeping warm, tucked down inside the black tub. Fun little side story here: Tallon was 6 months old the first time he went ice fishing. He, mom, dad and Grandpa Chad went down on Palisades. We used this same technique to keep him warm way back then. He stayed nice and warm tuck in his carseat, wrapped in blankets, and shielded from the wind with this tub.

Grandpa Earl, Earl T, Grandpa Chad, and Jerrie

As crazy as it looks, it is just as much fun. Thanks for the fun!

Week 7

Tyler has always worked,...always.
When he was at Simplot he had 7 days off, when we had the twins he was home for around 5 weeks, but other than that he has worked. Shift work mostly, but since switching jobs 2/1/2 years ago we have done the Mon-Thurs thing and loved it.
So to have time off during the winter is a bit strange to us.
We are currently going on week 7 of "layoff" and let me tell you Tyler is getting a little to comfy.
He says he is helping me with daycare... yeah right, as I type Tyler and Van are snoozing away on the couch, waiting to go fishing this afternoon with my dad, baby sis, and baby bro. Seriously, what could beat that, besides a paycheck.
So the other day Ty came up MIA and I went looking. I found him here...

caught red handed eating ice cream out in the gun room

unemployment,... what a life.

Okay maybe he has been some help and I do love having him around and the boys are loving having dad to fulfill every need but seriously it's time to go back to work :)

That Brotherly Kind of Love

Tallon came home with lots of stories and lots of candy from his Valentine celebrations. Being the kind brother that he is, he shared with his brothers. Orrin and Vivin each got a candy and Van got to enjoy his FIRST sucker.

My favorite face, EvEr!! He scrunches up his nose and snorts while he laughs. It is to die for!

Seriously, couldn't you just die!

We had to take his sucker away, he had it down to the stick in no time. So then he attacked Tallon and tried sucking his ear. It was hilarious.

(on a little side note: Van's first tooth poked through today!!! it was by far the easiest tooth to ever make its way into the Hansen household. no ear infections, no fever, no nothing!)

We survived...Barely

Wow... what a week. I think I will take boring over busy for right now!
We had a week full of basketball,... games, practices, tournaments, you name it these kids had it. We had at one or two things going every night and bed time didn't happen until at least 10, for our house that is late!
Our little house doesn't have a lot of extra room, so we took the crib down and gave our company Van's room. It was so weird to walk by and see it like this

I am in the middle of switching out Van's clothes so my mess on top of teenagers just made me shake my head
I was short a "napping room" for daycare, the living room took its place so the bedroom turned into the quiet place for non napping kids

With the extra attention of extra kids Van learned tons of new things. His favorite is this

which I am not sure I am all that ready for.
However, he looked adorable napping on the air mattresses

I guess having teenagers in the house brought out his rebellious side. I really don't like it when babies are old enough to get into trouble.

Friday night the stomach bug hit our Vivin, so Saturday morning I didn't care much that our living room looked like this

Kellen had ball game all day in Rock Springs, Aubrie was going to Idaho, and we needed to spend time in Thayne, so the boys soaked up the last few mins of "togetherness" that they could




We thought that Viv was going to be our only sickie, but not luck. Orrin puked during the closing prayer of Sacrament meeting, sending he and daddy home early.
It is Sunday night and our house is quiet. It has been a fun week. The boys loved every minute of company, ball games, and extra attention.
But I am ready for 8:00 bedtimes and our old routine of the boring is looking really good :)

Notes

It truly is amazing what a little note can do:
if it comes from a cousin who you think is the coolest thing ever, it can offer self esteem like no other and lets you know you are loved...

or it can be something you find on your calendar. Something that makes you stop and go WHAT?!

(it is a day that parents say YES to everything. tyler found it wrote on tal's calendar and told him things only count if they are on mom's calendar, easy fix right:)

They can put a mom's mind to ease after she has been resting and wakes to find the house way to quiet as she goes looking she notices a little sticky note stuck to the back door, right at eye level... right where he knew mom would be able to see it.

They can make tears come to your eyes and put prayers of gratitude in your heart, when they come as an answer to a prayer...

and hopefully "they" know how truly thankful we are.

Who would have thought such a little thing could do so much.

You're Gonna WHAT???

Tyler has had a gunsmithing project in his head for months. He would mention his idea to me and I would just shake my head and smile. I kept saying to myself, "It is a perfectly good gun, why does he need to change it... it is a collectors edition, what is he thinking... be the supportive wife, be the supportive wife", so I just kept shaking my head and smiling.
Soon he started mentioning his idea to others.
It occurred to me that he was really serious.
I think it is safe to say that we all thought Tyler had lost his mind.
So we came home from visiting with Tyler's family (the night before Brynja's reception) around 10:00. He gave me a kiss goodnight and told me he was going to spend some time in his gun room... he was going to do it. I knew he would be a while, so at 1:30am I smiled to myself and hoped all was well. At 3:30am I laughed, surprised that he was still at it but really not too surprised. But at 5:30 I just shook my head in total disbelief. At 6:30am when he crawled in bed I gave him a kiss and asked how it went. He laughed and told me about his night. I smiled and congratulated him... and then threatened his life if he was grumpy, impatient, or ornery during the day.
I'll give him credit, he was a good sport through the day and was tons of help with the reception.
So here it is... the project he has thought and thought about and finally did. Enjoy.

This is how my project gun looked when I bought it. Pretty nice, but not quite what I wanted. (I can't buy this gun the way I wanted it).
(for anyone not Tyler, I will explain, it is a ruger flat top .44 mag, 6.5 inch barrel, black grips, and a 50th anniversary to boot)

This is part of the reason that Jaymie couldn't believe I would do what I did. It is also the reason I didn't do this a lot sooner. I couldn't decide exactly how I was going to go about "it" and make it look right.

I had to do something to it so I bought these grips after Christmas. They made quite a difference, but it just wasn't enough. The gun is just way too long.
So...I was going to shorten the barrel of the gun.
(aka cut 1/1/2 inches off of the barrel of a perfect gun!!!)

This is the gun stripped and ready to start cutting. It took a lot of thinking to get brave enough to get past here.

The Guts

Trying to get the front sight off.

Still trying.

Lots of help, lots of advice.

Way more help, way more advice.

Deep in thought. Stupid thing wouldn't come off. I finally had to take it to my uncle's welding shop and use the big torch to get it hot enough to get it off. I have rarely been as sick as I was after I cooked the sight off. It looked awful, the barrel was discolored and the finish on the sight was bubbled up and ugly. I really hoped I wasn't going to have to have a new barrel built.

After the big cut. I cut 1 1/2 inches off of a perfectly good barrel.
Pretty sickening, huh?

Squared up, and ready for the sight. I had to shorten and reshape the front sight base so that it wouldn't cover up the wording on top of the barrel.

The sight actually stuck to the barrel. That made me happy.

Self explanatory.

The finished product. I just about wore out my shoulder patting myself on the back. Then I shot it. Five shots went really well. Number six didn't. The sight fell off. I stuck it back on a few days later and have shot the heck out of it since. I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself and thrilled with how this gun turned out.

We all thought he was crazy,... but we all agree, it looks awesome, HE DID AWESOME!!!!
Oh the joys of being married to a gunsmith.

Boring or just Content

A very good friend once told me that I was probably the most boring person she knew.
I laughed.
She is one of the busiest non boring people I know.
People are blown away when they find out we are friends. We are defiantly total opposites.
Tonight I thought of my friend and what her Saturday night would include,
mine looked like this

boring,...yes, but perfect for me.
Children sprawled over the floor, husband relaxed, yes, even the dog makes it complete, as we watch an old black and white movie.
For the next 7 days my life will be nothing but boring. Tyler's cousins are staying with us while their parents are in Hawaii. I looked at their schedules and I am already tired. Teenagers are going to add some life to our house.
In 7 days I think I will be ready for the boring again.

Rub-A-Dub

How cute are my 4 men in a tub!

My Orrin

I love this little man

he is determined, stubborn, friendly, a people person, and all his own.
It was at the end of Brynja's reception that I noticed his pants were tucked in his boots, who knows how long they had been that way, at least it is cute. And truth be told he gets it from his dad.
He is obsessed with being Woody, loves anything camo, and is so stinkin whinny lately.
Days like today I just need to give a little extra love, sometimes that isn't the easiest to do, but I am going to try.