Our First “Single-Family” Christmas!

This year for Christmas, due to my ever increasing belly and a lack of funds, we decided to do Christmas in Chicago by ourselves instead of making the trek west to spend time in Utah. It was a hard decision to make, but I really think we did a great job of making the best of the situation and starting traditions of our very own, beginning with being able to decorate our house for the holidays!

On Christmas Eve morning, we all got up early and bundled up as warm as we could so we could take a hike to Waterfall Glen! It had been rain-snowing the night before and we had a solid sheet of ice coating our whole car when we got outside! After we chipped our way into the car, we drove to Waterfall Glen and enjoyed a nice peaceful walk to the falls where Kevin took pictures and Brooklyn tried to figure out how to walk in her big winter boots!

After we got home and showered, Brooklyn and I decorated the front door together while Kevin was baking cookies for Santa Clause!

When we were done decorating, Brooklyn and I went to the kitchen and started making Christmas Eve Dinner! She had so much fun helping me measure things and especially liked that she got to be in her own child-sized apron!

The dinner turned out way better than I thought it would! We made caramelized apple pork chops and baked potatoes. Kevin even got us some sparkling grape juice! (Brooklyn was not a fan of the juice though because she thought the carbonation was too “hot”!)

After dinner we watched “Joy to the World” and Kevin explained the nativity story to Brooklyn. Then he read her “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and we set some cookies and our stockings out for Santa. It was pretty funny. Brooklyn dropped the cookies about 8 times before we reached the table even though she was trying her hardest to be careful. Then when she realized her stocking was empty she decided to fill it with Santa’s cookies! She might not get the concept yet, but I think it will sink in by next year. :)

Even though Brooklyn crawled into bed with us at 4am Christmas morning, it was still a very fun day! We started by opening our stockings. Brooklyn got some Lip Smackers and Pez in her stocking that she couldn’t be separated from for the rest of the day! After stockings we ate sticky buns and then came back to the living room to begin gift opening!

We got so many fun things from our family in Utah which was a huge surprise since we didn’t expect to get anything out here in the boonies! We loved everything and just want to send out a great big huge THANK YOU to all of you for thinking about us!

We did the 3 Wise Men Christmas for each other which involved getting 3 gifts for each person. A GOLD gift: gift of wonder, a FRANKINCENSE gift: gift of thoughtfulness, and a MYRRH gift: gift of necessity! For Kevin’s gift of thoughtfulness I turned our blog into a published book. He loved it and I was glad cause it took a lot of time! :)

My gift of necessity was a Nintendo Wii!!!! After all, what more could I need in life other than a Wii? It’s been put to good use since its arrival and even Brooklyn gets to take a turn when mommy and daddy are watching.

Brooklyn’s gift of wonder was a new Lego table complete with Lego's. She’s really good at building things and has played with it every day since she got it!

After we cleaned up our mess, Kevin went for a nice run in the snow while I made creamed eggs on toast for breakfast and Brooklyn played with her new toys. Then we enjoyed breakfast together and busted out the Wii!

Kevin took some embarrassing pictures of me on the Wii but since I’m putting up this post, I have the right to edit! So instead, you get to see a cute picture of Brooklyn getting Wii lessons from her daddy!

After we had sufficient time to play with our new things, we all got out of our pajamas and drove over to the Cotton’s house (our friends from our ward) to have a fabulous steak Christmas Dinner! It was so much fun to spend time with them and they spoiled us rotten. We all received fun gifts and great food, but I think the winner was the princess crown and earrings they got for Brooklyn. She wore them the whole night and kept telling me she was a pretty princess. So cute!

After we got home from the Cotton’s,we spent some time vegging and then tucked ourselves into bed to prepare for another week of fun and relaxation! Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all had as much fun as we did!

Saturday Foto: 3 for 1 deal, End of the Year Fun!

Brooklyn’s new obsession: Her Uncle Craig and Auntie Sara.  They visited for a few days after Christmas, and ever since, Brooklyn keeps asking where they went.  She’s convinced that Craig is merely “at work” and keeps asking when he’ll get home.

 

Craig and I decided to run the Chicago City New Year’s Day 5K in Downtown Chicago, Lincoln Park to be exact.  The temperature was down in the single digits that day.  The water bottles they handed out at the end were actually frozen (see picture).  Craig and I held the distinction of being 2 of only 4 people that day (out of 1500 runners) who wore shorts.

 

I just had to add this one because I thought it was so funny.  Kids are a heck of a lot of work, but man can they be fun!

Saturday Foto: Electronic Generations Collide!

What you are looking at, my friends, is the ultimate marriage between the new and the old-school electronics.  This is a brand-new Nintendo Wii system that we got for Christmas, sitting next to a SONY KV-2075R Television set.  The TV was a gift to Naomi and I from my mom, and has worked great for us… even though it’s well over 20 years old.  The two work great together, despite their age difference!

A Happy Holiday Weekend with the Riggs!

As an early Christmas gift to ourselves, Kevin and I decided to drive up to Minnesota to spend the weekend with Becca and Taber and their girls! We left straight from Kevin's work on Thursday and drove until 11:30pm when we finally reached the Rigg residence. Then we stayed up until 2am eating junk and chatting with Becca!

The next morning (after sleeping in as long as the girls would let us) we packed up and went to The General Mills Headquarters to see where Taber works. The tour was amazing and we even got to sample a new product that hasn't come out yet!

When we got home, we put Brooklyn and Brinley down for naps. Kevin also put himself down for a nap and his new best buddy, Teya, decided to make herself comfortable on his legs while she was having quiet time! It was SO cute. They sat like that for 2 hours!

That night we all got dressed up and headed to the Rigg's Ward Christmas Party! We ate lots of junk and got to visit with some people that Kevin ran the Ragnar race with, and then we got to see SANTA! Surprisingly, Brooklyn wasn't afraid of him at all and every chance she got, she would cut in line and sit herself on his lap! It was awesome!

After the party, we put the girls to bed and had a little gift exchange/game night! This picture is of the gift Kevin made for Taber. He made a frame to show off Taber's first marathon accomplishment and we took the picture with our new camera from the Riggs!!! After exchanging gifts, we played some pounce and a fun new game that Becca taught us. It was great fun!


The next morning, I got up with the girls and Taber, Becca, and Kevin headed to a near by lake where they started the morning off with a 20 degree, 4 mile run! These guys are die hard runners!

It was so cold that Becca's sweat froze to her face! Brrrrrr! No thanks! I choose life!

Of course, a little cold never stopped these guys from having a good time! I think Kevin liked it the most...can you tell by the face he is making?

After they got back from their run and got showered, we dressed the girls and drove over to a free petting zoo/playground. It was a little cold for the playground but that didn't stop Taber and Kevin from taking a few rides down the zip line. I'm pretty sure they were having a lot more fun than the girls!
Here are the boys showing off their gymnastic skills. Wow! Look at all those rippling muscles! I can't do that.
The girls loved the animals and even got to pet a really weird looking chicken and some grumpy old goats. It was so fun to see them mimicking animal noises and chasing the goats!

While the boys were playing with the zip line, Teya and Brooklyn enjoyed romping through the snow. Becca caught these great pictures of them by the animal barn!

Here is Brooklyn showing off her tongue for Becca! Not very ladylike but she still looks cute to me!
This is my favorite picture from the whole trip! The girls are on a teeter totter and Taber is on the other end moving them up and down. So cute! So happy! LOVE IT!

When we got home from our outside adventure, we put the girls down for a nap and got ready to go to the MALL OF AMERICA! Becca was able to convince one of the young women in her ward to babysit the girls, so we actually got to see a movie while we were there! It was SO much fun to be on a double date...its been a really long time since we did something like that!

Sunday was our last day of fun with the Riggs and was too short for me. We got up early and dressed the girls in matching dresses that Becca bought them. After trying desperately to get a picture of all of them smiling at the camera at the same time, we gave up and packed them up for church. Kevin, Brooklyn and I stayed for Sacrament meeting and then said our good byes. It was very sad to leave but we had a fun filled weekend and didn't waste a second of time!

Thanks Becca and Taber for a wonderful weekend! We love you guys SO much and miss you already!

Saturday Foto: All in a Day's Work.

All of these pictures were taken on Saturday, the 20th of Dec, a day that will go down in the Hanks' history as the coldest, craziest, most random and coolest Saturday I've EVER spent in Minneapolis.In the morning, Becca, Taber and I went on a nice easy jog around a lake close to their house. It was 20 degrees outside. As Becca put it, we had to get outside and enjoy the warm weather while we had it! I saw this dried-out blowfish just hanging in a tree. You're guess as to an explanation to where it came from is as good as mine!

This is a female Flamingo at a petting zoo we visited with the kidlets in the morning. My only thought was if I had to live in a barn open to the freezing Minneapolis winters, I'd spend a lot of my time with my head in a heat lamp too.


This was during our evening activity at the Mall of America. Does this need an explanation?! I think not.

Saturday Foto: What’s your vote!?

Okay, so what do you think….

SOMEBODY taught Brooklyn that it was okay to enjoy a good read while taking care of business on the porcelain throne… either:

A: Kevin taught Brooklyn this,

or

B: Naomi taught Brooklyn this.

What do you think?!

Honestly, I think the answer is pretty obvious, but we’ll get a vote anyway!

Our LATE Thanksgiving Update...

For Thanksgiving we decided to start the celebrations a day early! So on Wednesday, after Kevin got home from work, we all sat down together and made some holiday sugar cookies! We made ourselves sick from all the sugar but it was fun to have something to do and to watch Brooklyn lick the frosting off all the cookies.


The next morning we all woke up early and went to a nearby park for our special HANKS TURKEY TROT! We didn't really want to pay 50 bucks to get into the one downtown, especially since they didn't even give everyone shirts, so Kevin mapped out a course for us and we did it all by ourselves! I was running a super-slow 12 minute mile, but I "ran" the whole way, which is not all that bad for someone who is 6 months pregnant! Kevin was a good sport and pushed the stroller while shuffling beside me. It was actually really fun!


After we got home and got cleaned up, the cooking began! We started our Kalua Turkey together and then Kevin began work on the deviled eggs while I started the stuffing, potatoes, rolls and salad. It was cool cause we only made things we like to eat since no one else was there to complain! While we cooked, Brooklyn happily destroyed the house until we tied her into her highchair for safe keeping... then she waited very patiently for the food to arrive!


Kevin finished up our buffet line with a gallon of Tang! He was very helpful in the kitchen and it was kind of fun making such a big feast together.


I even wore an apron all day to make things look more official. Kevin had one on too but then he exploded his homemade raspberry cordial all over it and had to take it off. But at least it did its job!


Here are the beautiful deviled eggs that Kevin made. I was so proud of him. They were delicious and I really couldn't have made them any better myself!


The stuffing and Kalua Turkey turned out PERFECT! The turkey just fell right off the bones into the juices, no carving necessary! The stuffing was modified for our individual taste buds so we eliminated the celery and carrots and put onions, mushrooms and garlic in instead! Mmmmm! It was SO good!


Brooklyn even ate everything, which actually surprised me. She can be pretty sensitive about the way her food looks and stuffing isn't all that pretty. She snarfed it down though and loved every last bite!


I don't have any more pictures, but after the big dinner we sat down together and watched Disney's UP! It was so funny and very relaxing after a long day of cooking. Then Kevin made a chocolate cream pie and I made an apple pie. We put Brooklyn to bed and then ate pie while we watched the G.I. Joe movie! Ha Ha! Good times. All-in-all it was a marvelous Thanksgiving and although we missed our friends and family terribly, we were still able to create some pretty fabulous memories!