God Be With You

I wanted to take a moment to post this picture of Nathan who has been deployed to Iraq as a member of the United States Army Dental Corps. We are very proud of his service to this nation that we love.

My father and all of my uncles served in WWII...my father as a medic in the Army on the front lines in the European theater. On my mother's side, my grandfather fought in WWI and my great-grandfather fought in the Civil War.

The Carters have been in this country since before it was a country (the 1600's) and have fought for this nation in every war she had had including the American Revolution and every war since. Don and his brothers served in the Army's 82nd Airborne; his youngest brother served two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We have a deep and abiding respect for those who have served in our military.

Nathan, you come from a long line of service on your father's side of the family as well as my side of the family. You honor all of them and all of us as you serve. May your unselfishness and that of your wife and children be answered with blessings upon your heads. We love you!

"...How Does Your Garden Grow?"

The garden has begun to grow! We not only have fencing all around, shade cloth up, and birdnetting across any open spaces, but we also put a barrier cloth down on the ground to minimize the weeds. It looks like a light gray fiberous cloth. We cut holes in it to plant the seeds.

Here's the first squash plant coming up--YEA!


This is one of about 15 different pepper plants. This plant will end up producing golden bell peppers.



There are also at least a dozen green bean plants. We sure are looking forward to fresh green beans all summer!


The peas are also growing. We put them by the fence so they would have something to hook onto as they grow.


The strawberry patch doesn't look like much yet, but we are very hopeful.

These are some mixed herbs in a pot. It should be fun to see what grows since we don't really know for sure what kinds of seeds were mixed together.

We have several buckets around the edge of the garden where we are growing onions...

and tomatoes...lots of tomatoes...in several varieties.

We are looking forward to eating the fruits of our labors this year. Last year the rodents and birds ate more than we did. This year we hope to win the battle and maybe have enough in surplus to share with neighbors and put up in canning jars. Time will tell...

Easter With Family

We thoroughly enjoyed watching General Conference this weekend and appreciated the wonderful talks about the Savior, His resurrection, and our need to follow His perfect example.

We had Easter dinner at my mom's with family members who were in available. I was glad to see my niece, Angela, and her husband and kids. Holidays are much more fun with kids around.


My mom watching Aiden who collected most of the Easter eggs. But the eggs were not filled with candy as they were when we were kids. This time they were filled with Hot Wheels cars for the boys to play with.



My cousin Roger had to work (it's still tax season and he does people's taxes), but we were glad that his wife Jean joined us.



I should have gotten a better picture of my sister Susan. This one makes me smile because she and Don spent a lot of time playing with their cameras which are almost alike.



I spent a lot of time on the floor playing with Aiden and Tyler and wishing that my own grand kids could have been there.

This is Jon with Tyler (who will be 2 years old next month).

This is Angela, my niece. there was plenty of food to eat...and strawberry shortcake for dessert. YUMMY!

It was a fun time. I wish Nicole and Jennifer could have been there, but they were both working. It's hard to get everyone together with their busy schedules, but we try. I'm glad we have family close by.

Spring!

We had a lot of winter rain this year so the wildflowers are in bloom. Here are some pictures taken near our house. ENJOY!

Camera

The camera decided to stop working over the weekend, so I guess I won't be posting anything until we get another one. It's always something, isn't it? Oh well. I'll post again in a couple of weeks (or sooner) after we get a new camera.

Anchored

It seems that most everyone we know is either struggling with something themselves, or someone close to them is struggling because of health problems, natural disasters, war, bad choices by loved ones, job loss, financial setbacks because of the economy, poor decisions by teachers at school, angry people all around looking for a reason to sue someone, politicians or other civic leaders who are out of touch with the majority of their constituents, etc. The list of things that negatively impact us seems to be never-ending. And yet, it the midst of it all, the gospel of Jesus Christ brings peace, there are miracles all around us (if one has the eyes to see them) and life continues on with joy as well as sorrow. We have cried and we have prayed; we have rejoiced and we have felt gratitude. It is a difficult time to live, and yet, it is a great time to live. In spite of everything going on in the world, we are anchored by faith and feel optimist and hopeful. Life is still good...families are forever...sweet is the peace the gospel brings.

Don took his scouts out for a day of prospecting and adventure. The boys had a great time. Don is a wonderful Varsity Scout Coach. Below is a picture of some of them climbing an old windmill.



The garden has begun to grow...I'll try to take some pictures of it as it produces veggies for us.

Baby Quilts and Grand-babies

You're probably wondering what this is a picture of. It's a table at the end of the gym at Church with about half of the quilts and blankets we made.

Last night our Relief Society finished a community service project in honor of the 168th birthday of the Relief Society. We made quilts and blankets for a charity in our community that works with poor families whose newborn children have birth defects or other serious medical problems. There is a huge team of doctors and social workers that take turns donating their time on behalf of these families. The 32 quilts and blankets were made with love, and will, we hope, bring comfort to the the babies and their mothers. There are also a few large bags of baby cloths being sent their way.

It was a great night! The gym was full of sewing machines and quilting frames with women sitting around them happily chatting as they tied quilts, sewed bindings on quilt edges, or made fringe on the edges of the fleece blankets. It was such a busy night that this was the only picture I took!



We received news today that Nathan is being deployed to Iraq the first week in April to provide dental care for our soldiers who are there. We are so proud of him and will be praying for his safe return to his wife and children. They are, by the way, expecting another boy in July, which we are so grateful for. That will make four children for them (four grandchildren for us): two boys and two girls...so wonderful!