For Sale!

Well, since several of us are either in the process of selling or buying, I thought we should share. I heard that Dave and Tiffany had an offer, I sure hope that is going well for you guys. Mom gave a good report of Dad's open house on his condos. I know you guys are anxious to get some offers too.

Our house was listed on Monday, we haven't had any bites yet, but we're hopeful. Because of the nature of our town, real estate is moving here. Unfortunately, we have tons and tons of houses in our neighborhood on the market. It seems like every day this week I saw a new sign go up.

I'll be sad to leave our first little house. We put a lot of work into it and have so many great memories. Here's hoping we all can sell and not lose too much money!

Southern Utah in the Fall

Nearly 35 years ago, Dad and I honeymooned in Southern Utah. We watched "Where the Red Fern Grows" at a theater in St. George one night. After a stop at Bryce Canyon, we stayed over in Panguitch, Utah. We got in a little late, and after checking in, we walked down to Henrie's Drive-In. We ordered tacos when tacos weren't a staple on every fast food menu. They were the greasiest things we'd ever seen, but being young and close to starvation, we ate them anyway.

On this trip to St. George, we did a loop through the mountains around Cedar City and saw some beautiful fall color. The route took us through Panguitch, and amazingly, Henrie's is still around (just like us!). We couldn't resist a picture of ourselves in front of such a memorable piece of real estate some 34 and a half years later.

By the way, no tacos on the menu. We shared a milk shake instead. And didn't get sick this time!

Here are a couple of pics from our drive, including some of the wildlife we saw very close to the road.



We also took three nice long bike rides. The best was up through the main canyon in Zions. I started at the intersection and rode six miles to the top - Mom started at Zion's Lodge and rode four miles to the top. Then we went all the way down to the visitor's center, about 8 miles down. The park was extremely crowded (we had to park in town) but with the shuttle system we had the road to our selves. Majestic and awe inspiring to have that canyon surround you! Wish we had a photo of us speeding down (or chugging up) the canyon, but this is us at Cedar Breaks which looks a little like parts of Zion.

ball o' gummi

Brandon sent me this picture a few days ago. He got the package that we all sent and was very very appreciative of it. However, one of the bags of gummi candy changed formation in the flight overseas. I'm so glad he ate it anyway!

Yahtzee Mania

No pics, just a new high score to report. A few weeks ago, I got two yahtzees and scored 486. I was pretty proud and was going to put my scorecard up on the fridge. Good thing I didn't get around to it. In a game last week, Dad got three yahtzees, on his last three rolls, no less, and is the new house champion with a score of -drumroll- 511. Wow!

Coast Post

Being on the coast with everyone sure was fun! There was some talk of resurrecting our blog- so I thought I'd do my part! Sorry I don't have pictures of everyone... Madeline kind of monopolizes my camera for some reason.

thanks Eric, for the camera work on these last few!

summer reading

Does anyone have any suggestions for summer reading? Love to hear what you all are reading and any suggestions you might have for me.

Nancy

How We're Spending Our Summer Vacation

Here we are on the patio on a Sunday afternoon--our favorite place in the summer. Dinners last for over an hour when the cards come out - Quiddler and Hollwood Gin Rummy are the current favorites. It's also where we recoup after working in the yard. We're getting a little older and there is more frequent and longer recouping than there used to be. So we get the cards out again and enjoy the view, some ice water, and an occasional(lite) ice cream bar.

Mom's garden is particularly lovely this year. The roses are fabulous, and the perennials are an everchanging array of color. We got 2 gallons of really good bio-eco-goop from a guy in the ward to put on the lawn, and it's the greenest it's ever been.

The birds are great: The heron is back for his 6th season in a starring role. Osprey fish regularly in the ponds. We see finches, red-winged blackbirds, robins, kestrels, juncos, and an occasional flicker. There are at least 3 families of goslings this year already looking like gawky teenagers. And we have a duck couple that waddles into the yard and dines on the spilled seed below the bird feeder. So far just one black-chinned hummingbird, but he's putting on an entertaining display of swoops and swirls - we think he's protecting a nest, but we can't tell from what! He's not threatening us (yet).

Wish you were here.

Desert Garden

I'm growing a garden! If you can't tell by the picture, I'm quite proud of it. Since the picture was taken, my tomato plants have gotten quite large, and my zucchini plant has become a monster! It's overtaking the cucumbers and peppers...but I think they'll survive. My roommates and I enjoy the fresh herbs, and we pretend we know how to compost, by throwing all our banana peels and apple cores and egg shells in a big pile at the end of the garden (not pictured). What fun! Feel free to send any stellar zucchini recipes my way, I'm sure I'll be needing some for my Z-Monster. Looking forward to seeing more Christensen posts on this neglected old blog...Love y'all!

Happy Easter

Family, hello! Does anyone look at the blog anymore? Now that I have something darling to photograph, I have plenty to post about. I think we need to revive the blog. How do we revive it? I still haven't seen David's new car... do we get to see it? Hopefully soon we can see some of Chile, or maybe I'll post about my new favorite lentil chili? Okay, I'm not the wittiest one of the bunch, but I sure have a cute daughter.

New Trick

Well it's about time that Madeline made an appearance on the family blog. Here she is in all her glory doing her newest and cutest (at least her mom thinks so) trick! About a week ago Madeline made an amazing discovery... her toes. She grabs at them every opportunity that she gets.

This second picture I took last night. She kind of scared me because she is not just grabbing both feet, but swinging at the same time. She's quite the little acrobat!

St. George Christmas

Hello Family. Well, we've missed you all this Christmas, but we've sure had a great Christmas weekend without you. From our Christmas Eve caroling gig at retirement centers to the standard potato soup meal, to the Christmas day hike (59 degrees here!) followed by a southwest tamale dinner...it's been a great time. Eric and I wish we could stick around a little longer to do some more hiking, eat some of the leftovers, and rollerblade around the hilly neighborhood :) But, we'll be trekking back to Tucson tomorrow. Merry Christmas, y'all! Feel free to blog your Christmas photos for us to see as well.


Chili Pepper Christmas Tree!

Christmas Day Afternoon Hike at Cottonwood Canyon!

Lovely Luminaries

"Food Stamps Make America Stronger"

Last weekend Heidi (my coworker) and I set up a table at the "Tucson Money Faire." It was an event about financial education--they had lots of financial resources for low-income families, free credit reports, info about free tax preparation, raffled off $100 bills every hour, etc.

We were pretty proud of our little Food Stamps setup. We handed out quite a few applications, a flyer that I made, entitled "6 Easy Steps to Getting Food Stamps," and lots of goodies that the USDA sent us (pencils, pens, magnets, and flying discs!) We also offered to prescreen people for their Food Stamp eligibility using a handy excel spreadsheet we have. A few people took us up on that, and I think a few more Tucson residents will be getting food stamps as a result of their stop at our table!

It's exciting to see the work actually beginning, after all our researching and planning and sitting in front of the computer. We should be out in the community conducting Food Stamp trainings starting in January. Hopefully by the end of my year of service there will be hundreds (maybe thousands?!) of Pima County residents using Food Stamps as a result of our efforts! I do love my FS--recommend them highly.

Brothers' day out

Eric and I had a nice weekend during his peregrinations about the West. We got out on the Touchet River for a morning of fishing. I am nowhere near the level of guide that he had the previous weekend (Jim Mullen), and it showed. Eric caught a couple of li'l ones, and I got a fair amount, including two of very respectable size for our little creek.

The other big event of the weekend was a dinner of homemade fried chicken, with some good potato salad and macaroni and cheese, which Eric can vouch for. I was pretty proud of the fried chicken, myself--great crispy crust that shattered when you bit into it. Here's how much we liked it:



It was a lot of fun to have all the siblings here in Dayton. Y'all are welcome any time!

Where there's Smoke...

There's misery.

I don't know how much you all know about the fire here, but it's the number one priority wildfire in the nation right now. Not the largest, but there is still lots of growth potential. Two homes, including one belonging to the son of our neighbor, have burned, as well as several barns and cabins. The fire started Monday night from a lightning strike--originally it was at least 3 or 4 fires, but they have now all burned together. We could see the flames from the closest one from our house--it was less than a half mile away.


That top picture was taken this morning at about 10 AM. The smoke cleared out shortly after, but has been back every night due to some sort of inversion. We've taken to sleeping in the guest room, the only spot in the house to stay clear. This old, leaky house of ours fills up with smoke pretty well--it's worse in here right now than outside. Unfortunately, it's also 100 degrees out there, so there's no point in opening the windows.

If you want to read the fire updates, the best place is actually the Chamber of Commerce website. Lots of nice photos there, too.

Tiffany and Mae at the Weinhard Cafe have been doing a good job taking care of the local, volunteer firefighters. I brought a couple sacks full of cookies on Saturday, and Tiffany just dropped off a bunch of paper plates, toilet paper, napkins etc. They were thrilled. Many of the local businesses have signs out on the highway thanking the firefighters (apparently there have been some sort of dustups between locals and the out-of-towners that resulted in the fire camp moving to Waitsburg, 10 miles away).

Anyhow, we're hanging in there, staying cool with popsicles and trying to blow the smoke out with fans in the evening. Send eye drops!

2 Posts in One Day

I know that I'm getting a little carried away today with the blogging, but my camera is plugged into the computer, and I wanted to show off my cute nursery. Brandon and I painted those stripes- it was a lot of prep work, more than we bargained for. The crib was a gift and we repainted it. I guess I should actually give credit where credit is due- Brandon did all the painting. I did the sanding and helped with the prep. That lamp was a garage sale find from my mother-in-law. And the glider and pail with flowers on the wall is from mom. I just love walking by that room now that I have a few things together. I still have a little more work to do before I can show off the rest of the room- maybe that will be a follow up post in a week or so. Brandon and I are getting pretty excited for our new addition to come. She's growing, I think she's getting squished actually, and we're just holding out until the Daddy comes home.

Pickles!

Don't be deceived by our 3 proud looks as we pose with our pickles. Dave did most of the work, but it was a lot of fun to cook with him and learn from him and Tiffany. Has anyone tried the pickles yet? I'm going to wait for Brandon, but the jam couldn't wait, it's delicious!

progressive family reunion

Okay, I'll break the two months' silence with a plain old (no pics, no clever words) blog. It has been very fun to get together even if it has been a rather stretched-out reunion. Lots of fun to visit with extended family in Island Park. Love all those cute babies and good to get caught up. We missed David and Tiffany, but Liz and Kathryn had a great weekend in Dayton. Both were excited about the canning projects, the great meals, and seeing David and Tiffany. Dad and I were excited about the plum jam, pickles, and chocolate caramel tarts that came our way. After hearing about Tiffany's biscuit lesson with Elizabeth I'm thinking I may need one two. Bisquick mades better biscuits than I do.

I'm excited about the plans for a Christensen reunion next June or July. I understand the Northwest is our destination. Dad and I are easy and will go wherever you all are. Maybe we can have a blog discussion about the pros and cons of Portland, Seattle, Oregon Coast, San Juans, and Victoria (and anyplace else you can dream up.)

Are we thinking an extended weekend? Anyone willing to be in charge of accommodations? food? events? transportation?

Speak now or forever hold your peace (or at least until the next reunion).

Christensen College Grad #4

This was a really fun recital that I gave with my friend James Jirtle. He is a baritone, and he also has the unique talent of being able to whistle two independent melodies at the same time (this talent was-unfortunately-not showcased during the recital). We made it a point to just perform fun, pretty music--there's nothing TOO intense, and nothing too contemporary for you traditionally-trained ears :) You can listen to it online at this website--check it out!

http://homepage.mac.com/randyjirtle/recital/

Pictures are from graduation (obviously), a couple days after the recital. Do we look like we've been sitting in the sun for 3 hours? Because we did. It was fun!

Foul vs. Fowl

While some members of the family may be interested in foul counts about now, I'm keeping track of another fowl count. Thus far, we have two pairs of geese with goslings visiting the pond in back regularly. One has five little ones and the other has seven. The seventh appeared a day later than his siblings and was a bit scrawnier. In the front yard infield, two duck nests popped up. We spotted the nests with 2 or 3 eggs in each. The count is now up to five and six. The mother ducks dutifully cover the nests when they leave. Must be aware of the magpie which has been hovering in the area and is probably responsible for the three empty shells we have found. I'll give a shoutout to let you know when "they're out!" Maybe I'll get lucky with a picture I can post.

Peacock meets Dante

The highlight of my day today was when I saw a peacock in a tree. It was believed by the neighborhood possy to hail from the adjacent neighborhood, which is comprised of estates rather than houses. I haven't seen these estates, but I imagine them to be full of pruned bushes in the shape of ballerinas, clear flowing fountains, delightful gazebos, and tigers named Nala.

The anti-highlight of my day was spending hours in the library dissecting a few select cantos in Dante's Paradiso, and ending up with a few pages of facts, ideas, and connections, but still no thesis for Friday's paper. Anyone have an opinion about Dante's case of family-pride, or the significance of his encounter with his great-great-grandfather in the Paradiso?

If you fail to come up with a thesis for me, you can ponder what it would be like to own an estate with peacocks!

ps. the peacock in the picture is not the recently-cited peacock. but based on the blue neck and green feathers, he may be a distant cousin.