Christmas Card 2012

Hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you and yours a wonderful New Year!! Love, The Christensen Family

15th Anniversary!!

Today we celebrate our 15th Anniversary, even though he's had my heart for over 20 years.  Here's a little blast from the past, going back 20+ years...

Preschool Christmas Program

Natalie had her preschool Christmas program last week, it was so sweet.  Her favorite song was "Go Tell it on the Mountain", and "Away in a Manger".  She did a great job, and we are so proud of her!!

Here she is with of some of the children in her class/ Natalie and her good friend Frances / Singing "Go Tell it on the Mountain" / Posing for Mommy / Smiling with mommy, with a mouth full of chocolate :)

Gingerbread Men

We've been busy baking cookies, and doing crafts almost every afternoon. I grabbed the little ones (the big one was busy) and we sat down to decorate our gingerbread men. The great part is that they each get their own (and I don't have to worry about the house falling apart).

Here are their lovely creations..

The big maple in the backyard

We have this gorgeous big maple in our backyard, that I'm kind of in love with.  I didn't realize how much I love trees until I moved to this beautiful state full of trees.  Having not really grown up with a fall in sunny Cali. I'm kind of obsessed with it here.  When the leaves start to change color it is truly amazing, and I see God's handiwork all around me. 

In early November I went outside to capture the bright golden yellow hues of the maple leaves.  I love the contrast of the dark wet trunk and branches against the light leaves.  As you can tell it is a pretty tall tree, but not nearly as tall as our 100 year old pines, that tower above it at over 100 feet. 



Later that month the leaves fell from the trees, and were raked into 5 big piles.  The kiddos had fun jumping in them, and our neighbors (the cows) came over to the fence to investigate.  We rewarded them with apples.

Blizzards 2012 Soccer

Josh just wrapped up a another great soccer season.  This is his second year as Blizzard, and playing with same great group of boys and coaches as last year.  We had amazing weather all of September, and into October so Josh was able to ride his bike (with friends or big brother) to practice twice a week.  It is so nice having the practice field just two blocks away!!



Josh really improved from last year, and was much more aggressive in play (I'm thinking lacrosse may have had something to do with that!!), he also was able to try a few different positions including goalie, but I think defender is still his favorite.


As the weather started to change in October our games were more chilly, and we went from wearing flip flops to scarves.  Our final game was met with rain, and a lot of it!! But the boys played hard, and enjoyed running through the mud puddles, and getting soaked.  Gotta love Washington!! Rain or shine we play!!

Congratulations Blizzards on another great season!!

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween

We were so lucky to have a visit from Gordon & Marcia during the middle of October.  The kiddos got to spend some great time with them playing board games, and dominos, I got to take them to a few fun Seattle spots, and as a family we enjoyed the pumpkin patch, and our Halloween carnival with them. 



The kiddos had a great time picking out the perfect pumpkin (or two!!) and the adults enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and brisk weather. 



A few days later we enjoyed our church carnival where the kiddos played games, and we got to visit with friends. 



Dave and I were garden gnomes (I had cute ric rac, and mushrooms on my skirt, but alas no pics) Josh was a minecraft creeper (not pictured), Caleb a skeleton, and Natalie was a butterfly.  These are the same wings I wore when I was her age (they're vintage).  I was so happy my Mom kept them all these years, and when I asked if she could send them to me, she quickly made this cute pink tulle skirt to include in the shipment. Thanks grandma!!



For Halloween, we visited Daddy's work first, and filled up on candy, and snacks.  We had to call it quits after an hour because Natalie's pumpkin was spilling over, and it was time to go home and trick or treat with neighbors and friends.  The kiddos had a great time walking the nearby neighborhoods with friends, and it was a fun night had by all.