A Constant Reminder

Today was awesome. We stayed overnight in Louisville, KY on our way home from St. Louis. And we attended the ward I grew up in from the ages of 4-10. So why is the first picture one of the Louisville temple? Take a look at that beautiful dogwood on the left side of the picture (next to the really cute kids).

Here's the same dogwood (next to my really beautiful bride and those same adorable kids). This is the church I attended more than 20 years ago. I remember it being built while we lived there. I remember attending church in a rented building (an old school maybe?) while we were waiting for this building to be completed. I was baptized here. Some familiar faces were still around (Denise Hettinger, Koestner's, and many others I didn't see). There are four congregations in the area now and those my family knew best have been shifted around several times. We also saw some extended family! My cousin Jamie has lived there for 5 years now and her parents (my aunt and uncle) were visiting from Denver as well.

As you can tell, I just couldn't get enough of that dogwood. Had I been more professional about it, I would have made sure the temple rose higher than the dogwood in the picture above. :)

There was a special spirit as we arrived to church this morning. We pulled into the parking lot and on one side was the chapel we worship in on Sunday's and on the other side was a temple, The House of the Lord, in which we have an opportunity to worship the other six days of the week. It's a constant reminder. What a special blessing it is for the members in the Louisville area to have a temple adjacent to their meeting house. And what a sight it was for me!

Finally, how can you not fall in love with our baby boy, Luke?!? :) He's 18 months old and traveled very well during our excursion this past week.

Randomness on an Easter Sunday

Seriously, this is totally random. And it has nothing to do with Easter. But we're home as a family enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon. And I wanted to catch up on just a few things we've neglected to share...

First, here's a wreath Karen made to welcome Spring. It's made of pussy willow branches. The flowering part of the plant feels like the soft fur of a bunny's tail. She wanted it on our front door but we had no way to secure it. So she settled for a closet door in our family room. I was impressed! :)

Second--a day in the life of Luke. He turned 18 months a week ago. He's quickly learning how to gain some attention in the family. He has a huge smile...

Knows how to give the cutest looks...

And then finishes with a little dance on top of the kitchen table. :)

Third...James lost his first tooth! He was enjoying a lifesaver Popsicle for the Family Home Evening dessert when it popped out. He was very excited.

Fourth: General Conference. We learned a little secret from the most recent Ensign magazine that some candy and a few select words will capture the attention of the young audiences. And it worked like a charm for us. Karen put together a bowl of candy and we came up with about 6 key words the kids could listen for. Whoever heard the word first got a piece of candy.

It kept them well-engaged. We changed the words each session. One of the words for the Sunday afternoon session was service. Dallin H. Oakes was the first speaker. Topic: Unselfish Service. We had to put a limit on the pieces of candy each child could have about 2 minutes into the talk. :)

Here's cute little Peter listening. And can I just insert in here how much I LOVE watching conference at home. I don't know how young families did it prior to satellite and the Internet! Kids stay in their pajamas, they're comfortable, they can take snack breaks or bathroom breaks at anytime, and Mom and Dad can relax. And everyone hears the Prophet's voice in our home. It's wonderful.

With all the trees near our home we can't get a good signal for the satellite so we've learned to live without. But Karen had the brilliant idea of hooking our computer to the TV. This also helped the kids be more involved since we didn't have to crowd around a tiny computer monitor. Plus, the more "lively" hymns gets our kids up and moving.

And finally...contagious laughter among the Christensen kids. Luke knows how to indulge an audience (and the older siblings know if they laugh they'll get a show). It's a win-win situation. I don't recall if this was a late snack or a poor excuse for dinner. But the entertainment was worth capturing.

James' 6th birthday (a couple weeks late)

It seems that there has been no time to blog lately! There is so much to share...but I don't want to cram it all in to one post. Especially since James turned 6 recently. He deserves a post devoted just to him. :) Here's a pictoral recap of March 30th:

I love how the siblings are just as interested in the gifts as the birthday boy! :)

Peter can't wait to see what else is inside:

James in a genuine state of happiness:

And James with uncontainable super-excitement:

Here's the fabulous cake mom made this year:

James with all his loot:

We love our James. He is a unique personality in this family and life wouldn't be complete without him around.

Indiana Jones Legos

I saved these for a long,long time. I have the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, the Golden Fleece, the Crystal Skull, the Spear of Destiny, and the Head Statue from the beginning of the Raiders of the Lost Ark. That's all the treasures Jones found. I got the Fleece and Spear from books, the others from the movies (side note: he has not actually seen the movies, but played the Lego game, from whence cometh his immense knowledge. I felt the need to insert this lest you think my parenting has grown lax.). Here's a clip of the master artist presenting his creations.

Blog posting by Mark . . .with a little help from Mom:) Who is very impressed with her kids creativity for building all these with random legos.

Who needs earplugs?

I took James to Monster Jam tonight...and he is STILL talking about it with Mark despite our many requests for them to go to sleep. But it was awesome. And if I were 5 years old I wouldn't be able to sleep either. We stopped at the pharmacy on our way and purchased earplugs. But within about 5 minutes both James and I took them out so we could thoroughly enjoy the experience!
This video was taken at the beginning...when we were still getting accustomed to the noise. James didn't have his ears covered much longer after this race. He was mesmerized by the sights and sounds. I don't think you can fully appreciate the noise unless you were there. Our shirts and jeans were vibrating. (Come to think of it, my ears are still ringing a bit...)



Here's a close-up of El Toro Loco.

The show started out with some wheelies. Here's The Avenger.

Then they had races. There were six monster trucks at this show. You saw Pure Adrenaline and The Grave Digger in the video above. Apparently there is a "world championship" taking place in two weeks in Vegas. Several of these trucks will be participating.

After halftime it really started getting loud. These guys were doing some crazy doughnuts. You could smell the rubber melting and the smoke got pretty thick at times. Fortunately there was good ventilation! But it gave a unique kick to the hot dogs. Here was Pure Adrenaline.

Then they ended with some freestyle. They could do whatever they wanted to impress the audience. One truck flipped and another caught fire which livened things up (unintentionally, of course--it certainly engages the crowd but the drivers would rather avoid that kind of entertainment). James thought it was all cool.

And as the crowd dispersed, James and I lingered just long enough for the camera guy to catch James. It took a minute, but as soon as I got James to realize he was on the JumboTron for all the world to see he smiled cheek to cheek and scrunched his shoulders in embarrassment. What a great way to end the evening. We had a blast! And I think it was an experience a little 5 year old mind won't soon forget.

Family Home Evening

We found a way that guarantees the kids stay engaged...all of them. Mark gave his first lesson tonight. And now he says that 4 times a year is not enough. I almost got a little choked up during his lesson. He started by showing a few pictures and asking questions. Then he read a few verses from different books in the scripture. And he ended with a flannel board story of the First Vision and his testimony. It was very sweet. And he did so well!

Here's just a little snippet...

He walks!

Karen is convinced that Luke has been holding out on us. And I agree--you don't go from not walking at all to taking 3-4 steps at a time. Yet this is the first time we've ever seen him walk. And it's SO exciting...even after watching 4 other kids learn to walk. Yea for Luke!!!

Richmond - National History

If you ever see Richmond, Virginia in a TV show or movie...the Washington Monument will be shown: Our family took a day trip to Richmond today. Every once in a while, as we were walking through the capitol, we realized who had walked these very halls. It felt sacred at times. American freedoms were established here and a governing body from seceded states gathered here to preserve what they thought was just. As we briefly discussed the Civil War with the kids, we better understood the significance of that event in our nation's history.

Thomas Jefferson designed the Capitol building in 1785. If you visit his home at the Monticello and the University of Virginia you'll see some similarities. The six white columns here contain the original pine tree center posts.

I don't think I've EVER seen a painting this large. It was HUGE!!!

The Bill of Rights was ratified into the U.S. Constitution in the room below where the kids are sitting. Aaron Burr was also tried for treason in this room.

Here's a sculpture of General Robert E. Lee in the old hall of the house of delegates (the same room as above). This was the Capitol of the Confederacy from 1861-1865. Union forces took control of Richmond on April 3, 1865. Abraham Lincoln visited the Capitol the next day...just 10 days before his assassination.

Life size statue of George Washington that was placed in the rotunda in 1796.

The east and west wings were not completed until 1906.

After the Capitol, we went to the museum and White House of the Confederacy. This man below participates in all the civil war reenactments throughout the state. He could tell you ANYTHING you want to know about the civil war...a wealth of knowledge.

Here's the back of the White House. It's renovation is nearly complete and will reopen to the public in March.

Here's the front door to the White House of the Confederacy.

And on the way home...Luke was riding in style! :)

I've seen him on TV

And now Jason Wright was in our home. He's a political guru and an author (not about politics). He's written four books. And he came to a book club hosted by Karen to talk about "The Wednesday Letters." I think that's the first time a famous person has stepped inside our home. Kinda cool.

And so was he. Here's right after we met. A little awkward 'cuz I didn't even know the guy. But he and my sister Laurel are good friends so we had some bonding connection. Still a bit weird. But he pulled out his Blackberry so he could take a picture of us for Laurel...so it created a good excuse to pull out our camera. Here's the picture at the end of the night. Still, I had only known Jason for a couple of hours...but we had bonded. I have a fear of spiders...he has a fear of snakes. When I kept asking him questions even though I'm not a member of the book club he mentioned more than once how much I reminded him of Laurel.

If you haven't read his books, they come highly recommended. His second book was "Christmas Jars." It's a quick read and very moving. "The Wednesday Letters" is unrealistically possible as Karen coined the phrase tonight. Jason said that what inspires him is watching people (with a little eavesdropping here and there). He takes a real conversation or a real event and creates a story out of it. "The Wednesday Letters" came about from him hearing about a couple's "what if" conversation regarding a tragedy that would probably never happen...but could happen. He took that one conversation and created an incredible story that is founded on the principles of the Atonement.

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Jason has a couple of books coming out in the next year or so. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up on the New York Times bestseller list as his previous books have done. "Recovering Charles," his fourth book, is still on the list after 22 or 23 weeks.

It was an enjoyable evening! In order, Tiffany, Beth, Karen, Jason, Ann, Beth, and Julie.

Softer than rain

Snowfall here in central Virginia is not as quiet as other places we've lived. Have you ever been outside at night when it's snowing? It's always seemed extremely quiet. I would stand there and watch the snow fall, but I would never hear anything...I love that sound! :) But here, with all the trees, it almost sounds like rain...but much softer. And I love this sound as well. So yes, it has finally snowed here. I don't think we'll get much. But at this point I'm willing to take anything.

I love how clean snow makes the earth appear. I love the light against the dark background with a blanket of white on the ground. This picture is a perfect illustration of a welcoming home to a wandering stranger.

A new addition to our family

Nope, sorry, it's not a baby.

Gotcha though, didn't I?

Well, with our track record, I can't blame you for thinking that.

He's actually a full grown male.

A male Betta.

We would like to introduce everyone to Barry the Betta fish.

He is a good little fish, low maintenance and very hardy, which means that he should survive our inexperience. He is our first family pet and we are thoroughly enjoying having him. He is kind of ugly and cute at the same time. Anyway, that's Barry, our fun new fish!