On being the new kid...

Each move that we have made has been a pretty drastic change in culture. Provo to Chicago--Chicago to Los Angeles--Los Angeles to Houston--Houston to Boise...

Things are very different from one end of our country to another. I have had to learn new brands of food to buy and even new vocabulary--well, mostly in the "foreign" South.

When we moved to California we bought our first home. As California homes go it was on the small side with and even smaller yard. Being first time home owners we were in the market for some things to take care of our new home. One of those things was a lawn mower.

Now, in Southern California most people don't have much grass to speak of...and if they do they have lawn care services come and mow...not the Hansen's. We are do it yourselfers! So Jared and I headed to Home Depot and found a nice refurbished RECHARGABLE lawn mower. It was perfect for our 200 square feet of grass! Infact, we could get several mows out of it before we had to charge her up again! It was great!

Then we moved to Houston and a bigger home. About twice as big and a yard to boot! Those of you who have been to the south also know that our grass is a different down there too. Not grass you want to take your shoes off and run in...or even set a baby down on. It's thick and viney and gross! So after we got settled in our new home and got our St. Augustines laid it was time to mow. We were the laughing stock of the cul de sac with our little mower. In Texas a wussy mower doesn't cut it--literally!

Jared or I would mow about 2 or 3 lengths of the back yard and the darn thing would need to be recharged! So it took about a week to mow the whole thing and then where you started was ready to be mowed again!! It wasn't long before we conceded and got us a real (used) mower!

Now we have moved to snow country. Keep in mind it has been 12 years since we lived in snow--and in Chicago we lived in an apartment, so we didn't need snow tools. When we were thinking about moving here...and when we got here...we were told time and again that it doesn't snow much in Boise. It was all lies I tell you!

They have had more snow this year than anyone can ever remember. The kids love it, but it's a little tricky when you have no "gear"! I finally was able to hunt down boots for Rachel and Jonah. Jared's sister Camille sent some that fit Luke and I'm keeping my eye out for some for Seth. I didn't even own a winter coat until Christmas--thanks Jared (and his personal shopper--Sarah. I'm glad he has sisters with such good taste!)

So the first big snow the Hansen's were not prepared for. At the time we were working on some projects in the garage and so the cars were parked out on the driveway. In our 7 1/2 years in Houston the cars never made it INTO the garage!! So we wake up to ice on the cars. I looked out in the morning to see poor Jared scraping the ice off his windshield with a credit card! Fortunately our good friends the Johnson's gave us a nice ice scraper/brush for Christmas! Thanks!!

The other item we need is a shovel. On the big snow day I went out and there was not a shovel to be had!! Apparently lots of people were in the market for them. I was able, however, to get my hands on some kids shovels. The novelty of shoveling sidewalks wore off much quicker than I was hoping. So today as I was shoveling the walk to the house--hunched over--with my 2 1/2 foot plastic shovel I thought of the days of the rechargable mower. Time flies!

I had to include this picture of Seth...Poor kid cannot keep his pants up. He'll be the first to get frostbite!