New Photos

We have been super busy with moving, and trying to buy our next home, and doing Christmas, etc. We haven't had a chance to keep you all updated with the family. We are still busy, but thought we would share a couple of pictures of Mirian with you to keep your interest in our blog.

Merry Christmas to you all. We love you and appreciate all you do for us.

Carlson Update

Well, if you haven't noticed, we haven't been posting much on the blog. We have been working on selling our home and so each day we have to make sure it is show ready. It has been exhausting. Well we sold our home, it closes next week. We are excited but stressed. We are buying a new home but it is bank owned and it will take some time to finally close. It will be a little stressful as well. We probably won't get to move in until the end of January. If you haven't done the math yet, that means we will be homeless for about a month. We will spend a couple of weeks in California for Christmas with Em's family and then we will be living with some friends in Selah that lived with us while they closed on their own home. Good trade off eh???

If you would like to take a look at the link of our home and all the work we've done on it, click here. If you would like to take a look at photos of our next home and all the future work that will need to be done, click here.

Enjoy, we are excited and nervous and stressed all at the same time. We are also sad because we won't be able to decorate our home for Christmas. We love doing that and feeling the Christmas spirit. Well, we will just have to leech off of everyone else for the Christmas spirit.

Thanksgiving Thankful List

Our friend Audra did a Thankful Post on her blog today and I thought it would be a good idea to copy her idea and do one for me.

Too often we get so caught up in everything that is going on and forget to say thanks. So here is what I (Russell) am thankful for:

1. Emily: What a sweetheart she is!!! She loves me even though I am stubborn. She has the most beautiful smile and always brightens the mood wherever she goes. She supports me in everything I do from my obsession for the Seattle Mariners to my desire to live in fixer uppers and then sell them once they have no problems. She loves me everyday and every minute.
2. Mirian: What a blessing she is to us!!!! She is so precious. Her smile is much like Emily's, always brightening the room. She is so loveable and squeezable, and she doesn't get upset when I put her in Mariners clothes (fyi, the Mariners clothes are pink). I grew up with 8 boys in my family and so having a little girl in the home is a new experience for me, and I love every second of it.
3. Kristine: I am thankful for Kristine and for her generous gift. Without Kristine, we would not have Mirian in our lives. Kristine's love and trust mean the world to us. It is Kristine's faith in our Heavenly Father that in the end, made it all possible.
4. Mom and Dad Carlson: I am thankful for the won derful life lessons they have taught me. They have taught me that nothing in the world is worth losing integrity over. Their dedication to the gospel is tremendous and has not gone unnoticed. I love that they love each one of their boys regardless of what we have all done in the past. I love that they love each of our families.
5. Mom and Dad Carter: See List item #1. It's not often that a young man goes to meet his future in-laws and is welcomed like I was when I walked into their home. I feel their love everyday, it radiates through their actions and through Emily's. My father-in-law can fix or do ANYTHING. If he doesn't know how to do it already, give him 10 minutes and he will figure it out. My mother-in-law is so willing to to anything for her family and she loves EVERYONE and EVERYONE loves her.
6. The Gospel: The gospel of Jesus Christ has had such a tremendous impact in my life. Where would we be without it??? I am proud to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
7. Siblings: I am grateful for both my siblings and Emily's. They truly know how to have a good time. I love them and enjoy spending time with them.
8. I am grateful for Alex and how much he likes to play baseball and scratch my back (this one was inserted because he started scratching my back while I was typing this. How could I not include it?????)
9. Finally I am grateful for our dear friends. I love how selfless my friends are. Always willing to help when I need it and always willing to share a good laugh and hear my stupid jokes.
   

So You Think You Can Sync???

Russ and 5 of his friends did a skit for the Stake Talent Show and we wanted to share with all. Enjoy!!!!

Click Here for the Video

Who is that Big Girl?

Mirian is just growing so fast! Just recently, she has been able to sit up on her own for long periods of time. She is so much happier now that she can sit up and play and see things.


She is also getting her first two teeth in. If you look closely, you can see her two teeth on the bottom.

Maced Had Her Puppies!

On October 30th, Maced had her puppies. When she had her ultrasound, the vet saw 7 puppies. We were excited that she would be having that many because her last litter only had 5 puppies. Well, she went into labor, and the puppies were coming about every 1/2 hour. Maced as doing great! When she had 7 puppies, we thought that she was done, but we continued to check on her throughout the evening. Just before we went to bed, we discovered that she had 2 more puppies! She had a total of 9 puppies. One didn't make it through the labor, but the rest are just cute and fat and happy!

Our Trip To Rexburg

Well we went to Rexburg, ID as we mentioned not to long ago. Russ' roommate from college, Adam, was getting married and we were invited to the sealing so we made it a weekend and got to see some old friends from school.

It seemed weird being back there. Em kept thinking, "okay we gotta hurry so we can get back to the house" which is the house where we lived. Then we thought, "hey we can call Matt and Kristal and go over to visit them", but they are in China.

Although we missed many things because our schedule was so tight, there were quite a few highlites. We had dinner with the Mortimers, Beazers, Hunters, and Bozungs. It was awesome. Thanks for setting it all up Collin.

Mirian enjoyed some green beans while we waited for our food at Frontier Pies.
The temple was gorgeous. We loved catching up with friends, although after leaving each of their homes we would say, "Dang it!!! We forgot to get some pictures." We missed getting pictures with the Rich's, the Mills, the Bozungs, the Hunters, and the Mortimers. Have fun looking at the few pictures that we were able to get while we were there.

Trunk or Treating

Why bore you all with details? All you want is photos of Mirian anyway. We went trunk or treating, Russ was a chef, Em was a pot of boiling water, and Mirian was a lobster. We parked right next to Russ' brothers van. That's the other pictures.

How we love Aunt Julie!!!!!

Mirian's Aunt Julie has absolutely spoiled Mirian!!! Quite frankly, all Mirian's Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins love and spoil her. Mirian's Aunt Julie sent a package with the most adorable outfits. Have a look at her adorable dresses!!!!

Central Washington State Fair

Well, not long ago, we posted about the Central Washington State Fair. Well here are a few photos from our journey. Lucky for us, the Lawsons, who are staying with us until they close on their house, got free tickets and parking for the fair. AWESOME!!!!

Oh yeah, it was cold too!!!

Fire in Yakima

Well we made the National news. The lumber mill here in Yakima stores thousands of logs outside their wood chip production plant. They also store thousands of pounds of wood chips outside their plant. Well depending on your science background you may know that wet wood combined with no air (piled up) can self combust, similar to alfalfa that is baled wet.

Well, as you can imagine, a self combusting pile of wet wood chips next to thousands of logs can create a sight. Here are a few photos of what we saw and smelled.

Watching the Baseball Playoffs with Daddy

Unless you just started following our blog today, you would know that Russell LOVES baseball. Although his team (the Seattle Mariners) are done for the season, Russ is still following the games. He is rooting for a Phillies vs. Angels World Series, however predicts a Dodgers vs. Yankees WS.

Here are some photos of Mirian and her Daddy watching the Angels vs. Yankees in the ALCS.

Headed to Rexburg

We are excited to take a trip to Rexburg, ID later this month. We will be going for Russ' old roommate's wedding in the Rexburg Temple. Adam and Kym will be getting hitched on the 24th of October. Don't they look like a great couple??????!!!!!! Let me add that Adam's mom is awesome too!!!!


While we are there, we hope to see some other friends that we haven't seen in some time. If you are going to be in town the weekend of the 24th, give us a holler. We would love to hang out. As for our old married student ward members, Collin Hunter is setting up a get together (which I believe will include Bishop Mortimer and Brother Beazer and their wives). I believe this will take place on Saturday (the 24th) evening. Let's Party!!!!!!

We are excited to see friends and show off our sweet Mirian!!!

Maced's Litter

New post with details of the upcoming litter for Maced. Tell your friends. Take a look at the blog for details.

Official Word!!!

Well we were wondering and waiting after sinking a few hundred dollars into projesterone testing on Maced and then two round trips to Seattle to see Maced's boyfriend. Maced is officially pregnant!!!! We had an ultra sound done on Maced yesterday and they found 7 puppies!!!! Woot Woot!!!!

Spread the word. If you or a friend are interested, check out our puppy blog that will shortly be updated with all the information necessary to buy a puppy.

Central Washington State Fair

Every year, once the apple harvest begins/beginning of fall, the Central Washington State Fair takes place here in Yakima. It is a fun fair. It's very large with plenty to do and see. Growing up in Yakima, my mom always encouraged us to enter things into the fair for judging. We entered anything from sewing projects to baked goods to dried or canned fruit to flowers. It was lots of fun.

We would enter about 20-30 different items per child (times that by how many kids are in my family and you have a lot of items going into the fair from the Carlson home over the years). You would earn ribbons and if you got a blue ribbon, it was worth $3, a red was worth $2 and a white one was worth $1. One year I got 3 Best of Shows. One was for peanut butter chocolates that looked like chocolate peanuts, one was for a pineapple upside down cake, and the other for a flower I entered. I brought in bank that year!!!!!

What a great opportunity for children to learn and be rewarded for their efforts. Then the pride of going to the fair and seeing your items is awesome. What a fun fair!!!! It helps to get you excited about Fall time with the changing of the leaves and fruit and vegetable harvests.

Anniversary Gift - Collective Soul Concert

My whole life I have loved listening to Collective Soul. I have never met anyone who doesn't like them. They may not be on some people's top 20 bands ever, but no one ever dislikes them. I have never been to their concert.

Well for our anniversary in August, Em asked me what I wanted. I simply said, a Collective Soul concert. She made it happen. We went to Seattle last night to the concert and it was everything I had hoped for.

The members of the band stuck true to what I know of them. They were sincere, grateful, fun, and entertaining. Here are a few photos of the concert and even a video.

Oh yeah, and thanks to the Lawsons for babysitting.

Maced is pregnant . . . . hopefully!!!

So we just took Maced to be bred. We hope that this time she has puppies. We are optimistic. There were no issues that we know of and we watched her progesterone levels very closely (to the tune of over $200 in testing at the Vet).

We have also started a new blog to handle any and all inquiries for puppies. Feel free to take a look at the blog here. Also feel free to send anyone interested in puppies to our new blog site.

Trip to Utah

Well we took advantage of the three day weekend for Labor Day and made it into a 5 day weekend. We headed out for Utah on Thursday and are heading home tomorrow morning. We have a lot of family and friends in Utah so sadly, our time was limited with everyone we visited. Here are a few pictures of the people we were able to see.

Russ with Syd and Mirian


Uncle Scott and Mirian


From left to right, Ashley, Aunt Julie (who shares Mirian's birthday with her), Mirian, Amie


From left to right, Matt, Mirian, Ashley, Amie


From left to right from front to back,
Amie, Aunt Julie, Ashley, Emily, Mirian, Jessica,
Russell, Matt, Uncle Scott


From left to right, Aunt Olivia, Mirian, Uncle Scott


All of our family has been so loving to us and Mirian. Russ and Emily have officially become the second most important people in our family of three. Thank you for your love and support.

It was a short weekend, but it was a blast, thanks everyone, we love you and we will miss you.