Christmas Nativity . . .

It has been wonderful to have all the kids here and be one big undivided family for the first time in the last seven years!! We've really tried to take advantage of this special Christmas, including this Nativity Program we created as part of our Christmas Eve festivities (Thanks Kenz for putting it all together, and thanks Stin for making it happen!)
Lola: Baby Jesus
Luci: Mary
Anders:Joseph
Tate: Angel
Kenz: Narrator
Stin: Shepherdess
Scott: Wise Man (although everyone really wanted him to be the "donkey")

Han's Advent Round Two

This was our last of the Four Sundays (we only we able to get together for the 2nd and 4th Sundays) and we celebrated the Theme of "Love" and, of course, continued with more Puppet Antics . . .

Christmas Caroling . . .

As part of our Christmas traditions, we will bake some treats, and then take them over to a few neighbors, presenting our snax as a family at each neighbor's doorstep while singing Christmas Carols. I'm not sure what's more fun - us actually baking and then caroling to our neighbors, or to see the look on their faces when they see all seven of us at the door and wondering . . . what the!!?? Here are a few photos of the baking of the treats (Stin even make Caramels!) and the look on Lola's face after we got back (it was a FRIGID night!!)

Santa Claus Wishing . . .

Luci, Kenz, Lola, and Patrick all had the opportunity to make their wishes known to Papa Noel . . .

Gingerbread Christmas Choo-choo train

Stin made sure we added many new wonderful Christmas traditions while Scott was away protecting the homeland . . . .this is one of them:

Han's Advent

Our most precious friends from the Belmont Ridge Ward -- the Han Family -- included us in one of their Christmas traditions -- The Advent. This included the 4 Sundays prior to Christmas Day. Each Sunday leading up to Christmas is focused on four themes: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Each included readings, hymns, stories, and lighting of a candle representing each of the four themes. Along with the previously mentioned activities, puppet shows were introduced which led to great amusement and mayhem! This new tradition added greatly to our present and hopefully future Christmas festivities . . . Love you Hans!

Luci's Spy-Theme Birthday Party

Luci celebrated her much anticipated 6th Birthday party with a Spy Theme and a few of her friends from school. Activities included fingerprinting, handcuffing (in anticipation of extraterritorial rendition), "Detect the Mole," Pizza feasting, obtaining Junior Special Agent credentials, defusing (or consuming, as the case may be) the Bomb (cake), special (black frosting) moustache disguise techniques, and a spy scavenger hunt, among other things (the rest is Classified!).

Virginia Chapter of the Cookie Lover's Club . . .

Nana Judy instigated a wonderful new tradition with the founding of the Cookie Lover's Club - a way for the generations to connect through the wonders of making, baking, and (of course) partaking of amazing cookie recipes. Luci was the recipient of this special intro package from Nana Judy to get the Virginia Chapter of the club established. Although, we all know that Tate and Kenz are the true mayordomo's of the club at this point!!! Yum, yum, yum!

The Lights on Temple Square . . .

Truly a highlight of our trip out West was our visit to The Lights on Temple Square, just a short walk from Margy/Ray's place. This little visit definitely got us all in the Christmas Spirit!! We even got a surprise visit from Nana Judy!

Thanksgiving with Grandma Margy and Grandpa Ray

We had such a great time with Grandma Margy and Grandpa Ray!

Gateway shopping, SLC

Part of our trip to Salt Lake included a little shopping excursion to the Gateway shopping center. Just had to grab a picture with the little shop called LolaBella for obvious reasons!!!

New Family Pictures . . .

Part of our special trip out to Utah during Thanksgiving included a crazy excursion down to Utah County to get some family pictures taken while we still have Mackenzie but including Lola. We thought we would take advantage of the incredible value offered by http://peekaboophotos.com/ . They totally went the second mile for us and we got some amazing photos, some of which are posted here.

Uncle Travis and Cousin Bella come to visit!!

We had a great time visiting with our favorite Peeps, including visits to Harpers Ferry,WV; getting lost in Loudoun County VA, playing banister ball, watching the lame BYU vs. UofU football game, and just having a grand ole time!

Stin's Birthday Rap

My birthday present to Stin this year. I secretly want to have a double life as a rapper, so send me money and report me to American Idol.

MP3 File

The Hills are alive . . . . with the Sound of Music . . .

Right. So Tate and Mackenzie decided they would try out for the local (yet highly competitive!) production of The Sound of Music. They've been attending play practice for several months now and we all went to see them perform last night. Way to go girls!!

HersheyPark Adventures . . .

Uncle Matty, aka Dr. Matthew T. Andersen, came to visit (with his friend Mary Ann) our clan for Halloween this year and we ended up spending the Saturday after Halloween up at HersheyPark. We all had fun, but realized that having a 3-month-old isn't the most conducive to amusement park bliss! Here are some fun photos memorializing the outing:

HALLOW'S EVE 2008

So, Uncle Matty, Stin's hermano, and his friend Mary Ann, came to town for Halloween this year. Matt dressed up as the best Jolly Green Giant I've ever seen, or likely ever will see in this lifetime!! Scott was his own special version of the comic book hero Green Lantern, Stin was a Disco Diva, and Mary Ann was a Pretty Fairy Princess. We all went out dancing at a sweet club with great DJ's in DC, where everyone else was also dressed up and we had a REALLY fun time. Thanks Matty for twisting our arms and convincing us to go!

Pre Hallow's Eve

Stin's costume ("I Make Milk, What's YOUR Superpower?") SuperHero, Luci's Lava Girl (from the famous film "Shark Boy and Lava Girl), Anders' Superman, Tate's Nerdy Gerdy, and Lola Love Flower Baby-- all were fantastic this year. Pictures taken at our Ward (local congregation) Halloween Party.

Mackenzie got a "34"!!!

Mackenzie achieved a score of 34 on the ACT in late September. This now qualifies her for applying for the ultimate goal of being a Thomas S. Monson BYU scholarship recipient: http://saas.byu.edu/depts/scholarships/Hinckley/index.aspx.

At the moment, since we're singing her praises, Kenzie also graduated from high school a year early with a 4.25 GPA and multiple "5"s on 4 AP tests in various subjects, including BC Calculus. Yeah, she's a smarty pants!

She now is taking a "transition" year and is homeschooling her sister Tate, nannying part-time, and tutoring several students in Math and test prep. With the money she earns, she is planning a new adventure to Malawi ( http://www.worldcampforkids.org/thehighschoolprogram.htm ) where she will be teaching teenagers HIV/AIDS awareness, English, and principles of basic hygiene . . . She will be putting up a website soon to tell you more about it and ask for donations to fund her trip . .

Congratulations Kenz-O!!! We love you and are so proud of you!!!!

Anders' first Priesthood Conference. . . .

The day that his Dad-Scott had been waiting for finally arrived. Anders, having previously turned twelve and received the Aaronic Priesthood, was ready and willing to attend the evening Priesthood Session of General Conference transmitted via satellite from Salt Lake City to the Ashburn Stake Center. It was a great night to always be remembered!

Winds, and Waves, and Portuguese Man-of-War's, Oh My!!

The Donald C. Hansen OBX reunion has come and gone. Some highlights were some great games (3-13, Settlers), classic hottubbing, trips to the Teet, discovering first-hand what a Portuguese Man-of-War is, Lola blessing, family picture taking mayhem, and some classic fun-in-the-sun on the last two days . . .


Hopefully this won't be last time but the beginning of a new tradition!