Time Out for Erin

A few weekends ago I had the amazing opportunity to go to Time Out for Women with some of my great friends. Time Out is a women's conference put on by our church with speakers, musical presenters, question and answer sessions, and just a time when women of all ages and situations can come together for a little time to themselves and to be uplifted and strengthened. And what a terrific time we had. I felt so blessed to be there with such beautiful friends, and to be among such inspirational women. We had a fabulous time. What really stood out to me the most was the message that came across about all of us having self-worth, an incredible purpose, and how much our Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us individually. It was truly a powerful weekend, and one that I am so grateful for. Thanks girls, I loved every minute of our fun-filled weekend, and am so thankful to each one of you for your example in my life!

Me, Erin, Jen, and Karine taking time out for dinner before the event on Friday.

The four of us with Ardeth Kapp, the former YW general president. She was truly amazing!

When we were about to leave the event we saw Laurel (who we are standing with in this picture) at a booth near the exit. Laurel was the MC for the weekend and the most hilarious person! We just loved her, so we asked her to take a picture with us. She thought we were pretty silly, but we sure enjoyed it! :)

Poppi's "Truck"

At this point in time, the boys are OBSESSED with trucks. Every time we see on while we are driving in the car, they yell (yes....YELL) out "TRUCK!" Especially Dylan... he gets so excited about it that I sometimes think he is going to jump directly out of his car seat. For a special Daddy/Son outing the other day, Teage took them to the truck stop just a few exits from ours and let them sit in the back of the car and watch all of the trucks go in and out....what an amazing experience it all was for them! They yelled, they waved, and they ate McDonald's french fries while doing it...what could be better for two 20 month old little boys? :)

The other day while we were with my mom (or better known as Tutu) and stepdad (Poppi), they decided to surprise the boys by going to look at Poppi's "truck" (a large forklift that Poppi uses in his warehouse). When we got to the warehouse the boys seemed a bit confused, until Poppi showed them that the "truck" moved, and could pick up large crates of just about anything! Then they couldn't stop saying "truck truck!" and laughing hysterically. Poppi even let them sit on his lap in the stationary "truck". It was the cutest sight...they had a fabulous time and still talk about it weeks later!

Thanks Poppi!!!! :)

A Day of Surprises

I had a fantastic birthday this year! Thanks to some amazing friends and family, this year was a really special one for me. My great friend Kim arranged a day of surprises for me, starting with her coming all the way down from Bellingham to surprise me at work and take me out with my mom to lunch and a movie. Then another surprise when we met up with Karine, who I had no idea was here, for some shopping and girl time. Then last but not least, a big dinner where all of my wonderful friends throughout the years got together to surprise me with one of my favorite meals (a huge seafood fest at the Crab Pot!). What an amazing day. I even got flowers from my husband, and a gift from my boys. What more could a girl ask for???

Thanks so much Kim, and everyone, for making me feel so special on my birthday. I really had a terrific time and couldn't ask for better individuals to have around me. I love you guys!

This background is for you Mr. Rich!!!! :)

Miss you guys!

Celebrations!

So, I have a good friend who really loves to celebrate....well, anything. :) And since I am pretty much the same way, we came up with a plan to put a whole bunch of celebrations into one fun night and go to a play at Village Theater together. We were celebrating Teage's birthday, my birthday, Valentine's Day, my baptism anniversary, AND the fact that Teage and Nick both received job offers within one week of each other. Added bonus, they get to work in the same building even....and get to have lunch together practically everyday. What can I say? They were pretty darn excited about it. :)

Jen and I completely took advantage of a night out "on the town" (Issaquah is very exciting you know!), got all dressed up and made a big deal about where we were going and what we were doing. We saw the play 'The Importance of Being Earnest' which was put on amazingly by the cast. I couldn't believe how many lines they had to memorize! We watched in awe, had some silly fun during the intermissions (again...a night out for us is pretty great!), and took a ton of pictures. All in all, a great evening out with some great friends.

Thanks Jen and Nick, we had a fabulous time!!!

The girls...

The guys...trying to look non-chalant

Jen and I pretending we are a part of the show....boy are we silly! :)

Nick and his famous candy bar

Happy Valentine's Day

This year I had to work on Valentine's Day....but as many of you who have children know, I wasn't expecting a huge day anyway. :) Not that my husband doesn't make me feel special on days like this (he always does!), but realistically with two little boys, it is difficult to go out on many one on one dates. :) We did have the wonderful opportunity to take the boys out the night before with one of my best friends, Lindsay. We all went to dinner, laughed a ton, and had a fantastic time. Then the next day after I came home from work I found a big surprise from all three of my favorite men. They had bought me a present, flowers, and made an adorable giant card. I loved it! Then later that day the whole family made sugar cookies together and even let the boys frost their own. It was an adventure for sure, but we had such a great time. The boys thought they were in heaven with mom letting them have their own utensils and sprinkles! It was a really sweet scene to witness. They were very proud of their creations in the end. :)Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Our finished product...

100th Post

Dear family blog,

Thank you for being there to report all of the Christensen Clan doings for the last 100 posts. You have been there for all of the ups and downs, ins and outs, good and bad throughout the last few years...we really appreciate all of the great relaying skills, cropping of pictures, spellcheck, etc etc. What would we do without blogger?? :)

I love you my crazy family!

nvjddjfkbmmbmmnnmmmnnmmnggggvvvvvbbbbnnnnnnnnnnnnndfghnbtfrfddd Love, Dylan

Teage and Lucas being funny the other day...

Let the season begin!

Teage and I were able to take the boys to Mariner's Fanfest a few weeks ago. Both of us have very fond memories of going to Mariners games when we were younger, and when the boys were first born we would watch the game every night on TV (considering we were so homebound. :) ). We had not had the chance to take the boys to a game yet at Safeco Field, so when the opportunity came to go to Fanfest we were really excited. And it definitely did not disappoint. We all had the chance to run the bases, hang out in the Mariner dugout, see some of the players as well as the new manager, and just be there for a fun day at the park. Though it was a bit chilly outside, we all had a fantastic time. I also got some great pictures of the boys running the bases which I had to share. Though they didn't really know what they were doing or why, they had a blast anyway. :) And now we are even more excited about the 2009 season....go M's!

On the field!

Mariner's new manager Don Wakamatsu, with legend Dave Niehaus

Safe!

That looks like a pretty good catch Daddy! :)

Mommy and her boys hanging out in the dugout. I have always wanted to go in there! :)

Teage's 1st Day

As many of you know, Teage and I have had a few difficult months in the past little while with career moves. With this economy and the mortgage industry suffering, we knew that we would most likely be in for some rough times ahead. And rough they were. But, we are also so thankful for this opportunity that Heavenly Father has given us to downsize, organize, and re-budget our lives. We knew that He was there watching out for us these past few years, as He always has, and that He knew what was best for our little family. Thank you to all of you who kept us in your thoughts and prayers, we are deeply touched by the amount of help and goodness that we received, and are very humbled by the love from friends and family.

I am happy to announce that Teage did just start a new job a little over a week ago. We are excited about this opportunity for him and for our family, and know that we are blessed to have him working full-time again. The boys and I will miss him terribly, but we are also excited to get back on a schedule, and the boys really cherish their "Daddy time" now.

Teagers, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. We all love you, and are extremely grateful to have you as our husband and Daddy. Te Quiero Mucho!

Teage on his first day in his new job. Can you tell how terribly excited he was about me taking his picture?? :) I figured we had to save the moment!

"Mama"

The boys have recently found a magical word that will stop Mommy in her tracks and turn all attention to them. I am now hearing "Mama!!!" many many times during the day, and with each word they giggle and smile like they have their own little secret. :) They have been able to say "Mama" for quite some time now, but I think it just dawned on them how much power this one word held. Dylan is now in the habit of saying "Mama!".....Erin: "Yes honey?"......Dylan "HI!". He thinks he is hilarious. And Mom falls for it every time! :)

Both boys also LOVE dancing, and everyday they get so excited when the Ellen Show comes on so they can dance with her. They also dance every time they hear music, no matter what the tune is. It could be a song from a commercial on the television, to hymn music from church...not matter what it is, they will dance. These boys love to move!

Some other favorites right now:

-Saying "cheese" whenever they see a camera

-Clapping and stomping their feet to "If you're happy and you know it"

-Cucumbers and avocados

-Chocolate (of course)

-Tutu and Grammy (their Grandmas)

-Linnet and Carter from church :)

-And of course, Veggie Tales

Teage and I are so grateful to be the parents of such special boys. We love them tremendously, and are thankful to have them in our lives.