What's New With The Carter Family

I love tennis. I have ever since I was a teen, living in Melbourne (the tennis capital of Australia). I used to go to the Australian Open with my friends, and roam around all day watching matches of players I liked. Such fun memories! When I first moved to the USA, Brandon and I lived in apartments...and they always seemed to have a tennis court attached. We would play together a few times a week...and used to have a ton of fun. Since living in WA, Brandon and I haven't played any more tennis. Busy jobs, busy lives...it kind of fell by the wayside. The saddest part is that Jem hasn't had the opportunity to try this sport yet. So when I found out that his piano teacher's husband taught tennis, I was very excited! Finally! A reason to get out on the court, and someone to give Jem some pointers on the game! After only a few lessons, Jem now 'knows' what tennis is...he LIKES being on the court and hitting balls....and....Brandon and I have gotten our old rackets ...

Literally ONE day after arriving back home from Italy, Brandon hopped back on a plane (with Jem this time) and headed to Indiana for a quick 2 day visit. They were there to celebrate a very special occassion - Brandon's Great Grandma Nickels' 100th Birthday! She looks AMAZING, and as you can see from the photos below, her party was a family celebration. Almost everyone was able to make it, and it was wonderful for Jem to meet so many of Brandon's side of the family!

This past June, Brandon got to go on another business trip to Italy. He was there during the summertime, and he says it was very hot - much more so than here in WA. On the weekends (which he had off) he was able to do some sightseeing with a few other co-workers that were there. One of the places they went to was Florence. Even though the architecture was amazing, Brandon says that Florence smells like a mixture of trash and urine. Nice. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for revisiting, is it?