Thank God!

Here he is, our monkey or better wise known as Punk to some of us. I thank god each and every time we drag this little guy to yet another sporting event or something for the older kids. He is a trooper, and is patient, tolerable, and also the world's greatest fan of all, of his siblings.

These are just a few of the things that Jay likes to do while we are all cheering and the siblings are playing. But don't get me wrong, he is also a great cheerleader, when he wants to be.

Thank god for.......

friends,

tractors, and combines

gravel,

bubbles,

and sand toys. Got to love them all.

Future Squirrels Camp

Jerrin spent the past week at the Central Cass Squirrels Basketball Camp. Here are a few photos of the last day of camp and competitions. It was a great week.

Nice shot!!!!

Last Second Shot Drill

Scoring some points during Shooting League

Shooting League

4 on 4 Team event second place

Jerrin and his winnings. The award I am most proud of, is the one around his neck for......Sportsmanship.Mrs. Kraft sure knows how to select great coaches to make thher camp a success. Calvin Kraft is a senior at VCSU and a key player on their college team. Taylor Kraft a senior at Central Cass and also Bethany Voss a junior at Central Cass.

They also had a coach from the Women's VCSU college team.
All in all it was good week. Jerrin learned a lot and had some fun too. I am not sure what the future holds for Jerrin, as far as what sport he may choose, wrestling or basketball, but I am happy that there are camps like this that let him explore and learn about different sports. I have to admit if he chooses later on to be a basketball star instead of wrestling, this mom may have a bit of an adjustment to make. Thank you to all that made this camp possible and I hope he will be back to see you again next year!

Bittersweet Memories

It is such a shame that this amazing family only gets together once or twice a year now. Our lives are all on fast pace mode and seem to be flashing before our eyes. We have one scheduled meeting each year on Christmas Day, otherwise we see each other as an extended family only by chance or for funeral or weddings. This is so different than when we all were growing up and both our grandparents were alive.

My grandparents, Robert and Joyce Carlson, had 7 children; 4 girls and 3 boys.

(two boys have already passed away)

As these siblings moved out of the house and started families of their own, they all settled within 20 miles of each other, five of the seven lived right in their hometown and two lived no more than 20 miles away. This made it VERY easy to get together for birthdays, holidays, random picnics, and sporting events.

When they had their own kids it made it even easier for them to know each other and be the best of buds. Having our family so close was such a blessing. We took care of each other, cheered each other on, and always had a playmate when the summer days got long.

This original group has grown quite large adding on.....

13 grandchildren

12 great gandchildren

and....

2 more great grandbabies on the way

I love this family so much and have so many memories of each and every one of them, but there is one thing that drives me crazy about the group as a whole....they do not take picturesl. I wanted to get group photos of each family and a photo of all of us that were at my uncles funeral, but as you will see below, I only caught a few of them.

My Aunt Dorene's son Eric and his family.

I missed a photo of Dorene and her husband Jack and of her daughter Angie.

My Aunte Rosie (Rose Marie) and Uncle Wayne.

She has a daughter, Amy (who is in San Diego) and a son, Chris.

My family. This photo is very rare so I will cherish it!

Here is just a few of our family.

My brother Barry, his wife Jenny, and their kids, Gaven and Gabi.

My Uncle Ed and his two beautiful daughters, Corinne and Alysha. He also has a son, Ian who was not able to make it this time.

These little guys are only 3 months apart and really hit it off. I think they could be a

deadly duo someday.

Although, I think Bridger will keep Jaylen in line. Look at the priceless look on his face.

I wish I knew what was going on.

Gabi, Bridger, Jaylen

Here they are the next generation of Carlson blood. In this photo we were only missing two of the great grandchildren. I do have to brag a bit and say that the Carlson blood definitely produces some beautiful children.

Kassandra's Graduation

Congratulations Kassandra! 2010 Britton Highschool Graduate!

The graduate, Kassandra and her Great Great Aunt Edith. Grandma Edith (as we all call her) is the last remaining sibling of our Grandma Evelyn's.

She is the heart of our family and proves that being a strong-willed, independant lady leads to a long worthy life. Each and every day she looks more and more like our grandma, so I could not pass up this photo. She is a very special lady that I may take after just a little bit.

Jay and his buddy Bryant. We have had Bryant watch Jay a couple of different times and he loves him. He even cried when it was time for us to leave. He can not wait to have Bryant come to our house to play again.

This photo is a rarity. My dad is in the middle along with two of his three nephews. The other one was not able to come down to the graduation. Even though my dad may not realize it, I believe he played a huge role in these two guys' younger lives. My cousin Tim (the one on the left in the hat) lost his dad at a very young age (he was in his late thirties when he died), so he looked to my dad for guidance and support as he grew up. All three including my dad, have had their bumps along the road, but I wouldn't trade them for the world.

I will cherish this photo forever!!!!! These two special people are my Auntie Yvonne (my dad's only sister and sibling) and Unkie Don. Growing up, I would visit their house every day after school. No more was I off the bus that I was in their house for an afternoon snack. I lived just down the road from them so I could visit their house quite regularly. My Auntie over the years has become my second mom, whom I keep in touch with and call sometimes on the spur of the moment just to hear her voice or to get her approval on something. Her opinion means the world to me and I love her with my whole heart. I am not sure what I would do without her guidance in my life.

My cousin Ally and my sister in law Jenny.

My cousin Paula (on the right) and two of her four children, her twins were not able to join us.

I spent a lot of time with this lady too, I always wanted to be like her and look like her. She became like a sister to me as I was growing up, as I spent so much time at her house with Auntie. As she had kids of her own I was part of her life even more. I got pretty attached to NaTasha her oldest daughter and I would spend weekends or summer hours watching and playing with her. She has grown up to be such a beautiful young lady. I later became god mother to Tia one of her twins. It saddens me that we do not keep in touch better, but I hope they all know how much I love each and every one of them.

And my clan. I really like this photo. I can not believe that we are all smiling AND looking at the camera at the same time. I am so happy that my kids got to spend some time with this side of my family. Many of my childhood memories revolved around these people, so I was excited to have my children make memories with them too. I only wish that I would've gotten photos of all my family members that were there, but of course many of them were not willing to take a photo or had snuck out before we started snapping.

Here's to next time Christianson Family....You better get your smiles ready now, because my camera will be ready, so you had better be too.

This is ridiculous!!!!!

I am so far behind on our fmily blog, that I have decied to do a post to say..... many of the posts that are before this one have been added just so you know that I have been keeping up on everything, I just have not had the time to write on each one. I have titled a post everytime we we have something worthy, posted the photos, but have not taken the time to write the captions or explain what was going on.

So.....you may have to be creative and add your own captions for awhile, just be nice, some photos may be difficult to figure out. Enjoy the posts and know that I will be back to fill things in as soon as I am done keeping up with my school blog.

Love you all!!!!

(Sorry Jen but this is what will make me sain and get these posted.)

** Make sure to scroll down if you think you have already seen a post. I try to put mine in order as things happened, not how very long it takes me to get them posted.

2010 Youth Track Meet

Hanging with friends before the events get started.

Yes, once again he DID NOT get his way, and he is upset. He wanted to farm, but we had to move to the next event.

First it was Jerrin's turn to take a chance at the long jump. He did not end up jumping a world record but he was happy that he did jump better than he did last year.

That is all that matters right?

Then it was time for the softball throw.

Nice form!

Jerrin and one of his buddies.

Gracie eyeing up the run way before taking her chance at the standing long jump.

Ready, set, jump.....

Gracie and one of her friends. These two go together like bread and butter.

I missed a photo of Gracie's actual throw, but she really tossed it out there. She threw it far enough to land herself up on the awards stand again.

Last year in the softball throw she received the second place medal and this year she settled in for third with a throw over 37 feet. Way to go Gracie.

Here are two of the other softball throw place winners. They are so proud.

Warming up before the 100 yd dash.

And they are off...... Running is not one of Jerrin's strong points, but he wanted to give it a try. He didn't care what he got just so he improved from last time. What a great attitude!

Gracie's 400 X 1 relay team. She was not scheduled to be part of any relay team, but one of her schoo since this was the very last event and I knew that we had to be done before John's baseball game started. Since the game was almost over and it was so close, Gracie was able to help out. They placed fifth and received a ribbon for the efforts.

All in all, the kids did a great job and we are so proud of both of them. Not only are we proud of your accomplishments, but also for handling the defeat so well. I loved your attitudes today. Always strive to do your best and if you come out on top that is a bonus, coming out with a humble attitude is priceless and will go with you all of your life.