Camilla's Surprise

The second day we went tubing with grandpa someone gave us hot chocolate and cookies. They were yummy. It is my favorite thing about grandpa's house.

SNOW!!!

Of course the road was closed that we needed to take to Idaho because of snow...so we took another detour...not quite as fun the second time around, but not too bad!!! The only thing the kids have wanted to do so far has been to play in the snow...so today they finally got to do that!!! Alex and Emma aren't big fans of the cold...Alex eventually warmed up to it, but Emma chose to stay wrapped up with Grandpa!!!

It's "DOUBLE" Christmas!

My mom flew into Utah so she could spend some holiday time with my family and Jer's family since we couldn't make it out to California this year. So, we had "early Christmas". So, we've got some of the traditional "line up and wait to see your stockings" pictures as well opening up gifts. When we got in the car later that day to head up to Idaho Zach asked where we were going and I told him we were going to Idaho for Christmas and Kate's Open House. It took him just a minute and then he said, "YES!!! We get DOUBLE Christmas!!!"

Enjoying the Reception

We all had fun at the reception afterwards...Alex and his cousin Addison swiped the baby's snacks and gobbled them up. There were old fashioned carolers that sang and then all held mistletoe over Brad and Kate. I love seeing pictures of Alex and Emma...in everyone she looks a little scared! :)

Brad and Kate's wedding

It was (obviously) pretty cold at the temple, but very beautiful and perfect with new snowfall!!! Camilla was happiest sitting in the car bundled up in blankets...my mother-in-law looks beautiful with Zach outside the temple...I should have put a hat or something on Emma's bald little head!!!

Brad and Kate's wedding

The LONG drive...

Since I-15 was closed when we needed to head out to Utah for Noall's sister's wedding, we opted to take a detour through Palm Springs. With the detour, getting stuck behind a couple of snow plows, and all the closed on ramps in Las Vegas, I think the trip from start to finish was 15 hours (normally 9 1/2 hrs.) But the kids were GREAT and we sang Christmas carols, had a belated FHE, actually enjoyed the trip!!! We all loved seeing the cactus, joshua trees, and palm trees with snow on it! I did my best to capture some pics, but they didn't turn out too well out my window going 75 mph. :)

Random, but interesting links

On quoting the General Authorities (these look official)...

http://www.fairblog.org/2008/10/20/talk-by-president-boyd-k-packer-goes-viral/

http://pool.fairmormon.org/wiki/images/d/d6/25_February_2008_FP_Letter.pdf

Playing with Daddy

I don't get it...

I LOVE going to the beach. I don't think it has anything to do with growing up in California because we really didn't go that much as a kid. I just love how overwhelmingly amazing and immense it is...I especially love going during the fall and winter when no one else is there. We get all bundled up and go run around, splash, and play. But, my kids are definitely spoiled that we live just minutes from the beach and don't get what a neat opportunity it is to be so close. All afternoon on Friday I tried to motivate them to get their chores done so we could go play at the beach for a couple of hours before it got dark...they were VERY distracted and chose to play "goblins and squirt guns" in ourtiny little backyard instead. In the video, Camilla is the goblin (with a large pot on her head) and the boys are squirting her. There is a lot of running, laughing, and squealing, but basically she is trying to "get" them while they defend themselves by spraying her (I actually think by this time she had stolen Alex's gun)..at one point she says, "I can smell you very good with my nose"...and puts her hand outside the pot to be a hook nose to smell them with...and then finds them. It's pretty funny.

Uniquely Emma

Noall's Aunt Jill asked me last weekend to tell her about Emma...what things are uniquely her. So, I thought I would post some of them. She loves getting up early in the morning with the kids and then going back to bed after they leave for school. She loves to such on her toes and her feet. She even loves to suck on my face - she grin and get really close and then go after my cheek! Tonight she was hanging out with Zach and Camilla and they were dancing for her and singing for her and she was squealing and loving it (which, of course, encouraged them even further). She really loves her brothers and sister (although they are terribly distracting while trying to feed her!). The other big news is that she just cut her two bottom teeth...you can't see either one of them yet, but you can feel them! All the kids have been putting their fingers in her mouth to feel them...they are pretty proud of her!

We're all Mormons...

I love this piece by a rabbi here in southern cali (thanks, Cathy). Take a couple of minutes to read it when you get a chance.

http://www.ldsmag.com/familyleadernetwork/081203mormon.html

Hudson Hawke Hansen

Baby Hudson is HERE!!!!! For those of you who know my brother, Jeremy, and his wife, Bridget, this is their little boy...much anticipated and born this morning!!!

Emma's TRYING to sit up

My camera must have some sort of magnetic attraction because every time I try to take a picture of Emma, all the others BEG for a picture, too! Her cute little face is just TOO much! So...who does everything she looks the most like???

Thanksgiving

We have a fairrly new tradition of running the Turkey Trot on the morning of Thanksgiving. I LOVE starting out the day with a good workout! I didn't traing as much as I wanted to, but I did the 10K and had fun the whole time. There are thousands of runners, so it's very entertaining if you're not trying to break any records! To add to the excitement, it was raining lightly when I got to the race, and steadily increased until there was quite a downpour. This created quite an obstacle course with people trying to avoid puddles...but soon people stopped avoiding puddles because there were too many!!! I know I'm crazy, but it was a lot of fun!!! Noall was a trooper to bundle up the kids and bring them down to congratulate me...then he stayed to run his race (he survived his race, but I don't think he enjoyed running in the rain quite as much as I did!). And...no, I'm not pregnant again...Emma's sleeping unside my coat!

Elder Wirthlin passes away at 91 years old

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/joseph-b-wirthlin-oldest-apostle-dies-age-91

She found her feet...

and it's TRUE LOVE!!! She loves to suck on her fingers, her binky, and now her feet!

Zach and the Scorpions

Zach has LOVED playing soccer this year! He especially loves his team name...the Scorpions! next year he's hoping to be called the Cobras! I've been so proud of the effort he's made to learn and play and work as a team. He's also doing great in school with his Spanish. I never cease to be amazed at how much he knows already...here's a paper he wrote without any help at school (for all of you who speak Spanish...I'm not going to correct any grammatical mistakes) - last last sentence is just too much!!!

En octubre, nosotros estudiamos sobre las calabazas en el salon. Primero nosotros pensamos en cuantos semillas ay en la calabaza. Despues, nosotros cortamos lo de arriba. Entonses, nosotros miramos adentro. Luego, nosotros tocamos las semillas y eran suave y pagajoso. Al final, nosotros contamos las semillas. Es claro que yo aprendi sobre las calabazas en el ano dos mil ocho.

My KitchenAid

So...the first things we made today were breadsticks (we were learning about the letter W in preschool...so we talked about wheat saw how to grind it and made wheat bread dough) and butter. I've never made butter before and was amazed at how easy it way! I use butter all the time, so I might just be converted to making it!

An Ode to Noall

Over the past weeks, Noall and I had several conversations about what I wanted for my birthday. After giving it some thought I decided that what I wanted most of all was time: time with him, time with my kids, time to get organized, time to work on some projects (you catch my drift). So he took two days off work to grant me my birthday wish. We spent the first day moving around furniture to free up some space in my bedroom which facilitated me being able to organize my closet!!! All day long Noall would come to me and say, "OK, what's next? What can I do for you?". It was so wonderful!!! The next morning, a good friend came over to watch the kids while Noall took me out surfing...SO FUN!!! After a couple of hours I could finally get my feet under me on the board, but the waves were crashing so fast that I never actually stood up. However, I totally lost my fear of diving under the waves, only got smacked in the face once by the surfboard, only got drug along the bottom of the ocean floor a couple of times...so I considered it a pretty successful attempt! It was just so fun to hang out with Noall at the beach! We ran a couple of errands (to facilitate finishing projects and getting ready for his sister's wedding) and had lunch together (my sweet friend watched the kids until 5 PM). Then Noall made me a carrot cake (from scratch) and maple walnut ice cream (from scratch) which we shared with our neighbors. He even cleaned up afterwards!!! Then the kids gave me some presents and it was off to bed for them. The last even of the evening was Noall showing me a KitchenAid he bought me off craigslist...I have wanted one since we got married!!!!! Could I ask for a more perfect birthday or a more perfect husband?!?!?! I totally adore him and can't begin to express how grateful I am for him...I can't imagine life without him. There is a quote from a book I'm reading that describes him exactly, "The proof of love is not that your husband can read your mind but that you have clearly expressed a desire, he is willing to try to please you to the best of his abilities."
He's not just a great husband, he's a great daddy...I spoke in church last Sunday and he simultaneously swaddled the baby and got her to sleep, entertained Alex, and helped Camilla and Zach with their quiet activities. I'm pretty spoiled...I know!

Our Sweetie

This picture is too sweet not to post!!!

Jog-a-thon

Zach and Camilla were really looking forward to their jog-a-thon! They've been doing stretches and push-ups! It's actually a pretty big fundraiser for the school AND the kids love it!