Snowboarding for Gary's Birthday

 

Gary wanted Evan and me to take him snowboarding for his birthday. We went on Saturday before his birthday. The snow was too wet and heavy to really enjoy the slopes, however we had a fun time anyway. Julie, Dennis, Julia, Nathan and Jonathan all joined us in the festivities to celebrate Gary's birthday. We love birthdays in our house, usually birthday celebrations last for days. What can we say we show our gratitude for our birthdays and the members of our family by extend birthday celebrations.

Gary's Dragon

This is the dragon that has been drawn on Gary’s wall for the last 2 years. When we asked Gary what he wanted for his birthday he said simply “I would really like my dragon to be finished”. My sister stared drawing the dragon on the wall when we moved into the house; however she was not able to finish it. I have no artistic ability when it comes to drawing. After many months of watching Evan “doodle” in church I was easily convinced that he could finish the dragon. Of course what he considers “doodles”, I consider amazing drawings. Evan was able to finish the drawing the dragon in a matter of a few hours. All I could do was sit back and say “wow that looks great!” I had the task of painting the dragon. I was very concerned about painting it; I have never painted any type of drawing. With Evan’s encouragement and persuasion, I started painting the dragon while he was at a Boy Scout camp with Gary. Little by little I finished the painting the dragon while Evan was at work, with the exception of the wings. I did not want to destroy the nearly finished dragon by painting the wings in the wrong way. We completed the dragon 3 days before Gary’s birthday. Gary has been very pleased and excited that his room is finally finished and so are we. My Evan is so talented; I could have never finished it without him. He has been so busy with work, but in his spare time (which he has none of) he diligently worked to finish our son’s room to try to make his 12th birthday special. I am so blessed to have Evan as my husband and father to our children. He has been the father to them that I had always prayed for and the husband I have always dreamed of.

Shorter Hair...Love It!!

Yep, I cut my hair shorter. I am glad that I didn't cut it this short the first time, otherwise I may have freaked out. However, after spending 9 of the last 12 weeks since my first haircut feeling like a huge poof ball, I was so excited to get my hair cut. I have really enjoyed spending 5 minutes doing my hair, 2 to blow dry and 3 to style. No wonder so many women cut their hair off. I never understood it before, mainly because the first time my hair was this short, I really didn’t know how to do it properly. So, I was a short haired frizz head. One of the big reasons that I like my hair is because now on RockBand 2 Evan and I have real life matching haircuts to our characters in the game. I know, I know I am a spaz. I think that I am getting closer to 12 like Evan. He can do somersaults on the bed and I like to match video game characters. Yep…we are perfect for each other.

Christmas Day!!

This year has been the best Christmas ever. I know it is because of Evan and Mada J. For the first time since my dad died, it felt like my family was complete. They have made our family whole. Evan is the father the kids have always wanted and needed. He is the greatest husband and best friend I could ever wish for. Heavenly Father truly understood and saw the need of me and the kids. Evan filled the big hole that was in our hearts and lives. We have truly been blessed this year. Evan and I must be the only parents who have to wake up our kids for Christmas. I didn’t think it was possible to be more excited for Christmas as an adult than as a kid, but I was soooo wrong. I love the weeks leading up to Christmas, all the traditions and most of all Christmas morning. I love watching the kid’s faces as they open their presents. This year the girls have enjoyed their DS games and the boys their new puppy, Captain Strom Dragon. As a special and utterly ridiculous gift I made Evan an outfit out of emergency blankets. It was more of sentimental gift than a useful gift. It was a tribute to the movie that brought us together “Rocketman”. It made Evan both laugh and cry at the same time, as it did for me. It was a very magical Christmas.

Pumpkin Roll

 
Have I ever mentioned how much Evan loves, I mean LOVES pumpkin roll? I thought he would get tired of them, but he hasn’t so far. I made my first set of pumpkin rolls late October, little did I know how much Evan would love them. I tried to calculate how many I have made since then, I got to 80 and stopped counting. The latest batch was taken to the Christensen family Christmas Eve dinner. It must be genetic for the Christensen Clan, or they are just really kind about their enjoyment of pumpkin roll. Well, maybe it is both. I am really glad that I don’t enjoy pumpkin roll as must as Evan, or I would be in serious trouble. I refuse to get the recipes of desserts I really enjoy for that very reason. The Christmas Eve dinner was really wonderful. I have enjoyed being a part of the Christensen family and have felt truly loved and accepted. I feel so blessed to have such great in-laws and their great ability to accept me and the kids so completely. It feels like we have always been a part of the family, I wish with all my heart that we had.

Temple Square

 

Visiting Temple Square at anytime during the year is always a great experience, however when it is during this time of year it really brings home the true meaning of Christmas. It is amazing the intensity of the spirit present, the over whelming sense of love that is felt is undeniable. Ever since Gary’s first Christmas I have never played the role of Santa Claus. I have always been concerned the all too often Christmas has been centered on Santa and what am I going to get. So, the kids have grown up knowing there is no Santa which I think has made it easy to focus on Christ. Don’t get me wrong the kids get gifts from each other and from Mom and Dad, they just don’t have the added distraction of Santa. So going to Temple Square is all the more enjoyable. It must be the best display of Christmas lights anywhere. Our annual event is filled with wonderment and awe as we took in the lights, decorations and nativity scenes surrounding the temple. I have always been so impressed with the amount of detail and dedication it takes to wrap the trees so completely in lights. It must take weeks of work to prepare for the Christmas Season, all done for us who go to partake of the beauty and spirit present, yet another gift to enjoy and show gratitude for.

Reindeer Poo Anyone

 
I think I may have a problem. As if I didn’t have enough to do taking care of 5 kids, getting ready for Christmas and working on paper after paper for school, I decided to make these little Reindeer for Evan’s family to take to Christmas Eve dinner. I made these years ago as a teenager for my friends, but they were not nearly as cute. Sometimes I am crafty, but don’t tell anyone. I am kind of a closet creative person.I also really think it is funny for the whoppers to come out the back exit. Yep, I am still 13. Sorry Evan’s family for spilling the beans before we get there, I am having a hard enough time trying to keep Evan’s Christmas presents a secret. I really am awful keeping secrets….only 20 more days. I am crossing my fingers that I will be able to keep my mouth shut.

Gingerbread Houses

Before



During

After



We have made gingerbread houses every year, but I have a confession. We usually use either graham crackers or store bought houses. Lazy right? This year I really didn’t want to buy another yucky stail gingerbread house and the graham crackers were out. I decided to make the houses from scratch. I figured since I can make elaborate birthday cakes this should be a snap. I searched the internet for recipes and patterns and combined a couple and it turned out really well. It was pretty easy just really time consuming. But the effort was worth it. We had such a fun time decorating it.

Christmas Traditions

 
So, we have this crazy holiday tradition. Well, it is more like a marathon. We celebrate the 25 days of Christmas. Every night we have some sort of activity and watch a Christmas movie. I know, I know what was I thinking when I started this tradition, but the kids really love it. Besides it makes every day feel little more like Christmas. We really get into the Christmas spirit. Last night was the “Christmas Chain” activity. I love the ideas that the kids come up with for the top of their chains.

Decorating for Christmas

Ok, I think that I got a little excited to spend our first Christmas together as a family. I couldn’t help myself, I felt the need to decorate. It is funny because we generally just put up a tree, but this year I had to put up lights outside, garland around the door, garland around the banisters and put up the second Christmas tree in the kitchen. I am so excited for Christmas! I also love that I was able to find gifts for Evan that he is going to love and forgot that he wanted. Now if I can keep it a secret for 23 more days.

Jardine Family Reunion

We had the Jardine Family Reunion over the Thanksgiving Holiday at Aspen Grove. To be honest I thought that it might be a disaster due to having to pack Thanksgiving dinner for 50 people up to a lodge. Boy was I wrong! It was so much fun. It was easily the best family reunion that we have EVER had. Good job Rae, you did an awesome job. I can't believe that it turned out so well. Rachel planned and planned for the reunion. She did such a great job. I heard from everyone there what a great time they had. Rachel defiantly set the bar really high. I am glad that I planned the reunion last year. Even though it was a bomb at least no one could compare it to this reunion. Good job Rae!

Flowers...My husband is the best ever!

 

Can I just say I have the most wonderful husband? We went to go get milk and as we were about to check out he said he forgot something and ran to go get it. Back he came with flowers. My first inclination was to object to the gesture, but I held my tongue. As he came to the register he said "I wanted to get you flowers to show you how much I appreciate you". How sweet is that? I love my husband, he is so good to me.

Halloween

 


Halloween! Who doesn't love to dress up? Evan and I were rocking the pirate theme. He was such a good sport for dressing up with me. We took the kids around the neighborhood and their little buckets were full within 45 minutes. Can you believe that? I remember going trick-or-treating as a kid for hours and never getting that much candy. Lucky kids.

Xander - Innocence of Youth and Time!

So todayI am down stairs getting Xander (Mr. Pants) some breakfast. Our dialog was as follows:

Me: "Xander, when is the last time you took a shower?"
Mr. Pants: "Ummm. I think it was Saturday."
Me: "Well, I don't remember you taking a bath yesterday, are you sure?"
Mr. Pants: "Yeah. It wasn't yesterday."
Me: "Do you remember when it was from earlier this week?"
Mr. Pants: "Ummm. It was Monday. That is when I took a bath last."
Me: "Monday! That was 6 days ago! That is a long time! You definitely need to take a bath before Church!"
Mr. Pants: "Dad! Monday wasn't a long time ago. A long time ago was 1840!"

That just goes to prove that if haven't bathed since the 1840's you are okay!

It Was Time..

 
It started with my bangs and then I had to finish the rest. I knew it was time to cut my hair short again because I was getting excited to grow old so that I could have short hair. Dumb reason…I know. I cut my hair really short when I was 18, right after prom. I really liked it short, but I started growing it out the day after I cut it. The only reason that I cut it the first time was because my dying father asked me to cut my hair. He wanted to see it short. This time however I just really wanted to cut it. I have been tired of my hair long for awhile, but I wanted to keep it long until I got married…check. I probably will keep it short for a while. At this point I like it so well I am not sure if I will grow my hair out again. By the way, I would like to say it took me more time to do my hair now than it did when it was long. I am still a newbie at doing short hair, we will see if I can get any faster.

Theater Room

 

Since I have been at home more I have involved myself into numerous projects. My latest one is completing the Theater Room. It has been a long process of finishing it. I wish that I would have taken a before picture, but I didn’t think about it until the project was completed. Oh well. It was a fun project and it is even more fun now that I have completed it. We have really enjoyed our renovated/completed Theater Room.