The Catch-Up Post

As promised:

The family Christmas party. My whole family came up on Saturday for our First Annual Hansen Family Christmas Party. We've had Christmas activities in the past, of course, but now that the family is getting bigger, it's just really hard to all go to Delta with all of the gifts for all of the kids, and then haul all of those same gifts (plus more) home. So from now on, Jeff and I and the kids will have Christmas morning in our own home. Although, Mom and Dad, you're always welcome to come spend Christmas Eve night here and have Christmas morning with us. I promise to play the Hallelujah Chorus at some indecent hour and wake you up.

The party was a lot of fun. Mandi was in charge, and all Jeff and I had to do was get the house cleaned. Jeff took care of most of that (thank you, thank you, thank you). I did the bathrooms, but he pretty much did the rest. And thanks to Mom and whoever else cleaned up after and did the dishes. That was a pleasant surprise.

We exchanged gifts, played games, ate Costco chickens, and just enjoyed each others' company. It was a fun activity.

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The day before our activity, I had a wedding cake to deliver. I baked it on Wednesday and frosted and decorated it on Thursday, then just had to deliver it on Friday. It was the WORST wedding cake I've ever done. Mostly, I wasn't feeling well. I've had some issues with recovering from this C-section, and I haven't bounced back as quickly as I thought I would. There was one time a few days ago when I seriously thought, "Maybe I've already died, and I went to hell." That's how crappy I felt. So anyway, since I felt so crappy on Thursday, I didn't end up icing the cake until later at night. And the lighting in my dining room is bad. So I thought it looked pretty good, until I saw it in the daylight on Friday. But by that time it was too late to start over. Thanks to a very talented florist, however, the cake turned out okay. I would even say it turned out well. She is a VERY talented florist. I didn't get any photos, but the mother of the groom is supposed to get some for me. I'll post them, so you can see how good a bad cake can look.

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Michael has started singing his own version of "Follow the Prophet." He sings "Follow the Christmas Tree." Yes, sacrilegious, I know. He started pounding out some notes on the piano and singing it, and he told us "That's a new Christmas song." No kidding. Then he played it again, but it was a little different that time (of course). So then he said, "That was a different Follow the Christmas Tree." We asked him how many there were, and he said 81. Yes, 81 versions of this charming little ditty:



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And finally, I took Lauren to have some photos taken today. My friend Whitnie just finished up a photography class, and she has been looking for subjects to practice on. So today I took Lauren over to her home and she took photos. It was nice - especially because Jeff stayed home today and I left the other two kids home with him.

Anyway, I didn't expect to see the photos for several more days, at least. But tonight, Whitnie and her family brought the CD over to us. She said she had so much fun that she spent all day working on them. Here are a couple of my favorites:

In the cocoon:
Her cute feet. I wish you could see how long her toes are, but she just would NOT uncurl them.

Love the yawn.

She looks so sweet here.
Whitnie made this tutu, and I think it's so cute.
Her only smile of the session.
And of course, the cowboy boots. I had to get a picture with the cowboy boots.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Whitnie. These turned out better than I had even hoped.