Christensen Blog

A Very Short and a Very Long Weekend!

2012-01-24T07:23:00.000-08:00

Winston ...he is growing fast! We are so grateful to have this little one where we can watch him grow.

I just put that picture of Winston in because it is so cute. Sister Dahl told us that they have 30 something grandchildren. It gave me perspective when I asked what she does for Christmas. She used to make them all pajamas but she doesn't have the time anymore being in the Provo Temple Presidency. Even though there are many times that I wish we had more, I am truly grateful for the grandchildren we have and feel blessed to have Goggle + where we can watch them play and talk to them.


We were all so hungry and grateful to finally eat. Thanks to my great kids.


Kim, Wynette, President and Sister Dahl, Sister and Elder Leavitt

Stake Conference is the same time every year. Our stake has it in January. It hits us like a snowball in the face...so glad to have snow but right after the holidays...splat! It is something that Kim stews about and it just hangs over us as we look forward to, contemplate and pray that all will be in order, be uplifting, and what the Lord wants. We were so "tickled" when the Leavitts said they would spend the Saturday night at our home. It motivated us to order new carpet for our 35 year old house that has the original carpet. However, we don't get it in till this week when all is over. Oh well.
We were so uplifted and strengthened by this past weekend. As always, it is a great blessing, a joy and pleasure to associate with the members of our stake. We had so much fun with the Leavitts and learned much from them. One story that he told about Elder Nelson of the 12 was that he likes to go skiing on Mondays ( 87 years old) and that most people don't recognize him because of goggles, etc. When someone happens to talk to him and recognizes him because of his voice, he is happy to visit.
I was very surprised when asked to answer one of the questions the youth had written for an early morning Sunday youth meeting ( I was even more surprised they all came at 7:30a.m.) was something that I had been impressed with in my scripture reading that week. I turned right to it to give my answer to a question of "How can I be forgiven" or "How can I know I have been forgiven?" I was very grateful that the Spirit had emphasized certain scriptures I had read earlier in the week. It feels good to have it done, with everything going smoothly and wonderfully and a little sad also that it is now just a memory.

Bitter with the Sweet but Mostly Just Sweet

2012-01-08T17:44:00.000-08:00


Brooke reserved the Club House for everyone to eat after Winston's blessing.	It was nice and roomy and the food was delicious.

Winston's blessing talked about living up to his name sake ( his middle name is Bryce)

Got to stand in front of the South African flag...we fly it on Bryce's birthday and his death date every year. It just reminds us that he loved Africa and it's people. These are some of his friends that came to help us celebrate his life.

Once There Was a Snowman...Bryce's favorite FHE song. We made it for Leif because it was his birthday. He loves the snow about as much as Bryce but I don't know if anyone was addicted to snow as much as Bryce.

Bryce usually would finish his letters home with: bye; Love; so bye then; have a good week; ok bye. Right before the 7th I was feeling a little sad reflecting on him being gone and I just wanted him to know how much we loved and missed him. I said a prayer and looked at his letters home and asked that I could find some comfort. It was kinda like opening the scriptures and asking for something to help. I just picked a page and his ending phrase was one that I don't think he wrote except this one time and it read: " Sincerely and yes forever, Elder C. " I was happy.

Some more of the gang helping us celebrate Bryce. We are watching videos of Bryce.

Bryce's friends are so good to remember us on this day and always cheer us up and now wives and babies are coming too. It is great.

Here's Lookin' at You 2012! Bring It On!

2012-01-05T15:52:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve at the Voorhees house.

I don't truthfully know how many years we have celebrated New Year's Eve with the Voorhees but it has been since Dallin was little. They were visiting from Houston and so we all got together and played games. We brought yummy meatballs...cranberry sauce and chili sauce simmered in the crock pot--mmmm. However, I didn't taste them until the next day because Kim and I decided to keep doing the "light diet" and it was definitely dark outside. We played "Famous People" where you write the name of someone famous, put it in the pot, divide into teams and try to get your team to guess the famous person. The next round, you get to use 2 words to get your team to guess the same names. The last round you can't use words ...only charades. My favorite charade was Dave trying to get his team to guess Florence Nightingale. He loaded up a pretend needle and shot himself in the rear. Priceless as he silently yelped.

This is Spencer playing the "sign" game...few of us shared in this talent!

The end of the game pose

New Years Day found us working hard in the morning moving Christmas boxes into the garage, and moving beds around. We have a "taco" bed that no one seems to appreciate. We moved it into Dallin's room since he seldom sleeps there and moved our bed downstairs into Bryce's room. We are having company in a few weeks and instead of buying a new bed, we traded our bed with his bunk beds. It seemed much cheaper than buying a new bed and a was a great work out.

For fun we all went bowling which is a New Year's tradition! I can't say that any of us are getting better but we always have fun. Then because we were in Provo we had to get JDawgs. They are the best.

Then we played Bocce ball. Amazing...outside in the nice warm weather. That is a first for sure.

Dallin was happy to have some competition with Whit...we are not in the same league.

The sad event of the day...it was warm enough to check the hives to find out how they were--they weren't. No one was home!

It is hard to believe another year has gone by. We made a list of highlights of 2011. I won't record them here but this blog is for my kids mostly...the far away ones and a reminder that they should write down their highlights too. It is great to think...aha--I did do something. Here's to 2012. Holy Cow.

Good Bye to 2011 Our Boring Family Christmas Letter...Boring Can Be Good

2011-12-29T18:57:00.000-08:00

This is our family minus Winston. These pictures are the one time my family was together in 2011. Whaaaaaa. Good-bye 2011--here's to more get together in 2012!

Here are a few things that happened with our family: 2011 This was a pretty quiet year at our house. I can live with that.

Kim continuesto work as Business Manager in the Chemistry Department at BYU. He enjoys the people he works with and Ienjoy all the perks that come with being at BYU. Kim and Dallin meet as often as possible toattend the Devotionals and eat lunch together.

Dallinis studying Computer Science and Japanese (dual major) and works in Information Technology Department. He comes to dinner on Sundays …I amgrateful we can feed him because sometimes it is the only time we see him orhear from him. We went to Japan a yearago!!! and traveled with Dallin after he completed a mission in Sapporo.

Brooke and Whit ( South Jordan, Ut.) had their first baby ( Winston Bryce Anderson) in October. October is a popular month in our family for boy’s birthdays. ..like Tyler,McKay, Dallin and now Winston. He ispretty cute. They are enjoying beingparents and it is fun to see.

Tyler isfinishing up his Doctorate in Learning Sciences in Indiana. Natalie delivered baby Spencer Kim last January. He is one BIG boy and we were happy to be able to spend time withTyler’s family when he was born and when they came to Utah in July for awedding. ( Eli is now 6 and Sharonis 4).

Kira leftTucson where she has lived for 4 years, and went to New York this past summerto work at an inner city camp as their nurse. She decided as long as she was so close she would also go to Greece andItaly for a month. She is now working atUtah Valley Hospital in same day surgery.

McKayis in China teaching English at a university. He has a blog for anyone interested: chinasayshi.blogspot.com He is having some great opportunities and adventures. He rides a bike a lot and is getting reallygood at Ping Pong.

I do love this season ofreflection, thanksgiving, and gathering of family and friends. I am grateful that Jesus Christ is in thecenter of it all. We hope you have had awonderful year also and we send our love and gratitude for yourfriendship.

Kim and I are doing the “naturallight diet” during the holidays to remember Bryce. He came up with thisidea when he got home from South Africa to not eat unless there was naturallight outside. He wanted to lose his“missionary pooch”. It worked. Wehope that 2012 brings blessings, joys, and great things to you and yours. Please keep in touch and visit when youcan! We would love it. Happy New Year!

Sleding at the Cabin videos

2011-12-27T17:36:00.000-08:00

This was a wild ride from the top of the mountain down to the tubing hill. We had special inflated tubes that were sweet.

The Most Magical Time of the Year...Christmas!

2011-12-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas officially began with the Stake Leadership party. We met in a beautifully decorated home and had dinner, sang lots of Christmas carols which brought such a great spirit in, and then Kim talked about the scriptures and how they have blessed our family. President Blair talked about family traditions...one was to make a snowflake each year which they hang from the ceiling.

Then we went to Whit's family cabin. We were wondering if there would be any snow. There was enough and we had a great time playing in it. My family came up on Friday to eat, sled, break a pinata and have the traditional White Elephant exchange. No tears this year. Maggie opened a hot chocolate set and said: " I will NEVER trade THIS!" She was a good sport when her GRANDMOTHER swiped it.

Dallin catching some air...jumping shot

Loading up the snowmobiles for the day

My sister sledding down the hill

Taxi service back up the hill

The hill doesn't look that steep but we caught some good air and went pretty darn fast!

Pinata movers in the balconey

Maggie trying to get that pinata

Dallin trying to finish the sleeping Don off

Our balcony group shot

My mom all ready to get on the snowmobile...layers!

Christmas Morning...no shut eyes for Kim!

Christmas Eve at the cemetery...the entire place was lit up!

Christmas Night...the Heater's old home with everything lit up!

After church we headed to Brigham City to spend the rest of the day with Kim's mother. She can't get out at all and so we visited, ate food again, and did a puzzle. Pretty quiet day.

Christmas visit to the Smiths


Family Home Evening..setting goals and building our strengths.

We tried our hand at making snowflakes...Dallin did the Y. We talked about SMART...or setting goals and how to achieve them. Specific goals, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound.
Some of the highlights for this year for me and Kim: seeing Dallin and McKay enjoy our "used" ping pong table, McKay going to China and sharing all the interesting experiences there, the miracle of all our family being able to "chat" on Google together each Sunday no matter where they are, going to Indiana for Spencer's birth and blessing, Winston's birth, being all together during the summer at Whit's family cabin, Payson Temple ground breaking, and a successful bee year and harvest. As I am want to saying...It doesn't get better than that! Here's to 2012!

Polar Express, The Grinch and Traditions

2011-12-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

It was "Polar Express" for our ward Christmas party. They picked the skinniest guy in the ward to be Santa! Not to mention his high pitched squeaky voice. We had the yummiest breakfast and listen to the story Polar Express. Afterwards, we went to the Y and took a gift wrapping class. It was a great way to get our gifts wrapped in all different kinds of wrapping.

This is from the Riverwoods. They have decorated everywhere and it felt so festive and it was soooooo cold.

They had gas fires and heating elements stationed everywhere but it was still sooooo cold. I felt sorry for the singer behind Kim in the pavilion...he had to stand still and sing.


I looked out the window one morning and saw birds everywhere. It was so interesting to watch them fly back and forth in big groups. All of sudden they all flew away.

Some of the fun things we did this past week was go to the new Taco Time in our town. It is tucked away behind businesses and you don't really know it is there but we have great memories of taking our kids to Taco Time when they were little. It did not disappoint as they had a bar where you could put fresh salsa, smoky sauce, olive, jalapenos, pickled peppers, hot sauce, etc. on your taco or burrito. Yummy!
We had a Stake Choirside where all the wards sang and then a Stake choir sang. The organ music was fabulous as it was our own Dr. Cook who played.
Sunday night I got to read on the phone to Tyler's children for bedtime...How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Eli and Sharon know it pretty good and are able to read parts so we all took turns reading. Tyler has a great Grinch voice. That brought back many memories and so Kira got her pillow and listened to me read "Christmas Every Day" about a girl who made a wish and it was Christmas every day for a year. Dallin pulled out his sax ( literally since it was buried deep under the stairs) and we played around the piano ( with me on the flute and Kira playing the piano) and sang. It was so nice to be able to do so many simple but special traditions this week!

Shake Faces

2011-12-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

This is what we do for fun when we can't think of cool pictures to take...we do shake faces. Dallin is pretty much the king of great faces but if McKay was here, he would be as good. We were all together Sunday ( all four of us--it just isn't like in the good ole days) and since Kira and Dallin were color co-ordinate d, we knew we just had to take some pictures.
Christmas is just about a week away. It has been a very different year at our house. I wrote a Christmas letter to send out but it is sooooo boring that I am wondering what to do. We thought we would make a collage of shake faces from our family instead...we shall see.

So Much to Be Thankful For!

2011-11-25T17:59:00.001-08:00

I love Fall and always look forward to being with family during Thanksgiving. We began our morning reading the scriptures, watching videos by Elder Nelson and the church, eating the yummiest Pumpkin Sour Cream Coffee cake with omelets...we were so full and then writing down the 10 things we are most thankful for. I was "grateful" that Kim and I had run 3 3/4 miles that morning and then worked in the yard. He put up the Christmas lights while I raked the leaves and hauled them to the garden.
We headed to my Mom's house and enjoyed being with most of my siblings.

4 Generations and my brother's most handsome face sorta


Catch Phrase		The next day we had a traditional slot canyon hike. This is the 4th year we have hiked after Thanksgiving...it is a great way to burn some of the extra calories and is so nice to get outside and feel the sun. We changed from Ding and Dang this year and did an 8 mile Little Wild Horse Canyon. When we finished we visited with a couple touring from Australia. It was a great day and we are so glad we can do fun things like that.

A really cool tree that is at the trail head


What's not to love about this picture?

The End of the Trail...we sure missed McKay's great fun photo skills and having everyone with us but we still had a great time and Kira got to ask her dad questions which is always a good time. We are a little stiff tonight!
Our Thanksgiving time was completed when we went with our family to the Provo temple. I am very grateful for temples and for all of those that serve in them so that I can go just about any time or day!

Our Last Hurrah

2011-11-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

Dinner at Olive Garden...Donna rivals Kim with eyes closed pictures

Notice the names on our bowling score board...it is in honor of Africa


This picture tells alot...it is after Donna is set apart to be a missionary to Mozambique

This was the last time we were all together before the Wallys serve in Mozambique...this is our former bishopbric that served our ward for 5 years. The Wallys will be sorely missed in our ward and in our home. These are wonderful people that hold a special place in our heart.
We had a last time together the night before ...we ate at our favorite place and bowled. No one did exceptionally good but we just wanted to "hang out" together and it was really nice.
I keep telling Kim I am going to have to find new friends because mine are all moving or going on missions. What a great example they are to me.

Last of Fall

2011-10-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

This week began with Chemistry Week! We have always wanted to go to the Chemistry show since Kim started working in that department and this year we made it. It was a room full of kids screaming and laughing and oohing and awwing. It was great and reminded me of some of the things my dad would do. For a sixth grade project I made a volcano and my dad brought home chemicals from work to put in it. When you dropped a beaker of water into the mixture, it would burn and sputter like a volcano. I loved it.

On Friday we went to Octubafest. Kim played the tuba in Jr. High and high school. It was great to listen to the Utah Brass Band and hear the Cougar Band played those tubas! The next morning we got up and hiked Stewart Falls to see the last of the fall leaves. It was beautiful and felt so good to be out and hiking!

Today marks three years ago that Bryce and Dallin spoke in our ward for returning and going out on their missions. It brought back memories as our good friends spoke the same day and time three years later as they prepare to leave to serve in Africa as Welfare Directors in Mozambique. We are going to miss them and have wondered aloud what our lives are going to be like when they are gone.

Here is the Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle that we took to their house and a picture of Willy
( Bryce's best friend) with his nieces at their home. It was a big hit. Here is the recipe:1 batch of your favorite brownies, boxed or from scratch, cooled and cut into cubes1 large box (5-ounce) of instant chocolate pudding, prepared and chilled (this will most likely call for 3 cups of milk, nothing else)1 bag of peanut butter cups, chopped (I used Dove chocolate peanut butter Promises)2 cups heavy cream3-4 tablespoons granulated sugar, depending on your desired level of sweetness1 cup of creamy peanut butter1 cup of powdered sugar2 tablespoons milk8 ounces of whipped cream cheese, at room temperatureIn the bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat heavy cream and sugar on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to an separate bowl and stick in the fridge until ready to use. I did not even clean the bowl of my electric mixer and just began mixing the peanut butter mixture.Add the peanut butter and cream cheese to the bowl and beat at medium speed, scraping down the sides a few times until mixture is creamy. Add in powdered sugar and mix until combined, then mix in 2 tablespoons of milk. Remove the whipped cream from the fridge and add 1 cup of it to the peanut butter, folding it in until the mixture turns lighter in color and is mostly combined.Grab your trifle dish and begin to layer your ingredients however you’d like. I did a layer of brownies, then peanut butter, then a handful of chopped peanut butter cups, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and so on. I repeated it until I got to the top, then piped the remaining whipped cream on top and sprinkled the candy on. You really can’t go wrong with layering – just use a long spoon to serve!

Your Cup of Cake: Cookie Dough Cupcakes

2011-10-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

Your Cup of Cake: Cookie Dough Cupcakes: The Story: Cookie dough seems to hold a place in everyone’s heart. There is something about a spoon full of this sugary goodness t...

Brooke says I am always telling her about good blogs so she asked me to post. I made the zucchini cupcakes from this blogs and thought they were so yummy and they even use applesauce.

Last of the peaches.....wha!

2011-10-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

Putting Fall Colors on Grandpa's grave

Eating at Maddox...Grandma's favorite place to eat

Peach pie from Maddox...the last of the peaches--they pealed the peaches after we ordered the pie! Now that is fresh.

On Thursday we went to visit "Old Man" as Whit now refers to Winston. This may be hard to believe but I didn't take any pictures of him. Brooke is snapping so many that you can just see hers. It has been a relatively short transition for the Anderson family to move into a threesome. It is fun to watch and funny to see how many different expressions that little guy has. He really does look like a little old man.
Then we headed to Brigham to spend the night with Grandma. In the morning we got busy cleaning while Kim took his mom to do errands. She was very grateful to have the help and be able to do some things she wanted. We went to the cemetery and it was beautiful. I stopped at my dad's and then searched for Stephanie's grave. She was Bryce's age and was expecting her first baby when she was in a car accident. I loved the headstone...it had big flowers etched into it and a small headstone for her little girl.
Then we went to Maddox and I am always happy that Mom orders the same thing and I get her mushrooms. They are the best. She knew Brooke wanted peaches so she got a pie. We went across the street and bought the last of the peaches at a stand, paid a small fortune and were sad when we ate the first one. It was not like the Brigham peaches we are used to eating...it was on the mushy side. However, it was just nice to go to a fruit stand like we used to and buy peaches in Brigham. We wore Grandma out and I think she was a little happy to see us go. However, while we were there, Keith and Diane stopped on their way to Yellowstone and then Kay and Benjie came to haul off stuff. We had some good visits and were reminded of the blessings of family.
We headed back to Brooke's in the 5 o clock Friday night traffic. Suicide in my mind but there were only minor delays and we had a good visit with that cute baby and parents.
Saturday was a work day at our house. It ended with Stake Roadshows. Where did the week go? McKay ...Kira dried apples in your honor. They are yummy.

Payson Temple Groundbreaking...with Kim

2011-10-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

Can you see Kim? He is under the speaker.

Greet Our Newest Family Member!

2011-10-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday brought the Payson Temple Groundbreaking ceremony. We had VIP tickets...got to park right behind the site, sit 3 rows back with all the Stake Presidents, and get a gold shovel!!! My impression was how beautiful a setting it was with snow on the mountains, rain on our heads, and a very special spirit of peace and happiness settled over us. It was a great opportunity for us since we have never participated in a ground breaking ceremony before. I sat straight in front of Elder Oaks whom we named our last baby after. However, I could not see him first because of the umbrellas and last because the person in front of me totally took up any view in front of me. It's okay because I know how he looks. It was a very special opportunity for us to be there and something we will remember.

Oaks welcomed the 26 LDS stakes in the new Payson Utah TempleDistrict from Spanish Fork, Payson, Mapleton, Salem, Santaquin,Goshen and Delta. He then referenced some of his own connections tosouthern Utah County, including giving his first talk whileattending the Park Ward in Payson, meeting his late wife, JuneDixon, at a basketball game at Payson High School in 1951 andplaying in a couple local events with the Payson Band.
"You can understand my special pleasure in hearing theannouncement of the temple in Payson and the joy I felt whenPresident Monson assigned me to be the presider of thisground-breaking," Oaks said. "The Payson temple will be a visibleinfluence on millions passing both by day and by night. But we praythat the temple will be much more than a symbol and a source ofpride for the saints in this part of Utah County."
He encouraged LDS members to be temple worthy and to attend thenew temple to receive blessings and strengthen families.
Following his remarks and the closing exercises, Oaks invitedthe four general authorities in attendance to shovel a scoop ofdirt from the shallow trench, followed by the 26 stake presidentsin the Payson Utah Temple District, then local governmentofficials, and lastly, any 12-year-old ordained deacons.
Oaks noted that he purposefully excluded women from theceremonial shoveling out of respect for them because of the muddyconditions in front of the podium. He didn't want their shoes toget soiled.
The Payson temple will serve approximately 78,000 Latter-daySaints from Spanish Fork to Nephi, helping to alleviate thepressure on the Provo temple, which is one of the busiest in theworld.

The best news however was yet to come. On Monday, Brooke called and said she was at the hospital. We were so happy to hear that since her due date was the day before and she was pretty miserable. We waited until we got the call from Whit saying..."You'd better hurry and get here so you can see this cute baby!" We inhaled our dinner and ran to the car. He was right...what a sweet, cute baby. He was born at 5:30 p.m. ( they had been at the hospital since 3 a.m.) and we are excited to have Winston Bryce Anderson join our family!

Fall is Coming...Conference is HERE!

2011-10-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

Payson Lakes

Last Monday we drove up to Payson Lakes to enjoy the colors and have a picnic. We didn't get to do that during the summer but it is prime time to go now as the colors are changing, there are few people and it is nice and cool. We enjoyed seeing the deer wander about and the fish jumping.

Saturday morning session at General
Conference

Sister Saito with the missionary that taught her and the missionary that baptized her in Sapporo Japan. She has been a member less than a year and came to see her boys and then go on a Church History tour around New York. She was a wonderful person to meet! and we just happened to see them as we waited to go into the morning session. They served the same time as Dallin and the one on the left was the AP when we went to pick up Dallin in Japan.

Thai Basil for lunch in South Jordan. Yummy.

Mandarin Orange chicken and pot stickers.


Daybreak trails before Priesthood...trying to get that baby to come!		It was a beautiful day to be out.


This is the last session of Conference. On one side of me was a family from our ward and looking down the row, were two other families from our ward or stake. It was fun to be with them and to enjoy Conference together. When I was a student at BYU I would tell my room mates that I wanted to marry a General Authority so that I would always have tickets to Conference. Well...I think someone was listening and this is as good as it gets to be able to go to every Conference and sit with Saints from all over the world and soak in the spirit and words from our leaders. I just love it. I don't know what we will do for tickets when Kim gets released but it is sure great for now. We are already looking forward to April!

All Over the World...and Yummy Recipes

2011-09-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

Google Chat has become a favorite Sunday event at our house. This is how we talk to McKay in China, Brooke and Whit in South Jordan, Ty and Nat in Indiana, and we Skype Kira from Italy or where ever she happens to be at the time. Dallin comes over when he can and we all talk together. It has been really really nice to be able to see and talk to each other and I really appreciate being able to watch my grand kids grow and change.
Speaking of China...we went to the BYU Physical Sciences Graduate Opening Social. There are students from all over the world and they bring food from their countries...we ate curry from India and China, planteens with salsa from Colombia, had candy from Japan, and Kentucky Fried chicken from good ole USA. I couldn't stop trying all the good food and really enjoyed meeting the graduate students. We took a salad with lots of veggies from our garden. It was yummy so I thought I would share some of my favorite recipes from this summer since Natalie requested one.

Salt Lake Tortellini Salad
1 large pkg frozen Cheese tortellini
1 C cooked and cooled broccoli ( I didn't cook it the second time...like it raw)
4 oz fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
1 6 ox can olives, cut in half
1 13oz artichoke hearts, drained
1 can red kidney beans and garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed.
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 lb. Salami cut in strips ( I used pepperoni)
1 pt. cherry tomatoes cut in half ( I just cubed tomatoes and drained them a little)
1 l6 oz bottle Cheese Garlic Salad Dressing
1 avocado, chopped ( optional)
Prepare Tortellini and broccoli. Add rest of ingred. in a large bowl with desired amount of salad dressing. Add avocado just before serving.

Baked Chicken Chimichangas...so yummy!
2 1/2 C chicken, cooked and shredded
2 T olive oil
1/2 C onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 T chili powder
16 oz. salsa
1/2 t cumin, ground
1/2 t cinnamon
pinch of salt
6-10 inch flour tortillas, nice flexible ones ( warm up if necessary)
1 C refried beans
Olive oil for basting
Sour Cream Guacamole

In large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in chili powder, salsa, cumin and cinnamon. Stir in shredded chicken. Let cool. Heat oven to 450. Grease rimmed 15x10 baking pan. Working with one tortilla at a time, spoon a heaping T of beans down center of each tortilla. Top with a scant 1/2 C of the chicken mixture. Fold up the bottom, top and sides of tortilla. Place chimichangas in greased baking pan, seam side down, Brush all sides with the oil and bake for 20 min.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes

1 boxchocolate cake mix

3 eggs

½ C oil

1 C gratedzucchini

1 t vanillaextract

1 Cchocolate chips

Mix togetherall ingredients until well combined. Pour into paper cupcake liners and fill ¾ full.

Bake at 350degrees for 15-18 min. or until cake springs back when touched. Cool on wire rack.

Once upon a Time....

2011-08-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

After 4 wheeling

This summer for a few days, my family was all together. That doesn't happen very often any more. Anyone mind if I cry? Whaaaaaaa. The irony of going from a few short years before where it was divine when they were all gone somewhere and the house was quiet. Quiet is nice for only so long. Now I put on Queen and try to make the house rock ...just every once in a while like when Bryce had his friends over to play guitars and drums and the house really did "rock".
Now McKay is in China. He is passionate about becoming a famous ping pong player and is teaching English at a university to support his habit. He was home for almost a year and introduced us to many cute girls. We were hopeful but in the end, he still went to China. He really wanted to go to Taiwan. Sometimes life just doesn't turn out the way we want it to. I can tell you about it.
Kira is in Naples as I type. She got a new iphone and called from it on the internet. She is one block from the train station and says it is noisy but she has a balcony . She is getting tired of museums but is going to the ruins of Pompeii tomorrow. She is hoping to get some beach time in before she rides a ferry to Greece to live with a single "farmer" for a week and work with him six hours a day for free room and board. That should be interesting to hear about if we ever see her again. Then it is off to tour the islands on a yacht. This is her guilty splurge.
Dallin moved into his condo at Provo. He says the kitchen and living room is bigger than ours. He has his own room and a closed garage for his car ( which is really McKay's car). I think he is going to get spoiled. We are hoping for a few girlfriends this year and good grades to keep the scholarship. Is that possible to have both?
Brooke's feet and legs are swollen. The doctor says it is the heat. Just one more month to go and hopefully after the baby comes, her legs will be normal...it's just the rest of the body that will never be the same again...trust me--I know. We are pretty excited to have a baby within a short driving distance!

Bryce is still in heaven. We celebrated his 24th birthday by hiking 9990 at The Canyons again. I found out he took Dallin on that snowboarding run ..the steepest in the resort when Dallin went for the first time. He is going to hear from me when I see him. I read an old journal entry where Bryce kept calling his sister in Tucson to find out what kind of car she had gotten. He left a message on her machine when he couldn't get her after a few calls. He tried to sound like he was crying and told her that she needed to hurry and call home. It didn't sound too convincing since he was laughing through most of it. We miss his stupid humour.
That leaves Ty's family. I am grateful for Skype. I love watching those kids grow...without me. I would be such a good babysitter. Free even. It is wonderful to interact with these kids and not take anything they do seriously ...except when they prefer Uncle Dallin to play with--then I get a little peeved...like he ever sends you anything.
Thank you blog for letting me write whatever I want. I love my family. It is a most amazing thing to live with, grow with, visit with and love, love, love these incredibly wonderful people. This is my happily ever after.

Education Week but I wasn't there! Wha!!!!!!!

2011-08-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

Current Creek Reservoir

McKay and Dallin amused themselves when they weren't fishing by taking some pretty awesome pictures and doing a lot of jump shots in the water

We are following Whit and Kim as they walk up stream in search of fish.

Dallin posing in typical Christensen casualness.

McKay with an expression that is becoming more frequent in his shots.

Whit loves to fly fish. It is a passion --so we thought we should all learn more about this sport. He was a great teacher and my favorite expression he shouted out..."Holy Fish!" ...did you see that? Almost as good as "Holy Cow"?

Brooke kept her swollen ankles in the water to stay cool ...her bum got a little of the action also.

Whit is tutoring Kim who actually caught a pretty big trout...it was fun!

Monday came and I went to serve in the Provo temple at 5 a.m. It is a awesome time to be up and about. I get a great parking space, low density freeway traffic, and the day is still young when I get done. Chris came that afternoon from Washington state. I met Chris on a missionary mom group. Her son and Dallin served in the Sapporo mission together and her older son served in Durban right before Bryce got down to CapeTown. We had a lot of great conversation and the Daniels made it over for a short visit. So nice we don't have to go to Japan to see them anymore. ( Dallin's Mission Pres. and wife). Wednesday night we went to the temple with all our current Utah kids...last time before McKay leaves for China. It was wonderful and we ate at a Chinese restaurant of course. Then we met Brooke and Whit up at Current Creek for a family campout. Here are some pictures of the event:

McKay hauled this huge log and "broke" it into pieces...I guess all that strength training paid off!


Our family works hard to have great expressions for photo shots!

Lake Alice, Black Hawk trail, and what do you do with hard things?

2011-08-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

Travelling on dirt road to Lake Alice on a very wet, rainy day!

How to get across...Kim would sink down into the water as they were just suspended on top of the moving water.

This is where the path used to be to go around the lake. The path around Lake Alice was completely under water. We had to take the mules trail.

Lake Alice with the water up past the trail.


This is where we usually pitched our tent. The water had at some point covered the area where we camp. It was amazing to see how much water there was!

We love Lake Alice but this year was not meant to be. We were so wet and Kim had not brought a change of clothes since we needed to be home on Tues. night ( the next night) so we stayed long enough to soak in the peace, quiet, the wet and cold, and then we hiked back out and drove home ( a 5 hour trip on good days). Our mini vacation continued to be disaster the next day but I will not bore you with the details. The good part is that we were able to laugh about it, and learn some good things but don't ask me to articulate on those because I am still thinking what they are. We talk often through the year about our Lake Alice and the get away it give us...we long to be there when the going gets tough. It is funny how just being there for an hour reminded us of all the great times we have had and it just made us feel good to see it again. Crazy life, crazy summer days, crazy good times ahead.

Oh Those Summer Days!

2011-07-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

My first grilled pizza...chicken, bacon, spinach, red onions from garden, peppers, and my own pizza barbecue sauce. I loved it and it didn't heat up my kitchen!

It was like Christmas at our house when we brought home a trampoline. The boys have loved going out and jumping.

Dallin did 100 back flips ... He was one happy camper.

Our newest yard accessory.. . love the frogs.

Basil Fife family reunion in Alpine

My siblings and family...we had all the 5 Fifes there.

Hiking Hobble Creek on the 24th...beautiful hike and beautiful day.


Bert and Molly pulling a cart down our street...we got in and rode down to the farm and then had lunch at our very own Cafe Rio ( in our town). Yum.

Making home made Root Beer for the 24th.

Infirmary

2011-07-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

So I made it to NY in one piece. I flew into JFK and didn't get to see much of it. Our gate was right on the outside so I got my luggage and waited for a bus for about a half hour. Had a crazy drive into the city. It was a good introduction to NY traffic. I caught a glimpse of the city before getting to my stop to Grand Central Station. It looks just like it does in the movies. I got a train ticket up to Poughkeepsie. The train follows the Hudson river all the way. It was a nice ride. The nurse that I work with came and got me at the station. I was pretty tired from all the packing in 116 degree weather. Only with the help of my dear friend Karen was I able to get everything packed up and put into storage. Karen helped me for two days packing and cleaning. She is awesome. I am so grateful to have her as a friend. So I am completely moved out of my place in Arizona. I just need to go back to pick up my stuff and then I am moving to Utah, that is when I am done here in NY. The infirmary is really nice and I have my own room and bathroom. I really like the construction of the place. Very rustic.

The next day I met with all of the other nurses and we went for a tour of the tiny town of Fishkill. Most of the nurses have been coming back each year to work the summer here. There are a few that are first timers like me. I am grateful to be with a nurse that has been coming to this camp for 10 years. The kids came on the next day. It was a busy day getting them all checked out and getting their meds sorted out. There was only so much I could do since I was still waiting for my NY license to come through. There were 136 boys ages 12-15 here for the last two weeks. Tomorrow we get a new bunch of boys.

7/17/11

Camp is going great. Nothing too serious. Just bug bites, sports injuries, headaches and sore throats. It is a nice break from the hospital. The only thing I miss is the days off!! I made it to church last week and today. So far everyone has been very nice. I hate asking for rides because it isn't convenient for anyone to come and pick me up. I still have over a mile walk each way just to get to a place where they can pick me up. I am sure I look rather silly in a dress with my tennis shoes on. I have a nice healthy glow(sweat) all over my face by the time I walk down from the camp. Today on the way back up I picked some of the wild berries that are growing everywhere. I think I will freeze them and when I get enough I will make a syrup or freezer jam out of them. I have been floating to other camps as well. Especially on check out/check in days. It is fun to be able to work at the different camps, mostly. There is one nurse that is difficult to work with but it all works out fine. I will be going to a camp that has younger kids and girls/boys and a swimming pool next encampment. I am looking forward to it. Younger kids are fun and I want to go swimming. There are lots of bugs and stuff in the lake so I haven't been in the water yet. I also like the nurse that works there. She has done peds for a long time and we get along well.

This next weekend we have off and so I will be going into the city for the first time! I am excited and a little nervous. If anyone has any suggestions on what to do, please comment. I will have Friday evening and all of Saturday to do stuff. I plan on going to church in Manhattan and maybe go to the cathedral and walk around Central Park on Sunday before going back to camp Sunday evening. The sister that brought me to church today was great. Her and her husband adopted two girls from China. They are super cute and ask a lot of questions! They even made me a brownie. This ward likes to bake! I got a treat in SS and in RS.

Last night was a little crazy. I had a camper who had thrown up and so I just had him spend the night in the infirmary. After finally getting into bed at 11:00, he comes pounding at my door at 12:00 deathly afraid thinking that he had felt a ghost. Lately some people have said they have seen a ghost at night and so this kid was pretty hysterical all night/morning long. He came and woke me up at least four more times throughout the night. I am looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight!

Summer Fun

2011-07-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

The Christensen women running the 100 Sprint

Dallin finishing the 100

Tyler throwing the shot put

Dallin looking cool

Got to have s'mores!

On the patio visiting ...and eating...and eating...and eating

Learning how to drive the 4 wheel

Sandwiched in between Youth Conference and Girl's Camp, we had a Christensen vacation. Whit's family owns a "cabin" up and we spent a few days 4 wheeling, Christensen Olympics, hiking, celebrating Kim's birthday and being together.

Minus the goggles, added dirt from riding

Pirate party pinata busting

Grandma getting in a swing

Pool and ping pong

Happy Birthday Kim


Happy Father's Day Kim...traditional candy gram


4th of July breakfast..Trivia question time

Dallin riding the skateboard being towed home

Heating up the hot air balloons

Ours is the green and yellow not going so high one

Playing ping pong when it got too hot outside

Memorial Day and so much rain and not a good bowling day

2011-05-31T12:37:00.000-07:00

WE all tried to duplicate Bryce's jumping pose over his Grandpa Christensen's grave. It was nice to see all the flags flying and be reminded that we live in a very blessed country. We had breakfast at Subway because Kneaders was soooo crowded and then went bowling at BYU. No one seemed to be on their game. We got to use two free game tickets we got from going to The Diary of Anne Frank earlier in the week. We went to the BYU library and checked out a movie about North Korea and the Mass games. I learned a lot that I didn't know about North Korea and have been reminded with the play and movie that we take much for granted. I am very grateful we have holidays like Memorial Day that make me think of all those that have fought for our country and our freedoms. I am proud to be an American!

Memorial Weekend

2011-05-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

We went to Brigham to have a family reunion and decorate Dad Christensen's grave with mom. ( I also put something on my dad's grave). We had a few projects to do, went to the cemetery, ate lunch and talked about what everyone's family is doing and paid tributes to Mom. There were some great stories about her and memories of growing up.

Giving Mom a blessing ...her legs were swollen up

The original 5 K's and Mom...it took a few times to get her to smile but that looks pretty big!

Matt's job...find the key to the lock ( there were soooo many keys!)

At the cemetery in Brigham...at Dad's grave

The work is done, food eaten and good times shared!

Kerry and Eleanor were there at the beginning but had Shea's graduation to go to !!!!

This isn't the picture but it is pretty cool.

We drove home and Dallin informed me that it was really, really boring. We were the ones in charge and so I felt badly that we didn't have more excitement but it was long enough for Grandma. Kim and I went to Bryce's grave and put up a South Africa flag and a picture of him jumping up at Grandpa's grave site a year before he left for his mission. It reminds me that he is happy because he is grinning in the picture.

2011-05-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Our apple tree with our bees that swarmed

McKay showing how brave he is...he even had on shorts!

So pretty and yet so hurtful! Yikes I don't like getting stung!

On Saturday we were working outside...the one nice day we have had this spring and we heard a loud buzzing just like last week. We looked at the bee hives and sure enough, bees were leaving the hive and swarming. They flew around in the air until they went over our apple tree and decided to swarm on a branch. Kim hurried and looked through the hives for anymore queen cells, got rid of them, put another souper on the hive and then CUT my apple tree branch off ...that's right. I am still mourning. It was full of buds. He shook the bees back into the hive. We decided the swarm we saw last Saturday was also from our hives. Bees are tricky business. Kim is still learning what to do and having a great time doing it...McKay likes it alot too. Me...I watch from a DISTANCE!

Happy Week...Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

Can you see all the little spots. We had a swarm in our back yard looking for a new place to go. We don't think it was any of our bees but it was really cool to see them funnel up into the sky from the tree and then spread out all over and fly over our house. Nature is truly amazing.

Whit and Brooke cooked us a delicious salmon dinner at Grandma Christensen's house for Mother's Day. Whit is such a great cook and so willing to take care of the food. It was a real treat and especially fun to be with family.

Kim with his mother

The night before Mother's Day I pulled out Bryce's letters that he sent to me while he was in South Africa. I am so grateful that he took the time to write to me each Mother's Day. I loved the card McKay designed and wrote in ( he is very artistic) and remembered the cards that Tyler would make in years past. I was able to talk to Dallin for a few minutes via Tyler's skype ( Dallin is in Scotland...my roots). I got a call from Kira on the way home and am again reminded how much I love my family and how grateful I am to be a mother!!!!!!!

April Showers and A Rotting Roof--Let the Fun Begin

2011-04-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

We knew we needed to replace our roof for a long time but not until we finally began tearing off the shingles did we realize just how badly. The wood had rotted all around the perimeter of the house and the facade. No wonder we had leaky window sills and water running down the brick. We decided to save some money by tearing off the double shingled roof ourselves. It was in the middle of the week and storms were threatening.

We had to hurry! We had two days and we welcomed all help as the project became larger than anticipated. We live in a great neighborhood and many came to our rescue. The sad part is that most of them are older like us...slow going! We were happy we didn't lose anyone off the roof. It was probably the hardest work I have done in a long time and I was grateful for the cooler weather.
There was a micro-burst just after they got all the tar paper down and it was shredded in the wind. Our
next door neighbor lost her flowering plum tree
and a neighbor across
the street lost his pine tree.

The roofers worked until it was dark and got the roof done in two days. It looks so nice but now we have to replace the paneling underneath the overlay and get new this and that...I can't remember their names!
It has turned out to be a very long over due and now make up expensive job.
Remember the saying "A stitch in time saves nine" ? So totally applies here!

This is Mary Suratt. She ran a boarding house that John Wilkes Booth would visit and organized men to kidnap Abraham Lincoln. My sister in law Chris did research ( Kim's mum is a Booth) and some was used for the movie about Mary Suratt's trial.

My brother gave us gift cards for Christmas and we finally used them to see the movie, "The Conspirator".

After using the gift card to get in, we know why we don't go to movies...Holy Cow expensive. We had $2.50 left on the card and we got Jr. mints...the kind that cost $1 in the store. We had to pay $1.50 more to buy them with the left over money on the card. Crazy. We really liked the movie. There is a lot to think about. I would wait for the $1 theater however...nothing is worth paying that kind of money for!

Easter Fun minus little kids

2011-04-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air even though the weather doesn't let on. This is our willow tree outside the living room window. One day I watched a dove building a nest around the mother bird. If you look carefully you will see the dad. The mum is in the nest next to him. Nature is amazing and I enjoyed the sign that yes, Spring is here even if it is raining and snowing and everything but sunshine.

We had an egg hunt this week before Dallin leaves for Europe. Kim had a great time hiding eggs way up in the tree. I would throw them up to him and most often they would hit a branch and fall back down but Dallin had a great time finding many "tin foil" eggs and then McKay hurried up and tried to give him some competition. It was great fun.

You can't have Easter come without coloring some eggs. A tradition we have tried to start with our painted eggs is a contest to see whose egg can be rolled against everyone else 's egg and not get cracked. We are still working out the bugs.
The best part of the weekend was the gift that Brooke compiled. It was to celebrate our 35th anniversary which we had every intention of celebrating but we were to speak at a Single Adult fireside and wanted to do a power point presentation and it took longer than we thought so no celebrating per se.....yet. She made a book with family pictures and 35 things we learned from Dad and Mom in 35 years. It is wonderful. We loved it. We also enjoyed being able to work on a fireside together and think about SERVICE.

This was the final picture of our power point. It was to illustrate the power of service to make us clean.

In Mosiah 4:26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you---that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.

I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given to learn, speak and teach about the gospel. What a wonderful world. I love babies...especially when they are my family.

Passover @BYU with Victor Ludlow

2011-04-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you can see the tears in Bob's eyes. I was a little too late to get the beet red color that covered his face. We had just taken "bitter herb" or horseradish as part of the Seder symbols. I have never had such a rush and a pop in my nose as when I took my 1/3 spoonful. I will remember that experience!

I had my choice of picking the picture with John and a lantern in front of his face or a picture with John and his eyes closed. I picked the later but you can't really tell because it is a dark picture. Every year Professor Ludlow has a dinner and explanation of the Passover. There is a lot of symbolism. It was good to learn more about the Jewish rituals and why they do what they do.

Indiana Blessings

2011-04-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

I just had to put this picture of Sharon on our blog. It is SO Sharon. It makes me laugh. I am posting it as Kim gets ready to fly to Indiana for Spencer's blessing. Kira is going to meet him there. I am sad to hold down the fort here at home, but I already used my ticket and am just grateful that Kim will be there and get to see that cute family. We miss them but isn't it wonderful that there is Skype, email, cell phones and planes!

Temples, Record Sleeves, SACTM reunion, Conference and what is this thing called SNOW?

2011-04-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

Fun week with Ai

Our Japanese visitor wanted to go to as many temples as possible while she was here so one day we went from the Timp temple, to the Draper temple, to the Jordan River and ended up at the Oquirrh to finish the day. I wasn't sure how things would go but I found it was quite an amazing and wonderful thing to do especially right before Conference. The temples were not busy as we started in the morning of a school day. Ai was able to do 5 baptisms at each temple. McKay took her to the Manti temple the next day where she got to do 5 more. I was very glad that I could spend the day pondering and watching that special ordinance being performed. I did baptisms with her in the last temple and I always appreciate that opportunity since Provo is limited in who can do them.

Ai and McKay went to the Wally's farm and rode mules. It was a cold day but something that Ai has never done. They rode along the brand new river walk way that goes behind the Wally's farm. It goes up to the Canyon Park. Spanish Fork is a happening place!


Dallin taking pictures of McKay for record sleeve faces

McKay and Dallin decided it would be fun to have a photo shoot with Ai. It is something we have done a few times and really had a lot of fun with it.

This is what our white board looked like during the week as we compared characters from Japanese to Chinese. My one word learned during the work: dou-i ta-shima-shite. Dallin says I still say it wrong and it took forever to just remember it!


South Africa CapeTown Mission Quilt with Bryce's square...can you see it?

On Friday night we drove to Sandy ( it took an hour to get from Spanish Fork to Provo...not a good night to go to Salt Lake) and caught the last part of a talk from a woman that lived in CapeTown and helped translate tracts and material into Xhosa for the church. It was a wonderful and inspiring time and my favorite part was singing the Mission song at the end! I love that song. We enjoyed seeing familiar faces and visiting with some missionaries that knew Bryce that we had not met before.
It has been an amazing week. I don't know if I will top it for a long time. I didn't know how things would go with Ai but we were sad when Friday came and she went to another friend's house. She truly brightened up our house and we all had fun having her here. We weren't sure what to expect at the South African reunion either. People ask when we served there, etc. and then we have to explain why we are there ( the Egans are so great to always invite us) etc. but this time most people knew who we were and it was nice to visit with Bryce's companions, etc. It was just really nice. Conference was wonderful as we spent time with Brooke and Whit in Salt Lake. I went to a shower for Brooke's Italy friends. A few years ago none of them were even married and now 6 of them are expecting babies. What a great turn of events...much happiness. I am just reminded once again that good things come to those that wait.

Bees, Ball, and Japanese visitor

2011-03-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Kim went to a "Bee" class on Saturday. This is what he learned: different ways of making splits, nucs and

multiplying your hives. I didn't go. I stayed home and did laundry, vacuumed, and got ready for the Young Women Broadcast. Hard to believe, I know...but true. Kim really liked the classes and learned alot. Now we just need good weather so he can open the hive!

For our third year in a row, we went to a Ball. Pictures will be coming later.

We did not have a beautiful formal and tux on because we were shocked to find out that they no longer fit. Well...not really. We knew. We had fun anyway and enjoyed hanging out for a while with Tyler's high school and college friends. We danced, had a photo shoot, listened to a singer, ate good food, met new people, and had a lot of fun!

Sunday was a busy day. Kim got up at 4 a.m. and I got up at 7 a.m. I like my schedule a lot better than his!

After all meetings, The Wallys came with their kids and grandkids. It was fun to have a bit of noise again. Dallin had come for dinner and we had fun catching up on news. We skyped Tyler's family and got to see how big Spencer was. Holy Moly he is growing!!! Then our Japanese visitor came to spend the week with us! She is from Dallin's mission ( Sapporo). After she played the piano for us, then Dallin, Kim got out the saws. Ai had a good time trying to follow his cue and make some music.

Everyone had to try and McKay actually got what sounded like a song out

We made bread this morning ( ground the wheat and everything) and now Ai is riding mules down at the Wollenzien's farm with McKay.

Cooking Adventures

2011-03-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

My friend had a party to celebrate pi day on 3/14/11. Therefore we had pie. I made a chocolate orange meringue. It turned out pretty darn good! It looked great and tasted great. I even made my own crust! I have really enjoyed baking lately and that is what I do on my days off. I was inspired by the meringue so for the missionaries zone conference I made up my own version of lemon meringue cupcakes. Yum. I filled the cupcakes with lemon pie filling and put some on top and then had a lovely meringue puff on top.

Nothing new in my life. I had a hard couple of last weeks. One of my patients coded and died on my shift. I think I am still in shock of it all. It happened so fast. I am ready to work with kids or babies!!!

Stake conference is coming up soon so I joined the stake choir and it is awesome. It is made up of two of the university wards. Most people can read music and such. Our conductor is a professional and he is very good and quite humorous at times. I think he is Japanese. His last name is Hayashi. It is nice to finally sing some challenging music.

Surprise!

2011-03-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

Brooke and Whit came for Sunday dinner yesterday. Brooke brought two plates of sugar cookies and said that one of the plates that had lots of letters randomly placed, was a puzzle for us to figure out. McKay looked at it and gave up. Dallin looked at it and gave up. I walked over to it, saw the pastel colors and got very excited! You are going to have a baby, aren't you!!!! After much hugging and crying and the boys saying...it must not be someone that is dead because Brooke is smiling...Brooke made the announcement so that all could hear. We're having a baby in October. Yep. It's another baby this year and am I ever excited. Life doesn't get better than this.

The I in "this" was prematurely eaten almost by Kim. Whew...did he ever get stopped mid bites!

A Few of My Favorite Things...plus other stuff

2011-03-06T12:03:00.000-08:00

March is so nice because the daylight is longer and even though it is still snowing, it doesn't stay on the ground unless you are in the mountains and want to go skiing! This has been a most unusual few weeks. Not much going on. I am not sure what to make of it. Kim's car wouldn't start in the parking lot on Friday night to come home so we drove in ( we were going to a Vocal Point concert) and it was fun to watch McKay and Dallin pushing the car. They have too much fun together. It is nice to see.

This is one of my favorite things in my house. They are shelves in the basement that keep all the things that my children brought back from their missions. Except Tyler and Natalie's shelf. They have all their things and didn't leave any here. Which is good. I just put wedding and family on their shelf but everyone has a shelf and I put things of theirs with their picture. I love walking past and thinking about my kids. They are wonderful. I love them so much.

This is McKay with some of the members of the Activities Committee. It is Break the Fast day and they are busy making Sloppy Joes for their ward.

Last night we had a "Bee Meeting". The group has grown from our original 4some. We made plans for the summer and got an order together for this spring. It is surprising how much there is to talk about when you are talking about bees. We have really enjoyed having friends to do this with and really LOVE the yummy honey. The bees have been busy even with this cold weather. Yipee.

February Fun

2011-02-15T10:05:00.000-08:00

Many hands make light work!

German Chocolate cake is a must have for Brooke's birthday

Much concentration required!

This would be Brooke's birthday cake. Dallin baked it and but didn't flour the pan so I didn't feel safe getting it out of the pan to decorate...thus the cake pan. I didn't have time anyway. We went to Brooke and Whit's and had a mini birthday celebration since Whit whisked Brooke away on her birthday to Midway. I forgot candles...again. So we lite match sticks. All 35 of them. It took team work and a few fingers got burned but we had a great time doing it. Then Dallin invented a new game...balance on the exercise ball. He holds the current title since he stayed on the ball much longer than the rest of us! Looks easy but just try it!

For Valentine's Day, Kim came home early and fed his bees. They were busy buzzing everywhere and we were happy to see all three hives busy. I had my Mia Maids come over and we decorated sugar cookies. A must for Valentines Day! The funnest part besides eating them, is delivering them! I have tried many recipes and not really liked any. I tried a recipe this time that I have had for years from an old ward cook book. It is the best ! I loved it. Look out Grandma Cookies!!! Here it is:
Rolled Sugar Cookies
Cream together
1 C butter
4 eggs
1 C sugar
1 t vanilla
1/3 C milk
Add and mix:
4 C flour
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
Roll out 1/4 in or thicker. Cut as desired. Bake 400 degrees for 5-8 min.

I also made fudge because my bucket list includes being a good fudge maker. I found a basic recipe and have tweeked it with different ideas like making it German Chocolate fudge. This is my peanut butter fudge. I made the basic recipe( using all milk chocolate chips in place of the peanut butter chips and semi sweet chocolate chips) and pour half the completed batch into the pan, spread a layer of peanut butter on and then finished up with the rest of the fudge topped with some semi sweet chocolate chips swirled around when they melted a little. Here is the recipe:
Double Decker Fudge
1 C REESE Peanut Butter Chips
1 C Hershey's Semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 1/4 C white sugar
1 jar marshmallow creme ( 7 oz.)
3/4 C evaporated milk
1/4 C butter
1 t vanilla
1. Line 8 inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Measure peanut butter chips into one medium bowl and chocolate chips into second medium bowl.
2. Combine sugar, marsh creme, evap. milk and butter in heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture boils. Boil and stir 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Immediately stir one half hot mixture ( 1-1/2 C) into peanut butter chips until chips are completely melted. Qu9ickly pour into prepared pan. Stir remaining one-half hot mixture into choc chips until chips are melted. Quickly spread over top of peanut butter layer.
3. Cool completely. Remove from pan, place on cutting board. Peel off and discard foil, cut into 1 inch squares. Store tightly covered.

I have made this exact recipe and I have also tried mint chips for one layer. They turn out great. I have also used vanilla chips for a layer. For the fudge in the photo which is so yummy ...I used all milk choc. chips.

Indiana, new baby boy and having fun with Grandchildren!!!!!!!

2011-02-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

This would be Sharon lying on the floor thinking about what new trick she could wow us with in her class

Eli and Sharon in their gymnastics class at the Y

Ice storm effect...the snow in the yard beside their house turned into ice EVERYWHERE ...never seen anything like it but Eli had fun sliding down the hill and poking holes

Build A Bear outing at the Mall. Sharon did a dog that plays Star Wars theme

Newest member of the family

Under a blanket tent ( with umbrella for holding up the blankets) watching Gummy Bears on YouTube

Eli is pretty excited to have a new brother

What do you do when you can't go outside ( Ice Storm)...play Star Wars with your light saber!

Do crafts

Go to Wonder Lab...a great place to explore and do science experiments and play the day away!

It was great being with family in Indiana. I forgot how much laundry a family can go through and how many meals there are when you have kids. My favorite part was story time. Each day when we had quiet time or at night when it was time to go to bed, the kids would get a blanket and listen to stories from which ever adult had the turn to do the ritual. Sharon wanted stories about dogs. Eli liked stories about pirates and dragons. These were not to be ones found in books but to be made up by the story teller. I have never told so many stories about dogs in my life. I had to dig deep and think of ...Pokie Puppy, 101 Dalmatians, Lassie, and every story that I used to read to my kids when they were little that had a dog in it. I am sure the re-telling was only vaguely like the real story with much improvisation but it gave me a starting point. Those were fun times and definitely being a grandma is the reward I get for first being a mom but it is much funner and there are no rules when you are a grandma...you can do whatever you want--what are they gonna do? Fire you?

Last Day in Japan...Emperor's Garden, Hitachi the dog station and the Busiest Crosswalk in Tokyo

2011-01-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

There were a lot of shrines in Tokyo. This is in the old part of Tokyo where there were many of the open markets nearby like old Tokyo. I caught a picture of a woman wearing a kimono --there weren't too many of them but we saw a few here and there. Kim is running interference for me by letting me pretend I am taking a picture of him.

We then went to the station where Hitachi the dog would wait every day for his master to return. They made a movie of it recently but it wasn't in Japan.

This is a fountain by the station and this is also the busiest intersection in Tokyo. People come from four corners to walk across the square. It is like New York at Grand Central. It wasn't too busy when we were there. There were unusual Christmas arrangements that I couldn't resist taking pictures of.

This was the beginning of the Emperor's Garden. They had guards all around closing off some areas but I couldn't figure out why.

It looks like fall but it is their winter also right now in Japan. It was much warmer than Sapporo.

I love, love, LOVED the gardens. It was so quiet and peaceful. There weren't a lot of people around and I wish we could have had more time. I would have sat and just soaked it all in.
Then we were off to the Tokyo train station where we caught our flight home. I was glad to be going home and especially glad to get off the plane after the long flight!

We took Dallin to the Red Iguana for Mexican food on his way home for his first meal back in the states. It was getting dark as we drove up to our house but this was the surprise waiting for me when we got there. McKay had put out flags of each of our missionaries. You can't see the US flag...that would be for Ty and Nat. It is past Kim in front of his Hong Kong flag. Whit is standing with Brooke ( Chile) because we didn't get a flag of Spain...yet. Kira is standing in front of Ecuador's flag for her time doing Humanitarian work. McKay is with Taiwan. South Africa is missing it's representative but we know that Bryce is still connected to that great place. Someday we will add one more flag when Kim and I go on our mission together ( I sure hope!). Dallin completes the family with Japan. It was a great trip. We had Dallin for a whole week to ourselves. Now he is off to school and I miss that weekly letter but so grateful for all the memories and lessons learned. Hurray for missionaries!!!!!!

Hooray for Blendtecs!!

2011-01-16T20:30:00.000-08:00

I think this will be an all time high for me with posting twice in one week!! I bought two 3lb bags of oranges last week because it was such a great deal, $1/bag. Well I guess I got what I paid for. The oranges aren't very sweet and don't have a lot of flavor to them. I was wondering what I was going to do with them all since I haven't been eating them very quickly. I remembered that I had put some grapefruit in the blendtec and kind of made a juice from them and it was good so I came up with my own recipe for orange julius. This is what I did:
Cut four small oranges up into quarters and peeled them
Added some powder non dairy creamer
A little milk
Around a tablespoon agave nectar
Vanilla
A tray of ice cubes
First I blended the oranges up using the whole juice setting and then I added the rest of the ingredients and used the ice cream setting.
What I ended up with was a nice frothy orange julius. It isn't quite as sweet and when you use the concentrate but this has got to have a lot less sugar in it. It tasted pretty good!

Another recipe that I use my blendtec for is Cottage Cheese and Oatmeal Pancakes. Hear me out. I know it doesn't sound very good but they are. You will just have to take my word for it. They are really healthy compared to your usual pancakes and they taste like good ol' pancakes. The recipe is as follows:
4 egg whites
1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c cottage cheese
Blend ingredients up and cook like regular pancakes.
I have made them before with less egg whites and they turned out fine. This picture they are red because I added some sugar free raspberry syrup to it. You can add some sweetener to it if you prefer. I eat them with peanut butter and/or agave nectar instead of syrup for a low GI meal with plenty of protein in it.
Thanks Mom for the blendtec. I love it!!!

Wedding Cake

2011-01-13T21:43:00.000-08:00

I have had some requests to post pictures of the wedding cake I made for my friend Karen. It was a full two day labor of love! I gained some useful skills and have found that enjoy decorating cakes. As you can see, this cake doesn't really have decoration. I ran out of time. I spent too much time baking and not enough decorating. Every tier is a different flavor. The bottom is red velvet with cream cheese filling, the middle is a white almond cake with raspberry filling, and the top is my own creation, brownie cheesecake. I had to glue the silver ribbon onto the black and try my skills at flower arranging. It didn't turn out quite like I had hoped. If I could have had a few more hours, it would have looked a lot better. It was also a little lopsided.

Adventures of Tokyo

2011-01-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

We met my cousin's son, wife and three children outside the Tokyo station where I left my purse containing my passport, wallet, ipod and camera. Dallin was pretty incredulous that I would forget something like that...Kim was used to it. With the help of Heather and her cell phone, we were happily amazed that in a city as big as Tokyo I got my purse back at the end of the day with everything in tact. Pretty interesting to identify yourself when everything that identifies you is in the purse! Here we are with my cousin's family looking for a fun place to eat.

We found this little noodle shop tucked away from the busier places and all sat down to a bowl of yummy noodles. Those are slices of pork on top of my noodles with lots of fat but very good!

We went to a Shrine just as they were closing. The guard in the back ground was shooing everyone away. Some other tourists of which we saw few, were trying to convince a guard at the entrance to let them in.

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo tower looks over the endless vista of Tokyo. We could see Tokyo Disney and no end to the buildings and landscape. Everywhere you looked were buildings and more buildings.

They put a "bib" on each one of us for dinner

We stayed at a hotel for US military since my cousin is a pilot for the Air Force. We were amazed at regular sized beds and rooms. It felt like the good ole USA. We were treated to dinner in one of the hotels restaurants where the food was cooked in front of us and we got some more yummy sushi.

This is from the window of our room and if you look hard, you can see Angel Moroni!

The chef was very friendly and talked to us in English until he realized that Dallin spoke Japanese and then it was Japanese for the rest of the night.

We were sad to bid our cousins good bye the next morning. We had a fun time while eating breakfast to have 3 families come up to us because of Dallin's missionary name tag and ask us about where we were from and then immediately ask...do you know? It continues to be a small world when the church is concerned. And yes, we knew their cousin that lives in our ward, etc. We loved being with family and they were so generous and good to us. We hope to visit them again if they go to Beijing on their next assignment! We loved having their children to enjoy. Their son was named Tyler so that was especially nice.

Royce Chocolate Factory

2011-01-11T21:30:00.000-08:00

Yamazaki san greeting us in his office ( nice touch with US flag!)


Yamazaki san bear carving collection in the office building

This is Yamazaki san aka Mr. Royce Chocolates. Dallin taught him English. We got the VIP treatment ...many bows and greetings as we were in the office and in the factory. We were served herbal tea several times...not Kim's favorite. We visited for quite a while and then Yamazaki san drove us to the factory where we got to see how the chocolate was made. It had signs for no picture taking but they were very gracious to let us chronicle this fun field trip.

This is the front of the factory. There are 800 employees that work in the factory. It is on the outskirts of Sapporo in a place where Yamazaki san grew up. They grow their own potatoes ( for chips) and sugar beets. It is a rural place.

This begins the scrub down. First we had lint rollers that we used on all our clothing. We took off all jewelry. We washed our hands. we put on these cute hats.

We kept adding layers and wore slip on shoes that they provided and even then, we had to get the shoes clean on a walk through water canal.


Those are blowers that you walk through to dry and clean any last remaining critter!

Then the fun began. Our tour guide had a red band on her head and after the tour we decided it must mean VIP treatment coming through. She spoke English and was part of the creative team that comes up with new ideas. We had people bowing to us every where we went. That is something you would never experience in the US!

White chocolate covered potato chips...a specialty that we saw often in stations like airport.

Assembling Kids Selection ( non alcoholic)

This is the factory in action. They had lots of machines that sorted, boxed, coated, covered. It was really fun to see how much goes into that little piece of chocolate that we love to eat! After the tour we saw a car collection that Yamazaki san has in a big warehouse and then we went on a tour of the Chocolate museum. Again we had a guide that spoke English until she found out that Dallin spoke Japanese and then everything went through him. She stayed late just to show us around. Then we met up with Yamazaki san and he drove us to his sushi restaurant. We had so many courses that after a while, I just took a bite of each thing to be polite. He wanted to serve us more but we enthusiastically declined! However, Dallin and Kim did finish up the dinner with Royce ice cream.

Yup, I ate almost all of this...not a fan of raw shrimp and I LOVE shrimp. In the room next to us they were having what sounded like a karaoke party. According to Dallin, those are big in Japan. Then a cab was called for us and we headed back to our hotel like stuffed puppies. We felt like we had been treated like royalty and hope some day to return the favor...we are really wanting Yamazaki san to come to UTAH where many adoring returned missionaries that have been recipients of much chocolate would love to see him and his family again.

Japan and Christmas

2011-01-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

This was a Christmas party we attended in Sapporo. First the missionaries put on a fireside where the Nativity was shown on a big screen and the missionaries played the piano and sang Christmas songs. Dallin played a version of Silent Night that he created from a vocal selection. Then the members had lots of food in the middle of the Cultural Hall and Santa came and brought gifts to the young children and missionaries. Afterwards we went out to dinner with the Mission President, wife, daughter, leaving missionaries, etc. We cooked food on a small grill in the middle of the table. There really wasn't any food that I didn't like!

Yakiniku with the Daniels

First Day in Japan

2011-01-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

The trip to Japan was my first time to a foreign country other than Canada ( where my mother grew up) or Mexico which was only Tijuana. I have never been in an airplane for that long. Way long. We arrived a day later which really throws off that body clock. We got to the hotel after riding the train in to Sapporo from the airport ( everything in Japanese) and were grateful to meet a man at the train station that spoke English. He was born in Sapporo but lived in Toronto. He had come home after 30 years to say good bye to his brother that had cancer. He helped us find our way out of the station and go in the general direction of our hotel. We were very grateful. No one spoke English at the hotel. We couldn't get internet connection. We didn't know where Dallin was. We were grateful the next morning after calling the mission home and not getting anyone, to get a phone call later in our room with President Daniels on the other end. We took a taxi ( my first) to the mission home and even the taxi driver had to ask some directions. We were so happy to see Dallin!

This is looking in from the room. Only one person at a time please.

The heater was remote control above the small desk. Everything was very energy efficient.

Everything in Japan is much smaller than in America. The bathrooms were teeny. The beds small and firm. The chairs were closer to the ground.

This is in the mission office in front of the bulletin board filled with pictures of all the baptisms.

This is Sister Kaneko and her mother...notice the resemblance! She came to pick up her daughter. They were wonderful. They both spoke great English but were shy using it.

This is Sister Chizuru's mum with Sayaka's mother. We all got to speak in Sacrament meeting that Sunday. I felt close to the other mothers and loved being with them. I had such a hard time with names. I just couldn't connect them to anything. They were very forgiving! I am so glad I got to meet them.
We had a great visit with everyone in the Mission Office and then caught a bus back to the hotel. I took the stairs and the guys took the elevator. I couldn't remember the room number and went knocking on doors. I had no cell phone and kept hoping they would stick their heads out and look for me. Crazy.
Next we walked to the Mall from our hotel. It was endless. They have grocery stores in the Mall and Dollar stores everywhere and I mean everywhere!

Dallin went up and down the isles explaining what everything was...very different stuff!

A Japanese comedian performed at the bottom of the escalator...he did exercises with the kids.

Strawberry Kit Kats. Yum. There were many different flavors including Jasmine tea.

We ate at a lot of bakeries. It was all white bread ( I usually have whole wheat whatever) but yummy and sweet!
Next adventure that day...Royce Chocolate Factory.

Japan and Back

2010-12-31T15:51:00.000-08:00

Sister Daniels is cutting Dallin's tie. That may seem a little extreme but ties are $1 in Japan. This signifies the end of Dallin's mission. The Daniels have all the missionaries sign the ties and they are making a wall hanging out of all of them. We were so happy to be a part of the end of mission dinner and ceremonies. There were 11 missionaries going home...big group and they were being replaced by 3 missionaries. Big hole.
We loved being in the mission home and seeing how things run.

Here we are at a big Asian grocery store. There were many different kinds of food. Dallin is taking us up and down the isles and explaining what all the packages, boxes and bags contain. I actually loved the food and tried as many different types as I could.

This food actually looks very much like American spaghetti. It is how many restaurants would show their menu outside for the people to see. They would have plates with rubber food.

We visited this shrine in Sapporo and got to see an actual wedding with traditional clothing. It was snowing and very cold and we walked but it was beautiful with the white blanket coming down.

Merry Christmas from The Christensens! 2010

2010-12-13T12:27:00.000-08:00

I can't think of a better Christmas gift than hearing my grandson talk about Jesus Christ in such simple and sweet words.
We were skyping with my grandchildren yesterday and my grand daughter leaned forward towards the camera and said to me, "Grandma, why don't you get in the car and drive here?" I wish I could but it would be one long drive.
Christmas is the time where I always think about my kids when they were little and what an amazing time that was. They are still alot of fun but there is nothing like children at Christmas time. Merry Christmas!

Ding and Dang Again

2010-11-28T10:12:00.000-08:00

What do I love about Thanksgiving? Getting together with family and just having fun. I loved seeing all my family and playing crazy games with them. It just reminded me how great and quirky my family is. I loved watching all the little great grandchildren running around together and watching them make marshmallow and spaghetti sculptures and then....eating them. Yum.

However, the best thing about Thanksgiving is our tradition of hiking a slot canyon. I don't know how long it will last but it is soooo fun to drive down to Southern Utah where it is usually warmer and hike off that Thanksgiving glut!

Cake Making

2010-11-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

My friend Karen is getting married in Dec. We went on the cruise together and had a lot of time to talk about the wedding. Karen is very cheap like me so I offered to make her wedding cake. She said I could so I have been practicing. I made a "fake" cake out of rice crispies and covered it in fondant so I could practice my piping techniques. Her colors are red, white, black and silver so I

thought that black piping looks really cool against the white fondant. Here are some pictures of my progress.

After showing her all of the different designs and what I thought would look good, she decided that she only wanted the polka dots and the same design for each layer. I was kind of bummed but it is her cake! It will be three layers. I have yet to make the bottom, the biggest, layer which will be red velvet per finace's request. She also wants the tier broken up on pillars with flowers on top of each one. Yikes. Now I need to figure out how to do flower arranging. Too bad I won't be coming home before the wedding. I am sure that either Mom or McKay could help me out in that department.
My next project is to put together my back yard. I have had stones to make a walkway and retaining wall for a long time. I finally got some paint to paint the brick, they are recycled from another wall that was painted blue and pink, and the weather is just right to be working outside. I hope that I can get it to turn out like I have envisioned it. I planted some peas and spinach and they have sprouted and are getting bigger each day.
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I get to work!! I don't think I will go anywhere since I usually sleep all afternoon. That way I will save myself some calories. I look forward to seeing everyone at Christmas:)

November is Going Too Fast

2010-11-16T16:10:00.000-08:00

Sapporo in October

It is a good omen that I have not posted since October. It means I am busy and moving on in my life. Yippee. It really has been quite crazy and sometimes I would like a day where I don't have a million things on my list that I know will not get done in one day.
Dallin sent this picture of Sapporo. We spent last night looking for a hotel near the Mission Home and a train station because we are going to Japan in 3 more weeks!!! I can't believe it. The time has just crept up and I am not ready. We want to go cross country skiing while Dallin snowboards. That is a tender thing for me because Bryce and Dallin talked about how cool it would be if they could go snowboarding in Sapporo together at the end of his mission. It is something that several of Dallin's friends from the mission said they wished they could have done before they went home. It looks like it might happen minus Bryce.
I have been busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas plans and can't believe that most of the kids will be home. Earlier in the season it looked like it might just be Dallin home for the holidays but miracles happen and we are thinking through the sleeping arrangements because we will have a full house. Yippee again.
Today I made pumpkin soup from one of the baking pumpkins that Susie brought from the nursery. It is a lot of work but has a creative feel to it as you peel the pumpkin and scoop out the stringy insides. Susie served chili in a baked pumpkin. I am having friends over for lunch and I am going to serve the soup inside a pumpkin. Yup. Thanksgivng is here. I wish November would slow down! Here we come Sapporo!!!

October Fun

2010-10-30T21:58:00.000-07:00

Here is McKay at work. Today is his last day and Pumpkin Land ends and the nursery goes into hibernation. It was fun to see where he works.
It was also McKay's 29th birthday. Here is his car that Susie wrote on. The other side of the car has a window that says...honk if you think I'm hot. He got a few responses to that and was quite anxious to clean that window.

We had fun meeting a lot of his friends that came over that night to celebrate his birthday.
The next night we had the Stake Presidency and wives over for dinner and Halloween fun. Here are some great shots of the game we played called Trick or Treat.

Yes, this is the Stake Presidency and wives...such a nice looking bunch. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing the fun side of each other for a little while.
We went shopping at the mall on the 30th. It was pouring rain and there were lots of Trick or Treaters that had come in from the weather. I don't think the stores had any idea that they would be deluged. While we were going to our car, we were approached by a young man with long hair and a beard. He was very polite and asked if we had any change. We just use our credit card for everything so I said no. There was something about him that tugged at me and so when we got in the car, I went through the boot and found all our change and had Kim drive through the lot until we found him and gave him what we had. It made me wonder about him but I just had tender feelings and I don't know why.

Funny Week

2010-10-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Ghelfy got back from serving in Richmond Virginia. He lived with us before leaving on his mission. It is great to see him and hear about his experiences.

Violet went home. It was with mixed emotions that we took back the garage and used it once again for our cars.

We went to Vineyard Gardens to see where McKay works. Susie was wearing a funky hat which seemed very Susie and we did the corn maze, went through the Pumpkin "light" show and bought pansies. I have pansies in my yard! McKay and Susie spent an evening carving pumpkins and they baked the seeds. Yum.

We had great excitement when we went down to the basement to get rooms ready for my niece and her friends and found water, water, water everywhere in the bedroom. We had a plumber come and he said it was the water heater so we yanked out the water heater, got up early the next morning and got a new one and brought it home while navigating the wonderful Utah County road construction and had friends that knew what they were doing and had the tools to do it, help install the new water heater. In the meantime, they checked the basement and said...oh contraire... ( a little French) ..it is your shower. So our sweet niece came to a torn up basement, no shower, no hot water until the next morning, and we had a great time visiting and meeting Brian ( boyfriend) and Stephanie (room mate).
Rain has come to SF with the promise of snow. Change is definitely in the air.

Cruisn'

2010-10-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

I went on a cruise this last week. I drove to LA with my nurse friend Karen and her roommate Jaime and her roommate's friend Rachel. We stayed at Jaime's aunts house in Glendora. It was like a mansion. Everything was super fancy and all the homes in the neighborhood were crazy big. I saw two avocado trees when I went on a walk. It is so cool to see them growing on trees. Karen and I went to Irvine Sunday night to visit our friend Elizabeth who went to nursing school with us. She just got married and moved to Cali. She is pretty lonely since her husband is always at school and everyone in her ward has kids so she really hasn't connected with anyone yet. She said that 52% of the student body at the university is Asian. That is crazy. She made us her famous gingersnap cookies. We got to talk to Sam which was a first. She was so excited to see us. We just love her to bits!
We left for the cruise on Monday and came back Friday morning. The first night we just got on the ship. The next day we went to Catalina island. It is an island off the coast of California. It was pretty warm and my back was killing me that day. We walked to the botanical gardens and I didn't know if I was going to make it. It was a hard day for me as you can tell from how I look in the pictures. I didn't take any photos of the four of us because Jaime and Karen had that covered. They seemed to be taking a picture every minute! I need to get their pictures.

The next day we went to Ensenada, Mexico. It was my first time in Mexico. I was bummed that we didn't get a stamp in our passports. The excursion that we went on was to La Bufadora. We traveled about 45 minutes in the bus to see it. It was pretty sad to see how run down the place looked on the outskirts of town. La Bufadora is a cave on the coast that gets filled up with water as the waves come in. Pressure will build up and send the water shooting up. It was pretty cool. we were bombarded with the sellers in the market. It took me back to my Ecuador days. I didn't really want any souvenirs so I avoided the haggling. Sorry everyone, I only got souvenirs for the niece and nephew. When I go somewhere cool, I will get you all something. I used a little bit of Spanish when asking for prices. We were tired after that so we just went back onto the boat. I kind of wanted to walk around town but it was almost night time and I figured that walking around by myself wasn't the best idea.
Each night we had dinner with the same people. They were pretty entertaining. There was a couple who were newly weds and then a couple of their friends that they work with in a casino in Vegas. Mama Pam, as she calls herself, was a hoot. She called every one baby. We ate so much on the cruise. We basically ate and slept. sometimes we went dancing at night. we had a warm melting chocolate cake every night for dessert. It is a chocolate cake on top and underneath that is cake that didn't get cake like but tasted like hot fudge sauce. They served it with ice cream. It was soooo good.
On Friday we went to Irvine to see Jaime's cousin and then went to see if Elizabeth was home since she wasn't answering her phone. It turns out that she was actually home but was sleeping because she didn't get any sleep the night before. I am sad that we missed each other. Then we went to San Diego on the way back to Arizona and went to Balboa park. That is where the San Diego zoo is located. We didn't go to the zoo but went to see the botanical gardens. I like San Diego. Then we spent the night at Jaimie's house in Yuma and came home on sat. morning.
It was a fun break but I am glad that I don't have to go back to work for a few days so I can recuperate from my vacation!!

Magical Day

2010-10-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

McKay had Tuesday off and so we decided it was a great day for a hike. I had done this hike earlier in the summer and was not prepared for what I saw.
When I was little, my family moved from Utah to California. It took a couple of winters for me to forget that Christmas could not be Christmas without snow. Then I came back to Utah for college. I was so intimidated by the thought of snow. I had nightmares of being wrapped in a blanket fighting a blizzard to get to my classes.
Now being a veteran Utahan, I love the snow and especially the seasons so the hike was a wonderful gift. I had gone earlier in the month to see the colors and they were muted and not very bright but on this hike, we came upon bright red patches and splashes of orange. Some trees were mixed green and yellow. The leaves were gently falling down and in some places they covered the trail. Every time I turned a corner I would ah and ooh. It was magical and so fun to share with my son and his friend.
The down side was all the cow manure on the road...lots of cows were roaming the street and it took work to get my car squeaky clean again...well it was sorta.

The bottom line...I love, love, LOVE Fall!

Conference Weekend at Grandma's

2010-10-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had a gathering of family from Idaho, California, and Utah. It was great to get together and discuss things to help Mom with as all the K's were in attendance. Afterwards, during the Priesthood session, the girls played games. We played Skipbo ...a Sunday tradition when we lived close by and two truths and a lie. We asked Kerry to guess when the guys got back but he had a hard time identifying some.
Here are the statements...see how you do:
1. I wanted to have twins. 2. I went skinny dipping on BYU survival. 3. I wet my pants in first grade. Aunt Karen...did not want to have twins.
1. I ran out of gas during my driving test. 2. I have visited every temple in Utah. 3. I like to sleep in late. Helen has not visited every temple
1. I have 6 people in my family. 2. I love salad. I love, love, love, love, love candy. Elise does not love salad.
1. I can do synchronize swimming. 2. My favorite book for many years was Gone with the Wind. 3. My greatest wish is to live in a treehouse like Swiss Family Robinson. Wynette does not wish to live in tree house...just have one as a second home.
1. My brother and sister are 10 1/2 months apart. 2. I have 16 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. 3. I rode on a giraffe. Aunt Diane never rode a giraffe.
1. I was lazy when I was little. 2. I climbed Mt. Everest. 3. I love to do puzzles. Aunt Eleanor never climbed Mt. Everest.
1. My favorite Bible story is Daniel and the Lion's Den. 2. I want to get married in the Draper temple. 3. I play the piano. Keklia ( can't spell her name!) wants to get married in Oquirrah temple
1. I was a telephone operator. 2. when I was little my nickname was Pickles. 3. I drove from Alabama to Utah with the kids by myself. Grandmas did not drive alone to Utah..she had her hubby.

We had a fun time being together and it was great to catch up on all the news.

Tale of Two Brains

2010-09-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

This past week, Kim and I went to a Stake Marriage Seminar taught by the Lundbergs. It was great. We learned alot about communication. Here is one of the youtube videos they showed us. I thought it was very appropriate and applicable. I learned alot about myself. I hope to do better. We had a lot of fun being together and we went to the Red Iguana to eat. The last time we ate there is when we were much younger and at a Marriage Seminar.

Fun Fall

2010-09-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

Barb always likes to have a unique pose

Park City Train Trail

This week the girls and I packed up our bikes and headed to Park City. It just seemed like the right thing to do with all the fall colors coming on. The weather was wonderful and we enjoyed having a day to ride all we wanted. Of course, after all that strenuous biking, we had to indulge in Rocky Mtn. Fudge factory where we shared an caramel apple and some fudge. Yum

Crazy Week

2010-09-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to have jury duty in Salt Lake on Tues. I was so happy when I heard they canceled it! So we celebrated Barb's birthday instead by having Belgian waffles with lots of fruit. Guess which one is Barb. She is the oldest of the four us and you would never know by how much! She is an inspiration to us all.
On Thurs. Ilene and I ( the blond ) went to Taco Thurs. as it is now dubbed, with other members of our tap class and the teacher. We found this nice little restaurant in Payson that makes marinated pork tacos. It is basically a corn tortilla with pork and cilantro and lots of onions. They are .99 cents. Great with lots of salsa. The test came afterward when we went to class to see if I really did know my dance steps. I was happy to be caught up! Hurray. I can still think in sequence! We left Ilene's car at the restaurant because the radiator was steaming and got a ride to class. She went back that night with her husband and said they enjoyed great burritos and got the car fixed. If you have to leave your car somewhere, it is always a good idea to have it in the parking lot of a good restaurant.
Kim shifted his schedule and we went to our first play of the season at BYU. We got season tickets for the first time in several years. Now that the Stake is divided, he seems to have a little more time. The play was Tuesdays with Morrie.

“Tuesdays with Morrie” presents the story of Professor Morrie Schwartz (David Morgan), who is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. After one of his former students, Mitch Albom (Matt Meese), sees an interview with Schwartz on TV, he visits his old teacher.
They decide to write one final thesis covering everything from family, love and money to regret, the world and death. In the process, Mitch and Morrie discover that “when you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”
We really enjoyed it. I didn't cry at all but the girl in front of me sure needed Kleenex and I have become the keeper of such and could not find one for her!
Friday was my third week working in the temple. I was so happy to get one hour on my shift where I didn't have to remember anything but could sit at the front door and greet people. The best part came when Sister Porter came in. She is the wife of who was once our branch president when Kim and I were at BYU. Kim was a counselor to her husband and she was working at the temple when we moved back to Utah County. I remember how excited we were to see them when we went to the temple. I asked how her husband was and she sadly told me that he is not mobile and was at home. I said we would make sure to go visit soon. Later as I thought on that, I thought how sad that we wait until people are sick, etc. before we think to visit them. It is so easy to let life fly by. That is what the play was all about. I am really enjoying the opportunity to serve in the temple and have learned more in the few weeks I have served than the many years of attending as a patron. I also listened at the front desk to a father and a newly returned missionary son from one of the Brazil missions. The family had put one son in the MTC on Wednesday, had their oldest son return on Thurs. and were saying that the brothers were meeting at the MTC for a little time so they could see each other. It reminded me of Bryce and Dallin and the tears came. I am so glad they were able to spend some time together.
I promised one of my former Primary 8 year old that I would go roller blading with him when he got his arm cast off. We went to the River trail and he kept asking....Can you go a little faster? I was sure trying. Then he wanted to visit his grandparents that didn't live very far away at all and off we went off the nice familiar trail. Little did I know that he was going to take me on a busy street and up a very big hill...one the I would eventually have to go down. Needless to say, I was very grateful when our adventure ended, I was still upright, and I slept really good that night.
We hosted our first street party that evening. When we moved here, we continued the tradition we had started in Brigham of having our neighbors over for a get together but let the tradition drop after a few years. This summer, I decided to start it up again. We had a great turn out and had the fire pit going for the kids to roast hot dogs while the adults cooked up whatever they had brought. We had potato salad, shrimp salad, mushroom salad, watermelon, fresh peaches, home made root beer, cucumbers and green beans from the garden, salsa, and the best home made ice cream in the world. My zucchini cupcakes were a big hit. Now does that sound like summer! We sat around the fire after everyone was stuffed and wrote two things we wanted on our Bucket List and then while I read them out, we guessed who wrote them. My favorite one was...Take Pat to Ireland. That was really hard to guess but we came through and named Pat's husband.
After all was cleaned up from our wild party, Kim and I returned forgotten items to the owners and walked over to the cemetery to see the moving Vietnam Veterans wall that is Washington DC. Before reaching the cemetery we toured our neighbor's new wake boarding boat. It was very big and nice. It even has a bathroom. We were so sad when they invited us to Lake Powell to try it out next week...what a deal. We have Lion King, a marriage seminar, and Kira coming. Hopefully there will be another time!
The Vietnam wall was all lite up and very sobering to see the diamonds that were in front of the names of those that were identified as killed in action and those that had crosses that have not been identified yet. Kim worked with a woman whose son was killed as he went back to help the very last member of his platoon. He had rescued many safely but was shot by a sniper as he retrieved his last comrade. Fern had never seen the Wall in DC but she got to see it when it came to our cemetery. I can't imagine how that must have felt. I know when I see anything new about Bryce that I am deeply touched and moved.
Life is very tender. It is full of wonderful moments if we are looking for it. This week was sure crazy and it was filled with many amazing experiences. People make all the difference in the world. Today I get to help Brooke bottle peaches while Whit fishes. The magic of fishing with Whit at 4 a.m. has worn off and I am excited to finally have someone willing to can with me...I remember many times trying to recruit my kids to help with the peaches and now I have someone that is going to actually volunteer! Whahoo. Life doesn't get better than that!

Labor Day Fun and Young Women

2010-09-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

Crystal Lake in Uintahs


The beginning of our hike ...the parking lot

Sunday night Kim and I spent the night at Brooke and Whit's house. It was funny to see the bright lights through the bedroom window of the Townhouse Clubhouse and listen to the traffic of the highway....sounds and sights that they are used to. We got up and went to Kneaders for All You Can Eat French toast. Yum. That syrup was so good that I made it again this morning for one of my friend's birthday breakfast. It is called Buttermilk syrup. Yum. We did burn that breakfast off by hiking in the Uintahs. We saw a lot of lakes. It was pretty cold as you can see by our hoods and jackets but a really nice day to be out and about. After eating lunch on a rock slab overlooking Island Lake, we headed back and were on the road by 2 p.m. Kim wanted new Nikes for running and we began to wonder if going into Park City was such a great idea as the traffic backed up. When we got to the Outlets, we discovered it was the big Labor Day sale. It was as crowded as Christmas shopping and there were crazy driving skills going on everywhere.
After the shoes were purchased we still had backed up traffic going down the Canyon. It was a fun day!
Tonight was my first Young Women's activity. We went to the Rest Home up the street. We had songs prepared to sing and started going to the individual rooms since they weren't gathered. First door we knocked on and opened, a man in his underwear looked out at us as the one young woman asked if we could sing. After assessing the situation, she realized now may not be a good time and tried to back out of the offer as the man continued to question her. Next room....( we were in the Alzheimer's Unit) the woman told us that she was in bed and so were all of her kids so she was not interested in us singing to her. Then we saw two men watching TV in a gathering place and we stopped to talk to them. Corey is 39 years old and he could sing every song and lead it and make up songs ( like about the cookie we gave him) that we threw at him. Norbert was quiet but decided he could sing us Blue Heaven...a song his father used to sing to him. He kept telling us he wasn't a singer but he sang in perfect pitch a lovely song that I have not been familiar with. His eyes began to water at the end of the song and we knew he was thinking of someone special to him. What a treat that was to share some time with both of them.
So...I am just beginning to understand what I should be doing. I took my Relief Society book instead of my Young Women's ( they haven't replaced me yet in RS) and had to ask a lot of questions but I think I am really going to like spending time with these sweet young women. They sang like angels. Now, if I could just catch up in my tap dancing class ( I missed the first lesson) life would definitely be easier! Happy September!

Funny friends and What Do You Do To Look Interesting?

2010-08-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry Tommy for the blur. These would be Bryce's friends from high school and beyond. They ate lunch together, shot guns and paintball, played guitar, had bon fires where Bryce would entertain by jumping over the huge fire while high on cotton candy. Chelsey and Bailey are recuirts ...they didn't know Bryce but had to listen about him several times anyway. They've come to our house for lunch, for jamming, for hanging out, birthdays, steak frys, for mission call, for farewell parties, for homecomings, for the funeral. They have come to celebrate Mother's Day, Bryce's birthdays, and Jan. 7th. They don't call...they just start dropping by. Some have their lives figured out, married to wonderful people and some are still trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. I love them. They are so good to me and let me hug them as much as I want. I know Bryce loves them too.

Good Bye

2010-08-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

Mayumi looks just like we feel....whaaaaa! We had Kimiko's family over for a quick dinner in between their packing for San Fran. We are so happy that Dan has a good job and we know it will be an adventure for them and they have lived ever so close for ever so long and we really wished we had gotten together more. There is no one like family to have a good time with. We hope they will be happy to be back in California ( at least back for Kimiko) and we have committed to checking each other's blogs for all happenings. I for one am grateful that Kimiko and Kari Lyn like to blog so we can always see what they are up to. We will miss you...we do already!

From Lemonade to Wheelchairs

2010-08-13T18:57:00.000-07:00

This week I got a newsletter from the Humanitarian Dept. of the church. It had a great article that reminded me again of the power of one person. I would like to share some of it.
Zachary Bird and his fellow students at Wasatch Elementary School in Provo, Utah raised nearly $1,300 to help victims of natural disasters.
It all started when the president of the school's parent-teacher organization called a member of the school board. What, she wondered could students, parents and staff do to help those suffering from the most recent disaster in Haiti? Would wheelchairs help? They called LDS Philanthropies and found wheelchairs were needed and cost as little as $86.
Each class was given a two-liter pop bottle with a sign that said "Make a Change." Zack decided to earn $86 all by himself, his mother said. " We discussed options and Zack decided to sell lemonade and homemade cookies." Zack planned out how we could help him and we provided the necessary items to get him started, his mother told. Not only did Zack earn the $86, he encouraged his friends to help. Through his efforts of advertising and Facebook, the school and community were able to buy 15 wheelchairs. Not only did Zack discover the power of one, he discovered the power of many.

Finally Made it to One of My Favs...Yellowstone!

2010-08-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

This is a hike to Lower Falls at Yellowstone. We spent one day in what has become one of my favorite vacation spots. We got to take Tyler and see some places we have never seen before and take some hikes. The weather was wonderful. The attendance was up 60,000 from last year but we didn't feel crowded.

We enjoyed listening to all the different languages and seeing what kind of shape everyone was in that we saw along the trails as we did several switch back hikes. We saw all we wanted to see and then headed back to Rexburg to pack and take Tyler to the airport early in the morning. We had a great time being together and can't wait to see our water bill since the power went out while we were gone and the sprinklers went AWOL on us and were turning on often all day. At least everything was GREEN when we got home!

Especially For Youth and BYU-ID...So Much Fun!

2010-08-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

Tyler started out as an EFY counselor when he was a student at BYU. He would come home hoarse, tired and pumped. Now he is an EFY speaker in the summer and has spoken in Vermont, Bloomington, Kentucky and now BYU Idaho in Rexburg. We were excited to have him come West and asked if we could go and hear him speak. He made arrangements for us to pick him up at the Salt Lake airport and Kim, Wynette and Tyler all drove to Rexburg. We were amazed at some of the changes to the campus since we haven't been there since our daughters attended what was then called Ricks.
Tuesday Kim and I jogged up to the temple from our hotel. An older couple passed us on their way down the trail and the man made a comment about how nice it was to see "old" people out jogging. I told him I was sorry that he had to use the word old! When we arrived on campus and went to the Morningside, there was the director of that EFY session that we passed while jogging. We went to Tyler's class first on Gospel Life Long Learning and saw a young man from our ward. Yea! We enjoyed visiting with the youth and got VIP treatment as Tyler would point us out to his classes and we were taken to the head of the lunch line.

We were disappointed to find the Rexburg temple closed but enjoyed a great session at the Idaho Fall's temple. We ate at Fongs ( a tradition with the girls), went to the theatre, played tennis, jogged through the campus and did hills, and more hills for a 5 mile run, swam, and loved being with Tyler and the youth. They were great and the classes were motivating. We were so happy for the opportunity to be with Tyler and experience EFY. Many things that he told us about when he was a counselor, we could experience and enjoy with him as he spoke for two days. It was like a mini Education Week only better because the kids were so great.
In the last picture, Tyler is with a young girl whose brother is currently serving in the Durban South Africa mission. She knew about Bryce because her brother told his family about him. It was special to talk to her and feel her love.

Kim is a little sweaty because he just finished playing tennis with Tyler. The temple made a great challenge and objective to jog to in the mornings...it was on a hill!
We are grateful to see our children now as we remember and think we still are...a young couple just starting out and learning how to function in the real world. We had a wonderful time being with Tyler and miss him and his family so very much but are grateful that they are happy and doing great things in their lives.

Aunt Adele and the UPS Man

2010-07-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I spent the day with my family and cousins, celebrating the life and death of my Aunt Adele. She said that her children were her crowning jewels. She had wonderful children and I am grateful to have grown up knowing them. We don't get together often...mostly at weddings and funerals but we always feel a great connection and know there is more than this life that connects us.
The story of the UPS man reflects much about my Aunt Adele and her husband Ralph who passed on a few years before her. I noticed this couple at the cememtery and went up to introduce myself and ask how they were connected. Mr. Williams told me that he had been my Aunt's UPS driver for 25 years and that his weight gain could be directly attributed to her good cooking. He said Ralph always wanted to show him his latest project and Aunt Adele would always have a goody or treat to give to him. He was there to honor their friendship to him. It touched me and reminded me that we can always make a difference in everyone lives that we come in contact with. It may be hard to identify the UPS man in this picture but he is behind Craig, the speaker and has glasses.

My Family...minus a few ( like Eli, Sharon, Dallin and Bryce...plus one more coming!)

2010-07-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

I love weddings... especially when they are my children! That day in May was truly Heavenly. These are days that all Moms think about and hope that their kids find just the right person. Brooke and Whit's journey is one that is worth telling ...one where God's hand is evident in bringing them together. This is one of my new favorite pictures. I just wish Eli and Sharon were there and not at the hotel. We do get to have Ty and Nat's next addition in the picture but you can't tell because Natalie doesn't show. I know Bryce was there...you just can't see him. His wish when Dallin left for Japan was that everyone would be married when Dallin got back. We have until December. Who knows.

Those Lazy Days of Summer?

2010-07-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

We had a Stake 5 K. Kim and I won for being the oldest runners. I had a new first as I beat Kim ...he got lost on the route and did double duty. It will probably be the first and last time I beat him!

The next week we had alot of fun watching John tear up our driveway. It has needed to be replaced for a long time! That would be Sam getting a little extra work in. Kim said his hands really felt different after swinging the 20 lb. mallet. He tried to break the pieces up as small as he could so that the truck could haul off more ( charged by the number of trips to the dump with the concrete). The driveway is looking beautiful.

Fourth of July arrived with our annual breakfast and devotional. We had French ( French?) toast with blueberries and strawberries and whipped cream. It was perfect weather!!! Then we let off the hot air balloon a la Ken Beatty...the engineer in the group. It became very windy and we made only one launch. However, we decided that next year we would up the anty and each family would make a balloon so we could see whose would get theirs the farthest and who could make the coolest one. Look out 2011!

After launching, we regrouped and hiked one of McKay's favorite hikes minus McKay in Hobble Creek. There were many beaver dams along the stream and we found that the trail was missing because of water in several places. We took a break at the turn back point and told some of our favorite "Bucket Wish List" items. Then we ended our July 4th adventure with a Kranky Frank. Hooray for holidays! Hooray for traditions! Hooray for good food and good family and friends.

Ward Campout

2010-06-28T04:03:00.000-07:00

We had our ward campout this past weekend at Brown County State park. We decided to head out a day early with some of our friends because the weather was so amazing (low 80s with low humidity). So Thursday evening we set up camp and did the whole hot dog marshmallow thing and stayed up late talking while the kids built a fort out of dead tree branches. On Friday we were up early and after breakfast went on a 3 mile hike (ambitious with five kids under the age of six). When we got home the kids played at a playground and then we had lunch and tried (unsuccessfully) to do naps. We then went to a pool that is inside the park and swam for a bit and then came back to camp and ate dinner with the rest of the ward. About 50 people made it out and we had a great time visiting. After eating (around 8:00) we headed back to Bloomington, opting for our beds instead of a consecutive day of little sleep. It gave us Saturday to recoup from the trip which worked out really well. It was a great little trip.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

I think I have an awesome dad,
he's even awesome when he's mad.
He never gets mad though, he's too cool,
I visit him when I'm at school.
That's not a lot now, cause I'm all done;
not visiting him is less than fun.
No candy in the candy jar
To get some; would be too far.
It's quite a shame cause my dad's the bomb
It would be nice if Alaska was closer to him and mom.
It's not though so I use the phone;
He didn't answer today and I'm home alone.
Just thinking of how I feel kind of bad
Because I didn't get anything for my dad who's rad.
He deserves more stuff than I can give.
He's half the reason I get to live.
What's more is that he makes life real fun
Because he always thinks of everyone.
Including me; he is real nice.
I talk to him when I need advice.
He's crafty and makes cool things.
Sometimes he acts crazy and tries to sing.
I love my dad; he is the best.
He's a bit ahead of all the rest.
This father's day I want to say
I love you dad. Happy father's day!

Bees, Birthdays and Such

2010-06-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

Brooke got me 101 Gourmet Cupcakes for my birthday. Today I tried the Key Lime cupcakes. My evaluation would be that you need to not go outside and work in the yard but stay in the kitchen and check because they did not take as long as I set the timer for and when cupcakes are baked too long they are dry. Nothing sadder than a dry cupcake. However, I learned how to make the whipped cream stay stiff. That was worth the effort and the grated lime on top was dee-lissss! Thanks Brooke. I don't think I will ever be famous for my cupcakes but I do so enjoy new recipes!

My friends took me to lunch for my birthday. We drove to American Fork to China Isle. It is small but serves the most wonderful Walnut Shrimp.

We sat and ate and talked until everyone was gone but the people working there. Two of the Asian servers (boys) had dyed their hair orange. It was interesting. They all started eating in the corner and were finishing up when we decided it was time to hit Dough Boys and Flour Girls for a yummy dessert. First we had to figure out the bill...there were two birthday girls and a lot of cash going back and forth. We are always so polite---I'll pay for that...no I will. The shrimp was so yummy. I actually had Mango shrimp but failed to take a picture of it. Kim got the leftovers! I was taken to lunch the day before and the day after my birthday. I got a lot of shrimp. Hooray for yummy shrimp. When I was young, my mom would fry up shrimp for my birthday dinner until I could eat no more. Those were great times!

Here is Kim retrieving a swarm of bees. We got a call from the Extension Service and he hurried home from work and we headed out to Salem. I was supposed to assist but I mostly talked to the fun lady whose house it was. They had just moved there from Chicago and had built a beautiful home. Her husband came and talked to us and I found out that he went to South Africa a lot before retiring. I was excited to hear about all their adventures and Kim seemed to have no problem getting the bees. I still don't like weeding up close to the hives. The bees seem to be everywhere. We lost two hives in the spring but bought one hive and then got the swarm so we are back up to three hives. Long live honey! It is so good!

Lastly, here is Whit and Brooke opening
a present in their home. They couldn't wait after their honeymoon to invite anyone to see them open the presents from their reception, so I kept the presents people brought to our house until we could take them and be there to enjoy the fun. I think we are very blessed to have so many wonderful family and friends. They received so many generous and thoughtful gifts. I am very grateful that every thing was perfect for them and they will have many precious memories of their wedding!

Fun Times at the Christensens! We Miss You Already.....

2010-06-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a really really nice time at our house. After McKay left for Alaska, our house has been especially quiet. This past week we made several airport runs as Tyler and Natalie's family, McKay and then Kira flew in from Indiana, Alaska, and Tucson. We had hotel rooms reserved and went up to Salt Lake on Thurs. We took Tyler's family with McKay to the Tracy Aviary. McKay got lots of cool pictures of the birds. Then it was Brooke and Whit's reception at the Joseph Smith before the wedding.
It was wonderful to see so many friends and sad that we didn't get to visit for very long. Brooke had a Rick's room mate drive up from Nevada just to go to the reception. Brooke had lots of friends from all her life show up and it was a good reminder of how much Brooke has tried to organize and stay in contact with her friends.
We had a wonderful wedding brunch in the Joseph Smith the next morning where everyone stood up and introduced themselves and said something about or to the soon to be bride and groom.

It was wonderful to be in the Salt Lake Temple where 34 years ago, Kim and I were sealed by my Uncle Ben. It was especially fun to be the mother of the bride and I felt it a great honor to be there to help Brooke and experience close up the excitement of getting sealed in the temple to someone you love. If that makes sense. To me, it was a very sacred and memorable day.

After the wedding, we had pictures and after Jocelin was all done, then McKay kicked in again and we had a lot of fun taking some pretty silly pictures.
I am so happy to have had this time with my family. It was wonderful to be together and to be reminded how blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends.

Happy life to Brooke and Whit. As they say in Sleeping Beauty: Health to the Princess. Long live the Princess. Yipee for families and those to come!

Christensen Reunion

2010-05-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

We had a very interesting drive to Shelley Idaho where the 5 K's and their families met for a quick reunion. It poured, hailed, sleeted, and while in Idaho, it SNOWED. Crazy weather and Eli kept wanting to go out and play in it. Brrrrrr.
We played the In the order of the Smurf game. Grandma is trying to guess what the clues are.

Here is a picture of Little Ben from California. The Corless family is on the couch. Diane and Keith are at the end. We heard some family histories and stories and then each family told the latest news.

We had Grandma Christensen down to the Great Grandchildren. We were reminded of how blessed we are to have one another!

Getting Ready to Talk to Elder Christensen in Japan!

2010-05-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

It was a great visit with Dallin in Japan. This will be the last missionary phone call from my children! Bittersweet!

Mother's Day/ Mother's 88th Birthday

2010-05-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

Here we are in a typical Christensen pose with Kim in a typical politically uncorrect expression. I don't know how he does it! We had a great time celebrating my mom's 88th birthday by walking to and from church ( in Sunday shoes that proved to be a little less than desirable for the walk), having a delicious dinner cooked by Whit and Brooke and getting to talk to our missionary in Japan with cell phones lined up from Ty and Nat in Indiana, Kira in Tucson and McKay in Alaska. We all took turns asking questions and learning more about being a missionary in Japan. Many questions were about the food. Very Christensen.

Good Bye McKay

2010-05-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

Last night was McKay's final evening with us. We are sad. We will miss him checking in at the office to see if Kim has candy in the jar. We miss hearing the door open early on Saturday morning and McKay calling out...are you guys still in bed? We will miss the laundry runs and watching him stuff the nice, clean clothes into his laundry bag...no folding required. We might miss all the help he has given us as he patiently uploads, explains, demonstrates things we can do on our computer. I will have to call in later on that one. We will miss going out to eat with him and all the visits. We are happy he graduated and is going to Alaska and doing something he wants to do. We are impressed with all the things he learned, did and shared with others. We are also impressed that he is leaving school having no debts and paying for everything himself.
Last night, Brooke Smith, recently returned from teaching English in Japan, came over and taught us how to make some delicious food. Her "taco....something Japanese sounding" maker was a hit. She put in batter and we would sprinkle cabbage, ham, onions, sprinkles, etc. into the center and then turn them. We had a great FHE lesson and enjoyed it being more than just Kim and Wynette.
We will miss you McKay. We hope you still love it in Alaska and don't forget to phone home!

Women's Conference April 2010

2010-05-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

This is not Women's Conference but I did wear this outfit .My hair is now shorter and Brooke was there at Women's Conference to hear me speak but she wasn't wearing her wedding dress. Behind would be a blank wall instead of this nice background. This was really the last picture taken on a fun morning where Brooke got her Bridal's taken. This past week, I spent time with my mom at Women's Conference and contrary to my natural instinct...I forgot my camera!!! It rained and snowed and then turned sunny and blew cold wind all in the two days we were there! My mom and I have been going to Women's Conference for 3 years together. I wasn't going to go this year because it is getting a little longer than Mom likes ( after all she is 87 going on 88) and I seem to fall asleep when they turn down the lights. However, that was not a problem for me this year. It is all in the motivation, etc. I was so surprised when I got invited to speak at Women's Conference. I attended the very first WC when I was pregnant with Brooke and have tried to attend often ever since. It was a most marvelous opportunity and experience that told my heart Heavenly Father is very mindful of me...who else would know that I needed this in my life? I made many new friends, was strengthened and supported by many great friends I have been privileged to know in my life. The subject was exactly perfect for this time in my life....Take Time to Be Holy. I absolutely loved this gift given to me. I will never forget it. What I learned in reflection today as I thought about my mother and I interviewed by BYU television during Conference was like a great aha moment for me. She quoted a speaker we heard...Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, I'm my mother after all. The interviewer asked me after the filming if I thought I was my mother. I laughed and said I didn't know but I was sure looking like my sisters more and more each day. I thought about it more and realized that I am much more like my father. Then I thought about perspective and how it is when I get together with my 3 sisters and we talk about experiences we had together. It blows us away to see how differently we each viewed the same experience and we will try and convince each other that our view is the correct one. It made me realize that we are each right because we come with different personalities that take in each event through different eyes. I decided why humility is so important is so we can accept the different viewpoints as truth for the person sharing it and that it is a way to understand one another better when we listen and learn from it instead of arguing our point. Now if I could just stop talking so much and listen more...my mom is a good listener. I LOVED Women's Conference! Thanks to my friends that came and looked attentively even if you were wishing for a nice nap!