December 2009

best wedding ever

Nathan and Katie are married! Another wonderful sister to add to the 7 I inherited in May. Here was the day-to-day activities:

Wednesday (2/10/10): Matt,  Manti, Rach and I fly to Dallas.

Thursday: Snow ALL day...setting a record of 12.5 inches. Last fitting for bridesmaids dresses, helped momma put together the rehearsal dinner flowers and then Rach and I went to Katie's Bachelorette Party with the rest of the bridal party at the mall for manis and pedis and dinner at Maggianos.Then drove as slow as possible to get home on the slushiest roads I have ever been on. It was so bizarre to see Dallas completely covered in snow.

 

Friday: Momma, Grandma Nelson, Adrianne, Rach and I went to a cooking school/kitchen appliance store with all the women relatives on both sides of the bride and groom to make our lunch with the chefs that teach classes there. Such a good idea! We've never done anything like it. We made paninis with  freshly made mozzarella, vinaigrette dressing made from scratch with our salad and freshly chopped herbs rubbed on delicious pork sirloin. That night, met at the church for the wedding rehearsal, luckily the church 's power came back an hour before we arrived (most of Dallas was out of power because of the snow) and we practiced walking down the aisle and placed where we would stand during the ceremony. Dinner rehearsal was moved to another Catina Laredo right by our house because the original location didn't have power. Ate delicious Mexican food and watched the video Katie's brother, Tony, made for bride and groom. He did a great job. Nathan and Katie showed off their dance moves for the video, a little preview for what was to come at the wedding reception. Afterwards, friends and family came to the house to celebrate Dad's 58th birthday, yes 58th! Mom and Dad stocked up on a variety of delicious Blue Bell ice cream (one of the reasons I want to move back to Texas) for his birthday/the weekend.

Saturday: The big day! We headed over to Katie's parents house to get our hair and makeup done with the bride, bridesmaids and Maddie and Abbie (the flower girls). Maddie and Abbie looked like princesses in their fluffy dresses and up-dos. Us bridesmaids put on our dresses and got into a huge limo while Katie in her cute white track suit got into her own limo to. We arrive at the church, Katie puts on her beautiful dress and it's picture time. After pictures we had about an hour to talk in the bride's room and played charades. And it's show time! We lined up and Luke needed a little gum motivation to break away from his dad and wait to walk down the aisle with his sisters. He was so adorable in his little tuxedo! After the ceremony, more pictures and to the hotel to rest up for the reception. And holy cow, the reception was amazing. It was at Union Station, an old train station in downtown Dallas. Pictures of parents and grandparents from their weddings were set up as you first walk in, up the escalators to a bar area for cocktail hour and then dinner. Before dinner the parents and wedding party were to be announced and dance out to the dance floor. It was all improv dancing, but luckily I was with my brother Matt. Dinner was so good and my favorite part was the mashed potato bar with all the trimmings. Besides dancing for the rest of the reception with the amazing band and DJ, their was a room set up to make a 7-second video that was made into a flip book. Matt and I did one, as well with all of the bridesmaids and the bride. Back to the dancing, Nathan was the star. I've known he is a great dancer, but dang, it was incredible. Everyone loved it. Katie had a special surprise for Nathan after the toasts, Beth had Steve record a toast because he would be in Afghanistan and sent it to Katie to be played at the reception. It was really sweet and funny. At the end of the night, we lined up outside to throw flower petals at Nathan and Katie as they left. They are going on a South American cruise for their honeymoon starting from Rio de Janeiro.

 

Sunday: Valentine's day! Brunch at the hotel with family and the bride and groom. And all the festivities for the wedding are over. It was so nice to be around family and old friends. Later that day we visited Nathan and Katie's house they had just moved into maybe a week before. Then finally, Rach told Manti we were going to the NBA All-Star game that night. I don't know how the surprise wasn't ruined. Even though we were in the nose bleeds the game was so much fun and the entertainment was amazing with performances by Usher, Shakira and Alicia Keys. I was star struck by all the players and in awe of how huge the new Cowboys Stadium is. With that said, we are apart of a Guinness world record now as we were apart on the largest crowd ever of 108,713 people to attend a basketball game.

Monday: Back to reality and flew back to Utah. And Matt took a picture with Reverend Jesse Jackson at the Dallas airport.

Mom and Dad

 Grandpa and Grandma Nelson

Grandpa and Grandma Musick

christmas and thanksgiving

disclosure: i may jump around a lot, because there is a lot to say. and usually matt and my matt is matt hansen, the other matt is my brother.

fortunately, we were able to visit both santa barbara and dallas over christmas. it was fun to meet the new baby additions to the hansen clan and it was especially exciting to anticipate dani's baby arrival. kobe was the freshest newborn i have ever seen. matt's nieces and nephews love wrestling with their uncle matt and they wear him out. we went to the beach and tried to take advantage of all the good food we could get in santa barbara.

christmas eve we went to matt's grandparents and ate a delicious meal, had a white elephant gift exchange with movies, opened up our pajamas, listened to cassi sing beautifully and listened to his grandpa as he read from the bible of christ's birth. justin, charlotte and violet did a great job playing the part as joseph, mary and baby Jesus for the nativity scene. the next morning we woke up early, opened gifts and had fun watching the kids taking turns opening their presents. matt and i got a wii from his parents that we've (mainly i) been wanting for a long time. matt surprised me with a laptop (mine broke down last semester), well he wrote it on sheet of paper and ordered it last week, so i should be getting it soon. after opening presents we went back to matt's grandparents to open more gifts and ate breakfast made by the men. later that afternoon we packed up and went to the santa barbara airport where our flight was delayed for over an hour and we missed our connecting flight from phoenix to dallas. the airline gave us $40 vouchers for dinner and breakfast and put us up in a hotel for the night. it wasn't too bad, i just wanted to be home as much as possible. we got to dallas the next morning and had a "second christmas."  matt's favorite gift for christmas/graduation was Sig Sauer P226 9 millimeter Navy Seal Edition. (it's a pistol). matt was so excited and it is his baby. my favorite gifts was more of my china with china storage protectors and a sewing machine. i can't wait to use my sewing machine.

my nieces and nephew as well loved wrestling with matt. one time, when i wasn't home, maddie taunted matt by informing him that he didn't have his "roommate" there to help him. whenever i wasn't with matt, luke would ask him where his "friend" was...so apparently i am matt's roommate and friend and not their aunt. luke makes me feel special when he calls me loralbabes like my brother matt and his wife always have. luke is the cutest boy i have ever seen. maddie took advantage of cable and the disney channel and i loved to hear abbie's stories and songs. i am so impressed at how smart they all are. my matt is very proud of the fact that all kids 2 and younger love him and i have to work for their attention. i can't wait to see them walk down the aisle for nathan and katie's wedding as flower girls and the ring bearer.

i was so happy to be home with all of my siblings. a lot of things are changing now that matt and i are married, nathan and katie are getting married and now that steve is engaged to a great girl, beth. we really enjoyed getting to know her and i am very happy for steve.

matt was able to help my dad set up our old video camera to the tv and we watched christmas from 1993, birthdays, a recital, and steve's football practice. it was really funny to see what we looked like and how we acted. adrianne especially loved seeing matt in high school and his british night jumpsuit. i wish i had more memories of when i was that young.

my mom took rachel, me, adrianne, katie and beth to lunch while beth and steve were still in town. it was so much fun, i feel very lucky to have all these wonderful women in my life. i can't wait to spend more time with them in the future.

i love my family so much and i hope that we can remain close as things continue to change.

i've come to realize that adrianne is super mom. i've always known she was a great mom, but she is super mom. by the end of her stay all of the kids had had the stomach flu. she stayed up all night before she left taking care of them, took 8 full bags of luggage back to arizona with 3 little kids to care for on the plane without matt. she ended up getting sick herself later that day. it must have been a huge challenge, but she remained positive. i also love how patient she is with her kids and is always trying to teach them.

i've always known, but will state, my parents are the greatest. i hope to be as loving and giving as they are.

now going way back to thanksgiving

rachel and i were able to take a 9 day break from school for thanksgiving so we drove with matt to mesa, az where we stayed and spent time with our sweet grandma nelson. matt, adrianne and the kids had moved their since august and just bought a house in gilbert. my parents came later that week. it was so much fun to be around family for so long. grandma nelson taught me how to crochet and rachel how to make pie. my grandma is the best cook. she is so sweet, thoughtful and generous. i love her so much and was so glad to spend that time with her. we spent thanksgiving at my uncle grant's and aunt judy's with most of their kids and grandkids. rachel and our brother, matt ran earlier that morning in a 10k and beat the turkey! (another runner dressed up as a turkey, sort of a big deal to beat the turkey.) my brother matt, gave us a tour of ASU and i am so jealous of the work-out facility they have for the students. my matt and i went to buckeye, about an hour outside mesa to see matt's sister and her family. we spent the day with her and her kids. it was good to see them then, since we wouldn't have at christmas. matt went up another day that week to be with them as well. we also had to chance to see the mesa temple with the christmas lights up and it was beautiful. just as good as the salt lake temple. and it's cool how wards and stakes help with putting them up.

(my brother matt is also a great dad and husband, such a hard worker and devoted to everything he does whether it is being a dad, a student, or husband.)

what i am thankful for:

i am so grateful that families can be together forever. for the gospel and the plan of salvation. for temples. for my wonderful husband. for my siblings. for my parents. for a modern-day prophet and the leaders of the church. i know this church is true and i know Heavenly Father and Jesus know me and love me. i am grateful for this knowledge.

pictures are too come, i will try to be better, but as i claim with everything else, i won't be able to do what i really want til i am done with school in april. only 94 days, yee haw!

sister kelli hansen

matt's sister, kelli, has been called to serve a mission in the Marshall Islands for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. we love you kelli and we know you will be an amazing missionary! even if matt doesn't write you, i will.

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i hope our babies are this cool

here's a video my sister-in-laws played over christmas break. it made me laugh, so i thought i'd share.

SCOREBOARDSAYWHAT???

(20) Brigham Young 14

(3) Oklahoma 13

#20 BYU beat #3 Oklahoma. I am still speechless. I was hoping this would happen, but not expecting it would. It was fun to watch the game here in Provo and to see the chaos it caused in the streets and at the stadium, but I regret not being at the game in Dallas. I'm excited for the season and the first home game against #18 Florida State.

what's going on

matt is working hard at his job at no more mortgage. i'm working hard trying to find a job, probably not hard enough. matt says i need to bug people everyday to get a job i want.

matt has been listening to books on audio and so far he has listened to glenn beck's common sense, 5000 year leap (a book i had to read for my econ class this summer), 1776, lone survivor and just started count of monte cristo (there may be another book or two, but i can't remember). we started listening to lone survivor on our way back to utah from colorado after he finished 1776 and it is really good. matt even said it made him want to live in texas. it's a true story about a proud texan who becomes a navy seal and during a mission in afghanistan he is the only one to survive. the largest loss of elite soldiers ever and it is very well written.

my mom is coming to town today! woo hoo!

i finished summer term last week (hallelujuah!). i'm glad to get economics and statistics out of the way.

last night at sushi (yamato sushi restaurant in orem, BEST sushi we've had so far and great service: miso soup, salad and ice cream, all on-the-house) our very nice server confirmed all my fears about looking really young when she asked:

server (to matt): "is this your sister?"(referring to me)

matt: "no, this is my wife."

server (to me): "oh, you look to young to be married. how old are you?"

me: "i'm 22."

server: "0h, i thought you were 17."

the sad thing is i thought that when you dress up and wear more makeup you look older, not in my case...it was my first time to wear a headband in probably 3 years...and it could've been the flower on the headband that defined me as a girl who is not old enough to be a legal adult. also, people who meet me or my sister for the first time, automatically assume she is the older one...so it's official, i feel 17 and i look 17. which will be good in the future right?