A Soupçon of the Wright Life

Goals

2012-01-26T21:14:00.000-08:00

This is the first year that I have actually thought about goal, written them out and am conscious about them most everyday. It feels good. To actually have something to work towards.

All of my goals are focused all year long. So when October comes I am still working towards them.

I am still struggling at one of them, journal writing. My goal is to write once a week. Um, this is the first time I have done any sort of journaling (I do count blogging as writing in a journal). I need some time in my week where I can stop watching Grey's Anatomy or Revenge or Bachelor to write in my journal. Any suggestions on a good time to remember each week. I tried Sundays, but since I have to wake up at 6am when Carter is taking his nap on Sundays I do the same.

Happy 3rd Birthday Carter!

2011-12-05T20:53:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that Carter is 3. He is growing up so fast.

We had an eventful day today. We had 2 Cars parties. The first one was with some of his friends. I chose to do an all boy party partly because the theme was boyish. Carter had 6 friends over: Thomas, Stetson, Howie, Tate, Tanner, and Dallin.
Here is Carter with Thomas opening presents. We had a blast. The boys made license plates, played on the mini bounce house, thank you to Dallin for letting us borrow it,
they played pin the lightening bolt to McQueen. The boys loved it, Howie liked it so much he did 3 more lightening bolts after his one.

Here is Carter smiling (this is the only picture I could get him to smile in). Howie is in the background. Everything went so fast and I don't think that I was all there. I forgot so many things (as you can tell I forgot to comb his hair), I even forgot to get a group picture, I remembered after everyone left. SAD

In the evening we had a family party. I love this picture, it captured his excitement. Carter was pretty worn out, hopefully he will take a long nap tomorrow.
This is the Lightening McQueen cake, it turned out better than I imagined. The frosting was hard to work with, it was so runny after adding the food coloring. I even learned my lesson when adding food coloring, add a little at a time, not a whole bunch first. The frosting tasted horrible because I added too much food coloring. We had a fun day.

Dave and I love Carter so much and are grateful he is part of our family. Carter is such a joy!

2011-10-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

Faith

Faith is knowing the sun will rise, lighting each new day.

Faith is knowing the Lord will hear my prayers each time I pray.

Faith is like a little seed, if planted it will grow.

Faith is a swelling within my heart, when I do right I know.

Scripture Power

Because I want to be like the Savior and I can

I am reading His instructions, I'm following His plan

Because I want the power His word will give to me,

I am changing how I live, I am changing what I'll be

Scripture Power keeps me safe from sin

Scripture Power is the power to win

Scripture Power! Everyday I need

The power that I get each time I read.

~We just had our Primary Program in church today, the kids did awesome!

Every time we sang the songs I was so touched. The words to the songs are so simple yet so powerful. I am so grateful for a knowledge of the Gospel. The Primary is such a great program for the young children, I love my calling.

~I am so excited to see Carter in Primary. Those little sunbeams are so cute (I just may be partial to them since we taught them in nursery last year).

~One of the kids in my class is SO funny, he makes me laugh on more than one occasion. Today in class we were talking about honesty. He raises his hand and relays a story of when he was younger his older brother (background he comes from a family of 5 boys) did something bad and he got blamed for it. One of the other kids asked him which brother it was. He replies "the blonde one". Hahaha, I try not to laugh at the things they say, but that was so funny.

GQ

2011-08-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

Carter is following in his dad's footsteps.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

2011-08-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

My sister had the day off today and she wanted to make these. Something that will take practice to make it prefect looking. This recipe we got off Pinterest. It was SOOOO yummy.Cinnamon Roll Pancakes. A fantastic combination.
We also had another Haboob. This one was not as bad.

Ties

2011-08-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

For the Wright family reunion we are planning family pictures. We decided on white shirts with red ties for the guys and red shirts for the girls and everyone in jeans. It is hard to find anything for boys. So we decided that making the ties for the boys would be the best alternative.
I liked the way turned out, better than I thought.

Tragic

2011-08-15T21:52:00.001-07:00

Last time I had my hair highlighted was when TeNeal did it back in November. The regrowth was ugly and I was embarrassed. I needed to do something about it. My mom colors her hair and she had an extra bottle of dye, the color was light blonde. Great! I kinda wanted to go lighter, so on Saturday I used it. 30 minutes later my hair was SOOOO dark, it was not light blonde at all. To top it off, my hair had an ugly red tint to it, so red. It was like a burnt dark red, not that pretty red that most redheads have, it was horrible. So I went to Sally's and asked the w0rker there what to do. She suggested I use a color lifter. So she helped me pick out the color to use. Natural blonde, but it was a color lifter to lighten hair. Saturday night I dyed my hair again. It lifted the color all right. But left the RED color. (Sorry no pictures of this all, I was too worried about the family reunion that is in less than a week and we are going to take family pictures and my hair is RED). Now, I have a light strawberry blonde hair, eek. It was 11 pm and church is at 8am, I have to get up at 6 am. Monday, I try again. This time I called my friend Keryenne and she gave me suggestions on what to do to fix it. She said to use a color that had Ash in it, like ash blonde or light ash blonde. I go to Sally's, again, and choose the light ash blonde, but a color lifter so it will take the red out.
It worrrrrked, OH YA. The red is not completely gone but not nearly as bad. I actually like it, not love it, but like.
It looks more golden. I could probably do the last step again but, my hair needs a break or it will break, hahaha.

Pinewood Derby

2011-08-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

For an Elder's Quorum activity they held a Pinewood Derby contest. With being the macho men that they are they had VERY few rules. 1. Car cannot weight over a pound and a half 2. Nothing can stick out of the front of the car to make it longer.

Dave, being the Engineer that he is, drew up his design. Looks pretty sweet. Then we went over to my Grandpa's to use his tools to cut it out.

His car was pretty stickin fast. Look at it, it just looks like it would smoke every car.

Dave's car ended up winning EVERY round. The car was undefeated. He won this cool trophy and bragging rights for the next year until their next race. Some of the guys added extra items to their car to make it even heavier. One guy added bulletts, just duck taped them to the top. One guy added a jack hammer chisel to the top with tape, the back end was super long. The Cox's did a wii remote and a banana, they were pretty awesome.

Really, we have a good time and it was a great idea for an activity, one thing I love about the Summerfield Ward is they have so many activities.

Haboob

2011-08-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

Haboob (Arabic for "strong wind) is a type of intense dust-storm commonly observed in arid regions throughout the world. They have been observed in the Sahara desert, as well as across the Arabian Peninsula, throughout Kuwait, and in the most arid regions of Iraq. (according to wikipedia)

We had our own Haboob here in Arizona on July 5, 2011.

The mile-high dust storm moved between speeds of 50 and 60 mph and appeared to be nearly 100 miles wide, according to the Weather Service’s radar.

These are pictures right out the front door, that I took.The dust-storm was about 50 miles wide and came in a matter of seconds.
We were able to see it just engulf us. It came from every side.
Here it comes. AHHH!!!
We are in the middle of it. Completely daylight, but the dust is so thick you can't see down the street.

8 Weeks to a Better You

2011-08-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

I am doing this contest 8 weeks to a better you, here is the website just in case you want to check it out, www.8weekstoabetteryou.blogspot.com.

One of the step is to write in a journal, blogging counts. Hurray, because I am already tired of writing in my journal and it is only the third week.

Basically, I will be blogging more. Now, what to blog about is the question. I don't like to put too personal of information or what I am really thinking. So this post will be about the 8 weeks to a better you contest/program.

I am really glad that I committed to do this. I feel so much better spiritually, physically and mentally. Physically I work out for 45 minutes or longer no matter what, where as before on some days I would get bored and just do 30 minutes. Physically I am eating healthier, now I am trying to not too strict on this one, I just make sure I make better choices of what I eat and I drink 64 oz of water a day. For example, at Paradise Bakery they give you a free cookie, instead of eating the cookie I ate a granola bar. Spiritually and mentally I read uplifting material, do an act of service for someone and write in my journal or blog. :)

I suggest trying it out. Let me know what you think if your do.

So Far This Summer

2011-07-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

We Started off moving a little over 900 miles, after packing our stuff up.Rexburg decided to remind us why we were moving (only I secretly love when it snows, so pretty). We received our last snow fall the day we left. We left Idaho on 4-14-11
I had to have Carter wear his suit as much as I could because AZ is just too hot for him to wear a suit. He looks like such a stud.
We had Easter at my parents house. The Easter bunny hid Carter's basket in the dryer, since he loves to "help" with laundry. We decided to make the baskets centered around Christ so our children NEVER lose sight of why we celebrate Easter. A book of Christ and a lamb, the lamb because it reminds us that Jesus is our Shepherd.
Since my parents don't have a pool in their backyard we got a kiddie pool. The summer is long and hot here in AZ. Everyday we spend trying to keep ourselves cool. The parks are out of the question, most of the out door activities are non-existent. Carter was able to have a couple friends come over and play in the pool. Kent and Stetson both came to play and then played inside once the sun got too vicious.
June 10, 2011 we made a bird feeder out of the pine cone Carter brought back from Fathers and Sons Camp Out. He had fun making it. The birds didn't ever eat the seeds (I don't know what we did wrong). The seeds ended up getting blown off by the dust storm. I feel bad that Carter did not get to see the birds eat the seeds.
June 29, 2011 Dave, Carter, Shane, Carissa (Shane's girl friend) and me went to the Phoenix Zoo. We had to get there early because it was so hot. We started at the end of the zoo with the least amount of shade, then moved to the part of the zoo with more shade. It was not too bad until the last 30-45 minutes that we were there. Carter's cheeks were so red. Poor guy.
Shane and Carissa by the Giraffe exhibit. They were at the end of our zoo experience, we left right after this around noon.
Carter and Dave by the rhinos. Carter used to love to say rhino, it was one of the first animals that he could say. Of course they have to be in the shade for the picture, hahaha.
Our family at the zoo, sportin' our shades.
This is another way to stay cool here in the Valley of the Sun. ICE CREAM. Carter's favorite.
My mom's friend from work has a little grandson a couple months older than Carter. Both of them wanted to get together Jaden and Carter to play at Chuck E. Cheese. They both had a blast playing games.
Carter with Chuck E.
July 1st we were able to meet up with Lindsey, Kerrigan and Tucker for some swimming. Really it was just Carter and Kerrigan that went swimming in the play pool. Tucker crawled around Lindsey and I chatted and took pictures.
2 year olds are the hardest to take pictures of, two 2 year olds are even harder, but two 2 year olds playing, oh my...
They had a blast playing together. After they played a tiny bit inside. I am pretty sure it was Kerrigan that potty trained Carter. She showed him how it was done (good thing they are 2) and Carter had no problem after that. Well a little bit of problems, he wont go poop in the toilet and has a hard time telling other that he has to go. He has had an accident in Nursery and 2 in the kids care at the gym and has only done one BM in the toilet.

OOOPS!

2011-06-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

Carter is trying to do the thumbs up sign. He gets it and we all say "cool dude". But, the times he tries doesn't go so well...

He is just trying so hard to keep his fingers to stay down and then out his thumb up...And then we take a picture just at the most opportune time... I wish I could think of something witty, but I am not a funny person, so just insert your comment here______________. Hahaha

More Like a Journal Entry

2011-06-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to Arizona, along time ago actually.

Dave turned the big 3-0. I wanted to make it a big deal and throw a party. But the party was a flop. I learned from this to do actual invitations; I did invitations on a social network, because they are a big hit right now, but apparently it didn't work for me. Of the people I invited only one ended up getting the invitation the rest I text the day before to see if they were coming, by then no one could. Only 3 were able to come. I feel really bad that there wasn't a lot of people there, but we still had fun.

Dave started Wright's Pool Service here in Arizona. He bought 20 pools and has 3 new customers already and it has only been a month. He is so creative, he designed the logo all on his own. Sample to the right.

We are living with my parents currently, with our belongings in the garage. I can't find the boxes I packed most my clothes in, so I am forced to wear the same thing over and over. Now it is getting too hot to go searching for them. Sad. I guess I didn't care too much to get then before it was too hot.

Carter had a hard time with the move here. He did not want to go to nursery at kept say "home, home" while pulling on my shirt. It took 3 Sundays for him to finally go to nursery by himself and to quit asking me to go home. That was the hardest for me about the move.

We took Carter out of the crib, he sleeps in a big kid bed now. He does fantastic with it. I thought he would be done taking naps but I think he does better with taking them. It only took one night of him trying to come out for him to get that he still has to stay in bed.

Carter and I tried potty training yesterday and this morning. After pulling out my hair yesterday and being on my knees at night, it took an hour and a half today to realize that Carter is just not ready. He would sit on the toilet but would not go pee until the underwear was on. We will try again in a month or two.

Carter is so smart he can count to 12 all by himself and to 29 with a little help. He knows his colors and the letters A and O and the circle shape. I need to focus now more on the letters now. Most importantly he know that Heavenly Father and Jesus love him. Last Sunday in Church he said, "Heavenly Father loves me." It touched me. He loves to sing the primary songs and almost know all the words to Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam.

Carter has such an attitude and is very stubborn. He loves to be the center of attention and loves to copy his Daddy.

That is all that is going on so far. I forget to take pictures when we go do fun things, partly because most of the time we are rushing out the door.

Friends

2011-04-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

Carter made friends with Jace and Tallie at the kids world day care. They all get so excited to see each other. Carter can say their names and has a blast playing with them.It is so hard to take pictures of a two year old, but 3 two year olds, lets just say we took a ton. For this one Carter was throwing a fit, Tallie and jace were wondering what his deal was.
Jace and Carter playing cars together.
Every time I think of how we are moving soon and Carter wont ever see his friends again my heart breaks. Carter has no idea, I told Carter to tell them bye, but he did not understand that it isn't until next time mommy works out it is, probably forever.

Trying to Pretend

2011-03-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

After a week of warm weather most of the snow melted. Too bad the whole week it was warm we were sick. Sunday we started feeling better. With a little bit of cabin fever, Dave took Carter out to ride his motor bike. When I went out there it was sprinkling and windy and a bit chilly. We did not stay out that long. We tried to think it was warm.Carter had fun and Dave made fun of me for a couple days for it "being too cold".

The Craze

2011-03-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

After a long winter and taking Carter to Arctic Circle at least once a week, to get out of the house and because it was free, I discovered The Craze. The Craze is an indoor play area with lazer tag, arcade games, food and a play place for kids. Three and under are free. I can't believe I just now found out about this place.They had a mini air hockey, so cute. Carter loved playing with daddy.They had tunnels with slides. Carter went down multiple times.

Here is Carter in one of the tunnel.
Air hockey is one of my favorite arcade games. Here is a video of Carter getting the hang of it.
The other video Carter is on a horse, we had one extra token.

Grandma Wright Visits

2011-03-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

Grandma came to visit. Carter loves his grandma, he just snuggled up next to her.
They made cookies together. And enjoyed eating them afterward.
Every time Grandma would leave Carter would get sad, even if she was getting something out of the car. Funny kid. We love Grandma and wish we lived closer so we could see her more often.

Caidence Birthday Party

2011-03-06T14:23:00.000-08:00

We went to Carter's cousin, Caidence, Birthday party. Carter loves sweets. He'll eat any kind.
One of the great experiences we have had here in Idaho is we get to be close to the Mackerts. In fact we lived with them until we could find a place to live. While we were there Carter became really close to Aunt Lori. The first name he could say was Lori. Now he gets so excited whenever he sees her or I tell him we are going to see her. Sometimes randomly in the car he'll say Lori. I need to get more pictures of them together because they have a special bond.

Nap Time

2011-02-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

I love Carter, but one of my favorite times is nap time. He has a hard time napping everyday. It is like 3 or 4 times out of the week. So to preserve my time I took pictures.

It was like 4:30 so I had to wake him. He didn't like it too much.

College Roommates

2011-02-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

I had a great time in college. I was also blessed with some of the best roommates (one of which is now my sister-in-law). Although at the time, I did not get along with some of them we are still friends to this day. Sad to say there are some of them who I have lost contact with. But most of them will be my life long best friends.

Amanda Boyd and Michele Wyatt came to visit. We had a great time catching up and seeing our old stomping grounds. We took look around BYU-I. It certainly is not the same. The MC ("the student hang out building") is completely different, the book store is 3 times bigger and the student cafeteria is 10 times bigger than a mall eatery. They added study classrooms and made the student life program have a bigger area. We also got to take a look around the I-Center, which is a replica of the conference center in Salt Lake City, UT. Only difference is it seats 15,000 people and the conference center seats 21,000.

We went out for dinner to a Chinese place and after got ice cream, an old tradition of Reed's Dairy. This time we went to the new one in Rexburg instead of having to drive all the way to Idaho Falls.

Monkey Rock Getaway

2011-02-05T13:58:00.000-08:00

When it is cold outside there is not much to do. One Saturday, we got tired of being indoors and went to Monkey Rock. Monkey Rock is a waterfall about 25 minutes away in Newdale, ID. During the summer people like to go there and jump off the little cliff into the pool of water. We just went to enjoy the outdoor scenery. I took some videos of Carter (my mom keeps buggin me about it).

Carter's 2nd Birthday

2010-12-12T14:14:00.001-08:00

We happened to be in AZ for Carter's Birthday. My brother, Derek, blessed their baby and we had the opportunity to fly down there for it.

Carter's birthday was on Sunday, December 5 and so was the blessing. We had a little get together in the evening for Carter. He opened a few presents, played with some balloons, and ate cake. Pretty low key.

I made a car cake. Since cars are his favorite thing. He liked to just pick off the candies that made up the road. He did really well at blowing out the candles (but I think that Daddy helped a little). We love Carter and are excited to see what his independent, I mean his 2nd year will bring us.

AZ Temple Lights

2010-12-04T14:37:00.000-08:00

While in AZ we met up with the Bailey's to see the temple lights. Last year we did too. Looks like it is becoming a tradition for us. They do an amazing job at decorating for Christmas. Thousands of people attend each year, hopefully it is a great missionary opportunity.The husbands were nice enough to push the strollers. Dave and Carter, Rob and Jeremiah.

Just Can't Wait

2010-11-13T13:51:00.001-08:00

I am having a hard time waiting until Thanksgiving. I want to put up Christmas Decorations right now. I want to listen to Christmas Music all the time. I love the colors red and green... and Christmas lights, the joy and kindness everyone seems to have this time of year. I am excited to start family traditions and put up a Christmas Tree (even though it wont be that glamorous I still am excited) and watch Christmas movies. I am not sure if it is because we don't have any Thanksgiving decorations or if this our first Christmas with Carter in our own place. I might be a rebel and just do it before Thanksgiving. I just can't wait.

Pumpkin Goodness

2010-11-11T12:46:00.000-08:00

My next door neighbor told me how to make these extremely low fat cookies and now I am going to share the recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1 15oz can of pumpkin

1 box of spice cake

1 bag of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the cake mix and the pumpkin until creamy. Add the chocolate chips. Drop teaspoon size onto cookie sheet (I always grease my cookie sheets) and bake for 10-12 minutes.

That is it. No egg. No oil. Which makes them low fat, the only fat is a little in the cake mix and the chocolate chips.

Fun in the Snow

2010-11-10T11:13:00.000-08:00

Ooops!! "I can't see"Carter's first time playing in the snow. He mainly just walked around in it. I was not dressed to play in the snow, so he really did not know what to do. But he still liked it. Next time we will build a snowman, he really likes the song, "Once I was a snowman"
The snow cover is from one day of snowing. It will pretty much be here until May. Gotta make the best of it. And like living in Seattle rain, just cause it is snowing doesn't mean we have to be cooped inside everyday.

Crazy Kid

2010-11-09T10:37:00.001-08:00

Carter's new hat. We went swimming last week and now he loves his swim diapers.Silly face. His personality is so fun and we experience new likes everyday.
Carter is OBSESSED with cars. Every time we go outside he says "caaa", whenever there is a car. He loves the movie Cars, toy cars, race cars, big cars (trucks), puzzles with cars, books with cars, anything. We went to the Mackert's house and he played with their cars. Now all he can say is "Lori caaa". (Ya, Lori was the first name he learned to say, and she loves it).

The other night Dave introduced the race car game on the computer to him. He gets so excited when dad comes home and shows him the race car game, he stops everything he is doing.

Halloween Festivities

2010-11-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween. Surprisingly Carter loved his bear costume.He did a cake walk and won a cup cake. He made a mess all over the church building. And stupid me did not notice until it was too late.
Here he is fishing.
This time around I was the mom. Trick or treating from a mom's perspective is SO MUCH BETTER than trick or treating myself. Carter loved it: knocking on doors, saying "treat" and getting to pick the candy. Now I am ready to throw out the candy because I am sick of eating it.

Corn Maze

2010-10-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

We went to the corn maze this past weekend. Trent and Jennifer invited us to come with them. We had fun trying to find all of the 12 stations hidden through out. Carter had fun picking the corn off the cob one by one.

We're lost!!! Trent and Jennifer, Dave, Carter and Lesley were racing to see who could finish first. Just kidding it was not a race but the boys acted like it at the end when we were trying to find our way out. They ran.

Our Home

2010-10-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

This is our kitchen. I have chosen the colors black, white, tan and green as the accent color.This is in the "dinning area" (just where our table is). I made the photo board.
This is the other side of the "dinning area."

We live in a town home. This one is our home. We have a huge grassy area in the back, that will soon have a snow covering.Our living room/family room is a work in progress (I guess all the rooms still are). I'll post another picture when I get the blank wall finished.
The wall arts are the inspiration of color in the room. I love them. It took a lot of searching for me to find something that I loved.
I really wanted the furniture to be dark brown and the picture frames as so forth, because the furniture in the kitchen is black. I did not like the idea of mixing brown and black. In this room that is what is happening, brown and black are coming together. I think I am actually liking it. Any input from someone who knows what they are doing?

Jackson Hole and Grand Teton

2010-10-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

My dad was kind enough to fix Dave's truck and then drive it up here. My mom and Grandma decided to make a vacation out of it, since my mom had off work for a week. We had a great time together. We went to Jackson Hole, Grand Teton/Jenny Lake, and Blackfoot. We went to Blackfoot to see my Grandma's house she grew up in. It had change for the worst. The new owners had trashed it. Grandma was sad. After we went to Blackfoot, we stopped in Shelley, ID to look at Hidden Treasures. We were looking for decorating ideas for the living room. I had no idea what colors or style and no direction. I did not really see anything that I loved, just some things that I like, but not enough to spend money on.
These two are at Jenny Lake.
This is also at Jenny Lake
This is at Jackson Hole under the antler arch. The sweater we had to buy while we were there because it was colder than we thought. It was to big for Carter, when he walked the sleeves would fall down, he ended up walking with his arms up. I thought it was pretty good problems solving.

This cat became fond of Carter and hung around for a couple days. We fed the cat some milk, Carter enjoyed watching it drink.

Every Moment

2010-10-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

Awhile ago, I came across a blog of a family in Idaho. Their little girl is about Carter's age. Although it is not totally clear what happened, I gathered that their little girl fell into a canal and floated down then was pulled out by a local farmer who happened to know CPR. Yesterday I found out that their little girl pass away. I just cried, thinking about Carter and how strong they have been. How grateful I am for my little boy. Yesterday and today, I have been trying to enjoy every moment I have with Carter. Every diaper change, every battle with his picky eating, every time he does not nap, every time he sing E-I-E-I-O, every moment I have been trying to cherish more and more. Here is their blog if you want to read. Patrickandashley.blogspot.com. I love Carter so much and I am so grateful for every moment.

Fall in Rexburg

2010-10-05T11:22:00.001-07:00

I like fall.

We are here in Rexburg settling in. We almost have all the boxes unpacked. We made some new friends and Carter loves to play outside, since we can for now. We really like the place we are living. And our neighbors are great. The backyard area is perfect for kids to go play. The only road to get to our place has been closed the whole time we have been here and the detour is like 5 miles out of the way in the middle of no where. Happy to say that they are finally finished and have opened the road up.

Phoenix To Flagstaff

2010-09-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Back to the 2 years post. I forgot to mention that Dave's Truck was at my parents house for two years just sitting there. NEVER DRIVEN. Part of the preparation to move was getting the truck back in working condition. Dave changed the oil, replaced the spark plugs, and got a new battery. It ran fine. We strapped a Uhaul trailer to the back and loaded it up. Both the Uhaul and the back of the truck were packed to the max.
Traveling up hill at 6% grade to over 7,000 ft was a bit much. Right before we got to Flagstaff (he was at the Flagstaff airport) Dave's truck just died, just stopped, just like that.
So I called up Lindsey and Jared, because Lindsey's parents live there and they are staying with them. I asked if we could come by and drop off our trailer that my dad was pulling so my dad could go tow Dave's truck and the Uhaul to Lindsey's and we would figure out what to do next. We decided to just trade in the trailer Uhaul for one of the trucks. After we unloaded Dave's truck and the trailer into the truck and 4 hours later, we were on our way again.
Good thing we have friends in Flag who were willing to lend a hand. They were so kind to let us store the truck there. And I was so excited that I could see their new little boy and Carter and Kerrigan could play together again. (that is the real reason the truck broke in Flag hahaha)

2 Years

2010-08-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

For 2 years this is where our possession have be stored. In my parents garage. (minus the few items in the front it is my dad's junk). Sometimes I can't even remember what we have and don't have. I keep joking it will be like Christmas all over again when open all the boxes in our own place. Well, Christmas is finally here. The Wright's are moving into their own place.

Dave was offered a job out of state and we feel it is the right move. 2 weekends ago I received a text from a friend whom we don't talk regularly (which is quite sad cause she is a great friend). She asked me what Dave's phone number was because her brother is looking to hire someone for this business that he is starting. The next day her brother called and offered Dave this position in his company to be part owner (in a nut shell). Also to help start it up. We feel this is a fantastic opportunity and could work out for us so we are going to do it.

I bet you are wondering where. Guess? Out of every city in the US and all the places we have lived and all the places Dave applied for jobs in... it is Rexburg, ID.
2 years ago Dave graduated and we said sionara. See ya, Rexburg Chapter we are done. 2 years ago we moved all of our possessions out of that state. Now we are going back. Crazy.

Day Get Away

2010-08-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Carter and I drove up to Flagstaff for the day. We had to get away from the heat, the temp dropped over 20 degrees, and to visit the Stokes family. We had such a good time going outside to play with the water and jump on the trampoline. Kerrigan and Carter (FYI she is the little girl born on the same day as Carter) played so cute together. Carter loved the trampoline, we are just going to have to get one, not only for him but for me too, it is such a good work out.

Animal Sounds

2010-08-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

I always thought it was weird how parents taught their children animal sounds. I was going to skip this ability for our children. But, one day it just sort of happened. Carter picked up on the animals sounds really fast and before I knew it he was speaking animal. The sheep is my favorite so I recorded it. He can so cat, dog, bear, sheep, horse and pig. Funny thing about the horse, I am not the greatest horse imitator. I actually hate to do the horse sound. Carter started doing the pig sound for the horse and I did not correct him. So for weeks he thought the horse sounded like a pig. I broke down and taught him the "correct" sound for horse it has taken him awhile to switch but I think he almost has it down.

So much for not teaching animal sounds.

Our Morning

2010-08-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

I finally got the blanket made for my friend Kim and her baby. She had him over a month ago. It turned out better than I thought it was going to. In the process of making it it was all different lengths, non of the squares were even, but I ended up liking it. This is Kim and her little guy, Max.

We went to the temple today. We thought if we went early we could walk around the grounds a bit. Only, early in AZ means 5 am and still it is 90 outside. We only stayed outside for about 10 or 15 minutes. It was nice to see the Christus and Carter knew He was Jesus.

Carter and Kim's daughter, Audrey, had a good time playing together. Then we went to Cafe Rio for lunch. I had never been. Carter and I shared a burrito with shredded beef. It was yummy. Thanks Kim for driving all the way over here and treating us to lunch.

I Wonder...

2010-08-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

I am not sure who reads our blog; what your background is or what you believe. I don't know what your thoughts are or how you feel. I am, however, going to touch on some of my own beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and a little of my background in this post.
I believe that before this life on Earth we all were spirits dwelling with God. We all wanted to come to Earth to gain a body, to be tried and test, to learn and to grow. I know that everyone on this Earth and everyone who has and will live here, chose to come here for these reasons.
We all chose to come here to receive a body.
Dave and I just found out that our little one who was due on February 24, 2011 stopped growing at 9 weeks. Here is where I wonder. Did a spirit get to receive that body? The body was tiny, so would it be usable? I want to think that we have another child who is waiting for his/her parents. But still, I am not sure. Here is where my logic would say probably. There are spirits, more than we can count, who need bodies. All of the miscarriages, still borns, and abortions that happen would not be for a spirit. I wish to think this untrue. All the pain and suffering that we experience, when they occur, would just be for us to experience and not for a spirit to gain a body. And the baby's body at 9 week is functioning.
Here is where I say probably not, in 3 Nephi 1:13 this is right before Christ is born. Nephi prays about his people and we read what Christ says to him, "Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world..." Christ did not come to the world until he was born. So, I wonder if that is how it is for all of us. Do our spirits enter into our body the day we are born? When we breathe the breath of life? And Christ is a God, it could have been different for Him. If so, when do you think the spirit enters? I am not sure...
There are so many thoughts and "I wonders" going through my head, I hope that I am not rambling and someone has wondered the same things or knows anything on the subject. (If anyone want to comment and does not want to tell everyone you can email me lesley1482@gmail.com)
I know that God loves me and has been with me through this and I have been comforted. I just wonder...

Camping Family Reunion

2010-08-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

The main reason why we all came to CA was to go CAMPING. We went to the Calaveras Big Trees camp grounds. We had a blast. Could not keep Carter clean. After the 3rd time of Carter tripping and landing in the dirt, I gave up. No that is not chocolate on his face...
The bears visited twice. The 2nd night they tried to get into the storage container (in the above picture is a green storage container that is where we kept our food from the bears). Mark (Kaylinn's husband) had an idea to put all the sweets into the coolers. That kept them from trying to get in the 3rd night. But they were curious about the box on top of the truck and they left foot prints. Pretty scary and exciting.

We went to the river that was close by. Dave, Mom, Mark and Kaylinn are in this picture floating down the river. The water was cold and Carter did not want to get in so I stayed behind to watch him. He had fun collecting rocks and hiking by the river.

We went on a hike one of the days. The trees were amazing. They were gigantic. We went during Carter's nap time so he did not have a good time.

In this picture you can tell that is is not happy.

Look at this tree, we are standing next to it and is still bigger around.

Carter was in his element, he loves being outside. By the end Carter became a pro camper, he stopped tripping and falling in the dirt, he chased squirrels, picked up sticks, collected rocks and explored his surrounding.

Grandma Wright's House

2010-08-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

We drove to California for a reunion. Carter did fantastic on the way here, no whining or complaining that he was in the car seat for 12 hours. He sure was a trouper. We went to the park and had a picnic. The boys had fun playing on the jungle gym. Carter loved the side and swings.

We also got to fly kites. The boys loved it, even the big boys.

We took a family picture. I like it, I think it turned out pretty good.

After church we captured a picture of the cousins. Braxton (18 months), Macade (3 1/2), Carter (20 months). We had tons of people ask if Braxton and Carter were twins. And one lady asked if they were all triplets. Stupid lady you can clearly see that Macade is older than the two of them.

Pool time fun at Grandma's

We picked plums. Carter sure enjoyed them.

Anyone?

2010-06-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know of any Mechanical Engineering positions available, companies that are hiring?

What The?

2010-06-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

One morning, I go to get him and this is how his shirt is. Now, it has happened twice. Funny kid, I have no idea how he figured this out.

Pool

2010-06-16T22:22:00.001-07:00

Here in Arizona it is too hot for going outside. Carter and I get sick of staying inside. So we got him a pool. He loves it.

I like to keep a shirt on him because he has really fair skin and I don't want him to get burned.

Ouch!

2010-05-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

Carter was playing in the garage and one of the weights fell over and landed on his ankle/foot. It looks worse than it really is because he never acts like it hurts. The same day he was able to walk without limping. Putting shoes on he never flinches. He never complains about. I am glad it didn't break his foot. Hard to tell in the picture but, it is so black and blue and a little swollen.

All Most There

2010-05-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

In about a month, Carter will be going to nursery. We have 4 more Sundays. (Minus one Sunday, they are canceling church meetings for the dedication of the new AZ temple). I was so excited to have a peaceful Relief Society meeting again, where I could feel the spirit of the lesson, learn something to better myself and enjoy the company of the other women in our ward, CHILD FREE.
A couple Sundays ago Dave and I got phone call to meet with one of the counselors. Great! a new calling, right now we are on the activities committee, super fun calling, love it. We go in and he is making small talk, how are you? how is job hunting going? You have a little one entering in nursery soon, right? That is when we were called to NURSERY. Nursery, this is our third time since being married. How long have we been married? Not even 5 years. I thought we were going to do the nursery thing normally. "Carter this is your first Sunday at nursery, have fun, see you at the end of church, love you bye." Instead, he gets to be in nursery early and we are there. Now in our ward there are 3 nursery classes split by age. Which I love. We asked not to be the teachers of his class so he could get the full effect of nursery, and I think it would be better for him and the other kids all around. So right now, for the next four Sundays, he is in the 2-3 year old nursery class, I hope the real transition to nursery will be ok and he wont be confused.

And we are still on the activities committee.

Lesson Learned

2010-04-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to a "super hero" birthday party. Carter had a lot of fun. Instead for little goody bag to take home my friend made all the kids capes. The letter "C" is on the back of the cape. In this video, Carter is wearing the cape from the party. He likes to dance to the music of the toy he is holding. We taught him to push the button on it, because we got tried of doing it.

Today, Carter and I were washing the car. If you call playing in the bucket of water helping. It was actually me, but he just liked to think he was helping. I had a feeling that I should keep the bucket close to me so I could watch him. While I was washing the tire, I look up and watched Carter lose his balance and fall into the bucket. His head never touched the water, good thing. Now, if I had not been there he could have fallen in the rest of the way, because he could not get out.

I wondered how little kids can drown in buckets. I always thought that the bucket would just tip over, but it doesn't. So the lesson is watch your kids around water. (All the Arizonans, I feel like Dave Munsey on Fox Ten News, saying watch your kids around water. Hehe)

Egg Hunting

2010-04-04T11:27:00.001-07:00

Watch out kids, Carter is ready to find those Easter eggs. We got invited to do an Easter egg hunt yesterday. This was Carter's first time. He did really well. We had to help him find the eggs but he loved getting them and putting them into the basket.

He even got eggs that some little kids missed. He even found some eggs that were hidden well.

We had to lift him up to some of the eggs.

Carter was one of the littlest kids there and he still was able to keep up with them.

He had so much fun finding the eggs and especially putting them in the basket. Afterward, he got to play with the kids in the backyard. He was the smallest, but still enjoyed the company of other children. We love the Easter season. Happy Easter.

The Phone Call

2010-04-01T15:13:00.001-07:00

This is Dave, I know I don't write much anymore but I wanted to share with you something extremely exiting and I couldn't just have Lesley do it.

I got a phone call today from the CIA. The man introduced himself as director of HR Mr. Shepard, and that he got a tip from an anonymous source about me. He then asked me a series of questions like: are you a citizen of the U.S.? I said yes. He continued, have you ever been convicted of a felon? Have you ever been in the military? Have you ever been involved with an anti-terrorist organization? I answered no to all of those, so he went on ... What is your highest level of education? I told him I graduated collage as a mechanical engineer and the conversation went on about various life experiences I've had, work, and other hobbies and interests.

In the end he told me that they are looking for someone to move to Washington DC to start a position as an engineer specializing in quantum mechanics and physics. Basically that means that I will be finding ways to track down information by using the study of the behavior of matter and energy at the molecular, atomic, nuclear and even smaller microscopic levels. Or even more basically, I'll be looking at reactions and spying throughout the world through a lazer, or building the devices that do that.

He explained that they are looking for someone young that is planning on long term commitment possibly until retirement. They want to start training from the ground up, and with someone that is young so that they can utilize the technology of the future. Not someone that is stuck in their ways and lie to themselves and the organization by saying "can't teach a dog new tricks."

I told them I would have to think about it, but then he added this ... The pay, aside from benefits, will start at over $100k. How much over? Well he didn't say, but he did say that it won't be one of those gimmicks that say over 100 and there's 101.

So, I'm kinda freaking out! Washington DC here we come! I'm sure we'll be able to figure in some kind of travel arrangement to visit friends and family or have them come visit us!

This would be the coolest thing that has ever happened to me except for if/when I become a god, no joke ... but this is a joke cause it's april fools. It's a farce. It isn't true. This has all been a made up story for you to indulge on and for me to dream about.

Happy first everyone.

A Craft I Like

2010-03-11T14:40:00.000-08:00

A new craft that I have really come to like making is these travel diaper wipe holders. I think they are so cute. This fabric that I found, I just fell in love with and I decided to make me one as well (even though I already have one). This first picture is of the back. The second picture is of the front.

Snowboarding

2010-03-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

Dave and I went snowboarding yesterday. We had such a blast. Dave attempted to do a 180 but did not land it. I was extremely cautious because this was the first time I have been since I crashed and tore my ACL. That was 5 years ago before we were married. Some parts hurt my knee but after awhile it got use to it.
The ski resort in AZ has had so much snow, probably the most that I can ever remember.

Disneyland 2010

2010-03-03T21:01:00.000-08:00

Warning: I have lots to up date.
2 weekends ago we drove to Southern California. Kaylinn and Mark invited us to visit them and go to Disneyland one last time before they closed that chapter of their lives. I love Disneyland, it is such a magical place. I love especially when you can just go and enjoy the park. As a kid, whenever we went it seemed as though we never had enough time to go on all the rides and see everything. Having Carter with us we chose to only do things that a little child could do. We first got there and did California Adventure. The Monsters Inc., ride, Carter liked it until Roz appeared at the end. Next was one of my favorites, Toy Story Mania. Kaylinn of course got the highest score of the day. She is amazingly good. Lunch was next, Carter dropped some of his sandwich on the ground and the birds came and ate it. I think that was his favorite part of the day, because he kept dropping his sandwich and signing bird.
After lunch, we went to "The Park". First it was Pirates, and then moseyed along to the petting area (of which I never knew existed).Surprisingly, he went right up to the animals and pet them. I thought he would be afraid of them. We are standing in line for Pirates and Carter just wanted to run around. That is why Dave put him on his shoulders.

Carter and Aunt Kaylinn enjoying Disneyland.

We had such a fabulous time visiting Kaylinn and Mark. We love being with them.

Last Minute Extended Vacation

2010-03-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

Since we were just 6 more hours from Dave's mom, we decided that it was a must. One of the most therapeutic vacations. Not only was Grandma there but so was Trent and Jennifer. Dave was able to help his mom with stuff around the house. He sawed holes in the wall and wired a new outlet for an indoor fountain, with a cool timer on and off switch. He also hid the TV wires in the master bedroom.

Carter had so much fun playing with Grandma.

Most of the days were wet and rainy. Carter noticed that it was sunny outside and tried to put his shoes on.

Any moment that he could he would be out there in a flash. One of the times he did not want to come in. Dave then left him out there. He had so much fun playing with us through the glass door, making faces, pounding our hands and giggling.

At night it was chilly and rainy. We were so lucky to be able to have a fire. I love curling up with a blanket and having a crackling fire in the background.

We found a snake trying to seek shelter in the bathroom.

Adventures are always happening being married to Dave. One of the nights Dave cooked dinner, then got in the cleaning mood and cleaned the whole house.
Picture Below: The wood is a ladle for dishing honey. The ladle had crystallized honey on it. The honey container was in the sink waiting to be washed. In the sink it was placed inside the 1 cup measuring cup. While cleaning, Dave put the whole thing in the microwave to melt the honey and then went back to cleaning. Next the ladle is on fire and smoke is filling the kitchen. I tried so hard not to laugh because Dave felt really bad. The next day Dave's mom found out and started to laugh. Poor Dave, we were both laughing hysterically.

Afternoon at the Park

2010-02-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

Today, Carter and I met are friends, Kim and her daughter Audrey, at the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. We rode the train and the carousel. Carter loved the train looking at everything as we whizzed past. He was a little afraid of the carousel but liked to sit on the horse when it stopped.

These two are after the train ride.

This is Carter and I on the train. I have a hard time getting him to smile for the pictures.

Carter had so much fun exploring the park. Instead of playing on the toys/jungle gym (whatever you call it) he just wanted to walk around exploring. He climbed up the stairs to a tower, carried rocks around in his hand, tried to chase the birds, followed a dog, danced to the carousel music, and fell a couple times.

Batteries?

2010-02-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

I am having the biggest problem with batteries. Dave and I bought the rechargeable batteries and I think they lose the ability to charge after a while. Every time I have grabbed the camera to take pictures or videos the camera says change batteries. WHAT? They charged all night.

So today, I took the batteries out of other sources and put them in the camera. Turned it on. Good they work. Carter and I headed for the park. Side story inserted. My parents have a space in their living room wall that is meant for a built in entertainment center. My grandma, my mom, and I have been trying to talk my dad into finally building it. My grandma and I have done several drawings. The one we are working on now is just not looking as good as the last one that we drew that got thrown away. Her and I decided that we were going to knock on the door of the people who live in the "model home"; and ask them if we could take a picture of theirs (this is where we had the idea for the entertainment center anyway). Well, my grandma and I never did. Back to the park story. While I was pushing Carter to the park, I saw the "model home." I decided to just do it. I knocked on the door and asked if I could take a picture of their entertainment center. He let me inside. I took out the camera. Turned it on. Snapped the picture and the camera turned off. Ugh. I was so embarrassed. Carter and I went to the park with NO pictures.

The Hunger Games

2010-02-03T07:43:00.001-08:00

I just got done reading The Hunger Games. By far my favorite book. I could not put it down. As soon as one chapter was finished I had to know what happened next. So many emotions run through me as I read it. This was the fastest I have ever read any book. I recommend reading it.
Summary taken from wikipedia.
The Hunger Games is a science-fiction novel written by Suzanne Collins. It is the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy. This one introduces Katniss Everdeen who lives in a post-apocalyptic world were a powerful government called the Capitol has risen up after several devastating disasters. In the book, the hunger games are an annual televised event where the ruthless and evil Capitol randomly selected on boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts, who are then pitted against each other in a game of survival and forced to kill until only one remains.

When your done reading it let me know what you thought of it.

It Starts

2010-01-31T15:14:00.000-08:00

Today I went to church as a single mother, Dave is sick and I made him stay home to rest. Sacrament meeting was not bad, I was able to keep Carter occupied, quiet and in one place. After an hour of not being able to explore, move or talk, Carter was done. We took a break in between the meetings hoping that that would suffice. It only made it worse. Carter and I sat in Sunday School and before the prayer was even said Carter was down the isle. I went to get him and tried to devert his attention, but it only made him want the freedom even more. He started talking extemely loud and trying to get away. After all the looks of "just take your child out!", we left and never returned. We were not the only ones out in the foyer, there were 6 others. All with children pre-nursery. Relief Society came and I really wanted to go and listen. I think those days are over. We made it through the practice hymn, while Carter was looking at a book. His attention was quickly diverted to the people around. We ended in the hall way. I met a couple more moms, learned how to convert our Wii, and made plans to get together with some of them.
+

Carter is doing better at learning to walk. Sometimes he starts to show off and be silly. There is a little of that on the video.

Baby Signing Time

2010-01-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

For the longest time we have been teaching Carter to sign. Last year we got for Christmas Hooked on Baby Learn to Sign, "Baby Signing Time". Happy to say he is finally catching on. In this video, Carter is doing dog and then fish. While he is doing fish he gets distracted so he does not do the last one that I say. To sign dog you pat your leg or pat and snap. To sign fish you move your hand as if your hand was the fish swimming back and forth. Carter swings his whole arm in the motion.

He knows how to do "all done or finished" and diaper. Sometimes he lets me know when it is time for his diaper to be changed. He almost has mom, dad and cat. We are still working on eat, milk, water, juice, banana and more.

Fun story. This was before I really knew. Carter and I were at the park. He hears some dogs barking. He stops what he is doing and does the sign for dog. He even knows the dogs' bark.

Over the Holidays

2010-01-10T19:49:00.000-08:00

This holiday season was busy. I helped plan a family reunion. We celebrated Christmas and New Years, flew to CA, and went to Trent and Jennifer's wedding.

We took family pictures. I made this Christmas bell pie.We had a Christmas gift exchange for the relief society. This picture frame is what I made for it.

Christmas was splendid. We opened gift with the Allen's and then had a Christmas feast together. Carter did a little better with the opening part but, still didn't really care to. He loves his new toys though. Derek and Demie had their dog over and Carter is afraid of it so, he was a bit clingy.

The day after Christmas was the family reunion. It was quit hectic but, we planned it that way, because it would be easier for everyone to attend. We had a great time. We had a pine wood derby, Olympic type games, yummy food, made some crafts(just the women) and lots of laughs. We also visited my grandpa's grave (since one of the days was the anniversary of his passing). Sorry I never took any pictures.

Then the day after, we flew to California. We had such a great time. Kaylinn and I planned an "Amazing Race" for the family. Probably the best activity that I have ever done and I was not even a contestant. We had such a blast that we are planning to do another one the next time we all get together. One of my favorite parts was, I was at the park with the 3 kids waiting for the teams to pick up "their little teammate". Their were other people playing at the park. When the teams came, they were crazily running, grabbed the child and took off. Those people probably thought we were psycho. Another fun game we played was "The Newly Wed" game. Kaylinn made all the questions and we played it just like the TV show. We had lots of laughs.

Me, Kaylinn, and Mom all at Trent's wedding, watching them take pictures. The wind was blowing so our hair is a little out of place but, I liked this picture of the 3 of us.

Here is a tribute to Trent and Jennifer. Congratulations on your marriage and welcome to the family Jennifer. We love you both

We are so grateful for our family we love them all.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T12:39:00.001-08:00

We went to go see Santa yesterday. This was the result. I knew he was not going to like it he wont even go to my grandpa.

While we were in line, he wanted to get down. I didn't see any harm in this so, we put him down. The next thing I know he is whining. We pick him up and he was soaking wet. Believe it or not it was pretty cold yesterday, 58 for the high, and we were in the shade. His pants were wet and cold. My mom decided that she would see if she could go buy him a cheap pair of pants. She went into Gymboree, because it was the closest. All the pants there were over $20. She found one for $10 but they were orange. So, she went to Dillards. Can you believe that Dillards is cheaper than Gymboree? She got them just in time, Carter was the next one in line.

One Year Pictures

2009-12-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

My cousin Annie took Carter's one year photos and they turned out fabulous.

These are some of my favorite. We took family pictures as well but we are sending them out with our Christmas letter so I don't want to ruin the surprize.

So Sad, Too Little

2009-12-13T20:30:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, Carter had his 1 year well child check up. He received more shots. I even decided to give him the flu shot and the H1N1. It was free why not and the doctor recommended it. So what the heck. Couldn't hurt. He is not walking yet but, he is close, well so they say. I think he will take a couple more months. He stands on his own for long periods of time and he squats. He still won't sign anything, I kinda think he does "all done" but, it is the same for bye bye. He is just stubborn.

He is also a spaze. He gets so excited he can't handle it. So, he tightens all his muscles and shakes and sometimes he squeals/screams.

What I really wanted to talk about was the fact that he is 29 3/4 inches and only weighs 19 lbs and 12.5 oz. Holy Moly, he is such a little guy. I feed him all the time too (well seems like it). Poor Carter he still has to be rear facing in the car seat. A couple more weeks then we will switch it... maybe. I am not sure that the car seat we have now will switch or if it is only for the rear facing.

This picture is of Carter at his baby blessing he is about 4 weeks old. He is so little. I was just reminiscing.

Birthday Boy

2009-12-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Carter!

Carter woke up this morning to his birthday quilt, made with love by his Aunt Kaylinn. He got to open those gifts first. He was not sure about how to do it, by with help he was able to tear the paper off.

Carter LOVES the fish cracker so I made his cake to look like it. He was not sure he wanted to eat it. (Carter was teething today, that is why his cheeks are so red, he did not eat much and was really cranky, sad that it had to be on his birthday). Don't you just love his new look. He already wants facial hair (I think that it looks like he has a go-tee).

Now, he is opening his other gifts from Dad, Mom, and the rest of the family. He was side tracked when he opened the toys. He had to play with them. Good thing he likes them though. He did not open all of the gifts. That is ok he can open the rest tomorrow.

I can't believe that my baby is a year old now. Is he still considered a baby? I don't know but, to me he will always be my precious baby boy, so innocent and meek. As I was contemplating this morning when it was just me and Carter awake, I was remembering the morning of December 5, 2008. My water broke around 5:50 am and I had NO idea that Carter would be born that day. I did not even start labor on my own. Oh how life changes so quickly, I still had a week to prepare before he was supposed to enter the world. As I held him for the first time, my heart was filled with love and gratitude. I am so thankful that he came on December 5. A perfect day for a perfect child. I love Carter more each day and it is so fun to watch him learn new things.

Hurry Hurry

2009-12-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

One night (November 23), I was making dinner and dropped the bag of frozen peas on the floor. I was frantically trying to get what I was doing done so, I just decided to pick them up when I was finished. Mean while, Carter started playing with the bag. It kept him entertained and there was no harm in this so, I just let him. Next thing I know the peas are all over the floor. I look over and Carter is trying to eat them as fast as he can, shoveling them in his mouth. I laughed so hard and had to get the camera. Then I cleaned them up.

I am trying to catch up with all the November posts I did not do. Please bare with me.

Addicting

2009-11-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

These SIMS games are really addicting. This one is for the Wii it is called SIMS Kingdom. It is really repetitive, but still, I am addicted. It is one of those games that takes forever to get done and I just want to get it all done. So, I play all the time. Sometimes I can't stop playing even when Carter wakes up from his nap, I am a horrible mom. Some days I vow that I would not even start.

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-11-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

I had a great birthday it was so relaxing. My father receives rewards at work for going above the normal. From these rewards he was saving gift cards to The Keg. It is a "fancy" steakhouse. So for my birthday we all went to The Keg. Then came home to open presents and eat an ice cream cake. I am now one year older, well on the fourteenth of November.

Gettin' Jiggy With It

2009-11-30T20:17:00.000-08:00

Carter has a love for music. I noticed it when he was 2 months old. We were at a orchestra concert of my sister Alyse. During the breaks of the songs he would move his arms and legs out of control like. When the music started he was as calm as could be, taking it all in. (I am a couple weeks behind so this video was taken the day after my brother got home.)

Carter's dance moves are improving more each day, watch out Napoleon. He has also learned to stand on his own in the video you can see a glimps of this.

Welcome Home Elder Allen

2009-11-30T19:56:00.000-08:00

My brother Shane came home from serving in the Jamaica Kingston mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints on November 6, 2009. We all met him at the airport to welcome him home and afterwards we celebrated he service at his favorite Mexican Restaurant "Mi Amigos".
Shane is an emotional guy here he is wiping away the tears.He was so happy to have served the people of Jamaica.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

We carved pumpkins the night before. The big pumpkin is eating the little one. That is the one Dave made and I made the traditional face. Here is Carter in his costume. Since lately he has been really clingy to me, we decided to have him be static cling. His hair is spiked and clothing is sticking to him. He had fun dressing up and hanging out with the pumpkins.

But most of all he loved playing with the candy. I would not let him eat any of it. Poor guy he really wanted to. He sat there forever eating the wraper trying to get it open. He eventually got the kit kat open and was mad when I took it away.

We did not take Carter trick-or-treating because he gets so tired and cranky at night that is why his bed time is 6 o'clock. Next year it will be more enjoyable for him he will know more what to do.

We had a fun Halloween. We painted all day, ate candy, had dinner in a pumpkin, ate more candy, we played costume BINGO, and ate TONS of candy. I had so much candy, and we have so much candy left over. I am not eating any more candy for at least a month.

I hope that everyone had a fantastic Halloween.

Learning New Things Everyday

2009-10-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

Carter is hanging out in the basket. He really likes when we pull him around in it. My parents house has stairs and Carter has learned to climb them. We might have to buy one of those baby gates. We have had a couple close calls. First, he was on the first step, and tried to sit down. He ended up plopping onto the floor. Then, when I left Carter with his grandparents he managed to climb up about 10 steps and as his aunt went to get the camera to take a picture he fell backwards. Luckily his aunt made it back and managed to catch him before he went too far. It was still really scary for him.Little stud. His church clothes were becoming high waters and the vest was up to his belly button. It was time for a bigger size. But the next size is 12 months, now the pants are way too big so I have to roll them 2 or 3 times.

Carter has finally learned to wave. We caught it on camera. He waves when he is going to bed or when someone leaves. He also waves to himself in the mirror.

5 Years Ago

2009-10-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

I have been having writers block lately (even though I am the worlds most horrible writer). I have been all out of ideas for what to post. I got this idea from Kaylinn (she always has great ideas for blogging).

So 5 years ago this is what my life was like.
-I was in the college scene.
-Roommates, love them all. Some of my roommate and I are better friends now that we are not living together. I am still in touch with most of my roommates. One of them had super long hair and it was down to her bum. I thought it needed to be cut and I so badly wanted to give her a makeover. But it was her security and still had it super long when I saw her 2 years later.
-I thought that I was lactose intolerant. Even though I would take those stupid Lactaid pills I still had the symptoms (I love dairy). Boy, I am so thankful that I was not lactose intolerant. Although, that was the time when I lost the most weight. Maybe I should become lactose intolerant again.
-I had a crush on a boy who I thought liked my roommate. She even thought that he liked her. But he ended up being my eternal companion :)
-I lived in the coldest area in the USA. Just kidding. I just thought it was. It was my favorite time when it snowed, because that meant that the temperature was above 30 degrees F. If it was a sunny day the temperature could be below zero and I hated it.
-I worked at a daycare and loved the children who I worked with. I vowed that I would never put my children in daycare. I want to be the one who teaches my children not someone else.
-I never watched TV. To many things that were more important. Like my social life. Now, I watch TV ALL the time.
-No bills. Except tuition and insurance.
-Had to drive 30 minutes to a mall, Super Walmart, and Winco (which is were we did grocery shopping). The drive seemed like forever. There was no civilization.
-Had my roommates set me up on a "blind date" with my crush. I told them I would not go with anyone else.
-Driving a red cavalier. In the snow. Studded tires, no. Chains, no. Spin outs, 2. Accidents, none.
-Witnessed friends truck roll and land into the median. One of the scariest things. They were all ok, just scratches and bruises, and a little concussion.
-Went on a trip to Canada. At the border our car was searched. They almost did not let us through. But kiss my boyfriend at the time for the first time. Now we are married.

New Randoms

2009-10-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

-We have made the move to Arizona.

-The first weekend here we went to a wedding of Dave's friend from high school. The wedding was lovely and very fancy. It was wonderful to see how in love they are. We even think that the cake was spiked because Dave and I felt a little buzzed after eating it. Dave had a blast seeing friends from high school. We also went to my cousin Alex's baby blessing. I am so happy we were able to be there. I just love seeing family.

-I have made a goal (with the inspiration of Kaylinn, she ran a half marathon but I am not ready for that) to run a 10K. I have about 5 weeks before the race and right now I can only run (by run I mean I am really slow so, it is probably just a jog) 2 miles. I have a ways to go. I really need to step it up. Does anyone have suggestions?

-Carter can officially crawl. He is so cute and much happier. I love it! I just love the little crawlers.

-Carter is still having a hard time warming up to my family. He has become so clingy to me. I don't know what to do. We have been here almost week. I hope he will not always be like this. What do I do?

-Dave is going back to California to finish up the pool cover he is designing. He will be gone two weeks. We will miss him, tons. But he'll be back just in time for Carter's first Halloween.

-Funny thing. Carter is a sleep crawler! Both Dave and I saw him doing it. I went in one night because he was crying (Carter has gotten to the point where he only cries if there is really something wrong). His head was smashed up against the edge of the crib and he was trying to crawl. When I picked him up to lay him back down he was still asleep. When Dave went in there the next night he sat him down first and Carter started to try to crawl again without waking up. Good thing he is in a crib.

The Blessed Fishy Cracker

2009-10-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

I finally found something that made Carter go for it. Not the puffs, not a toy, not a bottle, not a blanket, not Grandma, Mom or Dad... It is the Goldfish cracker. I am so excited. I was a little worried. I read in a parenting book that you must stop swaddling your children at four months or it will hinder their motor development. I stopped at nine months. I have been so worried that he may never learn how to crawl and it would be all my fault. Carter is already standing, pulling himself up, taking steps with help, and he prefers to stand. But no crawling. Today was the first sign that he will get it.

Making the Move

2009-10-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

This week Dave and I are putting our foot into the dark. We are taking the plung. We are making a big and scary step. We are moving to Arizona. Some may say Arizona? and you live in California? The weather is so ideal here and the scenery is breathless.
Well here are some funny truths about where we are and where we are going.

You can live in Phoenix , Arizona where.....
1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away because you found shade.
2. You've experienced condensation on your butt from the hot water in the toilet bowl.
3. You can drive for 4 hours in one direction and never leave town.
4. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food.
5. You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door.
6. The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!

You can Live in California where...
1. You make over $250,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house. And you think that $2100 rent for a 1200 sq ft house is a steal.
2. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.
3. Your state issues an IOU for your tax refund.
4. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party.
5. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will take to get there rather than how many miles away it is.
6. The 4 seasons are: Fire, Flood, Mud, and Drought.

Cousins Come To Visit

2009-09-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend Tessa and her two cute boys, Macade and Braxton, came to visit. We had such a great time together. Carter loved so much having friends around. I think it was great for him to be around Braxton because Braxton can crawl. Carter learned a lot from him. He is so close to learning. Saturday we went to the Clayton October fest or as Macade would call it the "fair". They had some carinval rides that Macade rode on. Braxton and Carter were too little to ride them. There were also some booths with cute crafts and yummy food. It was a hot day, which made for a short visit.

I love my nephews; I have the cutest. They are so fun and Macade says the funniest things. I got a kick out of him.

Carter and Braxton had so much fun together. Even though Carter is stationary and Braxton is mobile they still had a blast.

On Saturday night we went to the woman's broadcast. Dave had the opportunity to watch all three of the kids and put them to bed. I just wanted to say he is the best. Thanks Dave.

Not That Bad

2009-09-21T10:35:00.001-07:00

Carter has finally decided that being on his belly is not that bad. He spends quite a bit of time turning and moving backward. There is hope now, that he will crawl. For a while I was beginning to think he would never learn. He is already wanting to stand insted of sit.

Monterey Jazz Festival

2009-09-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

For Dave's anniversary gift I gave him tickets for the both of us to go to the Monterey Jazz Festival. Yesterday we headed to Monterey, CA. The weather was perfect, no fog, no rain, and was not that cold. Just a light sweater in the evening. When we first arrived we found some food from the venues. We then ate to jazz music, live. We had such a great time there listening to talented people. Here Dave and I are waiting for Esperanza Spalding to preform. She was talented; she could sing, play the double bass and the bass guitar.This is Lizz Wright and her band, they were one of my top performances.

I know that this picture is random but, I really like this fork. Some greenie has come up with this bio-degradable plastic and has made plastic wear out of it. To me it is so fun to play with and tweak. It bends so easy. I was really excited that there were some there so, I could show Dave how cool it is. To my disappointment, he did not think it was a cool as I did.

Old Sacramento

2009-09-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Carter, Dave, Mom, Grandma Portlock and I took Amtrak to Sacramento. We departed from Martinez, CA.
Carter and Dave are waiting for the train. Carter is so excited he gets to ride the train. Dave did not want a picture taken of him.
Here we are boarding. Carter kicked Dave out of his seat. I don't think Dave cared because he just wanted to sleep.
Grandma and Mom on the train. While there we took a carriage ride to see the shops and sights of Old Sacramento. It was so fun I have never been on a carriage ride either. Lots of first for me. We had a great time looking at all the things to buy. Grandma and Mom bought some jewelry and hats; Dave and I bought some hats as well. We ate dinner right on the river. I love doing new things, it brings excitment to my life.

3 in 1

2009-09-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

HURRAY FOR ME
Yesterday I actually jogged a mile without stopping. I can't even remember the last time I was able to. Before I was pregnant, I was in good shape, but never tried to see how far I could get without stopping. So I am pretty excited I can finally say I can.

WINCHESTER MYSERY HOUSE

This past weekend Trent, Jennifer, Dave and I ventured to San Jose. The Winchester Mystery House is why we went. We rushed out the door so fast we forgot the camera. So, this is the only picture we have and it is just of the brochure.

The mansion was crazy. Mrs Winchester was freakin crazy. Room that were unfinished, doors and stairs that led no where, and windows that you could see other walls. There was no structure to anything. The house would drive me crazy. After the house tour, we went on the "Behind the Scenes" tour. The coolest part of this tour was that we were the only four. It was as if we were on our own private tour. Our guide was a lot more energetic and up beat than the first tour guide. It was perfect to end on our experience on a fun note.

SAD DAY

We had to say our goodbyes. Trent left for college today. We are going to miss him. The summer went by so fast and I can't believe is has to end all ready. Good luck in your classes, Trent.

9 Months

2009-09-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

Carter is 9 months today. How time flies. I have loved every minute of these past 9 months with the little guy.
Some funny things:

While sitting, he keeps his legs so straight his ankles are off the ground and he balances. As you can see in this picture.

He has only one tooth. 9 months old and has only one tooth. Of which he just got 2 weeks ago. And no signs of anymore anytime soon.

He still will NOT stay on his belly for more than 10 seconds.
Every time he sees us eating he thinks he has to.
I STILL have to wrap him up for naps and bed. He is just too wound up. (This next week we will work on this, I am scared because of last time we tried it)
He always has to be holding something. While I am changing his diaper, if he is not holding anything, he contorts his body just so he can grab an object.
When he is feeding himself he has to have something in both hands before he will eat one.
He knows the sign for milk. When I do the sign he starts to do a little half cry/whimper. This is what he does also when he sees the bottle. I have been doing sign language for awhile, even though he wont do the signs he knows what some of them are.
He gets fixated on the TV. When it is on he just stares.
He will not sleep in the car. It take a lot of work and total silence for him to nap in the car. At night when it is dark is when he will fall asleep.
He love the outdoors. He just get so calm and just looks around at everything.
He loves music. When music is playing he gets so excited if it is up beat. He calms down and just listens to the slower music.
He is so ticklish. When he is tickled on his belly he will move your hand away.
He is still so little. He is still in 6 month clothes. He has always been 2 months behind in the sizes. I have to tell a story before Carter was born. I was exchanging some clothes in the baby section because I wanted to get more newborn sizes (This was three days before he was born). The worker says to me that babies don't ware newborn sizes for very long and it is best to just get 0-3 month, especially boys because they have a fast metabolism. Then she asks how far along I am 6, 7 months. I tell her 9 months. Funny because Carter stayed in his newborn sizes until 2 months. I am glad I did not listen to her.

He just started doing the "pincher fingers." I thought it was so cute to see his little thumb and pointer finger picking up the food.

We love Carter and are so grateful to be his parents. I love being his mom more than anything.

Shoes

2009-09-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

While I was in Arizona this last time, back in July, Kim taught me how to redo shoes. We had such a blast but only had time for one shoe. I had the stuff to finish them at home and that is what I did. It just took me 2 months to get around to it. The shoes started off being stripped and are now red polka-dot. Thanks Kim for a fun project.

Whats Going On?

2009-09-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

Now that I am feeling better, I started exercising again. Before I got sick I was doing the Jillian Micheals workout video Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism. It is a fantastic work out. So great, that I can't even make it through the whole video without dying from exhaustion. I needed a change this time around so, I found another work out from Jillian, No More Trouble Zones. I can make it farther in this video but after 2 days in a row of this I can't even get out of bed my muscles are so sore. I love this work out, she showed me an ab move that I am so in LOVE with. It works the obliques. Gotta try these videos she is a killer.

Carter has been sick the past week. I got sick and then he caught it from me. Poor little guys he wakes himself up with a coughing fit and his nose leaks constantly. He has been really whinny, also. I hope his little body will hurry up and win the battle.

Last night, I was playing SIMS 3, of which I was addicted to. I got to the point where I was just so sick of playing. My characters are boring and they make so much money that they don't advance very quickly. They have all met their life time goals. I am just done with them. If I am going to play again I need a new life.

Now for a little venting. I am on a drug called prednisone. I HATE this medicine, but I LOVE it at the same time. It fixes me so fast that is why I love it. Why I hate it, it messes with my brain. I feel like I am hungry ALL the time. Feeling full takes forever. I have not learned yet how to counter act this. So while on this medicine I gain weight and it is slowly. Because I don't realize how much I have eaten (I think this is how it works, if this makes sense at all). So this time around I am trying to be extra careful to beat this. I still feel like I am gaining and not loosing. Each day I have to constantly tell myself that is enough. To be honest I don't think that I have gotten my portion sizes corrected from the first time I was put on this drug. I hate this part. I feel like I am trying but at the end of the day when I evaluate what I ate and how much it seems like so much.

Flaw. Thank you cards. I really want to work on this. I have noticed my mother in law is flawless at this. It makes me want to do better. She write thank you cards for everything. I just need to buy a whole bunch so I have them around and it will be easier to send. I really am thankful for everything people do for me, I just am not that good at the thank you card. So this is a new year goal starting NOW.

Trip to Utah

2009-08-30T10:20:00.001-07:00

The day after our anniversary we headed to Utah. The first couple of days were relaxing and grand. We spent all day/night Friday driving. Because of traffic and leaving late we arrived at 5 am. Saturday Dave and I spend so much needed time with Michele. It was so wonderful to see her and do some catching up. We ate lunch at the Mayan Adventure. The food was yummy and the show was spectacular. The atmosphere was incredible. It reminded Dave of something Disney would do. The restaurant was multiple levels that are tree fort like. All surounding a 75 foot cliff where divers would jump off into a 15 foot deep pool.
Dave and I in front. We just got done eating some mexican goodness.
This is us inside we were on the 2nd level. The bottom picture you can see the background better but we are blurry. After spending time with Michele we headed up to the Brewer's cabin for some relaxing before the storm. On the way out to the cabin we stopped to see the head stone where Dad's body lays. Althought it was good to see how the finished product looked, it was still tough to be there. We miss him tons. While we were there we set Carter in the grass on his hands and knees. He actually started to rock. He just might be getting closer to crawling than I think. Grandma wants him to crawl before we leave. So he is trying real hard to learn.
A new thing that Carter loves is riding on dad's shoulders. He always has a perm-a-grin and laughs non stop. Monday morning we headed from the Brewer's to Provo where we did some labor intensive cleaning. BYU condos: 2 girls, 1 guys, and a married appartment. We spent the first day on the guys. Here I am cleaning the carpet. Dave is doing some touch up paint. Whoever owned this one before painted the tops of the moldings and it look bad. Tuesday we did both of the girls, number 6 was first and it was a good thing. Number 6 was trashed. It was so dirty. Look at the kitchen floor, the white part by the stove is where Mom cleaned the black part is to show how gross it was. It was as if none of them moped for the whole year.
Then they said the vaccum did not work. So, we flipped it upside down and pulled out globbs of hair. One of the rooms was so bad we did not even clean the carpets. There was just too much junk. Number 11 was next and theirs was so clean all we had to do was the carpet and the windows (which was originally the only thing that was supposed to be done in all of them). This last picture is the finished product of the married condo. Looks so inviting. Funny story about the tree. In number 6 there was a tree that the girls wanted out of there. In number 11 there was also a tree that was not as full. Mom decided that since there apartment was so clean she would leave the fuller tree for them and take the other one and put it in the married condo. Since number 11 got on her good side they were offered one of the 3: new carpet, mirrored closet doors or ceiling fans in the bedrooms. They were to call the house when a decision had been made. We get back Thursday night with a message from one of the girls. "Hi it's, Rebecca (made up name) from number 11, we would like to have new carpet. And um, the tree... is missing and replaced by... this other tree... well... that tree is mine and I am wondering what happened to it?" HAHAHA. SO FUNNY.
On our way home we stopped to go the bathroom at the salt flats, such a cool view. We had a blast visiting friends and spending time together.

The Best, Our Anniversary

2009-08-27T21:51:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday morning August 18, 2009, I woke up to an alarm. On the alarm there was a paper that said "read me." I opened it and read that I would be going on a treasure hunt, but I would need to take care of some distractions, Carter. The next clue led me to some coupons to watch Carter for the day. Dave took care of him and I was off the figure out what the treasure was. Each time there was a clue and a treasure.

One of the treasures was some bath salts and oils.The some of the others were pieces to this decoder.

One of the places that I was led to was the Clayton waterfall.
One of the clues was this crossword puzzle. I am NOT good at crossword puzzles but this one was great because it was tailored to me. It made me feel so smart.

The message told me that we would be staying at the Lafayette Park Hotel on our anniversary. I had so much fun figuring out the clues and finding them. My husband is so wonderful. He made me feel so special and he definitely showed me how much he cares.

At the hotel we were treated like royalty. It was lovely. The best part was spending the day and night with my husband of four years without the little one. Thank you Grandma and Uncle Trent.

I thought that it is cool that the hotel changed the date each day. I had to get a picture of it because it had our anniversary day. The next picture is in the hallway. I felt as if I was walking through a castle. The next one is of us in the room. The room had a couch, desk, a chair, a table, fireplace and a ginormous bed. We had dinner a The Duck Club, so fancy. I love my husband so much and I am the luckiest woman in the world.

Thanks, Babe, for such a wonderful anniversary. I love you.

1st Camping Trip

2009-08-11T19:50:00.000-07:00

Since Dave and I were married we have not had a summer (we spent the summers slaving away for APX). This has been the first normal summer. We took advantage of the fact and went camping for the first time since we were married. This was also Carter's first camping trip as well. Dave's mom, Trent and Jennifer Lambertson, Trent's girlfriend came with us. We left Friday evening to Camp Chabot and came home Sunday evening.
Trent and Jennifer the first night watching over the foil dinners. They grilled them perfectly. Foil dinners are a must when camping; they are so yummy.

We discovered that Carter loves pickles. He sucked on it for hours. Now I know what to give him while I am fixing him food.

Me and Carter are hanging out at the table. Carter loves the outdoors he did so well and was so happy.

Carter and Uncle Trent having a blast. Carter likes to chew on the toothbrush wishing he could get some teeth.

We roasted marshmallows and found that they are delicious in between Oreos. Dave roasted this one to perfection.

Dave and Lesley in the hammock. We ended up having to take down the hammock because it is a state park rule that nothing can be tied to the trees.
Dave and Trent's job was to keep the bees away. The badminton rackets are what they used. The rackets worked great. The guys loved to whack the bees because it would split their bodies in half. We had such a great time and enjoyed every minute of the relaxing weekend.

LAST DAY Wednesday, August 05, 2009

2009-08-06T20:27:00.001-07:00

EVERYONE CELEBRATE!!!!! Dave no longer works for APX Alarm and will NEVER go back. He is SO happy that he no longer works for them. I am SO happy he no longer works for them. I went out and bought balloons and a banner to congratulate him for this wondrous occasion. I also got him a couple of gifts from the dollar store.

For the future... we aren't sure what is in store, but the plan is Dave will continue to help his mom with the business until October. Also, he is doing an engineering project for our bishop who is a contractor, which he is so excited about because this is right up his alley.

The City of San Francisco

2009-08-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

Kaylinn and Mark came to visit this past weekend. Here is what we did.

This is how we started the day off, playing Mario Kart. Dave and Mark had a grand time battling it out.
Then we went to San Francisco to a real battle grounds, Fort Point.

Interesting facts (provided by wikipedia):

Fort Point is located at the southern side of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay.
Fort Point was build just before the American Civil War, to defend San Francisco bay from warships.
Plans specified that the lowest tier of artillery be as close as possible to water level so cannonballs could ricochet across the water's surface to hit enemy ships at the water-line. Workers blasted the 90-foot (27 m) cliff down to 15 feet (4.6 m) above sea level.
The structure featured seven-foot-thick walls and multi-tiered casemated construction typical of Third System forts.
While there were more than 30 such forts on the East Coast, Fort Point was the only one on the West Coast.
Throughout the Civil War, artillerymen at Fort Point stood guard for an enemy that never came. The Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah planned to attack San Francisco, but on the way to the harbor the captain learned that the war was over; it was August 1865.
Troops soon moved out of Fort Point, and it was never again continuously occupied by the Army.
The fort was nonetheless important enough to receive protection from the elements. In 1869 a granite seawall was completed.
The following year, some of the fort's cannon were moved to Battery East on the bluffs nearby, where they were more protected.
Plans for the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1930s called for the fort's removal, but Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss redesigned the bridge to save the fort. "While the old fort has no military value now," Strauss said, "it remains nevertheless a fine example of the mason's art.... It should be preserved and restored as a national monument." The fort is situated directly below the southern approach to the bridge, underneath an arch that supports the roadway.
Preservation efforts were revived after World War II. On October 16, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed a bill creating Fort Point National Historic Site.

This is inside Fort Point.

A cannon used.
Carter is ready for battle. Watch out.Carter is enjoying his history lesson.

When we arrived you could see the bridge, not too much fog.

When we were on the top of Fort Point the fog had rolled in.
It also became VERY windy and cold. It was too much for Carter he didn't like the wind. Grandma was trying to shield him from it while I wanted a picture.
Then we went on "The Curviest Street in The U.S.," Lombard. There was actually a line to go down. The line was insanely long. The picture only shows a fraction of the cars because of the hill the rest are hidden.
We are actually driving on Lombard.Fisherman's Wharf was next on our things to do list. Us at Pier 39.

Carter does this thing where he opens his month really wide. He does it all the time.

Mark Twain said "The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco." August 1st and the high was 56. Carter didn't mind he had fun and even ended the trip with a smile.

Friends Before

2009-07-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Lindsey and I have an amazing story. We met Lindsey and her husband Jared the summer of 2006 in the beautiful state of Colorado. Our husbands worked together that summer, grueling hours and 6 days a week. We became fast friends as we spent a lot of time together. Ended up being that we were in the same ward back in Rexburg and were also visiting teaching companions. Fast forward to 2008. Lindsey and her husband live in Connecticut and we were living in Washington at the time. I text Lindsey telling her that I was pregnant. She texts me back saying that she is too. Holy cow we find out that our due dates are a day apart. Hers December 12 and mine December 13. Fast forward to December 5th, 2008 (Dave and I now in California, other side of the US from them). I text Lindsey telling her that I am in the hospital getting induced because my water broke. She texts back saying that she is having contractions. Couple hours later Carter is born, twenty minutes later Kerrigan is born. Both born a week early. Our babies entered this world 20 minutes apart. They just couldn't leave heaven without one another.

They finally got to meet and here is how it went. (I was going to put a video but I have been trying for 3 days now and it wont upload because it is so big). Kerrigan thought that Carter was hilarious. She was laughing so much. It was adorable.

I found it fascinating that Kerrigan is so dainty and Carter is not. Even at this age you can tell boys from girls.

We did a little photo shoot. I love that Kerrigan has her hand on Carter's shoulder. They are best friends already.

I don't think Carter is that into girls, just wait.Kerrigan is already the cuddling type. She is such a girl.

Lindsey, Kerrigan, Lesley and Carter.

Vacationing in the OVEN

2009-07-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

Stan (my cousin) and Kayla's wedding. They were married on Thurs. 7/9/09. They are so happy. This is our group family shot. All the people who were at the temple.

Me and my adorable mom. Carter and Grandpa Mark (my dad) celebrating his 51st birthday Sunday. I couldn't get Carter to look at the camera. This was the best shot.

Carter, Uncle Derek and Aunt Demie. How cute.

Aunt Alyse, Grandma Sherri and Carter. We are having so much fun visiting them.
On Friday morning, Carter and I met with Kim and Audrey at the Arizona Natural History Museum in Mesa. We had a lot of fun looking at craters, dinosaur bones, jail cells and outer space stuff.

Here is Carter trying to put the puzzle together.

Carter couldn't quite get it, so Audrey had to help him.

We are having so much fun here in Arizona even though it is extremely hot (112). Carter got heat exhaustion the day of the wedding. He is o.k. now and we are keeping a close watch on it so he doesn't get over heated again.

Oakland A's

2009-06-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

"Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack, I don't care if I never get back, Let me root, root, root for the home team. If they don't win it's a shame"... well they didn't. But it is OK because we had fun anyway. Especially Carter because Daddy gave him some licorice. That streak by his eye is the licorice. He loved it. He was not too happy when we took it away. Here is the picture we took of Dave and I. I promise that we are not drunk even though we look like it. We had great seats as far as no one sitting behind us. It gave us more room for ALL of our STUFF.We went on Friday, June 26. After the baseball game, we were treated with an amazing fireworks show. This had to have been the best one I have ever seen. I was amazed that it was even better than Disneyland's.
Another thing that I learned and NEVER knew was that Oakland's baseball team is the Oakland Athletics. Oakland A's is for short.

Last Minute Vacation

2009-06-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

We were planning our activities for the summer and decided on Monday to take a road trip to Kaylinn and Mark's place on Friday. The next morning we headed for a magical place, where all your dreams come true. DISNEYLAND!!!!! This is us entering. Mark is giving us a "behind the scene" tour. It is so great to have connections. We learned so much that most don't know. I did not even know that there were "hidden" Mickey's on the rides. Thanks Mark for the secrets. Another thing absolutely amazing was that we did all of the major rides before NOON. It only took three and a half hours to get them all in. (I can't tell the secret because Kaylinn said that she wants to write a book about it). But here is one, while we rode one major ride Mark would run to the next to get fast passes for us. You can only have one fast pass at a time. Here is Carter and his "1st visit" button. He tried to eat it (like everything else). He had such a grand time. I was so excited to take him there (even though he wont remember). We took him on The Hunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise, and Toy Story Mania (he was asleep in Grandma's arms on that one). We also saw the Broadway production of "Aladdin." He was so mesmerized.

Our group photo in front of the Castle.

This is us on Splash Mountain. Trent and his friend, David, were soaked. I forgot how soak you can really get.

This is us riding Thunder Mountain. Thank you Trent for getting sick on roller coasters and watching Carter while we rode this and Space Mountain.

We are taking a snack break. The Wright's tradition to buy a loaf of sour dough bread and just munch on it. Yummy!

I forgot to pack Carter's hat so we had to buy one. This is one he tried on. (We did not get this one because the point of the hat was also to shade his eyes, but it was so cute on him).

One of the MUST treats at Disneyland is the famous chocolate-carmel apples. We all shared. You can see that in this picture Carter is reaching for the apple.

Dave partaking.
Carter partaking. (just kidding I was mean and pulled it away before he had any)

The happy couple. Mark and Kaylinn THANK YOU for a great day. We had a blast. We love you.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Daddy,

I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has sent me to you. You brighted my day and make me feel so special. My favorite part of the day is when come home to play. I think you are the greatest father that a boy could have. I can't wait until I grow up and we can imagine together. I love when you make me laugh and smile. I know that you will teach me all about life and how to grow up to be a man. Thank you for all that you do for me.

I love you.

Your Son,

Carter

Bringing Joy To My Life

2009-06-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

Carter's laugh makes me happy. He laughs at me and I am not even funny. He truly is a joy in my life. What did I ever do without him? He still gets distracted by the camera and that is why he is not laughing as much. I love my boy.

READING

2009-06-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

Dave, Carter and I went to the library. Carter is reading all by himself (after he smiles for the camera).

I Changed My Mind

2009-06-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

I used to not like pie, but lately I have had enough good ones to say I like them now. This one is the one that made me change my mind. It is really good with vanilla ice cream. I suggest to try it.

Just a Second

2009-06-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

Carter will only stay on his belly for a second. See video above

6 things I love about Carter (one for every month old)

1. I love his toothless smile and making him laugh.

2. He is so wiggly. When eating, playing, diaper changing, and even when it is time for nap or bed. I have to wrap him up tight. He has even learned how to get out of it.

3. He will do anything to make himself not fall asleep. He has learned to launch is pacifier. It came to the point when wrapping him up I would wrap the blanket over the pacifier. Now, he has learned to launch his pacifier even with the blanket covering it. When he is about to fall asleep he'll make sure his eyes don't close. He fights it.

4. I love that he is such a clean eater. After feeding him solids, all I have to do is wipe his face.

5. I love how smart he is getting. He knows what he wants and when he doesn't have it anymore. He knows who mommy and daddy are.

6. I love that he gets so excited and sometimes he can't control his emotions. It is fun to see.

Past Week

2009-05-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 we had a memorial service here in Concord for Dad. David gave the Eulogy. There was a men's quartet and they sung "The Lord Is My Shepherd." Next Mike O'Brien, a great friend of Dad, spoke about his memories. Closing remarks were given by Bishop Cliff Beck and the Clayton Valley II Ward Choir sang "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again." Afterward, a luncheon was provided by the Relief Society for all those in attendance. We have a great ward family and an amazing Relief Society president, Karla Moore. We would like to express our gratitude to all those who have supported our family. We have truly been blessed.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 we ALL headed to Salt Lake City for the funeral. Barrie and Kathy Kay Brewer lent there home for all of us to sleep.
Thursday, May 20, 2009 the funeral services were held. David and Trent both spoke. Good friends, Jeff and Kris Page sung "Consider The Lilies." Last Uncle Doug spoke. A beautiful display table was done by Tessa. Dad loves music. He can play the guitar, piano and boy can he sing.

The pallbearers are honored. David and Trent Wright, Cory Ross, Mark Morrell, Uncle Kirk Mackert, Uncle Doug Wright, and good friends Barrie Brewer and Steve Campbell.
The family. On the far end is Grandma Wright
Look how beautiful Mom looks.

The family. Such a great bond we all have. We know that we will be together forever.

After the funeral the Brewers hosted a luncheon for the family. That evening we had a get-together with all of the Wrights and the Mackerts. Some of us went swimming, we visited, and we enjoyed each others company.

Friday the Brewers offered their cabin up in Weber Canyon. There we jumped on the trampoline, ate s'mores, watched movies, played games, ate aebleskiver pancakes (very delightful) and RODE THE FOUR WHEELERS!

The whole clan. Thanks to the Brewers for a wonderful week and weekend.

Even Carter had a great time. (The top one he is cheesein' it)
This one is his real smile (I love the toothless smile)

JONATHAN CARL WRIGHT

2009-05-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

In Loving Memory.

Dad was diagnosed with terminal Liver Cancer on August 3, 2007. They gave him 3 months to live. After 21 months, an incredible fight, and amazing faith, Jonathan Carl Wright passed away on Sunday, May 17, 2009 at 8:48 pm.

Jonathan Carl Wright

August 11, 1953- May 17, 2009

We Love you, Dad!

Constant!

2009-05-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

This is my new friend. I have been battling with a low milk supply for 2 1/2 months now. I will pump and then get the supply back up and then stop. Then I start to notice that Carter is wanting more; he pulls off, then goes back on, then pulls off and then back on again. This behavior is repeated the whole time (whole time I mean to say 8 minutes TOTAL! That is for both sides. After this there is NO milk left). He cries cause he can't have more. Finally, I went to the lactation consultant for the 3rd time. He is weighed, I feed him and then weighed again (to see how much he gets). He is able to eat 3 1/2 oz (as many times as he eats he should be getting 5 or 6 oz). She told me that I need to pump, take fenugreek and blessed thistle. So, I pump after every feeding 15 minutes on each side. Plus, since Carter does not eat at night I have to pump one more time after he goes to bed. I did this pumping thing for the whole weekend and I did not see any results. The lactation consultant called to check up. I told her that it was not working. She proceeded to tell me that it might take as long as it took for the problem to occur. You mean to tell me I have to do this for about a month or two. Yes, this is what I have to do if I want to continue to breast feed Carter. After the 4th day of using a single pump, pumping 35 minutes at a time 7 times in a day, I told Dave that we are going to get a double pump. I purchased one on Ebay. I can't wait for it to arrive.

The reason this is happening: Carter was not eating often enough for my body to sustain the milk supply. My body was under the impression that he was being weened. Lesson that I have learned (I hope that others can learn from my mistake) is, babies need to eat often. I know that Carter could go every 4 hours, but in order for my body to produce the right amount and sustain it, he needs to eat every 3 hours. Translates to how many times; at 3 months he should have been eating at least 8 times in a 24 hour period, now at 5 months he should be eating 6-7 times (depending on the amount).

Now I am sitting here PUMPING. When will it ever end. I am determined to not give up. I want to be able to feed my baby. I feel so horrible that this is happening and I hope that if you are reading this that it never happens to you.

The Cup

2009-05-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday did not start off well. The night before was bad and I hardly got any sleep. I had a head ache and allergies.

All was better after I took a nap with Carter. Dave did not know this because when he left for work I was not happy. When Dave came home he had this in his hand. It sure did brighten up my day. Thank you Honey.

Later, as I was drinking the Jamba Juice Carter seemed very interested in it. So, I let him explore. He tried holding and eating the cup. After a little while of letting him explore, I tried to take it away from him. The world ended. He got so upset that I took it away from him. When I gave it back to him he was happy again. It was the funniest thing. I didn't know that he would start this early caring that things were taken from him.