The Holiday Madness..........

This holiday season was everything I could have asked for and more. I loved every second of it but I am ready for the new year and for the craziness to be over. There was no way I could capture all of my favorite moments this month but here's what I got.............

The holiday madness started off with a Christmas party we threw for all of our friends. We had a blast and I feel so lucky to have so many truly amazing friends to make memories with over and over again. I think it is really rare to have friends like these. I just wish the Seattle crew could have been there too!

Then we hopped on a plane to Seattle with Jeff, Mindy, Eric and Danielle for the annual

Vestus Christmas party.

We all got to stay at the Hyatt in Bellevue and partied it up at the Parlor had our own balcony for Snowflake Lane, shopped at Bell Square and of course ate way too much at Maggianos.

I lOVE these girls more than I can explain......luckily we get to go on adventures together all the time. From sweating our butts off (literally) at the gym, to being mommies, to traveling around the world....we do it all together!

While the boys went to the Seahawks game we went to Pikes and shopping downtown.

This hot fresh Apple Cider made my day... I can't even tell you how perfectly yummy it was.

Fresh crab, a hot phirosky, Beechers cheese, samples of the yummiest oils and vinegars, a hot vanilla chai at the first ever Starbucks, a hot dog from a stand on the side of the road that Danielle and I split, topped off with boots from the downtown Nordstrom made an amazing day.

The next day we went on the underground tour in Seattle. They told us it was haunted down there and to just start snapping pictures to see if we could capture a ghost. I think we got one to the right of Blake........OOOOOOOH

Then back to Utah we came with my whole family including my sweet Grandma Jean to celebrate Christmas. And it couldn't have been more perfect...........

We started off in Salt Lake and saw the temple lights.

Then we were off to St George for Christmas.

Grandma Jean helped Jax and I make cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

I know! My pics are horrible from Christmas but I didn't really fuss about pictures this year and just enjoyed every moment. Jax was the perfect age to feel the magic of Christmas and was sooooo excited for Santa to come! His favorite present was his race track and Tae died over her new little play kitchen.

A bright sunny Christmas day was made perfect by all of my family being with us in St. George and I am so happy that Grandma was able to come so far to spend it with us. We missed Papa more than words can say but I know he was still there with us.

We brought in the New Year with our good friends DD and Ivy and had the most relaxing weekend.

I am so excited for 2011 and for what it will bring for our family.

I have so many goals for this year so wish me luck!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Tacky Hansen Christmas Party

I am so very sorry for taking so long once again to blog! I promised my friends I would start again over a month ago and I have been so busy/so behind I didn't know where to start. So I decided to just pick up today......

The Hansen Family had a tacky Christmas party last night and it was so much fun! Thanks to Danielle's tacky Christmas stash and the Walmart our family was decked from head to toe and we won the best dressed prize!

This year Jaxon is out of his mind excited about this whole Santa business! He loves to find Jingle the elf (our little elf on a shelf) around our house and make sure he knows that he is being a good boy so he can disappear to the North Pole to tell Santa. He never stops singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or Jingle Bells and is pretty much living off Hot Chocolate.

Tae is just happy to follow Jax around and do whatever he is doing. Her favorite thing to do is to pull all the ornaments off the tree and chuck them around the house. She already picks her own clothes out everyday and SCREAMS if I try to pick out something else! She is loving her new little room upstairs but it makes me sad to have her so far away......but happy cuz she is sleeping like a log!

Halloween in Wonderland......

Halloween came and went WAY too fast this year. It was a total blur this year and I didn't even throw our annual party! Luckily our friends Eric and Danielle hosted the party this year.

I was Alice and Blake was the Mad Hatter. It was a blast!

Pumpkin carving was a success with our little family. The kids loved it but I have to say I am a little disappointed in the lack of pumpkin goo my kids were willing to stick their hands in.

Growing up I LOVED scooping out the pumpkin goo and getting it all over my hands, squishing it in between my fingers. I just couldn't even wait to get my hands in the stuff. Jen HATED it and thought I was crazy. I just wanted her to love it as much as I did..........

but she never did.

So then I tried to recruit Blake to my love for scooping out and carving pumpkins but he hates when his hands get in the goo too. My last hope was that my kids would love it and so far Jax is just like his Dad and did NOT want dirty hands! Maybe next year Tae will dig in with me......

Jax was in heaven trick or treating with his cousins again this year.

It was a cold, rainy night but that didn't slow them down at all!

I didn't get any good pics that night with my camera but here's what I did get .........

Tae was so cute and I had no idea she would grasp the concept of trick or treating so soon.

We had her in the stroller following the boys and as soon as they went to the first house and got their candy she screamed and screamed to get out of the stroller. We thought she just wanted to run with the boys so Blake let her out and she ran all by herself holding her little bucket up in a panic saying

"trick or treat......trick or treat!!!"

She went up to every door step after that til her little bucket was full to the brim with candy.

She was the cutest little Strawberry Shortcake.

The PERFECT 4th Birthday

My little man turned 4 this month and had the most magical birthday party in Disneyland!

It was the most perfect day, he loved every second of it....... and so did I.

We started the day with presents in the hotel with Grandma Suzi and Grandpa Scott and then we were off to Disneyland! You should have seen how excited Jax was! He got to ride over on the scooter with Grandpa and had his birthday pin on that Mickey gave him. We had to ride the Buzz ride first (that's his favorite) and then we got to ride in the very front on the monorail to the Disneyland Hotel where we went to Goofy's Kitchen for Jaxon's birthday breakfast with all of the characters. I told Jax that Goofy was throwing a birthday party just for him and you should have seen his little face! They gave him a birthday card signed by all of the characters and a little cake in a treasure chest box. They sang happy birthday to him and he got to eat Mickey pancakes and waffles, gummy worms with chocolate pudding and oreos, mac & cheese pizza and an ice cream cone. It was the cutest thing ever.

We spent the rest of the day riding on all of the rides and watching the pixar parade. He bought a Buzz Lightyear gun and flashlight with his money from his great grandmas.

The best part of taking Jax to Disneyland is when he feels the magic so much and gets so happy he doesn't even know what to do with himself! He will just hug Blake and I so tight and say

"I love you soooooo much" and give you a kiss on the cheek.

It is so precious.

PS. Disneyland was all decked for Halloween and it was so cute.

Jaxi I have no words to tell you how much I love you. I love your sweet/stubborn personality. You are so smart, friendly, loving, the sweetest big brother, a master negotiator (seriously). You love to go to school and to play the WII. You are obsessed with Buzz Lightyear and would still live off just chocolate milk if I let you. I feel like you turned into this real little boy over night. Happy Birthday.................

I will try to soak this 4 year old you in, it will go too fast.

I'm back...........

I'm back from a looooooong blogging vacation. I've missed it but a broken computer/broken camera seriously makes blogging difficult. Plus life has just been crazy this summer. I feel like summers are always crazy busy but then I realized our life is always crazy no matter what. We have been so busy with family, friends and if you haven't heard our St. George house project has been an ALL summer job............... the good news is that it is ALMOST DONE!!!

I have learned a lot this summer....... and loved a lot. I have learned who my true friends are and learned more about the person I want to be. I have learned to just try to soak it all in, to not be selfish, and to help my friends and family as much as I can. I have learned that being happy is a choice and that the little things in life are what matter most. I have learned that bad things happen to good people and that we can't control what others do to us, we can only control our reaction to it.

I have realized how lucky I am to have two healthy babies and husband who loves me and gets me. I have realized we are all here to help each other through this crazy life and if we could just put each other first almost all of our problems would go way. I have realized that sometimes I am a little too honest but I mean it in the best way and only to the people who I truly love. I have realized how easy it is to impact someone elses'l ife good or bad.

This summer has taught me a lot and I have loved every second of it. But now I am ready for the leaves to change, for the chilly fall days, for football games, for crock pot dinners, for the holidays and most of all I am ready to wear boots!

Since my camera has been broken I haven't been taking lots of pictures but here are some of my favorite 1 year old pics of Tae. The girl who took them was the cutest and Tae absolutely loved getting her pictures taken. She was a total poser. She learned alot this summer too...... she learned to walk, actually to run. She learned to talk a little more but mostly learned she can do a really really high pitched scream and everyone in sight will look at her. She learned that she NEEDS to do everything her brother does. She learned to dance....... and I hope she never stops.