ski day

mom and dad-

a day at alta

another utah visit is coming to a close.

i know i should be all adult about it and say "we had a good time, see you soon"

but what i'm going to do is beg you two to abandon everyone in MN and move here.

how else are we going to finish our game of 'hand and foot'?

which jank and i are totally going to win.

ok, fine.

i'll be adult about it (but i don't like it)

besides, i know you'll be back soon.

no one can resist their grandchildren for long.

especially grandkids as adorable as these two:

the best pic i have of both of them. getting toddlers to hold still is impossible!

we had a good time. see you soon. blah blah blah.....

ps. please stay!

.

a lot of effort went into that hairdo

Brandon and Kerrianne-

before i had katers i was horrible at buying presents for kids.

i think my nephew brysaac received clothes every time a holiday came around.

(sorry buddy)

apparently you two do not suffer from my gift-giving problem.

you did an awesome job picking out a Christmas gift for kate.

the stuffed bunny is perfect.

you were too kind.

thank you!!

here's a glimpse into lulu's new life with miss kate:

snuggle loving and a time out

 sad little lulu all alone on the timeout wall- 

please excuse her tags. they are now cut off but i was feeling lazy earlier today.

using the kitchen rug as a blanket so lulu can go "nigh-nigh". good night kisses were given

and then kate decided a good way to show affection is to drop a sippy cup full of milk on lulu's head.

isn't she such a sweetie??

i love perfect gifts.

thank you again!

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the obligatory kid in front of the tree pic

Christmas went by too fast this year 

(doesn't it every year?)

i think it was partially due to the fact that i worked Christmas day.

but it was grand nonetheless and kate had a ball with her cousins and new toys.

i always try to take as many pictures as possible since i'm a horrible photographer.

seriously it takes at least 50 photo tries to get one measly good pic.

my attempts at the 'present-lined-Christmas-tree and kid' photo-

and the final product (after a little antiquing because the original color looked funny)

all fancied up for the big day at G+G hansen's house

i'll have to try again later this week at BB's house when we celebrate Christmas with my folks.

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ho ho ho

dear santa-

our new tv- isn't she a beauty!

you dropped off our present a little early.
but we're not ones to complain about something like that.
in fact, we were overjoyed.
you should've seen jank's face-
he truly looked like a 6 year old on Christmas morning.
i wish i had videotaped it.

when we first hooked it up the picture was quite blurry and we were so bummed.
but after a visit from the comcast man who provided us with the proper HD equipment,
we were watching nadal and federer as if we were right there in the stands.
jank couldn't quit saying 'kayla come see! it's awesome!!'
he interrupted me at least 5 times with the exact same request- 'come see!'

he's like a 6 year old that way.
he's so easily pleased.
every meal he eats is 'the best meal ever!'
and so it goes with our new tv,
every game/channel/movie is the 'best thing ever!'

i'm over the moon about it too.
i mean, who doesn't want to watch elmo in HD??
just kidding, i'm sure my HGTV will be amazing in high def also
(that is if jank will let us watch anything other than espn)


THANK YOU to santa and his 4 elves-
kevin+diane and bob+kathy
(also known as moms and dads)
to say we love our present would be an understatement.



ps. thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you


pps. did i mention THANK YOU!!



ppps. jank already made me move my reindeer because it was obscuring his view of some random person in the crowd. augh men!

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a post where i lose my cool

to the elves at my work:


i don't know who you are but thank you so much for your kindness.
you put 2 movie passes in my box at work.
i heart you.

going to the movies ranks in my top 5 favorite things to do.
thankfully i married a man who shares my passion.
it's awesome that he races to get to the theater so we don't miss the previews.
AND he never thinks popcorn and soda are a waste of money (which they totally are)

we used your movie passes last saturday night.
we weren't planning on using them but we sure were glad to have them.
it's a long story but one i will want to remember so indulge me.....

our Christmas tree. amazingly katers hasn't ripped it to shreds.

we were supposed to go to the Christmas concert put on by the MoTab choir.
we've gone the last couple of years and always have a good time.
(jank still insists that sissel was the best and i must agree)
so we donned our gay apparel, rounded up a babysitter and headed to the city.

our first problem was parking.
as usual the public lots were packed.
but we weren't fussed- we planned ahead and arrived nice and early.
we circled the lot until we saw someone loading up their car.
i surveyed the scene to make sure no one else had already called dibs on the spot.
we didn't see anyone so i put my blinker on and politely waited.

as i was pulling into the spot there appeared a lady in a white coat standing right next to our spot.
the lady said "this is our spot so you're going to need to leave"
i'm pretty sure i just stared at her for a moment with a dumbfounded look on my face.
i thought she was kidding.
she was sooooo not kidding.

lady- "you need to leave. we were here first"
me- "no you weren't. i checked"
lady- "you need to leave. it's our spot"
me- "no"

(can i just add that jank is sitting in the passenger seat looking a little frightened- he hates unpredictable people. especially when i'm being stubborn with them)

lady- "we have a kid in the car so you'll have to move"
me- "um, i'm already parked with my keys out of the ignition so i don't think i'll be leaving but thanks"
me-  "jank, get out now. we're leaving"
lady- "are you going to the Christmas concert? are you LDS? that's bulls**t"
me- no response. we took the high ground and just walked away dumbfounded. and so incredibly irritated. i really contemplated smacking her. (i still get all steamed up just thinking about her)

as we walked we wondered if she would key our car.
(she didn't)
but at least it gave us something interesting to discuss while we waited in the cold for an hour.
seriously the line for the concert was absurd.
everyone had to be screened and the people doing the screening were all over the age of 75 and moving like molasses.
augh. my patience was wearing thin at this point.

i wasn't concerned about getting in.
we had tickets and we were there with time to spare.
but some genius decided to over ticket the concert by about 500.
no joke.
when we were 2 people away from getting in,
they turned us all away without barely an apology.
party foul.

i was irate.
i demanded hot chocolate and to speak to someone.
i got neither.
so off we went.

i was so disappointed.
a babysitter.
all dressed up.
Christmas concert.
date night ruined....

until i remembered the free movie passes!
we headed to the theater and picked out 'the tourist'
we had some time to kill so we wandered around anthropologie.
i wanted everything, as usual.
but bought nothing- aren't i disciplined?!
then jank bought me an ice cream cone for the movie
and for 2 hours i didn't think about that stupid lady and her stupid comment or the concert.

so thank you thank you thank you, whoever you are.
you saved date night and made me realize not all utahns are ridiculous.


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in a hospital in MN

BROTHER BRANDON:


it turns out you do have nine lives.
but if you could please stop using them up so quickly we would all appreciate it.
you're only 28 for heaven's sake!

i can't believe a wall fell on you...
how do these things happen!?!?

i hope your femur heals quickly.
4-6 months of recoup sounds miserable.
at least you have a good wife to take care of you,
and mom and dad are close by.


i remember when we were teenagers and we would get home about the same time on weekend nights.
i was always so mad that you beat me and you got to choose what tv show we watched.
we would sit at the kitchen counter and eat cold cereal and watch star trek reruns.
i always complained about how dumb that show was.
i still don't like it but whenever i see the old school star trek uniforms it makes me think of you.

so i hope you get to watch as much star trek as you want.


heal fast.
listen to your doctors.
and be nice to your nurses.

love you!



ps. i have a feeling you might put on some weight due to the high volume of Christmas cookies you guys made. these pics make me miss home. sad.

yuuuuuuuuum

B+K showing off their mad decorating skillz

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oh wow

image courtesy of the internet because we're lame and didn't take any pictures

hi love

just wanted to say thanks for taking me out to see the Christmas lights.

thanks for taking time away from your masters project.

(stupid masters project)

i think that candy cane hot cocoa is the best we've ever had.

even though i drank too much and got a stomachache.

(sorry i spilled some on you)

i wonder how many more times i can use parentheses.

(probably a million- i'm addicted)

can't wait to spend the next week with you.

hooray for mandatory Christmas break!!

as elmo says-

kiss kiss

ps. my favorite part was kate saying "oh wow" in her little tiny voice when she saw the lights.

.

maybe i just need some figgy pudding

to the bringers of holiday cheer-


why haven't you visited our home yet?
jank and i are both sensing your lack.
the magic is missing...


i have always loved Christmastime.
i love snow and twinkle lights and music.
i love cookies and fudge and (let's just be honest) anything with sugar.
i love the corner santas ringing their bells.
i love feeling like i'm a part of something so much greater than little old me.
i really love the magic of the whole season.

miss kate last year.

oh boy, i want to kiss and squish those cheeks.

but this year i'm finding myself a little shy on the holiday cheer.
and i don't know why.
i've spent the last week analyzing it and i have no answer.
so instead of worrying about my lack of Christmas joy,
i decided to get down to business and just go out and find it.


my holiday cheer seeking mission will include:

kate and i reading a Christmas book by the tree every night.
more dancing to Christmas music with katers (more than usual).
evening drives to look at Christmas lights while sipping hot cocoa.
making holiday goodies-- i just found a new recipe that i'm dying to try.
jank and i will attend the MoTab's Christmas concert and see the lights at temple square.
i will get the presents out of hiding and wrap them (it's one of my favorite activities. i'm odd, i know)

and the end-all, cure-all.......
i will watch white christmas.


hopefully i will find the magic i'm lacking.



ps. what is figgy pudding????? and is it even good????


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