Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas!

Our family is grateful this year for the little things in life: pancakes on Saturday morning. A bubble bath. That Christmas Village puzzle from Ty’s Mom’s things. When we pay attention, we see goodness and life all around us.


Anne is two this month and so entertaining. When she first learned to talk she inserted a click in place of every k. So quack became, qua-click, and milk, mil-click. My sources tell me that Africans use the click in just this way! She’s a funny one and loves to tease, so one of the first sentences she learned was “gonna, gonna, get you!” We laugh with her every day.

After a close call with a cashew last month, Annie discovered the word “itchy.” Ty discovered the American Fork ER location as well(apparently it’s hard to find in a panic), and learned to say the words, “WAKE UP” loud enough to get some immediate medical attention after the nurse told him politely to “please be seated.” We had to say good-bye to Nutella and peanut butter at the house, but we’re so glad that Anne is safe. She kind of makes our day, so we want to keep her around.

I asked Maddie, who’s four this year, what she wanted for Christmas, and she told me solemnly: “My greatest wish is to watch Barbie and the Three Musketeers and to get an x-ray.” I told her x-rays cost too much because you have to break something first, although that’s a real possibility. She loves her gymnastics class so much that she’s always jumping and flipping off the furniture while I frown disapprovingly. She still believes she’s invincible, (and hopefully she stays that way).

Maddie starts Kindergarten next year, and she’s uber excited. She’s a small fry with a big soul, so I’m not worried for her. I know she’ll mother all those bigger kids who cry the first day and help them get adjusted. I don’t know where I’m going to find a uniform in a size 3T, but I’m pretty excited for her too.

As for my oldest, Alli is turning 8 in January and ready to be baptized! We were able to get her into a wonderful charter school called Renaissance Academy this fall, and she’s loving every minute. She’s done lots of crafts, from a Trojan horse hiding plastic army guys to a Japanese sand garden with a fork for a rake. I can’t wait to see what she comes home with next.

Alli is reading some fun books these days, and sometimes I can’t wait for my turn to read her
book. She talked me into reading Fablehaven with her and now it’s a race to see who finishes first. I read pretty fast, but she’s tough competition!

This Thanksgiving we had a really fun surprise with my cooking website. A neighbor pinned the chocolate chip cookie recipe on pinterest, and it was repined thousands of times. Our website hits soured into the tens of thousands. My friend Ashley and I are so excited to see what we can do in the coming year to build the site. That means a lot more trial recipes for my poor family. One night I made something new and Alli calmly pushed away her plate, saying, “It just tastes kind of like throw-up Mom.” My toughest critics are at home…

Ty, who’s one class away from his Masters, takes the fitness award this year. He ran 5 half-marathons in five months (he even did one in 1:23 minutes) and is training hard to run the Utah Valley Marathon in under 3:00 hours next June so he can qualify for the Boston Marathon. He’s so fast that he outran a rattlesnake on the trail up Provo Canyon this summer. He nearly stepped on it and lived to tell! The rest of us couldn’t outrun a turtle, so we’re very proud.

In June I tried to keep up with Ty by running Ragnar, a two day 12 man relay from Logan to Park City covering over a hundred miles. It sounds pretty grand but I had one of the easiest legs and still ran the slowest. Oh well, I had fun. (There is no Boston qualifying in my future.)

Until next year, thanks to all our family and friends for your love and support. We send our love to all of you and wish you a merry Christmas!

Love,
The Hansens