Christmas Devotional

On December 7th, Casey & I had the opportunity to go to the Christmas Devotional at the Conference Center on Temple Square. Mike & Lori, and Noelle & Marshall came with us. The grounds on Temple Square were of course beautiful, and the Christmas decor inside the Conference Center was awesome. I had been to the Conference Center once before, but it was during the Olympics almost 7 years ago, so it has been a long time. I had forgotten just how massive the building is! It is so incredibly huge! The Devotional was wonderful, and just to be in the presence of the prophet was so neat. The Spirit was so strong, and the Tabernacle Choir was unbelievable! We watch the Tabernacle Choir every Sunday morning at 9:30am, but to hear them live was just incredible. I am so glad that we were able to go with some of Casey's family too, we always have a good time with them.

A little Out of Control this Holiday Season

Time to catch up with my December blogging! The first week of December consisted of a Karoake birthday party for my friend Kristin. Me and my neighbor friends got a little looney singing HSM & 80's karoake. It was pretty hilarious! Thanks Renee and Daniella for planning the party. I kinda like putting the kids to bed early so I can go play!
On the 4th we celebrated my brother Javin's birthday at his clubhouse. Happy birthday my rockin bro! On the 5th we were able to go to Summer's Dance recital and as always she was the star of the show. Casey was suppose to be on a campout with the scouts, and last minute

they decided to just camp in my backyard. Funny thing, they didn't end up sleeping outside, they slept up in the toy room, and played Rock Band till 2am. This group of deacons are all such cool kids, and they had a blast on this campout. They got home bright and early just in time for the Ward Christmas Breakfast. It is definitely December! Busy, busy, busy! That wraps up the speed version of the first week of December.

Playing Dress Ups

The Folkman's

I met the Folkman's when I was 19 and was basically a nanny/tutor/mother's helper for them. I had an instant friendship with them and now almost 14 years later they are a second family to me and I love them dearly. They are so good to my family and treat my kids like their own grandchildren (Laura doesn't have any yet, so we let her claim ours for her own) :). Since Breanne came home a couple of weeks ago, we have been able to see them a lot the last couple of weeks. They have had us over for Sunday dinner and always make these amazing meals for us. This past Sunday, Rachel needed some pictures of my kids for a school project she has been working on, so I was able to get a copy of the pictures, and some of them turned out darling I think. Thanks Rach for taking the pictures!

Thanksgiving= Full Bellies

Thanks to Mike & Lori who hosted Thanksgiving in their home this year! We had so much fun with the Hansen crew! Mike & Lori let Ryllie and Maddux have a sleepover and then took them to the Dinosaur Museum the next day. They loved every second of their time with grandpa Mike and grandma Lori. Thanks for spoiling them!

Grandpa Hansen is my Favorite!

We had a scare with Grandpa this week. His heart was failing and after going to the hospital they put him on a medication which put him into cardiac arrest, and they ended up performing CPR for six minutes and shocking him twice. They were able to get him back, and we rushed over to the hospital and Casey gave him a blessing. When grandpa was awake he was highly medicated and although it is not out of the norm for him to be joking around, his joking around was beyond silly and we were so grateful to be able to sit with him and laugh. He had surgery the next morning and it went well and he is now home and on the upswing of things. The experience was scary for me. I know he is getting older, but the thought of him dying just tears me up! Grandpa Hansen has been such a huge influence in my life, and his ALWAYS optomistic attitude and sincere love for everyone inspires me to try harder to be more like him. I am very grateful to our Heavenly Father that He has let grandpa stay with us a little longer.

Into the Woods

Laura and I took Ryllie and Max to see "Into the Woods" at the Hale Centre Theatre. For anyone who has never seen this play, the first half is funny and kindof a spoof on fairy tale stories we are all familiar with, then the second half turns kinda dark and apparantly the message of the play is that life isn't always a happily ever after, but to teach our children good things because although they might not always obey, they are always listening. Hmmmm.... if thats the case, I really better watch what I say! Doh! Anywhoo, we had a great time, and the girls enjoyed the play and came home singing the songs.

Twilight!

I am so behind on blogging, so I'll be posting as much as I have the energy for tonight! A quick blog about Twilight! I was so excited to go see the movie and even talked Casey into coming with me and the Folkman's to see it on opening night. He wanted to kill himself by the time the movie was over and kept sighing with boredom through the entire movie. It was pretty hilarious! Me, on the other hand, am very easily entertained, and really enjoyed it. I ended up loving who they casted to play the parts, and really enjoyed the movie! I've heard many different opinions on the movie, some loved it, some hated it, but I figure you can't please everyone.