Soccer!

It is soccer season, a busy time for many a family, including this one. Here are just a few shots of the soccer boys...
They have both done really well, both have scored a few times and had some wins and some losses. Ann commented on our last post about Tyler's "moves" on the soccer field...
Here is a pretty regular sight on at Tyler's games. A lot of the kids out there are almost as tall as I am, if not just as tall. Tyler remains to be fearless despite their size, and he manages to hold his own...
Carter is just sucking it all in and anticipates his turn out on the field. You should see his drop-kick!

It's Great to Be Eight!

Sam had a big day this month. On September 11, Sam turned 8 years old and was baptized, right on his birthday, it was awesome!
It was especially awesome because Grandma and Grandpa Christensen got to be there. Sam asked Grandpa to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, and Bro. Weight to give the talk on Baptism. Bro. Weight talked about being clean and new and gave Sam some pennies that had been flattened on the train tracks and some pennies that were bright and shiny and new. It helps us remember that we want to be bright and clean like those new pennies. Grandpa gave Sam and chocolate bar to remind him that the Holy Ghost is a gift that our Heavenly Father wants us to use. What good would a chocolate bar be if we never opened it up and used it?
After Sam's baptism we came home and had a yummy meal with lots of great friends, we are lucky to have such great and supportive friends.
Instead of a traditional cake, Sam chose some of his favorite kinds of cupcakes, then we could sample lots of yumminess...
Brian and Charlotte Weight...
We also had the Elders, and the Lambeths with us...
The birthday boy, gotta love this kid!
Sam and his beloved, new soccer ball...

Just a cute picture of some cute boys...
Happy Birthday Sam!

Just a Little Something

Tyler came home from school the other day and declared:
"I am NOT going to the school dance tonight Mom!"
"There's a school dance tonight, huh? Why don't you want to go?"
"I don't know, I just don't want to."
Sydney piped up at this point and said:
"He can't go dancing Mom, he doesn't have any moves."

A Visit From Mom and Dad!

A big thanks to Sam for turning 8 and getting baptized (we'll get to that for our next post) because it gave Grandma and Grandpa a good reason to come out our way and spend some time with us (I know, they would have come anyway). We had such a great time having them here, and we were all sad when they left. They are so good to us, and the kids love having them here to give them a little extra attention.
We got to do some fun things while they were here, one of my favorites was our "Day Away" with no kids and a day off of work for Steve. It was so fun to have Mom and Dad to ourselves with no kiddies distracting us. Steve and I thought it would be fun to take Mom and Dad downtown to do something we have been wanting to do for a long time, the Architectural Tour of Chicago by boat. It is a great way to see a lot of Chicago without having to walk a ton, and it was really interesting. Steve played the part of official photographer and ended up in none of the photos. :( Here we are getting ready to board the boat...

A view of the skyline from Lake Michigan...
It turned out to be a perfect day for this, it was beautiful and warm.
Cool shot of the Sears Tower (Willis Tower, whatever!)...

A view from right below...



Anyone else want to come out? We will take you too, it was a great time!
Mom and Dad also joined us for our Sunday Evening walk, it was nice to have some nice weather while they were here, good timing Sam! Notice Sydney had to get in a little silliness, no smiles here...


I need Rob to use his cool software and make this look even better...
After our walk we enjoyed some gigantic Root Beer Floats in Frosted Mugs (Grandpa inspired)...


Mom and Dad's visit wouldn't be complete without a little Family Home Evening Wii competition. We all made Mom and Dad play the Cow Racing game on Wii play. Mom may look like she is crying, but really she is laughing super hard...



Mom and Dad also joined us for a morning of soccer games (in the fog). They came to a Court of Honor (we'll get to that too), watched BYU football, fixed things that were broken, attached handles to cupboards, read to children, helped cook dinner and a myriad of other things.
I also got a special day away with just the two of them on a field trip down to Springfield to visit all of the Lincoln sites there. It was a lot of driving, but that just made for nice conversation. What a fun day that was (I forgot my camera for that one).
Thanks Mom and Dad! We love you so much and truly treasure your visits! Come again soon!

David and Goliath

Sydney was in charge of lesson for FHE tonight. She chose to act out the story of David and Goliath. So here is David with the slingshot and a Styrofoam ball for a rock. Carter was Goliath...


See how gigantic Goliath is? Looks pretty menacing, huh?
And here is Sydney's recap of the story: "And the ball hit him in the head and he was dead for a whole week... and never came alive again."

Back to School

I know I am late, but I did want to post the "First Day of School" pictures, or, at least, the ones that actually got taken. For some reason I never think to pull out the camera until the kids are already on the bus, or at the school. This picture was only taken because Steve thought of it. Here is the big Junior High Schooler, and the First-time-bus-rider. This picture was taken at the lovely hour of 6:30 in the morning...


This is where the picture of Sam's first day of Second Grade would go, if there was one, which there isn't because Steve had already left for work, and I forgot. But, we can pretend that this is Sam on his first day of school. He was smiling and excited to go. He was so ready to be a big second grader he didn't even let me walk him up to the school, I had to leave him at the corner.As soon as Sam walked away Sydney started crying. Sometimes you wonder if your children really do love each other, I guess they do...


Sydney also had her big first day of school, here is a picture from her orientation day, when she got to meet her teachers and see her classroom. I can't believe how big she is getting...
And this is her first official day of school with no Mom. She was a little nervous to have me leave, but she didn't cry which was an improvement from Orientation Day when she bawled when I left for the little Parent's meeting. Now, two weeks in, Sydney is upset if it isn't a school day. She is really loving it.


Just a little silliness...

This is Sydney and her little friend Ella, they get to ride to school together and are in the same class, very awesome!
The happy school-girl!

Starved Rock

One place we keep hearing about, but have never ventured too is Starved Rock. Well, a few weeks ago we finally ventured out to see what it was all about. In case you didn't know, Illinois is very flat and devoid of mountains. This is a major issue with us Utahns, we miss our mountains. We have heard that Starved Rock is the closest thing to hiking in the mountains that you can find in Illinois. So, we packed a lunch and headed out. Sydney was very worried about this hiking trip for fear of falling off of edges, but we managed to keep that from happening, especially seeing as there really weren't that many edges to fall off of. I thought you all might appreciate Sydney's hiking outfit...



And the boys...

For those of you who might have wondered, Starved Rock is called that not because the Rock itself is hungry. Apparently a group of Indians who were fleeing from an enemy tribe became surrounded on top of Starved Rock, and well, I think you can guess the outcome. Here we are at the highest point in the park, not quite Mount Timpanogos, but it was still pretty.
Many people were jealous of Carter's nice ride, most especially Sydney who turned to me about halfway up our "hike" to the top (about a quarter of a mile) said, "Why can't we just take the bus?"

These next few pictures were taken in a place called French Canyon. This was a really pretty area, and even more so because of the drizzling rain.


Spencer decided that he would like to build a house in this little spot, so here is a picture of him planning and plotting his "French Canyon Retreat"...
And just some fun pictures of the kids...

On the way out of the park that drizzling rain I talked about, turned into a pouring rain. Tyler tried to find shelter under a tree...

Hurrying to the car in the rain...
We had such a great time, it was just fun to get away and do something new!