Girls Camp-Call for Courage

Another great year at camp! I just continue to love these girls more and more everytime I am with them. We had wind, we had sun, we had rain, we had snow and we definitely had FUN!!! Thank you to my amazing leaders and friends who made this such a memorable week. I did get 5 bad rope burns on my hands and a bad sore throat and cough but it was worth it!!!

LOVE YOU TO PIECES 9TH WARD!!! You are definitely courageous!!!

I LIVE IN THE GREATEST NEIGHBORHOOD!!!!

Ok let's face it! I live in the greatest neightborhood and everyone that reads this is going to agree with me. WHY??? Because the only people that read my blog are my neighbors. We know how to have a good time and we all get along fantastically!!! Hillary and Kim threw a great party for all the kids!

Where else can you try to see how many kids you can fit on a trampoline?
Where else can you cheer on the kids in an exciting game of speed? (Courtnie you ROCKED!)
Where else can you play with 4 of your BFF's for 5 hours and not get sick of each other?
Where else can you have jumping contests with the neighborhood boys?

Where else can you eat smores, marshmallow cookies, brownies and cupcakes and your mom doesn't even tell you to STOP?

Where else can you slide on a huge slip-n-slide in the freezing weather but that doesn't bother you because you are still having the time of your life?
So really where can you do all these great things? I'll tell you...in my neighborhood and I LOVE IT!!! Thanks everyone (and you know who you are) for making this such a fun place. P.S. Can't wait for the food fight!

Happy 9th Birthday Courtnie!!

This is a test and only a test! (I am trying to see if anyone really reads this blog. It has been months since I last blogged, 5 months to be exact.) So what better way to see if anyone even cares if the Carters blog is to give out a shout out to the cutest 9 year old in our family.

This is what she wanted for breakfast. Scrambled eggs with syrup poured all over them and oreo cookies. A breakfast of champions!

3rd grade simple machine leprechaun trap

Small little gathering, we made Hannah Montana bags, watched Princess and the Frog, ate pizza and played a game of hide and seek in the house.

I love you Courtnie!!

DISNEYLAND-The Happiest Place on Earth

At least the Carters think this is the happiest place on earth. As many of you know we LOVE Disneyland, we have been going as a family since Chandler was 2. Sorry about all the pictures but when you have over 400 to sort through it gets a little difficult. But hopefully you can get a taste of what fun we had!

HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE????

This is how the Carters celebrated!

You can't have a party unless both sets of grandparents are there, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

...we celebrated by seeing Minnie and Mickey!

...we celebrated by overcoming our fear of Splash Mountain. Meagan before and after the big drop. Way to go Meagan!

...we celebrated by all of us being able to go on rides together. No one sitting out because they aren't tall enough or staying with the sleeping child in the stroller.

...we celebrated by going on "Screamin'" and definitely doing some screaming!

...we celebrated by wishing our little princess a Happy 5th Birthday! Girls only lunch at Ariel's Grotto. (a little on the pricey side but the little girls loved it and the big girls loved the idea of only girls allowed)

...we celebrated by getting pictures taken with some of our favorite characters! Chandler was a great sport even though he was "too cool" for character pictures he still managed a smile.

...

...we celebrated by going on all the rides even though they weren't our choice because we were too big and 13 year olds aren't supposed to enjoy the merry go round for the 5th time in a row.

...we celebrated by trying to have fun on rides just because we can't have the front every single time.

...we celebrated like a pirate!

...we celebrated with a yummy Sunday dinner with friends and a thrilling game of Settlers.(which I won BOTH times, but who is keeping track)

Wishing you an early Merry Christmas! (this may be the only greeting I send out this holiday season so you better enjoy!)

San Diego Get-Away

My pictures are a little backwards because let's face it I still don't know what I am doing. So after our trip to San Diego we drove to Cedar Break. It is very pretty up there, we missed the leaves by a week or so but it was still fun to go up through the mountains. I love living here and being close to such amazing sites. If you couldn't tell it was very windy and chilly.

Look who we saw that also took a little stop to Cedar Break. Kim forgot her camera so I snapped a quick family photo. (Lucy in the car asleep and Emily not excited about the detour.)

The views were AMAZING!!

Our first day in San Diego we went to Sea World. The last time we went was when Courtnie was 5 months old. It was a hot day but everyone loved it. Our favorite being of course seeing Shamu up close and personal.

Notice the different size animals that everyone got. Small, medium and LARGE!

The last ride of the day, Shipwreck Rapids. I knew that I would get soaked and I didn't want to do this at all. I was hoping Tyren or Dad would have gone with Chandler but they didn't want to and Chandler was very sad that he wouldn't be able to go on it. Well Courtnie and Mom stepped up to the challenge. The sacrifices we make for the ones we love.

Before the game we went on a tour of the USS Midway an air craft carrier that last sailed in 1991. It was way cool! These boats are HUGE! This is us standing way out over the boats edge where the planes take off. A little on the freaky side!

The cute little Faldmo family is so nice to always drive and meet us when we go and visit California. We always look forward to anytime that we can spend time with them.

Paul and Tyren were the most fascinated by all the planes and helicopters on top. Did I mention that this boat is HUGE!?

Inside Tyren, Colby and Courtnie sleep in the bunk beds. Very tight quarters, I don't know how anybody could live in such tight spaces.

Friday night we drove to the San Diego Temple. The kids LOVED this temple and its unique structure. It is beautiful at night.

Fall Break and an away BYU football game make for a perfect little family road trip.

We had a great trip and to top it off BYU won!!!!