30 June 2013

. . . addi turns eleven . . .

. . . there will always be something extra special
 about this little lady . . .
. . . on this day in 2002, 
i became a grammy . . .
. . . the girls and i rushed 
straight from the airport to the hospital 
to meet addison leigh hansen . . . 
{and to congratulate her sweet mommy, amber}
. . . we had managed to miss her birth 
the day before 
{she came three and a half weeks early}
 because we had travelled to nauvoo, illinois 
for the dedication of the temple . . .
 {me, addi-1dayold, amber-21, amanda-18, amelia-16. fine . . . i was 43}


. . . i was pretty excited about the way 
this blessing dress turned out . . .
. . . i designed and sewed it 
to match her mama's wedding gown . . .
. . . matte satin and chiffon . . .
. . . lots of horizontal tucks . . .
. . . it was pretty, but she was prettier . . .



. . . and just like that 
{and seven more grandkids later} 
she turned eleven . . .
. . . she's a lovely, smart, funny young lady . . .
. . . with the best hair . . .
. . . and she'll always be my 
favorite oldest grandchild! . . .


26 June 2013

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . back to the cactus garden . . .
. . . i tried to stay on task this week . . .
. . . so --- here it is in all its 
spiky/prickly/deserty glory . . .
. . . cholla, prickly pear, yucca, barrel, 
jumping, saguaro, organ pipe . . .
. . . wait! organ pipe? . . .
. . . i should like that one . . .
. . . nope . . .
. . . still not my fave . . .


. . . and then from quite a distance . . .

{hello, blurry photo!}

. . . i spotted yet another 
cute wedding couple posing . . .
. . . with their photographer sitting 
smack dab in the middle of the street . . .
. . . and the bride's dress was adorable . . .


19 June 2013

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . i thought maybe i'd get 
a shot of the cactus garden 
located on the southwesternish corner 
of the temple grounds . . .
. . . but cactus aren't really my favorite . . .
. . . and then i got distracted 
by this cute couple 
posing for their wedding photos . . .
. . . and started thinking 
"they've gotta be melting" . . .
. . . and remembering posing on our wedding day 
in front of the cactus garden . . .
. . . and then i discovered my photo 
had been bombed by cactus spikes . . .
. . . and that's the crazy way my mind works . . .


16 June 2013

. . . the sweetest dad . . .

. . . we're so lucky 
we've got crafty 
and creative daughters . . .
. . . bless their hearts . . .
. . . they seriously have 
to wrack their brains 
over gifts to give their dad . . .
. . . trust me . . .
. . . he has plenty of pajama pants . . .
. . . from me . . .
. . . that's all i can ever think of 
to get for him! . . .

. . . this fathers day candy bar poster 
they came up with was darling . . .
. . . and very nicely made, 
i might add! . . .


. . . here's the whole thing . . .


. . . now ~ let's break it down . . .
. . . and i'll translate . . .

dad: your runts and grandbabies 

want to take uno momento 
to tell you how much our pop rocks 

you are the "swed"est dad
you're always extra nice 

you're never too cool to act 
like a nerdy airhead

your [tricks] always manage 
to make us snicker 

 thanks for putting up 
with us goobers and duds

and krabby patties 

your life lately has been a sour patch 

you're good at rolling with the punches 

hope you have a great payday 

and take time 
to enjoy the simple pleasures ~ 
you're our lifesaver 

love you to pieces, 
the three musketeers ("amber...aman...amel...
whatchamacallit!")
and mr. goodbar 
(aka golden child)


12 June 2013

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . if you really want to know 
what to plant . . .
. . . and when to plant it . . .
. . . keep your eye on the temple gardens . . .
. . . those gardeners really know 
what they're doing . . .
. . . even lowly lantana grows better 
and looks prettier 
under their expert care . . .
. . . these photos were taken 
just three weeks apart . . .

 {22may2013}


{12june2013}

. . . quite the growth spurt, wouldn't you say? . . .


09 June 2013

. . . row row row thirteen . . .

. . . well --- it's no surprise 
that she saved the best for last . . .
. . . this was definitely 
my favorite of all lori's rows . . .
. . . originally posted 
on 6 march 2013 . . .
. . . i mean --- who doesn't love tulips? . . .

. . . how about a step by step 
instagram recap? . . .








. . . i love the way they're staggered 
up and down across the row . . .

{total number of pieces in row 13: 192 [seriously]}
{total number of pieces in rows 1-13: 1619 [seriously]}


06 June 2013

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . i felt like a pioneer as i 
walkedandwalkedandwalkedandwalked to get this photo . . .
. . . the temple property 
is enormous . . . 
. . . thank you early mesa settlers! . . .
{including my ancestors}
. . . then i felt weird 
standing there all alone 
on main street 
in church clothes . . . 
. . . but the picture is pretty, no? . . .


. . . this large lawn is where 
many, many thousands of people 
sit to watch the pageant 
every easter season . . .
{it takes months for the grass to recover from all those chairs and people} 
. . . they construct 
the massive pageant stage
just to the right of this lawn . . . 
. . . my car is parked in the space
 absolutely farthest away 
from where i was standing 
to snap this shot . . .
. . . i'm grateful i get 
to spend time here every week . . .


05 June 2013

. . . hayden at ten months . . .

. . . i {shall we say?} borrowed this photo 
from drew's instagram feed . . . 
. . . this baby is a beauty . . .

. . . the day when she lives closer to us
 can't come soon enough . . . 


04 June 2013

. . . taggster . . .

. . . happy fifth birthday  
to the littlest hansen boy . . .
. . . tagg christan . . .
. . . he'll be heading to kindergarten 
in the fall . . .
. . . which is strange . . .


. . . since it seems like 
he was just born yesterday! . . .