April

We got a new lens for our camera in April.  It has a much better zoom.  We took it to a family party, to try it out.  Here's Lori's cat Leo.

Our cute niece enjoying a cookie. 

And of course some pictures of flowers.  

Some of our beautiful nieces at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  

We went and hiked Haystack in April as well.  

Some neat pictures we took with our new lens and tripod during the Solar Eclipse.  

Sunsets from our front porch

I made this Lemon blueberry cake with cream cheese frosting for my Coworker.  It was a new recipe, so I was wondering if it would be a success.  By the looks of the plate afterwards, I'd say it was!

Watching April's General Conference at my parents house.  Eating cereal and watching from upstairs just like when I was a kid!  

HAPPY SPRING!!

March

March started out right with some Spring Oreo dipping!  Justin taught me this trick, Yumm!

Progress on my smile!! Hopefully they'll be off by our cruise to Alaska in May!

Our graphic designer friend Cortney surprised us with this awesome artwork on our downstairs computer!  It cracks us up every time we see it. 

Look how excited Justin is to take our annual St. Patrick's Day photo!

He makes the best breakfast food ever, and it good even if it's green!

We may have had a LOT of fun playing cards and eating easter candy that night :)

My Dad was growing an epic beard for "Mustache March" and I kept thinking he was gonna shave it off, so we had to get a good picture of it.  This is mid March. 

This is me trying to decide which dresses to bring on our cruise for formal night.  The black one and the coral one won out. 

The present I begged for my birthday was to go camping.  We had it all planned and then this happened. 

Luckily it cleared up enough that we got to go anyway!  We went and used Justin's parents Camperworld membership and it even had a hotsprings pool there!  It was awesome.  Last minute the Taylor's came with us!  I was so excited when they surprised me! 

The hottie that planned it all.

This is my favorite part of a camp fire.  It's mesmerizing!

Hot dogs were roasted for dinner, along with S mores and star-bursts! The weather was perfect at night, especially after our swim in the hot springs, but the next morning it was quite chilly and windy.

We awoke to the sounds of A LOT of birds chirping.  It was funny because we couldn't believe how LOUD it was!

 

This is our new "car camping tent." It worked out great!

 

Breakfast was awesome! Bacon, sausage and hash browns for breakfast burritos and we even got hot chocolate with marshmallows!  It was perfect and just what I wanted to do for my birthday!

This is the only semi serious picture we got in the group shots.  I'm convinced Cortney can't just smile in a picture.  Its impossible:)

My real birthday was on a Sunday this year.  We had dinner at my parents house.  It was so good, and I got the special plate of course, family tradition.  Grandma's birthday is in March as well, so the cousins had come down to celebrate with her as well. 

It was my favorite, yellow cake with chocolate frosting. 

Dad's Epic mustache for Mustache March on March 31st.  He's talented and looks awesome!!

February

I'm always saying how much I hate the cold and the winters here in Utah, but it turns out I'm really grateful for the seasons here.  Driving down the road in the winter and seeing freshly fallen snow on the mountains always gets me thinking about how beautiful it is.  Here's a shot from Layton in February. 

Justin got some snuggle time with our niece right after bath time one night.  She is so cute!! Right now (August) she's going through a phase where she won't let you hold her for too long without her freaking out for her parents.  So glad we already got these snuggles in, to last us until she's less worried about "Stranger Danger!"  

 

Justin and I both got fabulous new down sleeping bags!  They were quite an investment, but worth it, as we go backpacking often.  We also got a new tent with a little more room in case we have a little one coming with us soon!  We can always hope right?

Grandma Jackie's Anniversary is on Valentines Day.  She's been a widow since she was like 40 or so, so I'm sure it's kinda a hard day for her.  I decided to bring her a little surprise and visit with her!  She was in good spirits and we had a great visit! 

Justin and I had a romantic evening as well with a candlelit dinner and some bubbly cider to celebrate another year of being together on the day of love.  He's been around for far more than he's missed now, but I always remember our days early on when he was gone so often and am grateful that he is with me so much more now. 

 

Reed came into town in February!  We took some time and all went rock climbing at 9th street in Ogden, even though it was quite cold for a little bit.  We had so much fun!  I love that my brothers and Justin have so much in common and get along so well.  I also love that they let me tag along even though I'm a GIRL!!

Reed

Jess

Derek, look at those Ghanain shorts!

Trying out my new climbing helmet, even though I don't really need it here:)

My hubby

Beautiful sunset:) 

 

More snuggle time!

One of our favorite games lately is kinda like Telestrations, but the homemade version.  Here's another funny one that happened. 

It has become a family tradition for the Hansen's to go to Time Out For Women every February.  We usually go with Justin's Mom since it is right near her birthday, but she was in Nauvoo, so we all ended up going without her this year.  They have guest speakers and musical guests and it is a fabulous time.  I'm so glad I married into a family with so many sisters!  I love them and we have so much fun together!

Justin turned 30 this year!  I'm realizing that we didn't take any pictures. :( We threw a big party for him and some of his Camp friends that have birthdays around the same time.  We had a lot of fun visiting and playing games.  Just no pictures...