Christensen Family Christmas Party 2010

These are our homemade family Christmas ordiments. They are all so cute! I love the dear Santa picture frame! I can't wait to get a picture of Savannah and Xander to put in it! My sister-in-law Ashley made them.
Grandma Christensen made this one. I love the saying! It says, " When you see this ordainment on your tree, May you remember the man Who walked the shores of Galilee.
My sister-in-law Erin made these little blocks, with pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Christensen. They are so cute! I think they are a beautiful family keepsake! I love this picture of them! They look so in-love!


We went to the bowling ally up in Blackfoot Idaho to go bowling.
Savannah had so much fun! She always had to have the yellow ball, but she didn't like waiting for her turn.
This is me trying to get Savannah to look at the camera. We would set the bowling ball on the ground and help her push it, then we would clap and shout "ha-ray!" She's a better bowler than me.
Savannah loved playing with the toys downstairs at the party.




Xander was so good, but he did have a blow out up to his neck. That wasn't fun.

03/21/2011

This morning I waited for an hour and a half in the waitiing room to take Xander to see the plastic surgon. Court even met me there, but after an hour he had to leave for a meeting for one of his classes. He really wanted to be there. When the doctor came in he said the same thing that all doctors say when they first meet Savannah or Xander. I've never heard of Bardet-Bieldl syndrome. Then he tries to pernounce it. No one can just by reading it. It took me a while before I got it right. He looked at Xander's hand and foot. I found out something new about Xander today. His pinkey on his right hand is curved. I never noticed. We scudled his Surgery to remove his polydactyly on March 21st. I was hoping it would be sooner, so we can just get his first surgery over with, but he's booked until then. Now, I have to figure out what if I'm going to be brave enough to handle to take Savannah with me when I get his x-rays done today.

Welcome to Holland

Today, the lady from kids on the move came because I am not able to make it to make it to the support groups during the day. She asked me what is one of the hardest things for you with children with special needs. I told her When I'm with my friends and around other mothers, and their children, sometimes even younger than Savannah are doing things like having a small conversation with their mom, telling them how their day at school was, or not having melt down after melt down.It's all of the little things. It brakes my heart. She told me about how parents with children with special needs have to go through the grieving proses, and even though I think I have, then something small like that happens, and I start to cry and fall apart. I wonder if Savannah will ever get there or do those things, or understand. Sometimes I can't help but compare, and then I hate myself for it, because I feel so bad. I love my sweet children so much, no matter what. She left me with this story of another mother with a child with special needs. As I read it I started to cry, because I feel the same way. She put my feelings onto that page.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

2010 Family Pictures

This was the first and very best picture of all. I just need to figure out how to switch Savannah's head with another, so she doesn't look like she's squinting.
Me trying to hold Savannah so, she won't run out of the picture. This picture has really grown on me. When I look at it I laugh and think, "That's Savannah!"
Savannah is trying to open the door. She kept saying "it's locked." She really wanted the door to open, and mommy really wanted her to sit in front of the door by herself or with Xander. Didn't happen.
Xander did a good job sitting!
My crazy cute little girl!...
Savannah fighting to get away.
I really love this picture!
Brother and sister!
This is when Court and I were trying to get a picture of just the two of us but, Savannah didn't like that, so she tried to push daddy.
This was the closest Savannah would sit next to Xander.(Notice the bribe in her hands) Well, that's our 2010 family pictures! Now, that I think about it I love these pictures! It shows my children s personalities, and is a little more real. "It's our life!" Never dull, and full of crazy adventures!

Why...

Why do I even keep trying?
Today we had a family home evening with my husbands family, and my sister-in-law kindly agreed to take our family pictures for us! The ones I've been trying to get since August. It was so nice of her. I've been planning ideas of places and what we should all wear and everything for a long time. Today the sun was even out! I was so excited! But, Savannah being Savannah would not cooperate at all. It was so hard to even just get her body to stay put in the right direction of the camera let alone look at it. Then we gave up and went back to my sister-in-laws house. During the lesson (which was really cute,) about Jesus birth, Savannah was off playing, then taking her cousin's coloring book, then talking during the prayer. Then, we tried more pictures by the fire place. I even got out my "just in case" stash of smarties to bribe Savannah to sit on the fire place. That didn't go so well. By then Savannah was melting down and Everyone was just done. Court ended up caring Savannah over his shoulder out to the car and she screamed heuristically almost the whole way home. I just need to except that I'm never going to get those perfect pictures or have a perfect family night, no matter how badly I want them.

Christmas Ornaments

Every Christmas our family has a big Christmas party. We go bowling, then have dinner, and catch up on everything with everyone who, we don't get to see very often. Everyone always brings yummy treats and food! This year we're doing soup and rolls! It's so much fun, and then we sing Christmas carols while waiting for Santa to come. Last year Savannah really loved Santa! He brings treats for all of the children, but he brings a little toy for Savannah because, her parents are mean. I don't thing she even notices! Every family makes homemade Christmas ornaments for each family. It is one of my favorite traditions! I love making them and, seeing everyone's cute ornaments! We hang them on our tree each year! These are my ornnaments this year. It took forever to make all 55 of them. But, it was worth it!

Christmas 2009
Christmas 2008
Christmas 2007

Christmas Books Advent Calender

My friend gave me this idea. I only have 9 Christmas books so far, but each year I will buy a few more. If you don't have enough books you can get some form the library. So, what you do is, you wrap up separately 24 different Christmas Books. Each night of the month of December you will unwrap one book and read it as a family.
Your kids will have fun unwrapping a different book each night under the Christmas tree! I think it will be a fun family tradition! I love making new family traditions!We will start off tonight with opening 50 Christmas Things To Make And Do. Throughout December we'll make and do fun Christmas things! Savannah will love it! On Christmas eve we'll read the night before Christmas and the true story of Christmas! I'm so excited! I can't wait!
We decorated the tree on Sunday while, watching the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Savannah found all of the stars and had fun putting them all on the Christmas lights wire on one part of the tree. She was so proud of herself, and so were we! Afterward we had hot chocolate and finished the movie. Savannah was so happy, because we even watered down some for her to have. I think it was the first time she's ever had hot chocolate. Ever since then, she keeps taking me to the fridge and says "chalk" "chalk". I feel so bad for her.