Snip, Snap, Snute...

Så er eventyret ut. The hair is gone, and the adventure is over. But only for now. I've got to buy some clippers and finish up the back.

Is it better than the old mullet?

Beck was on hand to photograph the event.

All Aboard!

Brett and Susan gave us some tickets for the North Pole bound, Polar Express. So we went on an adventure last night and took a couple friends.

We saw the real North Pole and Santa and a pack of spazzy elves. We ate cookies and hot chocolate. We read the book, The Polar Express and sang carols. Everyone had fun. Beck's favorite part was the cookie. Macie liked Santa and the elves. And Jonas loved the bell and the condensation on the train windows. Daryl kept looking for Deer Creek Reservoir, which is no where near the North Pole. And I was looking for at least one other parent dressed in pajamas. There weren't any. I guess I was the only old person aboard with Polar Express spirit.

Thanks for the tickets St. George Christiansens.





Jonas showing a little sibling love. (Macie is actually laughing.)

First thing Macie said to me this morning...

"Oh! You didn't get eaten by a donkey, like in my nightmare."

Summit Park Weather Report

Not as cold and more snowy than yesterday.

Take my picture...

..and get this stuff off my finger.

It's a Marshmallow World

We got 19" of snow. Here are some pictures of it from our windows. It's too cold to go out to play. But in a few minutes we'll walk "uphill both ways" to go pick up Beck from the bus stop.

Cheese

Cheese is one of Jonas' new words. And here's a picture to go with it.

Hallelujah, baa, baa

Macie was an angel, and Beck was a sheep.

Check out the footage on our friend's site Robisobcrew (link to the right.)

Merry Christmas.

Cute Jonas

This may be one of his last pictures with his mullet. We're trying to figure out what to do with his hair.

Jonas says all sorts of funny things, but one of my favorites is when you try to tickle him, he crosses his arms over his chest and says. "Not."

Another good one is when he hears the word pray. He folds his arms, bows his head, and talks baby talk for about 3 seconds.

Macie Kay not Macey Grey

Macie sang a solo in church Sunday. She got to do it because after the last primary program she said, "Next time I want it to be just me and Hannah's mom (the piano player.)" So Hannah's mom called this year and said, "I'm calling to make Macie's dreams come true."

She loved it and sang well--no fear. If I can figure out how to post the high-quality recording I made, I will.

at-whay?

Poor Beck just found out that his favorite language is not really a foreign one. It was pretty sad to hear him ask, "At-whay, you mean Pig Latin is just something someone made up? They don't really speak it in a country anywhere?"

He took it worse than any news about anta-say or the unny-bay. (Picture taken a few days later.)

Preschool

These girls are too wound up for school. They're super excited about something--the election results maybe?

Weird Weather

It's always freezing, often snowing on Halloween (both in the valley and in the mountains). Even if the 30th is warm, the 31st is cold.

So what is up this year? Is it global warming or just a miracle? It was in the 60s this evening. We had snowsuits and moon boots worked into the costumes, but we didn't need them. Yaaaaahooo!

Ninja, puppy, and Snow White.

Why "The Best" Christiansens?

Many have wondered, especially the little (or not so little anymore) nephews.

One time when Richard and Gaye went on one of their extravagant trips, we watched their kids. They used to think it was funny to leave all the munchins with newly weds. I'd say it was more entertaining. There was the time we told them we were lost and couldn't find the house because we ended up in Vegas. Or the time we tried to talk them into sleeping in by telling them it wasn't day yet. But the name for the site came from Matthew (because this was originally a blog for the whole family.)

The little punk beat us in a game of midget Nerf basketball. Even though he was only three he started dancing around the basement gloating and signing, "I'm the best, I'm the best, I'm the best!" Thus, "The Best Christiansens."

Most of the funny sayings in our family come from Matthew. Say any of the following in a little munchkin voice:

- "Change me! Change me! I pee peed and pooh poohed!"
- "I'm scared! I'm scared!" (Hint: don't pick up a kid who is yelling this even if it's 3:00 AM and just a few seconds earlier he was announcing the status of his diaper.)
- "Don't take my yummy gum!" (This was when Daryl tried to stop him from chewing gum he found under the table at The Pizza Factory.)
- "You be nice now, okay!"
- "I'm Brett Matthew Christiansen!"

Notice how everything has an exclamation point? That indicates extreme volume.

Now Macie has taken Mathew's place as the loud kid who says funny stuff. They are very similar even though Macie was scared of Matthew for awhile. She said, "He's scary because he has bras on his teeth. " I agree that would be pretty scary.

We've Been Down Graded

A few weeks ago, we got a letter from the water company informing us that our water had been contaminated, for just one day. They insisted it wasn't a big deal because it was "just one day". The worst part is, they now have to chlorinate our nice mountain water. Now when we visit Grandma the kids won't ask, "Why does Grandma's water smell like a pool?" Cause our own water tastes like a pool. Too bad.

Grooming a forest

As I surveyed our lot from inside the house and decided how to landscape, it seemed easy. I wanted it to look natural, but still be under control. That meant adding a few retaining walls, some ground cover, lots of trees, and removing anything dead or noxious. Next we hit the fall clearance at Lowe's. For just $30 we got a ton of hardy mountain vegetation. So far--very easy.

The people next door (the nice ones) hired a crew of landscape people who showed up for over a week with their Mini-Exs, Bobcats, and other machinery. And the place looks good. Three weeks later, our place looks about the same. Probably the biggest accomplishment is the mini Machu Picchu-looking wall by the drive way. It better hold.

Planting a tree is so hard, it's amazing any of them ever sprout on their own. Some of these mountain plants are pretty resiliant. We've got something that looks like a strawberry plant (without the strawberries) growing through the concrete that someone pumped out into the forest. So if something can grow through a mound of conrete, I hope the stuff I plant on purpose flourishes.


Macie and some "onions" (bulbs) she planted.

I still have so much to do I kind of hopes it snows soon so I can stop.

One of the perks of living here...you can call "Casey the Woodchipper Extraordinaire" and a couple hours later, he'll drop off a heap of pine chips. Smells so good.

One of the down sides of living here...the guy next door accuses you of killing trees to build your house. Lucky for him, he just happened to find a nice open space to plop his giant wooden house. And he didn't have to kill a single tree! Everyone is a conservationalist after they build their house.

Mediocre pictures of a "funkis" house

Mies van der Rohe said “Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.”

Well, we didn't use bricks, and I know some of those contractors weren't careful, but we did begin last summer, and we did build a house. Here are some pictures of what the Urtons call, the house that Daryl built.




Living room with the nephews' favorite red chair--the same chair Richard told Daryl he's not sexy enough to sit in.


Master bath with a glimse of the famous shower.


Master bedroom. Yes, we know we need new bedding.


Another shot of the famous shower. I heard the inspector back there laughing during the final. I don't see what's so funny.


Another shot of the living room.


The office is behind the glass partition which also doubles as our cinema paradiso (the projector shines on the glass screen from behind.


The genkan, aka a room designed for storing shoes. And in this case, also for storing junk we still need to install in the house.


kitchen. Sorry it's not clean, but the batteries in the camera were dead the one day the kitchen was clean.


Dining room where we will feed any of you who come visit.


The giant rotter (which, by the way, does not currently contain any rotten food.)


Many have asked how we clean our concrete floor. If we clean, we use this big yellow janitor mop. Jonas loves it. Maybe he'll grow up to be a maid.


When the inspector saw this he said in a rather disgusted way, "What is that?" Macie took over telling him all about Ikea where we bought the lights and where you can get mac and cheese and diam candies. He started talking to her about meatballs and didn't seem to mind Daryl's homemade light after all. Thanks Macie.


The room where Daryl spends all his time. Thanks Takagi.


Macie's closet, sans glass door. She put all her clothes away by herself. She really does want to grow up to be a maid. She told us, "I love cleaning more than anyone in the family except Mom."


Beck's room.


A sideways image of the guess powder room.


A nice blue picture of Jonas.

quote of the day

To anyone (Daryl) who thinks the olfactory system is not the supreme judge...

“The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it,” Rudyard Kipling


!05 Crestview Cricle

We passed our final (building inspection--not midterm. Some people were confused.) on Sept. 5th, and moved into the house the next day. We still need to clean the yard, build some retaining walls, paint some accent walls, and install some shelves, but we're finally living here. Photos coming soon. Until then visit us anytime.

Rabies

In our homeless travels we stayed at some friends house who own a Retreiv-a-poo (I think the real name is a golden doodle.)

The animal control people weren't helpful at all. It turns out if your dog bites a bat, he needs a rabies shot and to start quarintine immediately. Now poor Casey is looking at a 6-monthquarintine because he didn't get an $8 shot the 1st day.

I think we're all okay, but everytime Jonas bites us, we hope he doesn't have rabies.

Homeless, homeless

We're like a good Michael McClain song--homeless. We're having a final inspection Friday. Hopefully they'll let us move in even if it doesn't pass.

In other news, Jonas walks. He learned a couple of weeks ago. We have no pictures because we're homeless.

Beck started school Monday. He already hates the homework. But the people we're living with wake at the crack of dawn so, at least he's getting up on time.

Macie decided she wants to be a cleaning lady. But before that she wanted to be a vet, I think. Here's the conversation...

Beck: I finally decided what I want to e when I grow up. I want to e a florist.

Macie: I want to be a vegetarian.

Jennifer: You mean a vetranarian? (explain the difference.)

Macie: Oh yeah. I want to be a vet because I could kill the animals and eat them.

Our first garden produce

These are called Easter Egg Radishes, and they are very spicy. Beck and Macie both cried when they tasted them.

BC & MC wearing DC's childhood uniforms

Biking photos

Nice ski helmet and snow boots. Sweet sharp turn!


New birthday wheels.

Should I?