Christmas 2011

We had a fantastic Christmas. We spend Christmas Eve at my parents house and then came home after the party. Grandma Susie and Uncle Andy spent the night Christmas eve to watch the kids open their presents. It was fun.

I took some random pictures. Most were videos. Here's what I have:











The funnest part of Christmas is celebrating Big Man's birthday. He turned 7 this year. I can't believe I have a 7 year old. Time really does fly. We've been celebrating his birthday in the summer so he can have an actual birthday party, but it's become tradition to have brownies in the afternoon on Christmas Day and sing Happy Birthday. We got to do that this year with our cousins in Hawaii via Skype.

Merry Christmas From the Hansens

Well here it is for all of our online friends. This is the picture that should've gone out with our Christmas cards this year. I messed up on the address the pictures were shipped to so they didn't get here in time. I ended up printing some off the computer. They were still cute.

We hope that you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
From the Hansens

Baby M is 9 Months!!!

I found the cutest picture online that someone took for their baby's 1 year photo. I thought it would be fun to try for Baby M.


It didn't turn out as well.


She was happy if she had her binky. If I took it out she cried.


The ones by the Christmas tree turned out better. So much for my bright ideas.




I can't believe 9 months have passed since Baby M has joined our family. It's gone by really quickly. She's such a cute little baby. She doesn't go in for her 9 month visit until after Christmas so I don't know her stats. She is yet to crawl, but does move around on her tummy. She loves sitting best or cruising around in her walker. Although she did say Mama first, she quickly moved on to Dada and hasn't gone back :( She jabbers all the time and loves to watch her brothers and sister. They can make her giggle pretty good too. She's a sweetheart.

The Nutcracker

Right after school started, Big Man brought home a note about auditions for the nutcracker. He told me that he wanted to be in it. He was cast as a toy soldier. Since then he's been practicing once a week on Tuesdays with full cast rehearsals this past month. He's put in a lot of time and energy into learning his part. I'm proud of him for sticking with it. The performances have been this past weekend. The cast is very young, but they do a great job.

Christmas Picture Preview

I dressed the kids up today to take our family Christmas picture. I should've done it on a day when Jeff was home to have some help, but oh well.

Little Man was getting a pre-picture snack and we were testing out the camera.

Testing out the location.

Trying to get 4 kids to cooperate is quite a task.


The kids wanted to take a goofy picture before we were done.


You didn't think I was going to actually show you the Christmas card picture did you? I'll tell you this, it turned out cute. I got online and used Photoshop to brighten the colors. It was fun. I have the cutest kids.

Let the season begin...

Thanksgiving is over, let the Christmas season begin. Today in Nephi, there was a Christmas extravaganza. They had crafts for the kids and then Santa came. I don't think we got any Santa pictures last year, so it was fun to get one of the kids this year. Baby M stayed home with dad, so we'll have to get one of her next year.


After Santa, there was a preview of the Nutcracker. Big Man is a toy soldier in it this year. They've been practicing for a couple of months and he's done really well. He was kind of nervous today with their first performance. He did great though. I think the most traumatic part of the whole event was putting makeup on him. He did NOT like that at all.


The other big event this weekend was shopping Black Friday. This was my first time going. We left the kids asleep at my parents house and me and Jeff headed to WalMart around 9:30. I had to park at the far end of the next parking lot to even get a spot. I've never seen so many people in my life. People went nuts over all the toys and electronics deals. Once we got all our goods we had to wait in line for another hour and half just to check out. It was nuts. I didn't mind the whole experience other than being extremely tired since then. The good news is that with the exception of two gifts, all my shopping is done.

Happy Thanksgiving

I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving. Little Man had a feast today at preschool. He dressed up as an Indian. I got my camera out before school to take a picture only to find the battery was dead. Luckily his teacher took a picture.



I have much to be thankful for this year. A great husband, cute kids, wonderful family, a home, a job, and so much more. I love this time of year to reflect on all that I am blessed with. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Where has November gone?

We took these pictures from our back deck the other night. We have the best view of Nebo. It looked awesome as the moon was coming up over the mountain.





As I looked at the date tonight on my computer, I was amazed that November is already more than half over. I can't believe it's going by so quickly. I am usually done with my Christmas shopping by now and getting excited for the holidays.

This past week was a crazy and sad one. Jeff's grandma passed away and her funeral was a week ago. She was 92 years old. Three of his siblings came down. On the way home from the funeral, Jeff's sister received word that her father-in-law had passed away suddenly. It came as quite a shock to them (and everyone). This past Tuesday we went up to Pocatello for his funeral. Prior to these two funerals I hadn't been to a funeral for almost 7 years. Two in one week is enough to last me for a while. Hopefully there won't be any more any time soon.

Best Buddies

Little Man has made a pretty good friend at preschool. They play together frequently after school and on their days off. They're so cute and play really well together. They have a pretty good time.





Little Man loved to pack stuff up. Backpacks, containers, wagons, etc. Anything he can find that is empty, he will fill it up with toys. He's usually going camping, or hunting, or something fun and exciting. He doesn't love putting it all away, but he has a fun time.

Happy Halloween

It's been a Happy Halloween at our house, but a long one too. I'm kind of glad to see it over with. I definitely have some pretty cute little kids all dressed up.



Our festivities included watching the school parade, a class party for Big Man, a trunk or treat at the school, and a carnival for the finale. It was a lot of stuff, but lots of fun.





The pretty kitty. Or whatever you want to call her. I think it's supposed to be a leopard. She thought she was pretty hot stuff when she got to use some of mom's makeup for the whiskers and nose.


The penguin suit can be retired this year. All four of my kids have worn it. It's been a good costume for our family :) Baby M wasn't real happy with it. She couldn't move. Oh well, at least she was warm.


I took these pictures of Baby M yesterday. She's wearing her sister's cat ears and looked adorable.




Happy Halloween everyone.

Trick or Treating in Nephi

All of the stores on Main Street in Nephi did Trick or Treating today. They handed out candy and tickets. You used the tickets to redeem prizes at the park. The kids had a great time. They had fun getting dressed in their costumes.



If you can't tell Big Man is Jack Sparrow. Little Man is Ironman. Little Princess is a leopard, or 'kitty cat' as she describes it. It was cute. I love Halloween. Kids make it fun and exciting.

Just to make you smile...

Baby M is all hands these days. Anything that is within her reach is fair game. She didn't get this on her head by herself, her brothers thought it would be funny. I can't believe how quickly she's growing up.

Pumpkin Patch

Me and the girls are sure having fun going on Little Man's field trips with him. Today was the pumpkin patch in Nephi. We went on a short hay ride, picked out a pumpkin, posed for some pictures, let the kids run through a 'hay maze' and ate some cookies. It was a fun filled hour :)

Hocus Pocus...A night of dance

Little Princess has only been in dance a month, but tonight her dance teacher had a Halloween dance recital. None of them really knew the routine, but it was still cute anyway. Her age group got to be pumpkins. I was a little worried about her sitting backstage the whole time for the rehearsal and recital, but she did great. She was pretty pleased with herself when it was all over. What a cutie.

7 months

I couldn't resist taking a picture of Baby M today. She was 7 months a couple of days ago and I forgot to get a picture for her book. I put a bow in her ponytail today and she looked adorable. I can't believe how big she's getting. Each stage is so much fun.

Small Town Soccer

We've spent our Wednesday and Thursday nights during the month of September at the city park for Soccer. Both of the boys played and LOVED it. There were 6 teams and three fields. It was very low key and laid back. It was supposed to be over last week, but because of the snow last week we finished up tonight. Jeff got some good action shots of Little Man tonight.




Big Man was too busy socializing and watering up to get any good action shots. It's amazing the difference between last year's soccer and this year's soccer for him. In Riverton he whined about going to most games and didn't enjoy it. This year he had a blast. I signed him up mainly for the social aspect of things (and the exercise), but he ended up being really aggressive and good. He scored goals in several of the games. It was fun to see him have fun with it.

Here's the little cheerleader. She spent most of her soccer time at the playground.


In a small town it's kind of fun to get involved in something like this. Everyone in town is at the park for the games. I met lots of new people and had fun talking to people I already knew.