Mirian's New Hat

Russ went to an M's game yesterday thanks to his birthday gift from his wonderful in-laws. Unfortunately, Em and Mirian weren't able to attend. Felix pitched a complete game and only gave up one run and Jose Lopez hit a grand slam. Great Game!!!!!

However, Russ brought home Mirian's first Mariners hat, and boy does she look cute!!!

Late Lake Tahoe Relay Report

We had tons o' fun at the Lake Tahoe Relay this year. It was sunny with a good breeze which was great for the runners, but the timers were cold early on in the day. The race allows for 120 teams, and this year there were 119, so as you can imagine, we were pretty busy. You can catch a full run down of the success of the race at their website.

Most importantly, we have the cutest, sweetest little girl in the world. Here are some pictures of her from the race.

As you can see from her knees, she crawled around everywhere.

She loved hanging out with her crippled daddy.

She got to know her friend Samuel a lot better.

And loved sharing a beverage with him.

4th of July Weekend

Over the 4th of July weekend we had a Carlson Brothers Family Reunion. Not everyone could make it and we missed them, but those who were able to come had a blast. We went to Tri-Cities on Friday night and checked into our hotel. We had pizza and soda and played games. The 6 brothers that we there and our nephew Matt stayed up until midnight playing Liar (some know it as BS). We had lots of laughs (it was obviously past bed time for a few of us).

On Saturday, some family members went on a hike up Badger Mountain. Overall, it was only about an hour hike but there are great views from the top. After hiking, the group went to the local farmer's market in Pasco. The goal was to find ingredients for a salad for lunch time. There was a competition, but no one knew the rules, it was fun deciding on ingredients while trying to figure out how to win a game and not know the rules.

After the farmer's market we went to Columbia Point Park (right on the Columbia River) and rented jet skiis. It was a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We jet skied all day long.

We had a picnic where Emily and our sister-in-law Rachel's combined effort salad won the competition. The only rule was to have the most items from the farmer's market. They had 9 ingredients from the market.

We got plenty of sun and had a great time!!!

Sunday we went to church and took a family photo before going in. Emily was sick Saturday night and Sunday and wasn't able to join us. Sunday afternoon we had another picnic, played games and then watched fireworks from the bank of the Columbia River (they lit the fireworks from a barge in the middle of the river). What a show!!!

Monday we had our final get together before everyone left. We had a lunch picnic and had the Carlson Family Olympics. We divided up in teams and competed in 3 events (frisbee golf, cherry seed spitting for distance, and Soap bubble blowing for distance). How creative!!! Way to go Mike!!!

We love to get together with Family and have a good laugh. Thanks everyone, let's do it again soon!!!

Cute Pictures of Mirian from Russ' Phone

Matt and Kristal are Coming Home!!!

Some of you may know Matt and Kristal, some don't. Matt is Emily's brother and Kristal is his wife. They have been teaching English in China for about a year. They had some great experiences and visited some amazing places. However, we missed them and are excited to have them home. They are such fun people to be around and are so creative. Check out their blog!!! It's so entertaining!!!!

We love you guys and we are glad that you'll be home tomorrow!!!!

Who's the Blogger????

This is Russ, and I have been trying to get Emily to blog more, but it isn't her thing . . . SOOOO, if you want Emily to blog more as well, please leave a comment.

Love you guys!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!!

Dear Daddy,

How are you? I have missed you so much while you have been gone. I have been a really good girl while you have been away. What was New York like? Did you get me any presents? I am pretty bored without you. Mom isn't as much fun to hang out with. All she does is drag me around town while she runs her "errands," and then she doesn't let me get into anything fun like the dog bowls. I did get to play with my cousins though while you were gone, and with Erin and Steve and Carter. But none of them are as much fun as you! I hope that you have a fun birthday. Make sure that you eat some cake and ice cream and take some time to relax. Hurry home, because I can't wait to see you and give you a big hug and kiss. I love you so much!

Love,
Mirian

PS Mom says hi and she loves you too.