Punta Cana

I promised mom I'd post a picture of me and Jeremy... We went to the Dominican Republic on a free vacation paid for by Fidelity. We spent our money doing fun stuff like horse back riding and paraglyding. (?) It was so so so so so beautiful. We have to plan a trip to the beach again some time as a family. But not in another country. I got food poisoning and was out sick for 2 days. mmmm... the memories...

by the way, the girl at the top had the horse that Jeremy's loved to ride along with. I got the small horse that was trying to outrun another small horse... so Jer and I have no galloping pictures together.. :o( But we had a blast!

Super Bowl

For the Super Bowl the last couple of years, John and I have had a little party. John barbecues ribs, chicken, and steak with rice and beans and other yummy treats and we all just hang out and have a good time. This year was not any different. Word has gotten out about John's barbecue so a few more people showed up this year, but it was fun because we had plenty of food. We completely missed the first half because we were busy cooking, etc. but it was a great game and we ate plenty of good food.

I know this family revolves around food, but it's always good food right? The kitchen was so out of control. I couldn't find anything that I was looking for towards the end of the night. The leftovers, by the way, are almost entirely gone. Hope you guys had a great day yesterday even if you didn't watch the super bowl.

CARRIBEAN

This is the "place" we ate our lunch on the U.S. Virgin Islands. I had the best beans and rice and Jer had Jerk chicken. (note: I neglected to get the pot smokers in the shot)

We also went snorkeling here and fed some fishies!! They swarmed Jer and I. We were overwhelmed by them. All in all, it was awesome.

Next we went to St. Maarten where I saw way too many nude men. But, Jeremy seemed to like it. We rented beach chairs at this mexican restaurant/beach front?? I wanted to look like a biker chick for once.... What do you think??? And yes, we do not tan well.

The next pic is of me enjoying the warm water at St. Maarten. There is one think I loved about this beach. The water had a sweet smell to it. I remember the beaches in California smelt like strong salty funk. I couldn't believe how wonderful the breeze was. You couldn't even tell you were at the beach.

Jeremy's favorite part of the cruise ship was the big screen T.V. that showed all the football games. The view was always amazing from the ship. The water was often still, but on other days it was a'ragin. The rocking of the boat caught me off guard the first day and I didn't think I would make it. Jeremy had to guide me down the halls for some time. After the first night, sleeping felt like the big mamma carnival was slowly rocking me to sleep.... until she hit the gas at 2 a.m.!!!!

Lying to your children

I think that we have all been there at one point in our lives. We want someone to do something immediately and not try to explain it to them in detail why it is sooo important that they do the task that we ask of them now. Alice sometimes just loves to take off her seat belt, or for that matter not even put it on. So me, the neglectful dad, will be driving down the road and notice that my 3 year old hasn't put on her seat belt yet or is doing it really slowly. Expaining why the seat belt is so important is not an option, so i tell her that if she doesn't do it right now the police will come get her.
There are other things I tell my children that are not exactly true but they do curve behavior that I do not appreciate. for instance over Christmas I told my alice, when she was not acting nicely, that santa was comming to take her back. I would pretend to call santa and have a conversation with him. to accomplish this task I would pretend that my hand was a phone.

So setting that as a background the other day when i wasn't acting the way that alice wanted me too she pretended to call the police and have them take me back! She said, "hello police, my daddy is bad! You want to come take him back? Ok bye" then she turned to me and said, "Daddy you bad the police are comming to take you back."


being a dad is great!

HO HO YOOOO!

Hey fellow Christiansons!! Merry Christmas!! Since I'm proud to say that I've talked to ALL of you today, I know you've had a horrible Christmas since I wasn't there! I know, I miss you too. Jer and I had fun opening all your presents! I took a happy picture of Jer with his present from John.. THANKS JOHN. THANKS MEG for the bowls!! And of course, Jer doesn't take pictures because he doesn't think about it.... so there's none of me. I made him take this last picture to show off my new boots! On a Christmas note: I just wanted to let everyone know how grateful I am for the family I have. I love each of you so much and I hate to be so far away from all of you. Being apart makes the heart grow fonder, and I'll only start hating you guys when I move closer... But, seriously, life has little meaning without being apart of the lives of those you love. I'm so blessed for the relationships I have with all of you, and I can't express to you enough the love I have in my heart this day from the memories of all of you. Merry Christmas, Jess

Some news

Hi Everyone!

Well, I just got some news from my doctor that might explain all of my problems I've had the past few years. It might also explain my frequent miscarriages. I was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I can't have anything with gluten in it, which means bread is now my enemy.
At first I was really upset, but the more I think about it the more I realize most of my other problems will go away if I just stick to a gluten-free diet. I haven't had a proper farewell party to bread though. I feel like ordering Papa Johns, having mom make home made cinamin roles, have Erica whip some bananna bread up, and invite the Amish peeps over to be my caterers for the day. After I pass out from dough heaven, maybe then I can say goodbye. But, before I got the news I just finished up a work holiday part at Bucca De Beppo. ITALIAN!!
Since I never talk to everyone regularly, except Erica :o), I wanted to share the news and officially start the pitty party. Ok, so I'm over it... I think. The doctor said this was genetic so... look out siblings!
Thanks to mom, she informed me I might be skinny forever. She told me how wonderful it would feel to have everyone jealous of me... mmmm... I'd rather eat bread!!!
Other than that, Jer and I are just dandy. We are planning a trip to the carribean in January. We got a steal of a deal through my brother in-law. I'm soooo excited!! I love our adventures together out here. But, I really miss all of you. We'll try to make it out next year, and hopefully it wont be so expensive to fly. Don't forget that we have a spare room now and some foot room, visitors welcome!!!

Love you guys!
Jess

Christmas lights

Hello Everyone and Merry Christmas!

Remember driving down that street in CA called candy cane lane? That was the title wasn't it?
well we last night went to a home that was decorated just like that. They allow people to pull into their drive way and look at Christmas lights. The place is huge and the driveway is circular so that you can see their entire property. We also went to Gerties a pizza joint here in twin falls. They serve all sorts of funny pizza like smores pizza, taco pizza etc. The kids loved it.

Elliott by the way is doing better or i should say he is progressing. He is almost walking without support. We have a little baby bike that he likes to stand behind and push around the house. As for his eating he is trying all sorts of new textures and flavors of food. Yesterday he had pancakes for lunch and spaghetti for dinner. We still are seeing both a speech therapist and a physical therapist but we are delighted that he is moving in a positive direction.

Alice is still the best little girl in the whole world. Last Friday as I was saying goodbye and heading out the door for work i told her, "love you princess!" she replied, "love you too, princess!" Alyson couldn't stop laughing.

I lost my wedding ring over thanksgiving luckily i found it. The funny thing about losing my wedding ring was that it happened at the same place where i lost my swimming trunks on Valentines Day.

Anyways love ya