Monday, August 24, 2009

Zoo Trip with Grandma Christensen

When Grandma Christensen came to visit us we had to take her to our favorite place, the zoo. We had the chance to go see the aquarium and some other new places we haven't seen yet. It was awesome. Gabbie got to see a turtle and some awesome fish.




Our new favorites...the sea lions. Unfortunately the oldest. biggest one died a few weeks ago. He was barking the whole time we were there and Gabbie thought it was the coolest thing ever.


Hiding from the camera...

In the bird house...it is so peaceful and beautiful. Kyle had to show Gabbie where to look so she could see the birds.

Noah always ends up sleeping when we go to the zoo. He also sweats like crazy too.


Thanks for going to the zoo with us Grandma Christensen.

Noah's Blessing - August 9, 2009

A couple weeks ago we were able to give Noah a baby's blessing and a name in front of our ward. Kyle's mom and my Dad were both visiting so we figured it would be the best time to bless him so we could at least have some family members there. Kyle gave him the name Noah Nathaniel Christensen and then blessed him to continue to develop his patience, follow the Spirit in relation to education, learn to teach, and live up to the men that his name came from. It is a very special, sacred time for families in our church and we were just so glad that we had some family here to witness his blessing.

Here are some pictures from afterwards... (I apologize for the fuzzy quality)

Our family for the summer.

proud Mom and Dad...

This is super fuzzy but I thought it showed how much Gabbie loves her little brother now.

Gabbie was climbing up on the edge of the couch so she could be in the picture too.


Noah in his handsome little outfit....thank you to Sister Taylor for getting us this adorable suit.


We love this little guy!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Family Home Evening

Last week we had Family Home Evening about likening the scriptures to our lives. The best way to do this, for Gabbie, was to act them out. Kyle chose a passage from the Book of Mormon where Nephi and his older brothers are commanded by the Lord to go back to Jerusalem and get the brass plates or scriptures from the wicked Laban. Nephi's older brothers did not want to do it because they were afraid and did not think that having the scriptures with them on their journey was important.

They were unsuccessful twice and Laman and Lemuel wanted to quit. Nephi knew how important this commandment was so he went up on his own to persuade Laban to give them the plates. He was prompted by the Holy Ghost and because he listened, he was able to secure the plates for future generation.

This is such a good example of being in-tune with the Spirit so you can know what needs to be done. It also shows me what can be done with faith. Nephi did not know what was going to happen but he knew that Heavenly Father would deliver Laban into his hands because he was doing as he was commanded. I hope that I have and can develop more of that same kind of faith.

Here are some pictures from our role play...




Laban is drunk and fallen here...(He is also very fat to show his richness and laziness. Thank you Taylor for willingly playing his role)
Nephi's parents, Sariah and Lehi, were very worried about their children being away from them and going back to a dangerous Jerusalem... (I got the best role for my shyness, didn't have to move or say anything)

Gabbie loves dress-up so Kyle made her look like little orphan Annie after we finished our role play.

Thank you Kyle for planning such a wonderful FHE where we were all able to learn a little bit more about Nephi and think about what it must have been like for him to do something so hard even though he was really scared.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Random Summer Fun

We have so many fun pictures that never get posted because it would take too long to do a whole blog post. Today was my first full day back to work so I decided that I would take the time during my breaks and post all those pictures that we love and think you guys would get a kick out of. They are all just random and don't really have any connection to each other. I did try to put ones from the same day together at least.


Gabbie and I playing in the office together...

Gabbie loves all things that relate to her daddy. Whenever he leaves a belt around, she grabs it and plays. This time Kyle put it on her and made her look like a Jedi...

this is so cool...
For my birthday this year, Kyle got us a down mattress cover for the bed. It came in this huge box and Gabbie converted it to her toy.

We sure are going to miss Aunt Tayyer (Taylor) when she goes back to VA next week. Gabbie has loved having her here. She is her best friend.

Whenever we go to the zoo Gabbie comes home super tired. This picture is from one of our many trips to the zoo and she refused to take a nap because she kept waking up from bad dreams. As you can see, she was so tired. I sure love moments like this with my two beautiful kids.

The zoo is so big we still haven't made it all the way around. The last time we went we saw the cat section. Gabs saw the Siberian Tiger by climbing up on the fence with Daddy and then she wanted to climb up by herself because she wasn't finished looking at the Tiger.

Oooh, that lion is so cool...

like Father, like Daughter

During my nap one day, Kyle and Gabbie decided to do some art. Normally we draw pictures on our back porch with chalk and get a minimum of it on ourselves. Daddy however had different plans. He and Gabbie did the normal pictures on the porch and some awesome body art. I woke up to a bunch of pictures on the camera and a fun story from Kyle.


For one of our Family Home Evenings we did a water balloon fight for the activity. It was supposed to be for Gabbie but Kyle and Taylor ended up doing more fighting than Gabbie. She just watched and laughed as we all ended up getting wet.


Yum...chocolate!! (treat from Daddy)

Playing in the front room during a thunderstorm...

Kyle opened the window for Gabbie to hear and watch the rain. She couldn't get close enough so she kept pushing her face into the screen, hence the black on her nose and mouth.

Another art project that turned into body art when Daddy got involved. Gabbie and I made a picture with geometric stickers. Once she showed it to Daddy, he pulled some of the stickers off and put them on her to make her look like a ball player. She couldn't stop at just one sticker; she needed one for each part of her body not covered with clothes.


Noah's first bath at home...

At the beginning of the summer we went down to the Kemah Boardwalk near Galveston and walked around. We ate dinner at this way overpriced restaurant and watched some fireworks.
The restaurant was cool because it had a huge fish tank going from the first to the third floors. Gabbie loved looking at the fish, but she couldn't do it without holding on to her colors (crayons).

posing at the photo-op spot...





Gabs loved watching this ride...

looking out at the Gulf of Mexico...(i think)

oooh...its a train...

My younger sister and I posing for Kyle...

More poses...



Cute girl!

playing in the backyard...

We have had a really fun summer. Kyle goes back to school at the end of next week so it is coming to an end. Taylor also heads back to Virginia next week. We have loved having her here with us for the summer. Gabbie is going to have an adjustment with her gone and we will probably be calling her a few times a week just so Gabbie can talk to her. We love you Tayyer!!!!