This One Goes Out to the One I Love - Part III

And to my other sister-in-law who is turning the big 2-3 today ...

Happy Birthday Becca!!!

Becca is Scott's other sister (third in line in the fam). Here are the just a few of the weird, wacky, and unique things about Becca that I love:

She is not afraid to be herself. I've never known her to compromise her standards to appease other people. Seriously, she is an outspoken lover of all things teen. Adolescent literature (or "juvenile reading" she once mistakenly called it)? Loves it. Teeny-bopper movies and shows? Unabashedly crazy about them. She is a person with a strong sense of self and self confidence. Take a look at this picture. Need I say more? (Becca is the 12 year-old looking one on the right -- this picture was taken last fall).


She is funny. She is one of those people who probably won't compete for air space so you might think she's kind of quiet. However, get her in a smaller, more comfortable group and get ready for her hilarious, snarky comments. She can be quite the feisty one.

Becca loves her mom. I think it's so sweet how much Becca (and Kate) love their mom. It seems like they are the center of each other's universe and I feel like that's the way it should be between mothers and daughters.

Becca is a scrapbooker. She is my scrapbookin' buddy at the cabin and I love the bonding time we have while messin' with the Cricut, croppin' photos, and tellin' Kate to back off 'cause she just doesn't understand.

She loves her sister. Becca is the caretaker in her and Kate's relationship. If they both live to be old maids, Becca would be like my great-aunt Afton who lived with her sister, Isabelle, until they both died in their late 90s. Becca would take care of Kate, make their doctor's appointments, schedule their hairdo appts, and arrange for their older brother to take them to those appointments ("older brother" being my grandpa Dan, in this case ... but it's a toss-up for who it would be in the Christensen family ... let's just say, Scott over Cody, because then I would get to sit in the back seat too and we would be three old ladies driving to get our hair done and we would laugh and laugh 'til our dentures fell out, although Kate would probably not have hers in because Becca failed to remind her that morning). But seriously, I have never seen two sisters who are so different in personality yet who get along so perfectly and who love each other so much. It's like their souls are intricately connected somehow. Like spiritual identical twins. They were made for each other.

As Kate said on their blog, Becca sure does love a good nap.

Becca has this crazy tendency to dress up in 80s attire and hit the dance clubs ... or to just go out to dinner with Kate and Seth. I'm not one for dressin' up, but then again, if I looked that good while trying to be a doofus, I think I'd dress up more often.

She is one of the most organized people I know. Even as a kid she was very thorough and dare I say ... anal? Every year, on the day before school started, she would strip her bed and remove all of the tags from her new clothes and wash them all (along with her towels), just to make sure she got a good fresh start to her academic year.

Becca has such a sweet side that my kids, especially Ruby, love. This past weekend at the cabin, Ruby reached for Becca after being there less than an hour. This might not seem like a big deal to some of you who have outgoing children. But mine? Outgoing? Not so much.

Although she can get herself gussied up with the best of 'em, she has a tough, flexible, athletic alter-ego. She might seem skinny and girly but she is one of the most aggressive tubing competitors I've ever gone up against. She will send herself flying recklessly through the air to pull people off the tube to put them in her place. She and Kate fight for the title of who's the "scrappiest," and sorry Kate, I think I have to give that title to Becca. Becca the Scrappy. Hmm ... it has a nice ring to it.

Notice the hot bod in the picture? (I realize that my last three posts have focused a bit on my sisters-in-law's svelte physiques but really, can you blame me?)

She is beautiful. Seriously one of the cutest girls I know. Sort of weird but she used to date my little brother. The reason I bring this up is not to embarrass anyone but rather to provide more example of this "natural" beauty. My mom has always loved Becca so when she was dating Nick my mom was thrilled. Once she said, "You know what I like about Becca? She is beautiful and just exudes femininity. Some women feel they have to force their 'sexiness' (that's right, Kay used the word 'sexiness') on men but Becca has this subtle feminine beauty about her that I just love." Well said.
Becca, thank you for always making me feel welcome in your family. I have always felt like I belonged and it was in large part due to your (and Kate's) acceptance and love for me. Thank you for being such a great friend and sister.

We love you!
Happy Birthday!

This One Goes Out to the One I Love - Part II

Today is a special day -- the birthday of TWO of my sisters-in-law.

First up is Heather, who married my older brother, Spencer, in 2000. It's hard to believe she willingly consented to join our loud, crazy family but we're sure glad she did!

Just a few things that I love about her:

She is DO-er. I think it was an adjustment for her to join such a big, crazy family that pretty much does nothing. We have what you might call, "homebody tendencies." But Heather has always been there to help nudge us along, help us make plans, and get us out the door. And if she's unable to get our lazy b-u-n-s off my mom's glorious couch (that I think I've decided I want to be buried with, at least one section of it), she's still happy and content to just hang out, Smith-style (aka sit around and watch the brothers berate each other in German, humiliate ourselves via Karaoke, and eat and eat and eat. We're not THAT gluttonous ... okay, maybe we are. Thanks for loving us anyway Heather!).

Heather is quite the athlete and takes risks. For example, she signed up for a co-ed soccer league with Spencer -- she's never played soccer. Sure, she was a star track athlete in high school and college but picking up another sport to play, in front of and with other people? You can count me out. I even played high school soccer but most likely would not enter a co-ed league with Scott because I'm that big of a wuss.
Heather can SLEEP like nobody's business. And I'm not sure why, as I feel it's a bit of an injustice, but the Lord blessed her with a child that SLEEPS IN! Excuse me? I didn't even know they existed. When we were at my mom's house a few months ago, one morning Heather and Ava slept in until 11 a.m. Secretly -- or maybe not so secretly -- I was consumed with jealousy.

She's got great L'eggs. Seriously. Shortly before she married my brother, my dad made this comment, "I have to say, and I mean this in no perverted way, shape, or form, it'll be a sad day for mankind when Heather has to cover up those legs" (all you other Mormon folk know what I'm talking about). I took this picture while in Vegas last month and here she is over six months pregnant and still sporting the stunning, sculpted legs! As far as I'm concerned, this is a form of cruel and unusual punishment ... at least to leg-of-mutton peeps like myself.


Well, as Dr. Phil would say, "It's time that I start gettin' real." Heather not only has great legs, she pretty much has a bangin' bod all around. (Now what, pray tell, is the deal with all of my sisters-in-law? Seriously -- all three of my brothers' wives and both of Scott's sisters have incredible bodies. Not sure how this happened but I think it's the tiniest bit unfair ...) Here's Heather with Ruby on a beach on Maui. Um ... yeah ... my arms and shoulders totally look like that.

Heather has what I like to call, "Mom smarts," it's kind of like street smarts but specifically related to running a household. If you ever have a laundry question, call Heather. If you ever want to know how to decorate a house, call Heather. If you ever want to learn how to style your child's hair, call Heather ...

Or there's this fancy 'do ...

Kidding. (I only joke because I need an excuse to put pictures of Heather's little girl up. Basically, Ava is one of my favorite little kids of all time. Even when her hair isn't crazy, she puts a smile on my face every time she walks in the room. I sure do love me some Ava!) But seriously, her Mom Smarts are killer. Here's one of my favorite tricks I learned from her -- to remove a pesky stain from clothing, try washing it and then drying it in the sun!

Heather is one of those people who can always see what needs to be done and just jumps in and does it. Try as I may, I am NOT one of these people. I finally catch on to a project that needs to be done when people like Heather have already completed about 90% of it. Even at my mom's house, she's always the one helping with the meals, cleaning up after dinner, picking up the toys, etc. And my favorite example: when we were getting ready to move from Idaho, she called me and asked if she could fly up with Ava and ... help me pack! Seriously? Who does that?

And I could go on and on, but as you know, I'm doing two posts in one day, which is a record for me, but finally I'll say, Heather has always been such a good friend of mine. I still remember meeting her for the first time at Utah State at Spencer's house. I thought she was so nice and such a darling girl. One of my favorite memories is right before I went on my mission (Dec. '00) I was crocheting a scarf. I asked Heather's input (due to her impeccable taste) about the colors and design and she helped me create a "cute" scarf (as "cute" as my mediocre crocheting abilities allowed me to create). Christmas came just a week after I left on my mission and she opened her present from me and guess what it was? You guessed it Sherlock Holmes -- the scarf. When my mom later told me Heather cried when she opened it, I cried too. I've always loved Heather and am so glad she is part of our family!

We love you Heather!
Happy Birthday!

This One Goes Out to the One I Love

Today, one of my favorite people in the whole world, who also happens to be my sister-in-law, is having a birthday...

Happy 21 Kate!!!

Here are 21 reasons why I love Kate: 

1) She's not afraid to look awesome.

2) She was, is, and always will be a huge troublemaker. The proof is in the pudding ... this one started young (and also started months of investigation and visits to her home by DCFS).

3) She can make me laugh harder than almost anyone. Once, Becca {Scott's other sister} ripped on Kate's nose and said she {Becca} had the best nose in the family. Surprisingly, Sharon {the mom} sort of agreed with Becca saying, "Yes, you do have a great nose." Kate got all up in arms about Sharon not defending her schnoz and then turned to Becca, "Well?!? What about me?" Becca sarcastically replied that at least she had good lobes. I about died! That was all she could come up with? Good earlobes? But Kate looked at me, shrugged her shoulders, smiled and said, "I DO have good lobes. They're meaty!"

4) She is a HUGE part of my kids' lives. I think she might almost love them as much as I do. With newborn Henry...

5) She was brave enough to be in the delivery room when I had Ruby ...
6) ... and took beautiful pictures with her mad photography skillz.
7) She doesn't care what other people think. In high school she'd wear a full sweat suit, moccasins, and pull her hair back in a wet bun (as many days in a row as she could get away with). She has since solemnly declared Monday as "Sweat Pants Monday." Please join her in her religious observance of this holy day.

8) She can bring the freak out in me like nobody's business. Like the time in the car I just bust out singing along with Eminem, "the moment, you own it, you better never let it go, do NOT miss this chance you've got 'cuz opportunity knocks once in a lifetime..." or however that goes. Kate, apparently, thought it was hilarious. She cracked up laughing so hard that I suddenly realized she was NOT laughing with me, she was laughing at me -- here I was, her prehistoric sister-in-law, who has borne children into the world, singing -- or shall I say rapping? -- along with Eminem.

9) She knows how to make time out FUN! {Only a fun aunt would go behind mom's back and sneak over to time out boy and start messin' around. Kate, that's not what time out is for! All my hard work just went down the drain!}

10) She is the biggest Christmas fanatic I have ever met. Last year Sharon said she was too tired to put up and take down Christmas decorations (mind you, Kate lives away at college). She might as well have just told Kate that she herself killed Santa, the Easter Bunny, and Bambi in one fell swoop. Kate was shocked, horrified, outraged, and deeply, deeply hurt. Which leads me to my next point...

11) Kate is the master of all major manipulators. She can convince almost anyone to do almost anything. So ... guess who ended up putting up all the Christmas decorations last year?

12) Speaking of Christmas ... she is shameless about her excitement for opening presents. Birthdays, Hanukkah, Memorial Day -- you name it -- she wants presents! Every year she rigs the siblings exchange in Christensen family so things work out just right {she and Becca refuse to "draw" each other's name because they still want to get presents from each other and us! Shameless I tell ya! LOL!}. I think in this picture she was sad that she hadn't gotten enough presents.

13) She eats, breaths, and sleeps Dr. Pepper, which she has been quoted as saying is "the only good thing I have going in my life." She would give up the following things in exchange for Dr. Pepper: legos, water, food, air, ninja turtles, and men {okay, maybe not men but definitely the rest of those useless things}.

14) She is one of the sweetest, most caring people I know.{and also has a pretty bangin' bod!}

15) She and her BFF, Seth, were serious filmmakers while in their youths. They took their Disney music videos VERY seriously, at least until the age of ... 16!!!

16) She is picky when it comes to men! She always complains that she doesn't have a boyfriend and I say, "Look around! Everyone else with a significant other has already lowered their standards! What are you waiting for? Chad Michael Murray?" {Or are you of the James Lafferty sort? I can never remember. And hey! Are you proud of me for googling OTH to find out their names? Oh the things I do for you!}

17) She's not afraid to look hot and let people know how she feels about herself. She was studying the following picture shortly after it was developed, finally turned to Sharon and said, "Man, I look HOT!"

18) She is a die hard Cubs fan and gave Henry his first pieces of Cubs paraphernalia.
19) She is the most coordinated, die-hard "tuber-ist" I have ever met. She only complained for like nine months when Scott drove the snowmobile maybe a little too fast and she went whipping off the tube and sort of broke her collar bone or something super minor like that.

20) She is definitely one of my best friends!

21) And last but not least, I think she has proven herself through trials of the refiner's fire this past year -- trials more difficult than I have ever experienced. Somehow, she is coming through it and has become a stronger person, even though she may feel differently about the "stronger" part. She teaches me every day with her humor, her absolute passion and loyalty for friends and family, her love for life, and most of all, her belief in something greater than this life.

Happy Birthday Kate!
We Love You!

I Bet My 5th Anniversary Was Crazier Than Yours

Last weekend was our 5th anniversary. I like to think the climbing and hippie gods smiled down on Scott because he could NOT have had a better 5th anniversary celebration even if he had planned it from day one.

One of Scott's best friends from high school, Jason (aka "Bones") and his girlfriend Sarra threw together their wedding in the last few weeks. They're both biologists and headed to Panama for two years to do field research so in order to get the deal done while still in the country, they decided there was no better place than the City of Rocks in Idaho, a mecca for rock climbers around the world. So their wedding date (May 17th) was also our five year anniversary. And the best part was ... they asked Scott to perform the ceremony, which meant he had to become an ordained minister. Awesome. I was just thinking we were missing one of those in our family. This 5th anniversary story just keeps getting better and better (as far as Scott is concerned anyway).

Knowing we had a weekend of climbing and partying (ours being the Mountain Dew/Diet Coke partying sort) with the hippies ahead of us, we opted to leave the kiddies at home with friends (THANK YOU GUYS!).

Friday, climbing in The City. It had been quite a few years for this old gal. I sort of freaked out on the rock ... don't tell anybody. In my defense, the route was pretty freakin' exposed and the mother in me just took hold of my thought process. While on the rock I kept thinking, "Why does Scott's mom let him do this? This is DANGEROUS!"


The City

Action shot of Scott . DON'T WORRY! I didn't just walk away from my belaying duties. He's RAPPELLING down from the chains, therefore my skills were no longer needed. (I'll have you know, I'm one of the best belayers around! I protect you like nobody's business while positioning myself in such a way as to soak up as many harmful UV rays possible. It's a win/win.)
Jason, the groom, morning of the wedding. I think he should fire his pillow as his hairdresser.

Best buds. Awww... (is it appropriate for the Reverend to be more dressed up than the groom?)
The bride, Sarra, making a beautiful entrance. She is such a smiley person -- I love her!

Tau, keeping the riffraff away from the ceremony site. He's such a thoughtful dog.

So Scott, one of the newest reverends with the Universal Life Church, performed a beautiful ceremony. He was funny and even the tiniest bit emotional. He and Jason have been friends since Scott was about 16 and Jason and Sarra are such COOL, GENUINE people that I think Scott felt honored to be performing their wedding ceremony.

Here's the ultra-casual, but beautiful ceremony location (you can see Tau down on the right side -- it was a little bit wacky that there were dogs practically running through the bride and grooms' legs but Jason and Sarra were all for peoples' dogs being there as they own two canine creatures).

You may kiss the bride!
30 seconds later ... (hey Scott, how's the view?)

A few more seconds later ... can you say "PASSION"?!?! I don't know about you all but our "kiss the bride" kiss was DEFINITELY NOT like this!
The happy -passionate- couple
Although it wasn't MY first choice in how to spend my 5th anniversary, we love these two and are so happy to share our anniversary with them that it was all worth it!
Happy Five Years of Bliss, Babe! May the next five be filled with just as much fun and laughter! Love you!

Scott -- Definition: A Fun Dad

I'm struggling with blogging, can you tell? Oh, who cares if my posts aren't funny and end up really lame, right? At least I'm here.

So last weekend I had a little scrapbook "getaway" with a few girlfriends. Actually, we didn't really get away that far. We were supposed to go to Scott's family's cabin near Ashton, ID but due to complications, we ended up staying home but scrapping Friday night and all day Saturday at Traci's husband's dentist office (thanks again Jaeson for having us -- I had a hard time keeping those tiny pesky eyelets under control so if you find any stray ones on the floor, send 'em my way!).

So, Scott faced with a Saturday alone with the kids, did what I would for sure do -- headed to Yellowstone Park (the joke there is that is NOT what I would do, far from it; not that I'm anti-Yellowstone, I LOVE Yellowstone, but driving around all day with two wiggly kids is not really my favorite activity). But guess what? They loved it!

The highlight of the day? They watched a grizzly bear from less than 100 yds. away for about an hour! Scott said the kiddies were fascinated! Henry wanted to be up close and personal with the bear so his binoculars were a necessity. Ruby kept growling at the bear. (She's so cute these days, I can't even take it!)

The spring is our favorite time to visit Yellowstone because all the animals are so active, trying to replenish their depleted reserves from the winter (which was especially harsh this year).


The animals, however, don't look their best in the spring. The bison always look so mangy. But the baby bison are SO cute, we're willing to put up with a little mangy-ness.

If you look closely, you can see that baby's face. Awww!

Speaking of mangy ... someone get this fella a new hairdresser!



Here are the kiddies checking something out ... (sorry, I'm not such a great tour guide. I don't have the specifics.).

A few weeks ago on our way home from Utah, we passed a pair of bison cows and their new calves near West Yellowstone. One mother still had the afterbirth hanging out, which was pretty gross, but still, very cool to see such a new little wobbly baby.
We are so lucky to live so close to Yellowstone -- it's definitely one of our favorite places to visit!