Christmas time 2010

Brinley is our big helper. She does so much for our family. She is doing so well at school and she loves having a little sister. She is our beautiful dancing and singing ballerina :)!




And then there's Tyler :) We love him so much he is such a sweetie, but boy does he give me a run for my money. He is into everything, and he loves vacuums. When we walk through Target, he doesn't get as excited in the toy isle as he does in the vacuum isle. I can't wait until he's actually a productive cleaner - he's getting close!

We had a Nativity at Grandma and Grandpa Hansen's house on Christmas Eve. Brinley was Mary, Tyler was Joseph or a Shepherd (he was kind of all over the place ) and Braden was an Angel and Kayla our dear Baby Jesus again.

Braden and Brinley got these AWESOME Harry Potter wands from their aunt Shelby. (She and Asia got one too). Braden LOVES Harry Potter and got all 6 on DVD for Christmas.

Marc took the kids miniature golfing and to McDonald's while I rested....I love my husband - he's the best!!!

Some places in Utah got 2 feet of snow while we were there, we didn't! It rained the whole week of Christmas and snowed on December 26th. The kids had so much fun playing in the snow. With dad's help they made this amazing snowman.

This is the day it snowed and Brinley decided to head out. What you can't see is that yes she has on her boot and her winter coat, but under that coat and boots is a Leotard....yes just a leotard :)! It looks like a nice full dress, but it's just a leotard with a long netting tutu. She surprisingly stayed out for a long time. Apparently the tutu kept the snow off her legs. :)

Our live Nativity Star!

Kayla was baby Jesus for our local live nativity for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was very neat, except for the fact that she cried through the entire thing :). Everyone says that they think it adds to the reality that it's a real baby up there. It is really neat to think about how Mary must have felt holding the Christ child, and realizing all that would be required of her dear sweet baby. I am grateful she was willing to experience that so that we could be blessed by our Savior's ultimate sacrifice. This was a wonderful way to start the Christmas season. Here's the happy baby before the show, surprising how quickly she changed her mind on the whole thing.

Making Gingerbread Cookies

We made Gingerbread cookies for the first time this year and the kids had so much fun.

Tyler did not get the process at all, he basically used it as playdough and we did not dare to cook and eat what he was playing with....I don't think there's enough heat to kill those germs :).

Braden and Kayla, so happy to be part of everything. Braden is a good brother to Kayla, she "talks" to him in the car now. He loves it!

Brinley is such a good helper, she was so cute at putting it all together. She has really been stepping up so much lately, she is definitley my big helper, I know that I can depend on her...whether it's to feed Kayla a bottle, or to pull Tyler off the table, she's great!

The happy kids with cute faces!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

We did a last minute trip to Utah and the kids had so much fun in the snow!

Braden 5 yrs

Brinley 6 yrs

Tyler 2 yrs

Kayla was with mom in the nice warm house :)

BFF's

Brinley has learned the term BFF and she drew this picture. It was so cute, the kids were coloring and Kayla was fussy so I put her in the bumbo to watch them. So fun!

Some more loving!

The boys get so excited when Marc gets home, they are literally all over him to come and play.

Kayla part of the action too...she also lights up when Marc comes in, he's such a great dad! He's such a huge blessing to me, I am so grateful that he married me.

Happy Halloween 2010!

We celebrated Halloween at the ward Trunk-R-Treat. We had a yummy chili dinner and the kids had fun trick or treating and seeing all of their friends. It was a great time!

Helping Mom

My sweet boys just love Kayla! Braden does not hold her often, but when he does I catch him in these cute poses just soaking it up. :) And Tyler loves her and he's actually getting better at loving her "gently" but we can't say the same for how he plays with his friends...the little stinker! But he does look cute in his new favorite helmet. We've decided it's never a bad idea for a 2 year old to wear a helmet. :)

Kayla's smiling!

This isn't her smile, I just love this little Zebra outfit so I had to include this picture. You can't see it in this picture very well but there's a little stuffed Zebra that goes in the pocket in front, what can I say....darling! Thanks Brooke!

Here's her smile! It's not the best picture of it, but she has the cutest smile and she smiles all the time. She is especially smiley when dad gets home from work, she's already joining the other kids in celebrating his homecoming. He's a great dad and Kayla's already learned that.

These big eyes remind me of Tyler as a baby. So cute! She sleeps great and usually only needs 1 bottle in the night and then she's right back to sleep. She is such a sweet blessing to our little family. The Lord knows what He's doing, He always has!

The kids have so much fun with her, it is so nice having some helpers and protectors for Kayla!

Kayla's 7 weeks old

I know I'm biased, but isn't she the CUTEST thing you've ever seen?

She brings so much joy to our family, the kids just love her! She brings a wonderful sweetness to our home, she's such a blessing.

My curious handful...Tyler

Tyler is my curious little guy who if given enough time can figure out just about anything! He turned 2 in August and he can already open a new 2 liter bottle, take off child door knob (not just open the door - literally he takes the child locks off), he knows how to take apart and put back together his breathing nebulizer plug it in and put it on his face. He has figured out how to climb up on the desk to where we "hide" the camera. He can turn it on and we see bright lights in the other room and hear "cheeeeeeeese" as he takes pictures of everything and anything. This may not be extreme to some of you, but it is driving me CRAZY! As my mom always said..."it's a good thing you're so cute!"


Here's Tyler in his usual spot on the desk taking pictures when he's caught by dad...

This is one of those "you're so cute" moments, but don't let him fool you :)
Another picture taken by the photographer Tyler, I love how he was able to squeeze in the picture of him with food all over his face. We literally have dozens of these beautiful pictures.