The search is over!

I found my new home! It is a duplex that is part of a complex of two other duplexes. They all face a lovely courtyard that is nice and shady. I feel very blessed to have found this place. It is everything that I was looking for and it was cheaper than all the places I had been looking at. It is in the middle of the block so it is off of the main road and is nice and quiet. Aunt Lauryl helped me move most of my stuff in yesterday. I still have a few things at my old place that I need to move over so I can start unpacking.
Thanks to mom and dad for helping me out with money until I start work and get a paycheck! I will be living off of food storage for a while and won't have any furniture besides my bed which was given to me by lovely friend Elizabeth. If anyone has great decorating ideas let me know. I have one more week to prepare for the NCLEX. I am so scared of not passing. I am trying to think positive. Have a great week everyone!!!!!

Brad is back

I couldn't seem to get this to work on my email so i am blogging a picture of Brad so Bryce can see that he is home. It was great to hear him speak, to see the gospel light shine through his eyes and to hear his testimony ( even though it was in Spanish I understood most). I asked Brad if the "gang" seemed any different since they were all there and it seemed just like before mission with all of them hanging out. It all seems so deja vu - y.

Fun reminders of yester years

Your dad and I spent an evening in the den going through "stuff". This is a picture of a card that he gave me when we were dating and I was sick. It is a "get well car-d". I found these famous Christensen quotes and experiences and thought you might enjoy a walk through old times.
A couple of weeks before Father's Day, my children and I helped repaint Mother and Dad's house. Our intent was to donate our labor in some useful service rather than spend a few dollars for a Father's Day gift. We invited Mom and Dad over for dinner on Father's Day. Just as we were finishing the meal Dad pulled out a sock containing rolls of coins. He counted out several rolls and placed them in front of each that had helped paint expressing his appreciation for a job well done. We explained that our service was intended as a Father's Day gift to him and we expected no payment. I slid my stack of rolled coins back to Dad. Five of our six children echoed the same sentiments and slid their stack of coins back as well. as we focused on our seven-year old son we saw some hesitation. He clutched his roll of nickels and exclaimed," I'll give Grandpa something else for Father's Day!". He ran from the room with his money and returned a few minutes later with a hastily drawn picture for his Father's Day gift. ( That would be Bryce).
I took Brooke to see Alice in Wonderland. Brooke got jaw breakers and said, "They're as hard as a swing set."
Dallin told all his friends they could give himn a birthday present even though he wasn't having a party. Two came through for him.
McKay said --I don't like my English teacher. Mom said--Give her more time, this is only the 1st day. McKay replied--I don't like her on the 1st day and I at least liked Mrs. Bertelson for the first 3 weeks.
Bryce raised his hand at the end of the Baptism Fireside and informed everyone that he didn't want a root beer float.
Bryce had reindeer food to put out on Christmas Eve. He threw it up on the roof so they wouldn't have to come down to eat it. B
Bryce and McKay practicing in FHE to teach a lesson as missionaries: Hi, I'm Elder Christensen and this is Elder Christensen. I'm going to look- up a scripture in Guinness while my companion talks. Could we come back and teach you more? I'll leave my scriptures with you. Oops. I need them to teach at the next house.
Have you ever noticed how a bad mood is like a bomb and just explodes everywhere? that would be McKay talking about Mom

A week of 1sts

This week we met quite a few milestones in the family. I'll tell you about one for each of us...

Sharon. Took her first independent steps this week. She's crawling quite well now (she's doing stairs too) and has started pulling up on anything she can. She walks along the edges of couches and other furniture (see video below) and will take a few steps trying to venture out on her own.

Eli. Eli has been potty training himself for a while now, but has always kept us involved in the process. This week he decided to go to the bathroom without informing us--he'd just walk over, climb up on the toilet to turn the light on, climb down and go to the bathroom, and then leave. Potty training with him has been a ton of fun.
Natalie. She finished the cover of her book--A.P. Giannini: The Man with the Midas Touch. She is now done (10 illustrations, 2 maps, and the cover) and has been paid for her first official book. It should be published sometime in the spring. You can see more samples of her work at www.nataliechristensen.com.

Tyler. I went on my first "more than marathon" run on Saturday, doing 28 miles in a little more than five hours (so it's my first five hour run as well). It was a great training run and I feel more prepared for my marathon in four weeks than I have been for any race since high school.

House Hunting

I had an exciting week of test prep for eight hours a day and then scouring the classifieds and craigslist for places to live. I looked at some places on Sat. and found a house that has some possibilities. It has a nice front patio that is very private and a good size back yard. I really want a yard so I can grow stuff. It was so nice when I was at home to be able to go out in the garden and pick fresh vegetables every day!
Our ward had a BBQ on Friday. Free food is always nice. I met some new people and played some frisbee. I think I am better at throwing it underhand where just your thumb is on the inside of the frisbee. I get pretty crazy if I try and throw it very far. What an exciting life I live!

Japan Sapporo Mission

This is a picture of what Dallin got in the mail with information about his mission. It is hard to imagine riding bikes in that kind of weather but we all know that Dallin is excited. They do get the seasons there so it will be fun to get pictures of Japan!!! It was a nice quiet weekend in Spanish Fork. We worked in the yard, canned peaches, went to the Stake Roadshows where Kim played the saw in between a roadshow, and planted a tree!

Good Bye Kiwi

Here we are at Pei Wei. Friday Kim left work early and we went to Salt Lake to hike Ensign Peak, go see President Hinckley's grave site and others, and sleep out at Brooke's. We got up and hiked Silver Lake and Donut Falls, then went shopping and to lunch at Pei Wei and then rushed Kira to the airport where she said she had time because the flight was late. We will miss Kira and hope she does super well on her tests!!! Way to go Nurse Kiwi.

Good Bye Kiwi

This is Silver Lake. We came here once in the winter to cross country ski. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and we hiked around the lake and to Donut Falls. Then we said good bye to Kira as she returned to the warm and sunny Tucson to take her tests. We had a wonderful time having her home and were glad she could spend so much time with us. By the way Kira, Dad found your sunglasses. Yipeee.

Missionary Moms Going to Vegas

With all the money we made from the yard sale, we are getting ready to spend it on a sweet trip to Vegas!

Missionary Mom Garage Sale

This is one weird picture of me but it most clearly represents the fun we had Thursday night when we decided to make money for a trip to Vegas by selling all of the stuff our missionary sons had that we thought they might not miss while they were gone. My face reflects the paltry amount of money Steven was willing to offer for Bryce's bass. I won't get much gambling done in Vegas! Behind me the sign says, "Missionary Mom Yard Sale."

Hawaii Adventures

Hi Family! So I finally have internet access, so I'm posting some Hawaii stuff as promised. I've had tons of fun so far. My first 4 days were spent on the big island (Hawaii) in a Hilton resort that was super nice. The west side of the big island (where we were) is just old lava flows, so it mostly just feels like a desert. I only had to work about 6 hours total during those 4 days, and I got payed for some down-time, which is awesome. We got to see some acrobatic dolphins at our resort, see where the lava flows into the ocean, and go cliffjumping near a waterfall that we stumbled upon in our drive around the island.
I've been in Kauai for 4 days now, and it is really, really green and pretty. We have swam in the ocean a couple times; the waves are pretty big and good for body-surfing. We are staying at a Marriott resort which is pretty nice, but is in need of renovations (which is why we are here). Yesterday we got to go to a waterfall/pool area and do some more cliff jumping. It was tons of fun, and we'll probably go back at least a few more times before we leave Kauai.

Sharon is crawling

For our five-year anniversary we decided to buy a new digital camera. We wanted a Canon Powershot A720IS but had a hard time finding one for the price we wanted. We were thrilled when we found a Panasonic Ts3 on clearance (marked down from $349 to $179), and were happier still when they took another $30 off at the register. We love the camera, it has 10x optical zoom and takes pretty decent videos. Here is our first one--Sharon crawling on her 10 month date.

Spanish Fork 1/2 marathon Sept. 6, 2008

Brooke and Kim were doubtful as to their preparedness for this 1/2 marathon but they did a great job...fastest time yet for both of them. It was a beautiful day and Kira and I ( Wynette) had a great time following them on our bikes and taking pictures. We heard several comments from the runners that we were cheating. I was happy to do so and had a fun time on my bike on this beau-utiful day! We had a fun time cheering the runners on near the half way point and enjoyed seeing the smiles as they jogged past.

TyandNat update

This week was too busy. I had school/work each day from 7-5 (with no breaks) and some sort of activity (scouts, class, ultimate) every night. Because I'm near the end of training I couldn't sacrifice any running days so I've been waking up early and going to bed late. I expect much of the same for the next few weeks. On a positive note: I love that I'm teaching again and I have a wonderful class (28 girls and 2 guys--all future elementary school teachers).
Eli has continued to exceed expectations in leading the charge to be potty trained. He goes on his little toilet more often then in a diaper or underwear and requests underwear first thing in the morning when he wakes up (often with a dry diaper) and marches right off over to the bathroom to take care of business.
Sharon hasn't teethed this week and we are all grateful--she has been much happier. She is crawling like a pro and is singing more and more.
Natalie is continuing to work diligently on her book and is nearing completion. She has done a great job welcoming new people to our area and is making a lot of new friends (motivated by her absent husband). She is as wonderful as ever.
Our anniversary is coming up next week (5 year) and I have slacked off in planning. If any of y'all have some great ideas for things to do (that require little planning time) please let me know.

Elder C and Bean at Lion's Head

We had a fun visit last night from Elder Smith. Bryce wrote that an Elder Smith would be delivering our last letters ( snail mail) from him. The minute I opened the door, I knew I was looking at Elder Smith ( never mentioned to us before by Bryce except that he would be coming and to make sure and feed him well). He came with him mom and three sisters. This picture of Elder Bean ( I am assuming since Bryce did not label the picture with who it was...just that he really was smiling) and Bryce is from what he thought was his last transfer and was in the letter. We had a wonderful visit with Joel Smith and his family that live right here --almost, in Leland. Wendy, his mom and I wished we had known about one another much sooner. Joel is now on his way to BYU Idaho and has made one mom very happy that he took the time ( he got home the day before) to come and tell us about Africa and the church there. Joel's mom moved here while he was in Africa. I guess Kim is getting trunky because he compiled data about Bryce's mission . I showed it to Joel and he found it very interesting and picked out names of the missionaries he knew or served with. Here is a summary: Bryce served in 8 areas, had 14 companions with 9 being from Africa and 5 from elsewhere. He was companions with Elder Nyzungu from Zimbabwe in the MTC in Johannesburg for 3 weeks. Elder Shipp from Calif. (?) was his trainer in Port Elizabeth-Kwa Dwesi for 12 weeks. Elder Baldwin from South Africa was his companion for 6 weeks in Kwa Dwesi. Elder Later was his companion in Port Elizabeth-Walmer for 6 weeks and Elder Robinson for 9 weeks. ( don't know where from). He went to George and had Elder Faerch from Johannesburg for 9 weeks. He went to East London and had Elder Marelmela from Johannesburg for 6 weeks and then Elder Nielsen ( his greenie) from American Fork for 19 weeks, then Elder Andriandrisoa from Madagascar for 6 weeks. He went to King Williams Town and had Elder Mdanda from Durban for 6 weeks, Elder Thethe from Lesothu ( only missionary serving from his country) for 6 weeks, and Elder Randrianirinaniarivo from South Africa for 6 weeks. He then went to where he really wanted to go and that was Capetown-Langa with Elder Bean from Lindon, Ut. for 6 weeks. He is finishing up in Port Elizabeth--Kwa Nobuthle where he began with Elder Ekeya from Uganda for 5 weeks. Here is a short note to finish on about Africa from Bryce: Elder Bean and I have been working with crazy less actives and we take time to reflect and think about all the crazy people we work with and their problems, all the insane things we see, feel, and hear. We can really see first hand the damage that Satan can do. I am so grateful for the circumstances that I am in and for the opportunities that I have. The people here need the gospel so badly but they just can't seem to get it. Satan has blinded them so much, led them sooo far from the path. It is so great when we are able to see lives change, to see people's countenance change. I think I'm going to have a huge culture shock when I get home. I guess I can offically start the count down since I have resisted the temptation to even think about Bryce coming home till now. Yippeeee.