Livestock Heritage Festival

Cedar City is the coolest town ever! There were so many different events going on today that we were only able to hit two of them. The first was the Livestock Heritage Festival. They herded sheep down Main Street! I had to see it, and I am glad I did...it was awesome! Then we went to the Great Pumpkin Festival. Cadence got a candy corn painted on his face. He also got a pumpkin that he would try to lift, but it was too heavy so he resorted to licking it and biting the stem. Mom put a quick stop to that one! Gross, but funny!

My Wonderful Mother

This is my wonderful mother,

Susan Hobson Hansen.

She passed away 2 years ago after battling with pancreatic cancer.

She is a strong woman who loves her family, friends, and students.

She is a woman who left a loving family and was greeted into loving arms after she departed this life.

I miss her so much. She is my best friend, my role model, and, most importantly, she is my mother. I am sad that my children will never get to spend time with her here on Earth. I wish that I could have her here so we could share another hug, smile, laugh, or talk.

I am grateful that I was able to have the time with her that I did and I know she is happy where she is. I am so glad that I have that knowledge.

Until I see her again, I will do my best to be for my children what she was for me.

I love you, Mom!

Weekend at Grandpa Hansen's

We were able to go see Grandpa Hansen this weekend.

It was so much fun!

We were able to play with the Poulson family, too!

There were a lot of first time expereinces for Cadence.

It was his first time on a slide.
It was his first time at Willow Creek Park.
It was his first time in a giant sandbox.
It was his first time picking up sticks...including ones taller then he is.
It was his first time running in the middle of a football game.

Cadence and His Random Acts of Craziness

Cadence is such a funny little boy. He has figured out how to get on the couch and get to places he knows he is not supposed to be. He has ended up behind the couch, on the tray tables next to the couch, under the tray tables, in the bookshelf, and many, many more places that amaze Chase and I each and every day. He also learns new "tricks" every day. He waves and says "Hi", says his name (ssss-ssss), gives kisses, and cracks us up with his belly moves. He recently learned how to take his shirt off after his nap. We will have to talk to him about that one!

We stayed at my dad's house this weekend and Cadence figured out how to escape from the crib. With the mix of Chase and myself in his blood, Cadence had no hope for having a safe experience in the old crib that was once my own.

As I was getting Cadence ready for bed, I recalled an experience that my sister Jill had when I was a baby. She was watching a scary movie with one of her friends and heard a loud thud through the ceiling. She went upstairs to find that I had climbed over the railing and fallen on the floor. After thinking of that story, I remembered the pictures that Chase's mother had shown me of him climbing shelves, counters, out of the dryer, and under the protective gate that was guarding the stairs.

I put Cadence in the crib and immediately took him back out when I saw that the top of the crib railing came to the middle of his back. I tried to move the mattress down one notch, but to my dismay, the crib was so old that it put up a fight. I called Chase to have him help me and we ended up working on it for about 30 minutes.

Once we got it to a safe point we put Cadence in and had him test it out. He jumped up and down in it, walked around, and fell down to put pressure on the screws. It all checked out so we put Cadence in the crib to sleep and headed downstairs to watch a movie.

After the movie, we went to our room to get ready for bed. I noticed some movement on the ground. I first suspected a cat. I have no idea why I thought it was a cat because my dad has never had a cat, but that was the first thing that came to mind. Then it dawned on me and I asked Chase why Cadence was on the ground. He ran over to the light, turned it on, and we saw Cadence sitting contently on the ground by the crib. One of the corners (the one I worked on) was no longer screwed into it's place.

We think he jumped on that certain corner for a little bit and it loosened. Then he fell through. He was fine, no scrapes or bruises to show for the ordeal. He just had two very confused and concerned parents. After processing everything, we had a good, long laugh about it. That is Cadence's latest random act of craziness.

For there to be justice in the world, I woke up this morning and fell out of bed. I guess I got what was coming to me!

Chase's 25th Birthday

Chase turned a quarter of a century on October 5. He has a record of rough birthdays so we spread it out and took it easy on his big day. He opened his presents from Cadence and I on October 4. Then we had rice crispy treats on October 5 and hung out around the house. He is slowly growing to enjoy his birthdays. At this rate, we will be able to have a huge party for him by the time he turns a half a century!

Homecoming Parade

I love that Cedar City has many parades throughout the year. This one was for Southern Utah University's homecoming. It was great! Cadence was interested in the many cars and the tank from the ROTC. We watched the parade with our friends, the Kerns. Dave showed up at our house because he was working in Cedar so we got to watch a bit of the parade with him. It was a fun day with lots of surprises!