What's New With The Carter Family

Christmas 2007 has come and gone.....and what a Christmas it was! We had Brandon's mom and dad come up to visit for the week, and Brandon's sister and her family (who are now living nearby) helped us celebrate this special time of year. As you can see, we managed to take a family photo... but what you won't see is how we made it happen! It was an experience to say the least! First of all, I don't have a tripod. Scratch that. I didn't have a tripod until the next day *LOL* (it was my Christmas present from Justin). So to take this photo, I had Justin drive his car so that it was parallel to the house....then I asked him to roll his windows down....then I tried to balance my camera on the half rolled down window, using a mini 6" bendy tripod. Whew! It took lots a LONG time to get it just right....but I made it work! We managed to get a shot of the entire Carter/Skinner Clan :) Now if only someone had told me to wait a day.....

This year for Halloween, Jem got to wear a ninja turtle costume! He looked so adorable in it! It was a gift from his Uncle Con in Australia (during our recent visit), and Jem had been looking forward to wearing it ever since we got back home. We purchased a couple of accessories (a belt and sword) and he was all ready for a night of trick-or-treating in our neighborhood! His cousin River, and friend Carson were his companions.....they were dressed as Harry Potter and Hermione (from the Harry Potter movies). They went to almost all of the houses on our side of the development, and let's just say that A LOT of candy was brought back home!!!

I don't know where the time went......all of a sudden Jem is 5 1/2 years old and starting Kindergarten! What happened to my little boy? Didn't I just write on here a little while ago that he was starting Preschool? Could that really have been 2 years ago? Life moves so fast - because here I am, having to let him spend his day somewhere else, with someone else......aaaaah!!!!!! Even though Jem is ready and excited for Kindergarten to start, am I ready to let him go? He has met his new teacher, Mrs Sterling, and visited his new school, Northshore Christian Academy. He knows no one....but he is such a social child, I have no doubt he will make friends in no time at all. Look at how little he looks in these pictures, can he really be ready for school? He looks so handsome in his school uniform! Have a wonderful year in Kindergarten Jem - play, learn and above all, enjoy yourself!

As you can see from the photos above, the yard project is coming along nicely! This summer in particular, Brandon (with some help from Justin) managed to get a whole other wall built. Doesn't it look different when seeing it from below? When you see it from the top of the hill you have no idea of how much wall there actually is! Although this project has been ongoing for over 3 years, the end is in sight - I swear, if I squint my eyes just so I can almost see a finished yard!

This past August, Jem and I were lucky enough to be able to take a month long trip down to Australia! It was Jem's second time there, and he was VERY excited to be able to see his Nunna, Papou, Uncle Con, Bouz Nunnu and all of the friends and family I've spoken so much of. We were able to spend time with my beloved Tzia Rose, Bill's girls Jaymie and Alex (who will always have a very special place in my heart), and my bestest friend from high school and beyond, Joanne. I am so glad that Jem got to spend some time with these very special people. Here they are below..... Jaymie and Alexandra... Joanne... My Tzia Rose... We got to visit with many other friends and family during our trip - thank you to everyone who came to see us or met up with us, we really loved seeing you again! Jem and I have some pretty awesome memories of our holiday - going to the beach to collect shells with Papou, playing cards for money (haha!), my dad's awesome (did I say AWESOME?) greek salad, f...