Happy New Year from the Hancock's!!!

We're letting everyone stay up until midnight...yikes.

Becky's Christmas Present Use #1

For Christmas, Becky got us season passes to Six Flags. I know that she stewed and stewed over whether or not we would like this, but seriously, who doesn't love theme parks more than we do??? It was the PERFECT present for us. We headed out yesterday with one goal in mind....don't spend a dime. And we didn't! We even brought healthy snacks to kick off our new years resolution to lose all this extra baby weight. And it was pretty fun. We watched a few shows, rode a couple rides and got all excited for the spring when the park opens for the season.

We started off with the Elephant show. I was pretty impressed with it actually. Pacen was pretty impressed that the elephant ate 8 bananas at once. Camry and Claira went up to pet and feed her and when we go back, we're totally riding her! You can pay extra to get to ride an elephant. How cool is that!?!?

It was pretty crowded...still the holiday season apparently.

This little girl is so funny. She cried and cried because she couldn't go on the little ride with Daddy, Cam and Pacen, so I told her we could eat a treat and so I gave her a piece of candy and I pulled out a string cheese, and then she threw a fit for a string cheese instead of the candy. She's crazy. But dang cute. She makes this little smirk all the time.

This is the before and during picture of Cam on this ride. I didn't get the after. She was all excited, then got super duper scared, and then was happy again.

Checking out the animals. Camry sat in that little bubble and said, Hey take my picture mom! That's my girl.

And I love little moments like this. I love when we spend a day all together, just us. We have a pretty good little family.

And proof that Gentry was there. She was a trooper as always, even though she ruined this outfit again. She's just my baby and I already had to buy her size 3 diapers. What is up with that!?!?!? But, I can't afford any more public blowouts!

Thanks for the Christmas present, Becky!

Christmas Day

In honor of my first post from a Mac, here are some first photo booth photos. Enjoy the craziness.

This was the first Christmas that we spent at our house with only our little family. It was nice and fun and not too crazy. Kids are just funny. Pacen was happy opening all of his presents, but wasn't fully satisfied until he opened his DS. You could tell when Camry really liked or just okay liked her present when she'd say thank you and just toss it on the floor. Every time we handed Claira a present she'd whisper the cutest little, "Woooowwww...." and open it and be all excited. Believe it or not, Gentry didn't change any of her expressions but I know that she loved Christmas too.

The stockings. I have an issue. I am obsessed with my stocking and so I want my kids to love their stockings too, but since I'm such a nut about mine I haven't been able to find or make ones that I love enough to give to my kids, so in the meantime, they just have loaner stockings that we've collected through the years. LAME! So, my goal for 2011 is to find or make awesome stockings. Who knows, maybe I'll get so frustrated I'll just buy the pottery barn ones just to make it easy. Those are cute, right? I just love mine. Can someone find out who made them back in 1982 so I can hire them to make my kids'...please??? They did love their stockings anyway. It was funny because the girls got chap stick in theirs and Pacen didn't get any (because it was princess chap stick) and he was like, Hey, I didn't get any chap stick. And I said, well, that is Princess so you wouldn't like it anyway. And he says, "Well, the elves could have made boy chap stick." Yep, that's true. What was I thinking?

Look at all those Hancock's! We have a big family. So pretty on Christmas morning.

Here's my favorite Christmas present! Gentry's first Christmas. She is so chunky and smiley and happy. She brightens all of our days.

Babies!!! Claira was so happy with her babies! She could have just opened those and would have been completely content. But, since I'm obsessed with presents, we bought our kids way too many like always. We got Camry one, too, and she was obsessed. My girls will be such good mommies.

Best Christmas present ever.....the DS!!! Video games make this boy happy. But he has to read 30 minutes before he can play so that makes a mommy happy, too!

How many presents can Claira hold at one time?????

This is what Christmas is all about. Wearing and playing with your presents all morning. Love it.

This is my favorite Christmas thing I bought last year. And the kids play with it all the time and love to act out the nativity. It's just a magnet board and the pieces are all just fabric backed with felt but it has amazing detail and it's wonderful. Money well spent. And easy to make if you have like 100 hours. I did not. :)

Than always is the amazing gift giver. Obviously, I love my computer. We're still getting to know each other. But my favorite gift was a two part-er. The first box was a handmade white surrender flag, and in the next box was a Giants shirt for everyone in the family! It was awesome. And there were vouchers for a game for next season. So great. He didn't have to buy one for Pacen since Loren was all over that one, and Than didn't get one for himself but I see a giants shirt in his future. I love that the avid A's fan will support his Giants loving wife.

And since Christmas morning, I have spent waayyyyy too much time opening toy packages. Why do they make them so difficult?!?!?! Seriously, my arthritic hands cannot handle any more twist ties and tape! But it's almost done and about 98% put away and clean. I love having my house back. Than walked in and said, "Are we moving?" It looks so clean and empty right after Christmas.

Alright, we're off. We are using Becky's present to us for the first time today. She got us season passes to Six Flags! We're pumped and now I only have 50 minutes to get us all dressed and ready. On your mark, get set, go!

11 days?????

Has it really been 11 days since I last blogged??? Well, since then we left for LA and I had nothing to do on Friday so we just said what the heck and took the kids to Disneyland all by myself while Than worked. The kids got all excited and I tried to get Erin and Rick to drive up but they couldn't and so we just headed out...in the rain. I ran to target before we left and bought a few 'rain' things. If only I knew just how many 'rain' things we were going to have to buy over the next week....did you ever look at the national weather last week. So Cal had the most rain since the world began and we happened to plan our Disneyland trip right in the middle of it. But our kids are AMAZING! On Friday, when I went to Disneyland by myself with them they were seriously the best. It would have been easy had it not been raining they were just so excited to be there. And we rode a few rides and as soon as we came in the park Minnie Mouse was there and I knew it was totally worth it. Chip was there, too, and he danced with Camry and messed up Pacen's hair. I LOVE Disneyland. It's just magical even in the pouring rain. And it did stop from time to time and the kids got really cute galoshes and we got to wear a poncho for three days. Nursing outside in the rain is pretty awesome too. :) There are many many pictures to come. I have lots to catch up on. I hate not blogging!

So, yeah, we were there and then on Saturday we went to the BYU vs. UCLA basketball game and they lost. Boo hoo. Kathy came on Sunday, found a random ward, drove by the temple and then we bought one of those 5 dollar star maps and drove around and saw people's hedges and gates to their fancy homes for an hour or so. Really great way to spend your sabbath day. :) Then Monday and Tuesday was Disneyland, Wednesday we drove home. Then we had 3 days to get ready for Christmas and we did and it was amazing. Last night we had a great dinner and then headed out to Temple Hill and saw the lights on the palm trees and spent time in the Visitors Center trying to get the kids to get the focus off of Santa for a few minutes. I think it worked. I love going to the visitors center and being on the temple grounds. I love the Christmas story and thinking of the circumstances around the Savior's birth. Its hard to balance all the things that the holiday season has in it but I think we did a good job. One thing I've thought about...I'm never having a baby in the fall. It just makes the holiday season waaayyyy to busy. I feel like I've just been running and running since we had her. We had Gentry, then it was my birthday, Than went to China, we celebrated his birthday, we had Halloween, Thanksgiving, Emily's birthday, Than's work trip and marathon, my trip to San Diego, our Disneyland trip, and then Christmas. Whew. And we got to enjoy our sweet Gentry all in that. She is an amazing baby. She sleeps through the night and is just cute and smily. She was an angel at D-land, just hanging out in the bjorn covered with a poncho, taking naps here and there and even got her first kiss from Minnie Mouse. Complete angel. We love this little baby.

Christmas was so great this morning. Every present we brought out Claira would say, "Wowwwww..." in this sweet little whisper. She loved opening her presents and she got some babies and baby stuff and was in heaven. Pacen got his DS, camry got her first Barbie and Ken doll and a locket that she loves. My kids are just funny because they just really believe in Santa. And Santa can make anything. ANYTHING. Even movies that haven't been released on DVD. Did you know that? Santa and his elves can make anything even if it is expensive. This morning while opening our stockings, Santa put princess chap stick in the girls' stockings but none in Pacen's. He says, "Well, the elves could have made boy chap stick?" True principle. The kids were so happy with all of their new toys. They always get way too many things but I just love to buy them stuff. Is that a terrible thing? Probably. But it's so fun to see their little faces light up when they rip off the wrapping paper. I love Christmas. And this is the first time we've ever had it with just our little family and it was so much fun. It was a lot more quiet and really really awesome to open the toys and just be able to put our things away where they go instead of making a stack in the corner of a bedroom and then loading them in the car and then finally taking them home. But big family Christmas is good, too. We're up in Oroville right now and it's fun to be around everyone. This Christmas day was pretty great, too, because I got to see both Erin and Rick and Marc and Em (and baby Roman, too!) and then head up to see Than's family. It's just been a great day. I love Christmas. Oh, and I love Than. He bought me a new computer for Christmas! He's the best. Now my computer won't suck. For instance, we needed to print a little thing for a gift and it took us and hour...really a whole hour just to get it to work. And I can blog faster....who isn't going to love that?!?!?!?!?! It'll be here on Tuesday and I can't wait. And he bought me some new pans which I can't wait to use. And right now while I type we are watching the first season of Modern Family and it's so funny. I haven't laughed so hard at a TV show in a long time.

Anyway--time for bed. Man it feels good to type again! :)

Really?

Yep, that's my fully decorated Christmas tree. The kids and I were all in the kitchen so I can't blame them. It broke the last ornament that my mom gave me. It can be fixed with glue so it's not the worst ever. More memories, I guess. It's just not my Christmas year. I'd end this post with Bah Humbug but that would be a little cliche. And I don't really feel that way. I just don't want to clean it up and Than's at scouts and I have to drag all the kids out to tithing settlement by 8:30. Oh, the joys of the Christmas season! My house does look all pretty though. Minus the tree leaning against my couch. :)

Is it Dec. 14th already???

It is never a good thing for me to go so long without blogging. My computer has some serious issues. Maybe Santa will bring me a new one for Christmas. Or just fix this piece of lame computer for me. I really love this time of year but this year seems like it's just in fast forward and we're doing the holiday rush. The problem with us is that we traveled for Thanksgiving, then two days later Than traveled, one day later I traveled, and now we're home but we're leaving on Thursday because we planned a little getaway to LA all revolving around the BYU vs. UCLA basketball game. We're stupid. I know. So, Than is working on Friday down there, then we'll do the BYU basketball game, Sunday we're going something (Brooke--you open for some visitors??? :)) and then on Monday and Tuesday we're doing Disneyland with Kathy. Then we're heading home. It really sounded like a good idea 3 months ago, but now I think I'd rather just sit in my house and stare at my Christmas tree. The Christmas tree that we just got half way up last night. I've been trying to make the kids and I do something Christmas-y every day and the kids have loved that. They love our advent calendars and the little activities that I do with them. They just love Christmas. So, until I have a few more minutes to fix this dumb machine, here are two pictures of my little nephew. He's so adorable.

Well, it's 4:42 in the AM. I've been holding Roman for almost two hours. Thank goodness Gentry is an amazing sleeper. She's been going all night long for at least a week now. Not all night like 8 am, but all night until like 5 or 6 so she could be getting up any time now. I'm got to come down to Emily's house yesterday to meet baby Roman. He is so adorable and I love seeing how in love with him Emily and Marc are. It's such a special time to be first time parents. There is something amazing about the newness of it all. I'm so thankful to Than for letting me come down here. And to Becca and Kyle for helping me out with watching my kids. There is a lot that has to be done to make sure that everyone is taken care of when the mom is gone. But I'm so glad to come down here if only to fulfill my own selfish reasons. I just miss mom and she should be here helping Emily and I'm glad that I can fill that role for three days. And I'm just glad to help. I never want to be the 'know it all I've had four kids let me show you how it's done' sister but I do want to help make that transition into parenthood a little easier. And if it's helping by getting Roman to fall asleep from 3 to 5 am for a few nights, I'm all about that. He's sleeping peacefully in his swing right now. Really, why do babies struggle so much sleeping at night when its all you can do during the day to keep them awake so they can eat? Well, did I call it or what...Gentry is waking up. I can hear her stirring....I must hurry so we don't wake the parents......

Nicest Compliment Ever.

So, a few weeks ago Camry's primary teacher came up to me and started talking about Camry. She said how much she loves Camry, and how Camry just amazes her, and how she knows and sings every word to every song, and that it wasn't just that Camry was smart but that Camry just has something special about her. And obviously, I agree. She does. She's an amazing girl. But then her teacher told me that her daughter is having a little girl in December and she's trying to convince her daughter to name the baby Camry after our Camry. Her daughter made some car joke about it and the teacher said, No, it has to be after my special Camry. Isn't that the nicest compliment ever? That just kind of surprised me a little and made me think about how wonderful and magical little children can be. It's amazing to me that Camry could have such an effect on her primary teacher so much that she'd want to name her granddaughter after her. Camry really is a special little girl. She's just like a sponge and soaks everything in. Her memory really gets me sometimes. And she's funny and helpful. Now if I could only get her to stop using this voice that she thinks is so 'cute'. She says her S's all weird and I'm know she just thinks it's so cute when she talks like that but it really wears on my nerves...in the most loving motherly way. :)

Look at that picture. How can you not love a girl that matches her BYU shirt with her high heels. A perfect combination, I think.

Deer.

I don't think I'll ever not love seeing all these deer outside our door. That is unless one of them attacks our kids, then I might not love them anymore. They just chill in our yard and eat all the grass. It's fun here in our little piece of wilderness in the bay area.

Friends and Cousins.

A week ago, Kaylee came for her monthly trip to drop off Olive. I've said it before, I hate that she has to bring Olive every month just from that stand point that it is inconvenient to drive such a long trip every month, but I love seeing her and the kids. I wish that we could see Olive more, but that's the way it works. The kids are always sad when she leaves, but it has given them a chance to get to know Will better. It's nice because they include him when we're talking about them. I'll say Olive and Kaylee and then Camry will pipe in....And Will! That picture on the right is the only one that I got of Will this trip.

Olive left her Bolt and I was worried that Claira wouldn't give him back, but Claira put on her nice face and gave it back. And Camry wanted to have her hair just like Olives. Gotta love matching cousins.

This picture if of them from a few months ago on their first trip out. It's crazy how kids grow in just a matter of months.

The day after Kaylee and Chris left, Jana and Ben came! It was a party weekend! I just love them and love their kids and wish we still lived close. We would be sitting around talking or game playing and think....where are the kids? They're just off playing somewhere. They play so well together. Hardly any fights or hurt feelings.

The older half of our kids.

Of course we had to take them to our park. It was a little chilly but the kids didn't mind.

Pacen thought he was pretty cool hanging upside down. Then benji had to get in on the action.

Ben and Jana taught them how to play Sardines.

This is what life is like with two babies. A baby strapped to you so you can help the other one. Jana is a very good mom and is super patient with her kids.

We love our friends and cousins. Come and visit anytime!