Happy Birthday Karee!

Karee had her birthday this past Saturday. It is hard to believe that she is 10 already. Karee is a sweet and thoughtful girl. She is quite a big help to me and a whole lot of fun. She love to craft, help with treats and do anything creative. She has been collecting some small nativity sets for the past few years and was able to add one more to her collection this year. She wanted "4 layer" for her birthday cake, which is technically just a dessert--but lots of chocolate, so who cares right? I had forgot to buy the #10 candle so she got the number 8 and two ones. Lame I know, but we had so much going on; and Karee was a great sport about it! She is a great sport about many things. She even missed a family Christmas Party the night of her birthday (Dad was a little under

An evening with Janice Kapp Perry

On Tuesday night Karee and I attended a guest lecture at Reagan Academy (the charter school our kids go to) where Janice Kapp Perry came and spoke. It was quite a thrill to listen to her speak, sing and share the Spirit with us. I have been a big fan for years, and I love to play and listen to her music. We had her autograph our "Sing a Song of Christmas" cantata that she wrote for the Utah Valley Children's chior. I don't know if any of you remember, but Karee sang in that chior and all the different parts were written by Sister Perry. We sing the songs on the CD every Christmas!

Anyhow, she and her husband Doug were there and told how music has blessed their lives. She shared many experiences from her life. We loved hearing about their mission to Santiago Chile. They have been back for a few years and are serving in a Spanish branch in Provo. It was truly uplifting. I mean--here we were in a school, and she had us all singing a medely of primary songs with her! She truly has a gift and talent.

Sister Perry talked about having a dream and working towards that dream. She shared with us how she feared singing in public, public speaking and the actual story aobut how she became a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Chior. One of the most amazing stories that touched my heart was one about how she and her husband were in a head on collision in Provo Canyon several years ago. She had sever injuries and pain in her back and couldn't even lie flat when they took her in the ambulance. When she arrived at the hospital they told her that they would have to do an x-ray where she would have to lie flat for 1/2 hour. She was terrified, and had never in her life experienced that much pain. That was when she prayed and as they did the x-ray the words to her song "A Child's Prayer" came into her mind..."Pray he is there; Speak, he is listening. You are his child; His love now surrounds you." She told us that with those words she was able to get through that difficult time.

It was a very neat experience and I just had to share!

My new project!

About a month ago I decide to make each of the kids a quilt for Christmas! I know, nothing like last minute ambition. So, here I go. I don't know that I will finish all 4 before Christmas...but I am going to make a good effort. Porters' is a rag quilt and it is laid out in squares all over my sewing room floor. I hope to be done with his before this weekend. Wish me luck!

Here is a picture of all the batting squares. I'll post an after picture when I am done. Not easy to keep it a secret--but he hasn't seen it yet!

Family Night with the FLASH!

Okay, so Monday night we went to watch a UTAH FLASH game for family home evening. It was loud, crazy and fun. A bit long for Zadie and Cole--but neat to see a semi-pro team play. Nick said it was a development league, whatever. The kids brought the tickets home from school last week when they had an assembly and met some of the players. Porter begged us to take the family. It is right up his alley. He is soooo into sports! The game was against Albuquerque and went into overtime. They lost by two in the last few seconds of the game. Drat! Maybe next time!

Cole left a really disappointed that he didn't get a free t-shirt or ball (you know, how they shoot those out into the crowd) I couldn't believe his attitude. Nick tried to explain how the numbers just weren't in his favor--but he was disappointed nonetheless. Zadie liked the FOX their mascot, and loved to literally "hang" around on the handrail in the middle of the isle. Karee loved to scream with out worrying about hurting any one's ears ('cause we were all screaming) and Nick enjoyed how closely paired the two teams were. It was exciting. I forgot my camera again--always happens...but tried to catch a few with the cell phone. So I will see if any are descent enough to add here.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

We went the day before thanksgiving up to Heber to cut down our family Christmas tree. I stood in line to buy a permit for $10 the first weekend in November and then we go chop it down the day after Thanksgiving. But, this year we heard that the weather was going to be bad--so we went up a little early. Here are some pictures of our family having a great time up in the Utah mountains. It was actually a ton of fun. Well, all but the ride home (kids were kind of tired and cranky). I think the tree ended up being about 12-13 ft. tall. It was the easiest year yet with the kids...tromping around in the snow. Zadie is 4 now and walked all by herself. Cole led us out blazing the trails and Porter even brought a snow board to try and have a little fun. There wasn't that much snow--and it was actually quite warm. GOOD TIMES!

Thanksgiving at Moms

Well, I haven't updated my blog in a while. Last week was Thanksgiving and we went out to Willard to my mom and dad's place. I forgot my camera--so I have no pictures. But it was a good time. I made the rolls and a veggie platter. It was a smaller group than normal as Heidi and Gary and their boys weren't there. As well as Andy and Marnie and their kids. Camille and Phil are in Seattle, so we will see them over Christmas. We missed you all. But the rest of us had a good time and tons to eat. I got to talk a lot more with my sweet sister in law Alicia (Matt's wife) she is a wonderful lady. We also played a bunch of games. Good times. God has truly blessed me with much. My family too! Let us give thanks in all things!

Forgivness

Forgiveness

Forgive and forget even if you are upset.
Feeling bad for what you do?
You would want to be forgiven too.

The note at the bottom of the poem:
Forgiveness is an important thing. If there was no such thing as forgiveness no one would ever be able to be happy.

by: Karee Christensen (4th grade, age 9)