Time

I never realized how special and valuable time is; it comes and it goes so quickly, passing by without return. (I often wish that I could push a pause button and just linger in a moment for a while.) 

Being in Utah with my family gave me the desire to live more happily and participate in as much as I can while I can. Because I'm pregnant I often feel too tired to want to play or be with Jeremiah. But, I know that if I sacrifice my comfort for the time I can spend with Jeremiah I will never regret it.  I might say to myself in the the future, "I wish I had spent more time doing things with Jeremiah." But, I will NEVER say, "I wish I hadn't spent so much time doing things with Jeremiah." I think most of you agree that you would say something similar. So, Let's spend more time with our loved ones and use our time to do wonderful things! We can never get our time back.

Virginia

Life has been good in Virginia. Chris is still trying to find a job and working hard at it. Jeremiah is pretty well adjusted now and loves having his uncle Sam around to play with him all the time. Sam teaches him new tricks all the time. Jeremiah spins around in circles with Sam and they both fall down laughing. Sam also taught him to raise his hands in the air and shout "Lasagna" but Jeremiah says "lalana". He kept doing it while we were eating dinner and loved having everyone react by mimicking him.
Jeremiah's favorite food is still peanut butter. He eats it like Pooh Bear eats honey!

We are so sad that Sam's team is done playing basketball. We had a fun time attending his high school games and cheering on the Westfield Bulldogs. Jeremiah learned to cheer, stomp and clap really well by the end of their season.

Although, life right now isn't as we had hoped we have been so blessed. We have been able to stay with family at little/no expense, we have been given great callings in the ward, we walked away from a car accident without injury, we haven't had major health problems, and we have wonderful family who continually prays for us and supports us. We are so grateful for all that we have. We know that the Lord is looking out for us.

Sweet Moments

Every day of my life is full of sweet little moments. One of my sweet little moments of today happened when Chris came home during lunch and literally swept me off my feet. With a handsome smile on his face he took me in his arms and began dancing with me in the living room. Only seconds later, we felt tugging at our legs. Apparently, Jeremiah didn't want to miss out on all the fun. So, the three of us slow danced around the living room together while we listened to Brett Raymond. 

Another sweet moment took place when I took Jeremiah out for a walk. He laughed as he did his "waddle run" down the sidewalk, throwing leaves up in the air. He turned back to look at me, gave me a big smile and then waited for me to catch up with him so I could see a pretty leaf he found. He pointed at the leaf and said, "huh?". I never know what "huh?" means so I just told him that the leaf was red. He looked at me, said, "ehhhdah" and then clapped his hands.

What would life be without the people I love most? As I think back on all of the "sweet moments" in my life I am unable to say that a single one of them didn't include someone that I loved ,whether, in spirit, thought or physical presence.

I am so blessed by each person in my life. All contribute to my happiness and "sweet moments".

Goals

After I had Jeremiah I kind of lost myself a little bit. I felt like I stopped progressing in a way and that I was stuck in a land of "sleepless baby-ness". A few months ago I decided I would take my life back and started setting weekly and monthly goals for myself in order to become a better me, a better mom, wife and woman of God. This month my goal is to write in my journal every day as well as continuing my past goals (reading scriptures every day alone and with Chris and Jeremiah, praying daily, reading my patriarchal blessing weekly and exercising 3 times a week).

It's so easy to get caught up in the unimportant things in life. I think too much about my hair, my clothes, what my future home will look like, making everyone in the ward cookies, picking up all of Jeremiah's toys every 15 minutes etc.  As I listened to General Conference this past weekend I was reminded of the important things. I think it's time I spend more thinking about and doing better things. No!.. the best things. Setting goals to do not just good things but the best things, I believe, will bring me closer to the Lord and greater happiness.

Setting, working on and achieving goals has brought me so much happiness. It's a skill that I learned as a Young Woman and I am so grateful that it was taught to me.

These are a few things I have learned about setting goals:
1. Set small goals in order to achieve greater ones
2. Repent and Start each day new (don't let a day of "failure" get you down)
3. Write your goals down and make a plan
4. Make your goals positive (state them in a positive way). Rather than say "I will not be the fat me that I am" say, "I will eat 3 servings of my favorite vegetables every day."
5. Don't overwhelm yourself and set too many goals at once.
6. Reward yourself with good things that are not contrary to your goals
7. Pray for help and guidance
8. Report to (or brag to) a spouse, realative or friend. Ask them for suggestions and help.
9. Read your scriptures, the ensign and conference talks. They will motivate you and even help you see examples of others reaching their goals.
10. Tell yourself every morning that you are wonderful and that you can accomplish anything you want to with the help of the Lord.


If you haven't been setting goals lately, I challenge you to do so. Come on this adventure with me and become a better you. If you can't think of goals I'll give you a list of a few of the goals that I would like to meet.

Read to Jeremiah 2 hours a day everyday
Go outside for a walk just to enjoy the day 2 times a week
Take 1 picture a day of something that made me smile
Tell my husband that I love him in a new/different/special way everyday
Finish the Book of Mormon 2 times a year
Write missionary letters every fast sunday
Re-memorize all of the scripture masteries


IF I CAN DO IT SO CAN YOU!!!!! You are AMAZING!

One step at a time

Jeremiah has been eagerly trying to walk for the past two months now. It's been incredible to watch him go from sitting to standing, standing to walking along the couch and finally walking along the couch to walking. I love watching him concentrate on and try new things. He has a curiosity and spunk that I admire. Every day is a new adventure with Jeremiah; every day we learn something new together! I am so glad that I can tag along with such a great boy and experience the world through his incredible eyes.

Here is a video of Jeremiah learning to walk.

Traces of Love

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautiful tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt form making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my nails from helping weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheek and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived. "
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Sister Hinckley knew what life was all about and so does my husband! Chris is such a hard worker. He wakes up at 5 every morning, plays with the baby, feeds him, gets ready for the day, puts the baby back to sleep and then goes to work. He usually comes home during lunch to eat but, most of the time he comes home to help a neighbor move, fix a car, fix a leak, give a blessing or to just spend more time with Jeremiah and I. He usually gets home around 4 or 5 and from the time he gets home until he goes to bed at night he is serving everyone around him. We all have choices to make and Chris chooses every day to show his Love for God and for others by working hard, serving willingly and giving freely.

While I was mending/cleaning Chris' work jeans this past week I found myself with tears streaming down my face. As I held his well worn pants in my hands I saw physical evidence of Chris' love for me. I know it sounds silly. I know that Chris loves me but, I was so touched when I looked at his tattered pants.

Here on this earth we are surrounded by traces of love in all forms. The Lord has left traces of his love for us here on the earth. What are the traces of your love?

Back in the Swing of Things

It's been over 2 weeks since we've returned from China and we are still trying to kick our life back into gear. It's been tough getting back onto a normal schedule again.
Jeremiah has finally seemed to let go of his fear of us leaving him again; he now lets us enter another room without shrieks of terror. If there's one thing I've learned about babies it's been how forgiving they are. I can bonk his head, accidentally leave him in his crib for an hour after he's woken up from a nap, or forget to change his poopy diaper and he still loves me and greets me with a big "I love you mommy"-smile. There is something to be learned from these babes. They are truly a sweet little gift and they have so much to teach us.

Shortly after we had been home we realized that our house was not very "baby-proof". Our apartment floors were falling apart and since we have such an interesting landlord (bless his heart) there was no way we would ever get it fixed unless we did it ourselves.
So, here's what we did the week after we got home. TADA!!!
Now Jeremiah can cruise all he wants and I don't have to worry about what nasty pieces of old flooring he can put in his mouth.

Before                                                                             After

Chris recently celebrated his 28th Birthday. Boy am I glad he was born! Where would I be without him?
We had a simple stay at home celebration which was all he wanted after his hard day's work. But, that didn't sit well with my family so, we celebrated a tad bit more with them later in the week.

Jeremiah is cruisin' around all over the place now. He goes from room to room faster than I can turn around to see where he's going. He now stands up and walks from one piece of furniture to the next. Every once and a while he'll get daring and let go for a few seconds but then slowly lowers himself to the ground and realizes that for now he can get around faster by crawling. He babbles non-stop and tells us all kinds of stories...if only we could understand them. One of his new favorite things to do is hold onto the front of the entertainment center and dance (stomp) and sing (Bah bah La La Ba Wa) with whatever is playing on the TV. Jeremiah has developed such a sweet relationship with Chris. Whenever Chris gets home from work or comes through the front door Jeremiah jets straight toward him greeting him with smiles, giggles and high pitches squeels. Daddy then usually spends about an hour tickling and playing with Jeremiah. They are so fun to watch.

Here is a picture of happy Jeremiah just after I watched him finish eating a potato bug. He puts whatever he can find into his mouth and locks it shut whenever I try to take things out of it.

Jeremiah also enjoys the taste of fresh soil...mmm...Yummy!

Awesome Weekend

 It's been beautiful in Provo for the past week now. I can't believe it! We thought that we'd better use up the sunshine while we have it. Who knows what next week might be like. Provo has such crazy spring/early summer weather; one day it snows and the next it's bright and sunny as ever.

 We took our cute little picnic basket filled with great summer foods (grilled chicken, pasta salad, watermelon, fresh veggies and juice.) and made our way up the canyon.

We had such a fun time playing on the grass and taking walks in the woods. Jeremiah was mesmerized by the tiny inchworms that fell from the leaves. I held some of them on my hand and he just giggled as he watched them scoot.

I forget how much I enjoy feeling the grass under my feet and the sun on my skin. Ah, and the fires, marshmallows roasting, grilled steak, fresh air... the smells of summer just make my soul happy. We will definitely be doing this more throughout the summer.

On Saturday our favorite Provoian friends, Tim and Danielle threw an Epic Trivial Pursuit Party. There were over 50 people who came to the participate in the fun. Everyone was divided into groups and each group represented on of the colored game pieces. 

There is nothing that makes me feel more unkowledgeable than those trivia questions. Truly, i think I might have known 10 out of 50 answers to the game questions. Luckily, we had a couple of more experienced team members to saved our tushies. 

Today, just when we thought life couldn't get better. We went to a baby blessing for cousin Miwa. She is so beautiful and so calm. I haven't seen a more pleasant baby. Her blessing was sweet and the spirit was strong as it always is when these special little people come to earth. I am taken back by the purity and innocence of these little children who bless our lives. I have a testimony of God's love for all of his children and of His sacred and special relationship with children. 

Isn't our Heavenly Father's plan incredible? Being pregnant was an amazing experience for me. Our bodies are distinctly made to bear and birth children; by no small miracle, these infants receive a body of flesh and bones and come into this world according to the Father's design. I am so blessed to be a mother and to take care of and nurture one of God's children. And, as I looked into Nancy's (Miwa's mamma') eyes today I knew that she knew she was a woman of God and that she also felt blessed to be a mother here on earth.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints couldn't be more true. I am made aware of the existence of our God every day of my life and am constantly a recipient of His tender mercies. 

Chris and Jeremiah are two largest tender mercies in my life. I am so happy to have been sealed in the temple to my husband to know that I will be with my sweet family into the eternities.

Some Firsts

Memorial Day weekend was a big one for Jeremiah! We went to ID to visit Chris's sister Sarah and her cute new husband Chris Moyes. (yes...there are now 3 Chris' in the Christensen Family. And that doesn't include the Christinas) We were worried that Baby Jeremiah was going to be a terror in the car but, it turns out he is the most amazing traveler in the world!!! We couldn't have had a better or more beautiful drive.


When we arrived in Rexburg we were starved. We must have been complaining because Sarah and Chris took us to a place where they serve more food than I've ever seen. They took us to BIG JUDS! Big Juds  has 1 lb, 2 lb, and 5 lb hamburgers; they are probably as big as a regular sized dinner plate and stacked about 5-6 inches high. Jeremiah couldn't take his eyes off of everyone's food; his drooled as he watched us eat. So, we decided he could have a fry to gnaw on....he was in heaven!


The next morning we packed up and made a special trip to some Lava Hot Springs so that Jeremiah could play in the water. What a blast! Seriously, we couldn't have had more fun. Later in the day we decided that it had been far too long since we've been on a camping trip and made a decision to risk taking our 6 month old son. Jeremiah did great during the day but, night time was little rough. He doesn't sleep well when he's outside of his crib. We woke up to rain and after a few hours of hiding out in our tents we decided to bail and go back to the  Moyes' adorable apartment. It was so nice to just hang out, watch movies, eat, talk, and take a breather.

This trip introduced a lot of new things into our babies life. He had his first experience camping, first experience swimming, first time traveling for more than 2 hours in a car and first tastes of frenchfries, ice-cream, and gatorade.

I am so amazed at how aware Jeremiah is. He seems to comprehend things easily and can impressively read/pick-up on emotions. He has been so fun and interesting to watch grow and learn.
                                                               

 WE LOVE YOU!

Alien Heart Beat and a Visit with Zo and Quanda

Chris and I went to see Dr. Watabe in American Fork last Thursday for a prenatal visit to check up on the baby. As part of the check up we were able to listen to our baby's heart beat for the first time.The sound of the heart beat was so strange, it truly sounded like an alien was living inside of me. And, other than being alien, the heart beat was about 165 bpm which I thought was high but apparently is completely normal for a growing baby.
The doctor said everything was absolutely perfect and couldn't be better. Baby is growing beautifully and life couldn't be better!

You can listen to the Alien Heartbeat below:



We also had a great time this weekend visiting Larenzo, Quanda, and little Nia in Toelle. Because they live so far away we spent a lot of time just hanging out and catching up. It was so fun to be with them.
Little Nia Loves Chris; she was always trying get his attention and, when he didn't give it to her she would just come plop down on his lap. Pretty Cute!

Nia has gotten so big since we last saw her. She is about 2 1/2 years old but the height of a 5 year old boy.

The fun we've been having!

Chris LOVES rice crispy treats! So, trying to be a good and nice wife I decided that I would make him some for our Family Night treat. It turned out that we only had stale rice crispys and not enough of them. So, Chris took matters into his own hands and added a box of cherios to the mess I had made. YUM!

Just a about a month ago Ben (one of Chris's many cousins) and Christina were married in Montecello Utah. On our drive back from Montecello we decided to take a family tour of Arches National Park. It was so beautiful and we definitely had a great time climbing on all the Rocks.

My little Sister Sarah who is just graduating this spring from Mountain View High School won the Gates Millennial Scholarship. She will have ALL years of her college schooling paid for (meaning all the way through a PHD if she chooses) as well as housing costs! She's so amazing and we're so proud of her!  The family all went to celebrate Sarah's great achievement at one of our favorite gathering places, Sam Hawk! SOOOO GOOD!!!!!

Every Spring during General Conference we are blessed to be able to spend time with Daddy Clark :) One of the days that Chris looks forward to throughout the year is the day that he can spend with his Dad skiing.  It was so fun to have dad around for a while and to be able to laugh, play games, talk, and enjoy being in each others company. 

In early March Chris and I found out that we were going to have a baby! It's been such an exciting adventure. I have been so blessed and haven't been extremely sick. I've had good days and some bad ones but, overall I've been doing wonderfully. My little tummy bump gets bigger everyday it seems. I've already had to buy some maternity clothes because the rubberband that holds my jeans up just isn't quite cutting it anymore.

Tomorrow, May 20th, Chris and I will be going in to see the doctor and listen to our baby's heart beat which is something I've been looking forward to for a long time now. We're so excited!!!

We love you all and will keep you updated.
Love, Chris and Ari

Leonid Meteor Shower

Meteor lights up early morning sky

When Chris and I we were dating, we somehow got by on maybe 2-3 hours of sleep a night. However, since we've been married, Chris and I have usually gone to bed at a "reasonable" hour. So, I thought we'd mix things up a bit and pull a "late" night to watch the Leonid Showers. Around midnight we started heading up the canyon to find a good look-out spot. Little did we know that we didn't need to drive anywhere to see the most amazing Meteor shower ever. While crossing University and University we saw a huge burst of light that lit up the entire sky. It looked as though someone had turned on Stadium Lights all over the city and then shut them off again. It was truly incredible!
We drove up and found a place at Squaw Peak to watch the showers, hoping that the rest of the morning would be as incredible as what we had just seen. After about an hour of laying in the cold, we still hadn't seen anything that compared to the light that came from the meteor we had seen while driving up.
There's been buzz about the "Fireball" Meteor all over Utah. Supposedly, it's the biggest meteor we've seen in over 200 Years. It lit up the entire Western Sky! and... according to Chris it almost burnt up Denny's!
We had such a fun time together. The lack of sleep was worth every minute!!!

Happy Halloween

We had an exciting and fun Halloween this year. We spent Friday evening with Jenny and Kofee and watched the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (Totally creepy!) just for daddy Clark.   :)  We ended up sleeping at Grandma's house and woke up early to the sound of children screaming and running around the house. Apparently they were excited for Grandma's Halloween bash!!! I don't blame them...it was quite the party. Everyone knows that Grandma's house is the place to be for fun, food, family, and lots of exciting conversation! (that last bit was just for you Jenny). It was my first year participating in the traditional Christensen Halloween Parade. With Grandma leading the way, the heard of loud monsters, ice cream cones, doggies, witches, cowboys and girls, and even Super-tie men sang as they marched around the block.   SO FUN!!!

After the fun events with the Christensen Clan started settling down and the kids all went home to trick-or-treat. Jenny, Chris, and I ventured to a well known Halloween store in the area. We were trying to find a great "Asian" wig for Jenny's Captain planateir costume. However, Chris and I got sidetracked ,while Jenny was debating between a few wigs.  Can you guess where I went off to?...that's right... I was looking at all the cute baby costumes! So adorable, I know it's wrong, but sometimes I just want a baby so that I can play dress up with him/her. (I guess this is probably good evidence that I might not be ready for babies yet.) And Chris...well, he was looking at the "cool" masks and hair spray colors. And, as you can see from the picture, we ended up coming home with BYU colored hairspray!

Halloween night, Chris and I used the Lagoon tickets that Aunt Michelle gave us. Every year at the amusement park they have a "frightmares" theme during Halloween. The park was full of haunted music, employees dressed to scare, and even some haunted houses. I'm not the biggest fan of haunted things so, Chris, being the good husband that he is, road on all the fun roller coasters with me. It was just fun to be out together! 

All in all our Halloween was FANTASTIC! We love you all and hope that your day of spooks was a great as ours.

For all Eternity :)

David has waited his whole life to be married. We are so thrilled that he met such a wonderful girl. Jessica is a doll and is always so pleasant to be around. The two were married this past Saturday and the day was absolutely beautiful!
This is probably no surprise to a lot of you, but as of right now, NO ONE knows where Jessica and David are. Dave has decided to keep their after-wedding-getaway a complete secret! The only hint we have is that they had to drive 5 hours. (They are definitely troopers!) We can't wait for them to come back so we can finally hear about their secret paradise!!!!

I have still continued to crave cake and I think Chris might finally be getting sick of eating the leftover batter!

This is just such a funny picture and even though it really had nothing to do with Jessica and Dave's wedding I thought you would all enjoy it!
 

I love you like a Fat kid Loves Cake

This past week Chris, David, Jessica, Aaron(Jessica's little brother) and I had a fun cake experience at our house. (Cake is one of my least favorite foods, but I've had a weird craving for it lately. I've baked 5 cakes in the last week and a half. WEIRD! Chris is confused, but I think he's ok with all the cake. :) )

Here are some of the cakes we decorated together. We each made our own frosting colors, some were quite interesting. Jessica and I made our cake into a baby(if you could call it that), and the boys decided to take a trip back to the 80's and make a cake of craziness!