Life is what happens when you're not looking!

Boy, this week has been crazy! Between trying to do a little shopping, going to orthodontic appointments, other doctor appointments, Emily starting a new job, going to choir/orchestra/band concerts, I'm about done! Good thing it's Friday! Tonight is the Ward Christmas party but we're not there--did I mention Tom and Evan and Alex are all sick?? I'm just sitting on the couch trying to get up the energy to be human and get some stuff done around here. Today I finished all the Christmas cards, took Riley to get a pedicure, took a long nap, and here I am. Laundry is calling my name, but it may just wait 'til tomorrow. The weather has been so cold here lately; well, cold for us. It's stayed in the 40's and 50's all week. It's been awesome! A couple of cloudy days and a couple of sunny days, but nice and crisp. It was supposed to snow last week (ha, ha) but it didn't happen. I guess we'll see enough snow when we take Em to BYU-Idaho and go through Utah and Idaho.Amanda and Adam have a friend whose wife is a doctor and has an ultrasound machine in her office. She is taking them to her office on Sunday to try and find out what gender this little babe is. We are all so excited to hopefully find out. I got to see it on an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago, and it was so amazing. It's just not very co-operative! We'll be sure and post when we find out! Amanda is 19 weeks along now. Time seems to be passing so quickly.Yep, time is going on and on while I'm not looking. I'm amazed at how fast this year has gone, and how different things are than they were at the beginning of the year. Life has been good to us. We are so blessed for Tom to have such a great job, and to have healthy and strong children, and to have the gospel in our lives. We're thankful for our extended families, and for the great friends we've had over the years. We love you all and hope you are healthy and happy!

we wish you a merry christmas!!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I decided that instead of writing a Christmas letter this year, we would send out our blog address to everyone and let them read what's been going on this year on it. Brilliant! Except if you're like me and haven't kept it updated as well as you should...so, i will write a little on here now and let you read my older posts to try to catch up with our lives.
We had lots of good news this year and some sad/bad news too, so that probably makes us just like you. Some of the things that stick out in my mind are: Emily getting accepted to the University of Oklahoma and to BYU-Idaho; Evan making region band; Alex being first-chair tuba; and Adam getting married to Amanda and getting ready to be a dad. What a crazy year! Yes, it's true, for those of you who have not heard yet, we are going to be grandparents in May. We are very excited and actually can't wait to meet this new little spirit. They are living with us and will stay until they can get on their feet. Our house is bursting at the seams with people and with love.
We hope you enjoy catching up with us on the blog and seeing the pictures. Hopefully we will have some wedding pictures to post before Christmas.
We wish you and yours the happiest of holidays, and much love, and leave you with our testimony that our Savior Jesus Christ was born in a stable long, long ago; and that he died for us that we may live with him again; and that he lives still.
With all of our love,
The Hansen Gang
Tom & Deb; Adam & Amanda; Emily, Alex, and Evan

Holy Cow!! Where do I begin??

Wow. Really, where do I begin? Here goes: Summer plans really changed since May. Adam quit working at Six Flags and is involved in a theater, doing productions for the company. He works for Woodlawn Theater (www.woodlawntheatre.com). He played Anthony in Sweeney Todd, which just ended its run. He will be Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast which will start after Thanksgiving. He really loves it, but it is not a paying position yet. The owners want him to start a Children's Theater after the first of the year. He will get paid to produce plays for kids, with kids in them, and teaching them technique, etc. He is very excited for that to begin. He is doing well. He got married on Oct. 4th to a wonderful girl named Amanda. We love her so much. They are going to have a baby in May and are so excited! That's probably our biggest news of the year. In other news, last time I wrote Emily had decided not to go to OU, but to go to BYU-Idaho. She did get in, and will begin school in January. We are enjoying the time we have with her before she leaves us! She's excited about the cold weather and school, but I think she's most excited to go snowboarding! We're thrilled for her.
Alex is doing well in school and did a great job in marching band this season. He has regional auditions for tuba next weekend. Band has dominated his life for the past few months and he's ready for the break from marching. He made region choir as a bass and is excited for that to begin.
Evan's doing well in school also. He had a great time in marching band this year and is loving being on the drumline. He plays the snare drum. He placed well in the auditions for regional choir also and will be having his first concert tonight. He sings tenor.
Tom has been through two jobs since getting out of the air force. The first one was at the base doing IT stuff. He just began a new job this past Monday, working with a company out of D.C. doing national immunization stuff. I'm sure he could describe it better than I! He'll be working from home at least until January, and hopefully a lot of the time after that. So far he loves it!
I had to quit the Distribution Center job in June because I couldn't really do the work anymore because of my knees. In July I had knee replacement surgery on my left knee; what an adventure that turned out to be. Recovery is much slower than I expected. I'm doing well though. As soon as all the pain and swelling is gone I'll be able to get around great; then they have to go in and do the other one. Fun, fun! I am really enjoying being home and don't know if I'll ever go back to working again.
Overall we are doing really well. We're all excited for our baby to come, and hopefully ready for the changes that will come into our lives. We send our love to all of you, and will post wedding pictures when we get them back from our photographer!

I'm not even going to call it "catching up", but you know it is!

Been a while, but here we go: Since the last time I wrote, Emily has been accepted to the University of Oklahoma, decided not to go there, and is trying to get in to BYU-Idaho. A lot of her friends are there and she is very excited about her decision. We don't really care where she goes; just as long as it is her decision and that she is happy with that decision.
Adam is gearing up for working full-time at Six Flags for the summer. We are glad he will have something productive to keep him busy. They've just been open on weekends for the past month or so, so he's excited for it to open up during the week. He still loves being there!
Alex is busy with choir and with end-of-the-year band. He sings with a quartet and they performed at a choir concert last week. When their song was over, they were invited to perform at an upcoming competition that they were not expecting. He's excited about it. He and Evan have their last band concert of the year tonight, and are looking forward to it being over. Even though it won't totally be over; they'll start summer band shortly after the last day of school.
Nothing really exciting going on; just having a good time day to day. Everyone is healthy and well, and we just keep going, and going like the Energizer bunny! We're all looking forward to summer and some great fun.

Catching Up, Yet Again!

It's been too long since I've updated, but I have been crazy-busy! I always thought that life would slow down once the kids could get themselves around, etc., but I'm just as busy now, if not more, than I was when they were little! Last night Alex and Evan had a band concert; I'll post some pictures when I can get them off the camera. Evan went to all-state last weekend and got perfect scores on his solo and with his ensemble, so he gets to go to another competition at the end of the month in Austin, so we're excited for him. Alex chose not to participate in the competition, so he's done til auditions for band come around again. They both are so good at their instruments. I wish you could hear them!
Emily did end up buying a car, but it wasn't the one she thought she'd get. She ended up buying a Mitsubishi Gallant, and she is in love with it! She got lucky with the car dealers having trouble moving cars...they knocked half the price off for her. Probably because she's so cute! The only thing she doesn't love is having to pick up Alex and Evan from seminary each morning. But that's the price if you want Dad helping you put gas in it!
Adam got hired at Six Flags, working in the Entertainment Services. He is doing a children's show of The Wiggles. He is so excited to be able to get paid (and free passes) for doing what he loves, singing and dancing. For those of you who have little ones at home and know way more about the Wiggles than I do, he is playing Captain Feathersword. He's really looking forward to it.
We have a new family member, Philip, who is living with us until he can get on his feet. We were friends and neighbors with his family in L.A. and he is living here now, working and will be going to college when he gets all set up. It is fun having him here. But, it is strange having five cars parked at our house all the time. Looks like a gypsy family lives here!
We're all doing really well. I have some testing coming up this month for some health issues, but everything should be okay. That's the only negative right now; we're all plugging happily (most of the time) along. Hope all is well with you and yours!!

Emily Rocks!

Well, Emily's color guard girls from the high school she works for took first place at their competition in Austin last weekend! They won by quite a ways, and she was so proud of them and their hard work (along with HER hard work with them!) She's listed on their web page as "staff" and that's fun for her too. She just got offered an assistant manager position at Domino's last night, and she's in the process of buying her first car, a red volkswagen bug. Things are going pretty good for her right now. She's floating on her own cloud. Rock on, Emily, rock on!

Just thought I'd let everyone know that we really are fine. I've had a bunch of questions wondering if we're okay and we are. It's been a little bit of a trial, but we're coming through it just fine. We appreciate everyone's concern and prayers.
We're just having a normal Sunday morning before church; we just can't get into the habit of going at 1:00 in the afternoon. That's nap time for me! Hopefully I can make it through without falling asleep on the couch in the foyer.
Alex has been asked to perform with the Crossmen this summer...they are a world-class drum and bugle corps that tours the country all summer performing in different places. It costs a few thousand dollars to join, so I don't know if it's feasible or not, but it's something he'd really like to do. Usually they audition, but he was asked to join so that's an honor all by itself.
Well, I'd better start getting ready for church so I'll check back in later. Have a great day!