If I don't sit down and do this now, there will be no post until next month!! First we had a "Welcome home Nate" party with my family and we were all able to get together and go to a temple session, listen to Nate's talk in church and enjoy good food together. It was a quick little weekend, but it was fun to have everyone together during the Christmas season!! We've grown by leaps and bounds-all 24 of us (plus my Grandma Hansen in the picture)...amazing what happens so quickly!! I feel like it was just yesterday (well maybe like last year anyway) that I was still living at home and excited for my oldest brother Ken and his wife Jen to bring their kids for us to play with. Now there's so many of us to go around that we drive each crazy (in a good way of course). : )
The next weekend, we packed up the car....basically every square inch...and headed off to the land of hot and humid; aka Houston, TEXAS!!! We'd been looking forward to this trip for about four months and were so excited to get the opportunity to go. We drove which went really well-Conner was such a little trooper!! He was so patient and good-such a huge blessing! We arrived Sunday night, the 19th and were able to stay until Sunday the 26th (til 4:00 a.m. TX time). It was really neat to have almost everyone there (missed Mike and fam) and got to finally get to know/meet some more of Dave's family! (It's only taken me what...4 years?) We had tons of fun baking, skating, shopping, golfing, picture taking, gaming, movie watching, caroling, and of course eating!!! I honest to goodness gained a good 5-10 lbs. while down there. There's a reason we only go once every three years!!! : ) Thanks so much to Becky and D.J. (and Sarah and Israel) for hosting us and supplying all the fun!
This was also Conner's first Christmas and he loved the wrapping paper and the toys tha he got. (Becky, the laptop saved us on the way home-he played with it all day long...both days!!) Dave was a super sneaky guy and helped surprise me with boots, a crock pot, pots and pans, and a kindle!!! What an awesome Christmas!! (Yes, I do use the kindle everyday. Dave says he could make a comercial about me and my kindle.) I have the best husband!! Love ya!
After getting home and unpacking things, getting the oil changed in both cars, making christmas exchanges, grocery shopping, loads of laundry and getting sick (thanks to all those sweets I ate), we celebrated New Years Eve with Amber and Graeber, then New Years Day with the my dad's side of the family. Needless to say, it was really nice to just stay home this last weekend and not do anything!! We love to have fun, play games and get together with everyone, but it was a nice to have a relaxing weekend. Well...it was until I got a call sunday morning to come and see the bishop (this is what happens when you are perfectly comfortable, like I was in nursery) and I'm now the second counselor over the Young Woman for our ward. Wow! And, I'm over the Beehive Class and there are 18 of them!! So! I'm super excited and uberly nervous for the times ahead. We had a joint ym/yw activity Tuesday where they learned to ball room dance and I apparently look 17 because I had a guy-I think he's a senior in high school-come and ask me to dance...pretty sure if he knew I was a leader he wouldn't have done that. : ) So much fun!
Well, that's us for now-hope everyone is doing well and having an awesome January!!






