Owen's First Birthday!

I can hardly believe that a whole year has passed since Owen was born. He is such a joy in our family and I couldn't imagine not having him. His first tooth barely broke through just before his birthday and he is getting closer to walking. He has just in the pas few days figured out that he can stand without holding on to something for a short time. He gets so excited and thinks it is funny. He had his 1 year check-up today and is still only 19 lbs. Our kids are just little.
For Owen's birthday we had a little party at our house for our family and a few close friends. Our house was packed with people that we love. I know that Owen won't remember, but it means so much to me that we have so many loved ones near us. I did a fire truck theme and tried my hand a decorating his cake with fondant icing. It is a little less messy so I made sure that he had a chocolate cake to dig into. I think the cake turned out pretty cute for my first attempt a fondant.
Owen loved his cake! He ate like half of it before I realized that he had slept through dinner and was starving. So he went to town on the cake. What a good mother I am to let my child eat half a cake without any nutrition in him before. Oops.
He was spoiled with gifts. Between Christmas and his birthday he has plenty of boy toys to last him until next year.

Yummy.

Snow Drifts

The week before Christmas we got quite a bit of snow and a surprise...DRIFTS! They definitely were not big, but were the biggest we have seen in a long time. This is a picture of the drift we had in our back yard. It was between 12 and 18 inches tall. Bailee loved going out and playing in all of the show we had and marveled at how her tracks would be covered up the next day. She loved making snow angels and what she called bird nests (a hole in the drift) in the snow.

Sledding with CBH

Matt's company party this December was a trip sledding for the whole family. We went up to a place known as "Tubing Hill" and shared Hot Cocoa and the warmth of a fire while the kids (and a few big kids) went sledding. We don't have any snow clothes for Owen this year so the poor kid looked like the Michelin Man from all of the layers plus his puffy coat. Bailee of course loved it until her feet got cold and then she was done. We had a fun time.

The Nutcracker Ballet

The Nutcracker Ballet came to one of the local colleges and had a school showing on Monday morning and tickets were only $1.50 for one act. My friend, Krista, home schools and was able to get tickets for us to go with her family. It was her daughter, Julianna's birthday and a great way to kick off her ballerina themed birthday later that afternoon.

Bailee loved it. We also took Bailee's other friend, Rylie. All three girls loved the ballerinas and were dancing all the way out of the auditorium. Bailee waiting for the show to start.

The birthday girl, Julianna

Bailee's sweet friend Rylie.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Matt's parents. We were able to spend five days there. We left on Tuesday night so that we could be there for the preparations on Wednesday.
On Wednesday Stephanie and I made pies and dessert. Steph made pecan pie and a pumpkin roll and I made a pumpkin pie. I also made rolls...it was an experience to say the least. I have made these rolls a few times before and even brought my Bosch mixer with me to Blackfoot to aid in the work. I used a different pan to cook the rolls in as well as a different kind of flour. Wow were those two BIG mistakes! It was a good thing that I made them on Wednesday instead of Thursday morning because they turned out horrible. We ended up making a last minute trip to Walmart (my least favorite place to go especially around the holidays) to get more ingredients. I stayed up late to make the new rolls which turned out beautifully after making those minor adjustments.
On Thursday we spent most of the day together as a family and preparing our feast. Grandma and Grandpa Hansen joined us. It was a very nice day. Matt took over as the "Turkey Carver" this year and Steph, Matt's mom and I took care of the rest of the details. I, of course made the green bean casserole (which the Hansen's had not had before I joined the family). It is now my official duty.
What a wonderful opportunity we have each year to set aside one day to offer our Father in Heaven thanks for all of the blessings in our lives.