Keeping up with...

Abbie's growing up

2011-05-09T10:01:00.000-06:00

Abbie's 12!!!!

2011-04-27T10:29:00.006-06:00

Back in Feburary Abbie had her 12th birthday. She is such an amazing young yoman and I am so lucky to be her mom!

The morning of her birthday (it was on a Saturday) we celebrated by going to eat breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast spots, The Cracker Barrell. They have such yummy breakfast food. Abbie got a free dessert too! Nothing like dessert for breakfast!

When we got home the Beehive girls from church had come over and decorated her room to welcome her to Young Womens. They are such a darling group of girls. I am so excited for Abbie and all the fun adventures she has ahead of her. They wisked her off to her first activity, a Self Defense Class.

On Monday (President's Day) we had Abbie's birthday party. She invited the girls in her primary class and of course her siblings for a fun party at Cold Stone. We were able to go to Cold Stone an hour before they opened. We went on a tour of the store, learned how they make their ice cream and ice cream cakes, and got to try a hand at making our own creation. It really was such a blast!

Valentines Day 2011

2011-04-27T10:01:00.003-06:00

We love Valentines Day in our house! Here is how we celebrated...

Our sweet cousins Evie and Hannah sent the kids these adorable Valentine count down's. A kiss for each day until Valentine's day. Such a great idea!

Teacher and neighbor gifts

The girls handed these suckers and a bookmark out too their classmates this year.

These are our Valentine mailboxes. We leave them out for a week before Valentines Day and we write each other love notes and stick them inside. I also throw in some fun Dollar Store trinkets too. The kids love this tradition.

This is a note Claire found in her mailbox from her friend Lizzie. "Dear Claire I love you so so so so much"

I love that Claire tried to be so secretive with her love notes. She signed it with a ?

This is Claire's note to her teacher. She signed it...your greatest student Claire. I don't think Claire is lacking in the confidence department. Hahah...

My love note written in Spanish from my Claire Bear.

I can't believe I didn't grab any pics of my Abbo before she left for school. She leaves much earlier than the other kids so I must have been out of my groove! I am so grateful for my sweet, beautiful, and wonderful family. I couldn't be more blessed!!

Jakey and Batman

2011-04-04T11:35:00.006-06:00

My sweet Jakey is into all things Batman! For his 4th birthday we celebrated Batman style!!

Claire with her cousin Azure

Jake had a special suprise visit from his favorite Superhero. I have never seen Jake at a loss for words but he was in shock. He just stood there and stared. He didn't have much to say then but he talks about it daily now!

After a long day of partying he fell right to sleep in his batman jammies with big Jake.

Winter Blahs...

2011-03-04T15:42:00.008-07:00

I have had a big case of the winter blahs! I have been feeling unmotivated to do much of anything. This week after a not so great run on the treadmill I left the gym feeling discouraged. Discouraged that a simple 3-4 mile run felt difficult and yucky! Seriously, after all the work I had done this last year why was such a short run so HARD? I felt like I was back to square one! I was seriously down on myself. Then I got to thinking about this past year and how far I had come and all the "firsts" that I had accomplished. My first half marathon, 2 10K's, and my first Olympic length triathlon. I decided to give myself a little bit of a break and am determined to get back into it.

BolderBoulder 10K with Paula. May 2010

(picture taken from Carrie's blog)

Chris and Steph ran this race with us too. It was an amazing feeling of accomplishment for me. It was such a blast to do it with some of my most favorite people in the world!

Provo Freedom Run...July 4th 2010

The kids ran the 5K and Jodi, Bart, and I ran the 10K

Splash Mash Dash Olympic Triathlon...1100m swim, 20mile bike, 10K

These are the only two pics Kent got of me at the Tri. I was hurting after this one. I think it was as hard or harder for me than my half marathon. I was definitely not in the picture kind of mood but was so glad that I did it!

Christmas Band Concert

2011-01-31T11:26:00.004-07:00

Abbie had her first band concert a week or two before Christmas. She has done an awesome job on the clarinet and seems to have quite the musical talent...no thanks to her mom or her dad.

She was also awarded the Band Student of the Week a few weeks ago. She was picked out of the 60 or 70 kids that have 6th grade band. Way to go Abbie!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-31T11:01:00.012-07:00

This Christmas Season was filled with so many wonderful opportunities to make memories with the kids. We found opportunities to serve by singing at a Retirement Center and we had a blast doing the 12 days of Christmas for a family and finding other ways to be sneaky and help the kids feel the real Spirit of the season. We also took the time to play, laugh, and enjoy each others company.

Here are all the kids that came to sing at the Retirement Center. Cumorah organized the event and even had candy canes for the kids to hand out. My kids had an amazing experience that they will always remember. Thanks Cumorah!!

The babies were a huge hit with the residents. Emma and Emmett got passed around but didn't seem to mind. It sure made the cute old ladies very happy!

Kent took the three girls for a day of skiing. This was only Claire's second time (first time of this season) and Kent said she was a natural.

We also spent an afternoon at the North Pole. It is a fun place nestled up against the base of Pikes Peak that has lots of fun rides for the kids and of course, a chance to meet Santa Clause.

Christmas morning...

We went and saw this on Christmas afternoon...

Saying Goodbye to Grandma Rula

2011-01-25T17:21:00.010-07:00

My Grandmother lived a life full of faith, love, endurance, and service. She was an example to all she met and I am SO grateful that my kids were able to have a relationship with her. Saying goodbye is always difficult but she lived a full life and died peaceful and quickly at the age of 90. I will miss her! Until we meet again...

She was buried in Fiddletown, a small town in Northern CA, near the Lyman's ranch and right next to her hubby.

It was a great opportunity to see my wonderful cousins and spend time together as family.

Some of her grandsons

In the middle is her twin sister Bula. I am sure they will miss each other terribly until they are reunited again.

All of my family that was able to be there.

Stephanie, Josanna, and Michelle

Remembering Grandma Rula

Our old stomping grounds on Old Ranch Road.

It was a very quick weekend trip. On our way out of town we stopped in the old neighborhood to check things out. Wow, not much has changed but such a trip seeing it all again. I think it has been about 10 years since I have been back. Such great memories...

Chris and Spenc showing the kids how we used to do it! Haha...somethings never change!

First time seeing the Sacramento Temple!

Kent and I just had a few hours before we had to catch a plane. We grabbed breakfast and walked around Old Town Sac and the K street mall. I sure wish we had more time in Sacramento. There were so many friends that I wanted to catch up with and places I would have loved to show Kent. Maybe next time...

Fall Fun and Thanksgiving in Utah

2011-01-17T17:01:00.005-07:00

Playing some serious catch up on my blog! This Fall seemed to just fly by. We spent some time doing some of our favorite things...crafting, hiking, and baking. We also made an unexpected last minute trip to Utah for Thanksgiving. My Grandma got suddenly very ill and we thought it was important to make one last trip out to visit her. I was so grateful we did! We got there on a Tuesday and were able to spend some time with her talking, hugging, and crying. My kids got to say goodbye to their Great Grandma. By Wednesday she had fallen asleep and by Sat. she had passed. Just the way she wanted it to be...

My Grandma's dog Benny wouldn't leave her side.

Spending time together next to Grandmas bed with Jill (and Jill's dog), Shawn, and Marie

Jodi did and amazing job making Thanksgiving so special. She didn't skip a beat having so many unexpected guests too.

Jakey Boy

2011-01-12T10:02:00.005-07:00

My Jakey Boy is growing up so fast. I know moms say that alot about their kids but this time feels different for me. I'm having serious growing pains! I remember feeling similar with my girls and the different stages they went through but these feelings are different. It's different when its your last one! I have been feeling kind of sad and...wait for it.....doubt. Yes, I have been doubting myself. Ah man, should we have had just one more? I KNOW!!! I am chalking it up to growing pains because this old women doesn't think having another one is in the cards but I am sure going to miss cute baby Carlson's around here. Can someone please just let me hold their baby!!!

The Wedding!!!

2011-01-12T09:48:00.001-07:00

Claire's Limo Adventure

2010-11-17T11:31:00.005-07:00

Claire worked her little tail off selling cookie dough so she could ride in a limo. She was so determined and her determination paid off! She was so excited to ride in the limo with friends from school and then have a special lunch. Way to work hard Claire!!!

Jake taking a peak

So excited!!!

Halloween

2010-11-09T21:30:00.006-07:00

We love Halloween! We had fantastic weather this year...no coats needed! In Colorado, that is a blessing! We had so much fun all week...going to parties, doing crafts, and just being goofy.

The girls had a Daddy/Daughter Halloween dinner and party at church. My adorable family went as nerds. I am so proud!

Batman could hardly wait until it got dark enough to trick or treat!

My cute lady bugs!

Thanks Carrie for the Batman costume! It's getting lots of use. Ü

Clarie bear turns 7!

2010-11-09T21:20:00.005-07:00

Our Claire turned 7! How do I adequatley describe my Claire Bear? She brings so much JOY to our family! She is an easy child who is so quick to meet a new friend, love you unconditionally, and make you laugh until you cry! She is one amazing 7 year old!!

Claire, the day after her birthday, so excited to wear her new outfit from Nana to school!

Oregon or bust!

2010-11-09T20:36:00.007-07:00

We had a fabulous trip to Oregon for a family reunion back in June. We got so much done and made so many memories in such a short amount of time. I am so grateful for a fabulous family. Here are some of the things that we did...

We flew on an airplane...Jake was so excited!

We ran a Half Marathon...my first! (i didn't have my camera)

We visited the Oregon Coast

We ate at a cool resteraunt with the biggest table I have ever seen. Big enough to fit us all!

We went to a vacation home near Bend, OR

We got a little competative! The Lloydites vs. the Nantastics.

We hiked!

We celebrated Carrie's birthday...and got pedicures too!

We laughed and goofed around...a lot!

We swam in a fantastic pool!

We smiled!!

We strengthened relationships

We made bracelets and painted nails!

We took lots of pictures!

We relaxed and let our hair down!

We made memories that will last forever!

Kate The Great turns 9!

2010-11-01T12:33:00.007-06:00

My sweet Kate turned 9 on June 4th! We celebrated by seeing our local AAA baseball team, the SkySox! On Friday nights following the games they have a huge fireworks show. It is one of the best I have seen! Kate had a great birthday and we had so much fun celebrating with her!

Kate was surprised to hear her name announced over the load speaker for her birthday!

Jake and his friend Dane

Kate, Lizzie, and Claire

Jake and Tay Tay!

The dad's with their kiddos

For months before her birthday, Kate said all she wanted was to have cake or a pie smashed in her face. Weird if you ask me but a simple request!

So Abbie helped Kate's birthday wish come true!

I sure love this sweet girl!

The Weather and a trip to the Enchanted Forest!

2010-11-01T12:28:00.006-06:00

While we were in Oregon for our family reunion in June, Stephanie took the kids (and moms) on a tour of her News Studio at Fox where she is the Weather Reporter! We all had such a blast. She showed us what a typical day at work would be for her and how she uses all the equipment too. She let the kids practice being on the news. They were in heaven! Lets just say, they thought they were famous and felt so special having Steph show them around. She even, earlier in the week, put a picture of the cousins up while she was on air!

Following our visit with Steph we were headed off to play at the Enchanted Forest. Steph couldn't let the kids leave without a treat so she gave them all Black Forest(to have at the Enchanted Forest Ü)Gummi Bears for the trip. Stephanie is so thoughtful!

We had so much fun with Aunt Carrie and the cousins at the Enchanted Forest. I loved spending the day laughing with Carrie (we saw the creepiest children's play that was seriously bizarre...we couldn't stop busting up!) and watching the cousins make memories!

Girls Camp

2010-10-26T20:05:00.004-06:00

Camp Joseph

July 13-17th 2010

This was our first year at our new camp, Camp Joseph! What an amzing time I had. I forgot to get me camera out most of the time so I missed so many fun and amazing memories. I sure love the Fairfax Ward YW. What an amazing group of girls they are!

skit

Go Anne!

Help, I'm falling!

Yikes...keepin' it real with Tori!

Fairfax ward leaders

I love these women so much!

Kim, Laurie, Paula, Tori, and me

The gang

She's a Middle Schooler...Ahhhhh!!!

2010-10-26T19:52:00.003-06:00

5th Grade Continuation

Abbie is officially finished with Elementary School and is moving on to Middle School. We are so proud of Abbie and the kind of student, friend, and example she is!

Abbie and her teacher Mr. Kittrel

Following Continuation Mr. Kittrel came up to Abbie and I to make sure that I knew how fabulous he thought Abbie was. He wanted me to know that at the end of every school day Abbie would make sure she came up to him and told him thank you before she left. He said that on most days, the last part of school can be the hardest for teachers. They are busy trying to help other students who need stuff before the bell rings and are tired after a long day of teaching. He got chocked up and teary eyed expressing to Abbie how much he appreciated her saying thank you every day. I was one proud mom!!!

Landsharks

2010-10-26T18:43:00.004-06:00

Go Claire!
Azure, Hannah, Lizzie and Claire. These girls are the best of friends and have so much fun together!

Abbie is an amazing runner. Her long legs make it look easy! She took 5th in the 800M which, in my opinion, is the most difficult race. I hope she has a desire to keep running.

Kent, Graham, and Jake

Megan and Carter's Wedding

2010-10-26T17:26:00.006-06:00

May 21st at the Denver Temple. Megan and Carter were sealed for Eternity!

The Newlyweds at their luncheon following the wedding.

Siblings...Debbie, Nan (mom), and Dave

YMCA!

Helping clean up after a fabulous day with friends and family!

Playing some serious catch up!

2010-10-26T11:39:00.009-06:00

Yikes! It has been way too long since I have blogged. Can I use the excuse that life has been busy? It will never change so I had better just buck up and get back to it! Since I am using this as my family journal I don't want to forget some of the fun stuff we did over the summer. Starting with our camping trip over Memorial weekend...

BOULDER, CO May 28th - 31st

I decided kid of last minute to run in the BolderBoulder with my friend Paula. We decided to make a weekend of it and headed up Boulder Canyon with our families for some camping before the big race on Monday. We had such a blast!

Watching a movie in the trailer

mmm...smores!

The dads and the kids (minus Jake and Emma) rode their bikes to Nederland, a cute little town that was close to where we were camping. It was quite the challenging ride with lots of hills. Paula and I drove, after giving them a 15 minute head start, just in case someone couldn't make it. Everyone did...we were so proud!!!

In Nederland is a cute Farris Wheel that has all hand carved animals. It took one guy 25 years to finish each of the detailed animals. It was opening weekend...

sweet baby Emma

The BolderBoulder is such a fun race. We ran it with over 53,700 people!

2010-06-07T08:39:00.004-06:00

We really wanted to fit one last weekend of skiing in before the hot weather began. We had also promised Claire and Jake that we would let them give skiing a try too. Kent headed up early Friday morning (May 7th) with the older girls for a full day of skiing and I met up with them that evening with the little guys. We had such a fun time with just our little family! We headed into Breckenridge for dinner and then spent the night in Keystone. We woke up early and headed to A Basin for a fun day.

The entire winter Jake has been obsessed with Batman. We have no idea why. He has never even seen a show with Batman in it. All week in anticipation of going skiing he had been asking for Batman skis. We just kind of laughed it off. He woke up insisting on wearing his Batman shirt. I guess he thinks superheros ski? When we got to the resort he walked right up to the rental counter and told the guy, "I need my Batman skis please!" The guy gave us a weird look and we had to explain to Jake that there are no Batman skis!!

This is Jake's look after realizing he was going to have to try and ski without "Batman skis"

Claire picked up on skiing amazingly fast. She was insistent on doing it by herself. By mid day she was moving up to the next slope and wanting to do the ski lift by herself. This girl has little fear in her. Her bravery and confidence will help her go far in life!

Our friend Warren and his daughter Kaylee met us up at the ski resort that morning. Kaylee is an excellent skier and it worked out great for us because Abbie loved to go off skiing with them while we hung with the other kids.

The Carlson Clan!

Crazy hair after a full day of skiing! (notice the shirt Ü)

Date with Kate

2010-06-06T21:35:00.005-06:00

Kate did it...she finally earned her date night with us a couple of weeks ago. She is my most creative kid, always kind, sensitive, and considerate but she definatley is not the most clean and organized. I call her my little Pigpen (from Charlie Brown). It seems like there is always a mess trailing behind her. Every morning when I have to remind my sweet Kate to come put her cereal bowl away that she left behind (seriously, every morning) there is always a giggle and a "oh yeah, I forgot". I love my sweet Kate and was so proud of her when she got her jar filled! She really wanted to get a pedicure so that is what we did. After that we headed out to dinner, her pick. We told her to pick anywhere she wanted to go...she picked IHOP. Yuck! She was delighted though and that is all that matters. We sure love our sweet Kate!

Claire's date night with Mom and Dad

2010-06-03T18:15:00.005-06:00

Claire earned her date night! She chose to eat at Red Robin and then go play at ITZ. We had such a FUN night. She really is such a blast to be around. She has such a funny energetic personality that is contagious. I haven't played that hard in a long time. We got a taste of what it would be like to have only one child. It was easy peasy! (It was nice for the night Ü)

Anyone who knows Claire can imagine how funny it was to watch her clumsy little daring self on the bumper cars. It was quite the sight! I was laughing so hard. She had a blast!

I love this picture!

Cashing in all the tickets

The Mother Lode!

Hangin' with Dad at the car show...

2010-05-27T22:04:00.003-06:00

Kent was excited to be able to take Jake to the car show this year up in Denver. They went with a few friends and their sons and had a blast. Jake was in car heaven! It was after 11 before they got home but Jake came in with the biggest grin on his face and a free poster of some cars that he insisted on hanging in his room. This boy sure loves spending time with his cool Dad!

Jake and his buddy Ethan

April Fools

2010-05-27T21:36:00.003-06:00

My friend Robin gave me an adorable idea for April Fools Day dessert. I put a stack of plates together and frosted them to look like a yummy cake. On each of the plates I put a clue that sent the kids on a hunt for all the toppings for their "real" dessert...ice cream sundaes. It was a fun and nice April Fools joke. Thanks for the idea Robin!

Date night with Abbie

2010-05-19T11:35:00.005-06:00

We have a little reward/punishment system in our house that consists of a jar for each kid and some rocks. I know...it is very high tech! When the jar is full the kids get to plan a date night with Mom and Dad. They get to pick where they would like to eat and what activity we will be doing. Abbie was our first little charmer to fill her jar. She picked Smashburger and the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I love this girl so much! What a great night. Our little girl is growing up and it is so much fun spending one on one time with her. She really is a fun person to be around!

Abbie with her Dad at Smashburger

Shirts and Skins!

This was a very silly movie. Lots of crude stuff that boys like. We laughed a lot (okay, Kent laughed a lot) and squirmed in our seats quite a few times. I am not a big fan of boogers!

Spring Break...Children's Museum

2010-05-17T08:55:00.010-06:00

One of our free days during Spring break was spent at the Children's Museum with the McOmber's and Lovejoy's. The kids had a fantastic time and the mommies came home exhausted!

Abbie and Azure building a birdhouse

Hanna L working on her project

Cumorah and sweet baby Emmett

Playing Vet

Jake said this was a picture of me...lovely!

Doesn't he make the cutest Firefighter!

Our lunchbreak outside.

(A More Real) Love Story

2010-04-30T11:55:00.001-06:00

I thought this was hilarious! My girlfriends and I saw Anita Renfroe live here in Colorado a couple of years ago. I love her sense of humor and wonderful perspective on women and motherhood.

Spring Break...Keystone,CO

2010-04-16T16:54:00.008-06:00

For Spring break this year we decided to spend a few days up in the Rocky Mountains having great family time! The first day Kent took Abbie and Kate skiing at A Basin. The second day I joined in the fun, with our friends the Johnsons, and we skied at Keystone. We had such a great day being together as a family and I loved seeing my girls tear it up on the ski slope. Jessica was so sweet to come up and watch Claire, Jake, and Taylor back at the hotel. They had a fun day of swimming, movie watching, eating, and napping.

Abbie and Kate with the cute Johnson girls, Nicole and Kaylee.

Kent helping Kate get all ready after lunch.

The cutest snow boarder on the slopes!

Kent and Abbie on the ski lift.

brrr...

Claire was happy spending the afternoon with Jessica.

Jake really wanted to go skiing with the rest of us.

This boy is always happy when his Dad is around!

We had such a fantastic break with our family and friends. I love that my kids are getting big enough to enjoy some of our hobbies with us. Kent promised Jake and Claire a trip to the bunny slope before the snow melts. What a blast it will be when we can all be out there together. Family is great!

Week long Easter teaching

2010-04-02T08:24:00.007-06:00

I really had a strong desire this year to make sure that my kids understood the true meaning of Easter. I saw a wonderful idea similar to this on a blog I was looking at. I decided that I would make it simple and adapt it to my family. So during our normal scripture study time before school I decided that each day we would talk about the days leading up to the Saviors Resurrection. We just simply used one picture from the Gospel Art Kit and read and discussed the description on the back. It has been a wonderful experience so far and we have two of the most important events still to come!

Here is what I did (you can still do it too, just do several pictures together):

Monday: Gospel Art Kit (GAK) picture #223
Here is a link if you need to print out the picture or story: GAK #223

Triumphal Entry

Tuesday: GAK #226 and here is the link GAK#226

Jesus Washing the Apostles' Feet

Wednesday: GAK # 227 and here is the link GAK#227

Jesus Praying in Gethsemane

Thursday: GAK #228 and the link is GAK228
The Betrayal of Jesus

Friday: GAK #230 and the link is GAK230

The Crucifixion

Saturday: GAK #232 and # 233 (I am going to do these two together) and the link is GAK232

and GAK233

The Tomb

Mary and the Resurrected Lord

Sunday: GAK # 234 and the link is GAK234

Jesus Shows His Wounds

The Campbell's!!!

2010-03-31T13:42:00.009-06:00

I was so grateful to have Spencer, Sara, Emma, and Thane come to Colorado for a visit. It is not an easy feat for Spencer to get time off of his Pediatric Dental residency so when they said they were coming for a visit we were beyond excited! We spent the weekend laughing, reading, watching BYU basketball, hiking, eating Cafe Rio, cooking, making pretzels, chatting, riding bikes, staying up late, getting up early (to exercise), playing Air Hockey, learning how to make a fruit pizza, trying to convince Spenc and Sara that Colorado is the best place to live, and making lots and lots of fun memories! Thank you so much Campbell's for coming to see our part of the world...we love you SO much!

Abbie reading bedtime stories to the cousins.
Emma and Jake did lots of giggling!

Learning from the master pretzel maker!

Saralyn was so sweet to show Abbie how to make her yummy fruit pizza. She took Abbie and Kate shopping for all of the ingredients. I think Abbie was in heaven! Sara also showed me how she cooks her salmon on the bbq. So easy and delicious...I had no idea!

Picnic lunch at Garden of the Gods.

Emma being....Emma!

Thane has to be one of the sweetest and happy toddlers that I know!

I think Abbie looks really really tall in this picture! How did my baby grow up so fast?

We were also able to have a really fun game night with the McOmbers and Welch's. I have no idea why I didn't get the camera out but we had a great time eating, playing, and chating. It was a perfect weekend and we can't wait for the next time we get to make more memories with our wonderful family! What a huge blessing they all are to us...I couldn't be more grateful!

Abbie's Birthday Party

2010-03-26T06:37:00.005-06:00

My baby girl turned 11! She wanted to celebrate by having some friends over for a baking party. Abbie loves to be in the kitchen! She is such a joy to have in our house and I really am enjoying being the mother of a tween!

Connor and Cory got Abbie two adorable cookbooks!

Jake and I suprised Abbie at school and brought her some Subway.

A week full of love and crafting

2010-02-24T13:45:00.007-07:00

I am so lucky to have three beautiful girls who share my love for some good crafting time! The week before Valentines Day Kent was out of town so we decided to do some real girly stuff (sorry Jake). We headed off to JoAnne's, got the supplies we needed, and had a great time! The first thing we worked on were these cute bags that we used as mail boxes for us to send love notes and surprises to each other all week long. I think they turned out adorable! We decided to save them and make it a new tradition.

Abbie and Kate helping cut out their mail boxes.

Can you tell who is who?

Jake finding some of his love notes one morning.

Most of the little surprises I put in their bags I just got at the dollar section at Target. They were thrilled!

Abbie cut out a whole yard of little red felt circles. It turned into an adorable wreath!

I was in charge of Kate's school Valentine party. I decided to make a Valentine Memory game. I just cut out all the shapes and numbers on my Cricut and then went and got them all laminated.

The pencil topper craft we did at Kate's party

Claire having fun with Kate at her school party.

I love Valentines Day and the opportunity it gives me to show my family how much I love them. Now the challenge is to keep showing them all year long. Ü

Kate's best of 2009

2010-02-22T13:36:00.003-07:00

I was cleaning out my office today and found Kate's "Best of 2009" list she made at school. I thought it was so cute so here they are (she said they are not in order of her favorite, just a list):

-Glamis sand dunes
-Baptism
-birthday
-Economic fair
-baby Ruby
-sewing class
-new wood floors
-Disney California and Disneyland
-Mom and Dad at Europe
-starting 3rd grade
-Moab Utah 2nd time
-Aunt JoJo being engaged

I love it...a perfect snapshot of our 2009! I love my cute Kate!

Jakey's 3...it's a Lego party!

2010-02-15T09:04:00.006-07:00

Why oh why do our kids have to grow up so fast? I really can hardly believe my baby is 3. I absolutely LOVE the stage he is in right now. I want to cherish every second of it since it will be my last (until grandkids Ü).

Beside watching Lightning McQueen (and more recently Toy Story), Lego's are the only thing that will keep Jake's attention for more than 10 min. It is one of his favorite things to do with his Dad! So, we decided to have a Lego birthday with our family.

The Carlson, McOmber, and Twigg kids.

This was my attempt at a Lego cake. Jake was thrilled with it...I guess that is all that matters!

A picture from Big Jake!

Jake talked about wanting a robot for his birthday. It was so random...I am not sure he even knows what a robot is! So, Abbie was so sweet and made him this awesome robot!

I found some Lego candys while I was in Utah. They were so cute and even stack together! The kids had a good time with them.

Happy #3 Jake...we LOVE YOU!

Baptism, Blessing, and a Funeral

2010-02-05T15:24:00.008-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we made a very quick trip to Utah to attend a baptism, blessing, funeral, and baby shower! The funeral of my cousin Jeff was unexpected but we were grateful we were able to attend and be with family. It was a fast weekend but worth every second of it. We will take any opportunity we can to get together with our cousins.

My sweet cousin Aimee had her baby Charolette just a few days before we got there. The kids loved being able to go to her baby shower.

Sweet little Evie on her baptism day.

Laura holding baby Ruby in her gorgeous blessing dress!

These guys have SO much fun when they get together! I just love seeing them making memories.

Julie did an amazing job on the luncheon following the baptism/blessing. Here are all the centerpieces (adorable #8 cookies!)
Me with Jodi, Julie, Laura, and baby Ruby

Sadie, Drake, and Abbie

Kent's Favorites!

2010-01-27T13:35:00.007-07:00

Oh my goodness...when we head down to Kent's old stomping grounds in So. Cal there are just some food places that are a must for us to hit. Places that he has been going to forever and that he misses dearly and craves when he is away. Here are a few of the highlights. There are several places we missed but for crying out loud there is only so much eating you can do in a week!

California trip part 3: Disney California

2010-01-25T10:05:00.003-07:00

Day two was spent mainly at California Disney. It was so sweet of Carla to come with us and spend the day. We had such a great time! The weather was gorgeous and it ended up being another perfect day.

Oh boy, Jake was beyond excited when we came around the corner and saw a life size Lightning McQueen and Mater. He could have stayed there the entire day! The kid is obsessed with this movie!

On the HUGE Farris Wheel.

I thought this picture of Abbie was pretty funny. You can hardly see her in there!

Kate was super excited when she got called up to dance during the HSM performance. I love how Disneyland has something for all ages. We spent the two days so excited for each other. There was definitely something for everyone.

California trip: part 2 Disneyland

2010-01-23T08:47:00.011-07:00

For Christmas this year we decided to go really light on the presents and splurge on a trip to Disneyland. It has been over five years since we have been...Claire was an infant and Jake has never been. It really is one of the funnest places in the world! We had such a fabulous day as a family and there is nothing better than seeing your kids THAT excited!

This has to be one of my favorite pictures of the trip! Jake was beyond excited at the parade to see all of the characters. He could hardly believe it!

So excited!!!

This was the highlight by far of Claire's trip. She was cracking me up...it was like she was meeting a celebrity. She got Tinker Bell's autograph and couldn't have been more thrilled!
Both of my boys fell asleep in the Tiki Room after a long fun filled day!

Christmas is a fabulous time of year to go to Disneyland. The weather was perfect and you would not believe all of the Christmas decorations. This is Cinderella's castle all lit up.

Jake talked about driving this car for DAYS!

Brady came with us and it was so nice having another adult. This is where Jake spent most of the day! Kent and I even got to go on some rides together. Ü

Abbie in front of the Small World ride. It was incredible to see the amount of lights they had on that thing for Christmas...it was magical!

I laughed so hard at this picture. For some reason Kent's head popping up above Mickey's cracks me up!

Claire worried so much about getting this picture for her friend Lizzie. Apparently they had previously talked and Claire promised she would get a picture of Cinderella's castle for her. Here you go Lizzy...

Thunder Mountain. During the ride and...

after the ride.

I was a little surprised at how much Jake loved going up to all the characters. He wanted to give them all huge hugs!

Post Christmas California trip: part 1

2010-01-20T21:01:00.011-07:00

Two days after Christmas we loaded up and headed for Southern Californina. Man o man...that was a long trip. Kent has always talked about his days at the Glamis sand dunes growing up. We were excited to go see what he was always talking about and hang out in some sunshine. We had such a blast. We met up with the Coyles with some other friends that Kent grew up with. The highlight of the trip was Jake learning how to drive the quad by himself. He cant even reach the foot pedals or breaks yet! He sure was having a blast! He was such a crack up to watch. We had a fantastic time and can't wait to go back.

Jake giving us his "thumbs up"!

This is the first trip we took with our trailer. It was perfect. I think we will have many more fun memorable trips to come.

Robin and Claire

Claire and I getting ready for a ride in the sand rail. You have to be totally covered up or the sand going over 100 mph would pelt you. Aren't we beautiful? Claire was the only one brave enough to go.

Claire drove the quad for the first time by herself on this trip too!

Carla teaching Jake how to drive the quad.

Andrew taking Jake for a ride in his sand rail.

Christmas

2010-01-19T17:05:00.007-07:00

We had a fabulous Christmas this year! Christmas Eve was spent over at our friends the Drapers. One of our traditions that we started a few years back is to make traditional Scandinavian pancakes called Aebleskivers. They are basically stuffed pancakes that come out in a ball. The kids love them! Since Debbie's family has been making them too since she was a little kid we thought it would be fun to do them together. It was a fun Christmas Eve spent with friends.

It wouldn't be Christmas Eve without acting out the Nativity.

The whole gang

The kids in their new pj's on Christmas Eve.

The kids woke us up at about 5:50...not too bad! What fun it is to see your kids so excited!

Abbie and Jake feeling the love!

New helmets for the girls

Jake playing with his new toy from Nana and Papa.

For out traditional Christmas Day matinee we went and saw Alvin and The Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquil. Jake and Jessica spent the day with us and that evening after dinner we played a new game called Quelf. What a goofy game but I don't think I have laughed so hard in my life! We have so many blessings to be grateful for all of which are centered around our Savior.

It's all about the countdown!

2010-01-11T14:20:00.007-07:00

As I was putting away all the Christmas decorations I realized that I have quite the Advent calendar collection. I love each of them and they have become part of our family Holiday traditions.

This is a new one I got this year from my sister Jodi. I LOVE it! The kids had such a blast opening up each box every day before Christmas. Sometimes there was a treat or sometimes there was a piece to an adorable nativity. However, I think my kids favorite day was the day they opened the box to find notes for each of them from their cousins!

The boxes have a magnet on them and then attach to a metal board. Aren't the boxes adorable!

This is an advent that Cumorah designed and I made and taught at our wards Super Saturday. I love how it turned out!

This one has to be my favorite. Another fabulous Christmas gift from Jodi. Who knows how many hours she spent sewing each individual piece. It is absolutely adorable. Each day you add another piece to the nativity scene. It is a treasure that I will enjoy forever and I am sure my kids will be fighting over who gets it after I am gone!

Here is another Jodi creation. This one is one of my kids favorites. Each door has a jar attached to it that I fill will treats, stickers, lip gloss, or whater I can find that will fit. Such a fun holiday tradition. I think this one was my first advent calender. I love it!

My creative cousin Cumorah designed this one and taught it at a class. All I had to do was put it together. I love having some advents that focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

Jenco Retreat

2010-01-08T13:18:00.004-07:00

Way back in November we had our Jenco retreat. We decided to stay close to home this time (last year we went to Mexico) and stay up in Denver for a couple of nights. We had such a great time! I feel fortunate that Kent works with two fabulous men who have fabulous wives that I love and are so easy to get along with. We had lots of good food, went to a Nuggetts v. Lakers game, and then to top it off we enjoyed going to see Wicked together. It was the perfect weekend and I can't wait to see what next year will bring.

The Nuggets killed the Lakers. What a fun game!

Wicked

Saying Goodbye

2010-01-05T21:39:00.005-07:00

Saying goodbye is such a difficult thing to do. I have never been good at it. I don't like being away from those I love. Some goodbyes are just for a short time and some are longer. All goodbyes are temporary though. What a blessing it is to know that we can be with those we love forever. What a beautiful gift we have been given from our Savior.

Michelle's memorial service was a beautiful tribute to the life she lived. She touched many lives and left behind a legacy of love.

Her family found a beautiful spot for her to rest up in the mountains at one of her favorite spots. What a difficult day that was for everyone.

For several days following Michelle's passing little Jake would ask where Shell was, as we were coming and going from their house. Each time my heart broke for the great loss we all are experiencing. He misses her too. She was always so attentive and affectionate towards my kids. It became somewhat of a regular thing in the mornings, after I got the kids on the bus, for Jake and I to stop in for a short visit with Michelle. I loved those few minutes in the morning and so did Jake.

This beautiful talk given by Elder Worthlin brings me a tremendous amount of comfort.

Michelle's family at Helen Hunt Falls

The gorgeous view

Kent and Beth planting some tulips

Love, Faith, and a little John Denver

2009-12-10T09:02:00.007-07:00

November 5th 2009 will not be a day I soon forget. I was up in Denver helping Kent celebrate his birthday when I got a phone call from my dear friend Michelle. She was on her way home after having received more scans in her long battle with cancer. She had been in lots of pain lately and was needing some answers. She had just left the Dr's office and was in the car with her mom driving home. They told her that her cancer had continued to grow and that there was no more they could do for her. Hospice was the next step to try and help her control her pain. My heart broke. We sobbed together on the phone. The next morning we were able to spend some time together. That moment, and several that followed, felt like one of those sacred moments that are so precious and life changing. How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father for placing Michelle in my life when I needed her most. She changed my life forever. She lost her battle with cancer on Dec. 3rd and returned home to her loving Heavenly Father. I will miss her so much! When the neighborhood heard about Michelle's devastating news about having to go on Hospice everyone decided to put out silver and white balloons. The backyards and the path from the Twiggs house out of the neighborhood was lined with balloons letting her family know they were in our thoughts and prayers. My kids would count every day how many people had balloons out. I think the number got close to 20. What a wonderful and supportive neighborhood we live in!

On Nov. 22nd Jamie organized a special concert for Michelle in their home. John Denver is one of their favorite musicians. They danced to "Annie's Song" at their wedding. A great guy named Ted Vigil was kind enough to fly in from Seattle. Doesn't he look so much like John Denver! It was an amazing evening that I felt so blessed to be apart of. There were moments of joy and celebration and some very tender moments of love and hope and sadness. I felt the Spirit so strong in a home full of close friends and family that more than anything shared a Christlike love for this sweet mother who has been such a tremendous example to us all.

This is not one of the most flattering pictures of me ever taken. My eyes are all red and puffy and well...I'll just say that the angle isn't the most flattering. Michelle took this picture of us on the night of the concert. She suffered tremendous pain the last several weeks, and this day happened to be one of her worst. Even in her pain, she asked me to hand her the camera so she could take a picture for us. She was laying down because it hurt too much to sit up. For me this is just a reminder of the kind of friend she was to me. Loving. Selfless. Thoughtful. Kind.

Annie's Song...one of Michelle's favorites! There was not a dry eye in the house.

Kent's 40!

2009-12-09T15:05:00.004-07:00

Kent turned 40 this year (way back on Nov. 5th). I wanted to throw him a big party...he didn't want one. So, since it was his birthday I decided to go with his wishes! We celebrated with the kids in the morning and had a big breakfast and then blew out candles on his coffee cake. Later that afternoon we headed up to the temple and then stayed in Denver to celebrate.

I decided to surprise Kent with some indoor skydiving. He has talked about wanting to do this for a long time. What better day to do it than on his 40th birthday!

Don't we look awesome in those attractive goggles!

We had such a blast! Kent is already talking about doing it again

After skydiving we went to Maggianos and had a delicious dinner. Kent blew out more candles over some spumoni ice cream.

Launching Pumpkins

2009-11-20T07:17:00.003-07:00

Abbie's 5th grade class did a unit on simple machines. For the final project of that unit each student had to make a catapult that would launch either a marshmallow or a small pumpkin at least 15 feet. Abbie chose to do the pumpkin. She and Kent spent hours in the garage cutting, screwing, bolting, and launching. They practiced in the street several times launching all kinds of things with the neighborhood kids. It worked like a charm. Of course, the day of the launch it took 4 trys before they could get it to work...the pressure was too much! But finally success was theirs...her pumpkin went 45 feet 4 inches!

To say Abbie's was the biggest would be an understatment! Now we just have the task of taking it apart. (we just got a note from our HOA that we were in violation because some "wooden object is in view from the street")

Yummy Apples and Halloween

2009-11-16T15:53:00.005-07:00

For the FHE before Halloween we made our yummy gormet caramel apples with toppings like mini m&m's, toffee, nuts, broken up pretzels and we top it all with a drizzle of milk chocolate and white chocolate.

For Halloween this year we had a chef, a cowgirl, a cheerleader, and one very excited pirate!

LHS Cheer

2009-11-09T11:11:00.005-07:00

This year Kate and Claire (Claire wasn't old enough last year) did the Liberty High School Cheerleading Camp. They loved every minute of it. The week after the camp they showed off what they leaned at the football game half time show. That night happened to be FREEZING. I mean literally...we were numb. It was all we could do to make it to halftime. So, I didn't get pictures at the game, just a video. It was quite the night. Kent was out of town so I was by myself. By the time we were done we were all having a complete melt down, including me! We did end up taking some pictures at home after the game. They did a great job!

Isn't that just the sadest face! This is post melt down while trying to warm up.

Claire is on the left in the pink pants. Kate is next to her in the blue coat. I was cracking up at Claire giving the cheerleader a hug after each cheer...too cute!

Showing us their cheers up and close. Don't ever say my girls aren't coordinated!! Ü

Jake giving it a try!

A Fall Drive

2009-11-09T10:49:00.006-07:00

On Conference weekend (yes, I know that was over a month ago Ü) we went for a beautiful Fall drive. Colorado is gorgeous, anytime of year, but especially in the Fall. I sure love spending time with my family. It was a fantastic day!

I love this girls cute little freckles sprinkled across her nose!

A Pinkalicious Birthday Party

2009-10-26T13:45:00.007-06:00

This year for Claire's birthday we had a Pinkalicious Party. Pinkalicious is Claire's favorite book about a girl who eats to many pink cupcakes and turns pink. It was an easy enough theme...we just did everything pink!

We ate pink food...

We read Pinkalicous...

We played pin the cherry on the cupcake...

We had a cupcake walk...

We did a pink craft...

Katelynn modeling the heart necklace she made.

We opened presents...

For part of the goody bag I made each of the girls a pink flowered head band. Here they are modeling them! It was a fantastic afternoon. Claire had a blast and she has such wonderful friends who are all so well behaved.

Super easy to make!

Happy 6th Birthday Claire Bear!

2009-10-21T14:24:00.007-06:00

Today is my sweet Claire's 6th birthday. Here are 6 things I love about her:

1. Full of life

2. Friend to everyone

3. Has the sweetest laugh you will ever hear

4. Leader

5. "I'm okay, I'm okay!"

6. A genuine sweet heart

Claire and her new love for rugby

2009-10-08T16:50:00.004-06:00

Our little Claire bear just cracks us up. She is up for anything! On one hand she loves everything girly but on the other she is as rough and tumble as any boy out there. She is a little clumsy (okay...a lot) but hopefully one day she will grow into all of her energy and excitement. Well, this fall she wanted to give rugby a try. Our neighbor was her coach and she played with her good friend Lizzie. She absolutely LOVED it! She loved the competition, the running, and trying something new. Every day after school she would ask, "is today rugby?" She was actually pretty good at it. I sure love this girl!

The Lil' Grizzlies

Lucky Me

2009-09-28T13:00:00.004-06:00

I get to spend my afternoons with this cutie. How lucky am I!!

Our Wonderful Neighbors

2009-09-24T16:36:00.008-06:00

I'm really not trying to brag but I do have to say that I have the best neighbors in the world. It just happens to be a statement of truth! Ü They are friendly, social, helpful, honest, thoughtful, and considerate. Most of them don't have the exact same religous beliefs as I do but they are good Christian people who I look up to and admire.

My dear friend, who happens to be my neighbor directly next door, is struggling with some serious life threatning health issues. Through it all she has shown such courage, determination, and strength. She and her adorable family have been such wonderful friends since we moved here 3 years ago. I truely believe that my Heavenly Father put us in each others lives for a reason. She and I have talked about this several times and we truely belive it wasn't an accident. I love her dearly and my life has been forever changed by her and her beautiful example.

The last couple of weeks they were able to go on a much deserved family trip to England, where her husband is from. We decided it would be a great opportunity to provide some service for them. We mentioned it to a couple of neighbors and before we new it we had a whole crew that was willing to give up their Sat. morning to help this family in just a small way. It was such a fun day! I ♥ my neighbors!!

Danny gave the kids rides.

This is Tim, the "grandpa" of the neighborhood, who Claire affecionatley nicknamed Timmy. My kids love him!

This is Betsy, Tim's better half, who is SO sweet to my kids. We love having them live behind us!

Claire was cracking me up. She stood at that pile of bark for at least an hour. One of our neighbors mentioned that he was keeping track and that she must have filled at least 15 wheelbarrows all by herself! She is one tough cookie!

Heather and Joanna

K, 3rd, and 5th

2009-09-15T16:45:00.006-06:00

The summer flew by for us and before we knew it, it was back to school time. The girls are thrilled with their teachers and so am I. I love my one on one time in the afternoon with Jakey. We have been to several parks, the library, and 7-11 for slurpees all by ourselves. I love our little afternoon dates and yes, on most days he is still taking a nap...priceless!

Misc. summer fun

2009-09-14T15:11:00.013-06:00

The Neighborhood Pool

Many afternoons this summer were spent at our pool. The kids took lessons for a couple of weeks and did great. Jake turned into quite the fish. It was nice that he was so much more independent this year. (I didn't have to get wet if I didn't want to Ü )

We took lots of picnic lunches to the pool.

I did lots of towel laundry this summer too!

Flying W Ranch

Flying W Ranch is a fun place here in Colorado Springs where you can go and check out an old western town and then have a yummy western bbq and watch a fun band play. We were invited for a friends birthday and had such a blast. We have been wanting to go since we moved here!

Jake and Steve showed up in matching outfits...how cute!!

Labor Day

Cute and dirty dirty faces!

Roasting marshmallows for FHE with Jake and Jess

Sky Sox

Colorado Springs has its very own minor league baseball team...the Sky Sox. We have heard how fun the games are but have never been. Well, our friends had some extra tickets so we tagged along. We had such a blast!! They have amazing fireworks after the game too!

Happy 13th Anniversary

On Aug. 23rd Kent and I celebrated our 13th anniversary. Kent let me decide what we wanted to do. I picked dirt biking...just the two of us. We had SO much fun together!!! After we cleaned up we went to a yummy dinner and a movie. I love spending time with my sweetheart!

We also spent two weeks together in Europe this summer. Pictures on that will be coming. My kids had a blast with their Grandma Carlson for a couple of days and then with Nana and Papa. (Mom, do you have any pictures of your adventures with the kids?)

Summer '09

2009-09-01T16:21:00.009-06:00

Here are some random pictures of our summer. I didn't blog much this summer because we were so busy having fun.

Campbell Family Reunion:

In June we headed to Utah for our Campbell family reunion. What a blast we had!! It was a a waterpark called Cherry Hill near Kaysville. We have the best extended family ever!

Grandma Rula and Grandma Bud gave birth to these 4 beautiful children who...

married and gave birth to this beautiful brood, who...

married and gave Grandma Rula these beautiful great grandkids!

The Lloyd Campbell Clan

At our family reunion we ate...

we swam...

rock climbed...

golfed...

met second cousins that we LOVED...

swam some more...

and did lots of laughing, chatting, playing, and catching up. We had a blast!

Last weekend of summer break

2009-08-18T17:01:00.005-06:00

The last weekend of summer was supposed to be the fathers and sons camp out. Kent didn't make it. The sweet dad that he is improvised with a tent in the backyard. Jake didn't care one bit. He was beside himself with excitement!!! Kent found a head lamp that fit his little head and Jake was sold!

On Saturday we spent time as a family up in the mountains riding our motorcycles and quads. The kids love it. Jake was in heaven! It was a perfect ending to a fun filled summer!

Kate taking Kaylee for a spin

Jake is hooked!

Kent taught Abbie to ride a motorcycle this trip. She was nervous at first but soon got the hang of it. I wish I had gotten a picture. He was one proud daddy!

Trying to be like Papa!

2009-07-16T00:28:00.003-06:00

I love these two guys!! Jake is working on getting Papa's famous "duck call"... so dang cute!

Shark Attack Triathlon

2009-07-10T08:56:00.007-06:00

My sister Carrie and I did a sprint triathlon together in Utah. We had so much fun together! Hopefully we have started a new tradition and can do one together every year.

Yikes, we are getting old!

our devoted fans

I love you Carrie! What a fun day!

The most exciting part of the day was watching the kids triathlon. I am so dang proud of my daughters, nieces, and nephews. What awesome kids they are. I would never have tried doing a triathlon at their age. It was a 100m swim, 5 mile bike, and a 1.2 mile run. What an inspiration they are to me! I was teary eyed watching them cross the finish line. So much fun!!!! Great job Abbie, Hannah, Courtney, Drake, Kate, Sadie, and Carson!

Abbie and Hannah finishing the swim

Abbie coming in on the bike

Abbie finishing up with a smile on her face!

Drake and Hannah finishing up!

Kate finishing up her swim. Kate, Sadie, and Carson did a relay with each of them doing one leg of the race. They were awesome!!!

Kate passing off to Sadie who did the bike. Carson did an awesome job on the run. (For some reason I am missing his picture)

Courtney finished second in her age group!

Kate's baptism weekend

2009-07-03T12:36:00.005-06:00

Kate was baptised on June 6th by her dad. My dad (Papa) and Dan were the witnesses. It was a wonderful weekend. We had so much family come into town. We felt very loved! Kate was showered with gifts and so much love. Thank you to everyone who made the effort to be there. We sure did appreciate it! It was a beautiful day. One that we will remember forever!

Kate's 8th Birthday Celebrations

2009-07-03T00:00:00.009-06:00

This was a big birthday for Kate and we did a lot of celebrating. This year she was able to have a "friend" party and we decided to have it at a nail salon. She was able to invite 2 friends along with her sisters. We were able to bring a movie that they watched while being pampered and ate popcorn and juice. Kate was also able to pick out a bracelet as a present. After fun at the salon we headed to McDonald's for some Happy Meals and ice cream. Kate had a great day!

On her actual birthday we surprised Kate by waking her up early and taking her out to breakfast in her p.j's. That evening we had more cake and opened presents.

Kate got to celebrate again when all her family arrived for her baptism. (I'll do that one in a separate post) What a fantastic week of celebrating!

Jake watching the movie and waiting patiently while the girls got pampered.

Kaylee, Kate, and Ashley

Happy Birthday to our sweet Kate!

2009-06-04T09:35:00.005-06:00

We sure love our Kate-o. She brightens the day of anyone she is around. Here are my top 10 favorite things about Kate.

10. She is a smarty pants in school. She is a really good reader (almost a whole grade level ahead)

9. She is a loyal and sweet friend.

8. She is always so concerned about making good choices and ALWAYS wants to do whats right

7. She is the sweetest sister to her siblings

6. She's okay with trying new things...right now she is on a rugby team!

5. Her laugh is seriously contagious (it's not really a laugh...more like a giggle!)

4. She always goes the extra mile. It's not unusual for Kate to come up to me and ask me if there is anything she can do for me.

3. She is really good at sharing. What's hers can be yours if you just ask!

2. She is the perfect middle child for our family. So sweet and helpful with Claire and Jake and such a good companion for Abbie

1. I love the dimple that shows up on her nose when she smiles really big. Seeing it makes my day!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE!!!

BolderBoulder

2009-06-01T14:48:00.009-06:00

What a fun Memorial weekend we had. We spent it up in Boulder. What a fun college town with so much to do. I ran the BolderBoulder 10k on Memorial day with 53,000 other runners. It was just a fun little family vacation. The kids love the excitement of staying in a hotel, eating the continental breakfast, and swimming in the pool.

I do have to say that I am not much of a runner but had so much fun running this race. The excitement of running it with so many other people was a thrill. There were bands, an Elvis impersonator, and lots of belly dancers along the route to keep us entertained. The finish line is inside the CU stadium and it was such a thrill running through the finish line with the stands full and your face on the jumbo tron.

Following the race we had a good time walking around downtown, checking out all the booths at the fair, and letting the kids get harnessed up to jump on the trampolines. I LOVE spending time with my family!!!

The finish line inside the stadium

Last Day of School

2009-05-28T08:25:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was the last day of school. No more rushing to get to the bus. No more homework. No more rushing to get to bed on time. No more packing lunches. No more spelling words. Ahh...all is well (at least for 2 or so months).

All ready for the last day of 2nd grade and 4th grade

When the kids got off the bus we sprayed them down with silly string

Kate and her buddy Connor

These are the little teacher gifts I made. It is a stcky note holder. I had the girls write a thank you note on the top paper and slid in a gift card too. I wrapped it up with some sticky note refills and called it good. Here's where I got the idea.

The last day of seminary for Kent...

2009-05-27T09:08:00.003-06:00

...means I get to work out in the mornings again!!! I know it sounds crazy, selfish, insignificant... but I love getting my workouts done before the kids wake up and Kent loves sleeping in so it works out for both of us. So, at least for the next couple of months, all is well in the Carlson household.

Though, I do have to say that this last year of Kent teaching seminary has been a wonderful blessing for our whole family. Kent loved the kids in his class and loved teaching the New Testament. It was a challenge but a great blessing!

Here are some pictures from the breakfast we had at our house on the last day...

just a few of the fabulous Sophomores and Juniors in his class

Kate's baptism pictures

2009-05-19T09:13:00.006-06:00

I just had to post a few of the pictures that my friend Joyana took of Kate in her baptism dress. Thank you Joyana...I love them all! I can't believe my beautiful Kate is turning 8!!!

Carrie made these adorable invitations! Thanks a million Carrie!

A Night At The Museum

2009-05-17T18:00:00.005-06:00

Yes, we had our very own night at the museum. The 4th graders get to go on an overnight field trip to the Denver History Museum. I volunteered to go with Abbie and her class. We had such a blast! The museum has everything so well organized. We started the field trip in the evening after the museum closed for the day. We were in classes learning about different time periods of American History until about 12:30am. We lassoed a cow, made butter, panned for gold, learned about the Plains Indians, and in the old school house Abbie got in trouble for having on nail polish and had to go to the front of the class room, draw a circle on the chalk board, and stick her nose in it...very fun! I also got to hear lots of fun girl talk like "which of the Jonas Brothers is cutest?" When it was time to hit the hay, the girls headed to the Cowboy exhibit to find a spot on the floor to sleep and the boys to another part of the museum. The next morning (after a very sleepless night) breakfast was ready and a little more exploring before heading home. It really was a fun experience with my sweet Abbie!!

Ride 'm cowboy!

Abbie and Dayna

Making butter (which they actually ate for breakfast the next morning)

getting ready for bed

Abbie, Mrs. Paulson (the principal), Logan, and Mrs. Hoit (her teacher)

Easter

2009-05-09T15:48:00.004-06:00

We had a fabulous Easter this year! I love this time of year with spring coming and the excitement of all of our traditions. Although Kent and I try to teach our children all year long about the miracle of the Saviors life and Resurrection, I am grateful for this time set aside to celebrate it.

We had horrible weather on Easter (of course!) but we were lucky enough to get one Easter egg hunt in earlier in the week with the little kids and their friends at the park.

Spring break part two...

2009-05-08T11:20:00.007-06:00

...was spent in northern Utah with my fabulous sister and adorable niece and nephew. We love visiting them any chance we can get. It is so nice because the kids all get along so well that it really is a break for me too. The only thing that would make it better is if Carrie still lived next door.

One of the days we spent up Diamond Fork Canyon with the Allens and Cullimore's hiking and bbq'ing. The kids had such a blast hiking up really high mountains and jumping off lots of rocks.

Abbie showing Jake the handprints on the side of the waterfall

One of the afternoons I took all the girls to my friends new store Crafter's Metal in Orem. It is a fabulous store that has lots of unfinished wood/metal projects. If you pay a $5 shop fee you can use all of their supplies to finish your project there. We had such a great time and I think the girls projects are adorable!

So, while we were in Mableton visiting my sister, Kent was still in Moab playing with the guys. Here are some of their highlights...

Warren on a very cold morning in Moab

Catch up...

2009-05-04T22:48:00.009-06:00

There is so much catching up to do!! I think I will start with our awesome spring break trip. We headed out to Moab with some friends to do some hiking, 4 wheeling, and dirt biking. We had such a blast! Here are some of the highlights...

Day 1: Hiking in Crack Canyon and Goblin Valley:

Here is the lovely "crack" rock Payton found in Crack Canyon

Kate, Kaylee, Claire, and Nicole

By the time we finished up at Crack Canyon and got to Goblin Valley three of the four kids had fallen asleep. So, since it was cold and windy outside, I volunteered to stay in the car while Kent and Abbie went exploring. I actually have been here before and it really is amazing. The picture does not do it justice!

Abbie in Gobblin Valley

Day 2: Hells Revenge!

Let's see...what can I say about Hells Revenge. It freaked my girls out (to put it mildly)!!! I was even a little nervous at the beginning but then got in the groove and had a great time. The only time that my girls were not screaming "We are going to die!" is when the jeep wasn't moving. Let's just say it wasn't their funnest day!

Here are all of the jeeps that we rented. We are in the yellow one.

Here are a few of the only smiles we had all day. (notice that the jeep is not moving)

Day 3: Quads and dirt bikes at the sand dunes

This had to be one of my favorite parts of the trip and for some reason I didn't get very many pictures. The kids had so much fun being out on the quads and having rides in the Razors.

The girls going out for a ride (me on the left, Kim, and Tamzen)

Jake was exhausted after hours of begging for rides from whomever he could get them from.

We had such a fantastic trip and enjoyed spending time with such great friends. No one got hurt this year which was fantastic. Jake was miserable for a little bit with an ear infection but Dr. Fleming hooked us up with a prescription and he felt better almost immediately (thanks Lee!) After day 3 we left the guys for a few more days of dirt biking and headed up north to see my wonderful sister and her kids. (more on that in the next post...)

Don't cry over spilled milk...

2009-04-29T09:40:00.003-06:00

This is what Jake was up to while I was in the shower yesterday! What am I going to do with this energetic and independent little guy? He sure keeps me on my toes!

Cheers!

2009-04-13T21:46:00.005-06:00

Another year done with the Science Fair... Hallelujah!!!! Only 7 more of those suckers left! Why do I hate doing them so bad? I am not quite sure because actually Kent enjoys them and is the one that helped Abbie with it the most. I think it is just the fact that it hangs over our heads until its done, it takes a lot of time, and I am just an all around party pooper!! Actually, Abbie did a great job and had fun doing it. So, until next year...

Which soda had the most carbonation?

First, she marked the starting level of the soda and then shook (is that a word?) it for 1 min.

Then she marked the level after opening it.

To find out how much soda was lost she started with 500ml of water and...

measured how much water it took to fill it back up to the starting level.

Her very scientific experiment showed that Sprite indeed had the most carbonation!

We got egged!!

2009-04-07T09:47:00.002-06:00

Last night we got a knock on the door to find this...

...a note to tell us that we had been "egged". Outside on our lawn was an easter egg hunt waiting to happen.

The kids were so suprised and had such a blast finding all the hidden eggs. So, to our secret "eggers"... THANKS A BUNCH!!!

My amazing and creative sisters...

2009-04-03T16:42:00.009-06:00

I come from a family that has a very talented and creative mom who passed those genes down to both of my sisters and some how it missed me. Check out my sister Jodi's talent here and Carrie's here and here.

Well, Carrie went a little crazy planning the decorations for my mom's suprise birthday. Everything was so cute and very thoughtful. Here's just a taste of all the effort she made...

She had gotten a hold of all the pictures of my mom and her siblings when they were little and used them as the decortations. They lined the middle of the tables and they were so fun to look at.

She also made these cute party hats and little favor boxes. She had also made up a quiz on who knew the most about Nan. Some of the questions included how many boyfriends she has had (3), what high school she went to (Highland High), and what her first job was (telecommunications).

These are the adorable placemats she made with fun games on them (just in case we got bored!)

You did an amazing job Carrie!!!

It's a girls weekend...

2009-04-03T15:58:00.009-06:00

My mom turned 6o the middle of March so we thought it would be fun to throw her a surprise party. So, my aunt Debbie and I flew into Portland together and my sister Jodi flew in from Salt Lake. We had been planning this party for months and it was SUCH a difficult secret to keep. There were many times that I almost slipped. It was such a fantastic weekend and the best part was that my mom had no idea!!!

Mom with her sister Debbie

My brothers and sisters that I LOVE SO MUCH!!!

My sister Jodi and sister-in-law Saralyn

My mom's bff Cheryl is such a crack up. My mom had no idea why we were laughing so hard while she was reading Cheryl's card.

These are the amazing hand made cakes Cheryl made. They were gorgeous and delicious too! The chocolate one had like 10 layers to it and the cupcakes where a white chocolate coconut (YUMMY!!!) It's hard to tell from the pics but those cupcakes were enormous too.

One of the afternoons (that is wasn't raining) Saralyn took us out on the town. We walked up to OHSU (Spencer and Anthonys school) and took the tram down into downtown Portland to walk around and eat lunch. We had so much fun!!! I am not sure why my dad isn't in any of the pictures but he was our token guy and we loved having him spend the day with us too!

It was just such a treat to spend some quality time with some of the people I love most in my life. I truly am a very blessed woman!! We had some late nights with lots of gigles, a few happy tears, and lots of gabbing. I was so grateful too for a hubbie who had such a fun weekend with his kids at home and made it so easy for me to go. It also happened to be stake conference weekend there and it was so wonderful to be able to hear my dad give his talk. It was the cherry on top!!!

Sneaky Little Claire

2009-04-01T14:35:00.004-06:00

Claire is such a silly little girl. We love her sense of humor. She came up to me yesterday and said she wanted to trick Abbie and Kate for April Fools Day. She must have seen something about it on tv. Her idea was to switch the cereal in the cereal boxes. She thought that it was hilarious...so did I.

Well, she got to thinking about the possibility of Abbie and Kate not having cereal in the morning and choosing to have oatmeal. Her solution (all on her own mind you) was to take out all the oatmeal packets and replace them with hot chocolate packets. This girl is so much fun!! She cracks me up. She could hardly keep it a secret for the morning. Abbie and Kate got a good laugh too! Happy April Fools Day!!

Mr. MOM

2009-03-14T14:41:00.012-06:00

Jen really shouldn't leave her passwords on her computer. Anyone could get in and post weird stuff on her blog. Lucky for her, I'm one of the "good" guys...

I am playing Mr. Mom for a few days while Jen is in Oregon with her family. I figured if i really wanted to play the part, I better post on the blog too. Isn't that a requirement for the good mom award?

Anyway, took the girls to thier final B-ball games today. The gyms have horrible lighting, so I took the time to play around with the camera settings.

Abbie had some great plays. Here she is receiving a pass.

Making a Swoosh...

Getting her medal from Coach

Happy to be finished!

Kate showing the little guy what's up!

Kate ready to pounce

Gettin' the gold.

It was just a little nibble!

2009-03-06T11:44:00.004-07:00

This cute little stinker got kicked out of the Y today for bitting a finger. I was mortified. Hugs and sorrys were given and kisses on the ouchy. This was a first. I hope its the last. My oh my...

Maybe it is his Papa who taught him how to bite!