I'll be home for Christmas

Though we had a great, wonderful and fantastic Christmas break I almost dread writing this post because it means pulling pictures from all the phones and cameras used during the break and trying to remember all that happened. Maybe someday I'll learn to post as the trip goes along...here we go. I am sure it will take me many days to write this post.
Our drive down was horrible to say the least. We took Grandma's car and so we had Aaron and I, a 11 month old and an 80 year old all packed in the car. We started off with lots of snow and it took us way over an hour to travel what would usally take us 40 minutes because of the huge blizzard. We stopped in Beaver and found our tires were worn down and had to have all of them replaced. Bathroom stops seemed to take forever and by 3pm we were only in St. George.

We stopped and got lunch at Firehouse Subs and then trekked on.

I took my turn driving because Aaron needed a break since we would be driving all night. Sadly Bennett didn't sleep so Aaron didn't either.

Grandma and Aaron had the same conversation over and over for the next 8 hours including how we knew the people we were visiting (my parents) and asking if we were their neighbors. We finally arrived home to Chandler past midnight and didn't go to bed until close to 2. We were so grateful to make it home and safely even though it took over 15 hours to get there.
The next day my mom and I made a huge 10 day long grocery list and then woke up early the next morning to buy it all.

During that time Aaron and Bennett went over to the Butlers to visit for a while.

Saturday night Carlie and Aaron got into town and we decorated gingerbread houses.

Mom's House:

 The Butler's House:

and then we watched the Polar Express. We put up a projector in the loft and then had hot chocolate and peppermint puppy chow! I see a tradition starting. 

Sunday we attended church with my family, Aaron went and heard Heidi and Tylan speak at church and then we headed to the Butler's for dinner with everyone and the Dave Butlers who had arrived the day before. After dinner we all hopped into the back of Dad Butlers big truck and we drove around the neighborhood singing carols and looking at Christmas lights. 

The morning of Monday the 23rd we woke up early and made Reindeer pancakes that I had found on Pinterest. They were so easy and so cute! Everyone loved them!

During the day we prepped for Christmas by buying last minute gifts and wrapping what we had. That afternoon we headed to the Butlers and hung out and then headed over to the church for the annual Butler Eve Eve Party that Grandma Butler puts on. They had a great nativity with a manger that Dad Butler put together. Aaron also sang and I played the piano for him.

Us and Bennetts Great Grandma Butler

After that we headed to the temple lights to meet up with my family, both sets of Grandparents and 4 Chinese investigators. They were just leaving and so we then all headed to Bahama Bucks! Yum!

Then it was Christmas Eve Day. We split it up between the families by going to the Butlers in the mid morning. We had a wonderful meal, testimonies from heads of the household, some musical numbers and then some "Christmas Challenges" which included a math sheet and another of locating items while blindfolded.

That night we headed back to my house for Christmas Eve. We had a similar dinner with all of my family, grandparents, a missionary couple and our 4 Chinese investigators again. We then did chimes, musical numbers, games and dessert.

We put out cookies for Santa but Bennett thought they were yummy so we are not sure if Santa got any. His pajamas say "Santa's Little Helper".

All of us "kids" spent the night together in the loft and then woke up the next morning around 8 or so and prepped to come downstairs for Christmas morning. Here is what we found when we came downstairs. Bennett loved looking at all the gifts.

The day consisted of taking turns opening presents from parents, siblings, spouses, grandparents and Santa. Bennett didn't understand how to open gifts and got disinterested fast. He took two naps that day which was nice for all.

The "Hansen Grandkids" got a present which was a wagon that Bennett LOVED! It is his type of thing. Moving and Outdoors. 

We always take a break in the middle and make way too many treats and snacks for the day. Here is a little bit of what we made. 

We then continued with presents...

We headed to the Butlers in the afternoon where we opened some more gifts and had a chance to catch up with everyone and to see what they got. 

We came back to my house to play Just Dance on the Wii which I loved! Thanks C&A!

The next day was "our day" to plan (in my family we each take a day to plan an activity). We planned a "Disney Day". Aaron went with Bennett for 2 hours to find some churros that we could make (thanks Aaron, it made the day!). We made churros and Dole Pineapple Whips. We sent everyone outside and gave them a Disneyland ticket and when they walked in Main Street music was playing and we handed them Churros. We then played Disney charades, Disney dance game on the Kinect and then our own version of Toy Story Midway Mania. We then watched Monsters University, ate Dole Whips and mickey shaped cheese burgers. It was a great day.

That night Aaron headed to his house to play night games and then watch the Hobbit with his brothers and family. He spent the night and then got up early and went and saw the Hobbit 2 (it has a name I'm sure). He then met us at a park where we enjoyed a picnic, games and feeding ducks.

The girls went shopping for a bit and then Aaron and I headed to meet the Butlers at Usery Pass Park while my family watched Bennett as he was napping. We had a great time eating dinner, cooking s'mores, singing and playing around the fire. 

The next day was my birthday. I got breakfast in bed and then headed downstairs where it was decorated with a clever "running" birthday wall (way to go Aaron!). The girls then went shopping and then we met everyone later for lunch at Red Robin.

That night we all hung out and played "Just Dance", ate a delicious Mexican meal prepared by Carlie and Aaron and then we watched a movie. A great way to end a great day!
The next day was Sunday and we went over to the Butlers in the morning and hung out and then went to Sacrament Meeting with them where Aaron sang and I played for him. We then headed back to my house and we played Hotels (a Hansen family favorite) and the boys were a little bit of sore losers because Carlie and I took them down and pretty fast so they left and us girls finished out the game.

We also worked on our puzzle which is a Christmas tradition. This is year it was thousands of different pencils. And we just hung out the rest of the day.

The next day was Ethan's day to pick our activity and all of us "kids" went and did mini golf and it was so fun! Though I some how majorly lost to everyone it was so fun to get out and play together. That night we went over to the Butler's house and we hung out, had some food and played scattergories.  

On New Years Eve we celebrated Bennett's birthday (that will be in a later post) and then we headed to the Butlers. We had some yummy food and then did some fireworks in the backyard and ended the evening with some fun "Just Dance" action! It was great!

We then went back to my house to eat TONS of food (each person made an appetizer for the night) and then we watched the Lone Ranger. I didn't make it through the movie but it ended just in time for us to toast to the new year and watch the ball drop.

The next day Carlie and Aaron left early to go home to Utah. We headed over to the Butlers where Heidi took some great family pictures (later post) and then we had some food, played a fun new game and Aaron got a haircut. We came back to my house that evening and my friends Whitney came over and we played games, hung out and prepped to leave the next day.

We left around 10am the next day for Utah and luckily it didn't take as long but Aaron and I felt sick so we stopped often and let Bennett run around. 

We stopped in St. George and spent the night which was the best decision ever. It was so nice to break up the trip.

We got up early and left because Aaron had to be at BYU. He was participating in a "New Student Orientation" skit with "David Better-men" and he was one of the contestants. The rest of us headed to Bountiful and unloaded the car and just relaxed.

It was an amazing and wonderful Christmas break! We were so lucky to spend 2 weeks down in AZ and we needed every minute of it with our families! Can't wait to go back! Love you all!

Oh, Hey There!

Promise...last random post catching up on everything and then I will work on my 2014 goal to blog more often so endure just a little longer with me...
Think back to November 2013

We went out and played in the snow and before we got a snowsuit we just had to use a warm jacket and put socks on Bennett's hands. Poor kid.

 Crazy Bennett is always talking up a storm and here he is telling me a story I'm sure.

 Handsome boy ready for church and with his hair looking tamed.

 Looking so grown up...and believe me, he only sat there for less than a second. A wiggle worm that one!

 Aaron was chosen from his public speaking class to represent them in a speaking competition. He then had to record his speech and submit it online and then it was judged by judges (duh!) and then he was picked from there to speak infront of an audience in the HFAC at the Dejong concert hall. So cool! He gave a persuasive speech on texting and driving. I may be biased  but he definitely was the best one to present. He attended a special dinner beforehand to eat with the donors of the award he would be receiving that night. 

 There were no "winners" or "losers" but everyone received $200 from their donor. Here is Aaron on the stage accepting his award.

Way to go hon! So proud of you and your awesome Public Speaking skills and bringing in the big bucks!

So...Bennett needed a haircut badly and it came to a point that I couldn't stand it longer. Here are 2 pics to prove my point.

 And so I decided to trust Aaron and let him cut Bennett's hair. We set up the highchair in front of the TV, stripped him down to his diaper, gave him a cookie if need be and we were off! Bennett was interested in the noise buzzing by his ear and kept moving but we did it!

The afterwards...so handsome and so much better!

 I went to the D.I. one day and found just what I was looking for...a snowsuit! It was the perfect size and cool multicolored and so some old era (80's, 90's?). We pulled him in the sled again and let him crawl around in the snow and he really liked it.

 Another great find we got was at Walmart where we found some nice beanies and mittens for those cold winter days. I think he looks like a hipster ;)

 Oh, and this happened at the store too. Just hanging in the cart with one foot up relaxing on the seat.

 Yes, his tops and bottoms don't match but who cares when you play inside in your PJ's all day?!? Here he is in that fabulous phase where they like to go through all the cupboards and pull everything out. He is the more curious boy I have ever met.

 Aaron and I were invited by my Aunt and Uncle to attend the Christmas Concert at the Conference Center because they had extra tickets. We were excited to go but nervous to leave Bennett with someone because we didn't know anyone to watch him but we reluctantly called up Brother Brady in the ward, he had offered to babysit sometime so we could get out. He said his wife would be gone but he and his 4 kids would love to. How sweet. We, being the typical 1st time parents, brought over the port-a-crib a couple blankets, food, toys, bottle...everything we own. Thankfully Bennett did well for him and went down to sleep just 90 minutes after we left. We enjoyed our time and loved the chance to go out on a date and seeing the amazing singers and dancers and John Reese Davis was even there...ya know, the guy from Princess Diaries 2...Aaron says he has also been in some lesser know films such as Indiana Jones and Lord of the Rings...never heard of them, must have been straight to video ;)

The next days were spent cleaning and packing while I got us ready to head to AZ for Christmas while Aaron was busy during finals week. Bennett helped me pack the Wii.

 2 days before we were going to leave for AZ Bennett, around 9pm, started making some loud coughing noises and it sounded like he was having a hard time breathing. Aaron thought it might be the croup. We turned on the shower and made it steamy to help him and then put him in bed with us. He slept ok that night and then Aaron headed to take his last finals and I took Bennett to Urgent Care just to be safe. He loved playing with the toys there. Of course when we got in to see the doctor Bennett pulled down everything in the tiny office on the floor and was everywhere and didn't look or sound sick anymore. Typical. He said it wasn't the croup but gave us some medicine and some tips to help him get better fast. We ran the humidifier and though he still had the cough he was a lot better than the previous night.

 The best thing about a sick baby? Lots of cuddle time!

 Next post, Christmas, then my birthday, Bennett's birthday and then we are caught up! Whew! :)