Christmas 2010

This year we celebrated Christmas with Brad's grandparents in Logan. Having Carson older made Christmas morning that much more enjoyable.
We started the celebration with the annual Mickelson Family Christmas Party.

and we went to Ogden to look at the Christmas lights and the cute little window displays that they have.

Carson got a Buzz lightyear and as you can tell he and his cousin were fascinated, but that wasn't the gift that caused all the tantrums...because the big hit of the morning was ...
A tricycle! The kids loved the bike and did not like taking turns. In fact it caused quite a few tears,
but we were able to get some rides in before the bike mysteriously "disappeared".

Then on Christmas evening we rushed to Layton so we could talk to my brother Daniel on his mission. It was so wonderful to talk to him! He wasn't able to call last Christmas because he was in the MTC, so it was fun to hear all about the Taiwanese people.

We then rang in the New Year by playing Bunco, hitting the pinata, and watching the NY countdown with the Murphys.

We had a wonderful Christmas and feel so blessed that we were able to be with our families.

Winter Celebration

Have I said how much I love my community? Well I do, because they do amazing things like having a winter celebration.

Carson's new favorite movie is the Polar Express. He calls it his "choo-choo" movie and would watch it 24/7 if I let him. So this morning I told him we were going to see Santa and ride the choo-choo. I should have waited until we where going to leave, because he rushed straight to the door and cried when we told him it wasn't time yet. Needless to say he was very excited.He LOVED the pony ride and did not want to get off.Waiting in line to see Santa. The cute candy cane next to us said the North Pole. The old lady who took our picture obviously didn't understand that thats what I wanted to get a picture of us next too. Its still a cute picture though.
I've been wanting to get a picture with Carson and Santa for the past two years, but santa has not come to any Christmas parties that we've been too, and Brad would not wait in line at the mall. So I was very excited that Santa was here so I could finally get Carson's first picture.

Carson loved looking at Santa, because he recognized him from his choo-choo movie, but he just would not stay still! He just wanted to run around and play. Oh well, I'm just glad to finally get the picture.and in case you are wondering, Arizona can have outdoor ice skating rinks. Its not real ice just synthetic. When they announced that there was going to be an ice skating rink I wondered how they could pull it off.
Yes I love my community and all the wonderful things they do throughout the year. We had fun!

Little Drummer Boy

This little guy was having a blast. Our friends have any instrument a little boy could ask for. He loved the drums, then the guitar, then the piano, but ultimately he would go back to the drums. Who could resist banging on something?

Remembering 2010

At the end of every year, its nice to look back and see all the blessings that have happened to us this year. Although this year wasn't nearly as much of a roller coaster as last year (getting laid off, had a baby, getting transferred, moving, buying a new house, and all in the space of two months), it was nice to have a year that was non-stressful, fun, and very eventful:

• Carson turned one
• Carson learned how to walk
• Brad's parents sold their house
• Spent 3 weeks in Utah this summer
• My sister Marilyn got married
• Brad turned 30
• Went boating at Lake Mead
• Brad and I got to spend some quality alone time in Hawaii
• Brad got promoted to be a Sr. Industrial Hygienist!

Who knows what next year will hold for us? Its always fun to speculate though...

• Hopefully a wedding (on Brad's side this time)
• More vacations
• Carson turns 2!
• My brother returning home from his mission
• Hopefully Brad's LAST oral surgery
• Brad graduating with his Masters in Industrial Hygiene from Tulane University!

So much can happen in the space of a year, and yet it seems like the years go by faster and faster. Hopefully time will slow down, I'm loving our life right now and am so thankful for all the blessings we have.