Skiing!

Quincy & Grace - First Day of Skiing - 12/29/2007 at Eldora Mountain Resort

Quincy in Action

Gracie doing the "French Fry" move

We have just returned home after a weekend trip to the Bowser Cabin in Nederland, Colorado (about 17 miles northwest of Boulder). While the roads up Boulder Canyon were dry and easy to drive, the evergreens and mountains were covered with a beautiful white snow. It was definitely a picture from a Rockwell painting, or definitely painted a picture of what John Denver fell in love with that inspired his song "Rocky Mountain High."

After a cold but restful night on Friday, we were up early to head up the road to Eldora Ski Resort where Quincy and Grace had their first taste of skiing. We decided to enroll them in a 3-hour ski school to learn the fundamentals, and at the end of the day, they both enjoyed it though tiredness, hunger and Gracie's argument with a "mean girl" at ski school briefly sapped their enthusaism! I think Quincy expected to be traversing the double-black diamond runs by the end of the day, but he did learn all the fundamentals so that we can get him up to the family slope area at Eldora sometime soon. They both got report cards showing they had mastered straight skiing (aka the "French Fry") and the wedge (aka the "Pizza") and getting on and off the in-ground ski lift (the Magic Carpet).

While the kids were at ski school, Mom and Dad got a couple of hours to do some skiing as well. Though Erik seemed to easily return to skiing form, I quickly found out that I'm not in the same shape I was six years ago, which was the last time I was on skis. I did have a great time and Erik and I both agreed that we are going to make skiing a priority again. B.K. (before kids), we had season passes and skiied almost every weekend. It will be great to renew this hobby and share it with the kids.

This morning (Sunday) we awoke to a soft snowfall but swirling winds, so we decided to sit out skiing today. Quincy was disappointed, but it anxiously awaiting our next trip up to the Canyon. On the way home, we stopped to see the latest kid movie "The Water Horse" which was actually enjoyed by all.

This evening, we are settled in at home getting ready to greet a new week and a new year. Quincy and Erik are playing Wii while I write this post. After closing, I think I'll actually get the Christmas cards finished. Again, to those of you finding this blog from our card, sorry for the lateness and please leave us a message and let us know what you're up to!

Until next time...

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

I'm writing today from the beautiful winter wonderland of Colorado! For the first time since 1912, Denver had a "white Christmas" meaning that snow was falling on Christmas Day. It snowed all day on December 25th and then snowed again yesterday. Today, the sun is shining and the neighborhood kids are taking advantage of the snow to build forts and go sledding at the retention pond hill near our house.

We had a very nice Christmas! The kids were very excited to get to bed early to avoid an encounter with Santa, because, as we all know, if you see Santa leaving presents and he sees you, then all of your presents disappear! Quincy had a very hard time falling asleep. Bedtime was 8:30 p.m., but his eyes didn't close until about 10:15 p.m. Then, he was awake at 11:00 p.m., 2:30 a.m. and we finally relented at 5:58 a.m. and let the kids go downstairs to discover their Christmas treasure.

Quincy received a punching bag and gloves, rollerblades and a pirate ship from Santa, while Gracie got a "nap pet" puppy (a realistic looking puppy that is "sleeping" and its back moves up and down like it's breathing), a world map puzzle and a new bike, among other things. By 6:30 a.m. all the presents were opened and the play began. We were able to have a lovely Christmas brunch at Erik's brother (Andy's), fiancee's (Karen) mother's home (did you follow that?), and later spent some time at Holly's parent's home in the evening

Speaking of Holly's parents, George and Virginia Bowser are celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary today. Congratulations, Mom and Dad! Last year, another winter blizzard foiled plans for a big 50th wedding anniversary celebration, so it's nice to see the sun shining on their special day today

We hope that all of you had a very Merry Christmas! If you are logging into the blog for the first time because you received our holiday card (note: Holiday card -- we're late as usual, so none arrived before Christmas and hopefully some will arrive before the New Year), our family update can be found in the December 19th posting! Until next time...

Happy Holidays from the Hansen Family!

Happy Holidays! This year, we decided to forgo the traditional holiday update and jump on the "blogging" bandwagon. Thanks to all of you who surfed over to read the happenings of our family.

2007 was an exciting year for our family and was filled with lots of challenges and our share of fun and "firsts."

Erik started the year in a new job as the Vice President of Marketing for ID Watchdog, a Denver-based company that provides identify theft protection to consumers. Though the new position requires a daily commute to downtown Denver, he is enjoying the challenges associated with working to help build a new and exciting business. And, as if a new job wasn't enough, in January 2007, Erik launched a campaign for Mayor of the City of Thornton. On November 6 -- after nearly 10 months of campaigning -- Erik was elected Mayor with 40% of the vote in a 5-person race. On November 20, Erik was officially sworn in as the Mayor (on Quincy's 6th birthday). It was a very proud moment for our family as he took the reigns of leadership for a growing city with 120,000 residents. Erik and Holly also celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary on September 20th. Unable to take an extended anniversary trip because of the campaign, we're looking forward to a belated trip to Mexico sometime in 2008!

Holly continued her primary duty as "Mom" to Quincy and Grace in 2007 while also managing to teach Marketing, Public Relations, English Composition and remedial English at the University of Phoenix, Colorado Technical University and ITT Tech. Of course, Holly also played the role of "Chief Supporter" in the Hansen for Mayor campaign. Among other exciting highlights of 2007 included a trip to Game 3 of the National League Division Series featuring our beloved Colorado Rockies versus the Arizona Diamondbacks! In her other "free" time, Holly does write an occasional article for the Midlands Business Journal in Omaha (owned and published by Holly's Uncle Bob Hoig) and volunteers at Quincy's kindergarten class twice a month.

Speaking of Quincy, he entered afternoon kindergarten at Silver Creek Elementary this fall and is enjoying all that kindergarten has to offer. Reading, ceramics, P.E., library, Chinese class and "Club Amigos" are the tops of his list of fun activities! Quincy also played soccer and T-ball and is quite a competitive young man. On November 20th, Quincy turned six years old and we celebrated the next day with laser tag at Boondocks. He continues to amaze and humor us with his witty remarks and mature insights. Probably our favorite line of the year came when a Red Robin ice cream dessert was delivered to our table. Quincy's line: "Quincy to Mommy: Delicious has arrived!"

Grace, age 4 going on 13, started preschool at Eastlake Montessori School where she is busy learning to read and to identify all the continents and nearly all of the countries in North America (which most adults can't). When she's not in school, Gracie is often busy caring for her numerous stuffed animals and challenging Quincy to contests of strength and intellect. Gracie has also become quite a "fashionista" and really loves "bling." The more sequins and glitter on clothes (as long as they are pink) is better! After many tears and a lot of negotiations, Gracie also became the new proud owner of Bella, a 6-month-old gray tabby cat. While technically Bella and Tang (our other cat, a former neighborhood stray) are family cats, they clearly prefer Grace to anyone else in the family. She certainly has a way with animals.

During the last few weeks our family has reflected on our many blessings. We give thanks daily for all that we have, and mostly for our wonderful family and friends. Overscheduled lives and circumstance make it difficult to "catch up" with all of you on a regular basis, but please know that you are often in our thoughts and our prayers, especially during this mostly holy of seasons. We have enjoyed receiving and reading our many holiday greetings from many of you!

It's our hope that we'll continue to update this blog continuously so that we can better keep in contact with our family and friends. Please feel free to leave a comment or update about your family as well!

God bless you all! Merry Christmas and best wishes for peace and happiness in the New Year.

With Love,
Erik, Holly, Quincy & Grace