Just testing posting photos. . .

I just posted with no problems. I would check the size of your photos - sometimes they can be too big and it will take forever to upload and then it will error. Please do not give up. You cannot mess this site up so do not be afraid. If it does not work you can always delete etc. I love you! I will post the pictures you e-mailed soon. My hotmail is being weird!

Love, Mari

The Rainbow tree

Here are some pictures of Beth and I enjoying our "snow day" together. This tree is in our yard and I remember how cool I thought it was the first time I came to look at this property. I love how it's grown into the ground like an arch/rainbow. Stephen will have a fun bridge to climb on, over and around during his growing up years. I'll try to keep posting pictures now that I know it will accept two at a time. : )

Beth and Kary sledding!

We had our first snowfall last week. Beth and I decided it was time to play. We got out the sleds and I prayed that I would live through the experience. I did! Beth was super brave and went down the steepest, fastest part of our sledding hill on the property. I went on the 'baby' side, but the ride was still super fast and I screamed "ahhhhhhhhhhh" the whole way down.
I also decided to put on my cross country skiis and give it a whirl. I did it! I went to the top of the trail that is in our yard and skiied down it. I screamed the whole way down that too. After two more runs, no more screaming. I had gained my confidence and control back. I felt alive and free! It was wonderful to me! Beth also decided to try on my skiis and cruise around the yard. She did great. She's a natural. I'm hoping she can get some skiis soon so we can go on the lakes by our home (once they freeze over, of course) : )

Thanks for the fun day Beth.

After some exercise, we went to Freddy's and bought hairspray for Mom. Only Freddy's carries it. so, it's a good thing there is a Freddy's in Wasilla. I was also searching for a pumpkin to carve. I couldn't find one there, but I did find a new shirt to wear to church. It's the first time I bought something for me to wear in a long time. That was fun! We did find our pumpkins at Carrs. Beth and I both got one and we'll be carving ours tonight after our family home evening lesson "letting your light shine" (I'm going to put a candle on a candlestick and set it behind a plant (a bushel) and teach Ray and Stephen about the sermon on the Mount) Then, after carving our pumpkin, we'll light the candle and show how "light" 'can be in our countenances. : )

Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

hugs,
Kary

PS. I tried to post more pictures, but it kept telling me "error", so it looks like two at a time is the trick. So, I'll try and just post some more random pictures later. I love you all.

Katie looks good she just can't drive!

Katie's Accident

On Saturday we were at my sister Missie's house holding a Scentsy party. Katie left at noon to make it to her voice lesson by 12:15. Suddenly I received a phone call, that dreaded phone call with a crying child on the other end of the line. Katie was hesterically crying and telling me she ran into a fence. I asked her where she was. Luckily she was just around the corner. I ran out of the party and across the street to find the truck off of the main road and half way into someone's backyard. I asked Katie what happened. She said she stopped at the corner and let some kids go by on their bikes, when they had passed she turned the corner and she was caught off guard by the sprinklers turning on, she thaught it might be another child. She swerved, hit the curb and ran into the fence applying the brakes just before she fell into the pool. She did not feel the pain of her injuries until after we were waiting for the police for an hour. Bob arrived on the scene and handled things so well. He was so kind and calm with Katie, I think this made her feel even worse. The owners of the fence were very nice. They did not press charges so Katie did not get a ticket. Any way, Katie is just sore nothing broken, the truck is back in the shop, Katie is driving a rental, and my brother in- law Rick has a new fence repair job. I can't wait until Kimmy starts driving.
-BTW When we got home that night, Bob received a speeding ticket in the mail and he has to go to driving school.

Mom's Hands

Katie's Truck Accident . . .

Here are the pictures of Katie's accident. I do not know the details. I will let Amy tell the story. Glad you are OK Katie!

My Friday Night Story

Hello everyone,
It's been kind of quiet on here lately, so I thought I'd write and say hi. Life is going well here in Anchorage. We're still waiting for the first snow fall, right now it's just cold and gray So, hopefully it'll snow soon. I've been keeping busy with insititute and work. I still love my job, even though it's been very challenging lately. I'm still enjoying being on my own. I've been able to enjoy having people over and not worrying about keep people up, anyways it's just been nice.
Well I have a great story to share. On Friday night I stayed up late reading and writing in my journal. Anyways I fell asleep on my couch, and at about 5AM I woke up to someone yelling freeze, put your hands up. Well I looked outside and there were two policemen arresting two men right outside my window. Then two more cop cars pulled up because I guess one man got away, so the police got out there flashlights and started looking around. This whole time I'm inside wondering what was going on. I wasn't scared though since the police were right there. I was actully thinking this is like my own "Cops" show right outside my window. Well back to the story by this time a K-9 car had pulled up and they had the dog out looking. I could here the police talking to eachother, but I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. After this though I'm not quite sure what happend because they wentdown the street to where I couldn't see them. So, unfortunately I don't have a awesome ending, such as they caught the guy and wrestled him to the ground. All I know is that I woke up later and the police were gone. It still made a fun night though. And don't worry I still feel completely safe here. Well I hope everyone is doing well, I love you guys. Love Bethanie

Pack 'em up! Backpacking w/ Ray.

I was finally able to get some pictures to post on the blog. For some reason, it kept telling me "error" the past few times I've tried to post pictures. So, I decided to try and only post two at a time instead of five and see if the system can handle that better.
So, you can see in the pictures, Ray loves his wood pile. What you see in the photo is only part of it. Now, that wood pile (located under Stephen's fort) is full of wood. It is so great to be prepared for the winter months. I love fires. We are actually having one outside in the firepit tonight for date night. Yes, you need to keep the 'fire' burning in your marriage. : ) For those of you that attended Relief Society last week, your lesson should have been on an Honorable, Happy, Successful Marriage
Does anyone remember the 4 key ingredients to a never-failing formula from Pres. Kimball? Test yourself and see if you do.

Ok, here they are: 1. Proper approach and hard work 2. GREAT unselfishness 3. Continued courting (affection, kindness) 4. COMPLETE living of the Lord's commandments
So, there you go. Isn't that so comforting to know there is a formula for success in marriage? I think it was interesting that COMPLETE living of the Lord's commandments is required, not just partially or when you feel like it....all the time is necessary for the desired outcome. It can be done. Mom and Dad are setting a good example for us. So, keep it up!

Well, I'm off to eat dinner. It's "nacho night" and Ray is in charge! Yummy!

don't forget to mix all the right ingredients together in your marriage (by the way, it takes two) It will succeed if both of you commit to being obedient to the prophet's counsel. It's so worth the work!

hugs,
Kary

Videos . . .

I am sorry the quality of the video is the way it is. That is the best I can do. Just try to look past the lines and ENJOY!

Mari :-)

Dad's great wisdom. . .

Here is an example of why I love dad so much. He is so funny! Happy Birthday DAD! You are the best!

Buffalo Gals. . .

Kary and Ray bustin a move . . . :-)

The Good Old Days

This one is for you Kary . . .

Happy Birthday Elder Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!
We wanted to send you some photos to show we are celebrating for you.
Stephen can't wait till you get back so he can treat you to an ice cream from Little Miller's for
your bday treat. We are grateful for all the ice cream you have brought into our lives (or should we say
our guts. ): )
But, more importantly, we are grateful that you are the #1 Dad/Grandpa of all time. Thank you for taking care of us
and creating wonderful memories for all of us. We do miss you, but know that you have a great companion to
celebrate life with. So, enjoy your Samoan celebration and we'll party when you return home.

We love you.

Happy hugs,

Ray, Kary, Stephen, Bethanie & Sage

PHOTOS to be posted later...I kept getting a 'bad request' message. Tried to post twice....keep watching for bday pics.

Playtime w/ Sage & Stephen

While Ray was at the Priesthood session of Conference, Stephen, Sage and I went outside to play in the leaves. Apparently, Stephen was not too excited about the idea of being set inside a pile of leaves for Mommy to take a picture. His expression in the photo will show his concern. Sage rescued Stephen and came in for a lick to make him feel better. : ) She is so mothering to him when he is sad. What a good girl she is! We love our puppy dog. She'll be three years old in January. We're so grateful she joined our family. Stephen was much more content just playing on the lawn freely while Sage chewed on a stick. The simple things in life.......

Rake & Bake!

Yesterday, Ray and I needed to split more wood, so we had to put Stephen somewhere nearby. I bundled him up and put his playpen in the driveway close to us so I could watch him. He was happy to have his sippy cup of juice to keep things sweet. Right before I had brought him out to the playpen, one of the friends that I walk with called and said, "how about my husband and I come over and help you split the wood and I'll bring hot dogs and chips and we can cook dinner over your firepit for date night." I was so impressed by this phone call. Totally an answer to prayer. Lifting the logs is a lot of work. Which I love. However, it's really hard to attend to Stephen's needs when I'm behind a machine handing Ray the logs to split. So, her hubby came over and lifted the logs while she and I made up peach cobbler in the dutch oven and got the fire started. The babies played together for a while inside and then we went outside to enjoy the fire. They are such a fun family. Ray thinks the guy who helped him reminds him of Charles. I'll have to find out why. They also brought their dog, Rocky (a blue heeler) to play with Sage and she was so happy to have a new boyfriend in the valley. And, since she's spayed, she's free Willy (oops, sorry William, didn't mean to put you in the doghouse.)

Today, I baked "Grandma's sugar cookies" (aunt Lorna'a recipe).. the BEST! Then, I frosted them with cream cheese frosting. I made them to cheer up a friend and send some to Grandma Lindquist because her favorite cookie is a sugar cookie. Cookies have made it safely to her before, so I'll go for it again. As I was making the frosting, I thought Stephen would really like a beater. So, I gave him his first frosting beater and had to get a photo. He could not get enough in his mouth at a time. He wanted the whole beater to fit, so he kept trying. too funny!

Today was also rake the leaves day (after general conference, of course.) So, Ray took Stephen in the backpack while I made Belgian waffles and bacon for the intermission/halftime of conference. : ) Have to stick with tradition you know. Then after the second session, I went out and helped Ray rake the rest of the leaves. I made a pile to put Stephen and Sage in and will send those photos later tonight or tomorrow. Fall has truly fallen. It was so beautiful. We love it here. Now that the trees leaves have fallen, we can see more mountains around us a little bit more, so that was a welcome surprise.

Over and out for now. I hope you all enjoy conference.

hugs and happiness,
Kary

It is good to split wood!

Ray's latest obsession in Wasilla is cutting wood. He has searched the woods in nearby areas to find trees that have been cut down for new construction. He has been successful in finding gold mines of birch wood. We have gone together often as a family to cut the wood and then haul the logs in our little handy dandy trailer. Ray uses his chainsaw to cut the wood at the sight and then we bring it home and use a log splitter (which you rent for a day) and prepare our firewood for the winter. I love having real fires. I love the crackling of the wood and the smell of wood burning. There is such a calming feeling as a family sits aroud a fire together. We are having a Soapstone fireplace installed in December. They are made in Finland and the soapstone holds the heat all day and radiates it out so you are roasty toasty and save tons of $ on the gas bill. That is our goal. We have been planning for this fireplace for a while and are grateful that it will be arriving hopefully before Christmas. There was not a fireplace in this home when we bought it, so it worked out perfectly.

The other photo is of Stephen using his 'cell phone.' It is so cute how babies love telephones. They just love to push the buttons. Stephen accidently hung up on Bethanie today from pushing the wrong button, sorry Beth. : )

Just reporting in Mari, my walk today with the two gal pals was 2 1/2 hours long. Whew! I did it and then came home and cooked halibut au gratin for dinner. I appreciate your encouragement. Tomorrow's walk is for an hour since I need to get home early to help Ray split more wood. yes, I'm a true Valley girl now, like yah! Totally and for sure!

love you all,
Kary

Thanks (Post by Mindy)

Hey everyone. I just wanted to say thanks for the birthday wishes. My birthday, in case some of you were confused like Kevin and Beth were, is on the 27th, not the 28th. For future reference. I had a lovely day and I was able to spend it with my sister and mom and Greg. I didn't wear red Kary, I drove to my mom's house that day and I was just trying to survive the drive. :)

Here are some pictures (that I didn't post on my blog)

Ben is eating his first apple that John shared with him. He uses his two bottom teeth to just bite off what he can. It is super cute. He would not let us take it from him either.




Here is his second apple. I skinned it for him this time.





This one was actually on my blog, but it is cute.



Mari, in case you didn't read my blog, did we leave our Baby Einstein Colors book at your house? I can't find it anywhere and haven't really seen it since then. :)

Thanks again for the poem and birthday wishes!! Love you all. Kev it was great to see you.

Moo, Woo & Hoo! Celebrating Stephen!

I hope you enjoy a few fun photos that I recently took of Stephen. I had to put him in his cow outfit that Cheryl got for him
because it fits now. Isn't it adorable? Moo to you Cheryl! Thanks so much for thinking of Stephen when you saw this outfit. He loves to drink his milk when he wears it. ; ) The other pictures are of Stephen in a church suit (which I got for $2 at a garage sale) performing a concerto in C minor (if there is such a thing).....he loves to play the piano. We enjoy playing together. We're almost ready for our debut in church. There will be more pictures of his birthday coming since Ray took quite a few, so just the one of the two of us together for now. I sure love this little one year old boy. He is truly full of joy!

How to post video here. . .

I figured out why I could not upload video on this site! It was of course something VERY simple. Anyhow, now you can post video! Make a video on your camera and download it onto the computer just like pictures. Then go to the regular posting area and next to the photo icon should be a video icon. Click on it, then follow the directions to upload video. Make sure it is set on compose mode (upper right hand corner of posting page). It may take awhile to upload (ten minutes or so) depending on size. When finished uploading, publish post and it should work! Would someone give it a try??

Just a note - it does not work with Safari. Good luck!

New video blog. . . www.mari4uvideovenue.blogspot.com. I will be posting video on that site as often as I can!