Since Mitch had a huge test on his actual birthday, we decided to celebrate his birthday yesterday with just a small gathering of friends. Mitch hates big parties and celebrations, so something this intimate was perfect for him, especially when he would much rather play a card game than anything else.

I made Mitch his cake, and I'm not going to lie, it was pretty flipping amazing. It's the first cake I've ever made that actually turned out. I felt like I could take on Cake Boss yesterday. It was Twix theme because my man loves his caramel.

Grandpa Hansen is the sweetest and I love hearing about his romance with Mabel. He talks about her often and I find myself falling in love with this sweet woman who I've never met through his words. There is sorrow, yes, and plenty of bittersweetness to last a lifetime - but hearing Grandpa Hansen talk about Mabel makes me cherish my own sweet spouse.

For his birthday, Keith only wanted his family around him. He took us all out to Chuckarama and paid for us all to eat together as a family. Before leaving for Chuckarama, Keith brought almost all of his progeny together. He told us that he had lived for 34,675 days and that his secret to life was to just keep getting up in the morning. He thanked us all for coming, and, of course, he told us about Mabel.

In honor of his birthday, I wanted to share one of Grandpa Hansen's stories that he has shared with me:

When Sunday came, the four girls (Mabel and 3 other teachers she was living with) went to church. After sacrament, they went to Sunday School and Mabel sat across the room from Keith where they could see each other. She caught Keith's attention, and he thought he "might like to get to meet her." On Saturday nights, they had dances in the LDS Tabernacle Building (rec hall). So Keith asked her to the dances every Saturday night. This is how they courted. 

On Valentines Day, they had a gold and green ball. Keith took Mabel to it. She was the Queen of the dance. Afterwards, Keith drove her around for a little while. They parked by the temple and Keith proposed to her. She said yes but wondered when they might get married. She said that she would be very busy that summer, helping her parents paint their house, and that she wouldn't know what to do.

Keith said that they should get married on March 12th, his birthday, so that he could always remember their anniversary. She said that she needed more time to plan a wedding and that less than a month wouldn't do. 

After some convincing, and the help of Virgina Garner, who made Mabel's wedding dress, Mabel agreed to marry Keith in less than a month. 

Their wedding was beautiful and they honeymooned in Utah and drove through California seeing the homes of movie stars, and dipping their feet in the ocean at Santa Monica. At their reception, they had a live orchestra and danced of course. 

During their marriage, they continued to dance, even taking lessons from professionals. They learned the Foxtrot, the Rhumba, and as Keith puts it, some 'interesting dances' like the tango. 

When asked if Mabel was a good dancer, with a smile, Keith answered, "She was my favorite."

Grandpa Hansen, you are such a gentleman. It has sincerely been my pleasure to bug you every so often to share with me a new story. I love you and I am so grateful for you. Happy Birthday, Keith!

So, I've got to brag for a second because, let's be honest, this might not ever happen again. I've been doing homework in advance. I have literally done all of the homework for the rest of the semester for one of my classes.

I have been extremely productive. Not just academically, but socially, creatively, what have you!

One of my New Years resolutions was to take some more 'me-time' and I honestly feel like this is one resolution that I've got in the bag. I've already made a quilt for Zane, started another, read over 200 pages of The Count of Monte Cristo (which is excellent, by the way. Long, but excellent), I'm a week ahead on homework, and I've almost finished a final for one of my classes. Let's not forget that I've been doing a lot of photography work for my super cute sister-in-law, Ciara.

Honestly, I feel like Super Mom and that's a lot better than feeling like a Super Senior any day. A ton better than feeling like a Super Whale, too. I just feel so successful and on top of the world! Who knew not procrastinating on your homework could make you feel like you could throw an extravagant party while simultaneously painting a masterpiece, stitching a quilt, and feeding a teething baby?!

Take a look at some of the fun accomplishments I've been having recently!



Porters was selling unfinished wooden eggs for $.99 each, so I picked up a few and painted them! These are proudly sitting on my mantle as the only spring decoration in the whole house. It is hard to believe that winter is over in Rexburg, so I've been waiting.

In case you were wondering what a hellion might be, please see just a small sample above. We were trying to tell daddy to come home cause mama needed a break... and a milkshake.

Zane is getting in 6 teeth at once, and while he is a little trooper about it, he's been more of a pooper in general. He's constantly wanting to be held, getting into things he has never shown interest in before, and now that he is on the move, we can't properly take anything away because he will army crawl over to where you've placed it and just wail at the top of his lungs, staring up at the table or shelf like, "Why God, why?!"

But even through all of the angst and gnashing of tiny, razor sharp teeth, Zane never ceases to amaze me with all he has done and all he is doing. From his perfect little smile, to his never ending belly, the little man has snagged a piece of my heart that not even a milkshake could fill.

And I'm pretty dang glad.