Changes

Our family has gone through some changes this summer. Mark turned eight and was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mark also started Cub Scouts and has enjoyed scouting activities this summer including Day Camp.

Gwen learned to swim this summer. She is a little fishy. We also had fun on our new boat. Kevin worked hard to fix up our boat and we all enjoyed staying cool in the water this summer.

We welcomed another beautiful baby girl into our family. Tess Joy Christiansen was born on August 1st. She was 7 lbs. 10 oz. and 20 inches long. She is beautiful and sweet. Kevin and I are tired and my house has seen better days. I recently tried to remind myself that I can do this and I will survive. :)

In the middle of all the family changes, we had a summer packed full of fun! And now it is back to school!

Happy Easter!

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

I can't help it... I was just born fancy!!

- Fancy Nancy

Gwen is all dressed up and ready for her friend Claire's Fancy Nancy Party!

She was adorable!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to MAX

My handsome boy is ONE!!

August 2nd

Max is 8 months old today!!!

Unfortunately he spent the day in the hospital. We woke up Thursday morning at 3am to Max moaning in bed. Celeste went in to check on him and he was burning up. We checked his temperature and it was 103.7. As she held him he was very lifeless and larthargic. We gave him Tylenol but it only brought the fever down a little bit. After a doctor visit and some lab work we were admitted to the hospital because Max's white blood cell count was over 4x the normal level. They did lots of poking and prodding, including an IV for fluids and a spinal tap to rule out meningitis. The blood cultures show that he has a bacteria dangerously growing in his blood. He is however responding well to antibacterial treatment as you can see from the cute pictures of him below. The infectuous disease specialist told us that because he is responding so well, if lab results look good, we can bring him home on Saturday. We were very blessed that we brought him in when we did. Thank you to all who have prayed for Max and supported us. We were very blessed to have Celeste's mom in town to help with the kids too. You'd never know he was so sick from these pictures, Ibuprofen does wonders.

Hooray for warmer weather!!!

Hooray for trampoline hair!!!

I know, I know... it has been a long time

Here is Mark at his first snowboarding lesson. He fell a lot!! But the instructor said his attitude was amazing. He kept trying and never quit. Isn't he so cute?



Here is Gwen enjoying the fresh snow. Gwen has been enjoying dance with Miss Ami, playing with friends and helping Mom at home.




And my little Max is now 7 months old. He is crawling, climbing and getting into everything. And everything goes into his slobbery mouth. We love him. He says Mama, Dada, Buba, GeeGee, and just yesterday I swear he said Dog when he was playing with his toy dog. Here he is playing for the first time in the snow.

Kevin and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary. We love our life. We love our family. We love each other.

My Little Performer

Gwen took a 4 month dance class and just finished the session with a performance last night. When I took her to the theater for the staging rehearsal, she was in love. She loved every moment of last night. The stage, the lights, the costumes, the applause. She was in heaven. She loved seeing her dad and brother in the audience. She kept talking to them and waving at them during her dances. She had the audience laughing hard. After her last dance, she was so upset to go home. She wanted to perform! Here are some pictures and videos of her dances. We are so proud of her.

Click below to see videos of her three dances!

January 2010

Merry Christmas from our little Max...

I Am Thankful For ...

Here are our Halloween pics. Click to see the large view. Gwen's pink flamingo costume was a hit everywhere we went. We had people we didn't even know asking if they could take her picture. Mark was a Power Ranger and loves acting out battle scenes.

From Halloween 2009

This year we found a couple scary clips to project on our front windows for a spooooky effect.

From Halloween 2009

Mark was all about smiling for the camera. He forgot to watch where he was going.

Gwen Turns 3!!!

This is Snow. Gwen loves her new bird Grandma Linda, Poppa and Aunt Morgan gave her. She holds Snow all day long. I went in her room yesterday and she was dancing with Snow. Gwen said she wanted to teach Snow to dance.



Gwen and her cousin Lily playing with new dress up clothes. Thanks Brittney, Brad, Lily and Owen for the Snow White dress and accessories! I love these two princesses.

Gwen had a Tinkerbell party. We had lots of family in town and we all had such a wonderful time together.

First Day of School

Mark started 1st grade today. I can't believe how old he is getting. Isn't he so cute?

I made him this fun back to school snack.

We are all exhausted and my house is a disaster.

It gets easier, right? :)

Here are some pictures from the last two weeks. Max came home and has had to be under the Bilirubin lights. We are so happy to be done with that now. He slept through his first bath. What a silly little guy! Kevin took the older kids to camp with our ward. They stayed up way too late and had so much fun.

Enjoy the pictures.

Baby Max and Ward Campout click picture to view album

Welcome Baby Max!

Here are some pictures of our sweet new baby.

Name: Max Dean Christiansen
Weight: 8 lbs. 6 oz.
Height: 20 1/2 in.
Born: August 2nd 2009 at 8:15 am.

He had the umbillical cord wrapped around his neck and there was a pretty tight knot in it besides. The doctor said, "Celeste, I want you to look at this knot. Many babies are stillborn because of knots like this. You must have angels watching over you."

Mark and Gwen are so happy to have their little brother here. Everyone is doing great. More pictures will come soon.

Baby Max Click picture to see more!

Mark's Kindergarten Graduation

Mark graduated from Kindergarten last month and was awarded the Mad Scientist award and the Top Academic Award. He is a smart boy. I think I was the only parent crying at the graduation. I am going to blame it on being pregnant. Mark said to me later that day that he couldn't believe he had graduated that he couldn't wait to graduate from college:)

Mark with his teacher Mrs. Vitters

Robin Nest

CLICK PICTURE TO SEE MORE!!!

This year we have robins nesting in the tree right in the back yard. We have had fun watching the nest being built, momma bird sitting, and now that they've hatched, daddy is helping out a bit more by bringing food. It's fun because we can see right down into the nest from Gwen's window.

Crazy Hair Day

What a cute crazy boy we have!

Proud of my Boys!

Mark was Student of the Week at school last week for outstanding behavior and academic performance. Mark is extremely smart and is a great student. Good job Mark!

This is Mark with his the principal, Mr. Jensen.

Kevin finished the doll house/toy and book organizer for Gwen. Kevin built it from scratch with no design plans. He did an amazing job and it looks beautiful. Thanks Kev!