Christmas Day

Christmas Day was great!

Josh and Andrew woke up around 7:45, and then we woke Luke up a little bit later.

The kids had a BLAST and played all. day. long. eating candy here and there.

Darrin surprised me big time and got me an IPhone.  I absolutely love it!!

I had to get a new phone number though…so text my old number if you want the new one

About 4pm we went down the street to have Christmas dinner with our dear neighbors.

The prime rib was amazing!

Christmas, overall, was so great this year!  I’m looking forward to the many more to come!

Christmas Chain

This year we did a Christmas chain!

  We took a piece of the chain off every day, and then did what was written on it.  We started on Dec. 10th with 15 days until Christmas.

December 10—Go see the movie, Megamind

December 11—Hang Christmas lights in the kid’s rooms

December 12—Hang up a “Count Your Many Blessings” poster and write as many blessings as we can think of.

December 13—Decorate gingerbread men

December 14—Have a candlelight dinner with plastic stemware

December 15—Take a bubble bath

December 16—Drink hot chocolate with candy canes

December 17—Watch a Christmas movie and eat popcorn

December 18—Get a box of sugar cereal to eat all by yourself (everyone picked Lucky Charms)

December 19—Go on a drive and look at Christmas lights

December 20—Make red and green pancakes for breakfast

December 21—Make and decorate sugar cookies

December 22—Make Christmas tree ornaments

December 23—Mail letters to Santa in the Macy’s Department Store

December 24—Read the Christmas story/Open present from Grandma and Grandpa Hancock

Another thing that we did that was so much fun was go through the Carl’s Jr. drive through and pay for the car behind us.  The man behind us bought a burrito that cost $1.69…it didn’t cost a lot, but I hope my kids learned something about the Christmas spirit!  It was so fun being sneaky with them!

I really enjoyed doing the paper chain and definitely think we’ll do it again next year!

Merry Christmas!!

 

Christmas Letter 2010

2010 has been a year of growth for our family. We've grown closer together as a family and closer to our Savior. We are grateful this Christmas season for the birth of the Savior; for without his life and atonement, we would not have found the comfort we’ve sought this past year. In May we found out we were pregnant. We were so excited! After a summer of sick, tired, and overall lack of motivation to do anything, something went wrong, and we lost our little baby boy at 17 weeks. Peace has filled our hearts as we put our trust in the Lord's plan for our family. He has our complete trust, and we know things will work out.

Despite some hardship, we have also had lots of fun this year! In April we went to Disneyland. The boys loved any ride with the word mountain in it (splash, thunder, space, etc)! During the summer we went camping four times. Our boys love to camp and were experts by the end of the summer. In July we drove to Utah to spend time with Darrin's family. Our kids adore their cousins and were glad to spend lots of time with them. Then recently in October I flew to Oklahoma with the boys. Thankfully, they were very well behaved on the plane ride, and while we were there we did lots of fun things to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Luke (2 1/2) is growing up before our eyes. In the last few months he moved to a bed and is now potty trained. Our house is now diaper free after almost seven years. Luke loves to go to nursery at church and pretty much do whatever his brothers are doing.

Andrew (5) is in preschool again this year. He can write his name very well and loves to read books. He has a great imagination that keeps him busy for hours. He likes to ride his bike and play with his friends. He is a wonderful helper and takes care of Luke most of the day while Josh is at school.

Josh (6 1/2) is in the 1st grade. He's getting really good at reading and writing. He loves drawing and making books about all different kinds of things. He played soccer this fall and had tons of fun.

Kim still stays home and keeps the house going. This year I took an independent studies class at BYU in hopes to someday finish my degree. I also enjoy volunteering in Josh's class, teaching preschool, and cooking. I am still the Webelos leader in our church's scouting program.

Darrin works hard to bring home the bacon and does a great job! He's still the Elder's Quorum President at church which keeps him pretty busy. He also coached Josh's soccer team and still plays on an indoor soccer team of his own.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was great.

We spent it with Darrin’s two brothers and their families as well as my sis who was in town for Christmas.

We dined on a fancy candlelight dinner of ham, potatoes, broccoli and cheese, rolls, Jello and Christmas punch!

After dinner we acted out the Christmas story.

Kim was Mary, Darrin was Joseph, Josh was a wiseman, Andrew just wanted to watch, and Luke was a cow.

The kids opened their PJs from G/G Hancock as well as the rubber band guns that Grandpa made.

For dessert we had birthday cake and sang to Baby Jesus. 

Luke cried when someone else blew out the candle before him.

He was very tried and needed to go to bed

We got home and the kids went right to sleep!

A transformer and a pair of Easter socks

Last night as we were delivering our zucchini bread, we stopped by a family in our ward that that lives in our neighborhood. 

I knocked on the door and it was promptly answered by a four year old girl followed by her mother.

As I stepped in to chat for a moment the little girl said, “I want to give her something back mama!”  And she ran upstairs. 

She came down a moment later carrying two things: a transformer type toy and a pair of colorful Easter socks. 

The toy she said was for my kids that are boys, and the socks were for my kids that are girls. 

What a sweet gesture by this four year old girl!  She so selflessly gave what she had.  I was so touched that I didn’t have the heart to tell her I didn’t have any kids that are girls.

Thanks little four year old for teaching me the true meaning of Christmas. 

Tired.

I. am. tired.

Today was our first day of Christmas break.  I absolutely LOVED not having to be anywhere or do anything.

I have high hopes to get lots done.  like organizing cabinets and closets, giving lots of stuff to the DI, etc…

But today I got all the zucchini bread done for our friends and neighbors. 

I made 25 mini loaves and then 16 packets of reindeer dust for the kids’ friends.

Then we delivered everything.

Overall a very productive day.  And now I am tired.

But a busy mom in the kitchen=kids playing all day.  which is nice…but my house.  it’s a disaster.

I guess that means they had a good day.  and so did I. 

So cleaning…it will have to wait.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Healthy??

or should I be worried?

 

 

Thanks Santa for all of the presents.

For this year I want……..

big foot the monster, and a red DS, and a green fish.

I really want them.  It is really what I want. 

And so will you give me them?

love, Josh

Hum.

That’s all I have to say.

Zoolights

Last night for FHE we went to Zoolights.

We’d never been before.

It was great!

Instead of seeing real animals, we saw animals made out of Christmas lights.

We also rode the train which the kids loved.

But if you ask me, the train ride isn’t worth the money.