Livin' Life & Lovin' Family

I am thankful for...

2009-11-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite Holiday. I will post more pics later but I just wanted to pause to express my gratitude for the many, many things that I am thankful for. There are too many to list but definitely the top ten things are...
1. My Heavenly Father
2. My Awesome Man and eternal friend
3. My Beautiful Children
4. Our Families/Heritage
5. My Friends
6. My Freedom/Country
7. My experience and opportunities
8. My Health
9. The Beauties of nature
10. And most of all my Testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ,which brings endless, happiness, joy and peace into my life.

Happy, Happy Birthday Rach

2009-11-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

Rachel turned six on Nov. 19th and was so exited to have birthday. The morning of her birthday she woke up and came right into my room and said "Mom, where is my special dress? I must be all ready for when my guests come my party!" Just the way she said it made me giggle and think how much she really is growing up. Rachel is a sweet little girl who loves animals of any kind. She is a total girl and yet there is a tomboy side of her who loves to get dirty, pick up bugs and run wild and free. She is also have a very tenderheart and is the peacemaker of the family. We love our little Rachel and are so thankful she is in our home. Happy Birthday Rachel!!

Fun Princess Night Out

2009-11-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

The girls and I went to the Princess Disney On Ice Show while the boys stayed home for some father/son bonding time! We had a great girls night out. One the way to the show we truly had a princess moment when one Rachel's princess shoes broke in half and she had the climb the stairs with only one shoe on and stated "Look Mom I really am Cinderella!" The show was wonderful and the girls ask everyday if they can go back to the princess show. My sister Kathy and her little girl went also and it was fun to meet up after the show and go to dinner. What a great night it was to spend time with my sweet daughters. I love having two little girls that I can dress up and hang out with. They are my little princesses!!!

Under Construction

2009-11-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

Yes we are moving………a block away!!!!! On November 9th we started construction on a new home just a block west of where we live now. We have way out grown our home and have needed additional space for our growing family. To keep a long, long, long story short we have been blessed with the opportunity buy a beautiful piece of property and begin building a home. The kids are very excited and yet confused about what is really going on. Someone asked Ella if she was excited to be getting a new house and she said “Yeah we are going to live in a dirt pile”. Hopefully by the time we are done there will be a house she can play in too.

First Haircut for Ethan

2009-11-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

I finally broke down and got Ethan's haircut. I had put it off for as long as I could cause once he got a haircut he was really going to grow up and not be my baby anymore, and I was right. His new little haircut really made him look like a BIG, BIG boy. HE didn't really enjoy the whole experience too much but grandma did a great job working around his little freak outs.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2009-10-31T14:10:00.000-07:00

This year the girls were princess fairies and Ethan was Buzz Light Year. Halloween is so much fun with little kids. After filling our bags with candy we head back to our place and had a Halloween party with our friends. The kids all had a great time together playing games and watching movies.

Daddy's Speical Day

2009-10-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to the best Dad and Husband Ever!!! We appreciate all your hard work to provide for us and most of all the way you love and care for us. For his birthday we gave him a ticket to attend Monday night football in Denver, Colorado to watch his favorite team The STEELERS. The Steelers have been his favorite team since he was a boy, so this well deserved gift was greatly appreciated. Happy Birthday Honey!! We love you!!!

In Memory of Sweet Ashleigh

2009-09-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

The past month has brought about a whirl wind of emotions that I don’t even know where to begin. The week before school began we received word that our friend and neighbor Ashleigh Farnsworth had abruptly been admitted to the hospital and was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Over the course of a few weeks things kept progressively getting worse and we all fasted, prayed and hung onto hope. On September 28th 2009 our sweet Ashleigh Marie Farnsworth returned back to her Heavenly Father. In her short 28 years on this earth she accomplished and did more than most do in a lifetime. She was a devoted wife and mother of four beautiful children, Sarah 6, Alex and Lucas 3 and Aubrey 2. I will be forever grateful for the life lessons she taught me during this trial of cancer. Ken and I had the special privilege of visiting her in the hospital during the last few weeks and days of her life. What a blessing it was to be with her and meet her amazing family which felt like we have known for ever. Ashleigh, we miss you dearly and can’t wait to see once again. Till then we will be there for Jeff and your sweet children. The knowledge and testimony of the everlasting gospel is priceless especially during times like these. May we all continue to press forward in faith, faith in Jesus Christ, it is through Him all things will be made whole again. Ashleigh did all that she was asked to do by God and truly returned home with honor. We love you Ash.

BIG TWO

2009-09-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Ethan is our big two year old with lots of personally and love. He was so much fun on his birthday. Ken and I had been gone a lot with everything surrounding our friend Ashleigh that it was nice to spend the day with him as a family and watch the excitement on his face as he opened his birthday present and blew the candles out on his cake. Ethan is a wonderful little boy and is a complete joy to have in our home. How grateful we are to have little E.E. around. We love you son!!!

At last... Ella's first day of DANCE

2009-09-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ella has waited two long years watching her older sister attend dance class and now it was her turn. Her face lit up like Christmas as I put on her new dance clothes and ballet shoes. “Now I am going to be like Rachel” she said. Rachel was excited about that too. Now the Albrechtsen family has two dancing princesses.

Rachel's First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

Where has the last five years gone? I can’t believe our sweet Rachel is on her way to Kindergarten. I kept telling myself that I wasn’t going get all teary eyed about her going to school because she was so happy to start going to the big kid school but that didn’t happen. I couldn’t hold back the tears when I saw her walking up the hill all grown up on her way to school. I wasn’t the only one sad that she was going to school, Ella and Ethan didn’t like that their big sister wasn’t going to be around to play with, but thankfully Kindergarten is only a few hours a day. Rachel loves school and her teacher Mrs. Jones is amazing. She is learning so much and well on her way to being a good little reader.

Gardening, Canning & Gardening, Canning

2009-08-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

In my spare time (what spare time) I can This year I canned green beans, corn, salsa, peaches, pears and freezer jam. After my seventh batch of salsa I called it good for the year. Good food and eating healthy takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears literally. This pic shows a few of the many, many jars I canned. I lost an exact count but I canned over 250 pints of various fruits and veggies, half of the number of pints were salsa!!! YUM!!!

Getting SO BIG

2009-08-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

Ethan really has grown up into a little boy lately and along with that comes more cuts, bruises and injuries. In one weeks time Ethan hit his head really hard three times. One of which he split his head open and could of used a couple of stitches if it weren’t for our friend and neighbor nurse Len. With one phone call she came over and brought medical superglue and helped us close up his wound. Thanks Len for helping easing the pains of growing up.

Making a Splash

2009-07-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

Swim lessons this year was a BIG hit for Rachel and Ella. We enrolled the girls in private lessons at a home nearby us and it was wonderful to have their lesson so close to home, plus small class sizes. Every morning the girls would wake up, get their swimsuit on first things and eagerly wait for the lessons to start. Both of them were little fishes and weren’t afraid to put their heads under the water at all. It was Ella’s first experience at swim lessons and it was amazing to see how much she learned so quickly. Rachel did a great job too. Ella did have a bit of a scary moment when she was playing around at free time and drifted towards the deep end and couldn’t bop back up to the surface of the water for several breaths. Her Dad luckily enough was watching and ended up jumping in(clothes, shoes, cellphone and all) to rescue our little Ella who was in trouble but didn’t know it cause she told her dad he shouldn’t jump into the water with his clothes on, teacher said ! 

Family Reunion Time

2009-07-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

Every summer we get together with our extended family on both sides of the family.
Ken is the baby of six children and I am the oldest of six children, which means our family reunion get together’s are large in number and last the whole day long. This year the at the Otten Reunion our day started off with a delicious breakfast, followed by games for the kids, a family history lesson, crafts, lunch and ended with swimming. It was great to see everyone and have a moment to visit with one another. The Albrechtsen Family Reunion is always held at the Farmington park . Everyone brings something for lunch and after we eat and visit we have a family raffle and then go for a family swim. This year one of Ken’s cousins fixed up Great Grandpa Albrechtsen’s old tractor and brought is up for everyone to see and sit on. The kids loved taking a turn in the driver’s seat. The blessing of being a part of a big family is a gift. We feel so blessed to come from a great heritage. I pray we can give honor to those who have gone before by living respectable lives that are full of service to others. We have a lot to live up to in there great examples.

Great, Great Grandma's Bed

2009-07-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

We stayed the night at Great Grandpa and Grandma Otten's house and Oh what fun we had!!! The girls love going to "Grandma Great's" House and sleeping in Great Great Grandma Otten's bedroom. On this trip I snap a couple of shots of the girls playing and enjoying some of Great Great Grandma's things such as her brush and vanity set and looking through her old Book of Mormon. I am sure Great Great Grandma was smiling down from heaven that night!!!

Roomie Get Togethers

2009-07-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

This summer was a treat because I got together on TWO separate occasions with my college roommates. With Monica and Mia living out of state we tried to all get together when they are in town visiting. Getting together with my sweet girlfriends is one of my highlights of the year. We have been getting together once and sometimes twice a year since our days in the blue cottage. Our first get together was up in Franklin, Idaho at Corey house. It was so fun to drive up there and see her and her sweet family. On the way home Jen B, Amy and I with our kids stopped the Casco Ice cream factory for a yummy treat. Two weeks later we went down Draper to Jen C house to workout and swim in the pool. What great times. What a blessing it is to have their influences as mothers, friendship and love as part of my life. I sure love my sweet friends.

Bankhead Cousin Outing

2009-07-28T00:23:00.000-07:00

Zach, Will and Rach

Aunt Lisa and Ella

Ethan

We went to Grandma's house to play and the kids didn't want to ever come home. We all had a great time playing outside in the water. Spending time with their cousins is one of the kids favorite things to do:)

Makin A SPLASH

2009-07-10T23:37:00.000-07:00

We found a new SPLASH park to splash around at and eventhough a strom started to roll in by the time we got there, the kids didn't want to stop playing. Well I should mention that Ella thought it was too cold to stay in the water long, she is too much like her mom. Water is good for playing if it is warm:)

Happy Birthday America

2009-07-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful 4th of July spending time together and celebrating our freedoms. Ken was asked to drive an old 57 Chevey in the parade so we all went along for the ride. The kids loved throwing candy and helping Dad drive the car, I even got a turn. The fireworks were amazing, especially in the comfort of being in our own backyard for the show. Minus the burn on Ella's finger from touching the sparkler we had a blast!! How blessed we are to live in America.

Great Friends

2009-07-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

What a great blessing it is to have great friends. We have a little tradition of going out on our birthdays to celebrate!!! It is a great excuss to have a fun girls night out. This picture is when we (Ann and Addie Keller and I)took Kellie Wride out on her birthday which is a couple of weeks before mine.

Summertime Refreshment

2009-07-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist posting some of these great photos of Ethan. He really hammed it up while I took a few shots of his cute face. Ah to be a kid and enjoy the simple things in life:)

2009-07-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Thanks family for being so good to me. I love you all very much.

Father's Day

2009-06-30T23:25:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day!!!

Each one of the kids adore their Daddy. Life would be pretty bleak without Dad around. He is the hero at our house. The first thing each of the kids ask me when they wake up is "Where is Dad?" and the minute he gets home they eagarly await him at the door with hugs and kisses. Thank you for being the husband and father we can love, cherish, admire and want to spend time with. You are the GREATEST!!! We love you!!

Our Nation's Captial

2009-06-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

Ken's business training was in Washington D.C. this year, so lucky me I got to tag along and what a wonderful experience it was. There were many, many wonderful sites that we visited that it is hard to say which one was a favorite. Arlington Cemetery and Mount Vernon were definitely highlights. I loved the whole experience and want to go back. It was just simply amazing being there and even better spending it with my sweet hubby. One other perk of the trip was attending several yoga classes while Ken was in training, which was the icing on cake for me. I also had the choice opportunity to meet up with my college roommate Monica Dupaix and visit with her family. She has always been a shining example to me and that still remains true as I was able to see how she and her husband Joe are raising their family in the gospel. What a blessing it was to meet up with her. We had a great time together going to the temple, dinner and visiting some of the sites in Downtown Washington. What an incredible trip that was for both of us, one that will never be forgotten.

Our First Preschool Graduate

2009-06-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Rachel made through preschool with flying colors. It is amazing how much she has learned and changed in a few months. We are proud of you!!

Happy Mom's Day!!!

2009-06-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day is a day to truly rejoy in the blessings of Motherhood. I am so thankful to be a mother and thankful to a wonderful mother who raised me to love and serve the Lord. I am the luckiest woman to have such great children who are such a joy to be around.

Rachel's Dance Revue

2009-06-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Rachel was a pretty princess in here ballet costume. She liked it much better than her chick costume:) She still looked cute as a chick too. It was fun to see how much she learned from the time she had started to the final dance revue. She is a little performer and loves to dance. Way to go Rach!!!

Albrechtsen Cousin Outings

2009-06-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed with awesome cousins on both sides. We went on a bike ride and took a picnic with our some of Albrechtsen cousins and had a great time getting together. The kids love it.

Women's Conference

2009-05-30T23:17:00.000-07:00

I finally made it to Women's Conference this year. It was so amazing and uplifting. There is such strength in women, especially when many gather together. The whole experience was awesome and I loved it. It was a blast hanging out with my mom, sister and sister-in-law. A big thanks to my sweet husband for taking care of the kids while I was gone.

Springtime Get-A-Way

2009-05-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

In April, we decided to take a quick trip to California since Ken had a business trip he had to attend in Ontario. We thought it would be a good opportunity to take the kids to Disneyland and have some fun. It was also great timing cause my sister Kathy and her family where heading to Disneyland the same week we where planning to be there too:) We ended up caravanning down to California together. We broke up the long drive down by staying the first night in St.George. The kids for the most part did very well traveling in the car for so long. The first night in Cali we went to the Disney outlet and Rainforest café. The kids had a blast. The next day we went to The Pacific Aquarium and explored awesome sea life. Then it was off Disneyland for three days. All I can say speaking from my point of view is that there will be no more Disneyland vacations for the Albrechtsen Family until we are out of diapers and strollers!!! Let’s just say it wasn’t the “Happiest Place on Earth” for me (and I am leaving out a lot of details here for a reason). I would have preferred just hanging out at the beach everyday. On the flip side, from the kid’s point of view they had so much fun and ask everyday if we can go back!!! Ah maybe in 5, 7, 10 years from now:)
We made it!

Waiting and ready to go meet the princesses!!!

Our beautiful princesses

The two hour wait paid off!!

All bugged out!!

Also stopped in to visit the Newport Beach Temple

Easter Weekend 2009

2009-04-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

The Easter Egg Hunt at grandma's house with all the cousins was the highlight of Easter this year!!! The kids loved searching for their hidden eggs and filling their baskets full. Even Ethan was thrilled that he could pick up colorful eggs and place or should I say throw them into his basket. Speaking of throwing, the egg toss/throw was the highlight for the men of the family. It was amazing to see how far they could throw their easter eggs out into the hay field and not break them. The contest came down to Ken and John to see how far they could get their eggs out into the field without breaking them. If I remember right I think Ken ended up winning Uncle Johnny!!! It was a great time with the family.
This year stake conference was held on Easter Sunday. It was our newly created Pleasant View South Stake's first conference. We attended the meeting at the tabernacle by the Ogden Temple. It was a great conference and the spirit was very strong!! It was a great way to spend Easter afternoon as a family!!!

Baby Animal Days

2009-04-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

Wow!!!What an experience. This was our third year attending Baby Animal Days at the Jensen Historical Farm and this was the year of long lines. We stood in half hour lines to hold a bunny, baby chick and duck!! Rachel didn't quite understand the concept of waiting in a line to pet an animal. Many times she would quickly slip away from the line we were standing in and sure enough I would find her at the front of the line inside the pen petting an animal. She loves animals and so waiting in a long line to pet one was just more than she could endure!!! Ella wanted to take home a bunny as her new pet and Ethan loved riding a horse but did not want to wear a helmet. Despite the long lines and Ethan picking up a cow pie the kids had a great time and are already asking to go back next year!!!

The things we do for sisters

2009-04-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my sweet sister Kathy for helping me make Rachel's chicken costume. All I can say is feathers, feathers, and more feathers!!! Rachel was a good sport as well. She stood there for an hour or so as we hot glued the feathers carefully to the bodysuit she was wearing. Oh what fun, tears and memories that will not be forgotten!!! In the end all the hard work paid off because Rachel's first dance competition was a success and the trophy she received made her forget all about the tears she cried as we glued and glued feathers! I have to say she makes one cute chick!!!:)

So, So, Sleepy

2009-03-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

The classic "too tired to eat, so I will sleep" syndrome. It all happened so fast too. Mom got up from the table to get more fruit for the girls and when she turned around Ethan was face down in his spaghetti! It made us all laugh:)

I'm a VIP

2009-03-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

Rachel had her first VIP at preschool and was spotlighted for the afternoon. On her special day she could bring one of her favorite treats to share with her class. She wanted to make fruit smoothies. Mom brought the VitaMix and some of her favorite fruits to preschool so she could make yummy smoothies for her classmates. It was a huge success. All the kids loved it!!! You truly are very special Rachel. Thank you for filling our lives with your sweet spirit!!! We love you.

Am I in trouble mom?

2009-03-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

How could you get made at this face? Ella is always finding something to do!!! On this occasion she climbed up onto the bathroom sink, opened up the cupboard, got down the jar of "lumar cream" and had a great old time until mom came along and stopped the fun!!! Of course she was wearing an outfit that mom didn't want stained or ruined. It took seven different washes and three different stain removers to FINALLY get it out!!! Happy scrubbing mom:)

Ella turns 3

2009-03-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

Three years old and full of love that is bigger than life!!! Ella is truly our little love bug. She is always handing out kisses to her family and anyone that she meets. She is very tender hearted and loves to play with her dolls or bears. For her birthday on Feburary 14th (Valentines Day) we took her to the Build-A-Bear Workshop store and she had a blast picking out her own special bear and clothes to dress it in. When asked what kind of cake she wanted she would always reply with "a kitty cake." Mom did the best to make her a special kitty cake. The best part of her birthday was having her family over for cake and ice cream. It turned out to be a very special birthday for a very special little girl!!! We love our Ella Boo!!!!!

Go Steelers

2009-03-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Ken is a die hard Steelers Fan!!! So missing the big Superbowl game was a big deal. We recorded the game hoping he would get a chance to watch it later but as you can see in the picture daddy didn't last very long. Ethan seemed fine with it. In the end Ethan was just happy to be spending time with his pops and Ken was happy the Steelers won and can now officially be known as Sixburgh team!!!!! Go Steelers!!!!!

Oh Let It Snow

2009-03-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

OUR KIDS LOVE SNOW!!! Well maybe not Ethan as much as the girls, yet. I love these pictures they make me laugh!!! I sometimes wish I could be a kid again and just lay in the snow and eat and eat to my hearts content!!!! Knowing what might be contained in the snow just ruins it for me:) Can you blame me?

Celebrating 10 years of Marriage in Hawaii!!!

2009-03-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Hawaii (my dream come true) to celebrate 10 years of marriage on January 23rd. We had a blast and although it was difficult to leave the kids for ten days, it was great to spend time alone and together. Thanks to both our mothers who watched our precious little ones while we were gone! It was great to know that we are still good friends and can have a good time together and laugh. In ten days we visited three island in Albrechtsen style(fit in as much as you can:))Oahu, Kauai, and the Big Island!!! What great fun it was!!! I must quickly mention I did break my right little toe following my reassuring husband out on coral reef!! Thanks dear for the extra bonus of fun:) As I look back on ten years so much has happened, so fast!!! I can honestly say there has been many joyous times because I am married to my true prince. Thanks babe for making my dreams come true this anniversary!!! I love you!!!!