Frisco- Bison are Champions of the Nation

We drove to Frisco with Jamie and Jason Sylling this year.  Due to a car wash malfunction, we didn't leave town until 6pm on Thursday.  However, there were enough of us to rotate drivers and we (well, not I.  I slept) drove through the night, arrived in Frisco at the Marriot at Legacy by 9:30am where they let us check in early and we slept until 2.  

Champ Grass 2011 came for the drive and we found different pictures to pump us up for the game.  

 Eating breakfast after the drive.  Dream-come-true kind of picture for every girl.

Then we headed to the pep rally, where we ran into some Hankinson fans...

...and a few other Bison fans.  

This was the scene by 7:30am in our hotel room.  

These two were slightly excited.  

Cold.  Cold. We had remembered from last year, so we were prepared and warm.  

Can you guess who's wearing long johns?  Ha!

A few fans lined up with us to greet the team and Thundar off the bus.  

A view of our tailgate crew.  So fun.  

Some kind of bomber...a really, really big plane...from Minot Air Force 

Base flew over before the start of the game.  

 The fire this year was new...and terrific.

The clouds part, the sun comes out, and the game begins!

 A few fans watched the game with us as well.

Someone had given me a t-shirt at tailgating that I had with me.  This poor man had mistakenly wore a Sioux jersey to the game?!?!?!  So glad I was able to help him out!  As was everyone around him, as you can see.  

Looks like some other Bison fans helped the concession man get dressed properly for the game.  

Getting warmer!  Definitely better weather for the game than last year.  

Then a few fans joined us on the field after the game.  

Just a few.  

 Love it.  We Bison are so cool.  So glad to be one.

Another great picture after the game!  Jason was smart to keep his sunglasses

 on since he and Chris were crying watching the video they played after the game. 

And introducing the newest member of the Hanson family: Champ Grass 2012!  

Should go perfect with our three legged dog!

We headed out for another night out at Legacy and watched the Vikings game for awhile. 

 Is it weird that I thought this tree was real?

We ate at the Smokey Pokey on the way home.  I ate more barbecued meat than Jason.  The waitress asked us about the game and then said "so, now who do they play next?"  I said, "No, no.  They are Champions...OF THE NATION."  Brilliant!

Kelly Kuehl and Tiffany Foertsch took a rode trip to Minot with Jamie and I back in high school.  They felt similar to Jason and Chris in the back seat I believe.  

What did the kids do?  Get spoiled by Grandma Tree!

 Yeah, I totally remember my mom making things like this with me when I was a kid...not!

 Halle came to hang out with the Hanson cousins also.  Charity the golden retriever being sure to annoyingly make someone pet her.

 Riding the car hood with grandpa Gerry.  Notice Charity?  She's relentless!

 Gerry Buckhouse style.

 And then Grandma and Grandpa took them to Elmo live.

 Where I noticed via these pictures that Luke's shirt is way too small.

 Doesn't matter.  Like anyone looked at him with this cuteness along?

 Back to the spoiling...dollies for both little girls,

 And light-up "pukers" as my kids called them...because, you see, it looks like Elmo is PUKING light.
 Great things they teach Halle.

 Don't forget the snacks Grandma!

Girl's night out.

 

Ingrid, Ginger and I out in Minot over Christmas break.  Fun girl's night at Josh Duhmal's restaurant.  

4 more years of vacuuming

I know some of you are really animal lovers.  I want to remember this time, so I thought I'd put it on my blog so I'll always have it.   *Asterix are the tear jerking moments that got us here.

As many of you heard via facebook last night, Toni got hit by a car last night.  As we all know, the Hansons some time forget that we left Toni outside unsupervised.  And, to be honest, Toni is a little sneak and likes to take a rendezvous around the neighborhood when she feels that her exercise allotment has not met her needs- ie: most of the winter.  She has been encountering near misses with cars for the seven years we've had her, and tonight she didn't get missed.  Critelli's had called us and said they saw Toni out for her stroll (kids had accidentally left garage door open when they used the code to get in after school).  Chris and the kids looked for her, but couldn't find her.  Toni has been gone during blizzards from 10pm-1am, but we all knew this was different.  *Kids were bawling.  I was secretely looking for her, but pretending not to be worried.  Well, at 8:15pm someone called and said they had found her huddled up next to a fence by Fox Run park, along the road that runs North and South between Timberline and Fox Run.  A lady had called the cops, but then another man took her home and called us.  The police met Chris there and he brought her home.  *Her right hind leg was obviously deformed and she couldn't walk.  Vet said that we could wait through the night, gave her some aspiring for pain, but to watch for signs of breathing troubles.  *Well, we get her all set up in the mudroom and we're ready to go to bed finally around 11:30 and Chris says "she's panting."  I go in there and it looks like she had been running.  We were ready to take her in then, but she was just too hot!  She's used to sleeping out in the garage!  We carry her out to pee and she immediately stopped panting.  Left the door open between the garage and the mudroom and she was fine for the night. 

**So we were kind of thinking this might be the last picture with Toni......

But, as of now, it is not!  After much debate and asking around and crying on the phone with vets and with Chris, Toni will become an amputee!  Her femur is shattered. *It looks like about 10 different pieces.  But, that's really it somehow.  She has a small crack in her pelvis as well, but those usually heal well.  It will be difficult because she's going to need to lay around to let the pelvis heal while she should be up learning to be a three-legged dog.  Cost was around $1000; so not something that was going to make us empty our savings account or anything.  Vet said it was a 50/50.  She is a very good candidate with no other health problems, no arthritis.  She is thin and has a good frame for it.  Yet, she is at least 10 years old. We told the vet where the man had found her; *Vet said "she was lying down to die. She wasn't going to try to hobble home."  Chris really thought "we either say goodbye now or a few years from now...."

I have often joked that if I had the choice to put Toni to sleep or fix her up, that I wouldn't even hesitate.  That it would be "see you later.  Nice knowing you.  Thanks for the memories."  Well.....I just know Toni can do this. * I just know she won't lay around and not get up when I get that stroller out.  *It will definitely be sad to not have my running buddy anymore, and to watch her sad little face as I go without her.  But, I felt like all the signs were pointing to doing it:  She could've had a perforated bladder from the shattered femur, she could've froze to death if no one would've found her, they could've found arthritis in the other hip when they took the x-ray, we could have babies to care for and certainly not have time to carry our dog out behind the shed to urinate, (like this picture of Chris below), for the next 2 months.  (She is unable to pee anywhere else, it appears, besides this regular spot for her.  We tried closer spots to the door and she starts hobbling out there herself.)

Now we're just making sure she has "life" in her and no further damage happened internally and she will have surgery Tuesday.  Unless someone can convince us differently? * I really don't want to put her through all this, but I also don't want to "quit" her.  She really is a great dog.   We could have (hopefully) 4 or 5 more years with this nice dog or have to start all over.  Toni doesn't chew things or get into the garbage or jump or bark or destroy things.  She is great with our kids.  The only complaints I have of Toni is that she runs away if we are not watching her and she carpets my floors with dog hair.  However, those two complaints should hopefully decrease when she's down to one hind leg?  Going to be much hard to get away and dart out into traffic with three legs and she'll only have one hind leg to itch with, which send the clouds of dog hair flying everywhere.  Might be OK?

**Marie thought Toni would feel better if she looked at the toy catalog.

Might be the saddest moment....

 

 

We make our decision.   I have the number of the man who called to say he had found Toni.  Chris didn't remember his name, but when I called the man remembered she was Toni.  His name is Bill.  I told him about Toni and what we were going to do.  *He told me exaclty where he had found her, which made me sad because the vet had said that someone had to be going very fast, like in the 40 mph range, to do this kind of damage and that there was no way they wouldn't have known they hit something.  I thought that it happened on 40th Ave and I thought that speed would make sense and I thought Toni had run further.  But, it happened on a road that no one should be going 40 and on a road that wouldn't have traffic lined up behind you and Toni couldn't have gone very far.  ******Anyways, I told Bill what the vet had said about her going there to die and his voice cracked as he started to choke up and he said "that's exactly what I said to the other lady standing there.  This dog came here to die.  But, she's just such a good dog.  You made my day by calling me back."  I told him we would keep him posted and hopefully walk by his place this summer so he could see her. 

 

So, if she makes it through these next couple of days, and then through surgery, and then through the recovery, and then wants to be a fun dog again.....hope we're doing the right thing on this one.  Chris says Toni is officially "Erika's dog." 

 



 

Insert Boyz II Men singing....

"How do I say goodbye to what we had? 

The good times that made us laugh
Outweigh the bad

I thought we'd get to see forever
But forever's gone away
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday."

So long dragon/dinosaur costume that was a hand-me-down from Cousin Jack.  (Although, by the looks of how I squeezed Luke into it last year, maybe there is another year left for it?  And don't anyone freak out.  I'm not really getting rid of it.  This is one to save for sure.)

You will be missed.  Boo-hoo.

Eva, Liv, Emma and Lauren.  Thank goodness for Liv's mom Beth; I had the shirt for Eva and that was it.  Oh wait, no I didn't?  That # was borrowed from another neighbor!

 Travis, Carter, Andrew and Keaton.  These boys' moms were so nice to take Travis with them so he didn't have to go slow with....

 ...the mean dragon and Adrian Peterson.

Luke is Adrian Peterson most Sundays anyways.  

 In the hood.

 What would these girls' lives be like without Allison?  Empty.

 Paigey and Lukey.  Surprised he's not twirling her hair?

Bison and Birthdays- Marie turns 3

I couldn't find pictures of Eva's 3rd birthday that showed the dog bowls and dog bone cookies?  I don't know how it is that 2 people, 6 years apart in age pick to have the EXACT same birthday party?  This time round, I was able to make the cookies instead of Grandma Lois doing it for me.  I have learned something in six years of cooking I guess?  Happy Birthday Mi-mi!

 Brynn and Kyler eating out of dog bowls with Marie.

 Marie, Kyler, Brynn, Hugo, Luke, Travis and Eva

Although I haven't gotten this good....Grandma Lois and Grandpa Clint made this cake for her family party.  

If you haven't been to my house and seen this hanging everywhere, then here are the pictures we had taken Memorial Day.  

 Best picture we could get of Luke alone.

We have 4 season tickets to the Bison football games.  The real fight is not over who gets to go to the game, but who gets to stay home with the babysitter.  It was Eva and Marie this day staying home with Allison.  Photo shoot time!  

Eva and Liv

 So glad these two each have a sister.

BISON HOMECOMING!  Our season tickets are with the Syllings (Jamie Evans and her husband Jason and boys, Wyatt and Tee.)  The parade was so fun!

 Yellow tutu, striped leg warmers, pink candy bucket...Love it!

Luke and Mi-mi: the Destroyers

Room #1.  To really appreciate the destruction, you have to know that some of those blankets are from my bed they disassembled.  This is mostly an every day occurence to play "baby puppy." 

"Baby puppy" earlier this summer.  

Room #2 was the garage and I missed taking a picture.  The party that occurred there included chips thrown all over the floor and "danced" on.  I really don't even know how they had time to destroy these 3 rooms before nap because I made them clean up every last piece of the garage party themselves, with the only help being to get the vacuum out.  Took at least an hour for them to do that?

However, this was in January.  The destruction I'm posting today has actually made me realize how easy cleaning up is now; At least they can do most of the clean up themselves.  I barely knew where to start on this one. 

 

Can't blame this one on Marie, as this is from August 2009.  Luke has a real party talent.  I'm sure partying and red solo cups will come in handy in college for Luke. 

 Silly!  No!  This is not a party, it's driving to grandma Tree's AND camping. This used to occur daily, but has been replaced by "baby puppy."



Speaking of destruction (not sure how I couldn't find a picture of a kid sitting on this?), we finally got a new dishwasher whose door isn't held up by the floor.  Interesting twist, it holds way more dishes for the kids whom are now able to empty it themselves.  Take that!

Room #3:  Not allowed in Eva's room, already destroyed that once this summer, which included a pottery wheel, jewerly paint, glitter, beads, etc.  Not allowed in Travis room either...toy room is too destroyed to even walk in...the bathroom!  It's a bathroom party of course!  Only thing you can't see is the water involved in the bathroom party on all these clean blankets and towels.  

 This picture will not be as cute when Marie posts one from a house party some day.  Now that was a PARTY!