Speaker 1: You know what I've learned. The older I get, the
Speaker 1: more I realize that life isn't really made up of
Speaker 1: the giant moments. It's not just the weddings, it's not
Speaker 1: just the birthdays, it's not just the vacations, and it's
Speaker 1: not even the graduations. Those moments matter, of course they do,
Speaker 1: But I think our lives are actually built inside ordinary weekends.
Speaker 1: The weekends that don't look like much on the calendar,
Speaker 1: the weekends that don't cost much money, the weekends that
Speaker 1: nobody else would think were particularly special. Because somehow those
Speaker 1: weekends become the ones we remember forever. It's fishing with
Speaker 1: your family. It's watching fights on television. It's making dinner together.
Speaker 1: It's standing in a garden taking pictures. It's laughing over
Speaker 1: something that probably wasn't even that funny. It's sitting around
Speaker 1: talking about absolutely nothing. These are the moments that stay
Speaker 1: with us. I think we spend so much of our
Speaker 1: lives waiting for the next big thing that we accidentally
Speaker 1: overlook the life we're already living. We're waiting for vacation,
Speaker 1: we're waiting for things to slow down. We're waiting for
Speaker 1: the promotion. We're waiting for retirement. We're waiting for some day. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: our lives are happening right now. They're happening in ordinary moments.
Speaker 1: They're happening around dinner tables. They're happening besides lakes. They're
Speaker 1: happening in car rides. They're happening while somebody catches a fish.
Speaker 1: They're happening while your daughter spends the weekend with people
Speaker 1: she cares about. They're happening while you're taking graduation pictures.
Speaker 1: And the funny thing is you don't realize those moments
Speaker 1: matter while you're living them. You're just doing life. You're
Speaker 1: just making tacos, just hanging out, You're just taking some pictures.
Speaker 1: And then one day you look back and realize, those
Speaker 1: are the moments, those were the memories, those were the
Speaker 1: days that filled your heart. This weekend reminded me of that.
Speaker 1: Nothing huge happened, no giant trip, no expensive event, no
Speaker 1: big announcement, but somehow, by Sunday night, my heart felt
Speaker 1: completely full, and I thought, these are the weekends that matter,
Speaker 1: These are the weekends we'll remember. Hey, everybody, welcome back
Speaker 1: to we are the hans Ends. I'm Maya, and if
Speaker 1: you're new here, welcome, to our little corner of the world.
Speaker 1: This is where we talk about family, marriage, parenting, life
Speaker 1: and all of those little moments in between that somehow
Speaker 1: end up becoming the stories we tell for years, because honestly,
Speaker 1: family life isn't built on giant moments. It's built on
Speaker 1: little one It's built on conversations. It's built on traditions.
Speaker 1: It's built on ordinary weekends that somehow become unforgettable. And
Speaker 1: this past weekend was exactly that. Nothing huge happened, but
Speaker 1: somehow everything felt special. It all started with Maddie. Maddie
Speaker 1: spent the weekend with our son Gavin and his girlfriend Riley,
Speaker 1: and they went rummage sailing. Now, let me tell you something.
Speaker 1: I never thought there would come a day when rummage
Speaker 1: sales sounded like fun. When I was younger, I hated
Speaker 1: garage sales. I remember my parents pulling over because they
Speaker 1: saw a sign, and I'd be in the backseat thinking, seriously,
Speaker 1: why are we stopping. I wanted to get where we
Speaker 1: were going. I wanted to do something exciting. I couldn't
Speaker 1: imagine spending an entire saturday looking through somebody else's stuff.
Speaker 1: Then one day you become an adult, you see a
Speaker 1: handwritten sign that says multifamily garage sale, and suddenly your
Speaker 1: curiosity kicks in. How many families? What kind of stuff
Speaker 1: should we stop? Could there be something amazing there? I
Speaker 1: don't know exactly when that switch happens, but one day
Speaker 1: it absolutely does, and honestly, I kind of love it,
Speaker 1: because rummage sales are a lot like life. You never
Speaker 1: know what you're going to find. You might find something valuable,
Speaker 1: you might find something funny, you might find absolutely nothing.
Speaker 1: But the aventure is looking. I imagine the three of
Speaker 1: them driving around together, playing music, talking, laughing, stopping at
Speaker 1: one more sale, then one more, then another, because somehow
Speaker 1: that's always how it goes. You tell yourself you'll stop
Speaker 1: at one, then you see an another sign, and another
Speaker 1: and another, and suddenly you've spent half the day doing
Speaker 1: something completely random, And somehow it's wonderful because the truth is,
Speaker 1: they probably won't remember every item they looked at. They
Speaker 1: probably won't remember every single thing they bought, but they'll
Speaker 1: remember being together. They'll remember conversations, they'll remember laughing, they'll
Speaker 1: remember how the day felt. As I have gotten older,
Speaker 1: that's become more important to me. Experiences don't have to
Speaker 1: be expensive. Memories don't have to be extravagant. Sometimes it's
Speaker 1: simply spending time with people you enjoy. And watching your
Speaker 1: children grow up and create memories of their own is
Speaker 1: one of the strangest feelings in the world because it's beautiful,
Speaker 1: but it is also bittersweet. I still remember Mattie being little.
Speaker 1: I remember little shoes by the door, or I remember
Speaker 1: bedtime stories. I remember school mornings, I remember helping with homework.
Speaker 1: I remember little hands reaching up to hold mind. I
Speaker 1: remember all of those things. And now she's grown. She's
Speaker 1: creating her own memories, she's building her own traditions, she's
Speaker 1: making plans with people she loves. And that's exactly what
Speaker 1: we want as parents. We want our kids to become independent,
Speaker 1: we want them to have experiences, we want them to
Speaker 1: build relationships. But nobody prepares your heart for how quickly
Speaker 1: it happens. Nobody tells you that one day you'll look
Speaker 1: at your grown children and still somehow see every version
Speaker 1: of them all at once. Parents understand this. You see
Speaker 1: the adult, but somehow you also see the toddler, the
Speaker 1: little kid, the teenager. You see every version of them
Speaker 1: at the same time, and time is funny because it
Speaker 1: never asks permission. It just keeps moving. One minute you're
Speaker 1: packing lunches, one minute you're helping them tie their shoes.
Speaker 1: The next minute they're driving. One minute you're reading bedtime stories,
Speaker 1: the next minute they're adults. And honestly, I don't know
Speaker 1: where all that time goes. I really don't. I think
Speaker 1: that's why ordinary weekends matter so much, because they're happening
Speaker 1: while time is quietly slipping by. They're becoming memories while
Speaker 1: we don't even realize it. Saturday rolled around and Jeremy Torren,
Speaker 1: Anlyn Colin and I all decided to go fishing. Now,
Speaker 1: let me tell you something. I think fishing is one
Speaker 1: of the greatest things families can do together. Not because
Speaker 1: of the fish. The fish are just a bonus. I
Speaker 1: think fishing is wonderful because it forces people to slow down.
Speaker 1: The goodness knows we need more of that. Everything moves
Speaker 1: so fast. Everybody is busy, everybody has somewhere to be,
Speaker 1: everybody has something to do, everybody has another notification on
Speaker 1: their phone. Fishing doesn't care about any of that. Fishing
Speaker 1: says fit. Fishing says wait, fishing says be patient. Fishing
Speaker 1: says look around. I honestly think we need more things
Speaker 1: that slow us down. I don't think human beings were
Speaker 1: designed to move at the speed we're moving. We're always rushing,
Speaker 1: always multitasking, always worried about what's next. Fishing says, there
Speaker 1: doesn't need to be a next thing. Right now, this
Speaker 1: moment is enough. Kids understand this naturally. They can sit
Speaker 1: by water for hours. They can throw rocks, they can
Speaker 1: look for turtles, they can watch birds, they can search
Speaker 1: for frogs. They know how to be present. As adults,
Speaker 1: we lose that somewhere. We're always trying to be productive.
Speaker 1: Fishing reminds us that simply being together is productive too.
Speaker 1: I imagine them arriving at the water. Maybe the morning
Speaker 1: air was cool, Maybe there was that early stillness, the
Speaker 1: kind where the water looks like glass. I love mornings
Speaker 1: like that. There's something peaceful about standing beside water. Nobody's rushing,
Speaker 1: nobody's asking for anything, It's just people and nature. I
Speaker 1: think we need that. I think we need moments where
Speaker 1: we're reminded how big the world is. Because life gets small.
Speaker 1: Sometimes our problems feel enormous, our stress feels overwhelming. Then
Speaker 1: you stand beside a lake, you hear birds, you feel
Speaker 1: a breeze, you watch sunlight dance across the wa water,
Speaker 1: and suddenly things don't seem quite so heavy. I think
Speaker 1: nature has a way of putting everything into perspective. And
Speaker 1: then there's the anticipation. Anybody who fishes knows exactly what
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. You throw your line out there, and
Speaker 1: you wait, even little moments get your attention. Was that
Speaker 1: a fish? Was that weeds? Should I reel it in?
Speaker 1: Should I leave it? Fishing is funny because you're constantly hopeful.
Speaker 1: Every cast feels like possibility. Maybe this is the one.
Speaker 1: Maybe this cast catches the big fish. Maybe this cast
Speaker 1: becomes the story everybody tells. And apparently this trip turned
Speaker 1: out pretty good because they caught fish quite a few fish, bluegill, sunfish, striper, bass,
Speaker 1: and two catfish. Now, if you've ever been fishing, you
Speaker 1: know every fish becomes an event. Somebody catches one, everybody
Speaker 1: gets excited, everybody gathers around, somebody wants a picture, somebody's
Speaker 1: giving advice, somebody's celebrating. I absolutely love that. Because adults
Speaker 1: need reasons to feel childlike excitement, life can become so serious. Bills, responsibilities, stress, schedules.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we forget how to be amazed by little things.
Speaker 1: Kids don't forget. They get excited over everything. A butterfly,
Speaker 1: a turtle, a cloud, a fish. Everything feels important, everything
Speaker 1: feels like an adventure. Fishing gives adults permission to feel
Speaker 1: that again, And honestly, I think that's beautiful because years
Speaker 1: from now, nobody's going to remember exactly what time they
Speaker 1: got there. Nobody's going to remember what they wore, nobody's
Speaker 1: going to remember every little detail, but they'll remember being together,
Speaker 1: they'll remember laughing, they'll remember catching those two catfish. One
Speaker 1: day somebody will say, remember those catfish, and everybody will smile.
Speaker 1: Because that's how family memories work. They sneak up on you,
Speaker 1: They build themselves quietly, They become stories without asking permission.
Speaker 1: Those are usually the best stories of all. Then Sunday came,
Speaker 1: and Sunday felt different. Sunday was one of those days
Speaker 1: where you know you're witnessing something special, even if you
Speaker 1: can't completely explain why. We went to take graduation pictures
Speaker 1: for our nephew Johnny at the Japanese Garden, And honestly,
Speaker 1: it couldn't have been a more perfect place if you've
Speaker 1: ever been to the Japanese Garden in Springfield, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. The minute you walk in, something changes.
Speaker 1: Everything slows down. The pathways curved gently, the trees seem intentional,
Speaker 1: the flowers are beautiful. There are little bridges, hands, quiet
Speaker 1: places to sit. Everything feels peaceful. It almost feels like
Speaker 1: time moves differently there. And maybe that's why it was
Speaker 1: such a fitting place for graduation pictures, because graduations themselves
Speaker 1: are strange. They're celebrations, but they're also reminders, reminders that
Speaker 1: time never stops moving. I remember Johnny being little, I
Speaker 1: remember family get togethers, I remember holidays, I remember seeing
Speaker 1: him run around, I remember hearing him laugh. I remember
Speaker 1: him just being a kid. And then there we were
Speaker 1: standing in the Japanese Garden taking college graduation pictures. College,
Speaker 1: How does that happen? Seriously? How? Because it honestly feels impossible.
Speaker 1: One minute, everybody is little, the next minute everybody's grown.
Speaker 1: The next minute they're graduating, the next minute their starting careers,
Speaker 1: the next minute they're adults. And somehow all of it
Speaker 1: happens in what feels like a blink. I think that's
Speaker 1: one of the hardest things about getting older, you become
Speaker 1: aware of time. When you're young, time feels endless. A
Speaker 1: year feels like forever, Summer vacation feels like it lasts
Speaker 1: an entire lifetime. You can't wait to be older, you
Speaker 1: can't wait to drive, you can't wait to graduate, you
Speaker 1: can't wait for adulthood. And then adulthood gets here, and
Speaker 1: suddenly time starts moving differently. A week flies by, a
Speaker 1: month disappears. You blink, and somehow it's Christmas again. You blink,
Speaker 1: and another year has passed. You blink, and kids become adults.
Speaker 1: It's a little unbelievable there. Watching Johnny take graduation pictures
Speaker 1: made me emotional because graduation pictures aren't really about the
Speaker 1: cap and gown. They're about possibility. They're about hope. They're
Speaker 1: about standing at the edge of one chapter while another
Speaker 1: chapter is just beginning. You're looking at someone whose future
Speaker 1: is completely open. What adventures are waiting, What opportunities, what friendships,
Speaker 1: what experiences? Nobody knows? And maybe that's what makes graduation beautiful.
Speaker 1: It's possibility, it's potential, it's promise. I found myself looking
Speaker 1: around at the trees and flowers and thinking about growth,
Speaker 1: because gardens don't happen overnight. Trees don't happen overnight. Flowers
Speaker 1: don't bloom overnight. Neither do people. Becoming who you are
Speaker 1: takes time. Learning takes time, growing takes time, Education takes time.
Speaker 1: Maturity takes time. You don't wake up one day and
Speaker 1: magically have a college degree. There's an entire story behind
Speaker 1: that moment. There are late nights, there are difficult assignments.
Speaker 1: There are moments of stress, moments of doubt, moments where
Speaker 1: you wonder if you're ever going to make it to
Speaker 1: the finish line. And then one day you're standing in
Speaker 1: a beautiful Japanese garden taking graduation pictures. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I just think moments like that deserve to be celebrated.
Speaker 1: I think accomplishments deserve to be acknowledged. I think we
Speaker 1: move too quickly from one thing to another. We finish
Speaker 1: something and immediately move on to the next thing. Maybe
Speaker 1: we should pause more often, Maybe we should celebrate more.
Speaker 1: Maybe we should take more pictures. Maybe we should stop
Speaker 1: and appreciate how far people have come. Because life moves fast,
Speaker 1: really fast, and moments deserve our attention. Sure's freeze time
Speaker 1: for just a second. That's why I love pictures. Years
Speaker 1: from now, Johnny will look at those photographs, he'll remember
Speaker 1: exactly how he felt, the excitement, the pride, the relief,
Speaker 1: the uncertainty, the hope. Pictures let us revisit moments we
Speaker 1: can never live again. And I think that's beautiful because
Speaker 1: one day these pictures won't simply be graduation pictures. They'll
Speaker 1: be memories, they'll be stories. They'll become little windows back
Speaker 1: into the season of life. That's priceless. After pictures, we
Speaker 1: came home and by then it felt like the perfect sunday.
Speaker 1: Everybody was comfortable, everybody was relaxed, nobody was in a hurry,
Speaker 1: and Jeremy and I made taco bulls. Now. Let me
Speaker 1: tell you something. I love taco bulls because taco bulls
Speaker 1: aren't complicated ground beef, taco seasoning. Let us tomato, cheese,
Speaker 1: sour cream, salsa, tortilla chips. Everything's spread out on the counter,
Speaker 1: everybody making their own bowl, and somehow everybody thinks there's
Speaker 1: taste the best. But honestly, I don't think taco balls
Speaker 1: are really about the food. I think they're about what
Speaker 1: happens around the food. Everybody gathers, people talk, people laugh,
Speaker 1: somebody's reaching for chips, somebody's asking where the cheese is,
Speaker 1: somebody's stealing extra meat, nobody's in a hurry. For a
Speaker 1: few minutes, everybody is simply together. I think family dinners matter,
Speaker 1: I really do. I think gathering around food matters. I
Speaker 1: think conversations and kitchens matter. I think those little moments
Speaker 1: shape families because some of my favorite memories involve food,
Speaker 1: not because the food was extraordinary, but because of who
Speaker 1: was there, because of the conversations, because of the laughter,
Speaker 1: because of the feeling. I think that's what people really remember,
Speaker 1: the feeling. And after dinner, we settled in for the
Speaker 1: UFC fights. Collin was here, Keenum was here, Tristan was here,
Speaker 1: everybody hanging out, everybody talking, everybody laughing, everybody having opinions,
Speaker 1: everybody predicting who was going to win. I love nights
Speaker 1: like that because it isn't really about the fights. It's
Speaker 1: about togetherness. It's about everybody being in one place. Because
Speaker 1: life gets busy, really busy. Everybody has responsibilities, everybody has schedules,
Speaker 1: everybody has things they need to do. As you get older,
Speaker 1: getting everybody together becomes harder. People move, people, work, people
Speaker 1: get married, people have kids, Schedules fill up, and suddenly
Speaker 1: getting everybody in the same room feels like an event,
Speaker 1: which is why nights like this feel special. Nobody was
Speaker 1: trying too hard, nobody was chasing something bigger. We were
Speaker 1: simply living life, and somehow it was enough. Actually it
Speaker 1: was more than enough. Later that night, after the tackle
Speaker 1: bowls and after the fights, and after everybody had settled down,
Speaker 1: I found myself thinking about the entire weekend. I thought
Speaker 1: about Maddie. I thought about Gavin and Riley. I thought
Speaker 1: about them driving around looking at garage sales. I thought
Speaker 1: about Jeremy and the kids fishing. I thought about bluegill, sunfish,
Speaker 1: striper bass, those two catfish. I thought about standing in
Speaker 1: the Japanese garden. I thought about Johnny graduating college. I
Speaker 1: thought about everybody laughing around the television. I felt grateful,
Speaker 1: not because everything was perfect, not because something extraordinary happened.
Speaker 1: I felt grateful because we were together. I think togetherness
Speaker 1: is one of the greatest gifts in life, because someday
Speaker 1: these moments become stories. Someday we'll say things like, remember
Speaker 1: when Maddie went rummage styling with Gavin and Riley. Remember
Speaker 1: those catfish. Remember Johnny's graduation pictures at the Japanese Garden,
Speaker 1: Remember taco bowls in UFC fight night. Those become family stories,
Speaker 1: Those become memories, Those become pieces of our history. And
Speaker 1: the older I get, the more I realize something. The
Speaker 1: good old days aren't behind us. They're happening right now
Speaker 1: or living them. These ordinary weekends, these random dinners, these
Speaker 1: simple moments, These are the days we'll miss someday. These
Speaker 1: are the stories we'll tell. These are the moments that
Speaker 1: shape families. I think that's the lesson this weekend gave me.
Speaker 1: Pay attention, Slow down, laugh more, take the pictures, stay
Speaker 1: a little longer, go fishing, stop at the garage sale,
Speaker 1: make the tackle bulls, watch the fights, celebrate the graduations.
Speaker 1: Sit together, be present, because one day you'll realize that
Speaker 1: the things you thought were ordinary were actually extraordinary all along.
Speaker 1: And trust me, they're worth noticing while you're living them.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for spending a little bit of
Speaker 1: your day with me. On We are the Hansens. From
Speaker 1: all of us here at we are the Hansens. We
Speaker 1: hope your week is full of simple moments, unexpected laughter,
Speaker 1: and plenty of reasons to gather around the people you love,
Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, those are the
Speaker 1: things that matter. Those are the things we carry with us.
Speaker 1: Those are the moments that become the stories will tell forever.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.