Our Family

You remember the stroller post right? Mike decided to take it one step further today while I was dropping off Carter at a birthday party. I don't think he realized what he did. This starts a whole line of Taylor wanting to push Brennan all the time. I can only imagine the things poor Brennan is going to have to put up with.
Getting more and more tubby everyday. Is it true, he is really 3 months old already!
Brennan started to cry while we were taking a photo, this was Taylor face, as if we made him cry on purpose. She is so animated in her face, it is hilarious.
Mason attacking Mike....this is where it started, the following is what it turned into.
Taylor is actually under Mason in this shot, so you can barely see a corner of her hair. She is just in there like one of the boys. Now she has had enough. At least until she starts back in on them again.
Brennan was being so cute and smiley while I was getting him dressed. He really is such a happy little 'Guy' :). So Taylor and I are making faces at him and I make that rolling your r's noise with my tongue. Oh my! Brennan got freaked out, he started to cry and was shaking. It was kind of funny in it's own sad way. I really enjoy nights like this, we just get to have fun, wrestle, and just be a family.

Mold, Mold, and more Mold...

So I thought twice before including pictures in this post because it is nasty. My parents can testify that my bathroom is disgusting. We have this mold issue that won't stop. Mike tore up the carpet and made himself sick because of the mold in the carpet. Then he cleaned the ceiling above the shower.
Well, the mold is coming back. Not only above the shower, but in every corner of the ceiling...then in the middle of the ceiling. Then I go to get my boots from my closet and they have mold on them!!! I kid you not, it is disgusting. Today is the big day where they are coming to find out what the problem is. It could be a problem that is coming from the outside, which would mean some extensive so work to be done. There are many possibilities, but I just hope it can get taken care of quickly! We figure that is why we are getting so frequent of headaches and other mold symptoms. England equals easy mold growth, but this is crazy!!! I will keep you all updated.

So Stinkin Cute!!

Our 'little' boy is not so little! He was 13 lbs, 7 oz at his last check up. That put him into the 95% and he was only 50% for height. Short and stalky, that is Brennan. We took this picture because this is Brennan at 2 months 3 weeks old. These are 6 month PJ's. Carter wore these PJ's when he was 7-8 months old!! Are you kidding me kid! I am hoping this means he is just sucking any left over fat from me.
Mike brought Brennan to me yesterday in Taylor's toy push chair. Got to love the imagination of Dad's. A bit nervous, then he was happy again.

I just loved this close-up so I am including it in here.

New Babysitter and New Weapons

Taylor has found the perfect babysitter. It comes in the form of a mouse and has been entertainment for all. We found our little friend eating berries outside her window Friday. That night the boys joined her and they watched for the little guy to come up again. Dinner prep went well with no children to assist. :) Now all we have to do is say, "Is your mouse friend back," and she darts to her room in anticipation. Now we hear that he is napping quite frequently as he has not yet been back.

Carter has been busy getting very interested in weaponry. He loves the idea of Bow and Arrows and swords. He even fashioned hisown bow out of Tinkertoys. Our boy is creative, but boy some days those weapons find themselves being snatched away pretty quickly.

England Rain

The rain that happens in movies that just soaks the people in a matter of seconds does exsist! We were headed out to the van from church and we got drenched! The picture is hard to see how wet we are, unless you look at Taylor. :) We were the only ones that just went for it as most were hundled in the building waiting for it to let up. It was so much fun and such a great reminder to enjoy those moments that God gives us to let loose and love his creations!

Slide show showdown

I just thought I would put in some of the pictures that we have been diligently taking over the last 6 weeks. I'm sure my posting will slow down from all this updating very soon.

Grandma and Grandpa leaving

It is always tradition when we visit or have a visit from Grandparents that my kids get a shot with them. It is becoming more and more difficult as we keep having children. :) But it is always fun to have that memory. I hope that my children will cherish these pictures as they are older.
Mason ALWAYS gets onery when we are saying 'good-bye' to people. He gets overwhelmed and doesn't like to give hugs and is using moaning and groaning through the whole process. He was no different the morning Gma and Gpa had to fly out. He got up for school and was waiting at the front door. It was funny once I told him that whether he said goodbye or not Gma and Gpa had to fly out. He walked over and gave some really nice hugs. I was impressed with that and he even was making some babaing noises. I did sneak this picture of him and Gpa looking out of the window for the Taxi. If I would have got out the camera and made him say good-bye Mason would have really lost it. Low key is the best for Mason when departing ways.
Last of cuddles from Brennan. The baby is probably the hardest to leave. You might be wondering what is up with my mom's eye. The last thing we saw was her walking into a Pub.

Just kidding.

Let me say 4 words to sum it up; Taylor, Toy, Stroller, floor. Once they got home we found out it was a fractured eye socket. Mom, you are awesome, sorry you left not feeling well, but we hope you are doing better.
After looking through all our pictures we decided that Taylor and Carter both have their Gpa's smile. Taylor wasreally cute about saying bye. She was a bit nervous about Gma's eye so it was mostly to Gpa. Although when Mike pulled up from the airport she yelled out, daddy, gpa, gpa. One of those Gpa's is for Gma(she wont say ma yet). Once we said they went home she was a little confused.
Carter was also off to school that day and needed one more picture so he wouldn't miss them. We always ask about people and ask if hemisses them. He just looks at us and says, "no, I have their picture." He is so matter of fact sometimes. My picture with Gma and Gpa they took with their camera, so I will get it in a few weeks. :)

Have to say bye until they can't anymore. That is the motto of Carter and Taylor. We really appreciated Gma and Gpa for making such a big trip and sacrifice to come out and see where we were and spend some time. I am sometimes very envious of the relationship my neices and nephews have with their grandparents in comparison to my children. I know my kids would love to be around more often. It is so nice to be close to our families like we are, although it makes it harder to be away. I can't believe it has been eight years since living in Utah. We do love being out and exploring, becoming close as a family. We really have to depend on one another and I like that a lot. But we also LOVE visitors. hint hint Thanks Mom and Dad for everything, you guys are great! We look forward to when you can hopefully come again. Carter thought you meant this week when you said you could come back. :) LOVE YOU BOTH

Lavenham-Crooked Village, England

I believe we found Heaven on Earth

CADBURY WORLD!!

Welcome to Cadbury World. You first go through an elaborate setting that teaches you the history of chocolate and the cocoa bean. Did I mention they already gave you a chocolate bar w/caramel called a Curly Wurly as well as a bag of chocolate buttons(it's like fruit snacks, but better).
Then you learn about Mr. Cadbury and the start of his business. You go through two short videos of how they process the beans. Which was fun because the benches move like the beans would in the machines. So the kids thought that was great. They were cocoa beans!
Then you watch how they make each type of chocolate treat on a TV screen.
Taylor has been eating her chocolate buttons as you can tell. Then it is on to the packaging plant. We can't take pictures there, but another chocolate bar called the Dairy Milk bar is given to you at that point. There was also a little ride that mimicked the idea of It's a Small World at Disney. It was pretty cute and again the kids thought it was great. You saw cocoa beans swimming, in their houses bathing, skiing, driving etc... It was quite amusing. As a plug for Cadbury World. They were VERY accomidating for disabilities, I was impressed. Then you go to the Essence room. We skipped the video because my kids were ready for more 'free' chocolate. Then you are given a choice of what you want your liquid chocolate on. Rice Krispies, Marshmellows, licorice, and some sugary sweets were the choices in our group. All were very content with a spoon and a cup of chocolate. Mason was shaking the whole time he was spooning that chocolate, but he didn't let any go to waste!
I also had to advertise my savings on chocolate. Okay really there was no saving involved. It was money well spent on gaining weight! :) Don't worry this was a combined loot of Gma, Gpa and my stock. Also one of those big bars are being sent to someone I need to get even with.

Calling all to help....

It is that time of year where everyone are doing fundraisers. Mason's school is no exception. I am typically very bad at doing these, but I thought I should start off on the right foot here in England and get into the groove of things. This is a pretty neat site that is doing the fundraising. You can order online using Mason's ID and he will get the credit.
*DISCLAIMER* Please do not feel obligated to buy. I am posting it here and I will probably send emails. Mostly because I don't know how often people check this. It is standard fundraising prices, but they do have some cute things.

Here is the INFO

Lakenheath Elementary is having a fundraiser. You can shop online athttp://www.supportmyschool.org/store/brochures.php?sID=lak7603
The group receives profit from the sale and the seller will receive prize credits.
Enter the student ID below to begin.
Student: Mason Christiansen
Student ID: lak7603
Thank you for your support.If the link above does not work, please use the following link and enter the seller ID: http://www.supportmyschool.org/store/index.php

More treats of England

This is what England is all about. You can drive 30 minutes and pass about 4 of these old beautiful churches.

Regular Fun...

In between all of the exploring we did we found time for regular old fun. Building blocks is always a treat with my kids. Who can build the biggest tower before Mason knocks it over. We have to make the distruction a game or no one would ever be happy. Gma and Gpa can testify that Carter still gets frustrated when his tower gets knocked before he feels it should.
Then there were the many trips to the park on base. I decided that since I loved the merry-go-round so much as a little girl I should hop on with my children. I'm not that old, but boy oh boy did that make me sick! The last picture is me trying not to hurl in front of my children.
*note to self.... Merry-go-rounds are not that much fun now a days.

What's in a name?

Considering all the name changing our little guy experienced in the first week of life I was a bit nervous about the blessing. I knew that it would all be confirmed then. Some of you who are not familiar with our church may not know what a blessing is. When an infant in our church is blessed they are given a name for the records of the church and then a blessing. This is done by one holding the correct priesthood authority. In our case we have been fortunate enough that Mike has that authority. It has been known on occasion that in a blessing the name of a baby has been changed. I know for a fact that these blessings come from our Heavenly Father. It is him who is blessing that child. Mike is just the orator of what message our Heavenly Father has. You might be wondering at this point if Brennan is still in fact Brennan. Well, to my comfort and great relief we still have a wonderful Brennan Guy Christiansen. I have been asked where is name came from. We try really hard to name our children after someone that has influenced us in anyway. Elder Brennan was with Mike on his mission when he was ran over and nearly killed. Then we have Guy. That is my dad's middle name. My Dad is trully my hero and I was grateful that Mike and I felt it was time to use that name for one of our children.