Spaghetti Tacos

My kids love the show iCarly.  Okay, I'll be honest.  They whole family likes the show iCarly.   They do really funny and strange things on this show and one of them is eating spaghetti tacos.  One day Andy came home from work and told me that he and Ethan were going to make dinner.  I was thrilled of course, until I saw the outcome.  Yep thats right, we had spaghetti tacos for dinner.  It tasted pretty much how you would expect it to taste.  The kids ate it all but admitted later that it wasn't very yummy.  However, it was a fun dinner and a lasting memory.

Happy Birthday Dylan!

I can't believe my baby is one.  His birthday was on January 7 and I am amazed at how fast this year has flown by.  Dylan is so cute and is starting to have such a fun personality.  He started walking when he was 10 months old so he is almost running now.  He says quite a few words and phrases but of course "mama" isn't in his vocabulary yet.  His favorite things to say are "dada", "what's that", and "ball".  He absolutely loves the "I like to move it, move it" song from the movie Madagascar.  Every time he hears it he gets a huge grin and starts dancing.  Dylan loves to scream like a girl-all day long.  I am hoping this phase ends soon.  Dilly squish (as he is called at home) is a mama's boy and loves to be held by me a lot.  This can be frustrating but I am glad he loves me so much!  Dylan loves to give hugs and cuddle with soft things.  He is very loving and silly and I am excited to see what his second year has in store.

White Christmas

I am truly always dreaming of a white Christmas but this year I think it went a little to far!  We left our house pretty early on Christmas day to go visit family.  When we left there was about eight inches of snow already but while we were away it continued coming down.  By the time we arrived back home there was over two feet of snow!  Luckily our traveling went okay because the storm seemed to just hover over Herriman.  Our elders quorum (the ones who spent Christmas day at home) spent the afternoon helping people get out of their houses and shoveling driveways.  We were very grateful that we were able to get into our garage when we got home.  It was very beautiful but I think next year I won't dream of such a white Christmas!  

Sweater Party

Each year we host a Christmas sweater party.  Everyone who attends is required to wear a beautiful Christmas sweater.  I think our collection of sweaters amounts to around 15 now.  We give away prizes to the people with the "most festive" sweaters.  We also play games every year.  This year we played the usual "oven mitt" game, where you roll dice to try and open a present wrapped with packaging tape while wearing oven mitts.  This year we added some new games including a relay game of opening hershey kisses with a santa hat, scarf, and mittens on, and a pictionary game where the loser either has to drink a glass of egg nog or sing karaoke.  We ended the night with funny white elephant gifts.  It was a super fun night and is something we look forward to every Christmas season.

Check out my buttons and Andy's sequins! 

Christmas Parties

Each year we have the annual Boren family Christmas party and the annual Hanson family Christmas party.  We look forward to them each year.  The kids especially look forward to it because they know they will be receiving a gift from Santa.  We had a good time at both parties and it was fun to see family members that we don't get to see very often.

Hallie asking for a pony

We haven't had a crier yet

Ethan asking for a Nintendo DS

The Boren crew with "Great" (Grandma Hanson)

Ballet Recital

Hallie had her first ballet recital on December 13.  She was very excited to dance on stage for the first time.  Her dad, however, was not too excited to spend two hours watching other children dance and about a minute and a half watching Hallie.  Nevertheless, she looked super cute and actually did a pretty good job dancing (I was worried she might just get on stage and twirl)!  I'm sure this is just the first of many years of recitals!

Jaci, Addie, Hallie

Temple Square

Every year we take a trip to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.  This year we decided to take Trax instead of driving.  The kids had a lot of fun riding the train.  It had snowed right before we got there and it was just enough to put a light layer of snow on the trees and bushes.  It made everything look extra beautiful.  We had such a fun time, and it is a tradition that the whole family looks forward to every year.