Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas from the Christman Clan!


Here’s a little bit of what’s been happening in our world during 2014.




We went to Mesa Arizona in the spring for a Family Reunion with Rosie’s mom’s side of the family.  We took the time to make it a family vacation and did some sight-seeing and visiting people on the way home.  It was so nice to see family and friends that we rarely see because they live so far away.  We had our first family reunion with Rosie’s dad’s new wife and kids and enjoyed building bonds with those wonderful people.  We also enjoyed a few other reunions.  With a family as big as ours, we never have a lack of reunions to go to, but instead have to decide which ones we have cut out.  But we enjoy the time with family whenever we can have it.  We acquired a goat, who is now bred and will be having a baby sometime in the next month or two.  Our oldest was baptized in September in the creek in front of our house, which was a special day for all of us.  We are still loving where we live and are learning a lot here in Deer Lodge.








Dan keeps busy working hard providing for our family and spending lots of hours with the young men as the scout master.  He is a wonderful dad and husband. Rosie keeps busy being a mom and housewife and homeschooling the kids.  She is still in the primary presidency and is learning much from all the children in her life.







Aleah just turned 8 this year. She is in the third grade. She loves to create things and is learning to cook. She finished her goal to read the Book of Mormon before she was baptized. She loves to help others and is aware of other's feelings and tries to help other's feel good.  We are lucky to have her in our family!

Kanyon is a fun loving, hardworking boy. He loves to read and create things. He turned 7 this year and is doing mostly 3rd grade work. He finished reading the entire Book of Mormon this year and is working on the Doctrine and Covenants. We sure are happy to have him in our family!!!



Brynlee is such a special little girl. She is often quiet and reflective but is probably our most active girl when it comes to sports.  She's a natural runner!  She loves to get dressed up and make herself beautiful. She is in kindergarten this year and is learning to read.  She is our all-time favorite 5 year old!!

Liberty is our comedian, constantly making us laugh and she doesn’t even try!  She likes to give us her 3-year old wisdom, like, “If you eat too much cars and trucks, you die.” She enjoys doing school with her siblings and is starting to write her letters.  We can’t picture life without her!

Remington’s nickname is Remmy Dee (her middle name) which sounds like remedy, and that’s just what she is!  Her smiles are contagious and her warm hugs will brighten anyone’s mood.  She finally started walking and is now old enough to be in nursery!  We all love this little gem!


We are so glad to be alive and learning the things we are here in Deer Lodge, MT. We have been blessed with a good home, great friends, a wonderful family, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. May you all feel the blessings of family and friends and the love of our Savior this holiday season and throughout the year. 

Merry Christmas and 

Happy New Year 

to you and yours. 

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Family Newsletter, Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas Everyone!  

(this picture was taken at our Trunk or Treat on Halloween)

We hope this finds you all happy and healthy and thankful to be alive.  We sure are!  Life has been busy.  But it's been good for us.  We couldn't have a better family, better kids, better spouse.  We just feel incredibly blessed.  Here's a little update of our happenings this year.


Dan and I just celebrated our 7th anniversary this year!  And we feel more in love than ever before!  And we feel so lucky to have the kids we have. And we're adding one more to our clan sometime next summer. Baby #5 should be arriving the end of June.  



Dan stays busy between scouts and elder's quorum at church.  He's enjoying his job, especially when he gets to be out in nature or talking to some neat land-owners.  He's like a rock star every night when he comes home from work.  The crowds go crazy and at times he could use a body guard.  Liberty is his biggest fan.  She's a daddy's girl for sure!  He just got a new/used pickup this year and is excited to start being able to use it.  He got his buck this year too which was fun.  He is a great provider, an awesome father, and a wonderful husband.


Rosie is staying busy being a mom at home. She's homeschooling the kids which has been challenging and rewarding. She enjoys being in primary and is also the provident living specialist/emergency preparedness coordinator for our branch and the rest of the community. She had a lot of firsts this year.  She was charged by a moose in the back yard (saved by her husband), butchered her first chickens, and shot her first deer, her first anything actually. And now has a sweet battle scar to show for it.  (Yes, I got scoped). She is madly in love with the most incredible man in the universe and is the luckiest mom alive to have the four most amazing kids ever born!

Aleah is technically in kindergarten this year but is doing mostly first grade work. She loves reading and is rocking it at math, often getting 100% on her worksheets.  She's our girly girl. Although the sound of that seems offensive to her. She's a romantic at heart and often thinks about her "boy" that she will one day marry. She loves princesses, make-up, dolls, talking on the phone, painting nails, doing hair, dressing up. But she sure enjoyed helping gut our deer with us, so we think she's pretty well rounded.  She's got a strong testimony and loves to share it. She makes a great oldest child and we're sure thankful for all her help. 

 Kanyon is ALL BOY! And a country boy at that! He loves animals and wants a whole slew of them. We couldn't get him to save his money as he likes to see the immediate gratification. But when Dad explained that he could buy 2 chicks or a baby turkey with $5 his eyes got wide and he got excited… He loves riding his “horse,” “killing the bears,” and helping his dad. He has a tender heart too though.  He likes holding Liberty and is not above playing dolls with his sisters.  He even plays “boyfriend and girlfriend” with his sisters (at their request). But his idea of a date is going out to his barn and looking at his animals. He also started shaving this year, thanks to a sweet birthday present with a plastic razor. Where I used to fight him to get him to bathe, I can’t hardly keep him out of the bathtub now. He’s a great kid and sure adds a lot to our family!



Brynlee is…  well…  Brynlee.  There’s nobody quite like her.  She keeps us on our toes.  She says random things that make no sense but sure make us laugh.  She loves life and discovering things. She loves being a big sister and does a good job at it too! She loves snuggling in bed at night and likes her back tickled. She loves to “drolor,” unfortunately not just on paper.  She’s had the “opportunity” to scrub her artwork off walls, dressers, mattresses, clothes, mirrors, etc. And she’s usually pretty happy about doing chores when she’s gotten in trouble.  She LOVES chapstick and will ask constantly to use some—even to complete strangers.  She loves to help out when she’s needed. We sure love that little girl and can’t picture life without her!




Liberty has been a fun little addition to our family.  She is full of energy. She learned to walk this year and loves being mobile.  She runs and climbs and gets into just about anything and everything. If she can’t reach it, she’ll go get a stool, take it where she needs it, and climb up to access whatever it is she wants. Her favorite place to play is the toilet no matter what’s been left in it. And she loves to throw things in it, from mom’s hair brush to her siblings toys. She has the BEST grin with darling little dimples but also has quite the little attitude when she doesn't get her way. She LOVES babies and will be an awesome big sister!






As a family this year we got to spend time with lots of our extended families at family reunions and weddings. Two of Dan’s siblings were married this year and we LOVE their spouses who fit right in! We even hosted the first annual family reunion for Rosie’s parents and siblings here at our place in Deer Lodge and had a blast! We plan on hosting one next year with Dan’s parents and siblings. We spent our family vacation time in Utah (in between a big family reunion and a wedding there). We got to “swim” in the great Salt Lake and went to the Children’s museum and spent time with family. Rosie and the three oldest all entered things in the fair this year and all won several ribbons and money to boot! The kids enjoyed cashing their first checks at the bank.  We have also enjoyed the company of Cookie, our dog, who has been a good and loyal friend. We love our life together! And we look forward to making more memories together as we watch our family grow. 


At the end of 2012, we just want to take a minute to wish you all a Merry Christmas! We are thankful for Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate at this time of the year. We are thankful for his presence in our lives and know that it's because of him that we enjoy all that we do. May you each feel his presence in your lives as well. And know of our love for each of you!






Friday, January 7, 2011


Brynlee is our little wildfire. She is always on the go and keeps us on our toes. She's becoming quite the writer! She LOVES to draw (and not just on paper). She is one and holds her pen absolutely perfect. We've found her handiwork on our pillows, sheets, walls, movies, windows, the list is endless... She's got a will of her own and does NOT back down. But she's started saying, "Okay" and obeying quickly when I ask her to do something which I'm LOVING!!

Kanyon is ALL BOY! He loves wresting with his dad (or anyone willing to take a beating), fixing things, and playing outside. If I peek out to check on him, chances are he's dragging a 2X4 somewhere or has a hammer out "fixing" something. As long as he stays busy, he stays out of trouble. He's got the "early to rise" part down almost too good. He's usually up by 6, ready to start his day. He's tender-hearted and tells us every day, "I love you."

Aleah is incredible! She is 4 now and is always trying to help out. She has developed an interest in Princesses (did not get that from me) and dreams about being a real princess. She is smart and loves to learn. She memorized all 13 articles of faith this year as a sunbeam.

Dan is incredible! He's still the scout master and works overtime on his boys. He got straight A's last semester. He graduates in May with a double major in Business Marketing and Management. We're excited for that. We still don't know what we're doing after that, but we're in the process of figuring that out. I sure feel lucky to be married to him!
I worked hard last year and lost a total of 67 lbs, 48 inches, and 10 dress sizes. I turned 30 and I'm feeling good. Got skinny just in time to get fat again. Baby number 4 will join our family this August! And we are sure excited!! I really couldn't ask for a better husband or kids. I feel incredibly blessed and lucky.