Snow fun!!

Since we actually finally got a good snowfall, we took the kids out to play. Jason hooked the sled up behind the four-wheeler and drug us around. Ian had a blast! Whenever I would put my hand up to try and block the snow getting in his face he would push my hand down.

Ian had a lot of fun crawling around in the snow and eating the snow that got caught on his glove. Plus he was chasing our dog around and that was fun too! Daddy took Ian on a ride on the four-wheeler and he couldn't get enough of it. Whenever Jason would stop Ian would put to the handle and want to go again. Silly Boy!! I guess the cold and snow don't affect him. Brenna always has fun playing in the snow and sledding. She got to ride the sled by herself and get pulled around the back, up the hill, down the hill and over bumps. She had fun until she started getting cold, and then she was tired because she didn't have a nap, then had a meltdown and had to go inside and take a nap.

I usually don't play in the snow, but I actually had fun. Maybe I'll have to steal Jason's snow pants one day and go sledding in the backyard with the kids (I'm the only one in the family that doesn't have snow pants). This was lots of fun so be on the lookout for more snow pictures from us....maybe if we get some more snow we can build a snowman soon. Yay!!!

Time for presents!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Brenna had a pretty good Christmas. She was excited to see all the presents under the tree. She got lots of cute clothes (of course they were cute since I picked them out). She got an Easy-Bake Oven, a camera, a scooter, some baking stuff to bake muffins with me, new shoes, and of course she got her Bumblebee voice mixer mask.

This is her face when she saw the mask. She was super excited!!!! But that excitement was short-lived. We took it out of the box and went to put it on her so she could go crazy with it and it totally freaked her out! She screamed and wanted nothing to do with it. So we took it back to the store and she picked out a piano and Tinkerbell Hobbyhorse hopper. What a silly girl! The one thing she kept asking for Christmas, she ended up not wanting. Oh well.

I was super excited for Ian's first Christmas. Especially since he loves to shred paper. Just look at the look of joy and concentration on his face. Once he got the paper off enough of the presents andsaw that they were toys he could play with, he was done with the paper and wanted to play. He didn't even open the rest of presents (pretty much just clothes anyway), he just wanted to play with his toys...but can you blame him? They must seem pretty exciting for an almost one-year old. He did a good job opening the ones he did.

Jason had a fun Christmas too. He was just like a little kid. He got toys!! I got him a NerfBlaster gun that he can go crazy with the kids. He also got a really cool remote control car that spins, twists, lights up, does cool tricks, and that Ian has a blast chasing.

Jason wanted one of the old-school Transformers that really transforms. I got him an Optimus Prime one that changes into the truck. Jason got to work figuring it out. He has more patience than I do, I wouldn't be able to twist all the little wheels, mirrors, doors, and everything else to get it to fit just right.

Of course there are no pictures of me on Christmas since I was the one doing the picture taking...that's okay...I don't mind. Seven a.m., no make-up, hair not done, wearing sweats....not a good picture-taking look for me. I got a food dehydrator, cooking/kitchen stuff, perfume-Escada- that we have been looking for for 3 years now, and some lotion/perfume from Victoria Secret- Lovespell. I guess Jason wants me to be in the kitchen, but smelling good.

All-in-all, I think we had a good Christmas this year. It was a blast watching the kids open presents. Our power went out on Christmas Eve, which was a blessing in disguise. We got to spend time as a family, read stories, talk about the meaning of Christmas, and not be distracted by T.V. and whatnot. Brenna is finally grasping the meaning of Christmas, that it is not about a fat man in a red suit.

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!!!!!

Over the river and through the woods...to Grandma and Grandpa GG's house we go!!!

Before you start reading this, you might want to go grab a drink and a snack...it's going to be a long one.

Thanksgiving this year was a blast!!! We went up to Great Falls, Montana to Jason's grandparents' house. They do a Thanksgiving family reunion every three years. Pretty much all of Jason's family was there. The only ones who couldn't make it were Jason's sister Emily (we missed you Auntie Em!) and his cousin Neika. We did a count of everyone there and I think it was around 46, plus the 11 who couldn't make it. Holy cow!!! All this because two people fell in love

Before dinner everyone who wants to, gets together for a "friendly" game of football. They had lots of fun but of course it wouldn't be complete without a few injuries. The worst were Jason's Aunt Jennifer banged her head on the ground after being tackled by Uncle Steve and Uncle Steve got his knees all scraped up. So all-in-all, nothing major. Jason got a taste of humble-pie because his team got beat.

Aunt Kay had all the kids make gingerbread cookies and gingerbread houses. They had lots of fun with it!! They made some very cute houses...but of course Brenna's was the best. She loves to help cook, especially doing cookies. Her favorite part is the decorating so this was right up her alley.

Chow time!!! Brenna and Ian were ready to feast by the time the turkeys were done. We had 3 turkeys, one of which Jason deep-fried. That one was the best. Once you've had deep-fried, you never go back to the oven kind. My mouth is watering just thinking about it....I think I'll go grab me a turkey sandwich now.

After dinner, they had each of the families do a little skit to introduce everyone since there have been a lot of marriages and new babies since the last one. We did our version of Goldilocks and the three bears. In our version, Goldilocks is snoopy little girl who barges into someone else's house and after she wears herself out she takes a nap. Then the bears come home and see Goldilocks asleep and since she ate all their food, they're hungry...so they eat her up!! Brenna was Goldilocks and Jason, me, and Ian were the bears. It was cute.
This is our family: Uncle Dallin, Brenna, Jason, Peggy (Jason's mom, she's kinda hidden behind everyone) Ian, me, Richard (Jason's dad) and Aunt Kelsey. Jason's sister Emily and her husband Lee couldn't make it.

This Jason's Aunt Lisa's family (she's the one in the white shirt with brown vest/overshirt). Let me see if I can get them all, If I mess up the spellings, sorry!

In front: Brock (white/blue stripe), Jeff (green plaid) Weston, (red plaid) Leah (black) Manny (light brown), Damian (on his lap); In back: Katie (purple) Drew (white shirt behind her), Abby(brownish/pinkish) Aunt Lisa, Jessie (gray/brownish), Sam (white shirt on end). Her oldest daughter Neika and her family couldn't make it.

This is Uncle Steve's family. Steve (white shirt), Little Steve, Devon, Anna. Their oldest daughter Alexandra couldn't make it...and the other family member, Tucker (their dog).

Aunt Kay's Family. Vennesa (purple, Ben's girlfriend), Ben,(behind her), Aunt Kay (white stripes), Aaiden(boy Kay is holding) Dawson, Kaiden, Amber (behind the boys), Nathan (next to Amber), Haleigh. (I hope I got them all right)
This is Uncle Eric's family. In back: Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Eric, Rachel (blue); In front: Taylor (stripes), Sarah (pink), Jaron.


This is Brenna's Uncle Dallin. She keeps saying she is going to grow up and marry him. He is single and he's a great guy so if you know any great single girls........

This is Brenna with her Grandpa and Grandma.

This is Brenna with her cousin Sarah. They are about 6 months apart in age. They had lots of fun playing together. They are both smart little stinkers with attitude.

This is me and my sweet little girl. I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to of everyone. I was too busy having fun with everyone that I forgot to take pictures of everyone.

We had lots of fun this year!!! It was so great to see everyone. It was nice to reconnect with those we haven't seen in awhile and then meet all the new addition to the family. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Hansen for a great holiday!!! Thank you to everyone who made the trip up there so that we could have fun with them!!!

(my turkey sandwich was yummy by the way: turkey, cheese, mayo, gravy to dip in, oh ya...it was good. I LOVE leftovers from Thanksgiving!!!)

Who needs a photo studio?

I've been wanting to get some pcitures of my munchkins together for awhile but I don't want to fork out the money for a photo studio (I'm cheap). So I decided to do it myself.

Brenna, of course, was easy to do pictures of, except she kept trying to go play, plus it was around naptime so she wasn't exactly listening.

Ian was a little stinker and wouldn't look at me, or he wouldn't smile when he looked at me, he would turn his head and smile. He was more interested in trying to play with the leaves, crawling, and climbing.

When I was trying to get the two of them together it was a bit challenging. Next time I'm doing it with another person to either take the picture or keep the kids in one spot. Ian kept trying to crawl off, and when I would finally get him sitting still and looking at me, Brenna wouldn't be paying attention so by the time I got her attention Ian would be distracted again.

I still think they're the cutest kids ever!!!!

Hopefully next month we'll get some family pics of us done.

The leaves aren't the only things changing.

This tiem of year is one of my favorite times. I love it when it starts to cool off and there's a certain crsipness in the air (and I can wear my favorite outfit, sweatshirt and jeans). I love it when the leaves change color. I love walking through leaves when they're crunchy. I also love it when I drive on the road and there are lots of leaves on the road. I always look in my rearview mirror and watch the leaves float up in the air.

We have lots of leaves in our yard, which means we get lots of leaf piles. Ian and Brenna had fun playing in them.

Brenna loves to bury herself in the leaves and lay in them. Silly girl. She had fun throwing leaves in the air and making her brother laugh.

Surprisingly, Ian didn't try to eat the leaves when I put him the leaf pile. He just sat in them and crushed them in his hands. That is the exact opposite of what he does inside. If he finds a leaf on the floor in the house it goes straight to his mouth.

My little rugrats are growing so fast and they change everyday. I know change is a good thing....but sometimes I want them to stay the way they are forever. I have been so blessed with these 2 little angels (sometimes the horns are holding up the halo). Life is definatley ad adventure with them. I can't wait to see what the future holds for them and what kind of people they are giong to be. I already know they are both going to be very strong-willed and stubborn (any guesses where they get that from?). It doesn't seem like that long ago that we brought Brenna home from teh hospital and then next thing I knew we were bringing Ian home. They make everything worthwhile. (As you can tell this has been a good day and both kids are behaving themselves ;) )

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween was really fun this year. I think it was mainly due to the fact that Brenna is older and actually grasps at the idea of Halloween. Morgan City sponsored a Trick-or-Treat to all the businesses. We took both the kids to that and they had lots of fun.

Brenna was Supergirl this year, not to be confused with Superwoman (you will get an earful if you mix them up). She can run super fast and fly high and save the day because she has a cape. Brenna loves to help people so this was a very fitting costume for her. I was going to have her be a princess or a fairy(Tinkerbell) but she wanted to be Supergirl, and I'm glad she was because almost all the other little girls were fairies or princesses. Brenna even did her own super hero music (da da dada). She was here to save the day.

She even has the hero pose down!

I'm trying to decided who Brenna is looking more like, mom or dad?

Exactly who did she need to save us all from? Well there was a monster on the loose, more specifically a dragon (but I think this particular dragon is somehow related to Godzilla). Ian loves to destroy all in his path. If there is ever anything that is neat and organized, he won't be too far behind to make sure it doesn't stay that way. The only thing that manages to stay where it belongs is his toy box....funny how that works. He loves to knock things over, especially when his sister is building a tower of blocks. When we give him food he loves to mash and squish it in his hands and make as big of a mess as he can. I think I should have put a cape on him and had him go as Destruct-o-boy, and be Supergirl's arch nemesis. Mommy's little monster!!!But he definitely looks(acts) like his daddy!

When the business trick-or-treat was over with we had just enough time to stop by the house and go to the trunk-or-treat at the church. Brenna had fun going to that because most of the people there were people from our ward and neighborhood. Everyone loved Ian's little dragon costume. He started getting a bit antsy so Jason gave him a dum-dum sucker and he went to town on it, everyone thought that was so cute too. When we finished with that it was time to go home. It was only 7:00 though...Halloween can't end that early. I decided to take Brenna round to some of her friends' houses to go trick-or-treating. Well, this turned into us running house to house to house to house for an hour. I would park the car and we would run to all the close houses and then get back in the car and do it again. She thought it was the coolest thing to be able to do some real trick-or-treating and run all over. We went to the houses of people in our ward so it was nice being able to get yummy homemade treats and not worry about "hidden" stuff. I just have to give kudos to the people in our ward. They are so generous on Halloween. Most the houses were giving out full size candy bars, pops, yummy homemade cookies or popcorn balls. Those that weren't giving those out gave Brenna whole handful of whatever candy she had. We ended up just leaving her bag in the car when were running around because it was so full and heavy. She got lots of treats!!! It was so nice to be able to spend that time with just me and Brenna, we haven't had much of that lately. I love my little munchkins and I'm glad that we were all able tohave fun this year!! Thank you to everyone who helped us have a fun and safe Halloween this year!!!

I love a man in overalls!

I love little boys in overalls! I think it is the cutest thing ever so of course Ian has a pair. Isn't he so handsome? He is such a cute little stinker! He is learning how to wave, give "5," and loves to give hugs and kisses. Unfortunately his favorite word is "Dada" and I only hear "Mommom" when he's crying or when I'm in a room with the door shut and he wants to get in to get me.

He is getting more and more personality everyday. He is going to be a little character. A few months ago Jason was all sad because Ian was such a momma's boy and wanted nothing to do with him....well....that is no longer the case. Ian loves his mommy still but he is slowly turning to the dark side and becoming a daddy's boy. When Jason gets home from Ian's face lights up and he gets so excited to see him. He then follows Jason around the house until he picks him up. Heaven forbid if Jason goes into the bathroom or bedroom and shuts the door and Ian isn't with him. Daddy is his favorite to cuddle with at bedtime or naptime ( I know I need to get a picture of it cuz it's so cute to watch them cuddle). I knew it was only a matter of time until Mom was old news...but I was hoping to at least last a year. Oh well....at least my little girl is still a Mommy's girl.

(she's a stinker too and won't let me take a picture of her so I have to sneak up on her)
Brenna still loves to cuddle with me and spend time with me....but alas, she is growing up too and it won't be too much longer until mom gets replaced by school friends. Hmmm....what's a mom to do?

The life and times of a teenaged 4-year old

I don't know what's been going on with Brenna lately, but it's like she's a teenager. If it's like this now, I don't know if both of us will survive when she is actually one. She has been throwing fits about the tiniest things like what shoes to wear or what shirt to wear. The sad/funny thing is is that she's the one who picks out her own clothes so she gets mad at herself when she doesn't like what she picks. She's also been going through this indecisive stage. She won't make up her mind about anything and then when we try to help or decide for her she gets mad. She'll then cry and say, "Mom, how can you do this to me?" She has turned into a very independent little stinker. She doesn't like to listen, she likes to do it herself. I think I spend most of the day repeating myself of telling her to stop doing something. It's almost like she's going through the terrible two's. From the outside looking in this would all be very funny, I know I would think it was funny if it was someone else's child. Hopefully this is just a stage....and a very short one. a lot of it is probably stemming from having to share attention with her brother, but I try to do some activities with her that give her a little extra attention. There is a ceramic studio down in Ogden that we have gone to a few times to paint and she loves it! It's called Color Me Mine and it's on the 25th street in Ogden if you want to check it out.

Other than her meltdowns lately she has been doing good. She LOVES preschool! I love how much she is learning from her teacher. I love it that her teacher teaches not only preschool stuff but she teaches church stuff too. She learned about prayer today and made a prayer book to remind her how to say her prayers. It is so reassuring that she has a teacher that teaches her the same standards and doctrines we are trying to instill in her. Even though she can be a pill sometimes, I love my Brenna Kay to death!!! Even when she has had a rough day of not listening she still finds time to melt my heart and come give me a hug and kiss and say "I love you, Mom." It is so nice to watch her play with her brother and she is such a big helper with him. She loves to play hide-and-seek with him and is constantly trying to make him laugh. She is such a good big sister. She is usually pretty good about sharing her toys with him, but for some reason she doesn't like to share his toys with him. I know she is in that awkward stage where she is learning to be more independent and trying to figure out what she can and can't do without Mom and Dad. She is my sweetheart and I wouldn't trade my sassy little girl for anything.