Christensen Sibling Reunion 2010

Todd and I had a great weekend together in the fall at my sibling reunion. It was at my sister Suzy's house in St George, Utah. It was so nice to get away and reunite with family.
In the picture in the middle there are left to right Todd, Lisa, Suzy, Chuck,Teresa, Mom, Jay. Then in the back Ralph Doug, Karen and Marian.

SilverCreek/Grand Lake 2010

Ahh, the annual trip to the Inn at Silvercreek Granby/GrandLake area. We love it. We look forward to it each year! Todd couldnt take time off work and Brandon had Band camp at the High School. However, Trevor and Christen and I decided that we were free and the tradition must go on!! We met up with Todd's parents Tuesday night. (It's their timeshare) Grandma and grandpa were very impressed that trevor was helpful with the cooking and in general helping all around. it was nice for Trevor to shine a bit without Brandon there. They fished in the pond at SilverCreek and Grandpa joined in too. We also enjoyed Grand Lake, the go- carts and the shops there. Christen always get a huge jawbreaker and Trevor found a new pocketknife for his collection. We also went to the YMCA that was close for one day. That was fun.

Todd and Brandon drove up on Friday nightand we went back to Grand Lake to fish. Well, they fished and I shopped and read and napped. On the way home we stopped by REI for Life is Good Shirts and instead we got in on the garage sale - that we love and we got some great deals on expensive hiking bootsand gym shoes - $5 each!!!

Ellis Family Reunion 2010

We had our Ellis family reunion this year. We all gathered on July 6th at Todd's parents house. It was great to see everyone!! We especially loved having both Roger and Andrea there, who we dont get to see very often. They live back east and its a big trip We do this reunion every other year so it had been awhile for some of us. We ate and then celebrated Grandpa's birthday followed by a talent show. Then the next day we packed up to go camping. Brandon had band camp Tues and Wed so I stayed back with Heather to meet up with Brandon. By the time we got to the cabin/ camp everything was set up! Great timing! Everyone had meals that they were in charge of and the rest of the time we went to the lake and canoed, some swam when they got swamped, fished played games, rested, and visited. We also had a great fireside and family history moments.

After the cabin we went back to the house and then to Casa Bonita - great fun- and to the Drums Along the Rockies competition. Our nephew, Austin, is a Jr in HS and is the Drum Major. He had found out about the competition and organized the tickets. it was cool for he and Brsndon to share the experience together. It was a great evening.

Happy 17th Anniversary to Us

Here was 17 years ago....... June 26th 1993
And here was our anniversary day in 2010. A little different - cleaning up from day camp. As I remember we did go out to eat also to celebrate. It was a crazy busy week!

family pictures

I was trying to be a little creative with my new camera - nothing fancy but more megapixils so I hope to be able to blow up some to 5x7 or 8x10. Also learned a few things about our Picasa program.

Catch up on December activities

Trevor in his school play

Brandon's band concert

Ward nativity/party/dinner

Christen with friends and Santa

Christen as Artemis

The kids had all sorts of stuff before school ended. Brandon had and awesome band concert. Trevor had the leading part in his winter performance. He was "G. T." - glad tidings - and somehow was convinced to wear green tights and a green tutu for the outfit. They wanted him to wear a green leotard but I didnt want to buy one. The tights were a dollar at Target and I actually made the tutu.

Christen had her school winter performance - seperate from Trevor's and she had Greek day with a greek play the day before school let out. She was Artemis - goddess of the moon. Oh and yeah, her class party for which I am the room mom, was that same day too. Brandon also had a part in the ward Christmas nativity at the ward party and he had a small speaking part in the Christmas ward program. Todd and I were both in the choir and ensembles. Busy times!!

Todd has been busy with his new calling as 2nd Counselor in Young Men's. They had a temple trip with the youth to do baptisms. It was a great experience for Brandon. I was put in a new presidency in the Stk Primary. I am still 1st counselor with a new president, Shanna, who I have known from living here so long and a new counselor who I didnt know. The secretary stayed the same. It will be a good growing experience for all of us.

Conference

I love it. The older I get the more I appreciate General Conference. I have always listened or watched but now it seems like I am making it more personal to me and my family. You know when people say." Oh that talk was meant just for me. . ." There seemed to be alot of those this weekend. It also helps that my kids will either sit for awhile and listen while they are doing a little project or they know to not bug me if they havre had enough. I love that Todd and Brandon go to the Priesthood session together. Brandon is all about the ice cream afterward too!

Sunday morning we went over to Mark and Lori's with a buinch of people to have a pot luck brunch and watch Conference. They are moving on Saturday and my family and I are SO SAD!! We are happy for them to have the experience of living back east. We will definately be visiting and finally get to see Todd's brother and wife too. We will have to plan it out. Anyhow, we had a nice time - and it was nice for us because we just watch on the internet --which we are greatful for - dont get me wrong. I remember when I lived in Australia we had to wake up at like 2 AM and go down to our little chapel. There was no Tivo or recordings bake then. Wow, how things have changed!!

I love the church website too - http://www.lds.org/ . I was looking up some scriptures and studying some talks for a workshop that we are doing in November and it made it so easy. It has also helped thatr our friend Travis came over and fixed our computer to go MUCH FASTER than it was both for email and internet. IT people are so smart!!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a nice long weekend and it was fun to just hang out and not worry about "stuff" Saturday I actually layed around alot. I wasnt sure why I was feeling so drained but then I determined that it was allergies. Monday we went to Todd's parents house for a visit and lunch. We havent gone to Garden of the Gods for a while so we did that too. They live right down the street from there and we dont take advantage of it as much as we should! It was a beautiful day. I LOVE this fall weather. I just hope it doesnt snow too soon. You never know here!

Trip to the Zoo

Not too long ago we went to Todd's work party at the Cheyenne Mountain zoo. It was actually right after our reunion. It was really fun! This zoo specializes in Giraffes. It has the largest captive group of Girrafes in the world-28. Unfortunately, my camera battery died after a few pictures. Anyhow, it is a great zoo - set on a mountain - alot of climbing but worth it. The company employees and families had the whole zoo to ourselves for the evening.

Family Reunion Slideshow!!

Family reunion time!

We had such a GREAT time with Todd's family this past week at our reunion!! We hadnt had the cousins together for three years (Todd's parents were on their mission in between) and it was so fun to catch up on everything and everyone. We really did miss Roger and Andrea though!! We went to Cripple Creek/ Victor area in the woods to a cabin of some friends. Before we left for the cabin we heard all about the mission to South Africa and we had a special fireside along with a family song and shirts. We were at the cabin for 3 days and 2 nights - playing badmitton, horseshoes, resting, eating, kids playing in a fort, laughing, visiting, singing, fishing, canoeing, camping (some were in tents) sharing talents, snipe hunting, playing games, more eating, making smores, etc etc.

When we got back to town we went ice skating and to the olympic training center. It was very cool to visit there especially in an olympic year.

Thanks to all the family for coming andf for all of the preparation and work! We really feel blessed to be part of such a great family! We Love You!!!

4th of July slideshow

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Things about my mother

My mother is famous for her Lemon Meringue Pie - that I have always known!

My mom has been visiting for a few weeks now. I thought that I knew pretty much everything about her - but there are a few things that I have recently found out.

She hates snakes - see prior post.
She has NEVER had a pimple - ever
She just had her first taste of guacamole. We stopped at Chipotle.
I taught her Sudoku and she is great at it.

There is always something to learn - even if it is trivial~ She also gave me a great perm and helped me make a t shirt quilt - for Brandon. I still have to make them for the other kids

Happy Anniversary to us!!

This picture above is why we had a simple anniversary this year!!
It really is hard to imagine that it has been 15 years for us!! - Although as we watched our wedding videos -a tradition that I make Todd and anyone available endure each year we can tell that the years have past! We looked SO much younger, skinnier, and for Todd, much fuller hair on top. When Todd picked up the flowers, Brandon was with him and he wanted Todd to get the orange flowers. Funny. We did go out for the evening to Applebees and Coldstone. We had gift cards which was good since the before mentioned orange flower lover now has some new hardware that we are paying for!!

Trevor is 10!!

I cant believe Trevor is 10 now! His birthday was June 23rd. we had a family party this year. He has wanted a Nintendo DS for a long time - has saveed some of his money and then Gma C helped with part of it. Other than that he requested cinimon rolls for breakfast which he helped me make the night before. We went swimming ( he played with 2 of his best buddies there - Josh aqnd Carson) and then to Red Robin and took advantage of the birthday specials there. It was a great day. It was awesome to have my mom there too. He also goat a great book frm Gma and Gpa E. Thank you!!