Fotos...finally!

Okay, it has been way too long since I posted any pictures of the kids here.  I better get a few current ones up before they all move out or I die.  I'm a bad blogger mommy!

 Emilee and her two best friends at Disneyland for her 18th birthday.  It was her first big girl trip and Emilee drove the PT cruiser there on her own (with a little help from Daddy's GPS app)!

 Emilee and Amanda 'Chim, Chim, chiree' for Broadway Bound in theater class.

 Kimberlee at Youth Conference

 Bekah playing the guitar on Daddy's car, so cute!

Zombie football player, Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West, The Punkin'

Isaac's DARE graduation, so proud of him!

Beautiful Kimberlee!

Bekah lives and loves to the fullest!

Emilee sings "My New Philosophy" in her high school musical.

The fifties diner for the Young Women's fundraiser.

More of the above!

Isaac has two beautiful babes, one on each arm!

What's news at the Gulls...

*Steve's new father's day propane barbecue,lots of yummy food around here
*Straight A's for all the girls, A's and B's for Isaac
*Christensen family reunion, SOOOOO much FUN!
*Kimberlee hikes 18 miles to the top of Mt. Charleston for her fourth year hike
*Emilee hikes with her, that is two years in a row for Emilee
*Kimberlee, Ashley Smoot, Emilee and Hannah go to EFY and LOVE IT!
*Doralee's 5th year as stake nurse for girls camp
*Emilee is a YCL at girls camp
*Rebekah and Isaac are accepted to Summerset Academy Charter School
*Emilee is called as Laurel president
*Emilee is considering Virtual Academy of Nevada (K12) for her junior year. It is still up in the air.
*Doralee is called as 1st counselor in the Relief Society
*Doralee is still team teaching seminary next year (I'm not giving that one up!)
*Emilee and Kimberlee get sunburned at the beach (BOOOOO!) while on their student council trip to California.

Mother's Day...

Today on Mother's Day 2011, I was so proud to be a mom. Emilee gave a wonderful talk in sacrament meeting based on Sister Julie Beck's talk, Mothers Who Know. It's hard to comprehend how grown up she is becoming. As I studied each of my children yesterday while they played and interacted with each other, it seemed as if they matured before my eyes. They suddenly appeared older to me and I realized that the time I'll have them here at home is limited and I need to take every opportunity to show them my love. I pray that I will have more patience and be less critical. I am reminded of something I heard at Women's Conference. We will know our children as adults throughout the eternities, but as mothers we are blessed with the unique opportunity to know and love these beautiful souls while they are still children. The time is so short.

I am blessed with the most wonderful children! I love them so much and believe that they teach me as much or more than I could ever teach them. They are each different and amazing in their own ways. Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful mother and to all my sisters also!

Repenting......again?!

I've never been the best at record keeping. The 'busy'ness and business of life get in the way and I find that my blogging and journaling is one of the first things to go out the window. So...I'm not making any promises or resolutions but I am repenting and will try to do better. One thing I can promise is that I'll always keep repenting of this weakness of mine because I really do think it is important.

A lot has happened since last fall when I last blogged. Isaac is eight and was baptized. I really feel like I'm getting older now that all of my children have been baptized. It was beautiful day until we ended up in the emergency room. Our dog, Hugs, bit my friend's four year old on the face. It was horrible! She is okay now, but will probably have scars her whole life that I feel so terrible about it. DUMB DOG! Hugs is now an outside dog and I'm sure that Isaac will never ever forget his baptismal day.

Emilee had her sixteenth birthday and I can hardly believe that she is old enough to date and drive. (No driving yet...but she does have a permit to learn with her parents.)Oh yeah, Emilee had her first date! I think I was more excited about it than she was since I never really dated until I was in college. Yes, I was one of those socially awkward, brainy girls that couldn't figure out how to hold a conversation with a member of the opposite sex. She went to the LDS youth formal with a good friend from our ward. They had a fun time. For her birthday/Christmas present Emilee got a really nice camera that she loves. She is taking photography in school and loves it!

Rebekah had her eleventh birthday and had a great party with a few of her good friends. Sister Hyten helped them each make an adorable scripture tote. Rebekah is such a fun, cute girl! I hope she'll stay as sweet as she is as she moves into her teenage years.

Easter Sunday was yesterday and it was a very enjoyable and relaxing day. Church was wonderful! Kimmi and I were able to participate in singing an Easter cantata with the ward choir. The narration and songs were powerful and beautiful! The Relief Society lesson was on gratitude. All during the lesson I was thinking how grateful I am for the Savior and His true gospel with the blessings that it brings into my life. We watched several Easter Mormon Messages from the prophets and apostles on lds.org, read scriptures as a family and had a nice turkey dinner. We did our Easter egg hunt and baskets on Thursday since Steve was off work that day so yesterday was just a spiritual feast. I loved it that way!

Family Vacation...

Steve finally got his first vacation in two years and we took the kids to Disneyland the week of Labor Day. We had a wonderful time! For Isaac and Rebekah, it was 'almost' their first time. The last time we were there, Rebekah had just turned three and Isaac was six months old. We ran for three days straight, and were able to see almost everything we wanted to! As we were coming home, Emilee and Kimberlee both agreed that although it was a great time they both preferred the vacation that we took to Mt. Charleston, where we rented a cabin and had lots of game time, movies, hiking, talking and 'family togetherness.' Nice to know! That kind of vacation is much more affordable.

I do have to put in my plug for "World of Color" at California Adventure. It was our favorite part of the trip. Imagine the Belagio water show with every color under the rainbow, fire and ice, and digital projection on a water screen lasting for 30-40 minutes. It was incredible!

Personalize a digital slideshow

Gotta start somewhere...

My three girls went on a handcart pioneer trek to Martin's Cove with my sister's family in June. Rebekah loved it! As for the other two we'll just say that I hope they learned a lot. According to my sister, they all worked hard and pushed and pulled their weight. This is one of those experiences that they'll look back on with greater fondness and appreciation once some time has passed! Too bad I didn't go along to take pictures. We don't even have one of the handcart.

Doesn't this look like the most leisurely pioneer trek ever? I guess that when they were are all working hard no one had time to stand around snapping photos.

Kimberlee Fence Sitting

Rebekah and her new friend Samantha

Emilee on the Plain

Things to come....

School's been out now for quite a while, summer is nearly over and my time on the only computer in the house is very limited. I have a lot to post about but no time to put it together. My plan is to post an over view of our summer vacation, but it'll have to wait until school begins and I have the computer to myself, hee hee! Things to come......