Dave, Teresa and Bailey

Halloween

2011-11-13T17:31:00.003-07:00

We had a fun Halloween this year. We painted and carved pumpkins, had a halloween party at Sue's, did a little trick or treating to Grandma and Grandpa's house and of course watched Hocus Pocus.

Our cute little ladybug.

Grandma Morgan

2011-10-24T14:26:00.009-06:00

My cute Grandma passed away on October 22, 2011. I will miss her dearly. My sister Liz is always better with words. To know what a special and amazing lady she was please read here. I echo each word written.

(Grandma Morgan, me, Grandma Bradshaw June 19, 2009)

(Grandma, Grandpa, Bailey and me May 2011)

(Dave, me, Bailey, Grandpa and Grandma Oct. 8, 2011)

This picture will always be special to me. Grandma and Bailey just stared at each other while Bailey stroked Grandma's face... it was heartening and heart wrenching at the same time to see the interaction between this wonderful woman, who was about to end her mortal life, and this little baby who is just starting hers.

(Bailey and Grandma Oct. 8, 2011)

I love you Grandma... Til we meet again.

6 Months

2011-09-22T14:52:00.005-06:00

Bailey turned 6 months on the 18th. It's hard believe my little munchkin is already 6 months old! We had her check up yesterday and she is super, super little. Here are her stats:

Head: 2 percentile (15.1 in)
Height: 23 percentile (25 in)
Weight: 1 percentile (11.9 lbs)

We need to go back in December to make sure that she is still growing but I don't know what else to do to make my baby gain weight! Does anyone know of any tricks? I'm getting a little concerned. She loves to eat but she's also super active. Her legs are constantly moving so she's probably burning as many calories as she's taking in... lucky.

Anyway, my sister just gave me some pictures of Bailey that were taken at our family reunion in July. Thanks Liz and thanks Lindsey for taking them! Maybe one day I will not be so lazy and download my pictures from my camera. Enjoy!

Tea Party

2011-08-30T12:43:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago my mom, sisters and some friends and I all got together to see The Help. All but two of the nine us had read it and loved it so we of course we had to see the movie. I think it is safe to say that we all loved it!

(image courtesy of google images)

But before the movie we had a ladies luncheon / tea party. My mom let us use her china and the table decorations are courtesy of Lindsey. (Can I quickly just say that I love my sisters! They come up some fun ideas!)

Our menu consisted of:

lemon water, mini sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, lemon squares, butter cookies and of course deviled eggs.

And no, in case you were wondering, there was no chocolate pie. :)

Our Big Weekend

2011-08-30T11:07:00.003-06:00

This past weekend Dave and I moved into our new home. We are so excited to be homeowners but nervous at the same time. I'm excited to have a nice open kitchen (with a dishwasher) and Dave is excited to work in the yard and one day finish the basement. The only thing we are not so excited about is the 20 minutes we just tacked on to our commute.

Dave's teacher's quorum came over early Saturday morning and spent 2 hours loading the truck. It was nice to have all of those extra hands. Our new Elders Quorum came over and met the truck when it arrived and spent a good 20 minutes unloading it. We are so thankful to have been in such a great ward and we look forward to starting our new ward.

We had so much help putting things away that our house is mostly unpacked. Dave's parents spent the whole time putting our kitchen away, which was a big job, and for that we are extremely grateful. My poor dad uloaded the truck and made about 50 trips up and down the stairs to the basement. Sue, Tyler (who drove in from Cali that morning) and my friend Jessica spent a good amount of time putting things away in the bedrooms and set Bailey's room up completely while my mom watched, fed and entertained Bailey. Everyone was such a great help and we appreciate everything they did!

And to top off the weekend... we found out our baby girl is getting her first tooth! She's only 5 months. Is she old enough for that? We had no idea since she hasn't cried once about it! She's such a good baby!

***pictures of the house to come***

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-08-11T14:52:00.002-06:00

My mom had her birthday last weekend.

Every year for as long as I can remember she has always just had a watermelon instead of a cake because it's usually so hot out. This year we did something a little different... we made a red velvet cake to resemble a watermelon.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Pioneer Baby

2011-08-08T15:40:00.002-06:00

My cute cousin Cindy gave Bailey this little dress and bonnet when she was born. She wore the dress to church yesterday (all except the bonnet). She just looked so cute we had to take a picture! Thanks Cindy!

Hawaii

2011-07-28T21:02:00.008-06:00

Dave and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on June 19th. I can't believe that is has already been 2 years! We decided to use the Delta benefits and take a little weekend trip to Hawaii.

When we picked up our rental car they upgraded us to a Mustang convertible. Pretty snazzy eh?

We thought we were pretty awesome cruising around in this until we got to our hotel. We walked in to see this... no bed. What good is a hotel if there is no bed? There has to be one somewhere...

Now a bed takes up a decent amount of space in a room so you think it would be simple to find... still couldn't find the bed.

So we decided to open the "wardrobe" to see if maybe there was a bed in there and to our surprise... there was!

It just needed to fold out!

I was honestly laughing too hard to think clearly but Dave was super skeptical. I wish I would have gotten a picture of his face, he was so disgusted. He was gathering our bags when we came across this sign in the kitchenette. Who knows what else they don't wash themselves...

We grabbed our bags and headed out in search of a new hotel. The place we ended up staying wasn't the nicest by any means but it was the Taj Mahal compared to the last place. (Ah, the joys of traveling on a budget).

Of all the things there is to do in Hawaii the number 1 thing on our list is always Cheeseburger in Paradise. I don't know what it is about this place but we LOVE it! It is nothing but naughty food and we saved our calories for the whole week just to eat here.

The onion rings are heavenly

And the cheeseburgers are to die for.
(In our humble opinion)

We drove out to the North Shore and saw the Temple in Laie.

I turned around for seriously 2 seconds and Dave was in the tree... what a funny guy!

Dave has a friend at the airport who's mom works at the Polynesian Cultural Center. She hooked us up with free tickets to everything (the center, the buffet and the night show). Thanks Vili's mom!

We went out to Pearl Harbor and saw a few things too.

The USS Arizona.

We went out to the flea market and saw this.

Dave and I didn't say a word to each other. We just stood there and watched it pass...

Until next time Hawaii! We will miss you...

Thanks to Julie, Brett, Nancy and Steve for taking care of our little Bailey so we could go. We really appreciate you guys!

Baths, Pigtails and Father's Day

2011-07-12T23:03:00.004-06:00

I finally downloaded some pictures from our camera so I thought I'd put up some cute pics of Bailey. She gets more and more personality everyday and it's so funny how much she loves her baths! She gets so excited and kicks her legs the whole time.

We tried some pigtails one day and they were cute. She reminded us of Boo from Monster's Inc.

This year Dave got to celebrate his first Father's Day. Our ward had the Primary kids decorate some material in the shape of ties. They passed them out before Sacrament Meeting and all the father's wore them throughout church. It was really cute.

3 1/2 Months

2011-07-06T13:57:00.003-06:00

OK, so I stole this picture from my sister's blog. Sorry Liz, but it was too dang cute and I love looking at it!

Anyway, my baby is now 3 1/2 months old and getting to be more fun every day! She has recently started scooting herself backward or to the side while she lays down and plays on her playmat. She's growing up too fast.

Some quick Bailey facts:

Loves:
Chewing on her Hands
Singing Songs (especially Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam)
Taking a Bath
Stroller Rides
Making Noises (or as Dave calls it, Squalking)
Talking
Her Pacifier
Sitting up
Her Playmat
Eating

Doesn't Love So Much:
Getting Dressed
Waiting for a Bottle

Guitar Cake

2011-06-21T10:15:00.004-06:00

My little sister Lindsey is throwing her friend Ian a birthday party tonight. She wanted to make him a fun cake so this is what we came up with. Happy Birthday Ian!

Farewell Old Friend!

2011-06-21T10:01:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we said goodbye to an old friend. After 9 years, 191,538 miles, a thousand trips to Zion's and a lifetime of memories, Dave sold his baby the Mazda. It was a little sad for him, especially since this was his first car but he took it like a champ. I think that's because he's already bought a new car (which he occasionally let's me drive ;) ) that we love just as much.

Goodbye Mazda! We will miss you!!!

Brooklyn's Baby Shower

2011-06-15T12:43:00.002-06:00

One of my best friends from High School had a baby about 5 weeks after Bailey. Sue and I had her shower all planned and ready until little Miss Brooklyn decided to come early. So we postponed the shower a few weeks and were able to have it with Brooklyn instead.

Sue made the yummiest chili I've had in a long time. We also had some yummy chocolate cupcakes with pink swirls and some flower shaped sugar cookies. Sorry, this picture of the food table isn't the greatest.

It was fun to see my friend Vanessa who I haven't seen in a while. I love that we three girls were inseperable during high school and we all ended up having a girl first. I hope that all of our girls will be friends too... although I hope they don't give their parents quite the amount of gray hair that we did ;)

(me, Bailey, Ariana, Vanessa, Brooklyn, Jessica)

Congratulations Jessica! Miss Brooklyn sure is a cutie!

2 1/2 Months!

2011-06-08T14:05:00.002-06:00

I started back to work on Monday and I've been a little bummed about it. It's nice to get out of the house and get dressed up but I miss my baby! I took this picture of her with my phone the other day and she started to yawn right as I took it and it made me laugh. I just love this girl!

She is 2 1/2 months now and I forgot to document her 2 month check up.

Weight: 8 lbs. 2 oz. - 3rd percentile
Height: 22 inches - 34th percentile

I was a little concerned that she is only 1 lb and 2 oz. heavier than her birthweight but the doctor thinks she is just going to be little. She loves to eat but she's just long and skinny (which she most definitely gets from the Carlson side). :)

Our Nampa Trip

2011-06-02T23:43:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Dave and I took Bailey up to Nampa, Idaho to meet Grandma and Grandpa Morgan and we had a great time. It was a weekend full of food (the best biscuits and gravy ever) and entertainment (which consisted of joke after joke from my cousin Heath... what a funny kid!).
Another of my cousins came up with his little family. They have a little girl a couple of months older than Bailey. It was fun to watch them play together on Bailey's play mat. (p.s. this playmat is the greatest babysitter, Bailey loves it and usually plays under it for an hour at a time!)

Bailey and I with my Grandpa and Grandma Morgan.

Thanks for the great weekend! We will come up and visit again soon!

San Francisco; Dave's Birthday

2011-05-28T08:33:00.009-06:00

Dave turned 30 this year so we decided to celebrate in San Francisco. We only had about a day in the city so Dave did a lot of research so we could see everything we wanted to. Since we are both children of the 80's we loved Full House. We thought it would be fun to try and find the house featured in the opening credits of the show. With a little research and a lot of Youtube we think we found it (although now the front door is a different color).

The lady that lives here came home while I was on the front steps... kind of embarrassing.

The Painted Ladies.

Chinatown

The Golden Gate Bridge

Alcatraz

Dave in a cell at Alcatraz.

We had a great time but we sure missed this little face the whole time we were gone.

Thanks for watching Bailey for us Steve and Nancy!
Dave had a fun birthday but it wouldn't be the same without his favorite dessert. When we came home I made Dave his favorite cake, a boxed yellow cake with canned chocolate frosting. Happy Birthday Dave! I love you!

Bailey's Blessing Day

2011-05-18T00:06:00.003-06:00

Bailey was blessed on May 1st. Dave was super nervous but he did a beautiful job. We found out that Bailey is one slippery girl since she slipped through everyone's fingers and dropped but it was Dave to the rescue. He caught her in the nick of time! What a great dad!

These are the booties that my cute grandma made for Bailey. Thanks Grandma Bradshaw!

Bailey with her Grandma and Grandpa Bradshaw.

Bradshaw family.

Carlson family.

Our little family.

Thanks Steve and Nancy for letting us use your home for the luncheon. It was so fun!

Happy Easter!

2011-05-17T23:59:00.002-06:00

Bailey's first Easter.

Sleep Deprived?

2011-04-06T13:51:00.001-06:00

If only she would do this during the night...

Our New Addition...

2011-03-29T20:28:00.010-06:00

Bailey Jean Carlson

Born Friday, March 18, 2011

7 lbs. 20 Inches long

Bailey was born at 5:48 pm Friday evening. She was due March 13th and we were told to anticipate an early arrival. Well, after days of walking around Wal-Mart, Target, Costco and the Rec Center she still wouldn't come. We had a false alarm early in the morning March 17th but after no progression we were sent home to wait. We went to a doctor appointment that day and he was stumped as to why she still hadn't come. The next morning our doctor sent us up to the hospital to do a non stress test to make sure that everything was alright. Everything was fine but since I was dialated to a 4 and scheduled to be induced on Sunday they admitted me that day. I was admitted at 12:30, after 20 minutes of contractions got my epidural at 2:30 and she was born at 5:48. It all went really fast, especially since Dave and I just watched Modern Family the whole time. This whole experience was so awesome and my cute hubby had an "allergy attack" while she was born and had to go wipe his eyes... the doctor said that lots of men get "allergy attacks" in the delivery room. Since it was such an easy delivery our doctor said he would deliver 10 more kids for me... yikes! Maybe if we can get Bailey to sleep through the night we'll think about how many more we want.

First Family Photo

Moving from Delivery to Recovery

First Bath

After her bath

Our Awesome Doc. Doctor Kasteler!

A Proud Dad

Leaving the Hospital

39 Days and Counting...

2011-02-02T15:45:00.002-07:00

We are down to the last 39 days, 5 1/2 weeks to be exact, and we are really starting to get more and more excited for this little girl to arrive. For Christmas, Dave was so thoughtful and bought me a pregnancy massage. I used it over the weekend and it was amazing! Thanks Dave!

For Christmas he also bought me an arm grabber. I guess he got tired of politely asking me to refrain from getting on step stools. I guess it all started when I stood on one to get something out of the closet, it wobbled, Dave had a minor heart attack and next thing I know, this little jewel is wrapped and under the tree. Isn't he the cutest?

It's been so fun to go through this whole pregnancy process with Dave. He hasn't missed one doctor's appointment and he always has such good questions to ask. My favorite question that he asks me quite frequently is "Are we done nesting yet?" He is going to be a great Dad!

BTW, we are terrible at taking pictures. Hopefully next time I can post some of our own.

Gratitude

2010-12-03T11:42:00.002-07:00

There are two things today for which I am extremely grateful.

1.) Slip on shoes

and

2.) A husband who helps me put on my socks in the morning. Thanks Dave!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

2010-11-29T16:04:00.004-07:00

Last week was Thanksgiving. Dave and I both took Wednesday off from work so we basically had 4 Saturdays in a row and we loved every second of it! Some of last week's highlights...

- Thanksgiving dinner (specifically: mashed potatoes and gravy).

- Spending time with my whole family.

- Black Friday shopping with my sisters.

- Watching the BYU v. Utah Game (I may have worn a red U shirt but my heart was with BYU).

- Watching the beautiful snow and not having to drive in it.

- Decorating our little apartment for Christmas.

and my very favorite part of the weekend:

Snuggling up to my hubby while we ate an entire loaf of poppyseed bread and watched this:

18 Week Update

2010-10-12T16:34:00.003-06:00

This is me at 18 weeks. I know my stomach doesn't look that big but I feel big. It's already getting uncomfortable to bend over to pick things up. Oh well, if that's my only complaint so be it! Everything else about being pregnant is awesome (especially when your cute husband calls on his way home from work to see if you would like him to pick anything up and your list consists of rocky road ice cream, macaroni and cheese and a Jamba Juice... it's all for the baby right?).

P.S. Thanks for taking this picture for me Cindy!

We're Thinkin' Pink...

2010-10-08T10:20:00.001-06:00

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage...

2010-08-03T10:15:00.004-06:00

Well, you know the rest...

Due on or around March 13, 2011.

France

2010-06-29T13:14:00.022-06:00

The last leg of our trip... France!
We started out by renting our car and heading straight to Normandy. Dave and I are both big fans of the show Band of Brothers so we thought we would take ourselves on a little tour. Dave had been there before but since I hadn't it was a must for this trip.

Dave and I at Utah Beach

Me standing in a big crater left by a bomb. They were huge and all over the place!

Dave and I sitting on top of this giant tanker/gun thing. It was pretty impressive.

This is where we want to build our home in France... talk about beach front property! This place was gorgeous!

The next day we dropped off our car and headed into Paris. Everyone in Paris was so dang nice to us! When we got off the metro and into our map this cute old man, who didn't speak a word of English, was right there wanting to direct us where to go. Completely exhausted, we were so excited to finally get to our hotel only to realize that there was no elevator and we had to drag our suitcases up this... oh well. We needed it after all those crepes!

Dave and I with Ms. Mona Lisa

In the courtyard of the Louvre.

As we were walking toward Notre Dame we came across a street performer that Dave remembered from a previous trip. It's just my luck to get pulled into the act.

Outside of Notre Dame.

A trip to Notre Dame wouldn't be the same without taking a hunchback picture outside of the belltower.

Doing what couples do best at the Eiffle Tower.

We could have stayed here all night. We went back the next morning to go up the tower. Word to the wise, "escalator" does not mean the same thing in French that it does in English. That's right, we walked our tired legs up the first 2 flights... good thing we bought a ticket and rode the elevator up to the top! The view was gorgeous!

Our final stop was to the Moulin Rouge. This was a dirty little place in a dirty section of town but we couldn't resist seeing it. A little part of me was hoping to see a giant elephant outside of it with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor singing... Oh well.

That was a pretty fast version of our trip but we had a blast and we look forward to going again. There were just too many things to see and not enough time. Good bye for now Europe but you can bet that we will be back!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Part III

2010-06-28T15:12:00.011-06:00

Amsterdam

We spent Dave's birthday in Amsterdam. Since we only had the one day there we didn't get to do very much but one of the highlights was definitely the Corrie Ten Boom Museum. If anyone has read The Hiding Place you know what I'm talking about. In a nutshell, during WWII Corrie hid Jewish people in a hidden room built into her bedroom, was caught, sent to a prison camp and survived. She was a remarkable lady! Anyway, here is the house in Haarlem.

This is the hiding place. The entrance is a little hidden door at the bottom of the closet. I got to crawl through it and stand in the little room. They cut a hole in the wall so people could peek in and see just how tiny this room is.

We didnt' get to go inside the Anne Frank house but we at least walked by.

Our hostel was on The Ship Avanti and was really cool. We were not so sure about it at first but it had rave reviews and once we were there we loved it! The rooms were tiny but the rest of the boat was surprisingly roomy and the lady who runs it is awesome!

Our room, we couldn't get ready for bed at the same time because just wasn't enough room!

Amsterdam was pretty fun. Next time we go back we will have to spend some more time. We didn't get a chance to see the tulips... oh well. Happy Birthday Dave!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Part II

2010-06-24T12:40:00.023-06:00

The next few days of our trip we spent on Pisa, Florence and Rome. Here are a few highlights:

Pisa

The Leaning Tower

Dave holding the tower

Florence

The museum where the David statue is had just closed when we got there so we went to see the replica.

My David impersonating Michaelangelo's David...

Some delicious pasteries that I want to make some day...

Rome

The Vatican

The Vatican Museum

Trevi Fountain

The Colosseum

The Pantheon

Our top two favorite dishes:

Lasagna (James and Cindy's recommendation) it literally melted in your mouth

Margarita Pizza - this baby was gooood!

We ate enough gelato in Italy to fill our ice cream quota for a year but it still wasn't enough... it was that good! I can't find the picture of our favorite flavors but mine was Pistachio and Dave's was Nutella. Mmmm it makes me hungry just thinking about it!

First Anniversary

2010-06-19T07:44:00.003-06:00

One year ago today...

Happy anniversary Dave!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Part I

2010-06-18T12:43:00.018-06:00

Last month Dave and I went to Europe. We pretty much experienced The Amazing Race without the video cameras and the million dollar prize... but we had a ton of fun! Our first stop was Venice, Italy. We loved all the architecture and the canals.

After about five hours we left Venice and headed through the Alps to Austria. We stayed in the cutest little hostel in Innsbruck and wished we could have stayed longer in this little town.

The next day we left early and drove up into Germany to visit the prison camp in Dachau. Dave and I have a slight facination with WWII. It was a very humbling experience to stand in a place that held so many innocent prisoners who were treated so horribly.

The Prison Uniforms

The Barracks

The Courtyard

The Execution Wall

The Small Crematorium

The Ovens

We were lucky enough to see a few survivors of the camp.

After we left the prison camp we headed out to see a couple of castles in Germany. The first one we saw is the Disney castle. This is the castle that inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle. It is called Schloss Neuschwanstein, which means Neuschwanstein Castle.

This is the bridge we stood on to take the previous photo... it's scarier looking at the bridge after you've stood on it!

Schloss Hohenschwanstein, which means Hohenschwangau Castle.

We didn't have time to go through this castle but have decided to live here anyway, nestled in the Alps. Isn't it beautiful?

Fondant Cakes

2010-05-19T12:41:00.004-06:00

For my final cake class we made 2 types of fondant cakes. First we made a square cake decorated as a present and second a tiered cake. Fondant is definitely going to be tricky but I'm excited to practice with it. My favorite part of the class was learning to make the flowers, especially the daisies.

Easter Cake

2010-04-03T11:05:00.005-06:00

Course 2 of my cake decorating class is finally complete! It was an entire course dedicated to learning to make flowers out of royal icing. We learned how to make daisies, pansies, daffodils, violets and apple blossoms. Those were fun to learn but I think that the basketweave around the sides was my favorite part. I thought it would be really hard but it was surprisingly really easy! Luckily we made this cake right in time for Easter as this is my contribution to Easter dinner. Monday Cindy and I start Course 3... fondant!

Where Everybody Knows Your Name...

2010-03-26T13:03:00.002-06:00

I have a confession. I LOVE ice cream. There, I've said it.
Sadly, I have come to realize that this may not be a good thing. Not only for the fat and calories but also because of the easy accessability. The building where I work is connected to a food court and what does every food court have? Yes, that's right, a McDonald's, where hot fudge sundaes with peanuts are offered for $1.08, including tax. I know, I'm pathetic.
You know you have frequented a certain McDonald's one too many times when they don't even ask your name when you order anymore. Granted, they didn't remember my correct name, thank heavens, because when I ordered they put my name down as "Dominic". Do I look like a "Dominic?" The first time this happened to me I was in shock! Notice that I said first? This has happened a few times now. How embarassing that a fast food restaurant practically has your order ready for you when they see you coming down the escalator? Ok, maybe it's not that bad but that's still pretty embarassing.
Oh well, I won't let that get me down. I have to have my sometimes tri-weekly fix... let's face it, these things are delicious!

Primary Quotes

2010-03-15T15:41:00.001-06:00

I teach the CTR 5 in our ward and I am convinced that I have the best calling! The kids in the primary are so cute and so teachable. Some of my favorite quotes so far...

Lesson: Joseph Smith at age 14 and his experience in the Sacred Grove.
CTR 5 boy: (wide eyes) "You mean it's true?!"
Me: "Of course it's true!"
CTR 5 boy: "You mean it really happened?!"
Me: "Yes, it really happened!"
CTR 5 boy: "Wow!"

Sharing Time: Each class received a scripture reference and had to pick the picture on the board of who in the scripture was speaking (i.e. Joseph Smith, Nephi, etc.) and tell of whom they were speaking of. After each class chose a picture a cute CTR 4 boy went to the front of the room to tell what all of the scriptures had in common.
CTR 4 Boy: (with the same or more conviction than any Apostle) "I Testify that each of these men were testifying of Jesus Christ"... it was enough to melt anyone's heart. (Remember, this kid is only 4!) He's going to make a great missionary one day!

A New Hobby

2010-03-09T15:39:00.003-07:00

Over the past month my cousin Cindy and I have been taking a cake decorating class. We love it! We just finished with Course 1 and believe it or not... we passed! Hurray! We learned how to make flowers, leaves and a whole lot of other designs.

This is my first attempt at decorating a cake. We were supposed to transfer a pattern onto the cake and decorate from there but I was unsure of what I wanted to do and class time was running out. So I just made the Carlson "C" and called it good.

This is my attempt at cupcakes. I may have gotten a little carried away on the flowers (we had just learned how to make them and they were so easy and fun). The best looking cupcake is the yin yang that Dave created himself at home, while he was helping me frost them.

This was my final cake of Course 1. We learned how to make roses and they are so darn fun! I could have made them all night!

Course 2 starts tomorrow! I can't wait to learn how to make a basket weave cake!

A Note to A Special Missionary

2010-02-05T16:05:00.004-07:00

Tomorrow is my little sister Amy's birthday. She will be 22 and is currently serving as a missionary in the Pittsburgh, PA Mission. Since our birthdays are exactly a week apart we always have a joint family party but this year it was just me... and i missed her.

I hope you have a great birthday Melio! Next year I will make you ham and Benson potatoes... just the way you like them!

Carlisle?

2010-01-11T17:08:00.003-07:00

Dave and I took a quick little trip this past weekend. We decided to get out of the freezing cold temperatures in Utah and headed to Maui (the land of 80 degrees and sunshine)! We only had Saturday there so we spent a few hours at the beach, watched some whales in the distance and ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise in Lahaina. All in all a pretty relaxing trip! But I guess the highlight of the trip would have to be when we snuck into the Four Seasons Resort and went swimming.
After the beach we needed a place to rinse off since we had already checked out of where we were staying. We parked, walked into the Four Seasons (which is huge by the way) down to the pool, swam for a while and sat in the hot tub. Then we had the audacity to sit on a lounge chair! We were approached by a waiter to see if we wanted a drink and our chairs set up. We gratefully took the water but declined on the chair covers... we weren't planning on being there long. Then we were approached again and again asked if we would like our chairs set up. When we declined for a second time the employee asked us what name our room was under. At that point Dave said the first thing that came to his mind... Carlisle.
Now, I don't know any Carlisles and am not quite sure if Dave does but when the man turned away and went to check to see if there were any "Carlisle's" registered, Dave and I stood up, grabbed our stuff and left. The only way out just happened to be next to the kiosk where we were under scrutinization. So,trying to be discrete, we walked around the back, opened some doors I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to, hopped a gate and walked as fast as we dared back to our car trying not to seem suspicious.
We laughed about that the whole way home. It wasn't fun at the time, my heart was pounding at the thought of getting stopped on our way out, but looking back on the whole scenario, it was pretty funny. I was secretly hoping that there were some Carlisle's checked in though... we still hadn't made it up to the serenity pool!

The Middle East Part III: The Old City of Jerusalem

2009-12-30T13:18:00.010-07:00

This is the last post of our trip... I promise. There was so much do in and around the Old City but one of our favorite things to do was eat off the street vendors. The food was so good! Everything comes in a pita... what's not to love about that?

This is "meat on a stick". Basically a shish-ka-bob put into a pita with salad (tomatoes and cucumbers) and some sauce... delish!

These are spinach, onions and cheese in a pastry crust... double delish!

And this is a falofel... ground chick peas and spices fried into balls and put in a pita with sauce, pickles and french fries!

We probably could have eaten a bit healthier but hey, we were on vacation. These veggies looked really good...

The marketplace shops

A pyramid made entirely out of spices. The smell of curry was strong in this city.

The Church of the Holy Seplechure. This is where the Catholics and other religions believe the Savior was tried, executed and buried. This was an interesting building.

Doesn't he look like Friar Tuck?

The lobby of our hostel

Our room. The ceiling would literally rain rocks and morter on us each night... what else do you expect from an 800 year old building?

We walked along the top of the outside wall of the city.

I just love this picture for some reason.

The Mount of Olives and BYU Jerusalem Center in the middle of the photo.

View of the City

A giant cemetary

The architecture in this city is beautiful! We ran into this on our way to the Holocaust museum.

The Damascus Gate. This is one of the main gates into the city and where basically all of the best food was that we found.

We were pretty lucky to be there over Hanukhah. This is the Western Wall on the last night of Hannukah. They were all celebrating and praying... it was really awesome to see.

This is right next to the Western Wall... I thought it looked like a movie set.

The men and women are separated when they go up to the wall. All the men have to have their heads covered. If they don't have anything there are little cardboard hats for them to use.

The highlight of our trip for me was seeing all the historical stuff we have all learned about since Primary. Being in Jerusalem, especially so close to Christmas and visiting these sites was such a spiritual experience. This is the Garden of Gethsemane. It is just a little gated grove of about 8 olive trees but 2000 years ago it must have taken up much of the hillside.

This hill is Galgotha. You will notice the skull in the mountain. This hill is right next to the Garden Tomb.

There is a bus station right below it now.

This was the most reverent part of the whole trip. I read an article in a 1972 Ensign where President Lee talks about a trip he took to the Holy Land. Read about it here. He describes this place much better than I ever could.

This is the inside of the tomb.

This really was an amazing and very humbling trip and I feel very blessed to have been able to go. It was a great experience to walk where our Savior has walked and we definitely want to go back again one day!

The Middle East Part II: Masada and the Dead Sea

2009-12-30T12:55:00.007-07:00

Dave had been to Israel before so he made an excellent tour guide. Some of our highlights:

We noticed that everyone in Israel smokes and we figured out why... they start them young.

Yep, those are packs of cigaretts in the claw machine!

Sunrise from the balcony of our hostel in Eilat (that body of water is the Red Sea, it's crazy to believe that this is the sea that Moses parted)

We had to stop at a gas station on our way to Masada and we came across this camel all saddled up. I wanted to take him for a ride. People just ride their camels into town and tie them up while they shop.

This is a portion of Masada. This is a plateau where the Jewish people came to escape the Romans and built a little city. They were completely surrounded on each side and eventually committed a mass suicide rather than being taken prisoner or worse by the Romans... sad story but very interesting.

The ramp the Romans built to reach the top.

The rectangle is one of the many Roman camps. I swear this country is all the same color!

We spent the rest of the day at the Dead Sea and played in the mud. Don't mind my yellow shoes... oh yeah, and that's just mud on my swim suit...

The Middle East Part I: Jordan

2009-12-29T15:30:00.005-07:00

Dave and I had a unique oppotunity to visit Israel and Jordan with Dave's sister Bethany and her husband Austin a couple of weeks ago. It was fun to see the different cultures. Here are a few pictures our adventures in Jordan:

When I think of the Middle East I always imagine camels everywhere so it was great when our cab driver pulled over and let us see some random camels hanging out on the side of the road.

This was the one and only Diet Pepsi in the Middle East... I swear. It didn't taste anything like it but the can was cute. You could find all the Diet Coke you ever wanted though.

Our awesome cab driver (can't pronounce his name though).

Our purpose of going into Jordan was to go into Petra and see the Treasury. The walk down to see it was much like the Narrows in Southern Utah only there was no water to wade through and the ground was even.

There were lots of cool little spots that had random caves built into the rock. We later found out that some people still live in caves. Dave wanted to ask them if they knew how to buy Geiko Insurance... I thought that was kind of funny.

There was a giant rock so of course we had to climb it!

Once you get through the canyon it opens up into this huge area with the Treasury straight ahead. You may recognize this place from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

This just shows how huge this place is.

We of course had to ride a camel.

I may or may not have ripped my jeans getting onto this beast... he was huge!

These are the guards who stand up in the doorway of the Treasury so no one enters.

Around the back of the Treasury there were a lot more of the caves.

When were were exploring these stairs we heard a bunch of racket and a little boy came barrelling down riding his baby donkey. So cute! I wish we had gotten a picture of him.

A giant ampitheater

We had a great time in Jordan!

Coconut Cream Pie

2009-12-28T10:47:00.003-07:00

Each year for Christmas my mom asks me to make the pies. I usually try to make a new kind each year but the Coconut Cream is a staple. My Uncle and his family come over every Christmas for pie and this one happens to be Uncle Clarke's favorite. I tried a new recipe this time and he asked me to post it here... enjoy!

Coconut Cream Pie

1 can coconut milk

Half-and-half or heavy cream (enough to add to the coconut milk to make 3 cups)

3 egg yolks

¾ cup white sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup flaked coconut, toasted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

Whipped Cream

In a medium saucepan, combine half and half, coconut milk, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Mixture will become very thick. Remove from heat, and stir in ¾ cup of the toasted coconut, coconut extract and the vanilla extract. Pour into baked and cooled pie shell and chill 2-4 hours or until firm. Top with whipped cream and the remaining ¼ cup of toasted coconut.

I got this recipe from www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com and tweeked it just a little. I love this recipe blog!

Israel

2009-12-10T10:57:00.003-07:00

We leave for Israel on Sunday... wish us luck!

Some Good Reads

2009-12-02T13:43:00.005-07:00

I just finished the first two books in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Definitely some good reads but a tad on the brutal side. They are what my sister Liz classifies as "Survivor on steroids"... I thought that was pretty accurate. It reminded me somewhat of Lord of the Flies meets The Giver. Anyway, since they are not your typical book I found them to be quite good. Can't wait for the next one!

New York, New York

2009-11-09T13:20:00.006-07:00

Dave + Delta = Major Flight Benefits

Since Dave started working for Delta, we've planned a few trips. We decided to start out small and took a quick weekend getaway to New York! We took the red eye on Friday night and had only Saturday to see everything we wanted. Our first stop... Times Square. I thought the police department was really cool...

Central Park

This is the bridge in "Enchanted" where the prince jumps off and gets run over by the marathon runners... love it! There were so many cool bridges in the park.

This is where we think they filmed that part in "Big Daddy" where Adam Sandler throws the sticks in the road to make the roller bladers fall into the lake... this is Dave pretending that he's rollerblading.

On top of the Belvedere Castle in Central Park (this park is huge!)

The Subway Singers

Of course we had to have some pizza. I thought about ordering "The Joey Special" (for all of you Friends fans) but that would have been way too much pizza for 2 people. This was delicious!

Ahhh... Rockerfeller Center. This was probably my favorite part of the trip.

Outside of 30 Rock!

Dave and I both love Kenneth the Page so when we saw a real life Page giving a tour we had to get a picture! He even looks a little like Kenneth...

And finally Madison Square Garden. My sisters and I grew up as big NY Knicks fans so it was nice to be in the "Holy Land".

Last but not least... the Subway Dancers. We thought they were pretty good. I love the head spin... it reminds me of Step Up 2. We ran into them after an accidental 45 minute detour to Harlem... we were trying to go 5 blocks and ended up 75 blocks in the wrong direction!

We didn't get a picture of the Manhattan temple but we were able to go in and do a little temple work while we were there... that was an awesome experience.

For our next trip we think we will be a little more daring, a once in a lifetime experience... we're thinking Israel!

October

2009-11-06T12:29:00.003-07:00

October is over (sigh of relief). Between a broken leg, surgery, an appendectomy, a sprained ankle/hairline fracture (we don't know, Sue won't go to the doctor) and massive blood clots in the lungs all I can say is thank heavens October is over! The Bradshaw's can't take anymore!

Sue looks a little stressed in this picture... little did she know that her opportunity to be on crutches was about 2 weeks away!

We spent a few hours in the ER. Dave and Tom found ways to entertain themselves.

We love 30 Rock! It's so darn cleaver and it's no drama... just pure comedy. Now I will admit, I was never a fan of Alec Baldwin (besides Beetlejuice) until now... he's awesome. My friend Connie hosted a 30 Rock party at her house and we all made hats (in honor of Frank) and Dave's hat won! It was so clever! Thanks Connie for such a fun party!

The next day was Sue's birthday and we all know that Sue has Diet Pepsi that runs through her veins, so I thought I would make her a Pepsi cake.

Dave loves to carve pumpkins. I haven't carved a pumpkin since I was little. We always just painted them because they lasted longer. In fact, I had a pumpkin last year that stayed on my front porch through December. Dave finally ended up carving it for me with a Merry Christmas message (that's a story for another time). So we decided to be festive and carved pumpkins this year. Mine is the creature on the left and Dave's is the awesome castle with the ghost in it on the right. We got so caught up in carving that we forgot about the roasting pumpkin seeds in the oven. The next thing we knew, there were large orange flames in the oven. Whoops, next time we'll have to keep a better eye on them!

We decided to go on a Sunday walk through Mueller Park Canyon and enjoy the changing leaves. Aren't they beautiful? I was nervous we'd run into a mountain lion (someone already did that this year) or rattle snakes. Dave told me that he had never seen a snake up there before. Well, there's a first time for everything because we saw one! Well, I saw it, screamed and that was the end of our walk... we hightailed it out of there!

Who doesn't love a little morning serenade?

2009-10-06T14:17:00.003-06:00

This is what I found when I got home from the gym one morning...

Labor Day... A Little Late

2009-10-05T15:48:00.004-06:00

For Labor Day this year Dave and I decided to use up what was left of the warm weather and go camping. We found a cute spot up Logan Canyon by Tony Grove and it was beautiful! We had such a great time. We set up "Hotel Carlson" (aka, the air mattress), made a fire and cooked tin foil dinners. They were delicious!

Not sure if flip flops were the best idea when using a hatchet...

But everything turned out alright... all toes are accounted for.

The next day we went up to Bear Lake and visited the little shops and of course went to La Beau's for a raspberry shake!

We came across this in a gas station/ gift shop... We weren't quite sure what to think of it. I told Dave it might be a good idea to get a tetanus shot after touching that... gross!

Later that weekend Scott invited us up to his cabin by Sundance. This cabin is in the cutest little gated community. We played games, went boating, played on swingset and floated the Provo River. I didn't get any pictures of the river but that was definitely the highlight... Let's just say that after boating and floating the river Sue was done with water sports for the day. She may or may not have fallen in the lake by accident...twice, ran into a tree on the river and lost her shoes, flipped her tube and crashed into an innocent bystander (apologetically of course, before and after she hit him) who had lost his tube on the river... all very good reasons to have a camera ready.

This is one of my favorite pictures. Sometimes you just need to play on the playground...

Oakley, Idaho

2009-10-01T11:30:00.008-06:00

Oakley, Idaho

Our trip in a few words:
Sunburn, small town, guns, 4-wheelers, games, moths, dutch oven cooking, swimming, cows, friends, family, shakes, broken down flatbeds = a darn good time!

I don't really know what made James want
to squish Lindsey's face but I thought it
was funny

Our friend Nick made a potato gun that we
took turns shooting... seeing as we were
in Idaho and all...

We had a few (or a hundred) moths in the
cabin that Dave and Nick took care of

Dave and Nick killed them,
and James M. cleaned them up

Nick and Kelly

I love, love, love Sue's face in this picture

James was nice enough to let us shoot his gun.

After watching Prison Break I felt pretty cool

shooting it... that was until I missed the target!

The Crew

Thanks James and Cindy for such a fun weekend!

My Sister's Keeper

2009-09-14T16:26:00.004-06:00

This past weekend I went with my sisters to see this movie:

There wasn't a dry eye in the entire theater (men included) and Cameron Diaz was actually pleasant to watch! It was so good that it made me go out buy the book and now I can't put it down. The book is by Jodi Picoult and so far it is fabulous. I have only read one other book by her and it was just as good. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is close with their siblings... just don't forget the tissues.

Husband Tag

2009-09-03T15:46:00.003-06:00

What is his name? David Spencer Carlson
How long have you been married? 2 months, 2 weeks and 1 day
How long did you date? Our first date was November 28th and we were engaged March 28th… so exactly 4 months
How old is he? 28
How old are you? 26
Who eats more sweets? We both eat about the same and are trying to cut back!
Who said I love you first? Dave, he said it while I was asleep and then 2 weeks later said it while I was awake… glad I heard that one.
Who is taller? Dave, by 6 inches
Who can sing better? Dave, believe me, you don’t want to hear me sing…
Who is smarter? Dave, he just has one of those minds that can comprehend everything…
Who does the laundry? We both do, but he lets me put it in the dryer…
Who does the dishes? Dave usually… he washes and I dry
His guilty pleasure? He likes to hide and try to scare me… makes me laugh every time.
Who mows the lawn? We don’t have one… but if we did he would do it for sure.
Besides you, who is his best friend? Scott
Who cooks dinner? We both do
Who drives? Dave. Whether or not he’s behind the wheel. He doesn't like when I stop at yellow lights... sometimes I secretly stop on purpose just to see his face in profile... It's so funny.
Who is more stubborn? Now, that is a toss up! I think probably me
Who kissed who first? Dave kissed me. We were watching “Some Like It Hot”… totally perfect!
Who asked who out first? Dave asked me out and we had an awesome time!
Who proposed? Dave… and again, it was perfect. All the ladies at work awed over the story and he was a hit!
Who has more siblings? Me- 5 sisters and 1 brother… he has 2 sisters and 2 brothers
Who wears the pants? Dave, but I pick them out
What is your favorite thing about him? He always makes me laugh… he’s so funny. He’s kind, caring and loves to flirt with his wife. He is my best friend and I love him very much!

The Addiction Has Ended

2009-09-02T13:41:00.004-06:00

We can now have our lives back.

Dave and I don't watch much T.V., in fact, we don't watch any T.V. really. But, we do have Netflix. We started Netflixing Prison Break and after watching the first disc of the first season (which is the best season by the way) we became 100% hooked. My friend Connie was nice enough to see how anxious we got when we had to return a disc and were without Prison Break for a whole 2 days so she let us borrow her seasons, one at a time. We didn't want to get carried away. I am not ashamed to say that I pretty much almost cried when it was over. Ok, maybe I am, please don't judge me.

Now we can, as Dave says, "get on with our lives". It is definitely bitter/sweet but our home has suffered from neglect so it's time to wipe away the tears (you think I'm kidding), roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Any suggestions for our next addiction? ha ha (we are giving ourselves at least 6 months to recoup)

Because Cindy Tagged Me...

2009-09-01T13:20:00.004-06:00

A: Addiction: Prison Break (but that will end tonight... I promise)
B: Breakfast (what you eat): oatmeal
C: Chocolate or Chips: Chocolate (peanut M&M's)
D: Dessert or Appetizers: Appetizers
E: Essential Items: Gold's Gym Pass (due to everything listed above)
F: Favorite Color: Green
G: Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Gummy Bears
H: Hometown: Layton, Utah
I: Indulgence: Peaches
J: January or July: January - it's my birthday month
K: Kids: someday...
L: Life isn't complete without: Dave
M: Most exciting memory: so many to choose from but they all include Dave, and the time my family went to the Jazz/Knicks game and Jeff Van Gundy (head coach of the Knicks) waved at me... that was awesome
N: Number of Brothers and Sisters: 5 sisters and 1 brother
O: Oranges or Apples: apples (Fuji to be exact)
P: Phobias or Fears: drowning, being buried alive, losing a loved one.
Q: Quote: "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power" -President Ezra Taft Benson (I keep this quote at my desk at work and refer to it often)
R: Reading: The Nursery Crime series by Jasper Fforde... very interesting and funny
S: Summer or Spring: Summer
T: Tag 6 people: Whoever likes to fill these things out
U: Unknown Fact About Me: I am extremely competitive... I hate to lose
V: Vacation I want to go on: Dave has been "homesick" for another cruise and I want to go to Greece so we are thinking of combining them... you know, kill two birds with one stone.
W: Walking or Running: Walking... I only run at the gym (sometimes)
X: X-Ray or Ultrasound: Ultrasound
Y: Your favorite food: Mexican, sandwiches and fruit (quite the combination huh?)
Z: Zoo or Bowling: Zoo in the summer and Bowling any other time

The Real World: The Narrows

2009-08-26T15:45:00.006-06:00

A few weeks ago we packed up and headed to Southern Utah to hike The Narrows. It was so much fun! We started to set up camp about 1:00 am and I am positive we woke up just about everyone in the campground. Oh well, totally worth it. I wish I had pictures of "Hotel Carlson". We got a tent for our wedding and what goes better with a tent than a huge air mattress? Anyway, we had a really good time.

This is us at the beginning of the hike. Isn't this place beautiful?

(Scott, James, Sue, Dave and me)

And then this happens... where the water gets so high you practically have to swim through it. Our friend James brought a digital waterproof camera so thanks to him we have documentation.

(Scott, James and Dave)

Poor Sue, the water about covered her head! It was so fun though and we can't wait to go back next year.

(Sue and me)

The boys had planned to hike the Subway the next day but you have to have a permit and they were all out for the weekend. So what did we do instead? Oh yeah... Vegas. Now personally, I don't love Vegas. If you can just spend a few hours there, walk the strip and leave that is totally fine with me. And that's exactly what we did.

We went to the M&M factory because 1) you just had to when you are in Vegas and 2) because it was 116 degrees outside and we needed to cool off.

We went to the little 5 minute 3D movie they show there. Kinda lame but fun at the same time.

And then the best part of the whole trip came at the very end... the Rio Buffet! Dave was in heaven with his entire plate full of meat. And this was just his first one! When that boy is hungry he can sure eat! He says the Rio is not as good as Bally's Buffet but we'll have to try that another time... we were too full.

Demolition Derby

2009-08-20T13:35:00.005-06:00

This shirt pretty much says it all... and it was free (Dave loves to catch the free shirts anywhere they are throwing them out)

That's right... it's demolition derby time and we had a blast

With Family

And Friends

Where you can see the big cars do this (Dave bet on #6, he did pretty well)

They even have midget cars that do this

And if you're lucky you may even see a fire...

or this... I'll bet that guy has been sore for a week.

Ok, we don't normally find ourselves at places like this, where people get excited to be sprayed with mud, but once a year you just can't help yourself. I mean, white trash bumper cars? How could you resist?

Oh, What Do You Do In the Summertime?

2009-08-10T13:54:00.007-06:00

We have done a lot of 2 things this summer... moving (don't ask) and boating

I love this picture of Cindy... She's ready to pose at any moment. What a model!

We were invited a few times to go boating with Dave's friend Scott at Deer Creek. Each time we went the boat had mechanical problems and we had to call it quits after just a little while. We promise we weren't the cause of the problems... honest.

I love this picture of Dave and Scott. They loved to hit all the big bumps to see how high in the air they could go. Not only that but they would show off and switch spots on the tube. I think that was their way of saying that the boat was going too slow and to speed up! Let's just say they drank a lot of lake water...

I am kind of the opposite. I like the boat to go just fast enough that the tube moves but we don't bounce off... That is until it gets going and we get the hang of it. The following video is not for anyone who has a problem with motion sickness but it's hilarious and worth watching... oh Sue, where would we be without you?

July 4th - Bradshaw Family Reunion: Rupert, ID

2009-08-10T13:20:00.008-06:00

Every other year we have the Bradshaw Family Reunion... it's kind of a big deal. We love it!!!

(Lindsey and I)

(Lindsey, Makayla, me, Dave, Cindy and James)

A challenge was extended to all those who could brave the "Mackay Well". If anyone knows my husband they know that he lives for challenges such as this. The water is freezing...

Dave did it so of course I couldn't let him have all the fun without me...

(Lindsey and I jumping into the well)

That water was freezing so I thought that since I did it once I was done... obviously I was wrong. Dave wanted to jump in together (this being his 3rd jump) so I went with him. Good thing that's over for a while... that water was cold!

Here are all the brave well jumpers. Mitch (the one with the t-shirt) was the first one in the well. He was off the truck and in the well before the rest of us could even blink.

We had a family shooting tournament

(I love this picture of my dad, Tom and John)

Uncle Layne arranged a "surprise" for the family by inviting their family friend to come and shoot an anvil up for us. If you ever wanted to see a 50 pound anvil shoot a hundred feet up in the air this was the place to be! Dave was picked to light the fuze... he loved it.

I couldn't pass up this picture... it's one of my favorites. This kid knows where he's going and he let's no man stand in his way...

We had such a good time and we look forward to the next reunion... 2011

Honeymoon- Destination: Miami and The Bahamas

2009-08-05T11:41:00.007-06:00

So for our honeymoon we went to Miami and from there on a cruise to The Bahamas... and it was awesome!

We ate at Bubba Gumps (If you haven't eaten there before it is highly recommended that you do). In January we stopped drinking soda and eating donuts (to be healthy of course) and we decided that on our honeymoon we could eat/drink whatever we wanted. So being the huge Dr. Pepper fan I am and being a Bubba Gumps I had to get one. It would have been wrong not to right?

Here is Dave waiting for his freshly made to order mini donuts... they were delicious.

This guy was a one man band and when we stopped to listen he played us a special song... The Wedding March. He was so cute.

The was our ship... The Norwegian Sky.

We stopped at The Grand Bahama Island and we did a 12.5 mile bike ride around the island. It was fun to see the culture and explore for a while.

We ate lunch at the Botanical Gardens. They were beautiful!

The next day we went to the island of Nassau and we swam with the dolphins. Our dolphin's name was Goombay. Did you know that they can swim on their backs up to 30 mph? I didn't...

We stopped at a touch tank and touched some cool stuff. There's nothing like picking up a shell and having something crawl out of it...

Especially this guy... gross

We ordered a lot of room service because 1) is free and 2) it's 24 hours... so if you want fruit, fries and chicken wings at all hours of the night you know where to call... (we may be guilty of that)

We then had a 6 hours wait at the Miami airport. What do you do in an airport for 6 hours? Ask Dave...

If you have never been on a cruise you are missing out... it makes for a perfect vacation. Dave confessed to me the other day that he was "homesick" to go on another one... I told him that we would have to change that soon. Anyone want to come with us?

Wedding Day

2009-08-03T15:59:00.004-06:00

Here are some random pictures from the wedding...
I haven't gone in to get any prints done yet (yes, I know... I'm a slacker)
Anyway... enjoy.

My dad (Gary) and Dave's dad (Steve) at the reception

Outside the temple... isn't he handsome?

All the girls

My cute niece Mary Alice (Malice for short... sorry Liz)

Dave's niece Liv... she is absolutely adorable

My nephew Tom... boys will be boys right?

The traditional removal of the garter

(sorry dad)

An all around perfect day...

P.S. I loved my flowers...

The Carlson's

2009-07-30T11:08:00.003-06:00

The Carlson's

est. June 19, 2009

More to come...