The picture that didn’t get sent out…our true colors!

Blurbs of each of the family:

Katie: Turned the big ONE year old in the end of September. She’s a total mommas girl, so much that even at almost 15 months is just barely learning to mobilize around on her feet. She still hasn’t “walked” yet just taken maybe one or two steps. When asked by onlookers why she isn’t walking yet someone in the family usually answers “Well she’d have to touch the floor first to learn!” She loves her brothers and daddy, and her favorite things to do are to stare at strangers or anyone she doesn’t associate with her immediate family with a dirty look, and she looooves when daddy sings and cant help but to shake her tail feathers. (it’s really a sight to see)!

Kyle: Will turn the big FOUR in a couple of months. Kyle’s going to pre-school and as the teachers have told me (which we already knew) is that he is a cuddle bug. He usually picks one of his teachers and follows her around and batts his eyes till they give in and carry him anywhere he wants to go. Yes we are scared as to what damage he will be doing with his charisma as time goes on but for now all teachers, daddy’s co-workers, mommy’s friends, older brother’s friends mom’s, all refer to Kyle as “Their cute little kyle”. He absolutely loves to play with his older brothers, is growing less and less fond of his little sister (she tries to wreck everything he’s playing with), and is daddy’s biggest fan.

Ryan: Just turned the big SIX and looks like he’s 7 or 8. He usually gets a big grin when people ask if he and Nate are twins. Nate usually answers “NO, I’m 2 years older!” Ryan is in kindergarten, and surprises us every day with what he’s learning. He likes school, but mainly likes all the new friends he’s making, I’ve met some nice mom’s through Ryan. He’s obsessed with army things, and he loves animals, stuffed and real alike. And he’s constantly asking if we can go to the aquarium again. He loves his brothers (sometimes loves to push their buttons too) and he likes to help mom cook, help dad with things around the house, and likes to make Katie laugh.

Nate: Ah Nate (do i always start this the same way?) Nate turns EIGHT next month and never ceases to amaze us with his energy and with the things he comes up with. A lot of the times I have to take a couple of breaths before I ask “WHY, did you think that was a good idea?” But alas he has some really good ideas amongst all the other not so good ideas. (Case in point when he wanted to see how much pressure a window screen could sustain until his head popped through, thankfully they were not on my house, or on anybody Else’s house!) he is the favorite amongst his siblings, I mean who else can come up with such COOL ideas like climb up in their closet and hide from mom? (I’m talking that little crawl space up in the very top of the closet) or coral the goats into a corner and jump on them, bear down, and ride them like the wind? And when he does stop and is quiet, which sometimes seems like it will NEVER happen, you can just see his mind go a mile a minute. Now if he could just convince us that school, sleep, and eating get in the way of his creativity, his life would be perfect! He loves to make things and loves to draw, He loves anything army, anything on the discovery channel (which who thought could be dangerous to learn about so many things? -AH you don’t have Nate as your son!) He’s his own best audience (usually he finds things he’s done as cool and fun while parents, and teachers would like to beg the differ) We really can’t wait to live to tell all the things that kid thinks up of! He’s also the best oldest brother Katie could ask for.

Jake and I find ourselves surviving our children yet one more year. What I’ve learned this year? I hate goats sometimes, love the country life, and am loving every minute of my life, trials and all. Although they seem to sometimes comes too much too quick, they have taught us a lot, and they make the easier and simpler times that much better. With that said, we will be missing Jake as he deploys to Afghanistan, for a year. Yes, he’ll be doing those things you see on T.V. and a lot you don’t see due to his job description in the Army. Some questions that are probably on your mind: “I thought he was done doing Army full time?” Yes, he’s in the National Guard, but he will be activated as “full time active duty Army” for the deployment. “What will happen to his job?” They have been nothing but wonderful to us, they have told us that they will not only keep him in the records as an employer during the time he is gone, which means we will get the $ bonuses while he’s gone, but they have already told him that they will make sure his family is taken care of while he’s gone and he will return to his job when he comes back. “Will you stay there while he’s gone?” YES! this is the best place for us to be while he is gone, we’ve bought our second home here, and the community, the church, and Jake’s employers have already started to do operation “take care of the Christenson’s”, that I couldn’t see us wanting to be anywhere else but here! Plus the kids especially the older ones desperately need stability after the last two years of moving around due to the army trainings. Jake’s leaving in the end of January, he’ll be stateside for a couple of months and then our “year deployment” will start when he arrives in Afghanistan. So all in all, yes we are looking towards a hard year, but with faith in the Lord, if all goes well we should be over with our biggest trial early 2009, which is waiting for our family to be together again. We are hopeful and grateful with all that has come our way and with what is to come our way.