Saturday, December 4, 2010

Lance wins first place!

Marathon Finish!

Lance did a MARATHON! HE TIED FOR 1st PLACE! MOM WAS SO PROUD! The lady who works in the office at Gordon McCaw was proud too. They blew the horn and first grade started to run. I was in the lead then a couple of minutes later boys started to catch up. 1 boy passed me. I sprinted then I was in the lead. At the end I tied with another boy from a different school. I was out of breath. I got water and food. I saw Ronald McDonald then I talked to my coach. She said I was outstanding. I got a medal shaped into a guitar it said ING Kids Rock. I got a t-shirt that said Kids Rock. And that is the story about me at the marathon.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Time Out For Women 2010: Friday Night

I had the great opportunity to be a volunteer at Time Out for Women (thanks for the hook up, Danette!) which meant I got to go for free, but that I also had some great experiences. I was really inspired as well as entertained and I just have to share.
  
The first presenter was Ardeth G. Kapp. She was the General Young Women's President during all my years as a young woman. She talked about how the Lord has given each of us an individualized plan for our lives and how we can have hope because of the plan of salvation. Whether it's death of a loved one, childlessness (both of which she knows about first-hand) or whatever other struggles we have, there is hope for happiness. She said that when she was young and people asked her if she had any children she would say, "Not yet." And now in her eighties(?) when people asks her if she has any children she still says, "Not yet." She also said, "I have a photographic memory, just not same day delivery." I didn't realize she was so witty! When I was 13 or 14 Sis. Kapp came to Las Vegas and did a regional young women's fireside. After her remarks she let any who wanted to come up to where she was on the stand so she could meet the young women. I went up and shook her hand; she asked my name and then gave me a hug. I still remember how wonderful I felt that night. So at TOFW I got my picture with her and mentioned that event and she correctly guessed that I must have been about a Beehive age back then. And did you know that the Young Women Values were introduced 25 years ago this month? I think Sis. Kapp looks the same as she did back then and she is still inspiring me.
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The next presenter was John Bytheway. I met him when I was at BYU on a couple of occasions. Once was when he took out my roommate so he came to our apartment. (He did not remember that particular incident.) So I have followed his career throughout the years and have found him to be inspiring at different times in my life. I read What I Wish I Knew When I Was Single, when I was in the midst of my single years, and What I Wish I Knew When I was a Newlywed right after I got married. So there I was at Time Out For Women and he talked about What I Have Learned from Time Out for Women. John Bytheway is certainly funny and entertaining but there's no denying that he knows and loves the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that is what I like about him most.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

What's Not to Love About Lia?

 


Lia's first birthday was Saturday, October 2. I kind of want her to stay little but she gets cuter and cuter everyday. She has cute little curls, a cute smile, a happy personality. She just started toddling all over the place and bringing me things and giving me kisses when I ask her to. She's happy to play with her brothers and sister and she's just tickled with herself when she does something new. At her one-year-old check up today I found out that she weighs 18lbs 12oz (10-25th percentile) and is 30in. tall (75th percentile). She's going to be tall and thin "like a model" the doctor said. I have to say that I love everything about Lia.
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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Friday, September 24, 2010

104 Days of Summer Vacation

 
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I had big ideas for how the summer was going to go: we'd have a cooking day, a library day, a park day. But none of that happened. Here's what we did do: The boys signed up for a Pee-Wee All Stars Sports class. They did basketball, tennis, soccer, and track and field. It was a good taste of a variety of sports. At the end they each got a gold medal. Lance, Luke and Lacey all took swimming lessons. They did pretty well but none of them actually their heads in the water. Maybe next year.
 
This summer I was obsessed with pioneers. As the primary chorister I spent all of July teaching the kids songs about pioneers. I asked my mother-in-law to make me a pioneer dress. I made my kids dress up for the ward pioneer commemoration dinner (which was not actually a dress up event so I'm sure that someday my children will say, "Our crazy mom made us dress up and we were the only ones. How embarrasing!") But they sure were the cutest little pioneer children.
 

Lance spent a lot of time with his friend Nathan who lives across the street and was invited to play dates with other friends. He became fascinated with Club Penguin. Luke was also invited to parties and play dates and spent a lot of time with Club Penguin (online game). Lacey finally got potty trained and learned how to pester her brothers by singing. Lia learned how to crawl and click her tongue louder than anyone I've ever heard. Alex kept super busy at work. As for me, this summer I chased kids around and read three books, Three Cups of Tea, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and The Hunger Games. I also changed the color of my hair.
 

I've been sporting blonde highlights for about twelve years and wanted to give something new a try. It's actually close to my natural color. (Although I hardly remember what that is.) Sometimes summer seems long but then you look back and go where did the time go?

Friday, September 10, 2010

Good Times. . . Good Times

It was the best of times. Memories made that will last forever. Everyone should have a family as great as mine. the Hafens decided to have a family vacation together this summer at our family's ranch. The highlight was the cousin camps: Cowboy Cousins, Hula Hunnies, and Little Squirts.

Each camp came with activities and/or costumes. The boys got cowboy hats and bandanas and learned to ride a homemade bucking bronco (genius!). They also learned some cowboy talk: "Howdy!" "Thank you ma'm." and "Yip-yipee". My brothers Aaron and Brian ran that activity with help form Jordon and Chris.
The older girl cousins were the Hula Hunnies. They decorated flip-flops, made an ocean in a bottle, and made candy leis with Aunt Kristen and Aunt Natalie. Then they learned a hula from Aunt Kortni who played the ukelele.

The littlest cousins got to play in a wading pool and make their own artwork thanks to Aunt Danette, Aunt Mandy, and Uncle Jason.
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Friday night we had a Hafen Family Film Festival. Everyone made their own movies. Some were funny (Droolzilla,Cirque du Hafen) some were remakes (Nacho Libre, The Duck Song), some were very original (The Search for Bigfoot, Low Budget Spiderman), and some were touching memories (Muckus History and Let Them Be Little-a compilation of a lifetime of slides).

Saturday we went to the hidden-away Kershaw-Ryan State Park and had lunch and some people cooled off in the wading pool. Saturday night we had a family testimony meeting, which was wonderful.

In all my years of going to the ranch, I think this was the best time I have ever had. It's great to have such a close, loving, supportive family to share good times with.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Bless-ed Honored Pioneers

Recently I had the opportunity to do some research into my family history (thank you Katrina!) and what I found is so inspiring to me that I just have to share it.

First, I found out more about the Knight family. Joseph Knight Sr. was the patriarch of a large and faithful family who were present at every step of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Revelations are given to him and his son Newel in the Doctrine and Covenants. This family followed the prophet Joseph Smith faithfully and this is what Joseph said about Joseph Knight Sr.: "Joseph Knight Sen. . . was among the first to administer to my necessities, while I was laboring in the commenncement of the bringing forth of the work of the Lord, and of laying the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For fifteen years he has been faithful and true, and even-handed and exemplary, and virtuous and kind, never deviating to the right hand or to the left. Behold he is a righteous man, may God lengthen out the old man's days. . ."

Newel Knight married a lady named Lydia. They were the first couple married by Joseph Smith. When they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, Lydia came down with malaria and feared she was at the point of death. She asked Newel to get a handkerchief blessed by the prophet so she could be healed. Newel brought her a handkerchief but she did not improve. When she was sure she was going to die, Newel left and when he came back he said that he hadn't wanted to bother the prophet before so the previous handkerchief was not blessed by the prophet, but this one was. Lydia was fully recovered  by the next day. When the saints were forced out of Nauvoo, Newel and Lydia took their seven children (and one on the way) and settled temporarily in Indian territory. Soon after, Newel became sick and died. Lydia stayed in their hut built in front of a cave for three years until she could go west to meet the other saints in Utah. She had sold her wagon and team of oxen so she and her children walked most of the way. When in Utah she taught school to support her family. She married two more times and eventually settled in St. George and worked in the temple almost until she died in 1884.

A bit of geneology: Joseph Knight Sr. begat Newel Knight who begat Samuel, who begat Lenora, who begat Arthur Knight Hafen, who begat Herschel, who begat Lowell, who begat me.

I also learned more about my third great grandfather on my father's side, Charles Lowell Walker, known as Charley. He joined the church in England and after spending some time in St. Louis came to Salt Lake. In 1862 he was called to the Cotton Mission: southern Utah. It was rough trying to tame the dry land of St. George, and there were times of hunger and sickness. But Charley tried to make the best of things. He was known as the Sage of St. George because of his skills as a poet, songwriter, and toastmaster. Charley wrote the dedication hymn for the St. George temple. President Brigham Young was there to dedicate the temple and asked to speak with Charley after hearing the hymn. Charley brought him a copy of the hymn and visited with the prophet. At the end of the visit Brigham Young said, God bless you Charley, and He has, hasn't he? Charley recorded in his journal that "all the blessings I had ever had were laid out before me." Charles Lowell Walker wrote the hymn "Dearest Children, God is Near You" which is in our hymn book today and will always have a special place in my heart.

From Alex's side of the family I learned about Joseph and Matilda Bowler. They joined the church in England where they had directed choirs, one that even performed for the Queen. When they brought their seven children to America they headed to Utah, and despite efforts to get them to stay in Salt Lake and direct a choir there, they remembered a promise that they had made to a missionary that they would go to Hebron, Utah and direct a choir there. Hebron no longer exists, but it was in the vicinity of Enterprise, Utah-another hot, southern Utah town. They went from having a comfortable lifestyle in England to an impoverished lifestyle in Utah. Thirty years after thier arrival from England, Matilda's brother came to Utah, but not wanting him to see her in such dire conditions, refused to meet him. They say she died of a broken heart. On the bright side, Joseph and Matilda's children each had large families of their own and I have discovered third and fourth cousins including my hairdresser(and friend from ninth grade), former bishop, and the girl whose mom used to pick me up for school who is now in my ward.

I don't know if any of these people ever thought ahead 100-150 years in the future and wondered if what they were doing would make any difference to anyone. But learning about them has made a difference to me. I admire them for the sacrifices they made and their dedication to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I honor them by building on the foundation they set.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Why Alex is a Great Dad


1. He likes to take the kids camping and fishing.
2. He watches cartoons with them at bedtime.
3. He says, "I love you too much!" to them everyday.
4. He tells them they are "geniuseses" everyday.
5.He reads scriptures and says prayers with the family, most everyday.
6. He is a good example of a hard worker.

Happy Fathers' Day
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Friday, June 18, 2010

Pine Valley-year three

 

We made our annual trip to Pine Valley June 7-9. Of course there was fishing; everyone caught a fish or two, even Lacey. We went on a fun nature hike to the lake (well some made it to the lake, some had a meltdown). There was a family that camped across from us with five kids (and one on the way, bless that mom's heart!) and our kids had fun playing with them. We left Lia with the grandmas because we didn't want her crawling into the road, but we sure missed her. I kept looking for her and the kids kept asking where she was. Maybe next year, Lia!
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Monday, May 24, 2010

And They All Died Happily Ever After

That is my take on the series finale of "Lost." I am going to miss that show. I don't think there will ever be another one like it, brotha.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Lacey at the "Haircut Store"


Grandma Sharon was kind enough to take Lacey to the "haircut store" for Lacey's first official haircut. Lacey got the full treatment and came home sporting a cute bob with glitter hairspray.



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Muffins with Mom


Lance and I went to his school to share muffins and juice provided by the PTA. What a fun tradition!
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Lance's First Baseball Team

This spring Lance has been on an organized sports team for the first time. He has had a lot of fun and I have enjoyed watching him. He really is out there for the fun of it, but he has gotten better and better as the season has progressed. He said he doesn't want to do baseball again and that's okay because we just want him to try all the sports and find something that he really loves.
Lance as third baseman.
A swing and a miss.
In batting order.
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Easter

This year's Easter festivities began on the Friday night before Easter. We joined the extended family for a flashlight egg hunt at my brother Aaron's house. The kids loved using their flashlights to hunt for eggs.

Easter morning Lance was the first one awake and he went right outside to where he had left his Easter basket, but it was not there. I told him that the Easter Bunny had brought it inside because it was too windy and he didn't want the baskets to blow away. Actually one did blow away, but good thing the Bunny had an extra. (Below: Lia is sad because her sister stuck stickers all over her.)


I have to say that I enjoyed having Easter the same weekend as General Conference. I also am on the lookout for ways to make Easter more meaningful; so if anyone has any great ideas, send them my way.
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Da Bulls (real ones, not the basketball team)

Discount Tire sponsored a rodeo at the South Point Hotel and Casino on March 27, so we got free tickets. It started at 8:00 and we had a rough start. Luke thought it was too stinky, and he was a little afraid of the pyrotechnics.  Lacey wanted to look at all the displays, and while she does make the cutest cowgirl ever, I didn't want to chase after her and heft the baby carrier everywhere. When the bull riding finally got going, it was pretty exciting, but we left at 9:30.
 
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Friday, April 2, 2010

Lia is 6 months old today

Our baby is half a year old already. Where does the time go? Lia just gets cuter and cuter each day. She smiles when people talk to her and loves to play patty-cake and peek-a-boo. She prefers her thumb to a pacifier and she prefers mommy to everyone else. She has mellowed out a little since she was a newborn. She's very content if she has a full belly and a dry diaper. She has also become more snuggly, which I enjoy.
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Saturday, March 20, 2010

I'd Like to Thank the Academy. . . .


Or rather, I'd like to thank Rebecca for giving me this Sunshine Award. It means a lot coming from her, whose blog I turn to daily for wit and wisdom. And thank you to Luke for being honest with the haircut lady. From now on when I need a good chuckle I will think of that conversation. Thank you to Lance, Lacey, and Lia, also, for being so dang cute. And last but not least, Thank You to Alex for giving me these beautiful children. You're the best! Oh, and Thank You to Heavenly Father for everything I have. I couldn't do it without You.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Overheard: Luke to the Lady Cutting His Hair

Luke: My brother said I can't have a girlfriend.
Lady: Oh, he did?
Luke: Yeah. You have to be eight. . . or seven.
Lady: You have to be seven or eight to have a girlfriend?
Luke: But I already have a girlfriend.
Lady: Well, we won't tell your brother.

Random March Pics

 
Alia (Uncle Jordon and Aunt Kortni's 3 week old baby) and Lia (5 months old)

 
Luke at preschool bike parade

 
Alex at Donuts with Dad

 
Lance at Donuts with Dad

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Wearin' O' the Green

 
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