Hard to believe that it has been a year since I last posted on our blog. So much has happened, so many changes have taken place. Yesterday a friend and I spent time together and we were asking and answering questions from a book called"conversation starters for any situation". One of the questions was "If you could have $1million in exchange of someone else loosing a year of their life would you do it?" I said no because this last year is evidence to me how precious each and everyday is to all of us.

Alex graduated high school and attended BYU-Idaho

Jacob finished freshman year, was in the fall play, his first speaking part, played basketball, and now stands 6'1" tall.

Hannah took hip hop dance lessons, graduated 5th grade at Sunapee Elementary, played basketball and soccer and grew grew grew.

Katie completed 2nd grade, took dance lessons for the first time and loved it! and of course GREW!

Shawn has been employed with the daniel webster boy scout council until July 22, 2010 the day that he was laid off. Diagniosed with Diabetes, lost 60lbs which has allowed him to stop taking the insulin.

I have been working at New London Hospital.

Well since Shawn lost his job we have decided to relocate to Phoenix Arizona to be closer to my parents and my sister's family. Currently Shawn and the 3 younger kids are out west, while Alex and I are getting the rest of the stuff organized and ready for the move. If all goes as planned Sept 6th is moving day and it will then be the end of an era where there was always a franzen or elder in the schools. It is a hard move as we have so many terrific friends, but we are needed in AZ.

We are looking forward to the new adventure, but will greatly miss the old one.

First and last day of school

August 27, 2008 First day of school for the 2008-2009 school year

Alex 17 Senior

Jacob 14 8th grade

Hannah 9 4th grade

Kathryn 6 1st grade

June 13, 2009 Graduation day, the last school photo with the 4 kids.

FRANZEN"S

We were blessed this summer with an opportunity to have a family reunion with everyone on the farm. We had a terrific time and wish we could just freeze time for awhile so that we could hold onto those precious few moments when we are all together.

Back row Emily and Preston Franzen, Shawn, Alex, and Jacob Elder, Alan Franzen, Kim Elder, Matthew and John Franzen, Jessica, Annie, Paul and Jude Franzen, Kelli, Carl and David Houghton.

Middle row, Francis (Bill) Sellers, Susan Franzen, Gail Franzen, Bud franzen, Eric and Brenda Franzen.

Front Row, Abigail Houghton, Emily Franzen, Kathryn Elder, Hannah Elder, Carl franzen, Ben Hougthon, Joshua Houghton.

2009 Summer Fun on lake Sunapee!

King of the Dock at Dewey Beach.

Out and About on the boat.

3 Cute Tubing girls!

GRADUATION DAY!

Here we all are after the big Graduation Ceremony. We are very proud of Alex and all that he has accomplished. It will be neat to see what he does in the future.

It's official...I'm an idiot!

So Saturday is probably one of the most important days of our families lives with Alex receiveing his Eagle award at a beautiful ceremony on the hill in front of the Firestation in downtown Sunapee. We had approx 100 guests from family that traveled from MA, to a NH State representative, and other honorable guests from the fire deptartment and from church, not to mention family and friends. And I was so proud of myself because I was on time AND I remembered everything...well almost everything!

Can you believe it... I FORGOT THE CAMERA!

And then the gentleman who was so kind to offer to take photos, his camera wouldn't work! I hope that the videographer was able to get the video at least. So hopefully at some point I can post some really nice photos of what turned out to be a beautiful event.

Busy Weekend

This weekend was a doosy!

Friday night Hannah had a softball game which they won, Alex had an away game which they won, Jacob went on a field trip to the Northeastern Musical Festival and then to Six Flags. Katie and Mom went to the grocery store and rented a movie.

Saturday Alex had his last home baseball game, Hannah had a softball game, Alex had Seminary graduation (yeah!) and to work, and Jacob had a Stake dance.

What a relief! Alex has completed 4 years of Seminary and was able to get his Seminary Diploma. We are very pleased and proud of him.

Sunday Shawn was set apart as the ward mission leader! This should be a new experience as they have released him from his other 5 callings, Elder's Quorum secretary, Asst. Ward Mission Leader, Gospel Principals teacher, Emergency services coordinator, Scout Committee Chairman...Whew! It should be weird having an 'ELDER ELDER" again and to think we thought that Alex would be the next one with the missionary name tag!

Prom 2009

Alex and Alisha Famagletti, a sophmore and good friend of Alex's.

Alex with some of the guys in his class. Andre, Nick, Caleb, Ben. Funny all of these guys were at Alex's 9th Bday party!

Above we have Samantha, Andre, Whitney, Caleb, Chloe, Nick, Ben, Christy, Alex, Alisha, Steven, Nadia, Eric, and Christi. They had a great time and they all looked very nice all dressed up.

He's so handsome...don't you think?

Dancing Diva's!

Here is Hannah and her BFF, Jennica, the evening of dance photos. Keri, Jennica's mom, took the girls to the harbor and had fun with them taking different awesome shots. Her photos turned out TONS better than the professionals!

The end of the year program is june 20th and 21st at the Newport Opera house. The girls will definately do a good job.

Godspell

Here are a couple of photos from the play "Godspell". Alex played the lead role of "Jesus". I am trying to figure out how to download a small bleep of video onto the blog so that you can hear what an amazing job Alex did. He has even had an invitation to go to Hollywood by a friends sister who works on the set of "Desperate Housewives". Maybe he will be the next Zac Efron after all???

Once Upon a Mattress

Alex's sophmore year the spring musical was "Once Upon a Mattress" a musical made famous by none other than Carol Burnett. (I think she won a Tony for her performance) Alex won the role of "Sir Harry". As you can see by the costumes and the set, theyhad a amazing play. It was here that we learned that Alex was very talented abd could sing.

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY HANNAH

Tonight Hannah had 16 of her girl friends from school and basketball over for a HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 Birthday Party. They ate Tacos and salad for dinner and then watched HSM3 on the BIG screen at Memee and Popee's house. It was a terrific time and Hannah received a lot of very nice gifts from her friends, including 4 wekins, which she is very excited about. She certainly is turning into a beautiful young lady. I know she is looking forward to turning 12 so that she can join Young Woman's, but I have to say, I am ready for time to stand still for awhile.

Happy Birthday Hannah!

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY KATIE!

Katie had 6 friends over for a Princess birthday party. They played dress up, BINGO, and hit a Pinata that was the shape of a castle. they had a terrific time and katie recieved some really cool gifts from all of her friends and especially from her family.