I Love to See the Temple

During the last General Conference Elder Gary E. Stevenson's talk, Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples, really touched me. The whole thing was wonderful! I won't give you a recap because most of you are LDS and have access to the transcript, but I will share the parts that I can't get through without the Spirit touching my heart (translation: tears in my eyes).

Elder Stevenson talked about how President Monson counseled, "As we touch the temple the temple will touch us." How we need to take our small children to the temple grounds and let them actually touch the temple. In two weeks our primary is going to go to the temple together. Not all come from the best of circumstances and opportunities like this are new to them. I can't wait to share my testimony with them on the beautiful temple grounds. I can't wait to let them touch the temple, let them feel the power of the Spirit, and recognize the sacredness of the holy building.

How blessed we are to have such a Holy place only 30 minutes away. I feel even more blessed to know that our homes are the only places that compare to our temples. My home growing up always felt different from most of my friends homes. I always thought it was because it was mine, you always feel more comfortable in your own home. But now I know that it was the Spirit that made the difference. My mom worked so hard to make our home a holy place. I want to have Lucy and Tyler feel the same way.

I don't know why I always feel it is a burden to do the laundry, make dinner, tidy up, or vacuum the house for the 7th day in a row. I should feel honored as a woman, as the nurturer and homemaker of our family, I get to make our home a temple, a home for our Savior. I have the responsibility to make our home a place where our Lord will feel welcome and comfortable. A place where our family can feel the Holy Ghost present. A place where we can learn and grow together in ways that will lead us back to our Savior Jesus Christ. I want nothing more than to have my whole family together in the eternities, living in the presence of God. At this moment, I can't think of a better job in the whole world than to do whatever I can to not only make our home 'special,' but to make it a place to teach our children the gospel.

Mom, thank you so much for being such a great example. I have always known you were superwoman, time only makes this more and more clear to me. You worked so hard, day after day to make our home clean, a place of refuge. A place where the Spirit wanted to be. Then you used this to your advantage and you and dad taught me the gospel there. I don't know where I would be without that knowledge and blessing of the gospel. Of the temple. Thank you for being so diligent in fulfilling your sacred duties on this earth. Mother I love you and owe you everything! In return, I will try my hardest to follow your example and raise your grandchildren in a clean and loving home, teaching them the gospel.

"No no no no!"

The other day I was cleaning up in our front room when I heard "no no no no, (pause), no no no no, (another pause), no no no no,...." well you get the picture. The little voice was coming from the kitchen so I thought I would go check it out.
I found Lucy pointing to each drawing on the cabinets/fridge and saying no. Apparently this is what I sounded like two weeks ago when she had made the art pieces. I tried to get her to do it again (saying no, not making more art) after I grabbed my camera but it didn't quite do it justice.

Happy Daddy Day

"Happy Daddy Day" is what we taught Lucy to say this morning.

I just wanted to give a shout out to the fantastic dad's in my life. I have pretty much the best dad ever! I also have the best father-in-law a girl could ever ask for! And did I mention that my husband is an amazing dad as well? Then there are my two grandpa's who did a phenomenal job raising my parents and were my second & third (in no particular order) dad's growing up.

How did I get so lucky to have all the best dad's in the world in my life?

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Overreaction

I have been known to overreact before I have all the facts. I actually do it on a regular basis. Everything from losing my keys (still in my purse and not hanging up where they should be) to running late for Church and freaking out because I can't find Lucy's shoes (already set them out the night before so of course they wouldn't be in her shoe drawer). There are bigger examples, but I am trying to let you know that it is a common occurrence in the Hornibrook Home.
I just wanted to let everyone know that according to Tyler, I overreacted about our closing costs. Yesterday we got everything all sorted out, quite easily mind you. Since I am new to the home buying process, I had no clue they added in your down payment to the bottom of the 'good faith estimate.' It was a sheet all about closing costs and never once mentions the down payment. I am just happy I was wrong and they were right about how much we needed to have at closing! Can you imagine what was going through my head though, having to pay the down payment amount twice, plus closing costs? So we are happy and excited to get the inspection tomorrow. July 15th is still looking pretty good!

Holy Cow

This evening we received the first of the 'million papers' to sign that I was talking about earlier. All I can say is "ouch," that hurts! If you have ever bought a house, did you gasp when you saw the closing costs? Seriously, way more than our down payment? I have spent the last few hours doing everything I can to find more money in our budget. I have called and canceled our cable, made a list of clothing to return where the tags are still on (why I always buy things that sit in my closet I don't know), and moved everything around that I could to find some wiggle room. I have changed the Father's Day gift I had planned on and made a list of meals I can make using the food in our pantry. My friend is getting married in August, and while I am still planning on finding a way to go, I can't buy my tickets until this all gets sorted out. Any other ideas you can think of to find more money in our budget?
Really anything may help! We are going to try to talk down the closing costs because even my parents, whose house was a lot more, didn't have to pay this much. Really wish us luck sorting out this whole process! We hope their is a mistake, even our realtor doesn't think it looks right and is making us call tomorrow for a second opinion. And if by chance it is right, we can kiss our dream home goodbye! I probably should have waited to post my last entry online. I would take it off but I haven't lost hope quite yet! This is my journal as well as my blog right?!!

EXCITING NEWS!!!

On July 15th we will be getting the keys to

OUR FIRST HOME!

That's right, just an hour or so ago we accepted a counter offer on the most beautiful home! We have been looking for awhile and we found the perfect place to make memories in! It was love at first sight. I mean look at the pictures, how could you not like this house?

Above is the front of the house. It is on a corner lot heading into a flat cultasac.This picture is of the side of the house...don't you just love the wrap around front porch? Can we say a beautiful porch swing is in our future? And to make the porch more enjoyable...

this is what we will be looking at on the said swing. This is Orchard Lake and is directly across the street. All Lucy ever talks about anymore are the 'ducks' at the lake. There is a path that goes around the lake and about 30+ ducks that are not by any means afraid of people. There are also geese but these are even more scary (as tall as Lu) than the beloved ducks. While she can't stop saying "duck, duck, duck, touch duck," when they come near she is not a happy camper. Kids are funny aren't they?

So while there are still a million papers to sign and an inspection and all that, I couldn't keep it in. I am way too excited. Pray nothing goes wrong okay?!!

The house is in Damascus and will be in our same ward. The ward boundaries are HUGE! We hear the schools are excellent (Oregon Trail Elementary, Sunrise Middle School, and Clackamas High School). It is just 5 minutes off the 205, 15 minutes from my parents, and about 20 minutes from Tyler's parents. How perfect can it get? I will keep you posted and take more pictures of the inside. It has 3 bedrooms, an office, a big play room over the garage (my favorite part of the house), a dining room/living room area, family room and a fenced in backyard.

I am so excited!!!

Disney World

We had an AMAZING vacation as a family. It was so much fun to spend a whole week with those you love most. Thanks mom and dad for making it happen! The Hansen Family
Dad, Lucy, Mom, Amy, Tyler, me, Ashleigh, Dane, Rafe, and Berkley down in front.

My two loves!

Lucy playing outside of Minnie Mouse's house. She is now obsessed with Mickey and Minnie. All I hear every morning is "ma mouse ha house peese" over and over again. Translation: "Mickey Mouse Club House Please."

Toon Town

Yet another Dumbo like ride. Lucy loved every one of them!

Getting ready to ride the train at Magic Kingdom, "choo choo" goes the train.

Lucy is showing us her instrument. There were all these African drummer guys teaching all the kids (and adults) different beats, then we all played them together. It was actually a ton of fun!

Getting ready to go into the coolest 3D show I have seen. It is a bugs life show at Animal Kingdom. Go if you ever get the chance! Stylin' boys! Don't you love the face my dad is making:)

At Epcot

We love Crush from Nemo!

In front of the Everest ride at Animal Kingdom. Way cool ride. In my opinion it is one of the best in the Disney theme parks.

Grandpa trying to get Lucy to look at the camera:)

Lucy inside Bruce's mouth after the Finding Nemo ride at Epcot.

Making the most of Florida rain/thunder storm!

The ride ended...poor Lucy!

Lucy saying "moooooo" like a cow.

Lucy's favorite, Dumbo.

After the firework show.

Lucy at the Dallas airport. How smart it is to have a kids place to play!

One of 'those' days

Today I am having one of those days that I don't feel like doing a thing. Even TV seems like to much work. I don't feel like taking a nap, eating, taking a shower, cleaning, helping my hubby out (he really needs me to wash the whites and update his website), reading to Lu or even making food for her. I just plain don't feel like doing anything! I hate these days and wish they didn't exist! The sad thing is I think it might be a pretty day out. I haven't opened the blinds (it is 3, how sad is that) but see sun coming in through the slats. I feel so bad for Lucy on these days which makes me feel even worse.
On a different note, yesterday we found out that we didn't get the house we had an offer on. It was such a beautiful house, very private, big, one story (except the apartment over the garage) and a great investment. I am sure my Ward will be really happy since we just found out the YW president got a house and is moving out July 1st. It would be hard to fill two of the auxiliary presidents in one month--glad I could help out!
I will try to post some pictures now. The only ones I have uploaded on my computer are from Disney World, so I will work on Costa Rica and Utah pictures a different day when finding my other camera is on my list of things to do.