update

Big thanks for all of your congrats for Blake. He really enjoyed them all. If you want to read more about it than link to Kallee's blog. (I'd do it for you but I'm on a 5 minute lunch break) Last week Fred got hit on his bike by a car. Luckily he wasn't hurt bad and only suffered a few scrapes and bruises. He was too worried about the tomatoes he was taking to work to avoid the mishap. All is well and not to worry. He should listen to everyone and wear a helmet. I've tried talking to him about it but he has that German stubborness in him and won't do it until winter time sets in. He says wearing it then will keep his head warm. ARgggghhhhh.......

Homecoming activities 2008

Little K and her date for the evening, Mr. M.
It's not rocket science ladies.! I don't know why, but putting a boutonniere on a young man's shirt is a most difficult task for me. Natalie was gracious to try, then I tried and poor Mr. M. had to put up with all of it. It took us about five minutes. Natalie was funny!! Love you Nat and thanks for helping.
Little K and her group. It was nice to see that the young women had all chosen modest dresses.
Well I never get to see what Blake's date looks like. We always try and get a picture of him. He was so tired. He had a cross-country track meet and left the house at 6:30 am to go to Mountain State Park near Heber. When I finally came home he was asleep on the couch. Then he's up wide awake and ready to go. He had a good time and yes, Kallee and Nat, he did what he calls the "box step, " Saturday also became a crazy day of canning for Fred, Nat and Clint. After the children had been sent on their way, Fred and I (mostly Fred, I was uploading pictures to send with the dates when they came home) finished cleaning the kitchen, processed all the salsa and base, and I even made an apple pie for the homecoming group. We fell into bed about 2:00 am.

For Chrissy Carlson....Spencer and Limmie

Grandpa Carlson and Uncle Fred encouraging Spencer, Pete's son that Limmie won't hurt you. He was so brave and learned how to give Limmie Treats.
He's getting closer and closer!!
Success!!! This post is for you Chrissy. Thanks for sharing some of your boys this past weekend. We loved seeing Spencer in person!!! Love to all the family. Keep the puppy training tips coming especially the success stories of potty training and staying down.

Mud Olympics

Yes Little K is somewhere under all that mud!!
How about a date guys?
the mud groupies
Thick and gooey all over. The hair needs serious help folks.
Little K and T.

A beautiful day of remembrance

The original red-heads
Fred and his buddies. Brad Ostler slipped away before we could get a picture
Lili and a final farewell.
What a great family!! Fred and his siblings with Lili
We love you Grandma. Goodbye for now, we will be together again.

PS One funny moment to share: Just as Uncle Kendal was getting ready to dedicate the grave there were two great-great nephews who had just sat on the grass and looked up and said....Ooooo fireworks!! Guess they thought we had all gathered for a show.

In loving Memory of Nila Carlson

Yesterday Nila was released from this earthly existence. She no longer suffers and is free of any pain. What a blessing to endure to the end the way that she did. First of all I need to admit that I don't like the term "in-law" because of the negative connotation that is associated with it. My other mom. Nila has totally accepted me into the family and loved me like her own. Today I would like to share some of my favorite memories of Nila. This may end up being a work in progress. She always welcomed you into her home. She was positive and uplifting to be around. She encouraged you to always be your best. I loved playing the dictionary game with her and how she would break out in a silly song. That night totally caught me off guard. We all laughed so hard about it. I loved how she would always have a treat waiting for you and made sure that you had some goodies for the road. I appreciate the fact that she patiently taught my sweetheart how to read and that she loved to read to the grandchildren. I will miss her hot rolls, Christmas wreaths and oatmeal bread. I loved how she and I totally loved black licorice. I loved how she welcomed each new baby into the family and the look on her face as she cherished the time to get to know her new grandchild. I loved hearing the stories in the van on the way to a family reunion and her laughter about the silly things that she recalled doing in her life. I loved her example of service. She never really wanted anything, only to be surrounded by her family. I loved how she always inquired about how each family member was doing and how tickled she would be when we would come to visit. I loved her patience when all the family would gather at her home and the look on her face watching the grandchildren play in the front yard and in the ditch. I loved the birthday cards and valentines that would come. I loved how she would share the gospel with us. I felt honored being in her presence. She truly was a grand lady with a little spunk!! Thanks Nila, my other mom. I truly love you for everything !!!

Birthday Pics

The glow is from the candles folks............(shhh. not because some soccer dude came by)
The soccer dude with the chaperone glaring in the background. He has a name but I really shouldn't use it on the blog. U. R. A. Nutcase Mr. M!!! Beware he has a mean kick and he can run really fast.
This is one scary girl who used to live next door to us. She was posing in this picture believe it or not. NOT!! We miss our Abner and all of her crazyiness.
Alas, the prized gift of all time has been passed around once again. This infamous ugly soccer shirt was first purchased by Fred from Savers for .99. He loved it and we all thought is was so ugly. Fred likes it because it's an Adidas Shirt. We agree that it's still ugly. Fred wore it on his birthday just to give us all a bad time and now we give it to each other on special occasions. Sure hope Little K doesn't have my name for Christmas.
It's too bad that I didn't video this. We have a weird tradition of singing Happy Birthday in the most non-traditional annoying way that we can. I know it's strange but then, we're all a little wacky at our house.

Yes, it's Duncan at it again!!

This is Duncan after he had just told Aiden our neighbor child that is wasn't cool to have your nails painted even if they used "boy" colors. I am laughing too hard to type anything. The pictures say it all. Kallee..........you have married a funny guy that's for sure.

Saturday

I married a wonderful guy. Who else on a Saturday morning will let me sleep in, pick the tomatoes, wash the tomatoes, gather all the canning supplies, get the water ready and by time I have woke up and have worked on a scrapcard project has the tomatoes already steamed, enlisted Blake's help and has half of the tomatoes chopped and cooking in the pot? Fred. What a man and how I appreciate him. He doesn't even complain about it. Why? Because Fred is a great man who loves to make salsa and my version of chili/taco/everything base and doesn't think it's woman's work that's why.

No sleep

I work Monday through Thursday and look forward to Thursday evenings. It is the beginning of my weekend. I mentally unwind and usually do nothing most of the time if I can get away with it because I know the rest of the weekend will be full of catching up with laundry, housework and now canning season. The family went to a soccer match with Limmi, by the way Nat I like your spelling better than mine, and she was full of it. I think that she has had too many wrestling matches with people and she starts to play rough which Fred does not like at all. Limmi went on lots of long walks and was just worn out by time the match was over. When we arrived at home I climbed into bed and turned on Monk which is a great TV series that I enjoy watching. I fell asleep and before I knew it a knock came at the door. It was Little K announcing that she couldn't sleep and didn't feel well. In my mind I am thinking , you are 17 you can take care of yourself!! I climbed out of bed and went looking for some meds for her and the clock said 10:50 pm! What? I felt that I had been sleeping all night long. I got Little K taken care of and climbed back into bed. Just when I had fallen asleep, I hear another knock at the door....Mom, I can't sleep and I don't feel good. By now I figured out that she thinks if she can't sleep that nobody should sleep either. I reassure her that she is alright and to try and go back to bed. A little while later I hear Fred get up. He is a lot like Grandpa Carlson and wakes up early in the morning. His internal alarm can go off at 2, 3, or even 4:00 am. Kendal expressed that he suffers from the same syndrome. Hmmm.... I tell myself, he was trying to be quiet. I tried to go back to sleep and guess that I finally dozed off only to woken up by the DOG!! After that I gave up, watched the news and then finally got out of bed.
By now one would think that the kids, husband and dog are trained! Not exactly true. A mother's job is never done. I chuckle when the married one's call home when they're sick and still want a little TLC from mom , from now on I will tell them as they tell me.....you have a husband remember?
Inside joke. Have a great Friday!!

Spoiled Puppy

Man's Best Friend.

First Bath and boy did she need it.


She's not potty trained completely and it drives me nuts. she is full of it. She is Fred's best bud.

Sorry for the short post.

Happy Birthday Little K

Hard to believe that 17 years ago I was in labor with Little K. Happy Day teenager!!

Welcome September

I love the changing of the seasons and I have especially enjoyed having some rain after such a long dry spell. The cooler weather is a welcome relief. I have mixed feelings about summer leaving and fall beginning. I love the long summer nights and the warm evening air but I also enjoy the crisp cool air at night and the colors of fall time. Fall colors are beautiful. As we were traveling towards Park City it was neat to see the wide spectrum of color that blanketed the mountain side. Welcome September!!!

Blonde Antelope

Somedays life just hits you hard!!!

Do I have to?
A creek named after me.Rain and more rain!!! At least it keeps the dust down.
This is what you do on the side of the road while waiting for the tow truck to come. Eat watermelon, have a watermelon toss and rock throwing contest.
Jeep, no power!! We all waited for two hours. Good thing to have towing insurance.

Mom is dinner ready? No Kallee, remember you are the camp cook!!
How many rain clouds dad 1 or 2?
don't ask me to chop any more wood.
Dinner

NOw this is good food!!

Northslopegang Final pictures...

Blake enjoyed his time reading books around the campfire. Duncan helped by chopping wood. Santa please bring a new chain saw for Fred. Little K and her friend Mr. M. He was a lot of fun and brought his own 4-wheeler.

WELL!!!

Having a new puppy is like potty training a two year old again!! That is the down side of this puppy adventure. Fred is so whooped(sp) that you really can't say anything and Limi is so attached to him. Fred is like a 5 year old. He runs around the yard and the dog is chasing him. He stops and they play and play. However tonight Puppy is stinky and so she got her first bath. Fred says she still stinks so I guess we'll bathe her tomorrow. Need to get rid of two cats and their droppings because if Limi is loose she goes for the gold...yuck!! sorry if that was so disgusting but it's true. Oh well that is some of the happenings of the first week with Limi.

One Word done my way!!

I was told I could only type ONE Word to each question! Not as easy as you might think. It's really hard to only use one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? bedroom
2. Where is your significant other? Garden
3. Your hair color? Hidden
4. Your mother? Stalwart
5. Your father? Giving
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? Teenagers
8. Your dream/goal? Contentment
9. The room you're in? Computer
10. Your hobby? handiwork
11. Your fear? Heights
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you're not? Millionaire
15. One of your wish list items? Eternity
16. Where you grew up? Utah
17. The last thing you did? Napped
18. What are you wearing? Green
19. Your TV? ON
20. Your pet? Limi
21. Your computer? Slow
22. Your mood? Happy
23. Missing someone? Yes
24. Your car? Runs
25. Something you're not wearing? socks
26. Favorite store? Craft
27. Your summer? Short
28. Love someone? Forever
29. Your favorite color? Pink
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Camping
32. Who you want to Tag? Nobody -- just have fun reading.

Miss Limerick C

Introducing the newest member of the family. This is Miss Limerick C or Limi. She is named after a city in Ireland that Fred served in while on a LDS mission. She is very smart and a little sweetheart. We are getting used to her and puppy training. As you can tell she is bonded to Fred. She is adorable and loves her doggy bed. She has lungs too!! If you have great tips on puppy training we would welcome the input. Thank you Paul and Kerry for your generosity.