Fishlake Hansen Reunion

Drew and I got to go to Fishlake for the Hansen reunion the weekend before moving down to St. George and boy were we glad we got to go!! It was a blast and a well needed -get-a-way- before the big move and the stresses that would come with it.

 We spent most the time playing games with all our family, laughing lots, and eating plenty of good food.

 How else do you think we keep our figures? Let's be honest. Ha ha our family LOVES food!

We also love the outdoors. 

 One evening we took a trip to the lake with some of the cousins. 

 We walked around Twin Creeks and some of the kids were crazy enough to go out in the lake. 

 There they go!

 If you're not familiar with Fishlake, it is a very deep water lake that is extremely cold! 

 

That is why I say those kids were crazy.

I stayed on the shore happily dry with my camera and the sun shining on my cheeks. 

It's also a big tradition for our family to take part in the famous Minute-to-Win-it game challenges!! We had a blast competing against each other. This year's challenges consisted of the booty shaker (as shown below), rubber band shooting contests, potato dropping contests, oreo face races, and balloon + cup blowing contests. 

 Drew and I dominated at the rubber band shooting contest. I won him the first round, but he ended up beating me the second time around. But hey-- we're both pretty dang good at shooting them so watch out! 

Also, my dad found an odd shaped cinnamon bear in his bag of cinnamon bears that I thought looked like a sloth... So I kept it. But I eventually ate it.

If any of you know me, you know that I absolutely love sloths. I have since I was in 2nd grade.

So if you ever want to get me a present, I wouldn't mind a sloth t-shirt or sloth stuffed animal or sloth toy figure.

That's all for now.

Love,

Kate

Welcome to Hansen Stadium!

This is our view from our porch! We're pretty fortunate to live right next to the university. And not to mention, the "Hansen" Stadium. How cool is that!?

We love our little apartment. Luckily we have an extra room for storage right now! I don't think we could fit everything we have without that second room. Thank goodness! 

Below is a pic of my fun little project of frames and mirrors that I mixed and matched together. I love it! 

And these are our fun pillows. The ones on the very far left and very far right were actually made by my great-grandma Lynn Jones. They are beautiful and I am so lucky to have them! They'll definitely be cherished forever.

 Although our apartment isn't much right now, it sure is fun to dress it up a bit here and there! 

 We'll be here for at least a year. We're not sure where we'll be in a year, but hopefully it will be somewhere near.. especially because we like the ward we are in so far! Guess we'll see how this next year goes.

 Above is just a little clutter of things that I put together. I made the top left frame full of pictures by finding a frame at D.I., discarding of the glass, spray painting it blue, and then collecting mine and Drew's instagram pictures, printing them, and stringing them on thin string across the frame. It's a fun and cheap way to display some the pictures we took before we were married!! 

 The above picture is located in our kitchen, :) and below is our bedspread + pillows!

We LOVE it!!!

 My wonderful grandma Micki made us these cute pillows as a gift. She is so incredibly talented!!! 

We always go to bed with a goodnight kiss and we always wake up with a "good morning beautiful/hi there handsome!"

That right there is the best way to wake up every morning.

 And this pic below is the best I could do with our bathroom for now. I used some of our wedding decor in here (if you didn't recognize the blue, yellow, and green already) and we got the cute subway art sign as a gift. 

 So there is a rough tour of our funny little home right now.

I have some projects I am looking forward to in the near future. I will be posting before and after pictures for those future projects but they most likely won't be finished till it starts getting cooler here. It's pretty hot almost every hour of the day here so I think I will wait till October or November to face those projects! 

(Future projects will include painting, staining, and reupholstering our table and chairs, and painting our rocking chair and end table to our couch.)

Wahoo for creating a home!

Love,

Kate

ps. I definitely can't wait to have my own house someday though.. that's for sure ;)

Dixie Rock

Drew and I officially live in St. George now and we both have jobs! We are very busy and finally got internet so now I will be able to blog more often! Keep watching because I will be posting more details soon.

Until then, much love from the Hansens!!

Love,

Kate

10 happenings as of lately

We've been married for an entire month and a couple days! It's unbelievable! Well here is what we have been up to the last couple weeks:

1) We drove up to Bountiful for one of my best friend's wedding! 

Alyssa & Barry tied the knot on June 29th and Drew and I were able to be there to share their special day with them. It was a beautiful day and we had a blast being up there! Drew and I brought my sisters up to spend the weekend with us as well and we got to stay at our aunt Katie's house. It is always so fun to stay with Katie and her husband Briant!! Their house is adorable and they always seem to spoil us. We sure do love them!

We drove back to Richfield and stayed at my parents' home for the 4th of July week.

2) Monday we floated down the canal with the cousins [for Drew's first time ever] and he loved it! Good thing too.. that's a Richfield MUST. hahaha it was a fun time! 

3) We went to Youth Conference.

Tuesday we had the opportunity to go with my ward's youth to their Youth Conference as volunteer helpers. The day began at 7am and didn't end until 9pm. What a day! We drove up to a place past Fishlake and made camp. There we ate breakfast, had some spiritual thoughts, and then headed off on a hike. Our next destination was at a big meadow and that is where we spent most of the day. We built a huge fort, played an intense game of steal-the-flag, did some obstacle courses, and learned more about the war stories in the Book of Mormon. It was a day full of great events! Later that evening we hiked back to camp and ate HUGE turkey legs that were grilled ha! Similar to the ones you can get at Disneyland. They were massive. We ended the fun filled day by learning the haka and putting war paint on our faces. The kids loved every second of the day and by the time we all got home we were all coated in sweat, dirt, and bug bites... but it was worth it. 

Drew and I loved being a part of the youth conference and it was fun to share our testimonies with the kids!

4) Wednesday was the day before the FOURTH OF JULY. 

We watched my sister Kambry play in the 3-on-3 basketball tournament and then spent some time on the park. Drew's parents drove up that evening as well as Alyssa & Barry. We slept out on the tramp with my siblings that night and woke up at 5am to RAIN the next morning! A couple hours later we went to the parade. Linda and Bill drove their Model A (the car we drove away in after we got married;) and my brother Konner, and cousins Gage and Ike drove in the back with them! It was cute!

We spent a little bit of time on the park meeting and greeting people and then we had lunch at Grandma Carol's. It isn't the Fourth of July with out her famous home made rootbeer!  YUM! 

5) We had a BBQ with my mom's side of the family that evening and played some Kubb.

That night after the BBQ we watched the fireworks at Grandma Carol's and ate some watermelon (another favorite tradition). Then it started to down pour. The rain came out of nowhere and it poured like crazy! We didn't get to do our own personal fireworks that night, so it was a little upsetting, but it didn't affect our fun-filled Fourth of July! 

I'm so glad Drew got to experience a "Richfield Fourth of July!" Wahoo! 

They're the best. 

6) The next day (Friday) we went on a four wheeler ride with Alyssa and Barry. 

After our four wheeler ride we went swimming in the canal and jumped off the rope swing! It was a lot of fun! Later that night we invited some friends and family over and we got to do our fireworks. It was chilly, and almost rainy, but it was definitely fun!

7) The next day we left Richfield and came back to Cedar.

8) The past few days we have been just hangin with Drew's family. 

Mark (his twin brother) is home for a few days and luckily their sister Katie is coming home today! So the whole family will be together and we're all so excited! 

9) Yesterday we all went down to St. George and Drew and I applied for a place to live down there... we're crossing our fingers that we can get it! We also applied for some jobs. 

So that's about it for us right now! 

10) We're just enjoying life and loving every minute of being together!

Love,

The Newlyweds

It was a honeymoon type thing.

First off, being married is the bee's knees! I could have never dreamed of such happiness and joy and love! It truly is so wonderful to love someone and to be loved by them in return.

Were you wanting to know what we did for our honeymoon?! Well let me tell you...

Drew and I drove to Capitol Reef the next day and hiked for a bit. We were completely exhausted and it was crazy hot so we didn't hike for long.

We stayed at this amazing bed & breakfast near Capitol Reef and it was marvelous! 

 It was beautiful and peaceful and perfectly lovely!

We spent time by the nearby river, hiked along the cliffs, had picnics, took pictures with the buffalos, and ate at some fancy restaurants. 

[It was really neat and if you love the outdoors/mountains then you would adore this place and I suggest you stay there sometime.]

The lodge had different themed rooms, which was really neat! But the best part is that each room had a stellar view of the beautiful red cliffs and vibrant green orchard just outside of the balcony.

The lodge also has a perfectly placed hot tub right in the middle of a spacious field. We had the privilege to hot tub under the majestic starlit sky one of the nights while we were staying there and it was magical!!! We loved it.

Monday after stopping at a cute little cafe for breakfast, we headed over to Fishlake to stay for the next couple days. We stayed at my grandparents' cabin and they left us a little surprise-- two goblets (a "groom" and "bride" goblet) along with some sparkling grape juice and a symphony chocolate bar. Yum! 

While up to Fishlake we did heaps of things! We went on fourwheeler rides, visited the famous "bum rock" and spent some time at the lake skipping rocks and walking along the shore line.

The second day at Fishlake we got icecream cones and sat out by the lake for a little while. While we were there, beautiful yellow butterflies came near us and didn't ever leave! It was magical!
[I swear almost every single thing we ever did was magical in one way or another. Everything was just right. Everything was just perfect. I married the perfect man, we had a perfect wedding, and our honeymoon was turning out perfectly! It couldn't have gotten any better!!! We were so happy!]

Later that night we grilled up some delicious chicken kabobs! They were so tasty!
[Cooking with Drew is one of my favorite things to do! As a matter of fact, we have so much fun together allllll the time! Even when we're not doing anything at all we still love being together.
I'm tellin ya, married life is the way to go!]  

We visited every lookout point on top of Mytoge Mountain and took heaps of silly pictures together.
We're both so goofy. It's just one of the million confirmations that we're meant to be together.

We went on little hikes here and there, watched a bunch of movies, ate plenty of good food, made friendship anklets... (well, married anklets I guess as he would call them ;), and lounged around a LOT. 

 It was wonderful! I would say that our honeymoon was absolutely perfect!

We even carved our initials & wedding date into a tree.


The last night we were there, we went out to eat at the best restaurant in Fishlake-- Bowery Haven. It was yummy! Afterwards, we hiked along the shoreline and while we were at it, we found a cute little GeoCache that my family had found 2 years previous. We even found our family name! We both thought that was pretty neat :)

The sunsets were phenomenal as was the wildlife. To end our last night we went back to the cabin and had a fire. We drank our last bottle of sparkling fizz and had hot dogs & smores! 

The next day we cleaned up and came home. It was so sad to leave, but we were excited to see our families again!
Our honeymoon was P E R F E C T.

Love,
The Newlyweds 
ps. Isn't Drew so handsome!? He makes my heart melt! I love him so much.

It was more than a dream... 6.7.13

The morning of June 7th, 2013 is still as clear as day. I woke up not remembering ever falling asleep the night before. It didn't matter though because I felt good. I was excited, nervous, and happier than ever. 

It was the day I was able to be sealed to the man of my dreams for time and all eternity. 

It was MY day.

The day I had been dreaming of my entire life.

It was my wedding day.

My two best friends Tiana and Alyssa were able to be there as I was getting ready that morning. Tiana did my makeup and Alyssa helped with my hair a bit. It was really special to have them there with me because they are so dear to my heart.

After eating a little bit of a bagel (because of the lack of apatite I had), Drew & I drove up to Manti with my parents. We exchanged letters and read them aloud to each other on the way up. It was a ride of tears and emotions and it was so special that I will never forget that drive.

Being surrounded by friends and family in that beautiful temple is a picture that I will never forget. The room was filled with love and peace and more joy than I had ever experienced in my life. 

Before we knew it, we were coming out of the temple doors to be greeted by even MORE friends and family! And boy, that sure was a sight! It was such a rush, I can barely remember it! Drew picked me up and spun me around and then kissed me while everyone cheered and clapped and congratulated us! 

We were hurried along by our photographer and after taking pictures with friends and family at the temple, we were finally on our way back to Richfield for the luncheon (and thank goodness our photographer moved us along-- it was getting pretty hot!)

The luncheon was perfect. I had changed into my cute yellow dress that was my Grandma Micki's, and when  everyone was ready, we entered the reception/luncheon hall and walked to the front to join our parents at the head table.

My dad welcomed everyone and thanked them for joining us on our special day and then Drew's dad gave a blessing on the food. Cocomotive catered for us and I am so glad they did because they did a splendid job! We ate delicious buttery-soft crescents with a tasty chicken salad, a fruit kabob, a summery green salad, and a little lemon cake with a chocolate-filled raspberry to top it all off. It was marvelous!

While we ate, my best friend Tiana and & one of Drew's best friends Taylor stood up to give a little speech. (We had asked them to do this prior to the big day so they would be prepared ;)
They both rocked it! It was touching to hear what they had to say and it made us all very happy. We love them so much and appreciate them doing that for us! 

After they gave their little spill, we showed our slideshow that a ward friend made for us of our lives-- from the time we were born up to the day we had our bridals taken. The slideshow is amazing and we both love it so much! It's pretty entertaining to watch, considering how good looking Drew and I used to be when we were younger... ha! ;)

  Drew stood up at the end of the luncheon to thank everyone for sharing our special day with us and he mentioned that if it weren't for each one of them, we wouldn't be the people we are today! It was cute. I swear he is PERFECT!!!! 

Later that evening was the reception. We had lots of help with the finishing touches of the reception hall and  I couldn't have been happier with how it all turned out! It was all exactly how I dreamed it to be! I was so happy! Music was playing, friends and family started gathering in again, the dessert treats and popcorn all looked so good and smelled so good! (And it tasted absolutely delicious!)

Everything was a complete dream come true! 

Drew and I greeted everyone who came through our line and we had little helpers here and there bringing us nut & mint cups along with lemonade and refreshing honeydew water. Before I could even blink, I was already standing near the cake table slicing the delicate off-white cake. It was lemon flavored with strawberry filling and it was dreamy! Luckily Drew and I didn't smash it in each others' faces (wooo! sorry to be a party pooper,) but Drew did smash it on my lips just a little bit on complete accident-- only because I closed my mouth too soon-- HA. So it was my own fault. It was o.k. though because he kissed it off playfully! 

Then I stood with a bouquet to throw to all the single ladies. My first throw was a fail and it went straight up and then straight down... it landed right behind me. How humiliating! Ha ha... so I laughed it off and said that was practice! Then I threw it again --this time perfectly-- and guess who caught it!? The one and only Kambry Jensen! My beautiful sister who will be a senior next year! (ha ha you're a wee bit too young to get married, but no worries... you caught the bouquet! that means SOMETHING is in store for you ;)

After that, Drew took off the garter (he's so funny) and flung it to all the single men. Tiana's friend Jordan caught it and he was so proud! It was fun to see how happy he was!

After those events, the floor was cleared and the song "Butterfly Kisses" came on and it was time to dance with my dad. This was a moment I had dreamed about ever since I was a little girl... There was a time in my life at a very young age that I made the decision that I would dance to that song with my dad at my wedding someday. And there is no doubt I would cry. That song has been one of our favorite songs as I have been growing up and it has so much meaning to it.

"She'll change her name today. 

She'll make a promise and I'll give her away.

Standing in the bride-room just staring at her,

She asked me what I'm thinking and I said

'I'm not sure- I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl.'

She leaned over...

Gave me butterfly kisses with her mama there,

Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair

'Walk me down the aisle Daddy, it's just about time.'

'Does my wedding gown look pretty daddy? Daddy, don't cry.'

Oh, with all that I've done wrong I must have done something right,

To deserve her love every morning and butterfly kisses."

Holy cow. How can you not cry? It's such a tender song and it was so perfect to dance with my father to. We just danced and stared at each other as memories flowed down our face in the form of tears.

He whispered, "you're beautiful Kate"

and 

"you're so precious..."

Wow, it was such an emotional 5 minutes! But it was so beautiful and I am so grateful I had those 5 minutes to be with my dad. It was a moment I will never ever forget. I love him so much and I am so grateful for him. He will always, always be my father.

After the song got over, he escorted me over to Drew and gave me away. 

Drew brought me out to the dance floor as the song, "All About Us" came on.

The mood lightened and I heard people chuckle as Drew sung the lyrics to me and spun me around. He spun himself around a couple times too! It was a perfect first dance song for us. Absolutely PERFECT! 

After our dance got over, the song "I Do" came on and we invited everyone onto the dance floor to join us! It was a blast! For a short moment we danced around with our friends and family. Everyone was smiling and laughing and having heaps of fun. It was a glimpse of heaven.
After we got done dancing around, everyone gathered outside to send us away.

When we were ready, we left the building and entered a starlit sky full of bubbles and family and friends waving goodbye. We climbed into Drew's dad's remodeled Model A car and we drove away! Cute cans that my family had decorated clanked behind us and blue, yellow, and green tissue paper balls followed us as well. Drew's dad drove us and honked the old "awoooguh" horn! 

It was fun to drive off in his special car! 

And that is the story of the first day of the best days of our lives.

...it was more than I could have ever imagined. 

I get to now be with my best friend for all eternity. I get to see him every day of my life and I get to laugh, cry, learn, and grown with him all of our days. I love him so much and I am so grateful to have him by my side for always and forever.

And now I am here to say that dreams really do come true! 

....and if you're lucky, they're better than you could ever imagine! 

Love,

Kate

It's almost here!

            This is really happening!!!!!! FOUR DAYS!

Love,

Kate