Rachel's Big Day (and ours too)

On Saturday Rachel turned 6 years old! It is so crazy to think that we have a 6 year old -- it feels like we're still just kids ourselves.

This year Rachel decided to have a birthday party with just our family so that we could go somewhere. The rule is if it's just family we can go somewhere, but if friends come then it's a house party. Rachel chose to go to Classic Skating, except she didn't want to skate. She just wanted to play on the bouncing and climbing things. So, after the regular day things -- music school, primary activity, basketball, naps, etc.-- we made our way to Classic.
Rachel and Hallie were so excited, which in turn meant that Kale was excited too. Rachel was so good to stay with Kale and help him up all the steep climbs. It reminded me of when we would take Jon's little sisters (you know, the three little girls) hiking -- he was always so careful with them and made sure they were safe.

Can you even believe how straight up that wall is (top left)? Jon only tried to take Kale up it once, and he was scared for not only his life, but for any unfortunate child who happened to be climbing up behind him if he fell. It was way too steep to venture onto again. I couldn't believe how good the kids were at climbing it!

I know this blog is about Rachel's birthday, but I couldn't resist putting these pictures of Hallie in. She was so happy the whole time we were there. In fact, I've only seen her so happy and animated a few times in her life. It was so fun to see her like that.

Anyway, Classic was so much fun -- the kids cried when it was time to go home, but there was more fun waiting for us there. Marmee, Papa, and Bree had driven up to have eggs and toast (Rachel's birthday dinner choice) and birthday cake. It was so nice of them to come up -- it made Rachel feel so special. Someone from the family called to let us know that Bree was coming with Marmee and Papa, and when Jon asked Rachel if that was okay, she said, "Of course. Anyone who wants to come is more than welcome." Those were seriously her exact words. She is such a grown-up little 6 year old.
I was especially impressed with Rachel's sharing nature this year. It's natural for kids to want to horde their presents when they first get them, and while you could see that Rachel initially wanted to keep her presents for herself, she overcame her first impulse and let Hallie and Kale play with her things. In fact, she even had them open some of her presents. It just is amazing to me that she can have such a wonderful gift of being aware of others feelings. Rachel is just an amazing little girl. I am so excited to see what the future years will bring us!
In the bottom left picture Rachel is trying to display her awesome DisneyWorld castle and her new slippers at the same time. That's why she's positioned so strangely.

Oh yeah, in addition to Rachel's big day this weekend, it was also our anniversary. Friday marked 7 years of bliss for me and Jon (although he always seems to think it has been longer).
We had a babysitter lined up so we could go out that night, but just before we took Rachel to school Sky threw up all over everywhere. Like, it was so much that she was soaked and so was her bed -- I had to have Jon take Rachel while I did a quick load of laundry and put Sky in the tub. Sick kids are a bummer, but usually not a real problem unless you were hoping to have a sitter come and stay. Even if Sky wasn't contagious, I couldn't imagine leaving a 13 year old at our house with the chance that Sky might have another incident like earlier in the day. I know that if that had ever happened to me while I was in my babysitting years, I would never have wanted to babysit again.
Lucky for me MJ & my mom were planning to go to Salt Lake on Saturday, and they agreed to come down Friday night instead so that Jon and I could still go out. It was so nice of them to come.
This is the hat and scarf that Jon gave me for Christmas. He was so excited for me to wear them on our date.

Since MJ & Mom were at our house for the night, we got to hang out after Jon and I got home. It was lots of fun.

Since MJ & Mom had slept over, they were able to open Rachel's gifts with us. Among the many was a Book of Mormon game which the kids love! We've played it at least 5 times since Sunday. Thanks!

A new year! Crazy. Life seems to go faster and faster every year. We had a fabulous time over the holidays with family. There's always a mixed feeling of sadness and relief when the holidays are over. True, the holiday season can be overwhelmingly busy, but it is such a joy to be with family day in and day out. It's always hard to get back to regular life.

The parties began with Dan and Jessica's wedding on the 17th. It was such a beautiful day -- as all weddings tend to be. We loved being a part of such a wonderful event.
Lucky for us this was only the beginning of the fun. We spent the rest of the month going between parties with the Hansen and Castleton families. Christmas day was an adventure this year with all 4 kids being participants. Yes, even little Sky loved playing with the toys the other kids got in their stockings.
Since it's been so long I'll just give picture recaps, but know that we had the funnest month ever!

With the Castleton's
The day started with "sledding" at the secret slide park by Mom and Dad's house. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough snow for our original sledding plan, so we just played on the playground and had hot chocolate and cookies. The kids had just as much fun and I was saved the work of having to pull kids up the hill on sleds -- or Jon was, but I'm sure it would have been exhausting just watching it.
Sledding was followed by a re-enactment of the nativity by the grandkids. If you're wondering who the green-shirted Joseph is, it's our cousins son. They made a surprise visit at my parents house on the 23rd. Pretty fun. Kale started out as Joseph, but then decided it would be way cooler to carry around a special treasure, so switched to the wisemen's team.
Cute matching Christmas pj's from Grandma & Grandpa.

And finally, time for the annual program/sing along. Rachel and Hallie both played a fabulous Christmas solo on the piano.

With the Hansen's
This was the easiest party ever. All I had to do was open my door and the party was brought to us. Anita brought all the food, games, and gifts. It was so much fun!
These stockings were filled to the brim with things for the kids. They each got their own stocking and they loved it so much!

Aren't these little princess dresses adorable? The girls absolutely loved them -- they came complete with their own crowns! They'll fit just in time for next holiday season.


With our family
Christmas morning
You know those things you hated growing up and swore you would never make your kids do when you were a parent? Well, I have one of those and I did not follow through with not doing it. Even though I always looked back at the pictures of us lined up on the stairs and hated how I looked every time, I still make our family have the stair picture every year.


Classic Skating
We met up with the Snarr's, Lee's, and Brian's brother and wife at classic. It was our girls first time roller skating and they loved it so much. They brought their scooters and Kale brought his bike and then they all switched off between bikes, scooters, and skates. It was so much fun to see them with their cousins.

"In the wee small hours of the morning..."

Is anyone familiar with that song? I only am because of "Sleepless in Seattle". Anyway, this song perfectly describes me tonight. Well, not exactly I suppose because I think that song is about thinking of some boy and therefore not being able to sleep or something, and I'm just awake for no reason. Regardless of the reasons, here I am, posting this marvelous post.

So, our most recent news is that Hallie is now "fbour" (that's Hallie code for four)! Thanks to everyone who made Hallie feel so special on, and around, her birthday. She had special visitors from near and far (or at least a little bit further than usual). Here are a few pictures from her special day.

Bree, Star, and Marmee came up on Sunday night especially to wish Hallie a happy birthday!

Hallie had been planning on having just a family party at Chuck-E-Cheese's, but then when she woke up on her birthday, she decided that she wanted to have a party. That's all well and good, but we didn't have enough time to invite anyone. Thank goodness for the Snarr's and their willingness to attend birthday parties on short notice. I think this is the 2nd year running that we've given them about 5 hours notice for Hallie's party.

In honor of Hallie's special day I thought I should include some Hallieisms.
Actually, it would seem that they are escaping me just now -- one of the hazards of blogging in the middle of the night I would expect. Anyway, we went and got Hallie's yearly pictures yesterday and they turned out so cute. The photographer just captured her adorable personality and I am so glad because it can be hard to get her at her best.
Just one last thing. Here are some pictures of our three fantastic kids. I had to show more than one picture because of course having all three look great at the same time is asking too much.

What's been happening with the Hansen's? Here's a picture update.

Snow Time!

Thanksgiving

Kale's new church clothes. A tie just like dad!

And lastly, the Christmas elves just paid our family a visit.

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween..."

It's that magical time of year again when you get to dress up in a costume and be something, or someone, completely different for a few hours (or in our case, a few nights). There is just something so fun about Halloween to me. I don't like any of the scary stuff, but it is so fun to think up costumes and get everyone ready -- somehow it's just cool to wear stuff that you wouldn't normally wear. For one night of the year this rule follower gets to do things, or at least wear things, that she normally wouldn't be caught dead in -- and it seems fun instead of embarrassing.
We started off the celebrating with a party on Friday night with my family. Everyone who still lives in Utah came (except Rob -- he had some kind of study group or something). I of course included a million pictures because I'm sure everyone wanted to be involved in every detail of our parties.

These are the costumes that we wore. Jon was Wolverine, and of course I was Storm. Rachel was a sorceress, Kale a cowboy, and Hallie was the most adorable Dorothy ever! And sweet little Sky was a lamb (thanks Mom for the great costume idea).

The guests -- obviously all the Snarr's came (like Alyssa & Peter) and also Mom, but I didn't have any pictures of those guys, so this is what you get. Pretty awesome costumes! The big headed man is obviously Ryan.

The kids (with some help from Jamie and Jon) mummified Grandma & Grandpa. They absolutely loved it (thanks for the great idea Heidi)!


On Saturday night we went to the Hansen's church for some serious trunk-or-treating. There is a serious lack of pictures because I wasn't in charge of the camera, but know that the Hansen's were in costume and they looked totally awesome. Almost every classroom around the whole building had someone passing out candy. The kids had so much fun. Kale was definitely into it. As soon as he saw the next candy post he would start running, yelling as he went "Candy, candy, candy! Over there, over there! More candy!" That kid definitely loves candy -- luckily (at least for Kale) candy is something that flows like water at Marmee's house.
After trunk-or-treating ended we went to the Hansen's just to be with everyone. Ruth and Matt and Nick & Heidi (and of course all the kids) came over to be together. And of course, any time you're at the Hansen's you can expect to be fed royally, and yesterday was no exception. There were sloppy joes, wassail (is that spelled right -- you know that drink?), donuts, caramel apples, and candy galore. For a girl who's been trying to not eat treats (what?! I had to wear spandex for my costume) it was like a dream come true!
Now Halloween is at an end, but the magic is only just beginning. Halloween is just the starting point for family holiday time festivities, and I can hardly wait for the fun to continue!

Halloween is coming up!

Here are the Halloween costume choices we have for the kids. Okay, actually Kale's the only one with any choices -- the pictures of Sky are of her in her costume, but mostly just to show you how ridiculously adorable she is. Notice how Kale's pirate hat barely stays perched on his head? Pretty hilarious!

Future Lunchroom Workers

For some strange reason my kids love to wear this weird little net as a hat. Perhaps they have future aspirations to become lunchroom workers (I would say lunch ladies, but obviously the term doesn't apply to Kale). That is definitely what they look like to me.