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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!!!



I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas this year! I have posted some pics of the kids visiting Santa last night! It was Halirous! I was soo sick of being stuck in the house, so j and i ventured out on the horrible streets so the kids could see Santa! It was worth all the choas on the roads! I hope everyone has a good christmas!

oh ya...so I do have a tear jerker story for you...So yesterday was kinda of a bummer day for my lil family. J's family had gotten up at 300am from layton, Utah to be able to make it to portland by yesterday afternoon. There was only a small window of time they could come because there is a new storm system that is supposed to hit today. Now we have like 16 inches of snow and ICe, and today we are expected to get 4 more. J and I were nervous that I-84 at the dalles would still be closed(it had been closed all sat, sun and monday) Miracaulsy the road opened up tuesday morn so we were soo excited for his family to be able to make it here.

Well they got to Idaho..and guess what...Idaho closed I84 so there was no way they could come. They had to turn around and drive back to layton, utah. And because of the new storm i knew there would be now way they could make it here. I wanted them to be safe too..the roads here really are treturious. We were all pretty bummed and MR.C has been especially taking this pretty hard. He cherishes his time with his grandma's and grandpa's.

Mr.C telling santa what he wants for xmas!


Well J and i decided that just because this was going to be a small quiet xmas by ourselves, we would try to make the best of it. But that didnt mean we werent totally bummed. I too spent my fair share cyring that morning! So i had to get out yesterday and keep myself busy.

Well..we arrived for the kids to be able to see Santa. Mr.C crawls on his lap and is soo happy! Santa then asks Mr C if he has been a good boy. Mr.C then tell him that all he wants to christmas was for his grandma and grandpa to be able to be with him for christmas! Sheesh...i teared up and tears were streaming down my face. I felt like someone punched me in the Gullet! IT was sooo sweet! I knew that because of the weather, this wish would not be able to come true this year, but i encoured Mr.C to tell santa what kind of toys he would like since he has been for the most part a good boy. Conner then excitedly tells santa he wants a transformer helmet and a remote control car. Oh it was soo sweet. We are going to miss having family with us this christmas but i understand that things like this stupid weather make that hard when we live to far away!

Anyhow..We are soo grateful for our family. I hope that everyone REALLY cherishes this holiday.. I know that i have and i love being able to focus on what Christmas is REALLY ALL ABOUT!

Below enjoy the funny pics of little gavinator sitting on santa's lap! hehehe

Picture 1: the classic kid screaming on his lap!


Picture 2: He is holding out his hands crying "mommie..need you"


Picture 3: he stops crying and is just sadly saying "mommy". He is still trying to reach for me.


Picture #4: well, he stops crying! and he finially tells sants that he wants a "choo choo" for xmas. But as you can see, He will NOT look at Santa. He just stares straight forward and is looking at me! HaHaha, Can you tell he is NOT happy with this at all!


Hahahaha i loved these pics! but at least sants know nows what little Gavin will want for christmas!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Once a winter wonderland...now a winter wonder NIGHTMARE!!

Warning..you may fall asleep..long post ahead!

Ok I admit..i do like snow..i like snow to visit me maybe once a year and i love when it melts after a day! I love having that one "special"snow day of the year so i can enjoy it with my kids! That was how i felt last Sunday! I was all excited for the first snow fall! I couldnt wait to play in it with my kids! I thought you would never hear me say this but ...Well the snow now has become my worst enemy! Because of the snow alot of crappy things have happened this past week. I would say Besides alot of family time and church being cancelled two weeks in a row, i think it is fare to say that the bad seem to be outweighing the good. It is time for the snow to leave and never come back like this again! sheesh i am soo DONE with SNOW! This city is just not equipped and frankly i am going to go insane being stuck in my house! Not to mention all the money i cant make because of the snow storm.

Tuesday:
well lets start off with my morning. I had spent all that morning feeling like a chicken with my head cut. I was trying to rescue my husband in his work van. He had found himself stuck in the snow and ice, while he was trying to get to work. With our typr of work. I had to jump out of the shower..get me and the kids dressed...try to track down chains for his van, get to him safely with these road conditions, and rescue him, so he could get off of some strangers driveway that he was blocking. He was trying to get up a huge hill with these ridiculous roads and wound up stuck in someones driveway, and was blocking it completely so they would not be able to leave or come home. We had called triple A and because it was not an emergency they were still hours out to be able to help him. So i head out, my hair wet and growing iceles on it, in the hopes of finding chains. It took me forever! I was having no luck since all the auto supply shops had sold out a few days back from the first snow fall. Not only that ...everyone i talked to from NAPA auto were horribly rude and treated their customers like crap! One guy even told me, basically that their was no way in He$& that i would find chains..they were sold out even in the warehouses.
Well, i knew i had to rescue my hubby so i drove and drove and drove until Finally i found the last pair of chains! Woo Hoo!! Yea for me..but they were $80 bucks..That Sucks! I finally get to my husband and rescue him. We get him chained up and we are good to make it home. His job for that day had since cancelled because of the weather. Bummer!

Then that evening, I had to work. I was not very thrilled about driving in, since they do not plow any side streets here nor do they de-ice the roads, and the only way to my work is side streets. I then tell myself that it would be ok..i just rescued my husband earlier. I have a nice SUV with 4 wheel drive, so hey, it couldn't possibly be any worse then this morning! well.... i was wrong!
The roads that night were HORRIBLE..i even left plenty early so could make it on time. Well on my way, the traffic was soo bad that i only got maybe a 1/4 of a mile away from my house and it took me literally 20 minutes. I am supposed to be to work in 10 minutes. This sucks,i am nowhere near where i need to be. I get ahold of my manager but she has already left for the day. I knew i had to get ahold of my supervisor who in charge that night. I didnt have her #. I call J and his phone is on silence. I call a friend, and i am carefully holding the phone with my shoulder so i could make sure I keep both hand on the steering wheel. I am literally trying not to talk because she is googling the # for me, and i want to concentrate on the roads. Then the next thing my friend hears through her phone was..."SMASH...and Alot of explicative's coming out of my mouth!"

I just crashed! I have never been in an accident before..well... one that i ended up causing. I freaked out. The guy in front of me had braked really fast and because of the road conditions their was nothing i could have done. The Ice was too bad and I ended up smashing right into him. My friend says she will call work for me, and i then try to deal with the whole accident thing. I cant stop cussing..i am angry, mad and sad all at the same time. Mr. C was with me and reaasured me he was ok..but i had seriously Screwed up my neck...not only that it was soo cold outside..the roads were horrible, i was worried about work being busy and i wasn't there, and i was soo mad at myself for hitting this guy, that i just started crying. Not just crying..i was bawling! We did the whole insurance swap thing, i made sure he was ok and my son was ok. We then went our seperate ways. My car is actually not bad at all and his car just has a huge dent in his bumper. I drive home bawling! I mean bawling! It sucked...my neck was killing me, i felt horrible. I felt like i let my coworkers down, my husband down, and myself down. I was an emotional wreck. J did a great job at getting me set up with some pain meds and ice immediately. I iced on and off that night and made a call in to my dr to see him the next morning. I have a fun case of horrible whip lash. It is all due to how i was holding the phone against my shoulder and then my neck being suddenly slammed forward in the accident. It was not a great day or night. To top if off I kept asking Mr. C if he was ok. He told me his neck was ok. He also told me that the reason that his neck was ok was because he wasnt talking on the phone! hahahaha.. gotta love the honesty of our children.

Wednesday:
It is snowing again. I need to get to the DR. I have my other awesome friend watch the kids so j and i could make it in to the DR to actually talk with him without having all sorts of interruptions from my kids. He confirms it is Whiplash..and says i did a good job of it too. I get on some muscle relaxants and pain meds and he sets me up for some major therapy. I just cant wait for the stiffness and soreness to stop. I hate feeling like an invalid. My work has been soo awesome though..and very supportive through the whole thing. I love my work! Then guess what...The snow starts in again!

Jump ahead to Friday night:
We are supposed to have family coming into town for Xmas. The kids are soo excited they can hardly stand it. Then the news hits us with a reality check. Alot of the snow actually melted away that day. Then REALITY HITS AGAIN: More snow...and when i mean more..i mean that the little storm we had last Sunday was nothing compared to what this new one was going to bring. It is not safe to have our family drive up here. When it snows here literally everything shuts down. The roads are a death trap for people who try to get on them. So the family has to postpone their trip due to the weather. My kids are soo devastated. I am bummed. J is bummed. We were going to be snowed in again..and this time probably for longer than last week. I hate this!

Sat:
It snowed all day long! I measured 7 inches before i went to bed. Then in the middle of the night,it turned into freezing rain. We ventured out to Costco that morning to make sure we have enough milk and things to get us by if we get stuck in our house. We hang out the rest of the day just chillen. The funny part of the day well night, was watching our poor dogs go out and pee..sheesh it was halirous...the snow went past poor echos tummy so she would get kinda high centered and stuck..talk about a cold pee! I felt bad for the dogs so i kindly enough swept a little path for my doggies to be able to walk on to pee! We went to bed that night just for the snow to turn into freezing Rain! Then next norning was increible to see. There was a ton of snow and then probably a 1/2 layor of ice of everything. My poor dogs now couldnt stay on their dang feet! They kept slipping and slidding! It was halirous! They were soo confused.. i wish i had a video camera to record it!

Sunday:
NO Church!! woohoo! two weeks in a row! please don't get me wrong..i love church..I love being at church...but it has just been a nice break to be able to enjoy the morning.. because Us Christensen clan..,well we have a hard time getting moving on Sunday mornings, so it was nice not to have to rush out of here and be to church by 900.
I wake up to literally 8 and a half inches of snow! UNHEARD OF IN OREGON! And not only that on top of the 8 inches we have about a half inch crest of ICE crusted over the top of the snow. why do you say we have that ice...well because of FREEZING RAIN! MORE BAD NEWS! And yes ladies and gents the storm was not over yet. This is by far the worst storm in at least 20 years. We have never had this much snow in the 5 almost 6 years i have lived here. I had to get our kids out of the house. They are soo stir crazy! For us, driving is not an option. Our driveway is on a big hill and i dont want to risk our car hitting our neighbors in order to get out. Our friends invite us over to their place for dinner. They just live a few blocks up the road..so we bundle up and decide we are going to walk. YOu all may think we were crazy but it was soo cool! It was magical! IT was absolutely beautiful. All the Xmas lights were lighting up the streets. There were no cars in sight. It was snowing lightly. And my two little boys wanted to sing Christmas songs. So we sang Christmas carols the whole way. It really was a fun little walk..cold but fun! The boys loved it! They have been holed up for over a week, so it was nice to just get out of our house to let them release their pent up energy. Our friends thought we were nuts for walking but really it was a blast! We had an extremely yummy dinner. It was fun! When we got home, we delivered some of our Christmas treats to the neighbors. IT was adorable because the two boys sang a Christmas carol to them. It truly was the cutest version of "we wish you a merry Christmas" i have ever heard! Even little Gavinator was singing. He was slightly off key and slightly off beat but that is what made it sooo freakin adorable!

Well i need to end this post soon..my kids are soo done with me being on the computer!. I just have to give a little shout out to My awesome husband! This week, since i have been injured, he has been a baking freak! He would be embarrassed if i told you how much he has baked this past week. He wanted to make sure we have goodies for if and when when his family comes up. He also wanted to get the neighbors " Christmas goody" plates made. He has been a huge help this week. He has really helped out alot since it is hard for me to even turn my neck. He has let me sleep in every morning, taken care of the kids, cleaned, and cooked and baked! WooHoo to J! I love you babe! Thanks for all your hard work!

Monday: today...another 4 inches of snow on top of all the other mess! It is definantly a day that we are 4 sure stuck inside this house. My kids are going crazy. I am going crazy. oh well..i must say i have loved being able to be in my pjs like all week long!

Anyhow..for those of you who actually made it through this post..thanks for listening to me vent about the ups and downs of this week. It has been CRAZY! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas this week! And please pray the snow and freezing rain stops..i really really really want j's family to be able to make it here for christmas! My two little boys will be devastated if they arnt going to be able to because of the weather! So please mother nature..do us all a favor..no MORE SNOW OR ICE!!

All the frozen ice on our maple tree!


another view of our backyard maple tree!Can you see some of the branches touching the ground..hopefully this doesnt break..it is my favorite tree!


The poor trees!..all of our big bushes got knocked down and broken in half and our eucalyptis tree is barely hanging on..i gurantee it breaks today..SAD:(


A view from our backyard!


another View of the snow covered grounds!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Winter Wonderland!!!






oh how i love the christmas season..i love the cold weather..i love getting snuggled up on my couch with my comfy blanket and hot cocoa...i love the dark nights and dark mornings...i love the christmas tree...i love the smell of the outdoors...and i love love love when it snows in portland! Today it snowed.... it is the most snow i have seen here in a few years...we are at 3 inches here and still snowing strong!:)..i love our town and how it literally "shuts down" when there is snow is sight...so i am soo pumped to have a snow day today..tomorrow and there is more in the forcast comming our way on wednesday. Yeah for Snow! Yeah for our city and shutting everything down so we all can enjoy just chillen with our families!!! i am going to post a bunch of pics from our day today!! We woke up to it barely starting to snow at 800..we had church at 900 and usually they cancel it..but i never got a call so we all got ready and headed to church. Then we get to church j does all sorts of "donuts" in the parking lot and the boys squeled in delight...they loved it. We get into to church to make the last 10 mintues and we find out they are cancelling the rest of church for everyone for the day! YEAH!! so we come home take some cute pics...and then start the rat race of finding warm clothes so the kids can head outside! It was a blast! The kids and the dogs absoutly loved being out there. Echo and joey were soo soo excited and i am not sure who had more fun...the dogs or the kids!!! even echo let us get some pics of her..wish is rare!!!










Friday, December 12, 2008

My Nephew!!!

ok ...so the post below is soo freaking funny. This is my nephew! This picture was taken of him when he was here visting us for thanksgiving. As a family one morning, we decided to go to the nature reserve. It is a cool walk for everyone and the kids always see and find cool things. My brother and I were going through our pics that night from our day there, and we saw this picture of little carter. We totally thought it looked like he was flipping someone off, but when you zoomed in on the picture..he is actually holding a treasure he found on the walk! Anyays...my brother and I were laughing pretty hard that night..But Wait...read on, .... the story gets even funnier! They sadly had to return back home to utah. My nephew's soon to be Uncle got ahold of the picture and he made this post on his blog. I was laughing soo hard...SERIOUSLY... i think i almost peed my pants. I had to paste it here on my blog for you all to see how HALIROUS this is! ..oh carter..we miss you!..Holy cow... sooo funny!!!!and Nick if you read this..I havent officially met you yet, but dude you crack me up!! I cant wait for you and michelle to get married! I am soo happy for you guys and i cant wait to meet you! It looks like you are going to fit right into the FAMILY!!! YEAH!!


Scroll below ..this is what i found on Nicks blog:

Carter

>

So I feel like this little kid (Carter) who is flipping the bird and once said "I don't want none stupid kids" should be in more pictures. He can make any picture better. Just take a look-










He's kind of like the real life version of that Calvin kid that pees on everything.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Birthday Craziness!!

We have passed the season of goblins and the season of giving thanks. We are now entering into the season of Christmas. I love the Christmas season. I love focusing the season on Christ! But with all these awesome holidays we celebrate...we also get to have some birthday maddness!!! We have soo many birthdays to celebrate within these last two months of the year and it is soo much fun! My bday was last week and i had a blast! Another year older is a bummer, but i tell you what, their is nothing to curve that sadness better than Shopping! And that is exactly what i did for my birthday. On my birthday i survived black Friday(a whole other blog post), and the outlet mall and i also survived the opening night of Zoo lights. The crazy thing about it was all this happened in all the same day! But it was such a memorable day..i loved it...oh ya thank you everyone for your calls/texts/facebook messages everything! It meant alot!

Two days ago it was my coolest brother's Birthday !! Happy Birthday again MATT!!!I love you!!(hehehe..You are all my coolest brothers by the way:)) My brother Matt had actually taken time out of his busy life to call the week before my birthday every day! He would sing happy birthday to me everyday ..i loved it! It was soo thoughtful of him to do this and i love him to death! He always puts soo much thought into making sure that person feels special and i appreciate that! I being the not so greatest sister in the world on the other hand, had a busy day, then worked at night and since he lives in Texas..there is of course the time change...so when i got to calling him to sing "happy birthday" to him..i realized it would be midnight his time. But hey i wanted him to hear my voice on his actual birthday.. so Guess What..he got a midnight birthday call from me! Of course they were all sleeping and i am pretty sure i woke up his entire family after my lovely message...but he knows i love him and i had to make sure i wished him a happy birthday! Hehehehe i love you MATT!!!

Today is another special day for us! It is J's Birthday! YEAH!! Happy birthday Babe!!! What a fun night we are going to have. I have made Jesse a surprise dinner...i made him one of his favorites...homemade Lasagna:) Along with his favorite cake "Better than Sex cake" ...yes you heard me...that really is the name of the cake....REALLY ...IT IS SOOO SOOO SOOO GOOD and possibly better than SE*..ok maybe not, but it is close!!! hahahaha!!!
So he will come home tonight to a few surprises here at the house...I have had a full day today of work and primary things. so i am sure he thinks i was not able to pull anything "special" off...but i did want to make sure he knew that i love him, and that we are all thinking about him on his birthday! The boys are sooo excited for their daddys birthday they can hardly stand it! Happy Birthday J! WE love you soo much!

And today also marks the birthday of our little Sammy. Samuel is the baby of one of our very best friends. He turns One today!..He has been such a blessing to have in our lifes! He is such a mellow happy little guy! Sam...you are sooo lucky to have michelle and your mom and greg as your dad! They are the most amazing people. They love you soooo sooo much! some of our favorite memories of you are the way you get your cute "pouty lip" and your cute crocodile tears when you are sad. It is the most adorable face ever! Happy birthday little buddy! I love this little guys just like my own! I cant believe you are one already!! Wow..time does fly! Make sure you smear some of your cake on your mommy or daddy,ok! we love you Sammy ...happy birthday! or as the gavinator would say"happy bithday Hammie"

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

GRATEFUL

I just wanted to write and say how nice it was this year to reflect this thanksgiving on the many things i am grateful for! there is no particular order to this..just wanted to have in writing the things i am grateful for:)

I had a fabulous thanksgiving and i hope that all you did too! Thank you mom and dad and Rodger and Amber for comming up here this year! It was sooo nice to be able to spend the holiday with my family. It is usually around the holiday season when i become homesick for family since we do not have any that live near by...so it was a special treat to be able to have them come up and spend it with us! I had such a fun week hanging out with my mom and dad, my brother and his wife and their kids..I loved that my kids got to play with their cousins this week. I am soo grateful for all of my family! I wish we could see you all more often and we really miss each and every one of you! I have the bestest family in the world.

I am soo grateful for my husbands amazing family! We love everyone soo much and we miss you all like crazy. I am soo grateful to have married into such an amazing family. I lucked out big time.. and i cant wait to see you all again!

I also wanted to let my very best friends in the whole wide world know how much they mean to me! I am sooo grateful for them..and i am soo grateful to have the friends that i have. You are all soo amazing. REALLY... I have met some of the most amazing people here and you all know who i am talking about! Thank you guys soooooo soooo sooo much for becomming our "Family" away from family. I would never be who I am if it werent for you guys. You are such amazing examples to me. You make me want to be a better person. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to you! Thank you... I love you guys!

Sheesh i think i am getting a little emotional here! (hahahaha)I didnt mean to have this be sappy but sheesh it is looking that way!

I am also grateful for my husband. He is a man with soo many strengths. I really appreciate him putting up with his crazy wife. I am grateful for him and all he does for me and our family. He is such a hard worker. He is very driven. He is an amazing father I love him very much. I cant thank him enough for the best two gifts he has ever given me...our two boys! These little guys are the light of my life. They keep me laughing all the time. They love life and they always make the most out of everyday. They have made my dreams of becomming a mother come true! I truly am grateful that the Lord has entrusted these amazing children in my hands. What a special Gift they are to me! They always remind me of that its the simple things in life are some of the most amazing things in life. I love you little gavinator and Mr.C.

I am thankful for thanksgving so we can all truly reflect on all of our many blessings.

I just wanted to wish everyone a late "happy thanksgiving"! We love you all!

These are the things my kids said they are grateful for:

5 Things Mr.C is grateful for(he is 5)
1. Family
2. My Grandma's and Grandpa's
3. Cousins
4. Mom and Dad
5. I am thankful i get to play with my little brother.

5 Things the Gavinator is thankful for(he is 2)
1. coloring on this (a paper he got)
2. mommy and daddy
3. My doggies echo and joey
4. Jesus
5. I dont know..God..and "i am a child of God."

Some of our thanksgiving pics below:
all the kids with their food:)

my brother and sister in law

Mr.C and his cousins, madi and carter

me and the gavinator

me and J

my mom and dad