family memories

There are some moments in our lives that are so precious you don't want to forget them. These are the moments that you lock away in your heart to hold on to the memory.

I have been so blessed to have an amazing extended family. A family where both sides of the family like each other and don't mind vacationing together. And when one of the family units decides to move to a different country (my immediate family being that family unit:) they love us so well that when we are in town or on special occasions WE ALL come together. For example in 2004 when we came back to Denmark for visit over Christmas - both sides of our family came together and we rented a cabin and spent the Christmas holiday together and just enjoyed quality time together. Such a great memory. Pass forward to October 2015 and my parents decided to celebrate their 60th birthdays, Danish style - and their siblings, many of my cousins and their kids all made the trek from Denmark to help celebrate and make memories. What a great family! We all stayed together for a week leading up to the party - and just hung out, caught up, enjoyed each others' company, played games, went on excursions, ate together - and got to know each others' kids. I am so thankful for a family that chose to use their vacation and finances to make such a special week happen. Thank you! I miss family time in Denmark and am thankful when I get a chance to experience it once in a while. Here are a bunch of snapshots from the week.

enjoying life outside

meal time

enjoying life inside

out and about

grateful

Today I am grateful.

Today we are celebrating Esther turning one. This year has flown by and I can't believe our daughter is now one. So much has happened this year - so many developments and milestones. I love and appreciate the little girl Esther is becoming. She brings so much joy to our day and I can't imagine life without her. Not a day goes by where she doesn't bring a smile to my face:) She is such a gift!

But today is about so much more. It is about how one year ago today a special woman made an incredible sacrifice. A sacrifice that enabled us to become parents. I am thankful for this woman every day. I have been so filled with gratitude as I look back upon this day in the hospital a year ago. Our hero carried and labored for us so that we could experience a glimpse of the love God has for us as we love Esther. When I look at Esther and how much Michael and I have gained by having her in our life, how much sweeter and blessed our life has become, I am so thankful and incredibly aware of the reality that this woman had to let go of so much at the same time. There are no words that can adequately describe how thankful and blessed we are. But the overwhelming feeling I have today is a feeling of gratitude. Gratitude for the woman that made it possible for us to have a daughter that is turning one today. What an amazing and selfless gift. God is so good!

Today I am grateful.

officially a carlson

A month ago today (yes, I am behind in blogging! but at this point in my life little miss e is more important than blogging;), Esther officially became a Carlson! We of course have known she was a Carlson since she was born - but it was such a wonderful and comforting feeling to have the Court confirm what we already knew. As I have said before, God has been so incredibly faithful on this adoption journey. God answered the prayers and doubts I had about adoption and gave us a daughter that I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to call mine (ours). Every day when I look at her I feel so blessed and privileged to be able to be her mor. Sometimes I just sit and stare at her and am overcome with joy and gratitude that she is our daughter. Esther has changed our lives forever in a perfect way. Even though the journey to parenthood was a long and difficult one, I wouldn't have it any other way. God has redeemed what seemed like a hopeless situation. In this process God showed His love and mercy for us - His adopted children!

I want to thank everyone who helped make this adoption possible - and most of all the woman who allowed us to become parents. She is the most selfless person I know. And I am grateful for her every day and I look forward to sharing that act of love with Esther as she grows in her understanding.

Esther was woken up from her nap in the court room and wasn't too thrilled about it so she wasn't in a smiley mood:)

father's day

I realize father's day was over two weeks ago, but life happens and I still wanted to give my amazing husband a shout out on here! Happy FIRST Father's day, Michael! You are such a wonderful husband and now father. Thank you for being such a great father to sweet Esther. We love you!

Esther "made" her first homemade card for her daddy for father's day with the help of her mor:) I helped her hold the brush and then Esther showed her artistic ability by running her hands through the paint on her own -- adding a personal touch:)

Every day we thank God for the incredible blessing we have been given to be Esther's parents and because of that getting to celebrate days such as father's day:)

congratulations nick and emily!

Last month we went to Washington state to celebrate the wedding of Nick and Emily. Michael was a groomsman so Esther and I flew in a couple of days later so Michael could participate in the groomsman festivities.

Esther did well (for a baby) for her first time flying. And I did ok too;) I did learn a couple of tricks that made flying back to Phoenix better ... All in all Esther and I survived our travels alone, but decided we prefer to have daddy along.

Since the wedding was in Washington we also had the chance to see family. Esther had the chance to meet her auntie, uncle and cousins and great grandma for the first time as well. But more about that later.

As you will notice we didn't manage to get a picture with the groom and bride (lame!), but I guess that is what happens when you attend a wedding with a baby and you flew in just hours before (lesson learned: too much packed into a day for a baby?! who knew. ha!)

happy easter

 happy easter from the carlsons!

did someone say easter bunny?

diy thursday: birthday freebies

It was my birthday earlier this month and I got to enjoy some birthday freebies:) I love a good deal and FREE food qualifies for that ... and it is even better at restaurants you like eating at even when it's not free:) This year it looked a little different since we had a newborn baby in tow - but we made a few adjustments and still got to enjoy most of the free meals we usually get.

I have had several people ask me about my list of birthday freebies so I thought I would list some of my favorites.

I will start with the ones that require an ID - meaning you have to eat there on your actual birthday and prove it with your ID. We live in Arizona in the East Valley so we can enjoy what my husband refers to as the triple threat: Liberty Market, Joe's Farm Grill and Joe's BBQ. They all give you $10 towards your meal - which is pretty much a free meal at these places. YUM!

Another two places I usually visit on my birthday because they require ID is Firehouse Subs (free medium sub) and Dutch Bros (free large drink) ... yes Dutch Bros is a must! Chompies also offers a free breakfast and so does Denny's on your actual birthday, but I usually don't take advantage of those - just not enough space in my stomach.

There are lots of places you can sign up for email updates that will send you a coupon for a free meal/snack/drink on your birthday. Some of my favorites are The Keg ($25 towards an entree),Grimaldi's Pizza (free large pizza one topping up to $18), Which Which (free small sub), Jason's Deli ($5 towards meal), Mellow Mushroom ($5 towards meal), Genghis Grill (free regular bowl), Schlotzsky's (free small sandwich), Rubios (free entree), Starbucks (free drink), Dunkin Donuts (free medium drink), Krispy Kreme (free doughnut and coffee), Sprinkles Cupcakes (free cupcake), Culvers (free ice cream)

There are also lots of places that will send you coupons for BOGO type of offers such as Benihana, Zoes Kitchen, Cold Stone, Dairy Queen, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, Bruegger's Bagles, Johnny Rockets or lots of places that offer a free dessert if you buy an entree. I don't love these offers because they are really not giving you much free since you end up spending money on a meal when you otherwise wouldn't have gone to that restaurants. Places I will take advantage of this kind of deal are places like Fox Restaurant Concepts (free dessert with entree purchase) or Postino (free dessert with entree purchase) - because those restaurants are just so yummy and any excuse to go .... right?:)

There are also lots of places you can get free items or money if you are on their email list such as Ulta, Sephora, World Market etc.

Enjoy!

PS. I am sorry I didn't include links to all of these places, but with a newborn I opted for not spending the time adding the links ... I will try to do that soon. In the meantime a simple Google search should do the job if you aren't familiar with the restaurant URL:)

happy new year!

happy new year from THIS girl and her parents:) we look forward to seeing what 2015 has in store.

happy birthday maya

this fun girl's birthday is today. 

happy birthday, maya! 

we wish we could be there to help you celebrate. 

we miss you and look forward to the next time we get to see you.

happy birthday to my parents

Happy birthday to my sweet parents. These two were born only hours apart, but on two different days. 

So today (on my mom's birthday) I want to wish them both a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We love you both and wish we could have celebrated with you. 

**i usually don't like celebrating them both on the same day so they can each have their own day:) ... but we are hoping to give a special update/announcement on the blog tomorrow so I wanted to make sure to give them both a shout out today**

happy birthday to my husband

kenya 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to my amazing husband!

I am so thankful for this man and who he is. I'm so glad he was born. 

Love you!

happy birthday to my brother

Today is my wonderful brother's birthday. I am so thankful for him. He is such a great friend, always there for me if I need him.  

We wish we could help celebrate you, Andreas! We love and miss you!

happy first birthday joshua

happy first birthday, sweet joshua!
we are so thankful we have gotten to see you several times this year even though you live so far away.
we miss you and love you. 

celebrating caleb in person

While we were visiting my parents one last time in Florida it was Michael's nephew Caleb's 7th birthday. Caleb happens to live in Florida as well so on his birthday we took a surprise day trip to see him (and the rest of his family) to help celebrate the day. We don't usually get to celebrate birthdays with family the day of so this was a special treat and to be able to surprise the boys was extra fun. Here are a couple of pictures from the day (unfortunately we didn't take many pictures:(

wrestling and tickling is always part of a good visit:)

amy graduates

Our good friend Amy graduated with her Masters from NAU earlier this month and we had the privilege of helping celebrate her in Flagstaff with her family . 

Congratulations Amy!

jennifer's wedding

A couple of weeks ago I went to Arkansas for the wedding of my dear friend Jennifer. Jennifer is part of the group of girls from college that I get together with every other year. So Jennifer's wedding was also a great excuse for all of us girls to get together. It was fun catching up and seeing spouses and children again (and meeting some for the first time). The wedding venue was gorgeous and the weather was perfect. 

All in all a great weekend ... and once again 

Congratulations Jennifer and Thomas!

happy birthday jonathan!

i can't believe this guy is already 3 years old!

happy birthday sweet jonathan! 

love and miss you, uncle buck and auntie signe

happy first birthday aksel

happy first birthday sweet aksel! we love your laid back personality full of smiles and cuddles. 

we miss you and wish we could celebrate with you.

happy birthday to two nephews

happy birthday sweet boys! we hope you have a wonderful day logan and jacob. 

we love you.