I've really been neglecting this thing but with good reason we've been really busy. Addie and I took a trip to Idaho for a few weeks to see Elder Christiansen and the fam before he left to South Dakota for his mission.Mitch celebrated his 25th birthday, Addie is on the verge of breaking through the crawling barrier, and we went camping for a few days up in Door County, Wisconsin which was a bunch of fun!! Instead of drawling on and on about what we've been up to I decided to tell it in pictures, cause lets face it, that's what people look at when they check out blogs anyway, right? of course right.Here we go. Addie and I walking on the "sand dunes" on the east side of the Wisconsin Peninsula. Kind of pitiful sand dunes compared to the ones in Bruneau, Idaho. Mitch, Addie and I at the top of a 75 foot look out tower at sunset on Lake Michigan. Addie putting her feet in Lake Michigan. Papa and Addie. Mitch and Addie climbing the look out tower Mitch, Addie and I in front of the lookout tower after a long hike to get there. Addie walking with Papa on fathers day. Papa makes her happy!! Mitch enjoying a good stroll with Addie on Fathers Day/His birthday too! Momma and Addie outside practicing standing. Bubbles! and more bubbles! Tristan, Addie and Uncle Colby at the Discovery Center in Boise. Kim and Bug playing with a puppy. Long Hair. Short Hair. Addie taking a nap with Grandma Christiansen Addie eating her first shaved ice from the sno shack!! Tear. Grandpa Christiansen reading a story to Addie about manners. Addie playing in her hippopotomus swimming pool. Addie wearing a billy bob mullet, or would it be a fullet on her? Addie wearing my old All Star Marching Band Hat Uncle Colby with Addie A Rag quilt I made for a friends baby shower A binki clip I made for a friends baby shower A few burp cloths I made for a friends baby shower

Mitch and I borrowed the stake canning machine last week and decided to do some of our food storage.I had been collecting food stuffs when the prices were good and my cupboards were stocked so full that I didn't have room for anymore. A sister in our ward was moving to Arizona and was getting rid of some unused #10 cans for free!! So I snatched them up and Mitch and I canned for our date night. We did flour, sugar, black beans, rice, quick oats,and potato flakes. We only did about 25 cans in all but I felt so accomplished after we were done. The canning machine was so easy to use, I was thinking it was going to be a big process, but I just prepared everything before Mitch got home and then he helped me with the machine so we could get the lids on as tight as possible(He's the buff one you see.)We had a lot of fun!!

Wisconsin is lucky enough to have a gourmet jelly bean factory!! Ok.. so jelly beans aren't my favorite but it was a lot of fun to go with some other Mom's and take our kids to see the short little tour. It Really isn't a factory per se just a shipping building and candy store. The tour was mostly videos depicting the way they make the Jelly Bellies and some history behind the family owned business. My favorite part was the testing table where you could test out all the flavors!! They don't just make Jelly Bellies either, they make fruit snacks, chocolates, and candy corn... Who knew? Well I tried some flavors that were shall we say interesting? "Baby Wipe" flavor being the most enjoyable while still tasting inedible. They had pencil shavings, vomit and black pepper, which I was not brave enough to try. I'm surprised no one has come up with a "SNOZBERRY" flavor yet. Addie seemed to enjoy herself although she had no idea what was going on, she loved to eat her Jelly Belly hat which was probably her favorite part of the whole experience. I wonder if they make their hats taste like banana flavor and that's why she liked it so much!! Just Kidding.

Thank You Becca for the cute bows for Addie!! They all are so adorable, I still can't believe you made all of them!!

Addie absolutely loves strawberries,so one day I stripped her down and let her go at one which was so adorable to watch.


The weather turned hot this last Friday getting up to 85* so we decided for our date we would take Addie to the park and let her enjoy the good weather. We set out some blankets and she played so well in the shade of the trees. It was so fun to watch her perk up at different sounds, like motorcycles, the Shwann man truck, and even a cool breeze was something different for her. She also had two new experiences in the playground. She got to swing which she loved and Papa took her down her very first slide, which I'm not exactly sure she liked. Mitch got a slide burn which he's showing off in the picture, and I KNOW he wasn't happy about that, you can't tell through the smile on his face though.

Addie celebrated her 6th month birthday a few weeks ago (sorry about the slow post about it) Well she went to the pediatricians for her checkup and some more shots and she was a trooper. The first shot she didn't even flinch, the second shot she didn't start to cry until the nurse took out the needle and she soothed right down afterwards and was happy the rest of the morning, which was amazing. Of course in the afternoon she got cranky cause her legs hurt but she slept it off with a good 3 hour nap, which gave momma time to read. Thanks Addie!! Mitch and I celebrated her 6th month birthday with... da digga da... A BATH!! Ok so it wasn't an extraordinary day but we did sing to her and we got a cute picture with a foam 6 on her forehead!


At six months she weighs 15 pounds 3 1/3 oz and is 27 1/8 in tall!! She has only been sleeping about 5 hours on average at a time at night so the pediatrician recommended we try to help her learn how to self sooth which has been brutal for me to listen to her whimper and cry but it seems to be working!! She can put her self to sleep now for naps and bedtime and is sleeping about 7 hours now which is awesome!! Mitch and I can hardly believe she is already half a year old, she continues to surprise us with the new things she is learning and we can't wait to see what's next for her!!

We were so blessed to hear the words of the Prophet and the Apostles this past weekend during the 179th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Mitch and I especially enjoyed Elder Hollands talk abou the last days of Christ's life and ministry and about his atonement and not being alone. We also enjoyed the two talks on temples by Elder Bednar and Elder Gary L. Stevenson. The messages of "you are never lost when you can see the temple" and "Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness" were such powerful words. May we all take a spiritual walk through our homes and make them as clean and orderly as we can, to make it a place of safety and worship, and as close to the temple as we can.
Mitch and I would like to thank all of our friends who joined us for a pre- conference get together and for the wonderful food everyone brought to share. It is so wonderful to have such great friendships while we are all so far away from family.

Mitch and his group from Marquette Dental School got to go to an 3rd grade elementary class this past week to teach them about dental hygiene. They learned how to brush properly, the parts of the tooth and Mitch taught them about what kinds of foods are nutritious for your teeth!! He really enjoyed himself as you can see in the pictures. Mitch is thinking of going into pediatric dentistry so this particular project got him very enthusiastic about that specialization. He is always thinking about how he could better communicate with kids about better hygiene and how he could relate more completely with them. He said he was surprised that most of the kids didn't even know where cavities come from. He would be happy to tell you anytime what exactly a cavity is and where is comes from, just ask!