Baby Gavin Has Arrived!

On June 23rd at 8:23 P.M., Gavin Neils Christensen was born! I (Brant) came home from work around 5:30, and Marcie started having contractions pretty much as soon as I got home (good timing). After checking into the hospital at 6:15, Gavin came just over two hours later. Needless to say, he's not a very patient little boy and came very quickly.

The doctors at nurses at Riverside Hospital were amazing and took great care of Marcie and Gavin. He weighed in at 7 lbs 1 oz., and 21 inches long even though he came three weeks early! He's very healthy and happy, as is Marcie. Spencer is adapting very well and loves his baby brother. We're excited for the adventures ahead and welcome Gavin to our family!

Mom and baby right after birth

The proudest big brother in the world!

Spencer, Marcie and Gavin

Ready to go home!

And finally, what has got to be one of the funniest sleeping positions ever.

The Basement is Finished!

Brant and his Dad finally had some time this month to tackle our basement and finish it! When we moved in, there was no separation between the back part of the basement where the washer/dryer are, and the rest of the basement. First, Brant's dad put up a new wall to separate the two areas. Then, this past month, they painted the cinder block, drywall, and ceiling. Then, after all the painting, the put the carpet in. And now it's finished! Well, because we didn't put in a finished ceiling it's not technically finished, but we absolutely love it. It's added tons of living space in the house and we're down there all the time.

Before....

...and after!

Our Last Yard Sale EVER

Well, we had been accumulating stuff in our basement for a yard sale. After two surprisingly effective yard sales in Provo, Utah, we figured we would save stuff and try to sell it here in Columbus instead of just giving it away. However, it appears that either Provo is more full of deal-seeking (a.k.a cheap) people than we thought, or Columbus just doesn't do yard sales because the turnout was as terrible as the weather. Needless to say, we won't be doing this again :)

Spencer had a good time, at least, hanging out with his bud, Riley.

After a few hours, it began to pour, like it only can in the midwest. We had plastic ready in case it did rain, but it still wasn't enough.

Yes, Brant's smiling, but only because he likes playing in the rain.

Birdfeeding

On one of the last nights Danille and Jay and his family were here, we went down to Grigg's reservoir and had ice cream to celebrate Danille's birthday. We got our favorite kind of ice cream (Greater's, of course) and got some bread as well to feed to the ducks. The kids loved it and we had a great time.

However, beware the "Litter Police" per the sign below :)

Spencer, after a well-thrown (yes, he's a lefty!) piece of bread.

The family having a great time down at the river.

It was great to have Danille from Bloomington, and Jay and his family all the way from Vegas, visit us here in Columbus. It was great to see them and they encouraged us to get out and do more in Columbus. We hope they come visit again soon!

The Wilds!

The first time we went to the Columbus Zoo, we absolutely loved it, but were a little bummed that they didn't have any giraffes! Well, the reason they don't is because the giraffes live in a place called "The Wilds!" Located about 45 minutes east of Columbus on 10,000 acres of reclaimed strip mining land, The Wilds is a massive wildlife preserve specifically for African animals. We got in a big bus and drove through the reserve, driving right next to rhinos, wild horses, giraffes, zebras, etc. Who needs to go to Africa when eastern Ohio is so much closer? :)

One of the best signs we'd ever seen. This was located at the complex that housed the wild dogs and the cheetahs (the carnivores) and we just had to take a picture.

Cheetahs! They weren't exactly very active, but it was a pretty hot day.

Rhinos! Again, they weren't running around much, but that's probably a good thing :)

Giraffes! These, on the other hand, were very active. There were about seven of them and they were all around our bus!

Zebras! This male Zebra was running back and forth trying to get into the other pasture where the female wild horses were. He would wait until our bus came through the gate and then try to run through the gate before it closed again. He got pretty close one time, but no success.

Wild horses and Camels!

Well, all this fun sure tired out Spencer and Brant. Amazingly, Spencer actually fell asleep in Brant's arms, something he never does anymore. But, after 45 minutes, he woke up just in time to see the cheetahs.

It was a great trip and we highly recommend the trip to anybody in the midwest or on the east coast. It's sure a lot closer and cheaper than Africa!!

A Trip to COSI!

Another fun trip with Jay's family was to Columbus' Center of Science and Industry, better known as COSI. It's a HUGE building here on the river near downtown that has all sorts of fun exhibits for kids of all ages.

Spencer loved all of the activities that had anything to do with water. Here he is playing with Grandma Pam shooting water at various shapes.

Here's Spencer smiling big after getting SOAKED at another water table. Most kids wore a raincoat, but not Spencer :)

Another big smile driving the fire truck!

Spencer playing with his cousins, Owen and Sam.

Kirtland

Brant's brother, Jay, and his family came to visit, so we did lots of fun things while they were here. One of those was a trip up to Kirtland, Ohio, where the early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints settled. It was neat to be able to see the heritage of the Church.

A picture of the Temple

The Newel K. Whitney store, at the heart of old Kirtland.

The upstairs room at the Whitney store, where the school of the prophets was held.

Spencer playing and having a blast with his cousin, Owen. They went everywhere together and had a blast.

Our First Attempt at a Garden

Well, below is the chronicle of our first attempt at gardening:

Our home-made garden box, filled with 15 bags of potting soil and "fertilizer," a.k.a. manure.

Eventually, we got around to planting our plants, consisting of various herbs (far left, no mulch), four tomato plants (middle), and two zucchinis (far right).

And, surprisingly enough, they've grown! As of today, we've got three small tomatoes growing, the herbs are coming along, and the zucchinis are growing like crazy! We attribute any and all growth to the frequent midwestern thunderstorms and not to any care or effort on our part!