An 80th Birthday Present

Drew this on 18" x 24" paper and had it framed.

I can finally write about this on my blog! I was waiting until my Grandad received it before posting about it because there are plenty of family members in the blogger-verse and since it's a drawing of Granni. Unfortunately, in May she passed away in her sleep. The only thing that can really attribute her death may be her heart. We'll never really know.

Granni is one of the main reasons that I'm good at making things. I suppose it passed through the generations down to me and a few other family members. I was blessed enough to get some of the artistic side through her and my father. Dad and I seem to be the only ones to get the drawing capabilities from her. I'm grateful for it. I ended up getting my minor in Visual Arts. Granni loved to make things for her family. I have a baby blanket and two things painted by her. A lot of the younger grandchildren received quilts and she continued to do this until she passed away. They were a few unfinished quilts in her craft room waiting to be finished at the time. She loved to be with her family.

So when the time came to make a present for Grandad for his 80th birthday, only one idea came to mind: draw a picture of Granni. I was nervous to start on it because it had been three years since I had done a proper portrait drawing, but it felt like the right thing to do. And using graphite also had be a bit worried but I didn't want to use charcoal because of the mess it makes. Honestly, I think Granni was helping me draw this. It's one of the best likenesses that I've done. I think she knew that Grandad would appreciate it.

Close-up of drawing.

Sorry for the bad photos. I feared taking it outside would have a huge glare on the glass. <3 p="">

Finally got Gimp on the computer. Here are the photos, lighter.

Life, Lately

Life has been so crazy lately. There has been a lot that has happened. October was especially so. Every weekend there was something happening. I'm having a hard time deciding which week was what with everything that went on. I'll do my best to write everything down.

One day (Oct. 22) there was the Epilepsy Association of Utah's (EAU)Whispers in the Park Halloween fundraiser. Since Nett was in charge of everything that meant that I was a part of helping her. So much was going on that week. I had midterms along with making things for it. Then there was making games and making sure that everything was working out for it. It turned out pretty well. We were there for quite some time. It was fun, though. ;) In this picture you can see a bit of my finished cosplay of Sora in his Halloween Town clothes.

Gma and I. More photos here.

Halloween turned out to be fun. The Saturday before (29th) was the ward Halloween Party. All of my roommates and I got into our garb and went. I forgot to take a picture of one of my roommates; she was a tree. She had her hair up with braids wrapped around wires and then stuck a bunch of leaves in her 'branches; she also wore a brown shirt and pants. I wore my finished cosplay, Keziah was Orion the Hunter, and Amy a Fairy Godmother.

My Cosplay. Sora's Halloween Town version (Kingdom Hearts).

Orion the Hunter and the Fairy Godmother

I also ended up winning the pumpkin carving contest again. That makes 4 of 4 years! This year I spent about 4 hrs. using clay tools to get what I wanted. I'm pretty happy about it, I just wish Sally's hairline was higher up.

On November 3rd the EAU held Artilepsy. This is the second year that the family has done this. Last year all that entered received an award and this year was no different. Taylor got Second and Third place in the Youth Fine Arts Category, while Nett got a Honorable Mention and I the First Place in the Adult Fine Arts Category. It was a nice surprise and lots of fun to be there.

On November 4th, the EAU held their annual Gala. This year's theme was A Night Among the Stars. It was fun and enjoyable. Nett was the only one who brought her kids and they did really well. There was a talk from Glenn Fenster and lots of awards given to those who have helped a lot. The slideshow are some photos that I've taken. Sorry for the bad quality in a lot of them; my camera was acting weird. There are also more pictures here.

I believe that's all for now. I think I'll write more of my Disney CP experience later. I'll also have some crafts to show. It's just a matter of when I'll get this all up here... I will be going to a football game on the 19th and probably seeing Christopher Paolini on the 2nd. I'll be putting those on here, too. ;)

I'm an Auntie, Again!

My sister and brother-in-law welcomed their second child today. This is Annabelle Leigh. She was born earlier today and exactly 18 months from her big brother, Jared.

Isn't she cute? >w<

Train Show

Here's the train show that I went to with Nett, Gma, and the kids last Saturday. It was fun. I was wrong about one thing though. Grandpa didn't have a train table built. He claims that he doesn't have room for it, but I think he could. ;) One day, Grandpa. I want to see your hard work.

There were several train tables that were set up. One was the Hostlers of course, but sadly I didn't take any pictures of that. Don't ask me why; I don't know. But I did get pictures of the LEGO train table and of the Harry Potter train table. The LEGO one was huge and definitely gathered the most attention. It's made of several train sets all put together. The Harry Potter one showcases the world of Harry Potter (duh). It had Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, the train station, and more. I liked it a lot. I sure had fun.

Birthday Dinner

Sometime after I had written my last post, someone put this sign onto the door of my apartment. My roommates (although they probably do know) aren't sure who put it up there. The only guess I have is F.H.E. sisters or visiting teachers. Cute, huh?

As promised I'm writing of my birthday dinner. Nett and Glenn asked me where I wanted to go for dinner and I answered, "Japanese." They searched around and found a place that they liked and Glenn had been there before so he knew what to expect. We went to The Happy Sumo.

It was good. I really wanted my favorite kind of sushi: unagi (eel). I found out that Cheryl likes sushi so she ordered the Rainbow roll with a lot different kinds of sashimi laid on the top. Glenn ordered one that was spicy of course and Taylor and Bug dove into California rolls. Nett and Scot aren't fish eaters so they ordered teriyaki and hawaiian bowls. They were too excited when I ate the fish eggs laid on top of my Caterpillar roll separate. xD

Poor Grandma and Grandpa weren't able to make it to dinner tonight because she was sick and Grandpa has really long days at work. So--you could think of this as a fortunate thing--they want to take me out to dinner again sometime later this week. They're coming down to Thanksgiving Point because Grandpa has built and finished a train table for the Hostlers train show.

Early Birthday Fun

I ended up spening a lot of time with Nett, Glenn, and the kids this weekend. They asked me earlier on what I wanted to do to celebrate my birthday. I thought about it for a minute and replied, "Sledding." It was something that I liked to do and something that the kids would enjoy. Since yesterday was a holiday, it was a perfect day to go sledding. Glenn didn't have to work and it was the day before my birthday.

Nett slowly bought the gear for the kids to wear as well as stuff to complete the apparel for the older kids throughout the weekend. Most of it was still bought the day of the activity. We ended up leaving at around 4 p.m. and got to the place we wanted to sled around 4:2o. We ended up staying to around 6 p.m. We had a lot of fun. Tay enjoyed going down by herself or with someone. One of the times though, she ended up giving herself a ice rash on her cheek. >.< Two minutes later she was back on the sled. You go girl. ;D Bug went down a couple of time by himself. That was funny. The poor kid didn't know what to do. He laid back as far as he could, but I think he still had fun. xD

Later tonight Nett and Glenn are taking me to a Japanese restaurant down in Salt Lake City. I'll write of that later. =3

Snowy Days

It all started last Sunday (14th) when the snow started falling in Seattle. I called Dad because Mom wanted to know what I wanted for Christmas. He told me that church was canceled because of the snow. Of course, they're not used to snow here. So it was only about an inch or so and the people freaked. Poor Dad couldn't make it up the hill with his new car or Zak with his. They were down to just Mom's.

Then on Thursday (18th) I was finally leaving Utah to go home for Christmas. It was snowing a bit but then it stopped. However, in Seattle the snow was piling on. A flight that was supposed to leave at 11:05 a.m. left at 3:40 p.m. I spent most of that time waiting in the plane on the tarmac. Then it's just been snowing on a off the past few days. Dad still can't get out and Zak has only gotten out once or twice since then. Today we're down to one car. At the moment Dad is trying to boost the battery to make the car start. It looks like he may be able to get up the hill today.

Then the snow kept coming. There's at least 8" on the ground. Seattle is actually in a state emergency because they don't have enough snowplows. It's worse in the city than here.

Front of the house.

Side of the house.

Today Parker and I finally played in the snow. Dad was shoveling most of the time but occasionally throwing snowballs and what was on the shovel at us. I started making a snowman and Dad came up with the idea of using the pile as the bottom for the snowman. It all just went from there. I ended up making the most of him with the exception of Parker sometimes helping or Dad's pile effort. We put the snowman right next to the stairs where Mom backs up into the driveway. So... the snowman ended up an ode to Calvin and Hobbes snowmen. What do you think? Does he look like he doesn't want to get backed up in to? xD

Spending Time in Seattle

Yesterday the whole family decided to go to Seattle and look around. We wanted to see the pier and what's around. Before we went out to the city though mom, Parker, and I needed hair cuts. Mine is a lot shorter than its been in several years. I like it--don't get me wrong--it's just way different.

After the hair cuts, we went to the pier and walked around. We went to the fish market where they toss the fish to each other. You know, the one they show on Food Network and such. Anyway, we kept walking around and found the pirate store that Jenni has visited a couple weeks ago. Then we started getting hungry and ended up at Ivar's. I ended up getting battered salmon strips and fries. Mmmmm. It was also entertaining because we feed seagulls and watch them swoop down to get fries from people's hands. Anytime they would sqwak I was reminded of Finding Nemo. "Mine? MINE!" lol. Dad kept throwing extra stuff at them and watched them catch stuff.

After that we decided to go to the mall really fast and show dad the Japanese store. It's a lot of fun. There's so much Japanese stuff there. Mom and dad got something to start lil' Jared learn some Japanese. xD Then we went to the oriental market and got lots of stuff there. I think a really big Japanese dinner is on the way. Mmmmm... Japanese.

Fish Market.

Pirate's Plunder.

Ivar's and its current residents.

Firmen with a sense of humor? Rope dummy?

Cardinals Game & MO

After we were in Wisconsin for a while and lil' Jared's blessing, we went down to Missouri. We had a lot of fun there. One of the major things we did was see a St. Louis Cardinas game. That was so cool. My family and I haven't been in the new stadium before and it was cool to see. The best part about going to this Cardinals game was that they won. And we got to see Pujols do a grand slam! So cool! Too bad the little boy was crying. He wasn't a fan of the loud noises. He was better once Oba and Amber got cotton balls for his ears though.

Also another day mom kicked us out of the house and we went mini-golfing. The second time in like two weeks for me. And later we went to a water park. It was fun for a small park. At least I go to spend time with friends and family.

Parker enjoying some Gobstoppers.

Zak and Madi

Children's Parade

Last Saturday was a fun adventure. I had just been picked up from Rexburg by Granni and Granddad the day before and decided to call my mom that night to tell her I got there o.k. Then she tells me that Annette, Glenn, and the kids are with Gma and Gpa and to call them to see if they want to do something. I call Annette and she tells me about the Children's Parade.

When Annette picks me up from Granni and Granddad's house she tells me that we have to search for a princess outfit for Taylor. It takes Annette and I forever to find one but the one we found turned out to be really cute, although really expensive. It would shimmer anytime it was in the sunlight.

When we finally go to the parade we ended up being near the end of it. Annette begins to wonder if she and Taylor should just join the parade and then Gma tells them to. So they do. Who wouldn't believe that a cute little girl dressed as a princess wasn't in the parade? No one stopped them so everything turned out well. Everyone who saw Taylor was all like, "Look at the cute princess! <3" She even got some free stuff from people who were selling their wares. It was a fun time.

I'm an Aunt!

Meet Jared Walker Hansen. He was born yesterday around 6 p.m. central time. He's 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 20 in. tall. Isn't he cute?