The Carter Family

Monday, July 14, 2014

Santa Cruz

We were lucky enough to be able to go to Santa Cruz with the whole Carter clan over 4th of July weekend. Jim and Dee rented a house a block from the ocean and we had the best time. We arrived on Thursday night the 3rd and had a great time hanging with the family. Hillary and Mark hooked us all up with Vivint shirts. Thanks guys!

We spent the 4th of July during the day down at the beach closest to the house. It happened to be the only dog beach in the area and it was fun to watch all the dogs go crazy. We had the best time lounging around on the beach while the kids played in the sand. It was a little chilly so there wasn't really much going into the water. We also got to see tons of little crabs in this arch and the wall of rock when the tide was out

Love this!

After our day at the beach we went back to the house and played an awesome game of Phase 10 that is still to be continued. We BBQ'd and had a great time as a family. Then we headed down to the Pier to see if we might me able to view some illegal fireworks.

Thanks for all the candy Grama!

It got quite chilly but we totally lucked out with parking. We got the very first 2 spots on the pier, facing the board walk so we were able to go sit in our cars and watch an amazing firework show and keep warm!

This was the tail end before we headed home. Not too shabby!

That night we woke up to Tanner being sick and I also came down with the stomach flu. We took it easy while Preston went to the beach with the rest of the family and had a great time.

I was feeling better enough by that evening to enjoy dinner on the Pier with the family.

The food was so good!

The next day we spent at the beach, soaking up the sun and the waves. It was much warmer and we all (mostly) got into the water. I loved watching Aaron and Preston jump through the waves together. Preston LOVES waves. Most of the time we were at the beach he was jumping up and down watching them because he was so excited and happy.

Tanner enjoyed some snacks on the beach.

Flying kites!

So happy :)

The boys

All the grandkids with Grama

Giving me a cheesy "cheese"

Relaxing with mom

As you can see, Preston is jumping

Our little family

Our last night I sent Aaron to the boardwalk with Dee and Hillary while I stayed at home with the kids and everyone else headed home. Looks like they had a great time!

Thanks Jim and Dee! We had such a great vacation, can't wait for the next one!!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Cull Canyon

It was so much fun to go down to the bay area and spend the day with most of the cousins at Cull Canyon. I had never been and loved this man-made, chlorinated, sandy beach lake.

My boys are just too adorable.

It was so much fun to see Preston and Luke having fun in the water and Tanner and Juliet playing in the sand. Cousins are the best.

Hanging out on the sandy beach

It was perfect that Brad and Rachel were in town. We got a picture with almost all the cousins.

Miss you Elsie!

Monday, June 23, 2014

Utah!

Since we watched Matt and Lyndsey's kids for 9 days while they went on a cruise, we earned some time away for ourselves. We decided a trip to Utah, just the 2 of us, would be so much and we'd get to meet our newest niece and nephew.

Jim and Dee rented us a car for the road trip and we had the best time in our spacious Nissan Altima! We were shocked that we made the trip to Utah, around Utah including to Heber and SLC, and back to CA on 2 1/2 tanks of gas!

We got to stay with Mark and Hillary and had a great time just hanging out.

Caleb is so tiny and is the happiest baby ever!

We had such a great time visiting my alma mater. We love BYU!

Later that day we met up with Don and Maclaine, Elsie and Brad to go the American Fork fair.

Followed by a movie night at Don and Maclaine's, "For the Love of Willadean".

One of the funnest days was at Cowabunga Bay where we hung out in our private cabana, ate, talked and played on the water slides. Why didn't I take more pictures! Love this Elsie girl.