Summer 2009

We have had a fun-filled summer with baseball, Caitlyn's baptism, Carver reunion, birthdays, and cub scouts.



Caleb had the opportunity to play baseball in the VIP Adaptive league. He had a really great time! This was the hottest day of the season and apparently it was too hot to wear his glove on his hand.



The kids could either hit off a tee or the coach could pitch them the ball. Cim and his dad were the coaches for the Dodgers! Here is Cim pitching to one of the all-stars!



This is Coach Craig (Cim's dad) helping Ashley field the ball.



Coach Cim got to hand out the trophies to each of his players.



Caleb was sooooo excited to receive a trophy! He even slept with it in his bed that night.



Here is Caitlyn modeling her new baptism dress. Just a hint of pink, of course! She wouldn't wear it otherwise! :)



Caitlyn and Cim all ready for the baptism!



Ten of the 15 Carver granchildren ready to rock out the show at the Carver Camp Rock Reunion 2009! Back: Jacob, Logan, Landon and Kaylee. Front: Justin, Caitlyn, Aubrie, Joshua, Caleb and Ellie.



Caitlyn and Aubrie really having a great time!



Caleb showing us his huge muscles and actually smiling while looking at the camera!



Joshua with his football cake for his 4th Birthday!



Joshua blowing out the candles on his football cake!



Joshua clapping because he was able to blow out all the candles!



Aubrie (our niece) getting ready to blow out the candles on her Hannah Montana guitar birthday cake. She turned 8 (4 plus 4). We had to improvise a little. I told Aubrie I was going to make cupcakes, but I ran out of the paper cups and didn't have time to go to the store. As they say, "Necessity is the mother of invention!"



Aubrie blowing out her candles.



Last night we had Caleb's first Pack Meeting for scouts. This is our first experience with scouts and Caleb loves it! They assigned one of the older scouts to be his helper and it is really working out great. They had the "Raingutter Regatta" last night and got to race boats that they made. They also allowed the other kids to make boats and race them which Joshua and Caitlyn loved!



They had to blow the sails through a straw to make the boats go. It was very tricky and took a lot of patience. But, they had a great time!
We have had a great summer and we are getting settled into our new home in Pleasant Grove. We also went to Fish Lake with my family, but forgot the camera. And Caleb and Caitlyn had birthdays this summer too, but somehow we didn't get any pictures taken. We had just moved the week before, so we probably didn't know where the camera was.

Tahitian Trip 2009

Well, as many of you know, Katie and I had the opportunity to go to Tahiti a little over a week ago. We had a great time and are both so grateful for the opportunity we had to go thanks to my work. Here are just a few pictures of our trip with descriptions below the pictures...


We arrived in Tahiti at 10pm the previous night. Because of the time difference, we were up at about 5:30am the following day. We had exercised and eaten breakfast before 8am and had about five hours to hang out before heading to the cruise ship. Katie passed the time by watching movies on my iPod by one of the pools at the hotel.


This is called a "motu", which is a small, uninhabited island. We passed several on our trip from Tahiti to Raiatea. The cruise sailed through the evening while we slept and we woke up a few hours before our arrival in Raiatea.


We had a little balcony in our room where we ate breakfast every day and had a front-row-seat view to the islands during the cruise.

Here we are arriving in Raiatea, getting ready to go on a long hike up to some waterfalls on the interior of the island.

We were fortunate to be on the cruise with some great friends. Here are some of them who joined us on the hike to the waterfalls. It was a pretty rough hike...it took almost 2 hours to get there and involved scaling steep hills with rope.

After the 2 hour hike...it was nice to be able to cool down in a pool of water at the waterfall.

The water was cold, but even Katie couldn't resist getting in the refreshing water after the long hike.

Here we are on our hike back down after the waterfall.

This is the dock at Raiatea as we left and headed towards our next stop. The island of Taha'a.

From the island of Taha'a, you could see the island of Bora Bora in the distance. Very cool picture.

The ship dropped anchor just next to the island of Taha'a as it doesn't have a dock for large ships. We took a boat to a nearby "motu" where we spent the day snorkling, playing volleyball, eating some great food, and drinking all the Pina Coladas we wanted. This is a great picture of the ship with the island of Taha'a in the background.

Katie and I on the dock of the motu next to the island of Taha'a. Yes, it really is that beautiful.

Here we all are at the motu near Taha'a.

Katie enjoyed many Pina Coladas during the trip. Most were served in glasses, but on the motu they were served with ice in a coconut. Cool stuff.

Here is Katie playing some sand volleyball. I think she played for nearly 4 hours that day on the motu...no wonder she had so many Pina Coladas!

Here we are after a day on the motu leaving Taha'a and heading over to Bora Bora. The ship left as the sun was setting and we snapped this before we headed off to our nightly seven course dinner (which is one of the reasons why I put on seven pounds on the trip...wow).

Breakfast on our balcony as we pull into Bora Bora the following morning. Did I mention I gained seven pounds?!

Bora Bora is absolutely beautiful. Here is one of the many bays inside the lagoon that surrounds the island.

Bora Bora....

The peak behind us is in the center of the island and is the most prominent feature of the island. We were on a "off-road" trip that took us around the island and to several spots on the interior of the island as well.

Bora Bora is surrounded by tons of these little motus. The water is incredible...We were at Bora Bora for two days and spent most of the time just relaxing and enjoying the beauty. At the end of the second day, the ship headed to my favorite island, Moorea.

We played a lot in Moorea. The first morning, we rented some "dunebuggies" and drove around the island and up to a few lookout points.

We drove up to Point Belvedere, where you can see the two major bays on the island of Moorea. Cooks Bay is on the right and Opanohu bay is on the left. Amazing.

Here is the "dunebuggy" group at the Belevedere outlook.

Still driving around Moorea and I felt like having a moment to reflect. You can see the hotel bungalows common to the Tahitian Islands behind me...

More dunebuggy fun!

The second day on Moorea, we took a boat to another motu to spend the day. Here we are on our way to the motu.

Before we got to the motu, we stopped to do a little snorkling with some of the local residents. Some Rays and Black Tipped Reef Sharks....again, the water is incredible, look how clear it is!

Swimming with the sharks!

More swimming with the sharks!

After our second day on Moorea, we headed back to the island of Tahiti where we spent our last day. Here is a beautiful Tahitian sunset on our final day in Tahiti. We had an amazing trip!

Our Funny Joshua

Joshua is now 3 1/2 years old and he has plenty to say about life which tends to keep us on our toes and more importantly, keeps us laughing. So here are a couple stories to illustrate why.

It was a cold and very windy Thursday night after we left Caitlyn's gymnastics class two weeks ago. Joshua was wearing a long sleeve shirt, but no coat as he and Cim stopped by Little Caesars to pick up some pizza. After they got back in the car, Joshua announced. "Dad, I'm fat." taken by total surprise, Cim says, "No, you're not Joshua. You are a big boy for your age. You are strong, but you are not fat. So, a few seconds pass and Joshua says it again, "Dad, I'm fat." And Cim responded with the same reassuring comments about him being strong and healthy, but not fat. A few more seconds go by and Joshua says it again. By this time Cim is getting really worried that Joshua is seriously concerned about this. So Cim tells him again that he is not fat, that he is a big boy and that he is healthy and strong. Well, suddenly Joshua starts crying. Now really concerned, Cim asks what is wrong and Joshua replies, "I want to be fat... so I can be warm like Daddy!"

Then, last Saturday night we were watching Star Wars II with the kids. I'm not very familiar with the movie, but at some point, Queen Amadala (sp?) walks out on the balcony to meet Anakin (sp?) Skywalker. Her hair is down and flowing with soft curls and she is wearing a white evening gown. Well, the room is totally quiet, except for the movie and all of the sudden Joshua says, "Whoa....She is pretty!" I looked at Cim who was hiding behind a pillow so Joshua wouldn't see him laughing hysterically. I was also laughing as quietly as possible. Joshua didn't even notice. He was totally serious and just kept on watching the movie.

These were probably those types of moments where "you had to be there" and I'm not as good a storyteller or writer as Cim, but I just had to share. If you want the really funny version, you can call Cim and he will be sure to embellish it for you. :)

A month and a half in review...50 pics!

Well...it has been a while. Between the move from NY and the holidays, we haven't made a post in almost 2 months. The good news is that there aren't many people who actually visit this blog. Katie had been very good about updating but she was without internet during the first month in our home in Utah...and I am about as regular as Dad's blood sugar levels when it comes to posting.

Anyway, we wanted to give a quick update on what has been going on these past few months. It has been a real whirlwind but it is nice to finally be settled in and it has been great to spend the holidays with our extended families.

We have 50 pictures to go through...so I will stop typing now and get to it!

Halloween 2008
Halloween this year was...not ideal. Dad and I pulled in from our suicidal trip across the country just a mere three days before Halloween. Unfortunately, I had to leave the morning of Halloween to go to San Francisco for work. Yeah, Katie wasn't the happiest I have ever seen her. What amazes me though is that through all the relocating, the boxes and the craziness, Katie in her typical out-of-this-world fashion managed to pull off Halloween...alone. She never ceases to amaze me.


Here are the kids Halloween evening, getting ready to head up to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Ellie is Minnie Mouse, Caleb is Steve from Blue's Clues, Joshua is Buzz Lightyear, and Caitlyn is Hannah Montana.


Ellie is growing up so fast. She had this rash on her face that wouldn't go away! Stress?


Caleb with the ever-present remote in his hand. We go through DirecTV remotes like toilet paper at our house.


Yeah, you have to love the purple skull cap Joshua...very classy.


Ellie was so sticky she had candy stuck to her dress, face, hair, and pretty much every other surface on her body!


Joshua with his cousin Alex (aka: Handy Manny)

Family Pictures 2008
After Halloween, we had a few quiet weeks to get settled down before most everyone made their way to Mom and Dad's house for Thanksgiving. During all the festivities (which we will get to in a moment) we decided to take some family pictures for the upcoming Christmas holidy.

Caitlyn and Joshua in the gardens at my work. Couple of good kids.

Here is the picture we ended up using. I had to photoshop Caleb's head from another picture but it ended up ok, you can't really tell it wasn't there originally. I also removed some dark circles from under my eyes as well as from Katie and toned down the rash on Ellie's face. In the end, it actually turned out to be a good family picture!

My girls....thank heavens they get their looks from their mother.

My boys, again, thank heavens they get their looks from their mother!

Ellie is really becoming a beautiful little girl!

Thanksgiving 2008

The night before Thanksgiving, we got toghter at our place and had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner dinner. We purchased a big filet minon from Costco and sliced it up, threw it on the grill along with some shrimp and added salads and other semi-healthy stuff to the mix. It was a lot of fun to get everyone together and to help give mom a bit of a break before the big day!

Thanksgiving morning, a bunch of the family went to Orem for the "Earn your Turkey" run. It was a 4-mile run with prizes and other cool stuff. Everyone left before the prizes were handed out, but we did all learn that Ammon is a freak of nature (blew everyone out of the water and he "isn't a runner") and that Katie can run a lot faster than Chris.

The day after Thanksgiving, we all met up again at Costa Vita for a little lunch and bowling.

Ellie and Joshua getting ready to bowl (my sweet belly making an appearance behind them)

Katie and Mari looking chipper....and it wasn't because they were bowling well...

It was great for the cousins to get to see each other. KK hadn't seen Caitlyn for a while and they had a great time playing together!

Later that night, before everyone left, we went to Temple Square to look at the lights. This may be one of the best pictures I have ever taken.

Temple Square lights...

The kids loved looking at the Christus. During a quiet moment when we first arrived, Joshua yelled "Dad, Jesus Christ is in OUTER SPACE!!!" Got some funny looks, but I was laughing pretty hard.

The lights were cool....what a great family tradition!

Joshua and Ellie were happy because they got pushed around in a stroller all night!

So...Ellie was a little tired. Katie jumped in the shower and when she came out, Ellie had finally fallen asleep...just like this. No joke. Classic.

Such a cute little girl!!!

Christmas 2008

Ok, now that finally brings us to Christmas. This year we made the trek to California to spend the Christmas holiday with Katie's family.

Santa came on the Sunday before Christmas because there were going to be a lot of kids in the house. Caleb, Joshua, and Ellie got new bikes, Caitlyn got a Hannah Montana guitar (yes, she is obsessed) and they all got helmets. We brought everything down with us so they could ride outside in the warmth of California (even though it has rained about every day since we have been here and that plan was shot to crap).

We went to Sea World...which was pretty much a disaster. It rained the whole time we were there and we lost Caleb for about 30 minutes (yeah, not fun), but I think the kids had fun. It was yet another example to me of how much work it is for parents to create memories for their children sometimes...thank you mom and dad for all the memories, I never knew how much work it was for you!

Shamu was in rare form

Yeah, you can't tell, but I am completely wet....

As you can see from the immense crowd behind us, the rest of the world understood that going to Sea World in the middle of a tropical storm isn't a good idea.

On Christmas Eve we all headed over to the church to take some family pictures. It was the first time that Katie's entire family had been together in a very long time.

Ellie was really enjoying the picture taking.

Katie was trying to keep her happy though...

After the family pictures, we headed back to the house to reinact the nativity. Katie's mom has some pretty sweet costumes...you can see how happy Caleb was about wearing it.

Caleb the donkey and Caitlyn the angel...

Ellie sporting the "belly"...

Caleb still rocking the donkey suit...

Caitlyn looking angelic...

Reading the Christmas story...

Joshua got sick that night. While we were taking family pictures, he threw up all over the place and one of his cousins, running to greet him, couldn't stop himself in time slipped and slid about seven feet through the vomit on his back. Yeah, it was gross... So, Joshua just slept through most of Christmas eve...

Christmas day arrived with the usual fanfare, the kids were so excited and in a good mood. It is really what makes Christmas for me.

Opening presents...I was in charge of keep the wrapping paper cleaned up (notice the garbage bag)

Happy boy with the Christmas afterglow

Caleb was very excited about the Cars toy he got, but most excited about his own sweet Sony headphones.

Ellie got her My Little Pony collection (or, as she calls them "me horsies")

Yes...even more Hannah Montana stuff....

Christmas playtime

Caitlyn got a blanket that Katie's mom made her featuring...you guessed it...Hannah Montana.

Joshua sporting his Diego truck. It came with dinosaurs...the perfect gift for him!

Well, that is about it! It feels good to get the blog caught up again! Hopefully I can get Katie updating again so it stays current!

Merry Christmas to all!!

-Cim