. . . two sons . . .

. . . two blurry boys . . .

. . . did two really nice things today . . .

. . . one was trivial . . .

. . . yet very much needed . . .

. . . because i cannot carry 

this tree myself . . .

. . . the other, more important

act of service 

was serious, sacred 

and also very much needed . . .

. . . i'm grateful 

{in both cases} 

that drew and chris 

were ready and willing 

to serve . . . 

. . . called to serve . . .

. . . on the plus side . . .
. . . i lasted through 

one hour 

of church today . . .

. . . long enough 

to bluff my way through 

the choir number . . .

{#sharpswillbethedeathofme}

. . . but it was wonderful 

to listen to talks 

by two young men 

who i've watched grow up . . .

. . . they will both be 

amazing missionaries . . .

. . . one in west virginia . . .

. . . one in cape verde praia . . .

{props to you if you know where that is!}

. . . on the minus side . . .
. . . no family dinner today . . .
. . . and it's day four 
of not holding hayden . . .
. . . i will hold that baby again 
before she goes back to utah . . .

. . . i will survive . . .

. . . today was the day 

i knew for sure 

i was going to live . . .

. . . the last three days 

it was touch and go . . .

{dramatic much?}

. . . and so i made 

a deal with myself . . .

. . . work an hour . . .

. . . rest an hour . . .

. . . i started with the piano room . . .

. . . i always dread 

putting away the nativities . . .

. . . so i got it over with first . . .

. . . next to go were the cards . . .

. . . i am always amazed 

at the darling souls 

who still send one to us . . .

. . . i can't even remember 

how many years it's been 

since we reciprocated . . .

. . . i always tell myself 

"maybe next year" . . .

. . . and maybe not . . .

. . . i'm just so grateful 

i had a little energy today . . .

. . . hoping the improvement 

will continue . . .

. . . i've got to play 

a rousing arrangement 

of "called to serve" 

at church tomorrow . . .

{#themiddlesectionhasfivesharpsyikes!}

. . . we're having 

a double missionary farewell 

in our ward . . .

. . . sort of like groundhog day . . .

. . . only a little worse . . .

. . . drew has it today, too . . .

. . . which means jessalyn 

and baby hayden 

left for the day 

in a serious effort 

to avoid any chance 

they'd catch it . . .

. . . i am such a fun hostess! . . .

. . . downton abbey season two . . . 

. . . in miniature form on the ipad . . .

. . . by glow of christmas lights . . .

. . . still . . .

. . . tomorrow will be better . . .

. . . it's simply got to be . . .

. . . day two . . .

. . . forty-eight solid hours 

of the sickies so far . . .

. . . and still nothing put away . . .

. . . as evidenced 

by mary engelbreit's 

the night before christmas 

and the throw covering my 

alternately burning up 

and then freezing body . . . 

. . . the only good thing today 

was finally taking the opportunity 

to start downton abbey . . .

. . . i know everyone says 

it's soooooo good . . .

. . . and it is . . .

. . . but i've had to rewind 

and play each episode 

about three times . . .

. . . i just can't stay awake . . .

. . . please bless that tomorrow

will be a better day . . .

. . . best laid plans . . .

. . . i feel like when it's over . . .

. . . it's over . . .

. . . my to do list for today said 

"put it away" . ..

. . . instead i laid on the couch 

with chills and fever 

and a cough that is 

rattling my family's eardrums . . .

. . . i even begged off 

my responsibility 

at the temple tonight . . .

. . . i am so grateful, though, 

that it hit me after christmas, 

and not before . . .

. . . i was tickled 

to receive both these photos 

with captions 

via text this afternoon . . .

{strider bike lesson for elliott} 

{bike etiquette lesson from chris/

practicing in an empty church parking lot/

loving their lives}

. . . i am also grateful 

to the creators of nyquil . . .

. . . and robitussin . . .

. . . and my pillow . . .

. . . hoping tomorrow's a better day . . .

. . . i need to see les mis . . .

. . . the most wonderful time of the year . . .

. . . christmas day 2012 . . .

. . . i will long remember this one . . .

{mostly because of this photo overload}

. . . starting with placing the star . . .

. . . that same star 

followed by wise men 

seeking jesus . . .

. . . a fitting final advent ornament . . .

. . . then we had 

traditional christmas fare . . . 

. . . grilled hamburgers 

and hot dogs . . .

. . . why not? . . .

. . . cute centerpiece? . . .

. . . check . . .

{every single one of these people know i have a blog 

and i will post their photos} 

. . . i can highly recommend 

the game we played this year . . .

{thanks so much to my friend, vicki, 

who told me about her family's experience with it last year}

. . . on thanksgiving day, 

we handed out money, 

wrapping paper, and ribbon 

to each of our children 

and their spouses . . . 

. . . with instructions for them 

to purchase 

and wrap their own gifts . . .

. . . spend the entire amount . . . 

. . . don't tell anyone 

{not even your spouse} 

what you bought . . . 

{they didn't do very well on that one}

 {note to self: more wrapping paper next time. some of us ran out}

. . . banish all grandchildren

 {except hayden} 

to the other room 

to watch a movie . . .

{very important step and they were so good about it ~ 

bless their little hearts}

. . . take turns opening a package 

you know you did NOT bring . . .

. . . try to guess whose gift it is . . .

. . . amelia opened 

these cool spectacles . . . 

. . . after some contemplation, 

she figured out 

they belong to brent . . .

. . . oh, chris . . . 

. . . it wasn't hard to figure out 

that amanda was the only one 

with the nerve 

to bring this gift to the party . . .

. . . we discovered that chris 

spent all his money 

{well ~ he had 60¢ to spare}

 on this swell gun safe . . .

. . . amber is hard core . . . 

. . . she paid her 

phoenix marathon entry fee . . .

. . . got spiffy new running shoes 

and lots of her favorite 

lululemon workout clothes . . .

. . . brent treated himself 

to the aforementioned glasses, 

bowties, 

weight lifting shoes 

{who knew?},

 a jumprope, 

bluetooth headset, 

and a book 

about his favorite soccer player . . .

. . . i know amanda will enjoy 

her new blender, 

panini press, 

workout clothes, 

and foundation garments . . . 

. . . she didn't follow the rules 

and still has 

some unspent funds . . .

. . . tyler is a power shopper . . .

. . . after lots of research, 

he ended up with a compressor, 

a surround sound system, 

iphone speakers, 

and shoes . . .

. . . amelia bought four bar stools 

and fifteen 

down east basic undershirts . . .

. . . yes . . .

. . . fifteen undershirts . . .

. . . drew treated himself 

to taylor made golf clubs 

and a carry bag . . . 

. . . i wonder how he feels 

about snowy utah golf? . . .

. . . jessalyn wins 

~ hands down ~

 for sheer number of gifts . . .

. . . four pair of shoes . . .

. . . lots of clothes . . .

. . . makeup . . .

. . . gel nail polish 

and the UV lamp 

to cure it . . .

. . . it was so fun to see 

what everyone got . . .

. . . i could never have fulfilled 

all those wishes . . . 

. . . i was supposed to be 

figuring out awards 

as i was watching . . . 

. . . you know like most unique, 

most practical, 

most predictable, etc . . .

. . . totally didn't do that . . .

. . . so we decided 

it would be like t-ball 

and everyone wins! . . .

. . . gift cards for all . . .

. . . but you have to shoot for it . . .

. . . nerf dart guns . . .

. . . drew cheated and practiced . . .

. . . he really loves pei wei . . .

. . . tyler cried foul 

when chris shot him 

in the back of the head 

at a crucial moment . . .

{i believe the phrase he used was, "i got lincolned!"}

. . . and he was thrilled 

with his f21 gift card . . .

. . . then the cheater took aim . . .

. . . and walked away 

with exactly what he wanted . . .

. . . brent showed everyone up . . .

. . . shooting with his eyes closed . . .

. . . and scoring 

the barnes & noble card . . .

. . . concentration paid off 

for jessalyn . . .

. . . cpk time! . . .

. . . have you ever seen 

how crooked amelia's arm is? . . .

{a broken elbow, surgery, and pins will do that to you}

. . . aiming is tricky . . .

. . . but she seemed happy 

about bj's . . .

. . . not sure what manders 

was doing . . .

. . . but i'm sure she'll enjoy 

her endless fries at red robin . . .

. . . and i somehow have no photo 

of amber shooting . . .

{we were in a hurry by then ~ 

it was torture for the little boys not to get to play. 

fortunately the guns came in a three pack. 

perfect for handing off to tate, tagg, and elliott}

. . . but i'm sure a trip to old navy 

will happen in the near future . . .

. . . jammies at grammy's last night . . .

. . . and toys from grampa today . . .

. . . pretty sure the kids 

were a little excited 

about what they saw 

in the garage . . .

. . . shiny new bikes all around . . .

. . . beach cruisers 

to match the girls' skinny jeans . . .

. . . striders for 

the three littlest boys . . .

. . . and it's totally fine 

to ride in a onesie 

when you're sixteen months old . . .

. . . at eighteen months, though, 

a helmet is a must . . .

. . . and apparently 

at age twenty-nine also . . .

. . . elliott will have this mastered 

in no time at all . . .

. . . tagg loves green . . .

. . . tate is almost too cool 

for pictures . . .

. . . i would say halleigh 

was the most excited of all . . .

. . . with addison a close second . . .

. . . thanks for the wheels, grampa! . . .

. . . little miss hayden 

was content to enjoy 

from the sidelines 

in her new bumbo . . .

. . . her mom is just happy 

to have another option 

of where to put her . . .

. . . she mostly likes 

to be carried around all day . . .

. . . the cousins gift exchange 

is finally starting to work out . . .

. . . for so long, 

amber's four kids 

outnumbered their cousins . . .

. . . but now there are 

just as many rasmussens, 

johnsons, and romneys 

as there are hansens . . .

. . . so there's no need for anyone

to buy for a sibling . . .

. . . addi got really cool tween stuff ~ 

lip gloss, nail polish, 

and cheetah glasses 

that i may or may not 

be coveting . . .

. . . halleigh got a sassy fedora 

with a bow . . .

. . . tate realllllllllllllly loves bubbles . . .

. . . isn't that lucky? . . .

. . . and tagg is a huge fan 

of transformers . . .

. . . while elliott loves 

all things super hero . . .

. . . and costumes . . .

. . . cameron is obsessed 

with yo gabba gabba . . .

. . . and colby just really enjoyed 

the unwrapping process . . .

. . . addi was so proud 

of the outfit and boots 

she helped choose 

for hayden . . .

. . . it's easy to see why . . .

. . . um . . . 

. . . those boots? . . .

. . . that skirt? . . .

. . . at the end of the day . . .

. . . i find myself 

counting my blessings . . .

. . . happy that my family 

was all together . . .

. . . happy that they seem happy . . . 

. . . i'm thankful 

for another successful christmas . . . 

. . . prayerful for a happy 2013 . . .

. . . and to all a good night . . .