Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Random Pictures


okay...so I know I haven't posted pictures, so here's a few random ones!











Christmas 2008




Boys playing with choo choo trains!


In the lemon buckets!


Baby Brock is here!


Brock Merrill









On the way home!











Christmas!

















Thursday, March 5, 2009

Welcome Baby Boy #3!!!

MARCH 3rd, 2009

BROCK MERRILL CHRISTENSON!!!

9 lbs. 13 oz.

(pictures are forthcoming.)

Sunday, March 1, 2009

March 2009

Things in California are just chugging along. Dallan recently enjoyed a four-day weekend, but discovered that most of the time things are not all that exciting at home. Of course it didn't really help that it rained a bunch and so we couldn't really go outside. However, we did spend Valentine's Day walking to about four different stores, one of which was the pet shop. The boys really liked looking at the birds, rabbits, and fish (they didn't have any cats or dogs in the store that day).

Zach and Marriner are getting better at forming sentences, and we can actually understand them most of the time! It makes life more exciting when they're explaining to you that if they draw on themselves they will get in trouble. They know this little bit of information because they decided to go through about a week of disobedience where they drew on the blocks, our electric piano, and themselves with crayons (luckily, the crayon came off the piano really easily). They have both been singing more during church, which makes the rest of the congregation laugh, which in turn makes it a lot harder for me to keep singing. Everybody in the ward absolutely loves them. They love all the other kids, too, but it's just so much better when there are two of them. Like all little kids, the boys are growing steadily. Zach can reach most of the light switches in the house, and most of their pants are getting a couple inches too short even though they still fit around the waist. Since Mommy is going to be out here for a little while, I may actually have to learn how to sew pants.

The baby and I are still doing fine, and according to the doctor I'm not actually due until March 3. That gives me a little bit more time to make sure that everything is ready. I guess that the baby is still sitting a little too high, but the doctor is not really concerned about it. He is more concerned with the idea of me going up to Fresno and playing trombone on Tuesday. Elder Fulton is having a kind of farewell in Fresno (I guess every missionary has one when they are going home) and his mission president gave him permission to have us play a trombone trio. Elder Fulton is pretty excited because we're going to be playing for his parents who are coming out from Illinois to pick him up. My doctor is a little worried that the blowing will make my water break or something like that, but I am not really worried about it. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Although we haven't really been looking for any houses recently, we were told about one that is just down the street from the Christenson's. It is a nice little house that needs some yard work, but the inside has recently been remodeled. The guy that owns it just got baptized into our ward, and he is the one that has been doing the remodeling. We like just about everything about the house except for one side of the kitchen. It is also in a really good location: it is within walking distance of the stores we usually go to, a good elementary and middle school, the church, the Christenson's, and the play ground. We haven't made any decisions on it yet, but we are really starting to like the house.

That's all the news from out here, except to say that sometimes it is hard to remember that it is still only February when there are flowers out, trees blossoming, and days that are warm enough that I let the boys wear shorts. I feel bad for all you people that are still dealing with the cold and the snow. :) Anyway, I hope that all of you are having a wonderful week! We love you all!

Love,
Patience, The Boys, and baby

Sunday, February 1, 2009

February 2009

Well, Dallan is still making some progress with his high school, but there are a couple of elementary schools that he is very frustrated with. The students don't really want to be there and they are re-learning stuff that they were supposed to learn within the first week of school. Dallan still loves teaching and music, but he hates getting mad at the kids and just wishes that they would put in some effort. Oh well. The high school band is getting ready for the CMEA concert which is on the 6th of March, so Dallan told me yesterday that the baby was not allowed to come that day. As if I had any control over when the baby comes. :)

Dallan's birthday was on Tuesday. Since it was a school day we didn't really do a lot of stuff for him, but Mom C. and I spent most of the day cooking fiesta rolls and cherry pies for Dallan's birthday dinner. Most of Dallan's presents were Carcassonne expansions. He got one normal expansion set, and then he got a bunch of tiles that he had printed out and made himself. We played Carcassonne, with all the expansions, on Sunday. It was a very long and very large game that just barely fit on a long table. Dallan really enjoyed it. The boys thought that it was really cool when Dallan blew out the candles on his pie, and have mentioned it at least once a day since then.

The boys have recently started doing their own kung fu moves. They bring their arms up really close to their bodies and then "punch" out. It is really funny to watch because they just yell and laugh the whole time. So far they have not punched each other, but I know that it will probably not take long before they do. They still love running around and playing with blocks, cars, and balls. They also really like playing basketball and soccer. Dallan and I went out and played a little bit of basketball, and Zach and Marriner of course wanted to play, too. So we brought out their basketball hoop and balls. We all had a lot of fun. Marriner is a little bit better at basketball, probably because he is a little bit stronger than Zach. However, Zach is much better at soccer. Zach runs around the backyard dribbling the soccer ball. He hardly ever misses the ball, and actually has pretty good control. When I told Christine about this, she laughed and told me that I was going to end up being the coach for their soccer/basketball teams. Oh well.

The baby is still growing well, and everything seems to be fine. A couple of the women in Relief Society think that I am going to have a girl because I am carrying the baby so high. I wouldn't mind having a girl, but we will just wait and see. :) One really funny thing happened in church on Sunday. It was ward conference, so Uncle Richard (who is the Stake President) was there. When he got up to speak, he said that he was reminded of a song as he was watching me lead. "There is [Patience] smiling brightly before us, and we [hope her] deliverance is nigh!" It was really funny. (Do you know what song that is? ;) ) I know that I only have a couple of weeks left, but it kind of feels like I will be pregnant forever. It's not like I'm going to get more sleep after the baby comes than I am getting now!

Well, I think that is everything. I hope that all of you are enjoying life and are having a good time. We love you all!

Love,
The Christenson Clan

Thursday, January 1, 2009

January 2009

Hello from Porterville,

I probably would have written sooner, but the boys and I have been spending a lot of time outside since it has been in the high 60's and beautiful for the past couple of days (it got all the way up to 70 yesterday). Not to make any of you jealous, but when was the last time YOU got to wear shorts and t-shirts in the middle of January? :P Anyway, the boys and I are really enjoying the weather.

Dallan started school again on Monday. He was kind of excited about it, but also kind of sad. He has lately been feeding his Carcasonne (a really fun board game with lots of expansions) obsession which included playing it at least once a day all last week. Not that I mind too much, but one can only have so much of one game. As much as I like vacations, I think that maybe three weeks of vacation was a little too much. Over the break Dallan grew a goatee. Upon seeing it, one of his elementary school students immediately asked if Dallan had bought it on the internet. Can you buy goatees on the internet? Dallan thought it was really funny, but somewhat odd.

Monday was a very interesting day for us. Before the Christmas break, the choir teacher at Granite Hills asked Dallan if he could house some choir students from Chapman University in January. Dallan (and Mom C.) said that would be fine. We didn't hear anything over the break saying that our house was needed, so we assumed that they had found enough houses. Then Monday morning came, and at about 10:00 we got a call from Dallan asking if we could house 6 students that night. Mom C. and I frantically got to work cleaning the house, washing sheets and towels, and making bread (Mommy, you would be so proud of me; some of the loaves actually turned out looking good!) Dallan and Uncle Richard (who was joining us for dinner and FHE that night) picked up the six girls. They were all very nice, and they thought that the boys were absolutely adorable. We ate a quick dinner (their call-time for their concert was 6:45) and then we went to their concert. It was a really fun concert. The music was very good and the Catholic church that they performed in had really great acoustics. We sat up in the very front, and we did not have to take the boys out of the room once. They were quiet, well-behaved, and actually listened to some of the music. Our house guests and some of their friends were very impressed (frankly, so were we; they were not nearly that good for the last choir concert that they went to). After the concert we spent some time in the kitchen talking to the girls. Five of the girls slept in the playroom on a couple of mattresses, while one girl that had a really bad cold/headache slept in the guest bedroom. They left after breakfast the next morning. Overall, a fun time was had by all.

Zach and Marriner are talking more and more in complete sentences that are longer than two words. They still jump around a lot and get into a lot of things that they are supposed to leave alone, but they are pretty cute boys. We got Kung-Fu Panda for Christmas and, wonder of wonders, they almost like "the panda movie" better than Cars! Needless to say, it is a welcome change! They really enjoy the toys that they got for Christmas, but I am having the same problem with keeping the playroom clean that Christine is having! We are getting a little bit better at putting all the toys away every time we leave the room, but that plan still needs some work.

I had another doctor's appointment last Friday. The baby is still growing, doing fine, and upside-down. I feel like this baby is moving a lot more than the boys did, but maybe I don't remember how much the boys moved. There is also the idea that the boys were so busy kicking each other that they didn't kick me as much. Well, I can't think of anything else that is going on. I hope that the rest of you are enjoying the cold and the snow! If it gets too much for you, you can always imagine the boys and I playing croquet in the sunshine and eating lots of fresh oranges, palmelos (sp?), and tangelos. We love you all!! :)

Love,
The (warm) Christenson's

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Update

Hello to all that actually read this blog on a somewhat regular basis. Unfortunately I am not one of those, so I'm thankful that Amy is writing something and putting some pictures up. (I'm sorry that I don't have more pictures to add; for the big events that have happened we have used a camcorder). So we are now living in California with Dallan's parents. Dallan has started teaching band at Granite Hills High School, so the house-hunting has kind of been put on hold. The boys love being at Grandma's house because they get their own playroom and Grandma and Grandpa just adore them. I am getting used to not having any homework--and loving it! I get to watch the boys play and play with them all day. Both boys are now able to get out of their cribs, which has caused some problems because Zach will think of something to play with that Marriner didn't. They are also starting to really act like their age: 2. They fight over more toys and throw more temper-tantrums. Everybody tells me to just wait until they are teenagers, because then it will be worse. I'm not sure if they or I will survive that long.
Yesterday we finally went and got them new tennis shoes and Sunday shoes. The tennis shoes have Velcro straps which the boys think are the coolest things ever. They love to put them on and then sit there playing with the Velcro.
For those of you that don't know, I am expecting again! The baby will be due sometime in February. I'm doing better with morning sickness, but I wish that it would just stop all together. I think that Zach kind of understands that I have a baby inside because he will sometimes point to my stomach and say "Baby?" I'm not sure that Marriner gets it yet. Thankfully I am not as sick as I was with the boys so I don't think that we are having twins again. Amy thinks that we should have quadruplets so that we can double the size of our family again. I think that Amy should first have to try taking care of three babies all at once and then she can tell me that I should have 4. :)
Well, I don't know what else I could add. We are all healthy and happy, and we have been very blessed to be able to stay with my in-laws. We hope that everyone is doing well!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Hello All

okie-day, So I don't understand what Patience meant in her last e-mail that Dallan will only have 35 students? Is that all year or just Summer school? but anyway... let's see...

The boys have learned to get out of their cribs and into the other crib. (After a nap Marriner was found in Zack's crib!)

The boys have started wrestling each other, and giving each other lots of hugs to try and make things "better."

Patience and Dallan are looking for a house? Really? Cool. This one may be a little small though...

Patience finished her American Heritage Final!!! Woo hoo!! She's finished with BYU!!! Go Patience!!!


More Random pictures! Yeah!

Patience.... you should edit this post and add more!! :)