Wow, Dad is Retiring

I called Dad the other day and he was telling me about how he is going to be able to retire sooner than planned. I was so excited for him, but it is also a strange feeling. Dad has gone to work every day for as long as I can remember. So that will be very different. Anyway, he mentioned that they wrote it in the Blog, so of course that reminded me that I needed to write again.

Anyway, my opinion on the mission. I'm not sure when is the best time to go. Perhaps sooner is better than later, but either way I think Mom and Dad needs to be at the reunion. So if they go sooner I think we reschedule the reunion. That is my 2 cents for what it is worth.

So back at the home front. Yesterday, Mother's day, we got to talk to both Nate and Zach. Zach called first and we spoke with him for about 45 minutes. Nate called that night for about 50 minutes. It was great to talk with them. Talking to them on the phone was harder for some members of the family. For Lynette and I it was really rejuvenating. There is something about talking to them and realizing they are still the same. Anyway it was a pretty neat Sunday.

Lynette, spoke in church. As a bishopric we had our wives speak. It was probably the best Mothers day program I remember in a long time.

As far as other stuff goes it is pretty much the same ole stuff in the Spring. Soccer, gardening (however there has been very little of that with the weather) and more soccer. Work has also been really busy. I think I will retire with Dad. If only I could.

Kelsey went to Prom with Alvaro (her boy friend) last week. She borrowed a dress from one of her friends, so we didn't have to fork out that much. She was very pretty. Kaylie got home from Hong Kong just in time to do her hair, even though she was pretty much exhausted.

Annika is working a lot of hours reffing soccer. And she is starting to drive. Although she complains we don't let her drive enough. I'm not sure I'm ready for another driver. But then again I don't think I will ever be ready for another driver.

Tyson is about done with soccer for the season. Max is about done as well. Max loves playing keeper and is pretty good at it. We have been trying to help Brianna figure out what she would like to do. Perhaps piano or drama.

Well that is all for now. Hopefully you are getting Nate's and Zach's emails if you want them. If you aren't let us know.

Love the Lehi Hancocks

In Honor of Mother's Day

Because Chad LOVES his Mom and wanted to honor her on Mother's Day, he requested that I add a post to the Family Blog. Good thing I love his mother too or I might have to give him a hard time about not posting the blog HIMSELF. Since he spoiled me today on Mother's day...I guess he earned a few points.

I should mention that he is listening to Saturday Warrior's music (found it on the internet) right now. Heaven help us all. It's going to be stuck in our heads for a long time.

We're adjusting to the new house (picture FINALLY included). It fits our family well. The kids miss their friends, but all of us seem to really like the house. We spend a lot of time on the road taking the kids to and from school. We are getting really good at spotting slug bugs and cruiser bruisers. We are glad that the kids can finish the school year at their "old" school, but it will be nice when we don't have to make 4 trips a day to or from the school.

Our new yard is waking up and we have some pretty unique plants in the yard. It will be quite pretty when it's all in bloom. However, it's really much more than our skill level. We need to be schooled in foliage knowledge ASAP.

That's it for now. Love you all.

Hi Family!

Well, April was a really great month, to say the least.

At the beginning of the month, LJ's family came to Provo. Lana was here for about a week, and LJ's parents were here for general conference and my birthday. General Conference was wonderful, of course, and it was great to spend some time at grandma's and grandpa's house. :) Always so fun.

The following weekend was my birthday, and Maxwell's baptism. It was awesome to celebrate his baptism on the day of my birth. It was so good to see everybody that came out, too. What a special day. After celebrating his baptism, I had to work on a bunch of research papers I had due on the following Monday, but LJ and I escaped in the evening and went to dinner with my parents, his parents and family, and a bunch of my girlfriends. We celebrated with my family on Sunday.

After that, finals were kicking-- and we both made it out alive. Most of my finals were research papers, so I ended up only having 2 finals during finals week. That was really nice. LJ's schedule was a little bit busier. I took my last final on Thursday (April 21st) in the afternoon because it was scheduled, and LJ's last final was scheduled from 7-10 that night. And we left for Hong Kong the next morning.

Hong Kong was absolutely amazing. The flight over there was 15 hours long, which about killed us both off. At about hour 7 I began thinking to myself, "yeah, this is probably just about over..." Needless to say, I was shocked and dismayed when I looked at the location map that told us we were flying over ALASKA. IN HOUR SEVEN. IN THE UNITED STATES. I seriously wanted to die.

But we made it, thanks to Mary Higgins Clark and long naps.

It's hard to describe what it was like being there, but I absolutely loved it. It was so special to meet the people that LJ loved so deeply on his mission, and to see the place where he lived for two years of his life.

Here's a few pics from the trip:

In Macau.

HK temple.

Well, Kowloon Tong. (This is where the temple is... and the mission office. I sent all my letters here.)

Chickens. And meat.

A beach in Cheung Chau.

Eating curry in Cheung Chau

At Big Buddha.

Kate!

Lai Chi Kok Park in Mei Foo.

LJ at the mailbox in Wan Chai where he mailed about 1/2 of my letters.

Dumplings!

On Ladies Street.

Also on Ladies Street.

We have about a thousand pics, but hopefully this gives you a pretty good idea. We love you all!

April - A Long, Busy Month!

April was quite an eventful month! To start with, our first anniversary was on the 17th. I've always wanted to travel to Italy, and Jason kept this in mind as he planned our evening. We went to this wonderful little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant near San Diego, and then he took me to Coronado Bay (an "island" off the coast of San Diego that you can get to by way of a long, bendy bridge) where he completely surprised me with a gondola ride under the stars, complete with gondolier in red and white striped top, music, a blanket to share, sparkling cider, and chocolate covered strawberries. =) It was very cool. I was, once again, touched by my husband's thoughtfulness.



Jason's birthday came next in the month, on the 22nd. He was reluctant to celebrate (because he thinks he's getting old, lol) but I took him to an Angel's game anyway. We got free tickets from a friend, but I bought us some tickets in May on a day when they're handing out free hats (which Jason wears ALL the time) so I could really count it as my gift to him from ME. A "Happy Birthday Jason Paine!" message will appear on the scoreboard partway through the game... =D! He joked about not seeing his name on the scoreboard at the free game (which the Angels lost by a landslide) so I'm "making it up to him" at the game in May. I'll let you know what his reaction is (and hopefully the Angels win this time). =P

Other happenings for the month included General Conference, Ward Conference (we got a new bishopric), and a special Stake Conference (Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve came and spoke to us). There were also two fast Sundays this month. Elder Ballard's talk especially touched me. He talked about how the world is such a hard place for our younger generation to live in, and that one of the best ways to help them through it is to create memories. He called grandparents memory-makers and encouraged parents to help create memories too. I think I was so touched by this talk because I could feel the truthfulness of it. I've been blessed with a loving family that has been my rock and given me many, many memories that leave me knowing I'm loved, even when I'm depressed or angry at the world. Thanks to all of you for the memories. =)

Other things happened this month, including family get-togethers, a dinner party, and Jason working a new job along-side his substitute teaching. I'm sure there was more, but my brain is so over-loaded after all of what I've told you so far that I can't remember the details. That is pretty much the story of my life - I'm very good at forgetting things. Anyway, we love you all and are excited to be coming to UT for Audrey's graduation and Isaac's birthday for a brief weekend at the end of May. =)

<3 / Britt and Jason

P.S. I remembered something else we did. We finally took that hike I mentioned we'd been meaning to take (since the weather is so beautiful). In fact, we took two hikes. One was in Idyllwild (we followed a stream and rock-hopped to see some mini waterfalls) and one was through the hills near our town (on a dirt path with over-hanging branches and random huge patches of wildflowers - my favorite part =).

Hello Family. It is officially spring but someone forgot to remind the weather. We woke up again this morning to snow on the ground. That is the third or fourth time this week. The trees are in bloom, but they are saying, "What's going on!" If any in the family are reading this please e-mail me at momhancock@hotmail.com. I want to see how many of the family we are actually reaching with the BLOG.

Last post I wrote that Dad/Grandpa was thinking of retiring in July 2011. The church is getting rid of many of their employees. All of the custodians will be losing their jobs. They want all of the FM Managers (Dad/Grandpa) to retire if they are able. They are offering a early retirement benefit to those that do, so Dad/Grandpa will be retiring sooner than expected. Now the big question. Should we go on a mission before the reunion in 2011 or should we go as we had planned after the reunion. Let us know your feelings on the subject. By the way, Dad/Grandpa has been smiling ear to ear for the last couple of weeks. He is really glad he gets to quit working.

We had a very cool experience this week. Dona's friend Danielle works for the church in the genealogy department. They had a big world wide conference this week in Salt Lake City. A program was presented in the conference center on Thursday night and Dona got us tickets. It was so good. President Eyring spoke, and they had some really cool videos that were designed to inspire genealogy work. The featured speaker was David McCullough, "1776." He was so good. He talked about how he did research for his books. He is a great American and so inspiring. We also heard some really good music by the Tabernacle Choir. They played a video that showed how Julia Ward Howe came to write the words for the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and then the Choir sung it. It was very, very awesome. We are so blessed to have those kinds of experiences.

We love all of you. We hope you are all well and happy. Have a beautiful May. Love, Mom and Dad/Grandma and Grandpa.

Officially Old

Hi Everyone. It's official, we're old. Dad/Grandpa signed up for Social Security this month, and he will be getting a check next month. He has also set a date to retire, July 2011, just before the family reunion. We are going to practice living on retirement wages to see if we can do it. We are looking forward to a new faze of our lives.

We organized a pretty nice Blue and Gold Banquet. It was the 100th birthday of the Boy Scouts so we had a giant birthday party. We had lots of balloons, and streamers. Dad even rigged up a false ceiling with twirly things the kids helped us make at Dad's birthday party. We had pizza, salad, birthday cake and ice cream. After dinner we had lots of games for the kids to play. I think they had a really good time. As it turned out, that was our last pack meeting. Dad got released from Cub Master and put in as Committee Chairman. Since I was his assistant, I was released too. Now we are just doing the Webelos. The district did ask Dad to serve as a Round Table Commissioner in the Cub Master department.

We've had the opportunity to watch Jared perform several times with the BYU ballroom dance team. They did a show at the conference center theater in March, and this weekend was their big concert in the Marriott Center. It was so fun to watch. He does a really good job. I'm glad he loves it so much, it gives us something fun to do. It also makes us proud parents.

Pauline decided to go with Terry to Ecuador so we watched the kids while they were gone. I was really worried about Isabelle, but everything went well. We only lost Elijah one day after school. He forgot to call us and let us know where he was. Dad was looking all over town for him. He was found and all was well. Pauline got tickets so we could take the kids to Disney on Ice. It was a really cool show. I really like the CARS number. Dona went with us because Elijah was sick and couldn't go. Dad and I were really tired after Pauline got back. We know why you have kids when you're young. Us old folks get really worn out. It was nice having them here, though. I get really lonely after they're gone.

Makell came down during her spring break for a couple of days. We took her to BYU to listen to Jim Lovell of the Apollo 13 mission. It was really good. It was so interesting to hear him tell of his experiences in person. Afterwards we went to the IMAX theater and saw the last voyage to the Hubble telescope. It was in 3D and very impressive. Everyone should go see it. It was so much fun.

We had a great time over conference weekend. Everyone came out, even the Sikahema's came on Sunday. We had people sleeping everywhere. There was lots of food and conversation. I love it when the family can get together.

I also love reading the blog. I wish more of you would write. It is like a family history. We love all of you and miss you. Mom/Grandma and Dad/Grandpa.

Hi Family!

Sorry I'm a little late. But here's the update anyhow:


School continues to go. Gosh, I feel like I say nothing else. We have about 3 weeks left of class, and then finals. Deprived of a spring break, us BYU kids are starving for the end of the torture. Both LJ and I are taking classes spring, and then we'll go back in the fall. I can't wait for graduation in April, but at the same time, I'm starting to get sad about it. If you don't read my blog-- I've been looking into grad schools, and it is a very real possibility that I will end up at the University of Utah in fall of '11. I don't feel like explaining myself again, so if you care to know, I refer you to here.

So LJ and I both have callings now. He is still a ward missionary and head of the proclaim the gospel committee, and I just got called as primary president. This was a little insane, but I am super excited. I submitted the names for my counsellors last Sunday, and we should be set apart this Sunday.

Work is going well for the both of us. LJ's work just finished doing a bi-athalon event, and my work just did the Rex Lee run together. With all of the help from our works, you would think that we would be fit and trim... don't be fooled. We're still working on that.

LJ's family will be here for a bit in the beginning of April. It will be really good to see them. They'll be here for GC, and for my birthday, and Max's baptism. It'll be a good time.

Other than that, we're just looking forward to our HK trip. We're about a month away. It's been slightly hard to concentrate on school-- but we're trying. Ha.

Anyway, next month should be more interesting, I'll have the HK report, and we'll be finished with this eternal semester.

We love you all!

Whale Watching at Dana Point

Hello again from California, where the weather is beautiful and the earth is green and sprinkled with orange and yellow poppies! This is my favorite time year. =) It makes me happy just driving around and looking at all. Jason and I are going to do a hike too, but I'll post more about that once we've done it. =)

Jason was driving me to work a couple of weeks ago when they announced a contest on KATY radio (one of our local radio stations) for a whale-watching trip. The theme of this contest was children's books that were made into movies. Jason, with his super quick fingers and KATY radio's phone number memorized, dialed the station. I laughed and asked him if he really thought he'd know the answers, and he said, "no, but my wife would know" and tossed me the phone (for which I was grateful because he was driving and shouldn't have been on the phone anyway). I listened to the phone ring knowing there was very little chance that they'd actually pick up and tell me I was to participate in the contest, when suddenly I'm hearing, "Hi, this is Bob Madden from KATY, what's your name?" Goodness! He picked up! I responded Brittany, and he proceeded to welcome me and explain the rules of the contest. I was up against another listener. Bob would give three clues about children's books that got made into movies and we were to shout our name when we knew the answer. Just for fun I'll post the clues he gave so you can see if you would have gotten them:

1) This book starred a monkey and a man with a yellow hat.
2) This book follows four children and their adventures through a wardrobe.
3) This book's main character is Percy Jackson.

Ready for the answers? They are, respectively: Curious George; Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe; and The Lightening Thief (which was made into the movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians). I got the first two for the win, and then answered the third one just for fun. =) SO, this past Saturday we headed out to Dana Point for our free whale-watching trip. Here are a couple of the pictures we took:


The pictures from top to bottom are: the boat we went out on, bottle-nose dolphins (we saw about 6), Jason in the foreground and the coast in the background, common dolphins (we ran into a mega pod of about 400), and us on the boat. We never actually saw any whales... maybe we'll just call it our dolphin watching trip. =P

Yesterday Jason and I got invited to a Ducks game by a friend who has season passes. That was also fun. The Ducks played a good game (which isn't always the case, especially since the Olympics) and won 4 to 2. Go Ducks! I'd give more information but that's my husband's area of expertise. =P

Everything else is the same as always. Work, school, church, Jason's cooking... Oh! I did clean the fish tank. You can actually see the fish now... But yeah. Everything else is the same as always. We love and miss you all!

Britt and Jason

Back At It

Thanks to Julie's email I thought it was time I put away that tired excuse and start writing on the blog again. I got in a bad habit with the wedding and the missionaries, but we will try to break that now.

I assume everyone knows how Nate and Zach are doing. If you don't receive their emails and would like to let us know and we will add you to the list. It is fun to get letters from them. Even with 5 kids still at home it seems really quiet at times. Although Max does his best to fill up any quiet places with his voice.

We are all doing pretty well. Kelsey is now the eldest at home, but we get to see Kaylie and LJ quite frequently. They generally come to visit each Sunday and it is good to see them. It is nice they aren't too far away yet.

Kelsey recently got the rest of her wisdom teeth out. We were trying to get it done before soccer season so she wouldn't have to miss anything.

This is really kind of the nice time of year. There is not too much going on for a few weeks since we are between seasons. It is a bit relaxing. We have plenty of projects lined up once Spring gets here, so I'm sure it won't be too calm for long.

This will be a short entry. I chose to just start anew instead of trying to recap the last 4 months or so. Now I just need to make it a habit again.

We love you all and thanks for you support.

The Lehi Hancocks

Hello out there

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay in posting. 

I too have a few excuses…

1)  Waiting for Darrin to do it.

2)  You could easily read our blog and get more details about our life.

But alas, I will update you since I too was a supporter of the blog, and because I don’t want to do any housework right now :).

Darrin—Has been sick for the past week or so.  Off and on fever, coughing, sore throat, fatigue, and now pink eye.  He’s in bed as I type right now.  I keep telling him to go to the doctor.  But he won’t.  Other than that, he’s busy with work, soccer, Elder’s Quorum, and being a great dad.  He’s obsessed with Lost.  We started at the beginning and watch several episodes a night.  We are in season 4 and Darrin just eats it up.

Kim—My mom was just here this past weekend and just left this morning.  I think that’s why Darrin has been so sick :).  Good case of the mother-in-law i-tis.  Anyway, it was fun to have her here.  Other than that, I’ve been busy taking kids here and there, cleaning, cooking, etc…  Lately I’m  interested in learning how to freeze food and meals and hope to have one big cooking day a month and freeze a bunch of food to make life a little easier.  We’ll see how it works out.  I also have high hopes to sew an apron this month.

Josh—Still loves school and life.  He’s loves to play outside with his friends and ride his bike.  He still loves Super Mario Bros Wii and plays it any chance he gets.  He’s looking forward to his b-day next week.

Andrew—Has been taking a soccer class lately and is learning to like it.  He too likes to play with his friends and likes to do puzzles.

Luke—Is talking more and more, and we love it.  He had a double ear infection a week ago and then had a reaction to the amoxicillin.  He loves Blue’s Clues and Thomas.  He likes nursery and loves to sing songs.

Well, I think that’s it.  It’s pretty normal around here, and that’s how I like it.

We’re looking forward to everyone’s posts!