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!

Halloween 2008! Mark was Batman and Gwen was a cowgirl. We had fun making pumpkins and Trick or Treating.

Fall Halloween 2008

Memories

My last single semester at BYU! I loved, loved, loved my roommates Emily, Laurie and Mary Ann. We were crazy and had toooooooooooo much fun. We all lost touch, and I miss them so much. But the other day, Mary Ann found my blog. She has such a cute family. Love you Mary Ann!

I could not help but laugh looking at these pictures.
Click on the picture below to see more!

Ode to Old Friends

13.1 Miles Disney Style!!

After months of training and hard work, I ran in the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon and loved every mile of it. Kevin and I also had some free time to spend at the happiest place on earth and at the beautiful California beaches. We had a blast.



Thanks to Kevin for cheering me on and supporting me. Thanks to my sister Brittney for watching our kids.

Day At The Lake

Thanks to our good friends, the Bauers, we spent a wonderfully fun Saturday on the lake. Here are some pictures of us enjoying the water.

Boat Trip July 2008

Mark was an amazing waterskier. I could not believe that he was actually skiing. And everyone loved the big tube. Gwen was so relaxed she feel asleep on the tube and then later in the boat.

Catch Up Part 2!!
June 2008

June was full of fun in the sun. Mark and Gwen loved swimming lessons. Gwen was not so sure at first. Everyone got a kick out of her when she walked to the pool all the while crying, "I'll be fine! I'll be fine!" She soon began begging to swim morning, noon and night. And Mark did awesome. He is becomming quite the swimmer. He enjoyed trying out the snorkle for the first time. We ended up buying one for him to use in our little pool at home.

We went to the zoo with lots of our friends. We love the zoo. We watched the bears go in and out of their cave. We showed the penguins our Happy Feet. All but Gwen got to ride on the new Endangered Animal Carousel. Gwen wanted nothing to do with it.

In June, Mark and Kevin enjoyed the Father and Sons campout. Mark brought his remote FJ Cruiser. They ate Hot Dogs and S'mores. But I believe the highlight was watching Davis' Dad gut fish he had caught.

We also spent some time at Summerfest. It was at Summerfest that Gwen finally realized her love for the Carousel (and all the fair rides).

Wow, I keep thinking of everything we did in June. Kevin and I ran our first 5k. I was glad he would run with me because I was nervous about my first race. We also spent some family nights at Thanksgiving Point. The pictures included are of the Harry Potter themed night.

Click the photo below to
Enjoy all the pictures!!!

June 2008

Catch up!!!

The last time I posted it was April. A lot has happened since then, and I have been too crazy and busy to keep up. So here come lots of pictures.

Our May 2008 adventures!

Mark graduates from Miss Roxi's Preschool and celebrates his 5th Birthday. I can't believe he will be going to kindergarten in the Fall. Mark had a rocket birthday party complete with a rocket cake and real sparklers. All Mark's friends made rockets and we launched them with the rocket launcher Kevin made. We all had a BLAST! However, after all 15 five-year-olds went home, we decided that next year we would have a smaller family party. At the end of May we spent a long weekend in Vernal, Utah. We enjoyed hiking to dinosaur tracks and dinosaur bones, learning at the dinosaur museum and swimming in the hotel pool.

May 2008

I will post some pictures of our June and July adventures soon!

Here are some pictures of our family enjoying the end of Winter and the coming of Spring!

March and April

We just finished decorating Easter eggs. The kids had fun. Thanks Gramma Sue for the supplies!!! We found a technique of putting leaves and grass over the egg inside of a stocking, then dipping it in the dye. It takes some practice, but it worked.

Decorating Easter Eggs

The Love of a Lifetime

Celebrating 8 amazing years!

This last weekend, Kevin and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. We spent the night in a cabin at Sundance. We enjoyed the fire, the snow, the hot tub and just being together. It was fun to talk about memories of the past and dreams for the next 8 years. I had a perfect weekend with my best friend, the love of my life, my one.

The view from our private hot tub!! Look at all the snow. Amazing.

Some fun side notes: We ate our dinner right next to Kirsten Dunst. We found out later that she is in Utah at a rehab center. She ordered a pizza off the kids menu:)

And thanks to my cousin Jessica who watched the kids for us. It was nice to get away for awhile and just relax and enjoy being husband and wife not mom and dad.

High Tech Fort

Kevin and I bought a new bed last weekend, and we helped the kids turn the boxes into a pretty sweet little fort. However, it is unlike any fort we ever had as kids. This home is complete with a PVC pipe faucet, a hanging chandelier (flashlight), and a personal computer. Mark and Gwen are having lots of fun playing house.

This is Mark's new pose for all his pictures. Is he cool or what?

Oh, and Gwen is just the cutest girl we have ever seen!