Christensen Party of Five!

Straight Talk!

2011-01-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

I straightened Lanessa’s hair yesterday for the first time. She has wanted to try it straight ever since I started to use the flat iron on Jenaya’s hair. We couldn’t believe how different she looked! Also, I never noticed how much lighter her hair was on the ends.

Fun Christmas gift

2010-12-23T23:23:00.000-07:00

Here's what we made for some gifts this year. Lanessa had fun helping me with these. She could actually assemble one all by herself....with the exception of me just helping with the main pipe-cleaner. She was such a great little helper :) We thought they turned out pretty cute. I've wanted to make these guys for a few years now.

Melting Snowman Cookies

2010-12-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

The kids have been out of school for Christmas break since Friday. Here's a little holiday project we did today. They are so stinkin' cute!!! Here is the blog I saw them off: Crazy Domestic

Teacher Gifts

2010-12-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a really long time since I've posted on here! No way I'm going to be able to catch up with whats been going on...sorry :(

I just wanted to show you what we gave the kiddos Teachers this year.....

They each had 3 apples and a clear baggie of Hearshy's Hugs inside the clear wrap. The Saying on the card says "Teachers can't live on apples alone....sometimes they need "Hugs" too!

Simple but cute! I'll post what we made for our neighbors this year too.

GymTastic!

2010-09-04T12:20:00.001-06:00

Jenaya, took gymnastics all last school year. I was pretty excited that she wanted to try gymnastics out since it was one of my favorites when I was a kid. I was super amazed at how far she had come in such short amount of time. She is such a natural athlete. Here are a few pics from her last day in May. *I didn't take these pictures*

Let's Dance!

2010-09-02T09:49:00.000-06:00

I really haven't been a good blogger the past few months. I havn't even posted any of the fun things we did this summer! There are a few older post I want to catch up on firsth though and one of those is Ben & Lanessa's dance pics from May...yes MAY! Geez its been awhile ;)

Benny, loved his dance class just as much as ALL the girls did :) I'll see if I can upload the video of their recital dance and post it soon.

Jenaya's First Day

2010-08-30T13:04:00.000-06:00

Jenaya, started school last Monday....has it already been a week? Man!
We feel very blessed to have found the Christian Private School we did fore her. She is LOVING it! I can't believe she is in 3rd grade this year!

First Day of School!

2010-08-20T09:53:00.000-06:00

This Monday Ben & Lanessa started their first day of school. They are so excited to be FIVE now and old enough to be Kindergartner's! I can't believe they are old enough to be in school full day. It is bitter sweet for this momma I must say :(

It's all new schools this year for the 3 of them. Jenaya, starts this coming Monday at a private school in town. I'll post some pics of her first day next week.

My new photo blog is up!

2010-05-03T21:43:00.001-06:00

We have had a lot going on here the past couple of weeks. We still don't have our house put back together since the water pipe that broke and flooded our house 2 months ago! We are in the middle of one of the worst situations we have ever been in with a really bad flooring job from Royal flooring here in town (don't ever use them!) ok, I just had to get that off my chest :) I hate to complain on here so I'm not going to go into all the ugly details. I just can't wait till my house is more functional then it is right now. The sad thing is, it's going to get worse before it's all over and done with :( I just want it to hurry up and be all purdy again :)

Okay, on a happier note, I'm finally launching my new photography blog YAY!! Here is a link http://trishachristensen.com/blog/ come stop by and check it out :) I will be adding some more info on there soon like pricing and a bio and stuff, but for now I have it up and that feels great!

Love,
Trish

Happy Anniversary the BIG 10!!!

2010-04-15T22:36:00.001-06:00

Two posts in one day? This must be some type of record for me ;) I had to fit this one in, even though its 10:30 at night. It's not every day that you have your 10 year Anniversary now is it?? Josh ended up needing to close tonight so we will have to wait until tomorrow to go out and celebrate.....well maybe, Benny hasn't been feeling too great today ;(
Anyway, I was out making some portrait deliveries today and when I came home these beautiful rose were waiting for me on the porch!

I

LOVE

roses

a lot!

Thank you hunny!! I love you sooooo much. I can't wait to see what another 10 years will bring ;)

All Dressed Up

2010-04-15T08:02:00.000-06:00

The kids looked cute so cute all dressed for church last Sunday. I just had to snap a few quick pics of them :)

Hoppy EaStEr!!!

2010-04-11T21:12:00.003-06:00

I'm finally getting around to adding some Easter pics from last week. We went to the annual Easter egg hunt the Flack family puts on every year. We had so much fun hunting with lots of friends. On Sunday the kids where excited to see that the Easter bunny had filled their baskets and had hidden their eggs they had decorated the night before.

After the kids found all the eggs (or so we thought. We actually found some the next day) we had our traditional Henke Easter breakfast Golden Egg-rod Sunday mmmm yummy!!! We had a great Easter!! I hope you all did too :)

Hanging out with the kiddos

2010-03-31T21:54:00.001-06:00

Jenaya and Lanessa were out looking for bugs to put in their jar this afternoon. They were so cute looking all around for one. Jenaya finely caught a Hornet! She was pretty exited (as you can see on her face). It was pretty warm even though it was overcast and breezy. Too bad I didn't feel like doing some spring cleaning it would have been perfect for pulling weeds. I'm glad I spent the time playing outside with my kiddos though. They really are growing up way to fast!!

Testing, testing, is this thing on??

2010-03-30T22:08:00.001-06:00

I know that I've been a bit of a blog slacker lately, but that's only because I've been working so hard behind the scenes. I've been putting together a new photography blog...YAY! I've felt a bit bad about combining our family blog with my photography business. So very soon I will launch it and then make this blog private. So please stayed tuned for a peak at my new blog and some exciting new products available to my clients :)

Earlier today Lanessa brought me a cup and sad "I made you some lemon aid out of oranges" awwww! I had my camera right here on my desk so I grabbed it and took a picture...it actually was very under exposed. I tried saving it in PhotoShop. It's not the best quality but the subject most certainly is :) After I drank my delicious "lemon aid" I went down stairs to the kitchen to see what mess awaited me and to my surprise it wasn't as bad as I feared!! I was very impressed at her persistence...look at all those oranges she squeezed!!

Sweet little flower!

2010-03-04T17:15:00.006-07:00

This little sweetie just turned ONE! Bella, is the cutest little girl ever!! But don't take my word for it, check her out!!

EPIPHANIE GIVE-AWAY! :)

2010-03-03T09:08:00.001-07:00

EPIPHANIE IS GIVING AWAY YOUR CHOICE OF

A BRAND NEW CANON 5D MARK II!

OR

A $2500 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO SOUTHWEST AIRLINES!!!

Go to: http://www.haveanepiphanie.com/home/2010/2/28/epiphanie-give-away.html

Farmington NM ~ Newborn Photographer

2010-03-01T13:05:00.004-07:00

Meet Miss Carly. She is 7 days old. I had the pleasure of taking her pictures on Saturday. I was so excited to meet this little sweetie! I was able to take her mommies maternity pics a couple of weeks ago. I wish sooo bad I had taken my babies to a professional photographer when they where brand new. It sure would have been nice if I was that "pro" back then ;). I love all the little details a new babe has. They certainly grow up WAY to fast!!!

Farmington, NM ~ Materinty Photographer

2010-02-15T10:07:00.006-07:00

This is my friend Jeanene. She is expecting her first baby in a couple of weeks...or sooner ; ) You might remember the session I did with she and her husband Shane this past fall when she was 5 months along. You can see those pics here. I had so much fun taking Jeanene's belly shots! She has the most beautiful skin ever! And no stretchmarks at all!! I can't wait to see their new babe. Stay tuned for his debut pics coming soon!!

PS check out my new logo!! ; )

look what....

2010-02-14T18:35:00.003-07:00

My sweet honey gave for me for V-day!! A beautiful Orchid! I've never had one before, but I love it!!! : )

He also gave me this HUGE card

Look what he put inside!!! LOL!! I have the silliest husband in the world...LOVE IT!

Happy Valentine's!!

2010-02-12T15:04:00.007-07:00

Lybrook - Sneak Peek

2010-02-07T17:49:00.005-07:00

Such a beautiful momma!! It was so nice to meet you guys! Thanks for letting me take your maternity pictures : ) Best of luck to the both of you!

June Bug!

2010-02-01T19:43:00.005-07:00

This little dumplin' is my adorable niece June. I got to hangout with her and her brothers today and I just couldn't resist a little photoshoot with her ; ) Junie is 10 months old and just she sweetest little thing...I just can't stop kissing her!! She is sooo smiley, even for the camera at nap time!! I was having a lot of fun playing around with different editing options. I hope you like them Heber and Boston. Thanks for letting me play with your kiddos today. I'll have to get some of the boys next time ; )

Okay, I'm all done!!

Snow Much Fun!!

2010-01-25T21:04:00.005-07:00

We had so much snow drop last Thursday here. It was crazy for where we live to get that much! School was canceled for two days in a row! The kiddos had sooo much fun getting out and playing in it. Daddy made them a hill to sled off. Here goes Jenaya-with a little help......

Weeeeee!!

I helped the kids make a quick snowman, hey don't laugh!! We didn't end up finishing him and he didn't last too long before the kids tipped him over : )

Daddy helping the kids build a fort.

This picture of Ben and Lanessa cracks me up!!

We had a lot of fun playing in the snow. I even let the kids make some snow cones (come on, it's not like they're not eating it anyway!!). We also made some ice cream that my sister Shantel told me about. It was sooo yummy!! I'll post how to make it soon...I better hurry though, 'cause the snow is almost all melted now!

Let's Dance!

2010-01-20T18:28:00.005-07:00

Lanessa & Benny have been in a dance class for the past 5 months. Last night was their first parent preview. It was so fun to finally be able to see what they have been learning. I had the biggest smile on my face the whole time : ) They are just so darn cute!! I loved watching their cute little dances. They both absolutely love to go!! Even Benny, being the only boy in the class! ; ) Hey, boys have to start somewhere!! Tuesdays are a little crazy for mommy running them to class and hightailing it to get Jenaya to her gymnastic class on time. I do like that it's only the one night out of a week though. I will post some pictures of Jenaya in class soon!

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Oh let me count the ways that I love you...

2010-01-09T23:08:00.004-07:00

I love my 3 kiddos SO much! I know I probably don't express my love for them enough on here. But I truly hope that a day does not go by where they question that I love them. They are the sweetest, funniest little people I know! Sometimes it's scary being a mom. I use to think that I would feel older & have more wisdom when I was a mother. Why don't they come with owners manual's? I mean, they are the most important people in my life and I don't want to screw-up this enormous task of responsibility to teach them the things that they need to know to be happy, healthy & knowledgeable people. I'm so glad I have such a wonderful husband by my side that can help share in the blame : P

Josh and I where able to go on a a date tonight. It was so great to spend some time alone with each other without the kiddos. It truly helps me to be able to love them all the more when I can get away every once in awhile! It helps me to be able to step back and realize what special children they are.

Anyway, enough about all that here are a few recent pictures of my three loves : )

It is SO much easier taking picture's of other peoples children instead of my own. They don't think of mommy as a photographer! : )

Newborn ~ Kirtland NM ~Photographer

2010-01-04T14:05:00.007-07:00

It only took one look for my heart to turn to mush! Oh my goodness, check out this adorable 14 day old baby boy!! He was so handsome and seriously one of the best babies I've ever seen. Thanks again Jamie for letting me have the pleasure of taking Brody's pictures : )

Are you baby hungry yet??

Cheesy Grins!

2009-12-28T11:20:00.002-07:00

An extremely cheesy snap shot of the kiddos before church last week. We had a wonderful Christmas!! I hope you all did too!! I'll post more about it soon : )

Be Still My Heart!

2009-12-20T15:41:00.005-07:00

I'm so glad that we were able to see my sister Shantel and family on our way to ID. They stopped to spend the night at April and Corin's house for Friday night. They were on their way to Overton to spend Thanksgiving with Jerome's parents. I finally got to meet my new little nephew who is already 7 months old!! Last time we were in ID visiting was for Easter, and Shantel was on bed rest pregnant with this little guy, so we didn't get to see her much. Mr. Preston is just as cute as can be. He fits right in with the other two super cute boys!! I was only able to get a few quick snapshots before they left Saturday morning. Benny sure misses his cousin Broc! They play so CUTE together!! I can't wait till we live closer : )

(Carter & Broc)

(Shantel, I really like your hair like this)

I was sad to see them leave....but excited we were able to see them too! Take care you guys, and don't let the boys change anymore until I get to see them next : )

(I didn't get one of Jerome : ( he must have been packing up the van)

April & Corin's Sneak Peek

2009-12-19T12:52:00.007-07:00

I had the privileged of taking my sister's family pictures while we were in Springville. I was a bit nervous since this was the largest family I've taken on so far! I love how they turned out and come on, aren't they just the cutest family ever??

Thanks so much you guys!

OXOXO Trish

My Beautiful Niece Milja!

2009-12-16T10:15:00.008-07:00

While the other kids were hot tubbin' I followed my niece Milja (my brother Jon's little girl) around to get a few pics of her. Her facial expressions just cracked me up! I love the crossed eye picture!!

She is such a spunky little girl with a mind of her own. I just LOVE this little girl!!

Cousin's & Hot Tubbin'

2009-12-15T21:58:00.004-07:00

Well, since it's almost Christmas, I thought I better start blogging about our Thanksgiving trip last month ; ) We drove up to Utah for the first couple of days and stayed with my sister April and family in Springville. The kids all had such a great time swimming in their hot tub! Man, it was cold outside!!! I actually really wanted to get in but I didn't like the idea of getting out in such cold weather. That never seams to stop kids though, does it?? I want....no NEED a hot tub someday....do you hear me Santa?? ; )

Here's a few snapshots of some of the cousins bravin' the weather for a warm dip.

I came across this and just had to share it : )

2009-12-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Poor kid!

2009-12-12T09:48:00.002-07:00

The night before we left for our trip, Benny was pushing and running with his truck on the sidewalk. He tripped and skid on his face! He had a HUGE goosebump on his forehead and his poor nose had the skin all scrapped off : ( This is what he looked like for several days after.

Child ~ Family ~ Photographer ~ Farmington NM

2009-12-07T17:16:00.006-07:00

Wowzers!! Its been awhile since I've posted on here! This past month has been VERY eventful. I've been trying to catch up with everything since we got back from our trip to Idaho last week. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of family this year (I'll post pictures soon). Jenaya was also Baptized into our church this past Saturday. I'll post more on that as well ; )
April, I should have your sneak peek up soon : )

Remember the gorgeous Washburn sisters I posted about a little bit ago?? Well, I had the pleasure to take their family pictures before I went on our trip. So Dawn, here's your sneak peek. I hope you like them ; ) Thanks so much for the opportunity!

Such a fun family!! I really enjoyed my time with them : )

Birthday + Mini Golf + Cake = FUN!

2009-11-16T08:15:00.006-07:00

Jenaya turned 8 on Friday the 13th!! I can't believe she is already eight!! Where has all the time gone?? She is so excited to get baptized next month!

We let Jenaya pick where she wanted to go for dinner and she picked Applebee's (she could have picked Taco Bell, and it would've been fine with me. Just as long as I didn't have to cook ; )
Grandma & Granddad were able to come too! Then we took the kids to the Big Bounce to play. Jenaya and daddy played a round of miniature golf. After playing till they were good and sweaty hehe! we all headed over to Grandma & Granddads for cake & ice cream and of course to open up some birthday presents too!

Jenaya told Josh and I that "this was the best birthday EVER!" it really surprised me since she was all bummed about not have a friend party. Kidzzz!

Jenaya wanted a Tiger Cake this year. She even got to help mommy decorate it too! We really had a lot of fun. I'm so glad it was her best birthday EVER!!!

Love you sooo much monkey girl!!!!

Carley & Kyle's Sneak Peek ~ NM Family Photographer ~ Trisha Christensen

2009-11-14T17:32:00.010-07:00

I'm so excited (and nervous at the same time) to post these!! My friend Carley and I helped each other out by taking one another's family pictures. Carley is a professional photographer (hence the nervous part). I'm thrilled with how great of a job she did on our family pictures....I can't post them till after I get our Christmas cards out ; ) I feel a little guilty though, I definitely had the easier end of the deal, because she had her handsful with my crew!!

Thanks again Carley!! I had such a great time with you two! I hope you like them ; )

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Farmington NM Photographer ~ Washburn's Sneak Peek

2009-11-11T19:10:00.007-07:00

Life's been busy in the photography world. I'm not complaining......I love it ; ) It's just that time of year when everyone wants pictures done. Myself included. I had my friend Carley take our family pics a couple of weeks ago, they turned out sooo cute!! I'll post some soon : )

I'm so excited to post these pictures of two of the sweetest girls ever!! They are so darn cute....but don't take my word, have a look for yourself ; )

Thanks girls! I had such a great time!!

Sneak Peek for The Barton Family....

2009-11-09T12:56:00.008-07:00

Thanks Barton's, I had such a blast taking your pictures!!
Do kids come cuter than this?? Nope, I didn't think so ; )

Krista's Sneak Peek

2009-11-07T21:00:00.006-07:00

My sister was able to come down to visit a couple of weeks ago so we went to ABQ to go shopping and for her photoshoot in Old Town. I LOVE ABQ's Old Town. It is one of the neatest place to see. And now shoot!! Haha! I wish I could do more sessions there, to bad it's three hrs away : ( Anyway, Kris, here is your Sneak Peek. Sorry it took a bit to get up.....

Sneak Peek for The Stock Family

2009-11-05T19:28:00.003-07:00

I had such a great time taking pictures for the Stock Family on Halloween. Such cute kids!! I used a lens I’ve been renting for this shoot….I want a new one sooo bad ; ) It’s great to be able to try a lens out before buying one.

I have a few more sneak peeks I’m working on that I’ll get up soon!

Halloween

2009-11-04T23:44:00.009-07:00

Halloween was fun (as always) this year. Our church trunk or treat was last Wednesday…yes this was also the same day we had a winter storm! Can you say cccold! We still braved it though ; ) Josh wasn’t able to go with us, he went to ABQ to take the Idaho state test. He passed!! YAY!! Now he can be licensed in ID which when we move up there will be quite handy ; )

Daddy was able to take the kiddos around the neighborhood on Halloween Day to trick or treat, so he didn’t miss all the fun!! I stayed and braved the insane on slot of tricker treaters we get here. I really like handing out candy but probably not as much as Jenaya does! She has loved this part better than getting the candy herself for years : ) Life could be worse.

Ben and Lanessa had there Pre-School Halloween parade and class party on Friday. They were both so excited to wear their costumes to school.

Meet Benny the Dinosaur….

Then there’s Lanessa as Snow White…..

And Jenaya as the beautiful Princess Jasmine.

(She only wanted to wear her veil and wig for pics, but that’s okay)

Lanessa's Class picture.

Ben's Class picture.

I hope you all had a great Halloween this year too!!!

Sneak Peek for the Culler Family

2009-10-29T20:50:00.002-06:00

I had such a great time! E their oldest, was such a natural and quite the poser!! LOVED it ; ) Thanks for letting me take your family pictures. It was so great seeing your family again.

Sneak Peek for Jeanene & Shane

2009-10-27T10:47:00.010-06:00

I had the pleasure of taking pictures for one of my dear friends and her husband this past weekend. Jeanene and I go way back….We grew-up on the same street in Flora Vista. I’m so excited for them, they are expecting there first little bundle of joy in a couple a months!!

Cute Kids!

2009-10-26T15:39:00.005-06:00

Cute little Hodges! These two are so sweet!! I can honestly say that, because they are my neighbors and they play with my kiddos all the time.

I have a few more sneak peeks I’m editing right now. I’ll post them soon : )

UPDATE: Mini Photo Sessions….

2009-10-19T15:11:00.002-06:00

I only have a couple of times left for my Mini Photo Sessions this Saturday. So, if you’re interested please let me know ASAP. Thanks : )

(Can’t post without a picture…now can I?) Shiprock, NM

What’s more fun than a sandbox??

2009-10-18T17:10:00.009-06:00

A corn-pit. That’s what.

We took the family to the pumpkin patch yesterday. It was a lot of fun! It definitely was hotter and a lot busier than the past couple of years.

Holiday Mini Sessions

2009-10-14T16:54:00.002-06:00

Holiday Mini Sessions are Coming!!

I’m offering a few Holiday mini sessions next Saturday the 24th. See info below for times available. If you’re interested please contact me through my website or by my cell phone 505.360.1302 for the time you’d like and any questions you might have.

Some ideas for a mini session could be: Pictures with the family, kids or couples. Or even kiddos in their Halloween costumes!! It’s up to you!

I will also have a few Christmas cards to offer as well. Please share this info with anyone you think might be interested. Thanks! : )

Lil’ Pumpkins : )

2009-10-13T10:57:00.002-06:00

Just a few pics of Ben and Lanessa from Saturday after going to a little friends Halloween birthday party. Don’t they look SpOoKtAcULaR!!!!

Tayler and Kinzey

2009-10-09T21:58:00.009-06:00

I was almost scared to post these two beauties' pictures on the web. At 14 and 16 I can’t believe how grownup they are! These girls were such good sports at humoring my crazy ideas….I’m sure glad they did though cause they turned out great! Here’s a few of my favorites from our session together.

(I know I’ve been behind on here, and have already posted some of these on FB already but I wanted to update my blog too : )

My photography site : )

2009-10-02T18:12:00.005-06:00

Well, it’s no surprise that I LOVE photography. It’s my creative outlet and something I have always had a passion for. So for me to launch my new photography website here on my blog is so exciting!! : ) come take a peek @ www.trishachristensen.com to see my portfolio and session info. I will be announcing a few mini holiday sessions soon, so more clients will be able to get their family pics done in time for the holidays at a discounted price. So stayed tuned and I’ll post the details soon : )

I had the honor of taking Sydney’s sweet sixteen pictures for her. I had such a great time on our shoot. I almost felt like a sixteen year old again myself (almost) with all of the laughing and giggling that went on. Fun stuff!

Oh, how time flies!

2009-09-28T20:53:00.005-06:00

Can it really be so close to October? Really?? This year has just flown by. I know it seems like it has in years past too, but for some reason this one seems unusually faster.
I was watching my kids play the other day, they were just walking by the lake, and I had that tug at my heart that we parents get sometimes when you notice that they have changed. They look a little bit older today. I love my kids with all my heart! Can’t they be these ages for just a couple of years? Why does childhood have to go by so fast!?!

I took the kids to the park for our last picnic of the year. Jenaya discovered crawdads in the stream….remember those? She has been in love with them ever since! She caught one of the smallest, teeny-weeny baby ones I think I’ve ever seen before.

I remember loving to catch them as a kid in our irrigation stream when dad would water the lawn, or ‘fish’ for them out of the ditch in the apple orchard. My siblings and I use to fry ‘em up in butter and eat them. I remember them being real tasty (we would just eat the tails). I remember one evening my mom calling us kids to come see the BIGGEST crawdad that dad found out on the lawn. Yeah, mom and dad decided to play a little trick on us kids and went down to the super market and bought a lobster! We couldn’t believe our eyes! It took us a little bit to notice the rubber bands on his claws (come on … it was almost dark!) He sure made a yummy dinner that night!! Ahhh, what great memories : )

2009-09-09T12:37:00.005-06:00

My poor neglected blog : (I’ve been so slow with blogging this whole summer!

I’ve been meaning to blog about Mel, Zak and Nat’s trip to Farmington for a while now. We had a lot of fun with them….as always! We went up to Durango and did some shopping here’s a few pics of us goofing off….

This picture just cracks me up!!

On our way to the Bar D we stopped to put some penny’s on the train track. I’ve never done that before, it was really cool!

Benny’s so excited to ride the little train at the Bar D!!

Zak-O on the train ride….he’s so cute!

Some random pics of the family that went up to the Bar D. This was Ben & Lanessa’s first time to go, I think they really enjoyed it. They were a bit wigglier than Josh and I would have liked but hey, jackets and blankets make great beds to play on under the picnic tables! : )

Awww, doesn’t Jenaya and daddy look so cute with a stuffed souvenir between them?!

Sneak Peek for Brydon & Corey

2009-08-19T16:07:00.004-06:00

I’ve been busy with starting my photography business…..can I just say that I LOVE what I do!! I have a brand spanking new website and will share the link soon, I’m almost finished building it ; )

I was able to take pictures of the cutest couple the other day. I just wanted to share a sneak peek of some of the pics I’ve processed so far. It was hard to choose, there are so many I love! I really had such a great time with these two!! Brydon, I’ll have the rest of your pictures edited really soon and I will email you the password to your gallery. I hope you like them : )

Team Player & Summer fun

2009-08-05T21:39:00.003-06:00

The summer has gone by so fast this year! It’s crazy to think school is starting around the corner. Ben & Lanessa are so excited to start preschool this year….did I mention, so is mom!?!

Jenaya, has had an eventful couple of months. She finished her baseball season in May. Why baseball and not softball you ask? It’s because there isn’t enough girls to form a softball team out here. I think they will be able to next year…..??
Jenaya loved playing with her team. I was really worried about how she would do since she never played t-ball to start with…. .she sure wasn’t the best thrower, catcher or batter at first but she caught on quick and even ended up hitting 2 home runs at the last two games! Way to go Naya!!

I was able to take the team pictures for them. It was a fun new challenge that lead to many more shoots for other coaches/teams. I did a couple of shoots out in Shiprock for some teams in front of the “Rock” that I’ll have to post. They turned out really neat!

The kids all took swim lessons this summer again…I can’t believe how much it helped Ben & Nessa with confidence in the water this time around! They all LOVE to swim so much. We call them our little fishies.

Jenaya was also able to attend a couple of camps over the summer. The first one she attended was an art camp down at the children’s museum. She was able to create various projects with a different medium each day. They even made their own mosaic stepping stone. Talk about fun. I should’ve enrolled myself in it too! : )

Fun stuff!

Happy Birthday Shantel!!

2009-08-04T18:54:00.002-06:00

I hope you’ve had a sweet day! I love you girlio!!

Let Freedom Ring!

2009-07-20T17:26:00.003-06:00

We had a great time celebrating Independents Day. We meet up with a bunch of friends for our annual BBQ and to watch the city firework show on the 3rd. On Saturday the 4th we took the kids down to pick out our own fireworks for that evening (we definitely learned since living here, that you buy them here in Kirtland and NOT in f-town city limits. They are a LOT better fireworks out here!). We had fun setting them off! Our neighbors were setting theirs off too so we were taking turns watching the ‘shows’.

We splurged a little and got a couple bigger fireworks this year. We have always wanted to get the ones that really go up and burst….that being said, our splurging was mediocre (to say the least) compare to what is available out there! I love the 4th and can’t wait to celebrate it every year.

Okay, so the next couple of pictures are not the beast (I needed to use a wide-angle lens)
But here’s some of everyone visiting and playing football before the fireworks started.

How was your 4th??

So beautiful....

2009-07-17T17:27:00.001-06:00

Aztec Indian Ruins

2009-07-13T13:40:00.003-06:00

We’ve Been really busy this summer and very blessed to have had lots of family visit too : ) Natalie, Melanie & Zak came to visit this past week. They had to take off today to go back home…..we’ll miss you guys!
I have lots of fun things to post about our week with them but FIRST I want to play catch-up and post about a few things I’ve been meaning too. So, here’s some pics of our trip to the Aztec Ruins. We were able to go when my mom and sisters where down. I hadn’t been out there in years and years. It was a first for my kiddos.

Krista, Mom, Jenaya, Benny, Cammy, Lanessa & SayLee

We also saw a little bit of this.....

The kids filled out information throughout the walk in the ruins. When they were all done they took it back to the Ranger and she made each of them Jr. Rangers….badge and certificate and all! They thought they were pretty cool stuff! : )

It's funny when you live so close to sooo many National Monuments and just seem to never go. I’m really glad we went to the Ruins, we had so much fun!

Look what was in our back yard!

2009-07-08T10:30:00.002-06:00

Does anyone know what kind of snake this is??

*I think I just found what kind it is Gopher Snakes

Happy Birthday Ben & Lanessa!

2009-07-05T18:34:00.004-06:00

Ben & Lanessa turned 4 on Monday. It Seems like only yesterday that they looked like this....

I took these when they were 3 ½ months old. I wish I knew then what I know now about photography but I was able to spiff them up in photoshop ; )

I can’t believe in four short years they have gone from such little babies to such BIG kids!

They wanted me to make a caterpillar cake this year. They LOVED it!

Daddy made his famous homemade ice-cream. Yummy!

Benny, cracked me up with his determination to break that thing open!!

Cousin Calum has been down visiting for the last couple of weeks…..he’s so cute!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy BEnNy & NeSsY!!!
We Love You Two So Much!!

The Bar-D

2009-06-28T21:38:00.003-06:00

My mom, sisters Krista & Cammy and cute little niece ShayLee came down to visit for a week. It was so much fun to have them here. We really had a great time but it went by way to fast! : (

We went up to the Bar-D in Durango while they were here. Heber, Boston and their family came too. We got a sitter for Ben & Lanessa but decided to bring Jenaya this time. I’m really glad we did, she really enjoyed it.

We had some time before dinner and the show to take a little train ride and get some pictures around the cute setting.

My mom and brother Heber.

ShayLee & Cammy.

My beautiful sister Krista

Heber, Boston & June bug.

Russell, Davy & Brenden. Brenden got to stay the week with Heber’s family.

A few of Jenaya. I just loved how they planted these flowers in the shape of a heart!

My Joshy

Josh and I on the little train ride : )

We had such a fun time there. I’ll post more about our week later ; )
See ya!

HaPpY bIrThDaY jOsH!!

2009-06-19T22:23:00.002-06:00

Josh’s 32nd birthday was on the 4th. We took the kids to see “UP” in 3-D. It was so great! I had never seen a 3-D movie in a theatre before.

Josh’s parents were so nice to offer to watch the kids so he and I could go out to eat.
We went to El Paso Steakhouse…..Mmmmm good!

Josh’s mom made his favorite cake, chocolate with choc. frosting. The kids helped grandma put the candles on the cake. It took a lot of helpers to light THAT many candles! ; )

I love you my old man! Happy Birthday Honey!!

Women’s Conference

2009-06-08T18:46:00.007-06:00

I was able to go to Women’s Conference at BYU again this year. I road up with my friend Audrie and her mom Linda (see pic below)
Of course we had to hit Quilted Bear before they dropped me off at my sister's house. I didn’t do as much damage in there as last year ; ) But Audrie……

Two of my sisters came this year, Cherise & April. We had such a great time together. I always come away feeling uplifted and ready to “try” it again ; ) I’m so grateful for the people who make it possible for there to be a WC. I know that it has to be sooo much work to organize thousands and thousands of women! They do such a great job. I hope we can all go again next year.

The first day of the conference was April’s b-day, so we took her out for dinner & a movie up in SLC. We saw “State of Play” at the Megaplex…. I must be a small town girl because I had never seen a theater where you buy your own tickets out of a kiosk and not from someone in a box-office! It was so cool! That theater was so stinkin’ cool. I'll tell ya what, we are so deprived here in podomville.
We ate at the Mayan Restaurant. It was so fun! They have live divers to entertain you while you eat. It was a really great show they put on.

Here’s some pics we took while we were waiting to be seated.

Yummy food!

Here’s a clip of some of the divers (it’s WAY better than what this video can show).

I guess Cherise was DONE with pictures….how could that be?? It’s okay though, I still love her! ; )

Life is Good!!

2009-05-25T20:09:00.001-06:00

Cousins and Anniversary

2009-05-19T18:56:00.005-06:00

I’m adding some more from our trip last month. I have to do these in stages or else I know it won’t ever get done ; )

Jenaya and her cousin Sariah played soo great together. They are seriously like two peas in a pod! Sariah is Jenaya’s only girl cousin her age (on both sides) and since they live so far away from each other they really haven’t had a chance to get-to-know each each other very well. Sariah was able to stay with us for a few days at grandma & grandpas house. Then we brought her home to Logan. I keep telling Josh that Jenaya has met her match! I wish these two could live closer. They played soooo great together and loved to play with the same stuff. Which I know was a treat for Jenaya since she has never had a “girl” friend who likes to play with snakes, bugs and mud! I’m kicking myself for not getting a picture of them holding hands. It was so cute!! They would hold hands and skip down the drive.

Here’s a couple of pictures of grandpa taking them fishing with his net ; ) down at the “blue hole” in the river. It was cold and those girls were walking in that water like nothing!

This is my oldest brother Troy (he’s also Sariah’s daddy). I have never seen him with facial hair before. It reminds of the first time I saw my dad with a mustache.

(not the best picture but they were so cute sleeping together)

After a couple of days at my parents house we headed down to Logan where my sister Cherise and family watched our kids so Josh and I could go celebrate our 9th anniversary for a couple of days. It was so nice to spend some time together without the kiddos. We really haven’t been all that good at going on regular dates with each other (probable only one or two a year) so it was such a treat to spend alone time together. The kids did great while we were gone too! That’s always a plus, since parents always fear the worst! Lanessa actually pushed me and said “go, go” to shoe me away when I went to tell her goodbye!

We stayed at the Anniversary Inn, in Logan UT. It was sooo cool all the rooms are theme rooms. Here are the two we got to stay in

First room we stayed in was Rich’s Drive-in. You can see it here The second room was The Taj Majal here We got such a great deal on these rooms too. We actually paid less for both rooms than what’s listed for one! Score!! I would highly recommend staying here…they treat you so great!

I'm so grateful for Josh. He is the best husband I could have ever asked for. He is so patient with me and the kids. He works hard to provide for our family. He is very family oriented (which I love!). I don't know what I would do without him. He is my rock.

Honey, thank you for all that you do....I know that sounds insufficient but I truly mean it : )

Love you!

Oh, I also got a new hairdo while we were gone. I love it, even though the girl didn’t cut it right ; )

Fun at the park…

2009-05-16T19:13:00.006-06:00

Jenaya didn’t have a baseball game today. I’m kinda glad too…..baseball is sooo time consuming. They meet 4-5 days a week for about 2 hours each time. I’m really glad Jenaya is enjoying it though. I’m excited for next week because I got hired to take two different teams pictures for them YAY! I’m excited and nervous at the same time because that’s a lot of kids, and a whole lot of parents to please ; )

Josh has been out-of-town working this weekend so the kids and I went down to the river walk for a little stroll today. Now of course I had to bring the camera along too ; )

Jenaya seriously NEVER wears shoes, in fact she got in the van without them. I was going to turnaround and go home when I realized but she said "its ok, I never wear them anyway”. She walked about 2 miles today barefoot over rock and hot cement. It didn’t even bother her!

Oh, and climbs trees with bare feet as well! Man my feet would be hurting BIG time.

This is the best pic I’ve gotten of Jenaya in a long time! One might think I had a lot since we’ve been homeschooling her the past 4 months.

Lanessa said “take one of me mommy!” as she licked the tree! Silly girl.

Lanessa was definitely in a silly mood today!

Benny, my handsome blue eyed boy! The girls are going to get their hearts broken in a few years. That’s for sure ; ) I wonder who bought him that shirt??

This is what you get when you ask a kid to SAY CHEESE!

A Forever Love....

2009-05-13T14:42:00.005-06:00

I was able to take some pictures of my parents on Easter. I love these two more then I could ever put into words. Their love is that true forever kind of love that storybooks talk about. I know this because…. how could a marriage survive 12 children and not be? They are such an inspiration to me and my marriage. Thank you mom & dad for all that you do.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T15:36:00.002-06:00

Sending a little bit of flowers for all you wonderful moms!
HaPpY MoThEr’S dAy!!

I love all the apple trees in bloom down our road! It's my favorite time of the year : )

Easter at Grandma & Grandpa's....

2009-05-07T09:42:00.003-06:00

We were able to be at my parents' house for Easter this year. It worked out great since we were already in SLC for Wicked. My oldest brother Troy and family came up too. It was so great to have them there and be able to spend some time with their cute family!

Grandma & Grandpa had baby chicks at their house. The kids were so excited to see and hold them!

This is my nephew Broc. He was so excited about all the eggs he was finding. He picked up one of the small plastic eggs, tossed it and said “it’s just a little one!” lol!! I felt bad that my sister missed it all since she was on bed rest : ( Shantel, I have more pics I’ll email to you)

This one cracked me up of Benny & Broc both trying to get an egg they couldn’t reach!

While we were walking around looking for eggs, I saw these beautiful wild flowers. They looked so bright and lovely. Especially since everything was so brown, dry and dead!

The hiding spot of ”The Golden Egg”!

Richard was the lucky one to find it and win the gold dollar inside!
(It was pretty funny watching him climb the tree to get it too!)

Sariah found a garden snake. She and Jenaya were in heaven holding it! I was impressed that they decided to let it go free a short time later. Crazy girls! It kinda freaked me out to see them holding it!!

Wicked Awesome!

2009-05-03T21:46:00.005-06:00

I have been such a bad blogger lately! Mostly it’s been because I’ve been gone the past 3 weeks and it’s hard to catch up, you know? Anyway, our family went on a little vacation a couple of weeks ago so I thought I’d start posting about it. My wonderful in-laws gave us tickets to see the play Wicked in S.L.C., Easter weekend. Wicked is by far the best musical I have ever been to. I absolutely LOVED it!! I could seriously go see it every week if possible….Yeah, that good!

(Leah, don't hate me too much)

Here are some pics before the show of my sister-in-law Natalie, her boyfriend Jesse and myself.

And some while we were in our seats of my Joshy and sister-in-law Melanie.

Josh, Nat and Jesse during intermission.

My beautiful sisters-in-law Natalie & Melanie after the show…..on a Wicked high!!!

I have been listening to the soundtrack pretty much every single day since. I love the music. I can’t even tell you how much I loved this play. THANKS MOM & DAD CHRISTENSEN!!!

(PS Leah, lets you and I plan a trip to New York to see it together okay?)

Sibling LOVE….

2009-04-06T21:57:00.002-06:00

We did a little photo shoot in-between conference yesterday. I realized the other day while going through some picture that I didn’t really have that many of them together.
They were being so stinkin’ cute I couldn’t resist! Now I need to work on getting more of all three….now that’s a job! I think my kids might be getting sick of my camera in their face all the time! LOL!!

I know this one's not totally in focus but it cracks me up!!

Egg Hunt & Baseball

2009-04-05T10:33:00.006-06:00

I know I haven’t been all that good at posting on here the last while. Life is so busy and there is so many things I’d like to post but just don’t have the time to do it. I will try to do better at blog about what’s going on in the Christensens life ; )

Yesterday was a very long/fun day. We went to the annual Easter Egg Hunt the Flacks hold each year. We thought we were going to miss it because we're going to be up at my parents for Easter but they ended up doing it a week earlier. The Flacks are some of the nicest people in the world. They hide everyone’s eggs on their farm for the kids to hunt. Then they serve doughnuts, orange juice & hot cocoa. Talk about serious fun!

Just a few (not so great shots) of the kids.

Yummy!

Jenaya and a couple of friends.

We all had a great time!!

Jenaya, started baseball 2 weeks ago. She had her first game yesterday. She really loves it. Here are a couple of pictures from her game. Josh felt bad he missed her first game. It was his weekend to work. Let me tell you, that weather was NOT fun!! It was all over the place, cold, snowy, windy and every once in awhile sunny? WEIRD I tell you. But even with the weathers mood-swings I’m glad it wasn’t as bad as Friday. The wind on Friday was from HELL I thought we were going to blown away! The wind in the spring here in NM is just awful. I can’t wait for this part of the season to be over with. They actually had to cancel a couple of practices this week due to it.

WARNING not the best pictures I was using my little Elph camera. Plus it was Yuck-O weather!
Just some quick snappy shots.

Batter Up!! Hey, batter, batter, batter!

Wolf Pack.....Howl!!!

She did a great job! We love our little girl.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

2009-03-30T22:38:00.004-06:00

*Update* Just playing around with this picture ; )*

I just got off the phone with my mother. I just wanted to tell everyone how much I love and respect her. She is one of my very best friends. I can tell her anything. We can talk about everything. She will listen and help me whenever I need advice. I want my mom to know how grateful I am for giving us kids so very much. For those of you who don’t know, I have 11 bro. & sisters. I can’t even begin to imagine all the sacrifices that my parents made for us. I have 3 children and at times they’re more than I think I can ever handle. My mother has taught me to be respectful of others, to be considerate and, most of all, kind. She didn’t need to even utter the words. She taught by actions. I couldn’t have asked for a better mother, a better friend. Happy Birthday Mom! I LoVe YoU!!!

The Mom Song

2009-03-25T18:21:00.001-06:00

The Mom Song. Everything a Mom says in a 24 hour period, set to the "William Tell Overature" So FUNNY!! and So TRUE!

Kids and their logic...

2009-03-11T15:03:00.002-06:00

We were walking out of a store yesterday when Jenaya saw a cigarette on the ground outside. She said:

Jenaya: Yuck! There’s one of those smokers
Me: Yep, pretty gross.
Jenaya: Why do people smoke?
Me: It becomes a bad and filthy habit. Smoking is very bad for our health. People die from using them.
Jenaya: So, why do they make them anyway??
Me: Good question!
Jenaya: If they die from smoking, then I bet they learned their lesson!
Me: Laughing…yep, the very last lesson.

Bragging about my honey....

2009-03-06T13:18:00.004-07:00

Josh is being featured on the Conceptis Puzzles website. He made a time lapse video of him completing one of their puzzles. This is one of his favorite hobbies of late. He is very good at them too. I have no idea how he has the patience to complete one because I certainly do not! I feel like I need a magnify glass to just look at one! Anyway, check out the movie he made and this website for the whole story ; )

Great job Joshy!

And a few more...

2009-03-01T22:51:00.003-07:00

I editted today. What a HAM!

And a POSER! When he wants to be : )

Benny Boy..

2009-03-01T14:32:00.002-07:00

So I bribed Ben with some gum and he let me get these this morning....finally!!

My Girls

2009-02-28T22:11:00.003-07:00

I got this of my girls today. The brother didn’t want to cooperate so it’s just the girls!

Fake smiles....silly girls!

Sisters and Ears Pierced

2009-02-08T09:11:00.003-07:00

Cammy called yesterday to tell us she got her ears pierced. She was so excited! As she should be! I remember being very excited when I pierced mine with an earring when I was 10. Yeah, I was suppose to be 12 but I couldn’t wait and took matters into my own hands ; )
I’m very excited for you baby sis! Here are some pictures I took of her after our last visit....thought I’d share.

I was having fun with different PS variations.

Celeste and Cammy. My youngest sisters.

For the Superprincess….

2009-02-07T08:39:00.004-07:00

We sent balloons up to heaven in memory of Ava Rosemeyer. Sweet little Ava was only 3 yrs. old when her life was suddenly taken away. Feb 5th marked the second year of her passing. You can read about her story here and her mother’s thoughts here on her blog. My heart hurts for the Rosemeyers. My Enrich photography forum friends and I are putting all our pictures together in a collage to give to Sheye and her family. I need to pick a couple to send for this....which should I choose?

My Twiners.....

2009-01-23T22:04:00.002-07:00

They were being so cute yesterday! I love these two!!

My friend Toni gave me this adorable award on her blog!
Thanks Toni that was sooo sweet of you : )

I’d like to share the love and present this to my sister Shantel for being an awesome mother of her two boys and another on its way! Love you girl!!

Frosty the Snowman!

2009-01-20T20:51:00.003-07:00

I’ve wanted to post these pictures of the kiddos playing in the snow for a while now…..I finally got around to doing it. This was when we got all that snow around Christmas. The kids and I had a blast making a snowman and playing around in it!

He didn’t last very long, as soon as I got a couple of pics he fell over!! Man, all that hard work too!! ; )

Jenaya, holding one of our neighbor’s new little puppies.

Snow doesn’t stick around to long here…as you can see in this picture, it’s already melting

I had fun making this story board in PS of Jenaya rolling one of the snow balls. I know it’s hard to see her face in the smaller pictures but it was cute and so determined!

LuLu Woobies Giveaway!!!

2009-01-11T14:01:00.003-07:00

Itn’t this just too cute?? I have entered to win this, so I thought I'd share!!

Just click here to find out how!

Look What We Found In Our Bed....

2009-01-09T20:06:00.006-07:00

Curly-locks and the two BEARS!! Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one (Ben & Jenaya are a bit more ornery than Lanessa is). They must have ALL crawled into our bed after we put them down last night, because when we were ready to go to bed this is what we found! Silly kids.

Oh, and Benny said something pretty funny to me this morning. I went and kissed Lanessa then turned and puckered to give Ben one when he said to me “I can’t kiss you mom”. So I asked him why? He replied “because robots don’t have mouths”. He pretends to be a robot off-and-on, going around the house talking in that monotone robot voice. “..I….AM….A….ROBOT….”

Lost Tooth & Tooth Fairy

2009-01-08T10:29:00.004-07:00

Jenaya FINALY lost her first tooth on Christmas Eve eve. She has wanted a loose tooth for quite some time now….getting jealous if one of her friends was fortunate to loose one, and if they were younger, well then…how dare they! She would keep checking to see if any were loose. She would ask us when it was going to happen….we were no help : )
Then it was almost like she had completely forgot the whole idea until one night (about a month before she actually lost it) she came and showed me what she had discovered while she was brushing. She had not one, but two new teeth behind her two front bottom teeth. And they were already grown about half way in!! She was very excited. I was concerned. I couldn’t tell if the two baby teeth were loose or not (I didn’t think they were) but when Josh was able to check the next day he said they wiggled a bit for him. So we wiggled and played with them over a time to try and get them out, they weren’t budgin’. It was hard trying to get a grip on them with the permanent teeth right behind. I made her a dentist appt. to have the dentist look at them. He said “keep working on them, they’ll come out on there own". Sure enough the next day Jenaya was playing with our hippity hop and it bounced back into her face and knocked her tooth right out! She was sooo excited to show me her tooth. I was so glad it finally came out on its own because she wouldn’t let me touch it anymore (I made it sore by trying to pull it…it was so close too darn-it). I took these pictures right before she went to bed and before the tooth fairy took it forever to her magical fairy land. Wherever that is. : )

I was woken up the next day by a squealing little girl that was sooo excited the tooth fairy really had come and left her a whole dollar!! I guess the inflation has gone up with the tooth fairy too, because Josh and I use to get a quarter! : )

Awww, now there’s an angle showing one of those new teeth!!

**Sorry for the poor picture quality**

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

2009-01-03T20:47:00.008-07:00

And we did have a white Christmas. It was very beautiful and very rare for Farmington.
Christmas was fun and very eventful as usual. This was the first Christmas where Ben and Lanessa were old enough to believe in Santa Clause. That made it all the more fun for Mr. & Mrs. Clause ; )

Here are some pics of Christmas morning.....

Lanessa & Jenaya each got a “Puppy In My Pocket” castle.

Benjamin loves his “Guys” as he calls them. He could play with them all day long! Hey, not bad for a $1.80.

Here’s Jenaya with some more little ‘friends’ in my pocket to go along with the castle set for the girls.

Okay, Santa thought I’d been a very good girl this year so he decided to get me what I really wanted…. Which was a silver iPod nano 8 gigs WAWHOOO!!!!

**Just pretend I’m all dressed and beautiful will ya ; )**

Aaaah, don’t you just love morning pictures of yourself??

I made this Quillo for Josh in a quilting class with some friends. I’m so glad he loves it : ) I love seeing him stick his feet in the pocket, all nice and cozy!!

Ben & Lanessa got BIG kid bikes and Jenaya got her motor scooter (aka motorcycle as she calls it) that she really, really, really wanted!!

Most of the snow had already melted by the time we got outside to take these pics as it does in the desert.

Mmmm, some happy kids….

My in-laws do a huge breakfast for all the family in town at their house Christmas morning. So we headed over to their house to eat and to open presents with Grandma & Granddad.

Jenaya was very excited to get a Hello Kitty case filled with makeup!!

Jesse (Natalie’s boyfriend) showing that we ALL got tickets to go see Wicked in SLC in April. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for this… it’s going to be so, so WICKED!!

I couldn’t resist taking this sweet picture of Lanessa helping Grandma do the dishes : )

We all headed back to the church for a yummy dinner and talent show with all the family. Here’s a picture of Jenaya helping out with Lynn and Andrea’s family singing Jingle bells (She had some bells to shake.) Then we played games in the gym and had a great time with everyone.

We were so glad that Natalie and Jesse were able to make it down (safely). It was so nice to see them. You guys make the cutest couple!! Miss you already!

Christmas was a lot of fun and it’s been a whole lot funner picking up after it the past week!! Hahaha! But I wouldn’t change it though, it’s truly my favorite holiday : )

Christmas Eve Party

2009-01-01T21:03:00.006-07:00

For Christmas Eve we had our traditional dinner and gift exchange with Josh’s side of the family. It’s a lot of fun with Aunts, Uncles and Cousins (along with their children.) Uncle Sam reserves the Knudsen church each year for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Here are the kids having fun taking turns to whack the Piñata!

Lanessa....working on her Vogue look!

Jenaya & Caroline. They're so cute and play sooo good together. I wish we lived closer to them : (

Awww, Benny & Granddad. Ben has a special place in his heart for Granddad. He just loves him so much.

Lanessa & Ben received the cutest Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls from Sam & Nelly May. They are handmade and just adorable!! : )

Matt playing his new harmonica.

Now, isn’t Josh just so cute in his Santa shirt I ask ya?? This half smile ‘impish grin’ is one of my favorites!! I actually have a picture of him holding Jenaya and they both happen to have the same impish smile… It’s so cute! Jenaya was about 8 months old. (I just tried to find it in my picture file on the computer but it was before we had a digital camera and is already in her scrapbook.)

Happy Holidays!!

2008-12-24T11:00:00.003-07:00

To You and Yours....

Here's some more pictures of our little shoot. Jenaya was sooo cold but I thought this picture was still cute.

The Polar Express!!

2008-12-23T14:36:00.006-07:00

All Aboard! Next Stop: The North Pole!

We were able to go on The Polar Express train ride in Durango CO on Friday. It was soooo much fun!! We really had a great time. The kids were able to wear their PJ’s and we were served hot chocolate & cookies on the train. We listened to the story on the way to the north pool where we picked up Santa! On the way back we sang Christmas carols while we waited for Santa to visit us. Santa gave each child a really nice bell to keep.

It was especially fun for Jenaya that day since her school was also celebrating Polar Express style. She was able to wear her PJ’s to school and watch the movie and eat popcorn. What an exciting day!!!

Fun FHE!

2008-12-22T09:04:00.006-07:00

For Family Home Evening last week we went against all reason and put into our kids hands frosting, piles of small candies, and crumbly, messy graham crackers. It was fun and the kids did pretty good. Nobody threw-up. The kids were so excited to create a masterpiece with candy!

Jenaya's final creation.

Benny's.

Lanessa's.

Josh's.

Mine (with the help from the kids).

Here’s another time-lapse video of us decorating these.

The music is a song composed by Liszt called "La Campanella (The Bells)." This is a version off an album called "Lisztronique" by Jeffrey Reid.

Setting up the Christmas Tree - Time-Lapse

2008-12-21T21:56:00.003-07:00

We filmed ourselves setting up our Christmas Tree using our camera's time-lapse function. The camera took a picture every 2 seconds and replays it at 15 frames per second. So this 2-minute video represents about an hour of decorating. When it's replayed at this speed, we forget how frustrating it is to decorated a tree with two 3-year-olds. This video cracks me up!! Enjoy ; )

The song is called "Sabre Dance" composed by KACHATURIAN.

Here she is all decked out. Decorations get moved around daily unfortunately. But it’s fun and colorful and we love it!!

Church Christmas Party

2008-12-19T08:58:00.005-07:00

We had a great time at our church christmas party a couple of weeks ago...how can you not with great food and company?? The kids loved to see Santa and sit on his lap.

Benny asked for: Truck & Train. (He has been very fun to watch looking through magazines, he wants EVERYTHING really bad)

Lanessa asked for: Halloween! and a Doll (she keeps coming up to me saying trick-or-treat. She thinks she’ll get candy whenever she says that now)

Jenaya asked for: MP3 player & Motor Scooter (she informed me the other day saying “I’m too old for toys Mom!” Okay….she’s only 7. What the?)

Ben & Lanessa were so cute dancing with some friends while I held their spot in the line to see Santa.

Lanessa is our little photo bug. She’s the only one always up for a picture.

Jones Family....

2008-12-17T14:44:00.007-07:00

This is my sister Shantel and her adorable family. Here’s a few of my favorites.

Shantel, Jerome, Broc, Carter & ?? Shantel is 4 mos. pregnant with #3.

These guys are all incredibly photogenic. I just love how these turned out!

Isn’t my nephew Broc just the cutest little boy? I just LOVE his eyes!!

Love you guys! I hope you like how they turned out : )

More Pictures...

2008-12-16T14:06:00.004-07:00

Here’s some more pics from Thanksgiving.

Cammy.

Robert.

Richard.

I can't believe how much these guys have grown!!

Anna Celeste

2008-12-11T22:05:00.004-07:00

My parents are in BIG trouble with this girl……she’s gorgeous and only 14!

Celeste asked if I would take some pictures of her when we were visiting for Thanksgiving. It was so nice not having to chase her around or BRIBE!! Ahhh, the benefits of working with someone older than my little ones : )

Sutherland Farm…..

2008-12-08T09:54:00.005-07:00

We went one Saturday in Oct. My brother Heber and his family were able to meet us there. We had so much fun! The kid’s favorite part is the huge corn pit to play in.

Okay, so I know that this post is late but I do want to publish my blog into a book at the end of the year and it just won’t be complete without pictures to the pumpkin patch!

If you have had your blog printed into a book maybe you could help me out by giving suggestions of sites you like to use? Or any tips maybe?? Thanks…

Look Who's Seven!!

2008-11-15T21:45:00.009-07:00

Our little Miss Jenaya had her 7th birthday on Thursday. She is very excited to tell people she is now seven!

Here’s a little video clip of her school class singing "Happy Birthday" to her. Of course all the kids LOVE to have cupcakes brought to share on their b-day! Ben & Lanessa thought is was pretty fun to be able to go to Jenaya's “school”.

Jenaya picked a Hello Kitty cake for me to make this year. It actually turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself ; )

Mmmm…Lanessa, enjoying some of Daddy’s homemade ice-cream!!

Granddad was feeling sick and felt bad he missed the party. But Grandma & Uncle Matt were able to make it.

Josh and Uncle Matt having a good time with the camera!

Jenaya really likes the Leapster we gave her (it’s going to be great for our long trip for Thanksgiving).

Well, I can’t believe it. She’s seven. Where has all the time gone? Wednesday morning while she was eating breakfast, I took a couple of pictures of her and told her “this is the very last day you’re going to be six”. She asked: "Forever? And ever? You mean I’ll never be six again?" Then she got teary-eyed and cried a little....So did I.

We love you our BIG seven year old! You make us so happy to be your parents!!

What is Going On? The L.A. Temple Closed??

2008-11-07T22:48:00.002-07:00

Check out this link to my sisters blog . This is just craziness!!

Halloween

2008-11-03T12:04:00.014-07:00

WHEW! So here they are...my sweet little monsters all dressed up and decked out in their Halloween costumes!!

Meet the new Sheriff…Benny

Stickem’ up!!

Lanessa, what does a kitty say?.....

Meowww…

Jenaya wanted to be a wizard this year. So we really lucked out finding this costume, since it didn’t look too boyish. ; ) She was really getting into character when I was taking her pictures! You should see the ones I’m not posting! LOL!!

This last picture cracked me up. I guess she was done with the whole picture taking process by that point because she said “I wish to be done!”.

Trick-or-Treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat. If you don’t. I don’t care. I’ll pull down your underwear!
**umm...I taught this to my six year old. What kind of mother am I?? In her/my defense, she’s used it responsibly.**

We had a fun Halloween this year. (as always) When is Halloween not fun? We went Trunk-or-Treating with our Stake on Wednesday. Josh and I actually dressed up! Can you believe it? We haven’t dressed up since we were dating. It was fun to see our kiddos faces. They loved it!!

Thursday, was Jenaya’s School Halloween Carnival fundraiser that we took the kids to. So, it was back into costumes and off to school for Navajo Tacos, games, prizes and MORE candy!!!

Here’s a picture of Jenaya’s best friend at school. They were in the same Kindergarten class last year and just happened to get the same teacher again this year! Jenaya was sooo excited!
(Jenaya & Kyndell)

I don’t know about you, but we get a gazillion trick-or-treaters here in Harper Valley on Halloween. We had decided not to handout candy since we had just celebrated the last two nights before. But we did have PLENTY of loot to share so Jenaya went off with the neighbors to trick-or-treat (I do hope she remembered to be responsible about what was mentioned earlier …humm). Ben & Lanessa helped Josh and I hand out candy here. They were good little helpers and loved to put the candy in the kids sacks….Except once Benny decided he wanted to tease a little boy (probably his same age). He was going to give him the candy and then at the last second pulled it back and laughed and said "No!! Mine!" Little stinker made the boy cry!! Yeah, Benny was done helping after that little stunt.

Just wondering…but what's up with the parents trick-or-treating too? And by that I mean with their own bag and all! Did you get that too? Adults wanting their own candy?? Also kids not wearing costumes at all. Hmm…strange things are happening ; )