It was great in 2008

January - I wasn't blogging then and since I'm horrible at journal writing I have to rely on the calendar for the year to get by. My mother celebrated her birthday this month and is now in her 80's. We went to some serious bridal fairs and made appointments to meet with the decorator and photographer for Kallee's wedding. Also Kenzie got her license on January 28.

February brought with it more visits to the dentist, Preference for Kenzie along with valentines day for us all. Happy Birthday to Josh and Natalie

March - Fred and I celebrated our 25 wedding anniversary. Kallee, Clint,Duncan and Grandpa had birthdays. Blake went to Georgia and we had a very fun neighbor party.

April - Best month of the year. MOM's birthday and pre=wedding and engagement pictures were taken. Blake had track meets and we cleaned the church. Are you bored yet?

May - Mother's Day and Fred helping to take care of his mother. Bridal showers for Kallee and my parents celebrated their 62nd Wedding anniversary. Kallee and Duncan did Race for the Cure.

June - Big month. Somebody got married. Youth conference and Heritage Days were celebrated. Fred starts new job in Clearfield and is delighted to have it closer and ride his bike to work.

July - Fred's birthday. He did his annual bike ride. I rode about 30 miles with him. I think he did 56 miles that day. We celebrated the fourth of July with Kenzie, Mason, Kallee and Duncan.
Oh yeah, Josh and Breann were there to.

August - I think this was the end of the moving marathon. We had moved Kallee, Natalie and our neighbors in a three week period. We went camping to the northslope and school started.
Nat and Clint celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary.

September - Kenzie turned 17. She went to homecoming and I posted great pictures of her during mud Olympics. At any time you can go back and view old posts to make sure I'm getting the info. correct. Fred started part=time work at the State Hospital. Also our beloved Grandma Carlson passed away.

October- -Blake turned 18 this month. We went to the Real Soccer game at the new Rio
Tinto stadium. We also went wheeling up Willard Peak and the weather was spectacular. Blake went to Alabama and the girls went to Disneyland over Halloween. It was such a fun trip. Yeah I missed my husband but he gets sick after one or two rides.

November found us having lots of great fun at Thanksgiving in Orem.

December Lots of family get togethers and Christmas. It was a very wonderful year and I'm so grateful for all of the many blessings that our family received.

Part 2

Limmie found a new way of sleeping in a very cramped kennel. We understand that she has alot of her mother's traits. She likes to beg and jump on people and she snores!!! Must get that from derf's side of the family. I would never do that.

We are a family with many expressions!! Do you get the feeling that my kids enjoyed Christmas this year?

A zebra blanket? Little K is into the zebra thing. She was the recipient of many stripes this year.

This picture is too funny. Luke, I am your father. Let me weld your head to this helmet. Please J don't let your dad get a hold of the torch!!!

One of our favorite traditions handed down from Grandma Carlson was the candy wreath. Fred and I decided to keep the tradition going and we made a few. I found out that your fingers can get real sore after you have done a few. Derf took one to his work party and many c0-workers wanted it. They especially thought it was special when derf told them it was a tradition that his mother had started. It was one way that our family kept Grandma C. a little closer in our hearts.

Christmas Morning Part 1

the light is too bright Good Morning DAD

Oh it's too bright

tradition to hide under the blankets and come in for christmas morning. Blake is making his way from the upstairs.

Kenzie and Josh. Notice who is peeking out from under the blanket!!

Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas to you all. Sorry that the picture did not turn out as well as expected. The caption reads: Merry Christmas 2008 Fred and Charlene Carlson family and Limmie. My dad called us and was wondering if the newest member of our family came from Fred's side, it certainly could not have come from Char's. HA HA Dad I know just how much fun dogs are for you.

We have had a snowy/rainy Christmas so far. Last night we kept with tradition and ordered take-out from Garcia's and ate by candlelight. I do set the table nicely for the occasion. After dinner Mrs. Claus had not finished all the wrapping that she likes to do and she was looking all over in her favorite hiding spots to find the gifts. (I'm thinking to myself that from now on I need to write down where I put things as my mind doesn't recall locations like it used to.) While trying to locate the gifts Kallee volunteered information that she had found all of our hiding spots as a child. I was looking under the bed, behind the headboard, in our closet, in other closets, the garage, under the stairs, in the trailer house etc. Every place that was mentioned she confessed to have looked in as a child. No wonder she always knew what she was getting. As a child I didn't snoop everywhere, I just unwrapped the gifts that were under the tree for me. Our neighbor Becky told us this year that her son's had done that as well. They tore open all the gifts under her tree one year. I sure chuckled at that one. Kids.........

scrapbook marathon

I've decided that I really enjoy scrapbooking 8 x 8 albums. I was able to do 46 pages in 16 hours. Well....mostly finished. The pictures are mounted and now I just need to add the titles and the embellishments. The theme for this album is "Wishes do come true" Kallee wished we could all go to Disneyland and we did!!! I'll take pictures and post them when all is completed.

Brrrrrr it's cold

Right now in my city the tempature is a chilly 23 degrees. However it's still warm enough for the students to have an outdoor recess which is a relief to the teachers here in the building. Even though I enjoy the warmer weather it is fun to have winter come especially around Christmas. The weather report is snow all week and chilly temperatures. I don't think we have to worry about having a brown christmas this year.

We held our FC family christmas party on Saturday at our home. It was alot of fun. Derf has been busy gathering his 'gifts' all year long. Let me explain. We draw names for gift giving. This year Dad drew Duncan's name. Whenever Dad is on his bike, walking or attending a conference he gather's up the 'good' stuff from off the road and from the vendors. This year he found tools, knife, tape measurer, water bottles, office supplies, drinks etc. He taped all of them to a box and in good ole derf style wrapped it in newspaper and proudly presented his gift to duncan. It is really hysterical to see all that he collects over the year. One year on christmas eve he found a large set of tools and proudly left them at the door for Natalie. This is how it all started. Derf does get a nice gift to go along with the gag gift. It is a fun tradition that has been started and we were already talking about next year and Christmas hasn't even arrived. I hope my kids will post comments about the gifts that they've received over the years.

Annual Family Party #1

These are some new faces in our family. These beauties belong to my nieces Chanen and Tonya. Aren't they just adorable? The brown eyed cutie pie was blessed this past Sunday. The blue eyed chick just moved back from the South and now lives closer to family.

My family gets together every year for Christmas. My brother Scott was the host this year and we all gathered together close by. Our menu this year was Soups, Salads and Desserts. It was very yummy and trying out a new soup recipe on the family was a success. We share some of the same traditions as in Derf's family; good food, basketball, chit chat and the breaking of the pinata. Speaking of the pinata. They sure don't make them the way that they used to. Why does the pinata end up getting decapitated before all the kids in line have had a chance to beat it to death? The adults came to the rescue of the disappointed kids with bats and tied the rope around it's belly. A few whacks at it later and the desired candy rained down to the delight of all the children.