Merry Christmas

It's been a magical Christmas... As they always are! I'm loving my kids ages this year. So fun! The boys woke up at 3, and had a really hard time falling back to sleep. It's hard enough for me to sleep on Christmas Eve without my kids being awake! We all tossed and turned and tried to fall back to sleep - knowing that Santa had been to our house. We kept the lights off until about 7:00. My mom and dad came over to watch the boys open their presents.
A few days before Christmas we received emails from Santa for all three of the boys. It was so exciting to see Santa at the North pole!! He told the boys that they had been good, and if they stayed good for the next few days he had special toys for them. He showed Trace a picture of a RED wii, and Trace just knew he was going to get it.
The boys got everything they had dreamed of, and more. Chad got some ice fishing/cold weather boots and a tree stand. I got a bowling ball, perfume, a 50 foot cell phone charger, and an alarm clock. (I also got a new computer... not the one I wanted, but one anyway! It's great, and more than I needed :)) Christmas morning was a huge hit.
After a yummy cinnamon roll we packed up and headed out for the day. First off to Hansen's house. Steve loves Christmas, and is really a good gift giver. He gave me a beautiful picture of Santa - I love it! Chad got a replacement pair of hunting boots (he left his on the side of the road this fall :)) and the kids each got toys and a gift card to boondocks.
Next we were off to pa's house. Danny and Tash met us there for more presents! Guess what we get to do this spring?? LES MISERABLES!! So exciting. I'm loving the new tradition of a family date night to the Broadway shows. Porter got heelys, Trace got Donkey Kong, and Roc got more Thomas!
What a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We got to spend Christmas Eve with my family this year. It's always so much fun to enjoy family traditions from when I was young. For as long as I can remember, we have had a bowl of Cheesy potato soup and bread sticks for dinner, sang songs, played games, and told stories with Grandpa and Grandma Garner, Ronda and Boyd, and Kurt and MarJean. The candy bar game is always a favorite! The kids and my dad acted out the Christmas story - HILARIOUSLY - with some puppets that my mom made... I love this time of year!!! All is MERRY and BRIGHT around the Hansen home.

Breakfast with Santa

We have been trying to get a reservation to go have Breakfast with Santa at the Grand America for the past few years, but always call too late... After they are booked. This year we set a reminder on my phone, and were lucky enough to get in! We had so much fun... I hope we get to do it again!

The kids were so excited when the same Santa that was at Dads work party was at this party too!

Mom's Christmas party 12-19

Moms Christmas party was a hit. I love being with my family... Especially during the holidays. We even had a special visitor! I forgot my camera, but was lucky to get a few from Kelsey. Thanks Kels.

Logica Party 12-13

Chad's work had a super fun family Christmas Party at an ice skating rink in Salt Lake. We all had fun skating, but Chad and Porter lasted by far the longest. Santa and Mrs. Claus surprised us with a visit too. We are pretty sure they were the REAL deal. Roc was too scared to sit on his lap, but was willing to give knuckles.

December 1st

December first has become a holiday for us. It is the start of "the most wonderful time of the year"! We make decorations for the kids tree, get a little present, eat lots of treat, drink hot chocolate, listen to Christmas music, and maybe decorate our house a little. This year the kids were as excited as ever for their first Christmas present... (just a box full of candy this year) It doesn't matter what it is - they love it!! They had fun making their ornaments for the first little while, but tired out after the first hour or so (we might do with out all the crafts next year). Bring on Christmas... WE ARE READY!

It's potty time!! 12-2

I guess it's potty time for my littlest... YUCK. Probably one of my least favorite things to do. He's been telling when he needs to go potty now for a couple of months, but I haven't been able to convince myself it was time yet. Well, I've delayed as much as possible, it's time to buck up and get the job done. We started at the first of the week. Day one went pretty good. A few accidents, but a few success's as well. As the weeks gone on, Roc has been doing better and better. Yesterday we went all day with no accidents, and today we were 100% successful. I'm hoping he has it down pat... if he does - that wasn't so bad :). What a big boy.
Today at bowling I left him in the day care there, and told them that I we were working on going potty, but that he was in a pull up just in case. I told them that if he said he needed to go to the bathroom, that he could just go in, and that Trace could go in with him. He decided he needed to go poop... he went in and did his job. Trace than helped him get off the toilet with out wiping him. I went in to check on him just in time to clean up all the poop that had gotten spread all over him and the toilet... DISGUSTING. I guess it just goes to show me that a 4 year old probably isn't old enough to help a 2 year old go poop!

Thanksgiving 11-25

Happy Thanksgiving. As always we have SO much to be thankful for. A lady in our neighborhood is fighting leukimia. It's made me realize how blessed we are to be healthy. I know her list of "I'm thankful for's" has changed a lot over the past few weeks, and it has given me more reasons to think about mine. Mostly this year I'm thankful for life, and the blessing it is to be able to raise my three boys. I love them so much and feel truly lucky to be their mom. These are such fun years of their lives. They are so full of energy, and sometimes it takes all of my energy just to keep up. I'm just thankful I can! I'm also feeling gratitude for my husband and his love of life and our family. We are truly blessed! I hope our blessings keep coming, because life right now is GREAT!
This year we got to spend Thanksgiving with Chads Family. It was tasty as always. We had a full weekend full of games, food, and family. Just the way we like it. On Thanksgiving day, after eating, Steve had made a really fun treasure hunt for the kids, and then one for us big kids. It was so fun!!!

Jazz game 11/22

Porter's Jr Jazz basketball game was a blast. We went to the spaghetti factory before hand with Shayner and Pa. Shayne shares season tickets with some friends, and has GREAT seats. When we got there, we said goodbye to them, and headed for our nose bleed seats... I thought before the game, "it can't be that bad"... let me tell you. IT IS THAT BAD! I felt like I was going to fall down on to the court. My legs were tired when we finally reached that top row. After the first few minutes of the game, Shayne called and said that the seats next to them were empty, and so we got to go WAY down and sit in great seats the rest of the game. Shayne even bought Porter a little ball for a souvenir! What a fun night.

Traces Feast 11-22

Trace had his Thanksgiving feast today at school! I was in charge of the party, and as always, I had way to much planned for these poor kids. Miss Tonya had a project planned as well, and the entire time we were rushing to fit it all in... I left with a major headache, but now, looking back it was fun. We ate a traditional feast, made Indian jackets and headbands, made turkey's out of paper plates, and more turkeys out of rice crispy treats.