Turkey Day

Thanksgiving break was a whirlwind of food and fun! We had our best Thanksgiving weather ever for our drive to Utah and back. We must have broken our "get stuck in Rawlin's" curse somehow! We always have the blessing of eating two Thanksgiving dinners with all of our favorite people.

Turkey Bowl with the Hansen cousins was so much fun that they did it again on Friday!

I don't know how the Hansen's find seats for everyone, but they always do. We had a very enjoyable evening with all of the best things. Good conversation, games, and cousins.

These kids had a blast playing the gossip/pictionary game. Still not sure what to call it, but it is so funny.

I didn't get any pictures of the dinner at the Hemmert's, but that meal was splendid as well! Dad's gravy was the best yet!!! Friday afternoon we had a fun Hansen activity at Brad and Chelsa's church. We stuffed teddy bears, made cards, played games, and ate good food. The best part was when Grandpa Santa showed up! I need to get pictures from someone!

Saturday morning we went to Brick Oven Pizza as a pre-game lunch and to celebrate Grandma Joyce's 65th birthday!

We got lot's of baby love! Two cuties!

Mara just can't get enough of the babies. We wish we lived closer!

After lunch we surprised Grandma with a few special songs just for her. The kid sang "I wish every child in the whole wide world had a grandmother just like you."

The grown up kids had a "Hemmert Family Singers" reunion and sang "Let's Go Fly a Kite." Coordinated outfits and all. It was pretty funny. I think Mom enjoyed it.

The best part of all was when Dad sang their special song "More." I don't think there was a dry eye. It was one of the sweetest things we have ever seen.

We came home on Sunday tired but full to the brim and overflowing. It helped that BYU won the big game too and some of us got to witness it in person. :)

Cubs and Cloggers

In November the fifth grade had their patriotic program and Mara had a big part! The program was a musical review of American history from pre-colonial times to the present. And they did it in under an hour!

Mara was the All American girl and she sang a verse of "My Country ''tis of Thee" and then clogged to "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy/You're a Grand Old Flag." The singing was lovely, but the clogging was amazing! She choreographed it herself and she took the house down! Seriously, the school was stunned and the applause was uproarious! Mara was a star for a few days after that. She loved it! :)

Mark had his chance to shine as well. He and Neil built a boat together for the Raingutter Regata. His boat was based after a model ship he bought in Jamestowne. He built a railing with matchsticks and stained it. His ship won a race or two, and got an award for his design as well.

Oh, watch the side! It was pretty entertaining. Most of the boys took their losses in stride, but it was intense at times.

Jeffrey made a boat too. This is a catamaran. They were specifically forbidden in the races because the double hull makes them really fast. Of couse, the "forbidden" aspect made it all the more appealing to Jeffrey. So he and Neil made one and the scout leaders let Jeff race when the cub scouts were done.

It really was faster than the rest of the boats. Jeff was a proud boy.

Happy Halloween!

The Halloween festivities began in earnest on Friday afternoon with the elementary school costume parade and class parties. Jeff is the white ninja in the middle. Happily, the storm had stopped and school was in session. The ninja and storm tropper costumes just aren't quite the same without their swords and guns, but you know the rule about weapons in school! Not even plastic ones!

Halloween night was a bit different without Neil around. We had the same panicky "Where is my costume?! Come on, we're missing all of the candy!" moments, but they seemed even more frenzied without my partner around to help out.

Hayley and her bee friend, Megan, held down the fort at home and passed out candy. I got trick-or-treating duty this year. It was actually kind of fun walking the kids around. I drove Emily and her friends around a bit too. I started to feel a little pressure to get as much candy as possible before 9pm. I would look for streets with lots of porch lights on and let the kids out. "Hurry down this one! I'll meet you at the end!"

Witchy Emily! Don't worry, she's a good witch. She tried to look bad, but she just can't help it. She's too cute.

Mara had a spa day. Ahhh . . . .

Mark was some kind of Star Wars clone. He can tell you exactly which one. We bought the gun without realizing we already had one at home. You can never have too many battery operated machine guns though.

Jeff, the white Ninja! He has some good moves!

Happy Halloween!

Snow Days!

The morning after our Halloween feast we woke up to 6 inches of snow and icy conditions. Seminary was cancelled, school was cancelled. I had recently been wishing for the lazy days of Christmas vacation and my wish came true! So, after a morning of frenzied searching for gloves, coats, hats, snowpants, and boots, we scrapped enough stuff together for all of the kids to spend the day playing in the snow. Even the teenagers!!!

The snow fell for at least 24 hours. In the end we had 18 inches and two days off of school. It was a fantastic break! Now, if we still lived in Minnesota I would have been depressed that so much snow fell so early because it wouldn't have melted until April. But never fear! We live in Colorado now! A week later it is 70 degrees and there isn't a trace of snow left except for some stubborn piles in the parking lots. I love Colorado!!!

Halloween Fun

On Tuesday before Halloween we had our family Halloween dinner and pumpkin carving fest. I spent a few minutes browsing the internet the day before for spooky Halloween dinner ideas. The menu: Hot dog mummies, edible eye balls, and melon brain! (With some baked beans on the side).

We can't forget the witches brew! Neil always makes rootbeer with dry ice. We usually chant "Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble . . ." by candlelight around the bubbling pot of rootbeer. Somehow that slipped our minds this year though. Oh well.

Neil left for his annual Agronomy Society of America meetings the day before Halloween. This is why I felt rushed to do this before he left. . . . Thanks Neil! I love you!

It was a feast enjoyed by all. (Those aren't Hayley's real glasses, by the way. Just some plastic frames she found and decided to wear. Who knows?)

Sing, Sing a Song!

I think we have another Hansen family singer! Mark had his first experience with the Centennial Children's Chorus as part of their First Impressions choir. He practiced four Mondays in October and at the end of their last rehearsal they performed for us.

We were so impressed with their beautiful voices! They had memorized 4 songs in 4 weeks!

What amazed us most was that Mark sang with a smile and seemed to really like it!

It made it all the more fun to have his best buddy along for the ride too.

"F" is for Fall and Football and Flags!

Oboists do not march in the high school marching band. I knew this from my own experience. I got out of those early morning summer practices and sweltering parades. But Hayley's band instructor has different ideas about oboists and marching bands. If you want to play in the band you march with the band--even if it means twirling a flag instead of tooting your horn.

Hayley has actually really enjoyed learning a new skill and has already made some good friends.

Hayley's adoring fans. Oh, and we won the football game too!