4EVER AND A DAY

Kindergarten Pictures!!

2011-09-30T17:48:00.001-06:00

I sure do love this little one!

Teenagers do "play"

2011-09-10T14:43:00.001-06:00

Chad wouldn't let Cam go "hang out" until he uttered the words "Can I go play?" Because cam always says that they don't "play" they "hang out"... and then after all of that, he decided not to go!!!!

Ah! A snake!

2011-09-03T01:05:00.004-06:00

One of Casey's favorite shows is Billy the Exterminator...

So, when I saw this face after she caught her worm, all I could think of was the opening credits to the show... I guess in this case it would be...

Ah a WORM!

kInDeRgArTeN

2011-08-31T13:25:00.003-06:00

There she goes... my sweet baby, headed up to the doors of her school....

Opening those big doors...
(I just love those orange shoes for some reason)

and standing infront of her classroom door...

She is so big... her favorite part of school so far is riding the bus home "without a seatbelt!" This is actually her 3rd day of school but it is the 1st time I could take her because I was at school/clinicals myself. Don't worry, I cried both days I was away and called to check on her several times... I am a big dork! Casey never shed a tear.

Congratulations on going to kindergarten Casey Mae!

I sure do love this little girl!

Terrible mother...

2011-08-22T20:18:00.002-06:00

Well Cameron went back to school today... first day of 9th grade... and I didn't get 1 single picture! So I was going to get a picture of him when he got home... but he missed his bus and was all sweaty when he got home... and then the dog peed on the floor... then I had to make dinner and get ready for work... and well... I am a terrible mother... I would love to say that I will be a better mother when Casey goes to her first day of Kindergarten next Monday... but I will be at LDS hospital doing my first clinical of the year... being mom is a hard job. Its going to be a bumpy ride for the next year... I guess we just have to buckle down and hang on and hopefully enjoy the ride along the way.

Finally...

2011-08-20T08:36:00.001-06:00

I know, I know, it's been over a year... I am going to try to keep this thing updated now... if anyone even reads it anymore.

There is no way I could do an update for the past year... besides that would be boring, filled with birthdays, holidays and such... instead I am just going to start fresh.

It's back to school time, Cam is going into 9th grade, Casey is starting Kindergarten, and I am about to kick off my last 2 semesters of nursing school! It's going to be a nutty year!

Back to school pics and updates to follow :) I promise!

3rd annual Technaglass Olympics!

2010-06-28T11:38:00.009-06:00

My hard working hubby...

My CrAzY daughter

LHM guy and Chad's boss

Attempting to get a pic of Casey while she ran in circles... ugh! Crazyness!

Chad's boss checking out his handy work.

A+ in customer service!

The finished product! WTG babe!

ha ha... Cam thinks he will be able to get this for his 16th birthday...

"I call shotgun"

What a cheeser!

Kinda looks like she is chewing him out for driving too fast. lol.

Eat your heart out Danica Patrick!

SWEET cars this year!

Sunday we got there a little earlier so we could watch some of the races. We sat in the shaded grandstand while Chad went back and forth between us and the second heat of the Olympics.

A rare moment of Chad being able to relax this weekend.

VAROOOM!

Me and Casey hanging in the heat.

Cameron is such a lucky sucker... he caught 3 hats, a T-shirt, got 2 stickers, and a chapstick from the Rockstar people... then he got a piece of carnage from one of the races... lucky sucker!

Wounded

2010-06-04T08:39:00.003-06:00

Wounded... and I missed all the fun :-(

All better... :-)

GrAdUaTiOn DaY

2010-05-19T21:21:00.000-06:00

For Graduation Casey and I went to get pedicures...

This was Casey's first "professional" pedicure... she was pretty excited!

Casey sitting in her chair with the awesome color she picked out for her toes.

She watched intently as the lady filed and prepped her toes for paint...

and then the color and the flowers... with sparkles... of course!

Graduation night! Pre-ceremony picture...

Getting my degree
(don't worry the thing they give you is really empty.. lol)

Me and Casey after... oh and Shannon's arm... lol...

First Trip to the Principal's Office...

2010-05-11T17:04:00.002-06:00

Interesting day today...

Got a call from Cameron's school today... I was hoping I would never get this call... well I didn't, DAD answered the phone...

Apparently if you vandalize the boys bathroom with wet paper towels you get into trouble... (the exact details are a little foggy but what can I say? TEENAGERS!)... Cameron and his principal decided that he would be cleaning the bathrooms for a couple of days to make up for it (the word suspension did get mentioned, UGH!)...

As far as the punishment he gets from us... no trip to LAGOON with his school this year...
Hopefully this will be his last trip to the Principal's office...
HOPEFULLY!

RevvNRG

2010-03-24T18:08:00.002-06:00

Hey! If anyone wants some RevvNRG, just click here or let me know... it's this great energy/weight loss drink that doesn't have the harsh stimulants (click here for ingredients and info) as the other energy drinks and gives you energy without crashing! We likey :)

BTW... we are alive... just trying to survive the day to day... school is kicking my TRASH!

Cameron turns 13!

2010-01-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

Since it is next to impossible to get pictures of a 13 year old boy, they are very mysterious creatures... I am forced to put up older, possibly embarrassing pictures of him.

passed out after his first trip to 7 peaks...

first Christmas... and yes Santa went way overboard!

first monster truck show...

right after his first trip to the dentist...

first year trick or treating...

first karate competition...

first dog...

first time at Disneyland...

first time at Sea World...

first time at the beach and seeing the ocean...

first dirt bike...

first time holding his baby sister...

first time as CAMERON VICTOR CHRISTENSEN...

first day of Jr. High...

Happy Birthday Cameron... here is to many more firsts... we love you!

Big girl bed...

2010-01-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

the bed...

the accessories... a string of LED butterfly lights...

a close up of one of the butterflies...

the lamp (clearance item), a doll from grandma Christensen, a recycled (eventually to be refinished) dresser from other grandma...

it all came together pretty good, Casey will even ASK to go to bed from time to time and she knows she isn't supposed to get out of bed until the sun is up... which backfired when I had to get her up before the sun... oh well =) she seems to be enjoying her new space. yay for big girl beds!

Front yard sledding...

2010-01-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

the park was too busy so we built a mini version to take the kids sledding on...

get ready...

going...

gone...

Christmas break so far...

2009-12-27T13:57:00.007-07:00

I took my last final on December 17th, and I didn't get our poor Christmas tree up until December 18th, that's right, I didn't put up our Christmas tree until 7 days before Christmas... and it's FAKE so I can't even use the excuse that I waited so it wouldn't be dead by Christmas!

Just days after taking my last final I came down with the flu, I had to call in sick from work 2 days! (I really try hard to not call in) I spent the better part of 3 days confined to my bed, both because I didn't want to infect the rest of the house and because I COULDN'T MOVE!

Cameron missed the last day of school before break because he had a case of the 24 hour stomach flu, I quarantined him to his room and fed him gatorade and chicken noodle soup (from a can because I am still not feeling well) through a hole in his door (not really but I bet it felt that way). He was feeling better by that night and was able to eat a little dinner with us, whew!
I took the kids to the dentist for their 6 month check ups on December 21st. We had to sit in the waiting room for 2 hours! Apparently things weren't going as planned with an earlier appointment, I can appreciate that. I have 2 kids. =)

On December 23rd, feeling less than human I had to scramble to get the rest of the kids Christmas shopping done. So far they had only 1 major present each and some things that my husband picked up when I sent him grocery shopping at Walmart (chaos the week of Christmas, don't go there unless absolutely necessary), poor guy, he was such a trooper about taking care of me, the kids, and the dogs and then I sent him shopping.

Christmas eve went off without a hitch, the usual, this was the first year Casey was totally aware about this magical person name Santa that comes to your house and leaves you presents (because I had been using it as a means of making her behave for weeks hehe). We were having a difficult time convincing her to go to bed so we called Chad's cousin and had him play Santa on the phone to try to talk her into going to bed. It worked, kinda. I was able to get her into bed where she stared at her door until 11:30! I had to play the mean mom card and turn out all the night lights (I made her cry).

Finally asleep by midnight. Now time to wrap presents (because of course I don't have anything wrapped at this point). Presents wrapped and placed under the tree, time for Mr. and Mrs. Clause to get some sleep.... 3 AM comes around and we are awakend to the sounds of Casey crying, stainding in a puddle of vomit. She has the stomache flu on Christmas day... poor baby.

Exausted from a long night, the present opening didn't even start at our house until almost noon.

Casey proceeded to throw up all day, inbetween unwrapping presents of course. She was a trooper about the whole thing, only missing the toilet a couple of times. I was able to be on-call Christmas night to take care of Casey and try to catch up on some much needed rest.

By the next day she was up to her self, twirling around in her princess dresses Santa brought her (thank you DI cause princess dresses are expensive).

I was back to work by Saturday, everything will hopefully get back to normal. I still have a little bit of break left from school to hopefully get the things done I need to before getting back to the school grind.

I hope your holidays were less eventful than ours!

I needed a little comedy relief! Enjoy!

2009-12-14T18:30:00.001-07:00

Next time you use a pair of rubber gloves, you're going to smile when you think of this:

A dentist noticed that his next patient, a little old lady, was
nervous, so he decided to tell her a little joke as he put on his
gloves.

'Do you know how they make these gloves?' he asked.

'No, I don't,' she replied.

'Well,' he spoofed, 'there's a building in Canada with a big tank
of latex, and workers of all hand sizes walk up to the tank, dip in their hands, let them dry,
then peel off the gloves and throw them into boxes of the right size.'

She didn't crack a smile.

'Oh, well. I tried,' he thought.

But five minutes later, during a delicate portion of the procedure, she burst out laughing.

'What's so funny?' he asked.

'I was just envisioning how condoms are made!'

(Gotta watch those little old ladies! Their minds are always working!)

twinkle twinkle

2009-10-22T21:47:00.002-06:00

Turn up the volume and listen to my Q-T singing!

WENDOVER baby!

2009-10-11T16:16:00.004-06:00

This is me with Frank Caliendo

Hubby, Melinda (Gary's wife) and Frank Caliendo... wow... these pics are blurry, the only ones we have tho. We rocked this concert we were the "drunk people in the front row"... yea!

More pics, videos clips, and details coming soon! All I can say is that I laughed to hard that my cheeks are just barely recovering!

ABCD's

2009-10-01T14:51:00.001-06:00

Today was our 4th anniversary. We didn't do very much since I had a big test the next day but we are headed to Wendover next weekend for a night of R & R!

Casey was so kind to give us a show for our anniversary, I guess singing the alphabet song while washing her hands and using her mouthwash has paid off!

What a smart little monkey she is turning out to be... I wonder where she gets if from?

Promotion!!!!

2009-09-09T14:59:00.002-06:00

Chad is going to have the opportunity to take over management of the store in Provo. The company is opening a new store in Orem so the current manager is going to move to Orem to get that shop launched and Chad has been chosen to take over the operations of the Provo store!

WTG babe! We are so proud of you!!! You have really been working hard and it's paying off! I know you can do it and do it well! This fits perfectly into our "5 year plan"

Off to JR HIGH!!

2009-08-18T16:36:00.002-06:00

This is Cam, his first day as a Jr. High student!!

I am off to school too... 2nd week of nursing school.

Freaking Out!

2009-08-04T12:32:00.003-06:00

That is the state I am in.... freaking out! I start the LPN program at MATC in 1 week!!!! I have so much to do and I have done so much but I still feel overwhelmed!

*Books- check (don't ask how much)
*Financial Aid- check, what a pain that has been
*Uniforms- check, well half, I still need tops and the patch
*Daycare- check, I hope it all works out like I need it to (thank goodness Cameron doesn't go back the same time as me)
*Work schedule- check

Still need to:
*Finish Math (final on Thurs)
*Finish History (you don't want to know how much I still need to do there!)
*TB test
*Orientation
*Tops for clinicals
*I would like to scrub my house (that's not going to happen)
*Grocery shopping...... the list just really goes on and on. UGH!

Techna Glass Olympics!

2009-07-21T19:49:00.007-06:00

Such great customer service!

My hard working man.... it was only 109 degrees out there on the black top. He does this every day!

This is THE judge, he was flown in from Philadelphia with his son to judge the olympics. These are the same judges that do the National competition in Las Vegas... no pressure ;)

The Award ceremony

The owner of Techna Glass giving Chad his award

3rd place baby! YEA!

Checking out all the goods!

Shay and Casey at the award ceremony.

The kids in front of one of the midget cars

This is the cutest video of Casey dancing with Dillon after the olympics during the races!

Flow Rider

2009-07-17T19:44:00.000-06:00

This is Cameron's first time riding the Flow Rider at Lindon Aquatics Center... watch close, its a short video. Hehe

This is another attempt at the Flow Rider... it's not as easy as it looks. Cameron's friend Jonathan, then Brandon, then Cameron goes last.

Happy 4th!

2009-07-05T11:53:00.005-06:00

The only picture I got for the 4th! I am a dork and didn't get ANY pictures from our festivities...

Chad got a new BBQ, he's pretty excited about it.
Our Cousins from SL came down and had a BBQ with us and some of our friends... we went to Provo to see fireworks from outside the stadium... we roasted marshmallows while we waited for the fireworks... when we got home we let the kids (all 7 of them) light sparklers and run around the front yard! We had a BLAST!

Happy Independence Day!

Casey's First Bicycle!

2009-06-05T11:40:00.002-06:00

Her papa helping her push it... her little legs are not quite strong enough to push herself yet!

Mom TRYING to teach her to pedal with her toes to make it a little easier.

She is getting the hang of it quickly! What a big girl!

Hiking the Y for my Bday!

2009-05-31T16:01:00.000-06:00

Mike and Missy at the top to the Y

Me and Missy on our way down... the only reason for the smile is the fact that we were coming DOWN! LOL!

Shayla, loving the fact that I was taking her pic without telling her!

The boys, that kicked our trash all the way up the mountain!

Cameron running up the face of the Y.

A pretty good way to spend my bday morning! I will be sore for days tho! I am getting too old for this!

Memorial Day at the Aquarium!

2009-05-25T16:15:00.000-06:00

For Memorial Day we took the kids to the Living Planet Aquarium. It was a blast, it's so hard to find things that BOTH of the kids will have fun doing with the age difference. They both seemed to really enjoy the aquarium.

This is the sing-ray petting pond! lol! The whole family had fun petting the sing-rays. They feel so cool! Kind of a slimy-squishy-and in a weird way soft..... Anyway, a fun day for the fam!

More Fun at the Park!

2009-05-22T16:03:00.003-06:00

I am loving this warm weather!
It is nice to get out of the house for a few hours and spend time together.

The Fam!

Cam has rock wall skills!

Dad has skills!

Even Mom has skills...

Getting jiggy..

Strike a Pose!

The "draw bridge"

What is the fascination with throwing rocks in the river? LOL!

My Little Climbing Monkey

2009-05-08T12:54:00.000-06:00

Casey has always been a little rascal.. climbing all over everything and everybody... making us crazy along the way.
Today she proved that all of her climbing has paid off... she now has ROCK CLIMBING SKILLS!
This rock wall is at a park up Hobble Creek Canyon, it's about 7 feet high and she went right up it on her 1st try!

Makes Me Happy...

2009-05-06T12:25:00.003-06:00

For a few weeks in the Spring I can open my back door and the smell of my lilac bushes will fill my kitchen... makes me happy whenever I walk by the window.

Finally... the weather cooperates!

2009-04-24T20:56:00.003-06:00

Just as I say that... it is currently raining and COLD again... good ol' Utah Spring. I took a break from my school-torture and took Casey to the park to get some of her energy out. She has been really good, letting me get some homework done, kind of... Cameron is camping with the scouts to night so lets just hope they don't get too wet, or freeze or anything like that.

Ummm.... Spring Break?!?

2009-04-16T01:26:00.002-06:00

It's looking more like Christmas break!

This is APRIL 16th NOT DECEMBER 16th!

it is kind of pretty and this way I can study and not feel guilty about not doing yard work but COME ON! Enough with the snow already!

Happy Spring...

!&%!*$ UTAH, the state that I love. I think.

I Couldn't Resist!

2009-04-10T03:19:00.001-06:00

I love baby bums almost as much as I love baby toes!

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees....

2009-04-01T01:58:00.002-06:00

I may have a hard time getting money to grow on my trees.... Casey has discovered a way to make it grow between her toes.... better than what could be found between toes of a toddler right? Too bad it wasn't a bunch of twenties!

While I was reading for school Casey was playing with her "moneys"..... she had taken off her socks and put penny's between her toes.

She is such a funny kid, she is always making me smile.
I LOVE baby toes too!

And... THIS is "Spring" in Utah....

My back porch has SNOW on it!

This is my screen on my back door.... ><

I am so done with the snow, I am ready for Spring already!

REALLY... SERIOUSLY?

Happy Spring!

"Ruff" day...

2009-03-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

Many of you know of my mom's dog, Sasha. Today was a hard day. We had to make a tough decision to put Sasha to sleep.... It was mostly mom's decision since Sasha has been her companion for the past 16 years.... I supported her all the way.

Sasha started out as an impulse buy from a pet store when I was 16. I moved out and Sasha stayed with my mom.

I just hope that she knows we took the best care of her that we could and I hope that she had a happy life! We sure enjoyed having her around. Watching her dig with a cast when she had a broken leg as a puppy (chasing a kitty), dancing around on her hind legs for treats and piddling on the floor when we came home.

Sasha was a great dog, a good companion for my mom over the years and she will be missed greatly.

All I Can Say is....

2009-02-23T16:40:00.002-07:00

I have spring fever!!!

I am ready to get out of the house, work in my yard and take my kids to the park!!!!

2009-02-04T15:15:00.004-07:00

We have been busy with school and work.

We have been having a lot of fun taking care of PITA for Chad's friend. She makes us smile. She looks a lot like Abby and she is so playful. She even tries to play with Tegun (he is not so thrilled about playing). I did update the puppies blog too with some recent pics and some updates.

Everybody is doing well. Just trying to manage the day to day.

I updated...

2009-01-24T01:17:00.005-07:00

I updated about the puppies...

click on the link http://stinkingcutepuppies.blogspot.com/ to read more about the whats and hows.

My heart is sick with sadness about these adorable babies.

My "baby" is 12!

2009-01-20T23:44:00.004-07:00

All I can say is I can't believe Cameron is already 12! I don't know where the time has gone. Cameron has grown into a wonderful son, excellent big brother, and great grandson!Cameron was born January 20, 1997 7 pounds 7 ounces and 10 days past his due date...

Soon after Cameron was 1 he was put in the hospital with rotovirus, he was in the hospital for about 3 days, my grandpa (his great-grandpa) came to visit him hollaring "where is my grandson?" Cameron and grandpa always has a special relationship that couldn't be explained or broken.When Cameron was almost 4 we moved to Kansas to help out one of my friends with her kids and he was able to experience his first (and last) tornado warning, luckily the tornado touched down a few miles from where we were living.

We moved back to Utah and then within the year we were living in Arizona. Cameron was able to experience a 65 degree Christmas! It was there that we had his first dog, Aspen, a Dalmation mix. She was so sweet but she had too much energy. We had to leave her behind so she spends her winters in Mesa and the summers in a cooler part of Arizona at a ranch. Cameron also went to kindergarten in Arizona where Spanish class is a mandatory part of the school system. I don't know how much of it he remembers now.

We were able to make it to San Diego for a weekend while living in Arizona. We did Disneyland, Sea World and a day at the beach all in a 4 day weekend... ugh! I was tired. Did I mention we also DROVE!
Cameron's great-grandpa passed away in 2004, I believe this was his first broken heart... it's hard when you have to give heartbreaking news to such a young child.

In 2005 Chad and I started seriously dating again and got married in October. Cameron went from not having any cousins because I am an only child to having MANY cousins! What a good experience!Cameron's little sister came into our lives in July of 2006. Cameron is an excellent BIG brother!

We bought our first house in 2007, Cameron was able to paint his room any color he wanted, he picked a really cool blue color. He still has debates with his dad about the tack holes in the walls... LOL.In September 2008 Chad officially adopted Cameron making him a Christensen 4ever!

Right before Thanksgiving 2008 Cameron's little sister got put in the hospital for 1 night, the whole family was a little traumatized but I think Cameron took it kind of hard, he was worried about his little sister!
For Thanksgiving 2008 Cameron experienced "organized chaos" when the Christensen's got together for family pictures that contained about 30 of us!

In December Cameron was there to help me help our German Shepherd deliver her 7 puppies. He was ready to slap on some gloves and jump right in and help if I needed him! It was awesome!

That brings us to January 20, 2009!

What a great adventure it has been being your mom bud!! I love you very much and I am proud of you and I know that you can do what ever you put your mind to and I support you all the way!

OMG!

2009-01-17T12:16:00.004-07:00

The shirt explains this post! I got this shirt at Old Navy yesterday. It was only $2.50 because the clearance is additional 50% off! I love a good deal and I love it more when it's adorable!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM!

The Crazyness that is my life

2009-01-12T15:08:00.002-07:00

Just thought I would share a little about how my days go... I know there are many that have it a lot more crazy than I do...

Say bye to Cameron and Chad (thankfully they get themselves up, dressed, fed and coffee without me so I can sleep a little longer)...

Sleep a little while longer...

Get Casey up out of bed, diaper changed...

Feed Casey breakfast and get some coffee for mommy...

Feed the puppies because they are very noisy if you don't...

Feed Abby and Tegun, watch to make sure Abby only eats her food...

Clean out puppy house (they poop a lot)...

Do some laundry...

Where did my coffee go?

Call UVU to get financial aide straightened out so I can pay for this semester...

Wash the dishes...

Change another diaper...

Re-heat my coffee...

Think about what my family is going to eat for dinner...

Clean up some more puppy poop...

Shower, with Casey, sometimes it would be nice not to have to share my shower with anyone...

Feed the puppies again...

Feed Abby again (she is on a strict diet of certain amounts, certain type of food too)...

Check on my school assignments to be prepared for tomorrow...

It's only 3:30 PM...

Get ready for work...

Before work I have to go to the post office because Utah State Tax commission needs a copy of 2003 tax return, when I lived in Arizona, to prove I did what I was suppose to... I hope I did!

Work till 6:30 tomorrow morning... start all over again!

Whew! No wonder I always feel like I need a nap! Maybe if we all stopped eating I would'nt have so much to do!

The birds outside still need to be fed, the big dog poop still needs to be cleaned up, the laundry still needs to be put away, the floor still needs to be mopped and vacuumed, the checkbook still needs to be balanced.... Oh my.

LOL it's MONDAY!

Back to the Grind

2009-01-10T17:09:00.007-07:00

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Break from school... All gone like good friends.

Not really, the holidays are too stressful for me. I am kinda glad they are over. I could use some more time off of school tho!

As of this week I am resuming classes. The Christmas tree is down (mostly). I didn't manage to get all the cleaning crossed off my "to do" list. But everybody is fed and most of the bills are paid! Woot, Woot!

Wish us luck that we can keep it together for another semester full of work, school, kids, family, puppies, bills and LOVE!

Welcome 2009!

2009-01-01T15:14:00.004-07:00

Happy New Year!

This year was pretty low key, just hanging out. We watched some TV, played with the puppies then we watched the ball drop on TV.

Casey walked around to all of us and gave us hugs and said "happy new year". Pretty cute.

2008 was a busy but good year...

Cameron turned 11! My baby. LOL.

Busy working and going to school and trying our best to make everything blend together.

Passed Anatomy with a B!

Found out that Abby and Tegun are COUSINS!

Took Chemistry over the summer and got a B+!

Casey turned 2!

Bought Chad a "new" Jeep (which I have stolen since it started snowing).

Chads boss is taking chemo and Chad has to work 6 days a week till he is done.

Got rejected by Weber for the nursing program.

Got alternate #49 for UVU's nursing program (aka not a chance).

Casey got the stomach flu and ended up in the hospital for 1 night, we weren't sure we would be home for Thanksgiving.

Family pictures with the Christensen's (all 1000 of us)!

Abby had 7 puppies!!!! SO I guess that makes us doggy grandparents too.

Took Microbiology and got a B+!

I am sure there is many other things to talk about, that should do. So we are off to 2009!

Because I have today award

2008-12-29T12:30:00.003-07:00

A while ago I did a post about a family that lives in my sister-in-laws ward and asked you to read their story and nominate them for this award.

The family was given the award as a December winner. Here is the link if you want to read about it.

http://hilaryweeks.com/more-message.php?messageID=62

Here is the link to Trent's blog if you didn't get a chance to read about this amazing family.

http://trentduval.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas and have a happy New Year!

Christmas Eve 2008

2008-12-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve was very low key, mom came over and we made a turkey dinner. The kids opened 1 present each from grandma and grandma opened her present.

After grandma left for the night the kids decorated the gingerbread house then it was off to bed to wait for Santa (I hope he got done working at the mall in time, lol)

A great Christmas Eve!

Santa was at Provo Mall!!!!

2008-12-23T16:34:00.003-07:00

We went to the mall today to finish up some Christmas shopping... CRAZYNESS... Anyway we took the kids to go see Santa, this was Casey's first time going to see the big man.

Everybody waiting to see Santa

The big guy himself!

Casey NOT having it and me trying to get away and out of the picture. Cameron wasn't very excited to see Santa but he was a good sport.

Verlynne's kids JC, Ryan and Shayla. They looked about as amused as Cameron. I think that Ryan actually spoke to him. Not sure tho.

It was fun to take the kids to see Santa, maybe not on December 23rd tho. The mall was a mad house. Something about the holidays just seems to make people loose their minds.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Revels

2008-12-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

We went to Cameron's Christmas play. It was a folk type Christmas program. It was a nice change from the typical Christmas programs with all the traditional music. There was a lot of flute and piano playing.
I really enjoyed it!

This was Cameron's opening act.
The danced around the whole gym.
They stopped in the back of the room so I took advantage of Cameron standing there for a minute and walked up to him so he knew we were there.
Casey gave Cameron a big hug and proceeded to
yell his name for the ENTIRE rest of the play.

Cameron is easy to spot in this one... he has his head down.
I wonder if he was doing what he was suppose to or if the other kids weren't doing what they were suppose to?!?!

It was cute to go see his play, they worked so hard on it and
Cameron thought I wouldn't make it because I worked the night before.

This was the closing songs. Both Casey and I had a lot of fun watching Cameron.

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-15T18:37:00.005-07:00

I am a Christmas tree slacker! I was pouting because we didn't have it in our budget (can you call it a budget if you have no money?) Anyhoo.... I was pouting because last year we had a real tree for the first time since my childhood and I really wanted another one.

But I have kids so I did the right thing and I got out our old APARTMENT sized artificial tree and I put it up before work.

All the lights are red because after some investigating by Chad ALL of our clear white lights were burned out. Weird, must have been a surge or something.

And the smell? Well I had a solution. It's not as good as the real thing but you do what you have to. It's "Christmas Tree" scent. LOL.

SNOW!!!

2008-12-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

Cameron was looking out the window at the snow after my nap today.. well Casey spotted the snow and was sooooo excited to get outside in the snow!

This is her snow get-up!

Cameron shoveling the drive-way for me. He looks too serious!

She was trying to tell me something...

Casey kicking snow into the path Cameron just shoveled. What a terd.

This is me attempting to get a pic of Casey's face. She was too busy looking at the snow to look at me!

Making footprints in the snow

Throwing the snow.

Okay... so I totally have a video clip that I took on my phone and I can't get it to flip...ugh.. ><... I also had some clips from the concert that I couldn't get to flip... double ugh! ><

Photo shoot?!?

2008-12-13T16:15:00.002-07:00

This is how the time gets passed while I am at work... (I have no idea what is on her face).

CHEEEEESE!

What? I am preparing for my close-up.

Okay, I'm ready for my close-up! What a ham!

And this is what happens while I am napping... note: I thought I had put the camera away BEFORE my nap.

Ta Dah!

More pics of puppies

2008-12-11T10:27:00.003-07:00

Day 2:
Abby is being a VERY good mommy!
So far she is very tolerant of us and lets us help (like when you can hear puppy squealing and go counting heads and find a puppy under her!).
When she goes outside she is "knocking" to come right back in and then down the stairs and back in the pool with her puppies.
She won't let Tegan close to the puppies.
Sometimes he sticks his head back there... I think he is just curious...
she growls... he leaves...
he knows his place.

During a head count we had to count tails (above there is a puppy under Abby's leg).
We found a puppy under Abby's back leg, but when we lifted her leg he was just eating away... happy as a clam!

Casey petting Abby... "good girl Abby".

Sneak a little pet of the puppies... "soft". I have to agree with her... they are soft.

The look on her face is priceless... I think I had that same look on my second day of breastfeeding... thank goodness I only had 1! Props to you Abby for feeding 7! Of course I only have 2 boobs and she has like 8 or 10 but I think a couple of them are MILK DUDS!

DOGPILE!

Day 3:
Dogpile in the box (I was cleaning out their bed and changing sheets while Abby was outside, don't tell her. He he).
They are starting to look like dogs. They are getting some different colors on them. Some of the boys have silver patches on their toes!
Black and silver GSD's look really good when they grow up!
I hope we get some of those!

Too cute for words!
This is our first born girl and the first born.
She was the only one that came out breech... and now she is sticking her tongue out...
do you think she is trying to tell us something?

The Official Count is....

2008-12-08T23:32:00.006-07:00

SEVEN!!!! 2 Girls and 5 Boys!

Abby did so good! Yesterday she didn't really eat very much which is unusual for her... she can usually clean out 2 or 3 bowl fulls.

I had to work and while I was at work Chad started to notice that she was hiding behind the couch.

He went and got the pool cleaned out and put her bed in it... there she stayed for most of the night.

When I got home from work I was a little surprised she was still pregnant, but I was relieved since I wanted to sleep a little.

Meanwhile Cameron woke up late and missed the bus. I made him wait till Casey woke up to go to school... because if I would have woke up Casey that would have been the end to any of my sleep... and because I am a shoe-in for mother of the year... LOL.

Abby stayed behind the couch most of the day. She started to make me really nervous around 2 when SHE STARTED PUSHING!!! I think it was around 4:30 when the first pup was born then another one every 20 min-1hour!

This is our very first puppy... a girl. She is VERY dark black, and cute of course.

As soon as I saw puppy I had Cameron call Chad and tell him to get his A&& home.

Chad just had to finish what he was doing and he was on his way.

Abby had 3 puppies before he even got here!

Casey thought they were Kitty Cats... LOL! She is a funny kid!

Casey handled the whole thing very well. She just hung out and watched cartoons and checked on the Kitty's every once in a while. It took some time to convince her that they are puppies, not kitties. Whatever. They are adorable.

Cameron was so excited. He wanted to put on some gloves... you know... in case I needed some help. LOL. I know he would have dove right in if I would have asked. He did most of the photos.

We did have one scary moment... LIKE THE WHOLE THING! Kidding. One of the puppies came out without any of the after birth and Abby chewed
the cord and it wouldn't stop bleeding... I was worried about the stuff left behind so I called the vet. He said it would come out with the next puppy... it did... that puppy scared us. He was okay, he just had 2 sacks around him!

I am so tired. Chad is tired. Casey is tired, tho right now she is fighting to sleep so Chad is laying on her floor. I decided to get these pics posted and then I get to study for my Micro Lab final on Wed. My mom is going to come sit with the babies... ALL of them.

Abby is doing really good. She has been outside but she goes right back to the puppies. I just had to go downstairs because I could hear a puppy really crying... it was stuck between Abby's bed and the side of the swimming pool. Maybe she hasn't figured out how to move them where she wants them.

It's going to be a learning curve for all of us. I am glad at least Abby knew what to do. BTW... the whole mommy dog eating the after birth and CHEWING off the umbilical cord is quite gross and I wasn't prepared for it!

This one we call Scarface. Abby was trying to get a hold of the sack when he was being born and got his nose. He was the one with the bleeding umbilical cord too! Luckily we had some silver nitrate sticks for cutting dog nails and just used that (after a phone consult with a friend that is a vet tech).

This was Casey's post most of the time.

"Hi kitty cats"

Good little mama!

TRIPLE THREAT TOUR!!!

2008-12-06T19:06:00.011-07:00

This is Verlynne, Ryan, Catrina and her husband Jared (only his arm ;)

We rode with Verlynne and her husband Ryan... we were an hour late... boohoohoo!

The ride out to Wendover was a RIOT! We listened to "hair bands" from our younger days. Nothing like sitting in the back seat with your girlfriend and head-banging to Skid Row and Poison! We had to do something to pass the time... it was dark so we didn't even see that stupid, ugly concrete "tree" on the way there.

We got there during the intermission between Restless Heart and Blackhawk. We missed ALL of Restless Heart! So sad... that's what happens when you have kids, traffic, errands, Chad worked and had to shower and I had to finish my drink before we left!

My Hubby Chad, his boss Gary and Gary's wife Melinda... Gary and Melinda were the only ones that made it to the concert on time.

WOOT! WOOT! Go Blackhawk!

Chad got a guitar pick from Blackhawk!! LUCKY! It just happened to land in his chair. One lady infront of us was trying to catch them down her shirt! LOL!

Little Texas was up next... we were having so much fun. Towards the end of Little Texas I grabbed Verlynne, Catrina and Melinda and we danced right next to the stage!

Pounding our fists on the stage. The guitar player kept coming up to us... and egging us on. There was this random person next to Melinda that must have been a groupie or something but it payed off for Melinda because she got a picture autographed!!

LUCKY!

To be honest with you... the details of the rest of the night are a little foggy... I do recall going and getting some food with everyone before we passed out! LOL.

I hung out the window for a while trying to keep everything down and Catrina thought I might fall out of the window... silly Catrina. I did not fall out the window. See I told her I would be fine. LOL.

The next morning... okay late afternoon we went to breakfast at the Red Garter. The actually have the slot machines that take real money... not tickets... so we did some gambling before we left.

Chad and I didn't do any gambling the previous night... again, a little blurry.

I seem to have also developed a pretty good bruise on my shin if anyone has any insight to it... Please don't tell me. LOL.

The ride home was a typical ride home from Wendover... not nearly as fun as the ride up there.

When we were almost home there was a HORRIBLE car accident on the freeway that held us up in traffic for about a half hour.

I was lucky enough to come home to a still pregnant Abby and a CLEAN house... Thanks Kerryne.

We had so much fun. The only money we gambled with was our change that we collect when we break a dollar. So all in all a AWESOME night!

Merry Christmas Hunny!

Thanks again Kerryne for watching our kids!

I hope you had as much fun in Wendover as we did!

Fun in WENDOVER!!

2008-12-05T20:00:00.002-07:00

Thanks Kerryne for coming to our house and watching our kids... I hope they all behave for you, especially ABBY!

This is a very needed and deserved break!

Will post real pics of us partying (have to possibly edit them a little first.. hehe) when we get back!

PARTY! PARTY!

B-E-A-UTIFUL

2008-12-04T16:32:00.002-07:00

I can't think of anything more peaceful or beautiful than the sight of a sleeping baby... especially when the baby is 2! Kinda creepy how her baby sleeps with 1 eye open.

Casey is doing really well. Nothing left from her hospitalization other than a few bruises.

Everybody else seems to have escaped the worse of the flu (for now).

Abby is getting HUGE and the puppies are moving around A LOT! Good luck tomorrow Kerryne! I hope she stays preggers for you!

27 hours till concert time!!! WOOT, WOOT!!! Not like I am counting or anything ;)

This is awesome!

2008-12-02T01:45:00.004-07:00

I really hope you can see this...

I used my cell phone so its a little grainy...

if you are patient you can see Abby breathing...
then you can see her stomach rolling with movement... If you wait for the close up you can see it better.

eeeek! I am getting so excited now!

These pics are not of any of our puppies... just wanted you to see how stinking cute they are as puppies so you understand the excitement!!

Is Abby really pregnant... you decide

2008-11-29T22:25:00.005-07:00

Time to vote... we have our suspicions... Thought this would be fun.

This picture was taken a few months before we were thinking about breeding her... about the time we figured out she was cousins with Tegun! She is about 58 lbs here.

This is her laying in the hall way between the kitchen and living room... maybe a little saggy but aren't we all?!?!

AWE... she loves a good belly scratch... then again don't you?!?! Looks kinda round to me... what do you think?

Time for a treat... Chad almost lost a finger with this one... hungry puppies? You decide... (hint: compare this pic to the first one)

View from the back... she carries well if she is... time to vote. There is a poll on the right of my blog.

She weighs in at about 68 lbs now.
This is the dog we have been trying to get to gain weight for 2 years now.

Cast your vote. Voting runs till 12/10. If she is she should have her puppies between 12/12-12/19. The final results are up to Abby.

I overdosed on pumpkin pie!

2008-11-28T16:02:00.004-07:00

LOL... Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! It is my favorite for many reasons...

1. It's a time to get together as a family without the added stress of BUYING PRESENTS... everyone is there just to be there!

2. I love all the yummy food that is associated with Thanksgiving...

3. I like to try new recipes every year

4. It gives me an excuse to eat as much pie as I want... I have to try them all right?!?

5. LEFTOVERS!!!!

This year we went up to my sis-in-laws, Shontell, to have the feast.... but first we all gathered (minus 2, Justin who was sick and his daughter Caylie who was with her mom) the WHOLE Christensen family for pictures (thats about 40). Chad has 8 brothers and sisters and all but 1 of them have spouses/kids of their own... you can imagine how the numbers can add up quickly. We even have 1 great grandchild and 1 on the way... thats 2! I can't believe it.... Hopefuly the pictures will be ready to view soon so I can show you the MAGNITUDE of the whole situation! It was a small miracle that we even pulled it off, all thanks to some great planning by Shontell who arranged the whole thing!

All in all a great day and a great THANKSGIVING!

I spoke too soon...

2008-11-26T20:40:00.007-07:00

Sunday night was a different story... Casey was awake all night crying and not feeling very well... Chad's sleep count for Sunday was about 1 hour.

When I got home Monday morning I put Casey in our bed around 8:30 AM hoping to catch a few hours of sleep, my sleep count for Sunday was 0 since I was at work, I had been sleeping about 1 1/2 hours since getting home from work.

It worked, Casey slept until about 10 AM in our bed, when we got up she was not being herself. She was really whiny, and had no energy! I couldn't get her to eat or drink anything! She was just slumped over on the couch... she would only get off the couch if she thought I was going to leave her alone.

By 1 PM, no food, no fluids, no energy and no wet diapers since early that morning I got worried about her and made an appointment. The appointment was for 4 PM, of course we didn't see the Doctor until 5 PM! I love our pediatrician! He has been the doctor for both of our kids and Cameron is almost 12 so I must like him!

The doctor asked me a bunch of questions... examined her carefully... typed some stuff in his notes... looked at her again... asked me more questions... at this point I am getting very nervous about what he is going to tell me. He tells me he thinks she has the stomach flu (I knew that) then he tells me that the flu this year has been know to cause Pneumonia and Diabetes! He said that she is dehydrated and would benefit from a night of IV fluids! At this point I am already so worried about her I just want her to be better!

Chad called right after I left the Doctors because I told him our appointment was at 4 and it was 5:30 and he hadn't heard from us... I was sobbing of course... I told him through all the tears that he wanted to admit Casey for IV fluids and some blood work. He left work immediately and met me at the admitting while I was checking in. I called my mom to call Cameron since he was home by himself waiting for me to take Casey to the doctor.

The picture is what the nurses gave to Casey when we got to our room. A lady bag and a blankie.

It was shift change when we got to the hospital. The off going shift got her vitals and changed her into a little hospital gown complete with ties in the back and some pants. I talked to the resident doctor that would be taking care of her through the night, more questions, more worries. She took a little nap in Daddy's arms while we waited for the nurses to get done with report to come give her the IV.

Then in walks the CHARGE NURSE... another story about her... she and a couple of nurses aides got her IV in, I was only going to give them 1 chance to poke her and then I was calling on some friends from NICU to do her IV. Lucky for them they got it in! I held her while Dad talked to her so she wasn't watching them poke her. Through her sobbing tears she answered all of Dad's questions about where the doggies were and where "guy" and the ferrets were. She was such a trooper! They put a little stick on baggie to try to get a urine sample, the CHARGE NURSE wanted to just cath her, I didn't want her to be more traumatized than she needed to be so I wanted them to use the bag.

IV done we are off to our room where we are staying the night. Chad went home to shower and to pick up Cameron. Her bolus of fluids got done and they gave her some more fluids that had potassium in them... about 300 mL into that bag of fluids and she was a different kid. We were walking in the halls (she associates all walks with my friend Verlynne so she was quite upset that she wasn't there), eating jello and asking the nurses for crackers. With Casey feeling a little better Chad headed home.

I got some urine in the bag, the CHARGE NURSE said it wasn't enough and that she wanted to straight cath her. I talked to the resident about my concerns about that and she agreed to try the bag one more time and if it didn't work to just talk to Dr. Lauret in the morning.

Cameron threw up himself 3 times... didn't know this until Verlynne picked him up after school. He is fine, he ate like 4 pieces of pizza that night. Good to be a boy huh?

My friend Stephanie was working that night so on her lunch break she came over to see us and she brought me some food since all I had for nutrients all day was coffee... thank heaven for coffee... Casey ended up with some pretty bad diarrhea that night which was kind of a set-back. After her 3rd bout of it the nurses came in to draw some blood from her. 3 pokes later and after I had to tell them when they had blown her vein and why they shouldn't use the vein they were digging around in they left us alone for a while. I think it was 4:30 before we got to sleep.

The next day, after breakfast, Dr. Lauret came in to see us. He said the diarrhea was okay, as long as she is getting in more than what is coming out. He was as upset as I was that the CHARGE NURSE said there wasn't enough for the test, he said all he needed was a drop. He decided to let us off the hook for that test but he wanted to check her poop, no problem, she has had diarrhea. Lunch was going to be the test if she can go home. He said she could have regular food because up to this point all she has had is clear liquids and crackers. Her first tray was liquids, then they ordered her a regular tray and I talked to dietary and got her mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. We had 3 trays, she had to eat something, right?

It was slow but she ate, and we walked, and she would eat some more. The resident came in and talked to us and we said we felt good about taking her home. He said he had to page Dr. Lauret before he would let us go. So we walked some more. This time she was actually walking around instead of being carried. We would pass the resident in the hall and I told Casey to ask him if she could go home... dirty pool I know.

(While we were in the hospital we watched hours and hours of blues clues!)

This picture is dark but she was looking at the cars from 4 stories up waiting to be sent home. I guess she is not afraid of heights.

We got home around 4 PM on Tuesday... very long week, month, week, whatever I have lost track. I am so happy she truly is doing better! She ate PIZZA last night for dinner and most of the family was in bed by 9 PM! Now on to Thanksgiving, this year I am thankful that we don't have to spend it in the hospital and we will be able to do family pictures with the Christensen family (all 40 of us).

This is her now, watching her shows and dancing around... whew... what a relief.

Horray!

2008-11-22T23:20:00.005-07:00

It's official! We were able to go an entire day without vomit! Casey still isn't eating very well but she is holding down fluids and a little food. Woot! Woot!

Only 2 more weeks till our Wendover trip! I am so excited!

3 more weeks till we should have puppies, I am a first time puppy grandma so wish me luck!

31/2 weeks of school left! I am so done with this semester!

All I can say is thank goodness for family, good friends and massive amounts of coffee or I would have never made it through the past couple of weeks. I am sure the next few weeks will be the same!

Poor Baby...

2008-11-20T16:11:00.002-07:00

So last night, actually early this morning, when I finished my paper (about 4 AM). I went in to check on Casey because she had been coughing and crying a little. Well the coughing was actually throwing up!

I got her out of bed and we headed downstairs to watch her shows and get her cleaned up. She proceeded to throw up several more time through the night, I feel so bad for her! She finally fell asleep around 6:30 and I moved her to our bed hoping to get some sleep.

We slept till almost 9:00 when she threw up again, and then again an hour or so later. It was almost 1 PM before I could get her to drink anything! She had some toast and was able to hold that and her Gatorade down.

I just put her down for a nap and now I have to run to school to fix the mistakes my lab "partner" made while doing some work on our unknown bacteria this morning!!!

Sleep count so far for me is 5 hours plus cat naps on the couch when I can since Tuesday morning (the last time I slept well was Monday night and that was still a late night because I was working on a study guide for my Micro test I have to take by Saturday!) Thank goodness for coffee!

What kind of shoe are you?

2008-11-20T03:02:00.002-07:00

You Are Flip Flops

You are laid back and very friendly.

Cheery and sunny in disposition, you usually have something to smile about.

Style is important to you, as long as you can stay casual.

It takes a lot to get you to dress up!

You are a loyal and true person, though you can be a bit of a flake.

You tend to “play hooky” and blow off responsibilities a lot more than most people.

You should live: By the beach

You should work: At a casual up and coming company

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

Denae posted a quiz on her blog and I found this one... FYI.... I am working on a "formal paper" that I have been blowing off, I should have started it about a week ago and I am having writers block right now.

Cameron's new (used) bed!!

2008-11-17T17:37:00.004-07:00

The bunk beds are gone!! I have not liked the bunk beds for a while, I have taken them apart and put them back together enough times in the 8 years that Cameron has had them to detest them a little. Missy inherited the headache er I mean bunks from me for her boys. We gave Cameron our old double bed, Chad hates our old bed (causes him back pain, too soft), Cameron LOVES it. We got this headboard from KSL.com, was advertised as a full, is clearly a queen size (sigh). Cameron says he doesn't care that it sticks out 3 inches on each side! We just had to set it against the wall.

This is his canoe bookshelf, not new, I searched and searched for this. Found it on KSL.com of course! We actually got this when we had our apartment in Provo.

Fishing/Camping decorations that I bought for him when I got the bunk beds. Things are finally coming together.

These don't really match, the stuffed German Shepherd was given to my grandpa by my mom before I was born. It used to sit in the back window of his car. When he sold his car it got moved to his bedroom, thats where we found it after he died. We thought Cameron should have it. They had a special relationship. The pic is of Grandpa's WW 2 tanker!

Cameron's dresser, again something we bought him when we lived in our Provo apartment. But it matches! I moved it from the other side of his room, full of clothes, because I am a dork and didn't think to take the drawers out! LOL.

This is Cameron's desk that Chad and I stole from him when we moved to Provo. I thought it would be nice to give it back to him so he could have a place to do his homework away from his little sister. And since it's his anyway. LOL.

This is the whole thing put together. I am going to get him a new comforter set for Christmas that will go along with the decorations and his personality better. Do they make Camping/Fishing/Pre-teenage boy comforters?!?!

Peaceful

2008-11-14T00:50:00.003-07:00

On Tuesday my friend Verlynne and I went for a long walk up Hobble Creek canyon. We actually try to do it at least once a week, sometimes twice. This picture was taken on the way back, it was just so peaceful.

This trip was special. I took BOTH dogs (thats about 155 lbs of dog muscle) and Casey in a stroller. I usually take Abby, our smaller dog, and Casey but I have been feeling bad about Tegun always being left behind because he is so big, strong, and I have to say he is a little bit of a FREAK when it comes to going for walks. It's our own fault. We don't take him enough. He can burn out Chad's arm pretty quick when he is walking him from all the pulling.

Verlynne also had both of her dogs, Molly and Sadie, a small dog and a medium sized dog.

Overall the walk went well. The initial task of getting the dogs out of the back of the jeep, getting Casey in her stroller and introducing the dogs to eachother was quite the task, but after about 5 minutes of walking we had a good pace going and everybody was in walk mode. I was even able to tie Tegun's AND Abby's leash to the stroller and I only held them tight if someone was approaching on the trail. No pulling, no being mean to Verlynne's dogs. I was pleasently surprised.

We walked for about 2 hours up and back. Verlynne always lets her dogs off lead to run on the trail. I let Abby, she usually stays within about 5 feet of me because she is such a chicken. I got brave and let Tegun off his leash. He actually played with Molly, Verlynne's smaller dog! I was amazed and like a proud mom! He hasn't had many doggy friends so I suspected he would try to eat her. I even brought his muzzle just in case (that was tried during the inital meeting but he rubbed the skin off the end of his nose trying to get it off before we got out of the driveway). Having Tegun there playing with the other dogs even brought Abby out of her shell a little. I think she liked having Tegun there, she is more sure of herself when he is around.

I really enjoy my walks with Verlynne, we talk about school, work, kids and anything else that may come up. Eventhough we both have so much to do during the day it is a good way to reset and it gives me a energetic boost to get me through the rest of the week! I love it!

Finally!

2008-11-11T01:34:00.006-07:00

As many of you might know the whole bedtime routine has been a little difficult around our house. We have grown a lot the past couple of months, I say we because there has been a lot of growing on behalf of the kids and the parents.

When Casey turned 2 I talked to her doctor about her giving up the bottle, I expressed my concerns with her screaming for 4 hours when we tried to take them away... me working graveyards and needing a nap more than her... her very over-worked daddy handling things by himself while I am always gone to school/work. He was very supportive and understanding and believed things would happen eventually.

We were ALL finally ready to pack up the baba's. It had been a while since we had caved and given Casey a bottle for bed and she hardly even asked for one, if she did she was easily talked out of it. I think we left them in the cupboard for SECURITY. Casey was very helpful in packing them away and now bottles are deemed "yucky and for babies". Woot! Woot! Now for potty training... um... yea... maybe some other time. So far her response to going pee in the potty is a big fat NO!

Cameron has decided to grow up a little too... only his got him into trouble... lets just say he is a horrible liar and I so busted him! I think he would be upset if I shared his shameful moment so I will just leave it at that. I am not looking forward to him being a teenager! UGH!

Chad continues to work 6 days a week. His boss is getting chemo and can't work so many days a week. Some weeks he gets a day off during the week and I actually get to see him, but most weeks we play the pass off game with the kids and the day to day. Crazy-ness is all around us.

In other news.... UVU has decided I was their 89th choice out of 40 spots for the nursing program for January. Lets just hope there were more than 89 applicants and that I didn't come in dead last! I suppose my 3.52 GPA for my pre-reqs was not up to their standards. So I am on to another semester and on to another plan on how to get into a nursing program without spending a fortune!

Very Important...Because I have today

2008-11-07T14:47:00.014-07:00

Okay, Here is the scoop. I don't really know this family. They live in my Sister-in-laws ward in Harriman (sp?). I am a health care worker and a mother and I have been touched by this little boys struggle. Please nominate them for this award. They have lost something so precious and at the same time they have gained so much strength all from such a little boy!

"There are people who change our lives. Their influence inspires us to live life to the fullest and be our best everyday. Because of their strength, we are stronger. Because of their faith we are more faithful. Simply put, we are better just for knowing them.

The "Because I Have Today" Award gives you the opportunity to honor those people in your lives - let them know the difference they have made." Hilary Weeks

If you have been touched by Trent Duvals story - and would like to nominate the Duval Family for this award, (or any other family) please go to the following link to read about this award or send an email to todayaward@hilaryweeks.com and nominate Trent and his family.
Be sure to follow the instructions on what to include in your email.

Include your name and phone number as well as the nominee's first name, address and phone number. Photographs attached to the email are welcome. Please submit the nomination from your perspective rather than referring the selection committee to a blog site.

As part of your nomination please include the following statement: `I give permission for the information submitted in my nomination to be displayed and viewed at hilaryweeks.com. I understand that permission will be obtained from the winner before any comment or response by the recipient is used`.

Because I have today.....I'll enjoy the simple things!

Below is a link to Trent's blog, it's kind of a journal about his fight with Leukemia, if you want to get to know him and his family a little better before nominating them! This family really makes you appreciate all the little things in life.
I emailed my sister-in-law to get their address and stuff so if you want to nominate them let me know and I will get the info to you!

http://trentduval.blogspot.com/

For sure have a box of tissues handy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2008-11-01T01:35:00.005-06:00

Happy Halloween from the Christensen's!

It took about 45 min to do hair and make-up for this Halloween.
I did Cameron's first and by the time I was almost done
Casey thought it would be a good idea for me to "baby paint" her face too.
Thank goodness.
What is a puppy costume without a spot around the eye,
a black nose and whiskers?!?
We went to my mom's house to show her the costumes and do some Trick or Treating.
Then we came home and had some Navajo Tacos (first timer) for dinner.
They were nummy!
Cameron went out in the neighborhood with some of his friends.
Overall a good Halloween!

This picture is cute because Casey is trying to sit on the porch the same way Cameron is...

I just like to do pics of them standing next to each other because there is such an age difference between them so I think it is cute so see them side by side.

Cameron, the shredder ware-wolf!
P.S. I am a first timer on the ware-wolf make-up!
Not too shabby.

You can't really see it but we sacrificed a doll for the hair (she had cancer anyway ;)~j/k) and I hot-glue-gunned the hair to the sleeves of his shirt for hand hair.

I thought it would hurt him less if I glued it to the shirt instead of his hands.
I know, you are thinking I am TOTALLY getting mom-of-the-year for that one!!!! LOL!

Kind of DORKY but it works!

Puppy dog whiskers and a cute wet nose!

This is Casey getting the hang of Trick or Treating.
She is a quick learner when there is CANDY involved!

P.S.S
This is why Casey had piggy (doggy) tails for ears instead of wearing her hood.
She fought it!
And yes, I am holding her hands so she can't take off the hood so we could get just 1 picture of her with her floppy doggy ears!

Pumpkin Carving!

2008-10-30T15:19:00.004-06:00

Cameron cleaning out the guts of his pumpkin... Casey thought the guts were "yucky" so she wouldn't touch them!

Daddy concentrating on carving his pumpkins scary face!

The same concentration on Cameron's face while he is drawing the face on his for Dad to cut out

From Left to Right...
Casey's (mommy had to do most of it, except the marker all over it), Dad's, and Cameron's

SCARY!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

There is a story behind this post....

2008-10-30T15:00:00.000-06:00

The story is... Cameron's friend has been saving our cans to buy a DIRTBIKE, well he settled for a RIPSTICK and dosen't need our cans anymore. We convinced Cameron to save them and put the money in his savings account. There has been a collection of cans accumulating on our counter.
After carving pumpkins last night I had to do some of my homework, due today, well Chad got bored waiting for me and this is what he created! I thought it was comical, especially since he ran out of beer cans and had to use a Mountain Dew and a Diet Dr. Pepper can at the top!

Making Cornbread

2008-10-28T09:19:00.002-06:00

Casey thought it was pretty fun to help make cornbread to go with our chili leftovers last night! This is Casey stirring while mom supervises. Daddy thought it was pretty cute so he got the camera out and started snapping pictures!

Hmmm.... I wonder where she got this stirring technique from?!?

CAREFULLY filling the pan with batter

And the PAY OFF! The only fun in cooking is licking the utensils! Right?

She is good at getting her tongue in every area to get every drop! Goofy Lil Miss Mae!

Mummy?

2008-10-28T09:15:00.002-06:00

Nope, just Casey wrapped up in some Ace wraps that are actually for my mom's arm... LOL! She stood there and let me wrap 2 of them around her.

She even went as far as to chase daddy around like a "scary". Goofy kids (and parents)!

Goofy night!

2008-10-25T22:54:00.003-06:00

So this is might just be Abby's costume... LOL! This is a plastic nose that came with some make-up I bought for Cameron's costume! She actually let us put it on... kindof! LOL.

I think I am going to give up on buying Christmas presents this year... the kids seem to find more fun with things around the house. While Chad was doing laundry after work I put Casey in the empty laundry basket and carried her up the stairs. She thought it was a riot! I thought it was pretty funny too!

She is peeking at me through the slots!

Peek a BOO!

Where's Casey Mae?

There she is! Silly baby! Gotta love it. Between the laundry basket and the boxes Christmas is going to be CHEAP this year!

LOL!

2008-10-25T16:58:00.002-06:00

I got this pic in an email... I thought it was hilarious! If it was a dog acting as a human it would be more true to life for my house but this is funny too! Plus I don't really have anything to blog about except my piles and piles of housework (not getting done) and my loads of homework (not getting done either). I thought this would be more interesting!

Funny things kids say...

2008-10-23T09:50:00.002-06:00

The conversation goes something like this....
Mom: Do you want some cake (or anything really, except bedtime)?
Casey Mae: Yes!
Mom: Are you sure?
Casey Mae: I sure!
Mom: Okay, if you say so.
Casey Mae: I say so.

She is just so funny sometimes, she will say "I say so" to just about everything now! LOL! It's a good thing she is so cute or I would be much more crazy than I already am!

Making Clubhouses

2008-10-19T01:09:00.002-06:00

The kids got some old boxes and made clubhouses to watch TV in.. proof that the boxes are more fun to play in!

Cameron went upstairs and Casey stole his spot... "baby spot!" is what she says when she steals your spot.

Casey in the box.

Casey was on top of the box trapping Cameron underneath... "whoa" as she slides off.

Cameron was hiding from Casey but she found him. I was laughing and taking these pics with my phone. They were cracking me up!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-16T16:30:00.007-06:00

Today we went to a pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins to carve...

This is Casey looking for "baby" pumpkins... she thought this one was interesting, but we talked her into getting an orange one.

She liked that she could pick them up and carry them around... hehe

This is the one she picked out... she is taking it to Cameron in the Hay Maze! LOL! Baby got some sway in that back!

The kids with the pumpkins they picked out and the big one is for Daddy....

Casey helping Cameron through the maze... "Come on Guy"

Under the bridge!

Woot, woot! Casey made it through the maze! Horray!

"Baby said NO!"

2008-10-13T23:11:00.002-06:00

Okay, whenever lil' miss Casey Mae is getting into something she isn't supposed to my very intelligent and well-thought-out response (not really) as to why she can't do whatever she is doing is "Mommy said NO". For about a week now whenever it is time for her to do something that she dosen't want to do like eat her dinner, take a nap, or the ever popular going to bed she replies with a very insistent and CUTE "Baby said NO!" It is so hard not to laugh at her, she did it again to me tonight while I was putting her to bed, instead of laughing at her and making a game of it I decided to Blog it! LOL!

Update.... My mom had surgery on her Left arm, elbow and hand (of course she is left-handed too!) on Friday, it has a very long weekend with numerous trips to Provo to go to work or to give Sasha (moms doggy) her insulin shots. It helped a lot that Cameron stayed the weekend with her to be her hand that she can't use for now. Cameron is home (I missed him here too, he is a good helper for me too!). My mom is doing okay, lots of pain and it's a little awkward to try to get things done without the use of her dominant hand. We are hopeful that this surgery will alleviate some pain for her. Funny thing is that the arrangement for the shots for the dog have been the most difficult thing about her surgery! So far, I am just stopping by before and after work or school or just dragging my night-shift working self out of bed before the roosters! Not a pretty sight! Oh well, your family is your family and you do whatever you have to when you need to!

Pre- Halloween Howling!!

2008-10-11T14:14:00.009-06:00

(Junior with his ball, always together!)

Oh the Howling! My house sounds like a Haunted House!
Here's the story....
It all started with our beloved Junior, the best GSD in the world!

(Junior sleeping on Tegun, note the ball close by)

From Junior we got Tegun. When we had to put Junior to sleep 2 years ago poor Tegun needed a friend to keep him occupied and out from under my feet. SO we went to SL on Christmas Eve and picked out Abby, she was the RUNT of course but a cute puppy (but all puppies are cute).

(Abby as a puppy.. her ears are still floppy)

Despite Abby being the runt she has been a good dog, except for the more than occasional POOP on my floor (which didn't start as a puppy, it started after a 40 mph jump out of the blue jeep on 500 W. in Provo into traffic). She sleeps in Casey's room, she lets Casey pull her around by the collar, climb on her, whatever she just dosen't care. We love that she is so mellow, like a couch potato, kinda like us. So when she got to be around 2 we starting thinking that between Tegun's size (he is a big dog) and Abby's mellow-ness they might make some good puppies... while comparing pedigrees we discovered that THEY ARE RELATED! Just our luck! Lets see if I can keep this straight... Tegun's great-grandparents on his mom's side is Abby's grand-parents on her dad's side!

(Tegun and Abby... can you see the resemblance? Me neither!)

So the search was on for a boyfriend for Abby, she is still a good dog with good qualities (plus the jeep thing cost us about $800!). She is in heat now and we found her a boyfriend in Santaquin, he is so pretty, dark mask and a thick frame. We took Abby out there on Thursday (after I took a 31/2 hour mid-term) and there was FIREWORKS! We are excited! We should have puppies by Christmas, the only thing is that while Abby is in heat we have to keep Tegun away from her. He is not happy about it! So he HOWLS... my neighbor even said that normally she dosen't even notice we have dogs, then she heard Tegun howling outside and he sounded like he was hurt so she went to go see if he was okay because he sounded so sad, he is sad! He dosen't know it is not good to be in love with your cousin! LOL! My crazy life saga continues!

(Tegun, the big dog)

Update... hehe... mommy wins for now!

2008-10-09T02:30:00.007-06:00

I just have to take this one day at a time.... so far Casey hasn't climbed out of her bed since my last, very desperate post. I searched the internet that night for baby jails, toddler beds and other contraptions that would keep my monkey in her crib! I even considered turning her crib upside-down! LOL! Not really, but geese! That night I told her to stay in her bed, and with some bribery with M and M's she stayed and was still there in the morning. Nap time went about the same as well as bedtime the next night. Again this morning, in her bed! Daddy gave her a flashlight to play with and she found it this morning and was playing with it IN HER CRIB! I was at school all day and Daddy had the day off so she didn't get a nap, "she didn't want one". LOL! Currently she is sleeping soundly, flashlight, sippy with chocolate milk (I know, at least it's not a bottle! Another time for that story!) and I had to bribe her with french fries this time (not M and M's this time, maybe tomorrow though :-). HEY! I will take it!

P.S.
The pictures aren't recent, I don't dare go in her room now! I couldn't resist though!... so cute though! I have so many pics of her sleeping! She gets herself into the funniest positions!

Baby Jail...

2008-10-06T18:15:00.003-06:00

This could very well be Casey soon! LOL!
I am still open to ideas... the door knob thing won't work because her door dosen't close tight anyway... it's on the "to do" list. LOL!

Climbing Monkey....

2008-10-06T15:29:00.006-06:00

Many of you know that I work the graveyard shift at the hospital... Casey will usually sleep in until around 9:00 and then I try to get more sleep until around 9:30 or 9:45 while she plays in her crib.

Well this morning after working last night and doing my evaluation with my manager this morning before I left I was awakened by a sweet little "what you doing?" from my lovely 2 year old standing in my room looking at me!

At first I thought that maybe one of the boys got her out before they left & had maybe turned on cartoons for her or something. Naptime was going to be the test on how she got out. Lets just say... I am so screwed! She has figured out that she can climb out of her crib! At nap today, which she usually just plays in her crib but I am okay with that because she is quiet and safe and in her crib. Anyway I heard a "thud" and then her door opening.

Currently she is screaming "mama" from her room but she is still in her crib! Advice? Mid-evil crib traps? Anything! When Chad gets home from work we are going to have to put our heads together and think of something!

AHHH... wait, the screams are getting softer.... Maybe she will actually take a nap. I am exhausted! LOL! I love being a mom.

Jeeps

2008-10-03T15:58:00.005-06:00

In my last post I talked about all of our accomplishments... Apparently, I forgot one. Chad is very proud of our progression of JEEPS! We must not have loved white Jeep very much because the only pics I have are of it being taken apart to donate "organs" to blue Jeep. LOL.

This is blue Jeep saying goodbye to white Jeep, white Jeep is going to a better place. Blue Jeep thanks white Jeep for it's organs... seats, lift kit, tires and wheels...

This is blue Jeep all put together and happy! White Jeep lives on in blue Jeep!

This is the latest addition to the Jeep family. '03 Jeep Grand Cherokee, almost everything Chad wants in a Jeep. Very happy and well taken care of...LOL. Chad works very hard to provide for his family & he has deserved to get a new Jeep for a long time. I am just happy that he is happy! :-)~

P.S. Grand Jeep didn't replace blue Jeep, we still have blue. He is a good work Jeep for towing stuff and pulling out trees! OH YEA! Good fun. We are considering fixing up blue so that Cameron can drive it. (Hopefully I will be dead by then so I don't have to worry about him, or maybe we can build a BUBBLE around blue Jeep! LOL!)

2008-10-01T11:51:00.003-06:00

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!
3 glorious years! We have accomplished everything we have set our minds to in the past 3 years. We got married (2005), bought our first house (2007), we had a baby(2006) (Casey Mae), & on Sept 4th (2008) Chad adopted Cameron officially. Oh yea! My pre-reqs are done for nursing school (or will be by the end of this semester) and I am applying now.
Sealed with a kiss... so many events have led up to this day, I am so lucky to be married to my best friend. Our friendship gets us through a lot of things (some things a new marriage may not survive), nursing school (or the lack of), kids, dogs, jobs, bills.... ugh! The list goes on and on. I hope that everyone that is married is married to their best friend! It is wonderful knowing that you are loved unconditionally.

All I can say is... I (Becky) picked out that cake topper (I thought it was hilarious!)

Our 4 mile walk up Hobble creek

2008-09-30T16:38:00.003-06:00

We went for a walk on the bike trail up Hobble Creek canyon today with my friend Verlynne and her dog Molly, we stopped to let Abby and Molly get a drink in the creek (I had to throw Abby in cuz she is chicken & she still didn't get a drink, I had to pour it down her throat!). This Casey getting ready throw a rock in to see if Abby would chase it (she didn't).

The wind up.....

Mid launch... she kinda throws like a girl... hehe

You can't really see it but this is a pic of Casey with a wet bum cuz she decided to sit in the water to get more rocks. Gotta love kids!

Playing Ball together

2008-09-14T15:53:00.002-06:00

Casey insisted that Cameron sit next to her for a picture.

CHEESE!

Baby on a mission!

Thank You

2008-09-11T15:18:00.008-06:00

I just wanted to post a little "Thank You" to everyone that supported me and my family during this difficult time. Grandma Doris was very special to me and to my family, especially to my grandpa, Werner Loeffler. She was such a loving and caring person, I would be very proud if I could be even a fraction of the wonderful and strong woman she was!

http://www.legacy.com/DeseretNews/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=117161156

This is a link to her obituary.

Grandma Doris

2008-09-08T15:44:00.003-06:00

Something very sad...
I guess this is blogable. I found out this morning that my grandma Doris passed away yesterday. This is a picture of grandma Doris with Grandpa at Christmas at my moms house.
Grandpa passed away in 2004.
Grandma Doris and my Grandpa were never technically married... grandpa was too stubborn to marry again. He was married once and not again. Doris was always there for him and for all of us. Doris took care of grandpa for many years, just living a few blocks from grandpa. When her health got too bad that she couldn't live in her house any more she had to move to an assisted living in American Fork where grandpa would visit her and bring doughnuts for the staff and whatever Doris needed or wanted grandpa was there for her.
Doris was a humanitarian, she had several foster children in her home. Her home was beautiful, she had the prettiest flower garden I have ever seen. I remember her house having a lot of vibrant colors in it all the time from top to bottom. I remember as a kid I loved going to American Fork to visit grandma and grandpa. Doris would let me spend the night at her house, which was always a treat. I also remember her Siamese cats that she loved.
She always accepted us as her own family. She was there for us when grandpa was sick and even though it was very difficult for her she was there for us when grandpa passed.

Family in the park April 2008

2008-09-08T15:01:00.003-06:00

Have you ever tried to get a 18 month old to hold still for a picture in the park???
This is the most recent pic I could find of all of us.

I just like this one of the kids swinging together.
I am glad they still like each other!
(For Now)

Family wedding picture

2008-09-08T14:53:00.001-06:00

This picture was actually taken when we got home from our HONEYMOON.. oh la la.. note the cheesy smiles... LOL. We got all dressed up again and went up the canyon for some more pictures.

Flashback to October 1, 2005

2008-09-08T14:45:00.000-06:00

This is a picture of most of the family that made it to our October 1, 2005 wedding. What a great looking family!

Okay I guess it's time

2008-09-08T13:53:00.000-06:00

Dear family and friends,

You win... I will start this. I can't make any promises that it will be as cool or funny as many of yours. I am going to round up some stuff to put on that will be more interesting than this. Love all of you!