And We're Back....

For Christmas this year, Todd's mom asked for our blog to be printed into books....and she would pay for it. Ha! We are SO generous to give her such a kind gift. Looking back through the books made me grateful for this little ol' blog. I love having this record. Here's what we've been up to since I posted last.

Thanksgiving with my family (part of it) in North Ogden.

Cousin bonding during meal preparation

My cute 92 year old Grandma Gwen.

Temple Square to see the lights and go on a f.r.e.e.z.i.n.g. carriage ride.

Did I ever mention the time that I invited my parents and Todd's parents to "grandparent day" at creative dance? It turned out to be "grandparent PARTICIPATION day", and I spent one of the more awkward hours of my life watching Todd's dad dance with the kids....only awkward because I knew (he told me) he would rather be having a root canal.

There has been more snow in SLC this year than I can remember seeing in a long time. We all love it. Here's Drew on the back porch in the snow fort that Todd made for them under the patio table. 

 Audrey probably ate that whole arm full of snow right after I took this picture.

I can admit that Todd is the fun parent in our family. 

Christmas Eve Nativity re-enactment with the Christensen side. Audrey as a fashionable Mary, Ashley the smiling donkey, Emily as a very masculine Joseph and Matthew as a not very willing Baby Jesus.

  Youngest to Oldest Christmas morning line up

 Back at the Nelsons, there were approximately 30 people "sleeping" in the house. Here are the shoes for at least some of those people. They are only straight because Grandpa paid the older girls to clean the house while the grown ups went to a movie - otherwise there wasn't a piece of carpet to be found for about 10 days. Glorious chaos.

 Here are our cuties on the floor in our room. I mean, is there anything sweeter than a brother playing with his sister's hair to help him fall asleep? I guess it could be weird if they were older :)...but now it's the cutest thing ever.

We had an epic sledding day with Scott, Mandy and Annie at the local golf course.

 Drew has gotten really photogenic lately...ha!

 Todd built a small jump but they got some serious air. One time they all landed on top of Drew and he didn't  even mind very much. 

 Mandy!

 And then we built the biggest snow man ever....I'm pretty sure the golf course loves snowmen in the middle of the putting green.

We spent a day in Midway and went ice skating.  They use these traffic cones for the kids to hold onto and learn how to balance, but we copied a skating technique used by another dad. It didn't give the kids much skating practice, but they could go really fast!

We spent one night hanging out with our original Ann Arbor posse. Love them.

I had to document the manner in which Drewby eats hot dogs...it's only makes sense to do it like this.

Going to the "beach" in their bedroom.

This was months ago, and we have nothing to do with this story, but I had to add this picture. This is our nephew Tommy. He fell at school, got up with this rock in his head, and got in line to go in for recess (he didn't say anything because he thought he'd get in trouble). Yikes! 

And one of our Lizzie girl to finish up - this picture makes me laugh because she looks like she's doing a fake picture smile. 

As you can see, we are loving being geographically closer to our families. Living with the Nelsons has especially been such a blessing at this point in our lives. I think their emotional steadiness in all situations has helped me keep a grip on myself (I'm allowed to cry...don't worry). I wish I was better at keeping in touch with people. I'm SO bad at making phone calls, and I love getting e-mails but then take forever to respond. I hope our gratitude for all the love we have felt since Lizzie's departure has been at least mildly conveyed. Please forgive my lack of communication if you're waiting to hear from me...It doesn't mean I don't love you.