Happy 7th Birthday Hallie!!

It's hard to believe that our kids are getting so grown up, but it's true -- our little Hallie is 7 years old.  She just gets sweeter and more thoughtful the older she gets.

 

Hallie decided she would like a family party this year (our deal is you can either invite friends and have a party at home, or just have our family and go somewhere together).  She chose to take us all to the movie Frozen, and the kids could hardly wait.  They loved it so much!  It's all they could talk about for days afterwards. 

In addition to going to the movie, she also got to go to a nail salon and have her nails done (sorry, no pictures at present -- they're on my phone and I don't know how to get them on here).  She knew exactly what colors she wanted and what little design she wanted on them.  The whole time we were there, she had a huge smile on her face.  She said her favorite part was putting her feet in the little foot soak because it had the jets and they felt funny.  Also, during the foot soak she got to sit in a massage chair and she thought that was pretty hilarious.  I loved being there with Hallie and just being able to see her fun personality.

Ice Skating

A few weeks ago Jon had a family work party.  The kids were so excited to go this year because they were having ice skating.  None of the kids had ever tried it before, but they all knew they would be experts.

The party was at the Gallivan Center, so it was pretty cold.  But, there was hot chocolate and donuts to be had when it got too cold to be outside.

When we sent all the kids out to the car, we forgot to check and make sure that they all had coats.  As a result, Kale ended up without a coat at the skating rink.  It was super freezing, so Jon tried to make his coat work the best that he could.  Good thing Jon is always so warm, or he might have been pretty sad.

 The kids picked up ice skating pretty fast -- due in large part, I'm sure, to hours spent on rollerblades at the Snarr's.  Rachel was the first to break away from the comfort of the wall.  Then Kale, though his transition wasn't nearly as smooth. But, no matter how many times he fell, he was always happy to drag himself back to standing and try it again.  Hallie was the most cautious about leaving the safety of the side rails, but even she was skating without assistance by the end.

 Sky was a constant wall holder, which makes sense since she has a hard time keeping balance just in shoes.  Since I wasn't skating, I just walked around the edges of the rink and held Sky's hand over the rail.  The kids (and Jon) skated for hours, and then we called it quits.  Suffice it to say, the kids now think we should go ice skating all the time; either that, or we should at least buy roller blades for everyone.

Thanksgiving with the Hansen's

Thanksgiving, for our family, started on Wednesday night with "Pie Night".  Last year, Becky and I decided that we would get together on a separate day for Thanksgiving.  And, rather than try and recreate a Thanksgiving meal, we decided just to have pies.

We decided to do the same thing this year.  So, Wednesday night we all met at Becky's for dinner, pie night, and of course, Thanksgiving Pudding (which Anna has termed "Thanksgiving Spaghetti").  The kids had so much fun being together, and it was nice to just sit and talk with Becky and Ryan while the kids entertained themselves.

 I tried to help the kids untangle their prizes.  I don't know if I was helpful or just created more problems, but it was kind of fun -- like doing a puzzle.

Kale, Joshua, and Peter all got little finger tattoos, but their fingers were too small, so they gladly displayed them on their arms.  I had Jon go and help Kale, not realizing that he had never done a press on tattoo before (they weren't allowed in his house when he was a kid).  After 3 failed attempts, a tattoo was successfully put on Kale's arm.

 This was our first year doing Thanksgiving with all the Hansen's together (or as Hallie calls it, "The Great Feast").  I felt just like a real grown-up as we got up early to make sure the rolls had enough time to rise and bake before we had to use the ovens for everything else.

I turned on the Thanksgiving Day parade as we were getting things ready, and it made me remember all the years of doing that with Dad while he prepared.  As the marching bands started up, I remembered Dad being so interested in them and how weird I thought that was.  Well, this year, the memories made me have a little cry (due to the pregnancy I'm sure), and it really made me appreciate Dad.  So, thanks Dad for helping me to make a tradition without even realizing it.

It was so fun to have everyone together and just spend time talking and laughing.

Most of the pictures were a little sketchy as most of them were taken by the kids while the grown-ups got things ready.  But, there were a few that were pretty good.