Merry Christmas to all!

What a wonderful Christmas it has been! We finally got to bring Donna home with us (for about a month!). We are very happy to have her here with us!

We stayed in Waterloo for an extra day and headed home on Monday instead of Sunday - getting home a little after 9pm. As we were unloading the truck we heard Santa's sleigh bells! Dayne got sooooooo excited! She was running around like a mad woman trying to get the truck unloaded so we could all go to bed! She kept telling me that she KNOWS I am Santa, so this was"proof" that I am NOT Santa Claus. It was perfect timing on Santa's part! Here is a video clip of her trying to hurry up and unpack!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBzf78ycJeI

After we got the truck unpacked and things put away we followed the family tradition and let them open one present early.
Dayne opened her Baby Alive (she's been a wee bit obsessed with it!) and Hunter got an iPod Classic. Finally, about 11pm we headed to bed .... and anxiously anticipated what Santa would bring by morning!

Dayne woke up in the middle of the night and saw that Santa had already been there and brought her a Hannah Montana outfit and High School Musical pop up hamper! She came into our room to tell us! The next morning she woke up about 9:30 and excitedly told me that she heard Santa! She heard his bells and she heard him eating his cookies!

Here are some videos of the kids opening a present:

Dayne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL87-dMAt7k

Hunter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRiwiahKnoU

After we were done opening presents we had cinnamon buns and scrambled eggs for breakfast and the kids played with their new toys and gadgets! The rest of the day was spent just lounging around ... poor Graden has the flu, so he hasn't been too perky!

Dayne as Santa's helper!

Graden as Santa's helper!

Hunter as Santa's helper!

Tiffany as Santa's helper!

A Sledding We Will Go!

What a weekend it's been! We headed for Waterloo on Thursday night after work and arrived at Donna's house about 11:15pm. Friday morning the kids and I headed to Cedar Rapids to pick up my brother, Brian, and his wife, Jen, from the airport. Their plane was scheduled to arrive at 2:44pm so we left kind of early (at least by Hansen standards!) so we could do some Christmas shopping. About noon Brian called me to let me know that their flight from Cincinnatti was canceled due to the fog and they'd be able to get on a plane the next morning. Disappointed, the kids and I finished our shopping and headed back to the 'Loo.

Saturday morning we waited to hear from Brian to see when (for sure!) their plane would be arriving. Plans changed entirely and they were now going to fly into Des Moines. Once again the kids and I - and dad this time - loaded in the van and headed toward Des Moines. About 15 minutes before arriving in Des Moines Brian calls to let us know that once they were up in the air, they received clearance to fly into Cedar Rapids after all, so there they were. We flipped a U Turn (literally) on the highway and headed toward Cedar Rapids. FINALLY about 1:15 we were able connect! Unfortunately, their luggage was MIA.

We got back to Dad's house about 3:30 and had a very nice dinner followed by the kids enjoying sledding and snow boarding and four wheeling in the snow!

Me with my dad and brother. It's been quite a few years since we've all been togehter on Christmas so this was a really nice visit!

KC Chiefs Game

Dad visited us this weekend so he could attend a KC Chiefs game. He arrived on Saturday afternoon!

Too bad the "chumps" lost ... again.

Girls Day Shopping

I was brave this afternoon and took Dayne and her BFF Lauren shopping at the mall. They had a blast at Limited Too, Build A Bear and riding the carousel in the mall!

What primadonnas they are!

... at build a bear workshop. Not sure how it happened, but I somehow got roped into this. Successful con artists in the making. :)

What a weekend!

This weekend Graden and I - along with my friends from work - went to a Bed & Breakfast in Hermann, MO. Hermann is known for it's wineries and beautiful scenery. We stayed at a very quaint B&B called the Wine Valley Inn. It was very nice! I had never been to a B&B so it made a very nice impression for me!

We left Saturday morning about 9:45 and started toward Hermann (about 20 miles SW of St. Louis). The weather was really crappy, in fact we were under a winter weather advisory due to the freezing rain! Maybe not the best decision we could all make together, but we did it anyway!

We arrived safely in Hermann about 2 o'clock and made our first stop at the Hermannhof Winery for some wine sampling and lunch. We had cheese, wine, grapes and sausage ... and some more wine! We left that winery and headed to the next one, Adam Puchta Winery, about 3:45. At the Adam Puchta winery we received a mini history lesson on how the wine is processed and how each wine differs from the others.

Next we went to Stone Hill winery, where we had dinner reservations. We did more wine sampling, followed by a very nice dinner ... with wine, of course! We arrived back at the B&B about 8:30, where we were all pretty much wiped out!

I refused to call it a night so early, so we headed across the street to a local bar, the Sharp Corner Tavern. This decision proved to be an interesting one. The decor of the bar consisted of wasp nests and a childs 4X4 ATV toy hanging from the ceiling. Oh, and a patron (we guessed to be a regular) dressed in a sleeveless Jack Daniels t-shirt ripped from armpit to belly button. The best part was that he "oops .... cut a hole" in his shirt right where his huge belt buckle could be seen. He proceeded to get Shawn to promise to dance during the next dance Shawn knew. Luckily, the lad was too drunk to hold Shawn to that. We called it quits about 10:30 and headed back over to the B&B and called it a night.

That's me and Barb!

The next morning we all met downstairs at 9:00 for breakfast and departed about 10:10. The roads were worse than they had been the day before, but as we headed west toward home they were much better.

We arrived home about 2 o'clock ... just in time for Graden to watch the Chiefs game!

Need a laugh?

Jen sent this to me and it is one of the funnier things I have seen in quite a while. I can see her doing this at her wedding!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Hansen House

Hunter and I went out this afternoon for some Christmas shopping and to pick out a Christmas tree!

Oz even offered to help Graden set up the tree! Truth be told, he wasn't much help ...

The kiddos helped decorate the Family room and the tree ... they even made sure they had a tree lit up and decorated for their bedrooms!

My little elves!

Game 2 - Ouch.

Hunter's 2nd basketball game of the season was this afternoon ... and I think he can still feel the sting from the beating. They lost 69-20 (eek!).