Back to School can you Belive it!

I can't believe it but Chase started school this week. It is just crazy that summer is already gone and Chase is back in school and Forrest is counting down the days to hunting season. The only good thing about hunting season is Rashelle and the kids come to stay on the weekends so I get to see her more. More Pics and fun stuff to come!

1st day of 2nd Grade!

I was told I had to take a pic of the backpack

Summer Milestones

Chase lost his first top tooth the last day of school.

This one is just funny I had to share it! :)

BEFORE

The crooked chipmunk look. 2 days before school started

AFTER!!!

Pics from the midwest

Chase in front of the cabin that we stayed at in Keo

On the Bridge over the Des Moines River

Chase on the river bridge

Lonna and Kerri at Kaleidoscope in KC

Kaylee and Chase at Fritzs

Chase in front of the train at Fritzs

Chase and his new Build-o-dino "Toothy"

Toothy hanging out and Dave and Busters

Trip to the Midwest

So this summer we took our normal week off and headed for IA to visit Grandma Lonna and Mark. They moved to their "retirement cabin" last fall so we had to go and extra 1.5 hours more down the road to Keosauqua IA. Forrest was able to join us this year it was nice to have him along he had not been out in 3 years. It was way hotter this year than it had ever been before. The average temp while we were there was 100 and the humidity was high as well so we did a lot of inside things this time unlike most times. We visited a few Amish stores those are my favorite. We also went over to Kansas City for a couple of days to spend time with Kerri. Forrest had never meet her husband Dave to we all had a great time got to do some fun things in KC and had a pool party at Kerri's as well. Lots of fun was had by all and as always we didn't want to come home. Here some of my favorite pics along the way.

Fun with cousins

Mark and Rachel driving the car with 2 steering wheels...lol

Chase, Carly and Joseph right after they finished building their "house"

So July was a busy month for us a week before we went to IA my sister Melissa that lives in IN was here for a week for a family wedding on John's side of the family so we went to Salt Lake City for the day Mark and Rachel recently moved there so it was nice to see where they are living and it was nice to have family there again makes it easier to go and visit. Well we took all the kids to the Gateway Discovery Museum. The kids had lots of fun and then we went and had a picnic it was fun and the kids had a great time playing together.

I Have Been a Bad Blogger

I know I know...I have been a bad blogger. Its winter (blah) and work has not been calm like normal. Winter and the Carter's means boring and lots of vegetating. But I have been inspired to get back at it since I have some friends that have been blogging a lot lately. The only real exciting thing that has happened has been my last minute spring break girls only road trip. I flew out to Kansas City where Kerri (Forrest's sister) picked me up and her daughter KayLee and Lonna my mother-in-law were all going to drive to Texas. But at the last minute Lonna hurt her back so we went to IA to visit Lonna then went to MN and went to Mall of America for a couple of days. None of us had been there before and it was only a 6 hour drive so that was not bad at all. That place is huge and we only covered 2 floors it was crazy. We had lots of fun we stayed at a hotel across the street and it was way nice and had a kitchen in it so we went and found a Target and bought some breakfast stuff and snacks. Even though it was not 80 degrees and I didn't get to wear my flip flops I did get to go to a Skechers store and buy some new shoes, so that made up for it. I didn't take to many pics but here are a few and then the day after I got home my sister had her baby. It was a quick 10 mins. after they got into the room. So fast they didn't have time for IVs or drugs. Congrats Melissa he is cute and I can't wait to meet him!

The big Lego robot at Mall of America at Lego Land.

I'm hoping we can take Chase here sometime.

Deer just outside Lonna and Mark's Cabin in Keo

Ryan Benjamin Newton

March 18th

Wow what a wirlwind end to 2010

Well a lot has happened since I posted last. Lets see we had major busy Christmas season at work. Christmas was a uneventful and nice. Stayed home for most of it then spent Christmas night with Rashelle and her family we had a nice dinner and then played games and hung out it was a nice end to the day. I did get a few days off for the holiday which was nice. Then my little brother got married on the 31st, Him and Rachel decided to things a little backwards we had the reception on the 30th and then they got married on the morning of the 31st then we had a luncheon and then they left for their honeymoon and we got the rest of the day to relax and celebrate new year's eve. My sister Melissa came home from IN. for the wedding and it was good to see her it had been more than a year and she is having a baby in march so it might be the last time I see her again for awhile. Everything went well the couple looked great and happy. Then the weekend after my mom and dad went up to MT. for the open house for Mark and Rachel they managed to go all that way with out most of the snow and wind that the weathermen had predicted. Here are a couple of pics from Christmas and the wedding.

Chase and his new winter coat Santa brought ;)

Chase Opening Presents

Mark, Rachel, Mom, Dad and Grandma Winter

Forrest and Chase at the reception

First Lost Tooth

Oh yeah I almost forgot in all the chaos of the snow. Chase ended up staying at Jerry and April's for two days since we could not make it to day care. And on Tuesday afternoon. I got this pic. I guess Chase was showing Grandpa Jerry his loose tooth and he pulled it out. Then promptly gave Chase a dollar. Chase thought that was pretty cool. Then the tooth Fairy came and that was even better. His other bottom front tooth is barely hanging on but he won't let us pull it. So more to come on this I'm sure :)

Thanksgiving and the snowy vengeance of Winter

Well lets see first of all I decided to work on my blog tonight instead of working like I should be because I'm being a tired, burnt out rebel. Christmas season has officially hit and work and these 12 hour days are already starting to get to me.... does that mean I'm getting old??? And yet again I'm reminded why I hate Christmas but on a good note I have found a new spot to sit in customer service away from the speaker so at the moment no Christmas music for me yeah!!

Ok now that I have vented for a moment on to the real post. Well winter came back with a vengeance just about a week before Thanksgiving. Friday night the 19th is started snowing and it snowed all day Saturday and all day Sunday. If I were to guess we got about 7-9 inches at our house there was less than that in Rexburg and I have friends that live is Island Park and they got about 21" in that same amount of time. Then Sunday night the wind started to blow. And in Idaho that is never a good thing. The pictures below is what I woke up to Monday morning. I did not make it to work until a 10:30ish and the wind keep blowing for another day and a half. Needless to say I parked at the shop and walked to the house the next two days. Chase needless to say did not go all week the last part of the week way because of the holiday. When the wind finally stop blowing 3 days later Wednesday night I was a happy girl. Thursday was Thanksgiving and we had to jump a few drifts to get there but we make it to my Aunt's house and it was great. It was a nice meal and a quiet day. That was the last quiet day I have had since then. Friday was suppose to be a day off but had to got to work. Then Saturday and Sunday I worked from home to catch up on stuff for the upcoming week. Needless to say I'm living off mountain dew and jerky at work and little sleep. And on a good note I already have my Christmas cards and they are half addresses already. This is a definite improvement from last years new years cards I sent out in January. I guess working on mostly holiday lines all year is not all bad. LOL, well who knows when the next post will happen maybe after the rush at this point if I don't totally loose my mind.

The drift behind my car on Monday morning

Jerry's Tool Cat could not cut through the drift they had to get the big tractor out for this bad boy.

My 1st Grader

Here is my goodlooking 1st grader. In is Iowa shirt that is Grandma Lonna bought him this summer on our trip. He picked it out for picture day all by himself, he wears that shirt with pride cause he loves IA!

Halloween and New Pets

Well This year is flying by I can't believe it is November already. And I have a feeling that I say this a lot but it was another busy month. Last weekend we did the Halloween and trick or treating thing and then last our daycare Angie had some kittens that she was getting rid of they were outside kittens that have already learned to mouse. So Chase and I decided we would adopt one. Luckily the daycare kids had already names them so we brought Smokey home. He seems very well tempered. he sat on my lap all the way home from daycare without having an issue. So this should be an interesting adventure I'm sure more to come on this saga.

Smokey the cat not Smokey the bear :)

I let Chase and Brook bring Smokey into the house for a few minutes this morning since we had only been up for an hour and they had checked on him 10 times already.

Halloween and Truck or Treat

Chase and Kaleb

Chase the Ninja

October Hunting Report

Well October was a good month for the guys killing does and cows.

Colby and his doe

Forrest and his doe

Zane and his cow moose

Hunting Season so far...

So as I sit here and wait for my group of mighty hunters to come home. (Forrest, Rashelle, Zane, Talon and friends) I decided I would post the pics of the dead animals so far. Forrest shot a nice 5x6 bull on his birthday. This is his second "birthday bull" and I was happy to get a text 15 mins after getting to work that one was down and my freezer would again have meat in it. It has been a couple lean years lately and the freezers were getting empty. The grizzly bears and wolves have been making it harder to get elk since they are afraid to "talk" because the wolves will find them. Then the week after my best friend Rashelle shot the big huge bear we call Brutus she has been trying to shoot that bear for almost three years he is old smart and big because of it. This was a big victory for her and she has wanted him for a long time and she finally got him. So enjoy the pics and hopefully we will have more pics of other dead things soon!

Brutus on a game cam

Rashelle the mighty hunter with Brutus


Zane and Rashelle

Forrest and Rashelle

Forrest and his birthday bull

Granola Bars

For all those who have been asking I think I figured out the recipe to my granola bars so here it is:
Toast 5 cups of oats at 325 for 15 min once done let cool for a few minutes then add 4 cups of trail mix in a large bowl.
On the stove bring to a boil 2 cups of Karo syrup 1/2 cup peanut butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Once boiling pour over oat mixture and stir till well coated place into well greased 9x13 pan press down till compact.
Cook for 15 min at 325. I usually cut while warm and then let sit overnight before packaging.

The Aftermath

So Kelby is doing so much better now. He now has is hard cast was cleared to start school this week and is back to his old self making jokes pulling funny faces and being rowdy. While Kelby was still in the hospital Forrest came up with a plan to have a benefit shoot to help raise money to help with the families medical bills. Forrest got to calling and emailing all of his friends in the archery world so of which know Rashelle because she works at Mountain Archery (the local archery shop). Asking for donations for a raffle and we called the local archery club and worked with them to borrow the range to hold it at. I was in charge of food taking the money for the shoot and selling raffle tickets. The shoot was this past weekend and it was very much a success. We worked hard and then had lots of fun doing it over the weekend. We raised lots of money which will help with the bills and finally got to spend time with friends before hunting season starts and no one sees anyone anymore. Here are a few pics. Thanks to everyone how donated or help pull this off it meant a lot to the family and us as well.

Chase was a trooper being out there for two days and he shot his bow and walked the range at least 4 times is those two days.

Kelby and a few of the kids that were there.

Talon (Kelby's brother) is the far Navy shirt shooting with some of the other boys

Colby shooting on Sunday as well.

Talon get off the phone you crazy kid!

All the raffle prizes that we gave away.

Thanks to everyone who bought tickets!

People out shooting

Rashelle, Zane and others shooting the last target all at the same time