Adventures With Our Kids..The Big Things, The Little Things, and Everything In Between!

Adventures With Our Kids..The Big Things, The Little Things, and Everything In Between!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

ICE

 ICE at The Gaylord Hotel was one of the highlights for the holidays this year! Chris and mom had never been and Cade was too little to remember when we took him a few years ago. Shrek the Halls was the theme. It is amazing in any theme they create!



                                 Cade was eager to be our tour guide. He had his map with him at all times (haha)
                                      Think he has a little of "Gran" in him !!!


Monday, December 12, 2011

Meet....Pumpkin !

Well, we have a new addition to our family! A sweet little 3 month old kitten we named Pumpkin. We brought him home Thanksgiving day from my Aunt and Uncle's ranch. All of the kiddos nicknamed him "Poofy," but we decided long term to name him Pumpkin. He has adjusted well and Lily and Cade carry him around all day long! Welcome home, Pumpkin!!!


Saturday, December 3, 2011

Thanksgiving at The Ranch !

Thanksgiving was always one of my favorite holidays growing up! I loved being surrounded by my family...on any of the many sides we have. (ha)  That hasn't changed to this day.  However, of all the  thanksgivings, my dad's hometown will always hold the fondest memories. 

Thanksgiving in my dad's hometown meant many things....a road trip to East Texas, pine trees,  cousins, aunts and uncles we get to see once a year, my grandpa's famous dressing, my grandma's sweet tea, running around outside, sitting at the 'kids table," being in a small town, calling and being called by your first two names, hearing stories of my dad's childhood, jars of my grandpa's bread and butter pickles that I wished for at Christmas every year instead of toys, driving around the backroads of this little town and taking a step back in time, hearing my grandma greet us all with "Hi Baby" in the biggest east texas accent and my grandpa addressing my dad as "Man."

 It was not the way most of us hear "man" used. It was sincere, endearing, respectful and proud... almost as if my grandpa replaced my dad's first name with "Man" anytime he addressed him.  It wasn't said in the terms "hey man,"" hi man," or "man, what a day I've had!" It was simply "Man" followed by a great big hug...silence... and "how are you?"  or "Man, come with me." I have still never heard it sound quite like my grandpa and it will never have the same effect as it did when I was growing up. 

We started out our first Thanksgivings at "The Farm," where my dad grew up with his 6 brothers and sisters.  I am quite sure my generation of cousins had much better visions in our head than what it was actually like growing up working on a dairy farm day in and day out and raising a family! But it was something different and peaceful and familiar each year that we looked forward to!  
 The air was different! The sounds. The noises. It was calming even as a kid!

Visiting the farm at thanksgiving I remember sliding down the 40 foot hallway in our socks, hearing everybodys footsteps on the hardwood floors, the echos of everyones voices and laughter, running around outside with our cousins, standing back to back with everyone to see how we'd all grown from the year before, sitting on the cracked concrete steps outside catching up with each other and circling up for the prayer my grandpa lead which always ended in a room full of tears and thankfulness.

After my grandparents sold the farm, we had several thanksgivings at their home in Tyler.  We still had a couple of kids tables, lots of playing outside, the smell of grandpa's sage dressing, sneaking over to sit on our parents laps to hear stories at the "adult" table, and the buffet behind my grandpa's chair that held all the pies and if we were lucky a chocolate cream pie or german chocolate cake in a sea of pumpkin and pecan pies. 

Many thanksgivings after that were held at my uncle's childhood home in the same town my dad grew up in.  Most of the siblings by now had their own little piece of property from "The Farm" that they bought back to keep in the family. By this time we were well up to 50 people with the original siblings, their kids and and so on! Four generations coming together!

Five years ago my aunt and uncle bought a ranch...in the same little town they both grew up in and dated, where my grandparents raised their family the best they could, where mornings began way before school started at the dairy barn, did not include many extra-curricular activities after school and nights ended later than most with farm responsibilities and homework. The same little town my grandma's parents lived in. The same little town where my grandpa opened, owned and worked in a hamburger joint in town called the Dipsy Daisy in 1954. Where my dad's great aunts taught him and most of his siblings a grade or two in school. Where another great aunt and uncle owned and ran the oldest gulf station/store in Texas. Where my grandpa started  a petition in 1947 for electricity, it was granted and they owned the first tv and electric refrigerator in town. 

"The Ranch" is now where thanksgiving is held.  The only way to describe "The Ranch" is it is literally a piece of heaven! Acres and acres of rolling green pastures, a couple of dozen beautiful horses, a lake, swimming pool, an amazing outdoor kitchen and a perfect house! 

Times are different now. Technology has gone from the simple startings of electricity to not being able to set your iphone down for five minutes. Family members have passed on. Our children are the ones running around outside all day while we adults catch up and visit inside. 

But some things are still the same. And traveling back for Thanksgiving in small town Texas brings back so many memories and so much family history... even now.  It is something I truly look forward to each time we get to go back! And a peace and calm still seems to take over as soon as we get out of the car to soon be surrounded by family, love, farm life, nature and stillness amongst the hustle and bustle of normal daily life many miles away.







                                        Cousin Carly
                                     Cousin picture !
                       Ali, Aunt Joni, me, Britney, Melisa
                                         
                                       Jax loves to snuggle with Chris!
                                                        Grandma and Brooklyn

                                            Mom and Dad visiting with Britney






                                                    Dad and Hedy

                                                      A little Game of Peek-A-Boo  :)
                                                   A super sweet stray kitten the little cousins nicknamed "Poofy"
                                            Another story about the cat coming soon to our little blog :)
                                     Dad, Aunt Joni, Grandma, Aunt Jan, Uncle Johnny


                                                            Lily and Carly
                                                      Uncle Gary and Cade
                                                            Brooklyn

                          We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our trips to The Ranch at Thanksgiving! We are creating lasting memories for our children for years to come! It will be interesting to hear years from now what they took away from Thanksgivings at "The Ranch."

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Texas Stampede 2011

It's RODEO TIME!!!

This year  we celebrated 10 years of Rodeo, Concerts, and Kids with The Texas Stampede! The Mission of The Texas Stampede is to improve the quality of life for children and their families. In the last 9 years, they have contributed close to $3 million to Children's charities in North Texas, with about $2 million going to Childrens Medical Center!  
The Texas Stampede features an exciting no-holds-barred competition of Bull, Bareback and Saddle Bronc Riding, Barrel racing and Team Roping. 

Chris was the President of the Texas Stampede this year! We had family and friends from all over (Chicago, California, Missouri, and all over Texas) come out to show their support...Such a fun time to get together and for such a good cause!!!

The Texas Stampede Gala 2011

                                    Picture with the President :)
      The Carter girls, girlfriends, and friends  Kathy, Mary Mary, Pat, Chris, Taryn, Kristel, Kim
                                               Taryn and Tuff Hedeman
                             Chris giving a speech at the Gala
                        A little basketball game with Josh Turner, his bandmates,
 Chris, Kenny and Kim on the Dallas Mavericks practice court at American Airlines Center!!!
                                  Kenny, Will, Chris

                             
                                   Pictures from the rodeo Saturday evening!

                               At Uncle Julios before The Stampede
                  Introducing Chris at the arena !
                           Chris, Kathy, and Mary Mary
                        More Carters....Kenny, Jon, Rick, Maddi


                        A little mechanical bull ride  :)
                                           Jax and Brian
                  Grandma and Grandpa Carter !!!

                                               Pap Jack and Lily

                           A little rodeo practice !
Jax would not let the popcorn go (ha)
                                       Grandma and Grandpa Carter
                        So Stinkin Cute!!!  Cade and Jax  rockin the cowboy look!

                            Lily striking a pose for the camera!
                                   Getting sleepy! Busy, fun weekend!
Tommie, Linda,Mary, Pat, Jeff, Will, Maddi, Taryn, Chris, Lily, Kim, Kenny, Kathy

We are so proud of Chris and all of the hard work and time he put in to make The Stampede one of the best years yet! We were also so lucky to have so many family and friends support us this year at the rodeo, concerts, by purchasing raffle tickets, and attending the Gala! It was wonderful to have you by our sides for such a wonderful cause and a good time all weekend!  We are blessed by you all and love you more than you know!