Hey everyone!! We have arrived in Gilbert, Arizona!! It's beautiful and hot here but we love it and have enjoyed our first several days here. Our home is very nice ( much newer than our home in Utah..) and what's the best is we have a beautiful pool!! It's been so fun to just go out anytime day or night and take a dip in the pool. Our camera got broken at Mallory's dance recital at the end of May, so I haven't taken any pictures in awhile. But I am going to buy a little camera today and hopefully I will have time to upload a few shots of the house before we head out to Palm Springs this weekend. Jenny and I and our families as well as 2 of our cousins and their families got a screamin' deal at a beautiful resort there in the palm desert. Yes, it will be hot like here, but we are planning to hang out and shop and sleep and read and play games and swim etc! Should be a blast.

We attended our new ward this past Sunday. It went so well. I was a little apprehensive.. needless to say.. but it went amazingly well and we had such an incredible reception. So many people came up and introduced themselves to us, knew our names, the kids names etc. It was just overwhelming! We have already hung out with new friends and had a swimming day together yesterday. So fun! I am also really taking advantage of the lack of schedule in my life. Once I got the kitchen and main living areas organized and unpacked, I have been just chillin' out and sleeping in and taking it easy. It has been so great!! I was so ready for some R&R !!

Thanks so much to all who came and helped and made an effort to say goodbye. It was so grueling to have to watch the kids say goodbye to friends and cousins and others. I thought I might die on Saturday night... SO many tears and what felt like a broken heart! But I have recovered and we will all be fine. I feel so strongly, especially now that we are here, that this is the right place for us now. I don't quite know why, and may never know, but it feels right and good. I am excited for what the future will bring. We are so blessed and so grateful for God's great mercy and grace.

Love to you all, my friends!!

Okay all, don't fall over... I am compelled to finally write again. It has been so long. Those of you who know me well and live close to me know that I have been a little crazy this past year. Worked at ton as a dental assistant, ClOSED the print shop due to major financial strain, and have decided to move the family to Gilbert, Arizona. Ever since October of 2007, Chad has not held a steady job. We have tried a few of our own ventures.. the Travel COZY and the print shop to name a few... but none have seemed to make the cut on feeding 7 mouths and clothing 7 bodies. He landed a job at the SL Airport in October of 2009 peddling credit cards to grumpy travelers. He loved the social interaction with people from all over the world and he met some great business contacts there. But we knew that he was only there on a temporary basis. In January he met a man from Texas who works for a company called Hangar, that makes prosthetic limbs. He was fascinated with this man and all that they do and represent. He submitted his resume and waited to see what would come of it. In the meantime, we began to discuss the possibility of looking out-of-state for a new job. He had been submitting resumes all over Utah, but to no avail, and hardly any interviews. Once we finally made a consession that we needed to do this, he began shooting his resume all over the country. He received several responses right away and the phone interviews began. He was looking at a job in Boston, Mass. as well as two different ones in Texas. One of which was for the company I spoke of earlier. He had always wanted to get into the medical sales world and had decided that it was now or never! In early March, we had a wedding in Arizona of Chad's niece, Tycee. We went without our kids and stayed with one of Chad's brothers Seth. It was a nice trip... great to see his family again. It had been several years since we had been back. After we got back, Seth approached Chad about coming to consult with him on the projects he was involved with in his company. Originally it was just supposed to be in the interim while Chad was waiting to hear back from these other companies. Then within a week Seth had talked to his partner and they decided to offer Chad a full-time position. We were excited but a little hesitant because of the nature of the company and Chad wanting to break into another field. This company was doing a lot of what he had been doing.. ie internet sales, importing, search engine optimization etc. They had offered kind of a VP/General Manager position. We stewed and stewed about what to do. It was craziness for us to think about leaving all that we knew here to just move onto somewhere else. The Boston job got eliminated when they split the territory between two existing reps and then we found out that we might not get a moving/relocation package from the other two jobs we were waiting on. That really put a clinch into everything because we were pretty much broke at the time. The job at the airport had run dry in early March. We had also received a public notice of default on our home and had 60 days until foreclosure! So we pretty much were running out of options. We sat down and went through all of the pros and cons of the 3 jobs. We narrowed it down to the one in AZ and one of the ones in TX. This was the week leading up to Conference. The previous Sunday we had asked our children to fast with us to know the Lord's will for our family. We asked that if we were to move somewhere, then He needed to provide a way for us to do so. On Thursday of that week Chad received a check for $5300 in the mail from University of Phoenix for an overage of a student loan! We were completely floored! As we watched the Saturday session of conference, we just kept hearing "trust the Lord, have faith, you are entitled to personal revelation", etc. We had also spoken with several family members there in Gilbert about the prospect of coming there. They were all so positive and excited to have us be down there. As the weekend wore on, it became more and more apparent that Arizona was the direction we should head. We asked both sides of the family to participate in a special fast for us on that Monday. By noon of that day we knew what the answer was. I called a friend who was a specialist in "short sale" real estate. She came over that evening and we had our home on the MLS by 9:30 that evening! It was crazy. I showed it 20 times that week and by 8 am on Friday morning, we had an offer. It made our heads spin but we knew it was right. Chad got on a plane that Thursday morning the 8th of April and headed to Arizona to begin working. He has only been back one time since then and we have been down there once. We found a home the weekend I was there, with a pool and yard and 5 bedrooms in a great area close to family. It has all fallen right into place. The only misery is the grief and sadness that sits in my throat everyday of my life right now. I am muddling through the de-junking and packing by myself while Chad sits there in AZ working his tail off and playing on the weekend. Luckily he will be coming home every weekend from here on out. So the official moving-out date is June 12th and we drive away on June 13th. It's hard to believe that my 10-year record for the longest place I have ever lived is soon ending! I have so loved living in this home and neighborhood. This area is so blessed and there are more incredible people than I can name. Thanks to you all who have supported, taken care of, loved, honored befriended us here in Draper. Let the good times roll.... The Lord is in the details of our lives and there is NO denying it. Believe and be satisfied that He is real. :-)

So we are finally all set up in the new print shop! It took several days of hard work and many late nights on Chad's part to get the shop all flowing and organized. We are realy excited to get going and hope to begin the first real job on monday! There are so many possibilities with printing and vinyl cutting. We have learned so much and can't wait to get our creative juices flowing! In the meantime I have been frantically trying to get my house in order, going through closets, drawers, under beds etc. to prepare myself for being away during the day. I am planning to come home by the time the kids are out of school so they don't feel my absence as much. I will definately be a transition, but we feel it is the right thing and becuse we are "the boss" we can decide when we work! YEAH!
Hayden decided to break his right wrist right at the growth plate last wednesday while I was serving in the Draper temple open house! I got to my car and checked my phone and had numerous texts, messages and missed calls! He was messing around with Noah and they slipped and fell on the ice outside of Jenny's house and they both landed on his arm. Luckily when we went yesterday to the Fracture Clinic at Primary's they didn't have to do any manipulation before they casted it. And they don't need to do any surgery either. What a blessing for us, the uninsured!! I have been bracing myself for the day when we would have a broken bone...4 boys it was inevitable. I will post pictures soon!
Our dearest beloved friends Mark and Denise Marshall have been going through the process of adopting a sweet baby boy this past year. On Tuesday they were finalized in court and they will be sealing him to them this saturday at the Mt. Timpanogas Temple! We are so thrilled for them as they have waited and prayed for this little boy for so long. It is especially sweet for Chad and I because of the amazing experience we had with our cherished Mallory. We look forward to being there with them in the sealing room and witnessing yet another saving ordinance in the the temple of our God. We are such a blessed people to know who we are and why we are here and that the struggles we face will make us better and stronger to face the next one that comes! I believe we can all make it if we keep the faith and never give up hope !! Love to you all.

Happy New Year !! ( A month or so late!!) Yes, It is February 1st and I am finally getting around to updating this blog...( thanks to Janice, Cindy and Angela who chastised me at Basketball yesterday! :)
Yet again, this life of ours keeps getting more interesting. In mid January Chad and I traveled to Las Vegas for the largest promotional trade show in the world. It was a great trip and we had awesome exposure for our Cozy products. It was a very successful show for us and it was a nice getaway for us too! We hope the residuals will start to roll in. The Promotional industry is huge and since we have a new line to offer it should become a successful arena for us to sell in.
Now, we are venturing into another crazy world of Screen Printing!! Yes, Chad and I have taken over an existing business and are getting ready to have a full-blown print shop up and running by the end of this week!! I know what you are all thinking...what are THEY thinking.. but we are excited and feel like this is the right thing for us right now. It goes hand-in-hand with the promotional industry and it will provide us some much-needed source of income to keep us all alive!! I will be working the presses as well as Chad and another person we are hoping to find who we can hire to help us who just might know the business...especially since we are totally clueless!! :) It might be a little busy for a few months and the kids will be living there with us half of the time, but I feel like in the long run that the Lord has lead us to this opportunity and will bless us for being obedient and for listening to promptings. We are sooo blessed! I can't even begin to say how blessed we feel, even though this has been one of the most trying years we have had. We feel the mercy and the love of our Heavenly Father in our lives everyday. I will try to keep this updated as I will be spending more time on the computer attempting to learn graphic design...YIKES!! I wish I would have done something other than Music and Theater in College!! A graphics class would have come in really handy right now....:{
Thanks to our dear friends and family who are so kind and lovingly help us out all the time with our kids, etc. We are forever indebted. As well as the elves who left the mounds of gifts on our doorstep at Christmas! THANK YOU AGAIN, whoever you are. WE LOVE YOU!!! Janna

Happy Holidays from the Hassell clan. Obviously I am not really great at making blogs...I will work on this tomorrow when I am more coherent. Life is good but hectic as usual. Chad and I are trying to run his Kiosk at South Towne Mall and it has been a roller coaster!! Some days are great and others are so slow....ugh!!
The biggest news around here is the fact that we withdrew our three older boys from APA.. the charter school they have been attending for the past almost 6 years. Long story...but it was time to move on. They were feeling like they were in military school not public school. And yet they have learned so much and so many valueable life-lessons there. I still have Mallory there because she needs the repetition and the great fluidity of the education they offer her there. Not to mention her easy going personality fits so well with the whole discipline ideals they have there. So off to the local schools they went... Spencer to Crescent View Middle School and Hayden and Noah to Sprucewood Elementary. They have all had a great first week. Here are some of their comments..."I love the cafeteria"..."I love the big playground"...Its so laid back"... "Its so great to wear whatever I want everyday"....Obvoiusly they are happier. SO let's hope the pressure is off and they soar where they are. Happy children make for a happy home. :)

This past week was so crazy!! I was planning to host our book club at my house for our discussion of all of the 4 "Twilight" books on Thursday. So because I was having all of my friends over I just HAD to get my house in order. I painted and re-decorated the hall bathroom, painted my kitchen and part of my family room starting Saturday and ending on Thursday at 2:30 am!! Chad thought I was a lunatic...but it is always my best motivation to get something really done right when I have a hard deadline!! It's just my whacky personality! Anyway It turned out great and I am so happy with it. It always feels good to have a fresh coat of paint in the house. My dear sister-in-law was so kind to come and help me re-mix my deco in the house and give me feedback and ideas. Two heads are far better than one I say! The party was a huge success and I was very pleased all the way around!
The boys, Spencer and Hayden's, team won their playoff game on Saturday and so they are headed to the State Championship finals on Saturday the 7th of Nov. It will be very exciting and I really think they will win.
Chad opened the kiosk for the TravelCOZY at the South Towne Mall this past week. It has been very slow so far but we are excited for the fast approaching holiday season and are hopeful that the sales will be great. People are very interesting and working in the mall sure attests to that! Chad and I are primarily the ones who will be working there, so stop by and say HI. We are near the food court on the main level.

Well, I finally decided to get a move on and figure out how to do this. Thanks to Rebekah C. who came over today and showed me the "ropes" of blogging. Thanks again, Rebekah!! We are all well this fall. It's been a busy one!! Football is almost over for Hayden and Spencer- this
Saturday is their last regular season game. Then they are on to the playoffs as the #1 team in their division!! We are SO proud of them and their team. They ended up on the same team this year..( mom has been cheering the whole time - less stress etc.) So I will get some pictures up on here of them shortly. Chad is working feverishly on the TravelCOZY and his HealthyVent. We are just waiting for this whole thing to break wide open. It seems no one is ever in as big of a rush as we are. But we are excited about the future.
Mallory is loving her first year at APA where her big brothers go. Spencer is in 8th grade, Hayden in 6th, Noah is in 4th and Cohen is in 4 year old pre-school. I have so much more I could say...time is not ever on my side !! Have a great day!!