Our 7th Anniversary!

Seven years!  I can't believe it!  Time truly does fly so fast!  Jason planned a wonderful day for us to celebrate!  He emailed me the night before and told me to be ready for family day the next day by 8am.  Well that was my first clue that something was fishy, because I have never been ready with the kids by 8am!  The next morning, Jason snuck out while I was blow drying my hair and went to pick up Mariah and Christian to babysit.  The Slack family is just a whole other story!  I have met few people who love to serve like them!  Anyways, I was stoked!  A whole day with my hubby to explore the city!  We took the Metro down by the Zoo, which is this really cute and quaint part of town.  He had found a locally acclaimed breakfast place that was delicious!  If you ever want breakfast in DC, you should try it.  They had this indoor outdoor patio and we got a table right by the window with the little flower bed.  I had an amazing chai tea and we talked about, well everything, for two hours!  I loved it!  
Next we headed down towards the National Mall.  Jason had just finished Manhunt, about John Wilkes Booth, and so he wanted to go back to the Ford's Theatre one more time.  It was really interesting listening to him tell me all of the extra details of the infamous day.  Jason and I both love the theater and have mentioned several times how we would love to actually see a production in Ford's Theatre.  But we never really found the right play at the right time.  Well, the day we were there, they were offering free showings of this two man production about the day that Lincoln died.  Perfect!  It was actually really good, much better than we were expecting for a free performance.  This was definitely a highlight from the day.  

Our next stop was the Library of Congress.  It was one place I hadn't seen yet and wanted to just pop in.  You can only get in to the main reading room if you register for research.  I am trying to convince Jason to go down there and study for a day.  Wouldn't that be awesome!  

To finish the day, we grabbed a mid-afternoon lunch at a great Mexican food place right off the mall.  

I am overwhelmed by the goodness of God to give me this man!  He loves God more than anything and I have been truly blessed to follow him these past seven years!   I love you!

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a beautiful sunny day for Mother's Day! Jason began the day by making me a yummy breakfast and giving me a book that I have been wanting, Radical Womanhood, by Carolyn McCulley. Thanks love! After church we headed over to the Wassinks house with the Lockharts for our last family BBQ this year. It was also Hannah's birthday, so we had fun making her favorite, Taco Salad, and we had a big chocolate chip cookie bar cake! It was such a peaceful day chit chatting and watching the kids run around in the grass. I can't believe that I get to love and serve this amazing family that God has given me!  

I am not sure what Abby is doing in this picture.  It looks like she is pleading with her shadow for something!  

My Katie Bug!

How it is in the Wild

Okay, so it has seriously been raining and cold here for a week!  Tuesday to tuesday!  And it is supposed to rain again tomorrow.  But Thursday is forecasted at 79 and sunny!  Two weekends ago it was beautifully warm here and we took the girls to the zoo!  Our first time back since the fall.  Everybody thought it was miserable at 93, but us Arizonians were soaking it in!  While we were there we had this great teaching moment with Abby.  It happened while we were observing the gorillas.  They have several gorillas, including one mother who just had a baby girl a couple of months ago and a ginormous Papa silverback gorilla.  Seriously, this beast is massive!  The keeper was throwing these big popsicles out to each gorilla.  Knowing the social structure of the animals, she was trying to make sure the Papa didn't interfere with the Mama getting her popsicle.  Well that didn't work.  Twice the Papa gorilla swiped the popsicle from her.  Quite forcibly too!  The people watching were mad and booing at him.  All the while, Abby was watching.  Then she turned to me with this sad look.  "Why did the Daddy gorilla take the Mommy gorilla's popsicle?"  It turned into this really neat teaching opportunity to share with her how God created animals differently than He created people.  That people were created in God's image.  Lately, it has also served as a great picture of selfishness!  I love how she is getting older and asking more thoughtful questions!  

 

This was inside. One of the orangutans was playing some type of computer game. It was kinda neat!

Mommy and her baby!

Look at her little foot!

Jason captured this great shot of the mommy reaching out to ask for the popsicle.

The Big Man Himself

About to Pounce!


Their eyes are peeled!

Love, Love, Love the SUN!

Winter is finally over here in Gaithersburg, MD!  And the Hansen household is bursting with excitement about it!  Spring, spring, spring!  I feel like dancing around the family room here right now because I am so excited about it!  Here are some beautiful sunny pictures from our day at the park with Megan and her little Izzy.

"Can I push you Abby?"
Kate, Izzy, and Abby



I thought this sign was hillarious!  Make sure you don't play golf at the playground!  Technically there is a little field next to it, but still.  
Megan took this picture.  Isn't Katie's face so funny?
Here's to more sunshine!

PC Spring Picnic

We had our PC Spring Picnic a couple of weeks ago. Two families at Covenant Life Church are gracious enough to hold an annual spring picnic for the PC class in their backyards. With a playground, petting zoo, volleyball and soccer fields, this place was all about fun!  And did I mention that it was SUNNY and WARM!  A wonderful day!

Jason and the girls at the petting zoo.
Don't you love Abby's "princess hair", pink sundress, sequin flip flops, and black patent leather purse!  The cutest girly girl ever!
Katie is telling Matt about the goat's "nose, nose."
And his "ears, ears."
Me and my Kate!
Julie and Kate  
Julie, Me, Hannah, and Betsy  

And what's better than to top the day with some yummy, yummy smores!!!

Gym Day Groupies!

One of the highlights of my week is Thursday Gym Day! All the PC wives meet at the gym at church and the kids all play for an hour. Over the course of the year, we have had a little group form for lunch and playtime afterwards. Different people have come at different times, but it always seems that Siobhan Slack, Jen Lockhart, Hannah, and me have always gone. We are kind of like Gym Day Groupies! And it has lengthened from 1.5 hours to us just hanging out till 4 or 4:30! Hannah's host family lives on a big piece of land that backs up to the woods. This is the favorite for the kids because the older ones take all the kids (except the little, little ones) out to the woods and they will seriously play for hours! So during naptime, it's playtime for us ladies too! We have had so much fun and I love these ladies!  

One of our colder days!
Jen, Hannah, Siobhan, and Me
Most of the kids!  We are missing the oldest, Jordan, and the three babies, Katie, Ella, and Case.

Pastor's Conference 2009

In my efforts to catch up, I can't miss my very first Sovereign Grace Pastor's Conference! Everything about the conference was great! The messages were all so good! Personally, I was most affected by Jared Mellinger's message on passing on the gospel to the next generation. He specifically addressed motherhood and I was greatly encouraged and freshly inspired. Jason too was moved, affected, inspired, and motivated by all the messages and workshops. We are so thankful for God's call on Jason's life and for this unbelievable family of churches that we have the honor to be a part of!
We were also so refreshed to have our team of pastor's and a few of their wives, who are also our dear friends, here for a few days. I couldn't tell what I was more excited about, the conference or being with these special, special people! I can't believe that we get to go home and serve with them. We so love them and our precious church!
This post is also a little timely, because today, my close friend Tara is moving with her family to Peoria, Arizona where they will be planting a church. It has been so faith-building to watch this all come to pass and we praise God with them on this special day! Although our hearts our bursting with excitement and joy for all that God is going to do and how he is going to use them, we definitely feel that bittersweetness. But, hey, it is only an hour away. That's not so bad! Meet you at the zoo? I love you Tara! You are so dear to me!
Lory, Tara, and Me