Back to School

Here's Zayah - can you believe he's in 2nd grade now?! Such a cutie!
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2010 Summer Wrap-Up

We enjoyed a full summer with many activities together like tubing, kayaking, and going to the park and the Zoo! Here's a few of our favorite summer memories in photos:

These are at the San Antonio Zoo. Vanessa is in the Aviary where the bird drank nector from her cup. Gracie loves to sit on this statue of the baby elephant. We were so thrilled to learn that our Zoo now has a new friend elephant for the elephant that has been so lonely for a while. The new elephant was rescued from a circus. It is 58 years old. Having a Zoo pass this year has helped us to go more often and learn so much more about the animals.


These next few photo's are from the Boerne City Lake. Be sure to read a real neat story below about Brigham and Vanessa from one of their trips to the Lake with their dad. He texted me about it and I thought I would include his texts here:





Brigham and Vanessa performed a real life open water rescue moments ago. A homeade boat with two occupants sank. Brig and Nessa were running a bait out in the kayak when they heard cries for help. Both had lifejackets but they had become completely exhausted swimming against a stiff breeze. Using a tow rope, Brig and Nessa dragged the boat and occupants to shore. Everyone is okay. Brig says his shoulders will be sore tomorrow dragging a swamped boat and a large 50-something year old and his companion was no joke. Good memories. When I asked Nessa, if she was scared she said "A little but we could tell that they really needed help."

This is a great view of the Lake. One reason we went to this lake so much is that it was the lake that Jared and Brigham swam in for the GatorBait Triathlon that in August they participated in it together this year. It was a 500m swim which is about the length of 5 football fields. They biked 14 miles and then ran 4 miles. Jared felt like he really came to appreciate and know more about his son. Brigham loved getting to spend time with his dad. It was very enjoyable for both of them and woth the hard work. They trained hard for only about 3 weeks beforehand because they didn't hear about it earlier. It is quite an accomplishment for both of them. It is amazing to note that Brigham used to be quite afraid of swimming and water when he was a toddler but he has really overcome it! They are looking forward to training together for next year and improving their times. This first photo is one of their ranger training times at the lake and the next photo is the one where they slowly but steadily finished the race together. Would anyone like to come and join them next year in the Triathlon? I'm sure Jared would love to talk to you about that. (hint, hint:)

Way to go #245 and 246!

Noah's accomplishment this summer is becoming potty-trained! Vanessa took the time, care and patience to help train him. It worked and it really is super cool. He's been doing great!



Another neat thing that happened for Hope is that she was able to visit my sister, Bonnie in Arlington, VA for 2 1/2 weeks and see a lot of Washington D.C. Most amazingly, Hope earned all of her own money for the trip! She took over 300 pictures but she hasn't uploaded them yet so we'll have to put some up later. Needless to say, she had a blast!

Overall, it has been an amazing summer for us! I apologize that I'm forgetting a lot that I could mention. Although we are back to school now, it still feels like summer and it will until the end of October. So, we're still planning fun activities on weekends when Jared isn't working! :D



*What was your favorite summer memory this year?

The Cowboy Grills

What Brig grilled & made for us for dinner one night all by himself. He's growing up!
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icbday.jpg

Zayah is on top of world spending the day with his big brother & his dad for his birthday. So fun!
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California Jared

This will be a double post for the Carter's (I apologize - you can stop reading now;) but I thought my family & friends might enjoy hearing about what I wrote up about Jared's latest 'vacay' to California. ;D
No, seriously Jared spent the whole month of June at Ft. Hunter Liget for Army Reserve Training. It was educational and he enjoyed the little break from his normal routine. These are the pics that I have from his trip. Enjoy!

Jared shaves his head for the occasion - Whoa!

He finds a super duper large pinecone - very cool! I love this pic of him too.

Of course, a picture of one of his meals he really liked - Chinese. He explained to me that it was special because it was the first real meal (cooked by an actual cook) that he had eaten after only MRE's and soldier chow type food in the field for the month. It looks good to me too!

I hope to add more pics from him later.

Wildflower Season

*3 beautiful people

*sisters forever

*bluebonnets forever

*old church



*hot pinks and brilliant blues

*interesting, gray cow

*Ebenezer cemetary
*wildflowers that look like roses

Wildflower season is in full swing here in Texas! It is absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous this year since we have had so much long awaited rain during the winter months. Jared has been exploring the TX wildflowers both on his own and with his family taking photos along the way. He took the photos I've posted here. It doesn't last long so you have to pay attention to when the flowers are blooming and then make time to go and look at the beautiful flowers while they're out. In the last weekend in March, our family took a drive out into the countryside to Cheapside, TX. A town that has about two families that live there. It has a quaint church, a graveyard called Ebenezer and a few old homesteads with an old schoolhouse/banquet hall. It was a pretty place and we enjoyed driving out there to see it. Jared even talked to one of the residents who came to check on the church building so that's how we know a little more about it than what's online. On the internet, it is listed as one of the 120 ghost towns of TX. We may consider driving out to a few more ghost towns during wildflower season again in the future. It was a very peaceful experience and free for the most part except for the gas, of course.

Best photos of '09 Part:2