St. Patrick's Table Runner

I know it's late, but I finally finished. Lest you think I have turned into Tyra, one of my co-workers is very into quilting and pieced this table runner together for me. I blanket stitched around the shamrock, hand-quilted the remaining shapes, and added the outside strips and binding. Anyway here is it in its finished state, ready for next year.

Jewelry Organizer

I must admit I am an accessory junkie. I think it comes from the same mentality about shoes, you are never to fat for a pair of shoes or a pair of earrings for that matter. Anyway, my box of jewelry was becoming much to cluttered. I couldn't find the earrings I wanted and necklaces get tangled and that is how this project was born. I covered the bottom half of this bulletin board that was already in my room with some fancy wrapping paper. The photo doesn't really show the texture, but it's cute I promise. Then I used clear push pins at about 1 inch intervals and wrapped wire across all the push pins and that created the space to hang the earrings. I used more push pins as spots to hang the necklaces and bracelets. I know I am an organization geek, but I feel so accomplished.

Bon Jovi Concert

So if you don't know, I loves the Bon Jovi and I promised myself next time he came to town that I was going. Here is the photo montage to him in all its glory.

Let me just say that it was awesome. Going to a concert in a big venue like the Energy Solutions Arena makes a huge difference. I sang until I went horse and went home with my ears ringing. I probably lost some of my hearing, but somehow it was all worth it.

Cute Mariana

My little niece just keeps getting cuter and cuter everyday (of course I might be a tad biased).
Look at this cute winter princess outfit. Hurry up with the Jello Grandpa!

Matt's Birthday

Here are all the birthday shots I got and I am posting two weeks late, but I did document that it occurred.

Earrings

In my family earrings were never very popular. My mom does not have pierced ears and my dad really doesn't care for them. In fact, he wouldn't let me get my ears pierced until my grandma (his mother) took me for my 12th birthday.

My sisters wanted to get their ears pierced too, but I guess they lost interest as they had to wait until they got older. All that has recently changed. Melissa went off to college and got her ears pierced on her own. Kaylyn was the last one left until now.

BEFORE


Notice the nervous smile. She was quite worked up that it was going to be very painful.

AFTER

Here she is with cute Mariana. Mariana was quite unimpressed with the whole event and slept through everything until the very end. Anyway, I love the earrings Kaylyn chose and in the end she was surprised how simple and painless it really was.

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas from the Hansen family.

Matt continues to work at Hill Air Force Base as a contractor. The main focus of his job is testing software that manages the radar for the Air Force. We are especially grateful this year that he still has a job. He also continues to serve as Elder's Quorum President which keeps him plenty busy. In his spare time he still enjoys mountain biking and volleyball and is looking forward to a couple of snowboarding trips this year.

I am working for the school district as a reading tutor which I love. I also love the extra long breaks. My calling is second counselor in the young women and that also keeps me very busy. In my spare time I enjoy reading, shopping, and sleeping. (Do you think taking naps counts as a hobby? I do.)

We are grateful to have a beautiful home, employment, to live in this country, to be healthy, to have a cute new puppy, and most of all for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. Merry Christmas to our friends and family, may the spirit of the holidays fill your hearts this week and in the future.