Summer Snapshots

BYE BYE CHAPARRAL . . . HELLO LOVE!

The day we said goodbye to the Chaparral was a torrential downpour.

The first time I meet my new boyfriend . . .

Bye bye Chappy! We'll miss you, but luckily we get to see you at Powell!

Avery decided to dump a big puddle of water off the boat cover and on to me.

LAKE MEAD

Lawn bowling with Papa Mac and Val.

Look at that expert form . . .

CONVERTING THE MALIBU SEATING

Dad and I in our make-shift shade.

When we got the Malibu there were two captains chairs but we decided to convert the seating into wrap-around seating, so Dad and I got to work.

First, we stripped out the whole left side of the boat . . .

Then we stood on our heads for a while . . .

And now, whala, roomy, wrap-around seating!

THURSDAYS

Our appointed day to explore Salt Lake.

MISSION CALL TO JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA!

I opened my mission call on the lake, unfortunately in our excitement to get to the lake to open the call we forgot the camera . . . but it looked a little like this . . .

HANSEN FAMILY REUNION AT THE BAUCOM'S RANCH


Wiffle-ball tournament

Dad and Homer

Chillin' on the porch

Papa Mac, Val and Emily on the "Alligator"

FLAMING GORGE

The Red-Hot-Chili-Pepper on our Forth of July camping trip . . . randomly, I couldn't find anymore pictures from this trip.

LAKE POWELL . . . A LITTLE BIT OF PARADISE

The kids, and Dad, Cliff jumping

Avery surfing

Watching the firework show from the tramp

Our shaving rock this year was brilliant, plenty of room to shave with a nice place to layout afterwards.

Superman

FIRST ANNUAL HARRY POTTER BIRTHDAY PARTY!

To celebrate the great wizard's birthday (July 31) this year we decided to throw a party.

During dinner, which consisted of:

-House Elf Pies

-Butterbeer

-Dragon's Blood

-Herbology platter

-Cockroach clusters

-Licorice wands

-Chocolate wands

-Acid pops

-Treacle Tart

We played trivia games.

Then we held a Triwizard Tournament to see which school could create the best dragon . . .

Hogwarts students Emilee, Cate, Kirsten, and Nate Pope with their dragon.

Durmstrang students Nate, Carl, Carly, and Rachael with their dragon.

And Beauxbatons students Sarah, Luna Lovegood (me), Professor Umbridge (Avery), and Belatrix (Danielle) with our dragon.

We all had a wicked time and Harry even made an appearance . . .

And became Carl's date for the movie.

JACKSON LAKE

I love skiing with this backdrop! Jackson is truly heaven on earth, and we were lucky enough to have our cousin Brit come with us this time! The water was a toasty 61F (except for our 45F polar bear swim) but the air was a little chillier than usual this year.

Leek's Marina pizza night with the Carabines

Morning hike up Signal Mountain, the boys were too lazy to wake up and come with us.

Nate and Brit with the Grand Teton

The boys tipping trees on our hike to Hidden Falls

Avery and I after our hike to Hidden Falls

On our last night at Jackson the Tetons got a frosting of snow . . .

The boys weren't too excited that I wanted to walk the String Lake trail before we headed home, they said that their faces were numb . . .

The Red-Hot-Chili-Pepper and the Grand Teton . . .

DID I MENTION BOATING?

I got a few from the London crew out on the boat, Emilee, Laura and Kaitlyn, it took all summer but we finally made it!

The Last Time I went to Florida . . .

As most of you know, I am preparing to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Jacksonville Florida. As part of this preparation I have been doing a little studying up on Florida . . . including the last (and only) time I went to Florida. Here is a photo journal of the last time I visited Florida.

The Last Time I went to Florida . . .

I was 12 years old, fanny-packs were "in" and we spent most of our time at Disney World. Can you spot me in this photo? Let me give you a hint, look for the peg-legs.

Grandpa and Grandma Brown took their alien fighting responsibilities seriously.

Avery and Brit were adorable-itty-bitty-6-year-olds!

Did I already mention that fanny-packs were "in?" Especially while paired with a swimming suit, tee-shirt and sunglasses.

We visited Kennedy Space Center, Grandpa was fascinated and the kids were bored after a couple of minutes.

We swam, played mermaids, built sand castles, and swam some more.

We had our first visit to the Atlantic Ocean in the black of night and Nate was convinced we would be eaten by Jaws.

Dad, John, Zach and I went to Waterski School and I learned to ski the course.

Zach and I weren't too sure about our . . . um, interesting waterski instructor.

Grandpa became a camera-wielding, fanny-pack-wearing Rock Star!

Nate got hit in the stomach by a fast-shooting football at NFL Training Camp.

The last time I went to Florida I had a blast!

ASCEND YouTube Contest

ASCEND recently asked all of its interns to create a video to share on YouTube. As with many similar tasks, only three teams participated. Nevertheless, there is still a competition to see which video wins so pass this around to all your friends!

The "winning" video is determined solely on the number of views, so feel free to watch your favorite multiple times or pass it on.

Run for a Cause

If any of you are runners out there here's your chance to run for a great cause. Matt and Jake Cowden of Cottonwood High School have teamed up with ASCEND and organized a 5K race to help build a school in Ethiopia. The race will be held on Saturday, 18 July. If you are unable to run there are other opportunities to help these young men complete their Eagle Scout project!

Portraits of Instability

Today, while doing some research for my internship at ASCEND alliance, I found two tragic but interesting photo essays. The first is titled Portraits of Instability and shows haunting images of many fragile countries throughout the world where people live in abject poverty. The photo above is from this collection and it just breaks my heart. The next is called The Land of No Smiles and is a photo essay of North Korea. My interest was peaked because I know so little about North Korea and have always wondered what life is like in such a country. I think the most shocking picture in this collection is the one taken of the streets in the capital city. Both these essays aren't very long so if you have a minute check them out.

"I found It in the hedge row. . ."

My sister and I have been talking about yellow roses.

A couple weeks ago I got my mom and sister to watch the BBC version of "North and South," a brilliant adaptation of one of my favorite novels. As the film began my sister groaned: "Not one of these!" She associates 19th century classics with Jane Austen, and she's not too keen on Austen, actually, she hates Austen.

"You'll like this one," I told her. And she did.

In the final scene of the film Mr. Thornton and Margaret's paths cross on a train platform and the following takes place:

Mr. Thornton: You'll not guess where I've been.
[Thornton pulls a yellow rose from his pocket]
Margaret: You've been to Helstone! I thought those had all gone!
Mr. Thornton: I found it in the hedge row. You have to look hard.

Thus we have been talking about yellow roses.

My sister had a sleepover at her friend's house Wednesday night and when she got home yesterday afternoon I was up cleaning my room. As soon as she was in the door she was calling my name and came running up the stairs with something behind her back. Playing along, I ignored whatever she was hiding and asked her how the sleepover was.

"Good," she said and then handed my a yellow rose. My eyes lit up with excitement. "I found this in the hedge row," she said in her best British accent. And then we laughed.

A yellow rose is romantic.

ASCEND: a humanitarian alliance

I am currently interning at ASCEND alliance and one of our cute interns just got our main blog up and running so check it out here!!! It's a work in progress but you should be hearing a lot from all of the interns about current events in the humanitarian world as well as personal thoughts and feelings about the work we are doing.

Mad Lib written by the Hansen family a few miles from Lake Mead

On revisiting the waters for Memorial Day weekend, May 22 2009

FAIRY TALES AND ROMANCE

If a story begins "Once upon a Lake Mead," you know you are about to read

a fairy Nevada. It is amazing how these speedy stories remain indelibly etched

in our hands. Who can forget "Snow Purple and the Seven Weeds," "Beauty

and the Thuro Bailey," or "Little Red Texting Hood?" Fairy tales introduced us

to the magical world of wicked boats; big, wanting wolves; stubby wizards;

and dwarfs who wore funny numbers. These remarkable stories taught us that

good always triumphs over Papa Mac and made us believe in the unsightly

power of a kiss. Why not? One good smack on the nipple could change a frog

into a handsome sky, enabling him to marry the moon of his dreams and live,

as is written in all these romantic stories, hotly ever after.

"Being on a boat that's moving through the water, it's clear. Everything falls into place in terms of what's important and what's not." ~James Taylor

My life practically began on a boat. This boat actually . . .

Papa Mac and Nana's Orange Gulfstream.

Being first time parents, Mom and Dad decided to accompany the Hardings to Jackson Lake for a camping trip when I was two weeks old. Of course I didn't mind . . . I just slept in my little orange life jacket while the family played on the water, but my parents didn't understand why all the other campers were making such a big fuss. My life on the lake progressed nicely after that.

I found this picture of Mom and me on Jackson Lake. Obviously this isn't the Orange Gulfstream but my cousins' Grandparent's boat.

There were many times when Dad strapped me into the yellow-trainer-skis and threw me overboard, as I screamed and attempted to kick the skis off. "You can't get back in the boat until you've skied," Dad would tell me. Bribes were also involved. "If you ski you can get a new Barbie. Do you want a Barbie?" the adults would clamor. My aversion to the water didn't last long. Soon I was pouting if someone got to ski before me.

In 2000, Mom and Dad decided it was time to get a boat of our own and I was thrilled.

This is the first day we took the Chaparral out on the lake. Yes I'm wearing sweats, I had a fever that day. The Chaparral has been the best boat. It's been our baby.

But the past few years I've been bugging the parents for an inboard because it has a smaller wake for skiing as well as the added bonus of wake surfing. So, upon my return from London Mom and I went to work on Dad, because we know that Dad needs a lot of thinking time before a big purchase. I got online and designed my own boats, printing them out and placing them strategically around the house. When the boat show rolled around I grabbed my "boats" and dragged Dad around to the salesmen, letting the professionals do their work. But Dad's a salesman and knows the ploys. Mom and I never gave up. I began slipping my boat printouts under Dad's pillow so that he could "sleep on it" and the boat catalogs under the bathroom door for a little light reading. Dad wanted a new boat just as much as the rest of us but he had to be convinced that it was the logical and economical thing to do! To our delight Dad began searching for boats too. And I began to hope, this just might actually happen!!!

As the weeks past my hope began to fail. We couldn't find exactly what we were looking for and then there was the issue of money. Two Saturdays ago Dad and I were up skiing at Snowbird and Dad carefully told me that we would probably end up waiting a year or two before getting a new boat. Although I was sad, I understood, times are harder and we didn't want to settle. Later that day we were on the Tram and Dad got a phone call from a Malibu dealer in Texas who might have the boat we were looking for but I never heard anything further, I kind of backed-off the not-so-subtle reminders to protect myself when the boat thing didn't pan out.

The Sunday of General Conference we were watching Conference in the basement as a family. As the morning session ended and we got up to find some lunch Dad told us he had something for us. He disappeared into his office and reappeared with a gift-wrapped box for us kids to open. The three of us sat on the floor and I watched as Nate ripped the wrapping paper off and lifted the lid of the box to reveal a piece of paper that said: "Happy . . ." followed by a list of all the holidays for the rest of the year. But what really caught my eye was this picture underneath . . .

I thought Mom and Dad were playing a mean joke on us. I looked at the books underneath the picture in confusion but Dad said, "Those are just there to weigh the box down." I looked up at him and realized that it was no joke and I jumped to my feet and threw my arms around him as I burst into tears.

You know those clips on Funniest Home Videos where the little five-year-old boy bursts into tears upon opening his new game system?

. . .Ya, I had one of those moments. . . .

After I hugged Dad I ran to Mom and cried some more as the family stared at me in bewilderment. I was totally convinced that a boat was not in the cards for this year so I was more than surprised.

I will miss the Chaparral, it has brought us a lot of fun and many adventures, but I know it's going to a great home (my cousins) and we will get to see it at least once a year at Powell. I can't wait to see our new baby, the Malibu, in a couple of weeks . . . stay posted for more info and pics as we rock out the summer on the lake!

Discovery

The other night, as I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, my mind was going a million miles an hour. Finally, after bouncing from a dozen worries and twenty different subjects, I settled on direction. Oddly, this is a subject I often turn to when I'm trying to get to sleep. Don't ask me where this stems from. It's just a part of me. I like to know what direction I face when I sleep. I can tell you that when I sleep at home my head is facing south and my feet are facing north, when I'm at our usual campsite in Lake Powell my head is towards the northwest, in Ghana I was facing the northeast, and in London my head was facing south. As I was going through my sleeping-direction-checklist my thoughts finally slowed and lingered on London.

My whole life I have had a great sense of direction. Sometimes I call it my "sixth sense." From a young age I could name all the canyons of Lake Powell from Bullfrog to the San Juan, without a map. When my mom would take a group of kids out on the boat to play in the canyon I would have to tell her which way was back to the houseboat. When we go backpacking I can easily navigate to wherever I want to go. While travelling, I quickly, and automatically, orient myself to the layout of our location and the corresponding directions. It wasn't until after my graduation from high school, when my mom took my cousin and I to New York City for our senior trip, that I first experienced directional problems. For the life of me I could not gain a sense of direction. Usually I orient myself according to direction without a thought; however, when I was in New York City I had to work to understand cardinal directions and I failed miserably, finally chalking up the experience to our short visit and the confusion of travel. I thought I was rid of that confusion for good.

To my dismay, my directional problems surfaced once again, this time in London. When I arrived I immediately began orienting myself to the city, my home for the next four months. The Tube threw a wrench into the process. I would descend into the flat light, wander through twisted hallways, enter a train, get shaken up a bit, and then wander through some more twisted hallways before emerging back into the fresh air. I struggled with my directions, a great frustration to me, though I would not admit it unless forced. Multiple times I was the one to get a group turned around, something my friends forgave me for . . . after they received the free gelato. Eventually I was able to orient myself in the main areas of the city in relation to specific buildings, landmarks, etc. But don't ask me for cardinal directions. I don't know. Something about being in a big city, especially one with a constant cover of clouds to block the sun's direction, disorients me in a way that nothing else can.

All this passed through my mind as I drifted between consciousness and sleep, and suddenly it occured to me that I just discovered something that has been a part of me for so long that I have never considered the possibility of its abnormality. Do others care what direction they face when they sleep? Or is this a rare quirk?