Elder Toolson-Guatemala City, North

My littlest brother KC left for his mission on December 30th and I was not planning on being there. I was supposed to be in Brian Head, Utah with my in-laws. But my gem of a husband surprised me on Christmas and sent me to Arizona for the farewell. It was a Christmas miracle. I was sooooo happy to get to say goodbye to him. So we drove from Brian Head to Vegas, hopped on plane and surprised KC and my mom with a quick three day trip. it was perfect.





How adorable is this picture of Gramma in her amazing coat and Livy in her Christmas dress!?


We don't have to ask, the thing KC will miss most is SLEEP. He has always slept an unusual amount and that will be a struggle for him. I'm sure he'll miss his silk zebra sheets too!


The "meow meow" or kitty-kitty as it is called in our home since we've never actually name a single pet we've ever had, needs its own post. Toolson hate cats. We just do. Most of us say we're allergic even though we're not and the other half really are allergic. Cats are gross. But my sweet mom is not a Toolson, technically, so she loves animals including cats and so does KC. All KC wanted in life was a dog. Not an option in our home! We gave him hamsters, they died. He had lots of reptiles, but they're not cuddly. Then one day he found a little stray kitten in our back yard so he and mom snuck it in the house and told dad they'd get rid of it tomorrow. Well...five years later, that crazy cat is still living under KC's bed. It only likes KC and my mom and will only come out at night. And my little Livy girl is obsessed. It's all she talks about. I hear her in her bed at night jibbering about meow meow and Mimi.

Now that KC is gone, the cat is too. I'm sure mom will find a good home for her or Dad and Sean will "find it a good home" (wink wink). You had a good life kitty kitty and you even got your own post on my blog. Farewell.







KC and Mom going over his talk one more time before we leave for church.

For the record, my mom is smokin hot these days!

All the family came over after the farewell for lunch. We didn't want to leave Ryan out of all the action so we were skype-ing him while we ate outside.

We've got such a fun family, lots of them were able to come out for the farewell. Look at all those future missionaries!

A family gathering

KC texted non-stop till he stepped on the plane to leave.

Me, Liv, Mom, Colbi, and we're missing Jess!

Me and my KC baby!

One last game of speed. Colbi won!

These are most of the next missionaries in the Toolson family. We're missing the Ainge boys and Drew but what a group, huh!? And there's one in there who doesn't belong but I didn't know how to say, "um, is your last name Toolson? didn't think so. Out."

The house was PACKED from 7-10 PM with friends and family coming to say goodbye and hang out with KC, Chad, and Josh. This is a very common sight at the Toolson home though, you can always expect a counter full of food and tons of people! Well, I guess not anymore, they're EMPTY NESTERS!

These three gave a triple farewell on Sunday it was amazing. KC and Josh left last Wednesday the 30th and Chad leaves this Wednesday. Hopefully they can see each other a little in the MTC!



These are KC's best friends, Chase, Dillan, Chad, and Josh. It has been so fun seeing these guys grow up together and now leave on missions all at the same time. So cute!

Dallas Baby!

We finally made it to Dallas after well over a year since our last visit!! The kids were great on the drive up and had so much fun with their best friends! And I had so much fun with my best friend too!


Saturday night was their ward Christmas party and who doesn't like free ham, funeral potatoes, green beans, rolls and bagged salad!? So we went and the kids had fun and we were full when we left. Perfect! The kids sang a Christmas song up on stage and I was laughing so hard. It was such a perfect example of their little personalities. Eva had no idea what the words were but she was singing really loud and looking at her mommy like "don't I look so good up here!" and Andrew was right in front, knew all the words and was looking at his mommy like "aren't you proud I know all the words!" and then Johnny boy sat there looking down with this face like "BORING!" and didn't care that he didn't know the words because he has nothing to prove to me. Darn. They are all so different!






Sweet Elsie needs her own little section. She is such an angel and I get sad that I'm not just around the corner to see her grow up every day. Love you Els!






John and the kids made a gingerbread house while Sheree made a wonderful dinner and I sat there and took pictures! And Elsie girl is totally almost crawling, we have documentation!






Sunday night was Curious George and popcorn!





We picked up McDonalds and took all the little kids to have lunch with Andrew at school. Johnny thought it was pretty cool and can't wait for me to come have lunch with him at HIS school next year!




After lunch we went to the Rocket Park near Sheree's house, it's pretty amazing and the kids had a blast!










The kids decided to take a walk across the cool new bridge and of course, my child decided to throw Andrew's McDonald's toy over the edge. Of course. So little Andrew says he could totally get it and not get wet...I said ya right and Sheree said "OK!". She's cooler than me. So he took off his socks, waded in and was almost safe until I said, "turn around for a picture!" and ker plunk-soaked. So Johnny and Eva had to join in! We were in our white trash glory all soaked and muddy and shoeless in the middle of winter. Though it was a beautiful random 70 degree day in Dallas. The kids had a blast.

Tis the Season

The kids and I made a gingerbread house and they loved it! Johnny loved being creative, as always, and took his candy placement job very seriously. Livy thought it was fun to take the candy off and eat it. I love this time of year!

It's SNOWING People!

I never thought I would see something like this in Houston. Lots of white fluffy snow everywhere!! School is cancelled and we are at home drinking hot chocolate and watching the old school Rudolf. Life is good.