Dec. 23, 2025

A Hanson Family Christmas

A Hanson Family Christmas

Christmas in the Hanson household is anything but quiet—and we wouldn’t have it any other way. In this special holiday episode of We Are the Hansons, we invite you straight into our living room for a real, unfiltered Hanson Family Christmas. From cherished traditions and chaotic moments to meaningful reflections on faith, family, and gratitude, this episode captures what the season truly means to us.

With a house full of kids, grandkids, laughter, noise, and love, we talk about the magic of Christmas through every stage of family life—what we’ve learned over 22 years together, how traditions evolve, and why presence matters more than perfection. Whether your holidays are joyful, messy, quiet, or complicated, this episode is a reminder that Christmas isn’t about what’s under the tree—it’s about who’s around it.

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No, no, no, we wait for dad. He's still got

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the camera, but I can see mine.

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It's right there.

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It's six point forty seven in the morning, Christmas morning,

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and I'm standing in our kitchen watching chaos unfold in

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slow motion. One kid's already ripped into something, another one's

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crying because someone touched their present. The dog is eating

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wrapping paper, and my husband he's laughing because what else

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can you do? This is Christmas, real, messy, beautiful. Welcome

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to We are the Hansens. If this is your first

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time here, buckle up. You just walked into a house

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with more kids than bedrooms, more noise than sense, and

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more love than we know what to do with. And

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if you've been writing with us, you already know you

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know that we don't do perfect. We don't do silent

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nights or matching pajamas in every photo.

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We do real.

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Today's episode is different. Christmas is two days away, and

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in true handsome fashion, the house is loud, the to

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do list is long, someone is definitely missing a shoe,

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and there's wrapping paper stuck to Honestly, I don't even

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know anymore, but today we slow it all down because

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Christmas isn't a checklist, it's not a Pinterest forward. It's

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a feeling, a memory, a moment we can't.

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Afford to rush past.

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So grab your coffee, grab your cocoa, grab so whatever's

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left after the kids rated the fridge. Sit with me.

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This is a handsome family Christmas. All right, let's set

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the scene. It's December in the Hansen House, which means

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the calendar has officially exploded. Christmas programs, school parties, cookie exchanges,

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secret Sanna White Elephant gifts something called elf on the

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shelf that I still don't fully understand. And can I

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be honest, I forget to move that thing all the time.

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I forgot twice last week had to tell the kids

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that the elf was resting. Mom elves don't rest. Listen, kid,

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this elf does. She's exhausted, she's got bills. And then

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there's the shopping, the wrapping, the hiding of presents in

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increasingly creative locations because we ran out of normal spots

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three kids ago. Last year, we found presents in the

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garage attic in March. In my defense, they were very

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well hidden. But here's the thing, as chaotic as it gets,

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as tired as we are, as many times as we

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say next year we're doing it differently. We wouldn't trade it,

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not for anything, because somewhere between the chaos and the coffee,

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between the meltdowns and the magic, something beautiful happens. Life

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shows up, love shows up, and we remember why we

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do this. Christmas in our house has never been quiet.

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We don't do silent nights. We do chaotic nights. Laughter

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echoing down hallways, kids arguing over who gets to put

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the star on the tree, at least one Christmas movie

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playing that nobody is actually watching.

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And every year it's different.

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Some years we had more money, some years we had less.

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Some years were full of pure joy, some years were

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just trying to survive. But every single year we showed up.

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One of my favorite things about Christmas and our family,

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It's never been about perfection. It's about presence. We've had

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Christmas trees that leaned, like aggressively leaned. One year, we

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had to tie it to the wall with fishing line,

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and the kids thought it was hilarious. They named it

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the Leaning Tower of Christmas. We've had lights that only

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worked halfway, ornaments made from popsicle sticks in school, glue presents,

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wrapped in grocery bags because life happened and the wrapping

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paper didn't make it home.

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And yet those are.

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The years we remember most. We remembered the year someone

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shook every single present to guess what was inside. The

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year the kids woke up at four point thirty in

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the morning and we all just gave up and started early.

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The year the batteries weren't included and the tears came fast.

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But we also remember the cuddles on the couch, the

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prayer said quietly, with little hands folded, the way lights

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looked reflecting in their eyes, the realization that what mattered

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most was already sitting in the room all right, story

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time three years ago, Christmas Eve, we got all the

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kids down finally, Jeremy and I were up until midnight

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wrapping presents, building something that said some assembly required but

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really meant you'll need an engineering degree and a miracle.

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We finish. We're exhausted.

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We go to bed. Two hours later.

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I hear footsteps, little footsteps coming down the hall. I

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open my eyes and there's one of our kids standing

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at the side of the bed, just staring like a tiny,

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adorable ghost. I almost screamed, Jeremy had to cover my

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mouth and this kid whispers, is Sana here yet? At

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two forty seven in the morning, I said, young lady,

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Santa's been and gone, but you've got to go back

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to bed or he might take something back. Fastest I've

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ever seen that little girl move. Those moments, That's what

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Christmas is made of, Not perfection, not Instagram, just life

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happening in real time, with all of its chaos and

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beauty mixed together. You know what, We can't talk about

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Christmas memories without talking about food, specifically the hands and

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Christmas Morning cinnamon rolls. These are legendary in our family,

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and there's a story here. When Jeremy and I first

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got married, we realized pretty quickly that we wanted to

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build our own traditions, not just do what families did

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growing up, but create something that was uniquely ours, something

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our kids would remember, something that would say this is

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Christmas in the Hanson house. And for some reason we

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landed on cinnamon rolls. I don't even remember whose idea

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it was anymore, but the first Christmas morning as parents,

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we woke up early before the kid and we made

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cinnamon rolls together. They were not great the dough didn't

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rise properly, the filling was too runny, and we may

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have burned the first batch, but the kids didn't care.

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They came downstairs to that smell cinnamon, brown sugar, something

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sweet and warm baking in the oven, and their faces

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just lit up. So we did it again the next

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year and the year after that, and every year we

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got a little better at it. Now it's non negotiable.

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The kids wake up on Christmas Morning expecting those cinnamon rolls.

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They come running down the stairs and the first thing

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they do before they even look at presents, is check

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to see if they're baking. And when we pull them

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out of the oven, when we gather around the table,

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still in our pajamas, tree lights glowing and we break

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off that first, warm, gooey piece, that's when Christmas really begins.

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That's legacy, that's tradition, something we built, something we created

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together as a family. And years from now, when our

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kids have families of their own, I hope they make

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these rolls. I hope that smell takes them right back

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to our kitchen, to Christmas morning, where everything was warm

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and safe and loved.

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All Right, you.

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Want the recipe, I'm going to walk you through it.

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The hands and Christmas Morning cinnamon rolls. These are make ahead,

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which is key when you've got a houseful of kids.

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You make the dough the night before, let it rise

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overnight in the fridge, then bake them f rush Christmas morning.

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So here's what you'll need for the dough. Four cups

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all purpose flour, a third cup granulated sugar, one packet

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instant yeast, one teaspoonful of salt, one cup whole milk warmed,

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a quarter cup butter melted, two large eggs, one teaspoon

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vanilla extract for the filling, a half a cup of

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butter softened, always use real butter. One cup brown sugar packed,

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three tablespoon cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg. That's our secret. For

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the icing, four ounce cream cheese softened, three tablespoons butter softened,

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two cups powdered sugar, one teaspoon vanilla, two to three

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tablespoons milk. So Christmas Eve, after the kids are asleep

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and you've wrapped the last present, you make the dough.

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Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a big bowl.

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In another bowl, whisk together the warm milk, melted butter, eggs,

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and vanilla. Pour the wet into the dry. Stir until

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it comes together, then neat it for about eight minutes

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until it's smooth and elastic. You'll know it's ready when

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it feels soft and springs back when you touch it.

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Once it's needed, put it in a greased bowl, cover

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it with plastic wrap, and stick it in the fridge overnight.

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The slow rise is what makes them so good, gives

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the dough time to develop flavor. Christmas morning, early before

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the kids wake up, you take the dough out, roll

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it into a big rectangle about sixteen by twelve inches.

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Then comes the best part. Spread that softened butter all

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over the dough all over. Don't be shy. Mix the brown, sugar, cinnamon,

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and nutmeg together in a bowl. Sprinkle it generously all

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over the butter. If you can still see dough you

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didn't use enough, then roll it up height from the longside,

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slice it into twelve rolls. Lay them in a greased

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nine by thirteen pan. Cover them with a towel, and

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let them rise for about thirty minutes while you make

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coffee and wake up. Then bake at three hundred and

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fifty degrees for twenty five to thirty minutes, and tell

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they're golden and your house smells like heaven. While they

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cool slightly and I mean slightly. You want them warm.

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Make the icy, beat the cream, cheese and butter together

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and tell fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk

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mix and tell smooth. Then pour it over the rolls

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while they're still warm, so it melts into the crevices.

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And that's it. That's the Hansen's Christmas Morning cinnamon rolls,

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our tradition, built from scratch, perfected over years, and now

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we're passing it to you. Make them this year, start

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your own tradition, and years from now your kids will

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remember that smell. That's the magic of food. It doesn't

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just feed the body, It feeds the memory. Let's talk

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about parenting during Christmas, because it's you know, it's something else.

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You'll feel this pressure to make it magical, to get

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it right, to create memories your kids will carry forever.

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And that pressure, if you let it, it will steal

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the joy right out from under you. Here's the truth.

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Nobody tells you ready. Your kids won't remember every gift.

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They won't remember how perfect the decorations were. They won't

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care if the cookies were from scratch or the store.

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They'll remember how you made them feel. They'll remember that

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you sat on the floor and played with them, that

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you laughed when the cookies burned, that you hug them

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when emotions and high, theirs and yours. Christmas brings out everything, joy, exhaustion, gratitude, frustration,

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sometimes all in the same five minutes. And as parents,

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by the time Christmas morning even gets here, we're running

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on fumes held together by coffee duct tape and sheer

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will power and the knowledge that January is coming, the

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light at the end of the tunnel. But here's what

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I've learned, especially in a big family, and this might

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give you permission to breathe. You don't need to do everything.

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You don't need to do something meaningful, a moment, a tradition,

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a memory. Those small things they last forever. Last year

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we started this thing Christmas Eve, after dinner. We all

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sit in the living room, lights low tree glowing, and

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we go around.

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In the circle.

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Everyone and I mean everyone shares one thing they're grateful

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for from the year. The first time we did it,

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the kids thought it was cheesy. There was groaning, so

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much groaning. But then one of them started and they

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said something real, something from the heart, and it started

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this chain reaction, one kid after another, sharing listening. Some

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of them cried, some of them made us cry, and

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by the end, nobody wanted to stop. Now they asked

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for it. Are we doing the Grateful Circle this year?

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Every time?

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And it didn't cost anything. It didn't require planning or perfection.

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It just required showing up. So if you're feeling overwhelmed

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right now, if you're wondering if you're doing enough, if

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you're looking at other families and thinking you're falling short,

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stop breathe. You're doing better than you think. Your kids

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don't need a perfect Christmas. They need you present, engaged,

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loving them through the mess. That's the magic, not the

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stuff under the tree. You that said, if anyone tells

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you parenting during Christmas is easy, they're lying. There will

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be meltdowns, there will be sibling fights over who got

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more presents. Someone will eat too much sugar and become feral.

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It's basically guaranteed. It's basically the law, the law of

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Christmas chaos.

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Look it up.

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But that's part of it too. The chaos is the story.

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Years from now, your kids won't say, remember how perfect

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everything was. They'll say, remember when Dad tried to build

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the bike and half the pieces were missing, Or remember

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when mom accidentally wrapped the dog's toy. That did happen.

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In my defense, it was shaped like a Teddy bear.

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Give yourself grace. Parents, you're doing something extraordinary. You're building

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a life, you're building memories, you're building people, and that's

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hard work. So cut yourself some slack. Half the store

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bought cookies, skip the matching pajamas, let the dishes sit.

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One more night.

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Your kids won't remember any of that, but they'll remember

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that you were there. Christmas means something deeper toss. Yes,

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it's lights, laughter, gifts, family, but it's also about love,

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showing up quietly, without announcement, without fanfare, a baby born

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in a barn, no throne, no power, no spotlight, just

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love in a world that's loud, divided, constantly demanding more.

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Christmas reminds us that less can be holy, less noise,

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less rush, less distraction, and more gratitude, more grace, more forgiveness,

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more time. There's a story I love. It's about the shepherd,

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you know, the ones out in the fields watching their sheep,

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doing the same thing they did every night, nothing special,

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nothing instagram worthy. And then the angels show up. And

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these shepherds, these ordinary, exhausted, working class guys, they're the

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first ones invited to meet the Savior of the world.

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Not kings, not priests, not people with status or wealth, shepherds.

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I think about that a lot during Christmas because it

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reminds me God doesn't show up where we think he should.

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He shows up in the mess, in the ordinary, in

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the exhaustion. He shows up in your living room, in

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your chaos, in your struggle. If this year has been hard,

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and for a lot of people it has been, I

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want you to hear this. You are not failing. If

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this Christmas looks different, you are not broken. If you're grieving,

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you are not forgotten. You are not alone. Sometimes the

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greatest gift is simply making it to the day, and

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that's enough. You are enough. Christmas isn't about measuring up.

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It's about showing up, showing up with what you have,

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with who you are, with your broken, beautiful, messy life,

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and trusting that that's where love meets you. One of

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the things we try to teach our kids is gratitude,

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not the obligatory, say thank you kind, but the deep

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soul level awareness.

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That life is a gift.

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We keep a gratitude journal as a family throughout the year.

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We write things down, big things, small things, answered prayers,

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unexpected blessings, moments that made us laugh. And on Christmas

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Eve we read through it. Last year, one of the

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kids wrote, I'm grateful Dad made pancakes on Tuesday for

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no reason.

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That's it. That was the whole entry.

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And when we read it out loud, the kid who

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wrote it just beamed because that moment mattered. A random

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Tuesday pancakes, no reason, but it stuck. That's what gratitude does.

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It reminds you what matters. It shifts your focus from

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what you don't have to what you've been given. And

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during Christmas, when the world tells you to want more gratitude,

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whispers look around you already have enough, maybe even more

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than enough. To anyone listening who's carrying something heavy this

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Christmas loss, loneliness, financial stress, family tension. I see you,

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and I'm not going to tell you to just be

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grateful or think positive, but I will say this you

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don't have to carry it alone, reach out, ask for help,

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let someone in, because that's what the season is really about.

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A manual God with us, not God far away, not

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God disappointed. God with us in the mess and the

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pain and the joy in the.

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Waiting, with us.

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All right, let's talk about something we don't talk about enough,

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marriage partnerships during the holidays, because Christmas it puts a

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spotlight on everything. It really does. Suddenly every decision matters

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whose family do we visit, how much do we spend,

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who's doing what? And if you're not careful, the stress

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pulls you apart instead of bringing you together. Jeremy and

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I have been there years where we were exhausted, years

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where we disagreed. Here's where we barely slept and ran

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on fumes, and somehow still I had to show up

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for everyone else. There were Christmases where I cried, not

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because something was wrong, but because I was just tired.

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And he didn't always see it. He was so focused

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on getting it done, the list, the logistics, the execution,

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that he missed what was happening right in front of him.

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I needed him to slow down, to check in, to

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ask are you okay? When he did when he stopped

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and actually saw me. That's when it shifted. Marriage during

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Christmas isn't about grand gestures. It's not about the perfect

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gift or the romantic moment. It's about the small stuff.

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It's staying up late together wrapping presents. It's checking in

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with each other. It's saying I see you, I know

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you're tired, what do you need. It's also saying we're

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doing this together, not one person handling at all together,

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though I'll be honest, we still have our zones. Jermy

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handles logistics. I handle feelings. Actually I handle people. He

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handles stuff. And it works because we know our roles.

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We don't try to do everything. We play to our strengths,

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and we give each other grace when we mess up.

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One of the best things we ever did in our

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marriage during the holidays, we made a rule every Christmas Eve,

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after the kids are down, we sit together, just the

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two of us, no phones, no TV, no distractions. We

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drink coffee or whatever we've got and we just talk

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about the year, about what we're proud of, what was hard,

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what we want for the next year, and we thank

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each other that time has become sacred because in the

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chaos of the season, it's easy to lose us. You

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become co parents, coworkers, logistic managers, but you forget you're

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also partners. That Christmas Eve tradition, it brings us back

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and honestly, some years it's the best part of Christmas.

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If you're married, if you're partnered, don't let the season

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steal your connection. Protect it, prioritize it, even if it's

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just ten minutes. Because your kids one of the greatest

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gifts you can give them is two parents who keep

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choosing each other, who love each other, who like each other,

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who work as a team. That's the foundation, that's what

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makes everything else possible. So to every couple out there

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grinding through the season, exhausted, stressed, trying to keep it together,

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I see you. You're doing great, and it's okay if

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it's messy. Just don't forget each other in the chaos.

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Check in, hold hands, say thank you those little things.

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They're everything to our kids. One day, maybe years from now,

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you'll listen to this or you'll remember these Christmases we're

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living right now. And I want you to know something.

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These weren't perfect. We didn't get everything right. There were

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years we stressed too much, years we spent too much,

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years we forgot to slow down and just be.

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But we loved you fiercely.

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Completely, with everything we had. You won't remember every gift,

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but I hope you remember the feeling. I hope you

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remember that home was always safe, that laughter was loud,

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that forgiveness was always available. I hope you remember the

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little things, the pancakes on Tuesday, the late night talks,

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the way we would all pile on the couch even

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when there wasn't enough room.

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I hope you.

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Remember that we showed up even when we were tired,

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even when we didn't have all the answers, even when

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life was hard. And when you have families of your

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own someday, when Christmas feels over, when you're exhausted and

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wondering if you're doing it right, I hope you remember this.

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Love doesn't have to be perfect to be powerful. The

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messes matter, the chaos matters, the showing up matters, and

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you were always always worth it. We hope you carry

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these moments with you, the traditions, the stories, the love,

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and that you build your own because that's what this

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is all about, building a legacy of love. Passing it down,

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making sure the next generation knows they're seen, they're valued,

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they're loved. You are deeply loved, And to everyone listening,

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whether you have kids or not, you're building a legacy too,

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in how you love and how you show up, in

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how you make people feel. Don't underestimate that. We're almost

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out of time. But before we go, I want to

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say something to everyone listening. Whether you're surrounded by family

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right now, whether you're missing someone this Christmas, whether you're

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just trying to get through the season one day at

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a time, I see you, from our family to yours.

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Thank you. Thank you for letting us into your lives,

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for writing with us through the chaos and the beauty,

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for trusting us with your time this Christmas. Give yourself permission,

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permission to rest, permission to say no, permission to slow down,

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hold your people close, love them out loud, forgive quickly,

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laugh often, and remember the magic was never in the gifts.

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It was always in.

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The Merry Christmas. From we are the Hansens