Feet

I wanted to send a picture along with the {boring} but nice text announcement of Wade's medical school graduation. They all got sent today! Sorry to spoil it if you are getting a copy, but this is what I came up with. Avery Ann is my favorite part.

In less than 26 days Wade will graduate and be a DPM (Doctor of Podiatric Medicine-a foot doctor in case you were wondering).

Prayers

Noah has been learning how to say his own prayers, and pray for something that he really means. In the past his typical prayer has consisted of blessing the food and thanking Heavenly Father for his blessings. One example of this is this week he has been blessing daddy to go to the hospital. Perhaps he is a little confused between working at the hospital and actually going there?!




The best prayer ever came last night when he was going to bed:

Dear Heavenly Father, bless Darth Vader to get an owie. Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Family

Family:

My Blog:


I saw this in a scrapbook magazine. It's very addictive, try it yourself at wordle.net I can't wait to get my scrapbook stuff out and print some of these to use on some pages. It's pretty cool! I could do this all day. (click on them to make them larger)

Who waxed your cheese?

Got Cheese? I'll be your cheese waxer.
I am a cheese waxer.
I know you are all in awe of my new talent, so I will explain.



Wade's ward (congregation) got a block of 40 pounds of cheese from the church. So the women in the ward split it into one pound blocks and decided to wax our own cheese. Not only did we learn a new skill but our cheese is now shelf stable (doesn't have to be refrigerated) for up to one year. Right now it's only mild cheddar, but in a year, it will be extra sharp!

You need to have a certain red wax and you simple melt it (at a very very low temperature) and then dip or paint your cheese block. My blocks are not that pretty compared to other women's that were there last night, I didn't get such a smooth result because my wax was too hot to begin with, but finally I got it down and we got the science down. Wade's mom did some too so we figure in a year's time we are going to have a cheese tasting party. Any one want to join us?

OH, and case you were wondering: We didn't have to pay for the cheese. It came from a church farm. My church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believes we should all be self reliant, have food storage(like a year's worth), garden, save our money - etc etc. We have places called Bishop Storehouses where needy families can go and receive food, we have farms, canneries, employment sites, all of these resources not only help members of our church, but those in need of aid in other countries or those who have been hurt by natural disasters. You can read all about the program by clicking on www.providentliving.org.

Reading Spot!

I've done it! I've updated My Reading Spot. I've been reading a little more and more lately. I have a huge stack of books that I'm pretty excited to start. Avery is sleeping better and night and I'm able to read a whole entire page without falling asleep! Imagine that!

{www.myreadingspot.blogspot.com}

Next up on my To-Do List:
-Read and comment on every one's blogs
-Update my blog list - if you want to be listed and I've been a slacker and not added you, or if you want taken off, let me know.
-Update my 365 blog. I have the pictures, I've been faithfully taking a picture every single day. I even have them placed in the scrapbook. I just haven't posted them.

A Hunt & A Challenge

Saturday night we celebrated Easter with the whole Christiansen family. This is the first time we've been home to do this in four years! Wow! We had a BBQ, a hunt, an egg treboshay, lots of visiting and I introduced them to the Coke Challenge.

The hunt was a huge hit. We had lots of eggs and lots of little kids. We managed to time it right and only got sprinkled on since it had been raining a lot that day and night.

~~~
The Coke Challenge - My family usually plays this game at Christmas - you might remember we played it this past Christmas and to all of our surprise, Wade won - you can see the details HERE, and since Wade's sisters rank right up there with my sisters as die hard Diet Coke drinkers I thought it would be fun to see how Wade's side of the family held up in the challenge.

We had thirteen players Saturday night and eight drink choices. It was pretty funny to see everyone try to figure it out. Wade's oldest sister Pam won the challenge, she got the highest score with 3 right out of 8. Not too shabby.

Pam won all the drinks and the glory of her picture on my blog. Way to go Pam! Next up, we are going to have a sibling coke off - with Wade and Pam (Wade didn't play and helped me set up and referee). I'll have to find a toffee of some sort for that one.

~~~

Wade's brother Ted is such an inventor. He not only can think up fun ideas, he can build anything. This year he built an egg treboshay. Just like the big pumpkin ones, but we used eggs. The kids had a good time out in the field trying to hit the eggs. It was pretty funny to watch.

It was fun to be home and visit with everyone. Avery got passed around and did a great job. Gage and Noah love playing with all their cousins. Everyone had a great Easter celebration.

2 months

One Month Two Months

Avery Ann is two month old! She has changed so much in the past few weeks. She is a little person now, with a personality and things to tell us about. She likes to coo, smile and talk to us in the morning. She especially loves her brother Gage. She is doing better with a schedule. She has already lived in two different states. She has a bedtime now. She sleeps better at night then both her brothers ever did. She is fussy and gassy in the evenings and only likes it when her mommy is holding her. She sleeps on her tummy. (yes, I am breaking all the rules for her, but the sleep is worth it, our pediatrician approved.) Her eyes look like Noah's, her face like Noah, but the rest of her like Gage. She will poop on an outfit if she doesn't like it. She is a princess, and we love her lots!

She looked pretty cute all dressed up for Easter, she even had little socks and shoes. The boys looked handsome as usual this morning too. Happy Easter.

Easter Cookies

This year we have been celebrating Easter every night this week - though scripture, story, song, or activity. It's been fun, Gage especially has really got in the spirit of things.

Last night our activity was to make Easter Cookies. (I've heard of this activity before, but never tried it. It was really cool!)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Place 1 cup whole pecans in ziplock bag. Let the kids beat them with wooden spoons to break into small pieces. Read John 19:1-3. Explain that after Jesus' arrest, he was beaten by Roman soldiers.



3. Let each child smell the vinegar. Pour 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

4. Add 3 egg whites. Explain that eggs represent life. Jesus gave his life so that we could be resurrected and have eternal life. Read John 19:10:10-11.
5. Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers. Read Luke 23:27.

Ask if any of the ingredients seem appealing to this point.

6. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain the sweetest part of the Easter story is that Jesus died because he loves us. He wants us to know and belong to him and be able to return to the Father. Read Psalm 34:8.



7. Beat with a mixer on high for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity, in God's eyes, of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18.

8. Fold in the broken nuts and drop the dough by teaspoons onto cooking sheet covered with wax paper. Explain that each mound of dough represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

9. Put the cookies in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and help them seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

10. Go to bed! Explain that the children might feel sad to leave the cookies, just as Jesus' followers were sad to leave Him in the tomb.

11. Before the children are up the next morning, remove the tape and open the oven door. After the kids wake up gather them in the kitchen and tell them to notice how the surface is cracked and to take a bite. The cookies will be hollow.

Explain that on the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. When they understood what it meant, they rejoiced. Read John 11:25-26.

Happy Easter Eveyone.

BYU Museum week

This week we took a couple days to play at the great FREE museums at BYU. The Bean Science Museum is a favorite of Gage's. The kids loved it and got to run around with an old friend from Iowa, Anna.


Name the animal below for a gold star. Here's a hint:

Deb: What are you drawing?
Napoleon Dynamite: A liger.
Deb: What's a liger?
Napoleon Dynamite: It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic.

Today we headed to the Museum of Art with our cousins Daesha and Keegan. Last summer we visited with our cousin Charlotte and had a blast at a dance exhibit, but today we went to see the Walter Wick exhibit. It was really cool to look at all the pictures and displays.


I didn't get a ton of good pictures in the Walter Wick exhibit, but then we found another exhibit that was so interesting. Take a look at this wall - it looks like it might be orange glass - wrong, it's thousands of those small orange duck sauce packets from Panda Express. It was so crazy to look at up close.

This next display was so cool, I could stand there all day and watch, but Noah was scared of the dark and kept running out of the room. The room was all black and in one corner was a spotlight on a huge pile of packing peanuts. Randomly these huge fans would turn on and they would 'dance' in their corner. Gage and Daesha really liked it, it was really hard to keep Gage from wanting to jump and run into it!

On the way out Gage and Daesha decided to bolt into the elevator before we could get in and had a terrifying ride by themselves. I could hear Gage's screams the whole way, they went down one level where a professor jumped in and brought them safely up 2 levels to the main floor where I had ran up the stairs to meet them. Gage was so traumatized. It was so sad, but really taught Gage a lesson about listening and paying attention. He told me at bedtime that he was scared he would have nightmares about the elevator ride. Poor boy, it really was only a few seconds, and I'm glad he has told me that he will listen and pay attention from now on.

I can't wait to visit the museums again. I love it that they are free, since we zoom past everything at Gage speed, I don't feel guilty that we only spent 30 to 40 minutes, or even less each time we visit.

jeep

Wade got a new ride! His family owns an old 1953 Willys Jeep that he has now claimed as his own - if we only had place to park it.

The boys can't wait to take it out to the mountains. Wade grew up riding on - not in this jeep...as demonstrated below.

Now, Wade thinks he gets a new car each time we visit Utah. (last summer when we were here his little green car took a turn for the worse)

Temple Square

Thursday we took the kids on Trax up to Temple Square. It was a big hit mostly because we got to ride the train. The best story of the day occurred early on - during one stop a SLC police officer got on the stop and asked everyone to get out their tickets to prove their payment. He started at the front of the car and ended up busting these two young (20ish) guys who had large outstanding warrants. It was crazy and he ended up taking them off the train to arrest them.

The best part of the story is the whole time our boys sat very still holding their tickets and when the police man left the train Gage looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "The conductor never checked my ticket!"

The kids had a good time at temple square. We talked to a few missionaries. One older couple serving there was from Tacoma, Washington. We had a good time talking to them.

One of the missionaries told us that we should take the kids over to the church history museum where there is a new kids exhibit. It was titled "I am a Child of God" It was a really fun exhibit, very hands on. There were coloring pages, dress up clothes, blocks and videos. I really hope we can make it back there again.

On the way home we drove up to the new Draper Temple. It has an awesome view of the Salt Lake Valley.

You can read more about temples and how we believe families can be together forever by clicking here.

trip

Monday after Avery Ann's blessing we left on a road trip to Utah. It took two days and was quite the adventure.

Soon after passing into Oregon we stopped off at Multnomah Falls for a little hiking. The kids had a great time and got some wiggles out. Wade's mom and I stayed in the car with Avery but Wade told me that Gage ran the entire way up to the top and almost the entire way down.

After the falls we headed back to the van for a little rocking out to Monster Ballads. Apparently, Gage and Noah are 80's butt rock fans just like their dad.

To make the drive easier, every one had to take turns driving, even the littlest among us. Avery Ann needed help reaching the peddles, but other than that she was a very good driver. (In reality, Avery has a very bad relationship with her car seat - maybe because it is blue? She cries all the time in the car and because of this the trip was very "fun")

We made it to Boise around dinner time and enjoyed some time at the hotel swimming pool before eating our pizza dinner and turning in.

Noah's never been a fan of pools until this trip, he loved it! He had no fear and would just walk right off the steps and jump off the edge. It was funny to watch him giggle and play around with Wade.

Day two held lots of adventure. First off - Noah would only ride in the car if he had his socks and shoes on at all times, but no pants.

We stopped off for a quick lunch in Burley, Idaho. As soon as we got on the freeway Wade's dad radioed us to inform us that our car was smoking! AKK!! Too bad my great grandfather wasn't still alive or we could have just stayed at the hotel he owned in Burley! We quickly pulled over and Wade and his Dad checked out our tires and engine. After an assessment they figured our a bolt had broke by some part next to our passenger front tire and was shredding our tire to pieces! We were very blessed that they were behind us or else the tire would have blown and we wouldn't have been able to catch the tire in time.

After backing up the entrance ramp we were pulled off - yes BACKING UP the entire entrance ramp - we found this nice tire place and got the car part fixed.

Noah and Gage kept themselves busy playing hide and seek in the tire shop and Wade talked to the owner, who's brother is a pre-med student at BYU. After his shameless plug for DMU, $50, and 45 minutes later we were on the road again. The entrance ramp was much easier going forward then back.

Next up - Utah and snow! We've been here almost a week and had snow almost every day. Too bad I left all our heavy coats and winter things back in Washington.

It's nice to be here and it's been fun to see family. We've spent the week hanging out and getting settled. We can't wait to see friends and since we'll be here 2 months, establishing a routine.