Matching Babies

I get asked a lot if Neil's older brothers looked like him when they were babies. Actually, it's most often about the hair--"Did you other boys have that much hair?"-- as most questions about Neil are. The answer, sadly, is no. Thomas has always been a dirty blonde and Gord started out as an almost redhead, and though they both had hair, it wasn't nearly as thick and full as little Neil's. He gets that from his dad, who still sports a shockingly thick mane.

Although the three boys had different baby hairstyles, I think you'll agree that they look remarkably similar in facial features. Here they are, all about 3 months old:

Thomas


Gordon


Neil


Adorable little things.

On another, less adorable note, I learned this week that OxiClean does, in fact, work in removing melted-in Silly Putty from brand new corduroy pants. Scrubbing is still required.

Grandma Peggy

On Tuesday, December 30th, Chris's paternal grandmother, Peggy Pauline Ford Hansen, passed away. In the few times I met Grandma Peggy, I was touched by her sweetness and kind words for both me and my little boys. I didn't know her well, but I appreciate the positive impact she had on my husband's life and the lives of his family.

Marilyn gave a beautiful tribute here.

We were able to attend Peggy's funeral services on Saturday. It was a sweet experience to meet up with family members we hadn't seen in a long time and to remember Peggy's life. Heidi and Emily were both able to fly in and we really loved being able to see them, if even for a short time.

Wrapping up the Holidays

My, oh my. Is it really January 6th already? At least we finally got the tree taken down and the decorations put away. My living room looks a little bare and gloomy, but sometimes a bit of normalcy isn't such a bad thing.

We had the merriest and happiest of Holidays-- and you're in for a very, very long post. So, in case you're inclined to just skip the whole thing (can't say that I really blame you), I do have to direct your attention to my groovy bro getting his groove on here. It's a can't miss.

First of all, I just love this jolly little sugarplum and his chubby, smiley face. He's just a roley poley mini Santa!



When I left you last, it was just a few days before Christmas and I was waiting for my big, juicy present-- the van. Yes, we got it, and yes, it's as big and juicy as we had hoped. We love our Sienna, actually-- it's a lovely Utah red (more on that later!)-- and it is oh-so comfy to drive. I especially love the auxiliary plug where I can listen to my iPod or the portable DVD player on the stereo system. The boys love all of the space and Chris and I love not being able to hear them fight as loudly as before. So, all in all, a good thing.

We actually have a couple of funny car-related stories, but since Chris tells them better than I can and I don't want to take the time to type them all out, you're going to just have to ask us about them.

On Christmas Eve, Chris had an early deadline, so we were able to load up our new transport and head to Salt Lake just after 5:30. We arrived at Chris's parents' just in time for a delicious smorgasbord and Christmas jammies. Andy and Amanda were there with Tyler and Lizzy as well. Marilyn picked the perfect pj's this year-- "Ho Ho Ho" sleepers for the kids, and Ute Perfect Season shirts and plaid flannel pants (with a drum and feather logo to boot!) for the adults. My collector-of-all-things-Utah hubs couldn't have been happier!



Of all the Hansen cousins, Tyler and our boys are the most physically similar. Only two of these cute little guys are brothers, but all three look like they are! It's so fun to get them together!



Five little cousins, all in a row. Cuteness, cuteness.



My family, red from head to toe.



And the all of it!



Marilyn's tree is just beautiful. I took a couple of pictures with different settings and this one is my favorite.





Andy and Amanda spent the rest of the night with her parents, so after they left, our boys and Grammuh made Christmas cookies and letters for Santa. Tom's was so cute-- it didn't say anything about what he wanted, just pointed out that he had a really big gift under the tree that he was excited about. Oh, and can Santa drink Strawberry milk?



Right before bed, Gramps and Gramm read funny Christmas stories that had the boys giggling with delight. It was the perfect way to end Christmas Eve.



And the next morning, not too early...



We all received great gifts this year. More fun than the presents was just being able to sit around together and enjoy one another's company. Gary shared a neat Gospel message, and Marilyn made delicious food. It was a really nice day, with only a few whiney kid moments. There was one partially serious threat to "take all of this stuff back and give it to someone who will appreciate it", which was met with, "No, mom! That's not what I meant! I meant that this is the best Christmas ever!". Whew. Good thing we cleared that up.

Marilyn gave the cousins the cutest Christmas outfits, so of course, we had to take more pictures. I love taking the boys to church in their matching clothes-- I'm taking advantage now while they're too young to tell me not to dress them alike.



The day after Christmas, we went back home and Chris went back to work. It had snowed a lot in Logan and my wonderful neighbors shoveled our driveway-- so very kind. One of my goals this next year is to be a better neighbor!

We had a somewhat restful weekend catching up on laundry and building a snow cave. Then, on Tuesday after I finished work, we packed up again and headed North-- this time to Idaho Falls. We arrived late on Tuesday evening, then slept in on New Years Eve. The boys actually spent the whole day in their pj's-- one of the great perks of being on vacation.

This has to be one of my favorite pictures of Thomas and his cousins, Dallis and Hadley. Thomas is a favorite of most of his cousins, and as you can see, he is enjoying the attention, even while trying to escape.



It was freezing in Idaho, but that didn't stop my dad and the kids and dads from getting out in the snow. Little girl snow gear is so cute-- I love Hads's "princess" snow hat!



The kids tried to make snow angels, but it was so cold that the snow was a lot more solid than they expected. My parents' little dog could run on top of the snow.




Since we didn't spend Christmas with the DeArtons, we opened our presents to and from each other on New Years Eve. Ann-Michelle got all of the cousins these adorable hats. Gord's has to be my favorite-- it suits him so well!



It's nearly impossible to get a picture of all of the kids looking cute at the same time, but we got pretty close!



My mom made the boys the most adorable Utah Utes fleece pj's-- so far, I've only managed to get a good picture of Gordon in them. Neil's is a baby bag, which is perfect for a cuddly little Ute-fan in the making.



New Year's Eve was filled with everything you can expect from a DeArton party: lots of food, lots of games, lots of laughter, a few screaming kids, and a party that lasts into the wee hours of the morning. Hopefully we didn't completely overwhelm Caitlan's friend, Doug. He looks pretty comfortable in that Dalmuti hat, though.



Our weekend included several games of Risk (Jake championed yet again), Scrabble and Super Scrabble (Chris, of course), Dalmuti, and Carcassone, plus some shopping, movies, and eating enough cream cheese-filled foods to make those resolutions sound halfway appealing. Here are a few random, but fun, pics:






Friday night, for the Sugar Bowl, Chris, Jake, Todd Freed, my dad, Allison, the boys (for the first 15 minutes) and I went over to the seminary building. My parents don't have cable, so my dad set up a big white wall and the projector so that we could watch the game on a "big screen". It was awesome-- especially after I took Thomas and Gordon back to my mom's! It was so fun to cheer for the Utes as they pounded Alabama, and all from comfy seminary office chairs! We had pizza and fancy root beer, and I don't think Chris could have enjoyed the game more if he were there in person. Thanks Dad!! It was the perfect way to wrap up our Holidays!

Yes, ladies, he's available

Believe it or not, my 22-year-old brother, Jacob, is actually a very talented dancer. While we were up in IF over the New Year holiday, we decided to record some of his moves. He was being goofy on purpose, but you still have to respect his ability to move it. And yes, he's currently unattached...

It's Christmas Time in the... er... city?

Anyone who has ever been to this lovely little spot knows it is a pretty big stretch to call it a city. The fact that I address our utility bills to the "City of" and not some monopolizing power company is proof enough that this is a still a small town. So, it's Christmastime in our small town.

I've been a horrible blogger lately. I get kind of annoyed when people blog about how bad they are at blogging, and yet here I am-- similar to yelling at your kids while you're on the phone with someone, or not returning e-mails, or telling people that you're going to cry/try not to take too long/just read from your paper when you're giving a talk in church-- all things I don't like, yet find myself doing again and again. Anyway, I've kind of been waiting for things to slow down a bit to catch up on everything I've been neglecting, but I suddenly realized that this is my life and it isn't showing any signs of slowing down any time soon. So, I have to prioritize. I do love to read your blogs and e-mails, and I love knowing what is going on in your life. I realize that I need to reciprocate my part in our communication, so I'm really going to try to keep my end of the bargain. I can't promise daily posts at this point, but I can promise that I'll make a regular effort to keep in touch.

Plus, let's be honest here-- I'm just vain enough to enjoy reading my own writing. Hee.

Anyway, back to the update: Chris is still in SLC tonight, working out the details for our van purchase. If only buying a new car was like buying a sweater: you go to the store, pick out the one you like, try it on, go through the checkout, and voila, you've got yourself a new sweater. Unfortunately, it's a much longer and more drawn out process, so hopefully tomorrow will bring home a hubby and a car that seats lots of people.

It's a pretty even mixture of excitement and trepidation that I'm feeling when I think about becoming a mini-van mom. Owning a mini-van breaks yet another promise I made to myself as a teenager (yes, there are more, don't get me going-- I should have just shut my mouth from age 15-18) and makes me officially uncool. But, I'm accepting my uncoolness, as I suspect it has actually been around for quite some time, and I'm working on embracing, rather than unhappily surrendering to my soccer mom status. We did look at SUVs, but the constant request for a friend to come home from school with Thomas and the constant "He's touching me!" in the back seat ruled out a 5 passenger vehicle, and neither Chris nor I could really get excited about having little boy footprints on the middle seat of our car when they jumped to the back of a three-row SUV. Plus, they're quite a bit more expensive to buy, insure and maintain, and we're nothing if not practical. So, there you have it. And hopefully the thing has enough traction and weight that Jen won't have to push me out of a snowbank! :)

Back to Christmastime-- it's in full swing around here! YAY! Thomas is out of school and we've already had some Christmas guests. And of course, I've taken every opportunity to make and eat those goodies that we only make this time of year. Mmm.

Our tree this year is one of my favorites ever. Since adding the piano, our already small living room is especially packed, so we really didn't have much space for a tree. We moved the end tables to a temporary location and moved the love seat into the corner, and just barely had a tiny little space left. Luckily, Chris and my brother, Jake, found this tall, skinny tree that fits just perfectly. It reminds me a lot of the tree we got in Washington when we drove up into the mountains and cut it down ourselves. We may have to do that next year-- it's so fun. Anyway, our tree couldn't be more perfect.

There is nothing more festive than pulling out all of your old ornaments. I love just sitting and looking at them. If you came into my living room and looked at our tree, you would know that we have sons, that there is at least one Utah fan in the house, and that we've been to some fun places. Our ornament this year was purchased in Vancouver, BC-- a real maple leaf set in metal.





At the beginning of the month, Chris and I went to my company Christmas Party. I borrowed a dress from my sister, Caitlan, and got a little bit dressed up. It was fun, and don't we look cute? Aw.



A few days later, I bought a ready-to-make Gingerbread house kit at Michael's. I had thought that the boys would just go crazy with the decorating, and had planned to let each of them tackle half of the house. Instead, they looked together on the box the kit came in, picked out one of the sample designs, and meticulously placed each little candy while I frosted. It was really cute. They didn't even try to eat any of the kit candy-- of course, having a little bowl of M&Ms nearby helps with that!




I have some more to show and tell, but this will have to suffice for now. Only three days 'til Christmas!!

Oh, and I don't think you read this, my friend Anna, but if you do: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!