Status Update

Just wanted to send out a big "THANK YOU" to everyone who has kept me in their thoughts and prayers this week. The surgery went very well, my doctor has said that my new miniscus fits "perfectly" :), and I am now at home recovering nicely. Definitely not a fun experience and has been tough so far with the pain, but I am so grateful for a fantastic surgeon, wonderful friends, and terrific family who has been here to help every step of the way. I really am a lucky girl. It looks like I am recovering just the way I should be right now, so let's hope that I will be up and going in a few weeks! Thank you again everyone, I truly felt your prayers on Wednesday and I can't tell you how much it meant to me and my family! We love you all!

Christmas 2009

We had such a fabulous Christmas this year! The boys finally started understanding what the lights, presents, crazy tree in the middle of the room was all about. We talked a lot about Christmas being a day to celebrate Jesus' birthday, and they even started getting this whole story about Santa. :) It is such a joy to see the holidays through the eyes of a child, and I feel so blessed to have two little men to make me even more excited! We did quite a few fun things as a family to celebrate, like making gingerbread houses, going to snowflake lane at Bellevue Square, drove around to look at Christmas lights, etc. Teage and I just had a blast watching the boys' faces when they saw a lot of "LIGHTS!!!"...I think that was their favorite part. And having a Grandpa that has about 50,000 lights on his house definitely helps a lot too!!!! :)

Some fabulous Christmas highlights.....we spent a great day with my mom's side of the family for the Bailey Family Christmas party. A lot of my mom's family doesn't live in Washington, and everyone came up this year for the festivities, so we had a blast. The boys got to play with their "cousins", they decorated cookies, we opened a huge amount of presents, it was so much fun!

This was actually on Christmas morning. The boys woke up to Santa having come and dropped a few presents for them along his way, including a brand new kitchen (which Teage and I found at Goodwill for 99 cents....the deal of the century!). They absolutely loved it and wouldn't stop playing even for their stockings! Papa Christensen and Auntie Sunni were there with us also, which was really fun.

Christmas Eve at Tutu and Poppi's house.....they LOVED their Mater bags. The boys had so much fun with their aunts and uncles making cookies, opening presents, and eating as much as possible!

Later on Christmas Day with Grammy and Papa. The boys are obsessed with baseball and they got new Mariner's blankets for their present! They absolutely loved them! But, I actually think their favorite part of the day was helping everyone else open their presents.....

We just had so much fun with all of our family and friends this year. What a blessed year we have had. I love this time of year also where we can look back and remember all of the amazing experiences we have had as a family. I am so blessed to have all three of my beautiful boys with me everyday. Though I am sure that I don't fully appreciate each of them everyday, I truly feel like such a lucky girl to have so many amazing loves in my life.

Big Boy Beds

So, Teage and I decided to take the plunge and put the boys in their "big boy" beds. We have been putting this off as long as possible, but since Lucas decided he wanted to climb out of his crib every day for the week before Christmas, we thought that this was the time. :) So, "Santa" brought their beds for them for Christmas. We were a bit nervous about this change for quite a while, but thankfully, the boys have been doing fabulously! We did put up rails on the side so they wouldn't fall out, you have never seen two boys that were so wiggly while they slept. But, they can get in and out all by themselves to which they think is the coolest thing in the world! :) And they have been doing great so far. It takes them a while to nap now, because they are so excited about their beds, but they don't get out! They even stay in their beds in the mornings until we go get them. Love it! So, we are thankful so far. And hopefully it will stay this amazing!!

D and L in their new PJ's, with their new Mariner's blankets, in their new big boy beds (well....Lucas' in this picture anyway)!

Christmas pictures to follow soon....

Also, I have started a little movie review blog (which will make perfect sense to all of you who know me way too well. :) ) If you would like to see it, it is on the sidebar -------> labelled "The Diaper Review".....let me know what you think. :)

Catch up....

So now that we are done with Christmas :), I turn back in time and blog about our trip to Utah over the Thanksgiving holiday. Just a few weeks overdue. :)

Teage's brother Brook got married last month in Utah, and our family was grateful to be able to hitch our way down there to be a part of his special day. Well, we didn't actually hitch, we took a plane ride with Brett, Beth, and Kai, which was a lot of fun. And added bonus, this was the very first plane trip for the boys. And boy did they have two completely different reactions to this new experience. :) Dylan was so excited, couldn't stop smiling, and looked out the window the entire flight. Lucas, on the other hand, freaked out the minute he saw the plane, wouldn't stop crying for the first few minutes, and only calmed down once we were in the air and he realized the plane wasn't going to hurt him. :)

We had a fabulous time in Utah. The boys were able to spend a lot of time with their cousin Kai, as we stayed in the same hotel, we were able to spend a lot of quality time as a family, and we were able to see Teage's siblings and extended family that we don't see very often. Brook's wedding was beautiful, we were so thankful to be a part of it. And the woman that he chose is just amazing. I am so grateful to have her as a part of our family. Brook and Susie seem perfectly suited for each other, and I couldn't be happier for them. We were able to have a Thanksgiving dinner with Teage's family while we were there as well, which was nice since we don't see all of them often, especially on holidays. Overall, it was a fabulous trip. And it was wonderful to get away as a family for a while.

Congratulations Brook and Susie!

Gorgeous Susie with all of her inherited nieces and nephews. :)

D and L with Kai up at the mountains

And then the three of them on top of a random fire truck. They were pretty stinkin excited!

All of the cousins all dressed up! Aren't they adorable?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We feel so blessed this time of year especially. We are thankful for all of our family and friends, all those wonderful people who shape our lives everyday. We are grateful for all of the many blessings that our Heavenly Father has given us, especially the gift of his son Jesus Christ whom we celebrate this holiday season. We love all of you and hope that you have a fabulous Christmas. Thank you for being a special part of our lives!

Website

Hi everyone! My new website it now live, so go check it out if you have a minute! :)

www.erinchristensenphotography.com

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season so far!

Love, Erin

Starting to Feel Like Christmas

The boys are getting so excited about Christmas coming up. They still don't quite understand what the presents are all about, but they sure do get excited about Christmas lights! They made me drive around the other day for a half hour just so they could see all of the lights around our neighborhood. :) We were actually in Utah for Thanksgiving this year (more on that later), but as soon as we got home we began setting up decorations, putting up the tree, and listening to fun Christmas music. I absolutely LOVE the season!

The other day the boys and I were thinking about something fun to do and I suggested making Christmas cookies for someone else. The boys have been watching Elmo and the Firetruck almost everyday for a while now (their current obsession), and so they decided that they would like to take cookies to the firefighters. I thought it was a fabulous idea! So, we spent all day making sugar cookies, decorating them with fun frosting and sprinkles, and getting excited about visiting the firehouse.

So yesterday, we went down to our local firehouse in Snoqualmie to take the firefighters some yummy (wonderfully decorated :) ) cookies. The fire chief was so sweet to the boys. He didn't have any emergency he was taking care of at the moment, so he let the boys go in the house and tour a bit, and even sit up in the firetruck to "drive"! The boys were just in heaven. After getting over a little nervousness, they were so excited about the firetruck and could not stop talking about it the rest of the day!

Also, if anyone is interested in an amazing light show, go visit my Dad's house this year for a family activity! Every year he spends months putting up Christmas lights for other's enjoyment and this year he went above and beyond! Over 60,000 lights on one house! If you want to visit (it is definitely more amazing in person), his address is:

2509 227th Pl NE

Sammamish, WA 98074

And if you can, bring a canned food item as well! They have a bin out front that will all go to their local food bank! Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

It is a jungle in here!

OK, now that we are up to speed with our "privateness" (I know, that isn't even a word....hehe), let us commence on all of the amazing wonderful fantastic activities that my family has been doing since we last blogged.....

The boys really enjoyed Halloween this year! Since costumes are so expensive, and they still aren't to the point where they can completely voice their opinion on everything, Teage and I decided to get them adorable full length costumes from Costco this year. $10, can't beat it, considering we have to buy two in the same size! :) I went practical.... They loved them though. We told the boys that the elephant was Horton, and they just ate it up. Dylan really wanted to be the giraffe from the jungle as well, so it all worked out. Both boys were a little timid about knocking on doors of people they did not know, but once they figured out they were getting candy out of the deal, they were pretty darn excited! I think that the best part of the whole thing was their little bums in their costumes, so adorable!

All of us at the ward Halloween party

Doesn't Teage look freaky? :) He even made a little girl cry...

Then a few weeks ago Teage and I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer at the Cystic Fibrosis Gala in Seattle. They have been doing this amazing black tie event for over 20 years now, and it has most recently been raising over 2 MILLION dollars a year! We were so thankful to be a part of it. We went early in the morning to help set up, had dinner with all of the volunteers, and then got dressed up and helped with the silent auction portion of the evening. We met some amazing people, saw some amazing donations given, and were really moved by all of the attendance and generosity of others. I know that Jolene was so happy to see us there.

Teage and I all dressed up and ready to go, and me with my brother Christopher.

And one more for good measure.....a cute little shirt that Teage found at Old Navy a little while ago. Hilarious!

Private

OK, too many random comments from people we don't know. And, I tend to be a little protective of my kids, so we have decided to make our blog private. I know, I know, I can hear the growns now.....it just worries me a bit when I am getting comments from random people about random things, who knows who could be reading about my family! So anyway, if you would like to have access to our Christensen family blog, please either leave me a comment here with your email address so I can invite you, or email me at erinbeth1@hotmail.com , and I will add you to the list! Happy Blogging!! :)

Rascal Flatts!!!!!!!!

So, like many others have said before me, blogs tend to lean in the direction of "everything is perfect" land. :) I definitely don't believe that that reflects reality, and definitely not the reality of my family's life specifically. So, I have decided to write not only about the good and great of our lives, but also the not-so-greats as well. :) However, this is not the post to begin that trend.....this post is about RASCAL FLATTS!!!!!!!!

When I heard that Rascal Flatts were coming to town, I didn't waste a minute getting tickets to their concert. And once Teage heard that Darius Rucker was opening, he was just as excited about it as I was. What a combination!! And my mom was wonderful to offer to watch the boys for us for the night so we could make a great date out of it! We went into Tacoma early, got to go to dinner, rode the Light Rail to the Tacoma Dome, and watched an AMAZING concert!!!!!

Darius began the concert playing his old Hootie songs, as well as his new country flavor. :) He was amazing. We could tell that he was having so much fun with his new band, playing the songs that he loves so much.

Then came my favorite band, Rascal Flatts! They definitely put on a show!!! They played everything that I wanted to hear, except for 'Everyday'. But all of their songs were amazing. They all seem to have so much fun playing in front of a crowd, and even brought up a little girl to sing with them for one song. They were all singing, dancing, playing the piano, and having a ton of fun. It was such a wonderful concert! We had so much fun, were exhausted by the end from singing and dancing the whole time, and were so blessed to be able to stay in a fancy hotel without kids for a night (yeah for priceline!). And one of the most memorable parts of the evening, Darius came back out onto the stage at the very end of the concert and played 'Life is a Highway' with Rascal. It was so amazing to watch all four of them together!