Eye of the Needle

Last Saturday, Robert and some of his hiking buddies did the ultimate hike. This one is called "Eye of the Needle" and he says it was quite a challenge, but the beautiful scenery was worth it.

Lots of beautiful waterfalls.

Wet suits not required.......if you want to freeze, that is.

The "Eye" is a hole you have to rappel through.

You can see it just to the right of the log.

Robert successfully squirmed through!

More logjams and waterfalls.

Nature's awesome art!

Another great picture of the "Eye".

Robert, is that you???

Happy 58th Birthday Robert!

February 12 was Robert's 58th birthday. We celebrated at his mother's since she was ill and in bed. The day before, I told her that I had a secret I needed her to help me with. She was pretty good at keeping the secret from him. The next day, I brought balloons and a cake over before Robert got there.

He acted surprised, even though I am pretty sure he knew what was going on.

What a good sport.

I got him a singing card. His mom got a kick out of that.

As her gift to him, I got 58 shiny new pennies and put them in a little container and tied it with a bow. She always liked to give coins to her kids and grandkids for their birthdays.

She was pretty tickled.

Because of the oxygen, we could not light the candles, so I cut flames out of some orange ribbon and taped them to the candles.

Couldn't help including this picture of Kody.

My baby is all grown up!

It's hard to say goodbye....

Grandma Rose had been ill for some time, but in February, we noticed that she was sliding fast. We took her to the doctor (against her will) because we just could not watch her suffer any longer. She ended up in the hospital that very day (again, against her will). She was in advanced liver failure. She pleaded with us to take her home so that she could pass away in her own surroundings. We did. Rose Madora Peterson Hansen, born June 1, 1923, passed peacefully into the next life on March 4, 2009. It is hard to explain what a blessing it was to stay with her and care for her over the next few weeks. It was our chance to give back some of the wonderful service she has always shown everyone else in her lifetime. Thank you, Rose, for being such a wonderful, gentle mother-in-law and for sharing your family with me. I think about you often and miss you so much. I know that you are happy being with Grandpa Clare again. And I know you watch over your family. I know that we will all be together again someday. But for now, it's not goodbye, just "see you later".

Some last pictures with Robert's sweet mom.

She sure was proud of her kids!

I hope they call me on a mission....

Kaley's brother-in-law Morgen was called to serve in the Texas-San Antonio Spanish speaking mission. Morgen lost both parents when he was a little boy, and he wanted to leave for his mission from St. George. He had been living with an aunt in Oregon until he graduated from high school. He had been attending our ward. When it was time to go to the temple, we just thought we would accompany him to the St. George Temple, but we soon found out was closed for 2 weeks. By the time it would reopen, he would have to be in the MTC. So we loaded up and went to the Las Vegas Temple.

Former Bishop Daniels and Current Bishop Cooper went with us.

Do we look like proud parents?

Morgen wanted this special night picture of the temple.

Now, he has been in San Antonio for about 2 months.

He is an awesome missionary!

Grandkid Photo Shoot

We had all the grandkids together on Saturday, February 7th, except Logan of course. We did not get him until March. So, we decided (Robert decided) to do a photo shoot of them. It was hilarious trying to get all of them to look up and smile. We should have gotten a video of the adults, it would have been pretty entertaining. We never did get a smile out of Kathryn, but when the camera was finally turned off, she was full of them. What a bunch of sillies!

Dumb girl, leggo my ear!!

Kathryn has finally had enough.

Prima Ballerina

I missed Abby's dance recital in May, but I was able to go to one of her dance lessons earlier. She was by far the littlest ballerina, but she was so fun to watch!

The teacher put stickers on the girls' right hands

so that they would know which one to use.

Just waiting to begin.

Yes Abby, we are watching.

...and point, and...

Baby, take a bow!

Little Fish

When I was in Salt Lake City in January, I got to go to Abby's swm lessons.

This kid loves the water!

I kind of think she likes her teacher too.

Cabin Fever

This year (Oh, I guess I should say last year), I decided to do something different for Christmas. It seemed that none of our kids had anything in particular that they wanted, so, instead of on presents, I spent the money on a cabin rental in the mountains. I searched for weeks trying to find something big enough for our ever-growing family, and also something I could afford. I first looked at cabins in Brianhead. They were awfully pricey, so I tried near Zion National Park. I found a couple of beautiful cabins that were just newly finished and just the right size. Robert and I went up to look at one and I instantly fell in love. So, on the 23rd of December, we went up, taking two vehicles loaded to the top with food and toys and anything else we might need. Robert even bought a beautiful Christmas tree just for the cabin. The kids and their kids began arriving that night and pretty soon the house was filled with yummy smells and happy kid noises. It was amazing. There was about 8 inches of snow on the ground when we arrived, but it snowed for the next 2 days straight and we ended up with over 2 feet. It was so fun to sit in front of a warm fire and watch the beautiful snow outside. On Christmas Day we even went outside and sat in the jacuzzi during a snowstorm. It was so fun, and I think Abby loved it. It is a funny feeling sitting in 100 degree water and having snow fall on your head. All of the kids had a great time riding the 4-wheeler. Robert even pulled the kids on sleds and tubes with the 4-wheeler. We had a big turkey dinner on Christmas Day and the next night Kelton smoked a ham for us, it was so good! Friday, we drove down into Zion National Park and got some great pictures, I don't ever remember being in the park when there was so much snow. On Saturday, the rest of our kids arrived and even the Jacks came up for the night. Robert treated everyone to buffalo burgers at the Buffalo Grill and we headed back to the cabin for our last night. We played some cards and then fell exhausted into bed. We came home on Sunday after cleaning up. All in all, I would say it was a great success. I hope we can do it again.

Christmas Cookies for Santa

Christmas Eve, Kristl started rolling out the dough to make sugar cookies for Santa Claus. Of course, Abby had to help. She was just chattering away with her mom when after a few minutes she got kind of quiet. I looked over at her and she was rubbing flour all over her face. She wasn't laughing or acting silly, she just had this look on her face of complete bliss as she smoothed the soft flour on it. I tried to get the video camera in time to catch her, but I missed the funniest part. We we all laughing so hard it was difficult not to let her see us. So, here is the video I got: (Turn the music off on the right by clicking on the little pause button. Then you will be able to hear the video.)





At the beginning you will hear Kristl tell Abby to "sneeze toward daddy". She had just gotten some flour up her nose and had sneezed all over the dough.

Brrrr Baby...It's Cold Outside!!!

We had enough snow
in the back yard...

...for Natalie and Drake....

...to do some serious sledding (okay, serious if you're 3).

Snow in St. George??

Yep, it snowed in St. George a couple of weeks ago. And not just a few flurries, this was the real thing. We got about 4 inches over night, it was beautiful. School was canceled the next day, December 17. Now, for those of you who live with this every day during the winter, you are probably wondering why school was closed. Well, a lot of students come in from outlying areas and because the roads had not been cleared, the busses could not bring them in. This only happens about every 10 years down here, so we are just not prepared.

Natalie, Meet Santa

On December 6, we had our church Christmas breakfast. Near the end, Santa showed up as usual. But, Natalie was just not to sure about the jolly old man. We could not get any pictures of Drake because he was not going to take any chances and had a death grip on the underside of his dad's arm as Kelton tried to sit him on Santa's lap. So, this was the only picture we got.