For my sisters to see...

This is Olivia and my AMAZING base in a game of Canasta we played with mom and dad this Christmas... 5 clean, 3 dirty, and 4 red threes. Of course, we won.

Gingerbread Tradition 2010

My unfinished house. The roof fell off, so I had to start over and didn't have time to finish it. You can see it had potential:

Lyle's disturbing gingerbread house. See all the murdered bears:


Cute Olivia and her cute house:

Arizona Gingerbread

This year the Christiansen family did ginger bread houses for the first time. It was so much fun! Brent and I worked on ours together. We worked well together because we are both very neat and orderly decorators.

My new letterpress

This year for Christmas my amazing brother-in-law gave me a Kelsey letterpress. It pretty much rocks!!! I can't wait to use it. First thing to make... awesome gift for Brent.

The press...
Me and the press...
Brent with the press after he got it all prepared to ship to New York...

I love my new nephew, Grayson!!!

Adaptation...

Since we don't really have a kitchen, we have to be creative. Tonight we made corn on the cob by boiling it in an electric skillet with bottled water. It worked pretty well.

One of Lyle's Favorite Holidays...

Yesterday was National Cheesecake Day. Since my husband adores a good cheesecake, we went to a really good bakery in town and got a couple pieces.

We also went to Saratoga today and got Putnam Market sandwiches and went to the cutest little paper store there. It was a fun day with my husband.

Chickens...

Our neighbors, Stacy and Jesse, raise chickens. Today we came home to all of them hanging out under our stairs. One of them is a tiny rooster. He has the funniest crow. It is high pitched and like he has laryngitis. We love listening to him in the mornings.

Going Country...

For about a month we are crashing in this place out in the serious county of Nassau, NY. It has smelly water, a tiny bathroom, and no kitchen, but we do have a fridge, good air conditioning, and very affordable rent. We are glad we could find someplace to live until we know for sure whether we are moving to Wisconsin this year or not.

To help with the smelly water, our neighbor, Jesse, put a filter on the shower. It has made it bearable.

We didn't expect to have a fridge, so we were super excited to see that the owners put in a new little refrigerator before we moved in. We immediately filled it up. Yay for not having to eat out every night!

Summer Love...

Yesterday, my aunt Jessi took Lyle and me out on the lake for the whole afternoon boating. It was so much fun!!! We loved tubing and hanging out with Jessi and Jayden and Grant.

We found a path...

We got accepted into Medical School! Medical College of Wisconsin. It is so relieving. I had pretty much given up hope. In fact, we were in the car and I was telling Lyle I am almost positive we aren't getting into a school this year, and mid-sentence the phone rang and it was Wisconsin. Yay for being wrong! I am super excited!

Go Green!!!

North to the South...

On the journey back home to New York, we decided to take a route through South Dakota, so Ly could see the Black Hills and the Badlands. It was really fun, but super hot.

4th of July cookout at Grandma's...

How many people can you fit around a table for a game of Nines? I think we pushed the limits...

We got a SERIOUS flat tire today...

Last Day in Flagstaff...

My aunt Dena mentioned going to see Montezuma Castle, so we went to check it out today. It is a big cliff dwelling. It was pretty cool, though it was WAY too hot outside. Afterwards we went to Sodona. We mostly just drove through. When we come out to visit Arizona not in the summer, we will definitely go back there and spend some time.

Fresh Paint...

When we were packing to go on our trip, Lyle packed up his painting clothes. When I questioned him about it, he said "I might need them... you never know!" Well, he was right! His mom had a few walls she wanted painted, and since Ly brought his clothes he volunteered to paint them. She hated the blue color on one of the walls in her living room, and wanted it grey. She also wanted to paint one of the walls in her sewing studio a fun bright color. I think Ly enjoyed doing something for his mom:

Going Fishing...

Saturday we decided to go fishing, well Lyle and John went fishing and Sandy and I sunbathed and talked. It was really fun. We went to Lake Mary, in Flagstaff. In the morning we went to the upper lake and the boys caught a lot of little fish that they just threw back. In the evening we went to the lower lake and they caught two rainbow trout.

The first spot we went fishing was really rocky, so Ly and John kept loosing their hooks in the rocks. So, this was a common scene of the morning... the boys at the tackle box:

Lyle catching his first fish of the day... but it was a perch, so he threw is back:

My father-in-law, John, casting his line:

My adorable husband chilling while he fishes:

John taking his hook out of the first trout he caught:

Mitering 101...

While visiting Arizona, I decided to finish up the edges of some of Ly's quilts. I am glad I decided to, because Sandy taught be how to properly bind with bias tape, and how to do a mitered corner. Though I still need practice, it looks TONS better than what I was doing before.

House Hunting?

When we first got to Flagstaff we went and saw some local sights with Ly's mom, Sandy. One of the coolest things to see here is Walnut Canyon. It is some local native american cliff dwellings. It was a really fun hike and excursion.

Holy Smoke!!!

The fire started Sunday morning, originating from a camp site. Today is Thursday and it is still raging. They lifted the evacuation order yesterday, with great caution, so we finally got to come home. Here is a photo from John and Sandy's front yard today. It has moved around to the back of the mountain. You can see the whole mountain side is completely burned. The fire has burned 14000 acres so far. They expect it to take several weeks to get it put out. This is so crazy!

Durango and Silverton...

When I was a child my favorite family vacation was to Durango and Silverton, Colorado. I haven't been back since I was about 12 years old, though. I was nervous I wouldn't love it as an adult as much as a when I was a child, but I worried for no reason. It was awesome!!! We walked the shops in downtown Durango, got chocolates and fudge at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, stayed in a cabin up in the San Juan Mountains, and best of all... We got to ride on the narrow gauge steam engine train through the mountains up to Silverton. I loved loved loved our little trip to Colorado.

In Durango:

The Train:

I didn't start the fire...

Sunday morning a forest fire broke out super close to my in-laws home in Flagstaff, AZ. Since we are visiting, I was there to see it, and it was pretty amazing to see such a big fire so close. We were evacuated from the area, so we packed up and left for our trip to Durango, CO early. So far the house is okay, but the fire has burned over 8000 acres and it still going. Here are some photos I took from John and Sandy's front yard, before we left.

The "Big Ditch"

While in Arizona visiting Lyle's parents, we went to see the Grand Canyon. This is both of our first time seeing it. We want to come back another time and hike it to the river.

Here Ly and I are at Lipon Point:
Lyle coming out of the tower at Desert Point. The building had the coolest wall paintings.
I was having fun with the camera (took tons of silly photos). I told everyone they had to make a funny face. I love how John and Sandy (Lyle's parents) made the exact same face!

Biloxi and New Orleans...

Lyle had never seen the Gulf of Mexico, so on the way to New Orleans we stopped in Biloxi and went to the beach. I love how warm the water in the gulf is!
In New Orleans, we, of course, had to get a po-boy for dinner.
This is for you, mom. Lyle thought you would like it:
For breakfast we went to Cafe du Monde. They gave us an insane amount of powder sugar to go with our 3 little beignets.

While wondering the streets, we went into a little AMAZING art gallery. I found an artist I love love love. Denis Lebecq.