Our 12 year anniversary!

I know that I haven't posted since Christmas, but the past three months have been a blur. Now things should begin to slow down. I will try to post pictures and a summary of all of the events in the next few days. Our spring break starts on Friday. . . I can't wait!

Today is our anniversary. We have had the best time remembering that special, special day. I thank the Lord for bringing Brian and I together. Our meeting and marriage were truly arranged in heaven. Thanks to our parents as well for "getting the ball rolling."

Christmas Day Festivities

Our morning consisted of delicious Butter Brain pastries (my sister-in-law's business), coffee, and fruit. Then we opened gifts which we are able to do in an orderly, adult fashion. It was so interesting to see everyone's interests, tastes and personalities in the gifts. Chad got tons of fishing relating items. Jen was delighted with a cute, trendy bag that we thought matched her new hairstyle. Kirk got a warm jacket and clothes related to staying warm. In our game the night before there was a question "What is your addiction?" Kirk said his addiction is "staying warm." We laughed so hard at his answer. Brian received a "Yale" sweater to help him maintain his "scholarly" image. Kristy received a huge Shakespeare poster to display in her classroom. Very exciting!


The afternoon began with the delicious traditional turkey dinner with all of the fixings. After topping the dinner off with pie and coffee, we cleaned up. Then we headed to Positive Action for more activities. While at PosAct we played Wii, watched a tear-jerking movie The Ulitimate Gift and ate sandwiches.

That evening we returned home and Jen and Chad got packed up to leave early this morning. They are now on their way to the next leg of their journey -- a trip to Mexico. Kirk, Brian and I are staying around until Saturday. The fun continues! See my parent's blog for more pictures and details.

Christmas at the Carlson's

We are having a wonderful time at my parent's. Brian and I arrived on the 23rd after driving from Tennessee all day. We did stop several times along the way, but had a good day driving. Chad, Jen and Kirk had a much more difficult time flying from Milwaukee and Madison. After canceled flights, delays for deicing planes, and looking for missing luggage, the three weary travelers arrived sometime in the middle of the night. However, we were so glad they made it, word was many flights were canceled and travelers stranded until after Christmas.


Once everyone got rested, it was so fun to get caught up on all of the latest news. Mom had done a wonderful job getting meals prepared ahead of time. We have all pitched in preparing and cleaning up the delicious meals. On Christmas Eve we had our traditional dinner with all of the fixings.


We played a fun round of "Loaded Questions" and found out many "new" things about each other! We laughed until our sides hurt. Brian won the prize -- a mini-back massager!! Yeah!
Us "kids" opened our gifts from each other on Christmas Eve. Best of all we are all together. We miss the rest of our family who are spread out over the country (and in Canada). May the Lord bless all of you and please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

School was over on Friday! Yeah! The last month has been a whirlwind! Brian's parents are in Texas with Cindy and her family. So before Darla and Tony, Brian and I leave for Kentucky and North Carolina, we all got together this weekend. This is my sister-in-law Darla who has four boys! We had fun making food, talking and laughing at the boys.

Speaking of the boys, here are two of the them. Most of the Walker family members are die-hard Oklahoma fans. Now the love has been passed down to the next generation. The boys got OU sweatshirts and blankets from their neighbor for Christmas. When I asked them to pose in front of the little tree in my bedroom, they willingly spread their OU blanket for the picture.

Even Essie is getting into the spirit. She thinks the trees upstairs and downstairs are for her. She doesn't know that we'll be leaving for a week, but she will have a good caregiver. Our neighbor boy will be feeding and checking on her.

Well, we just have a few more bags to pack and load. We are traveling all day today. Chad and Jen are flying in from Wisconsin this morning and Kirk gets in late tonight. We are praying that the snow will not deter travel. Will keep you posted! Enjoy this week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We trust that you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving day! This is the delicious feast and beautiful table at which we dined for lunch. Brian's mom did an outstanding job preparing the Thanksgiving feast!

Right before prayer and feasting the traditional Thanksgiving pose was taken. Notice how happy the children look. They know they must smile for the cameras before they can devore the food.

Brian has been gone on three accreditation team visits in three weeks and has been looking forward to this long awaited vacation day. Unfortunately Kristy caught the nasty flu bug from some of her beloved students. She made it all the way until Tuesday afternoon fly high and running in high gear. Then as she was driving home, a troubled feeling in the stomach was all it took to signal things were not well. Since then she has been in bed. She did attend the feast and was able to eat. However, she returned home just an hour later and has returned to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Brian is planning to be at Dillards early to shop!

Community Yard Sale

Last weekend we had our fall community yard sale. Many of the homes in our neighborhood participate and so many people come through our neighborhood. We did not have tons of stuff, but what we did have sold really well. It is a great time to clean out the closets and get rid of the clutter. We had a beautiful day and had lots of fun visiting with our "customers."

This guy is about the 3rd or 4th one to ask Brian what he did to make our lawn green. I told Brian that we should have sold grass seed and fertilizer instead of knick knacks!!

Our neighbor's kitty came over to check out our flowers. They are really blooming now that the weather is cooling off.

Camping with Mom and Pop

After the convention in Gatlinburg was over, we spent Friday night with my parents in their luxurious trailer!! Wow! I call it the "Carlson Luxury Liner." It was cozy and homey -- basically a mini-version of their house. On Saturday we took a trolley and explored the rural areas around Gatlinburg.

As we waited for the trolley at the station, my parents struck up a conversation with an interesting man who was a trolley driver. He grew up in the hills right around this area and shared many memories with us. He even offered to share his lunch with us. So sweet!:)

After our adventures of the day we returned to the trailer and had a delicious cookout. What a lovely, relaxing time we had.

Brian was especially impressed that there was cable TV and he could watch the score from his lounge chair outside the trailer. We returned home late Saturday night in order to be at our church Sunday and to prepare for the week. What a wonderful time we had and how thankful we are for our loving parents.