Oh What Fun!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!  Lance and I sure did.  We both received wonderful gifts and brought smiles to the people we gave gifts to.  We were able to perform with the ward choir in church, visit with our families, and have a fun day.

 I made German Pancakes for breakfast.  Some people call them Hootenanys.  I say, call them whatever you want, they're delicious!

 

 We're waiting to open our presents!

 

 Blake is opening our present to him.  We got him some books that he likes, and as a gag gift, we gave him back his old broken electric frying pan.  He gave it to us last year, for some odd reason, so we returned the favor.  Ha ha!

 

 Lance got marshmallows!  He LOVES marshmallows!  He eats them like candy.

 

 What a sexy beast!  Ha ha!

As you know, the Christmas season is filled with fun activities.  I already showed you the lights from a couple of weeks ago.  Now, for some other things.

Friday, the 23rd, we spent the day with Lance's sister, Melissa, and her husband, Dan, and daughter, Olivia.

First, we visited Lance's grandpa for a little while.  Then, we went to Gardner Village to see the elf displays while Dan was still at work.  They were so cute!  If I lived close enough, I'd go to Gardner Village pretty much every day.  I love it so much!

 

 Olivia, Me, and Melissa

 

 Lance and I are "singing" with the carolers.

 

 Lance and I are under the mistletoe, ooh!

 

 I adored that candy cane lamp post!  I have a little fetish with lamp posts.

 

Melissa, Olivia, Me and Lance in front of the pond.  Olivia never holds still, so it's nearly impossible to get a good picture.  This was cute, though.  I like how she's covering her face.

After that, we ate dinner with them, played Yahtzee and Mexican Train, then spent the night.

The morning was so fun.  Olivia came downstairs to wake us up.  She was very concerned that Lance slept on the floor.  I slept on the couch.  She was very excited when she told us that Santa would come that night.

Lance slept in a sleeping bag, and I had a couple of blankets.  She was worried that Lance didn't have any blankets, so she pulled one off of me and put it on Lance.  It was hilarious!  Then, she got in the sleeping bag while Lance was out, and called it her cocoon.  This girl cracks us up!

For the rest of the day, we spent it with Lance's dad and his wife, Laura.  He has an awesome set up on his organ.  You can play a song on the organ and record it onto the computer, then alter it however you want.  I recorded a piece from Pirates of the Caribbean.  I recorded the top hand, then the bottom hand, then I made up a percussion part.  I did the hands separately because sometimes I go too fast for my own good, and I make lots of mistakes.  By the end, it sounded awesome, like an entire orchestra was playing.

 

Sweet set up on the organ.  There's a monitor hooked to the organ, also attached to the laptop.

After a few hours of music, we played Snooker on the pool table (I think I need a little more practice), and then watched The Santa Claus 3.  We had a blast!

*Warning, spoiler alert!!  We got home just after 10:00 PM.  We stayed up a little bit later so that I could make a Christmas treat to share.  I made Cream Cheese Brownies.  While the brownies cooked, I filled the stockings.  I also practiced the song I needed to accompany the choir for.  After I practiced, I told Lance, "Santa liked my piano skills so much that he came!  Come and see!"  He had no idea that I had gotten stuff to fill stockings, so it was a huge surprise for him.  Then, when the brownies were done, we finally went to sleep.  It was a super fun, but exhausting day.

What a weekend!

Lights at Christmas Time

We were lucky enough to see lights at Christmas Village and Temple Square last week.  The past few years we have been able to go to Christmas Village, but not Temple Square, so we made sure to go!

Wednesday, we went to Christmas Village, just the two of us, on a hot date.

 

Lance and I are going into Christmas Village.

 

Christmas Village is behind me.

 

 We always get a shot at this display because Lance used to work at Goldenwest.

Friday, we went with some friends, Bubba and Traci (with their little boy, Jedd) to Temple Square.  We met up with another couple there.

Lance and I are at Temple Square.

I'm in front of a majorly lit tree.

I like this shot that Lance took of me in front of the temple.

Bubba and Lance both went to Germany and Austria on their missions (that's how they became friends).  This is the German luminary.

Salt Lake City Temple

Salt Lake City Temple view from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Lance's favorite lights were these green and blue ones.

I love the lights at Christmas time!

Annual Hansen Family Christmas Party

Okay, so, if you've read some of my old posts, you know that every year, my family has a Christmas party.  It is when we give gifts between my brothers and sister and I, and the nieces and nephews exchange gifts too.  We pick names, and this year, Lance and I got my oldest brother, Paul.  He's a hard one to buy for, because if he wants something, he's the type of guy that will go and get it right away.  So, I asked him what he wanted, and when he told me, I made him promise that he wouldn't go buy it.  He wanted Cars 2.  So, that's what we got him.  He was very excited to get it.  On the way home, he said that he's going to go into his room, eat some whoppers (he got those during a white elephant game my mom did), and watch Cars 2.  I knew he was in pure bliss that night. :)

We received a gift from my brother and sister-in-law, Dustin and Venessa.  They gave us 2 games.  We love games!  We got dominoes, mainly for Mexican Train, a super fun game that you play with dominoes, and we got a Rummy O game.  We haven't had an opportunity to play either of them yet, but we're super excited for when we do!

The game my mom did for all of us was tons of fun!  We each had a wrapped present.  She read How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  If she said "Who" or "Whoville," we passed the present to the right.  If she said "Grinch," we passed the present to the left.  If she said "Christmas," we had to sit in a different place.  I stole her idea for Activity Days the following Tuesday, and it seemed to be as fun for my Activity Days girls and their parents.  So, the present I ended up with was initially a Star Wars puzzle, but my nephew, Dallin, was hoping to get that one, so, he asked me if I would trade him.  I kinda like him, so I traded.  Plus, he had something better, Face cards!  Woo hoo!  More games!  Lance initially ended up with a huge candy cane, but our niece, Katie, saw that and her eyes lit up.  She also asked if she could trade him, so he did.  He ended up with chocolate peanut butter penguins.

We also had a pot luck lunch/dinner.  I brought tuna salad and a my lemon cheesecake bars without the lemon, but with cinnamon chips.  My dessert turned out amazing!  Everyone seemed to like them.  Everyone's contributions were delicious!  I think I gained a few pounds just that one day.

I have one funny story, that I want to share.  My youngest nephew, Declan, was involved.  I try to get him to copy me with walking funny.  So, I was trying that, and all of a sudden, he threw his arms down and yelled "STOP!!!!"  He doesn't talk much because he's not even two yet.  But it was hilarious!

Here are some pictures from the festivities:

Paul opening his present from us

Me opening our present from Dustin and Venessa

Dallin, Paxton, Venessa, Katie, Brielle, and Amber getting ready to play the Grinch game

Brielle showing off her dress-ups

Kohl and Connor having fun

Ashlyn trying to hide from my camera

Declan being cute

Merrin being chummy with Brownie, the dog

Dallin

The party was a blast!  My family rocks!

Making the Most Out of Wall Space

For my birthday, I got a rack to hang up my pans.  They were in a cabinet next to the sink, but they kept getting messed up with all of the other things that were in there, so I decided to go for the hanging up technique.  One side of our kitchen doesn't have any cabinets at all, so there is tons of wall space.  I already had a tiny little shelving unit with hooks at the bottom.  Inside those shelves, I put spices, Koolaid and other drink packets, and food coloring.  On the hooks, I put my measuring spoons.  So, next time you're thinking that you don't have enough room for all of your cooking supplies, know that you're not alone, and there are creative solutions to every problem, and they really don't look too bad.  Oh, and I owe a HUGE thank you to my wonderful husband, Lance, for hanging up the pan rack this weekend.  He's the best!

 

 Pan rack.  After I already had the rack, I saw ideas for putting the lids on the back.  Genius!  How do people come up with this!?  BTW, the rack is from Ikea.

 

 The wall my rack is on.  Please ignore the abundance of magnets on my refrigerator.

Spice rack with spoon hooks.  The box of bags is handy as well.  BTW, the shelves, box of bags, and apple decoration were all hand-me-downs from my sister.  So, I paid nothing for this!  Woohoo!

How do you find organization tricks?

It's Beginning to Look . . .

Well, you know what it's beginning to look a lot like.  Merry Christmas everyone!  I love this festive time of year . . . minus the cold, of course.  It's so fun to see lights on people's houses . . . except ours (we still don't have outdoor plugs, so no lights this year) . . . and all of the other decorations.  I love watching cheesy, heart-warming movies and TV series specials.  But what I love most is being reminded exactly why we celebrate Christmas. 

This last Saturday, I went with my parents and brother, Paul, to a very elaborate Nativity display, and it started off the season just right.  I loved seeing many Nativity sets from around the world and the different artistry that was involved.  I am glad that one of the LDS stakes around here has that tradition. 

 Anyway, I'm sure you want to see pictures of how I decorated my house this year.  And if you don't, well, you don't have to look. :)

Some cute little decorative cans.

You can't have a Christmas tree without a Christmas train.  Oh, and the tree skirt is from Dollar Tree.  Score!

The table is ready for some hot cocoa and cookies.

Even the foliage corner got decorated!

Sparkly trees and one of my Nativity sets on the credenza.

Piano village, a Nativity, and other trinkets.  And this piano has definitely emitted some holiday tunes already.

The Christmas tree in all its glory.

I'm in love with my star!  I've had it for three years, but I LOVE it!

Gilded pine cones on a red charger.  Minimalist decor.

I love my mantle and the surrounding shelves!  I hung a red garland with gold bulbs this year.  I love it!  The stockings were knit by my Grandma Hansen probably thirty or forty years ago.  She was amazing!

My smallish tree with an icy snowflake topper. 

 I whipped these babies up last week.  Just paper in frames, hung by ribbons.  I like them.

Chair decor.

Frohes Fest.  We add a little German influence to our home, since Lance lived there and in Austria for two years.  One day I want to be there during Christmas time to see their street shops.  They sound so fun!

Credenza village.

 

Merry Christmas!!!