Thanksgiving, Part 2

After our grand Zoo adventure, we headed back up to Logan for the feast!
Dinner this year was at Grama D's. She cooked us up an unbelievable assortment of all things Thanksgiving: potatoes, turkey, stuffing, rolls, yams... the list goes on and on!!!

Dad had the honor of carving the turkey.
(I like the word carving in relationship to turkey: it adds a sense of culinary art!
And believe you me, there was definitely art involved!!!)

Here are a few shots from the glorious afternoon.
Keith and Barbara joined us for dinner, bringing the guest list to a total of 10.

A few shots from the table...

Thanksgiving has got to be one of my favorite holidays.
It was so nice to just spend the day with the people I love the most,
pondering on my countless blessings!

Lots of love,
Roxy

Thanksgiving Zoo

We have a Thanksgiving tradition that began a few years ago... Thanksgiving morning we head down south to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Every year they hold their "Feast With the Beasts" where the animals get a delicious treat for Thanksgiving.
This year we were joined by Grandpa Keith and Grandma Barbara:

It is always a grand adventure, as can be made apparent by the smiles caught on camera!

Nina LOVES the crocodiles...

Toph's favorite is always the tiger.
(I made the mistake of letting him play photog during this feeding...)

I think our overall favorite went to the elephants, though.
This year the elephants received a 1054.5 lb pumpkin to smash! It was awesome!!!

We had a difficult time getting all 4 kids to pay attention enough to smile at the same time...
This was the best we could do...

Hogle Zoo has a new carousel. It is simply stunning! We all rode on our favorite animals. Mama's favorite was the eagle, Toph's the tiger, Daniel's the leopard, Nina's the sea otter, and mine the polar bear. It was so fun!

Here are a few more shots from the zoo... It was so much fun!


Stay tuned for the rest of Thanksgiving...

This is why we love the weekends...

We are family-loving people. :) Last weekend, our Boise cousins were able to sneak down to Logan and boy-oh-boy did we PLAY!!! We were SO excited to have all 4 of them down. Some of you know our cousin Sarah was diagnosed about 11 months ago with leukemia. After a relapse scare, she was cleared to come and play too! We were all ecstatic! This was an amazing answer to many, many prayers, and we certainly enjoyed Sarah's adventure out of Idaho! :)

We took my camera for a trip to explore the timing capabilities. It passed!

When we weren't playing games or taking pictures, we spent a lot of time in the studio. Christopher and Bridgette recorded I Have Seen Him from the Easter Cantata. My dad conducted while I pushed all the buttons... I quickly grew fond of that chair! ;)

Sunday night recording with Mama at the piano:

Saturday afternoon, practicing around the piano:

The rest of the crew practicing around the piano:

Here's the lineup. The Barefoot Band. From left to right:
Christopher, James, Bridgette, Sarah, Kristina, Heather, Roxy, and Daniel

We LOVED having you guys down for the weekend! As always, it wasn't long enough, but it will hold us through until the next time...

lots of love...

Must be living right...

A few of our devoted followers will remember earlier this year a sad post in which I was asked to play the national anthem at the ESPN bracket buster USU basketball game. I was SO disappointed I couldn't do it, but I was in Belgium... you win some, you lose some, right?

Well, I just got off the phone with USU marketing... 

I GET ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY!

Mark that date: February 21, 2009, ESPN Bracket Buster, Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum!

w00t w00t!

I Was Here

I found a song by Lady Antebellum the other day called "I Was Here" that has been 100% inspiring to me. 

This is me, my whole life. I couldn't have said it better. I hope you enjoy the lyrics...

You will notice me 

I'll believe in my mark, like initials carved in an old oak tree 

you wait and see 

maybe I'll write like Twain wrote 

maybe I'll paint like Van Gough, 

cure the common cold 

I don't know but I'm ready to start cuz I know in my heart 

I wanna do something that matters 

say something different 

something that sets the whole world on it's ear 

I wanna do something better, with the time I've been given 

and I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life 

and leave nothin less that something that says I was here 

I will prove you wrong 

if you think I'm all talk, your in for a shock 

cuz this dream's too strong, and before too long 

maybe I'll compose symphonies 

maybe I'll fight for world peace 

cuz I know it's my destiny 

to leave more that a trace of myself in this place 

I wanna do something that matters 

say something different 

something that sets the whole world on it's ear 

I wanna do something better, with the time I've been given 

and I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life 

and leave nothin less that something that says I was here 

and I know that I, I will do more than just pass through this life 

I'll leave nothing less that something that says 

I was here, I was here, I was here, I was here 

wanna do something that matters 

something that says I was here 

wanna do something that matters 

something that says I was here, I was here

In honor of Veterans Day...

In honor of Veteran's Day, we would like to pay tribute to Charles William Carter Jr., our Dad and Grandpa. He was a Master Gunnery Sgt. in the United States Marine Corps, serving our great nation in World War II.



We miss Grampa terribly, but tonight have been enjoying stories of his days in the Marines. We would like to share one of those stories in honor of him.

Grampa, as mentioned above, was a Master Gunnery Sgt. He shared this rank with one of his dear friends. When it came time to lead their troops into battle, he and his friend drew straws to see who would take command. His friend won, and so Grampa gave him his compass. Sadly, Grampa's friend was killed by the enemy. He had lost a dear friend, and in the process, lost his compass.
When the time came for the next battle, Grampa was the one to lead in the troops. They came upon several dead enemies. Grampa rolled over one of the Japanese and saw on the dead soldier's body his compass that had been lost in the previous battle. To this day, we still have the compass in our family's possession!

We love you Grampa, and savor ever memory we have of you! Thank you for your service to our country, and even more to our family! We love you and miss you!

Love, your family

Super Sunday!

Today has been an amazing Sunday. We have been very blessed to have Marvin, Shannon, Cari, Kyle, and Matthew here this weekend. Today was especially wonderful, however, because my brother was ordained an Elder. Toph, just so you know, you are my hero. I am so grateful for the bond we share, and I'm even more grateful that you are one of my VERY best friends! Today is a day that I realize how proud I am of you. You are a remarkable example to everyone you meet, and the Light of Christ shines through your entire being! Congratulations on being worthy for this extraordinary gift!

Paul, Demarious, and Marvin were able to join us for this special event. We were thrilled to share this with them! (It has occurred to me that maybe I should let Toph write this post, but since I'm already over half-way done, I guess I'll just finish...)

I have, without a doubt, the BEST men in my life!
I just like to look at them!

We had dinner at Demarious and Paul's tonight.
Here's the crew (all 17 of us... well, #17 is behind the camera...) :

The rest of the evening was filled with giggles and lots of fun stories!
Toph is sure loved by all those kids!
We are so blessed, and are grateful every day for our family! Sure love you guys!!!

Pah-Roh-Voh

This last Friday I was able to go visit my dear friend Alana in Provo. (She and I met in Brussels while we were both doing internships there.) It had been way too long since we'd played, so I snuck down on Friday night. Alana's younger brother Evan also goes to BYU, and her older brother Ian was in town for the weekend. We all went out to Cafe Rio on Friday. (It was my first time, and I'm hooked!) Also joining us was Ian's friend Amy.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and went to do baptisms at the Mount Timpanogos Temple. Ian, Alana, and I were joined by their friend Hillary. We had a wonderful experience. It occurred to me that the last temple I was in was with my Brussels ward when we attended the temple in The Hague, Netherlands. I don't take the opportunity to go do baptisms nearly enough! It was exactly what I needed this weekend, though! It was also neat to have Ian baptize and confirm each of us!

Later that morning, several of Alana and Ian's friends came over for a "traditional BYU football breakfast." I was allowed to participate if I didn't dis BYU too much... It was tough, but I made it through! ;) We took some glamor shots that morning as well:
Hillary, Ian, and I:

Me, Hillary, and Alana with an incredible view in the background!

I had such a wonderful time! Thanks so much for having me, guys! We'll play again... VERY soon!

Music Man!

(disclaimer: I have NO idea how to really spell anything that took place in the play, so if you find an error, please, POST A COMMENT! :) )

A few weekends ago, after weeks and weeks of rehearsal, Karen, Daniel, and Kristina participated in our stake's performance of the Music Man. They were phenomenal! I apologize for taking so long to get the pictures up, but here they are! A quick recap:

Here's 1/2 the Carter Clan after the first night of the show. Nina played Amaryllis, Daniel played Tommy, and Karen was a Pick-a-little lady! Aren't they cute?

Kristina was SO excited the day she found out she had been cast as Amaryllis! She had a few lines & songs, a mic, and even a costume change!
Here she is singing "Goodnight, my someone" with Marian.

Another highlight of Kristina's performance was her "Cross-hand Piece." She did GREAT all 3 performances!

Closing night, with Marian:

Kristina made friends with everyone in the play. She and a friend named Cosette had an exceptionally wonderful time!

Closing night:


Daniel was cast as Tommy, the beloved troublemaker of River City. He played the part well... ;)

Tommy is secretly dating the mayor's daughter, Zanita. This part was played by Daniel's good friend Kallie. They had a fantastic time playing across each other!

Daniel and Kallie:

Being goofy on closing night:

Karen was cast as a Pick-a-little Lady. She really got into the role, especially loving the camera as a Grecian Urn!

Closing night:

Karen with her biggest fan:

They are SO cute!

And last, but not least, Toph and I had ourselves a great time as the Paparazzi after each show. We shouldn't be let loose together...

It was a fantastic play, and the Crew did great!