Christensen Family Reunion '15

Well, we the Christensen side family reunion was in full swing the beginning of this July. Sam got off work early on a Tuesday afternoon, and we got a really late start when we had some car trouble, and we ended up pulling out of Bend at after 3 in the afternoon, and though the first 5 hours of the drive is always doable, it's the last stretch that will get you. As it got us. We finally pulled into Burley at around 1:30 a.m. and a rough start with Rowan at the hotel, I really began wondering if we should have just stayed on the road. But, everyone finally fell asleep...Sam, Josh, Kaj, and myself in that order all on the one king size bed. It is really good thing they are still little in 10 years that sleeping arrangement just wouldn't be possible. 

We first met up at mom and dad's house, and all the little nieces were already there playing. They greeted each other very typically of little kids- showing just enough enthusiasm to say: 'I am open to playing with you' but not appearing too overly excited. It was a fun first day. We to a new splash pad in Sandy, that was more like a miniature river than a splash pad, and the kids had a lot of fun together. We, then went back to house to get them some food, and play some more, and it is still just amazing how a year or 2 can change the way all the kids interact together, the little conversations that take place, and that with that many kids- they all get a long very well. 

The next was the official start of the reunion. Sam and I met up with the rest of the adults at the Draper temple, and did a session. It had been a really long time...and it was nice to be there. We both agree we need to set a goal on going down to Portland to do a session quarterly, or every 6 months...the time frame we haven't yet decided, but we do want to do that. We picked up the kids afterward, and headed out for a short hike to Bridal veil falls, and then stayed in the Provo area for the rest of the day. It was fun to go to BYU, and walk around with Sam on his old stomping grounds. We went to the library on campus, and then went over to the Bean museum where the rest of the family was at. We, then, went over to Jon and Mandy's to have dinner. They have a great yard, and an amazing garden which was inspired us to think about a garden as well. The kids had a lot of fun running around, and jumping on the tramp. It was a non stop day for the kids (and us) and needless to say, I really did wonder how I was going to do this same thing on repeat again the following day. 

But, actually the next we spent all of it hanging out at Teresa's and Vance's. They had a great idea of surprising the kids with this huge, blow up, waterslide. So, we gathered the kids inside, and had the watch a little show while the slide was being put together, and then lined them up to run outside after announcing a surprise. It was a hit for everyone. Adults turned into little kids very quickly with that. 

 The next day, we had family pictures in the morning at Salt Lake temple. It was pretty chaotic with that many people, and it got a little long winded, but the photographer was very nice, and I am sure there are some successful pictures in the hundreds of photos that we took. The rest of the day was an at home carnival. It had some very cute ideas, games, and prizes. I have to say Teresa and Vance's back yard...also amazing. They had paved this area of the yard that sloped so you can ride down with bikes, and race, and that was a lot of the fun when things weren't organized. The cousins seemed to have a lot of fun together, and that was the goal.

I have to say, Teresa and Vance are amazing. They worked very hard, and had a lot of people for a long time, and I am very thankful for the many things I can learn from Teresa. She is an amazing person with a lot of talents, and big heart. 

I very thankful for my boys, and the good boys they really are. They were amazing on the ride home, they are troopers, and can make these long trips really easy when it otherwise, could be really hard. I know that they deserve a great mom, and I hope that I can be that for them. 

4th of July

Snow Cap burgers

Sisters, OR

For the 4th of July we had visitors! Before traveling to Utah for a Christensen family reunion, Sam's parents wanted to come by and see the new house, they also brought Elena with them as a surprise guest. The boys absolutely loved their time with her. They brought with a them a childhood favorite-a trampoline. We went to the Pet Parade last year, and decided it would be fun to go again, only this year, go a little earlier, and find a place before it starts. So, Sam and Grandpa Jo found a place on Bond Street, and we enjoyed the parade front row. It's a pretty funny parade because it's the dog's time to shine. They put on their fanciest outfits of red, white, and blue and strut as best a dog can strut. Rowan really enjoyed all the "doggies," which is one of the words he can say. Later, we went to scope out Suttle Lake, but it was extremely crowded, but luckily just up from that lake is a smaller, more kid friendly lake- Scout Lake. It was not as crowded, and the kids got right in the semi warm water. We brought our new little grill a long with us, and had a delicious barbecue. (We are really enjoying grilling this summer) The fireworks at the Butte were to start at 10pm which was a little late for our kiddos so we kept it really simple, and we got sparklers and snappers, and they loved it. Cheers to having small kids, who enjoy the little things.

Pet Parade

Summer Is Here

Todd Lake: learned a new running tip...run like your are being eaten alive by mosquitos

First pool day: asked for $18 to get his own goggles

Juniper Pool

Best Moving helpers

Josh at High Desert Museum

"The beach" at the river

I really have dropped the ball lately with my blog, and with good reason. Things were changing faster than I could catch up. So...we bought a house. The way that it had come about was our landlord saying that he was planning on selling the house we were in. OK. Thanks, Brian. So, that began the search, as well as the debate on making an offer on the house we were in, and more searching. Our friend who is a in real estate agent was awesome, and we set up some outings with him right away to look at some places. The first week looking there were always some things that we liked, and things we didn't like, and we usually would walk away just not really knowing what to do. There was no time frame of needing to get out of our current place, but we didn't really want to wait till we were in that predicament. We did actually make an offer on the place we were in, a reasonable price considering the home, and the year it was built, and he was asking for much more, so that was our answer. So, we went a few more times with a little more motivation to find something. We went on a Saturday really intent on finding a house. We had been looking all morning, Rowan was spent, and Sam and I finally decided he would take a look at this last house, and I would take the boys home, but when I saw the house we were going to look at, I had to see inside. With a sad Rowan, and unloading the boys again for what felt like the 100th time, we went in, and Sam and I were both finally excited about the same house. Sam said right away, "This is it. This is the one." I completely agreed! And, we wrote up the offer that day.

The escrow date was set for 4 weeks out, and it didn't seem like very long at all! Packing and moving in that short amount of time. But, what made it seem long was the fact that you have to send these people everything in your whole life to get approved for a loan (because we didn't have the cash up front haha!) and, at a point, we would not have been surprised if they asked for our first born. But, we closed on the 15th of May. As planned. It has been a transition, and at first, I was definitely missing my neighbors, being closer to friends, I loved the old side of town.. (I know, I know Bend is not a big town ha!) but still, there were things I was missing. My mom and my sister who, both have such talents in decorating and organizing were amazing enough to come a couple weeks after moving in to help me with those things. I honestly I already knew the combination of the two of them together, my house would be so much more together, but they exceeded what I already knew! They can walk in and have an automatic vision of what it could be, and I still am completely blown away. I can honestly say since they came, and everything came together, is when I fell in love with my house. Suddenly everything about it became like home. Of course, we also had a great time together, good laughs, and good conversation. The boys love them a lot, and a couple weeks later and they are bringing them up. Kaj said just a few days ago, "I miss Mor Mor and Aunt Whit..a lot." Its was very sweet. And, Josh going to bed the other night after saying I was beautiful (sweet kid)  said, "And Mor Mor is beautiful!" reminding me a very funny moment when they were here. My friend Sara came over to look at the house, and immediately said, "can you please send them over to my house?!." They are good. 

Very condensed, that brings us to now. Summer is here officially. I took the boys to this big water balloon fight today to kick off the summer right. I finally sat down the other day, and wrote out ideas, hikes, all kinds of plans for the summer, and it made me very excited about it. We are working on the current situation at hand which is our lack of air conditioning in the house, and with a 97 degree spike this week we really had to take into deep consideration maybe our little air conditioning unit isn't quite enough? But, till then we have it set up in the front room, open the windows at night, and hope for the best.

Feeling grateful.

Spring Break Utah Trip

(Trumpets Sounding)

And the highly anticipated blog has finally arrived! I kid, I kid. Though, it has been some time coming. This year, we had decided to take a much needed trip for spring break. The way that it had formulated was what feels like many moons ago: Sam was planning a ski trip with our friend Andrew. It fell through, and Sam's start date for derm kept being moved back, until it finally landed on March 2nd. Knowing that Sam was mostly likely not going to be able to make this trip happen, I, thinking that I am superwoman, planned on making the drive to Utah myself. In the meantime, my mom thought it may be helpful that she fly into Bend, and help me drive the one way to Utah. So, that is what we made happen. 

Just prior to the trip, was Josh's 3rd birthday. We celebrated with balloons, bike riding, and presents. Josh is such a sweet kid. He gets more and more helpful, with a bright smile, and just an endearing excitement. Mor Mor came in and got him "lightning guy" and "Fire guy," who, Josh will transform into either character spontaneously in any given moment to this day. 

 We left the house Saturday morning at 7:40, and we cruised. We only had one really close moment where there was a bathroom situation, and we were essentially out of gas, and as we ran on fumes and saw the sign for the gas station in Snowville, angels sang. The boys did really well, and for any 10 +  hour day in the car, it made for a long one, but it was not bad. It was enjoyable, as always, with my mom, and at 7:40 pm we were in Draper. 

I feel like we spent our time great while we were there. We had fun activities planned with the kids, and it was so awesome to have the cousins for the first time really hit it off. They had little conversations, ran around together, the boys got a kick out of the girls,  they liked talking to their aunts and uncles, and it was just a really delightful time. I loved Mara's fun spirit of just "hanging with the guys" attitude. Josh and Mara were so funny to watch, sharing the same boy toys, and running around crazy. The boys also adored Noel. They loved making her laugh, and running around with her, and being the goofy boy cousins that they are. I, loved all of it! I loved the time I spent with everyone, though brief with some, still a really good time. We were also able to spend some time with Teresa and Vance, and their family. The cousins played so great there, also, and we enjoyed catching up.

We went to the dinosaur museum, Wheeler Farm, and the Museum of curiosity...twice. We are that curious, I guess.
I was also lucky enough to spend some good quality time with good friends. I was able to help Kathy with her home, by doing inventory, and helping her sort through some of her things. I was glad that I was able to be with her to give her a hug when she was sad finally rather than just have to listen to it over the phone, I was also happy that despite the circumstance, we were able to laugh, and have good conversations, and enjoy each other's company. I was also able to spend some time with Kim, who I adore. I was glad that we got to catch up, and wished though, that there was more time.

The time did seem to fly by, and soon we were heading back home, I had booked a hotel in Boise, as my half way point, and went on my way, only solo this time. Though, there were some tears from Rowan at the beginning, it didn't take long for him to calm down. We had to stop a few more times, and when there was a stop, it was a bit of a scene, with me hauling behind me my 3 boys at a rest stop, but definitely a scene I am very used to by now. The boys were great. They listened, they obeyed, and they made it pretty easy to keep on cruising a long. The hotel stay was the hardest part of the trip, but a necessary part. It was hard having to carry everything to the room and back primarily on my own, the small items that I did give to Kaj  and Josh suddenly seemed unbearably heavy- while I had to verbally motivate them to keep on moving, and then proceeded to hold the doors open for them while carrying every bag possible, plus Rowan, as they slowly and sloppily went on their way. But, despite this, I decided it was going to be a great idea to take them out to dinner. So, I sat there, in Red Robin, with my 3 boys, hoping that everything would come out quickly, and knowing that it was 100% my decision. It was crazy, but fine. After that, we went on a walk around this big pond bythe restaurant to kill a little time before going back to the hotel where I wasn't entirely sure how the night would work. I am writing this, so it worked.
We definitely were happy to be back home, and happy to see Sam. It was a great trip, and the boys loved it, and I would do it again!

 

A lot Has Changed

A lot has changed in the last month.

About a month ago, my friends Kathy and Becca visited me here in Bend. I was so grateful for the excitement to come out, and lift my spirits after a hard few weeks of feeling very down. The weekend was great. Shortly after, I asked Kathy for some of the pictures she had taken while they were here so that I can blog about it, but I put it off-like ya do- a couple of extra weeks never hurt anyone, never did I think a couple weeks would make such a difference. 

I am not going to go into it. A lot has changed, I wanted to post these first few pictures regardless because it was a good weekend, and my boys very much enjoyed the time they spend with them. 

I have learned a lot about friendship, have re evaluated my priorities, and I feel more sure about myself than I have in a while. 

I am thankful for the friendships that I have, that includes the friend I have in my husband, with my siblings, with my parents, and friends that I choose that have the qualities I value in all my relationships. I have been able to strengthen friendships, mend others, and I also am thankful that children are so resilient, and that they are able to make new friendships with such ease. 

I also have to share that after a few weeks of battling with Kaj, his lack of listening, and bad attitude I have my boy back this week! He is positive, and upbeat, and prompt, and listens the first time- no questions-I am loving this sweet boy. My conversation with him this morning, in this order was: "Mom, I want to marry you when I'm 16 because you are beautiful...I want to grow a mustache when I am 16 like dad...when the new baby lady gets here I want call her Izzy, cause that it her name."

For quite a few weeks now, when I think about my boys, our family, I feel very happy with our boys, and our family, Kaj will, without question, begin talking to me about a little girl. He will ask when the baby girl will be here, he will look around our kitchen table, and ask me, "Where is the baby girl going sit?" He will count how many boys are in our family,  and how many girls. And the latest was just over the last couple days that he will call her "lady baby" instead of "baby girl" and before he would give her a name of just an object that he sees in the room: "shoe," "iPad" he is now calling her Izzy. 

I love my family. I love my boys, and even though there has been a lot of tears, over a lot of things, and from a lot of different people over the last month, I am so happy to be where I am right now.