Trip to California

We recently took a quick little trip to California. Emily's brother, Jeff, decided to finally tie the knot to his girlfriend, Marlena. It was kind of a last minute trip, so we packed up and left right after Russ' doctors appointment last Monday. We drove all day Monday, and arrived at Emily's parents house around 8:30 at night. We were so tired. The wedding was on Tuesday at 9:00 in the morning. They wanted to be married on a mountain top, but because of the weather, they had to settle for a vacant house on the top of a hill in the middle of Lake Oroville. The view was beautiful and the ceremony was nice and simple. Emily's dad performed the ceremony. After the wedding, we headed back to Emily's parents house for a nice, big breakfast. It was fun to get to go and see everyone and to be there to support Jeff and Marlena.Jeff and Marlena

Mirian with Great G-ma D

Mirian with her cousin Sydney

Crazy Carter Clan

Mirian and Daddy

Mirian with Uncle Jeff

On Wednesday, we drove down to Oakland to Sincere Hardware, to pick up our kitchen remodel things. We picked up our granite and our cabinetry. We also got a pretty tile back splash and some tile and granite to remodel Russ' parents bathroom. We got a great deal on all of the stuff and we are so excited to install it sometime this summer. On Thursday, we hauled it all back to Washington in the back of Russ' dad's pick-up truck and a U-haul trailer. There was only one minor casualty. A piece of back splash cracked on the trip, other than that, we managed to make it with 5 slabs of granite. We were pretty proud of ourselves.

All in all, it was a quick trip, but it was so fun to see family and friends. Congratulations Jeff and Marlena! We love you both!

Wrist Injury Update

Well, remember Russ' wrist injury??? It isn't healing on its own like it should. Russ gets to have surgery on May 5. Not fun. It's a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because the problem will get solved. It's bad because . . . well, it's surgery.

The doctor said he will start out orthoscopically. If he finds additional problems, it will turn into a full on surgery. The recovery time for orthoscopic surgery is 2-3 weeks. If it turns into something bigger, recovery time is 3-4 months. Let's hope for 2-3 weeks.

This will really put a damper on our kitchen remodel for which we brought home the cabinets and granite yesterday.

Please keep Russ in your prayers.

Cows say Moo and E.T. Phone home

We have been trying to teach Mirian important things in life. Some of the first she has learned are that cows say moo, heard at the very beginning of the video and that E.T. phones home. Have a listen.

We are starting with the most important things first. She also does a kitty sound and an elephant sound. We will put a video of it if we can catch her doing it.

Happy First Birthday Goober!!!!!!

It's really convenient for Russ to remember birthdays for Emily and Mirian as Emily's is on April Fool's Day and Mirian's is the day after Emily's.

Today Mirian turns one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a sweetheart she is!!! We are so grateful for her and the joy and happiness she has brought to our lives. She is just so precious. She will have her daddy wrapped around her little finger.

It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since we first held her in our arms!!!! The times have been so wonderful!!! She is getting SOOO big!!!! She has 6 or 7 teeth and we have a hard time keeping track of her as she cruises from room to room.

It's fun to see her smile, and to hear her cheeseball laugh. Unfortunately, she has learned the cheeseball part from her goofy dad. She does "ET phone home" with her daddy-o as they touch fingers. It's fun to watch!!!

We had a party tonight with some family and friends and it was awesome!!!


Mirian we love you so much and are grateful to have you in our lives!!!!!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Happy Birthday Emily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's no April Fool's Joke, today is really Emily's birthday. She turned 29 today (she doesn't mind people knowing her age). She is such a sweetheart!!!! And what did she do for her birthday you ask???
She worked on the house. This picture was taken a few days ago, working on removing popcorn ceilings, but you get the point right??? We just finished painting the upstairs. Em was fantastic. We had a couple of Russ' former young men helping out with the work as well.

The paint gives a whole new feel to the house AND we were able to move upstairs in the house. We are so excited!!!! The downstairs isn't bad, but we preferred the upstairs.

Em got a certificate for some new dishes and silverware and glasses for her birthday. She also got some flowers . . . .
And a lot of love from passers-by.


Love you Emily, Happy Birthday!!!!!

San Diego

Russ had a convention in San Diego that he had to attend, and Mirian and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to come along. We had such a good time being away from Washington for a little bit and getting the chance to relax. We arrived in San Diego late Saturday night. Sunday morning, Russ had meetings, so Mirian and I stayed at the hotel. The hard thing about traveling with babies is that you still need to get their nap time in somehow. Russ had a break in the middle of the day, so we attempted to go to church. The hotel, however, had listed the wrong times for the church building, so we just missed the first ward, and the next ward wasn't starting for another hour. There wasn't time to wait around for the next meeting because we had to hurry to get Russ back to his convention.



On Monday, we went to Balboa Park. It was so beautiful! Spring had definitely sprung in San Diego. We let Mirian play on the swings and in the sand. She had so much fun! Then we walked around the park and walked past some of the beautiful museums. Most were closed so we didn't go inside. There was also a lovely botanical garden. The flowers were so beautiful and smelled so good (especially after not being able to smell anything for two weeks with a nasty cold).









We went to the San Diego Zoo. You can't visit San Diego without making a stop at the zoo! It was the perfect time of year to go. The zoo had hardly any people there, so you really got to see the animals in action. They weren't hiding from all of the tourists. Mirian loved the lions and the elephants. She was such a good baby, not to mention the cutest!







Our favorite part of the trip was when we went to Sea World. It was so exciting to see dolphins and whales, and all other sorts of sea life up close. What wonderful creatures our Heavenly Father has created. We were just in awe the whole time we were there. Russ and I kept going back to see the dolphins, because they were just so much fun to watch.










Mirian and I were supposed to come home on Thursday. Russ had to stay an extra day and catch a flight to Ohio. When we got to the airport, we found out that my flight had been canceled, and they rescheduled us for Friday. It was nice to spend one more day with Russ, but we were all so exhausted, that we just relaxed at the hotel most of the day.

All in all, it was a really fun trip and Mirian was so good! She really is the best baby and we are so blessed to have her in our life. She was so happy and she made everyone around her smile. You should have seen the people at the airport! She would make eye contact with someone across the room and then give them her huge smile. Next thing you know, total strangers were coming up to her, just to get a smile from her. We love her so much!

Video of Mirian

Here is an enjoyable video of Mirian, hopefully it makes you smile.