THE CHRISTENSENs

December 2011 & Christmas

2012-01-07T08:58:00.016-07:00

Imagination Library

We kicked off December by going to Imagination Library created by Dolly Parton. No, Dolly wasn't there. She organized this program for children 0-5 years old to receive free books in the mail every month. This was the kick off party. There were crafts, balloon animals, face paintings and snacks! It was so much fun. Liam even won a build-a-bear. What a lucky kid, only 4 weeks old and already winning drawings.

Can you tell what Aubrey was?

Fort New Salem Christmas Celebration

This man was the Belsnickle, very similar to Santa Claus in the colonial days. He'd walk around the fort and either give candy to the good children or switches to the bad children. Even as scary as the man looked, Aubrey and her cousins were eager to take candy from this stranger.... I guess it's time to talk about taking candy from strangers.

The kids posing in front of this modest Christmas tree in one of the shops.

In the center of the Fort, they have a large pine tree that they light with real candles as a choir and the crowd join together in singing Christmas Carols.

Aubrey got in trouble just before leaving and she had to stick her head and hands in the shackles.

Time to Decorate the Tree!

While Daddy was at a meeting, the kids and I worked on decorating the Christmas tree. We were too excited and couldn't wait.

Aubrey did an amazing job decorating the tree this year! She new that if she put all the ornaments at her level then it would be off balance so she had me lift her high to get the top too.

One Sunday evening, we walked around the park with Emily and Chris's family and got in the Christmas spirit with all the pretty lights. A few weeks later, we went Christmas caroling to the houses near the park and we really enjoyed ourselves as our audiences were kind, funny, excited and even a few scrooges. It was still very fun and entertaining.

With the rainy weather, we have spent a lot of time indoors creating and playing with these cute kiddos. In the above picture, they are pretending to be wonderpets in their newly constructed fly-boat. They even had a fain to propel their contraption.

This is one of our many crafts (a snow globe made with baby food jars and little figurines)

More time with Santa this was the 3rd out of 4 times of sitting on this guys lap.

More time playing indoors.... painting the bathtub with colored shave cream.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Unfortunately, we didn't have the camera out for the earlier part of the evening when we did the Nativity Pageant, Birthday cake for Jesus, or our Christmas Caroling. Aubrey was the Angel and Liam had the star roll as Baby Jesus. Their cousin Aleigha was Mary, Brenton was Joseph... and their older boy cousins and daddy were the wise men/Sheppards. They did amazing! Neither Aubrey or Liam got out of character the whole play.

Later that evening, we got to each open one gift... Aubrey got a book from grandma and pop. Liam got a new handsome looking polo shirt.

Next they hung the stocking from the chimney with care with a little help from Daddy of course.

We forgot our handmade stocking at our house so Grandma and Pop sacrificed theirs for the kiddos. Santa stuffed theirs and ours in Christmas hats and toy sleds instead.

Last but not least, Aubrey left milk and cookies and a special note for Santa.

Then off to bed it was for the kiddos and Mommy and Daddy of course!

The Christmas tree after Santa came! It was so beautiful and magical too.

Before even making it out of bed Christmas morning, Aubrey started vomiting.... It wouldn't be the holidays without a little sickness, right?

However, she mustered up the energy to be excited about her first few gifts. Especially the rocking horse!

This was probably the last smile we saw Christmas morning.... She started feeling sick again so this scene soon turned into.............

...... this sad, sad scene; but this scene soon ended too when all energy was lost and quickly turned into.........................................

..................... this scene, when finally she was able to get some rest from all her suffering..................but need not fear, because when Mommy and Liam came home from church this pitiful little girl turned right back into.......................................

............................ this beautiful, vivacious little princess (especially when she woke up to find more presents waiting to be opened that she didn't have the energy to open up earlier in the day.)

This picture shows how much better she was feeling by then end of the day. She was feeling so good she felt confident enough to catch Daddy in mid air!

Liam too, got many presents on Christmas, but he opened them so fast we didn't get any pictures of him. His favorite gift was a new set of hair. He's been complaining about how bald he is so Santa got him a little Rogain! The best part is that it is guaranteed to last even through his 20's which is amazing given the track record of his Daddy and his Uncles.

Mommy and Liam were the only ones who got to dress up in our Christmas clothes because Daddy and Aubrey got to stay home and missed out on church.

Liam has become quite the smiler and talker these days. If you give him even just a few minutes of attention, he will offer you smiles and goos and gaas. He is so fun, just like Aubrey!

Liam with his girlfriend Maddie.... She is obviously and Princess and he is to surprise a Car head!

We hope you all had a wonderful December and especially Christmas! Now I am only 8 days behind on blogging! I am getting so close to being caught up! Stay tuned in to see how we celebrated the New Year!

Liam 3

2012-01-03T12:34:00.001-07:00

Modern Baby Boy Birth Announcement

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The rest of November!

2012-01-03T09:27:00.008-07:00

Thankful for Family

Life with 2 babies has been amazing... Our little man is soooo... good! It amazes me how content he is. He goes to be when we do and only wakes up once in the middle of the night to eat and then strait back to bed for him. Aubrey, is an amazing big sister! She adores her little brother. Whenever someone asks to hold Mr.L, she says, "Yes, but you need to be very careful." What great advice. She showers him with kisses, hugs, and love everyday. She is so smart, and knows exactly how to handle a baby. People often ask how life is with 2, and other than my house never being as clean or taking longer to get in and out of the car, life is just as "easy." I have been so blessed with 2 of the greatest kids!

My friend from high school, had her baby 6 weeks before Liam was born and they are already the "best of friends."

Liam's 1st bath without his little belly button stub.

This little guy looks so much like his big sister at times that it amazes me.

We have this same pose of Aubrey when she was his age, so we had to play with him too.

"Love's chattin' wid his home boys"

Happy 1st Thanksgiving!

Daddy's Fan Club on Thanksgiving Day!

Aubrey loves grappling with her Grand Dad! We had the pleasure of spending Thanksgiving with Wade's Mom and Dad here in West Virginia. They came to meet Liam and spend time with Miss Aubrey. How lucky are they to have 4 grandparents!

Thanksgiving/Christmas Parade!

Aubrey was so excited when the parade started and especially when they started throwing candy! She filled her whole hat and grandma's pockets with lots of candy!

Enjoying the parade with Wade's Parents!

My lovely Mom and Sisters with all the babies bundled up!

I think we managed to get a picture of all the kids at the parade... it was really hard to keep them all together with the distraction of all the parade cars, horses, and Santa's Sleigh!

This was Aubrey and Liam's first time sitting on Santa's Lap in the year 2011. Although Aubrey doesn't look too impressed, she was very excited and couldn't wait to sit on his lap. However, as you will see in the next post this was only the first of 4x's of sitting on the "Big Guys" lap this year.

We hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving, as we did!
I am almost all caught up on blogging!
We'll tune in again in the near future!
Love, the Christensen's

2011-12-31T10:27:00.009-07:00

Halloween.... Still Waiting on Baby Liam!

Aubrey got her "Very 1st Very Own" pumpkin at the Pumpkin patch we love to go to each year!

Since there was still no sign of Liam arriving for Halloween and he would miss dressing up in a cute costume, we decided to include him anyways... this year he went as a Jack-O-Lantern.

The rest of us went with a different theme. Me: Queen Bee , Aubrey: Bumble Bee Princess, Daddy: The Bee Keeper or "Honey Man"

We attended several community Halloween parties and enjoyed every moment of it.... Aubrey was a pro trick-or-treater and mastered the song "Trick-or-Treat smell my feet give me something good to eat, if you don't I don't care, I pull down your underwear!" She said this to about 1/2 of the houses.

LIAM'S BirthStory

Because Aubrey came 6 days early when she was born, I just expected that Liam would come just as early or even sooner. I was becoming very anxious and unfortunately, I confused that with a "Mother's Intuition." Therefore, leading myself to major disappointment. I began walking every day and night. Then that walking turned into a pathetic jog every night, mixed with other "Labor Inducing Activities." One Sunday, after much work, I was sure this was "It!" I began going down the line of calling my Mom and all my sisters; saying, "I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure so be on standby." Then after the contractions subsided, I had to make that depressing call back saying, "don't worry, you can go to bed... nothing's going to happen." My doctor is big on offering inductions at 39 weeks if wanted. I told him that we'd schedule one for 11-4-11, but I probably wouldn't take it because I'd go naturally on my own or I'd just wait till my due date.... Well, 11-4-11 came and this desperate, anxious Mom packed her bags an hour before she was suppose to arrive for the induction and made it to the hospital at 5:30am.

I was very nervous because Aubrey's labor and delivery went so well, that I was afraid that I wouldn't be as lucky this time around; especially, because I was being induced.

However, things started out great. As soon as they hooked me up to the monitor it was evident that I had already began contracting on my own. They said that even if I didn't come it that morning, they were sure that I would have come in on my own that night. The contractions were pretty steady at first but then they started the Pitocin to keep them coming regularly. We came prepared with the Ipad, Labtop, card games, and more to help pass the time. But early on, the nurse asked if it would be okay if two WVU students observed the birth. I agreed to let them. I thought that they would just be in and out the whole time with the nurses, but I guess if you're a student you aren't expected to do much so they ended up just hanging out with us and talking until it was go time and then there wasn't much talking going on. So needless to say, we didn't need any of the stuff we brought. My doctor came and checked on me once or twice and said I could have the epidural before they broke my water so I wouldn't get too uncomfortable. However, right before the anesthesiologist came in, the nurse checked me and I was already at 8cm. So much for giving me the epidural before I progressed too much.... hahaha. Anyways, I need to make mention about how nice the anesthesiologist was. He was AMAZING! He could tell I was very nervous, but he kept me distracted and was so patient with me... even though I dreaded his arrival, I was in LOVE with him before he left! I guess that's probably the standard with having a job like that. Immediately after, Pop brought Aubrey in to see Mommy and Daddy one last time before she was no longer the only child. After she left to go wait in the lobby, I was slipping off into dream land, but not even a 1/2 hour later the doctor came in ready to catch our little man. At this point it was 11:27 and we kept joking that I was going to beat Aubrey's time who was born at 11:54 with 15 min. of pushing. So I began pushing, and everyone kept telling me how close he was.... I didn't believe them because with Aubrey they said that and then I realized you could barely see any of her head so I continued to casually push as not to wear myself out. Well, after 6 min. of pushing, they said, "He's Here!" and I looked down in amazement to see my sweet baby boy in all his glory!

Liam, only seconds after entering this Great World!

I was able to hold him for a moment, before they started weighing and poking and prodding him... but that moment was amazing. He looked just like his Big Sister Aubrey and I was in love all over again.

Liam Cade Christensen weighed 6lbs. 14oz. and 20" long. He had dark hair with side chops that extended to his jaw and tiny little ears. He was perfect.

They only let the baby stay with Mommy and Daddy for about 1hour until they take him to get warmed up in the nursery. In that time he nursed awesomely for almost the whole hour, but then everyone got to hold him for a few minutes.

When Aubrey first saw her brother she was... In LOVE! Her first words were, "I love him... I love him... Can we take him home?" She is an amazing Big Sister! They soon whisked him away to the nursery. He had difficulty getting his body temperature back so he didn't get to come back with us for 5 hours. This was a little disappointing, but I must say the break was a little nice so I could get a little rest. We walked down to the nursery to see him after a couple hours and made it clear to them that we wanted to be a part of his first bath and the nurse agreed to come get us before hand. Well... after the 5 hours they came rolling him in all clean and clothed. I was a little upset about this as well, but we've already had too many baths at home to count to make up for the 1st.

Liam all clean and warm.

Wearing his first pair of Jammies.

Our first Family Cuddle session ended with everyone falling asleep in my bed. After they all fell asleep and I took the pictures, we put Liam back in his bed and I joined in on a nice, long nap.

We got lots of awesome visitors including family and friends!

Aubrey even got a visitor her own age. She shared her new Princess shoes that Liam gave to his Big Sister.

After 48 hours we were getting pretty bored and decided it was time to get home to Aubrey and start having fun!
All cute in his going home outfit!

Trying out his new carseat! He looked so tiny in it, now looking back, this really gives me an idea of how much he has grown already!

Rolling out to the car in front of the Hospital.

3 days Old and taking our 1st walk!

Aubrey's regressed just a bit... We have to swaddle her, binkytize her and rock her in the bassinet to get her to sleep... No Big Deal... jk.... she was just being her silly little self.

I'm still behind on all my postings, but at least I have his Birth Story recorded now. I am excited to share our Thanksgiving and Christmas adventures with you in the coming days. This post was just getting too long and there is so much we've already done since Liam's arrival.... Life is Grand!

Where have we been? I'll tell you where we've been!

2011-11-02T05:47:00.027-06:00

!AUGUST!

In August, we went to the Columbus Zoo and Water Park with the whole gang! I was a little nervous about going down water slides when pregnant... but it didn't hold me back and I had a blast!

Aubrey and Kenli looking awesome in their shades ready to see the animals!

We took a detour to the petting zoo within the big Zoo! The kids had a blast brushing the animals.

Aubrey loved to see all the animals... the best part was that she was old enough to remember what she had seen and still talks about the "bears jumping in the water!"

We Bought A BOAT!

First day of boating relaxed Aubrey so much she feel asleep sitting up! She loves boating and we can't wait to teach her how to wake board next year!

We Saw the OCEAN!

This year Aubrey was a little more apprehensive about the water, but warmed up quickly to it as she ventured out a few times on her own.

Aubrey kissing Baby Brother Liam and telling him how excited she is to have him play with her in the waves next summer!

Priceless picture... Aubrey loves her Daddy and feels safer with none other!

We Went CAMPING!

We went camping about 1/2 hour from the beach at our favorite Bell Plane State Park. However, the deer ticks loved Aubrey a little too much as we collected over 12 microscopic ticks from her sweet head.
We also had the pleasure of camping with Uncle Jared and Mary and Ethan. They were so much fun to have with us!

We Went to WASHINGTON DC

Uncle Jared woke up super early and sat in the cold rain for hours to get us tickets to go to the top of the Washington Monument... Thanks Jared!

The Capitol!

Honest Abe

Jared and the kids looking toward the Washington Monument in deep thought.

White House!

We Got to Visit LUCY the ELEPHANT!
My Uncle on my Mom's side helped construct Lucy to scare off unwanted visitors on the sea!

Early Morning Ride on the Board Walk!
I think this picture was taken seconds before mom fell.

We took a trolly instead of the bikes so we could make Wade and Jared do all the work.

Swimming with the cousins... for some reason Aubrey felt the need to strip naked in the pool... Much more refreshing that way I guess.

More boating... Wade showing off his awesome skills!

Me showing off my mad pregnant woman wake boarding skills!

Happy 4 Year ANNIVERSARY Love!

I came home surprised to find these inside my door waiting for me!

Wade came home to find this surprise on the bed waiting for him!
Then we went to dinner and movie and played at the town park afterwards... I love you Wade and I couldn't be happier!

`````~~~~~`````
!SEPTEMBER!

STORY HOUR at the LIBRARY

Every Tuesday we go to Story hour at the Library, this particular day you were suppose to dress up like someone from a specific culture, continent or country. Aleigha was a little Gypsy girl and Aubrey was a little girl from Tanzania and Brenton a Cowboy... They were super cute!

More Boating... However, hours in the hot sun sometimes make these two kiddos blood boil!

This is our favorite little place to eat when boating. It's right on the river and we dock up and go get a yummy bite to eat at "The JUG"

However, I think Aubrey enjoyed the Boogers more than the Burgers!

FUN in the TUB!

This is some goo that the kids made! It was super sticky and icky that it had to be played with in the tub! They had a blast sliding all over the tub.

Afterwards, the kids cleaned up by taking a bath with glow sticks! Bath time has never been the same since... there is always high expectations for fun in the Tub!

ARKANSAS!
Emily and I have never been to our sister Laura's house in Arkansas and we've been super anxious to go. So we took the plunge and left our husbands at home as we made the trek alone with three kiddos. Although the drive was miserable at times, we do not regret going one bit... we had so much fun!

We did lots of art projects!

Aunt Laura introduced us to the jump zone and Aubrey was not scared of the big slides on bit, in fact, she loved the big slides.

These two just lounged in the stroller as they picked their boogers and indulged on their rewards... yuck!
We had fun playing in the park on our last day in Arkansas... now we can't wait to go back for another visit.

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow!"
Yes, I am posing with a Rainbow vacuum cleaner, because this was the night that I finally earned my very own Rainbow and I could not be a happier owner! I have been nesting ever since it has become the new member of our family.

`````~~~~~`````
!OCTOBER!

My little photo shoot with Little Miss Sunshine!

She is so beautiful!

The kids love playing "dress ups." Aleigha was pretending to be a witch and the other two were bumble bees. That's what they were for Halloween too. When they first put on their costumes, they truly believed they could fly!

Home School Preschool!

Aleigha's Halloween Costume Birthday Party was so much fun!

I got to make and decorate Aleigha's Birthday cakes... It was a lot of fun!
Happy Birthday Aleigha!

My Birthday Weekend!

We convinced the family to join us as we camped at Summersville lake and hiked the area the next day for my Birthday!

We took a 4 mile hike out to this beautiful point/cliff after a pancake breakfast around the campfire.

Kissing on the cliff

Aubrey and I taking a quick break while we wait up for some of the others!

After hiking, we grabbed a bite to eat and went to this Psychedelic Hole in the Wall attraction called, "Mystery Hole." It's a place that "defies" the rules of gravity. I swear the people who created it were stoned while in the process.

NEW RIVE GORGE BRIDGE

This was the last stop we made on my Birthday trip! It was amazing how breathtaking this bridge is!

All "four" of us in front of the bridge at the look out!

I hope you all enjoyed this lengthy blog post! The next post will contain pictures of our Halloween fun and the arrival of Liam who will be here any day! We miss all of you who are so far away! We hope this finds you safe and happy!

More July Fun!

2011-07-20T10:47:00.007-06:00

My last post just consisted of pictures and no text due to the fact that I was updating my blog during a thunderstorm and lost power. However, I just recovered all that text so feel welcomed to go back and read what all those pictures were about. I don't blame you if you don't though. I'm just glad I found if for my own sake.

Uncle Bob on the 4th of July!

The day after the 4th, Wade put on a little firework show for us all and we got to play with sparklers!

We're a little worried that Aubrey may become a little Pyro, because she loved the sparklers and loved scaring us all as she swung in around aimlessly.

Mommy and Aubrey

Brenton on the other hand was a little more cautious about all the fireworks as this was the closest we could get him to holding his own sparkler. Most of the time he clung onto Chris or Emily.

Aleigha was a little Sparkler Princess.

Sadly, she learned to be a Sparkler Princess from her Dad and not her Mom.

Aubrey is becoming an awesome little swimmer. She can hold her breath and swim to someone with a little push. She says so proudly, "I Brave, I Brave" When she resurfaces.

Brenton is getting really brave too, but going under the water isn't his favorite. Slap on his water shoes and he becomes invincible.

Daddy and Aubrey doing an underwater pose.

Brenton and Chris doing their under water pose.

Aubrey and Brenton so proud of themselves after and fun day at the water park.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-11T16:09:00.000-06:00

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-11T10:12:00.012-06:00

(I put this text up with the extra pictures at the bottom the day that I posted the other pictures, I thought I had lost it all in a thunderstorm, but today I found it once again.)

Let FREEDOM Ring!

Last year we spent the 4th of July at the Capital of our Nation this year we decided to spend it in a more appropriate location and go to the Birthplace of our Nation, Philadelphia. You can't get more appropriate than that. We like to be Patriotic and celebrate in the biggest way possible. Next year we will have a hard time finding a better place.

On Friday, I worked diligently to get the house cleaned and packed to get on the road. Wade came home a little early and helped me with a few last minute things. Then we got in the car and drove. We no longer have cell phones or a GPS; however, we thought that we'd been to NJ enough times to find our way easily. Unfortunately, we always manage to find our way into Downtown Camden (The top Crime area of the Country) at night time. We got back on the freeway and decided to get off the next exit. Instead we found ourselves in the suburbs of Camden which was worst that Downtown. We somehow got out with our lives still intact. Finally we found our way to my brother's house and got to enjoy some time with them before we crashed into sleep.

Saturday: Let the Festivities Begin!

The next morning, we went a visited Uncle Bob and got to eat the famous Panzorati's that is tradition to get when we are in NJ.
Afterwards, we hung out in Tom and Roxanne's backyard while the girls swam and played on the slides. Aubrey loved playing whit Jadyn and Kaya especially because they treated her like a little princess.

When it started to get dark, it was time to head over to Maple Shade, NJ and watch their firework show. The girls loved the show and cheered the whole time. They would pretend to catch them and put them in their pockets.

These girls became good friends quickly.

Of course, Mom and Dad haven't been home since Molly has graduated highschool and were already in NJ when we got there. They too enjoyed the fireworks with us.

I absolutely love the shirts (above) that Jadyn and Kaya made for Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma's was especially funny as it appeared that she was "felt up" by a man with freakishly small hands. It killed me every time I looked at her!

All of us enjoying the show!

Tom, Rox, and the Girls enjoying the show!

She had pure delight in her eyes as she watched the fireworks. One thing that we have learned about Aubrey is that she loves loud noises and bright lights!
Sunday: Beach Day

After church, we got our swimsuits on and headed for the shore. We love Ocean City, NJ. and always have to make room for it on each trip. The girls had a blast with each other!

MONDAY: 4th of July if Philadelphia

Unfortunately we missed the parade, because we came into town on the wrong end. However, we enjoyed all the fun that was going on at "Party on the Parkway." There was lots of free drinks, prizes and fun.

Tough man contest

Wade proved to be the toughest man of all, as he showed Marines how may pull up he could do. He go a free hat for doing so many.

We enjoyed listening to a band rock out as Aubrey danced along. She was so patriotic the whole day as she held on to her little American flags.

In the kids section, there was lots of free games, activities, and face painting. Aubrey got her face painted for the first time ever and absolutely loved it.

Later in the car, she wiped her face with her hand and started crying, "blood, blood, mommy, I'm bleeding!" as she had forgotten all about her face being painted when she saw the red on her hands.

They also had a free craft section, and she got to make her own red, white, and blue beaded necklace.

The had lots of inflatable jump and slide toys, but those are usually to big for Aubrey when she has to battle other big kids. However, they had a nice small blow up playground just for kids under 3. She definitely handled herself just fine.

Afterwards, we had to say goodbye to Uncle Bob one last time before we headed home to WV. On the way home, we were able to watch more fireworks in Cumberland, MD. We sure had a wonderful 4th of July and hope you all did too!

Having Fun Redneck Style!

2011-06-29T13:09:00.004-06:00

What do you do on a Friday night in West Virginia along side hundreds of other Born in the Blue Rednecks?

Hint: Black and White Checker Flags
Outdoor racetrack- Choice of seating: Camp Chairs, Blankets, or the Mud
Burgers, Pizza, and Beer
Loud Engines
The smell of burning Clutches, Tires, and Cigarette Smoke
Huge Tires
Port-a-Johns
A Variety of Mullets and Rat tails
Beer Bellies, Cut off t-shirts and shorts

Bonus Hint: It's not NASCAR

Answer: Monster Mash (Monster Truck Racing!)
And we LOVED joining in on the Madness and getting our Redneck On!

At First I was excited; however, I didn't realize it was outside and I did not come prepared. After initially sitting in the mud and getting soaked withing seconds, Wade and Aubrey made a run for Wal-Mart and bought a blanket. I was a little negative at first, but soon, my inner country girl kicked in and I Loved it!

Daddy and Aubrey enjoying the show!
We were not sure how Aubrey would handle the show, but as soon as the engines turned on, she would not take her eyes off the cars. She loved, and I mean LOVED the whole show. She cheered and cheered! I'm pretty sure Wade was a very PROUD parent, when he realized his and Aubrey's similar interests. It's only a matter of time before he has her in Coveralls working in his shop.

The Turtle Truck was Aubrey's favorite.
Aubrey cheered: "Go Turtle Go!" over and over again
Later she began cheering: "Go Froggy Go!"
Wade: "Do you mean Turtle?"
Aubrey: "Oh yeah! Go Turtle Go!"

This truck "The Stone Crusher" was my favorite!

Aubrey screaming, "Whoaaaa!" She was very impressed.
When we got in the car she kept repeating, "I liked it, I liked it...!"

Maybe we'll do it again next year?!?!

Happy Days!

2011-06-28T06:27:00.010-06:00

Happy Father's Day Daddy! & Happy Birthday Aubrey!

What a fun weekend! First Aubrey and I along with the help of my sister Emily and her husband surprised Wade with a weekend camping trip. There is a free campground about 1.5 hours away from us and supposedly it was really nice. Wade loves camping and would take the opportunity to go everyday if he had the chance. So Friday when he came home from work, I already had the car packed with all of our gear now we just had to wait for Emily and Chris to get ready. At one point, Wade asked if we could go camping and I said no, because I needed more time to prepare than a few hours (haha). Next, I told him we were going to eat dinner out to celebrate Aubrey's Birthday and we were going to meet Emily and Chris. Then I told him that Emily and Christ wanted to eat at a new restaurant that was about 45min. away. So we began driving. I played dumb like I had no idea where the restaurant Emily wanted go was located especially when the 45min. trip turned into 1hr 10min. trip. Soon I began to realize that the little bit of info that I grabbed off the internet was not enough to even put us remotely close to our destination. We had to stop several times and ask for directions. Wade really became suspicious when we were on a dirt road in the middle of no where with only trees,fields, lighting and fireflies around. Soon I told him we were going camping and that we needed his help finding the place. When we pulled into the campground at 1/4 till midnight it began down pouring. However, it soon stopped we found a nice little spot and camped anyways.

When we were house sitting a few weeks ago Aubrey fell in love with their daughter's pillow pet. So searched for a cute on just for her Birthday. However, I found something even better. It is an animal pillow and the stomach is Velcro with a sleeping bag rolled up inside of it. We gave it to her the first night of camping and she loved it. She actually stayed in it the whole night!

The next morning we sat around the fire for a short while until it was time to go to the Marietta Aquatic center where we were going to celebrate Aubrey and Brenton's 2'nd Birthday.

Look who's 2!
These two little munchkins couldn't have been more excited for their Birthday. These two love saying and singing Happy Birthday! When they realized we were singing it to them, they were even more thrilled.

When Aubrey and Brenton aren't trying to kill each other, they are very loving towards one another. And who could be mad on such an occasion so instead of pinching cheeks and pulling hair, they kissed.

Well as you can see, our family seems to like to kiss. Especially on such a Happy Day! I remember how excited Wade was when Aubrey was born in time for him to have his 1st Father's day with her in his arms. They have been such good buddies ever since.

Of course, what's a Birthday party without presents? They each had several fun presents to open up with the help of Aleigha who was such a good helper.

Water Park Fun!

Now that the presents were open and food was in our bellies, it was time to have FUN!

Going down the waster slide was a two man job for Aubrey and Brenton. They needed a Daddy at the top to help push them down and a Daddy at the bottom to catch them. They each did this about twice to realize they had all the waterslide fun they needed for one day.

The lazy river was a little more relaxing and warmer. Most of the time was spent in the lazy river. I even found $.75 in the water!

These girlfriends had fun walking around the pool grabbing the attention of other preschoolers and toddlers as they giggled and strutted their stuff.

After swimming, it was time to cuddle up in some warm towels with daddy! We've been having 90+ degree weather but on the day of the party it decided to storm a little bit and cool down as well. So if you weren't in the water, a towel was in need.

We decided to eat the cake during the thunder break when more of the family was there. Let's just say that the kids ate more sugar than any other food substance that day, which is totally acceptable on your Birthday! However, that night when we went back to the campground and was getting ready for bed, I almost took Aubrey to the hospital because it looked like there was blood in her stool. No worries though, it was just all the red dye she ate in her cake and other sweets. You know it was a good day when your diaper looks like that.

Once again, Happy Birthday Little Miss Sunshine and Happy Father's Day Papa!

Confucius Says: "Preggo Lady is Lazy"

2011-06-16T11:53:00.020-06:00

There is no excuse for this late post other than the fact that since I have gotten pregnant, I have become a "tiny bit" lazy. I still view everyone's blog updates, but by the time I have read them, I am exhausted...lol. Well, this week (since I am now no longer teaching or farm sitting) I have been working on being a little less lazy. My house is a little more clean, most of my laundry is put away and I am ready to begin living my life! I have approximately 4.5 months left before Baby Boy joins our family, so I am going to be doing as much as I can to get ready for his arrival while enjoy the little time left we have with just one child. How I am going to do this post is to display a variety of pictures from the last few month and briefly explain where we are in life and what we have been up to. I hope you enjoy and forgive how long this may be.

Aubrey is growing up!

I can't believe how much Aubrey has grown up in the last few months. She is getting so smart. There is probably isn't anything that she can't communicate to us verbally now. She has become a chatter box. She talks all the time about everything. There are few words that I have a difficult time translating but for the most part she is rocking her speech. She can count to 20 with help in the teens. She knows her ABC's and most of her ABC phonics song. Her favorite phrases right now are: "Hot tamale (or Hot to carseat, Hot to oatmeal, Hot to oven, or anything else hot.)" She frequently says out of nowhere, "Mommy, I love you" or Daddy of coarse, "I missed you Daddy." These sweet little phrases can melt anyones heart. We love our baby girl and are so proud of how she is growing up. She is officially a non-binky sucker. Her words: "No more binkys, Binky's are for Ken Ken (her 5 month cousin), I'm a Big girl.!" In the above picture she put on her shirt for the first time all by herself. She sat for about 40 minutes intently working on getting it on.

And of course, we found out that Aubrey is finally going to be a Big Sister! We found out a few weeks ago that It's a Boy! We are so excited for all the fun, joy and excitement that little guy is going to bring into our home!

Hiking at Seneca Rock with Liz a Craig!

We had so much fun a few months ago when we got to go visit Liz and Craig and Carter in Elkins and go hiking up Seneca Rock. We forgot to bring Aubrey's backpack, but luckily I had the Mai-tie that I made with us. I don't really think they are made for hiking, but it did the job.

Wade, Aubrey, Craig and Carter

"When We're Bored at Home"

Aubrey and Aleigha playing with shaving cream. It was fun but sure made a mess. We were out of my shaving cream so I used Wade's instead. Our house smelled like 500 hundred clean shaven men had taken over the place.

One day when Aubrey was really tired, she feel asleep in the middle of the kitchen floor. She rarely falls asleep anywhere other than her crib soI took the opportunity to play a little prank on Wade when he got home. I sprayed Katsup on the floor and laid down next to her minutes before he arrived home. When he came home, he just started laughing as soon as he saw us. I guess that means I play too many pranks and he's too hard to get anymore. I know this was a very morbid prank, but I couldn't resist the opportunity.

"We're Going to the Circus"
Barnum and Baily were only a few hours away from us and we almost went to see them. However, for a lot less money, we went to a local Circus (which was incredibly tiny) instead. At first I was very disappointed. However, after I saw how much the kids loved it, I was thrilled we went there. It was so small that all the kids were aloud to sit around the Ring. They got great views and loved every minute of it.

Aleigha and Brenton decided to join the Circus

Aubrey and Brenton giving the clown "High Fives"

"Let's Go on a Babymoon!"
We left Aubrey for the first time for more than a night as we sailed away into the warm Caribbean for a week.
I think it was harder on me than it was on her, I felt so guilty and missed her a ton. However, it was awesome to have a little R&R time with Wade without any distractions other than morning sickness.

We paid for the cheapest cabin available; however when we checked on, they upgraded us to a room with a Balcony and couch. We were so excited that we jumped on the bed and shouted off our our Balcony.

We took advantage of every activity available this cruise as we competed in Rock Climbing and got a Gold and Silver Royal Caribbean medals. We also both got Gold medals in our adult dodgeball competition! Let's just say we rocked it!

Getting ready to practice our rock climbing so we can kick butt!

Enjoying the sunshine and warmth on the deck of the ship!

Wade spontaneously (with a lot of encouragement and pressure from me) joined the Men's Belly Flop contest. These are the men he was up against. He scored 1-3 out of 5 most of the time, but redeemed himself with a flip belly flop for the most painful flop and even received a few 5's from the crowd. Even though he didn't win, he made me proud!

"Welcome to Haiti"

Haiti was beautiful and the weather was perfect. Labadee Haiti was basically like a state park beach as in it was separated and gated off from the real Haiti. Although we didn't experience much of the culture, it was a perfect beach day!

Our Royal Caribbean "Navigator of the Seas" ship in Lebadee, Haiti

We paid to play of these awesome inflatable water toys for an hour. It was a lot of fun and wore us out. I did awesome stunts accompanied by amazing facial expressions on the trampoline.

Wade lounging in the water after jumping off a 20 foot inflatable iceberg.

An old wrecked ship on the island.

What I would give to be able to go back to this very moment. Hammock on the beach, palm trees shading us, warm weather with a refreshing breeze and in the arms of my love. Oh it was amazing

Ice skating on one of the lower decks of our ship. Our ship had so many accommodations and activities that kept us very busy.

"Welcome to Jamaica"

You can't fool us. This time around we didn't buy any excursions in advance, instead we decided to wait and try and do it more economically. We wanted to see the Dunn's River Falls , but didn't want to pay $300 to do it. Instead when we got off the ship, we immediately began searching for local transportation that would get us there cheaper. They tried charging us $130 a piece just to get to the falls and back. We said we wanted to use local transportation but they said if we did it would bee too dangerous and anything could happen to us. We decided to take our chances as we piled into a van full of 15 other Jamaican's. We paid $6 to get there. When we got there, we paid $30 to enjoy the breathtaking falls and climb them. The way back was a little more nerve racking as we were almost out of money and got into a van that only Wade and I were passengers alongside two teen drivers who wanted to charge us $50 and we only had $4 left. We explained to them but were not sure if they understood our dilemma. We kept waiting for them to turn off the maid road and beat us or worst. However, we made it back to Falmouth and they didn't mind that we only paid them $4. So instead of paying $300, we paid a total of $40 and we got to experience more of the culture. I loved every moment of it!

Dunn's River falls is over 500 feet of cascading falls that you could climb all the way up.

We took a short break from climbing and that's when I fully grasped how beautiful the falls really were. Here we were sitting in fresh cascading water with blue skies an palm trees above us. It was breathtaking

That night we were both worn out from our adventures that we decided to take a nap before dinner. Instead I woke up with the room completely dark to realize that it was 3 in the morning. At this point, we were starving and wide awake. We decided to get something to eat, sit in the hot tub and watch the sunrise. It was actually really fun to be awake while everyone else slept and the ship was quiet.

Since Wade was brave enough to be in the Belly flop contest, I decided I should be brave enough to do the pool side Olympics. I competed with 4 other girls against 5 guys. It was very fun, the guys won even though we tried to cheat they still beat us.

"Race Home to see our Baby Girl on Easter Morning!"

Easter was very fun this year as Aubrey was able to find her basket on her own with the help of a candy trail. She was excited to see all her goodies.

We then got to go on an egg hunt at Aunt Emily's house where the Bunny had to hide the eggs inside because it was rainy.

Easter pictures with some cousins and grandma

Everyone Kiss Grandma! You can tell who grandma's favorite is huh?

Craziness!, Craziness!, Craziness!

2011-03-04T13:39:00.002-07:00

Craziness #1
Aubrey is almost completely potty trained! I kept saying, "I know she's ready, but I will start during spring break so she can have consistency with me helping her out." No. She has decided otherwise. She is ready! She will always tell us when she has to go potty and most of the time we get to the potty. Still we have to work on the night time potty. Again, she is pretty dry when she wakes up but if I don't take her immediately to the potty it's too late. She is incredible. She's only 20 months and training herself! We are so proud of her.

Craziness #2 (Give me your advice!)

Whenever I think I have a plan for my life, boy, I am wrong! Heavenly Father giggles at me and says, "Time to switch things up and confuse her." As many of you may already know we have been trying for baby number 2 for a while now. It's probably been over 8 months now. It's been very frustrating and disappointing each month. My plan was to work until the end of this school year and then just stay home with my babies. Aubrey was too young to enter the day care at my work so she gets babysat by grandma and pop while I work. I figured by the beginning of the next school year that I would be pregnant or already have a baby and if I wanted to continue to work, I'd be in the same boat as last year with a baby too young to go with me. However, things have changed. I am not pregnant yet which means at the earliest I'd have a baby would be in the middle of the school year. Still, I figured I wouldn't work because of that small chance. Then I get the news, "We are selling the Preschool!" Oh? Okay, what does that mean for me? Although the preschool is being sold, the new owner wants all the staff to stay the same. Still, that doesn't make a difference in my decision right? No, I am wrong. Next, I am told that the owner has another preschool and would want to train me or another employee to be the director of the preschool. Okay, that's interesting and all, but I have this plan and I want to be able to be with my babies. Then she continues, "Brad told you that I'm going to open the center up to infants too right?" Okay, now I'm interested. What do you consider an infant, can't be that young right? Wrong, 6 weeks old. Huh?!? Now I'm really intrigued. You mean I can turn my job into a career and get to bring my kids to work with me?!? All of this is still up in the air but has definitely put a twist into my plans. I love the sound of this opportunity yet, I am still a little uncertain. This other part of me likes the thought of being able to stay home all the time with my kids and get to do whatever we want. However, it would be very nice to be able to continue to contribute to our family while we are still trying to get started in life. Ahhh! I am so bad at decisions.... I am almost certain that's why I am always faced with them. What do you my fellow readers think I should do? Please help me!

"MELT"

2011-02-16T13:35:00.008-07:00

The last 2 months have been full of "Melting" for me. First off, we have had a very consistently cold winter. I love the snow and enjoyed it; however, we are so ready for Spring and Summer. I so badly wanted to take Aubrey outside to build a snowman; unfortunately, the day I decided to go out, the snow was melting. As sad as it was, I was also excited to see our grass again. For a little while, I could glimpse that Winter was not going to last forever. In fact, today it reached 61' on the thermometer! How's that for exciting?

Instead of building a snowman, Aubrey and Aleigha made sopping wet Snow Angels. Aubrey was a little unsure of the whole adventure at first.

However, it didn't take Aubrey long to really enjoy laying in a sloppy mess of slush.
I love her cheeser smiles!
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Next, my heart melted as i held my beautiful niece Kenli in my arms. Many fond memories of Aubrey's birth came flooding back to my mind. Kenli was the exact same size Aubrey was when she was born, 6lbs 8oz.. I can't believe my baby girl has grown up that much in the last 20mths. My heart also melted as I have seen Aubrey interact with Kenli so well. I know Aubrey is so excited to be a big sister someday and I know that she will be a great one at that!

This is the first time Aubrey got to meet her new cousin Kenli Marie!

Aubrey is so "in love" with her baby cousins. Luckily for Titan, Kenli was born so Aubrey can spread her smothering between the two new babies.

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Third, my heart also melted as Wade and I have started participating in an ongoing Love-War between one another. Because we are quite the pranksters, we decided one day that instead of being ruthless, we would put our minds to good use and start a love pranking war instead of the traditional prank war. However, Wade said I had to make the first move. Well we got busier and busier and the idea got pushed to the back burner; until about a week ago when I decided to break the ice. Aubrey and I snuck into Wade's shop and put a six pack of soda and two cans of Pringles on his desk. We decorated them with ribbon and tied an heart shaped balloon to them with a note that said. "We SODA love you even when you're CHEESY. -The love wars begin!"

The next day, I got a single rose delivered to me in the mail that had a note that read "Two Can Play the Game"

The day after that, he found a small gift bag hanging from the front door that said, "The Reisens I love you" Inside was candy Reisens with a piece of paper wrapped around the candy inside the wrapper with a Reason why I loved him.

The next day I got in the car to see 50 pieces of paper on the ceiling that had numbers on the back. After I tore them down and put them all in order it was a love note from him to me.

That night, when we went to go check the mail, I had placed a wrapped package inside with a love note to him written in Spanish (since he can speak the language). Inside the package was the game UNO with a small note that said. "You're the only UNO for me!"

A few days later, when I got back from running, all the lights were off in our house and there were about 25little tiki candle spread about the place laminating the place in a Romantic way.

Next, I planned an Awesome Valentines Night for us! Read on to learn more!
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Aubrey and I have been super unfortunate to catch about everything this Winter. Several times, we melted with fever!

Our poor girl got especially sick this last week with a bad cough and cold. She is a super sleeper; however, she never falls asleep unless she is in a crib or bed. However, one morning after feeding her breakfast, she was so sick that she just laid her sweet head on my lap. A few minutes later, I looked over to see that she was sleeping soundly. The baby doll in the picture above is Baby Kelsey. She is Aubrey's favorite doll right now. They sleep together, eat together (Aubrey tries to feed her), suck binky's together, and even go potty together (both have a potty and sit on them, but most of the time neither of them go pee or poo... hahah).

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Valentine's Day = Melted Chocolate and more Melted Hearts

Emily hosted a wonderful V-Day party for all the cousins. Where they decorated their V-Day bags for their cards and candy.

Ate Lots of Yummy Sweets!

Had an Awesome Aunt read Awesome V-Day books to them.

And posed as best as they could as their picture was taken. This is the best picture I got with all of them in it. Maddie didn't last too long in the scene so I had to take it quick. Aren't these a cute looking bunch of kids?

Silly Baby Faces

Kenli: Ooooh, it that candy?

Titan: I am way too cool for a Valentine's Day Party!
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"The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree"

So when wade was a child he and his family would use blow dryers to keep warm under blankets. Many times as a child you could find Wade huddled over a furnace vent with a blanket over him to trap the heat. When you hop in the car with him on a cold or mildly cold day, you will soon be rolling down the windows as he has created a sweat lodge mobile by turning the heat up as high as it will go. Now in our home, we have this space heater (pictured above). The rule is, no turning it on until after 9:00pm. because whoever turns it on will be found paralyzed and in a dreamy coma and within minutes will be asleep.

Yesterday morning, Aubrey points to the heater and says, "off." I said yeah, you can turn it on if you want. She hopped of the couch, and when I looked over at her, I saw a miniature Wade standing there in front of it. Wade stands by this heater in the exact same position several times a day. I couldn't believe my eyes it was so funny! She is so much like us more and more every day.

V-Day Surprise from Me!

I sent Wade and Aubrey to the grocery store to pick up a few items for dinner. When the got back, the lights were down low, you could hear a bon fire crackling, crickets chirping, and a Thunderstorm in the distance( a very awesome web site I found with nature sounds you can customize) . When you looked into our backyard (living room) our tent was all set up with candles to set the mood. I was standing around the campstove, quickly preparing our V-Day camping meal. Wade loves camping and so do I. We slept in it all night long. I know he is so anxious to go again soon, so I brought it to him a little sooner than planned. He LOVED it!

Aubrey was not only Siked about the cool tent in our living room but also about her heart shaped cheese burger and smiley face food face plate. I am an Awesome Mommy huh?

But, not only am I an Awesome Mommy, I am an Awesome Wife too! I of course made Wade and I heart shaped cheese burgers with smiley face food plates. I Rock... I know!
Wade and Aubrey: " She did this all for us? She must really love me!"

Aubrey: "Will you be my Valentine Daddy?"

The whole Smiley Food Face Family!

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day this year and I hope you all did too!
I LOVE my Family!

Sew... Perfect!

2011-02-14T11:17:00.002-07:00

My sister Emily so graciously let us borrow Aleigha's old carseat when Aubrey was born. However, over the time that we used it, it definitely showed signs of wear and tear on it including gross stains. I just couldn't bring myself to give it back to Emily for her brand new baby girl to use. So, months ago I bought cute fabric in hopes that I could find a nice pattern to use to make her a new seat cover. No such Luck. About 2 weeks before Kenli was born, I knew we had to get a move on it and do something. With lots of help from my AMAZING husband, we were able to redo her car seat, by just recovering the old one. Although, I'm not completely terrible at sewing, I definitely needed Wade's technical help to accomplish this task. I must say that we didn't do so bad, and it looks so darling! Although, don't look too closely as it is apparent that it was made with lots of "LOVE."

Before: It doesn't look too bad in the picture, but it was getting pretty grimy.

During: Proof that Wade was the main "Go-to-Guy"
Also it is proof that this cute new carseat has some errors that demonstrate that it was made with a little talent, and lots of love!

After: It turned out super cute. If you expand this picture, you can see that we had the most difficult time sewing around the border with pink fabric. We were super scared to do the canopy; however, we did an awesome job with it and it wasn't as hard as we thought it would be. We sure hope, little Kenli is comfortable in her new carseat!

Really... Our Trip Westward!

2011-02-13T10:44:00.012-07:00

Utah and Idaho: Here we Come!

After we set up our Christmas Tree, we sadly had to leave it as we were headed to Utah for Christmas!

Aubrey loved our Christmas tree and she would often go up to it and smell it and say " Peety" (Pretty). You could find her redecorating our tree at least 5 times a day. Because we bought our tree and ornaments our first Christmas as Newlyweds, we didn't think about getting balls that were not breakable. We somehow got away with only 3 balls getting broken this year. The ornaments gradually went from equally spread throughout the tree to all of them crowded at the top.

Aubrey was so lucky this year that she got to sit on Santa's lap 4 different times! Each time she got more and more comfortable with him! She calls him "Ho Ho Ho!"

Our bags are packed, we are ready to go! Because of High security this year, they made Aubrey sit on the conveyor belt and be scanned along with the rest of our luggage. Luckily they didn't see the stuff we stashed inside of her!

Aubrey earned her first pair of wings! It's about time since she's been flying numerous times since she was born. She was so excited to see Grandma and GrandDad and all of her cousins!

Christmas Eve all the adults got to go snowboarding while the kids got to spend time with Grandma. Aubrey loved playing with all of her cousins and misses them so bad!

Often times Wade and I would get distracted and forget to keep our eye on Aubrey. When we'd go to look for her, we would always find her with all her cousins playing in the basement. She especially loved all the attention she got from her Girl cousins.

Christmas morning was so exciting as we watched Aubrey get so excited over each of her new gifts. She especially loved her stocking stuffers, including her CHAPSTICK!

I could not resist posting this picture. Aubrey loves Chapstick as more than she loves candy! We can not go to the grocery store without her screaming and pointing to the chapstick saying, "I want Chapsick, I want Chapsick!" She doesn't even see the rows and rows of candy. I love it... she is such a girl!

Aubrey opened all her gifts with the same enthusiasm as the gift before! She loved it and so did we.

A couple days later, we celebrated Weston's Birthday! All the kids enjoyed all the cake and ice cream!

A typical picture of the Christensen boys. While the girls are all throwing out fun ideas to do, the guys are enthralled in whatever game in on.

On the way to Idaho to meet friends and family, we stopped and hung out with our friends Derik and Jessica. We walked down to the water falls and got "wonderful" pictures of us. After wards, we ate some appetizers and Applebee's and then watched Christmas lights to the music and finally hung out at a cool Toy Store. It wasn't exactly in that order, but it was really nice to see them. We really miss hanging out and plotting pranks and doing fun stuff with them. Its hard to be motivated to do fun, crazy things without them! We miss you guys!

Here is the best picture, Derik took of us and the Falls. I guess I should have showed him how to use our camera.

Derik and Jessica. Wouldn't they be so cute with a baby? Haha!
We also got to see our other friends Kay-Marie and Shea when we went to Rexburg. It was the first time that we got to meet their sweet baby boy Conner. Unfortunately, Aubrey was sick so she didn't get to play with him that much. We all went out to eat at Wingers a true delicacy now that we don't have one here in WV. We had so much time and only wish we could have had more time to spend with them.

Next, Idaho Falls! We had fun playing games with Laura and Todd when we got to Idaho. The boys are getting so big. This is the best picture I got with all three kiddos and Ollie is cut out. We really miss them, since we live so far away from each other. Hopefully, we will get to see them again really soon!

Unfortunately, Aubrey got really sick during our trip. So she was so ready to be home. Here is a picture of her shortly after we got back and she was feeling her same old same again. We miss everyone already, and we can't wait till we can see you again. Every day we talk about planning our next trip West again. I hope you are all doing well too! Love you and Miss you a million!

Our Fun Trip Westward for the Holidays!

2011-01-04T16:13:00.002-07:00

HAHAHA! Made you all look! I really haven't had time to update yet but it will be coming! Promise.

Fall is Fabulous

2010-11-29T10:48:00.021-07:00

We have been so incredibly busy over the last several months. As many of you know we bought a trailer is September and worked on it for about 2 months. We moved into our new home the end of October. Although we are moved in we still have things that need to be worked on and we aren't completely organized yet. However, we like our humble little abode. In September, we were so excited to have Grandma and GrandDad Christensen come visit us for about 10 days. They helped us a great deal on our trailer. Sadly, they had to go home. We drove them to the Pittsburgh airport and then we enjoyed a day at the zoo. The pictures on this post are is somewhat of an order but they are still a little disorganized. Also,most of the pictures of Grandma and GrandDad Christensen were put on our other computer so they will have to wait to be posted for another day.

Aubrey has a huge thing for stuffed animals and baby dolls these days. She loves to cuddle and love them.

There's nothing like ending a wonderful day at the zoo with a ride on the Carousel! Aubrey's first ride on one, she loved it!

Wade loved the petting zoo... maybe a little too much?

Aubrey liked the goats, but was okay if they kept their distance.

Wade was pulling Aubrey's wagon too slow, so we decided to hitch a ride with this Tortoise instead.

Besides the monkeys, Aubrey loved the stingrays the most... In fact, I think we all did. It was so fun, because you could reach down and pet them as they skimmed the surface of the water. Also, they had a tunnel through the water that you could climb through and see them from an under water perspective.

The elephants were so graceful and the babies were so cute!

After we offended Wade by taking a ride on the Tortoise, he begged and promised us that he would go faster if we rode with him again. We felt bad and joined him again, even though it was still slower.

Aubrey's first ice cream cone that she didn't have to share with anyone. I gave it to her for a few minutes, then when I was ready to eat the rest of it for her.... it was already ALL GONE!

Aubrey loves her cousins... they love getting into trouble together. I noticed the house got quite quiet all of a sudden. I went to investigate and found these two kiddos doing a science experiment in the toilet. Aubrey worked diligently to pull the TP off the roll and hand it to her sidekick as Brenton very carefully, tore the TP into small pieces and threw them into the toilet.

Aubrey loved spending time with her Grandparents and we sure miss them a ton... We are so excited to get to see them here in a few short weeks for Christmas!

Aubrey loves Grandma and Pops yummy baby watermelons from their garden!

My friend got married this summer and Aubrey unfortunately caught the bouquet (with the help of Daddy). Aren't Daddy's suppose to be guarding their daughters from playing such games? I just hope all those other girls don't get married for years and years to come...lol.
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You know it's Fall time when there are football games and homecoming parades!
We went to Molly and Ryan's senior homecoming game and parade... I must say that the parade was quite lame.

Aubrey enjoyed the show even if it wasn't very eventful.

The kids had fun waiting for the parade in the back of the car. Look at the two kiddos in the back... There is no denying that they are related and that they have quite the personalities. I love it!

I believe Aubrey will want to be a cheer leader after watching her excitement while she watched them. This is her taking tips from the pros.
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Harvest Time means Halloween is around the corner!

We went to a little farm in Ohio called "Sweet Apple Farm." We go there before Halloween to pick our pumpkins and then again in December to see a live manger scene and do some caroling. It is so fun to pick your own pumpkin, roast marshmallows, go through the corn maze, hay rides, and see the animals.

"Can I have them all Mommy?"

While Brenton was a little timid of the animals, Aubrey loved them and tried so hard to join them in their pens. I feel bad for her when she finds out that she is highly "allergic" to animals and can't have any pets of her own until she has graduated and moved out of the house.

Aubrey was excited to see how well she "measured" up to the animals inside the barn.

There were several wooden cows with rubber nipples that the kids were aloud to practice milking. After Aleigha showed Aubrey the ropes, it took no time for her to be come a pro milker.

Once again, Aubrey trying to get closer to the livestock.
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Birthday Parties are a blast. I enjoyed celebrating my birthday with family and friends from church as we BBQ'd in the back yard and devoured ice cream cake. However my party was nothing compared to Aleigha's costume party. Everyone was required to dress up in their Halloween costumes... everyone participated and we had a blast.

As much as I have always enjoyed dressing up for Halloween (or well, any occasion) I have always been surprised that my parents don't dress up that much. This year was the first time I ever remember seeing them wear costumes... I was so proud of them. I do feel bad for Aubrey as she will be embarrassed by her parents each year.

Aubrey dressed up as an elephant this year and Wade and I switched roles and bodies this year. (Like I said, our kids will be embarrassed by us). Isn't Wade stunning in that dress?

Aubrey loved her costume; however, she thought she was a lion as she "roared" at everyone!

The whole family... Aren't we such a good lookin' bunch?

We are so madly in love...can't you tell?

Wade had the heel-pop down to the T!
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Halloween Day & Night

We began the day by carving our pumpkin and getting ready to go trick-or-treating. The town park had a weenie roast prior to trick-or-treating. We got there just in time to get some dinner and a nice bag of candy... Next, we hit the houses! We went door to door with Aleigha, Brenton, Emily, Chris, Grandma, Grandpa,Ali, Aunt Molly and Kenny all night until most houses were out of candy... We are slightly hard core like that. It was so much fun... we love living in our small town more and more as we attend events like this. Everyone was out and the whole town was out visiting and having a grand ole' time!
To avoid hearing the statement, "HE is so cute!" We made Aubrey's costume more girly by making her a Ballerina elephant. She was darling and definitely girly!!

One of the first houses was a bit scary when this "creeper" was handing out candy... It ended up being someone Wade works on his cars.

It is most certainly tradition to dump and sort your candy afterward.

It is even greater tradition for us Christensen's to take a picture of us laying in our candy... This is a Christensen Classic photo by definition.
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Poo Poo and Pee Pee in the Potty!

We bought Aubrey a new potty, but she like to just use the seat part to use on the big potty. She does really well with the potty when we try. However, we are not consistent. We are just getting comfortable, but she is ready!
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Home Sweet Home

Your first "house" is exciting, but it makes it more real when you have your own mailbox! Isn't that dope?!?

What could be inside?

Aubrey!!! That was the best package I have ever gotten! We either have a small child or a big mailbox.
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Thanksgiving is over..... Let's go to the Christmas Parade!!

Wade enjoyed his first ever Christmas parade in our little home town of Harrisville. It was so much fun and I was really impressed with the floats. I was worried considering the homecoming parade being such a let down. The Christmas parade was really good! Only complaint is that they didn't use their sirens or horns because people complained last year... come on'! You have to make noise for a parade!

When Santa came riding bye, I tried getting a good picture of Wade, Aubrey and him, but Wade was too excited and kept putting his big head in front of Santa!

Enjoying our parade candy while waiting to sit on Santa's lap!

Aubrey cried when I put her on Santa's lap.... As soon as I put her down he said, "Put her on Mrs. Clauses lap, she'll like her better." I was a little disappointed that she wasn't on Santa's lap but it's true she liked the Mrs. better.
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What we've been waiting for! (well, some of us)

I've been wanting to get little Miss Sunshine's ears pierced for a long time,but I have been nervous. However, Wade had really been exciting and hoping to get them done. I took the plunge and we took her the day after Thanksgiving!

She didn't like getting the dots put on her ears. She didn't like me holding her head in place, She didn't like getting them pierced... She LOVES her new earrings though! She is always pointing to them and saying, "ear we"

Little Miss Thing all decked out to go to bed. We can kind of sport a pony tail and pig tails these days (still a little awkward but cute as ever)!

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Daddy's Birth Day!

I have been accused for not celebrating Wade's Birthday, because there are never pictures from any of them taken. This year I made sure to document everything we did on his Birthday so he couldn't say we never did anything.

First, Aubrey started the day by being funny and putting her diaper on top of her head. She thought it was the funniest thing; consequently, we thought it was funny too!

After taking the morning nice, slow and easy (by Wade's request) Wade opened his birthday presents. We got him a watch, pocket knife, candy, and the game Mind Flex.

Next, Aubrey got rid of her diaper and used the potty again. She loves getting toilet paper and wiping herself!

After which, we went to Parkersburg to go out to eat at Texas Road House. They sung Happy Birthday to him and he got to see a girls bottom who needed belt. His birthday was full of surprises!

Molly went into labor the night before Wade's birthday so while we were in Parkersburg, we went to go visit her and new baby Titan! He is absolutely gorgeous! Congratulations Molly & Phillip!

Of course, since it was Wade's Birthday he got to entertain us all with his awesome skills with a doctor's glove. He even put the glove completely over his face too so his whole head was engulfed in the glove.... It was very funny even though it was not a very good example for Aubrey.

I asked Wade what would make him the happiest on his Birthday and he decided it would be to go roller skating! We rocked out with over a hundred brace face, pimple face, crazy hormoned, preteen to on our roller skates. Of course we were the coolest individuals in the house!
I even got tricky and did some charlie brown moves and skating on one foot. You may think that is not cool but this is coming from a girl whose head got rolled over by 5th graders when I was in 4th grade while lying on the roller rink in pure shame.

Happy Birthday Wade! I love you! I hope you had a blast this year on your birthday... never say we never did anything on your Birthday in 2010!

Oh and just to brag about what a rockin wife I am... Wade also requested a cookie cake that had have chocolate chips and half no chocolate chips. That seems like fairly simple request for someone who makes the cookies from scratch; however, if you use the cookie mix, you have to hand pick out every last blasted chocolate chip.... What can I say I am AWESOME!

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There you have it, many of you have been begging for me to update and I have been fighting with myself to do it as well. I am very glad I have, because so many good things have happened to us that need to be recorded. We miss all of our family and friends that are away, we know that if you have made it through this post and all the way to this part, you are a true friend (or just really bored). We hope you all are having a spectacular holiday season so far!

Love, US

Back Date a Few Months

2010-10-04T08:20:00.017-06:00

Palmyra, New York

As I mentioned in my last post, we took a quick trip to the Hill Cumorrah Pageant in July. I am going to go back one event this summer one post at a time until I can catch up. This was a very fun trip that we took with Grandma and Grandpa and Molly and Phillip. We all met up at the campground and settled in for the night around a warm campfire as we roasted marshmallows. Our site was right beside a little pond where the Bull Frogs were in plethora. We found a few that were about the size of my head.

Wade impressing everyone with his unending "source" of knowledge. (The Droid)

The next morning we went on a few site seeing tours before we went to the Pageant.

As we waited to take the tour of Joseph Smith's homes and the Sacred Grove, Aubrey pleased the crowd with her stunning beauty.

Aubrey decided to take a nap on Joseph Smith's Boyhood bed.

The three of us on the tour path with the Palmyra Temple poking through the trees. It was a beautiful day!

All of us taking a break in the Sacred Grove.

Getting Ready for the Pageant to start. The weather was great and the Pageant was even better!

Phillip and Wade had to break away from us all and get as many pictures with the Cast of the Hill Cummorah Pageant.

After another night of camping, we decided to go to Niagara Falls on the way home.

The Falls never cease to amaze me! It is so fun taking Aubrey on all of these fun adventures with us!

This "apple" does not fall far from the tree.
They are best friends!

Doesn't Wade looks like such a Lucky Guy in this picture? These girls definitely fall for him every day!

Next, we took the "Maid of the Mist" tour as we put on our ponchos and got on a boat that took us to the base of the falls. Aubrey wasn't sure what to think.

Despite the ponchos, we still got wet! With the wind, the Ponchos were useless.

This girl is always cute no matter what type of outfit she is sportin'!

All three of us in our beautiful Ponchos!

While Grandpa was waiting with Aubrey, he got all stylish and fashioned a matching hair bow for her out of part of his own poncho.

Well, I hope you enjoyed these pictures that are well over due. As I try and organize all our pictures, I hope to record rest of our summer adventures. We love and miss you all and hope you are having fun as the beautiful Fall weather is in the air.

So, So Much to Blog About!

2010-09-09T10:39:00.008-06:00

Fall is knocking on the door!

I have no idea where to begin starting this blog. This summer has been a wonderful summer! Although we didn't get out as much as we would have liked, we had a blast and got a lot done. Aubrey has been the most productive of us all as she has been weened, learned to say lots of new words, walk, pee/poo occasionally in the potty, and has continually rocked our world! I will just write a brief outline of our summer adventures.
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Move to WV. Look for apartment; no luck. Move in with my sister's family.~Have the Grand opening of Wade's new shop!~Go camping. Have a weenie roast. Roast marshmallows. Eat smores.~ Celebrate Aubrey and Brenton's 1st Birthday. Aubrey learns to stand by herself!~ Get new callings in the church. I am activities coordinator; plan activities. Have 4th of July Bar-B-Q and pool party.~ Jump in car; drive to Washington D.C.. Meet our friends the Brown's. Nestle next to the Lincoln Memorial. Watch the sky light up with fireworks above our Nation's Capitol. Explore the many free and wonderful museums. Walk a lot. Drive home.~ Work.~ Swim in pool. Go hiking at NB; swim in river.~ Take engagement pictures of best friend.~ Get in car, drive to Palmyra, NY. Go camping again. Go toad hunting in the campground pond/swamp. Visit the Hill Cummorah visitor's center. Go to the printing press museum. Drive back to the Hill Cummorah. Get bombarded with protesters; feel crummy. Find our seats; hear music, watch pageant, feel the spirit again. Drive back home.~ Go on much needed dates; must make stop at SAM's club for business supplies every time. Don't forget Harbor Freight Tools.~ Continue looking for apartments; no luck.~ Time to get ready for next trip. Pack bags; don't forget swim suits and sunscreen. Drive 14+ hours to Pensacola beach, FL. Drive strait through. Need to rest but the ocean is too inviting. Drop bags and go swimming. Come back to beach house and sleep. More family arrives. Go snorkeling at Ft. Pickens. Find hundreds of Hermit Crabs. Aubrey loves the water. Watch the Blue Angels do air stunts. Explore Ft. Pickens. Inevitably, Get sun burned. Go swimming at beach house pool. Walk the beach at night and find giant crabs. Don't step in the oil! Go para sailing with Wade! Excited for the romantic adventure. Captain puts our brother-in-law between us; who cares, too much fun! Gracefully glide in the sky. No Fear. Look a Stingray! Get dunked in water. Amazing! Collect money from brothers and sisters to send Mom and Dad up next. They loved it too. All the family is finally here! Time for the wedding on the beach. Get dressed in pretty clothes. Arrive early for pictures. All the brothers and sisters in one picture. Beach house is directly on the beach-breath taking. Wedding begins, beautiful ceremony. More pictures. Time for food, music and dancing. Sad to say good-bye to everyone. Kiss-Kiss Hug-Hug. Drive back North to W.V..~ Emily begins teaching. I'm bored. Find projects to do. Start some and procrastinate others.~ Another wedding when we get home. Dress up as a bridesmaid. Smile. Hugs.~ Begin bet with brother in-law Chris. Run. Run. Run. Everyday, never miss.~ No apartments yet. Trailer for sale. Not enthused, but willing to be open. Think its a great idea! Tow it to a lot. Tear out carpet. Begin remodeling.~ Take pregnancy pictures of friend. Oh how cute.~ Help best friend with her wedding plans. More pictures. More planning.~ Get ready for Grandma and GrandDad Christensen to visit!
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Hopefully that will give you a taste of some of the things we have gotten to do this summer. I know I left many things out but I will come back to them when I go through the pictures. Speaking of which, I will post pictures shortly! We miss you guys so much! And we love you more than a fat kid loves Twinkies!

....Days Go By....

2010-07-26T09:43:00.011-06:00

We are having a wonderful summer so far. Sorry that I haven't updated the blog in several weeks. Our computers have been giving us some trouble and so it is with the internet too. However, a lot has happened since we have been here. I am so far behind, but I'll blog the major events. I have so many pictures, but I'll have to choose the best of the best to blog, but there are still many. Let's start with Aubrey's Birthday! It was a wonderful event. Aubrey and her cousin that we are living with are only two weeks apart, so we planned a joint party between their birthdays. They had lots of family and friends help celebrate with them and spoil them with love and presents. Aubrey's main present was a baby pool that Wade got for her last fall when he was working at Wal-mart. We have saved it all this time and she and her cousins love it. So we decided to have a baby pool party. We had 2 baby pools, a slip and slide, swings, and water balloon fights. It was a nice way to keep cool. The night before the party, Emily and I worked all night to make the most awesome cakes for them. Aubrey's was a flower cake and Brenton's was a space rocket. We were very pleased on how they turned out. Unfortunately, we stayed up until 3 in the morning working on them. We also made them their very own Birthday Party hats. It was so much fun!!! We love our little princess and can't believe she is already over 1 year old.

The cake I made Aubrey out of cupcakes!

Aubrey's personal giant cupcake!

Brenton's cake, he got a small personal one too

Loving her new baby pool!

Sporting her new bikini she got for her Birthday... Miss immodest

Aubrey and Daddy going down the slip-n-slide

The guests of honor.

Daddy being daring!!!

"Happy Birthday to you....."

She wanted to touch the candle so bad

Could she look more pleased? The magic of Birthdays is great!

Birthday kisses from her #1 fans!

She ate her entire cake before I even noticed. I went around talking to guests for a minute or two and when I turned around it was gone, except a little icing on the bottom!

Now that she is 1 she is so cool because she is not a baby anymore!

Wild, Wonderful, West Virginia!

2010-05-01T15:19:00.002-06:00

This is pretty much the first time I have had access to uninterrupted internet service since we arrived in West Virginia. We arrived here about 2 weeks ago and are trying to settle in. We are living at my parents house while we wait for a nice apartment to move into. Therefore, all of our things are still packed away in boxes and I mostly have been wearing my sister's clothes. As for Wade, he has been working really hard to get his business ready to open a week from today. The place is really starting to come together. He already has work lined up for him as soon as he opens his doors. For an update on Aubrey, she is also doing really well. Aside from a cold that she is fighting, she is having so much fun playing with all of her cousins. As we get more settled in, we will be able to post pictures and better updates. We mostly just wanted everyone to know that we are still alive and well. We hope everyone else is doing good too, we miss you all!!

!!!April Fools.... You Fools!!!

2010-04-02T08:12:00.013-06:00

I'm NOT pregnant you FOOLS!!!!

So, as many of you already know, Wade and I are the biggest pranksters. We love pranking, it's our nature. Often times we don't think about what consequences may reap from our actions... but the surge of adrenaline and unstoppable laughter are worth it in our minds. So what day could be better than April 1st I ask? None! This is one of the best days of the year where people socially accept our cruel intentions and all of a sudden we're not "rude or mean" but instead we are "crafty and creative"! Unfortunately, we didn't take advantage of yesterday as much as we should have. However, we did a few good jokes/pranks that surpass many of our common, trivial ones. Enjoy! (If you don't read all of them, at least read #3 it's our favorite!)

1. I called home crying hysterically because, I "ran off the road" because of they snowy conditions. I was very impressed by Wades calmness and caringness about my well being. I just about had him running to my location to come help me. Simple and easy. (Sorry Wade, it was just too easy!)

2. "I'm pregnant!" Now this is not a very original idea either; however, the boldness was what got people thinking... "could she really be pregnant?" Announcing a pregnancy on my blog is one thing but then posting a link to my blog to all the nosy people of Facebook is a completely insane idea. However, I know that all the people that have nothing better to do than find gossip on FB and then spread it to everyone and their mothers has been accomplished. Now I'm sure I have been labeled, "Crazier than her mother" in my hometown, because of my quickness in conceiving again.... I may have to correct people for months on this one, but still worth it.

3. "Drive Thru Madness" Now we found this idea on YouTube and just had to try it out. First we typed up a sheet of paper that read:

Customers:
Sing "Happy Birthday" to
the drive thru person and
receive a FREE drink of
your choice!
Have a nice Day!

We then printed several of these off with a picture of the store logo on it to make it more authentic. Wade and I found our first victim "Taco Bell" and just sat and waited after taping it to the speaker. It was hilarious to hear the confusion that occurred the first time someone sang Happy Birthday to them. Then after they took the sign down, we put up another one. They were stumped on all this madness.
We went to a few other locations like McDonalds, Dairy Queen, and Arctic Circle but their speakers weren't in the best locations... Then we found our MECCA of drive-thru's. Jack-In-The-Box!!! The first singer was asked to take the sign down and bring it to the window. Luckily we had another one. When the next group of singers came along, we were shocked to hear the Drive-thru guy ask... "What kind of drink would you like?" He continued to give FREE drinks out to everyone in the next 5 cars who sang Happy Birthday to them (even if there were 5 ppl. in the car)!! We then took advantage and got in line, we too got FREE drinks... This was our first prank that we really SCORED BIG!!! When we got to the window we asked, "Is it the Birthday of Jack-In-The-Box or something?" and the man replied, "No, it's just an April Fools prank our Managers are playing on us." We began laughing so hard when we began to imagine the conversation that occurred between the employees and the manager this morning.
Employee: "Nice try on pranking us, but you didn't fool us."
Manager: "What are you talking about" (with sincerity)
Employee: "We're not dumb, so we got you back" "We gave free drinks to everyone who sang 'Happy Birthday' last night."
Manager: "You did what!!! (with irateness) You are idiots!!!!!"

Aubrey's Surprise!!!

2010-04-01T17:50:00.004-06:00

"Here DaDa..."

Yesterday, I found something out something that was very exciting and wanted everyone to know and help us celebrate this exciting news. First, I had to let Wade know, of course. However, I thought it would be best and more fun to have Aubrey help me out. So yesterday, I gave her something to give to Wade. Then I had Wade call her name from the bathroom so she would crawl to him bringing the exciting thing. I anxiously listened in the bathroom as Wade began shouting and Hoop Hawing! We are so excited and now we are ready to tell the world of our blog viewers!!! I hope you are just as excited!

AUBREY: " And the exciting news is.........

..... I'm going to be a Big SISTER!!!!!"

We will be waiting patiently for all of our congratulation comments and phone calls. We love you all and are so excited!

Family Home Evening in the Sky!!!

2010-03-12T13:08:00.007-07:00

It's March already and there has been so much that has happened in the last few weeks.
First off, for some exciting news Wade and I are moving to West Virginia in April. Wade found out that he could take his final few classes online so we have decided to move early so he can start his business. I am so proud of how excited and ready he is to start it. He has put so much time and energy into researching and getting ideas put into practice. I have no doubt that he will be successful. We are now working on getting ready to move out of Rexburg. We are in the process of selling and buying cars, which isn't really new. We have also made a "Get out of Rexburg List" which consists of some of our favorite Rexburg things that we want to do one last time or for the first time before we leave for good. We are really going to miss this place because it where we have spent our whole married lives together. However, we are really excited at the same time. Now on to some pictures of what we have been up to lately.

Aubrey is 100% crawling and standing up on everything!! She is getting so big. She can give you five (sometimes) and wave goodbye to you too (sometimes). We are so proud of every little achievement she has made and are excited for all the rest to come!! You go girl!!

We put a pair of Wade's old glasses on Aubrey and she looked so funny! We think she highly resembles Grandpa Thornburgh!

When we told her she looked so much like grandpa, this was her reaction! It's not so bad Aubrey!

Can somebody say "Cankles". My friend and I made Aubrey a girly girl by painting her toes all pretty.

FHE in the Sky!

Wade took me on a date in the sky over Rexburg... We can now mark off flying in small plane off our bucket list. We took a short flight over Rexburg it was so peaceful and beautiful. It was really neat seeing this town from that perspective. It was amazing! That will be a hard date to top.

We took off around 5:30pm so the sun was starting to set over the horizon... sigh....

I totally understand why they call is the Snake river now... I thought it looked pretty amazing.

We of course flew over the temple and got a wonderful view.

"All systems to go!"
"Roger that"
"Over and Out"

It was just a teeny little plane which I thought made it more exciting.

Last weekend we went to Utah for Wade's nephew's baby blessing. It was really nice to get to see everyone and spend a little bit of time with them. Aubrey loved hanging out with her cousins while we all went snowboarding.

We also got to spend some time with Wade's grandma and Aubrey's great grandma. She is turning 100 this April! I am so glad Aubrey is able to know her for even a little while, she is so lucky. This picture contains 4 generations, I think that is pretty amazing!

We went sledding at the park and wade got really risky do cool tricks..... That is actually a 20ft ramp he went off.

We went to the new CRAZE where went mini golfing, laser tagging, and got to play in the kids play place... Aubrey enjoyed it too!

We miss you all and hope this post finds you happy and healthy! God bless you all!!

I Love my Husband!!!

2010-02-24T14:14:00.003-07:00

I have really wanted to get into photography lately and can't stop thinking about it nor talking about it. I visit numerous photography websites and blogs each day and just day dream. I try my hardest to be creative with my little 5megapixle Samsung; however, I am usually disappointed. Well yesterday Wade finally took the plunge and surprised me with a Canon Rebel XSi. I love it... I love him!! Although there is so much I don't really know yet, I am learning. I am halfway through reading the manual, then I'll move onto the software, then more online tutorials. If anyone knows anything about photography and wants to give me advice or tips, you are more than welcome to tell me or even show me!!! I am so excited!!! Can you tell how excited I am? I am so excited!!!

This is what my new camera looks like! The flash pops up when you use it.

Last night I began reading me manual intently. I've learned a lot so far, but I still have a long way to go!

Today, I took a few pictures in the park. If you enlarge this picture, you can see Aubrey's 2 beautiful teeth. They make her look mean huh?

It was fun taking these pictures, but cold too!

Projects, Friends, and Snow!!

2010-02-24T10:35:00.008-07:00

F is for February Fun

As you may know, I have started doing a little bit of sewing with Wade's Aunt and cousins. A couple of weeks ago, I made a Valentine's Day Table runner. We invited friends over for dinner, so I could show off my new piece of Art. The following week, I worked on making an apron. After completing that project, I was so proud of myself. I even wore it all the way home from Idaho Falls, because I loved it so much. I love creating awesome things from virtually nothing. I can't wait to find out what I will create this week!

...THE TABLE RUNNER....

Wade's Aunt just let me use her material for this project; and , I absolutely love how it turned out!

I even quilted the hearts and boxes so it would show through on the backside.

I bet you've never seen a more beautiful table runner.

...THE APRON...

As it is probably obvious, this is my favorite project yet. Pleated ruffles, reverse patterns, and more. I can't believe I made that.

I even was good enough to pick out and buy my own materials on this project.

I'm all ready to bake!!

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I just thought this was a cute picture of Aubrey being a Mommy's girl. When I get ready in the mornings, I let Aubrey sit on the counter in front of me and help me get ready. She loves playing with all the cool makeup inside that little purple bag.
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Last weekend, friends of our invited us to go spend the weekend with them and another couple up in their cabin. We had to take a snow machine up to the cabin, because the snow was so deep and no cars could get out there. That was Aubrey's first time riding on a snow mobile. She was a little concerned at first, but in the end she loved it. That night, we made some pizzas, played some ping-pong, and just hung out. The next morning, we all bundled up, including Aubrey, to go sledding. This was Aubrey's first time ever sledding and Wade and I got to go down with her! While Aubrey took a nap after the sledding fun, we found some snow drift cliffs and jumped off them. It was so much fun and we all had a blast!!!

Aubrey all bundled, ready to go sledding!

Me and Aubrey enjoying the cool, crisp air and beautiful view.

Aubrey's first time snowmobiling, she got to ride on a sled pulled behind the mobile. After sledding, she fell asleep on my should as we just cruised around the property.

Wade, jumping/rolling down a drift cliff!
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...OUR JOY!...

Aubrey is getting so big now! Besides her two teeth, she is half crawling and half scooting across the floor! She now completely pulls herself up on our chairs and the couch. She loves her sippy cup, even if (especially if) most of the water gets on her. She has such a fun personality. Wade and I like to play tricks on her and pull her binky out of her mouth, and instead of crying, she smiles real big. Now we catch her all the time doing the same thing to herself. She bites down on her binky and pulls it out to make a popping noise, then she precedes to smile. I could go on and on about how awesome our baby is but, I've already have rambled on long enough. We love everyone and miss you all. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love & February !

2010-02-17T11:29:00.015-07:00

This month has lots of fun so far! We are pretty settled into our house and Aubrey is growing up so fast. I have begun to fill my empty time with fun things. I have started going to water aerobics and I am learning how to sew with Wade's Aunt. I just finished my first project last week-- a Valentine's table runner. This Valentine's day was so much fun to be able to spend it with Aubrey. I will explain more details of this month's excitement with all of the pictures... enjoy!

Our laundry room is out in the garage so when I do laundry without Wade home, I bundle Aubrey up and let her help me. This picture reminds me of a "Where's Waldo" picture with how much she blends in and especially with the hat.

Our friends invited us to go to a local "Extreme Makeover" that the community of Rexburg put together... They chose a deserving woman in our community and treated her to new clothing, hairstyle, gym membership, and teeth whiting. We went the revealing which consisted of free food, giveaways and dancing. It was here that Aubrey got her first balloon. She loved it!

She kept pulling on the string and the balloon would bump her in the head so she'd get more excited and flap her arms and it kept hitting her more and more. She looks so tiny and far away in this picture compared to the balloon.

We all dressed up for the event, and Aubrey looked so precious.

Aubrey loves to be propped up and leaned on something so she can stand. Soon enough she'll be able to get herself in that position.

When I go to water aerobics Wade watches Aubrey, he keeps her engaged and happy by playing Rockband with her. She even moved her arm as if she is playing the drums too!
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"Silent Night"
We finally were able to take Aubrey to her doctor's appointment to get her second set of shots. When we were there, I let the doctor know that she still wakes up to nurse at night. He told me that at this age she should be sleeping through the night and that she can go 8-12 hours without eating. Wade and I decided it was time to give it a try. We fed her really well before bed time, kissed her goodnight, and put her in her crib. Meanwhile, Wade and I slept out in the living room so we wouldn't give in. That night, she cried for 2-3 hours. At first I wasn't convinced this was easier because if I were to nurse her she'd go back to bed. However, we stuck to our guns and let her cry it out. The second night she only cried for 30-60min. The third night, no cries at all. Every night since, we have all slept like babies!

After the first night of crying, I went to check on her in the morning. When i first looked in her crib, I didn't see her, my heart sunk for a moment. Then rolled up in the corner, I saw her sleeping soundly.

Each night, she moves less and less. Last night, she was still partially swaddled.

In addition, to sleeping through the night, Aubrey is super close to crawling, and her first two teeth are coming in and the tips have broken through the bottom of her gums! She is growing up so fast, we can't believe it! When her teeth are more noticeable, I'll be sure to post pictures of her new pearly whites!
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You call this Valentine's Day Weekend?

Because of Wade's Candy Grams business, I don't ever want to see roses, cookies, or cards again! This past weekend, our house became the workshop to put all the candy grams together. Starting Thursday night, there were people coming in and out of my house until Saturday evening. Roses filled my sink, cookies lined my apartment and counter tops, and cards were sprawled all over my table. What was once a sweet way to express your love to someone, quickly became a cliche commodity in our home.

We packaged around 500 cookies!

Prepared 250 roses!

Individually, hand wrote 100+ cards!
Delivered, 100+ deliveries!!!!
Boy, were we exhausted!
(you can kind of see my table runner in this picture, but I'll definitely post more pictures of that)

After we kicked everyone out of our house on Saturday evening, we turned off the lights, locked the doors, and headed to Olive Garden. We enjoyed a wonderful evening together and had a Happy Valentine's Day After all! On Monday, Wade's Uncle actually took us snowmobiling and we had a blast. It was worth all the stress to enjoy the snowmobile rides.
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Aubrey's First V-Day was a good one for her too!

With all the roses, we gave Aubrey her very first Rose for Valentine's day! She didn't know what to do with it, she tried eating it, pulling it, and playing with it... but she loved it anyway!
Doesn't she look like such a doll in this picture?

What a pretty rose!

We had tons of rose petals from all of the roses, so we scattered them around Aubrey and took some pictures!

After Aubrey mauled her rose, we opened up the petals and made it a flower for her headband. It was way cute, but way too big!

She knows how to please the camera!

On Tuesday morning, Aubrey got another Valentine's Day gift! She got a card, letter, and picture from her cousins Brenton and Aleigha! She love eating the card and holding the picture. Thank you so much Aleigha and Brenton!

After playing with these V-day gifts, we heard the mail man put something else in our box... what could it be?....

... It was a package from Grandma and Grandpa from WV. What a lucky girl.

Inside the package, was some long lost pants and a pacifier, and another Valentine from Grandma and Grandpa; this time, there was a lollipop attached to the card.

We couldn't help but let Aubrey at least try her first lollipop; so I put a bib on her and let her go to town. She new exactly what to do with it and she loved it, loved it, loved it!!! Of course we didn't let her eat the whole thing but she did try it out! Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa!
We hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day too!

Valentine's Day Candy Grams

2010-02-03T12:10:00.007-07:00

Wade is currently taking an entrepreneurship class this semester. His group is doing a project called the "100 dollar challenge." They are to make a small micro management business starting with $100 and then make that $100 back. His group's business is called CandyGrams Inc. . He and I worked on a blog for his business last night; it's pretty swanky if you ask me. So if you are in Rexburg and want to help Wade out and order your loved one a CandyGram visit us at:
www.candygramsinc.blogspot.com
You could also temporarily add our blog to your favorites list so his blog is visible to more Rexburg residents. Thanks to you all!

Even if you are not in Rexburg and want to check out our blog and tell us how awesome we are you are welcome to do that as well.

Hookie Bobbin'

2010-02-03T10:48:00.009-07:00

Hookie Bobbin'

The other morning, we woke up to several inches of snow on the ground. At first, this was somewhat discouraging because we are getting tired of the snow; however, we decided to make the best of it. We borrowed a few sleds, a tow rope, called up some friends, and headed out to find some unplowed roads. After a few minutes of driving we found the most ideal location in town. It was a newly built park that had several roads circling it and park lights that illuminated our path. It was perfect, noone was around except us and the snow. We spent 1 to 2 hours pulling each other around behind our truck. It was probably the most fun we have had in a long time. We can't wait until it snows so we can go again. Our friends Brittney and Jason came with us and fortunately Brittney took several pictures. We have some videos too but I had trouble downloading them; hopefully, they will come in the near future.

Some of you may wonder, "What do they do with Aubrey when they do crazy stuff like this?" Well, the answer is simple, We take her with us. Our family motto has always been to never let anything slow us down, just find creative things to do that can include our children too.

Wade and Jason had so much fun. The two of them laughed so hard the entire time. At times it we could hardly see the people we were pulling because of all the snow that that we were being plowed through.

Wade brought his snowboard with him so he could practice "wake boarding" for this summer!

Katie and Jason being pulled by the car.

"It's all fun and games until....

..... someone looses a glove-- or should I say a body!"

Wade and Jason began plotting their next "hookie bobbin'" adventure before we even left.

Unfortunately, Brittney was behind the camera in all the shots; however, she and I had a blast double hookie bobbin' together. I hope you all enjoyed the pictures. Stay tuned for more Crazy Christensen Adventures!

Aubrey getting into mischief!!!

2010-01-28T19:34:00.003-07:00

Aubrey is currently having an identity crisis and doesn't know exactly who she wants to be.

One day she is sweet little Aubrey....

.... the next day we catch her doing a google image search for "naked babies".....

...she has become so engrossed with this new problem that...

.... she has completely changed into something terrible!!!
We miss our cute, little Aubrey!

**Do any of you experienced parents know how we should handle this awful tragedy?

2010-01-27T11:59:00.007-07:00

REXBURG

Back in Rexburg! The first night that we moved in the infamous Rexburg weather was -20'!!! However, for the most part the weather has warmed up and is staying more consistent. Our new apartment is small, but very cute. Aubrey does not have her own room yet but she just upgraded from a bassinet to a crib. We were afraid that she wouldn't do well in it but she loves it! She falls asleep within 10mins. of laying her down. We couldn't be happier about how well she is doing in it; also, it is very cute!

"Welcome to my crib Hommie G'!"

We got a super awesome deal on the crib at Toys R' Us. The lady there let us price match the crib at Walmart plus gave us several other coupons and discounts that brought the price of the crib from $165 down to $120.

Finally Aubrey has a place of her own!

Sorry this picture is sideways but I took it to show you the awesome Retro Wall paper our apartment has. This is probably one of my favorite things about our new place.

The first week of December, Aubrey mastered sitting up! However she is continually progressing. She is now trying to pull herself up on things. The first time we saw this was when we were doing laundry and she was trying so hard to pull up on the hamper. After several minutes, the hamper over fell towards her. She hasn't yet made it to her feet by herself but she can get up on her knees. As for crawling, she is getting so close as she rocks from her bottom onto her belly; however, when she gets there, she doesn't get the concept completely yet. She is also rolling a lot more when she wants to reach for something or get somewhere. It's only a matter of time before she is completely mobile.

In our hallway, we have a floor length mirror in which Aubrey loves to play with the little girl in it. It is so funny how excited she is when she can see herself and entertain herself.

She tries so hard to touch that baby. Like with everything else, she has to try and taste/eat that baby too!

A cold, cold day at the park.... We stayed there for approximately 3mins., but it was fun while it lasted.

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Trip to Utah
Last week end we went to Utah for the annual car show that Wade has to go to. Every year before, I haven't been able to go with him; however, this year I was fortunate to go too! We had a blast looking at all the new cars and some classic and antique ones too. Even Aubrey enjoyed the whole show. That same weekend we went to Cabella's, hung out with Wade's brothers, and went snowboarding! It was a very fun and eventful weekend. Unfortunately, I only remembered to take pictures at the car show.

Don't I look so awesome in the front seat of this car?!?

Aubrey stayed in the stroller the whole time but enjoyed every minute of the show.

I think she loved the show so much because she takes after her Daddy!

There was also this big ARMY truck, I even got to go inside.

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As a side note:: Because of the show, my dream car has been solidified: I am going to own a Cadillac cts-v . I don't have picture of the one I sat in; however, these pictures will give you the idea. Isn't this car the sexiest car you have ever seen?

2010-01-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

2010-01-13T17:10:00.013-07:00

I know that it seems as if we haven't posted anything on here for months, it's because we haven't. Just to quickly summarize our past few months. I finished my student teaching in November; therefore, I am officially a college graduate!! The same day as my last day of teaching, we celebrated Wade's 25th Birthday. He was a little jealous because I got more gifts and parties from my students than he got on his Birthday. After we celebrated those 2 events, we got to celebrate Thanksgiving. We were able to enjoy it with all of Wade's family. Jena, hosted a fantastic dinner and decorated her house with beautiful place settings and Thanksgiving Decor. 1 week after Thanksgiving, Andrea took pictures of Aubrey and us. They turned out beautiful!

Well, the day after pictures, Aubrey and I jumped on an airplane and headed to West Virginia for the rest of the holidays. My mom's Birthday is December 4th so we flew in unannounced and had Jessie pick us up from the airport. We laid low for a few days at her house then she dropped us off at Emily and Chris' house to surprise them first. Emily was student teaching when we got there ,Chris unfortunately spotted us sneaking up to the house. We then waited for Emily's arrival. We dressed Aubrey up as a boy and had Chris tell Emily that it was Jessie's cousin that they were going to babysit last minute. Emily was a bit suspicious when she came home, but she had no clue that we were there and the very baby she was holding was Aubrey. After a few minutes of awkwardness, I jumped into the room.
The next day was mom's birthday, so we planned to trick her as well. Emily, Molly, and Julie met mom and dad at P-king to eat dinner together. We picked Molly up from school before hand and got her in on the surprise too. We told her to tell mom she was babysitting a little boy. Then Molly arrived at the restaurant with Aubrey dressed up as a boy. Mom had no idea; however, she kept remarking how he looked so much like Aubrey. It was so funny. Then I came into the restaurant and surprised her and everyone else as well. It was so much fun!
Wade flew in two weeks later and we had an awesome break spending the time with family and friends.

I am going to hold back on all the text because I could go into great detail and fill the blog with words but the pictures are the most exciting so we'll just cut to the chase. Unfortunately, I accidentally placed all of the pictures in the opposite order so if you want to start from the bottom to make them in chronological order you can... or not, it's all up to you... Please enjoy!

The 3 babies all swaddled up like a bunch of burritos

Grandma telling her famous "Pickle-juice stories"

This picture captures the warm feeling of the love Grandparents give so freely.

Grandma and 3 of the 4 new babies.... we missed little Jaxon and can't wait to meet him too!

New Years Eve! The babies almost made it to the New Year as they played with their toys to keep them busy and alert!

When Parker noticed that they were going to be late to the movies, he decided to take his helicopter instead so they could beat the traffic!

Aleigha and Parker decided to go to the movies and see "The Princess and the Frog" They went by car and looked so stylish.

More time spent with friends!

One of Wade's highlights this holiday was that he went hunting and got his first deer!!! He was so proud of himself and I must say I was proud of him too!!! He spent the next few days making steak and deer jerky!

..... Brenton took the Binky away!"

"It was all fun and games, until....

Aubrey's first BUBBLE bath! She loved it sooo.. much!

All the kid's laying in a circle!

More Cousins!!! Could Christmas get any better?!?! Parker and Ollie came to W.V. a couple days after Christmas... we had so much fun playing with them all!

Aubrey brought her bouncer to WV and Brenton ended up getting one for Christmas too! The two of them looked so cute playing in there; however, I think Aleigha enjoyed them the most!

I know the Chowey was Wade's Christmas present, but I think someone else liked it just as much... "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Aubrey: "Is that really what I think it is?" Thank you so much
Grandma and Grandpa, now I don't have to waste the batteries on Brenton's!

Aubrey, are you excited to open that gift?

This year all of the kids threw in to get Mom and Dad a few nice gifts instead of a bunch of crappy little gifts... We got them a 36" T.V., a bludray player, a new web cam, and card. They were surprised and now they don't have to sit 5" in front of the T.V any more!

The 3 of us on Christmas Morning, Wade woke us up super early... even Aubrey wasn't used to getting up that early.

Babies' first Christmas Morning.... There were so many presents!

Daddy's stocking had a "Chowey" attached to it. When Wade was a little boy, a lady from his ward made him sock monkeys that he called Chowey and loved so much... This year when I saw them at Wal-mart I had to write a letter to Santa and tell him that Wade would love a Chowey!

The babies waited patiently in Grandma and Grandpa's bed to see what Santa brought them. I have several memories waiting in my Mom and Dad's bed early in the morning until they finally let us go down when everyone was ready.

Christmas Morning.... There were so many gifts! Lucking Aleigha and Brenton were so good this year or the tree would look empty.

All three stocking hung from the chimney with care... in hopes that St. Nicolas would soon be there!

Time to hang our stockings baby girl... Santa will fill them tonight!

Aubrey's first Christmas Eve... This was the first gift she opened... she surprisingly did awesome at opening presents.

After we went Christmas Caroling, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and guess who got the nut???? 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count... That's right Molly!!! However, she did divulge in sharing her secrets to always winning, next year it will be cut throat!

Mommy and Aubrey in front of the Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve getting ready for all of the festivities and traditions.

Santa Clause really came and made a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Christmas Eve... He was so generous to leave Aleigha tons of gifts including this awesome keyboard... We found out that these kids are musical prodigies and they rock!

When we finally were able to break free from Lynn Camp Road, I got to hang out with a few friends from high school. It was really fun spending time together.

POWER OUTAGE!!! We got a huge snow storm that trapped us at home for 3 days without any power.... The first days were really fun especially because Molly's phone died and she was forced to hang out with us. We had a blast until, we all got cabin fever and began fighting each other like trapped lab rats.

Aubrey's first Christmas card from Grandma

Who can sit up taller and smile bigger?

So the secret's out: Aubrey is actually an elf!

Aleigha and Aubrey conspiring a plot against Brenton!

Aubrey loved playing with her cousins, Brenton and Aleigha, she already misses them sooo.... much!

2009-11-12T19:54:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Halloween Festivities!

2009-11-01T14:59:00.014-07:00

Happy Halloween!

This was Aubrey's first Halloween so we took some pictures so you all could be a part of all the fun and festivities she took part in. About a week ago we started our fun as Wade and I threw a Halloween party at Grandma's house. All the kids came dressed in their costumes. However, I unfortunately, didn't get any pictures of all the kids except Aubrey. They were all very cute though! Wade and I got cookies, eyeball stew, chips and salsa, candy, and all sorts of other goodies. Then we all had a weenie roast in the backyard around the fire pit as Wade's family shared stories of their childhood. It was really fun to hear all of their memories. We dressed Aubrey up as a ballerina princess; but, she was very tired fussy and not very photogenic

She couldn't understand what all the poof was all about

Aubrey was so excited and surprised to see all of her cousins dressed up

This hat was cute on her for the whole 2minutes that it stayed on.

All the kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline in the dark!

Wade and Aubrey sitting around listening to scary stories.

Jena and Andrea, enjoying all the good food. You can tell Jena is a mom by all the weenies she can cook at one time... impressive!

The night before Halloween, Wade and I started carving our pumpkins we didn't get too far because Aubrey wasn't in the mood and Wade remembered that he needed to dress up for work. We paused in the carving process and threw together some stuff for Wade's costume.

After all was said and done, Wade was a news anchor in a terrible wind storm. We are so good!

After sleeping until 3 on Halloween, Wade, Aubrey,and I continued carving our pumpkins. This time, Aubrey was more compliant.

The pumpkins are almost done!

I turn my head for one minute and Aubrey started carving the pumpkin all by herself!

Aubrey: "How do you guys like my carving skills?"

Aubrey tried fitting herself into the jack-o-lantern, but soon realized that she isn't as small as she used to be.

After all was said and done, Aubrey was so excited to pose in front of her masterpieces!

She was so happy because she new that when the jack-o-lanterns were done, it was soon time to go trick-or-treating!

"Okay, I guess you can take one more picture, because I am so darn cute!"

Aubrey getting ready to get some candy... can you tell what she's going to be yet?

Her costume is starting to come together more... any ideas yet?

That's right!.... She was a "Jack-in-the-box" or you could say a "Jackie in a box"

I was a welding Wade for trick-or-treating!

Wade was a redneck, cowboy.... so, here are the 3 of us together right before we left!

Aren't the people suppose to be surprised when the "Jack in the box" pops up?... not the Jack

The last house we trick-or-treated was Grandma and Grand-dad's so they just had to take another picture of us.

Can you tell how much Aubrey liked her trick-or- treating experience?

Finally, Aubrey was able to get out of her box and stretch her little arms and legs!

Of course, Aubrey had to count and sort all of her candy and goodies.

"Yup, that's right, Aubrey got over 5 full sized candy bars, soda, apples, goldfish, and more... what a lucky baby!"

"Show us your favorite treat you got!"

I think Aubrey thought all of the candy was actually new toys because of all the bright colors and and crinkly sounds they made.

Right before we went to bed for the night, we lit up our jack-o-lanterns and Aubrey loved the warm orange glow they made.

We hope you all enjoyed your Halloween too! Happy belated Halloween to all those we love and miss!
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I also got to enjoy some extra Halloween fun at the elementary school. My cooperating teacher and I stayed after school one day to create our costumes. I dressed up as a washer and she dressed up as a dryer. We had some of the coolest costumes that were there. We even got to march in the Halloween parade and have fun parties in our classroom! I unfortunately forgot my camera, but when I get copies from Lindsi, I'll be sure to post!

October Fun!

2009-10-20T20:19:00.021-06:00

October is Here!
October seems to be my favorite month of the year. First off, I love the feeling of the crisp fall weather! I love the beautiful colors that present themselves on the trees this time of the year. Aside of the weather, I love all of the parties and celebrations that happen during this month. Not to mention, my Birthday! The first week of the month, I had 3 days off of school so Wade took the same days off and we headed to Idaho to run a few errands and enjoy conference with our friends. Friday night, we had a bon fire as we roasted wienies and marshmallows. After which, we used the fire to make Sobe bombs.

Aubrey had to get all bundled up for that Rexburg weather. but it was worth it to have such a cool fire.

Aubrey chillin' with her new buddy, Brooke near the fire!

Kent, Wade, Brett, Derik, and Jessica getting toasty

If you didn't know any better you'd think they were Aubrey's parents... might as well since her real parents seem to neglect her... lol.. just kidding.

Enjoying conference!

On our way back from Idaho, we decided to visit Jacob and Melinda in Logan. Aubrey was so excited to finally get to play with someone her own age. Andrew is getting so big and very handsome!

The following weekend, we celebrated the Best Day of the Year.... My Birthday! Wade woke me up at midnight on my Birthday with a dozen roses he picked up on his break. The next morning he came home early at 2am instead of 7am. so he could be well rested for the adventures that were to come. We left around 10am to go to Lagoon! This is Wade getting excited for all of those thrill rides! We left Aubrey for the first time for the longest time without either one of us home. However, I think she enjoyed her day with her Grandma.

At the park, Wade took me to a strip club for my Birthday.... The star was this Kangaroo who had a fetish for his privates!... He was very provocative, we decided to leave early.

While waiting in line for one of the rides, I saw the funniest yet smartest sign I had ever seen. We just had to take a picture... I'm glad they warned me because, I was really tempted to sit on it.

After the peep show and the tempting fence, we got ready to go to the square dance, I thought I was really excited until I saw Wade.

This is a picture of genuine excitement... However, I think this cowboy came strait from the movie Brokeback Mountain. He looks a little femmie with the hand on his tilted hip.

Before we left, we decided to pay a little extra to ride the bungie jump/ superman ride. I was really excited to ride this ride that would hoist you on a cord 150 feet into the air and then you pulled your own rip cord to free fall 20 feet and then swing back and forth across the park. However, when they began to lift us, I became extremely scared. Wade and I went tandem and I was the one to pull the cord, I almost didn't because I was so nervous. On the way down I was crying and laughing hysterically at the same time. Although it was scary (at least for me) it was totally worth it!

Wade made me post this picture because he wanted to show off that he has gained 10lbs. The next time you see him, make sure to make a comment on his new rugged look. He would appreciate it a ton!

Soon after we got home from Lagoon, Melinda, Dessie, and Andrew came to visit us for a week. Aubrey loved spending a little more time with her cousins.

Aubrey thinks just because she's smaller than Andrew that she can just lay all over him. I don't know that Andrew agrees.

Andrew: "So do you come to this blanket often?"
Aubrey: "I don't know, but you sure are cute!"

Aubrey cuddling with her Grand-dad

Grandma and Grand-dad posing with all the Grandkids. To add to greatness of October, Wade's brother and sister in-law had their 3rd baby on the 8th. So the day after my Birthday we visited new baby Everette and while we we were there, we had cake and ice cream for my Birthday. Seeing Everette, made me so sad to see how much Aubrey has grown in just the last 4 months.

Aubrey getting ready to go to the park! The book in this picture is Aubrey's favorite toy. she loves to suck on in and crinkle it to make lots of noise. I don't remember who got it for her, but thank you!

This last weekend, we went to a really "mind-blowing" park with Wade's nieces and nephews. They jungle gym was a little advanced for Aubrey; however, she got to try out her first big baby swing!

Mommy trying to get Aubrey to pose: "Work it Aubrey, show us a tiger face!"

After a little while of swinging sitting back, Aubrey got daring and leaned all the way forward... this way she could see all the world around her!

What a beautiful girl... she looks so grown up in this picture.

She loved this swing more than any other swing she has ever tried out... we need to get one just like this to hang up in our house.

If you haven't noticed, Aubrey's new thing is to chew on her fist and fingers. This unfortunately triggers a pool of drool from head to toe. Either way, it's kind of cute.

This last weekend, Wade bought Rockband for our playstation. After playing in the park... All us jammed out and showed our musical skills. We really make Bonjovi look armature when we rock out to "Living on a Prayer."

Usually when I get home from school, Aubrey is still wearing her pajamas from the night before and she looks like a homely child. However, I was surprised to see that Wade actually dressed her up really cute today. We decided to take some Fall pictures of her all cute.

Aubrey loves being outside and staring up at the sky and trees!

Playing in her first pile of leaves!

I think she was a little concerned about the leaf that was less than a centimeter from her eye.

Beautiful Baby!

Watch out boys... here comes Aubrey!

When I get home from school, all I want to do is spend time with my little angel... I love playing with her and just loving her.... I really can't wait until I can be a mommy all day again.

Relaxing by leaning on a tree in the beautiful Fall weather.

She is getting so big and is great at holding up her head and rolling over more and more often every day... soon, she will be rolling all the way across the floor.

Looking towards the beautiful sun setting!

We have several videos to add to this blog entry but I will attach them later. We really miss you all and can't wait to see you soon! Each leaf that falls brings us a little closer to seeing you all. We love you all and hope you all enjoy the rest of this season!