9 Crazy Carters really missing one serving in the Milkwaukee Wisconsin Mission

Our Babies are ELEVEN!

2011-11-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Twins,

You are still our little babies! NO way can you already be 11! Oh how I miss carrying you in my arms, putting binkies in your mouths, and watching you do your cute belly laughs when we would play peekaboo. Now you always want to wear my clothes, put make up on, and "hang out" with friends ( they don't use the word "play" anymore, it's sooo second grade).

STOP GROWING UP! You need to stay babies forever deal?

But I guess I can't stop time, if you insist on growing up I must let you but you will always be my baby sisters.

You both are already so beautiful, talented, and kind. Could you stop you're making me look bad! I will always cherish our lunch dates to applebees and kiwi loco, and the times we have sleepovers in my bed. That can't stop you know, we are gonna have lots of sleepovers in my apartment!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWERPS!

I sure do love you. Our family would be so boring without you guys. You are amazing girls. You both are so different and I love it, but I love that you are best friends even more. Don't stop being best friends okay. Have a fabulous year! Don't grow anymore, especially you gab you're almost as tall as me!!

LOVE YOU,

Your big sister Livi

Alright, so me being the loving sister that I am woke up extra early to make them breakfast in bed. Seems like everyone does that right? Well let me tell ya breakfast for iss and gab at seven the morning equals BIG THUMBS DOWN! As seen in the picture above they were still asleep and not exactly hungry.... Next year I'm gonna stick to the Happy Birthday song when they wake up.

The day was great though, they got fun presents, root beer floats for their class, and we even all went to pizza for dinner (me and mill enjoyed that part most)! Overall... girls eleventh birthday... was a SUCCESS!

To end the week they were in the annual fifth grade COLUMBUS play. Now this was the fourth time someone in our family was in this play so of course we were all singing the songs in the audience! Oh great times in Mrs. Lewis's class! The girls were awesome ship rats, very fashionable rats I might add. They sang their song and danced their dance perfectly! Natural for us carters I guess haha.

We love you girls! You rock our socks. You make our family so happy :)

CARTER FAM REUNION :)

2011-09-12T10:04:00.001-07:00

Hello, Olivia here. Just thought I would take a turn writing a post. Over Labor Day Weekend we had our annual CARTER FAMILY REUNION! Do you know what this means? All us Carter's cram in our house all weekend (Luckily we have a cousin that recently moved here so all the cramming was split in half. WAHOO!) Meals are served in the garage, crafts are covering the floor, boys wake up at 6.... AM to go golfing, and most importantly we all participate in.... can I get a drum roll please............ THE CARTER FAMILY GAMES!!!! HOORAH!

Meet The Blue Team

The Green Mean Fightin' Machines

The Orange.... um.. Players!

The Yellow "No time for pictures" Team

and of course the best saved for last

The Pink everyone else STINKS TEAM! AKA we run this shindig.

Our weekend consists of planning the games so all the other peeps can have a good time. That's right we do it all for you Family, and I would have say this was one heck of a reunion!

Now before i give you the whole LOW DOWN in pictures let me explain how these little games all work out. As you see above we split our family into four teams. Finding out what team you are on is the best. Before we started us pinkies hid easter eggs around the yard. Everyone had to find their egg which was their team color. This one is my favorite. I get to enjoy watching them all run wild as they try to find their egg. HA HA. After this is done the Games BEGIN!! These are tough games people, seriously we have cheering, running, cookie shovin', bums being slapped with newspaper, Simon says, and if we are lucky we also get to see some girlies WETTING their britches (if ya know what I'm sayin')!

Here we go lets see this all in action shall we....

The Games were AWESOME and congrats the THE GREEN TEAM! They won First place with the lovely reward: A PLUNGER :)

What made this weekend perfect was well this...

ENJOY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R906x86CJo4&feature=player_embedded

(Highlight then right click and click 'openURL' to watch)

YES our family is very proud of our hard work and awesome dance skills. Thank you to me for editing and and thank you to Millie and Lacie (and me again) for choreographing and lastly thank you to mike for being our lovely video man.

Thank you Family for spending the weekend with us! We were sad for those that couldn't make it this year, but don't worry next year will be even more ROCKIN!

LOVE YOU ALL. MUAH!

Millie LOVED EFY

2011-08-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

Millie is one brave girl. She went to EFY in Provo all by herself, she didn't know anyone in her group or even her roommate. She went with a great attitude and ended up making great friends and finding out that she is a pretty incredible person herself! We love our Millie!! Her feet did give her problems but with no pride she gladly rode in a wheelchair and held her head high. In fact, her wheelchair was used by many friends and she just laughed and let them have their fun. Millie knows the gospel is true and her testimony grew from this wonderful experience. Thank you to all the wonderful friends who pushed her, carried her on their backs, and just showed her love during the hard times.

More Summer Fun for the Carter Family

2011-08-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

Nana with her Beautiful Smile
Amazing Millie waterskiing!

Go Olivia you are looking great!
Nana helping Gabi with her first attempt to waterski. She tried hard but couldn't quite get up :(
three gorgeous babes catching some rays!
Nana Liz and Papa Vaughn are always so kind and invite our family to go to Ririe Resevoir (I can't spell such a hard word ha ha). We had a super fun time water skiing, tubing, and eating!

Livy lives life this summer

2011-08-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

roasting marshmallows after kidnapping Olivia on her birthday!
What a birthday bouquet!
Lauren is the gothic girl Eric the retired rich and beautiful teacher, Olivia as the new yuppie in the neighborhood and the huge gossip, Millie (poor Mil) she was Olivia's daughter and just a high school student, Ashlyn was the librarian and a total germ freak (she was my favorite because she was so funny!) and Jasmine as the town Mayor. Don't you think they look awesome!
Harry Potter at 3:00a.m.
some of the guests at the dinner party
Here we have the Murder Mystery Group. These kids are amazing, they all dressed up way good, and they acted just like their characters. It was a super fun party!

the goofy girls laughing and just having tons of fun
Olivia laughing even her face makes you want to laugh, it is the best!
who knows what they are doing just being silly but having fun!
Hoorah!
Since graduation Olivia and her friends have played none stop. They do everything! And all the time they are having fun you can always hear Olivia's laugh! It is the best! It comes from her belly and hearing it just makes you laugh! She has great friends and they are having so much fun because after this summer their lives will never be the same.

Some girls are going to Utah State in Utah, some girls to BYU Provo, some girls and guys BYU Idaho, some boys leaving on their missions, so this is the summer to remember!

They have been boating, bridge jumping, bike riding, murder mystery party, movies, laughing, pulling birthday kidnappings, and playing at the park. I have probably left things out but I am so happy that Olivia has great friends and they have pure clean fun!!! :)

This just makes you laugh!!

2011-08-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

We do Have Fun but I never remember to post :(

2011-08-04T16:10:00.001-07:00

This is Millie and Ashlynn playing Quitich. Girls Camp was "Harry Potter" We are SEEKERS of light!
two really scary professors
The Owl!!!
Junior Leaders looking there best.

Girls camp was good and different this year. The ward went to RockCreek Camp on Wednesday Evening. The rest of the girls came up Thursday morning. They had one fun filled day and one night. Then they were beginning their day on Friday and got kicked out of camp. Girls camp can only be held Monday through Friday, then it is for Family reunions. So the poor girls packed up their gear headed to Ashton, then headed for home. Friday night they had the"feast" at Sis Brewer's house spent the night in her basement and then finished with testimonies on Sunday at church. It wasn't your Normal girls camp, but they seemed to have fun anyway!

5 Beautiful Carter Girls

2011-06-02T18:48:00.001-07:00

Our wonderful girls got together while Abbie was in town and took these adorable pics. I love it so much when my girls can laugh together! Nothing brings me more joy than seeing my girls enjoy each other!

Super Cute Girls!
We are truly blessed with 5 BEAUTIFUL daughters!

Fun Graduation Pics

2011-06-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

Our family!
The beautiful crew
Super fun friends having a super fun time knowing they are Graduated!!
BEST SISTERS! BEST FRIENDS!
The long walk to get her diploma!

High School Graduation 2011

2011-06-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Here is our Olivia Carter Proud Graduate of the Class of 2011. Livy did great in school, she got her CNA, she had a 3.89 grade point average, and most important she was KIND to everyone. WE LOVE YOU LIV!!

Olivia has GRADUATED from Seminary!!

2011-06-02T18:16:00.001-07:00

Seminary graduation is always a favorite for our family. Our daddy gets to be in charge and this year Olivia was able to speak. She did an amazing job. She spoke on the 13th Article of Faith. She chose 3 points to cover and she used great personal experiences for all of them. One that touched my heart was when she spoke about "The Sullenger Family" our special friends and a post the Pat wrote. He said something to the effect of "Why not us? We have the gospel, Olivia believed so strongly that because of faith in our Savior we can endure all things. The Sullengers are such an example of enduring a very hard thing, but we all know that they will endure it well because of their great faith. We are all better for following their example. We hope all things, we believe all things and we hope to be able to endure all things!
Best Friends and Best Buddies and all Beautiful on the outside, but even more beautiful on the inside!!!
Looking cute in her outfit for graduation and so excited to be done!!
Liv rocks!
Hooray!

The Most Wonderful Love Story of All

2011-02-24T20:49:00.001-08:00

Our great Daddy missing his Dad
Dressed in blue because blue was Grandpa's favorite color. Smiles that Grandpa is back with Grandma but tears because we will all miss him so so much!
Daddy, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Cindy, and Uncle Brent. Four very lucky children to have had such wonderful parents!
Our family is going to miss grandpa, his daily skype to Daddy and to our home. Brek and Abs you are our heroes, you have faced this trial with such faith that we know Grandpa is saying good job babe!
The 4 Carter children saying their last goodbye's but knowing that they will see their parents again. They are truly a forever family!

On Valentine's Day Grandpa Carter left this earth to go and be with his sweetheart. They had a love stronger than most, they had a marriage that taught all of us what a real marriage is like, and they both taught all of us to LOVE and SERVE others. We love you so very much and we miss you so very much! We are so happy that you and grandma are experiencing your "Happily Ever After"!

Daddy's and Daughters

2010-09-18T21:25:00.001-07:00

Three beautiful girls
Daddy's, Daughter's and Dates!!!
Just Daddys and daughters
Daddy and Liv
Corsage's are so much easier than than having to pin the flower on the guy! Girls have it so much harder !

Dad's and Dates ha ha ha

2010-09-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

Liv did this all by herself !!!
Too Cool for School
Liv and Soren looking great
The three ladies in waiting
the three men in black

The three girls all got ready at Lauren's house. That in itself was a miracle!! Three girls in one bathroom. But the real fun happened when the dates arrived and Bishop Evans gave them each a interview!! Erika was dying and begging for him to stop, Liv and Lauren were just laughing. The boys took it all in fun and we got some super cute pictures of them by the front door. Then off to the dinner at the Gannoway's house, then to the dance, and Bishop Evans made it very clear he wanted all three girls home by the Sabbath! (The dance doesn't even end until midnight, so I hope they decide to stay for the last dance and then bring the girls home :) Bishop Evans is one strict guy!!!

Getting ready for the Dance

2010-09-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

Millie was the main helper and goofer
Best Buds looking darn cute
Two pink twins and both so sparkly
putting on fake nails and looking like they are about to kill someone!! :)
SISTERS! There were never so devoted SISTERS!

The Day Date

2010-09-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

The Evidence of an Ice Cream Fight!
The two devil's that started it all, with Erika and angel in the background (she was in no way innocent)

Three beautiful ice creamed girls

Trying to push your date over the edge

Homecoming Week:)

2010-09-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

This week was Madison High School homecoming week! it was such a blast. Olivia and Millie played powderpuff on Wednesday.. and they both were beasts! Millie stopped a touchdown, Livia tackled every girl she could.. and they even got to play each other! and then on Saturday was the dance. Olivia looked so beautiful!:) it was just a great week!

Lava Hot Springs!:)

2010-08-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we all got to go to lava hot springs! its a favorite summer activity:) each girl got to bring a friend so it was quite the party! All of the seminary teachers and their families came to so everyone had a blast!

bRiDgE jUmPiNg...&...oLiViAs ! 17 BiRtHdAy!:)

2010-07-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

This past week our cousins, Lacie and Dawson, came and stayed with us for a few days. it was so fun and we played the whole time! we went to the drive in, rigby lake, bridge jumping, and floated the canal. It was so much fun! then on saturday is was olivia's 17 birthday. Her friends threw her a great surprise party on thursday so we had a little family party on saturday! we hope she had a great day! we love you Liv!

Gabi and Daddy's Four Wheeling Date

2010-07-23T21:55:00.001-07:00

Super Cute Posing Gabi
Having fun resting on the rocks
Gabi looking ready to ride
Posing for the camera I still can't figure out how they took this picture???:0
Ready Set Go!!!

Daddy and Gabi went on a 4-wheeling date. Daddy took Gabi up by the hills of Green Canyon. They had tons of fun. Anytime any of us girls gets Daddy one on one we are thrilled! Gabi is way different than Issy, she didn't want to drive, there were way to many bugs to eat lunch outside, and most of all after about 2 hours she had had ENOUGH!! Twins maybe but not twin behaviors. Each girl likes different things. Issy outside things and fast moving things and Gabi girly things all types of girly things. But all in all it was a great day date with Daddy!

2010-07-22T13:16:00.001-07:00

Picnic dinner at Old Faithful
Total goonie birds
Three!
one .... two....
Fun family We miss you Elder Carter!!!

More pics from our "BIG" summer vacation

2010-07-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone and the Playmill our "BIG" summer vacation

2010-07-21T18:39:00.001-07:00

Carter Chicks swimming

Total Cheesers at the Swimming hole

Issy and Gabi were so happy to get a picture with the Beautiful Belle!

Looking happy :) (not really) everyone was mad at daddy for making us eat at this table instead of at the park.

Livy had to sit at the NO MAYO table! She can't even stand to be around it. Poor poor Olivia

Abbie and Brek were coming up to Rexburg to go to Kinzie's wedding so we decided to make it our vacation. All of our hearts were praying for the Sullenger Family because we had just learned that little Preslee had passed away. We were heart-broken and deeply saddened for Ashley and Pat. We were really hoping for a miracle. We know that many miracles happened within our little family; we prayed more, we spoke kinder to each other, we were all hoping with all of our hearts that little Preslee could live. We checked their beautiful blog about every 10 minutes and their sweet family were always in our minds and hearts. We love you Pat and Ashley and thank you for letting us be apart of your story, our family is forever changed for good.

We needed to be happy for Kinzie Hawkins (beautiful bride) so we tried our best to put on a happy face and went to her beautiful reception. The next morning we packed up the car and packed up the kids and off we went to Yellowstone. We were so lucky to see "Beauty and the Beast" and the Playmill. Then we drove to Firehole swimming hole and all the kids swam. It looked like so much fun! Then to top it all off we drove to Old Faithful had a delicious picnic dinner, watched a mountain man and mountain women get married (super cute with fringe jackets and everything :) they kissed each other as man and wife and Old Faithful erupted in the back ground!!!

We love it when Abs and Brek get to come home! We all miss them, but enjoy so much when they come to visit. We had a great summer trip and are very grateful for families. We have learned so much during the last week, family is what really matters! Thank you again Ashley and Pat and sweet little Preslee for changing our lives for Good.

Isabelle's Christmas in July!!!

2010-07-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Isabelle posing on her 4 wheeler! She loves to drive and drive really fast!

Daddy and Issy posing for the camera, they hung the camera in a tree! CLEVER!! :)

Issy sitting on the 4 wheeler just relaxing!
Daddy and Issy looking pretty professional
the 4 wheeler is a little big but Issy loves to drive!

Daddy let her drive the whole time, he said that they only tipped 2 times and he was able to save them from tipping all the way over!!!
On Monday July 5th Issy and her Daddy went on a four wheeling date! Sunday night she couldn't fall asleep because she was so excited! She finally went to sleep and then woke up 4 times during the night because she didn't want to miss her date!

Issy and Dad packed up a lunch in the morning, and then loaded the 4 wheeler onto the trailer and off they went together to Webster's Dam! Just the two of them! To Isabelle this was better than Christmas she was able to do what she loves (4 wheeling) with someone she loves (her daddy)!!

Merry Christmas to Isabelle!

2010-07-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

Controlling the fire!!

Dad just LOVES fireworks...

All disgusted at each other because we weren't

allowed to light the fireworks

Evil witches dancing around the "fire"

Posing by the firework.. trying not to start on

fire ourselves!

Millie trying to start the firework..didn't really work!

Poor Sicky Vickey!!:(

Oh cute Issy with the sparkler!

The devil with lighted horns!!

Wow.. what a great fourth of july!

4th of July that lasted FOREVER!!! FOR EVER!!!

2010-07-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

As the Carter Family goes we have ideas of what is "we have to" happen on certain holidays. 4th of July is a "we have to holiday." We have to go to the parade, we have to have new 4th of July shirts, we have to have a bar-b-que, we have to watch SANDLOT, and we have to watch the fireworks in Idaho Falls. Well, all the "have to's" didn't quite work out this year and needless to say mom and dad feel like this one day holiday of Independence Day lasted longer than Christmas!

We tried to go to the parade in cute shirts but the twins were asked to pass out fliers and missed most of the parade, the rest of the family sat on our blanket and chairs and tried to watch the parade. Instead all we saw were little kids and their moms because they had to get the CANDY! We couldn't really see any of the parade! Then poor Olivia in extreme pain ending up in the ER as soon as the parade ended. Then a put together quick bar-b-que which was fun because Art and Fran could come over and then sitting on our roof in boring Rexburg to watch the fireworks! But it still wasn't over these events all happened on the 3rd of July. We still "had to" watch SANDLOT on Sunday and we still had a very sick Olivia and on Monday night "we had" to light our fireworks which were total duds! This holiday lasted F O R E V E R FOR EVER just like they say in SANDLOT! Happy 4th of July!! Hooray it's over!!!

Happy Birthday Analee

2010-06-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Analee and Abbie described this as the Best Day Ever!

We all love you Analee and miss you so much, you made us laugh

smile, and have fun ! Happy Birthday 21st Analee

Carter Girls Crazy Photo Shoot

2010-06-14T10:23:00.002-07:00

I am the luckiest Mom in the world to have 5 of the most beautiful daughters!!
Abbie got to come up and visit for the weekend. She is the photographer in the family and thought taking some crazy pictures would be very fun! The girls were so clever! I love my Carter girls!!!

Millie is so silly she was making all the girls bust a gut laughing!!!

Elbow Elbow

wrist wrist

wipe a tear and

BLOW A KISS

I is for Isabelle

A is for Abbie

O is for Olivia

M is for Millie

G is for Gabrielle
the crazy carter girls are about the cutest girls in the whole wide world! (they are a little cheesy! goofy! confused?!? and just plain wonderful!!)

We had a fun time taking pictures and laughing! I love you all girls!

Livy with Sara the winner of Jr Miss 2010

2010-03-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Dearden couldn't be prouder of his Liv. Here he is giving her some beautiful flowers!
Liv and Her escorts! They were so amazing. Perfect gentlemen. Zach Fuller, Ben Orchard, Jared Nygren, and Jared Blanchard!
Two beautiful girls, one is our winner Olivia and the other is Sara the judges winner!
Best friends and both so very happy. We were so happy that Sara won she was amazing!
Jr. Miss was a long process, sometimes horrible early morning practices, competitive girls, working on your talent endlessly, but in the end we all think that Sara is the girl who deserved to win. Her talent was spectacular, her poise was so very graceful, and she rocked at fitness! If our Olivia couldn't win then Sara was a great choice :)

Olivia is our favorite Jr Miss!!!

2010-03-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

We were all so proud of Livy, especially Sean. Really we had to beg him to kiss Liv on the check in front of "her Daddy"!
Olivia Erika and Lauren were all so beautiful! They had a great time and were all winners in our opinion.
The Carter girls couldn't be prouder of Olivia!!! They are all so beautiful!! Two girls down and three to go!
Olivia was contestant #22. She answered her question perfectly, walked with great poise, sang her song beautifully, and did fitness the best!
She walked away with no real awards but she said that she did her best and felt really good about herself! We couldn't be happier!!
Daddy loves his Liv! I am sure you couldn't find a prouder father anywhere in the auditorium !

Once There Was A Snowman!!!!!

2010-02-16T21:54:00.001-08:00

Liv and Mil way too cool for school. On Presidents day break they decided to build a snowman! They decided they would be designer snowmen builders! Wouldn't you just die to be able to have such attractive one piece snowsuits!
Millie is looking to sweet and innocent ha ha look at Liv and Ashlyn in the back! They are totally making fun of sweet little ol' Mil Miest!!!
Elder Carter is Back and it looks like he has put on a little weight and is desperately in need of a tan!
Olivia, Millie, and Ashlyn were enjoying the sunshine and made their brother (Elder Carter) a missionary snowman!
The girls had a ton of fun building their snowman and we get lots of honks and cheers from people driving up and down the road seeing our cute Elder Carter Missionary Snowman! We LOVE you Hayden! Missionaries are the BEST!!!

The Big MTC Day

2010-02-11T11:41:00.000-08:00

Here is the family at the Missionary Training Center sign
Having a super fun breakfast at IHOP! It was Yummy and Fun!
Elder Carter with Grandma and Grandpa Carter
The whole family with the Grandma and Grandpa Carter!
Grandpa Dearden and Betty Ann and Elder Carter we let him wear "service" clothes this day even though he was already set apart! Grandpa is looking a little pale but we are hoping and praying for a complete recovery! :)
We had a great day! We were all a little sad but it turned out to be a day of love. We know that we left Elder Carter in the Lord's hands and the MTC had the most happy loving feeling ever! We went to Utah to see the Grandparents. Grandpa Dearden was released from the hospital on Monday and seemed to be re-cooperating fine. Grandma Carter was released Tuesday afternoon to her home. We are so happy she is home! Hayden had a great time visiting with her. We are all praying for a miracle that she will make it until all her grandson missionaries make it home safe. Then we drove down to Provo and ate at IHOP! It was so much fun. There were about five other missionaries there all going around the world. TIP: Missionaries get their meal for FREE!!!!! :) We then drove to the MTC and took the pics. The tears were starting but under control. We then walked up to the temple and took one last family picture (minus our great son-in-law COLLEGE you can't miss or you get way behind) and then got in our car and drove to the drop off spot. LOVE is all you could feel, from every Elder that you saw! We unloaded Hayden's luggage, he grabbed is backpack and we gave him one final hug and then my very favorite son said "Ok Elder let's get to work!" Off they went and Hayden never looked back, if you look close you can see him entering the doors on the picture. I am so proud of my favorite missionary son! He was ready, willing, worthy, and excited to begin his mission!!! We love Elder Carter!

"The Big MTC Day!"

2010-02-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

Hayden's Wonderful Farewell!:)

2010-02-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

Abbie, Hayden, Olivia, Millie, Issy, Gabi

Dad, Hayden, Mom

Betty Ann, Hayden, Grandpa Dearden

Hayden and his future wife Lauren
( thats what she thinks anyways;)

All of the Cousins

This last Sunday was Hayden's farewell! We can't believe how close February 10 is getting! Because Mother Nature did not cooperate with us, and the roads were HORRIBLE some of the family could not make it, but it was great anyways. His talk was.. well of course... FABULOUS! Tons of friends and family came to watch and everyone felt the spirit after his strong testimony. Afterwards, everyone came to our house to eat delicious soups that my mom and her friends made. And of course there was a huge selection of treats! It was so fun to visit with everyone. We are so proud of our Hayden for making the choice to serve the Lord. He will be an awesome missionary. WE LOVE YOU HAYD!!!!!:)

Heidi, Hayden, Jennah

Mitch, Cory, Lance, Rhett, Hayden, Kyle, Brady

Eating the DELICIOUS soups

Lacie, Millie, Lauren, Olivia, Emily, and Erika

Rhett, Hayden, Jamie, Kyle, Brady

Missionary Man

2010-02-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

We took some fun pictures of Elder Carter and here are a few for you to look at! Isn't he HANDSOME!!!! (to bad all you single ladies :( )

2009-11-23T06:49:00.000-08:00

The mission papers were already except for the photo so we got him all missionary looking and took the picture ourselves! The papers were sent in Saturday night, Kelly's last act as Bishop! What a way to go out!! Then on to the Stake President and then on to Salt Lake City!!

On November 12 the envelope came! We were all excited! Hayden put us through torture and made us wait to open it until 5:oo p.m. This is him reading his call very carefully.

Hayden's mission picture!;) just kiddin!!

The call!!!!!!:) We were all excited! Especially Mom her favorite son was staying in America!!

A very proud dad and hayden pointing to Wisconsin on the map!:)

Twin Terror Triathlites!!

2009-10-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

On Sept. 26 Gabi and Issy competed in their first triathlon. The did so good and had so much fun!:) Enjoy the pictures!

Olivia's first dance!...Homecoming 2009

2009-10-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Olivia went to the dance with Sean Brower. They had a fun day date at Pinnacle and then went to Red Robin for dinner. Then Melanee and Kaylie Walker helped her and Erika get ready. They both looked beautiful!! The boys picked them up from our house promptly and nine! Exchanging flowers and off to the dance they went!

Water fun!

2009-07-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

On the 18th of July Jolene and her kids came up and it was fun to see them! Abbie and Brek also came up! So it was just a big party! Jolene left the next Monday. Abbie and Brek got to stay the rest of the week. while they were here we did so many fun things! We got to go see the new Harry Potter! Which was SO good! It was defiantly one of our favorites! Then we got to go and float a canal by our house! It was so hot so it felt so good! We all got a tube..Abbie's and Brek's was a little huge! So they didn't fit under all of the bridges. So they next time around we let some air out of their tube so we could all fit under all o9f the bridges! It was so fun! Even though the tubes flipped over!;) On the 24th it was Olivia's 16th birthday!!:) Our dad took her on her first date! He re-wrote the song "My Heart Will Go On" from the titanic and changed the words to ask Livi on a date! Olivia has been obsessed with the Titanic lately and in Idaho Falls there was a Titanic Museum! So they went down there and went to that and lunch! They had such a fun time! Then when they came back we opened presents! She got so many fun things! Her friend Sean gave her the cutest present ever! Then we went bridge jumping! We all had a blast!:) We ended the day with cake and a movie! It was a fun week!

Brek Being Harry Potter!!:D

Abbie and Brek trying to get situated on their

tube!

Waiting for Abbie and Brek to come..

Olivia and issy trying to stop and wait for

Abbie and Brek too...haha.

We finally got it!! WOOHOO!

Hayden and Gabi!:)

Floating!

Issy and Olivia!:)

Coming out from under the road! It was a tight

squeeze but we all made it!:)

We all made it!!!:D

The date!

Millie and Olivia!

Olivia and the twins!

Olivia and Hayden!

Olivia, Brek, and Abbie!

Olivia with mom and dad!

Olivia and Sean!:)

Sean's present!

Hayden bridge jumping!

Olivia, Sean, and Millie!

Brek and Hayden..the wanna-be studs!;)

Sittin on the log!

Loner Abbie!!!!!!

Hayden's flying!!!!!

All the kids!

The three studs!

The three girls waiting to jump!!

All the kids posing on the bridge!

Issy jumping!

Gabi jumping!

Sean's awesome backflip!!!

Millie, sean, and livia!

Our cute daddy!

Happy Birthday Liv! We all love you!!!:)

Summer Fun!!

2009-07-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

This is what er did with that cool 'Picnik' site!

This summer has been VERY eventful!!!! We have been four wheeling, which was a blast! We went some place in the mountains and Abbie and Brek even got to come! We also have been to lava! but we forgot to take the camera! The twins got their ears pierced! Gabi was just fine and laughed the whole time they did it! But when it was Issy's turn she was so scared! The first ear was just fine...but the next ear was horrifying! she cried the rest of the day! haha. Fourth of July was so fun! We all got matching shirts and went to the parade, had a BBQ, watched a couple of movies, took a drive, and then did fireworks! Me and Olivia dyed our hair! i went dark and cut it short. Olivia dyed hers lighter and got some layers and such haha. Me and Olivia also just got back from girls camp! It was so fun! we went to the Playmill in West Yellowstone and saw the play Footloose! It was SO good and so fun! We also got to go canoeing, hiking, and so much more fun stuff! We also got to go to Utah! We helped our grandpa with his yard and went swimming at his Country Club. That sunday our cousin, Mike, had his farewell! So it was fun to go to that too! and then Abbie showed us this cute website called Picnik.com and it lets you do cool stuff with your pictures...so we have had fun with that too! So that about sums up what has happened the last few weeks!!

Mike's Farewell

Country Club!

Summer is Here!!!

2009-06-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here! Everyone was so happy that school was out! all the kids went out with their friends and partied! It was so hot on the last day of school so everyone wanted to get wet! Olivia went swimming in her friends pond, Millie went bridge jumping, the twins just played with their friends! at the end of the eventful day our great dad got a projector and put a movie on the side of the house! It was way awesome!!:) While all of this was going on back home, Hayden was in Zions National Park! He went there for his senior trip! He went hiking, rock climbing, and mostly repelling! We were all so nervous because he has never done this kind of thing before! He went with 3 of his friends! They were gone for a whole week!! They stayed in a tent and had a blast! Hayden loved it!! Now that summer is here we will be even more busy! Its going to be crazy!!

Hayden Graduated!

2009-06-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

May 21, 2009 was a great day!!! Our very favorite son graduated from Madison High School!!! He is totally amazing!!! We all love him so much and the whole family was their to offer their congratulations!! Way to go HAYDEN!!!

On May 27 Hayden graduated from Madison high School! Yay!! it was a way good ceremony and it was so cool to see Hayden graduate! We took so many pictures! oh and even Abbie and Brek came up! it was way fun!!

Seminary Graduation!

2009-05-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday night Hayden graduated from seminary! Because he was the seminary council president, he had to speak at the graduation! He did absolutely AMAZING!!!!:) He talked about coming alive through Christ. He just did awesome! grandpa Dearden and Betty Ann came up Saturday and brought their 2 dogs which are the sister and mom of our dog! So it was fun to watch them play!! And then on Sunday Aunt Lisa, Lacie, and Grandma Carter came up. So we all went to the graduation together! it was fun!

Hayden's dance!

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

Hayden went to the senior prom (commencement) with a girl named Taylor Ballard. For their day date they went four wheeling with three other couples. Hayden and Taylor got the dirtiest! because they refused to go around the puddles of water and instead went straight through them.
Hayden enjoyed wearing a top hat and received compliments that he looked like Joseph Smith! He thought that was pretty cool! :) She wore a very big, beautiful orange dress! So hayden wore his tux and an orange tie. The looked very cute together! and Hayden had a very fun time!

Hayden Finally got his Eagle!!!!

2009-05-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Hayden finally got his scouting eagle! we were all so proud! During his court of honor Olivia, Millie, Hayden, Valerie Hart, and Spencer Hart( he got his eagle with hayden) all sang! they did awesome! :) Even though hayden finished all of his projects and things one month before, we were still happy he got it! After the court of honor nana liz made billions of cookies! they were delicious! We are so proud of Hayden! GOOD JOB BUD! WE LOVE YOU!!!

2009-04-30T20:23:00.001-07:00

2009-04-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

We're back! Our computer has been down for a long time and we finally got it fixed! Our lives have been pretty busy...like always! :) We finally got a puppy! thanks to grandpa Dearden! Her name is Elphaba, but we all call her Elphie! She is SO cute and we love her! Hayden says she is the queen of the house and we treat her like gold ( well we do!) ha but we love her! We went down to utah for Easter and had a great time with the family! we finally got to see Abbie an Brek! It was so awesome! Millie had her birthday on March 23. She is now 14! AHH!! She got zebra everything!! she loved it! Hayden broke his leag in March. He broke the two bones in his leg and now has a titanium rod down his leg. He broke it playing church ball! Holy cow, is that game intense! ;) haha. He finally got off his crutches but still has to walk with a boot. Hayden will be graduating on May 21! Its crazy how everyone is growing up so fast!! Olivia got her license in Febuary! so she is now driving and we even bought a new car!! The twins are the same, wild and crazy! But they are pretty awesome! haha. Cheer and sports are over! Hallelujah!!! The girls didn't even try out for next year..its going to be great!! Hayden would be playing baseball but because of his condition he doesn't get too. :( The shurtleff's came down for conference weekend! we had an absolute blast!! We played wii! it was this way fun game where you had to dance!! everyone played!! it was so fun! It was hilarious to watch uncle tim and our dad play!! ;) That about sums up our life for the past while!! Its been crazy like always! :)

2009-02-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

This is our cute window to hold all of our cute pictures! Thought you would all want too
see it!!

Fun Family Pictures!

2009-02-18T20:45:00.000-08:00

The Crazy Girls!

Mug Shots of the men!

Watch Out!!

Beauty Queens!

Best Big Bro!

Issy

Gabby

Millie

Olivia

Hayden

Abbie & Brek

Mom & Dad

Ryon Brewer took these fun pictures! Mom put them in a old window frame and it is super cute!

L . O . V . E

2009-02-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day from our family to yours!!!

2009-02-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

L---is for the way you look at me!!
O-- is for the Only One I See!
V-- is very very extra-ordinary!!
E-- is even more than anyone that you adore!
Love is made for you and me!! Hayden is our Exclamation Heart and very excited about it!!

9 Things that Bug me!!

2009-02-03T19:08:00.001-08:00

Abbie tagged me so I guess since I am trying to figure out this blog thing I will do it, or try to do it.
1. Having the kitchen all clean and someone says "I'm hungry!" so much for a clean kitchen.
2. Laundry, you can never ever be all caught up!! (unless you strip your family naked and make them stand in the laundry room until all the clothes are clean!! ha ha )
3. Mean people who don't say thank you or please. Kindness Matters!!!
4. super skinny ladies who say that they are fat!! You know that they know they are skinny!!! They just want to remind you that they are smaller than you
5. The most hated Question ever "Mom whats for dinner?"
6. Cheerleading!!! My girls are always unhappy with something to do with cheerleading.
7. Exercising my heart out and starving myself and never losing one pound!!
8. Friends who come to play and all they want to do is ask for food!! I love to give treats to friends just not the bottomless pit type friends!
9. You can work and work and still never get everything done! I wish that I had a maid, laundry person, scrapbooker, blogger, organizer, homework helper, dishwasher person, date maker, date beautifier (this is for me) and a gardener!! This really bugs me! I just can't get everything done!

My Forever Valentine

2009-02-03T18:55:00.000-08:00

Can you image this 117 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal is still my Valentine! I love Kelly Carter even more because he isn't 117 pounds. I would hate to out weigh my cute husband

Our Happy little Life.....

2009-01-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

Sorry we haven`t been up to date...we have been very busy!! First of all Abbie got married! She married Brek Tolman. They get married on September 4 in the Rexburg Temple. We held the reception in our backyard. Even though it was freezing it turned out to be beautiful. Then we went to all of Hayden`s football games. He is the big star quarter back!! The season ended up to be 4-5!! Olivia and Millie are both cheerleaders now. We would rush to Olivia`s game and then run back to watch Millie. Through the broken bones and the drama they seem to love it! The twins are finally eight!! They had their baptism on November eighth. They were so happy! They got baptized by their big brother, and their daddy confirmed them. That is an summary o0f our happy little life since summer!!

Boating!

2008-08-31T16:01:00.000-07:00

On the 23rd we got invited to go boating with our family friends the Stephensons. We all love going baoting with them! Except for Abbie who decided to stay home. we love going on the tubes and trying to waterski! ;) My dad and Hayden love wrestling on the "couch" and everyone who went with them got thrown off the tube in the next two seconds! Nana Liz and Papa Vaughn were the driver and it was their job to get all of us in the lake. Later Hayden found his friends and decided to go with them, so for the rest of the time it was just mom,dad,olivia,millie,issy and gabby. By the end of the trip we were all so tired and some of us fell asleep on the way home. It is always so fun going bating! we all love it!

~sAnd DuNeS!!~

2008-08-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

One sunday the family decided to go to the sand dunes to take pictures of the kids,becase we have to have some new pictures since we have a new addition to the fam :) ! so we went with our very new very nice camera and we were on or way to the dunes! we had fun jmping off the hills into the sand and we got some awesome pics of all of us in the air as we're jumping off! we had a lot of fun and got some really cute pictres too! It was a fun family outting :)