Another Carlson Wedding!
My little sister Candance got married in the Logan Temple on December 7th.



      7 down... 1 to go! 
       Get in line boys, get  -  in   -  line.

The Happy Couple.

Look at how beautiful all my sisters are!!! 

**the single one is to my left

See how little rascal bones has a got a fistful of her Mama's hair? Little Monkey's got to hold on somehow right?

OK, here is something you should know about my family. We are all crazed lunatics. (we get it from our dad.) So, fair warning to lucky number 8! A series of things happened before this picture that resulted in my 7 month pregnant sister on the ground! But, being the crazies that we are... we find it all hysterical! Really though this weekend was fun, just being with my family. Big families are not for everyone, and don't get me wrong at times you look around and you think WHAT is going on??? But I wouldn't have it any other way. We are not an extremely sentimental family, we just like to have a lot of fun. So what better way to end a family wedding than a big soccer game and some "hang time" on indoor trampolines! And yeah. That is really what we did right after my sister's wedding. Anything that is a game or competition in any way, you will find us there. A few Christmases ago we were all sitting in the living room doing nothing. This is NOT ok. My dad found a stick and had each of us spinning around the stick in circles. This turned into a competition of who could do the most turns around the stick. This is completely normal. I love my family.

My adorable little bro. He has 3 kids!! I know, right?

Look at Olive's red hair! Who knew? 

(FYI this is only 1/3 of the cousins)

My good friend Annie Hancock took all these pictures, if you want to see how amazing she is go to AnnieVisuals.com.

   sidenote: GO SEE LES MISERABLES!! If Hugh Jackman doesn't win an oscar for that role than there is just no justice in this world.

My own little shire...

Last night my family went to go see the Hobbit in the theater. I found myself having a lot more in common with Bilbo Baggins than I had previously thought in that I too would have a VERY hard time leaving that adorable house. All the exciting things going on in the first scene and I was was just dying over the house and everything in it! I used to be quite adventurous myself, but as of late I have found that more and more I like to be at home. Maybe I'll branch out again someday for an adventure like old Bilbo, but as I watched the Hobbit and drank in the beauty of the shire I thought to myself that nothing looks quite that beautiful and magical in real life. The next morning I woke up and and looked out the window and a heavy mist surrounded the house. It made me feel a certain way that I can't quite put into words. I grabbed my camera and pulled on a pair of boots to capture the haunting stillness. Washington really is such an amazing and beautiful place and every time I come "home" I fall in love with it all over again. Maybe that's why I love things that are somber and sad, Washington can make you feel that way. And I just love it. 

My Dad's never ending supply of wood.

Still in bed with Olive....

I've been in bed with this little rascal all morning. Can't bring myself to get up and get dressed and do any motherly duties beyond snuggling, playing, and feeding the raggamuffin in my lap right now. She doesn't seem to mind!  Although to be fair, I did get up and work from 4 am to 8 am. When I got off work, I was so tired I thought I was going to die but guess who didn't want to sleep....  ^ this girl!

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 So, when I say I've been in bed all morning what I really mean is I sped home from work, jumped in bed with all things I could possibly want (including peanut butter filled pretzels, this laptop, and ANYTHING olive's heart could desire)and haven't left since. Sorry if you've been trying to get a hold of me. This did not include my phone. And now I think I'm ready to go out and greet the world, but not before a few more pictures!

Ummm this is Olive's pee face, after which she bursts out in a violent shiver. It's amazing.

Hope you all had as good a morning as I did!

Merry Christmas from the Atkinson's... Christmas card spoiler!

It was colder up the canyon than I expected, and Olive did not enjoy this little gust of wind very much, but it was too cute not to share.

Had enough yet? Just a few more... I can't help myself!

Ok, Can we talk about how hott this man is???

My Amazing sister-in-law Angie Whittemore took all these pictures while she was in town for Thanksgiving. Isn't she good??

Skinny Love

Ok, I have to share this video that I've been in love lately. You know when you get addicted to a video and you watch it like 30 times a day? Ok, maybe that is just me. But I love everything about this video. I love her natural makeupless beauty, her braces and the slight lisp it gives her. But most of all I love her voice, full of so much depth and emotion. 

And FINALLY this little guy is DONE!

This little guy has gone to his new home.

And Friends.

    I told my good friend Steph while she was pregnant with her little girl that I would make any animal she wanted out of my itty bitty toys knitting book. Amelia (my friend's baby) is now 7 months old... so this hippo is long over due! I added a few shots of a couple of the other animals I have made from this book. The giraffe and the snake. The sock monkey is from a different book, but I thought he would feel really left out if I didn't put him in this picture. I did leave out the robot I made, but he didn't seem to fit in this picture (just don't tell him.) I'm sure he will make it into some other post. 

Girls Brunch!

             I decided about a month ago that I needed to throw a little brunch for my girlfriends, partially because I missed my girls and partially as an excuse to use my new coveted anthropologie plates. You can drool over them here. I am so glad I did because it was the best time ever. So much so that in the middle of the brunch I realized I forgot to take any pictures of the food before it was speedily devoured. You will see some half eaten remnants in the photos here. On the menu were divine pumpkin pancakes stolen from good ol' Martha, homemade rolls (don't mind if I do,) a frittata -also a Martha steal, with some homemade syrup and whipped cream! I also made some delicious ginger and sugar cookies the day before. Out did myself a little I think. As you can tell by these pictures, we had ourselves a good time! Already missing all you girls :)

              Hello Blogosphere, I have come to join your ranks! I'm putting my little life on this keyboard and computer screen and sending it out into the Universe with the click of a button! I really don't know how I am going to find time to do a blog, but I figure that if all these other people with way crazier lives than I do have time for a blog then I do too. Right??? I won't say much about myself because *let's be honest* most people reading this right now probably already know me pretty well. (Hi Mom.) And if you don't, well you can figure out who I am on the way as you read my little hum dee dum blog. Not really sure what is going to be in this blog. I'm a wife, mom, knitter, lab rat, home cook, yogi, and on occasion a runner and a rock climber. Guess I'll just feel it out as I go along. Whew. Glad I got that awkward first intro post out of the way. Onward and Upwards.