2023 Recap

Dear Friends & Family, 

As we wrap up 2023, we can't help but feel grateful for all the memories, experiences, and lessons this year has brought us. We've been blessed with the joy of raising teenagers, and let's just say, it's been an unexpectedly beautiful ride. We are not sure why teenagers have the most to say after 10pm, but we're both getting really good at staying up way too late having our ears talked off by our favorite people, then sacrificing our beauty sleep and getting up for our 6am jobs. But we wouldn't have it any other way. 

Greg is still keeping things running at Amazon as the maintenance manager. His schedule can be intense, but we're grateful for his Mondays and Tuesdays off. He's been able to be more involved in the kids' activities, from starting up the Elementary Math Team again to chauffeuring Ellie to work most days. And let's not forget all the doctor, orthodontist, and allergist appointments - he's a pro at juggling it all. 

As for Hilary, I left my job at the Health Department when the federal funding ran out last December. But don't worry, I quickly found a new gig at Intermountain Health. I now work one mile from home at a physical therapy office, which means I get to enjoy a ridiculously short commute and nobody has thrown anything at myself or my coworkers. Physical Therapy appears to be a lot less polarizing than vaccinations during a pandemic, it seems. While I greatly miss the meaningful community outreach work, I'm happy to be working within my own community and only filling up my gas tank once every two weeks. I also finished off a Bachelor’s in Business-Marketing earlier this year at Western Governor's University. Something I totally forgot to mention in my first draft of the annual recap letter until my sister was all, "You do remember you finished an entire degree in the first four months of this year," and it turns out I'd maybe just blocked it out because I really had forgotten. That was an intense, but impactful, four months. 

2023 Recap:

January and February brought an unusual amount of snow days, which meant we had the perfect opportunity to build an epic snow cave, and got three different vehicles stuck in the snow during various storms. Hilary started her degree and finished her first 11 classes in January, and started her new job in February. We also were so excited to get to attend Grandma Ruth's gallery art show. 

Every one of these pictures were taken on different days of different storms. 

March and April were filled with adventures and even more snow days. Annie and Ellie went to their first solo concert and spent Spring Break in St. George, while the boys spent a lot of that week at Nicklecade. Annie was named a Student of the Month. We all woke up early one day to watch the sunrise on the Bonneville Salt Flats, which was incredible, but we ruined a few pairs of shoes in the process. 

May and June were filled with outdoor activities. We spent Mother's Day at Goblin Valley, did some kayaking at Spring Lake during a family reunion, and paddle-boarded the Jordan River with cousins. The girls both headed off to FSY, but to different campuses -- and Girls Camp together with Aunt Talina and their cousin Bailey. The kids finished up school with flying colors, and the girls crushed all their AP tests -- I ended up finding an envelope under the couch full of Awards Ellie had won and forgotten to tell us about. Ellie and Isaac were both invited to attend a special Awards Ceremony at their school where they both received top awards for their grades. 

July was a huge month for us! Our cousins from Saudi Arabia came to visit, and we spent our days at Causey Reservoir, Millcreek Canyon, Lagoon, Timpanogas Cave, Airborne, and of course, Grandma Ruth and Grandpa KC's house. At the same time, our cousins from Arizona came into town, which means we ended up at Causey Reservoir three times in a week or so, which is my kids favorite way to spend Summer. After everyone left, we headed to Denver to see Taylor Swift's Eras Tour and us girls had a blast singing along in our sparkly dresses. August included our Fairview Family Reunion and some excellent star gazing during the Perseid Meteor shower. The girls hiked to the top of Timpanogas with friends, and we all enjoyed one last lake day at Pineview. As always, the start of the school year brought some excitement. Annie even managed to get all four wisdom teeth pulled less than 24 hours before her school pictures. 

 

 

September was mostly about getting back into our school routine, Homecoming, and college campus tours for Annie. Isaac also underwent nasal surgery, which was stressful but went well.  

 

October was our big family trip to celebrate Grandpa Robert’s retirement with a 10-day vacation to the Bahamas with the whole Christensen side of the family – but Grandpa turns out to be very bad at retiring, because we got home and he headed into work the next day, having decided earlier this year to push off retirement until 2024.  

 

 

 

November was a busy month for all of us, with work and school keeping us occupied. We managed to sneak in some family time around Thanksgiving and even went to see the Elf Musical. Unfortunately, we all caught a nasty bug that knocked us flat for weeks. But we're slowly starting to come out of it and trying to salvage some of our favorite Christmas traditions before the holidays. 

 

 

 

Annie is seventeen years old and a Senior in High School. Her school schedule is intense, but it feels way easier than her Junior Year which included AP Calculus, so she’s enjoying the relative ease of her other seven AP/college courses. She still works at Chick-fil-A as a Team Champion and is always picking up more shifts than her parents think are reasonable. She also started an Internship this Semester at a Hospital where she rotates through OBGYN, Radiology, MedSurg, and more – with the multiple births she’s got to watch being her favorite part. She even got to glove up and play with a placenta and bag of waters after one of the births. She was just named by her internship teacher the Student of the Semester. She's been busy applying to colleges and has already received acceptances and Presidential Scholarships from many. However, she's currently in waiting mode since her first choice, the University of Utah, won't let her know if she'll receive a Presidential Scholarship until February. Her current class ranking of 1 and the rigor of her coursework being ranked in the top 1% does look promising for the scholarship she's hoping to get. We can't wait to see where she goes next! 

 

Ellie is a sophomore in High School this year and is fifteen years old, which means a learner's permit and going to her first high school dances were big milestones for this year. She is still working as a sweeper at the Elementary School four days a week after school, and she is crushing school with her 4.0 GPA.  She is taking a few honors and college courses but was much more excited to take Woodshop and Ceramics this year. One highlight this year was finishing off her Freshman year by getting a 5 on her AP Human Geography test and being named one of two Social Studies Students of the Year at her Middle School Awards Ceremony, and she was thrilled to pass her AP Spanish test and have her first 12 college credits of Spanish knocked out in ninth grade. Ellie fills her time with friends, siblings, and some Minecraft. 

Isaac is in 8th grade this year and turned 13 this Summer. He also grew like two and a half feet, or at least that’s how his Mom feels about it. He had a fantastic first year at the Middle School in 7th grade, and would often stay after class to talk to a few of his teachers, as they geeked out about Brandon Sanderson books and the Cosmere. When not reading, he is listening to books, podcasts about books, or podcasts about science. He was also invited to the Middle School Awards Ceremony, along with Ellie, this last June – but as one of only a dozen or so 7th graders who were recognized for their exceptional academic achievement. His English teacher, Mr. Smalley, asked to introduce Isaac and talked about what a kind, intelligent person he was, and how he could see him becoming the next great American novelist. He really is just the most delightful teenager right now, so sweet, kind, helpful, mature, and engaging. Mom just wants to freeze time right now! Isaac also had nasal surgery with a complicated septoplasty to fix a deviated septum, sinus surgery, and turbinate reduction. We were all excited for him to be able to breathe easier and quieter. He reports breathing is much easier, but his sisters are still vocally annoyed about the volume of his breathing.  

Owen turns 12 later this month, and is in sixth grade, making this his last year at the Elementary School all four kids went to from K-6. Dad and his Aunt Talina just restarted the Math Team at the school, which Owen is excited to be a part of, and even more excited to have his Dad and Aunt run it. He’s enjoying this last year of Elementary School and just went to the Space Center field trip yesterday and had his DLI Dance Performance today. He also just got invited to attend the Principal Pizza Lunch this month, after being nominated for being respectful, hardworking, and kind. He loves math and tolerates Spanish, and can even understand it when he pays attention. He’s our most social kid, wanting to spend every possible minute out at a friend’s house rather than being home – but I think he really enjoys that he’s the oldest kid at his best friends’ houses versus the baby at ours. He started Karate this year and is loving it. We keep trying to talk him into gymnastics, but he won’t consider it despite the fact he spends 50% of his time upside down or twisting around the house or doing flips on the trampoline. We keep trying to feed him more food to get him to grow, but he burns it off faster than we can feed him since he literally dances, cartwheels, and flips everywhere he goes.  

We’ve had a fantastic year and we feel privileged beyond measure that we get to watch these kids of ours become the incredible humans they are, and our favorite people to spend time with.  

Wishing and yours the Merriest of Christmases, the Happiest of Holidays, and the most Festive of Seasons. May this coming year be filled with wonderful memories!