The stockings are hung...

Hands down, this is my absolute most favorite time of year; in fact I seriously go into a mild depression when it is all over. My family has always referred to me as "Carrie Christmas" (Christensen is my maiden name) and I usually tend to go overboard but nothing makes me happier then seeing my house all dolled up with Christmas decorations!

My girls are Christmas diehards too so last weekend we decided it was about time to start getting in the spirit. We blasted the Christmas music throughout our house, the girls put on their Santa hats, and we were ready to go. Needless to say our entire storage unit is filled with Christmas decorations so it is quite the big undertaking. We have not one,

not two,

but three Christmas trees to decorate.

Yep, when you have 3 girls, you have one tree completely dedicated to princesses! We finished up the day watching our favorite movie “Elf” and putting the last finishing touches on the princess tree. It was the perfect day. Hope you all have a merry and bright season too!

like mother like daughter

Yum- one of my favorite treats- Twizzlers!

Mackenzie found my secret stash hidden in the diaper bag

Apparently she has a sweet tooth just like her momma!

Sleeping Beauties

Do you think my girls are spoiled?! TJ does for sure....My girls have been so funny lately with their sleeping patterns. I about lost it when I went in to check on them and sure enough, Madison was wearing her eye mask and dead asleep. I just couldn't resist the photo opportunity. I don't even know where the eye mask came from but I am pretty sure it goes to one of their dolls.

This is how I find them most nights...they actually don't share a room, but apparently they should. Every night this summer they had sleepovers and it has been a hard habit to break once school started. Even if they start in their own rooms, by morning they are snuggled up with each other. I guess that is better then them waking me up!

Let's hope we can break her of this! Sweet dreams!

Off to School



Cali walking her sissy to school. I am not sure who was more sad to see Madison off, me or Cali. We both get so excited when 3 pm rolls around and we get to go get our Maddie! 





I absolutely hate when summer comes to an end and I have to send my kids off to school. I get this horrible pit in my stomach of nervousness and dread but they were both SO excited this year. Madison is now in 1st grade at Wildfire and has an amazing teacher, Mrs. Yancy, so I couldn't be happier. 

Neighbor Friends: Arden, Madison, and Audrey off to school

Cali is in her last year of preschool and now goes 4 days a week to La Casa de Cristo. Her teachers are cute little grandmas that are so loving...the perfect combination for preschoolers!

Cali was all smiles for her first day!

I am so grateful for my darling husband who gives both of our girls the most amazing blessings before the school year starts. They look forward to their special blessings and individual promises and you can feel the Spirit so strong in our home during these times. The blessings are great reminders of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. I hope everyone is having a great year so far! 

Our First Day of School Treat, not a #2 pencil, but a #1!

Dancing Queens

Both Madison and Cali had their big dance recitals in June and did fabulous! They had a great time and soaked up all the attention. They loved getting ready for the big performances by coming to the "Mommy Salon" and getting the works done with curls and a little make-up. Here are some pictures of the photo shoot I put them through before the shows. As you can tell, Cali was a little more into it then Madison!  

NO MORE PICTURES MOM!

Cali danced to a few songs from the musical "The Little Mermaid" which was perfect for her and Madison danced to Hannah Montana's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."

Daddy always comes through with flowers for his girls and they keep them in their rooms for weeks!

The adoring fans!

Don't mind the curlers in Madison's hair...she was performing that night! I must have gone through 3 bottles of hairspray that week and burned myself 10 times on the curling iron! They both had 2 performances, a dress rehearsal, and tech rehearsals! I was exhausted...not really sure what I am going to do when I have 3 of them dancing! TJ just may have to learn how to curl hair!

The two cutest fans: Mackenzie and Kate!

They were troopers to last through the 3 hour performance!

Happy Happy Birthdays!

Since my last post, all my girls have turned one year older and wiser too (a tear just rolled down my cheek!). Here is a little summary of their birthday celebrations, which in our house seem to last all month long.


Cali turned 4 in February and needless to say, there is never a dull moment at our house with her around. She makes us laugh and smile each and everyday and has such a cute personality with an angel face to go with it. She is obsessed with playing all the time...it doesn't matter what it is (Barbie’s, ponies, kitchen) but if Madison stops even to take a potty break, she immediately flops to the floor and throws a 4-year-old size tantrum. She is so fun to go on little dates with and will talk your ear off about anything and everything that goes through her mind. One of her favorite things to do is blare Justin Beiber's "Baby, Baby" song or Taylor Swift's "Today Was A Fairytale" in the car and belt out all the words together. If she can tell you are having a bad day or are stressed out, she will randomly and unexpectedly come up and give you a big hug and say, "Mommy, I love you." It’s priceless!

For her party, we went and rode the "ponies," aka the carousel, at the McCormick Railroad Park. She loves My Little Ponies so we did our best to pull off a great Pony Party!

We rented out the train car and they played all sorts of fun games with the kids.

Good thing we had Cousin Tyler to lead the team!

We headed inside the train for Pony cake and ice cream! Yum!





And finished off the party with a ride on the train and a Pony ride on the carousel.

Pure Bliss!

Madison tuned 6 in April and wanted a Mermaid Swim Party, not to be mistaken for “The Little Mermaid.” Apparently she is way too mature for that! We were so excited to finally use our new pool that we had been simply looking at for months because it was too cold to use. We heated the pool and hot tub and let the mermaids loose.




The Mermaid Cake



Make a Wish!

The celebrating was definitely not over...we had a family party....

A birthday dinner at Outback.....

And a Tea Party at the English Rose Tea Room!





It was decorated so cute and they had a treasure chest of antique hats to try on and wear during tea.

 



Even Mackenzie joined in on the fun and actually kept

the hat on the whole time. Thanks Candace for such

a fun afternoon with the girls!

Despite of all my efforts to keep her a newborn,
Mackenzie had her big 1st birthday in July.

We had a family celebration and BBQ at our house and

she was surrounded by darling cousins who always give

her so many loves and hugs!

The girls had fun stunting with Uncle Chad!

 What do you think...future BYU cheerleader??

Dig In Kenzie-Cakes!



We turned her around and gave her a big girl car seat for her special day, only to learn at her doctor's appointment that the new recommendation is to keep them rear facing until age 2! Sorry baby...but look how happy she was even if it was short lived!