Last night already :(

One night with the girls. We ordered Chinese--and ate some yummy grub. Above is a picture of my gorgeous niece Skye. So I dared her to eat one of the peppers that was floating around in my sauce. She did because she is part of our family and then I felt bad that I had her do it. So I decided fair was fair and ate one myself. Not the hottest thing I have had, but it just kept burning as the left over pepper juice floated in your mouth. The burning sensation did subside after a short time.
Drawing names for Christmas....yes we were a tad early, however I was actually there this here, so we opted it the perfect time. I love this tradition. Mindy..I didn't get a picture of you in here for the names-sorry :(

Heather and Hollie--would have been easier to do a sister's picture, but this might have been more fun.

Thanks Kellie for coming and hanging out even though your leg was a tad swollen by the end of the night. Love you!!

Christy, Wynter, Hollie and Skye. I can't believe how big everyone gets while I am away...it is slightly depressing. Skye--are you saving your money???

Mindy and Hollie

Funny faces with Aunt Hollie!!!!

One picture with our normal faces.

Jamie and Hollie.

I just love my sisters and I am so grateful for the close relationships we have been able to maintain even though I live thousands of miles away. They are my best friends and I don't know what I would do without them!!

Yummy Goodness

Every trip I make back home I realize that I miss small little things like....Pace Dairy Ann popsicles and Tasty's Donuts. I have different cravings for different things each time I am visiting, and it was nice to have a few of those treasures all to myself this time.

Grandma and Grandpa

I had so much fun just spending a day with grandma and grandpa Mason. I loved talking with and just doing what is was they would be doing that day. We peeled some onions for pickling and chatted for awhile. Then we headed to Aunt Verna's house. It was her birthday the day before and she had turned 94! She is so amazing and brilliant, I hope I inherited the wonderful genes that run in my family.

Aunt Verna is Grandpa's sister and I felt right at home with her and loved having some birthday cake and ice cream to help celebrate her day. I hope that my grandparents know how much I love them and how amazing I think they are. It was a wonderful treat to spend the day with them and just talk and get to know them even more. Last year for Christmas we got them some books for them to fill out about themselves that they give back to us. Grandma showed me hers and I was really in tears at the wonderful treasure that book is going to be for myself and my family. Such a neat idea that I would recommend to all!

I'm not sure at this point how long my grandparents have been married, I think it has to be sixty something years, but I enjoyed so much the love that I could see between them. Little things that they did so naturally for one another that I had never noticed before. It was just a sweet day that I will remember and hold special always.

So confused???

Auklin, Chloe, Brinlee, and Kaden

Saturday night after I got home from the race with my parents I was talking to Mike trying to find the best way to surprise his side of the family. He told me his parents were at Peach Days and not home. Considering I was tired and wanted a real bed for one night I went and bought a dress for Sunday and went to bed. I got up Sunday morning, got ready for church thinking it was going to be great fun having mom and dad Christiansen walk in and see me sitting there. I sit in all of the first meeting and no one comes! So after church I went to their place and knocked and knocked. No one answered. So I called Mike and asked what was up with his family. He said, "They were all up there, they must have stayed the weekend." Note to self--don't rely on hubby's info. :) I did find out that Blake knew I was there cause my husband is lame-love you babe! If Blake knows, I thought everyone knew--so double lame!
Monday morning rolls around and I call Blake, the unsurprised tired voice on the other end agreed to lunch. :) In his tired state he wasn't in the mood to call around and get people there, so I told him I would. Still thinking everyone knew therefore it didn't really matter. I called Chelsi and said, "Hey there, what's up? You want to do lunch?" To which I hear in a high pitched scream, "WHHHHHAAATTTTT???!!!! You are here!!! What are you doing here, AAAAAHHH!!" It was hilarious after my ear stopped ringing. So obviously she did not know and I told her the information I had about everyone being at Peach Days. She confirmed that only Blake was at Peach Days and everyone else had been home all weekend. Her and I decided it would be fun for her to call Jeni and Kalli to come to lunch. More white lies were told and they were hooked on lunch. I went and grabbed mom C. from her house to find out that they were home on Sunday but were to sore and tired to answer the door! She thought it was dad C. trying to get in, cause she thought he had gone to church! :) The confusion of each lane of this story cracks me up.
So Kalli and Jeni were very surprised and it was super fun to have most everyone at lunch to indulge with me in my Corn Dog craving.

The newest addition to the family is Mayla--Jeni and Matt's wee one. Adorable tiny little thing almost makes you want another. :)

Auklin was learning where I live--Auklin, tell your parents that your college fund can wait--England is where it is at!

Surprises!

Luckily for me there was already a party planned for me to conveniently crash while in Utah. I was able to go to Boondocks (a pretty crazy fun zone place with just about everything to do) and help my cousin Jake celebrate his eighth birthday! This is my Uncle Andy with his little girl Brianna.

Kevin and the boys actually surprised me by showing up at the party. They had been at the sand dunes that weekend and I didn't expect them to be there. Kevin made up a lame excuse that Noah and Kris wanted Mindy there to watch them play so that he could go back and get her. It was so fun to surprise everyone...even if they are getting tired of my surprises. :) Also, sorry Kevin--you aren't in this picture, I think you were watching football. :)

Cousin Jake and nephews Kris and Noah!

Myself, my dad and my fabulously fun Aunt and Uncle, Rich and Pat. Seriously just adore these two amazing people!

Uncle Andy and me. We tried to find my Aunt Denise to take a picture with us, but she was off looking after the children.

Yes, they are super excited that their Aunt Hollie just flew half way across the world to see them...so much so they plopped in front of the TV!! :) Good thing I brought chocolate to bribe them.

So Jamie and Heather still did not know I was there and we called them over to come to Kellie's house to help support Kellie after surgery. Better support would have been being alone and relaxing, but that is no fun! Mike V. was on his R&R from Afghanistan, so it was also fun to get to see him. Heather did not want to come to Kellie's, there was far to much work to do after getting home from the dunes. However, she loves my mom so much that she told her yes she would come to Kellie's for a minute to say hello. I hid in usual fashion and came down the stairs, Matt was right there and I gave him a hug and just stood next to him while Heather chatted away with my mom. It took a few seconds and then she finally looked up. She just smiled and shook her head. :) Then comes Jamie and Mike with kids in hand about 5 minutes later. I run upstairs and hear Jamie walk in and say, "Where is Hollie? I know she is here." About ten minutes before she left the house she looked on Facebook to find Christy's status about The 100 and that I flew in to cheer her on. Can't keep any secrets with Facebook, can you? It was pretty funny anyway, and still a great surprise.

Sahara was tired, sick, and just plain moody. Like any good Auntie in order to receive love and attention I gave her more chocolate after her mom said she had had enough. :)

Nothing a little Cadbury's won't fix.

100 Miles of Heaven and Hell

I finally decided to record about my fabulous trip back home, by myself! Christy had been training for the Wasatch 100 Mile Endurance Run all summer long and I was so irritated that I couldn't be there to cheer her on in this huge accomplishment. The timing and chance lined up about one week before the race. Mike was taking leave in September so that we could get it tax free from his deployment. Something military I don't know why it worked out, but it did. Anyway, while looking at our miles and knowing Mike would be here on leave I suggested that my post deployment vacation not be postponed and happen that next week. Problem one:Mike would need leave three days sooner. His office said no at first and then somehow that problem solved itself and he would be able to swing it. Problem two; Hollie's passport was expired and I hadn't fixed that problem right after our trip in April. Solution, a fabulous friend taking Brennan and a trip to the London Embassy with Carter and Taylor. Their first experience in London was flying through the tube stations, running in the streets and getting mom's passport. It was a success and they issued me an emergency passport for immediate travel. I got home and booked my flight! Surprises are the only way to roll, so NO ONE knew I was coming.

I got in late Thursday night after some delays on airplanes. As a side note, flying by yourself totally rocks! I mean really really is wonderful. It might be boring at times, but goodness me I dread the day I have to take the kids. I know they are fabulous travellers and my flight with them was absolutely stress free. However, flying alone was a whole new experience of stress free life. When I landed in SLC I called Kellie and Richard and asked for their address and if I could borrow their couch for the night. :) Kellie had surgery just a couple days before that and they were surprised to see me for sure! I slept at their house that night and had Kellie call my parents the next morning to see when they would be headed back up the mountain to meet Christy. Kellie told them she had a poster for Christy and wanted them to swing by and pick it up. Just so that we weren't lying Kellie made a little poster for mom and dad to pick up. :) I hid in the bathroom when my mom and dad got there. Hid while they chatted with Kellie about how she was doing and then came out of the bathroom asking if they had room in their car for one more, because I needed a ride to the mountain. As usual my dad just grinned and gave me a big hug while shaking his head. I am never that fortunate with my mom who screams and hugs me so tight my head might pop off one of these times. We were headed up to Big Mountain for the first station that we would meet Christy. This is at mile 39.4 and the start of the first leg that they can have someone pace them. It was a gorgeous day and the mountains were gorgeous. This is me, mom, and dad at the car park that just just below Big Mountain. We were anxiously awaiting to meet Christy.

Mom has been working super hard to get back into her walking. I was amazed at all the progress she has made in just the last few months. She is awesome and is back in her element of walking and enjoying nature. She started at Big Mountain and walked up to meet Christy. It was an awesome sight to see mom and Christy walking together to the check point. I was yelling and screaming and cheering Christy on, but she still was slightly oblivious to the fact that I was the one screaming. After they weighed her and she checked in I walked right in front of her and yelled, "Go Christy!" I think she was a tad surprised and started to cry a bit, I was crying and was so excited that I could be there to cheer her on. It was all worth it! Christy promptly said she had to stop crying because, "she needed her salt." She is hilarious, priorities right where they needed to be.

She was so perky and happy to be there. Seriously after 39.4 miles who would have a smile. These people that do this are crazy nuts and I felt inspired watching them come in and out of each check point. Christy had a tag on her bag for her sisters and her girls, Skye and Wynter. It was neat to see her carrying us along the way to push her when it got hard.

Christy and Derek (bro-in-law --married to Ryan's sister) headed out of Big Mountain. Christy was feeling a bit of nausea at this point and just pushed on to get out of there. The next time we would see them it would be at Lambs Canyon, mile 53.13. Derek had a goal to get there before sun down and they nearly made it. When I told Derek he almost accomplished the task Christy piped in saying she had to stop and throw up a couple times and that delayed them. :) The runners are weighed at certain check points to make sure they aren't dropping to much weight. They can be cut from the race if their weight goes crazy. As the sun went down the temperature was dropping and it was dropping down low!

Christy had vowed that if there was a camera she was going to be smiling at it. We were trying to figure out what to feed the poor girl that wouldn't make her throw up to bad. Nothing was really working and so she opted just to keep moving. She had a bit of time to warm up her bones and change into some clothes for the night time run.

Christy and Ryan were off and ready to go. Ryan is such an awesome bro-in-law. This is actually the most time I have spent with him since they were married. The curses of living far away. He is so relaxed and calm about these situations, at least he appears that way. :) Love him, he is a fabulous addition to our awesome family. Next stop for us to meet them is Brighton--mile 75!Dad, mom and myself drove over to Brighton to get some shut eye while waiting for these two to cross 22 miles of mountain in the middle of the night. Dad was going to be running the last leg with Christy and would need some rest. So we all crashed in mom and dad's car. This is where London time took over. One a.m. hit and I was wide awake and couldn't sleep, I would go and check on Christy and Ryan's status every once in a while. They had been to the next station in between Lamb's and Brighton, but had stayed there longer than was planned. We knew that Christy wasn't feeling well and I was worried at that point about how much worse she could have got. Runners were coming into Brighton saying it was so cold they could hardly move. After further investigation we found out that it was 20 degrees outside, not fun! At each check in they give a predicted time for the next station. As day light came we were worried about Christy and Ryan and Hollie's adrenaline was kicking in. I get so shaking and can't stand to sit there, so we headed up the mountain to try and encourage them into Brighton. Dad and I headed up with mom a bit behind us. Brighton is at about 8000 feet above sea level-not good for this sea level land dweller! We hauled up the mountain at a rapid fire speed and by the time we got to the top my lungs were desperate for air! It was pretty funny as I was leaned over and gasping for breathe. I stood up and acted like nothing was wrong when Christy came oer the hill, because there is no comparison to how she was feeling!

This is why I completely love Ryan. I love this picture! Hi, I just hiked 22 miles up in the mountains and it was freezing cold. I had a stick for my wife to hold onto because she was falling asleep walking, but ya know, it's all good. :) Love ya Ry!

I think Christy looked fantastic at this point even though she was feeling like hell. Her mouth took one bite of anything and she was throwing up more. It was so dreadful to watch and such a horrible thing to not be able to fix. Dad washed her feet and we were trying to warm her up.
You could hear her body screaming, "to hell with it, this is crap, I'm done!" However, my sister rocks and put her shoes on, got her water and headed out of the shack. I loved what she said, "You don't know unless you try." She truly inspires me for her perseverance and determination to give this her all.

Dad and Christy beginning the last leg of the race....25 miles to go.

Hopefully you can click on this map and see the whole trail that this race involves. It is a crazy race and only truly crazy people even attempt this! Amazing.
Up at The Homestead we were waiting at the finish line to check on and keep up with Christy's progress. Dad and Christy weren't checking in for much longer then we anticipated and we were getting worried that her stomach couldn't take anymore. The Internet wasn't updating with the check-in's and we finally got through with the mobile phone. They had just left the next station, but Christy had stepped on the trail weird and hurt her knee. Going downhill was becoming a huge problem. We found out later that when they stopped at Ant's Knoll station the guy was offering some food and wasn't sure what Christy wanted. When he said he had sausage she flipped her head around-her body finally screaming what it wanted. My dad almost got whip lash when Christy said she would take some of that. Christy does NOT do sausage--ever. She is one of the herbivores in the family and so we joke around that her sick stomach wanted sausage. She ate that up and it stayed down, finally the stomach was feeling a bit better. However the knee was the problem now. The next station at Pole Line Pass dad and Christy did the math and Christy had to submit to the elements of time against her. They have to finish within a certain time and there was no way with her knee she was going to meet that time. Mile 83.39 was Christy's stopping point. What an amazing accomplishment and amazing sister I have.

I would like to know anyone who looks this good after running 1 mile, let alone 83.39 :)

Christy, you are an amazing woman, mother, wife, daughter, and sister! I love you dearly and am so happy that I could be there to cheer you on and see you push yourself and give it your all!

September begins

My mom needed some pictures of all of us and I thought it about time to post some head shots of the kids on here as well. Mason is 9 years old now and 4th grade is going well. He is loving the community time they get to do from Burger King breakfast to bowling on Fridays. Seriously, who wouldn't love school?

Carter is working hard on many things in school and also working hard on realizing that school is a permanent fixture in his life for now. :) Can't say he is in love with school, but he does work hard regardless.

Taylor loves school so much she can't wait to be there all day. She is doing fabulous at learning her sounds and wants to read, right now! She is always responsible about doing her homework and doesn't want us to touch her book bag, because, "it is mine!"

Brennan is talking so much more and adds new words to his vocabulary everyday! He is such a riot and I love spending so much time with him. He loves to 'take it all in' hurry is something that is certainly not learned yet. He is curious about everything around him and it is a must to say, "what's that?" towards everything! I love it!

Elder Kennedy left us in the beginning of September as well. What a remarkable missionary and man he is! He never left the house without trying to complete one form of service. He found humor while eating in the rain because they can't come in without a man here at the house. That happened only once, thank goodness. He served our family endlessly while Mike was away and even upon Mike's return. From school projects to trampoline building he did it all. The kids loved him and thought he was always goofy. He may not look like the standard missionary in this shot, because once again they had just come from doing service for someone else. This is our serious pose and below is our true nature. :)