Sledding at Tibble Fork with the Whitakers!

Hadlie Hoo Hoo is Two Two

Hadlie turned 2 on January 17. We had the Hansen family come over to celebrate all the many birthdays that were in December, January, and February. Happy birthday to grandma Lori, aunt Noelle, aunt Julie, grandpa Mike, Maddux, Casey, Hadlie, Summer, and Rory!

We sure feel lucky to have this spunky little gal in our family. 2 is such a funny age, and she makes us laugh everyday. Hadlie talks a lot and is very loud, but we just don't know what in the world she is saying 90% of the time! She is very independent, and can definitely hold her own being the youngest. She has many nicknames; Hoo Hoo, Hooders, Isa, and poopsy love are the favorites. We love you Hadlie!

Don Franklin Hansen

I have put off writing this post for 2 months now, simply because I knew how difficult it would be for me to write. When I married Casey, I was fortunate to become the granddaughter of Don & LaRayne Hansen. Both have been an extremely important part of my life, and we were sad to have to say goodbye to grandpa on January 8, 2010. Grandma and Grandpa were the perfect example of how to love your spouse. They are truly soulmates and the PERFECT couple. :) Grandpa doted on grandma like I've never seen anyone dote on their wife. Grandpa was friendly and outgoing and had such a good memory (with

grandma's help too). He never forgot anyone he met, and was friends with everyone! (It was no surprise to see the line of people who came to pay their respects at his funeral, it stretched clear down the sidewalk and around the building!) He is Casey's best friend, and we knew saying goodbye to this jolly old man would be extremely difficult. One year ago he suffered from cardiac arrest and was gone for 7 minutes and we thought we lost him without being able to say goodbye. We ended up being able to enjoy one more year with him, and the year was full of joy and memories that I will never forget. He helped Ryllie pull a tooth, he let Maddux take naps on

lap, and let the girls do his hair in funky mohawks. He put clip on earrings on with Cy, and played the harmonica with him, and would snuggle with Hadlie. I got to hear him call me dear heart for one more year, and listen to him sing his silly songs, and tell some funny (and a little crude) jokes. :) He got to talk sports with Casey, and have some wonderful heart to hearts. During his last few days with us, he became unable to speak and open his eyes. As we were visiting him we knew we needed to say goodbye. I will never forget after Casey gave him a blessing, grandpa with all his energy wrapping his arm around Casey and telling him he loved him,

and he told us all that he loved us. I have never had an experience like this in my life where I was able to to say goodbye to someone before they passed on. I am forever grateful for that opportunity and for the Spirit. I am so grateful for the past 10 years of my life with grandpa. He is the BEST!

Pictures included are of grandpas siblings, grandma and their 3 sons, the grandkids, and the great grandkids.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for Max!

For Maddux's birthday party, we watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and had a spaghetti dinner. The kids all loved it, and I thought it was a pretty easy birthday party to throw! Love that! This picture above is a picture of Maddux with two of her best friends the Fillmore girls. The Fillmores adopted Whitney from Ghana about 6 months ago, and she has been a wonderful addition in this neighborhood, we all love both Taylor and Whitney!

The fun continues...

To celebrate the sealing, the family had a dinner and the cousins all ran around and played. Of course, mom who always thinks ahead, brought activities and coloring books, and balloons for the kids. The girl cousins got a little carried away.

The next day we all went to the rec center where Kaysha works, and played basketball, volleyball, swam, and were spoiled by Kaysha! We had so much fun! That night was New Year's Eve and the kids always have fun banging pots and pans at mom's.

Friday, the boys went shooting and the girls went shopping. We all went to the movies, to dinner, and just played.

Saturday was Casey's birthday. Our friends and neighbors Tyler and Renee Holland were also down for the weekend, so Casey and Tyler and Brady Flygare went golfing, and Renee and I took our kids miniature golfing and swimming. Ryllie is also friends with their daughter Kylee, they are even in the same school class. Nora's baptism was on Saturday night. The baptism was so sweet and special, and I am always inspired at what Kaysha has done with her life and with her kids as a single mother.

Here are a few pictures of our fun weekend!

A Weekend Full of Special Events!

Our family went down to St.George over New Year's Weekend, and were able to celebrate so many special events! Maddux had her 6th birthday, Casey had his 32nd birthday, Nora was baptized, and my parents were sealed after over 20 years of being married! They were sealed in the St.George temple on their wedding anniversary! It was such special day for our family, and several of my brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles made the drive down in horrible weather conditions just to be there for the day. Here are a few pics at the temple (we are missing Grant & Karen in the pictures, they had to leave right after).

Christmas 2009

Christmas season this year came and went so quickly! On December 4 (Javin's birthday!), Casey & I went to his work Christmas party up at the Zermatt Resort in Midway. We decided to stay overnight there, and the next morning I woke up feeling kinda sick. Well, that kinda sick turned into really sick, and that nasty cold lasted for 6 weeks! I was suppose to be in charge of the Allen Christmas program again this year, but could not get feeling great, so my awesome sister Kenice ended up planning and executing the entire program and did a wonderful job! Thanks Neenie!

We did not do all the usual Christmas activities this year either, because I couldn't get feeling well, but Casey was able to take Ryllie (she got to take my ticket and I was super bummed) to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. He said the concert was wonderful.

On Christmas Eve, we enjoyed our family tradition of dinner and gifts at Cuckoo's house. Of course, she spoiled us all, and my kids love their animal pillows and jammies and webkinz! Thanks Cuckoo! We went to the Festival of Lights afterwards, as we have done most years since we have been married. We all love going, and the drive home usually puts at least 2 out of the 4 kids to sleep. :)

Christmas morning is always so much fun with the kids being at such fun ages and they are so excited to see what Santa brought them. Ryllie's favorite Santa gifts were a scooter, zum buddy, and new hairdryer and curling iron. Maddux's favorite Santa gifts were a MP3 player, Barbie DVD's, and lipgloss. Cy's favorite Santa gifts were a scooter, a buzz light year, and Cars fishing game. Hadlie's favorite Santa gifts were a Baby Alive doll, fur real pet, and candy from her stocking. The family's favorite gift was the Wii!

Around 11am we head over to Mike & Lori's. They always make us a wonderful breakfast and give us such nice gifts. They gave us some very nice Calphalon pots, a new crock pot, and new silverware, AND a gift card to Spencer's steakhouse. I know, spoiled right? Thanks for the wonderful gifts Mike & Lori!

Brady & Allison & Jordyn Hansen (Casey's brother)

Tylor, Julie, Jarrett, & Morgan Beveridge (Casey's brother)

Marshall, Noelle, & Summer Lundberg (Casey's sister)

I know people who don't like this time of year because they feel it has become too materialized. Perhaps it has, but I still love this time of year because people tend to reach out a little more, take a little more time to remember those they care about, spend more time with their families, and do kind things for others. You see more humanity and love and it gives the world more hope. And of course this hope comes this time of year because of Jesus Christ.