23 October 2011

What is love?

Q: What is love?

It is when you have someone in your mind.
~Caroline, age 7

Love is when two people really, really, really like each other.
~Olive, age 6

A hug and a kiss.
~Peter, age 4

I don’t know … umm i think it’s a duck.
~Lily, age 4

Go to sleep, wake up, and laugh.
~Layla, age 2

I don’t know. I just don’t know.
~Naden, age 9

Marriage, sweethearts, and Valentine’s Day.
~Brooklyn, age 10

Q: How do you know when two people are in love?

Because they get married! They love each other because they just love each other.
~Lily, age 4

Because my heart is growing.
~Evan, age 4

They go on dates. They are together a lot. A lot.
~Carly, age 6

When you like someone and they like you back.
~Avery, age 7

You have to kiss them and then they marry each other.
~Abby, age 4

original source:
www.ldsliving.org

14 October 2011

My Dad is an Inventor.
A friend who hasn’t met my
dad, asked me if he had a long
white beard. With that imagery so
many thoughts came to mind.
You remember the father in the film
beauty and the beast.
Haha.
My dad is first a father
and then a husband to my mom.
With her support,
He has emerged great ideas and
that example resonates with me.
I look at each of my siblings.
Each of them have been developing 
their innate abilities to create things they love.
_________________________________________________
When were were little, I believe my Mom stumbled upon 
some purple lightweight fabric, or my dad told her he 
wanted to make a 12 foot kite.
Despite the details, this 12 foot kite was born,
It was two shades of purple and was about 5 feet high.
My Dad designed and my Mom put her amazing sewing skills to work.


We.thought.we.were.the.coolest.kids.in.the.neighborhood.
We actually still feel this way, and we still have this kite.
The kite was so big, it needed a strong string or twine or rope.
Who uses rope to fall a kite? Yes. It’s true, only the Hansens.
We headed up the streets to park where my dad flew this kite
as all 8 of us kids, watched it lift off and soar through the air.
We live very close to a mountain, and so this huge kite did
not need a lot of wind, and when it reached a gust, the rope
would break. and the kite was set free. 
We watched it sail effortlessly through the blue sky. It was only seconds 
after the kite was separated from us and the rope did we fear its destination 
to the ground.
Where was it going to land?
Were we going to be able to recover it?
Each time the kite rope broke, or the kite was damaged from the 
fall, my dad would reinvent the kite,
Soon our kite had stronger rope tied to it,
it was so much rope that it
had to be connected to an powered screwdriver
mechanism that allowed more power to wind or release
the rope, depending on the day, the climate, and
ultimately the weather.


Sometimes the boys in the family 
flew this kite late into the night,
and upon returning, would
discuss methods to add lights to 
our large family kite.
We even made a mini hot air balloon from the same 
fabric, alas, it did not last the way the kite did.
Do you know why?
It did not have a rope or string attached.
The kite had duct tape on many of its corners to 
reinforce the poles and protect it’s flight.
I wondered what would 
have happened
if my dad wasn’t there to help us, He taught us 
how much rope to release once it was up in the air.
I wondered what would have happened if we hadn’t
of reinvent and redone the rope to make it stronger.
Summers went by and we grew up.
Our kite sat in the garage.
It’s still there.
We moved on to a Parasail for our boat.
The commandments are like unto a kite string.
The Lord in his infinite love wants to bless us,
He wants us to feel His love and ultimately
He wants us to experience the life He lives.
Our experience in this life will be full of so many
days where we may not understand why the
“wind” is blowing so hard.
Some days we might not even be 
able to get our kite in the sky..
But remember,
Joy and Happiness are 
our birthright and
The commandments are given to us to
protect us from crashing into unknown and unsafe boundaries.
They are given to us to help us have a higher perspective.
Commandments are given to us to help us feel closer to
our Father in Heaven....
Sometimes we just need to “reel it in.”

As as child 
or even an adult
you may assume 
the kite string 
is holding the kite down 
and as you hold the string you can feel the kite tugging to be set free. 
You imagine that if you let go of the string, 

the kite would soar off into the atmosphere.

But in reality if you let go of the string, what happens to the kite? It plummets to the earth.

The commandments are like the kite string. They appear to others to be holding us down, keeping us from soaring, when in reality it is our obedience
to the commandments that allow us to reach our highest potential as sons and daughters of Heavenly Father.
We are the kite.
the commandments the kite string that
enables us to do and become who he needs us to be.
To the purple 12 foot kite in my parents garage,
Thank you.
To the two parents that some how knew
how much rope to let me ascend with,
Thank you.
To the Ultimate Master Kite Flyer,
Thank Thee For all 
these experiences.

13 October 2011

The Parable of the Cannoli

Something happened to me right before
 I got into my first real car accident.
I live in Greenwich, CT 
right now. I have a really fun 
job and I love the area.

Two weeks after moving here,
I had been familiar with
the grocery stores,
the libraries and
the roads.

One night I was at the grocery store,
walking past the bakery..

And there it was starring me 
back in the face.
It wanted me to
take it home.
It was a cannoli

There was no one else around.
No cashier, no sales clerk.
SO MAYBE I DIDNT NEED ONE.
I wanted one so bad, I tracked someone down.

She had never worked in the bakery.
and didn't know the prices anyways,
how was I supposed to purchase it?

SO MAYBE I DIDNT NEED ONE.

She decided to give me a deal, but then she whispered and 
looked around alot, like this deal was a secret deal,
She said 2.50 and piled four into a carton.
And set one aside for herself.

I wondered the real price of these.
I wondered this for days, and soon,
I did not feel good about my cannoli indulgence..
hmm..symbolic.

So I headed back to that bakery to pay the difference.
No one sells a cannoli for 2.50
let alone 2.50 for 4.

As I approached the bakery counter the Bakery Manager came out with two of his employees and
listened to my story
as I explained that I needed to pay the difference.

When I asked him the price of one cannoli,
he said: 3.99

I was obviously in debt to them.

"how much do I owe you?"

"You came back to the bakery to
tell me you owe me?  Your honesty is your payment."


"are you sure? I questioned him.

Yes, he slipped into the back and his employee

asked where I was from.

Utah.

"oh, are you a mormon?"

"yes"

"Was it your mormon honesty
that brought you back
to the bakery today?"


"yes"



He gave me a free cannoli

and I left

repeating the experience in my mind.

Mormon honesty
Your honesty is your payment.


I did not want a cannoli as
payment 
I did not seek praises of man.

I seek honesty with myself,
with the Lord and with those around.


I'm grateful for the ushering of the still small voice.
For he reminded me, small things make a difference.

I have new friends at the bakery, that know
they can count of me for honesty.
This has heightened my sense of honesty.
and I don't buy any more cannoli(s)....

No because of the experience,
but because I don't need them..

This little parable,
this little stuffed shell,
holds a memory in my 
heart for
your honesty is your payment.



10 October 2011

my family



Editing this video, made me want babies..

Better go find that man...

06 October 2011

I can't sleep

I can't sleep, and I havent been blogging with words and sentences lately.

and I'm sorry to myself for that.

but tomorrow, good things await me.



I love life still.


I appreciate those that have enrich the lives of others.


I know we are built to do hard things.


and we just must make the choice to do hard things.






05 October 2011

I'm waiting for this song to mean something to me: 



Steve Jobs

Looking Up



click here