Tis' the Season

I don't know if anyone else had this problem with Santa, but he was a slob and tracked snow in our house, then I got to clean it up!! I thought he knew better. Merry Christmas.

You can tell by the look on Kinsley's face that we had a rough Christmas Eve, I'll get to that later.

Here she is later feeding her new baby in her new high chair.

Ryder's new PJ's and cowboy boots!

So we had a great Christmas........, kind of. We did, we had a good one, the health fairy just wasn't on our side. Kinsley woke up from her nap on Christmas Eve with a high fever, Tylenol and TLC and we started the Eve festivities. By midnite she was really sick and I was on my way to Urgent Care in Idaho Falls for a double ear infection diagnosis, then we were off to Walgreens for their 24 hour pharmacy and antibiotics. We got home around 2:30 am and no one slept (except Ryder) for the rest of the night, so the three of us had a long Christmas day. We had fun, but were super tired. Kinsley is now feeling a little better. But Ryder was at Urgent Care on Friday for his ears, throat and sinuses, more antibiotics! Then Wade started getting sick Friday night and has been very sick for the last two days. I am just praying that it doesn't get to me. It has been a long week and am looking forward to getting back into our routine and back on track.

We also have to ask all of you to keep Wade's Grandma Janet in your thoughts. She is very sick and has a long recovery ahead of her, we hope she gets feeling better real soon.

We also have a good friend that is seriously ill and in the hospital in Salt Lake. He is now going to get a pacemaker and that will hopefully help him. He and his family are in our thoughts.

A couple posts ago I put out information about the Idaho Food Bank. I am still urging everyone to donate money or time, they need both. And I want to thank my good friend from Kuna for commenting and sharing her Food Bank experience, I love hearing your thoughts. I appreciate all the feedback, it makes this a lot more fun.

So 2013 is coming to a close and I have been thinking about it alot lately. (I've had a lot of time since I have been sitting on the couch with sick kids for 6 days!) There have been many good times this year, but I do hope that 2014's good times are just as great, if not even better. I think we should all name the top 13 highlights of 2013. Keep in mind that the word "highlight" has different meanings for each of us, and to narrow the year down to 13 moments is ridiculous, but I am going to give it a heck of a try:
1. Our 2nd nephew joined the Christiansen crew
2. Ryder rode a horse by himself for the first time
3. Kinsley walked for the first time
4. Wade and I got to ride with Ryder by himself for the first time
5. We went on a great family vacation
6. We have a great family
7. Remission
8. Hugs
9. A new addition to our home to make the "living" area more user friendly
10. We lived through the addition
11. Our jobs
12. Kinsley's 1st Birthday
13. I am going to call this one Etc. because I really can't narrow it to 13, it's impossible

Take the time to cherish the moments in your life. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, so we have to make the most of today. 2014 has already posed big challenges for our family, but we are going to buckle down and take them head on. Everything happens for a reason, right?

Resolutions? I haven't decided if I will make any this year. There are some that I really I need to make, but I still haven't decided. A friend of mine said that I should make some goals for myself personally instead of making them for me professionally. I hadn't thought about that, but I think it is very important. I am going to give myself the 30th & 31st to make some decisions and then I am really going to implement the changes/goals however small they may be and work on them. If I don't talk to you before, please have a safe and happy New Year.

Ready or not, here comes 2014, make the best of it and let it make the best of you.