Easter

Easter came up fast this year, but we had a great day.  The older Livvy gets the more fun the holidays become.  A few days before Easter we went to an egg hunt with some friends.  It was so cute to see all the little kiddos hunting around for their treasures.  Livvy scored 12 eggs but didn't like any of the candy that was inside.  She's not a big candy person, which I'm grateful for and think is totally weird at the same time.  Don't get me wrong she doesn't dislike all candy she's just very picky.  Despite her dislike of candy she still protected it all with her life.  Not wanting anyone to touch it.  Easter Sunday was a beautiful day.  Church was great.  We also had 4 families over for dinner that night.  It was so fun to spend the holiday surrounded by friends!

        Livvy picked out her Easter dress all by herself this year.   She was very insistent on the blue dress.

                                                       
                                                         Her Easter basket goodies.

                                                    Egg hunting with her friend Whitney.

Livvy's 3!

We officially have a 3 year old in the house!  It's hard for me to believe she's already 3.  She's growing up so fast.  While Livvy was in Utah my mother-in-law had a little pre-birthday party for her with some family members and my parents.  It was so nice of Leslie to arrange all that for her.  Livvy's Indy birthday was more low key this year, but still a very enjoyable day.  We went to the children's museum in the morning.  Livvy loved the new Mr. Potato Head exhibit they had there.  In the afternoon we went to the movie The Lorax.  Livvy had a good day.  She was exhausted by bedtime.  We sure love our little Livvy girl.  She brings so much joy, love, happiness, spunk, patience, and humor into our home.  We feel so blessed she is in our lives.

The Gigantic Patriots vs. The Patriotic Giants

The Superbowl hoopla is in full swing here in Indianapolis.  Even though I'm not a huge football fanatic it is awfully exciting to have the Superbowl here.  I can't even imagine how crazy it would be here if the Colts were in the Superbowl.  Luckily the Colts decided to stay as far away from getting into the Superbowl as possible, so no worries about any additional craziness.

Yesterday we all went downtown to join in the big game festivities.  I love going to things like that.  Even if there isn't much to actually do, it's just exciting to be a part of all that energy.  The biggest attraction downtown is the zipline the city put in just for the event.  It's 80 feet high and runs 650 feet long!  Crazy exciting.  I would have LOVED to do it myself but the tickets sell out so fast and the wait to ride is about 6 hours...or so I'm told.  Even without the zipline thrill it has still be a pretty exciting week.

Christmas

I'm pretty sure I say this every year but Christmas really did go by WAY too fast this year!  I can't believe it's already come and gone.  Wow!  It just goes by faster and faster each year.  We were fortunate to be able to go to Utah for 2 weeks this year for Christmas.  We packed in lots of fun while there.  It was so fun to hang out with family and friends while we were there.  Livvy had a great time playing with cousins and getting spoiled with attention from 2 sets of grandparents.  She loved opening presents...didn't matter if they were hers or not.

Some highlights of our trip were:
Mormon Tabernacle Christmas concert with my sister Kynda and her husband Eric
High school friends party
Attending a baby shower for my good friend Kristen
Going to Sherlock Holmes and We Bought a Zoo with family
Christmas Eve program with Matt's family
Driving around with my mom to look at Christmas lights
Shopping
Niels' ward Christmas program on Christmas Day
Game night with my family
New Year's Eve tradition

Halloween 2011

Halloween was so much fun this year!  It's exciting to see Livvy old enough to understand what holidays are and get into the spirit of it all.  She loved going to the store and seeing the decorations.  On Halloween night it was absolutely adorable to see her knock on a door and say "twick 'r' tweat".   

We also had fun before Halloween decorating cookies with friends.  I think Livvy put that entire container of frosting on one cookie.

You won't see a single turkey there

Last weekend the Hansen trio went hiking at a place called Turkey Run.   Even though the name suggests there to be wild fowl scuttling about, disappointingly enough there was not a single turkey to be seen.  I'm not exactly sure how the Indiana naming system works, but I think it goes all the way back to the Indians.  100 Thanksgiving Days later we are left with no turkeys, but still have a stunning state park.  That's my guess anyway.  Weird name aside, Turkey Run is a beautiful place and the weather could not have been more perfect for hiking.  

Summer highlights

The summer of 2011 went by much faster than expected.  I can't believe it's already over!  Despite the fact that Matt had to take a few classes this summer, we were still able to pack in lots of fun and lots memories.  Here are just a few highlights:

Wicked Weekend - Finally saw "Wicked"!  It was an amazing production.  I'm so glad I was able to see it with my mom, sister, aunt, and cousin.  We went to garage sales (of course), out to breakfast, saw our cousin Olivia as a beautiful bride, had a Wii dance off, and never tired from saying the phrase, "this is wicked fun"!

Columbus, Indiana - Columbus is about an hour south of Indy.  It was ranked #6 in the nation for architectural innovation and design, which was completely surprising to me.  It's a neat city, with plenty of architecture and antiques for all.

Visit from Big Ma - We always love visits from Big Ma.  Livvy loves all the attention she gets from having her here.

Visit from Chloe - My niece Chloe stayed with us for a few days in July.  She was so nice to watch Livvy while Matt and I went on a date.  We also went swimming, to an ice-cream social, garage sales, and I'm pretty sure we watched almost the entire 1st season of "The Middle".  

Lots of water - Livvy is definitely part mermaid.  She is completely obsessed with all things water!  Touching it, drinking it, playing in it, splashing it, squirting it, looking at it, etc.  

Plenty of dress up - I think Livvy gets her fashion sense from me.  I didn't know until at least high school that it wasn't okay to wear a bathrobe with a tutu.  I love these pictures of Livvy.  This girl just makes me smile!

A trip to Chicago - To celebrate our 5 year anniversary, coming up in September, we took the opportunity while Matt was out of school to spend a few days in Chicago.  We had a fabulous time!  My favorite part of the trip was Navy Pier and Millennium Park, but I know Matt's favorite part was eating Italian beef sandwiches at Mr. Beef.  He's still talking about it a month later.   My mom was so nice to fly all the way from Utah to watch Livvy for us.  I know, my mom is the best!  

A trip to Shamu - We went to San Diego with Matt's parents and brother Jason.  Livvy had so much fun playing in the "be-ocean" and watching the dolphin show at Sea World.  We also went to Seaport Village, Cabrillo, and Old Town...just to name a few.  We had such a great time!

And just a bit of working - I refinished this dresser and also a couple of nightstands for our room.  I really love refinishing furniture.  It's a delightful feeling to take something old and make it new again.

Before

 After