Layton Lightning

RED

Red heads have less hairs on their head than blondes or brunettes.







So I got this idea to write a blog about Tyler's beautiful red hair. Can I just tell you how cute I think this boy is! There's only two things in this world that he needs, his sippy cup and his blanket. - Oh, and an unlimited supply of Baby Einstein videos- Every time he sees a white car he yells "Big Guy!" That is code for Aaron. He love to eat tomatoes and Lucky Charms and he loves to play with his Chevron cars. I love that he always says "Daddy" with a British accent. I can't get mad at him. I tried once....I just couldn't do it.

I LOVE his red hair! So I did a little research about redheads and here is what I found:

Did you know that only 2-4% of the human population has red hair? Red hair is most common in the northern and wester European countries. Scotland has the most redheads, Ireland has the second. About 46% of the Irish population carry the gene for red hair. So how does hair come out red? Especially when neither Aaron or I have it? Well, when the person receives two copies of the recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the MC1R protein. People can carry the gene, but not have red hair. I'm pretty sure AC and I both carry it. The pigment pheomelanin gives red hair its distinctive color. They have more of this light pigment than they do of dark pigment. Fair skin is associated with red hair, and freckles. This is because redheads have low concentrations of eumelanin throughout the body. They are also able to produce more Vitamin D in low sunlight than blondes and brunettes. Red hair is the rarest natural color in humans. I found a list of significant persons throughout history that you didn't know had red hair:

George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
Napolean Bonaparte - We're actually not really sure on this one
Christopher Columbus
William Shakespeare
Mark Twain
Emily Dickinson
Antonio Vivaldi - composer "The 4 Seasons"
King David - he kicked the crap out of Goliath
Galileo Galilei - Italian astronomer and physicist
Cleopatra
Queen Elizabeth I
Sir Winston Churchill
Vincent Van Gogh
King Henry VIII
Calvin Coolidge
John Glenn - astronaut, politician
Charles Darwin
William Clark - of Lewis and Clark
Danny Elfman - composer
Marily Monroe
JK Rowling - author of Harry Potter books
Sarah Ferguson - Dutchess of York
Willie Nelson
Conan O'Brien
Harold "Red" Grange - football hero
John Beck - was quarterback for BYU



I'd like to be able to say my son grew up to be the first redhead President, but I can't. He could be the 5th tho. He could be TY CHRISTENSEN - quarterback for BYU! He could be the next big politician, composer, author, poet, artist or late night talk show host! He is definetly funny. Either way, I love Tyler and I hope he grows up to accomplish great things and possibly make history! Red hair rocks!

End of Another Summer

THE LAYTON LIGHTENINGS! This was Shaylee's first soccer game this season. Actually, this was the second, the first time she went to the ER instead of the game. She chose number 4 because that was always Aaron's number when he played soccer.




My garden was very successful with peppers, so it was a HOT summer! The wildlife ate every tomato that turned out, so I didn't get any yummy tomatoes this year. Grandma Sheryn always grows good tomatoes so I ate some of hers.

NUMBERS!

1. The number of trips to the ER this year.
2. Number of times pulled over. (But only one citation thank you very much)
3. Number of temples visited this summer.
4. Number of trips to the splash pad.
5. Number of barbies Shaylee has gotten for herself.
6. Number of times Tyler watches Baby Einstein each day.
7. Number of times a week Kate pees her pants.
8. Number of months until Disneyland (maybe)
9. Number of trips to Lagoon.
10. Number of movies I've seen this summer.
12. Number of BYU games this season.
13. Number of times I've eaten at Cafe Rio this summer. (and that's just Thursdays!)
zero. How many more kids we're gonna have.

The Christensens Go Camping

We went camping with my family last weekend. The kids did really good, we were surprised. My only regret was not bringing a leash for Tyler. He would run right towards the river or the fire or the bathrooms. Grandpa walked up to Kate who was sitting by the river, throwing sticks in it:
Grandpa: "What do you suppose lives in there?"
Kate: "...........rocks."

When we were planning our camping trip, Shaylee asked Aaron a funny question:
Shaylee: "Can you sleep and swim at the same time?"
Aaron: "No, not really. Why?"
Shaylee: "Well you said we were gonna camp on the river."

My New Nieces

My sister Jenny and her husband adopted two little girls last week. The baby's name is Alexis and the other is Brecken. They were sealed to Jenny and Lee in the Salt Lake Temple last Friday and we got to go watch. It was so much fun to see these cute little girls sealed to their parents.

The Living Planet Aquarium

We went to the Living Aquarium in Sandy with my sister Jenny and her kids. It was definitely worth the drive. The next picture is of the octopus they have there. You can see his creepy eye in this photo.





The Sting Rays were so friendly. They love to be touched. This one kept jumping up at Mathew and he would flap his 'wing' as he swam by so people would touch it. I touched one. It was slimy.





See, he sticks his flipper out so people can touch him.

Matt, Ty, Brecken, Kate, Shay, Jess, and Carston.

The penguins were funny. They swim right up to the glass.

Splash Pad

We went to the Riverdale Splash Pad at the park with Jill and Lana and their cute kids. I give this place 5 stars! It's fun and it's free.







Shaylee, Rhylee, Kate, Halee, Tyler and Emilia.

Summer Fun List

Shaylee and I made summer wish lists of all the things we want to do this year. This pathetic garden is one of mine.



Shaylee was determined to learn how to ride her bike so we went to the church parking lot and in 20 minutes she had it. This isn't her bike, she had to practice on a smaller bike before she could have courage to ride her own 'bigger' bike. Now she is a bike riding champion. She rides every day and we have to take her bike with us in the car everywhere we go. Knock one off Shay's list!

Wind Storm

There was a terrible wind storm a few weeks ago and it broke the branches off a lot of trees in our neighborhood. It was an eerie night. It was so strong it blew over our BBQ grill and our neighbors trampoline blew away and landed in someone's yard 8 houses down. CRAZY weather around here. I don't dare plant a peach tree. I don't think it will survive.