Back to School 2020

The big question all summer was what the schools would be doing this year in educating students and combating COVID-19 at the same time. In the middle of March every school in the nation closed down. Our school district went immediately to online delivery while some other areas took a while to figure things out. The big mistake our district made was saying that everybody would pass no matter how much work they did. So a lot of students just checked out. I really struggled with our youngest child in getting her to do her schoolwork. My goal this summer was to figure out a way to motivate her to do her work no matter where she was doing school. So far things are going much better.

For the fall, our school district decided to give students the option of in-person or online schooling. Most parents picked in-person, having already experienced the drawbacks of online in the spring. The only difference is that every day is the early-out Monday schedule. I'm grateful our school district made that decision. Some other school districts opted for all online or part-time online and that definitely puts a bigger burden on parents. So far it is working out at least for us. All the students wear masks and nobody has been quarantined at our house yet. However the state of Utah experienced its biggest numbers ever yesterday; hopefully we can keep going.

These two started back on August 20. I'm doing part-time homeschool with Camille to give her more one-on-one personalized instruction. Mindy is doing full-time school with only math online.

Talmage moved into the dorms at the University of Utah on August 21. He had to come back on Friday to get a hand surgery (too much skateboarding) but seems to be recovering pretty well.

This hand injury followed a foot injury, also from skateboarding. The week after his surgery he broke his glasses and then got in a motorcycle accident getting a large amount of road rash. So it was a pretty rough start to the school year. But he's hanging in there with his classes and we're grateful the accident wasn't worse.

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Visiting Susquehanna: The Priesthood Restoration Site

On our way home from Palmyra, we decided to go a couple of hours out of our way to visit the recently opened Priesthood Restoration Site along the Susquehanna River. This is where we believe that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist which gave them the authority to baptize. This site also has the restored Isaac and Elizabeth Hale home where Joseph and Emma lived for a year as well as the home where Joseph and Emma lived on their own. We spent a couple of hours there and I wouldn't have minded a few more minutes but we had a long way to go that night. It's a beautiful setting, very much in rural Pennsylvania. However, on the day we were there, cars at a racetrack nearby were detracting from the peace and quiet. I'm guessing that's not as big of a problem on weekdays. The Hale Family was quite well-off for their day so their home was probably nicely decorated with wallpaper and carpet. ...

Hansen Family Reunion 2026, Wednesday and Thursday

We had another Hansen Family Reunion at Bear Lake! In total, there were 93 of us there with 11 missing--our biggest yet! We enjoyed seeing everyone and catching up a little bit. Here are some pictures. My goal was to get a picture of everyone, so if you don't see a picture of yourself, keep scrolling. Also, more individuals coming on the post for Friday. Sorry for the weird angles on some of them. Michelle made dinner the first night, chicken and vegetables with Michelle's specialty--lots of sides and plenty of leftovers. After dinner and clean-up, we had a FHE lesson outside on the lawn with Melanie in charge of the lesson after a few raucous songs. The newest addition to the family, #103. On Thursday morning, Kent and Melanie chaired breakfast with eggs and sausage and plenty for everyone. The cook with his breakfast sandwich: After breakfast, some of the group went rock-climbing, courtesy of Everett, David, and Susanna while more people went on a hike--the Limber Pine Hike....

Nauvoo Pageant!

I have been a negligent blogger this last month. My reason is that we have been super busy. At the end of July, we went to the Nauvoo Pageant. We were able to participate once again in the Gold Cast like we did in 2007 and 2014. We picked up our daughter at the end of her cross country camp in Price, Utah on our way out of town. Then we drove to our friends' house in Golden, Colorado near Denver to stay the night. It was fun to reconnect if only briefly. The next night we were in Lawrence, Kansas, visiting my brother and sister-in-law and their family. That was also fun but short. We left the next morning, attending nearby church before taking off. We arrived in Nauvoo around 4pm with just enough time to have dinner at our cabin before going to our orientation at the pageant building. The next day we went to the pageant building to get our costumes and to learn how to do our hair in the 1840 styles. ...

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