Our Susanna is having another birthday! Here are some pictures of her elementary school years to honor her:
The summer before starting kindergarten wearing some clothes sent to us by Frau Czadek, our Germany friend:
Susanna broke her arm when she was balancing on a barstool that was on top of a couch cushion and fell off. Talmage says that he remembers thinking, "This is not going to go well." Susanna and Talmage made up all kinds of games including pretend to play together. Once, Susanna and Talmage created a "library" in her room and invited me to come and check out a book. It was very cute.
Susanna enjoyed starting school and making new friends there. Her teacher loved her because she was so cooperative. The end of kindergarten play:
Our cute little kitty:
Susanna loved to be included with her big brothers and enjoyed building this snowman with them:
Susanna's 7th birthday party where they made their own pizzas as chefs:
During the trip to Goblin Valley where the tent blew away with Susanna in it:
Bear Lake, 2008:
Her baptism:
This picture was taken just as our new kitchen was being finished as you can see from the missing countertop on the bare cabinet behind Susanna. I love the paperclip necklace she made for herself:
Susanna played soccer for a few seasons. She enjoyed it and scored 3 goals that fall:
At Colonial Days at the SCERA park where they dressed up as immigrants and became citizens:
Her 9th birthday party:
Hedwig, the owl:
Susanna really excelled in school. She was a great reader and was very responsible with her assignments. She was in the Accelerated program at Foothill and enjoyed those classes. Here is her costume for the class opera in Mrs. Judd's class:
Susanna started taking piano lessons when she was halfway through kindergarten and then took lessons from Grandma Hansen starting when she was not quite 7. She was also a diligent piano student. For the duet festival, she was partners with Jake? Parker and they got a 39/40:
Susanna has always been very competitive. Shortly after we became part of the Canyon View 4th Ward, there was a ward activity where they had a serious expression contest. The whole ward participated and then people were eliminated one by one. They threw a handkerchief up in the air and everyone had to laugh until it landed on the ground where they had to look very serious. Susanna was one of the last two, competing with an older woman named Sue Barlow. When she saw how serious Susanna was about winning, Sister Barlow laughed and then Susanna won. Here is a silly faces contest from a family reunion:
Turning 10:
Talmage and Susanna are 20 months apart in age and were good friends as they were growing up. This picture was at Dead Horse Point State Park:
Susanna at her 5th grade dance festival. She had Mrs. Siebach that year and had some good friends in the class who unfortunately lived kind of far away and didn't go to Canyon View with her:
I started teaching Susanna on the violin when she was about 9. It didn't take long for me to realize that things would go a lot better if Susanna had a different teacher. She was also pretty sure that I should NOT practice with her. She was very independent and did a good job practicing on her own:
At the end of Susanna's 6th grade year, everyone living at our house ran the Foothill 3K except for Camille who went in the Burley:
At the cemetery for Alice's burial:
Here's a video of Susanna and Talmage--I'm not sure who the videographer is but it's entertaining:
Happy Birthday, Susanna! We sure are glad to have you in our family!
This last week, my brother and his wife lost a very precious son, just 13 years old. He collapsed while running with a cross-country team and passed away before he could be revived. Everyone that knew Drew is broken-hearted at this loss. He was the happiest, most agreeable kid we knew. I remember him being at my house without anyone close to his age to hang out with, so he found our Duplo blocks and started building even though it is a toy that boys his age don't usually enjoy. He was so content. He didn't complain that I ever remember. His mother always called him the perfect child. He will leave a big hole in not only his immediate family but our extended family as well. Here is a poem my aunt shared that seems fitting: Leave Taking How I would have liked to wave goodbye and watch until you turned and smiled and disappeared on the horizon. You who taught me to dance and let me teach you, who laughed at my stories and winked at me when I was sad. I can just see you trav
This weekend we celebrated Drew's life. On Thursday night, we gathered as an extended family and had a dinner then sat in a big circle and talked about our memories of him. I took some notes and here is what people said. Grandpa (Gary Hansen): The last time we saw Drew was last week on the 4th. I remember all the cousins on the trampoline, bouncing up and down and playing basketball. Grandma (Susan Hansen): I asked Drew to come over last winter to teach my Activity Day boys how to make origami stars. He was very patient in working with them even though they were pretty clueless. Eventually they all went home happily with their stars. Paula: This last winter we invited Bruce and Michelle over for dinner and we didn't have anyone his age for him to hang out with. I remember that Drew found the Duplo blocks on his own and played with them all by himself, quite cheerfully entertaining himself. I asked him if he wanted to play with a different toy--maybe something more sophistica
Yesterday was the viewing for Drew and then today was the funeral. There were a LOT of people at the viewing. Bruce and Michelle greeted people for almost four hours yesterday and then again this morning before the funeral. Bruce said that if weren't for Drew's death, it would be the best week of his life with so much love being shown to them. Friday actually began with a family run in Drew's honor. We started at a church by the new Lindon temple and ran to Bruce and Michelle's house with breakfast following. Friday night was the viewing. There was a very nice display of all things Drew. This was one of the pictures displayed and I recognized someone I know: We stood in line and the paramedics who worked on Drew stood in line behind us so we got to talk to them. Here's a fun fact: They cover both Orem and Vineyard but Vineyard gets a lot more 911 calls than Orem per capita. It's a younger population and they are quicker to call. They said it's hard when the
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