Memorial Day - WI May 2013

Aunt Arla and Uncle Scott hosted a Memorial Day party that also celebrated Uncle Phil's recent retirement. I'm excited for him and his retirement, but I do miss the cows! At least he still has some heifers, but it does seem odd not to be able to go and visit during milking time. Some of my earliest (and best - I loved my Grandpa Carlson and was truly lucky enough to have the best grandfather ever) memories are trucking down to the farm bright and early in the morning to "help" Grandpa milk the cows. And just like the girls with Uncle Phil I loved "helping" spread the manure in the fields. It didn't make sense to keep the farm going, but I'll miss it and the cows none the less!

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 I wanted to begin this post with a couple big group pictures we managed with most of the people who were able to attend the Memorial Day party at Aunt Arla and Uncle Scott's house.

 We actually began the day by heading up to Uncle Phil and Aunt Dee's to visit the horses. Aunt Dee and McKinley were very excited to meet each other! :)

 Jackson and Reagan riding Taboo

 Jackson decided he'd rather drive the van than ride the horses lol :)

 The girls were happy to ride as long as Uncle Phil, Taboo and Gypsy were willing to provide the rides

 Uncle Phil and Reagan

 After the kids were done with the horses it was time for a 4 wheeler ride with Uncle Phil

 As always, Aunt Arla completely out did herself for the party! The food was all amazing and completely patriotically themed!

 Grammy contributed red, white and blue drinks

 These next pictures were so funny. I had been walking around and noticed the three Schwantes guys were in relatively close proximity to each other. I asked them to stand together so I could get a brothers picture and this was how they accommodated me. lol :)

 Then they turned around and the following conversation ensued:

Brett (in yellow): Hey, Where's my hat?

Chad (in green): Your hat? Where's your hair?

Brett: My hair? Oh no! My hair is gone?!?!?

Thanks Brett, Ryan and Chad for providing me with a good laugh! lol :)

 Great Grandma and Aunt Carol (middle) were married to my Grandpa and his brother, Uncle Dale, respectively. Aunt Carol and her daughter and grandson were able to come and join our family get together. It was so nice to see and visit with them. 

 I think Aunt Arla snapped this picture of Tim and me and I thought it turned out so nicely

 Uncle Phil, his son Brandon, and Erland (splg?) who is a cousin of Uncle Phil's and Grammy's

 This picture must have been snapped pretty quickly because with all the aunts and grandmas around, and McKinley currently being the only baby in the family, I hardly got to hold her! Having said that, we can't wait to meet the two new Carlson great grand babies due in November! :)

 Cousins, Amber and Seth, they are my cousin Julie's children and looking forward to having a little brother in November. Actually, from what I understand Amber isn't quite so sure what she thinks about having another little brother and has already put in a request for additional children. lol :)

 Grammy and her sweet baby

 Uncle Phil and his "freedom" cake Aunt Pat brought to celebrate the day and his retirement. We certainly hope he enjoys his new found freedom!

 Jackson thoroughly enjoying being a "big kid" with cousins Kage and Kolton

 Aunt Arla had sparklers for all the kids. She placed them in play dough inside cups which made it very easy for the kids to hold. What a great idea!

 After the sparklers the kids lined up for a fireworks display put on by Uncle Scott

 While the big kids enjoyed the fireworks McKinley enjoyed some good loving from my cousin Nathan. :) Great Grandma enjoyed all the festivities too. :)

 Great Grandma with four of her nine great grand daughters 

 I love this picture of Missy K and Great Grandma and enjoying a good joke together.

Thank you everyone for making our trip so fun! Wisconsin is such a special place to us because of all you. Thank you especially to Aunt Arla and Uncle Scott who go out of their way to make sure there's never a dull moment and always organize activities for everyone to enjoy. We can't wait for our next trip to see you all again! :)

Saturday - WI May 2013

Aunt Arla setup appointments for us to have our nails done on Saturday morning. What a fun treat! :) Thank you so so much! :)

 Look at all these beautiful ladies being pampered! :)

 We decided Miss McKinley needed to get in on the fun too lol :)

 We all had patriotic toe nails I honor of Memorial Day weekend - aren't we a festive crew?

 Saturday afternoon Haydn, Ariel and Kolton came up to visit and play. Miss Ariel sat down to hold McKinley right away, it was so sweet! :)

 The kids all helped shuck corn for dinner

 This was Jackson's first experience shucking corn, but he enjoyed it and was very careful to remove every piece of silk. Way to go buddy! :)

 Enjoying the fruits of his labor. Super yummy corn on the cob! :) 

Thank you Aunt Arla for planning such an awesome day! You do way too much for us but we sure appreciate and enjoy all the fun we have with you! :) You are truly the best!!! :)

Snow Play in Wisconsin - 2012

There was a blizzard the day we got to Wisconsin (actually it started as we were driving thru the night - we left early to try and get there ahead of it). It left tons of snow behind that provided many hours of fun for my munchkins during our week in Wisconsin. Here they are out on the first day enjoying icicles together.

 Here are 16 of 19 great-grandchildren playing in the snow together at the Carlson Christmas celebration. Love another generation of Carlson cousins making memories together! :)

 The Carlsons know how to play in the snow! There were a couple of 4-wheelers going to provide rides in the sleds.

 The 5 year olds (there are about 2 months difference of oldest to youngest between these three)

 The Schwantes 5 and 7 year olds

 Missy K, Haydn, Kiara and Reagan

 The Schwantes 4 year olds

 Daniel, Jackson and Reagan

 The kids who were waiting for a ride began a snowball fight :)

 When the waiting got to be too much the kids became creative and found a new way to sled... Exactly how many Carlson cousins can ride at the same time between the 4-wheeler, rope and sled?

 Missy K was the last one standing and Jeremy was nice enough to stay out and play with her after everyone else (including Tim and I) had given up/turned into human popcicles and gone inside.

 It wasn't just the kids who had fun in the snow, the adults enjoyed their fair share too! :)

 

 Lance was awesome playing outside in he snow with the kids. The kids had a great time on the reindeer and penguin sleds Aunt Arla had for them to ride down the barnhill.

 Reagan making a snow angel. You can get an idea of the amount of snow from how deep her wings are.

 The girls with the Phil Carlson grandchildren

 The barn was a good place to warm up a bit while playing outside. The cows are also a great excuse to take a break especially when Lance helped the kids pet the calves!

 When we were kids we use to dig out snow tunnels in Wisconsin when the snow was deep enough. Somehow we got to talking about this and Grand-Dad and I decided to help the girls do this as well. I have to say I'm much faster and more successful at this endeavor than I was as a child! 

 Missy K's up front, Grand-Dad's to the right digging from the other direction and Reagan's in the back contemplating beginning a third tunnel to meet up in the middle.

 Big enough for 3!

Thank you to everyone who played in the snow with us! We had a fabulous time and it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without all the cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents! Thank you everyone for so much good old fashioned fun! :)