Baby Steps

A lot of you know I have been overthinking the walking thing when it comes to Chasey, and I have been worried that he hasn't been doing it more since he is almost 16 months old now. A lot of you also have reassured me that he would start when he was ready, and even our doctor told me not to worry, he himself didn't start walking until he was 18 months old. For a few months now though, Chasey has been cruising, walking one handed with daddy, and for about a month, using a walking toy and getting very good. Well, my fears have greatly subsided this week, as he finally started walking across our front room. I realize he still has a ways to go, but he is finally doing it, and as his mommy, I couldn't be prouder!!



Go Chasey Go!! You're doing great, kid!!!

Park City here we come!!

Four years ago, Brad and I got a notice in the mail that one of the Best Westerns in Park City had renovated the hotel and were offering a really cheap rate to get people in the door to check it out. We went for a weekend and fell in love with the hotel. Every year since we have gone back for a weekend in the late Spring, and this year was no exception. Last weekend we went and enjoyed the hotel, our poolside room, our traditional dinner out to Ruby Tuesday's and a day at the outlet mall. Last year when we went, Chasey was still only 4 months old so he enjoyed the pool, but this year he realized it was like a giant bathtub, and he had a blast! I wanted to post a few pool pictures that captured the great time we had!



For those of you who have seen Chase do his trademark "Chasercising" just imagine that move in water! It was hilarious!! I'm surprised he didn't choke on all the water he splashed into his face! As you can see we had a great time, and can't wait to go back next year!!

Running with Angels 5K

Well, folks, you are reading the title of this post correctly. And if you are assuming the reason I titled a post "5K" is because I did one, you are correct. Last Saturday, May 16, 2009, along with a good portion of the Christensen family, I ran/walked a 5K at Thanksgiving point. This all started with my brother Adam marrying into the Tata family. Adam's wife Katie's mom Brenda,(who is picture with us in the photos) is a runner, and got Adam into it. Adam in turn got my sister Lindsay to start running, and they both got the idea it would be fun to do a family run in a 5K. So they got myself, my other sister Samantha, and my dad on board to do this particular one. Lindsay also read the book that inspired Running with Angels, which is a moving story about a woman who lost two children at young ages and has two living children with severe diseases, and took those tragedies so much to heart, that she finally decided she needed to get healthy and change her life, and therefore lost over 100 pounds! Lindsay and I were both tremendously inspired by her story. I feel so inspired finally, that I feel I am ready to realize my dream of losing 100 pounds as well. This 5K was one of my first steps, and stay tuned if you want to follow my journey because I intend to blog all about it. (More details to come!!) Anyway, all of us finished the race, some doing very well, and my dad and I, sticking together, finished at all, which was the goal! Actually I did really well considering. A 5K is 3.1 miles and we finished in 46 minutes and 10 seconds, which is close to a 15 minute mile. I was pleased. Here are some pictures from our big day!!
Brenda Tata, Adam, Sam, Lindsay, Lindsay's good friend Becky Weller, Me and my Dad!! This was just before the race started.
Even though we started so early in the morning, my men were there to cheer me on!!
Dad and I crossing the finish line. YAY we didn't die!!
And here I am with my parents and siblings after the race was over. What a great way to start my weight loss journey. Be sure to tune in for more updates about my goals and progress, and to see more races we participate in. The next one will be the Orem Summerfest 5K in June!!

Pre Yard Sale BBQ

Well, this past weekend, Amy Hawkes, Becki Jones, and I had our annual Yard Sale. This time our good friends Amber Lee, Carole Robertson, and Shauna Jones joined us. It was quite a success! We all did well, and had a great time getting rid of our junk! The night before the sale, some of us got together to BBQ before we started the difficult task of setting up. So, being the amateur photographer that I am, I brought my camera along!
Here's Carole and I waiting for food....
which is being grilled with love by Becki and Amber!!
Here's Kevin holding Addison, Ryan holding Aysha, and Tyler.
The kids were having fun in the "Jump-o-lene" but Jordyn was almost making them topple over backwards!!
And Chasey was having a great time climbing in and out of the little car! A great time was had by all, but we missed you Hawkes Family, Brad and Shauna and Zach!!

Sister/Mommy/Daughter Date

Two weeks ago my mom treated my two sisters and I to tickets to see the Utah Symphony perform Broadway Favorites with three Broadway singers. It was a great night of music and with all four of us being Broadway Buffs, we loved singing along, even after the concert was over on the downtown streets of Salt Lake!! Before the show, we had dinner together at our hometown favorite, McGrath's. Mom even told our server how we had known the McGrath's in Salem. What a name-dropper!! Just kidding. Here are some of the highlights from our fun night!
Samantha and Lindsay on one side of the table....
and Mom and I on the other!
Sam can't resist an opportunity for a silly picture!
It's a McGrath's tradition to embarrass people on their birthday's with the gigantic fish. Sam's was still 10 days away, but we didn't care!
And here's all four of us, looking normal! Thanks for the fun night girls!! Love you!

Now I'm the Cool Kid

I remember growing up and seeing the families that had trampolines and thinking they were so cool. It was so fun to go over and jump and I always wished my family had one so we would be cool. (For so many reasons we weren't, but that's another topic!!) So I would like to thank my sister and brother-in-law for helping my childhood dream of being the cool kid come true. Two weeks ago they gave up a tramp that someone in their ward didn't want anymore. YAY!! Now all you in the neighborhood can just come laugh when you see me jumping on it like a little kid. :) Here's some of the first shots we got the day it arrived.
Here's Chasey and Daddy with my nephew Dallin jumping away!
Dallin and also my nieces Audrey and Emma making Chasey and Brad bounce up and down!!
Doesn't Chasey look like he is completely enjoying himself!! So cute!! We are excited for the many hours of entertainment this will provide our family.

Scene of the crime

Like any child his age, Chasey loves to make a mess. He has a good arm for throwing things, but for some reason they often ending up flying behind him. It's pretty cute though. The other day I came into his room to find him attacking his laundry basket. I couldn't resist a few pictures.
When I first came in behind him he didn't even notice.
By the time he was done the once full basket was completely empty!
When he finally noticed me, he made his escape. So sneaky!!

Dedicated to Amy, Amber, Becki and our kids!!

I have such great friends right here in my neighborhood that I love to hang out with. We try as often as possible to get together and let the kids play, and have gab sessions. It's great when we can do it outside. Here's a few pix from a recent playdate. Chasey is finally starting to learn to walk.
Cody is helping Cooper down the slide.
The boys like to show us how well they can throw. First Klous...
....And then Braydon!!
I didn't get any pictures of Becki this time, and Amber was out of town, but here's a great shot of Amy! (She's going to kill me for putting this on here!!) I sure love you guys!!

Easter "Saturday"

My Parents came down for Easter weekend, though we didn't actually have Easter together. We had a fun Saturday though, filled with my whole family being here, having a BBQ, my dad, brother in law and Brad putting all new interior doors in our house, setting up a trampline in the yard we got from my sister and brother in law, all the girls getting massages to celebrate my mom's birthday and attending Chasey's first Easter Egg Hunt!! My mom and I took him, along with good friends Ryan and Becki Jones and their two kiddies, over to Mountain View High School. It was seperated into age groups, so the little kids would have a better chance of not getting run over, but it was raining which was a little disappointing. Fortunately, functioning in rain runs in my blood so it didn't really faze me. Here are some fun pix of my little "egg hunter!" Once Chasey had gotten one, he was content so I had to get a few more for him. Here's my mom and Chasey together. It was fun to have her there. And here's me and my cute boy. Such a fun day!!

DISNEYLAND!!

I've been a huge fan of Disney all my life. Then I got Brad hooked when we got married. In fact the two of us went to Disneyland twice before we had Chasey. It is just such a happy fun place to go, and it really is enjoyable for everyone, even adults with no children. Then this time, we had Chasey and it topped everything. He had so much fun looking around, riding the rides, seeing the characters. We can't wait to start planning our next trip. Here are some of the highlights.
Everybody has to have a great picture in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle.
Daddy and Chasey posed with Lightning McQueen and Mater.
We saw a great Pixar parade with characters from "Bug's Life", "Toy Story", "Cars", "Incredibles", and of course Chasey's favorite "Finding Nemo".
We got to see a lot of our favorite characters, including Mickey....
Also Pooh....
And Goofy, Chasey warmed right up to him, he might have recognized him from watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
All in all it was a fantastic trip and we can't wait to go again soon!!