Tiny Little Parents

My parents were nice enough to spend the time and money to make the trek us out here to Mass. Obviously, we don't get many visits as most of our loved ones live west o' the Mississip, so we're naturally begging everybody and anybody to come visit. This means you!

The waves crashing on the wood-like rocks on Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Ma and Pa arrived on Wednesday afternoon. I (over) grilled some chicken and we spent the evening visiting. Mom had brought a shoebox of fresh fruit all the way from Utah with plums, nectarines, and apples. Of course, Dad ate most of them that weekend as snacks, even though he has thousands of them hanging from his trees in his VERY OWN BACKYARD.

Tiny reading some covered bridge history on the way to Moosehead, Maine

Thursday we left for Maine, stopping along the coast in Ogunquit and driving along the ocean until Portland. Ogunquit's beach was very scenic and surprisingly sandy, as we thought all Maine beaches were rocky. We were WRONG!

The lighthouse off of Cape Elizabeth

Cold water running over our bare toes! I love Tiny's face here

Any trip for the sole purpose of leaf peeping requires a TON of driving, especially early in the season. We ended up staying in Bangor, Maine, which is a good 5 hours north of us. Bangor did not have as much color as we would've liked, so on Friday we drove north towards Canadia, up to Moosehead Lake, for those of you following along on Google Earth. The colors were simply radiant there, so we got our fill and turned around before spending too much time in the car.

The Hansen crew looking over Moosehead Lake. We all have the same smile

On Saturday, we drove through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, up through the Kancamangus Pass where the colors were equally as good. By the time we got home, I estimated we spent 19 hours in the car from Thursday to Sunday. I felt sorry for my parents, cooped up in the back like I used to be back in the day during our cross-country trips in the blue and brown stationwagons.


Now that we have BYU-TV, we can watch conference like Utahns: from the comf of our own home. We even DVR-ed the Saturday sessions so Mother could catch up on them in her free time.

"Orono" is a VERY common crossword clue for "Maine college town", so as a crossword enthusiast, Mom was very excited to be there

On Sunday, we went to see Robert get baptized. Robert and I have become good friends, as they have assigned me as his home teach. It was a great little baptism with a few close friends and various leaders from the ward. Mom was beaming the whole time, no doubt thrilled at the sight of so many black people in our ward. I definitely feel less white now that our ward is about 40% black. Robert is black, and my home teaching companion is black, so I think I was in the minority for the very first time in my life at a church meeting when I went home-teaching this week. For a second, I know how my sister feels when she's in Alabama.

The lovely Mellificent graced us with her presence. It is rare to catch a Mellificent on film in her natural habitat.

Mel and I had to go back to work on Monday and Tuesday, so my parents took our car and gallavanted around Plymouth and the Cape, to which they reported that good times were had by all. Tuesday I drove them to the airport and said goodbye, sad to see them go, but glad that I could show them around this place I call home, and will call home for the next bunch of years, if not for the rest of my life.

Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad!