Surprise!

Joshua seems to always have a look of eternal surprise on his face - I wonder what's so darn shocking at our house???

Bob's Big Boy

Has any one ever eaten at Bobs Big Boy? I guess there used to be one here but now the only one left is the origonal one in California. It is now a historical monument. It was acutally really good. You could tell the meat wast high quality like the ones I have been spoiled with at the Carters, but it was almost like they carmelized it before they put it in the bun. Any way it is way cute, waiters on skates and a classic car thing outside. It was fun.

One horse....comin right up!

Landon told me earlier today that he is skipping the "I want a dog for my birthday" phase and is going right to wanting a horsey for his birthday.

Hie to the blog!

I am not one to jump in and prod people with electronic control modules, but it is apparent that there is a summer "bog on the blog" and some people are not posting regularly. I implore you to reconsider. To account for this slack, I am offering to post pictures from my mission as a cheap facsimile of what really is out there with all of you creative people. That threat alone will surely nourish the seeds of creativity amongst our group and the harvest of well-taken photos and biting commentary will be with us once again.

This photo was taken in Tijuana, as you can tell. It depicts one of the most zany attractions the city has to offer--a polaroid photo offering to a fee-paying individual to sit on filthy serapes whilst posing behind a donkey painted to look like a Zebra. Not only that, but the joy of sitting behind such a beast is like staring into the jaws of...well, I am sure you can fill in the blanks here can't you? Can you say "el stinko?"

The deal is this: either we become more creative with postings of family photos (children's photos are appreciated) or I will begin with the slides of the mission. Trust me on this one. They may not be pretty.

Joshy Josh

Just thought I'd post some newer pics of Joshua - trying out this internet site a bit on the girls' computer too... Wow, is he adorable or what??

I was also hoping to commemorate the 1-year anniversary of the AZCARTER blog, but loooking back, I apparently missed it by a month. No one even made a cake, sheesh...

Introducing Joshua

He's finally here!

See below for information vitale:

Name: Joshua Carl Carter

Parents: Nick & Shellie

Date / Time: Friday, June 1, 2007 at 9:40 AM

Weight: 7 lbs 11 oz

Length: 20 in

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Long flowing golden blonde locks (he has hair like a rock star!)

It's baby time!

No, the blessed event has not yet occured, but we are very ready for Joshua to arrive. Recently overheard in Allison's prayers, "Bless Mommy so she can bend over again and fit her CTR ring back on her finger".

Shellie will be induced at 2:00 AM on Friday, June 1. If the baby comes quickly, we'll be sure to give everyone a wake-up call.

Anybody misplace a watermelon?

I've apparently found one, and am keeping it safe under my shirt until you need it once again. Just let me know!

We are officially 9 days out from little Joshua's due date. Heaven forbid this unpleasantness really last that much longer. Anyone want to take a guess as to his actual birth date? The winner gets, well, bragging rights, I guess

Ay, yi, yi, yi YIKES!

Happy Birthday to Cameron, our second son that got kicked out of church with his dad more than on one occasion for laughing at a cartoon similar to this one. Cameron had a hard time whispering and could not hold back the laughter when we would draw cartoons. Now, he is a little older and the variation of the same cartoon carries a little different theme.

He also has boys of his own who also have a hard time whispering sometimes. Like father, like son!

This just goes to show that you are never too old! At this rate, he will be right up there with Nick in age. Next birthday (and you know who you are) come forward!

Aubrey, Robyn seem to be the June Bugs....but little Joshua may just hold out for his June debut!

Crepe me up...before you go go!

So you think Sunday at the parents is a night for good BBQ, good family bonding, a little kaoroke...but actually there was a good gun show!

Sleepover!

Somewhere between sleep and slumber, a tiny pinhole of light hits our two sleepover guests. Immediately, the questions begin and the play that was put to bed last night is somehow unwrapped and spreads around the house.

The boys did great on the "magic bed" and they were up at the crack of dawn to make sure they did not miss one moment of the new day. Here they are on a favorite perch in their dragon jammies. Now, they are waiting for pancakes!

Egg-cellent Easter

Now that we have Nick's computer fixed, we can post again - here are some pics from some of our Easter activities. As you will notice, we have continued the Carter tradition of following strings to find Easter baskets - the girls loved it! Amanda insisted on walking on her string the whole way.

Happy Muddah's Day!

Wishing all mothers a happy mothers day with the following little offering:

M is for the MANY ways you love us.

O is for the OTHER ways you love us.

T is for THE ways you love us.

H is for the HOTHER ways you love us.

E is for EVERY way you love us.

R is for the REAL ways you love us.

Put them all together and they spell:

Misforthemanywaysyouloveusoisforthe otherwaysyouloveustisfortheotherwaysyouloveushisforthehotherwaysyouloveuse

isforeveryotherwaysyouloveusrisfortherealwaysyouloveus.

Whatever you do, take a moment and give a little thought to your mother who loves you!

Happy Graduation Cam!

Love,

Dr. Kidd and LaYonna

CONGRATULATIONS COLMAN!!

Cu cu ru cu cu paloma!

It was the cinco de mayo de 2007.

The mariachi band sounded like heaven.

Then, I got this crazy idea that it would be a great idea to see if I could sing along with the mariachi band and they allowed me to sing Cu cu ru cu cu Paloma. What a rush! The trumpet, the guitars, the violins and even the big old fat guitarron doing the bass thing. When I was done, there was a polite pause and I ran out of the area not moving my arms.

It was not exactly as I had envisioned it, but it was fun...too bad the rest of my family were at the face painting booth and missed it. Another time and the planets will align, the conditions will be right and I will do it again--this time for PAY!

I love a good airplane ride....

So I am posting without a picture and without updating my blog because I can't do pics yet....our other computer is not hooked up due to getting our carpets cleaned....BUT, I do have a good story....

So we get on the plane leaving Boston (by the way, I LOVE pre-boarding...so great) and before everyone else got on there is a random lady messing with her suitcase in the overhead compartment above the row in front of us. I think she thought she was playing tetris trying to get her suitcase in the perfect spot...the only thing was that no one else had boarded yet, so she had all the room in the world to mess with. Anyway, she kind of smelled like smoke and was a little on the raggedy side. I am thinking, "please do not let her be sitting by us, I can not smell smoke for 6 hours...I'll die." She ended up sitting about 4 rows up. Thank goodness.

So about 4 hours into the flight, Nate is feeding Landon, I am really into my book about vampires (another story) and look up thinking, "wow, this book is really getting to me, I thought I just saw a cat walk under the guy sitting next to me." I catch another lady's eye and realize we both thought we were going crazy. Nope we weren't. There was a cat prowling the airplane. Next thing I know, I see the smoke lady crouched on all four, a bit too much of her lower back showing, 1/2 of her body is under the people's legs of the row next to ours, and she is calling for Poochie. Heaven forbid she let the people get up....there was no time! She had to get that cat...no time for personal space!

Let's just say, I don't know if I will ever be able to top that.

Chuckwalla Crossing

I hiked up Camelback Mountain this morning, and saw my first Chuckwalla. I was hiking along Cholla Trail, along the spine, up near the summit, and I came across this giant lizard (probably 14-16 inches1). The thing really startled me as I looked up just in time to see him scurry into a crevice not 3-4 feet in front of me. I probably would have put my hand on that crevice had I not seen him lurking there.

I kept going up to the top, but returned on my way back down, and to my surprise, he had come back out, and was sunning himself on the rock. I got a few good pictures of him on my cell phone, but I don't know how to transfer them to my computer (where's Colman when I need him?). The Chuckwalla pictured here is a little smaller, and less colored than the one I saw today.

I will say this - I have yet to see a Chuckwalla at the rock gym!

Reasons to not buy a motorcycle.

Col has started hinting that one day he'd like to have a motorcycle. I'm not a fan, and am trying to come up with lots of ideas he shouldn't ride one. When I saw this guy today on the way to work, I thought of a good one.

Reason #1: He would have to wear a do-rag, and I'm just not sure I want him to. Ever.

Feel free to add more reasons for me if you think of any, or see any about town.

#3

Robyn and I had our ultrasound today, and learned that we are expecting Boy#3 on or about 09/16/07!