Monday, September 27, 2010

Huntington Beach, Day 2 of Vacation

We slept in a little, then . . . . . We went to Huntington Beach!!!!! Temps here got to 108, but the beach was fun and awesome, except at the end when Russ lost his sunglasses in the Pacific Ocean, so if you see some prescription Bole's float up, let me know.






Oh Yeah, Mirian loves Watermelon!!!!!!













We had some visitor dolphins nearby. We also had a sea lion, but couldn't get a picture.




We also found this random head in the ground!!! Syd loved it!!!!


Sunday Afternoon in Newport Beach

We arrived to Newport Beach, CA Saturday afternoon. We mostly just rested since our day started at 3:30 in the morning. On Sunday, we slept in a little, then went to church. The church was right next door to the temple, what gorgeous temple!!!


We walked around the grounds and enjoyed the view.

Afterward, we checked out the resort. Tons of things to do!!!!!! They have mini-golf, basketball, several pools and hottubs, a playground for the kids, fitness center, arcade, etc. It also has a coy pond and we went to check that out.



Mirian loved looking at the fish.



What a great vacation!!!! We are so glad that we get to spend it with family!!!!!! Thank you everyone for making the effort to get here and thank you mom and dad for booking the resort for us. We love it!!!!!!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

What a Sight!!!!!

On our way South through Washington and Oregon (unless we are going the Idaho/Utah route) we pass cross over the Columbia River just after Goldendale, WA and we enter Biggs, OR. On the Washington side we see this photo:


These things are MASSIVE!!!!!! And there are THOUSANDS!!!!! What a sight!!!!! It is incredible to look at. And there are a few that you can drive right up to. We were behind our schedule so we didn't take the chance to check it out in person. But one of these days . . . .

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Well, this is pretty cool. Russ' brother Dennis works for John Deere Landscapes in Salem, OR and Extreme Makeover Home Edition is doing some work for a Deaf School in Salem and John Deere has volunteered supplies and man hours (Dennis included).

So watch for this man





on the show scheduled to air around Halloween (part of the work being done is the building of a haunted house on behalf of the school).

Labor Day Fun

Well what a crazy and fun weekend. We had different visitors and some overnighters every day of Labor Day weekend.

On Saturday the evening started off with the visit of our dear friends the Jakemans. We played a lot of games with them when they lived in Yakima, but then they abandoned us to go live in the Tri-Cities. They graced us with their presence on Saturday and we got to meet their new little girl Penelope. How precious she was!!!!!!! We had some pizza from Papa Murphy's and played games. A couple of Alicia's siblings along with the Steve and Erin Lawson also came over to enjoy the Penelope visit/games. Russ' brother Mike and his two kids also came after a day of floating the Yakima River. They were pretty exhausted and pretty much went right to bed after a brief chit chat.

Sunday Morning we went to church with Russ' brother and his kids. We then headed over to have dinner with Russ' siblings (Ron, Mike, and Dave) and their families at Ron's house. It was lots of fun and scrumptious.

Sunday night Devin and Amanda Perkins and David Lawson came over for games. Around 9:30 that evening, Collin and Krystal Hunter and their girl stopped for a pit stop at our place on their way home to Idaho Falls.

The Hunters spent the night and we had a nice breakfast Monday morning. Shortly after the Hunters left, the Mills arrived. We told you about Mirian's shiner during their visit. We also got to play catch and Russ and Dave taught Dave's oldest boy Tanner how to throw a ball.
He was practically an expert after all the professional advice he was given.

Kids swang, threw the ball around, oh and we can't forget the BBQ hamburgers we had for lunch!!!! They were awesome.


After the Mill's took off, we went to have Family Home Evening with Russ' brother Dave and his family. They have 4 sweet little children and another girl on the way. Due to the audience (the kids), the scripture was acted out by the entire group. What a great way to teach the scriptures!!!!! It was wonderful. The evening was capped off with a Wii boxing tournament.

What a weekend!!!!! Exhausting, but oh so fun!!!!!!!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Mirian's First Shiner

Being an only child, Mirian doesn't have to watch out for others very much, she creates her own ruckus. However, we had some our friends the Mills over today for a BBQ and they have three adorable little boys Tanner, Colton, and Braden. They were all playing so nicely. Colton was on the "two way bench swing" and Mirian walked over while it was going and didn't know to duck. She cried but was a trooper. We felt so bad for her and so did the Colton. It wasn't even his fault.

I guess you win some and lose some eh????



Colton felt so bad (and he's a lady's man) that he swang with Mirian while holding her hand the whole time. What a cute little guy.


Thursday, September 2, 2010

Trip to California


Enjoying Hula's

We went to California this weekend for Jeff and Marlena's ring ceremony and for the blessing of little baby Shade. We had such a wonderful time, even if it was a whirlwind weekend. We left Thursday night after Russ got off of work and drove till Klamath Falls, OR where we stopped for the night. Then we got up early the next morning to finish off the trip. We stopped in good ol' Chico and met up with our good friends Megan and Josh and got some yummy Mongolian Bar-b-que at Hula's. Then we hurried home to be greeted by family anxiously waiting for us to arrive so we could all go out on the boat. Uncle Jim brought his boat, and Dad got his boat working, plus we had 3 jet skis for 12 people (including Mirian). It was crazy, but so much fun! Mirian was a little nervous at first being out on the boat, but then Grandpa let her drive and then she thought it was pretty cool! We tried taking her out on the tube, but that was too scary for her.

I'm not sure about this Mom!


Driving the boat with Grandpa is fun!


Look at that worried face

We planned on going out on the boat all day on Saturday too, but it ended up being freezing cold with little sprinkles. We were all really nervous, because the ring ceremony was going to be outside. Luckily, the weather held out for us during the ceremony. Jeff and Marlena looked so nice and baby Shade was as adorable as ever. We finished off the evening with a massive game of Scum.

All the Carter kids with Marlena


Cute baby Shade with Russ


And this lovely picture taken by my Fabulous Sis-in-Law, Olivia!


What do I do with these petals?


Cute Flower Girls!!

On Sunday, Shade was blessed at church. It was such a nice blessing and it was so fun to see people that we hadn't seen in a while. We spent the rest of the day cleaning up from the reception the night before and playing more Scum. We had such a great time and we were sad to have to leave on Monday morning. We love getting to spend time with family.

Playing Grandpa's Piano