More Pics...

So I just got back from a BBQ and got a cd from Matt and Alisha with over 600 pics from our excursion on Saturday. I had to share some more pics...they are all awesome and had a hard time narrowing it down to just these. Thanks Matt and Alisha for doing such an awesome job at capturing the memories of the day for us!!!

Had to start with a pic of Matt and Alisha--our photogs!

Family pic

The Mommas...

This was actually a VERY dark tunnel in the fort, thanks for the flash giving some light.

Not sure what was going on here....but I love this pic!

Happy Lauren!

Cassidy and Lauren

So in Love....

We didnt fit quite as well as the kids did....

On the ferry

Deception Pass

Sorry ahead of time for all the pics...

We had a great day today. We started it bright and early at 7 am(or I guess I did, Ladd slept in)....packed up the car and met up with some friends. We went north to the Mukleteo Ferry to Whidbey Island. Our destination was Deception Pass. We stopped on the way at Ft. Ebey, took lots of pictures (thanks Matt!) The kids had a blast running around and playing in a "real" fort. We continued our journey up to Deception Pass and had lunch, played on the beach and just relaxed. On our way back we stopped at Ft. Casey and then headed back to the Ferry. Ate at Ivars and had ice cream cones and headed back. It was great fun. Thanks again Jill for planning it, Cant wait to do it again!

It brought back many memories of growing up....it seems like every week my parents were doping me up with dramamine and dragging me on another excursion up here. Deception Pass was one of my dad and moms favorite places to go.....

Here are some pics...And Matt....Looking forward to seeing some "Professional pics"! :)


Group pic


Ladd and Miles climbing....



She was ticked I was taking her picture....

Lauren and Miles

Miles climbing on top of the fort

All the kiddos in something for the fort....

In part of the fort....

A big "shooting thing" at Ft. Casey

Isabelle and Dad playing in the sand...

American Idol

I dont care what you say....David Archuletta was way better last night....but I do like David Cook...so I guess I should just be happy and move on.

Izzy

Just some pics I took of her this morning.....Her hair is filling in and getting more curly and she is the cutest thing ever. She makes us laugh all day long with the things she says and how she says them. I forgot how cute 2 year olds are.

Oh yeah, her birthday was May 3 and our lives have been so crazy, we have yet to celebrate it. Someday we will get around to it....I think......

My trip.....

I had a great weekend in San Diego with my sisters.....it went by WAY to fast!!!!
However I am glad to be back with my family. I was starting to miss my kids and Ladd and I think they missed me :)

We had a great time relaxing, playing on the beach, figuring out how to get wet suits on, trying to get past the waves on boogie boards, eating lots of food, Laughing all day long and bonding together as sisters.

And for the record....Surfing is impossible...I am convinced that those who do it have superhuman powers.

And I loved it when I called Ladd one day and asked him if he had done something that he wanted me to do the previous weekend when he was out of town and his reply was "Are you kidding me? Watching these kids is a full time job!" haha!!!!

I cant wait to do it again!

Here are some pics of me and my beautiful sisters!

Trying to get our wetsuits on...it should have been put on Americas Funniest home videos!

The house we stayed in is in the middle...it was a beautiful home and wonderful place to stay!

On the Imperial Beach Pier

We went out on the beach at midnight and had fun dancing(stay tuned for some more pics of us dancing like a bunch of freaks)....

Having lunch

At the Newport Beach Temple

I have lots more pics I will post later for family.......

Time To Party!

We found her!!!!

Our star receptionist/office manager we have been looking for!!!!

She couldnt be more perfect and I know the Lord has blessed us with her and understand why we had to go through the nerveracking stress of not having a front desk person for the last 4 months!

She is awesome, her name is Shawna and she was a manager for a Chiropractic office for 5 years and knows pretty much everything that needs to be done and much more!!!

I am so glad we found someone before I leave for my trip tomorrow!

I CANT WAIT!!!!

For those of you aware of the Twilight World....I cant wait! This was just released today!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=171184815

5 days......

Till I am in San Diego! I can't wait. Going on a trip with my sisters! We have never done a trip together. We are staying at a friends house right on the beach!

It has been 4 years since we have all been together.

Anyone have any "have to's" that we should do while we are there?

Miles thoughts.....

We were sitting at the table tonight having our "Sunday treat" (frozen bannans, frozen blueberries, milk and cream blended up to make a creamy DELICIOUS shake---try it sometime)

We were talking about when Jesus was a boy and his parents couldnt find him for 3 days...the conversation turned into "what would you do Miles if you were in the store and you were lost like Jesus was(not that Jesus was really lost, but you get the picture)"

All I can say is His brain is amazing...the stuff he came up with....

He said "well if it was raining, the shopping cart you were using would have made tracks and I would follow the tracks from the cart"

I said "what if it wasnt raining?" Miles--"I would leave the store and walk around and look for you and remember everything I was walking by so I could find my way back if I dont find you" I said "OH MY GOODNESS, DONT EVER LEAVE THE STORE!!!!!!!!!"

Long story short, I am glad we had this conversation....or I could end up with one lost wandering boy! He tends to think he can do anything with no problem at all....it was not big deal to him if he were to ever become lost. Yikes! We finally settled on "you would go find another mom, preferrably with kids and tell her you are lost".

Bed update....

I dont ever want to get out of it! I dont wake up sore and stiff. Anyone that is bed shopping (and I know you) give me a call if you want to try it out.

It was sunny today.....

The weather was quite decent today so we got out of the house and went to a park in Seattle...it was so nice to just let the kids run free. We went on a little trail that was suppose to go to a creek....it went to a road. Not cool!

I am in a picture mood so here are some pics....

Our beautiful Lauren....

Miles doing what he loves...Climbing

Taking a break for some food...

Isabelle had to stop every few feet and pick up rocks....

And put the rocks in her pocket...she ended up throwing

them all out at the end....they were "too heavy"

The kiddos

Handsome Miles....

Isabelle was so tired on the way back to the car and just plopped herself down in this field....

Nice Break...

So I did it...I left my kids for the day to go work in the office. First time EVER that I have left my kids to go work. It was very emotional. Especially when Isabelle cried her eyes out as I left her holding her arms out to me and calling my name. Yikes! Not cool.

But she calmed down and I got into my groove into the office and did lots of work. It was nice to be able to put faces to the names of all the patients I had been billing insurance for.

I actually enjoyed it and it was a nice break for me. It isnt something that I would want to do long term and I look forward to finding that "STAR recpetionist".

Updates on us....

I thought I would give some little updates/happenings in the Carlston house....

We got a new bed.....it was quite hilarious seeing Ladd and I get a calif. king size bed that weighed 200lbs up 2 flights of stairs last night...but it was worth it...this bed is amazing. It is a Gel Bed....check it out at http://www.intellibed.com/ We got a great deal with Ladd being a chiropractor. He always has patients asking about beds and this one was recommended by another chiropractor...he had tried all the beds...tempupedic, select comfort airbed and said this one is by far the best. I will let you know in another week if it is all it is cracked up to be....if it is, we will be getting another one to put in the office for patients to try out.

Ladd had to fire our receptionist last week. WE are not having good luck at the front desk lately. We have hired 4 people in the last 4 months....and they have just not worked out for various reasons...this is the first time Ladd had to fire someone...it wasnt as bad as we thought it would be. However, Ladd is more busy then ever and cant go without a front desk person, so until we find that STAR receptionist, I am going to start working and helping him out starting on Monday. We will see how it goes......

Lauren....Is doing great. She is loving school. She is in a gymnastic/tap/ballet class right now and is enjoying it. She has her first little crush (are 7 yo suppose to have crushes?). She is doing great in school and is quite an amazing reader.

Miles....Keeps me busy. I just love this kid. He is all boy! He loves his little sister, even though he teases her to death, they are little buddies and he keeps her entertained pretty much all day.

Isabelle...is as sweet as ever. She is talking more and more and the stuff that comes out of her mouth keeps me laughing pretty much all day. She is so bright, joyful, happy all the time. She is the light of our home right now and is the cutest thing ever! The other day I was changing her diaper and she said to me "Mom, stop it now, I mean it, stop it" I realized she gets that from me...I say it to Miles quite often. The cutest part is she has a little lisp. She will be 2 May 3. I cant believe how time flies...I still feel like I should be recovering from her birth, their is no way she is almost 2. I need to figure out how to slow down time. They are all growing up so fast!

We are quite busy with the office, Acutally ladd is. I dont see much of him these days. He is doing a 3 person job and I am looking forward to finding an amazing front desk person!!!!!

I AM EXCITED!!! I am going on a first ever "sisters trip" with my sisters in 3 weeks to San Diego. Without kids!!! We are staying at some family friends house that we have known since I was 5 and they are right on the beach! This is a much needed trip. My sisters and I have not been together since my dad passed away. My little sister that lost her baby back in September needs this and it will be great to relax on the beach and laugh and eat good food! Woo Hoo!!!

American Girl

Lauren along with her Hannah Montana obsession is obsessed with anything American Girl. I actually prefer this over Hannah Montana....but have learned to let her be herself and make her own choices, blah blah blah.

Anyways....she has the American Girl catalogs and even makes up stories as she looks through the pages of them, will make up new ones every time and has to have someone listen to her while she is making these stories up.

She has been saving her money to get an American Girl doll (because I refuse to pay over a $100 buckaroos for a doll). I had an idea a few months ago...she has all those polly things that were part of the recall just sitting in my closet waiting for me to get around to returning them....and then I thought...hmmmm being the nice mom I am, she could get some money back for those cheapo plastic polly crap and be on her way to getting the American Girl doll that much quicker. So I added it up and it was freaken $102 bucks worth of cheap plastic crap :) So I got my bottom in gear and filled out the paperwork and returned the stuffaroo. Then they sent me stinkin vouchers to use for more cheap plastic crap that had to be mattel brand(with a note that specifically said "couldnt be used for American Girl products"(because Mattel bought American Girl a few years back).....and I was thinkin to myself...oh no, no, no, no.....they are not going to tell me how my daughter is going to use the money they owe her for these choking products and I called them and gave them a piece of my mind and demanded cash back and not a stinkin voucher...they are not controlling me...I was furious and the poor guy on the phone was probably thinking I was a freak! (little word of advice, dont mess with me....I will get my way when it comes to customer service(remind me to tell the story of how I got $30 pizza credit at Garlic Jims when they delivered it late)). He told me he would be right back, and sure enough, he was right back with the address of where to send my vouchers back and when they received them they would send me a check instead.

Long story short...or Long story ending....we got the check and Lauren is getting her first American Girl doll on Tuesday....she is very excited...stay tuned for some pics :)

Zoo

I am just getting around to posting a few pics from our Zoo trip a few weeks ago. I love our zoo here in Seattle. It is a natural habitat zoo, so it is nice to not see animals in cages!!!

Their is a 5 1/2 mth old baby gorilla right now that I think is the absolute cutest thing!!!!! So amazing!

An orangutan was given some paint and toothbrushes and was painting pictures, but then he ate the paint, I tried to get some pics and video, but they didnt turn out. He was even twisting the cap to the paint on and off....Amazing!

We also got to see an elephant being washed with a large "toothbrush" (Miles words)

It was nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather we WERE having...Last night it snowed a few inches....Last time I checked, I thought we were in April!

Here are some pics.....

In a little "african" hut

Me playing around with some editing software

Miles loved this "cave"

And the most adorable baby gorilla...my pics didnt turn out great, but you can kind of see her-If you click on the pic, it shows her better.

Temple.....

Our Bishop has challenged every family in our ward to get a picture taken of our family in front of the temple to hang in our home. We did this on Sunday. I feel so very lucky to have a temple so close and to actually go to church on the same property of the temple. I often take it for granted and have realized how lucky we are to have our kids be reminded of it every Sunday as we drive right past it and its beautiful grounds.

I am so grateful that Ladd and I were married in the temple and that we are an eternal family.

Here are some pics of us last Sunday on the temple grounds.....

So Grateful.....

Yesterday, After much pleading, I finally let Miles play out front without my supervision. I made it very clear where he was allowed to play and wasnt allowed to play. I would check on him once in a while and we was always happily playing and paying attention to where he was playing and staying withing the "boundaries". While I was doing the dishes, I felt a distinct impression to "go get miles NOW!" I thought to myself, No, he is fine, just playing and he has been doing great and following the rules. I felt the impression again "GO GET HIM NOW!!!". So stopped what I was doing and with soap all over my hands I ran to the door to check on him. When I opened the door, he was facing me with his back towards the street. Some guy who I have never seen before was approaching him and when he heard the door open he quickly turned around and started walking away very fast.

I dont know what that guy was doing and I do not know what his intentions were in approaching Miles. However, I am eternally grateful for the Lord for blessing me with the spirit and in turn keeping my Miles safe(and grateful that I listened!!!) I love this boy so much and he makes me laugh everyday....and he makes me crazy every day too!!!

Here is a recent pic of him. He is definately all boy!!!! Yes that is mud...he actually came in from playing outside quite clean compared to other days....

My mom is amazing.....

I think my mom is Martha Stewart x10...literally. If she sees something she thinks is cool...she will go home and figure out how to create it. She has taught herself how to watercolor and is on a mission to paint all of the LDS temples....I think they are pretty darn good! Here are just a few of the temples she has done.

Seattle, WA Temple

Bountiful, Ut. Temple

Washington D. C. Temple

Please do not copy these pictures or use them anywhere as they are copyrighted.

If you are interested in having a copy of your own of any of the temples that she has painted, contact me and I will give you her contact info.

The Burning Within...

My mom recommended this book for me to read a while ago when I was really upset about my Dad's passing. I finally decided to order it and started reading it on Monday. This book has changed my life. I literally feel like I have new meaning and have found a new love for Life and living.

It is about a lady who was in a plane crash with her husband and her near death experience....I wouldnt call it near death because she actually really did die and come back to life. Her story of determination and will to live is amazing.

Her story about when she died and what she experienced and learned in Heaven has changed me. I dont want to go into too many details because it is personal and I feel that everyone will have their own experience if or when they read it.

But it continues on with my story and the Savior pushing me to be a better person when I was watching Legacy with my family last Sunday. My testimony of our Savior has increased so much this week and knowledge that He loves and is so very aware of each of us in such a deeper way that we are not able to comprehend.

I think everyone should read this book and if you want to borrow it from me when I am done ( I am only half way done) your welcome to it. Or you can get it used on amazon for about 5 bucks.

Legacy.....

Ladd and I have felt like our kids needed a wake up call lately....about how blessed they really are! They have been saying "Its not fair" a lot lately about everything and anything that they dont like, etc. When actually their life is SO FAIR!!!

We decided tonight that we would watch "Legacy" for our Sunday night activity to give them some perspective. It was the first time they have seen it and it was wonderful to watch as a family.

I had a lot of insights as I was watching it and realized that it was just as much for me as it was for them.

How blessed I am as a mother and wife to have the things I have to keep a home. To have a roof over our heads...a roof I didnt have to make with my own hands. A heater that kicks on when I tell it to and keeps us warm. Carpet that is soft and comfortable for our feet. Vacuums that clean up for me instead of my own darn hands. A mixer that makes me dough for bread in 10 minutes and I dont have to do anything other than put the ingredients in the bowl. A dishwasher that cleans the dishes without my hands. An oven that turns on by the push of a button instead of cutting up wood and starting a fire, etc. Clean running water that is hot or cold within seconds. A toilet that flushes intantly and I dont have to go outside to use it. A car that turns on with the turn of a key and all I have to do is use my weasly little calf muscle to make it go..AND it has a heater that turns on...even air conditioning in the summer...and the doors even open by themself by a push of a button. My husband doesnt have to go off and fight to protect us because of what we believe. I can peacefully live what I believe and believe in Christ with out the fear that I will be persecuted or my house will burn down.

How blessed I am along with my family!

The list continues on and on....

On top of that, I have gained a greater appreciation and desire to be better. As I watched those pioneer women, how hard they worked and how strong their faith was how they took care of their children...I realized I need to be better...and it isnt in a guilty kind of way...it was with the sweet spirit telling me that I can be better, I can do better, I can work harder, I can raise my children better....teach them the gospel more and in turn I will find greater happiness in being a wife and mother and enjoy my children even more than I already do.

I feel the love of our Savior for me as He gently pushes me to want to be better tonight, to be more like Him. I am grateful for the kindness I have felt as I know that He expects more and has shown me this in a way that encourages me to do better.

So my goal this week is to be better, to do more with my children and just BE with them. To keep a cleaner home, to pray more often and have a kinder voice with my children....

Stay tuned for my report next Sunday.

Where's the Sun?

Its the time of year where I am about to jump out of my skin if it rains another day....and right when you think, "if I have to live another day in the rain, I am moving out of this place" the sun comes out and this place is breathtaking beautiful and I say to myself "geez, what were you thinking, the rain is worth it"! It is Gods country up here and I dont know if there is anything that is more beautiful. But we are not going to have one of those "sun saves the day/soul/mind/sanity" days........I was just looking at the weather and the weatherman (btw, the weather man up here never knows what is going on) says it is suppose to snow on thursday! Snow you say? Yes Snow! I know it is Spring. Snow! UGH! no thank you please, go somewhere else. I want to see flowers and blue skies and hear the birds in the morning.

Oh spring where are you?

Here is a pic I found of our beautiful Issaquah surroundings with blue sky....I will post my own beautiful spring pictures later with the sun shining....if they ever come :)

I gave in....

So I have been one of those mean moms who wouldnt let my daughter have anything "Hannah Montana" After much pleading with me, I gave in and became the "sucker mom" and let Lauren watch Hannah Montana! Now she lives for it. She counts down the hours to 7 every night when it is on, this is Lauren "Its 6:53, Its 6:54" etc in a very excited voice. And she proceeds to start dancing around the house singing her songs with the words that she knows.

I keep asking myself "Am I a bad mom to give in to this? To give into commercialism, What is this going to do for her self image, self confidence, etc?" I go both ways, saying it is a good thing, atleast she doesnt know Britney Spears exists, on the other hand, she is only 7, ahhhhhh!!!! I don't know....What do you all think?

Oh yeah, Isabelle saw a picture of Hannah Montanna and starting laughing and saying "Hannah otanna" and all excited....I am really doubting my parenting right now.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday! He would have been 58. It has been a very emotional day and when I think about my dad I lose it and cry like a baby! I wish I could call him today and talk to him on the phone and tell him how much I love him and miss him! He is my hero and before I lose it again, thats all I can say!

Happy Birthday to the best dad ever!!!!

Twilight, Twilight, Twilight.....

So most of you know I am obsessed with the books by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight. If you have not read them yet, you need to(yes even you Melynda)! I am apart of twilightmoms.com and met with a bunch of ladies up here in the NW yesterday for lunch down in Vacouver. Yes I drove 3 hrs each way just to have lunch with them. It was great to share my eat, sleep, drink obsession with them. We were lucky to have some of our Twilightmom insiders at the lunch yesterday and she took us to the place where the baseball scene is being filmed.....here are some pics of us after lunch.