Matt, Melody and boys

The Christensen Family picture.

Front row, Jared, Jason

Middle row, David, Ryan

Back row, Melody, Matt and Kevin

"The other morning I (Melody) was cleaning up the kitchen while the boys were out in the garage getting ready to deliver a cabinet they had made for some people here in town. Anyway, I hear Matt holler, "Mel, grab the bb-gun and get out here, quick!" So, I do as I'm told. When I got there, I saw Matt laying on the ground keeping his eye on the target, a mouse. Ryan and Jared were standing back watching different areas to make sure the mouse didn't escape, and David and Jason were on the ground with Matt trying to get a good look. Kevin was in my arms checking out the gun I held. I armed Matt with his gun, and Ryan with his (just in case Dad missed) and stood back to watch. Two shots later (the first one only got the leg) the mouse was a goner and I was snapping a picture of some very proud boys with their latest kill. So, no fear, we still have "redneck" running through our veins."
-As quoted in the Christensen Family christmas letter 2008

If these old walls could talk...

Dad and Mom have decided to tear our house down and build a new one back up, with three bathrooms instead of one... Hmmm, doesn't make sense now they're the only ones there, does it? I didn't think so either. But, this is what they want to do, it's their house, they deserve it.

We kids are all kinds of excited thinking of what this will mean when we go home to visit with our own families; but we are also a bit nostalgic missing how things used to be. This was our kind of "normal:"

• Waiting in line on Christmas morning to see what Santa had brought, there was only one bathroom and of course we had to wait for all to filter through it before we could see our haul...
• Showers starting at an unheard of hour in our friend's homes, just so we all could get through the shower and be ready by the time school started.
• On the return portion of a jaunt into the city, by the time we would hit Roosevelt, we would start calling out our turn to hit the bathroom. (i.e. "I get the bathroom first!" I'm second!" I'm going to pee my pants, I'm third!".... you get the idea...)
• No privacy while in the shower, the door was ALWAYS unlocked! (What if someone needed to use the other facilities located in the same room?)

Now I realize quite a few of you might find this appalling, even embarrassing, but like I said, this was our "normal"...

Now Mom and Dad are disrupting our normal and all I can think of to say is Thank You!!!