Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas! Love, The McCarter Family

Riley turned 8!

Riley had a great birthday! He was so excited that he got to have friends and cousins all come to a super fun party at Laser Quest. We all had so much fun playing laser tag... we can't wait to go back!

Griffin's first hair cut

Before:

After:

Festival of Trees 2008

We had a great day with family at the festival of trees. Mallory did such a good job performing. We are so grateful to all of our family who came to support her. Here is a little video of one of her dances and some photos:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Riley's Fable

Riley's mind never ceases to amaze me. He's incredible! The other day his teacher was talking about the National Anthem. Riley was intrigued so he came home and Googled it. The next thing I know, he's printed out the lyrics and is reading up on Francis Scott Key. He can now sing the entire song. His teacher couldn't say enough good things about him at parent teacher conferences. He just such a great kid! I feel so lucky to be his mom.

Today at school they learned about Aesop's Fables. Each of the students then took a blank sheet of paper and wrote their own. I was astounded by what Riley came up with, without ANY help. Here is his fable:

The Rock and the Mouse
A Fable
By Riley McCarter
(Age 7)
One day a rock was sitting in the desert. He was so hot and thirsty. Then a mouse came along who noticed the rock sitting there. The rock said, “Please pour a bucket of water on me.”
The next day, the mouse came back with a bucket of water. He poured it all over the rock. Then the rock was cold and said, “Please put some leaves all over my cold body.”
The next day, the mouse came back and put some leaves all over the rock. The rock said, sounding much better, “I have one more task for you. Bring me a friend.”
The next day the mouse came back with nothing. The rock said, “I thought I asked you to bring me a friend. The mouse said, “I’m right here.”
The moral to the story is sometimes you already have what you think you need.

THE END

Halloween 2008

Mallory lost her first tooth today!!!

Riley earned his red belt!

Today Riley made us so proud at his belt testing. He's worked so hard and we're amazed at his dedication. He earned his red belt, which is the last belt before black. If he stays on target, he'll likely be testing for his black belt in March. Here is some video from his testing. The first is of him doing his brown belt form. The second is of him doing his board breaks. IT'S AWESOME!!! He got perfect scores on both. Way to go, bud.

Macy's teeth

Macy is now sporting two new teeth...

Trip to the pumpkin patch...

Mallory's halftime performance

Mallory performed at the University of Utah football game against CSU during halftime. Here is a video of her cheer, and some pictures of us goofing around at the game. In the video she is in the front row, second from the left. My favorite part is about 50 seconds in... when she shakes her booty! :) Go Mallory!

Macy Update

Our little Macy is almost 5 months old already! It's hard to believe how fast she's growing. She is off the charts for her height, which does not surprise us one bit with those crazy long feet she's got. She recently discovered her voice and can be heard making all kinds of crazy noises. She has also recently discovered her toes and loves to play with her feet whenever she can reach them. She's still all smiles and so easy to keep happy!

Riley's Tournament in Idaho

Garrett took the kids for a fun weekend in Boise for Riley's karate tournament. I stayed home with Macy (and Griffin) and worked on homework and did some shopping. Riley brought home two 4th place medals. He did really well, especially considering he was youngest in his age group. We're so proud of you Riley! Here's some cute pictures of their trip and a video of Riley doing his form.

Utah Football!!!

Go Utes! We are having a blast at the football games this year.
The Utes are doing awesome!

Sacrifices.

Last night, I sat down on my floor and played Operation with Riley. My carpet seriously needs to be vacuumed. I looked around and thought to myself, "UGH! I'm so behind on housework. It's not even funny."
But then I thought. It's OK. I played a game with Riley. I read books with Mallory. I snuggled and played with Macy. I fixed dinner. I wrote a paper and read journal articles. I may not have a clean house. But in a few years, when I look back I won't remember the dishes in the sink or the laundry piled up. I'll have a degree that I earned with hard work and kids that know I love them.