Tag! I'm it!

Thanks for the tag, Jenn! Here's my first official tag...

4 Jobs I've had:
1- Mom (that includes wife, homemaker, cook, etc.)
2- Starbucks Coffee Barista
3- Piano teacher (currently)
4- Janitorial Technician (cleaned bathrooms from 4-7 a.m. at Ricks College)

4 movies I watch over and over:
1- All Gilmore girls DVDs
2- Noises Off
3- DaVinci Code
4- Pride and Prejudice (BBC/A&E version)
Oh! And Oscar, and Office Space, and The Illusionist, and Big Fat Liar, and Mad About Mambo, and The Shawshank Redemption, and anything with Ben Stiller and Tom Hanks, and....(told you I love movies!)

4 of my favorite foods:
1- Cheesecake Factory's Chocolate Tuxedo Cream
2- Mom's Orange Rolls
3- chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!
4- Mary Dahl's Orange Chicken (heaven in a pan)

4 places I've visited:
1- Italy (Roma, Firenzie, ahh..bella!)
2- London
3- Paris
4- Pullman, Washington

4 favorite T.V. shows:
1- Gilmore girls!!! (I own every DVD from Season 1-7...thanks to Mom in China!)
2- Frasier
3- The Daily Show with John Stewart (yes, and the Colbert Report)
4- Alton Brown's shows on Food Network

5 Guilty pleasures:
1- watching MXC and Iron Chef reruns
2- watching MICHAEL FLATLEY's sexy Feet of Flames while eating aforementioned cheesecake
3- ERASURE music (owning all but a few albums)
4- wearing University of Idaho colors (black and gold) They look better on me than blue and orange!
5- Brenda-ness rubbed off on me, I'm watching bits of NASCAR...

4 Hobbies:
1- piano (21 years now...)
2- scrapbooking
3- my kids
4- blogging

4 favorite websites:
1- all friend's blogs
2- Food Network
3- Internet Movie Database (imdb.com)
4- gilmoregirls.org

4 things that no one knows:
1- I collect teapots, movies, four-leaf-clovers, and Nativity Scenes
2- I can wiggle my ears
3- I have perfect pitch, but can't wistle
4- I have a green post-it note (with MY name, of course) on the bottom of my parents' Yamaha Baby Grand piano.

4 people that I tag: (Only four? I want to tag everyone!)
1- My mom
2- Becca
3- Kami
4- Shelby

Baby Confusion!

Just a funny moment frozen in time...

Kissable baby cheeks

Carter on his two-month-old day. Precious baby!












The most adorable two-month-old ever!

Fireworks and family time

Taken on the Fourth of July in Couer d'Alene as we waiting impatiently for the fireworks over the lake. (We were all so tired by the time we got there, hence the bloodshot and baggy eyes)

A Toast to Kindergarten

First day of School


Ryanna could hardly wait for her school to start! She has talked about being in Kindergarten for 7 months and today was her big day. Ryanna is keeping with tradition by giving her teacher a flower grown in our yard. I took a Marigold to my teacher and Ryanna took a yellow rose in a Chinese vase to her teacher. Her teacher is in our ward and is such a neat lady.

Ryanna going to school! (and showing off her new pink backpack)










Ryanna and her new friend Jaleigh.
Cute girls on the school bus.

Parents were waving and some crying. (I was cheering)
The Principal invited all the parents to share in a "Toast to Your Kindergarten-er" and English Muffins. This was such a cute idea and so we toasted to our darling kids.

Ryanna Banana

Self-titled: Ryanna Banana, the Smart Girl.

Things that Go

The wonders of Digital Scrapbooking! Mom, thanks for making this one of Dawson!

"Centennial High, we long will cherish..."

My husband has been out of high school for 10 years! His reunion was over the weekend and we weren't able to make it. In light of his reminiscing, this is his recap of the last decade:

"I spent one year attending Snow College, before serving in the Des Moines, Iowa Mission. Within a week of my return, I was reintroduced to a wonderful gal and was engaged a month later. I married Angela Christensen (class of ’99) in the Boise Temple in February 2001. During my first year at Boise State, our first child was born. We were told that we were to expect a boy. However, on April Fool’s Day of 2002, our beautiful daughter, Ryanna, was born!

For the next while, I kept trudging through my classes, served as President of the Pre-Law Society, and was blessed to work at the Idaho Attorney General’s Office. In September of 2004, our first son, Dawson, was born. After suffering through, and enduring the LSAT, I graduated from BSU in May 2006 with my Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice Administration.


Last summer, we moved to Moscow, Idaho so I could start law school at the University of Idaho. Class of 2009, baby! I just finished working down at City Hall, with the Moscow City Attorney. As if that wasn’t fun enough, our family expanded by one more and Carter was born on June 22nd, 2007.


I am starting my second year of law school. I am also happy with life, as I have a terrific wife and wonderful children. Ryanna (five) is starting Kindergarten next week, Dawson (three next month) is such a fun little guy and Carter (two months) is learning about how to sleep through the night. Being here in Vandal Country is fun and I wear my Blue-and-Orange Bronco colors proudly...(and sometimes very discreetly!)"

Carter's Birth Announcement

I know that Carter is actually like 6 weeks old now, but since postage stamps are so ridiculously expensive, this is how I'm announcing his birth! He's HERE! This is Carter's Birth Announcement that my creative mother made! She's amazing...but it's not hard since the subject is so darn cute! (I'm not a proud mother, am I?)

Board games, China and old friends

What a riot these last couple weeks have been! Barely making the trip down in our rickety old van, we spent every waking minute playing hard (board games) and working hard (packing my memories into boxes from my parents house). My folks moved to Shanghai, China three days ago and I am still twitching! It was bittersweet, as they will have many neat experiences, but I still will miss them.

I had such a fun birthday this year! I got to get back in touch with some old friends from high school. What neat gals they are and our kids all played together at Settler's Park! I wish that I lived closer so it could be a weekly event.

It was also fun to have my siblings-in-law all together from North Carolina, Utah and Meridian. I know my kids are truly worn out, which means they must have had fun. How lucky we are to have such a wonderful extended family.

Family Picture Day

We had our family pictures taken last week, what a fun chore! This was the best shot of all of us. Ryan, me, Ryanna, Dawson and baby Carter. Say cheese!

I had an MRI!

I can finally say, "Yes, I've had an MRI, thank you." How cool is that? My epidural was a very traumatic tap, and had some rare complications because of it when Carter was born. My symptoms had escalated and it became so painful I couldn't hold my baby nor do much around the house. I went to the doctor and was immediately put on 'top priority' for my symptoms, in fear that I had an infection in my spine or neurological damage caused by the epidural.

Needless to say, things looked okay, but I still have to take it easy and be careful. They're not sure what is wrong, so that's why I'm having Faith and just leaving it up to the Lord. I can say that I've experience something I never want to do again, nor will I forget. What a night!

Ryan and his boys! (Sorry for the sideways picture again, I can't figure out how to make the picture UPRIGHT! I'll get it one of these days!)

Best buds

Big brother Dawson and baby Carter

Carter is here!

Carter Keirron Eugene Holdaway was born on June 22nd, 2007 at 5:06pm...after 24 1/2 hours of labor! Weighed in at 8lbs 6 oz. He is a wonderful little spirit and we're so grateful he's in our arms. He has two middle names, as Ryan and I couldn't decide on just one, so we gave him two! Keirron (prounounced key-aaron) is named after his Grandad Trent, and Eugene is named after his Great Grandfather. Welcome to the world little one! (sorry for the sideways picture) He is two days old in these pictures.

My Brown-eyed girl

Ryanna is five and is starting Kindergarten next month. She is reading at a first-grade level and is so sweet...when she naps! Look into those eyes and tell me who she reminds you of.

Happy Birthday Grammie!

Happy Birthday Grammie! Since you're turning 29....again; I wanted to do something special for you. I came up with 29 reasons why I love you so much, but I'm only going to post the top ten:
10) You make the most goregous quilts in the world.
9) You have the funniest sneezing routine I've ever seen. (You know, the first consecutive ones are quiet, but the last one shatters windows and eardrums)
8)You like the smell of kitty litter over laundry detergent.
7)You leave love notes on mirrors with lipstick and lipliner.
6)You drool when you hear Michael Buble or Tim McGraw songs.
5)You are always up for a teaching moment, especially when it comes to homemade whipping cream dispensers... (10 years later, still scraping off the ceiling...)
4)You are good at everything you do, you name it, you do it perfectly.
3)You never give up on anyone, you always keep hoping and praying when a soul is wandering around...not knowing what they're looking for.
2)You are an incredible example of love, loyalty and of an unshaken testimony of the Gospel.
And the NUMBER ONE reason why I love you is:
1) You adore my children, and they know they're loved more than anyone in the world. Thank you for being you.

Awesome Dawson

The most handsome almost-three-year-old ever! Dawson loves his Woody Cowboy Doll.

Angela's Budda Belly

I am 9 months pregnant and headed to the hospital! Taken June 21, 2007.