Christianson Family Fun!!
My sister Molly and her two girls were here the last 2 1/2 weeks and we loved having them here! The 20 pictures on this post are from activities we did together as a whole family clan. Fun Times!!

For family home evening we went for a walk up Provo Canyon. It was beautiful!! This is one of my most favorite places on earth and I love taking my kids there.

Ricky has a great "Daniel Son" pose don't you think.

Ashton couldn't stand to be in his stroller. He wanted to be out with the rest of the kids running and playing, but he liked being on daddy's shoulder's the best!

These are all 12 of the Christianson grandchildren. It was a little difficult to get them all to sit still for an FHE lesson, but my dad made it through as they ate ice cream bars.

Bradley fully looks like a little old man in this picture.

Cora is such a poser!

Of course we could not have a family outing up the canyon without my dad's beloved dog Cassie. She is certainly one of the family.

Ashton is also a little poser.

We went to the Hogle Zoo on Tuesday and let me just say that was an adventure!! This is all of the kids but Rebecca's Lily. She was having a bit of a moment when we took this picture. On the back row we have Colby, Brigham, Josie, Burke, Bradley and Braxton. The next row is Ellie, Maggie, Savannah, Cora and Ashton. What dolls!!

Braxton, Brad and Brax.

Colby couldn't resis getting on this Rhino. What 7 year old could??

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day. Cora and Molly; what beautiful gals!!

This is everyone waiting for the bird show.

I think this was Ashton's favorite part of the day. He loves his treats!!

Burke and Brigham think they are pretty funny.

Ellie was a little nervous about sitting by this gorilla, but after some persuasion we got a cute shot.

This is me and Ash on the train ride to end the day. We had a blast but were ready for some air conditioning after 4 hours of the Zoo! We love our family and are so glad that Molly could come; if would have been perfect if Kevin could have been here with us. We love you Kevin!!!!

Summertime Fun!!
We went to the park on Saturday and the kids had a lot of fun. It was one of those great family moments of a perfect day!

Ellie being a big girl.

Braxton being a monkey.

Ashton loving the slide.

Bradley chillin' with daddy.

A rare moment when Burke and Ellie aren't arguing.

Braxton and Burke both went in the dunk tank at our stake pioneer celebration. They loved it!! Burke was really shocked when he hit the cold water, but that didn't stop him from going again.

This is my favorite of the pictures. I love the look on Burke's face!!

Families Can Be Together Forever

Last week we had a tragedy in our family. My dear Uncle Jim was killed in a helicopter crash. The news was obviously shocking and saddened all of our family. Uncle Jim was one in a million and we will miss him greatly! I am so thankful to have knowledge of the temple and that Aunt Tina and Uncle Jim will be together again because they were sealed in the temple. How blessed we are to know that families can be together forever. We love you Uncle Jim!!

Bradley's Blessing Day

We blessed Brad on July 6th and it was a great experience. It is always amazing to hear the blessing from Heavenly Father that he gives these sweet angels. I love this picture of the kids because they all look so happy!! I am thankful that we are a forever family and that I will have my children with me forever!!

I had to throw this one in. It is the classic before church picture with the curlers in the hair. You gotta love it!!

HAPPY 4TH!!!!
This is one of our favorite holiday's of the year!!! It is a day of fun in the sun! We are proud to be Americans and are so thankful for our rich heritage.

This is me and Rebecca and Mandi; two of my fabulous sisters. We missed Molly greatly on this family day.

Burke got to pull the canon string. How cool is that?

Bradley slept through most of his first Independence Day. What can you expect?

Ellie and Grandma Murl are special friends. Ellie sat on her lap for about an hour while things were crazy outside.

Every year we have a HUGE water fight! Burke and Braxton had a ball!

FUN, FUN, IN THE CALIFORNIA SUN!!!

We went to California last week and had a great time. The kids loved the pool and hanging out at the hotel.

Ashton is quite the fish these days. I can barely keep him out of the water and have to keep a very close eye on him. He thinks he can swim!

There was a lemon tree right outside our hotel room door. Burke and Ellie were obsessed with climbing it and picking the unripe lemons. Every time we left our room we ended up with lemons in the pockets.

The kids and I were in the room a lot and Braxton was a huge help with Bradley.

We went to the beach one afternoon and as you can see Burke and Braxton had a grand time chasing waves. I am not an ocean lover, so I was happy that they were content to chase waves and dig in the sand.

Burke loves rocks these days and as you can see going to California didn't stop him from collecting rocks. I think we brought home 10 pounds of rocks from the beach.

Braxton was the bravest of the two this trip. He went out a little deeper, and he tried body surfing. It didn't last really long as he was pounded by a huge wave! Thankfully Ricky was close by and Brax made it to shore alive!

Is this darling or what? I think this is one of my favorite pictures from our trip! Ellie had to warm up to playing in the water, so she spent most of her time in the sand. She loved just playing and being in the sun making sand castles.

Surprisingly Ashton wanted nothing to do with the water. I was relieved because I thought I would have to chase him around all afternoon, but as you can see, he sat by me the whole time on this towel. He filled up buckets and dumped them and then refilled them most of the time we were at the beach. What a nut!

Bradley slept most of the time we were at the beach. Taking a newborn to the beach is a little challenging, but he did great and I think he remained sand free!

DISNEYLAND AGAIN!!!!

How do you think Brad felt about Mickey? This was his first trip to Disneyland, obviously, he was only five weeks old after all. I happened to take this picture at a really bad moment, but he was really good the whole time we were at Disneyland.

This is the only full family picture we got this trip, so thankfully everyone was at least looking at the camera!

This is a fountain in Downtown Disney. I had taken the kids by myself while Ricky worked, so needless to say it was an intersesting morning. You wouldn't believe the looks we got from people on this trip having 5 children. People at like they have never seen a couple have 5 kids before. It was fun to look at the way people looked at us, and to hear the comments they had. I actually had one lady ask me why I had so many children. How is that for forward?

Ellie and I stood in line to meet three of the Disney princesses. Being the only girl in our family, we have to take time for just girl stuff. I was happy that Belle was there because currently she is Ellie's favorite princess! Ellie was thrilled to meet Belle, Jasmine and Mulan.

Okay, so I accidently added this picture twice and I could not for the life of me delete it. So, you all get to see it twice. Yeah!

Ashton is quite the ham! He is always ready to smile for the camera and be silly; especially when he knows he is being cute.

Braxton and Burke and a fun time trying on hats and looking at toys. They would have bought the whole store, given the chance.

Ellie could not get enough of all the fun princess stuff! She wanted this and that and pretty much anything pink. This was a trip of first for her. She got to ride Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain and Star Tours, all for the first time. This is quite a milestone in a child's life!!

Ashton's favorite ride was by far the Carousel. We rode this one twice in a row, and I literally had to pry his fingers off the bar at the end. He smiled and laughed the whole time!

Bradley will be two weeks old tomorrow and he is doing great! After a few rough days on bili lights he is healthy and happy. We couldn't love him anymore and are grateful that he is a good sleeper and eater!!

Braxton, Burke and Ellie all love their new brother to pieces!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHTON!!!!!

Ashton turned 2 on May 26th. I suppose that his best present was his new little brother, four days earlier. I have to admit that I felt a little guilty because Ash got a little shafted in light of us having a new baby. Thankfully he won't remember this birthday, and he was as happy as could be with his cupcakes!