Parker's school year

Parker finished out (another) great year of preschool. He loved every minute of it! His favorite days were the ones where he got to be the "Special Helper". In fact, he made sure we came home a day early from St. George so that he wouldn't miss one of his big day as "Special Helper".  One funny thing that his teacher noted during PTC was that he had to make sure every student's crayons were put away in their correct trays each day... what?! I wish he were that anal with his things at home!

Here he is with Mrs. Van Ausdal and his cute buddies and neighbors whom we carpooled with each day (they only went Tuesdays and Thursdays). Rest assured those were some lively car rides with those three bouncing off the walls. Parker had so much fun with these friends and loved his
after-school playdates with them!

Parker passed off each and every book he brought home to read each week. Here are some of the ones he learned to read! He did such a great job and we are so proud of him. Learning comes easy to Parker. He absorbs everything we teach him pretty much the first time around and seems to comprehend most concepts. His little brain is always turning! His in depth questions are endless, literally from the moment he wakes up (at the crack of dawn) to bed time. He is such a sweetheart (minus a few tantrums he still seems to give) and we just adore him!

Unfortunately, more is taught in preschool these days than public school Kindergarten...hopefully he won't mind re-learning letters again next year! Aghh!

Dancey

I know I haven't mentioned it, but Emmie took a ballet/tap/jazz class this last year, starting last September. She loved it!
Around our house, her class was better known as "dancey".

My little dreamer girl....
her attention span lasted about 8 minutes total of the 60 minute class, but she loved her "dancey" nonetheless! At home she'd practice her moves and show me how she'd use her plies to fend off any "bad guys".
Maybe I should have signed her up for karate? ;)
Despite her attention span (or lack thereof) and interesting use of her learned moves, she really enjoyed the class. The dance studio was great and super close to our house.
 We will definitely be signing up again next year.

 
Snow White even came to visit the class in February. Don't you just love her (Emmie's) princess pose?



Yep, that's my Emmie, the only one without a princess dress on! Yikes, I felt so bad! Mother of the Year Award for that one. We had a lot going on and had missed the previous week, so I forgot her princess attire that morning. Awesome. But aren't these girls the cutest?! And their moms were just as 'cute'! I loved getting to know some of them during our one day a week chat sessions while our girls danced. :) Even Parker made a friend there and is excited to be in the same Kindergarten class with him next year.

Her "professional" dance pic taken just in May, wearing one of her recital costumes.

This was such a cute little baseball dance! We were in Texas on June 1st -the night of the recital, so we actually ended up missing it. But that's okay!

 

 I love watching my kids develop their talents and find out what they like and what they don't. Next year she's also going to take gymnastics... which was my "sport" when I was a kid.
We'll see how she likes it!

Families are Forever

The Hansen clan just 9 months ago.

Adorable Atticus sitting proudly on Grandpa's lap...

 

8 months later in TX...

It's crazy how life can change in the blink of an eye.

Isn't that the truth. 

I received this lesson a few years back when my brother died.

It was brutal. I couldn't breathe. I was devastated. And shocked. For a long, long, time.

It still hurts. It always will.

I retook this dreaded lesson on another level most recently with the loss of our sweet nephew Atticus. The premature loss of a loved one is definitely not a course anyone anticipates or expects that they will be forced into.

 It's an agonizing one.

 An absolute life changing one.

 A nightmare.

 When we heard of Atti's diagnosis this last January, we were floored.

SHOCKED and incredibly heartbroken do not begin to sum it up.

I'd never seen Chris so upset before in my life.

But then, it's not everyday that your nephew is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

We were pretty depressed and had a hard time functioning. We just couldn't begin to believe that this was happening. Our hearts just ached for what we knew was coming. What we saw happening. I braced myself knowing the horror that I went through in losing my brother would soon be Eric and Cindy's reality but unimaginably even worse, in losing their SON.

 The thought truly left me in panic attacks. 

We felt so helpless.

 And were.

Especially by the fact that this was all taking place in Texas, while we sat in Utah.

Over the last 5 months, amidst the heartbreak and devastation there were miracles that were witnessed. Beautiful moments and memories were made. Quality time was given and some amazing things happened.

We were so thankful for the opportunity to go back to visit Atti in Texas about a month ago. We cherished our time with our sweet nephew.

 {I have many pictures to post from that trip but it's just too much to revisit right now.}

 We got back from Texas on a Monday, and received the dreaded news that Atti passed away the following Sunday, the day before Memorial Day.

With broken hearts, we packed up and headed back to Texas for the funeral.

 I took a few pictures at the graveside service, but out of respect for Cindy and Eric I don't think I'll share but just these few and several things I want to remember from that day...

Atticus had been declared an honorary deputy sheriff a few weeks prior. The department had a uniform made for him and everything. It was absolutely adorable. They had a big ceremony for him which made the local news.
Clearly, the entire police force fell in love with him that day.
So rather than Atti's casket being transported in a traditional hearse, (sp?) he went in a police Tahoe, and the entire funeral procession had a police escort to the cemetery! That whole line of cars in the left picture is part of the procession - and that was just a small part of it! They had all the intersections police-barricaded for us. Bystanders were coming out and staring, wondering what in the world was going on.
And it wasn't just a short drive from the church to the cemetery.
 It was AMAZING.
 I'm sure Atticus thought it was the coolest thing.

Atticus' adorable little brother, Isaac, aka Chunk.
 I truly feel that the veil is thin for these little ones and I am certain he knows his big brother is watching over him. I love this picture of he and Emmie, with his hand on the band just above "Atticus".

As the graveside service came to an end, I was super touched when these darling little friends of Atti's and Isaac's suddenly encircled Isaac. In the reverent manner in which they did this I could feel of their love for Chunk and for his brother, and had a strong impression of Atticus being there and loving and appreciating these precious friendships. It just seemed a symbol that Isaac was going to be well taken care of and watched out for. These cute little girl's mom has been a tremendous blessing to Eric and Cindy throughout this journey. We've been so grateful for all the amazing Texas friends and ward members who have taken such good care of them throughout all of this.

The "Angels for Atticus" wristbands were blue and orange, so in celebration of Atticus that day much of the family and friends attending wore those colors.

 If you can call a funeral beautiful, it was. Every last detail that was planned out was amazing. Very touching. Cindy shared the most amazing poem. It can be read HERE. And Eric gave the most heartfelt, beautiful talk I have EVER heard. You can read it HERE. Take a kleenex. He spoke directly to Atticus and WOW was it incredible. Truly!
 I was so proud of both of them. Talk about a hard thing to speak at your child's funeral.
 But they did it and they did it beautifully and with grace.

 It was the most heart wrenching thing I have ever witnessed to stand by helpless as Cindy and Eric grieved over their sweet son.
Our hearts just ache for them.
I am so grateful for the knowledge that we will se Atticus again. I know that we will. I am so grateful  for his life and all that we have learned from his amazing little spirit.  We have been tremendously blessed by him and all that he has taught us.
We love you Buddy!