Dayne Graduates 6th Grade

Dayne and Lina

Tonight Dayne's school hosted a Graduation party for the kids "graduating" from Elementary school to Middle School.

The program opened with the kids singing a song followed by their big walk across the stage, then on to celebrate with cake and punch!

After the festivities, the Hansen Family went to dinner at SPIN! Pizza to celebrate!  (Graden and I loved the meal, but I don't think the kids will add that to their favorites list!)

My Visit to Johnathan Aswegan

Iowa Roadtrip Photography

My best friend, Jennifer, had her first baby this past April and I couldn't be happier for her!  I took off work for a few days and headed to Iowa to spend some time with her and her lil' family!

I headed out Wednesday about noon and arrived at their house about 5:30.  Chris had prepared a wonderful meal - brats and chips!  It hit the spot!

While there, I told the new parents that I would get up with Baby John in the night so they could rest up!  Although she said that sounded good to her, I knew she'd still wake up when he did.  It's what new mother's do!  That night he only woke up once and was up for about an hour ... then slept til about 8:00 the next morning!

Jennifer made her and I coffee and blueberry & walnut oatmeal for breakfast - so delicious!  Shortly after breakfast, we all headed out to run some errands and grab a bite for lunch.  We went to a quaint little place called The Farmer's Daugher's Market for soup and salad and home made sweet tea and lemonade!  After a few hours of running around we headed back to the house for some rest and relaxation!

That night we invited Jennifer's friend Kayla "Fishy" Fish over for steak, salad and tater dinner and then headed out to a couple of local bars - the Wine Bar, Whiteys and The Three Finger Saloon.  All that fun and we were still home by 11!  Poor Baby John was kind of fussy for the first hour or so, but eventually settled down thanks to some great ol' country music and fishing shows!

That night Baby John slept til about 4am and was up til just after 5am, so he slept in pretty late Friday morning - which meant Jennifer and I did, too!  Friday we just stayed around the house for the most part, except we did go out to lunch to a friend of Jennifer's restaurant in Cedar Rapids.  Had a delicious Buffalo Chicken Sandwich! 

Friday night we laid low ... I cooked Bourban Salmon, mashed garlic taters (Jen's request!) and a salad.  We coupled our dinner with some good wine, of course!

The next morning I took off about 8am because I wanted to be home by 1:30 so we could head to Joplin for Graden's (2nd) cousin's high school graduation.

I loved my time with the Aswegan family and am very grateful for the time we got to spend together!  They are a beautiful little family and I am exctied to watch their family grow over the coming years.

Happy Mother's Day 2011

This year for Mother's Day the Hansen Family debated between going to the KC Royals game or fishing at Truman Lake.   After some pondering I decided that since it was a warm, sunny, calm day that I wanted to go fishing with the family!

About 11:30 we all headed out for a day of family time, sunnin' time and fishing!

We arrived at our destiation just before 2:00 and the boys got to work trying to catch some Big 'Ol Pigs!  (Bass, for all you folks who aren't subjected to the endless amounts of fishing shows that we are!)

Hunter aims to get us where we're going!

Ahh ... kicked back and relaxing!

The boys were reeling in the fish pretty steady and even Dayne got a chance to catch a few fish!

... and I got some relaxing time to take some pictures of the beautiful surroundings!



(Graden quipped, "Do you want me to take you back to Truman Lake so you can take more pictures of dead trees?"  I guess he didn't see the beauty of this picture!  His loss!)

We called it a day about 7:45 that evening and headed back in.  On the way out of town Dayne had a hankerin' for Golden Corral so we stopped in Clinton on the way home.  I was quick to make sure Graden knew that didn't count as my Mother's Day meal outing!!

The next day, Mother's Day, we spent the day relaxing and just hanging out.  Any time the kids are getting along is a great day for me!  We enjoyed a meal out at one of my favorite places, Bonefish Grill ... and THAT did count as my Mother's Day meal outing!  It was a weekend that helped me realize all that I have to be grateful for!!

Me and my  Babies (Hunter, 17  Dayne, 11)

Mother Daughter Trip to Omaha

My step mom's son, Tyler (my step brother) got married this past weekend in Omaha, NE.  I took advantage of this opportunity to spend some time with my dad and step mom & make a Mother-Daughter weekend getaway!

Dayne and I headed for NE on Friday morning about 8:00.  We had an appointment for a pedicure at 1:00 so we didn't want to be late and miss out on that pampering event!  The drive didn't take as long as I thought it would take, so we got there in time to enjoy a quick lunch at Subway with Dad & Susan.  Then the girls headed to the nail salon!  (This was Susan's first ever manicure and pedicure!)

After the  mani-pedi, we headed to the hotel to get ready for the rehersal and rehersal dinner.  While the wedding party headed to the church, Dayne and I headed to the rehersal dinner location and set up for the Mexican feast for all!

Saturday, the day of the wedding, was a whirlwind of events!  We were all going non-stop from the moment we woke up!  Susan pampered herself with having her hair professionally styled, then on to Younkers for her make up to be done at the Clinique counter ... then to the church for pictures.  While Dad and Susan were at the church for the photos, Dayne and I headed back to the hotel to get ready.  The wedding was at 2:00 and we were pushing the time limit, for sure!  We only had about 10 minutes to get dressed and do our hair & make up!  Gahhh!

We made it to the church on time and everything went off without a hitch! It was a beautiful ceremony, with several moments of tears and many more moments of joy!

Tyler and Keri

Tiffany & Dayne at the wedding reception

After the ceremony we all headed over to the reception hall for dinner and dancin'!  It was a fun night!

Susan, Dayne and Dad - dancin' the night away!

The next morning Dayne and I went to Village Inn for breakfast (we don't have them close by, so we had to take advantage of one of our favorite breakfasts!).  After breakfast, we headed over to Keri, the new bride, aunt & uncle's house where they opened wedding gifts and cards.  After staying for a short while, Dayne and I headed back home and got home about 2:30.  It was a fun weekend!  I really cherished the mother-daugher time, and time with my dad and step mom!