Girl Time

Brad has been gone for the past two weeks interviewing for residency so the girls and I have had a lot of time to ourselves. And though I think we all agree that it is much more fun to have Daddy around, we've managed to have some fun in his absence.

We've made a gingerbread house:

And ginger-"head" cookies:

We've decorated for Christmas - Even the girls have a little tree in their room!

We've written letters to Santa Claus:

And we've given lots of snuggles and hugs under the Christmas tree because we need a little extra nowadays.

I am so grateful to have these sweet little girls. Though we have our trying moments, for the most part I don't need breaks from them. I don't feel the need to escape them for some "alone time". They are a joy to be around and I am so happy to be their mom. It's especially magical at Christmas-time.

Thursday we begin our long drive to Rexburg for the Holidays. We are beyond excited! Particularly to have Brad to ourselves for a few weeks. So, in case we don't see you, Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving and a Birthday

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, as you know. It was also my birthday (did you know?). And, like a good Thanksgiving Birthday, my day revolved around turkey.

We couldn't make it home to Idaho for Thanksgiving, you see. So we did the next best thing, we coordinated Thanksgiving dinner with a few of our closest friends in Seattle. And since all of us are young, inexperienced turkey roasters, I volunteered to take on the bird. My first turkey.

I was pretty nervous. I have barely roasted a chicken. Once. So, I scoured hundreds of turkey tip blogs and watched way too many videos on the Food Network. I bought my bird a week early, and by Wednesday night I had a plan.

Thursday morning I prepped the bird with Lainy watching closely. We decided to call him Young Master Thomas, aka Tommy. While I was stuffing things and rubbing Tommy down with butter, Lainy made "observations" about him. "Mom, I have an observation," she'd say, "Do you see this little hole right here? I think it's where Tommy's head used to be." And you know what? I think she was right.

We heaved Tommy into the oven (he was 20lbs, afterall, and required heaving) and waited patiently for him to roast. Lainy and Leah checked on him often, peering through the oven window.

Finally, the moment of truth arrived. This is what we found:

Isn't he beautiful? He was good too. I am so proud. And, for the record, Lainy tasted Tommy and declared him to be "yummy". High praise from my picky eater.

We ended up having a wonderful Thanksgiving. And I had a wonderful birthday too. Some people seem to pity me when they discover my birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving, but I have never minded much. When I have a Thanksgiving birthday it means my day is full of family, friends, and good food - all things I love. And what's to complain about that?

Opening presents after a birthday breakfast of stuffed french toast.

My birthday sign - a Hansen family tradition

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lainy Pics

Today, I present to you a photo montage of an afternoon at Green Lake, and the subsequent drive home. Photography by Lainy.

To end this photo montage, a self portrait of the photographer herself:

I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into Lainy's world. Doesn't she just make you smile?

My Lovely Little Darlings

Just look at my beautiful girls!

Aren't they precious? These were taken by my friend, who is obviously a very gifted photographer. I love them.

ps: you can see more at rendytuckerphotography.com

Adventures with Mom and Dad Smith

My parents came to see us for a few days last week. As you saw, they were here for Halloween! We had a lot of fun with them.

Visits from my parents always involve some sort of adventure (intended or not). This time our adventures included:

1. Eating an incredible brunch at Salty's. It looked something like this, complete with chocolate fountains, cook to order omelets, fresh seafood, amazing belgian waffles, and much, much more. We could have eaten for hours. Maybe we did. Yum.

2.Driving around in a big huge black Suburban, presidential motorcade style. But man it was fun to all be together! Thanks Dad.

3. Seeing my cousin (who is serving a mission here) at the trunk-or-treat, and calling his parents right afterward. Sorry, no picture of my cousin, but here is my Dad talking to his dad.

4. Spending a few hours at REI. If my family has a favorite store, this would be it.

5. Taking the Seattle Underground Tour. Who knew Seattle used to be a smelly, corrupt frontier town that burned down and was rebuilt on top of itself in order to solve sewage problems? There's about a 3 block radius of underground sidewalks still sitting in downtown Seattle. Pretty cool. The guide was hilarious as well.

6. And indoor sky diving. It was incredible and FUN! 'Nuff said.

Mom

Brad

 

Me

I told you we like an adventure. My parents are awesome. We love you Mom and Dad!

Halloween

I don't know where the month of October went! All of a sudden it was Halloween! We had fun celebrating.

We made cookies:

We went on a hike to see the Autumn leaves:

 We carved pumpkins (and they turned out pretty awesome if I do say so myself):

And we went trunk-or-treating, Toy Story style:

As we discussed costume ideas, Lainy decided she couldn't be anything but Jessie for Halloween. It was soon decided that Brad would be Woody, I would be Bo Peep, and Leah would be a sheep. My parents completed the ensemble as Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.

 We hope you had a Happy Halloween!