Been a long time

So it's been too long. A lot has happened. We moved to a new house in Ridgefield, WA. It's just 20 min. north of Vancouver, but a smaller town. It is a little bit like Hooper. There is one main street with a few shops and restaurants and no stop lights. We really like it here and will stay for a long time. The kids are great. Payton is doing Joy school and can't wait for kindergarten so she can ride the bus. Cole is loves wearing his new Cars underwear and can't get enough of playing with his cars and trains and with his big sister. Brody just turned 1 and is ready to start walking any day.

This is kind of a lame post but I wanted to get it out there that I am traveling to Haiti on Feb. 9 on a medical mission. It is with a group from Portland called the Society of Haitian Arts and Culture. 15 of us firefighter/paramedic/EMTs from Portland Fire are teaming with local nurses and doctors to go give medical care in some of the smaller cities surrounding and inside Port-au-prince. SHAC is a non-profit group. We are trying to do as much fundraising as possible before we leave. I am asking anyone that can to talk to friends and family about giving to this effort if you can. We are trying locally to collect medical supplies. I hate asking, but it is really expensive to do this kind of thing. Thank you in advance and I will try to be better at keeping this up to date.

If you would like to give, please email, call me or leave a comment and I will contact you.

Big Trip

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to Wisconsin to visit my brother Geoff and his wife Kellee. My mom and dad made it out too, so this was the first time in over two years that the entire Hanson family has all been together. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures with the whole family, duh!

It took 5 planes and over 9 hours to make it there and back, but we made it. Brody and Cole were on our laps almost the entire time, but they were free! Payton was the only one who got her own seat the entire time, lucky girl.

Geoff and Kellee have an Alaskan Malamute named Azi. Payton loved to play with him and have him chase her around the yard. Cole, on the other hand, took a little longer to warm up. After 5 days he was willing to talk to Azi through the door and he actually pet him a few times. Now Cole howls like Azi whenever we mention his name or we see another dog.

The main reason we went was for Geoff and I to run the Ice Age 50 mile race. This was Geoff's 13th 50 miler but my first. This was around the marathon point and I felt like I was just starting to warm up.

There were a bunch of aid stations throughout the course and I got to see the fam at a lot of them. It was great to see them and it helped keep me going when I was beat.

They all worked so hard, too bad Emily and Kellee didn't get a nap break.

Right after an aid station.



And off again. This is at the 43.1 mile mark.

Finally done! 10 hours and 21 minutes. Geoff finished around an hour before me, but he was having some knee problems, so he just took it easy.

My cheerleaders!

It was great to spend so much time with my family.

Catching up the past few weeks.

Today was Brody's blessing day. He is a happy kid and looked great! He is starting to smile so much more now and loves his big brother and sister.

Emily's sister Dorothy came to visit this week, so while I was at work, they all went to the Portland temple and hung out and took some great pictures.

Easter Sunday!

Some loot from an egg hunt.

Here is a day at the Portland Children's Museum. We have a pass and go a few times a month. The kids go nuts with face painting, dress-up, playing in the water, grocery shopping, a Bob the Builder exhibit and a ton of other fun things. (Cole is wearing a dinosaur tail by the way.)

Two Fit Ladies.

Here are my girls working hard.

Emily was recruited onto a woman's volleyball team for the Portland league that I play in on a men's team, so the fitness has been bumped up a notch.

Big Kid Bed!

So, Cole figured out how to climb out of his crib about a week ago. We moved Payton's old bed into their room and pulled out the no fall thingy. It has been interesting trying to keep them both in their beds at night and to have them fall asleep at a decent hour. There have been nights when they have played for 3 or 4 hours before they fell asleep. It is cool though, Payton said today that she really likes to share a room with Cole because he is "a lot of fun"(her words). It is so cool to see these guys growing up.

Proud Dad

This was Cole's first time throwing the football overhand with just one hand. There was even a decent spiral once. Boys, notice the music in the backround.

50K = How many miles? Are you kidding me?!!

Today was Chris' first ultra marathon. We packed the kids (and the unbelievable amount of gear needed to go anywhere with children) into the car and headed out this morning at 5:45 AM for Hagg Lake, about an hour South of us in Oregon. The drive and then the lake was incredibly beautiful and reminded us of why we love it so much here in the Northwest. (You should all move here!) Chris started the run at 8 AM and finished at about 1:30 PM. That's right, he ran for 5.5 hours straight! Sound fun to anyone else? Not me! As crazy as I think he is for doing it, I do totally respect him for being disciplined enough to train and then go through with the full 31 miles (that's a 50K, by the way!). Oh, and don't forget that I envy him for having 5.5 hours to himself! (Just a selfish side note there! =)) I'm pretty sure I would have started hitch-hiking as soon as the first hill made its appearance though. Or 2 miles... Whichever came first! So what is the madness behind it all, you ask? He's training for a 50 miler with his brother in Madison, WI in May. Crazy, I know! Anyway, he did awesome and was totally exhausted but happy with his run when he was finished. The kids and I actually missed him crossing the finish line because he finished about 30 minutes faster than we thought. His official time was 5 hours and 41 minutes. Cool! Oh, so a little side note... During the race the kids and I drove back about 45 minutes to a children's play place where we had a great hour. Then Cole decided to have the largest public tantrum that I have experienced as a parent. To make things more fun, Brody was screaming because Cole was screaming (can you believe that some girl pointed out to me that Brody was crying??? "Your baby is crying" she says. REALLY????!!!!!) and Payton decided to play Houdini in the jungle for about 10 minutes during it all. When she finally came out she couldn't find me since I was dealing with the terrors and the worker bees ended up paging "Emily, Payton's mom, to the lost children booth". Ahhh!!! That play time wasn't embarrassing or infuriating AT ALL!