Bowling Party

So, you ask yourself, what do the Carlson's do on a cold winter night with a storm brewing outside?  We go BOWLING!!  We have the perfect hall for it and Anthony loved it!!

Too bad you can't hear him saying cheese!

The funnest part was emptying the bag of pins



What are those doing there?

Scrambled pins anyone?

Throw the pins at Daddy time!

The dogs wanted to play too!



Smile :)

We have had a bit of a long week with me having my appendix out on Thursday night and our Home Study on Monday afternoon.  With all the cleaning and the work we have done around the house we needed a fun family activity and bowling seemed to be just right.  We will definintly be doing this again!!

Waiting for Baby

We have decided that now is a good time to add another baby to our little family.  We are going to use A Guardian Angel Adoptions again becuase they were so good to work with last time.  We are busily working on getting all of our paperwork together and sending things as we get them ready.  There are only two forms left then we have done our part.  We are still waiting on our background checks but those should arrive in about a week, then it's homestudy time.

We keep praying that our new little baby will be as good as Anthony and that the process will be as smooth as it was with Anthony.  We appreciate your prayers to that end as well.

We will keep you posted as we move forward with the process and pray for our little baby boy.  More to come soon (we hope)!!

A year in Review- 2011

I am embarrassed that it has been so long since I updated this blog. A whole year has gone by without a thought to the blog. In light of this extended absence I thought I would recap our year for you (and then we can pretend that I was on top of this all year long!)

In January we had the blessing of having our adoption of Anthony finalized. We were able to go to court and take care of the legal proceedings followed by a wonderful day at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple where we were sealed together as an eternal family. What a blessing to have the temple so close and so many family members attending with us.


Steve, Anthony and Emily with the Judge.  A newly formed legal family!









Tired Anthony at dinner our first night in Atlanta



In February I did a lot of travelling for work including a trip to Atlanta. Steve and Anthony got to come with me. While I was in meetings, Steve and Anthony got to go to the Coke museum and the big Aquarium. They had a lot of fun playing around without me!

March was Steve's big 31st birthday! He went Hog Hunting his birthday weekend (his Christmas gift from my parents last year.) He had a great time and was so proud of his monster pig!

Back: Steve, Dennis, Leon and Dave
Front: Bacon and Ham

Also in March, Steve lost his job and in April he began searching for a replacement job. While Steve was frantically searching for something good the Lord blessed us with a job that I could apply for. In April I had my first interview for the position.

In April we also took Anthony shooting for the first time. He had fun playing in the car with me while Steve shot his gun.



Anthony on Vernon Lake, not quite sure about the paddle boat



May was busy with work and I had a second interview for the job I had applied for. The last day of May I accepted the new position working at the University of Utah Community Clinics. I work in Stansbury and Centerville helping patients with chronic conditions. I provide education, coordinate care and lend a listening ear as often as needed. What a great blessing this has been considering the very little travel, regular working hours, a wonderful boss that is very supportive and best of all Steve gets to stay home and be a daddy for Anthony. We couldn't feel more blessed about this opportunity right now.

In May we also purchased a paddle boat. It is a lot of fun and really good exercise. It was fun to take Anthony and let him play in the boat on Vernon Lake.



In June we went to California with my family, Anthony decided to start walking the day before we left and loved walking all over California. We had a great time going to Sea World, playing on the beach (Anthony's favorite part) and enjoying some time away. It was great!! I started my new job the day we got back from California- June 27.

July was a busy month as my older sister Ellen got married to Nick Gordon. We had a lot of bridal showers and wedding celebrations. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on July 29.

Anthony also got to celebrate his 1st Birthday on July 8th! We had a great party with lots of family with us. Anthony loved his cake!



This picture was taken in June while Grandma was still doing okay. 
\She was living at Silverado at the time and Anthony thought her walker was a great toy.



On August 5 my grandma Doris Armstrong passed away. She had been sick since falling in January and had been moved to a care center. It was hard to let her go but harder to watch her suffer. The funeral was beautiful and we were blessed with many friends and family with us at the time of her passing.



In August we also had the Carlson family reunion which was held at Rockport. We were able to camp, play on the water with the trampoline and a pontoon boat. It was nice to relax and just have a good time with family.

Anthony fancied himself a bit of a stripper at the campout!

In September we were able to go to Yellowstone with my family including Ellen and Nick and Nick's two kids and Grandma Curtis. It was great to play around in Yellowstone and spend time with grandma.

Anthony even found another blonde girlfriend in Yellowstone

However, grandma got pretty weak during the trip and after a few weeks of still not recovering we found out that grandma has a very serious, fast spreading form of cancer. She is in a lot of pain and we are all worried about her given the cancer and her existing heart problems.

September also marked the end of an era- a long, and tedious era!  I finally graduated with my Master's Degree. I finished classes on September 5 and received my diploma later in the month.  I now officially have an MHA- Master's of Healthcare Administration.  Thanks to Steve and Anthony for their support and patience with me while I was working on this goal.

In October Steve went hunting for both Elk and Deer. Unfortunately, my freezer is still empty as they were not successful this year. Steve loves hunting and it was sad to see them come home empty handed but he enjoyed the time with our dads and Anthony liked going for drives and hanging out with us.

October also brought a visitor to our house. Anthony was transformed from Anthony Benjamin Carlson to…

Mr. T!
"I pitty the fool!"

November was a busy month as we started the month by participating with my younger sister Debbie as she received her endowment. It was wonderful for all three sisters to be in the temple together.

November continued to be busy as we spent Thanksgiving with family - dinner with my family, dessert with Steve's. The day after Thanksgiving we piled in our car and drove to California. On Saturday we spent most of the day at Disneyland (Anthony does NOT like Pirates of the Caribbean, in case anyone wanted to know). On Sunday we got on a big boat and cruised to Cabo San Lucas. It was fun to have a family trip and to have my parents join us. We spent two days in Cabo- 5 day cruise total- and then drove back home arriving home on December 3.



Steve and Anthony on the balcony on the boat





Anthony taking a snoozer on the boat



Emily and Steve by the Cabo San Lucas Arch at Lover's Beach



Emily and Deanne holding- a LION cub!



The day after we got home from California I left for Arkansas for a brief work trip- the first with this job! It was nice to be gone but nicer to be home after all that travel.

Also, thus far in December I have been released from the Primary Presidency and I am looking forward to teaching the 12-13 year old Sunday School Class. It should be fun to do something different and I am really looking forward to going to Relief Society for the first time in 7 years!

This week we will celebrate Debbie's birthday on Thursday, have my dad's family Christmas Party on Friday, have Christmas Eve celebrations at Steve's parents on Saturday, go to church with my family on Sunday and then spend time with my family until we get tired and want to go home to play with all the cool toys Santa is bringing Anthony.

We are so blessed for the many things that have transpired in this year. We have learned that the Lord truly does give us challenges to make us stronger and then will help us out in the end. We are grateful for our families who have been a part of this year. We are grateful for friends both near and far! Most of all we are grateful for Anthony and the joy he is in our home. I love coming home from work and listening to Anthony laugh while Steve plays with him. There have been many times I have taken a few minutes longer than needed to set down my bag and walk into the living room just so I could hear my guys having fun!

We are so excited for the adventures that will come in the New Year. We are hoping to adopt another baby and may be looking into building a home in the New Year. It will be exciting to see where the New Year takes us!

Thank you all for your love and support! We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!



Our First Christmas

 

Anthony in Daddy's arm Christmas morning


Christmas was great this year.  It was our first Christmas as a family and we had so much fun despite Anthony being spoiled rotten!  We took a few pictures and a video of Anthony during the day since I got a new camera and I wanted to share those with you so that when I say "He' a growing boy!" you know what I mean.


Daddy and Anthony Christmas morning


The first item of business Christmas morning was to open presents at our house.  That was a lot of fun to take turns opening Anthony's presents for him, reading him his books, and letting him play with his dogs.  Steve and I built one at "Build A Bear" and then Santa brought him one that sings and teaches him the alphabet.

Anthony threw an absolute temper tantrum at Grandma Curtis' house becuase he wanted bread.  That's what is hanging out of his mouth!

The next item of business Christmas morning was to go to my parents house to open a lot more presents.  Anthony had so much fun with each of his new toys that he played with for 5 minutes until the next toy was opened.  My favorite I actually didn't get a picture of becuase I hadn't opened my camera yet.  Steve, Dad, Mom, Ellen, Debbie and Anthony were all sitting on the floor gathered around a car racing toy.  I think the adults were having as much fun as the kid.  We will definintly need to get pictures of that sooner rather than later!


Anthony gave Grandpa Dave some buidling blocks so when they got them out
Anthony took it upon himself to empty the bag for grandpa.


After my parents house we went to my grandma's house where Anthony got even more toys!  He sat in my dad's lap and attacked the wrapping paper off of his book.  It was so fun to watch!



Anthony loved the wrapping paper- it tasted soooo good!

  





This is my dad and his brother Bruce and the three grandkids that were born this year.
Brennan (March 8) is on the end, then Sydney (August 1) then of course Anthony (July 8).

More nap time!



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Anthony eventually got tired and took a nap, Grandpa Dave was happy to take a nap too!





This is the morning after Christmas.  Anthony was sitting on our bed with his new dogs and looking a little scared of them.  He loves them now!



My little man!

We hope that you all had a Wonderful Christmas day with family and friends.  Merry Christmas!

P.S. For a few more pictures check out my Facebook page.



The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

As Steve, Anthony and I prepare for Christmas this year we have been thinking about all the things we are grateful for.  This became especially important Saturday afternoon as we learned that our 7 year old nephew Andy has Leukemia.  Andy and his family live in Boise so Steve and I put Anthony in the car, picked up Steve's mom and drove to Boise.  We were both grateful that we have a car that works and enough money in the bank that we could make a quick trip to Boise to give a hug to the people we love.  The look on Andy's face was priceless as we walked into the hospital room at 10:30 PM.  His face said "You care about me!" and YES! Andy we do care about you!!

While in Boise Steve and I got a hotel room for the night and were very grateful to the hotel staff that gave us a reduced rate since we didn't get there until midnight (can't charge for a full night if you are there less than 7 hours I guess!)  We were extremely grateful that Anthony slept through the night that night.  Sunday morning we went back to the hospital to see Andy.  He looked a lot better Sunday than he did on Saturday night.  He was still in a lot of pain and that will probably continue for awhile.  Sunday we also went to Steve's sister's house to play with the other kids.  Molly and I had a great time playing dress up with her magnet dress up dolls.  We then made a beautiful picture for Andy's hospital room.

We are blessed with a wonderful baby boy that loves to sleep in the car- so much so that he slept the entire 6 hour drive home and then he slept through the night Sunday night.  Thank you baby!!
So with all of this on our minds at this Christmas season, I give you our top ten list of things we are grateful for this Holiday Season.

10- Emily only has 4.5 more classes until she graduates and then we can have Mom/ Wife back!

9-Our health- despite a few colds and such this year we only made one trip to the ER, which turned out okay in the end.

8- Our home- we have all that we could possible want in our home and we are grateful for it!

7- Good jobs that come with a pay check

6- Two good dogs- Hunter and Moco are really good with Anthony and although we miss Lucy and Sally, we love our "kids"

5- Free Babysitters- how would we work and get Christmas done without them??

4- Family and Friends who love us and support us!

3- Time spent together as a couple and a family- the moments of peace together are truly priceless.

2- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and our testimony of the gifts of the Atonement!!!!

and the number 1 thing we are grateful for this Christmas season...

ANTHONY BENJAMIN CARLSON!!!  We don't know where we would be without him.

We are excited to announce that on January 21 at 9:15 AM we have an appointment with a Judge to finalize the adoption of Anthony and then on January 22 at 11:00 AM we will be sealed together as an eternal family at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  We hope that you find peace, love and hope this Christmas season and that you always remember the true reason for the season.

Merry Christmas!!

A Boy and His Dog

Every boy needs a dog to play with and grow up with.  Anthony is no exception and since we want him to know how special he is (and since Lucy died at the end of September) we got him a dog.  The dog's name is Hunter (yes, Steve chose the name) and we love him!

Hunter is a German Shorthair Pointer that is 9 weeks old (born August 23).  We got Hunter in Price on Saturday and then went for a drive.  Already Hunter and Anthony are best friends.

At the first gas station we stopped at, Hunter climed into Anthony's lap while I was feeding him.  Anthony petted Hunter while he ate. 

At the second gas station we stopped at I got Anthony out to change his diaper and give him a break from the car seat.  I sat him up on the front seat for a moment and the picture tells the rest of the story.

Hunter so far is a great dog- he is learning how to sleep at night, some nights are better than others and he is learning to go potty outside! Hunter does not like the snow!!

Sorry this is blurry but I had to add the picture of Hunter helping feed Anthony



Now who could say no to that face??



As for Moco- she is adjusting to having her ears and jowls chewed on constantly and most of the time likes to play although 4:30 AM is not play time!  Moco and I are sticking together as once again we are out-numbered by the boys :)

Yummy Rice Cereal :)

Tonight was the second night that Anthony got to try some rice cereal and he loved it!  The first time he wasn't so sure but tonight we added a bit of prune /apple juice to the rice concotion and bingo- he loved it.  It is amazing how fast he is growing- already growing out of some of his 3-6 month clothes.  Here are a couple of pictures we took tonight as he enjoyed his dinner.

We feel so blessed to have Anthony in our home- even though he is going through a growth spurt that means he is a bit cranky!

Surpirse- It's a Boy

Beginning a Family
When Steve and I were first married we wanted nothing more than to have a family.  We were married in November and by January had made the decision to let nature take its course and have a child.  After two years of doctors visits and medications and not fun tests we learned in April 2008 that we were not going to be having any children the easy way (if there is an easy way!)
After lots of praying and fasting in April 2009 we decided to attempt an IUI.  By the end of May I was pregnant!  And by the end of June I had miscarried the pregnancy- three children that I would not get to meet.  We tried two more IUIs that also resulted in miscarried pregnancies, the last of which was in February 2010.  We were devastated at the outlook but took comfort in knowing that at least we had each other.
Then in March 2010 an amazing thing happened- Steve turned 30!  I still don't know why this became the magic age or why that day was set to change our lives forever but after our celebration of his birthday while in the car driving home we looked at each other and knew, we needed to adopt a baby.
The Process
Over the next week we re-did all of our research that we had done many times before, were given the promise of money to make it happen and decided to move forward with an adoption.  We chose A Guardian Angel Adoptions after a lot of prayer and research.  We met with them on April 6 and turned in all of our paper work.  We worked on getting everything else done and had our home study on May 5.  We were approved to adopt and started hearing about situations almost instantly.
The process was simple but heart breaking too!  Each time a birth mom was ready to choose a family Chris would call us and tell us about the situation and we would have to make the decision if we wanted our profile to shown or not.  We had our profile shown about 15 times and denied having our profile shown once.  Each of those 15 times we got a phone call letting us know that we had not been chosen.  Some times it took longer and some times it was fast.  We went as far as having a phone call with one birth mom that ultimately decided to place their baby with the other family.
July 4th weekend was especially hard.  We got a phone call Friday evening late letting us know that a baby had been born extremely premature and that we were one of two families that could be chosen for the baby if we wanted our profile shown.  We moved forward getting updates about the baby every few hours.  On Monday, July 5 we learned that the baby was not ours.  We were devastated!  The next baby that was due wasn't due until late August and we doubted we would get that one too!
The Phone Call of a Lifetime
July 8th was a Thursday and it started out like any other day.  Steve and I went to work and then came home to make plans for a trip with my family to a friends cabin for the weekend.  At 9:00 PM I was on the phone with my dad making arrangements for the weekend when my cell phone rang- it was Chris!  I hung up from talking to my dad and Steve answered the call from Chris.  She told us that a baby had been born that night that was an African American Boy.  The mom had a C-section earlier in the day.  The baby weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and was healthy.  The mom had thought she was due on October 3 and had just arrived.  The baby however was 38 weeks along and needed to come due to low amniotic fluid.  After Chris told us about the baby I asked her how many other people were going to get a chance to have the baby.  I felt something different about this baby than I had the others and didn't want to be disappointed again.  She said "Well, that depends on if you want your profile shown.  If you do, then none, the baby is yours!"  If you could have been a fly on the wall in our tiny office at 9:15 PM on July 8 you would have seen the two happiest people on the planet!  We had a son!! 
Getting our Baby
We quickly made some phone calls to work and the new grandparents and family members.  My parents came to our house and we went to Wal-Mart to pick up some essentials.  I have no idea what we bought that night but I do know that my feet were not touching the ground as I ran through Wal-Mart buying a diaper bag, formula, diapers and who knows what else.
We were instructed to be at Jordan Valley Hospital the next day so that we could meet our son.  Steve and I went out to breakfast that morning at the Red Rooster Waffle Company and waited for the phone call with instructions.  They finally came- be there at 2:00 PM with lunch for Keisha- Burger King: a Whopper with no onions, fries and a Dr. Pepper.
At 2:00 PM we met our case worker Jodi.  She gave us some instructions and we went in the room to meet Keisha and Anthony for the first time.  When we got to the room we gave Keisha her lunch and introduced ourselves.  We also gave Keisha a necklace from Brighton that my mom and sisters had purchased earlier that day.  Keisha asked the nurse to go get the baby.  When the nurse arrived with the baby I remember thinking how cute he was and how lucky I was to be his mommy.  The nurse handed the baby to Keisha and I will never forget what she said, "Okay baby, I love you but your mommy and daddy are here now and they need to take care of you now.  They are going to be wonderful parents, you are very lucky.  Be good, I love you!"  With that Keisha handed me Anthony Benjamin Carlson for the first time. 
Steve and I sat with our case worker Jodi, Keisha and her case worker Cindy in the room for about 2 hours talking and getting to know each other.  Many times during those 2 hours we were all in tears as we all knew that Anthony truly was ours.  We all also knew that there were a lot of people from the other side in that small hospital room that day making sure that Anthony got were he needed to be.  Jodi said later that she had never felt the spirit so strong at a placement and that she had never known before that her brother was there helping the process from the other side.  I truly appreciate each and every one of the people that were there in that room- Grandpa Curtis, Grandpa Armstrong, Neil- just to name a few.
Keisha had a C-Section less than 24 hours before we got there and eventually she got tired and decided to have a nap.  At that time we left with Anthony and were given our own room.  Jodi came and talked to us for a bit and then left us alone to be parents.  Steve and I took turns feeding Anthony- he was a big eater!  Changing his diapers (a disaster the first time that ended up getting the entire bed soggy!) and cuddling with our new life.
Signing Papers
At 8:00 PM Jodi came to get us, she went over our part of the paper work and then we left Anthony in the nursery.  Keisha was discharged and we met her and Cindy for dinner.  Keisha brought her son Jeremiah with her to dinner.  He is the cutest kid you have ever seen!!  He looks exactly like Anthony.  We ate at Golden Corral although not many of us ate much.  During dinner Keisha told us that Anthony was her 5th pregnancy.  She had two miscarriages, a still born and then Jeremiah.  She believed that Jeremiah was her miracle.  She then told us that when she found out she was pregnant again (when Jeremiah was only a few months old) she decided to abort the pregnancy because she knew she could not take care of another child.  She went to the abortion clinic and as her hand gripped the door handle to go inside she felt the overwhelming feeling that she needed to carry the pregnancy to full term and to place the child for adoption in Utah.  At that prompting she researched adoption agencies in Utah and found A Guardian Angel.  She knew that her baby needed to be a miracle for someone that could not have children just like Jeremiah was her miracle.  We truly feel blessed that Anthony is our miracle!
After dinner we went to the apartment where Keisha was staying and signed all of the paper work that made it official that Anthony was ours.  When all the papers were signed Keisha came downstairs to where we were sitting, gave us a hug and said good bye.  What trust she has to simply leave it up to us to raise her baby boy.
New Grandparents
We returned to the hospital, got Anthony out of the nursery and went back to our room.  Our parents met us at the hospital that night at 11:00 PM to meet their grandson for the first time.  We talked and everyone took the opportunity to hold him and take some pictures.  We fed Anthony, changed his diaper (answering a question for my dad he had wondered since a very young age) and then tried to get some sleep.  Anthony did great sleeping about 4 hours, eating and then the nurse took him to check and make sure everything was okay.
The next morning we woke up and sat around some more waiting to be discharged. We hadn't eaten much for dinner and didn't get any breakfast so we were starving come 2:00 PM when we finally got to go home. Luckily my parents met us at home with lunch and everyone got to hold Anthony. What a special blessing he is!
Here are a couple of our favorite pictures from the first days of Anthony's life.  We feel so blessed to have him here!