Are you kidding me?

Okay, granted, I knew I had a beautiful daughter that was quite photogenic. But this photo, taken whilst we were attempting a family photo shoot, still took my breath away. Anyone know of any kid modeling agencies? Maybe Nick CAN retire early...

MERRY CHRISTMAS season

Now that the Christmas season has officially begun, I will now rejoin the beautiful red on red Christmas blog.

Pilgrims

Pilgrims.

You are missing the "reason for the season".

It is obvious that the Pilgrims consider themselves disciples of Thanksgiving. Whereas, we are disciples of Christmas.

The pilgrims have restored the empire.

The noise you heard last night was my military forces and various other militia groups storming Nick's oversized Versailles-like palace and ousting him. I was finally able to amass the necessary support when I pointed out to various splinter groups that Nick is responsible for stealing exactly 7 days from the pilgrims. This could not be tolerated, and action was taken.

You can rest assured that business will be back to usual as they say. Carry on.

Anyone want a kitten?

My friend's daughter found some really cute baby kittens. If anyone would like one, just give me a call.

For our Utah buddies....

Can anyone but Valentine explain the final score of the Utah v. BYU game this last weekend? I had the direct dial numbers already to go to my BYU friends. And then this????? Please.

Too good to not share.

I know I am supposed to be in hiding, but if something is blogworthy, it cannot be passed up. I thought you all would appreciate this lunchtime conversation.

Me: Titanic was on last night.

Col: Don't admit that we watched any of it.

Brooke: I'm not even going to ask.

Col: We just wanted to see the ship sink.

Brooke: I've never even heard of it.

Me: You've never heard of the movie Titanic?

Col: I thought you and dad rented it once.

Brooke: Oh, you said Titanic? I thought you said Satanic.

Sometimes it Takes Blood & Guts

As your new imperial commander, ur I mean, president, I welcome you to the revolutionized Carter Blog.

My only desire is to ensure that the blog contains new and exciting content - in a deliverable format - that will entertain, inform and amuse. I recognize that the holiday background fiasco has fractured our group of members, contributors and readers. I now call for a season of unity and reconciliation. In other words, quit fighting and don't make me stop this car!

The next order of business is to establish cabinet level posts and assign responsibilities. As Aubrey still maintains full administrative control of the blog infrastructure, I nominate her as Secretary of Information, or Minister of Propoganda - whichever flows better. Anyway, I am open to any other suggestions and nominations for titles or new cabinet posts.

Thanks for your support!

I would like to officially apologize to The Pilgrims.

However, I do believe it was Nick that said "The pilgrims are dead. In fact, they've been dead for a long time. We just need to accept that, get over it and move on."

And so, along with the rest of the country, we will forget the pilgrims at midnight on Thanksgiving and move on to Christmas.

So on that note, the official tally was 8 votes for #3, making it the reigning champion. Hopefully no toes were stepped on or fingers broken. I did learn a few things, like democracy is fun to try once, but I think we'll stick with tyranny from here on out.

We hope you like it!

Well, here is the partially, mostly, almost, nearly, not quite, just a little more to do photo of the yard project. It has taken a month longer than we had supposed, but we think it will be a yard we can enjoy.

Cousin Eddie: "Clark, how do you want yours?'
Clark Griswold: "Medium."
Cousin Eddie: "No, I mean your bun."

We are looking for the rib-eyes now--something worthy of the maiden voyage for the Grand Turbo.

Maybe I should've sent mail-in ballots.

Only 2 days left to vote on the Christmas colors of the site.

The tally is officially:

http://christmas-test-1.blogspot.com/: 1 vote

http://christmas-test-2.blogspot.com/: 1 vote

http://christmas-test-3.blogspot.com/: 3 votes

http://christmas-test-4.blogspot.com/: 3 votes

If you have not yet voted, you have until midnight on Thanksgiving Day. If at that time there is a tie, there will be no coin toss. There will be no drawing. We will have a tiebreaker which will be much more drawn out and complicated than necessary - that I guarantee you.

My Christmas List....

He knows if you've been bad or good....

Addie and Landon don't look too convinced of this santa thing, so we have been singing "Santa Claus is coming to town" to Landon, and he is really beginning to understand that the nicer you are to your parents, the more you get for Christmas!

The ultimate chick magnet!

Well, it is nice to know that your grandson is a chick magnet. He has the undivided attention of four pretty girls. They dote on him, they wait on him hand and foot and they think he is so cute! He puts on quite a show. He thinks he is so smart dressed up in a fashionable pair of truck jammies.

New paper shredder, anyone?

Some of you may recognize this paper shredder from last night's episode of The Office. It received several product endorsements, and one scene even awkwardly worked in the Staples name. I didn't mind because it's funny to shred lettuce and then pour salad dressing into a paper shredder.

Then, of course, this little number was also advertised in the commercial breaks. At this point, if you didn't see the show you're probably assuming it was a parody, like on Wayne's World. Not so.

You hit us over the head with this shredder, NBC. And it worked. I want one. Col wants one. And even now, as we speak... Brooke is at Staples buying one.

Stocking stuffer suggestions....

Are you looking for a special stocking stuffer this year? If so, may I suggest a can of these? Nobody I know has them. Everybody I know would look at them with that special Christmas glow and say "truly, this is a once-in-a-lifetime gift that I would NEVER have supposed existed." They would finish by saying, "Are these all for me"? Can anyone top this?

A Nov. 17th Coincidence?

I thought that I would give a shout out to Nate for his Nov. 17th birthday. Happy Birthday Nate!

It is also quite interesting that the new James Bond movie debuts on Nov. 17th!

I have seen a resemblence between Nate and Mr. Bund. And, come to think of it, I have never seen both of them in the same place. Coincidence, I think not! Keep an eye on him Court.

Family picture, 2006.

What ever happened to the family picture we took a few months ago? I hope no one is planning a Christmas surprise. And if they are, I may have just ruined it.

I think my popeye arms just got a little stronger

I picked my first little bit of edible spinach this morning. I was really just thinning out weak, but I still ate the little leaves. Hooray!!

Happy Armistice Day!

Yesterday I went to Fashion Square Mall and got a parking spot after 20 minutes of driving around and circling 2 parking garages.....Now I know why. Thought you would all like to have a little more knowledge on the subject.

Today is the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. It is both a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states. All major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the armistice. Armistice Day was first commemorated in the United States by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919, and many states made it a legal holiday. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 inviting all Americans to observe the day and made it a legal holiday nationwide in 1938.

The day has since evolved as a time for honoring living veterans who have served in the military during wartime or peacetime, partially to complement Memorial Day, which primarily honors the dead. There has been some discussion of whether a person's veteran status depends upon his/her retirement or discharge from any of the armed forces. However, the term applies to any that have honorably served their country or that have served in a war zone as directed by their superior officers or as directed by lawful orders given by their country.