Katie, Danny, and the kids left early this morning. Sweet Cristie got up at about 4:30 and sat on the porch to bid them goodbye as they drove past (they've been staying at the Nydegger's the past few days), but they must have taken a different route out of the nieghborhood.

We had a nice family evening last night. I was honored to give Kate a father's blessing before she left, and David a pre-mission blessing as well. We had a short family council on things we all might do to help Laurel, and then just hung out and enjoyed each other.

Thanks to all of you for all you do to make Laurel feel loved and included. Your willingness to help when you already have such busy lives is inspiring to me.

We wish Katie and Danny the best in Chicago! We're sure going to miss them here.

I too enjoyed Carp this year. It wasn't the same with some family not there, and others coming and going, but it was beautiful and relaxing. Cristie got some pictures back yesterday, and I was reminded again of how perfect the weather was. The following is a memory of Carp I wrote awhile back. I thought you might enjoy it:

When I was a child, most every summer we spent at least a week at Carpinteria. Our record was three straight weeks there, until the rangers got wise to my mothers camp switching and kicked us out.

One summer when I was about ten, I became a lifeguard. Well, a pretend lifeguard. I always thought the lifeguards at the beach looked so great in their tans, bleached hair (especially the hair on their arms and legs), and in their faded red shorts. So when the state beach built newer, higher, and fancier guard towers, I took over one of the old, smaller, abandoned ones, which was about 25 yards from the newer one.

I'd get there first thing in the morning, ready for a day of saving, even ahead of my authentic neighbors. I'd stay all day too, not daring to leave my post for fear I'd miss an opportunity to be a hero, or worse, that some other kid would take over my stand. My brother Tom joined me for the first couple of days, but he never had the staying power I did, so he wandered off to other less glorious persuits, and I was left to scan the beach by myself (which I preferred anyway). My ever concerned mother would send either my brother or one of my cousins with my lunch so I didn't starve and would have the needed reserves should my services be required.

Alas, during my weeks employ, as far as I could see there never was a need for a rescue, either by me or by my neighbors. Not even a riptide warning or anything. But I was faithful to my duty nonetheless, talked shop with the other lifeguards, got a little tanner, and my red trunks got a little more faded. And I even enjoyed the admiration of a couple of younger girls who came and hung around my tower for awhile. For a ten-year-old, what could really be better than that?

happy 50th cristie!! i really had no idea!! sorry i'm getting to you so late but i kinda got lost trying to look at the carp photos bub sent me..never did get to see 'em. anyway from what i heard, you had my kind of birthday date! heck, my kind of date anytime!! i'm so anxious to see sea biscuit!! the book was great. i'm hoping mom feels good enough very soon so we can go. i wont ask how it was because anything much about horses is great by me. speaking of which, i'd like to invite you and anyone else who would like to tag along to a 3 day, 3 night round up!!! yep i'm savin' my money!! it's up North of San Luis Obispo at the Camatta Ranch. I'm shooting for the May round up...theres one this October but the cost is a grand so i can't make it until the next one comes around in May. i wont go into the details but it really sound like alot of fun, not alot of hard riding unless you want to really work the cattle along with the ranch hands who will be accompanying. i seem to recall you enjoying riding and of course camping out under the starrs so give it some thought huh? besides that i'm back to the routien here which is pretty darn good. i have the greatist boss! i feels good to be missed. yesterday a dozen roses were delivered to me at work from one of my very cute boy patients...he's married...but he's still a sweetie! it sure made my.....YEAR! even though if i was the guys wife i'd definately be ticked! really it was supposed to be anonymous though, i just snuck a peek at the reciept,much to the dismay of the delivery guy. whatever..it was innocent fun i'm sure. i sure enjoyed seeing everybody at carp this year, i did especially miss melissa out in the waves with us though. we had the greatest weather huh? thanks for having my Kelly girl. i miss her terrible though! from our talks shes really enjoying herself alot, i'm glad she was able to come. well it's late, happy birthday again Cristie. love you, mary

Well, we're home:) The trip home seemed especially long. We arrived at 11:15 p.m. and listend to some great short stories on tape. The week at the beach was fantastic. We had wonderful sun, sand, family, friends (Jen Checchio), dinner in honor of Serge's 80th, yummy food, Grandma at the beach in her red hat and gobs of great stories to share, a great testimony meeting at church where Katie and Liz shared their testimonies, Anne with her wonderful laugh and little red G purse, candy store walks, Doug walking mounds of sandwiches down to the beach to feed the ravinous beach bums, Foster's and the missing G purse, walks into town and on the beach, cold salty water to cool off in, amazing sea life...I'll never forget Dave swimming with the Dolphins, Tommy, Dave and Joe floating on the rafts and fishing with Joe catching a fish, their bait washing out to sea, Katie getting snookered in her 2nd attempt to "Shoot the Moon". In a word our California trip was UNFORGETABLE! Now the boys would include their Dodger game and trip to Magic Mountain, with Ed barfing and Valerie passing out. Really, can a trip be possible without me hanging my fanny out of the car between St. George and Las Vegas! Sorry for the messy news, but the details are much worse! That I will spare you.
I have mountains of laundry to do which I am enjoying immensely...something about putting in dirty and pulling out clean has always been a charge for me.
Danny, thank you for making it possible for Katie to come and be a kid again. Doug and Ali, thanks for being willing to work so hard...your darlings are real little beach kids, and Carter served as a little fog horn for the camp. We all missed Sam and Melissa with their little ones. Often your names were mentioned as was Danny. Kellie and her little Campbell and Cole are part of the beach family. They are delightful!
Well dear hearts, my love to you all. Once again my skin is a little crispy, my nails have sand stains, and day to day living looks good. Kelly came home with us and was fun to travel with...presently she is taking in all of the birds.
Cristie, Mom, Grammy

hey cuzes it's me kelly, grandma was wundering if we are going to take turns making meals. hey lizzie i am so excited too! i hope we have a lot of fun and even if the water is frezzing we always get use to it, don't we. well i luv you all and i hope we see every one of you luv kel

Danny,my E-mail adress is blueviolet11@msn.com Im really gonna miss babysitting for you guys Im gonna be broke! but Im sure youll love it in chicago

hi I am so excited for carp!!! it is going to be so much fun! and for those of you who live out in california you dont know how lucky you are you dont have to sit in the car hour after hour it is going to be so boring especially in our car it is going to be so quiet because everyones going to be listening to music or fast asleep but once we get there it will be great Me mom and Joe went to costco yesterday so we got a ton of great food and supplies and Im going to the library and rent some CDS I only have two! and believe me if Im gonna me in the car that long I think I will need more than two CDs. well love ya all xo xo xo

Hi to all. We made it home safely yesterday, even after missing our flight in Cincinnati. The boys and I were enjoying the Crown Room so much I forgot that Cincy is in the eastern time zone. So, when I thought we had an hour before flight time, I checked the board and discovered our flight had left 20 minutes ago! This was after hanging out at the airport for five hours. Luckily, Delta had another flight leaving an hour later, and because of my elite status with the airline, we were moved to the top of the stand-by list and we got on the flight.

It was a tough week for me. One of the towns in Iowa put us up in a freshly cut weed field, with cut grass and weeds still on the ground. I noticed my asthma getting a little worse the next day, but didn't think much of it. But the next day, I just didn't have it. I couldn't figure it out, either. I was eating, drinking, had at least adequate rest, but I had little ability to tackle the hills we had for the day.

That night, I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, or breathe very well. Overnight, I realized that I had asthma, in spite of the meds I religiously take. So, I didn't ride the last two days of the ride. I was discouraged, because these were two fun days on the road, but there was no way I was going to risk getting worse. David also really struggled with his asthma, hay fever, and red, swollen eyes. He was at my tent every night to use the inhaler.

Iowa was truly beautiful, and the people, wonderful. I met folks from all over, and the comraderie was great. In most towns we rode through, people were on their porches and in their yards just watching the cyclists roll by. Most in our group liked to get up at 4:30AM and begin riding just before dawn. We did it, but as some of you know, I'm not much of a morning person, so I think those early mornings also took their toll. Mary, next year, you need to do the ride with me, and we'll start the day a little later!

We had beautiful weather. It sprinkled during a spectacular lightning display on the second night, and rained hard for about a half hour a couple of nights later, but no riding in the rain. Except for the first two nights, we had cool evenings. On the second night, it was so hot and humid, my tent was like a sauna. I was just laying in it, not moving and sweating. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, and got up and just walked around in the dark. A little shower ensued and cooled things off enough so that I could return to my tent and get some sleep.

The highlight of the trip for me was to spend that week with my boys. I was very proud of both of them; they were very strong riders. Joe stuck with me much of the time to keep me company, which was very considerate, and we had many good laughs and good discussions together on the road. Doug was by far the strongest rider in our group. The first two days, he came in to the destination towns among the very first riders of all 10,000! He was his usual thoughtful self, pitching his poor, tired father-in-laws tent, ready for his arrival several hours later.

Now we look forward to Carp. It will be nice to camp and relax with family for a week.

Dear Family, When Jim first told me that he had received phone calls from Utah inquiring as to whether or not he was coming to the beach this year I felt like I had been kicked in the teeth. I also felt angry and hurt. But after much conversation and prayer I realized that you didn't go through that divorce with him..I did. And that all of you see the guy to whom I was once attracted. And while I can understand why you all would like to spend time together it would be very uncomfortable for me to share the same time with my family. I''m still trying to recover from the divorce and move on with my life and my feelings are still quite tender and sensitive, especially in regards to my family vacation. Due to work I will have to leave mid week and I will let Jim know so he can come after I've gone. I pray you will understand and respect my feelings on this matter. I love you, Mary

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE! You have the most amazing attributes. I love your laugh and sense of humor. You are resiliant and don't hold grudges. You are kind and loving. You really have brought a lot of joy to our family. So, in a word, you are quite 'wonderful.' This is your day and I will be thinking of you:)

Here I am in a nice hotel right on Michigan Ave. in dowtown Chicago, and I have so much work to do, I haven't left my hotel room this morning. My meeting actually starts at 1PM; I couldn't get here today in time for the start of the meeting, so I flew in last night. I've been sitting at this computer all morning, and am now taking a break by catching up with blog.

It's beautiful here today. Will be in the mid-80's, relatively low humidity, and will drop down to the low 70's tonight. Much cooler and nicer than we've been experiencing of late on the Wasatch. I love Chicago. The one and only nice thing about Katie and Danny moving here is, I usually get to this city a couple of times a year. After Katie and Danny get here, I'll have a reason to bring Cristie with me and the two of us stay over a day or two to visit. Lot's to do and see in the Windy City.

I hope the weather here in the mid-west is as nice and mild next week as it is right now! David, Joe and I head off to Iowa Saturday morning for a week of cycling through cornfields.

Got a call on my cell phone from Danny Hirschi last night. He's in Utah, visiting with Lydia for the next couple of weeks. He says she's feeling better and has gained a little weight. He wants me to go to a mandolin conceret with him Thursday night (David Grisman, Sam), but I might have too much to do to go with him.

Bob Hook called me this morning. He's concerned about Dustin. Says all the work and tedium of the Air Force is getting him down. He misses his family and is discouraged. Bob asked me if I could give him a blessing. Of course I'm honored he would ask. That's what I may be doing Thursday night.

Well.....back to work. I trust everyone is safe and well.

Between the gardner and the rabbits I'm havin' a heck of a time getting anything to grow around here!!

My Dear Edward Carter...
I am so terribly sorry I offended you by completely ignoring you last time I phoned and PURPOSELY spoke to every one but you. I hope things, besides that, are ok for you and you're not too traumatized by the whole thing. If so, I'll see you at Carp and we'll have a heart-to-heart about it all. If anybody talks to Katie can you please tell her to call me again ASAP because I lost (surprise surprise) her number out here, and she's somebody that I DO want to talk to. Plus we were supposed to hang out one day while she was here, and I'm really trying to lose the "FLAKE" rep, so please do let her know I'm looking for her! (I guess I should thank Cristie in advance for that one!) Anyway guys, I love you all to pieces and I hope every one is doing just DANDY!! See ya soon... For a great time with your favorite cousin,
AnnE
(The one with the black boyfriend)

Ed, I know what you mean...there is just some sort of energy in the air that makes me feel that something very exciting is just around the corner! I've got the goosebumps just thinking about it!

hello carter family I sure havent blogged for a while but thats ok I really wish I could go to the dixie chiks concert tomorrow night (with dad) but I dont think he will take me and Dave wont take me either because he just plain doesnt like the dixie chicks because of what they said about bush and sam always tells me that they do bad stuff so I just dont know what to think but I do know that I L-O-V-E their music they are just so talented my favorite song was well I called it cowboy take me away but Im not sure thats what its called but I dont really actually have tickets in the palm of my hand but it would be easy to co scalp some Im really trying hard to get dad to take me but we'll see Ill make my move when the time is right wich will be sometime tonight so wish me luck!

Ed, She already said something about that a while back...You've got to be kidding?!!! And dear, it's Ann with an E! She'd be offended if she saw that! You two are something else!
Love Ya!
Mar

Good evening to all, Well I could never say that my life is dull. What I didn't mention yesterday during my gardening activities,(probably because of those darn rabbits getting me so upset!) was this periodic noise I kept hearing only while I was out front. And between my deafness and the Roscoe traffic it took me quite some time, the noise now getting quite desparate,to figure out that it was none other than another tencie-wencie kitten!! Oh No, I thought!!! I just got the baby crows grown and flying on their own!!! I CANNOT HAVE ANOTHER CAT!...... Gram was asking what we're going to name it befor the night was up! It was terrified to be captured and got a hold of my finger pretty good, but seemed grateful to get soaped up in some nice warm water believe it or not. The pitiful little dear was being eaten alive by the fleas so badly the bath water was bloddy! She's too young to be away from her mother so it took some coaxing to get her eating and drinking but cats are so smart! Kelly just came out of my bedroom proudly holding her first poop in a zip-lock bag that she did in the litter box! Nothing like a kitten to brighten up life!! I did actually try to pass it off to Katherine, she even took it home for a try out after she saw how cute it is, but Tuffie and Sweetie wanted to eat it so kelly gladly brought it back home. I still haven't completely given up hope of finding it a home, Ha! Of course the other cats aren't a bit happy about the new arrival. I really didn"t want another cat, I hope it's a boy.
Grampa came to Sacrament meeting today. This Brother Gonzales is a very nice fellow! I guess he's a male nurse and that's why he so competent,cause he sure is! He fed Dad breakfast, showered, shaved, and dressed him! How sweet is that?! Dad looked great, seemed happy to be there, and recognized all who came to greet him. It was really nice. Our Testimony meeting was great.. and they're not always my favorites! I know He lives. I know I'm loved. And I am so greatful for this knowledge!
Love to you all, Mary

Dearest Family, Happy belated Independance Day!! Personal independance has taken on whole new meaning this year. I've never appreciated it more. Melissa your so kind, did you know how much this entire family loves you right back?!!!Anne and I will be so disappointed if you and Sam don't come to Carp, it'll be forever until we see each other again if you don't come! Tell Sam Gram says that you get way dirtier in the mountains than you do at the beach!
Well I've just finnished weeding,and feeding my plants,seems thats where I'd been the last time I caught up! I"m declaring war on the rabbits for sure. They've eatten my sweet peas clear down to sticks!! and they had just finally started to climb! This was the last straw! I can see why my dad was shooting at them regularly! I don't think I'll be doing any shooting but you can bet I'm going do do something....If any one has any ideas I'd really appreciate it. I am really ticked off!! I can just hear my brother laughing,but it's not funny,I work hard out there!
Katie, it sounds like a really fun trip you and Danny have planned. I'm glad you and Anne will be spending some time together, I know she is really looking forward to seeing you. And I too am so looking forward to our time at the beach and while it's going to be a really nice break for you I'm sorry to miss your children. Anne said they were just darling, and so agreeable,but that doesn't suprise me much. I'll bet your a great mother!
Well Bub, tomorrow should be interesting. This guy from our ward (I don't really know him) is going to pick up Dad and bring him to Sacrament Meeting. Mom took some clothes down and I guess he's going to dress him,and the whole bit! I told Mom to make sure he has a pill before he leaves or for sure he'll be miserable. It will be nice having him there if he's able to enjoy himself. He was the person I missed the most when I first went back to church,wierd huh? There are some songs that I can just hear him singing parts to...it makes me feel really sad. I went with Mom to visit him the other day and told him all about this computer and your pictures of the rainbow, he immediately wanted to know if you'd killed it, and how big it was. I always try to remember stuff that I know he would like to know,sometimes I have a terrible saddness come over me the way he looks at me so intently, as if to take it all in. I'm thankful even moreso for this blogger, It gives me alot more to tell him about now. Thank You.
Love You All, Mary

Happy Independence day! Especially to you Mary! One year, that is an amazing accomplishment, talk about independence!!! Has anyone ever noticed that when a person wants to make a big change, and important change, that obstacles start coming out of the wood work? I sure have. Way to face them, and overcome them.
This has to be one of my favorite holidays. I'm so grateful to live in the United States. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. We will be celebrating at my dad's house tonight. It will be nice, I haven't seen that part of my family in a while.

I hope the Nydegger's have a safe and fun trip to Newport this week. I called Katie and suggested that us grown-up, married kids have an all day Lagoon Day before she moves (without the kidlets). She seemed to think that was fun, so how about it? Is there a day that you married folks could take off to go to Lagoon? Let me know.

Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am to be a part of the Carter Family? I've never met anyone who loves their in-law family as much as I do!

Have a fantastic holiday!!!
Melissa

Dear Ones, This has been a great day. It is Mary's one year birthday. I'm so proud of her and thankful that she has made it. It surely hasn't been easy. You wouldn't believe how many stumbling blocks have been trying to trip her along the way. What a wonderful independence day!!!! My recovery is coming along slowly. I cleaned out the fridge yesterday and it proved to be quite exhausting. I'm sure if I did it more regularly it wouldn't have been near the task. Katie, I can't believe your Danny. As much as everyone knew how I loved swimming in the ocean, I don't ever remember anyone offering to tend my kids so I could take a dip./ Each of your spouses is so wonderful. Well, I'm off to bed. Have a great day tomorrow.Love, Grandma.