June 14, 2002 - July 18, 2012

Mr. Lennox has passed away after several attempts to revive.  He provided just over 10 years of faithful service in keeping the Carlson family cool through the dog days of summer. The residents of the household are keenly feeling the loss of Mr. Lennox through the unusual heat of this summer.  The resident pet beagle, Jake, will have no place to seek refuge from the heat advisory for tomorrow so he will also be feeling the intense loss. 

  Is there any chance at all that the weather forecast for tomorrow could be wrong?!  One can only hope........

A room with a personality....

has finally come to life!  As described in a pervious post (quite some time ago!), this room transformation took a lot more than we previously thought.  But the girls are so very happy with the outcome of it that it makes it very worthwhile. 
I had originally painted a mirror on Emily's side of the room that needed to be strategically placed to camouflage the entrance to the attic.  After being up there for a few days, Erin decided that she also wanted a mirror on her side.  We have been looking for a long time for just the right mirror at the right price when Mom called me last week to say she had found it at a rummage sale!  I painted the mirror to match the room and......Erin is beyond thrilled!
I have one mirror project in the making and then the room will be complete.  I found a neat idea at Hobby Lobby but we decided that "we" could make it for a LOT cheaper than (gasp!) $70!  The materials are here and ready so more to follow on that one!

RaIn!!!!

After almost 3 months with nearly NO rain, we got some of that wet stuff yesterday afternoon.  I have not mowed our lawn in one month & that is unheard of.  Even when it DOES occassionally get dry, our yard is shaded enough that we would still need to mow.  Our flowers, garden and grass were just singing last night!

Trevor and Erin walked outside to enjoy the rain, stopped & looked at each other and took off running to the trampoline together.  Not a word was spoken but they knew what the other was thinking! 

Jumping on the trampoline in the rain is a lot of fun.  Emily was missing because she does NOT go outside when there is thunder/lightning.  She celebrated quietly watching through the window! 

The Wild West Comes to Manawa!

Impromptu plans came our way and we spent an afternoon with some pretty terrific people and then ended the night with the rodeo. Honestly, sometimes the greatest of days comes unplanned! We had fun just hanging out in the afternoon, playing with the kids in the pool and then onto the rodeo for an evening filled with.......



PATRIOTISM

ACTION

and HUMOR!

Marshall, Trevor and I (photo by M. Baseman)

Emily and Erin (photo by M. Baseman)

Terry and I  (photo by M. Baseman)

Father's Day

Sherry with Ryan, Tina and Darrin

Part of the "crew" after meeting before we met up with
Ryan, Darrin and Lindsay after meeting.

Over Father's Day weekend, Tina came home for a visit from her field in Florida while Darrin and Lindsey made a trip home from Texas.  They had planned to be in WI Rapids at the same time making it possible for almost the entire family to be together. We missed Bill, Kate and Josie, though!

Trevor's ultimate sport

......ULTIMATE FRISBEE!!

Trevor was able to play in the High School Team this year.
He loves the high energy game and does quite well.  His only complaint
is that the program run throuh our local Park & Rec Dept. isn't
long enough!



Emily (holding the frisbee) and Erin (6th from on the left in the back) played
on the beginner team this year.  It was their first year playing.

Despite the high temperatures on several of the days, they really enjoyed their time.  On one of the hottest days, Trevor and his friend, Michael, were asked to play on the beginner team due to lack of players.  After playing for a solid 2 hours in the heat, Trevor was wiped but was still talking about doing the same thing the next time! 

One night, the five of us "sorta" played a game here at home.  WOW!  I have a whole new respect of the players of Ultimate Frisbee.  Terry and I were both WIPED!  

Simple Country Friends!

We had three baby coons that wondered our yard eating the mulberries from the ground.  At one point, they were up on our front patio when I snuck outside with the camera.  They weren't too scared of the camera....thus this fun picture!

Music in the Park

This summer Trevor joined our Community Band.  There are about 20 members with the youngest member being 12.  After the first practice, he was very discouraged but with our encouragement and the directors willingness to take 45 minutes to work with him one-on-one with the song that was giving him fits he decided to continue.  Not only was he willing to continue, but he is anxious for the next practice!  They will be performing five times throughout the summer playing some pretty upbeat songs including When I'm 64, Chicken Dance, Doo Wah Diddy, Gumbo Limbo, Star Spangled Banner and several others. 
One picture is of Trevor and one of his closest friends who plays percussion with the Community Band.  The photo on the right shows Trevor playing trombone and the person on Trevor's left is the band director that is currently teaching in Green Lake but was the band director at the high school that I graduated from.  His daughter plays baritone and has been a great encouragement to Trevor as well.