I just love the holidays!!! Everything about it makes me smile. Yummy homemade treats, Christmas lights sparkling in the night, people thinking of others, a beautiful new blanket of snow to cover the ground, sledding, excitement of the kids, etc... I seem to get a burst of energy (I would call it adrenaline) for the holidays. Last Saturday we had a babysitter come so Bryce and I could do some shopping and I was so excited that I was awake around 5:30 am with ideas running through my mind. We had such a great time together that I wished we could do it again soon! Again yesterday we baked 10 batches of gingersnaps for our neighbor gifts and had a BLAST doing it! It made the kitchen smell so delicious and it was adorable talking to Braxton, Landen and Abbey (all on seperate occasions) as they sat up to the counter to help roll the cookies in sugar. And then later to Bryce as we sat tying little ribbons on the bags of cookies. They are my little elves! (Poor Bryce, he must just want to choke me!!!)
I guess my energy spurt of excitement hasn't died down yet. I did fall in bed last night dog tired but somehow was woken up at 4 am thinking about Christmas again. I tried my best to go back to sleep, but to no success. I know I need all the energy I can muster up to keep up with the kids today. The weekends are a challenge to keep the peace and keep up with all they want to do. I have a feeling we will be playing in the snow since it just put down a little bit more and they will be begging Bryce to pull them on the sled w/ the motorcycle. Anyway- I figured I could take advantage of the opportunity and started a batch of dough for cinnamon rolls. I have always wanted to have fresh cinnamon rolls baking in the morning but haven't ever been crazy enough to be up early enough to do them! ... until now.
I feel so lucky this holiday season to be able to absorb the feelings of the holidays and to enjoy each activity that comes our way cause there have been plenty of years that it hasn't been this nice or special for me. I am grateful for the time to stop and relect on my Savior, Jesus Christ, and for all that he has done for me. I sit in awe as I read the story of his birth (especially being pregnant) and thing about all the sacrifices and hardships Mary had just being his mother. I thank heaven that when I get to have my baby I will drive in a comfortable car (for about 10 minutes) to a good hospital to be drugged up and taken care of.
Anyway- I can tell I am finally getting tired since I am starting to get mushy. Hopefully I can catch one more hour of sleep before the kids get up!
Warm sunny weather and swimming on Thanksgiving Day... what more could I ask for? We were lucky enough to be able to to go Arizona to visit my brother, Dave, his wife, Lori, and their sweet little girl, Ila. We had a BLAST! We were so busy having so much fun that I didn't ever dig our camera out to take any pictures so I only have a few from my phone. The kids loved our stop in Las Vegas as we went to M&M World and stayed at the Excalibur. I have some fantastic air hockey players! We also had tons of fun swimming and playing with all of the cousins. Here is a few pictures of Bryce w/ the kids:
It was great to spend lots of time w/ my side of the family. We live close to almost everyone but don't really hang out w/ the whole group much.
To top off our trip to Arizona we had to make a trip to the local hospital. The night before we were leaving I got in a car accident w/ the kids. It was after 10:30 pm and the kids were tired so I decided to go put them to bed and let Bryce finish watching a football game w/ the guys. We were heading the 2 blocks from Dave's house to the hotel when a girl ran a red light and I t-boned her going about 40 mph. It is crazy that we all walked away from the accident with only a few bruises. I got to spend the night at the hospital while they made sure our baby was ok and no preterm labor will come from all of this. He is doing well and they verified that it is for sure a boy and a VERY active one at that. The car didn't fair so well and it is now making a junk yard in Arizona its new home. We feel so fortunate and blessed that we were watched over. Definately a weekend of thanks!
Here are a couple of pictures that Bryce took from his phone: Can anyone find my front license plate?! :) We never did find it.
Only these few marks from such an event!
I loved that car and want another one. This next one I want to keep a bit longer though!
I went to the orthodonist today and found out that I won't get my braces off before Christmas like we had been planning on. I have slacked off a bit here and there wearing the horrible rubber bands that I need to be wearing and I think it has slowed my progess a bit. I am SO ready to be done with this stuff! I just want to go out in public without feeling like a total dork, eat regular foods, brush my teeth in less than 5 minutes and not have to peel my cheeks out of my braces in the morning to discover another cut in my mouth! GRRR!! I need to put up a picture of me from 2 years ago to help give me motivation to continue on! I guess that I can survive my third Christmas without cinnamon santas, caramel, toffee, caramel popcorn and snickers bars! I will probably eat enough pie and york peppermint patties to make up for it!
We had our ultrasound this morning and it is definately a boy!!! Talk about swinging the scale to the boy side! Bryce and I both felt like it was a girl (and since we are always completely wrong) we were not surprised in the least that it is a boy. We are both VERY excited that things look good with the brain, heart, two legs, arms, hand, feet, etc... I was sick to my stomach all morning worrying about it (even though I have absolutely no control over it) so it was nice to get confirmation that I am just hormonally crazy! The technician did comment on how active this baby is so we definately know it is one of ours!
Anyway- no names picked out yet. Bryce wants to name this baby and wouldn't talk about it at all till we knew the sex of the baby so I am hoping that he starts chatting away! (not likely though)
We are excited and I love that I can start planning stuff now!
With the chill in the air it was time to warm up with hot pizza & breadsticks... then freeze our fingers off digging guts out of pumpkins! Tis the Halloween season!
We had a blast making "monster" pizzas and carving pumpkins for family night. Landen was totally grossed out by the slimy feeling while the other two wanted to make sure every seed was saved to bake as a snack later. Abbey drew her face out for me to carve, Landen picked a picture of a jack-o-latern that he liked from the newspaper and Braxton took a totally different approach and did a snake. (He was listening to me tell Bryce that I saw a cool pumpkin carved into a snake.)
Sorry for the blurry picture-- I need to get a tripod for these kinds of shots!
It was time to get the boys new Sunday pants and shoes and boy was that a nightmare to get the two of them to focus long enough in the store to actually try on something!!! I was hoping for one stop shopping, but to all our dismay... it didn't happen. Eventually we found some stuff and they sure looked cute on Sunday. I was glad that Bryce took a second to grab this snapshot of them before we headed out the door. Here are two fine future missionaries!
This week was Braxton's 5th birthday and he could hardly wait! Every morning he would get up and count down the days on the calendar. On his birthday he asked me how many more days till his next birthday. When he found out it was 365 more days he said that was too long to count down from and walked away.
I think Braxton had a fun time bringing a birthday treat to preschool, having a tiny friend party and then a big family party that night! We were jam packed with activities all day (not to mention the other appointments and obligations from regular life to do).
Braxton was able to invite 3 friends to go to Carl's Jr. with him for lunch and then back to our house for icecream. They boys all had a blast! They were so well behaved and having so much fun that we had to extend the party out another hour! (I didn't expect that one!) Here are a few pictures:
Parker, Braxton & Carter showing off their kid's meal toy at Carl's Jr.
Parker & Braxton Carter & Braxton
We were sad that his cousin, Porter, was sick and couldn't come cause Braxton would have loved for him to join in too. Landen had a blast and felt so cool to be able to be one of the "big boys" all day and skip a nap to party!
Braxton loved opening all of his presents! He received a bike ramp and a castle from our family, pj's from both Grandma & Grandpa Christensen and Grandma & Grandpa Bezzant, money and then lots of dragons and guys to go with his castle from lots of different family members! He was so excited for everything and hasn't given them a rest yet! Thank you to everyone for their generosity and helping to make his birthday so much fun!!!
A few things about Braxton:
*He LOVES playing with friends
*Misses Abbey when she is gone to school
*Loves to ride the little motorcycle
*Loves TV and movies. I think he would watch all day if I would let him!
*Loves gum and all treats
*Full of energy
*Loves preschool
*Wants a pocket knife and a BB gun REALLY bad but mom won't let him have them yet
*Loves to play nintendo
*So good to help Abbey with her chores after he is done with his own.
*Very competitive! Doesn't like to lose at all!!!
*Tender hearted
We love Braxton so much and he has brought so much fun into our house! I can't believe that he is already 5! Happy Birthday Braxton!!!
I guess that the only constant thing in life is change and that is staying true at our house! I just got a new calling today... 2nd counselor in Relief Society! What a shocker!!! I about fell over dead when I realized that the bishopric wanted to talk me with Bryce and it was for ME! All day I kept going through possible callings that were open in the ward for Bryce and was 100% sure I was safe. I am about 1 month shy of being the primary president for a year. I definately didn't see this one coming. I had finally gotten into a groove and was really enjoying primary. I have been so blessed to have such a fabulous presidency!!! I will really miss working with Kathleen Haskell, Shanda Bezzant and Judy Moss. There is a bond and friendship that is developed that is undescribable and it makes me want to cry thinking about leaving that for the "unkown." I have also been blessed with fabulous teachers and leaders that magnify their callings and have made me sleep well at night knowing the love that they truly have for their classes and/or groups. I am sure that things in relief society will be great too but I don't really have experience with R.S. since I have spent most of my married life in primary and young women's. I guess it is time to dust off my "adventure boots" and get to work!
Other changes in our house... Landen has a "big boy" bed now and Abbey moved down to the basement bedroom! We are starting to shuffle things around as we get prepared for a baby to come to our house! 2 weeks and 1 day till we find out what we are having!!! (Not that I am counting down) Landen is excited to have a big bed and I still need to find him some cute bedding. At the moment he doesn't seem to care that he is sleeping on purple sheets but I just can't leave it that way! Abbey is also loving being downstairs. She practically has her own hotel sweet (minus the housekeeping) since she has a full bathroom just off of her bedroom. It will be weird to not hear her singing in the bathroom all of the time. Abbey cracks me up cause on days she doesn't have to hurry to school she likes to turn on the clock radio and crank up the mexican tunes. I feel like it is cherry picking season every Saturday and think that I am going to look out the window to see a family of Mexicans chattering away while they pick the trees clean!
Anyway, a few more hours till a jam packed week starts again! That is for the next blog entry though!
My sister Karen put up a post about her favorites and a challenge to put one up of my own. Then my sister-in-law, Celeste, took her challenge and I had a blast reading both of their posts so I am taking the challenge and doing it too.
Favorite Food: 1. Chicken rolls 2. Mexican 3. Steak & potatoes 4. Being pregnant right now.. MEAT! MEAT! MEAT! How weird is that?? 5. Anything I don't have to cook or clean up!
Favorite Drink: 1. Jones Cream Soda... hands down 2. Rootbeer 3. Grape or orange soda I am not a huge soda drinker though but I love these on a special occasion!
Favorite Store: 1. GAP Outlet 2. Down to Earth at Gardner Village 3. Target
Favorite Candy: 1. Chocolate 2. Chocolate w/ caramel 3. Jelly Belly Jelly Beans Who am I kidding??? I love all candy that isn't dark chocolate (except those fabulous york peppermint patties & jr. mints) or sour stuff. I do NOT like sour stuff.
Favorite Things: 1. An immaculate house 2. Dates w/ Bryce 3. Girls night 4. Unexpected hugs and kisses from my kids & Bryce 5. Shopping! 6. Redoing something (i.e. painting a room, modifying a flowerbed) I love to see transformations happen! 7. Organizing
Favorite TV Shows: 1. Don't really watch much tv 2. I love chick flick movies! 3. I like Cold Case sometimes
Favorite Rush: 1. Getting a REALLY good deal! 2. Making over something (see #6 on favorite things I like!) 3. Laughing my guts out uncontrollably
Favorite Treats: 1. I pretty much like anything with sugar 2. Depends on what I am craving that day... pregnancy or not. 3. Hot cinnamon rolls 4. Fresh chocolate chip cookies
Favorite Holiday: 1. I get so excited for each one! :) 2. Christmas time 3. Halloween / Fall 4. 4th of July
:) Okay...YOUR TURN! I wont tag anyone...but would totally LOVE reading YOUR favorite things!
A few weeks ago I celebrated my 30th birthday! It seems weird to blog about my own birthday but it was such an awesome day that I just had to document it!
I had a million birthday wishes through phone calls, emails, text messages, posts on facebook and friends pop in to say hello! That made me feel good that so many people thought of me! The kids got up at 6:30 to make me an egg sandwich with a huge glass of milk and brought me breakfast in bed! (They made one for Bryce too! He doesn't eat breakfast and they didn't seem to notice cause after he took one bite they all asked for a bite and before you knew it... both of our sandwiches were gone. We didn't care since we finally weren't fighting them to eat and they weren't fighting with each other!) Bryce bought me a carpet cleaner that I wanted! He didn't want to get me something that I had asked for cause he likes to surprise me... but I HATE surprises! Anyway, we all got ready for the day, sent Abbey off to school and took the boys over to a neighbor's house to play. How cool is that?! My neighbor called and volunteered to watch the boys so Bryce and I could spend the morning together!!! As we went out to get into the car we found balloons all over the porch and a huge banner on my garage from a few of the other neighbor ladies! What great friends huh?! Anyway- Bryce took me shopping and then to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. I have been craving meat so bad this entire pregnancy and I definately ate my portion (and a few other people's portions too). We had a great time being alone and I found some cute clothes that I can fit into now! I then spent the afternoon at scrapbooking stores looking for paper to make cards out of while Bryce stayed home to work and let the boys have a nap. In the evening time lots of my family came over and we loaded up on cream puff dessert and rootbeer floats! Both of those sounded so good to me and since it was my birthday it didn't matter if they didn't really go together or not! I went to bed that night completely exhausted but feeling on top of the world. If turning 30 is this much fun... I can't wait for 40! Oh wait-- I didn't really just say that! I will wait!
Thanks to everyone who made my birthday fabulous! I really should list each person cause every little thing that was done for me that day meant so much to me! THANK YOU!!!
P.S. Landen must have known that I was getting frustrated about not having time to use my carpet cleaner yet cause tonight after I got him out of the tub he walked into his room, went over to the corner and peed on the carpet. Then he came and told on himself. What do you say to that? Well, I have now used my carpet cleaner!
Today went much better. I watch Braxton losing his temper and know that it comes from me and that is a kick in the gut. I recommitted myself to try and keep my cool when life happens and I did better today. It is probably due to Bryce praying for me this morning. I am glad that he thought of it cause I sure didn't! It was nice to get a text message from him wishing me a good day and that he prayed I would have a better day today. I am glad that one of us is in tune to ask for help from the perfect source! It was also nice to relieve a little bit of stress by going out to eat last night and not have that responsibility to worry about. We had fun picking out pumpkins at Lisa's house too. THANKS LISA! Our poor pumpkin plants all died and that was the only thing the kids really cared about growing! They did get excited though when our other stuff started producing though.
Abbey had school pictures today so we took the boys down to the school this afternoon to get theirs done too. Landen was a TOTAL stinker! He couldn't crack a smile to save his life even when we were just sitting on the chairs waiting for our turn. He watched several other kids laughing their heads off at the rubber chicken flying through the air as he kept a stone cold "look at me if you want to die" face the entire time. Then when it was actually HIS turn to sit on the stool he started kicking and screaming for the whole school to hear. I tried sitting next to him. It didn't matter. I calmly explained what she was going to do. He didn't care. I finally threatened him that if he didn't stop screaming and sit up to get his picture taken that he wasn't going to play on the playground outside at the school. Instantly the tears stopped and he sat up quietly with a force smile on his face. I don't think that she ever got a good smile but I guess we will see in a few weeks when we get the pictures back. I don't think that Landen will ever be tagged as a "people pleaser!" He doesn't care what you think... if he doesn't want to do it... he isn't doing it. I can barely get the kid to give me a hug now half the time. And this is coming from the kid that wouldn't let me have my own breathing space for the first year and a half of his life!
Anyway- I made a dent in the clutter of my house and hopefully can get the rest done tomorrow. The kids are in bed, dishes are done and I think that it is time for a hot bath to prepare for tomorrow!
Today is just one of those days! But it seems like I am having them more often than not. I think Monday is especially worse though. Sunday takes ALL of my energy to keep up with the kids and my calling. It takes so much that it robs me of feeling good on Monday. I have also set up a bad schedule for myself and Mondays are one of my laundry days... what was I thinking putting it on a Monday?! Oh yeah- I thought if I did laundry on Mondays and Thursdays that would be an even amount of days in between to not think about it and to also get other things done. I am not one of those people who can do a load a day. I actually don't think I have enough laundry to do one full load a day... LUCKY ME!! I know that will quickly change when the baby comes though. I also need to "get it done" and not worry about it again for a few more days. I have enough chores that require my daily attention that laundry would just send me over the edge.
I think that I have also created another monster in my life. I keep busy doing so many things that my boys are left to play and entertain each other. The entertainment that they love the most is fighting. Braxton knows every button to push of Landen's to get him bawling his head off and that drives me NUTS!!! I know that Landen isn't always innocent either cause he has learned a few tricks up his sleeves to use too when Braxton is peacefully doing something on his own.
I always laugh when I see people posting that they have no time for their stuff and yet they are on facebook, blogging or whatever at the time. I think to myself, "If they would just get off the computer and get stuff done they would feel so much better!" Then I have days like today where I needed to sit down and vent to cope with the rest of the day.
I probably should have just taken the kids to the zoo when I was invited to go this morning. I wanted to go REALLY bad but looked around at what I had to do and knew that if I spent all of my energy at the zoo then I would feel even worse tomorrow when our day is already jam packed full of appointments and such. I also didn't want to hurt Abbey's feelings by going without her and wasn't sure that I should justify checking her out of school to go to the zoo. I doubt that she would have really missed a whole lot at school today with it being a short week and an early out day but the responsible side of my overpowered my fun side. (That happens alot.)
I still know that I am VERY blessed and couldn't even finish a list of my blessings before the day is over. I am glad that I have an automatic washer, dryer, dishwasher and all sorts of other things that make my chores a snap. I am now resolving to walk back into my life with a positive attitude and tell myself that I can happily enjoy today. We will survive Bryce being out of town for the next few days. Maybe the kids and I will have to go to KFC for family home evening since Bryce hates that place!! :) Now I am starting to think crazy thoughts so back to work I go!!!
I pretty much haven't posted anything that has happened since the middle of July! To say that I am a little bit behind would be quite the understatement!!! There is one MAJOR reason that I fell of the face of the earth at the end of July... WE ARE HAVING A BABY! Most of you know by now since we have run into each other at some time or another but I thought that I should make an official announcement. Life was turned upside down at our house as I was WAY more sick than I have been with ANY of my other pregnancies. On good days the minimum was done and not so much on the not so good days. I tried to stay as busy as possible to help the minutes tick by quicker but it was getting really frustrating to go to bed sick and wake up sick every single morning. Thankfully I am 16 weeks along now and feeling SOOOOO much better!!! The baby's due date is March 22nd and we get to go in for an ultrasound on November 3rd! I am really excited to find out if it is a boy or a girl. The kids want it to be a girl REALLY bad and it would be fun to have an even split of boys and girls in our family but it doesn't really matter to us. We are just really excited that this pregnancy seems to be going well cause we were extremely nervous that it would be another miscarriage. More updates will come as they happen (or within a few months of them happening! ;) )
As for life that still went on when I just wanted to roll over and die...
Abbey played soccer again this year and had a great season! They don't keep score at the games, but the girls do! :) I think that they won one game the whole season but that didn't curb their enthusiasm and sweetness with each other! Our teenage neighbor, Fritz Culp, was her coach and he was really sweet with all of the girls! We wish him the best on his mission in Peru!
Braxton has been riding his little motorcycle up in American Fork Canyon with Bryce and loves it! He is so excited that he can ride on some of the same single track that Bryce does! Landen also loved tagging along on the front of Bryce's bike and can't wait to go again! Abbey doesn't mind going either as long as she can just ride on the back with Bryce and doesn't ever have to drive the little motorcyle herself. (Sounds like me!)
Abbey and Braxton both started school and are LOVING it! Abbey is in the 2nd grade and loves Mrs. Champion. She is doing well in reading, loves math and is so excited that Mrs. Champion can keep things organized and in control in the classroom. I am starting to realize how bad things must have been with the intern she had as a 1st grade teacher since she is getting excited to not be late for lunch and small things like that!
Braxton is enjoying another year of preschool with Miss Heidi. This year though he gets to have his cousin and best friend, Porter, in the same class! It has been fun doing some of his homework games and he loves the individual attention. It does feel like you are taking your life into your own hands trying to play "Red light, Green light" with him though! He gets so excited to be the first one there that he practically punches your lights out to touch the cards! We are working on that one. Braxton does surprise me with the things that he thinks about randomly though. The other day he told me:
Braxton: I don't ever want to be a spider. Me: Why not? Braxton: Spiders get stepped on, squished and die before it is time for them to be dead. I don't want to be a bee either cause I step on those and squish them too.
I just loved that he thought about "dying BEFORE it was their 'time to be dead'". What makes him think about that stuff... who knows.
Landen has discoverd playing with cars. He will play with them all day and loves to bring a few of them anywhere he goes. He prefers matchbox cars and I think it is because he can carry them easily in his little hands and they fit into his pockets. Speaking of pockets... this morning I asked him to put his jacket away in the closet and he told me that he couldn't. He has been saying that "he can't" alot lately and I more sternly told him to do it. He looked up at me and then said, "I can't. My hands are in my pockets." I told him to take his hands out of his pockets and hang up his jacket. He said ok like I had just come up with an amazing idea and then went and did what I asked. I probably would have started laughing if it hadn't been a frustrating morning already. I am excited though that Landen has started going to the bathroom in the toilet a little bit! I can only hope that he will be potty trained before we have the baby! A few other things that come to my mind with Landen is... "I do it MYSELF," "Why?" and "MOM! Watch this!" about a zillion times a day. The joys of a 2 year old! :)
Bryce got a promotion that he wanted at T-Mobile. He will be managing a team of people that are across the nation and deal with the "indirect business sales" side of things. I really don't have any idea of truly what he will do but I know that it will require him to travel at least one day a week to somewhere other than Utah. I am not looking forward to that but he seems to be excited for a new challenge so we are going with it.
Anyway-I am sure that I have forgotten lots of things to say but something is better than nothing! I am lucky to have such a good life and hope it last forever!
My mother-in-law offered to take our kids for a few days in July! How sweet is that!?! I had a million ideas run through my head on what I would do when I was by myself and I thought for sure I would take a nap each day... that one didn't happen... it is amazing how much LESS energy/sleep I need when I don't have kids to keep up with (both physically and mentally!)
Bryce and I tried to take full advantage of every moment that we had. We borrowed my dad's street bike and headed up the Provo Canyon for a drive. We ended up at Park City for a little shopping and some dinner. WHAT A BLAST! I LOVE motorcycles and the canyon was gorgeous! My rear end was not appreciating the ride as much as I did though!
Thursday morning we started off bright and early up AF canyon on Kellen's (my brother-in-law) dirtbike for a litle bit of single track. (Bryce was driving and I am on the back.) I have never been on those trails before. After the first half hour and praying to Heavenly Father that he help me live through this experience of creek crossings, steep uphills with HUGE jagged rocks and wicked skinny trails we came to some nice grassy fields and beautiful scenery. That must have made me forget the first part cause I was crazy enough to go back again w/ Bryce on Saturday. More about that in a minute. We ended up having a great time. I did come home and soak in the tub for a while cause my body didn't appreciate getting bumped around so much and again my rear end didn't like the tuff seat on the motorbike. A little bit of lunch with my sister, Karen, and my mom made things a lot better. Then we headed off to get our toes painted! This was a first time for my mom (and a still a special treat for me since I am such a cheapskate). We had lots of fun talking and laughing as I tried not to squirm out of my chair from being so ticklish every time they would touch my feet! The night ended with Blackberry sponsoring dinner and a movie in Salt Lake with Bryce (and about 30 people from T-Mobile!) I love free movies! :)
With all of our running around we spent a relaxing Friday watching a movie on the couch (in the morning!!!), grilling up some steaks for lunch and heading down to Fairview, UT to watch Deric (Karen's husband) drive in the demolition derby! That was a BLAST!!! They had fireworks set to music for the 24th of July celebration and it was a picture perfect night. One like you see in the movies.
Deric is the #8 car. He just hit the gray car and knocked it up on 2 wheels for a bit. What entertainment!!! :)
Saturday morning I was wiped out and somehow agreed to go with Bryce one more time on the dirtbike up AF canyon. He took me on the East Ridge Trail (should be named trail of death!) to show me all of the cool things that he has had a chance to see. I was tired, scare to death and we now both agree that it wasn't the best place to take me. I don't like to see my life flash before my eyes every few seconds or to wish that I would just die so my rear end wouldn't hurt any more! It is an experience that I can say that I had and won't ever have to do it again. I can't believe that he likes to ride on those kinds of trails... and he thinks it is fun!!!
We made it home and headed up to Idaho to go get the kiddos. They were having so much fun at grandma's house that they didn't want to leave but vacation was over (for all of us). It was a hard reality on Monday morning when they had to do chores and I didn't have a quiet moment in the house!
THANK YOU to Trish for a wonderful time to myself and for having so much fun with the kids!!! I can't tell you how nice that was!
Abbey had an idea for her birthday cake in her mind and she was kind enough to draw me a picture and post it on the fridge for me to fret about for weeks! It turned out to be a lot of fun making it with her (minus our struggle with the black frosting for the bees and such that you probably can't even see). Besides the #7 all of the decorations are made out of candy!
I loved this picture! Somebody is teasing her and she is finally getting old enough to take it a little bit! :)
When Abbey first started blowing out her candles her hair fell right into the flame and singed a good chunk! This is a few attempts after the first initial blow and a little bit of help from Landen.
Abbey was loaded up with presents and she LOVED each and every one! This year I took pictures of each individual family that came and that was too many pics to post. I wished I would have done one huge group shot cause I love to document all of the fabulous family that we have that are so supportive!
As tradition in our house we take the kids out for a birthday lunch and of course they pick CHUCK-E-CHEESE!!! They had such a fun time! Karen's kids came and met up with us and that kept the lunch party alive for a few more hours!
Back: Abbey, Hannah Shelley, Porter Shelley
Front: Braxton & Landen Got to love the chuck-e-cheese cups!
Missing: Mikayla-- I guess she is too old for a chuck-e-cheese cup but she was fantastic at earning lots of tickets!
A few things about Abbey:
*Very sweet and considerate of other people
*Big helper to all
*Loves to please
*LOVES to do art projects, pretend to be a mom and/or a teacher
*Always wants to be the boss... she must have gotten that from her dad! ;) jk
*She loves to save EVERYTHING -- that one FOR SURE she got from her dad cause I can't stand clutter!
*She is a fabulous sister to her two younger brothers
*She always has a piece of gum in her mouth!
*Is great at saving money... she started her own savings account a few years ago and gets so excited to see when interest is added in from the bank!
*Not a dare devil
*Loves to ride on Bryce's motorcycle but doesn't want to drive her own (just like her mom!)
*Social butterfly (when she is comfortable with her setting) and is quiet as a mouse when she isn't.
*Fantastic baker! She is learning quickly how to make some delicious desserts!
*LOVES to do lemonade stands and would do one every day if I was up to it!
*Started piano this summer and is doing really well
*Started to do her own hair this summer... I am trying to let go of control! It is hard!!! She is doing really well at her ponytails!
We love you Abbey and feel so lucky to have you in our family! You are so sweet and I hope that you keep that kindness with you always!
During a rain storm this summer I caught Abbey outside having some fun. I love summer rainstorms when you can be outside playing and not freeze to death!
4th of July: Abbey, Landen & Braxton in front of our house
Braxton... a little distracted by something to the side of me :) He is a firecracker for sure though!
This was about as close as I got for Landen laying down in the grass and looking at me. With his lean muscle mass he could have held that position for hours but the ants in his pants distract him!
My sweet Abbey- by far the easiest one to take pictures of! Too bad it was so hot and sunny!
4th of July afternoon-- we had just had a water balloon fight and they were enjoying some popsicles on the driveway while Bryce made a few of his own fireworks! He didn't like the pictures I took of him so I didn't post any.
We ended the evening with a fabulous BBQ at Lisa's house (my sister) and watched the city fireworks in PG. It was a really fun holiday!
Braxton played t-ball for the first time this year and LOVED it! He had such an amazing coach that was incredibly patient with all of the kids! Here are a few pics from one of the games:
I love the medal and the award winning smile for earning it! He was so excited!!!
The most amazing coach (Brent) handing Braxton his medal. Braxton wanted to know though if they could still get a treat too. If he would have had to pick between the medal or a treat... it would have been a hard decision!
Braxton running with all of his might for 3rd base.
This is going to be a home run hit!
No ground ball is going to get past this kid! He is set and ready for some action!
I love baseball and it was so much fun helping and watching Braxton's little team! Some times your gut would hurt so bad from laughing as they would do circles in the outfield to try and figure out the bases. It was a fantastic season and I can't wait till next year!
Landen has started to want to "go potty" in the toilet. We have not yet successfully had that happen yet. I was about to fall over laughing tonight though when he wanted to go potty in the toilet just before he got in the tub. He is standing there buck naked on the step stool in front of the toilet looking down into the water. He stood there for a few minutes with nothing happening so I asked him to try and squeeze some pee out. He promptly bends his knees slightly, puts a hand on the outside of each thigh, grits his teeth and squeezes his thighs together as hard as he could! Nothing happened. He was trying with all of his might and no matter how hard he squished those thighs, no pee came out. He finally gave up and got in the tub. I wanted to take a picture so bad but it didn't seem too appropriate.
I was folding laundry when Abbey and Braxton came in fighting. We starting talking about being nice because they are brother and sister. Abbey brought up that she is his ONLY sister and probably will always be the ONLY sister. And then the conversation went a little something like this:
Braxton (to me): I want you to get pregant with a girl.
Mom: It is up to Heavenly Father if he sends us a girl or not. (I am not pregnant by the way)
Braxton: I know the name of the girl that he will send us, Addie.
Mom: If you want something from Heavenly Father then you need to pray to him and ask him for it. And don't you think it would be confusing to have an Abbey and an Addie in our family?
Braxton: Heavenly Father will send us an Addie cause Parker got one (his friend from preschool... his mom had a little girl the same time I had Landen and they named her Addie). Can I go in the garden and pray?
Mom: Why do you need to go in the garden?
Braxton: Cause that is where Jesus went to pray when he needed to talk to Heavenly Father.
Mom: (How could I say no to that????) Ok Braxton. You can go in the garden and pray.
He ran out the front door and Abbey started bossing him about something to do with the prayer. I missed out on the rest of their conversation cause the door closed. Not even a minute later he came back inside full of confidence and announced to me that Heavenly Father will send us a girl! ...and her name will be Addie.
I thought that was so sweet! It is amazing what he understands, is listening to and how much faith he has in Heavenly Father! I guess we will have to wait and see what happens. :)
I had to stop doing laundry right that moment and come write that down since I for sure want to remember this little experience!
Landen doesn't like cake so we had to make a pan of brownies. He didn't want me to take his picture and each time he would look up and see me with the camera, he would cover his ears. We just laughed cause I have a few pictures with him giving me crusty looks with his hands over his ears. Not sure how that was helping him not be photographed... :)
Saturday morning, opening presents from us! He is "keeping it real" with his pirate pj's.
Landen decided to have a birthday at one of the busiest times of the summer! Between Strawberry Days (lasting a week), Father's Day, our wedding anniversary and his birthday... we have a few celebrations going on in one week. I worry that he will feel shafted or overlooked with everything else going on but he hasn't seemed to mind yet.
We celebrated Landen's birthday a day early and combined his party with a Strawberry Day's BBQ. He opened his presents from us on Saturday morning and continued the festivities again after the parade was over. He had LOTS of cousins over and it was hard to get a good picture of him since everyone else was so excited for all of his presents! We gave him a bike helmet, a camp chair and a tire swing. He didn't appreciate the tire swing at all when it was vertical so Bryce changed it to sit horizontally and now all three kids can have fun at the same time.
Landen is holding on for dear life and isn't sure why the kids think that this is so much fun.
Finally a bike helmet of his own! He can stop wearing the pink "mushroom head" helmet that he has become so attached to! Of course Bryce helped him decorate his helmet with motorbike stickers as well.
Landen loves balls and ESPECIALLY loves to throw them! WATCH OUT!
Thought that this was a cute pic with his serious face. :)
THANK YOU so much to everyone who came to his party! I just feel so grateful to be surrounded by so many people who love us so much and my kids are always so spoiled by them and their generosity! Landen loved ALL of his presents and is glad to have some more things that are "HIS."
A few things about Landen now that he is two:
*He LOVES t-ball! He drags all of the stuff out of the garage and begs you to play with him constantly!
*He can ride a 3-wheeled scooter REALLY well and a 2-wheeled one pretty darn good for a 2 year old! He has quite the athletic ability!
*He is strong willed and strong minded! It is Landen's way or a screaming fit... the neighbors must think we beat him constantly for all of the screaming they must hear!
*He has adorable blonde curly hair!
*He wakes up in a good mood about 50 % of the time... we always pray for the good 50 %.
*He loves to say prayers but you can't understand a word he says since he burys his head into his arms and mumbles most of the words anyway. But he is very excited when it is all done and he said it!
*He says "DANG IT!" when he messes up on something... loud and clear!
*He loves to hide...especially when he needs his diaper changed, it is time to get dressed, get his hair combed, etc.. He has 2 favorite hiding spots... in the corner by his crib and in his closet.
*His smile, hugs and slobbery kisses just melt my heart.
I have had a blast enjoying all sorts of summer activities not having to follow a strict school schedule! The kids spent the first two weeks of summer doing swim lessons at the PG Pool, Abbey started up piano lessons and Braxton is playing it up in T-Ball! (And Landen gets dragged all over to the activities.) We have been so busy having fun that I haven't blogged for several weeks and know that I have so much to catch up on w/ our family and hopefully so much to read about everyone else's lives.
Strawberry Days was a blast! We pretty much had at least one activity to do every day for it and enjoyed each moment. We started off w/ the free family swim night at the pool on Monday, free concert and free strawberries 'n cream on Tuesday, children's parade and carnival on Wednesday night, a day to ourselves on Thursday night (I had other obligations), Huck Finn Days on Friday morning w/ a fun afternoon at the pool with all of the cousins and then the big parade and a party/bbq at our house afterwards on Saturday! The kids had a blast dancing all around during the entire concert and eating as many strawberries as they could handle. It was funny cause at one point Bryce was flipping Abbey around dancing and knocked her tooth right out of her mouth! (It REALLY needed to come out!) We braved the rain for the children's parade and decided to leave the camera at home during the carnival and just enjoy watching the kids have fun (instead of stressing about taking good pictures). At Huck Finn Days there were so many activities going on and the kids had a blast doing each one. They had face painting, pony rides, inflatable slides and bounce houses, pet shows, bubble gum blowing contests, fishing ponds, donut walks and more. I think that their favorite though was trying to catch fish in the pond that they made. No luck for us but their cousin, Tyson, let them hold a few that he caught. Here are a few pictures:
Braxton had a spiderman done first and then wanted a mustache painted on later. It was a hoot!
Abbey w/ her strawberry-- this is before she realized that they didn't put little black seeds on it... she wasn't happy when she saw it in the picture.
Landen loves balls so we figured a baseball would be appropriate for him.
Ila sitting so still while a flower is painted on her other cheek.
Landen, Braxton, Porter and Brayden (Porter's neighbor friend) sitting around having a good chat after trying to catch fish.
Poter & Ila enjoying Tyson's fish.
Braxton loving his turn to hold the poor little fish!
Ila just couldn't get enough of holding the fish! She LOVED it!
This picture cracks me up to see Karen in the background while Ila is holding the fish. I don't think that Karen thought that Ila would actually like it and she is shocked!
My nephew, Tyson, holding one of his two fish that he caught.
Landen finally got brave and went into the ice cold water for a try at a fish.
Bryce trying to help Abbey get a fish.
My neice, Ila, and my brother, Dave, having some fun!
Landen LOVED to jump in the muddy water and watch it splash!
Bryce helping out the boys... Braxton & Landen.
Freshly painted faces: Back row- Mikayla , Abbey, Whitney, Kristie, Braxton. Front: Ila & Landen.
There is so much more to post but it will have to wait for another night. Hopefully that will be soon!
We finally got Landen to open one present and we had to partially open it for him to even take notice of it. He loves to play with balls and has pretty good aim with them!
Abbey Takes After Her Dad!
Abbey loves to do math and play on the computer so she hoped that Santa would bring her a laptop just like her friend, Madalyn Isom. It is a toy one but just as fun as the real thing.. at least for now! She also got an easy bake oven and surprisingly has only used it once!
Future Rock Star!?
Braxton loves to "play" the guitar. He also loved his nerf gun (but not as much as his dad loved shooting him with it!)
Fun With the Family
Kellen, Joe and Lisa are enjoying Christmas Eve up at mom's house. We had a great time eating tons of food and playing Outburst!
Our Little Family
Christmas Eve and we are ready for Santa Claus to come!
Sunday Before Christmas
Don't they look so cute! All dressed up and ready for church.
Abbey @ Her Choir Christmas Concert
Santa's little singer! When they did the performance to sing Santa in a few days before this concert she didn't want to wear the santa hat cause it would have messed up her hair! Where did she get that one from???? Not her mom!
Clip Those Curls
We finally broke down and got Landen another haircut. It was sad to have him say "ouch" when it was time to get his hair done cause it was ratted with snarls from sleeping. We still kept it longer and he still has some curls. It is time again for another haircut though!
Dainty and Delightful!
Abbey works so carefully to make each cookie look just right. Watch out world... she has an easy bake oven now!
Superman Loves Sprinkles!
He had his fingers in about everything and in this picture he is showing me the sprinkles in his mouth. Don't worry- we didn't give anyone any of these cookies!
Braxton's Pride and Joy!
He is a boy after my own heart! I kept eyeing over that cookie the following few days and he didn't want anyone to eat it cause he loved that cookie so much. The frosting was at least 2 inches thick on his cookie!
Who's Idea Was This?
I got a little ambitious when Bryce was working late one night and thought it would be fun to make Christmas sugar cookies for Family Night. The kids had a BLAST and it was worth the mess. Landen ended up with frosting from head to toe and I had a shred of patience left by the time we got out of the tub and in bed.
Taking a Break
Since they worked so hard to rake them up we let them have a little fun!
Proof of Slave Labor
While I am sitting on the trampoline eating bon bons... Braxton, Landen and Abbey are raking up the leaves in the back yard of our house. :)
Fall Fun
Abbey, Braxton and Landen enjoying a little tree hugging time! They are a bunch of monkeys! :)
Christensen Grandkids at Thanksgiving
Here is the whole gang! We probably should have taken the picture before dinner when everyone was clean! Left to right: Landen, Brody, Hailey, Jaxson, Madalyn, Lucy, Abbey, Abbie, Rebecca, Alex, Braxton, Lizzy, Traegan and Conrad on the floor.
Family at the Snake River
We took a quick snapshot and were glad that nobody was crying. Braxton had a hard time looking at the camera cause he just wanted to find snakes in the snake river.
Another Sink Shot
Note all of the soap in the sink. He loves to just keep pumping the soap all over! (and sticking things in the drain)
Landen's New Toy
Landen is busted playing in the sink. It's his new favorite toy!
Bryce's 34th Birthday!
He isn't a fan of cake so we made him some orange rolls and we went easy on the candles!
Quite the gang!
Tyson, Abbey, Bryce, Karen.. is she doing what I think she is doing with her hand???, Porter, Braxton. In the front is Hannah, Landen and Mikayla. Way cute!
Like father like son.. or daughter?
Landen all dressed up a like a girl. His mom just couldn't resist!
Come closer for a kiss!
Bryce all puckered up!
Hello everyone!
Bryce all dressed up and ready for work! Halloween 2008
Bezzant Family Halloween Party 2008
Carving up a goulishly good time at Karen's house!
Witch's Hayride
Bryce came up to Gardner Village after work to join in on the fun. Here is a picture of them with the witch on the hayride. Notice Bryce's dirty pants... he had to save a lady that fell off the wagon when she was stepping down after the ride was over! What a hero!!!!
Gardner Village Kid's Halloween Party
It was a spooktacular time!!! Abbey is a princess, Braxton is Blackbeard the pirate and Landen is the lion.
