Christmas with my family

We spent Christmas afternoon/night with my family! We got together at Lindsay & Mark's new house and had a great time.

We read the story of the Savior's Birth and although it was hard holding the kids' attention, it's definitely something we're going to start doing every year. As you can see in the picture, even Hollie helped with some of the reading! That was special in and of itself.


Everyone was spoiled as usual! I love spending time with my family, and I'm very grateful that I have such a close-knit family!

What a surprise we had when we looked outside...snow EVERYWHERE! Needless to say, my parents and Chris ended up staying the night at my house. Although they weren't prepared with any of their stuff, the spontaneity of it made it rather fun, and of course the kids were ecstatic!!!

My brother, Dad & Mom

My brother-in-law Mark

My cheesy sister, Lindsay

How shocking that we might find Kambri with a baby...

And of course, we can't forget their dog Scruffy.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was a lot of fun with the kids! I was so overly prepared this year to catch the moment, and borrowed my dads camcorder. Well, after we opened all of our presents and everyone went their own little ways...I realized we videoed a good majority, but completely failed with the digital camera. So needless to say, all I have are a few after pictures of the girls playing.

We bought a Wii several months ago to give as a family gift. Taylor has been wanting one forever and I just couldn't justify giving him a Wii for himself (we know of course who will get 95% of the use out of it, but it's still the principle of the matter). I've been thinking of how to give the Wii because we bought Hollie a game and Taylor various games and what not for the Wii, but obviously needed to have the Wii opened first. Long story short, I tweaked this cute scavenger hunt for the kids to go on in the house to find it. It was a lot of fun and we did that before we opened any presents. And, it made the excitement last a little longer. After running around the upstairs and downstairs with various clues, they finally found the present wrapped inside the stove! :)

This was a Hannah Montana year for Hollie. Yes, she's a little obsessed with her. Reminds me of my New Kids on the Block year. Anyone remember that year? Holl got a scooter, Baby Chou Chou, clothes, V-Smile Pocket and numerous other things.

Kambri got a table and chairs set, a playhouse (I'll have to take pictures it's darling), and various other things as well.

Taylor of course got a bunch of Wii games (can we say 'expensive' for the games?), books, CD's, and that was the majority of his stuff.

And of course Shaun and I were treated quite nicely too! :)

Although Christmas is a lot of fun, I'm glad it's over. This year seemed quite stressful with all of my projects I made. But next year I'll be done sooner... last famous words! :)

Christmas Eve with the Bess's

I worked very hard this year for Christmas making crafty gifts for a lot of the family. I made these shadow boxes for my mother-in-law. I had so much fun with them and felt like they turned out darling! (I wanted to keep them for myself, if the truth be told.) I also made several vinyl tiles and magnet sets. I definitely have found something I'm enjoying and will continue on with this re-discovered crafty addiction! :)

Taylor got the new Harry Potter book, a Wii game (so sneaky...my mother-in-law told him if he didn't get a Wii from Santa that they would take it back and trade it for a different game) and other fun things in his giant stocking! He was such a trooper this year with realizing that his presents cost 3-4x's the amount of one present for the girls and therefore his looks like less.

Hollie and Kambri's stockings were much alike, only Hollie's was done in Hannah Montana stuff and Kambri's was done in Disney princesses. They got pillows, blankets, roll-up bags, umbrellas, bags, bath and body stuff and a ton more!

Shaun and I got a lot of fun things as well. Amongst many things we got books, money, games, bath and body stuff, shirt, etc.

Kambri had so much fun pulling her presents out of her giant stocking and unwrapping! She even helped some of the rest of us.

My mother-in-law, Taylor and my niece Lacie in the background. My mother-in-law, Brenda, always makes things so much fun for us! I am so grateful to her and all that she does for our family. We had a yummy dinner and enjoyed ourselves just spending time together!

Hansen Christmas Party

We had a great time at our annual Hansen Christmas Party. Despite being late due to Shaun having to work overtime, we made it in time for Santa and Mrs. Claus's appearance!

This was the only time all evening that the kids sat so still and relatively quiet! My cousin Brett and his daughter Alexa were Santa's chosen elves!

Kambri, Taylor, my niece Hadley and our cousin Marlee.

My sweet Hadley with Santa and Mrs. Clause. I was impressed that she didn't freak out like all my kids did at that age.

Kambri wasn't going to have anything to do with Santa's lap, but she compromised with Mrs. Clause!

Hollie asked for a Nintendo DS.

Taylor asked for a Wii.

And my sweet Grandma told Santa she couldn't tell him what she wanted without crying. I'm sure it had something to do with my Grandpa. Even Santa got teary eyed. Although the party was a great time, I still thought about him a lot while we were there and missed him!

I enjoyed visiting with cousins that we don't get to as often as we should. The kids had a great time running around playing, and we even had a talent show.
I've come to the realization that it's high time I get Taylor and Hollie learning to play the piano. It's ridiculous that I play and have a piano, and they still haven't been taught. That's one of many goals for 2009!

Our silly silly Kambri

I went to the store the other night and Kambri found my fuzzy socks and decided she needed to wear them. Shaun said she carried them around for quite a while and finally insisted that he put them on her. She went to bed with them on, and when I saw her I couldn't resist a picture!

Kiddos are so precious when they're sleeping.

Arrow of Light & On To Boy Scouts

Taylor advanced from cub scouts to the Boy Scouts at this months pack meeting. It's hard to believe he's already done with that part. I remember when he first entered into scouts. They put me in as a den leader at the same time. (Don't laugh...I know what you're thinking. And yes, I knew nothing about the program and am still pretty much ignorant to it all.)

Anyways. We make it a top priority to not make a real push of the scouts each year until the end when we are up against a tight deadline to earn his badge for that year. And we succeeded again this year. I must say, this year was a harder one to leave until the last minute with some of the things we were trying to do. Alas, we did it. And, he earned his Arrow of Light award which is the highest award you can earn in cub scouts and the only award that you take with you to Boy Scouts.
I am very proud of Taylor and look forward to being the proud mama again when he earns his Eagle Scout!

Taylor and his scout leader, Sister Sharp, presenting his many awards. She was an essential part in Taylor finishing up the tail end of it all. We couldn't have done it without her.

He's looking awfully enthused about receiving his arrow from Brother Smith.

Crossing the bridge...he's now a Boy Scout!

Pictures from Taylor's B-day

Yes, I know. I've already posted on Taylor's birthday, but I didn't include pictures. Here are some pictures from the event. :)

It was a bit of a wild crowd at times, but they had a good time!

Taylor's cousins Austin and Colton and of course, Kambri and Hollie. They tried being as much a part of things as was allowed. Which of course, wasn't much! Boys will be boys!!

Dr. Phil's Personality Test

Your Result: The Shy Worrier -

People think you are shy, nervous, and indecisive, someone who needs looking after, who always wants someone else to make the decisions & who doesn't want to get involved with anyone or anything. They see you as a worrier who always sees problems that don't exist. Some people think you're boring. Only those who know you well know that you aren't.
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I can't believe that this is what my personality test came up with. Sheesh. I guess part of it might be true. :) However, I don't consider myself shy. Sometimes quiet until I get comfortable in a group, but not necessarily shy. As for the decisions, I was might fast making my decisions today on the font and color for my vinyl being cut. I was extremely proud of myself! :)

Christmas festivities in full swing

Well, it's that time of year! I've been busy working away frantically on Christmas projects for gifts. I've actually had a really fun time doing it. But, I need to really kick it into gear with my shopping. I feel totally unprepared this year and am lacking that 'perfect' gift for everyone. What can ya do?

Tonight Hollie and I had to run to Ogden to run some errands. We had a great time spending some one on one time. She acts so grown up most of the time. We were taking some Mary Kay to one of my customers there in Ogden and I can never remember exactly where she lives I just sort of find it. So as we're looking for her house in the dark, my spunky Hollie blurts out, "I knew I should've brought a compass." I just laughed and laughed. She is becoming quite the sassy little gal but she makes me laugh with her spontaneity.

In the midst of all the Christmas parties I have scheduled for next week, I'm REALLY wanting to go and do a session at the temple. Anyone up for it with me? It's only my 2nd time and I'm still pretty nervous, but really want to make it through again before Christmas.

We got our yard decorations up and our outdoor lights, but we need to buy another outdoor extension cord before the lights are officially in working order. Maybe by Christmas Eve I'll have that done, that seems to be how things have been getting done.

Saturday night Shaun and I went on a date with Lindsay and Mark. We had a great time. We flew down to Toys r Us looking for the magical Christmas doll, only to find they were out of stock. Then we flew back to Melina's/Bella's in Farr West for dinner. We had the fastest dinner I bet anyone has ever had there. But, we had a strict time line to make it to Twilight in time. Twilight was fabulous! I can't wait for the sequel. Shaun liked it alright, said it was a little slow going but that it was alright.

While we were out on our date my mother-in-law took the grandkids to go see Santa. I have pictures but would need to scan them in. We've got Kambri with the usual screaming fit, trying to jump off Santa's lap. She's at that age. It's hilarious.

My kids are being big thinkers this year. Taylor would like a Wii, Hollie wants a Nintendo DS, and Kambri wants a baby. Hmmm...we'll have to see what Santa gets creative with, especially with the economy effecting the North Pole as well. Haha! Now, I must explain that Hollie's wish list from Santa is changing on an almost daily basis. Gotta love kids! :) I suppose she comes by it honestly, I can't make a decision to save my soul.

So, again, no pictures...but soon, I promise!

Some crazy times

Well, Thanksgiving came and went, and in all honesty, it wasn't the greatest. Without boring you with the details, I was sick with the flu and have been quite hormonal since Kambri and the puking troubles. We had dinner at Shaun's grandmas and then later went to the inlaws to celebrate Taylor's birthday a few days early with them. Plus, the kids decorated gingerbread houses. I want to create a visual for you here. Imagine an 11 year old and then 5 kids under the age of 7 in a kitchen with frosting and candy everywhere. Yup, good times! :)

Lindsay and I went shopping on Black Friday and I was beat from only getting 1 1/2 hours of sleep, and STILL sick. It was quite the sight to see the two of us cruising down the road swigging on a bottle of Pepto and popping Imodium pills. It ended up being one of our shortest shopping trips yet, and looking back on it, we should have just gone to Wally's and called it a day. Needless to say, I still have quite a bit of shopping to be done and I can't believe it's only 22 days until Christmas! Time to kick it into high gear.

Saturday was Taylor's 11th birthday. I can't believe how big he's getting. We had a friend party (I will post pictures later) for him, and luckily we only had 9 show. We had been battling over how many he could invite, I'd originally told him 8, then I gave in to 16. He comes home from school and this is how our conversation goes:

Taylor: I kind of got guilted into inviting a few extra people in my class.
Me: Define a few..
Taylor: Umm, maybe 4 or 5.
Me: Is that really all? You'd better tell me honestly how many you invited so I can plan
accordingly.
Taylor: Maybe 10 or 12.

Ok, seriously, how can you get overly mad at the kid?! I was frustrated and got a little edgy with him (mostly just envisioning 25+ kids running around my house), but I had to find humor in it.

So, even with the 9 kids that did show up, it was PLENTY. I swear their parents gave them a good dose of sugar before sending them, they were bouncing off the walls. All in all, it ended up fine. They had a good time (even though the one boy comes up and says he's not comfortable with the swearing on the show they were watching...yep...Taylor turns on good ole' Jeff Dunham's Christmas episode or something when they HAD been playing the PS2). At any rate, I concur with my mom only letting us have a friend party every other year as kids.

Then on Sunday we went up to my parents house for another turkey dinner (yum yum) and to celebrate Tay's birthday with them. The kid ended up a lucky boy, his birthday ended up being a 3 day celebration!! He didn't complain too much. :) It was good to get together with my family, we don't get to do that often enough. My mom is so busy with school and work, so it was nice to spend time with them!

I've been in a bout of depression (since the Kambri puking troubles) that I can't seem to kick out of. I'm SUPER paranoid of anyone else in my family getting the pukes now (although none of them are even acting sick), and I just keep freaking out over it. I'm truly beginning to think I need to see a shrink. Blah. I am starting to feel a little better about everything, but again, I'm worried that it's the calm before the storm and that we're going to break out with more of the flu garbage. Pray for me, is all I can say!

On a brighter note, I got my Christmas decorations all up except for the outside decorations. Unfortunately there won't be presents going under our tree until right before Christmas, due to my little Kambri.

Well, rather long winded, but that should catch things up to speed now.

The sickies

Well, it's been quite the interesting week. Between trying to soak in the whole temple experience and a sick kiddo, it's been quite the week.

I have been so overwhelmed by the support from everyone with my going through the temple. (Side note: I'm kind of bummed that my mother-in-law hasn't said 2 words to me about going through though.) After Thanksgiving, I am definitely going to plan a day to go through again. It's only been a week since I went and already I'm feeling the lack of that 'feeling'. I want that to stay with me, but obviously life is life and sometimes it's not all smiles and giggles. Thank you so much for your words of praise and encouragement.

We went to my parents house on Sunday for dinner. We get there and my mom is quite sick with the flu type stuff. Well, lo and behold Tuesday morning Kambri starts with the pukes. Now, I have a SERIOUS aversion to puking. There is an actual puking phobia, it's called emetophobia. I have it to a 'T' as ridiculous as it may sound to some.

So I spend all day Tuesday crying as I'm holding my sick baby girl, trying to be a good mom, but going through the ringer inside as I do so. So, I went on a total germ-a-phobe rampage and have been since with hand washing, sanitizer, Lysol, etc.

My mother-in-law watched the grandkids at my house on Wednesday (Kambri was acting better then) and was so good to wipe down all the door knobs, light switches, toys, etc for me because she knows how the flu stuff affects me and was trying to help out. So I think we're out of the woods with Kambri when she's gone over 24 hours without any more episodes. I wake up at 3:30 Thursday morning and she's throwing up AGAIN!!! Holy cow, let me just tell you I'm consumed by the fear right now of anyone else in our family (including myself) catching this crap. Yes, I'm starting to really feel like I could use a shrink to help me with my fear of throwing up and mice. How ridiculous! :)

So, a nice update is that we have had no more incidents since Thursday morning. Praise the heavens. My Lysol'ing mission is still in progress and I plan to keep it up throughout the winter periodically. We had someone sick constantly last winter and it was depressing as all get out. And no matter what they're sick with, they're never all sick at the same time, oh no. They each have to take their 3 days-week for themselves. A month goes by and, wow, we're over one thing just to start another. NOT THIS WINTER!!!

So, like the General Surgeon's Warnings...this is General Kellie's Warnings: Hand washing, hand washing, hand washing, and Lysol! :)

I Love To See The Temple

"I love to see the Temple, I'm going there someday..."
and my someday has come!!

I went through the Logan Temple last night and received my endowments on Friday, November 14th! It was a wonderful night that I could never adequately put into words. I was a bit nervous, but felt so calm both at the same time. I will never forget my 1st experience in the House of the Lord. I know Michelle and my Grandpa Hansen were both there, amongst many others I'm sure. I chose this day as a way of remembering my Grandpa Hansen on his one year death anniversary, as well as my Great-Grandma Johnston's birthday.

I had my Mom as my Escort and it was an experience I'm sure neither of us will ever forget. My Aunt Brenda and Uncle Randy were there, as well as May Dawn and Tim. I long and pray for the day that Shaun and I can be sealed with our kids as an Eternal family! I have to have faith that by my example, I can lead the way.

Me, Mom, Aunt Brenda, Uncle Randy

On top of a beautiful evening, I walk to the front desk to pick up my camera and I look over in the waiting room and not only is Shaun, Lindsay and Haddie waiting for me (which I knew would be there) but my Taylor and Hollie were there waiting also! Talk about tear jerker. I just can't put into words the amount of excitement and love I felt when seeing all of them. Poor little Hollie thought I was crying because I was mad that her and Taylor came. I wish my Kambri could have been there too, but by the time I got out it was already past her bedtime which would've made for a cranky girl to take out to eat. Through this whole preparing experience and just over the last 24 hours, we have shared many valuable talks about the Temple that I hope will impress upon them the importance of the Temple and being married there when the time comes.

We took some pictures outside (terrible quality mind you, I've posted the better ones- and it was quite chilly) and then went to dinner at Sizzler.

Our Family (Minus Kambri)

My family, Mom, Lindsay & niece Hadley, Aunt Brenda & Uncle Randy

This picture was taken really quickly with my cell phone and doesn't do either justice. Aunt Brenda and Uncle Randy gave me the book called, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me"- absolutely beautiful book. Shaun and the kids, and Lindsay and her family gave me a beautiful glass cube with the Logan Temple inside it and it goes on a rotating light. It's beautiful as well! And my Mom bought all my temple clothes for me! I wasn't expecting ANYTHING, but thank you so much. I will forever have things to remind me of my special day.

I have set the goal to go to the temple once a month and to always have a current recommend. I have worked extremely hard to get to where I am, and because of that I will never take for granted my standing in the Church and many blessings that are mine! I feel such a thirst for knowledge right now and to more fully learn and understand the teachings both in the Gospel and the Temple. I am so thankful for the peace that the Gospel brings into my life! I hope and pray that by my example that I can help in showing the way for other family members as well. Thanks to everyone who has been such a support in my journey!

A Belated Happy Halloween

Better late than never, right?! Here are pictures of my cute kiddies on Halloween. Poor Hollie woke up around 3 am sicker than sick. Needless to say she ended up staying home from school and missed out on all the fun stuff at school. We took her to the doctor and wouldn't you know, they just tell us it's the crud going around. Poor girl! So she ran a temp off and on all day of 102 degrees. We did cheat and went into my work for a luncheon and then let her go to the Trunk-or-Treat at my sisters ward.

Grandma Leslie with the 3 girls.

My cute little witch who would finally stop for a picture. She's really funny about having her picture taken. Obviously she'd been enjoying some of her goodies.


The kiddos with their pumpkins that they carved.
Taylor was a bleeding skeleton, Hollie was Hannah Montana (minus the Hannah wig I bought her due to not wanting to get gussied up) and Kambri was a 'good' witch minus her hat that she conveniently took off.


Taking off for some Trick or Treating.
We ended up with hoards of candy and thankfully now the real good stuff is gone from their loot and won't be able to tempt me much longer.

On to something...

I've been wanting to catch up with some pictures. So, be sure and read all my new posts. I have officially just exceeded my maximum number of posts in any given month. Maybe I'm on to something...

In August we (my side of the family) went up to Glenn's Ferry campground in Idaho. We stayed in cabins and had a lot of fun. (Minus the flies and mosquitoes. I'm just not much for things flying all around me.) We sent the guys to get a few things from the grocery store and my dad decided to bring back a swimming pool for the girls. They had a blast with it, and even got to take a bath in it.

Taylor doing what he loves to do most...

Shaun and Haddie trying to keep the flies away

My brother-in-law Mark. He's such a hoot.

These pictures don't do the girls' fun justice. I'll have to get the pictures from my sisters camera. We even have the bath time pictures.

One thing is certain...I'm not a very good camper. Even with the cabins, I've just been spoiled with the condos we have. I even cheated while we were up there and went to the laundromat a few times. Did I mention a terrible, terrible camper? :)