Catch Up

Okay, so I haven't blogged in a long time. We have been very busy with Russ' parents' bathroom remodel, having a renter move into our basement for the summer and a nasty sinus infection that lasted for a month. But I wanted to share some of the things that we did last month, even if it is a little bit late. Better late than never, right?

So Mirian turned two last month, and for her birthday, we had an impromptu party. Her birthday was the same day as General Conference, so during the Priesthood session, our nieces and nephews come over and some friends who didn't want to be alone while their husbands were at the meeting. We went from having no party planned to several people over for a little shin dig for Mirian in just one day. It was so fun though to have friends and family want to celebrate with Mirian, and she loved being the center of attention.

Mim's Birthday Cake

Not sure what to think of the Candles

Mirian LOVES kitties!

The next weekend we had a big Carlson family get-together. Our nephew Zachary was baptized and Russ' brothers came from all over to attend the baptism. We had so much fun getting everyone together and Mirian just adores her cousins. We had a two huge Easter egg hunts (thanks Scott and Julie), and we went to Meadowbrook to play mini golf and ride the go-carts. It was so much fun to get to see everyone. We wish we all lived closer.

I found one!

Too Cute!

Having fun at Meadowbrook

Going for a carousel ride

For Easter, our bestest buddies the Divis' came down for our annual Easter get together. Mirian just adored baby Sadie. She kept trying to get toys and blankies for Sadie. Mirian loves babies and couldn't get enough of Sadie. While the Divis' were up, we drove to Seattle to go to IKEA. We had a blast (at least Audra and I did). Then Audra and I drove home with the kids, and Russ and James went to a Mariners game. On Easter Sunday, the kids got to go on an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. I love that Mirian is starting to get into the holidays. She had so much fun looking for eggs, and every time she picked up an egg, she would shake it to make sure there was candy in it. It was so fun!

Mirian's Easter Dress

Yummy Chocolate!

Mirian, Makayla and James Michael on the swingset

Mirian Loves baby Sadie!

The last few weeks we have just been keeping busy trying to get Russ' parents house ready and get our home ready for our renter. Russ' parents got home last Monday at midnight and we are so happy to have them back! They loved every minute of their visit! Mirian is quickly warming up to her grandparents again.

We had our renter move into our basement on Friday. It was kind of a last minute thing. We weren't looking for a renter, but a friend of ours contacted us and asked if we would be willing to rent to her friend's husband. He is a great guy and is doing a pharmacy internship at the Indian Reservation. His housing fell through two weeks ago and was desperate to find a place to live. Since we hardly use the basement anyway, we thought it would be a great opportunity.

So that is what we have been up to. We haven't fallen off the face of the earth. We are happy and we constantly feel so blessed.

Happy Birthday Sweet Little Mirian!!!!

Today Mirian turns two!!!!! What a complete and total Joy she has been for us!!!!!!! We love her so dearly! It was two years ago today that Russ got a speeding ticket on the way to the hospital. He even told the police officer that he was going to the hospital to adopt his new baby girl.

Newborn Mirian

Mirian on her first birthday

Mirian at 2

Mirian has a wonderful birth-mother. Her name is Kristine. Thank you Kristine for your completely selfless and loving act of providing us the opportunity to have and raise this sweet little girl!!!!

Mirian's personality is so wonderful!!!!! She absolutely LOVES kitties!!!!!! Her daddy would have preferred that she loves dogs (which she does) but she drops everything for a kitty. Her favorite movie is "Oliver and Company," because it is about a kitty. Mirian even sings along with the songs. In the car, she gets upset if we don't listen to kitty music (the "Oliver and Company soundtrack). Mirian loves babies! She has 3 baby dolls, but she could easily have a million more and be happy. She loves to change their diapers, push them in strollers and put them down for naps. she is a good little mama. Mirian also loves to read books. Her favorites are "Goodnight Moon" and any book with pictures of animals. She loves to point out the different animals and make their sounds. Mirian loves music and she loves to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree." It is so fun to watch her do the movements and say "Copcorn." Mirian is her mommy's big helper. She loves to help out with anything that she can around the house. Mirian loves to dance, and she sure knows how to shake her little bootie. It is adorable. Mirian loves to say prayers. She always remembers to fold her arms when we sit down to eat, and she always folds her arms when we are done reading scriptures. She is a good reminder to her mommy and daddy. But one of her mommy and daddy's favorite things about Mirian is that she loves to give kisses!!!!

Today Daddy made waffles with homemade blueberry syrup for Em and Mirian's birthday breakfast. As you'll see from the photos, Mirian LOVED it!!!!!!!


Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!! We love you!!!!

Happy 30th to My Beautiful Bride!!!!

Happy Birthday Emily!!!! You have now reached my plateau!!!! I've been anxiously awaiting your climb to 30 as I sit up here all by myself . . . . . . .

As I was thinking about what to post about Emily, I thought maybe I could post about the best 30 things about her. I then decided that there are too many good things to limit myself to just 30 (come on folks, up top!!!! Brownie points for me for that last comment!!!).

Finally, since I am a little biased, I decided to list several of the comments that others tell me about Emily. Most, but not all, of these comments have been made to me without Emily present so as to not embarrass her.

1. Her smile is contagious!!! - Sherm and Irene Carlson
2. She's our own Vanna White!!!- Sherm and Irene Carlson
3. Russell, if things don't work out with you two, I'm next in line - Wesley B. Carlson (my grandpa)
4. She's so happy and content - Van Holland
5. It seems like nothing can ever get her down - Van Holland
6. Its too bad Gertrude (referring to Emily) isn't gorgeous or anything!! - Janelle Givens
7. Shantel (referring to Emily) looks hot - Janelle Givens
8. Em - You are as beautiful as ever! Russ - You're blessed.....to have Em as your wife - Darlene Svetz
9. Em you are SO CUTE! - Olivia Carter
10. I love you guys, but... Emily more. - Audra Divis
11. You are so lucky Russ to have two of the cutest girls ever living with you :D!! - Jessica Carlson
12. The two are really cute! - Kathinka Leinz
13. Where did you find this woman?! (this was a compliment but it could be misunderstood since it's out of context). - Abraham Wise

There have been so many other compliments given of Emily and in my old age, I just can't remember them all.

Emily is so creative and so loving!!! Everyday I am amazed by her!!!!!

I love you sweetheart and I hope you enjoy your birthday today!!!!! Live it up since tomorrow Mirian gets the attention for her birthday . . . . . .

Maybe I'll learn to slow down a little in the future

A couple of weeks ago I posted about my busy life and adding umpiring to the already busy schedule. Well I've done it again. We're not finished with our own kitchen remodel and last week we started remodeling my parents bathroom. Thankfully, I've had a lot of support from my siblings. That has made it easier. I really do have good siblings!!!! The willingness to help out has been phenomenal.

For some reason I didn't take before pictures. But the bathroom was very outdated. It was comfortable for my parents, so they felt no need to make a change. But right before they left on their mission, we found that there had been some leaking problems. They were going to have it remodeled at that point, but were so busy they couldn't add anything else to their plate. The problem has continually gotten worse and worse and needed to be fixed now.

Here's a picture of part way through the demo. Notice the harvest gold shower to the left and the patch of wallpaper that was behind the toilet and couldn't be painted. Like I said, outdated.

We have done the demo and reinstalled new subflooring. We've also installed the shower basin. We are waiting for the mud to dry on the basin before we start moving forward on everything else. I don't want to post too many pictures because I want the overall remodel to be a surprise to my parents. They know we are doing the remodel, but they do not know what the end result will be.

Here is a picture of where the shower used to be.


And here is my brother Brian putting in a line of studs to line up the walls where the shower used to be.



My parents' already know this, so it's okay to post. We are going to put in a heated floor so that the tile is nice and cozy when you go in without any shoes or socks. Won't that be nice . . . . . .

Happy Saint Patty's Day!!

After a long, nice nap (nice for mom and Mirian), Mirian was ready to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, complete with a lovely green dinner and Shamrock Cookies!

Family Challenge, Last week

Well we are in the final week of the family challenge. To date during the challenge, I've lost 30 lbs. To hit my ideal weight, I still have another 15 to go, but it won't happen during this challenge.

The challenge has been a tough one. As I've mentioned before, it isn't just a diet (in fact I wouldn't call it a diet at all) it's a personal challenge to change your life for the better. Since starting the challenge, I've exercised ALMOST daily except for Sundays, I've read books (yes plural), I've updated the blog as part of my journaling, I've looked for opportunities to serve, I've lost a bunch of weight, and I have increased my energy level. I'm super-pleased with my efforts and the goals I've set. My goals were not simple, but I felt GREAT when I was able to accomplish them.

Thank you Mom and Dad Carter for inspiring me to be healthy and a better person!!!!

Tiling the Kitchen Floor

Well, when Em's parents came to visit over Christmas time we remodeled the kitchen. Uncle Walter also flew up to help. We are SOOOOOOO appreciative for their help and the help of other family and friends. One of the things we weren't able to do was to tile the floor. So that has taken me about 3 1/2 months thus far . . . . .

Well yesterday I was doing some tiling, and it turns out, I had a little helper. . . . . .


Here she is helping to lay some spacers


What a cute little helper!!!

She just loves to do what mommy and daddy do. Mirian loves to work along side us, she loves to clean the house along side us, and she even loves to do exercises right along with us. We always have a fun little chuckle when she stretches and does her exercises with us. It's just so cute!!!!!

We just love our little monkey!!!!