Here's the little Mama and the little Papa! Lindsey and I spent all day putting away their Christmas tree and decorations and then moved the bed and stuff out of the guest bedroom. Then we moved their rocker/recliners into the guest bedroom, surround sound, TV and DVD player. They were sooo pleased with the new room.
Lindsey and I were silently laughing our heads off while rearranging the room. We wouldn't let them look to see what we were doing. (they wouldn't let us if they knew what we wanted to do.)At one point we were scooting a queen sized mattress down the front room stairs into the basement and Dad was sitting on the couch and couldn't even hear or see us! When we went to make the turn around the bend he hollered out, "Open the door and take it part way out." So, I guess he's not as deaf as we thought he was!
It's like they've acquired a whole new room to the upstairs of their house. They don't heat the basement anymore or go up and down because of the stairs. So, having this new TV room is like a new part to their house. I caught Mom telling Dad that he couldn't dump his clothes in that room anymore.
I think the reason why they quit watching DVD's is they forget how to operate the player. They have three remotes and it's hard to remember which goes with which. I walked Mom through the process, again, this evening and she could figure everything out. I told her to call me at work and I can tell her how to do it over the phone.
Have a wonderful New Year. I'm going downstairs to watch my new TV. Tomorrow, I'll take down my tree and put away the Christmas decorations. Oh horrors ... it will take all day!
Reese getting sworn in!

Reese and I were soooo excited when he was issued his uniform. Nice winter boots ... size 13! (2) T-shirts, pair of pants, a jacket, (2) socks, and a belt. Oh and that really nice back pack! He begins training the first part of January out at Camp Williams just for a Saturday.

You're In The Army Now...Private Hansen


This is the army Mister Jones.
No private rooms or telephones.
You had your breakfast in bed before,
but you won't have it there anymore!

This is the army Mister Green.
We like our barracks nice and clean.
You had a housemaid to clean your floor
but she won't help you out anymore!

This is the army Mister Brown.
You and your "baby" went to town.
She had your worried, but this is war
and she won't worry you anymore!

Private Reese Lynn Hansen is now a member of the Utah Air National Guard. He leaves for basic training in South Carolina in May for three months and then will leave for Virginia for 4 months to learn how to repair the Black Hawk helicopter.
More later ... we're excited and so is he!




Aaah ... Christmas Day... the long awaited day that we have so feverishly prepared for, from the shopping of the Christmas presents, the making of the cards, the baking of the cinnamon rolls, the wrapping of the gifts, and the preparations for the Christmas Eve celebration at Granny and Bomp's!


It's just one day in the year, that comes so quicky and sneaks out the door so fast! It's 6:00 p.m. and I'm still sitting here in my nightgown and MooMoo ... no makeup ... no combed hair ... no deoderant, and not even my teeth brushed. Aaah ... the one day of the year that I can do what I absolutely want to do, whenever I want to do it, and how I want to do it! And nobody complains ... that's the best part.

We had a wonderful time visiting with the family here at our home last night. The kids were wound up tighter than a spring and were yelling and hopping all over the place. They were very excited for Santa to come to their homes. One of the cutest moments last night was when four of them were standing at the open door hollering for Santa. They were looking up into the sky and yelling for Santa to come. The longer they yelled, the louder they got. It was quite comical. Even though we really didn't have any planned activities, it was just a wonderful time enjoying each others company. Everyone had gone home by around 10:00 p.m., and then it was lonely and quiet, with just Reese, Lynn, Dieter and me. We finished cleaning up the kitchen and then helped Santa with the stockings. We were in bed by 11:00 p.m.

We didn't wake up until 7:00 a.m. and were surprised that Reese wasn't knocking at our door at 5:00 a.m. We finally got up around 8:00 to open our gifts, after having family prayer and thanking Heavenly Father for all of the wonderful blessings that we've enjoyed as a family this year.
How wonderful to have children who are so good and kind, who believe and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who are good parents that teach their children the Gospel, and who love and support each other. Who could ask for anything more.
We're blessed to have another great year with Mom and Dad. We went over this morning to watch the unveiling of their presents. Wow ... what a haul. Everyone is so generous to them. It's the only time of the year when they buy things for each other. Some of the kids and Mom and I put money towards a new recliner for Dad. Since we brought it into the house, he doesn't think that Mom helped pay for the chair. He just can't remember what Mom got him and keeps asking her what she got him for Christmas. I think it kind of hurts her feelings that he can't remember. I had the privilege of shopping for both of them. They each gave me money with a list of things they would like to buy each other. Well, actually, Mom gave me a list of things she wanted for herself and a list of things to pick up for Dad. Dad just handed over his money and Mom gave me money from her sock. At least I think that's where she hides it. :)
I bought a family gift for the three of us ... a new 32" flat screen TV. Now we can actually see the screen in the family room. I think the old TV was about a 7" screen. I'm not lying! We bought very few gifts for us since we had the TV. I got a new camera which I've been wanting for some time. I played with it for about 3 hours this afternoon. It has some really sweet features on it. I'll post some of the pics.
Grandma trained Dieter to dance for his food. I'll try and post the video of him so Sarah and Kate can see him dance. The kids were making him dance last night and laughing their heads off. In fact they spent all evening playing with him. He plopped down on the floor and fell asleep after they went home. He wouldn't even wake up for Lynn so Lynn had to carry him in his arms to put him on his bed. It was so cute!
I keep getting an error trying to post the video. I'll have to figure it out later.
I guess I'd best be getting the dishes done, the floors mopped, and myself cleaned up before bed.






Sorry Nat, but since I don't have small, cute children to take pictures and post on my blog, you'll have to put up with my indulgences with Dieter dog. I started crying yesterday thinking about what a blessing he's been in Mom and Dad's life. When I visit them, that's all they rave about. Dieter did this and Dieter did that. Mom has taught him how to stand on his hind legs and jump around for a treat. It's the cutest, dang thing! But he does stand on his hind legs and begs while you're eating at the dinner table. I don't like that. He'll turn out to be like Mabel's dogs and then you'll hate him.

I let the grandkids decorate my tree. As you can see there are several ornaments right next to each other. But so what, right? Everytime I look at the small snowflakes that are all bunched together on the right side of the tree I remember Ben and Ellie and how happy and serious they were about decorating Granny's tree. The Merry Christmas banner was actually a garland that I showed at the Virginia Beach seminar made with the Naturally Serif Sizzix Die. It's not supposed to be hanging on the tree but I placed it there yesterday so Dieter wouldn't chew it up.
We had such a fun time last night! We went to the dress rehearsal for the Morman Tab Christmas Concert and one of our favorite singers was the guest artist, Bryan Stokes Mitchell. We heard him perform at a concert in September. What a voice and what a marvelous stage presence!
Lynn picked me up from work and we had dinner at the Lion House Pantry. Since I had a late lunch I wasn't very hungry so had one of their famous rolls and a salad. Walking over to the conference center was beautiful. The trees were all decorated with Christmas lights and the night was quite warm. No wind ... and no snow ... which was a first! After the concert we strolled through temple square. They don't decorate all of the big trees anymore. I missed that. It didn't look as spectacular as it has in years past. We did see a beautiful sight. Looking up through the trees to the spires of the Salt Lake temple, there was a full moon. Surrounding the moon was a moon dog ... a large misty circle of light. It was beautiful. The only cameras we had were our phones. I captured a pic but you can't tell what it is. Lynn took one but I'm not sure how to get it off his phone and onto the computer. It was a beautiful sight!
This morning I'm off to the KJZZ studio to do a segment on Christmas home decor. I'm showing the glass blocks with our Stampin' Up! rub-ons, Decor Elements, and Decor Decals. I better stop and get dressed and ready for the segment.
It's our team's Christmas party this afternoon. It should be fun!
Sorry, Nat ... I just couldn't resist posting another picture of my third son! He's as bad as you kids used to be with the TV Guide and Readers Digest. He got in a roll of toilet paper this morning and had it shredded all over my bedroom floor, bathroom, and even down the hall. I picked up what I could and then had to get the vacuum out.

We had a marvelous Thanksgiving dinner at Angie and Boyd's home. Angie did all of the cooking and everything was delicious! All I had to do was make the rolls. It was fun making them too ... because I wasn't rushed and I could really put my heart and soul into them. They were fantastic too. The flour makes all the difference. We got freshly ground white flour from the Lehi Roller mills in Lehi. Wonderful flour for wonderful breads and rolls!

Lynn and I have had nasty head colds for the past week. Even though we've felt poorly, we still had to crawl about doing our tasks. I had to sing and he had to speak at a funeral last Saturday. We were both hacking up our lungs. Then I helped in the kitchen for the luncheon after the funeral. And, had to co-teach the RS/Priesthood lesson on Sunday. I was still sick as a dog yesterday so didn't make it into work. I feel 100% better today. Dayquil and Nyquil work wonders!

Mom and Dad were excited to get out of the house for a few hours. They seemed to really enjoy the trip out to Angie's. The weather has been lovely these last few days. I'm afraid that we won't see too many more of these days until Spring.

Grandpa misses his car and says every day that he's thinking about buying an old clunker to drive. We keep telling him that he can't pass the eye test so he shouldn't be out driving. I'm not sure if he's serious or if he's just kidding us. He still insists that he can see fine. It's so hard for him to have that independence taken away from him.

We had another ward member pass away yesterday and his funeral will be Saturday. It's a big family so we're planning on 110 people at the luncheon. I'll help out in the kitchen again. We have a wonderful funeral committee who will take care of everything.

Well, Nat ... I hope you notice that there isn't one picture of Dieter in this round of photos! He's still doing fine and we love him to death! Your Dad is the fun one to watch with him. He kisses and loves him and holds him like a baby.