Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas at the Carlson's

Christmas Eve began with dinner with Kristen, Taylor, and the grandkids and Jim's mom (Gan).  James got called in so he came later and had some dinner once he was there.
 Kristen and Jonathan
 Kristen, Victory, and Taylor
 Jim's mom (Gan) and Erin
 Gail and Jim
 Brooklyn, Terrel, Preston and Dylan (left to right, back to front)
Gan opening her gift from Kristen and Tayor - new pictures of their family.
 Brooklyn got play food from Grandpa and Grandma.
Erin with nail polish and fake nails.  Every girl's dream.
 Kristen is helping Victory open his gift from us.  It was a package of match box cars.  He was very excited!
 Preston, Terrel, and Dylan opening their gift from us.
 They all got Nurf guns.  The only problem is their papa (Taylor) didn't get one.  They'll have to share.
 Everyone got hats from Gan this year. 
 The grand kids had made cookies to bring over.  Yummm....
 Christmas morning began just after 8:00. I think that's the latest we've ever began. Here is Erin with her big gift - a nail art kit. She was very happy.

 And Jonathan was very pleased with his new video game.  (Thanks to great sales)
 James opening presents.  Now I think he has the right idea, opening presents while still laying in bed.
 Jonathan began his right of passage into becoming a man - his first shave.  We have been noticing quite a bit of dark hair on that upper lip.  So, "Santa" brought some razors and shaving cream.
 I am really not sure how ready I am with all this growing up stuff but I guess I will need to deal with it.
We hope that you all had wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior.  We pray that you have a wonderful new year and that you come to know the Lord in a deeper way throughout the year.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Growing Up

Last night, Erin had the opportunity to go to a formal dinner at youth group.  She got all dressed up and went with her friend Kelly.  We had commitments already, so she was escorted by our good friend, Rod, Kelly's dad.  She looks way too grown up here.

 

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Christmas Ships on the Columbia

We saw the Christmas Ships on the Columbia River tonight and had a great time at a pot luck with friends.  Our friends, Dan and Susan, live in a floating home on the Columbia.  We had a wonderful night with great fellowship and great food.  I forgot my camera so the I took pictures of the boats with my phone.  They are a little blurry but hopefully you get the idea. 

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

It Been Way Too Long!

     Has it really been almost two months since I last updated our blog? That's way too long so I will try to update how things are going in pictures.

     We are having a wonderful time reconnecting with our grandkids.  We have been able to spend some birthdays with them, babysit them and just spend time with them.  I realized after looking at my pictures that I have pictures of them all except Victory.  I think he was taking a nap when I got the camera out.  I will try hard to get pictures of Victory at Christmas.
Dylan (6)
 Preston (3)
 Terrel (8)
 Brooklyn (4)
 On November 23rd we received a dusting of snow.  We all enjoyed that.
 We enjoyed Thanksgiving with all of our kids. 
James with Brooklyn
 Erin with Samuel
 The three older boys showing us their airsoft guns.
 I tried a new pie recipe and it was a big hit - a Crunchy Caramel Apple pie.  James says whenever I make it again, I can invite him over.  There were no leftovers.
 Erin and Kristen - no similarities here, are there?
 James, Jonathan, Kristen and Erin
 Jim putting the lights on the Christmas tree
 The kids decorating the tree

 The final view
 The last update is one where I should have taken before and after pictures.  Jim's hair had gotten so long it was curling.  He kept asking me to cut his hair, something I was a little scared of doing.  I had cut Jonathan's hair but for some reason, this seemed a lot different.  Well, I finally got enough courage to do it.  It actually came out pretty good.
     We are really looking forward to having Christmas Eve with the kids at our house this year. It is coming very quickly but I think we are almost ready. 

Thursday, October 21, 2010

New Family Additions

"We are never getting another dog!"  "Okay, maybe we'll get another dog, but we will never get another puppy!"  Have you ever heard the saying, never say never?  Well, here we go.  A while back, maybe three weeks now, Jim and I started looking at dogs.  Erin has been wanting another dog, and of course she really wanted puppy.  Jim had found a couple of dogs on Craigs List and he inquired of them.  We did not hear back right away and when we went back to find them again, the ad was gone also.  I had seen a dog on line and inquired of it.  It seems to fit all our requirements: adult, female, housetrained.  I received a response and was told that the dog had been adopted that weekend.  We decided to go to the Humane Society and look with the kids.  While there, we saw two dogs we were interested in.  The first one didn't seem to fit our family well, but the second one seemed like a good match, to us at least.  We decided to adopt her and proceeded to fill out the necessary paper work.  We were getting very excited and when they called us to let us know that our new dog was ready to take home, we got a different story.  We were told that our family would not be a good match for this dog. You see, even though we have older children in our house, we have younger grandchildren and the dog was labeled as adult only house or house with older children.  I guess the grandchildren coming over every now and then was a problem.  Erin was devastated.  She was crying and we were all very unhappy.  As we were standing there, my cell phone rang.  It was the people that had the dogs from Craigs List. We made arrangements to meet them.  We all loved the dogs and we decided to add them to our family.  Okay, remember the never having any more dogs?  Now, do you remember the never having any more puppies?  Well, so much for no puppies, our new dogs are 4-1/2 months old and 6 months old.  They are mostly housetrained and have done quite well.  They are very friendly and the did great meeting the grandchildren today.  This was a huge thing because some of the grandkids have been afraid of dogs.  We were able to work through on time when Princess barked and lunged toward Preston.  I held her harness and called him over.  I made sure Preston knew that I was holding Princess.  He did come over and allow Princess to smell him and it went very well.  We did not intend to get two dogs but I guess with the way everything turned out, it was just meant to be. 

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So, here are Cinnamon (4-1/2 months) and Princess (6 Months).  They are Lhasa Apsos.
Princess lives up to her name.  She loves to be pampered and have her hair combed.
Cinnamon looks like a cute stuffed animal when she's not moving.
Brooklyn (4) had a good time brushing Cinnamon.
And of course, I can't go over to see the grandkids and not take pictures of them too. 
They are growing up so fast. 
Terrel (8)
Dylan (almost 6)
Baby Samuel (4 months)
Apparently I didn't get pictures of Preston or Victory.  Although my heart was filled with joy when Kristen called just after I left saying the Victory woke up and was asking about Grandma.  He's been slower than the other kids to warm up to me.  I guess he knows who I am now.