Packed and Ready

Well... today was a big day!!! We are finally packed for Thailand. This may seem weird because we still have 10 days, however, I have a full house for the next week... so this is a big accomplishment! And here is some more exciting news... I packed in a carry on!!! Can you believe it??? I am so proud of myself because I have a sleeping bag, blow up mattress and towel in there (which leaves little room for clothes). Today, I finally feel like I can be getting excited for the trip!!! Please be praying for us on our adventures. Specifically that the people that we are serving are able to hear the gospel from us and that they would be blessed by the work that we are doing! Thanks so much!

Allie

What's this season all about???

So... lately at church we have been challenged to double check ourselves and ask what this season is all about... presents, christmas trees, Santa Clause, big parties, shopping, lines, traffic... road rage??? OR is this season about Christ, our Savior who came to this earth as a baby in a manger to die for us on a cross and give us the GIFT of eternal life with him??? It's so hard to balance and, while I am typically not a deep thinker, this one has really challenged my thinking... Hope you have a Christ-filled holiday!

Who said you have to have a Turkey on Thanksgiving?

So, seriously, who said you have to have a Turkey on Thanksgiving? This year, we made prime rib with a red wine, chicken stalk and thyme au jus (sauce). We added to that a traditional Hanson stuffing (mushroom soup, celery and thyme), green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. We finished the evening with some of my grandma's great home made pumpkin, pecan and mince pies.

Prime Rib

Stuffing

Green Bean Cassarole

Jesse has a great time relaxing and reading while the ladies were in the kitchen cooking.

The final moments before dinner!

Grandma and Grandpa Hanson (my dad's parents)

A rocky coastline made for a beautiful drive down 17 mile drive.

Holiday Work Party

Last night we had our annual Fresno Surgical Hospital holiday party. It was so much fun! We went with our friends Micah (who was in our wedding and now works with me) and Katie. Every day I go to work and put on my blue scrubs and hat and we work and don't get to see each other in normal clothes with hair... this makes it even more fun to see everyone dressed up. The party was at Pardinis. Each department created gift baskets and we had a raffle. We are never lucky winners, but it was fun to see people win! There were some GREAT prizes... Bulldog basketball tickets (thanks dad), t-shirts and $50 to Elbow room... Wine, wine glasses, salami and cheese and $100 to Flemmings... and a TON more!

Poker Face... Dr. Gill (middle) loves Lady Gaga so we were posing like her! Susie is one of my good friends at work.

My girls... Missy (middle) and Wendy. Missy is my work mom because she scrubs for my dad and we work together a lot.

This is a lot of the OR crew... a fun group!

Missy, Dr. Tanner and I work together every other Tuesday. He hosts the Halloween party every year.

Bryan and Sarah

Sarah and Desi

Rachel (left) is the queen of cookies and ran the OR for 18 years!!! Cindi (middle) has known me for a long time (worked with my Grandpa in the OR) and now works in the recovery room. Teresa (right) is a long time OR woman who has been a great friend.

John, Sarah and I went to school at Fresno State together and now work together!!!

Halloween Party 2009

Every year a few of the doctors I work with throw a huge halloween party! It is so much fun. People go all out and it is so much fun looking at everyone's creative costumes. This year, I have been planning to be Sandy D. and Danny Zucco from Grease.

The costumes were so great this year. Here are some of my favorites.

There had to be a Michael!!! This is Dr. Radich, an anesthesiologist who dressed as MJ's doctor... Got Propofol?... and his wife (MJ).. They were great and she looked amazing!!!

We had some Gilligan's Island!

This is Anthony (Moses) and Mario (dead gangster). They are scrub techs at Fresno Surgical Hospital with me and we work a lot together!!!

We are with Tim (Pimp) & Sabrina (Bride) and Karen and Ken (roller derby diva and ref.). How creative!

This is Dr. Tanner. He is a hand surgeon and I work with him almost every Tuesday. He hosts the party every year. I inspired his Bulldog Cheerleader costume!!!

This is Rachel. She dressed as Janice Joplin. He has her "Nickle Bag" of parsley and was so proud of it!!!

This is Mark, who dressed as 2 Pac... he is white!!! He painted himself black and totally looked the part. We were sitting around a fire pit for 5-10 minutes before I realized who he was.

Laguna with the Girls

So a few weekends ago my mom and I went down south to visit Lauren. We had such a blast. We stayed in a beautiful hotel overlooking Laguna beach area. It had some awesome decoration ideas for you creative girls out there! Also, the gym overlooked the bay with a huge chandelier above the workout equipment... I would definitely be in better shape if my gym was that cool. We got facials and mani/pedi's. We went to dinner with a few friends of ours, Danny Roberts and David Roberts at a place in Corona Del Mar where lauren knows the executive chef. It was tasty to say the least!!! (Side note... check out Igor and Andre which is Danny's website!) The weekend was full of fun and wonderful memories!!! We can't wait to do it again!!!

We have lots to update you on!!!

We went to napa in the beginning of October with the Harold and Margie, Aaron and Christy, and Cherie and Aubrey (Blake was on a business meeting). We had such a great time. We went to the Culinary Institute of America and a few other wineries and got to soak in all the beautiful scenes. The whether was fantastic and we had some great food!!! Thanks for the fun!

Fun at the Zoo

Last Saturday I went to the zoo with Aubrey Rose, Blake and Cherie and Margie. When we drove up to the parking lot entrance, on the side of the road was Travis and Logan DeManby. So, we made a day of it and explored the zoo. It was a blast. I have not been there since I was a little girl... probably 10 - 15 years. They have made so many incredible improvements! One of the most interesting exhibits for me was the monkeys. The entire cage is draped with ropes so the monkeys have places to swing. They were very active when we went. The girls (and Blake) were so intrigued with all of the action.

Aubrey was just checking her wing span against the vulture... she has some growing to do!

Another fun thing that the zoo offers is a trip to the giraffes where you can feed them. Their tongues are probably at least 1 foot long. Aubrey was so cute because she was really into it at first then when the tongue got close to her, she began leaning away more and more... my picture sequence was awesome!!! Logan was also fun to watch because she would stick her tongue out during when the giraffe would.

Margie and Aubrey had fun looking at the swan swimming around the mote.

This bear was so adorable, it looked like my Chihuahua all cuddled up in the winter time!!!

The girls loved hanging out with each other. Logan would help Aubrey Rose around by holding her hand. When Aubrey was standing up high on the railing, Logan would want to join in... lets just say it was fun to watch them interact!

Funny - Allie is logged in on my computer too!! I'll do this only once as well!

So this is me and Allie at a friends shower. Hope you like the picture.