Easter Weekend Recap

We have had a couple of great weekends the past few weeks starting with Grandma Dowers birthday at the Grange. Coming from a small family, it's great to be part of a large one who still finds it important to come together and celebrate. As a side note, are the kids starting to out number the adults now? It was a sea of 2 foot people...

I still think we should have Dowers family shirts printed with our individual "member" number starting with Grandpa as #1. That would make for some good conversation (not that we need any help.)



We also spent the last two weekends going to Rosalyn's soccer games which had been really neat to watch. Of course she is the tallest on her team and is easy to spot as she runs up and down the field. Terra and I are really proud of her teamwork and enthusiasm. We are planing on having Roz and Sam up for a few days, if not a week, this summer and head to Silverwood...anyone who would like to come along is welcome.

This weekend Kerri brought up Sam, Elliot, Marci, and a friend of the girls for Roz's games. We had a house full when you add the 4 of us into the group but with the downstairs everyone had a decent place to sleep and some room to spread out. We looked forward to them coming all week. It's not often that we get to have them come visit us. The weather wasn't as cooperative as last weekend...as you can see it pored down rain. With some good planning we had blankets and umbrellas...but what's spring soccer without some weather. They didn't win their two games this week (they won both last week) but they gave it their best.


It was also Elliot's 2nd birthday...and that dude is getting big...I think he weighs more than Grant does and he'll be 3 in June. He's a great little guy with a lot of personality but that is par for the course for Scott and Kerri's kids. It's hard to get them all up here at once but we always have a great time packing them in and enjoying their family dynamic.

I added some other pictures from this weekend...we hope everyone had a nice Easter. We sure did.

Graduation Invitation

Here is my graduation party invitation for June 13th...we'll be mailing them out in the next month or so. For those who are coming, please bring the ticket stub...we are going to have door prizes...any suggestions?

The updating continues...

Why when you make one change to your house...it turns into a set of projects? We bought new bedroom furniture which lead to a new light, new lamps, new switches and outlets, curtains...I think a new bedding set is in there somewhere too... We put the tile in the kitchen and now we are painting, added a new garbage can (it's sweet...opens and closes by a sensor...$5o at Costco if your interested), updating the trim, kitchen sink, faucet, drapes...and...at this point I would just like my stove back in the kitchen. The wall in the kitchen currently looks like a piece of modern art while we decide what colors to go with...hum, maybe I should name it...any suggestions?

Time for an update...

Thanks to Sharah's prompting :) ...I decided to finally write an update on the Carroll household. Things are going really well. Both Terra an I are finishing up Winter quarter and looking forward to spring break. It's only a week but you have to have something to look forward to. I'm starting my last quarter at Eastern which reminds me to mention that we are going to throw one heck of a party in our backyard on June 13th (Saturday). Food to be provided (the famous BBQ boneless country style ribs), we will have a keg (Bud Light...sorry for the Coors drinkers), and some sort of a dance floor. We are inviting all of Terra's family and mine (including all our friends) so all of you need to mark your calendars to come to Spokane. It should be some good people watching!! Depending on how many people we get as a RSVP, we might reserve a block of rooms at the hotel across the street so no one has to drive if they have too much fun. Our backyard will be available for tents and we will have limited room in the house. Other than beer, it's a BYOB. Children are welcome. I think we are going to make the downstairs a kid friendly area for movies, snacks, games...etc. Terra has rented tables and chairs to accomidate a large group. Let us know if you can make it...we look forward to seeing everyone!

We had new tile installed in the kitchen this week and are now deciding on what color to paint before the appliances head back in. So, we are living with the fridge, table, and stove in the living room as of yet....and have had way too much fast food to eat. Flooring is something I don't want to screw up and pay to have fixed so we hired someone. When the wood floors are refinished, I think we will hire someone then too.

The boys are getting huge. Grant's been fighting some kind of stomach bug which has made it interesting around here for a few days. He was fine for a day or so...so Terra and I headed to Ephrata for a crab feed while Aunt Cathy and Uncle Tom watched the boys. And of course, Grant got sick while we were gone...we felt terrible but we thought he was better. She truly is a saint.

That's about it for now...I do have one question: Do any of you have satellite television, if so, which service should we go with?

Hope to see all of you in June!

Just another day in the life...

I truly love my life...I was driving Tyler and Grant home from Aunt Cathy's ( Nanny's) tonight and out of nowhere...Tyler tells me that my eyes are freaky. I was a little stunned but he continues to explain that my eyes are freaky on the Wii. I laugh and, more or less to reaffirm myself, ask if I'm freaky on the Wii or in person. He told me on the Wii, I'm going with it. My question, more than anything, is why is my 4 year old telling me something about the Wii..? Regardless if it's about me. I'm always amazed by my kids and everyone's kids for that matter. 4 is the new 10 and 10 is the new 15. Dear Lord help us...

January 1, 2009

It seems that just about everyone Terra and I know have started a blog in some fashion, whether it be in MySpace, Facebook, Blogger, or some other website; so why not us too. Since it's the first of the new year and everyone has some sort of resolution...I've decide to start something new instead of resolve a problem. The Lord knows I have enough of those to solve but I don't think that I'll be addressing them today.

The simplest way to start this public journal of sorts is to simple state, Terra and I have a wonderful life. We have two great boys, Tyler (4) and Grant (2) and we live in a modest home that we are constantly updating when time and money allow. The greatest thing about being part of our family is that we live for our successes and overcome our challenges. Those successes have come in many forms and the challenges too. When Terra and I married, one of our first discussions was about the ups and downs that we knew we were going to encounter. We know we can handle anything that comes our way with the guidance of God, the support of our family, the love we have for each other, and the light in our children's eyes. I don't know what or when will be the final days in our lives, but I know that the journey we will take will be the best set of experiences we could have ever hoped for because of the highs and the hurdles.