Christmas 2012....

Christmas is definitely one of my favorite times of the year (even though it's sooo cold).  I love the magic, the joy, the service, the love felt for our Savior and all that he has done for us.  The last few years I have really tried to keep things simple so that we don't have as much chaos and can really enjoy the season and do things together as a family.....make new traditions, spend more quality time, etc.  I definitely still have a long way to go but I think each year I make baby steps towards that goal and I find things that work and things that don't.   I think the older the kids get, the more I feel like time is running out and I need more quality time with each of them.  And although it drives me crazy to think about not having all my kids under one roof, I also really love the perspective it gives me.  I want our memories to be about family time....not about the latest and greatest gadget.  When I think about my memories, sure there are those great toys that I was excited to finally have, but my favorite things are the traditions and time together playing games, making popcorn, etc. that are really what I love to think about the most.

Christmas Eve has become quite the tradition for my side of the family.  It's a big day for all of us and it works out great that everyone can always be there.  We have lots of things we like to cram in on that day and it's awesome!  Some of the highlights include the Nativity performed by the grandkids (which I am always in charge of) and even though it's total chaos with the kids fighting over who is going to be the donkey, it's one of the best parts of the night.  I still laugh every year when I think about JD asking if he could be Herod a few years back.  He promised he wouldn't be mean to baby Jesus.

 Brookie is such an angel!

We have a couple of other traditions that I love, in fact these traditions have been in the Hansen Family for as long as I can remember.  We always try to do some sort of service project and the grandkids are old enough now that it is always lots of fun.  This year we did a couple of different things and pretty similar to last year.  Our sweet little friends in China needed money for coal once again to keep warm for the winter.  We also made blankets for the children in Africa.  The kids had such a great time last year making the blankets, we decided to do it one more year.  We are truly so blessed to live in such a great nation and have what we do.  

We also have a long-standing tradition of PJs and books on Christmas Eve.  The moms were all out shopping one day in the fall and we got this fabulous idea to buy the girls matching jammies!  What a great idea, especially considering they looked so cute and squishy!

 The kids always gravitate towards Uncle Jared.  Always the life of the partaay!!

 Grandma also spent hours making these amazing dolls for these sweeties!

Christmas Day was great and we enjoyed time with family and cousins from the McKenna side.  Our McKenna Family Christmas party was so fun.  We forgot our camera and totally spaced getting our phones out to snap a few pics.  We did a  super fun thing this year.  Each family brought a family home video to share.  It was so fun to see how the kids have changed over the years and we definitely had some good laughs too.  It's always so fun to catch up with family, especially those we don't get to see often.