Disneyland and Heart Attacks

Ed and I are heading to Anaheim next week to visit Disneyland. Not for ourselves but because Erin and her family will be there because Spencer's got a work conference the first part of the week. Funny how flying to L.A, staying in a hotel, and going to Disneyland for three days costs about as much as it would to fly to Kaui'i to see them.

On a scary note, Grampa Hanson had what looks like a couple of heart attacks this week. He's in the hospital right now and sure he's going to be released every day. Erin and Spencer are going to rent a car on Sunday when they get to California and go see him. Dad's always been so healthy and is such an active person that this being cooped up in the hospital is driving him crazy. I'm grateful for his friend Hilde and his church family who are keeping watch on him.

Publishing Contract

I signed a publishing contract on Monday! Check out my writing blog for details.

Sienna's Trip Winds Down

We went to Sundance today and rode the ski lift. Beautiful today after all the rain yesterday.

Sienna had a real thrill when she recognized NieNie who was there and had gotten in line. I read Ed her book, so I pointed her out to Ed and, of course, he went up and introduced himself to her. She was so gracious and very sweet to Sienna.

Last weekend we went to the Colonial Heritage Festival at Scera Park.

Sienna's Visit Continued

Sienna's been busy between playing with our neighbor Kaitlyn, visiting Zoe in Springville, and Grace in Draper. She got to meet author Elana Johnson at her book launch for Surrender. I was going to get a picture, but forgot my camera.

Today Sienna got to meet author Cindy Hogan, who signed her two books--Watched and Protected--for Sienna.

We're heading for Gardner Village tomorrow to meet up with Kelsey and baby Winter. We're picking up Grace (I think) on our way. I hope to have some pictures them. I want to get up to Sundance with Sienna, too.

Summerfest

Sienna's been having fun with Davey who stayed with us for three days last week. He likes to pretend he knows how to make the bike work while Sienna uses Adam's old scooter.

This last weekend was Summerfest. I took her over for lunch, and we checked out all the vendors. I got some tickets for the rides. Ed, who joined us after an appointment, didn't want to go. One ride for me told me I'm too old for this stuff. lol So the little girls, Kelly and Allie, from across the street who happened to be at the grandmother's house across from City Center Park, helped Sienna use the tickets.

Afterward, Sienna went to the park with my coworker Bobbie and her family--Kaitlyn, Bobbie's oldest, is 13. They were having a water balloon fight at the park. The weather turned crazy, though, with the wind really kicking up.

I was going to take Sienna back to Summerfest for the fireworks, but it had gotten really cold outside. We were watching Winter anyway. Too bad, though.

Sienna's going to spend a couple of days with her friend Zoe. Ed will take her there tonight. The timing is perfect because Ed's got the Temple for a good chunk tomorrow, and I've got a city council meeting from hell: the first of the budget public hearings. The staff is proposing the first property tax increase since 1978. As you can imagine, many people are up in arms about it. The increase comes to about the cost of a movie ticket a month. But that can be huge when you're on a fixed income. Just ask Ed. But what do you do? We're literally at the point where services will be cut if it's not approved.

Sienna's Visit

Sienna arrived last Wednesday after a little adventure (like idiot airport people). Erin sounded really  stressed when Sienna missed her flight. Hmmm . . . I wonder why. But they finally straightened everything out and got her on another flight--and even put her in first class.

She's been helping Ed and playing with the little girls across the street. One of my clerks at work has a daughter (Kaitlyn) who's Sienna's age and has been really nice to invite her over to play.

Sienna's friend Grace (moved from Hawaii to Utah earlier this year) invited Sienna to come to a horse show Grace was involved in (she took 2nd place). Sienna not only got to be around horses, she got to ride one.

She's anxious to read the book I've been editing--the one where she's the main characters. Yes, both of them. I was hoping to be able to get through the first edit, but now I'm working on a revise and resubmit edit from a small publisher on another book. *sigh*

Kinslayer

Have I mentioned that Paul and Adam have a band? They're into Metal--not the screachy Death Metal stuff but the epic Symphonic/Melodic Metal. Adam writes most of the music and does the mixing, and Paul's the lyricist, and they have an really talented keyboardest who helps with the music. You can hear some of their music at their website kinslayerband.com.

Paul and Adam have been working on this for a few years now, with Paul being the driving force behind it. Well, they had their first concert last night. It was in bar, so their underaged drummer couldn't go. They built Robby the Robot to fill in (and had to use a computer to play the drum). Their next performance is on the 26th of this month and there's no age restriction. Ed and I plan to go.

Here's a picture from the concert last night. If Paul's wife Kelsey can get me some of the video I'll try and post it here.

Don't even ask me why Adam's wearing shorts.