MARCH

SO SAD
Sadly... I lost the SD card that has all of my pictures on it from the beginning of this year. If it turns up I will add pictures to this post- if not... oh well. I guess I will be buying another card. :(
UPDATE- SMALL MIRACLES
No, I didn't find my SD card, but I might as well have. Here is the story:
I had taken my SD card to Walmart to have a CD made. There were six months worth of photos on the card. As I was sitting at the kiosk choosing the photos I wanted on the CD, I had the feeling I should just have every one copied, but instead I made the decision to just put October's pictures on, thinking I would come back later to do the rest. I put the SD card in my pocket and went on with my day. It was later that night when I realized that the SD card was missing. I was very sad but realized it was my own fault- I didn't copy the pictures like I should have, and I didn't take care to put the SD card back in the camera right away. Fast forward one month- being so busy with school and finals, I had delayed picking up the CD that I had made. I finally went to get it at Walmart and just today opened up the envelope to look at it. There were the pictures of October like I had ordered, but also the pictures for March. Not November, December, January or February- just October and March. Because I had already written posts for those other months, some of the pictures are on my computer, but I had nothing for March at all, I had thought those pictures were gone. Would it have been a big deal if I didn't have them? No. Are they spectacular pictures? No. Are they important to me? Yes. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but a small miracle to me nonetheless. I'm so thankful for small miracles, and I'm so thankful for Heavenly Father, who loves His children, and watches over them, even when they least expect it. And... I'm thankful I can add these pictures to my March post.

IN LIKE A LION
Finally some snow on March 1st. We have had such a strange winter with hardly any snow. I haven't really shoveled at all and the snow pants and snow boots were really not even used. Even this snow storm was pretty well melted by the next day. I'm not complaining though- this is definitely my kind of winter.

THE COUNTY FAIR
The 4th grade at T's school put on a county fair to show all of the things that they have been learning about the state of Utah. T was given Tooele county to research. He had to find out some interesting facts about it as well as history and things to do in the county. I think he did a great job! It was fun to walk through and see all of the different county projects and hear the 4th graders sing the song- "Utah, this is the place!"

RILEY AND JURNIE

I can't believe how big Jurnie has gotten since we saw her just eight months ago. She is such a cute little thing and not shy at all! It was fun to have her and Riley and Aunt Holly and Uncle John here for a few days. We wish that we could have spent more time with them and we wish they lived closer. We were sad to see them go but happy for the time we had with them!

Cute sisters.

S and Jurnie loved playing together.

FEBRUARY

SHOOTIN' HOOPS
All 3 boys are playing basketball this winter.

S is playing "Little Hoopsters". His team name is the Celtics. He loves going to basketball and he thinks he's pretty good. He is learning new skills and having fun playing with his friends. He also loves having dad as his coach. Notice the hair? He likes to have it spiked while he's playing- I'm not sure why, but whatever.

T is #5 on the Bucks. He is great at defense and setting screens and he has even made a few buckets.

Z is #14 on the Thunder. Basketball is not his favorite sport but he has still enjoyed playing and has had a great season!


FUTSAL
It really isn't easy getting pictures of futsal games. The players and the ball move so fast that they're gone before I can even snap the pic. Futsal wasn't much fun this year. We lost all of our games but one and they were pretty bad losses. Z wasn't a happy kid at all, but hopefully it was a learning experience for him. I think it is really valuable to have the experience of failing and to be able to overcome that experience and learn from it. If he can get over the frustration and learn from all of the losses, I think it will have been worth it- even if it was painful to watch.

CUTE LITTLE VISITOR
Ashley came to visit us again this month. It was a short visit but it was fun to see her. The boys enjoyed spending time with this cute little cousin that they don't see very often. She was shy but warmed up to the boys pretty quickly. She wasn't that fond of me though- I had to steal a hug the night before they left. I'm glad that we were able to get a picture of the four cousins and I'm glad this time she sat kind of close to them instead of 10 feet away. :)

JANUARY

DOUBLE DIGITS

T is the happy, silly, goofy kid in our family. He loves to laugh and to make other people laugh, too. I often hear him giggling while he's watching TV and he is always telling a joke or trying to do something that makes me laugh. I can't believe he's 10 already. It seems like just yesterday that I was bringing him home from the hospital, chasing him around the house, and sending him to Kindergarten. Now he's a big kid. He's fun and happy and responsible. He's a little bit of a chicken- he's afraid of heights and he hates scary shows, but he's also very curious, and loves to try new things (except maybe new foods :). T is a wonderful son and brother. I am so grateful that he is a part of our family. Happy Birthday kiddo- I sure love ya!

6 months and 1 year old

2 and 3 years old

4 and 5 years old

6 and 7 years old

8 and 9 years old

SCOUT NEWS
T moved on to Webelos this month, which means that this was his last year to participate in the Pinewood Derby. This year T went with the wedge type of car. He won a few races, lost a few, and had a fun time with his friends. Now he's looking forward to a fun last year in cub scouts.

Here's T with the 3 pinewood derby cars that he has made while in cub scouts. (Thanks to Grandpa Jack for all of the help)

Z earned 2 more merit badges this month: 'sports' and 'citizenship in the community'. He's working his way toward Eagle!

DECEMBER

FAMILY PICS
Taking family pictures is not my favorite activity. I always have high expectations, and I almost never get what I want. This year was no different. Either the sun was in the wrong spot or someone didn't want to stand still and smile. We had some weird smiles, a few closed eyes and a couple of unhappy people by the time we were done (of course I was one of those). We took about 50 pictures and I found 1 or 2 that were usable for a family Christmas card. That was the goal, so I guess we were successful. Here are a few of the pictures: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Love the sun,
but it wasn't very
helpful this day.

Getting tired of
standing still
and smiling!

FAMILY CHRISTMAS PARTY
Another year at the Christensen family Christmas party. There were 48 of us in all this year- we missed the 27 that weren't able to make it. I think Grandpa and Grandma would be surprised and happy that there are 75 of us now, and we just keep growing. We enjoyed visiting, eating and laughing together. Santa made his grand entrance and handed out stockings to 15 kiddos. Three of them did not like Santa at all! The white elephant game was fun as usual. The 12 and 13 year olds played for the first time. They learned the joys and the disappointments that come with playing the white elephant game. Aunt Mary brought the best gift of all: beautiful quilts that she had made out of different fabrics which had belonged to Great Grandma Overland. She made one for each grandchild: Steve, Jay, Larry (my dad), Gwen, Susan, Marvin and Floyd. It took her nearly a year to make all of them. Very impressive and beautiful. I loved them! It was four hours of chaos and fun, and then it was over... until next year.

Here's dad, Uncle Jay, Aunt Susan and Josh (for his dad, Uncle Steve) with their quilts. Not sure how Uncle Marvin got out of being in the picture. (Aunt Gwen and Uncle Floyd weren't at the party).

Here is S and T with Santa

And here's Evan and Addie with Santa

THE PROJECT
I'm not sure where he got the idea, but S really wanted to do a Christmas "project". When school got out for winter break he started asking me every day when he could do a project. When I asked him what kind of project he was talking about, he didn't really know. He just told me to look for a project. The only thing I could come up with was gingerbread houses- and that satisfied him. We picked a day and worked on the "project" (made of graham crackers instead of gingerbread).

CHRISTMAS EVE
As a child I can remember being so excited for Christmas morning, and Christmas Eve seemed to last forever. J remembers making schedules for his Christmas Eve to help pass the time. This is one of the reasons that I love Grandpa and Grandma Bird's Christmas Eve party. It is so nice to have something for the boys to do on Christmas Eve. It's great to be with family and enjoy the traditional program: poem, story, musical numbers, jeopardy and the nativity. The boys like to participate in the nativity scene. This year T and S were wise men. Z stayed out and took the pictures.

PJ'S

Getting pajamas on Christmas Eve is a tradition for a lot of people. We've always done it, too. The boys have come to expect it, so this year I was tempted to skip it. Then J and I found some fun BYU pajama bottoms which I thought were fun, so I went ahead with the tradition. I think the boys liked them!

I think they are pretty excited for Christmas!

CHRISTMAS MORNING
Wonder what Santa brought?

A trampoline- so exciting!

Because Christmas was on Sunday this year, we couldn't open our gifts until after church. The boys did look through their stockings and open the trampoline first thing in the morning. Then we all got ready and went to church. It was a nice meeting, with some short testimonies and 2 nice musical numbers. I really enjoyed being able to take some time out of the day to remember the birth of our Savior and the real reason that we celebrate Christmas.

After church we came home and the boys were finally able to open the gifts that were under the tree.

Z really wanted these Nike Mercurial Futsal shoes. I had him convinced that he wasn't getting them because they were very hard to find. He really didn't want any other kind so I kept looking and finally found them on Ebay. Z loves them. Most people say they are very bright. I think they are ugly, but he's happy so I am, too.

T wasn't sure what he wanted for Christmas. He asked for a DS game which Santa put in his stocking, but he wouldn't say what he wanted from us. I decided on a goalie jersey and T loved it! Unfortunately it was an Adult XL instead of a Youth XL so we'll have to exchange it, but he liked it anyway and was very happy.

All S wanted for Christmas was a kickball. Just a kickball and nothing else. He was very surprised and happy to open that big box and find a red kickball inside. There was a new soccer ball, too, but he didn't even care about it. He got what he wanted- that face says it all!

Our family on Christmas day- love all of the new Real shirts.

SIBLINGS
My brother Aaron lives in Washington state. We hardly ever see him. It was a nice Christmas present to have him come and stay for a few days. We went to a cousin's wedding and since the four of us were all together we thought we'd better take a picture. Who knows when we'll all be together again.

ENJOYING CHRISTMAS BREAK
I was so exhausted from my first semester in the Education program at UVU- I was counting down the days until Christmas break. My plan: get my house cleaned up and do some fun things with the boys before school starts back up again. I think we had a good time. We enjoyed having breakfast with some friends one morning. Another day we went to the see the Muppet Movie. We spent one day at Trafalga with Aunt Tamra and cousins playing laser tag, golf, and just having fun. We enjoyed watching a few movies, reading, playing video games and just relaxing. It was a nice break.

Here's Evan and T climbing the rock wall (little bit blurry- sorry).

Playing mini golf

NO SNOW

Hard to believe, but we don't have any snow. Last year at this time we had a lot. This year there is only a little on the tips of the tallest mountains. We had one small storm around Thanksgiving, and then nothing. I'm not too sad- I don't like shoveling or driving in snow- but it's a little weird. I was at the temple and took this picture- just for a reminder of this strange December. I kinda hope we'll have some snow soon.