Bottle It Up

If only we could bottle the joy and excitement of Christmas morn!

Got the Beat

These two are each now proud owners of Ipod Nanos. Boy is it ever complicated having 3 Ipods (mine included) on one computer! I spent most of Christmas Day trying to separate our music libraries. I am hoping Jared will soon become the master mind of the computer and solve all of my computer problems.

Let's Roll!

Sam's favorite Christmas gift by far is roller skates from Audrey. He rolls all around the house on the hardwood floor and even walks up and down the stairs wearing his skates. Does that sound like an accident waiting to happen or what?

Mexican Tradition

I had to snap a picture of Mike's mom making homemade tortillas. I love to watch her pat and shape the dough into yummy fluffy tortillas. Our Christmas traditions include making ham, potatoes, and orange rolls on Christmas Eve. To honor our Danish heritage,(both Christensen and Jensen) we make abelskivers or buttermilk pancake puffs for breakfast. Then later on Christmas Day, we eat Mexican food. Yum!

Christmas with the Christensens

Instead of gifts, we bought Mike's parents plane tickets to Washington for Christmas this year. They flew in on Christmas Day and joined us in time for Christmas dinner :).

A "Real" Piano Teacher

I have been teaching Sam piano for about 3 months now. He is very eager to learn and catches on very quickly. However, he recently asked when he was going to get a "real" piano teacher besides his mom. For now he is stuck with me! In December he and I played a fabulous duet of "Jingle Bells" for lots of holiday visitors.

Feliz Navidad

My kids love to get out the sombreros and do the Mexican hat dance...



...It all started last spring when we had a Mexican fiesta to celebrate the birthdays of Audrey and Sam. I bought 3 sombreros and they have been wearing the hats and dancing ever since.




For Christmas this year Grandma and Grandpa Jensen sent a chiaua singing "Feliz Navidad." It has truly been one of their favorite gifts. Grace is particularly fond of it and even sleeps with "Paco."

Christmas Recital

Audrey delighted us with a beautiful performance of "Angels We Have Heard on High" at a recent Christmas recital performance. She and her teacher, Melanie Kurtzbein, played a lovely duet.

I'm not cute I'm "Dace"

Ever since this little grasshopper of a girl was well, knee-high to a grasshopper she has been labeled as CUTE (certainly not a bad label). At least 3 times daily her siblings ask, "Who's the cutest?" The trained response for Grace is:"ME!" But lately, she is fed up with this CUTE stuff. The other day I told Grace she was CUTE (I couldn't resist, she deserved it). In response, Grace replied, "I'm not cute, I'm Dace (Grace)!"

Inspired by Nature

Most of you know that I LOVE nature and I am particularly fond of the forest behind our home. I also have several bird houses and a squirrel feeder so we can watch our wooded friends from our windows. This year I decided to go green and woodsy in my holiday decor. Our tree has a Pacific Northwest woods theme. Audrey and I even went on a walk in the woods to collect pine cones, moss, and berries to our tree. This is our Christmas tree inspired by nature.



My hedge hog is guarding the presents under the tree. No peeking!

Merry Birthday!

Mike is 37 years old today. I count my lucky stars that this dark and handsome man came into my life. My life is so blessed because of him. He is a wonderful husband and father and provides so well for our family. I love you, Mike! I am so glad that you were born. Several years ago Mike received a birthday card that said, "Merry Birthday, Happy Christmas!" So TRUE.

Charlie Brown Christmas

So I told Jared I would buy a him tree for his room (Sam and Audrey already had one) and this is what he picked! This little "FrankenPINE" beauty is truly an ode to "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The guys at the tree lot actually drilled a hole into the bottom trunk to morph two trees into one. Now that's classy!

Give Thanks

I am thankful for many things...foremost my loving husband and wonderful children as well as good parents and close siblings. I am also thankful for my health and for my faith that allows me to get through tough times. I am grateful for a warm home and clothes to wear and a reliable care to drive. And lastly, I am so grateful to know of my Heavenly Father's love and to recognize these blessings in my life.



And best of all, I am grateful for good friends (the Largeys)and good food to share with with them. Thanks for the YUMMMY pies Jeremy!



We love Spicy Farkle! Largeys taught us how to play this fun dice game on Thanksgiving. My family cannot get enough of this game!