My baby is turning 3.

I can't believe my little girl is turning 3! Where does the time go?? I just want to show some of my favorite pictures of her over the years..It's sad to think that I will never have these precious times back.. We have had so much fun with her . We love her to no end.. She is our little angel, our baby girl.. We love you Ash. Happy Birthday.

These were just a few of the great times we have had with her. I am so lucky to have such a sweet little girl like Ash. There is never a dull moment with her.

Extra Help!

It seems like every time I try to cook anything, I have 2- 3 extra hands helping. Sometimes I don't mind it but other times it can get crazy.. Today we got home from the gym earlier than normal, Ash decided she wanted some pancakes. Which I know what that means, she has to help make the batter! Needless to say I had flour all over the floor and kitchen. I guess she is learning at an early age??

The Boys of Summer are back..

I Love that cute little baseball butt!

Its time to start the baseball season. Kobe is so serious when he plays. He plays every play like it's going to be his last play. It's fun to see the progress that he made from last year, huge improvement. Nice job Kobe, we are proud of you..

This is my first video. It was suppose to be a picture of Kobe's hit but Rand hit the record button so we were able to get it on video. It would have been better if he would have know it was on video. Oh well.

Jackson Hole

Every year for Memorial Day the Carlson family packs up and goes to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I think almost every year it has either rained or snowed all weekend long. Needless to say this weekend it rained, the entire time. Despite the rain we still had a great time. I am sure we will be back again next year.

There were 20 couples and 15 kids. It was crazy. The boys all get up early, 4:45 am and go fishing. They have to be there before the park ranger gets there at 6:00. I don't think any fish is worth that , but whatever. It's rather nice, once they left I had the KING size bed all to myself. Ash and I didn't wake up until 9:00 - 9:30 , then we would have a nice breakfast, I was able to do all my exercising , and get ready for the day before the boys got home. I have to say that I am really proud of my 2 boys, they did not complain when it came time to get up in the morning, or they never complained about being cold or tired, They are so AWESOME..

Here is what some of the Little girls did while the boys went fishing, I would much rather do what the girls did then what the boys did.. What do you think?? Bennett came home from fishing and decided he needed to get in touch with his girl side.. ha ha that makes dad proud!!

The finished product. This is my sweet little niece Whitney, She is so cute. I love her to death. I have to say thanks to my other niece Jaden. She was so cute with all the little girls, she would do complete makeovers for anyone who was up for it. Ash just loves her, so thanks Jaden you are a great babysitter..

You can't go to Jackson without seeing all the animals , right?? We went to the visitor center in town and they had all these stuffed animals. I didn't care, at least it was warm.. Here are some of those pictures

My boys were in Heaven. They thought it was so cool to be this close to a real bear. They are just like their dad, they love the outdoors and all the animals.



Ashtyn was afraid of most of the animals, this is the only one she would really get close to without Randy or I holding her. She still wasn't set on the idea of touching the bird.

This is Sasquatch. It was so funny that we seen him, we always tell our kids to watch out for Sasquatch at night time, to tease them. They would always say that he is not real, now I think they believe us..

By the end of the day everyone had enough! We were all tired and ready to go back and have a nice long nap.

Our little Graduate!!

Here is our preschool graduate. He graduated from Barneck Preschool this last week. He was excited to be moving on to bigger and better things! Little does he know he is going to another preschool. We are holding him back because he has an August birthday and would be the youngest in his class. Don't those brown eyes just melt your heart?? They do ours!

Bennett was the middle billy goat gruff in his little play at his graduation. He totally fit the part, it fit his personality . For those who know Bennett you know what I mean. He is a special kid and we love him to pieces.

Playing at the park

It is so nice that it is starting to get warm. Finally. We love to take our kids to the park and let them burn off some of that energy. We took Kobe over to the park to practice kicking the ball hard. Last weekend we took him to a soccer tournament down in Sandy. They took 2ND out of 12 teams, they did so good. He had a total of 6 games. We started at 2 pm and finished at 8:30. He was having a hard time getting his foot on the ball the whole tournament, so needless to say we spent that next Monday at the park practicing how to kick hard . I don't know what happened to him but that little stinker was drilling his shots every time. He is a great player and he has the desire. It's Awesome to watch him turn into such a good little player. Isn't that great form?? ha ha

Bennett and Ash got bored of watching Kobe kick the soccer ball over and over. So we had to go and play on the toys so Kobe wouldn't get distracted. Randy really wants him to be serious when they practice. It's funny.

Bennett thought this was such a huge accomplishment going down the big slide on his back. He was so proud of himself that he had the courage to go. He said to me : "Mom, I bet you don't even dare do that, it's only for the big kids, and I don't want you to get hurt. " ha ha I laughed. He is always doing funny stuff to make us laugh.

Ash thought she was pretty cool, cause she could ride the Elephant without any hands. Notice how dirty her little hands are.. Love the park and all the dirty toys.

We love our little rug rats... Nothing better than having your kids tell ya they love you at the end of the day.

It's standing; our PLAYHOUSE

This is our play house that Randy is building for the kids, We still have a ways to go but at least it is framed and they can play in it. We have decided to have it wired for a TV and then we are going to sheet rock it, do the siding, and the flooring. We are also going to do a covered patio by the door. So like I said we have a ways to go but at least it's standing.

This is the main floor, the stair go up to a big loft up above. It has 2 windows and 2 dormers. I think Randy is having as much fun building it as the kids do playing in it. He is a true kid at heart, but I love him. :)

GO LAKERS!!

Yes we are Laker fans!! We are so excited they are doing so good in the playoffs. It makes all of our family and friends mad that they beat the JAZZ. Sorry, But when you have someone like KOBE BRYANT on your team what do you expect?? The Jazz didn't have a chance!! If anyone wants to make a friendly wager be my guest! GO LAKERS!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Mother's day was a great day for me. My k ids were so cute. All day on Saturday Kobe kept asking Randy when they were going to go shopping for mom. He was so excited to get me something special . He is such a good little kid. So my day started with Randy and Kobe getting up at 6:30 to make me breakfast in bed. I think the smoke alarm only went off once. But that's okay. This is a big deal for Kobe to get up that early and make me breakfast. He is a sleeper and loves to sleep in every chance he gets. So I was really feeling special. They made me eggs, and toast with some yummy fruit. Randy got me a juicer and also made fresh orange juice, my favorite. It was great.. Kobe picked out some pretty flowers, Bennett and Ash got me Jr mints. Then off to church we go. We came home and I was able to have a little nap, Randy BBQ my favorite chicken for dinner, and then did the dishes!! We then made the long trip to visit his mom ( ha ha up a few stairs.) We had dessert with her and was able to visit . I am so thankful for her, and for the way she raised her son. I love my mother in- law very much, she is a great example to me . She does so much to help me out all the time . I am very lucky to have such great in-laws. :)

Then we were able to go to my mom's house and see my beautiful mother, and sisters. We have such a good time when we are all together. I am so glad that all my family live so close to each other. We are all great friends. I am thankful for my mom. She does so much for each of her daughters. She is a great example also. I don't know what I would do without my mom, she has taught me a lot. Most of all how to be a good mom, and to remember that some things don't matter, they are just things. Its the time you spend with your kids that matter. I will always remember our picnic's at the park, or all our " mug" runs. She was always there to listen. I hope that I am a good mom to my kids like my mom was to us. I love you MOM!!

I know it was mother's day, but I have to say what a good man my dad is. He is the most gentle, loving person ever. I just wanted to tell him how Awesome he is, and that I am thankful for him also. Isn't he so cute??

Six Kids Two Adults, CRAZY!!

Shay and I thought it would be nice to take our kids to Fat Cats since our older kids were going back on track the following week. ( Yippee) . Can I just say out numbered?? We had 6 kids, 8 years and younger. We were running all over the place. I swear they had some plan to all scatter every which way and see who would get caught first. We had a good time , by the time it was ready for us to go home I was exhausted. Mom needed a nap. I think next time we will make sure that we have our husband's around to help. People were looking at us like we were crazy.

Yummy bread sticks. I think that is all my kids ate.

The kids were sick of being trapped inside the pizza factory at this point. They wanted to go out and play on all the toys. As you can tell Ash just got in trouble for running around and she was not to happy. So off to brave all the arcades. I'm sure our waiter was glad that we were moving on. Off to try and Golf with 6 kids.

Kobe loves to be the entertainment, in which he was at this point. He is a dork, he's always doing something crazy to make us laugh.

Bennett and Whitney are such good buddies. They love to spend time together. They can be a little crazy when they are together. They didn't do so good at golf. Whitney would hit the ball so hard that no one could be in front of her, or you would get a ball to the face. She needs to do actual golf outside. She would be good.

The bowling balls were about as big as the kids. It was so funny to watch them carry them up to the lane and then they would drop them as hard as they could. I was surprised the floor boards did not break.

Bennett was the bowling champion, It was great! He was so excited that he beat the older boys. Colton was not happy, after every time colton would bowl he would come and check out the screen to see if he was in first place. Bennett was thrilled to beat him. He kept reminding Colton that he was the winner.

Here's our bowling buddies. Notice Colton( on your right) he was a little upset, because he got beat by Bennett . He does not like to lose. It was priceless.

OFF TO THE REAL GAME!!

Saturday we packed up the kids and off to the Real Game. It was a good game. This was my kids' first experience of a professional game of any kind. After the game was over Kobe and Bennett both said they wanted to be professional soccer players!

Here's some of the gang that made the trip down to see my " boyfriends" play, A.K.A. David Beckham, and Landon Donovan! It was so much fun. My kids loved it. Every time we would cheer they would join in, then after they would say " Why did we do that" , or "What team are we cheering for"?.

Okay so I can't have a post about going to the Real game and watching the Galaxy play, and not have a picture of my two boyfriends, Right?? They are both way cute , and really good at soccer ! Which one is the cutest?

I brought the binoculars for me, but as you can see Bennett had them most of the time. I had to ask every time I wanted to use them. Its okay it kept him entertained.

I had to laugh, Kobe said to me , " Mom why do you liked David Beckham so much, because he's not that good, and he didn't even do anything!

It was a good time. We had fun, it was a little crazy but what do you expect with 3 young kids and 25 thousand people! It is so nice that the weather is getting warm so we can go to these games more often.

Isn't this such a cute family? This is my sister Shay, and Brady . With there kids Jaxon, Colton, Whitney and little Brock! She is probably going to kill me for putting this on, but I think it is a cute picture.

Starting to Blog

Okay so I have decided to jump on the blog ban wagon and start blogging with some of my friends. It's not as easy as I thought it would be , but I hope it gets easier. I figure since I don't keep a journal that this would be the next best thing, Right??

Since we are already in the month of May I thought it would be fun to do a recap of the months that have past, and then i will try to keep up from here.

January was a crazy month, trying to get the Christmas decor down and all the toys put away. Then we had Randy's birthday. Not sure how old, but getting older.

I also had the chance to go to a soccer tournament with some of my friends from our soccer team( 2 of them are my sisters.) We had a blast hanging out in the warm weather, being kids all over again, and oh yeah playing soccer. We played with a team from New Mexico.It was really fun. This is the " Utah 6".

In February Randy and I, my sister Dana and her husband and my parents went a 6 day Caribbean cruise. It was a blast. We stopped in Key West, Cozumel, Cayman Islands, and Jamaica. I loved the Caribbean. The food was delightful, the water was so blue and warm. It was the best vacation ever! It was so relaxing.

Our first stop was Key West. It was fun, We rented these scooters. I was a little stressed because we were on regular streets going top speeds. I got left behind several times. We topped that excursion off with a illegal parking tickets that cost us 35.00 a piece! That really sucked.

Our next stop was Cozumel Mexico. It was beautiful. We did a dune buggy tour. We drove all around the island to another side of the island where we had a real Mexican dinner on the beach. It was fun. We were able to do some shopping and of course Randy had to bargain with everyone, in Spanish of course. I was so embarrassed, but it was fun.




The beach was so pretty.It was awesome to watch

the waves come and crash down on the rocks.

It was amazing.

Yes ,We went para sailing in the Cayman Islands. I have to admit , I was really nervous and was not quite sure I was up for this challenge. Randy assured me I would be okay. The worse case scenario the rope would break from the boat and I would gently glide down into the water. How bad could that be! So I was brave and did it. I'm happy to say the rope did not break and we didn't have to have the hot guys on the boat jump in and save us like they do on bay watch! Although the rope did make squeaking noises every now and then.




This is one of the bay watch hunks that took us para sailing, although he looked lots better with his sunglasses on. They were very nice.









Jamaica was pretty. We went to the sandals all inclusive resort. It was really fun. We just sat back and relaxed on the white sandy beach. We snorkeled, rented pattle boats, and ate all the yummy food they had to offer, after all it was free why not. They even tried to teach us how to dance and groove like they can , but that wasn't happenin' with randy or myself. We have no rhythm whatsoever!


Random pictures of the cruise! It was a blast , I would recommend it to anyone who has never been.

March was spent trying to recover from our vacation. So it was a little crazy. Once we got things back on a regular schedule it seemed to be a lot better.

Ashtyn and I got to spend some time together, just the girls! We went down to Disney On Ice. She loved it. It was worth every penny.




Then we have Easter! It was so nice to have good weather for the kids. We had many Easter egg hunts. My kids love to go out and search for the eggs. After that we ate a yummy dinner and then we colored the eggs.



Here are the " 3" little angels after doing some damage on the Easter Egg hunt. Hopefully grandma's flower's will survive.



Every year we buy our kids a Easter outfit. Don't they look so good? Notice the little princess was not in the picture? She refused to get her picture taken .

Here is our " Little princess" . In true form she was probably yelling at someone. But we still love her.

Now that it is getting warmer, Bennett likes to go outside and help grandpa carlson in the garden. Grandpa can't get out of the house without Bennett most days. He is grandpa's little shadow when dad's not around.






Bennett got to go with Randy on a side job. He stayed there from about 10am until about 5 pm. He loved it. Randy made him this little house out of the extra finish work they had. Bennett had to come home and paint it cause it was for his Jamaica Bear, and he didn't think it would be cool to have a house that was not painted . We had paint everywhere! It was a mess

Kobe is in year round school. Sometimes he gets bored at home all day long so he does many things to try and make everyone laugh. He is always trying to make someone smile, by being a dork.







April also got crazy with all the socccer games we had to go to. Now it was time to start the kids outdoor spring season. We were at the park Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Not to mention My indoor games on Wednesday nights, and Randy's on Thursday nights, and then Co-ed on Saturday nights! It was a crazy month. It was fun to be able to watch my boys play. Kobe is really good. He loves to score. We tried to have him play defense and it wasn't clicking for him. He is like his parents I guess. Bennett really did awesome this year. He was a one man show. He would take the ball all the way up the field and try and score and then be the first one back on defense! He scored his first goal this season. It was so fun to see how excited he got after scoring.
Randy also started to build our kids play house. I wish I had the first few pictures, but as we work on it and make some progress I will post some pictures. Needless to say our kids are so excited they can hardly wait.