Last night when I went to tuck Rachel into bed, I found her sitting in a big circle with all of her animals skirting the edges of a huge blanket.  She was just getting ready to read to them.  The girls had cleaned their rooms earlier, and instead of putting all the toys away, Rachel had set up all her animals and dolls for story time -- she read to them for 40 minutes before bed.  I love her so much!

Just something to Smile About...

So, today I was downstairs doing some cleaning and I could hear Sky just playing with her dolls in the other room.  At one point during her game, Sky brought one of the dolls into a different room, and this is what she's saying in the sweetest voice ever: "I'm sorry, but you have to have some time by yourself because it's not okay for you to just scream at the other babies.  So, you'll have to be in time-out for the rest of your life.  I love you."  I was laughing so hard in the other room.  How many times have we had that exact conversation (minus the "for the rest of your life" part)?  Ah, one of the many joys of Sky.

Snow Days

We have had so much snow here in Layton this year.  Seriously, we have been shoveling like 2 or 3 times a day for the past week or so.  We've probably shoveled more this year than in all the previous years put together.  I say "we", but I actually mean Jon and the kids.  I've only had the misfortune of shoveling twice, and it made me so glad that Jon was home to do it the other times.

 

 

 

 

With all the snow, the kids have been loving exploring the backyard.  We didn't put away some of our plastic bikes, etc. and the snow is so deep that they are covered.  The kids walk around the yard and try to find where they've ended up -- they think it is so much fun.  Luckily they're not very heavy, so they don't sink all the way to the ground like I do.  They just magically float above the deepest snow -- except the time Kale's leg went clear to the bottom, and when he pulled it out his boot was lost for like 10 minutes.  He just layed on the ground with his foot in the air until we found it.  Pretty hilarious!  Too bad I didn't get a picture of that.

Rachel's Baptism

Jon and I are officially getting old because our sweet, little Rachel has been baptized!  Her baptism was so special, and she was so excited all morning long.  We still did the music school thing, and then the kids came home to help Jon get ready for the baptism while I finished teaching my last class of the day.  All the Hansen's came (excepting a few who were not in the area), and Robby and the Snarr's.  Rachel was so happy to see each and every person as they came in.  Anna and Steve gave talks and Rachel had her cousin Taylor say one of the prayers.  She was the only person getting baptized so she got to choose who did what.

 

After the baptism the family came back to our house for some lunch and playtime.  Robby was the super uncle who went downstairs and threw the kids onto the bean bag chair.  Brinly came up to tell me about it, and these were her exact words: "He was throwing us like more than five feet onto the beanbag -- I've never felt so alive!"  High praise indeed.  So, thanks to Rob for keeping all the kids in playland bliss

  

This is Rachel's post-baptism dress compliments of Anita.  It is truly so beautiful, and this picture does not do it justice (I was not the photographer, and so wasn't able to keep taking pictures until I got one that was just right).  We'll have to take a picture the next time she wears it.  Also being worn in this picture is a beautiful heart necklace from her Grandma and Grandpa in Georgia.  I think part of Rachel's excitement for this day was being able to wear these 2 beautiful gifts.  She had them all laid out the night before so we wouldn't forget the dress or the necklace.

It was a wonderful day -- we are so proud of Rachel and the decision she made to be baptized!

 Oh yeah -- speaking of feeling proud.  Rachel also finished reading her Book of Mormon on Saturday morning before her baptism, thus meeting her goal to finish before she got baptized.  We celebrated by going to Deseret Book and choosing a new game to play as a family.  Hooray for meeting our goals!    

What you've been missing

It looks like I definitely slacked off on the blogging department this month.  Here are a few things you've missed in the Hansen household...

Rachel had her 8th birthday!  It seems weird that she is getting so old.  She is trying to finish reading the Book of Mormon before her baptism on the 2nd of February, and as a result she is reading every time I turn around.  I am so proud of her dedication to this goal she has made.  We asked what we should do to celebrate once she accomplished her goal, and her idea was to buy a Bible.  Ah Rachel -- she puts us all to shame.  What a sweet little girl.

Instead of a neighborhood friend party Rachel chose to have our families come over for a pizza party.  We had play practice after school and barely made it back in time for the party.  Rachel walked in the door, raised her hands in the air and said, "Oh yeah.  Birthday girl is in the house."  It made me laugh so hard.  She is truly a Hansen.  

So, with half the Hansen clan and the Snarr family, we proceeded to have a rockin' party with pizza, decorations, and games.  And of course, some presents.  Thanks family for coming and making Rachel feel so special.

In other news, the girls had their recitals this last weekend.  I always get most nervous for the class recital because I have to be in charge of the talking, etc.  But, as always, it turned out just fine, and the girls played their songs flawlessly.  I was so proud of how hard they have worked this semester.  Sky had to miss her recital because she was too sick.  But, since she still got the treat, she didn't seem to mind too much.

In the last week...

 

We spent time with the Mumford's and Snarr's doing some sledding (on the forbidden hill).

 

After our sledding adventures we went back to Becky and Ryan's for hot chocolate and cookies.  Then we all headed home to get ready for the date night.  We left the kids home with sitters, and went to see Les Miserables.

 On Friday our Hansen family came over for our annual party and sleepover.  Every Hansen was there from sweet little Sydney (Dan and Jessica's new baby) to Steve and Anita -- that put our total at 28 (with 2 more on the way -- Andy and Brittany & Matt and Ruth -- hooray!).

 Ruth was in charge of games, and she came prepared with so many fun ideas.  We had 4 (possibly 5) teams, and each person took turns representing their team.  The games were really creative like: blow up a balloon and try to have the air blow a cup off the table, blow a cup across the table using a straw, using a straw to suck up a jelly belly and then passing it from one plate to another, putting a cookie on your forehead and trying to inch it down to your mouth without using your hands...there were tons more,but I'm not explaining them very well.  I'll comment on the pictures that we do have and that can help you get a better idea.

 Every team had one roll of toilet paper and they had to get it wrapped around one team member faster than the other teams.

 In this game we had to slather our noses with vaseline and then try to stick cottonballs to it (without using our hands) in order to get them across the room to our team members plate.  It was pretty disgusting and yet super hilarious.

 The kids had to pull all the tissues out of their box with just one hand.  Then, once the boxes were empty, the adults tied them around their waists, put little balls inside, and tried to get them out without using their hands.  This one was super crazy and way funny to watch.

  

 Marmee and Papa gave all the kids Christmas PJ's.  My kids have worn them every night since.  They love them so much!

Not pictured, but still thoroughly enjoyed, was our New Year's Eve celebration with the Mumford's and Ruth and Blake.  We enjoyed delicious homemade pizza (compliments of Nathan) and then spent the night playing games.  The kids celebrated the new year around 9 with the help of some youtube ball drop and fireworks from last year.  It was the first year we even thought to have our kids have a mock midnight celebration.  It was perfect.  Our last week of December was filled with tons of fun with family, and we're looking forward to this new year and all it will bring.  Happy New Year!

A Winter Wonderland

It has been snowing here in Layton all morning long.  We have all the blinds open so we can witness the transformation from brown and dead to beautifully white.  About 40 minutes ago 2 of our little neighbor girls knocked on our door to see if they could shovel our walks.  We thought maybe they were trying to make some money, but they just wanted to have the joy of shoveling our walks (although, they haven't yet experienced that joy at their own houses -- we totally lucked out).  Now Jon, Rachel, Hallie, Kale, and the 2 neighbors are shoveling to their hearts content.  Lucky for me, I was assigned to stay inside with Sky, so I get to stay blissfully warm and dry.