Dear Family and Friends,
What a whirlwind life has been for a while! 2009 opened with a bang as we scrambled to juggle Jer’s completing his political science Master’s degree at Utah State, applying for PhD programs, visits to universities, ward mission leader/missionary assignments, adjusting to a second child and the sleepless nights that come with a newborn, etc., etc. Nothing but excitement at our house! In April, Jer chose to go to Indiana University to pursue a PhD in Political Science (he had also been accepted to Claremont Graduate University in CA for History of Christianity and Religion in North America and Baylor in TX in both Church/State Relations and Political Science). We spent the summer in Provo while Jer wrote his thesis and taught Romanian at BYU again. It was nice to be so close to family and yet we were pretty stressed—Jer with finishing his Master’s and I with moving preparations.
In typical style J, Jerry was finishing the final revisions on his thesis the day we left for Indiana. But then we had a pleasant road trip across Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and into Indiana, choosing to cut through the picturesque countryside in certain areas instead of sticking to the freeways. We especially enjoyed the night sky in Nebraska, the changing landscape, and the lush scent of the Midwest in late August.
We got in our summer campout by sleeping in a heap on our living room floor the first few nights before our belongings arrived. Our Elders Quorum helped us move in and got a good laugh at the boxes, and boxes, and boxes of Jerry's books – we're lucky we had their help carrying them! Jerry has a nice study that lets him spend most of his time at home instead of on campus, which is both good and bad since we tend to distract each other more than we should. Of course the girls think that if Dad's in the house he should be fair game to play with. But we seem to be figuring it out.
Hannah and Sarah are doing well. Hannah will be four in July and is as much fun as ever! Some of her recent interests are weekly trips to the public library, dress-up, Strawberry Shortcake-themed Memory (the first time we played together at Christmas-time she did better than Jerry and I combined!), earning her own money to ride the carousel at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis, going to Sunbeams at church, and playing “Dr. Hannah” on Sarah who often will surprisingly cooperate. Recently, on the way home from church, Jerry mentioned that one of the primary teachers said that Hannah was very enthusiastic. Jer looked over the seat and asked, “Hannah, are you enthusiastic?” She was a bit puzzled and replied, “No, I’m in Indiana!” She is also doing awesome with her alphabet – she can identify all the letters and knows all of their sounds and has started spelling small words. She’s also nearly done memorizing all of the presidents of the United States – this is one of the fun daddy-daughter bedtime rituals she enjoys (she really does enjoy it). I really enjoy listening to her sing when she thinks no one is listening to her.
Funny Hannah quotes from the last few months include:
· To Jerry: “Stop being a tiger and lay down! Now we’re going to put on your strawberry pink makeup.”
· “Someday they will have princess nickels.”
· To Holly: “Mom, I brought you a cake.”
Holly’s reply: “Oh, it’s a giant cake!”
Hannah: “No, it’s not a giant cake. It’s a princess cake!”
Sarah is almost 16 months and has been walking for the last 6 months. She is petite and speedy! It’s so fun to watch her. The first time she crossed the entire living room she hesitated when she got to the far side because she didn’t know how to turn around and didn’t want to sit down, but she could hear that we were doing something fun behind her and wanted to see. So she finally put her head down between her legs and looked back at us and smiled a very cute three-toothed grin at me – it was precious! Many months ago we affectionately nicknamed her “Moose Growl” since she liked to growl and Jerry thought it sounded like a moose call. Her latest development is a fondness for saying the word “stinky.” She and Hannah love to make each other laugh and they’re so funny they make us laugh too.
We've really enjoyed Indiana so far, although it's been a bit of a crazy and busy transition. When we first moved in, we were surprised at how large the spiders are out here and Jerry got in the habit of taking a broom and whacking them off the house at night before we went in after errands – the neighbors got a kick out of this. There are a ton of fun city parks in the area that the kids really enjoy and we’ve enjoyed taking drives into famous Brown County – especially during the fall when the leaves were changing colors. One of my favorite past times so far is to watch for the bright red cardinals and other birds in the trees outside our large kitchen windows – the kids have taken to this recently as well. I surprisingly haven’t missed my mountains as much as I anticipated – I’ve tried to appreciate that I have lots more trees to enjoy instead. Although learning to navigate without a mountain took some getting used to. We really like our new place. It’s a three bedroom townhouse and many steps up from the school apartments we’ve had in the past. I’m probably most excited about having a dishwasher and am content to wait for the day we have a real home and garage.
After the scramble of the past five years and the uncertainty of where we’d end up (at least for the next few years), we’re finally getting on top of a number of things and getting the kids on a more consistent schedule. I’m starting to have more time to work on some personal projects, although most days I’m pretty preoccupied with the basics of caring for my home and family – ultimately, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Jerry's doing well in his program and enjoys it, although we’re still figuring out how to best coordinate our school, church, and family responsibilities. He’s currently planning on a primary focus in political philosophy, a secondary focus in comparative politics, and a minor in non-profit organization management. Ultimately, he wants to study politics and religion/church-state relations; and the minor not only makes him more marketable but allows him to study comparative religious policy. He's also serving as first counselor in the young men's presidency in our ward with responsibility over the Teachers’ Quorum and Varsity Scouting. I am the primary teacher for the 11- turning 12-year-olds. It’s challenging at times but I really enjoy it.
This past fall Jer participated again with the Latter-day Saint and Evangelical dialogue led by Robert Millet (BYU), this time at Wheaton College just outside of Chicago. His father (who is also part of the dialogue group) visited us following the conference and then my parents came right before Thanksgiving and his sister Katie came right before Christmas. It was fun to have family visit near the holidays.
In short, we are doing very well and are very happy. The girls bring us so much joy and satisfaction and we’ve learned that there is much that we can go without. A variety of struggles have reminded us to be continually reliant upon the Lord and grateful to Him for the many blessings we receive. We are especially grateful for the many family members and friends who have blessed our lives with love and unselfishness. We wish you all the best!
With much love,
Holly, Jerry, Hannah, and Sarah Hansen
