Girlfriends and Red Mango

These are two of my favorite girls. Abigail, was in town for conference.  She has a huge family who loves her too, so I always feel lucky when she makes time for me.  Jen and I met her at Red Mango to terrorize the place... oh I mean to catch up and let our kids enjoy a treat together.  I think the worker breathed a huge sigh of relief when we walked out the door... but three of us were happy!

Counting My Blessings...

I was driving to work yesterday listening to my book on iPhone like I always do, when suddenly I realized that I felt really happy, well more this wonderful sense of well being.  It caught me off guard.  I immediately turned off my book and basked in the feeling.  I have a great life.  Not an okay life.  No even a good life.  I have a great life. Full of love and happiness with a few challenges thrown in to make it interesting.  The feeling stayed with me all day yesterday... and the afterglow is still here today.  Thank you, Heavenly Father, for remembering and blessing me.

Our Little Rasta Man

Griff's parents recently sold their company, Varsity Printing, after being in business for over thirty years! Definitely bitter sweet.  They always said they would take a big vacation when they sold it... so they did!  They went on a caribbean cruise, and I think they had a blast.  They always bring us back awesome souvenirs when they go on vacation... and Jack's presents were the biggest hit this year.  He got this cool Jamaica shirt and a funny little Rasta beanie with yarn braids.  Jack LOVES it!  He has had bouts where he insists on wearing his "funny" hat around the house, while watching shows, and once even to bed.  Randy and Cindy, thanks for the turning our Jack into a little Rasta man! :)

 (He actually has the hat on backwards in these two pictures.  The braids kept falling into his face, and he would just patiently push them aside again.  Too funny.)

Happy Birthday Devin!

Happy Birthday to Devin!  Griff's family has a fun tradition of having some of their birthday parties at Litza's pizza in Salt Lake.  Randy and Cindy used to come here after football games and hanging out with their friends in high school, so this place has a looooong history with the Christensens.  And now we all love it, too.  It was fun to get together, eat yummy pizza and garlic bread, and best of all to celebrate Devin!  She is such a great person and such a good mom.  She is so patient and sweet with her kids.  I often watch her handle their melt downs, and I think I could learn a thing or two from her.  Thanks for being such a great sister-in-law!  We love you, Devin.

Travis and the birthday girl, Devin!

Mindy and Griff

Colton, Anika, and Nelly

The only picture we got of our Jack Jack.

Grandma and Kara cheesin' it

Anika

Grandma and Colt... Griff caught a funny expression~

 Chet!

Anika and Grandpa

Geode hunting!

Matt is such a fun brother to have!  He is an adventurer in his heart, and I love all the fun things he gets us to do.  We are all collectors in our family.  We love collecting whatever fun thing we can.  We used to go arrowhead hunting with my Grandpa when we were little.  We love collecting shells and sand dollars at the beach.  We hunted agates in Oregon last year at every low tide.  And on March 5, Matt took us Geode hunting!  It was so fun picking and shoveling away at the sides of the pit to uncover these little treasures.  We gathered buckets full!  And we had fun splitting a bunch of them open a few days later when we were together for dinner at my mom and dad's house.  I wish Melanie and Brad's boys were still around.  They would have really loved this!  Still, our little boys had fun running around, shoveling dirt, throwing rocks, and eating treats.  In fact, when it was time to go Jack and Wesley took off and ran a few hundred yards before we could catch them.  I think Jack was the instigator... and now that I think of it, Wesley was caught relatively quickly.  But Matt ended up hopping in his truck and driving to get Jack.  He ran that far! :)  Griff was working and couldn't make this expedition.  We missed you, honey!

Amy hard at work.

Mom

Aunt Donna and Uncle Jim came too!  

Matt taking a turn keeping the boys out of trouble... and alive. :)

The troublemakers: Jack and Wesley

Logan and Papa

Colt mostly enjoyed the day snuggled up in his carrier.  This baby is such a sweetheart~

Dad showing off a Geode he found!

I know you can't really see Amy and Wesley that well, but this picture gives you an idea of how deep the pit was!

Our little buddies enjoying cookies and a hug!  So cute.

Colt at 3 Months

Here are a few pictures taken of Colt at 3 months (he's closer to 4 now!).  Oh, how I love this baby boy!  He is still just an angel baby.  He is sweet, smiley, and even started giggling at almost exactly three months old.  My favorite is when he giggles when I take his shirt off.  It's like he thinks I am undressing him for his own entertainment.  It's adorable.  My mom, Griff's dad, and Griff are the best at drawing out those sweet little laughs.  I can get him to chuckle, but those three can induce full on episodes of giggling.  I run for the video camera every time they do it, but by the time the camera is up and running... the mad giggling is over, and I just catch a few chuckles.  I must make this my priority this week.  :)  

Colt is a chill little guy.  As long as his tummy is full, he's generally pretty content with kicking around on the floor.  Jack is still only mildly interested in his little brother.  One day in an effort to get Jack to pay attention to his future buddy, I was encouraging him to show Colt a toy.  Jack's overzealous shaking of the rattle scared Colt half to death.  His little face crumpled, and he cried for 5 minutes before I could calm him down!  He's kind of a sensitive little soul even though he's so happy.  Still, most of the time Colt thinks Jack is mildly funny.  That is, when Jack condescends to notice him.  Of course, usually it is when Colt is fussing a little bit and Jack is "helpfully"trying to jam a binky into his little bro's complaining mouth. I am relieved that Colt finds this amusing...

Colt was born with such a cute little crop of dark, dark hair.  It changed quickly... lightening up and eventually falling out.  Now days, he looks a little like an old man with a comb over (or whispy, wild fuzz ball).  He has a fuzzy little crop of new hair growing, but a few long straggling hairs refuse to fall out and populate the top of his head.  I should probably cut them off, but I am not sure if that would look goofy, too.  Good thing he has such a cute face with that little dimple and chubby cheeks!  No one notices his funny hair when this little sweetheart smiles.  Oh how we love you baby Colt!

Saint Patrick's Day Celebrations!

For being a silly, nonsignificant holiday, I just LOVE Saint Patrick's Day.  Probably because my mom always made it so fun as a kid. Well, actually she still does!  She hosts a yearly party, and this one may have been one of my favorites.  Mom's parties are complete with darling decorations, chocolate gold coins, and lots and lots of yummy Irish food to eat.  After dinner, we are all supposed to perform our "party favors," which are funny jokes, card tricks, skits, or anything else you want to do.  Amy had all the boys and me wearing sarongs with flowers in our hair (which was a feat... think of Dad...) and leading us out in the salsa.  I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life!  Matt baffled us with some nifty card tricks.  And Mom, Dad, and I performed a very silly skit.  My camera died before the party favors, but oh how I wish it hadn't!  I think Amy might have gotten some pictures of this portion of the evening, so you'll have to watch for it on her blog.  (Griff was out of town for this party, poor guy.  We missed him!)

I loved this picture of Wesley.  What a handsome little boy. :)

The yummy food: Parnsip Soup, Apple Mash, Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze, Maple Oatmeal Pecan Scones, Colcannon, Corn, Pork Roast, a yummy salad, and a German Chocolate cake for Matt's birthday (You can diverge off the theme if its your birthday, of course).  The picture on the left is of one of our ancestors who was from Ireland: Mary Jane McConnell.  Mom told us all about her while we ate dinner.  It was fun to hear about her.

The party goers~ Josh, Natalie, Dad, Mom, Lauren, Connor, Amy, and Matt

My little Irishman and I being silly.  Did you know Jack's middle name is McConnell? 

 Griff was out of town with both of our cameras on Saint Paddy's day, so I didn't get too many pictures at home.  But Jack and I enjoyed green milk, green pancakes, and a treasure hunt for the chocolate gold coins that the leprechaun left for us!  Jack LOVED it.  He was absolutely overjoyed and squealed and giggled every time he found one of the coins.  It was the cutest thing ever. :)

Grammy had a pin on that said, "Kiss Me, I'm Irish"...

So Jmac did just that!

Already can't wait for St Patrick's Day next year!