Party at Kay's

On Friday night we went up to the church and David Nielsen played the piano and organ for us. It was wonderful. He had most of the pieces memorized and it was a delight to sit and listen to someone that loves music and has a gift and has worked so hard to learn a skill like that. We went over to the Nielsens afterwards and had pizza and played games. Brian and Rich were there with friends. It was fun to see them. They played Boogle with McKay and Dallin and Dallin's comment was he had never seen words like they came up with...they were pretty smart. Saturday we took two cars to Brigham and then to Thatcher and had a party at Kay's house with Grandma Christensen. She had the big box of Sees chocolates that we easily devoured that day. Keith was sick ( they are now living in Ephraim) and they didn't come. Frank was sick so they didn't come. I don't know what happened to Janice or Helen but Kimiko is sick ( pregnant and is due the same time as Mariko) and Kari Lyn is due this week so we were the only family beside Kay. Josh and Libby came and brought "Belle" ( Isabelle) and she is 8 months old now and it is the first time we have seen her. She was such a good natured baby and happy the whole time. Annie babysat her twice a week this past semester so Libby could go to classes. Josh is a butcher at Sam's Club in Logan while going to school. We got hear your Dad and Kay play the saw for a few numbers and then Josh, Benjy and Dallin tried to play the saw. We played games and then watched videos of Kay and Kerry's trip to Hawaii last month. They stayed in a really nice place and did a lot of snorkeling. Then we watched some of Benjy's wrestling matches they had recorded. He is doing it to stay in shape for football. It was a really nice day!

Christmas Day with the Christensens

We got up early on Christmas morning so we would be ready to call Bryce. Unfortunately as we found out later, the ringer was not on the phone in the Sister's apartment where they were waiting for their families to call and so we did not get to talk to Bryce other than make arrangements to talk the next day when Kim, McKay and Brooke would be at work. We read scriptures, had family prayer and then opened our stockings followed by presents under tree. Dallin got to hand them out since this will probably be his last Christmas at home for two years. In spite of comments that all were cutting back this year, we all received and gave lots of fun stuff. Even the 72 hour kits were appreciated and well received. We ate lots of junk and then piled into the car ( smush city) to see National Treasure in Spanish Fork. It was not crowded. We all thought it was a great holiday choice and hurried home to eat and get ready to go snowshoeing. It got cloudy but we went north where it was clearer and hiked to Stewart Falls in the Aspen Grove area. It was a beautiful hike with the falls running at the end and we got back just as it was dark...no moon was seen but stars were twinkling. We got home and ate dinner and then played Nertz. Then it was time for Brooke and McKay to head home and we all fell into bed. It was a great day and a lot of fun being together. Tuesday we all met at Kim's office and called Bryce. We had Brooke (at work) on the cell phone. We talked for an hour and had a great time hearing about Africa and Bryce's experiences. Dad wrote down the details. We went to the Bookstore to check out the deals and while Dallin was getting his Sunday shoes from his apartment, Kira and I saw the Minerva Tichert exhibit at the museum. Then we bought clearance candy at Macey's for a gingerbread masterpiece.

christmas at the sf christensens

merry christmas one and all! we had a birthday celebration for joseph smith for fhe sunday evening. we memorized the standard of truth, mckay and dallin even wrote a song for the occasion (we will email it to you upon request). we look forward to talking with bryce on the phone on christmas day, and many outings in the beautiful snow that we have here. ciao!

An Enchanted Day

Yesterday (Thursday) I took the day off work and we had a great time as a family. In the morning I went running (I haven't done much lately with things crazy at work). Eli went to the Lee's to play with Joseph while Natalie and I took Sharon to see a doctor. She hasn't been sleeping at all during the night and we wanted to rule out ear infections. They are now ruled out and we are still trying to help her get into a good schedule. After seeing the doctor we did some shopping and then picked up Eli. We came home for naps and I watched the new Pirates movie. Then, everyone woke up early and we went to Eli and Sharon's first movie theater movie. We saw Enchanted and were pleasantly surprised. We we really laughing, especially during the first half of the movie. Sharon slept through the entire thing and Eli really liked the cartoon portion of the movie and we ran laps around the theater during the other parts. Since there were only a dozen or so movie viewers I don't think anyone was too annoyed. After the movie we did some more shopping and picked up a Little Caesars $5 pizza and came home to eat. In the evening we took Joseph his Christmas present and went for a short walk. Then we put the kids down and cleaned up. It was a great day... but it gets better. Sharon slept! She did really well last night and I got the best nights sleep I've had since she was born. Hurray. Hopefully it keeps up, we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Pictures for Grandma

Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert 2007

Countdown to Christmas

It has been great having Kira home. Dad got up in the attic and we hauled her boxes downstairs where she is slowly going through stuff. I got some cute sweaters out of the deal. I am a product of my daughter's taste since much of my wardrobe is handed down to me from the girls. It is just a continuation of my sisters handed me down their clothes when I was growing up. It keeps me grounded. We sure enjoyed the Tabernacle Choir performance. It took 3 hours to get there. Kira and I began in SF and picked up Dad and Dallin at BYU. The drive to American Fork took an hour because of weather and traffic. Then we got on the Trax and that took longer but made Dad happy. We found Brooke and friends to give out some extra tickets and then found Kay and Grandma C. and sat with them. It is still amazing to me that I got to see the King Singers for free. It was wonderful to watch them again on TV during the Spoken Word on Sunday. On Saturday, McKay and Dallin went sledding with McKay's new stadium seat on skis. They went to Deadman's Drop in Woodland Hills. They came home and tweaked the invention and are ready to try it out again on Wed. Dad and I went to the temple together on Saturday morning...we don't do that often enough. We headed to the BYU bookstore to do some shopping and while I was waiting for some gifts to be wrapped upstairs, I saw Dallin waiting the book buyback line. It reminded me of Eli a little when his face lights up while watching his favorite part of Lion King. We waved and after he got done he came and found us and we got him something to eat while we visited. I do so like Dad working at BYU!. Saturday night we wrapped books for the Stake Fireside the next night while watching Matilda and discovered that we have never seen the end of that movie. The Stake Fireside was for all the bishops, high council and Stake leaders and spouses. We had a CES instructor talk about Numbers 9 and Hebrews 7,8, and 9. It was truly fascinating and we learned things about the temple we have never picked up before. Life just doesn't get better and we are looking forward to having everyone that can, be home.

Everyone loves Sharon

This week was pretty uneventful. Tyler wrapped up a few papers and did a class presentation. We did some Christmas shopping and decorated the house. And Sharon had her first five hour sleep (during the night) to counter her staying up all night every other night. Here's some pics...

i'm back!

china was wonderful but it's good to be home! tiffany and i had a great time, our tour group was way fun and we got to see lots of interesting things. for some reason, our internet isn't working at home, so i came to the library to check email, etc. so when i get internet up and running again i'll post more pictures on my picassa album. hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and enjoys the snow! it's so beautiful!

More Sharon pics

Everything is going well for us here. We sure enjoyed having mom and dad (G&G C.) here for the week--they were a huge help. Eli still talks about "gan-pa" each morning hoping to get back on the bus. Anyhow, I just wanted to throw up a couple more Sharon and family pictures. Enjoy.

Thanksgiving Poems by Christensens and Grandma Fife

For one of our Thanksgiving activities we wrote poems for titles that were given out. Here they are in all their grandeur:
Weenie Roast on a Stick by McKay
Smoke flows to Heaven
The stick pierces through the skin
Processed pig innards.
Canned Laughter by Alice Fife
A joke is a joke is a joke
But often you feel like a bloke
When in a certain occasion
You come up with a wild elation
Then with egg on your face
You must sit and efface
The crowd who politely smirked
At your attempt as a humorous jerk.
Bumpy Brain by Dallin
I once ate a big fat turkey
It tasted slightly like jerky
It's bumpy brain
Caused me to strain
And thus, Thanksgiving was no longer perky.
Tattle Tale Tongue by Brooke
Toby tells too many tales
To twin tigers tromping through the trees
Tired, the tigers try to trot to Trudy's tee pee
There they tumble to the ground without a sound
Toby tries to tempt them, trumpeting
Though they talk not
Toby continues telling tales
Pie Parade by Kim
to be started and finished at another time and place probably heaven

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Baby

We are back! My eyes are red and my feet are cold but we are happy to look back and know that we made it to Indiana and that it is doable. We came home to many messages requiring immediate attention on our answering message...oh well; to stacks of mail and newspapers and to lots of emails. Kim colored my hair and I gave him a hair cut; we showered and left it all behind as we enjoyed the sounds of the season at the Stake Center with Amahl and the Night Visitors---a Christmas opera put on by the Stake. We had a wonderful time with Tyler and Natalie's family. We were reminded of Bryce many times as Eli would do things just like he did. It was heaven to hold Sharon and feel her great spirit. I am having withdrawals and have a prayer that Natalie will get the sleep she needs and be able to enjoy this special but adjusting time in the family.
Babies always bring you closer to heaven. The missionaries made a visit while we were in Indiana and Ty and Nat said that they wanted to remember to pray for experiences that would let them share the gospel. I think Kim and I decided we needed to do better in that area and offered a prayer before going home for eyes to see. I saw a young mother with a one month old baby and young toddler. The airport was crowded because of delays due to the weather so everything was taking longer. I went over to see if she could use some help and I held and fed the baby while she tried to keep the little boy happy. It was nice to be able to hold a baby again.
We were grateful for McKay coming to get us on that snowy day and right before a BYU game. We are reminded over and over how wonderful our children are and how much we love them. If you want to see pictures of Indiana, go to Picasa and type in my name. That would be Wynette, the picture taker and happy to be a grandma and mother of Christensens!