31 December 2012

. . . 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
was serious, sacred 
and also very much needed . . .
. . . i'm grateful 
{in both cases} 
that drew and chris 
were ready and willing 
to serve . . . 


30 December 2012

. . . 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 . . .


29 December 2012

. . . 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 . . .


28 December 2012

. . . 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 . . .


27 December 2012

. . . 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 . . .


26 December 2012

. . . 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 . . .


25 December 2012

. . . 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 . . .