October Offerings

 I was able to tag along with Amie & Langston and catch a flight to Mesa, Arizona where Langston's soccer team played against two different teams in that area. His club team is on the ECNL-RL soccer team. They are at a higher level, they travel farther, and play teams from Arizona and New Mexico, as well as all areas of Utah, it's a building team for kids that want to excel in soccer. We stayed in an Airbnb house with another family and some boys from the team. It was big and had a pool and plenty of room for all.

They were challenged, played hard and came out with two losses, but learned a lot as a team. It was nice weather and good to see how much Langston's game has improved for him.

     

While we were there, we were able to get together with the team for a picnic at a nice park and visit and relax some. Amie & I also went and visited some old neighbors and friends, Wayne & Adrianne Call. It was great seeing them and catching up with them. 

                                                                  

It was a quick trip, but nice to get in some new scenery and warmer weather for a bit.

While I was in Arizona with Amie, Dale got Andrew and Garrett to join him for a day of fishing on Chesterfield Reservoir. They had a great time catching fish and getting in some time on the water together. 

I got home and got back into real life again. I ushered "The Adams Family" at the Eccles, put on by Music Theater West, a local production company. It was fun and the characters were well cast for their parts. 

With it being October in our area, the North Logan Pumpkin Walk steals the show. People from all over the valley come and see the artist talents in a variety of scenes decorated using mainly pumpkins or other edible vegetables. I get the honor of adding to the fun by dressing up as a witch. Kids either like you or they are afraid of you, some want a picture with you and some shy away from you. In all though, it's fun to be part of. 

              

We had our yearly "Hansen Halloween Howl" a little earlier than usual because the Saturday before Halloween fell on Jorie's birthday this year and we didn't want to take the spotlight off of her big day. 

We did relays like; the Flying Witches relay, and a Witches Brew & Bouncing Pumpkins relay. We played Halloween Charades had a fishpond with prizes and of course had a pinata. We had all here except Nate & Diana. 

Our menu included items like, Bloody Boil (aka - Tomato Soup), Pumpkin guts (aka - Autumn squash soup, Ghost Goop (aka Loaded Potato Soup), and a bowl of Steaming Scramble (aka Chicken Noodle soup). I did up a vegetable tray that looked like a skeleton, and we had Ghost milk (aka Ranch dressing) to go with it. We had a cheese & cracker tray, with the cheese cut out as ghosts, cats, pumpkins, and witch hats. We had apple slices with caramel and mini marshmallows along them to look like a mouth with teeth on a platter, as well as celery sticks with strawberry whipped cream cheese in it and dried craisins on top to look like ants on a log. We had Frankenstein Fingers (aka breadsticks w/ melted grated cheese on top) and for drinks we had Beetle juice (aka cranberry-pomegranate juice w/sprite and Pumpkin Ale (aka Mango juice w/sprite).  For dessert the kids decorated their own cupcake. 

             

After dinner Dale & I had a surprise for the kids. We told the kids we had something we wanted to read to them before we went out to break the pinata. We had gotten our mission call the day before and didn't open it. So, Dale read it to us. We got a lot of cheers when he read that we would be serving in the Heber Valley Camp Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We will need to report to the camp on April 6, 2026 to begin serving. This was the call we were hoping to get, and we got it! A blessing for all.

After all of that excitement we broke the pinata and those that could stay longer carved or painted some mini pumpkins from our garden. These were the only pumpkins that the deer didn't eat!

We also pulled together those that could and went and checked out the Pumpkin Walk so that I could see the whole deal. It was pretty impressive alright!

                                                    

                                      

Dale & I joined up with Floyd & Alison Griffiths and Dale drove our truck to Island Park, UT to stay with them in their new cabin. We went into Yellowstone and saw some elk at a distance, and bison up close. Dale saw a coyote also. It was a bit chilly and windy out. We tried to see Old Faithful, but just missed it and where it was cold, we decided to head back to West Yellowstone and grab some lunch. There wasn't any eating places open in the park due to the Government being shutdown still.

                          

The guys went fishing a couple of times (Floyd caught the biggest ones, hence the picture of him) and Alison & I soaked in their new hot tub, visited, and watched a movie. At night we played games before going to bed. 

We also helped them with some things they needed to get done at the cabin. It was a nice out with good friends.

With the sale of Nate's office, it gives him a little freer time. He took advantage of some time and redid the face of their fireplace in their home. He's becoming quite the handyman and refining his carpentry skills. Looking good there Dr. Hansen.

They also got out on the water in their sailboat when the weather allowed. Their dream is to sail to some of the Pacific Islands after they retire.

The Mallory's stayed busy with work, school, sports, and fun. Kennyln's taking a class through the BATC classes and learning about being a Vet Tech. She catches a bus at school that takes her to BATC and back to the school. Sometimes she goes over the mountain to Brigham City to get in some job shadowing and take a class through the USU Extension program. She's enjoying all she's learning.

 

Kennlyn's also playing on an indoor women's soccer league with Amie as the coach, and Mazin's playing basketball with Matt helping coach. They keep busy and have fun. Don't you love Langston's Halloween costume?

Elder Mallory had quite a month. He ended up getting dehydrated and also had a bleeding ulcer, which put him in the hospital over-night. Amie was in contact with the mission president's wife and all went well. He just needs to take care of himself for a bit.

Luckily, he got feeling better and then his area got caught in a huge rainstorm that ended up flooding the streets and buildings. Their apartment was on ground level and got flooded almost to their knees when it was all done raining.

They had to pack up what they could and move in with the bishop in their branch that lived above them until they could get out of the area.  Crazy stuff!!                                 Elder Mallory said it was hard seeing people that barely had anything, now have nothing. Very humbling for all in different ways. The area will take a while to get cleaned up, so the missionaries will be doing a lot of clean-up service projects.

Andrew, Titan, and Dale went on a little camping trip together. They hiked into White Pine Lake starting at in the Tony Grove area up Logan Canyon. They stayed the night and did some fishing in the lake, where they had a fun time catching quite a bit of Brook Trout. Then they hiked back out. All had a good time, even Toby, who is Andrew's family dog went with them.

     

  

Andrew got someone to rent their house in Richmond, closed on their loan for their house in St. George and with the help of friends & family they took a moving van and truck full of their goods and moved to St. George. Dale & I pulled a covered trailer down for them and helped them get settled some after we got back from Island Park .While we were there, we went to the Red Cliffs Temple and did an endowment session with Andrew before we headed back home. 

They're in a nice neighborhood and have a nice home. For Halloween the kids went to a neighborhood party and trick-or-treating with their new friends around their neighborhood. We wish them the best in this new journey.

Garrett's boy, Luke is playing soccer and Garret's coaching his team. We were able to go see some of his games. He's loving it and improving each game. They won one and lost one in the games we saw. Keep it up Luke!

Garrett and Luke got out on the water and did some fishing at Pineview Reservoir to get in some bonding time too. I think Luke out fished his dad though!

Jorie's doing competitive gymnastics and keeping Zandra on the run. I think they both enjoy seeing her improve as well. We wish her the best as well. 

She also had a birthday, and we celebrated with her a little early. We took her birthday shopping and then visited with Garrett & Zandra and the kids. Happy Birthday Jorie!! We love you! The kids let me take their go-cart for a little ride too!

The Hansens treated themselves to a new motor home for an early Halloween treat! They were going to take it to Moab, but the weather wasn't cooperating, so they parked it in our driveway and stayed in it, making it possible for them to come to our Halloween Howl Party that they were going to miss due to being in Maab, UT. I'll call the rain in Moab a blessing for us. We were glad they could join us and still get in a stay in their motorhome!

For Halloween they had some friends, the Nuckles, join them for some fun. Great costumes for all too.

                                                    

Danica celebrated her birthday twice this month. With her immediate family on her actual birthday, and then with friends and family later in the month. She and her Aunt Jill hosted a Cowboy themed party with a real mechanical bull, some roping and some bouncy horse barrel type racing. They had a nice Dutch Oven dinner and played L,R,C with $1 bills this time. The winner got a pretty decent pot of cash. Happy Birthday Danica! You know how to party!

We went to the party with the Mallory's and represented Danica's side of the family.

We all know how much Danica loves Halloween, they started early by going to Lagoon, to a farm for some fun, and to change things up, a hockey game.  The kids don't seem to be afraid of much due to Danica's love for Halloween fun, so they too love the costumes, fun, and candy. Maybe the candy helps ease their fears ;) Time will tell.

In our Countries news a government shutdown started on Oct. 1, 2025, and it still hasn't opened as of the end of this month, but the Republicans feel that it's getting closer. The government shuts down when Congress is unable to pass appropriations bills that finance the operation of federal agencies. Many of the services are closed down that our communities rely on or are on limited capacity. It has disrupted travel pretty bad due to the lack of TSA workers, as well as air traffic controllers. Flights have been cancelled or delayed a lot. Also, people working for the government aren't getting paid, but put on a furlough contract to be paid after the government opens. It's been pretty intense at times with the impact it's been on WIC (food stamps) and other programs that are helping people with necessary needs. 

Our area is holding a lot of food drives and doing other things to try and help out those in need. 

Remember me sharing about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point, at a political forum happening in Utah at UVU in Orem, Ut? Well, they found the guy that did it, Tyler Robinson (22 yrs), and he's in jail waiting for his trial date. Utah prosecutors have charged Robinson with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10th shooting, and they plan to seek the death penalty. We do need to remember though that we are all innocent until proven guilty, right? Time will tell. My heart goes out to all involved. 

With the passing of Pres. Russell M. Nielsen, the General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints still went on the first weekend of October. Acting Pres. Dallin H. Oaks officiated during the meeting. A lot of the speakers shared experiences they had with Pres. Nielsen. It was a very good conference for all.

A week and a half after General Conference, on Oct. 14, 2026, the Church announced that the new President of the Church was appointed to be Dallin H. Oaks being 93 yrs., with Henry B. Eyring as 1st counselor at 92 yrs. and D. Todd Christofferson at the age of 80 to be his 2nd counselor. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, at 84, will serve as the Pres. of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Pres. Oaks and his council was sustained and set apart that day. During upcoming Stake and Ward Conferences the members of the Church will have the opportunity to sustain these men as well. We will still be in good hands and under great leadership with these men serving. 

Different areas around Utah have been affected by rain. During the first week of the month, Tooele saw what they call a 100-year-flood. The rain totals were out of this world. 2-3 inches fell in one storm. There's also been flooding in the Salt Lake area and outlying areas due to at least 1-2 inches of rain coming down in one day. Our area even had around 2 in. come down, a LOT of rain! We also got snow on some of the mountains. Earlier than most years. I have a feeling we're in for a crazy fall and winter.

Record-breaking rain hit Salt Lake City this weekend with the second-wettest day since 1901, with nearly 2.5 inches of rain at SLC international Airport alone. While the rain helped to suppress a 651-acre fire near Springville, it also brought flash flood warnings to Tooele County while flooding parts of downtown Salt Lake City.

October truly did offer a lot for us this year, in good and not so good ways, didn't it!