Christensen Family Reunion

WOW! We had such a grand ol' time at the first annual (I hope) Christensen Family Reunion, held in Indianola, WA at my Uncle Paul and Aunt Colleen's house. First of all, I have to say that I absolutely LOVE their house. It is so pretty and is decorated with a flair of someone who's lived outside the USA for some time and in South or Central America. So, since I have lived in South America (Chile, for those of you who don't know), I felt right at home with the bold colors my aunt uses for painting her walls. I say, "you go girl!" (as if she needed or wanted my approval...:) )
We had a really great time getting acquainted with my Utah cousins that we didn't grow up with. Scott, Eric, Amy, and Katie, all came with their significant others, if there was one (sorry Amy) and kids also. Uncle John and Aunt Nancy came as well. I hadn't seen them since Grandma Helen's funeral when Tommy was just barely born. So it was good seeing them as well. I hope that when we see each other next time it will be even "easier" with them. The whole greeting thing was kind of awkward for me. I didn't know if I should just say hi from afar, shake hands, hug, etc. This whole side of the family have always been strangers to me, the proverbial "cousins who live in Utah and we live in Washington and never the twain shall meet" situation, so it was weird for the first 30 seconds. Then it was like we'd never been apart. Funny how with family it just doesn't matter. I like that.
My kids had a ball. Their house sits on 2 1/2 acres of land, most of it woods. So it was very peaceful, all except the guy down the street wood chipping. Darn him! :) Really, though, we didn't really mind. It kind of lent itself to the whole woodsy vibe anyway.
Then their son, Jared, who came up with his wife, Shawna and their 3 adorable kids, grilled the yummy chicken and we had about 5 or 6 different salds to sample. Gotta love my aunt. She and my mom are cut from the same mold. Growing up, Mom would have me make jello, fruit salad, and a toss green salad for every dinner. It just wasn't complete without it. Oh, and don't forget the cooked vegetable dish and the main dish. Of course though, if it was taco night, we'd just have the fruit and jello salads. We had our veggies in our tacos, of which we piled high with mostly lettuce, tomatoes, olives, green chilis, etc. I'm really not hungry, just pointing out the insanity of my mom and her salads. (I love you, Mom. Am I still your favorite now?)
Well here's the picture of us at the reunion. Uncle Paul had fun trying to get all of us in the picture, so we decided to put a tier of benches to stand/sit on to get levels of people. It seemed to work better. I do have to brag here that I had the idea with Shawna, and then it just happened.
We took the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston and drove. I'll post those ferry pics later. It was Emma's first ferry ride and she loved it! (except for the time we were outside on the front, or aft side, and her hair kept blowing into her eyes. Think of the movie "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou" and the line George Clooney kept saying, "My hair." That was Emma!!!)
More later. I'm tired and am going to bed.

"Put it in your pants, Will!"

Thought you'd like to see what Emma was egging Will on to do! It sure gave the neighbors pause, I'm sure!

I'm trying to do it as a step-by-step thing, so we'll see if it pans out that way.
Here goes nothing! This is my first attempt to do something like this. If you know of a better way to do this, will someone please educate me? I'm a willing learner!

Fun in the sun

Hi! Well we just finished our impromptu water fight in the yard. I had asked Will and Tommy to go out in the front and water my new plants, the "lantana" that I bought at Home Depot to trail all over the foundation on the side of the house. That side gets so neglected and ugly, that I thought I'd try this shrub that they say is hard to kill. But I can kill anything green! I guess I should remember to actually WATER my plants once in a while, especially when it's H-O-T outside like it has been lately. Oh well, so they were a little withered and thirsty. I hope they come back.
So anyway, it spiralled to a full-blown "I'm gonna get ya!" contest. Tommy came squealing inside before I made it out, as usual, crying fowl. "Will's spraying me and I didn't want to get sprayed!" to which I retort, "um, it is 90 degrees outside, Tommy. Didn't it feel kind of good?" "NnnnOooo! He just made me angry!"
There's just no pleasin' that boy sometimes. Then Emma woke up from her nap and joined in with us. So of course I had to drag my camera out to appease the Nana karma and then they all hammed it up. Tommy wanted to "pose" for me, so you'll see some of that. Then Will started putting the hose down the front of his pants. Emma shreiked with laughter and kept yelling, "Put it down your pants, Will!" I wonder what the neighbors thought we were doing over here! :) So, if we get a CPS call, I'm counting on all of you out there to stick up for me and explain the hilarity to the situation. Anyhoo, enjoy the vicarious play date!

almost done, I promise!

yet another for your viewing pleasure...

more pictures Angela took last month

It's about time!!!!

Well, I guess you could say that I took a 6-month leave of absence. Life just has a way of getting so busy. So anyway, school is out now for the summer, so it goes without saying that now the kids are driving me absolutely INSANE!!! As I type, Tommy is angry about something Will has supposedly done and is kicking his bedroom door. This causes me to stop typing and commense the beatings! :) Just kidding, no beatings, just death threats, er, promises that if he stops his tantrum that he'll get a smoothie soon. Okay, so my kids are bought pretty cheap.
Speaking of kids, we recently had a photo shoot with a very talented friend in our ward. She is so wonderful! I wish she'd been around for my senior pics, but, alas, she wasn't born yet!
So enjoy the photos. If you want more details about what the kids are thinking in this, then you'll have to wait until my next post, or email or call me on the phone and we'll chuckle about the brattitudes of children. ;)