Christmas Letter

I am a complete slacker this year, I got all my Christmas cards done and addressed and ready to go, I only had stamps for half of them and I mailed them off a while ago, the rest are still sitting right here. So, if you didn't get a card sorry, maybe you will get it one of these days, maybe not. So here it is in digital form.






It is Christmas time again and again here is the Christensen Family news letter. We have had a really good year that has gone by way to fast.

In January we started the year off in Hawaii and had a wonderful time. We took the kids and my mom (a heaven sent) and had the most amazing time. The kids LOVED the beach and snorkeling. Everyone said we were crazy for taking the kids to Hawaii, but trust me everyone should do it.

In February Logan had to get his tonsils out as well as a little bump taken off his arm. The surgaries were done at the same time by two different doctors. Everything went really well. He did get a small blood clot in the incision on his arm, that luckily only made his scar a little bigger and nothing more. The tonsils took a while to heal (like normal) and he hated the pain medicine but got through it like a champ.

May 11th Aubrey turned 1!!! She is an amazing little girl. She has the most amazing personality. She is sweet, sassy, smart and has her dad wrapped around her little finger. She loves to sing and dance and play with her brother. She copies everything anyone does and says but does it a lot cuter. She loves her blanket and sucking her thumb, she knows how to sign and has a pretty large vocabulary for a one year old. We just love having her around.

We had a great summer. It was full of family reunions, camping, fireworks, splash parks, swimming lessons, t-ball, picnics, parades, and popsicles. Aubrey learned to walk on the 24th of July, I guess I should say run. She simply needed to keep-up with Logan.

Scott and I bought the house across the street to use as a rental. We (mostly Scott) fixed it up inside and out and were able to rent it pretty quickly. So far it has been a good experience and something we are glad that we did. Good thing Scott is so smart and so good at the mortgage business. Speaking of Scott and the mortgage business, he is doing really well at work and has once again qualified for an assistant. This is a huge deal because not very many of the Loan Officers can do this.

September 7th Logan turned 4!! This blows my mind. He has grown so much, he is so tall he looks and acts a lot older. He is very smart and started pre-school at Challenger in the fall. He is learning so so much and is making some great friends. He is not only learning letter and numbers, but math and reading and how to draw and sing and we love his school. His personality is amazing. He is very passionate about what ever he is into at the moment. Any given day he could be a Jedi, a hockey player, a chef, basketball player, superman, pirate, and so on and so on. He loves to dress up and “have powers”. He can be crazy and defiant and the next moment he is helpful and loving. He keeps us on our toes.

As for me, I am just loving being able to stay at home and take care of my kids. I love my book club and keeping up on our blog (christensenlads.blogspot.com). I have great friends and a perfect family (at least in my eyes). Thanks for being a part of our lives and please have a Merry Christmas and an amazing 2009.

The Christensens

Logan's Christmas Program

Yesterday was Logan's Christmas program at his school. When I first walked in all the kids were sitting in a line of chairs at the far end of the class room, and there Logan picking his nose for the world to see. He only stopped when he finally saw me and needed his hand to wave.
The program was so cute, they sang a bunch of songs, some Christmas and some related to the things they had learned in class. For example one song was about how if a star fish looses an arm it will grow another one, sounds weird but it was super cute. They recited a Christmas poem (which Logan can do at home with out help) and used bells to help them sing Jingle Bells. Then Santa came and gave every kid a candy cane as they sat on his lap. Of course Logan asked for a Light Saber and Santa said he would see what he could do. Good thing he didn't promise anything because a lot of the kids were asking for dogs. I am glad Logan is sticking with toys.

Kindermusik Christmas

Friday was Aubrey's Kindermusik Christmas party. It was a lot of fun, they made ornaments and decorated cookies and played Christmas games. Aubrey loved one game where Ms. Paulette had a bunch of snowflakes that all the kids ran around throwing up in the air and float back down. Simple but very fun. The theme for this years kindermusik class was "milk and cookies" they activities revolved around the kitchen, cooking and food. So for a gift she gave the kids the cutest chef dress up kit. It included a hat, apron, cookie cutter, and spatula. We love Ms. Paulette and am very grateful to be able to take her class.

Let it Snow!

I am sure you have all had snow the last couple of days. My kids think that it is the coolest (no pun intended) stuff ever and go out to play every chance they can get. So here are some fun pictures I took the other day.

A Christmas Miracle!

I bought gas yesterday for $1.37 a gallon. My total (and I was on EMPTY) was $21.00!!!!

Christmas Festivities

This last week has been full of fun Christmas activities. First we put up our Christmas tree, this is a big deal at our house. Every time we go on a vacation we buy a Christmas ornament. We have ornament from all over the world and every year when we put up our Christmas tree we put the ornaments up one at a time and remember each trip. It is loads of fun and sentimental at the same time. Aubrey was in ah because this is the first time she remember seeing a Christmas tree.

Scott putting on the Angel from Maui.


Logan proud of "HIS" tree.


Aubrey amazed!!


After we finished decorating the tree we had a treat of gingerbread cookies, eggnog, and homemade truffles. It doesn't get much more christmasy then that. Logan helped make the cookies and was very proud. He loves helping me bake and is getting pretty good at.



The next day we went and braved the mall to visit Santa Claus or as Aubrey calls him santie. Aubrey was so excited to see him and kept running past all the other kids to see him. But as soon as I put her on his lap she started screaming. I left he there long enough to snap the photo and took her off again. She immediately stopped crying and started talking to him. Logan of course asked for a light saber, and Aubrey a pink ride on car.


The day after that we went Christmas shopping with my sister and her kids. We were in the decoration section when the kids found these fun hats. They though they were so cool and silly.


Lastly, today my kids got a package from Alaska (pretty close to the North Pole). Scott's Dad and Step Mom live in Alaska and are amazing to our kids. They never forget a holiday and I am forever grateful for the love they show our family. They loved the gifts and were SO excited to open presents before Christmas. Karen, THANKS again for everything.

Laundry Day

OK, this photo is of one weeks laundry. I do Laundry every Monday all day long, but doesn't this look like a lot? I mean I have a small family with small kids, laundry should be a breeze. By the way if anyone has any great stain removal tips please pass them on. I have always just used Shout and with the stains Logan and Aubrey (mostly Aubrey the little stink) are coming up with, Shout just isn't cutting it any more.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We went to my Mom & Max's house and the food was wonderful and in abundance. The Johansen's (Mom's side of the family) mostly came and they all have a problem (to our benefit) of making way to much food. The stuffing was my favorite this year dipped in gravy and mashed potatos, yum!!! Then the desserts were even better I made pecan pie and the kicked butt if I do say so my self. Thanksgiving just happened to fall on my Grandma Jo's 81st birthday this year (Happy Birthday again Grandma) and my mom made an amazing pumpkin cake for her, I think I had like 4 pieces through out the day and that is on top of the 2 pieces of my grandma's award winning shredded apple pie. The kids even ate everything. I have been pumping Logan up about how good the food was going to be for about a month now. He is a very picky eater and in years past has ended up eating a microwaved hotdog for his feast. But my plan worked and he at almost everything on this plate. He did leave he green beans and I don't blame him. He thought it was amazing that we would but marshmallows on orange potatos.

Scott and Aubrey in an after Thanksgiving coma.



This is Logan on the drive down to my Parents house. It is 2 1/2 hours and both kids fell asleep thank goodness.



My mom the smart lady that she is covered all the kids tables with butcher paper and then let them color while we were putting the finishing touches on the dinner.



Then while dinner was winding down Devin (my brother) comes over with a dead cougar in the back of this truck!! Yes, he missed his Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws because he shot a cougar with his bow. Crazy man!! It took 4 shots to kill it and it looked hammered. He assures us that when it is cleaned up it will be awesome. Logan thought it looked awesome anyway and kept touching it's paws to make the claws come out. Aubrey just kept telling everyone to shhh, because she thought it was sleeping.



We then finished the night hanging out at he Drew and Val LeRoy house. The men played poker and we girls chatted. We also stopped off the see Shanae's puppies. My cousin's yorkie had babies and they are so cute. Aubrey wasn't a fan for some reason, but Logan loved them. They will be ready for new homes right before Christmas if any one is interested. Just go to the Shanae and Jared Butler link from my blog.