December! :) :)

Hello again! :)

How is everyone doing in this very busy month?  Here are a few pictures of different things this month.......

<3 Its so pretty! <3

I love this picture! <3

I love the spiky frost!!

Beautiful Snowy Tree
 

Our Christmas Tree! :) :)

My shoes for the wedding coming up!!!!! I'm sooo excited! :) :)

They are soooo sparkly!

I made this headband this morning... It is really cool and super easy to make!



  :)



Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!! <3 <3

-Carrie

Lindsey Renae Duke

I'm an Auntie again!!!!!! Lindsey Renae Duke 8lbs 1.3oz, 20" long! born Sunday, November 18th on her Grandma (Sharon) Duke's birthday!!! A very nice birthday present!! She is adorable!!! She looks a lot like her big brother Michael and everyone says she looks like me too! :)


Miss Lindsey Renae

She is sooo sweet! (and a big packer fan already! ;P)
 



I love her face in this picture...It looks like somthing I would do! :P



Hi Everybody!

How are you all? I have been a super busy girl!! :) lol... Lets see where do I start... Ok At the start of the month - The first weekend in October Dad, Mom, Lauren and I went to our hunting camp for the youth deer hunt. Lauren sat with Dad in Joel's deer stand and Mom and I sat in Kelly's... I sleped most of the morning and Mom read. It was a super cold day but we had a huge sleeping bag over us! So Mom and I never got too cold! :) At about 9am we got up and walked over some of the land like four 40s... A lot of walking! Then we went back at like 2 or 3pm and once again I sleped like the whole time and Mom read! THEN at about 4:30 I saw 4 or 5 deer and I shot 2 of them!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH I was sooooo happy! Last year I shot at 2 but I only got 1 of them but this year I got both!!! It was a pretty awesome day! And to boot I was the first kid in our family to deer hunt with my mom! That was so cool and made it even more fun..... All my other deer I have shot I have been alone! So that made it better! :) :) Now its only like 3 weeks till everybody can go hunting!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!


The next weekend was another really really fun weekend! A friend who was really close to us... (She is my sister-in-law's sister and like a sister to us) Anyway She got married!!!! It was a beautiful wedding!! She was gorgeous! Then in between the wedding and the reception we went to Kelly's house and some friends came with us! It was really fun!!! After the reception we all (including the friends) came back to our house and played football in the dark!!! It was SOOO much fun!! I love playing football! I got hurt though.. :P I sprained leg... yeah not cool! (but it only hurts every once in a while now) The next morning was church and I had to do the PowerPoint and everything was soo messed up and... well yeah... I wanted to cry! It was horrible! BUT thankfully we got through that! :)

Every fall some people from our church have a harvest party! And we always have a huge football game. But this year it was raining all day so not many people came so it was a little football game! But it was still a lot of fun! It was also the day after I hurt my leg so it hurt running. BUT I had so much fun! Yup It was a very fun weekend! :)


The next weekend some of us went down to Iowa to visit my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins! We all had a very good weekend!

In between all those weekends I babysat for MOPS and we volunteered at Grandpa's Farm! It has a petting zoo and a pumpkin patch and a bunch of other stuff! It is really cool and fun. I did the back petting zoo most of the time! (there were two, one at the front of the barn and one in the back!) It was a tun of fun!! I love working with animals and kids! And that is pretty much what I did all day each day we were there! :) :)


Then today it rained ALL day and we have TONS of water in our yard. In our ditch there is like a foot of water... It is more water than this spring when all the snow thawed! A lot! Anyway Lauren Shannon and I went out there and played in all the water!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!! lol I love playing in the rain! =D Yeah that was fun...

Here are some pictures of today and when Mom and I went hunting! :) Enjoy!
Love, Carrie

Mom and I hunting!!! <3

This was way to much fun!!!!

That water was like a foot deep!!!! AEWSOMENESS
 

 

The Next Few Days

July 16th 2012
Day 3

Hey Everyone,
  How are you? We are all fine... just very exhausted! My ankle is really bad.  So I said I would tell you about the people when I got to know them better.  The youngest (other than the baby) is 13 but she looks like she could be around 20. Her name is Melissa.  All the girls have low voices and the boys have kinda nasally voices. They don't really have accents.  Then there is a guy who I think is Nathan's age. He is the one that I talked to the most.  His name is Jeremy I think, I can't remember tho. I think there are 14 of them + a baby.  She is so cute! Her name is Alaya.  So today we went Down River to what they call Hidden Falls, We had to take a boat to where the car was, then take the car to where some canoes where and take the canoes to the trail. Because if you just went down the river you would go over a dam.  A HUGE dam!!! I really hate dams! (like I said b4)  Anyway we had to "re" mark the trail and "re" cut it. All the way up to the waterfall. It was very hard work. We had to climb rocks and stuff , and go straight up hills and then straight down hills.  Which believe me is NOT EASY! You might think that going up is harder than going down... but it's not!!  But it was so pretty!!! Then we walked back to the canoes and ate lunch. Then did the same thing to an other trail. That trail was longer than the first. The 1st one was 1/2 a mile and the 2nd one was 1 mile.  So yeah pretty exhausting!  THEN we had to canoe, drive and boat back to camp.When we got back we went swimming. It felt so good after a long day of being hot,sweaty,dirty and tired... But believe me I am not complaining, I had a wonderful day! Then we played Forest Golf. Then later we played Volley Ball and Ultimate with the group. But I got Heat Exhaustion. So I went to bed read and wrote this to you. I miss you guys. I love it here though. Anyway I am not feeling the best... So I gotta go.
Love,
Carrie

Let Everything That Has Breath Praise The Lord

~~~
July 17th 2012
Day 4

Hello,
  I'm very tired, But much better than last night!  This morning I was still feeling not-so-great, Like a little dizzy and my sprained ankle was very painful. But we ate and then the group left to go Up River for today and tomorrow. We went and cleared more trails. This time it was a 3 mile loop! By a place called Sanford Sight. So we cleared the SS trail. When we got back we went swimming with Stef and Alaya ( the Mom and Baby from the group... they did not go Up River )  Then we ate supper. MUCH more quite then when the group is there. Then we just hung out the rest of the day. That's really it. Tomorrow is gonna be an easier day!
Carrie


~~~
July 18th 2012
Day 5

Ok so today the 18th ( I think) we did a bunch of stuff around camp, no clearing trails! yay!  But tomorrow we might be back at it =(  Oh well that's what we're here for =D Today I did a lot of dishes.  But it was fun because I got to know Megan and Kris (A.K.A. Mrs. Tice) It was very fun!  I'm gonna  come back to help cook/bake and do dishes when we go Up River next week.  Kris wants me to come up next year for a few weeks and work in the Kitchen, like come up with Nathan and he do other stuff.  We were playing Ultimate with the group ( when they got back from Up River) And I totally ran into their leader John (the Dad of Alaya) and knocked him over and he hit his head on some wood/metal!  I felt really bad!  He said it felt like he ran into a linebacker! I must have hit him hard! I felt/feel horrible.
Ok I'm tired and I need my sleep.

Love,
Carrie


~~~
July 19th 2012
Day 6

Hello,
 How's everything down in North America?  Lol.  Today was very sad because we had to say good-bye to the group :(  But we did a lot with them this morning, we played Round Robin, Mafia and other stuff.  And now we are Up River until Saturday.  Saturday is when the group leaves, they leave in the morning and we come back in the afternoon.  It's sad because Alaya was like a niece to me!  And D'Andre was very funny today cuz I caught the frisbee last night to win Ultimate =D  Oh my I'm gonna miss them!  This is gonna be a short one.  I miss you all!
love,
Carrie



~~~
July 20th 2012
Day 7

Hey,
 I'm bored.  I wish we were back at Base Camp doing stuff with the group :( I miss them!  This afternoon won't be too bad I don't think unless I have to pull weeds. I'm allergic to weeds. AND I just hate doing it. But we are going to go the Golden Stair Case after lunch! And we don't have to do anything... So we can just enjoy ourselves!! I hope we can go fishing again tonight. (a little later)  Ugh I did pull weeds! (much later)  So after lunch we went to the Golden Stair Case! It was so pretty! We were there from like 12:30pm to 5:30pm. A long time! It was very hot and stuff.  We fished, swam, hiked, fished, swam, fished and hiked.  It was very nice swimming temp.  And I caught 4 or 5 fish! YAY I love fishing!! I am rather satisfied with the day. But I'm missing a bunch of people right now. I want to fish more! Lol. Then we were gonna have a camp fire...Because the fire ban was off!!! and eat popcorn yum yum! :) I'll write the names of the group just to see if  I remember them.  Alaya, Stef, John, Jeremy, D'Andre, Coab, Joe, Josiah (aka Caterpillar :P) Brandy, Melissa, Kyle, Sarah and Suzie.  The summer staff are Steve, Kris, Dylan, Wesley (aka Wes) and Megan.  I am very tired, so I shall write no more. Maybe...
Carrie Duke

P.S. We were so slap happy tonight! WOW! We were playing the Name Game! It was very fun! Ok goodnight!


So there is the next 5 days!  I was VERY over tired when I wrote these... So they are kinda weird and random!!! Especially day 7! Oh and I found the other ones!!!!! YAY PTL! That would have been really bad! I hope you have enjoyed them! 
~Bonk :P

Day 1 & 2... And other stuff

Hey..My week babysitting was VERY fun! There were 8 kids from ages 3 to 12... They were all adorable! I miss them so much! <3 There was Laura she was 12 and then she had 2 brothers and a sister, Zach 10, Michael 7 and Lindsey 5.  Then 2 brothers Ethan 10 and Charley 7 (He was soooo adorable) I spent a lot of time with him! Then Donny and Evie 5 and 3... They were brother and sister. All of them were a lil (...ok maybe a lot) crazy!!! And wore me out. I was DEAD this weekend. But I would not have changed it for anything! :) I love them like nieces and nephews! They kinda are to me! <3   When I said goodbye to Lindsey she said “Do you PROMISE to come back next year??”  I had/have no idea.... I would love to though!  I had a wonderful week AGAIN!

Ok so I am going to do my first few days of our trip to Canada.  I think I lost like 5 days at the end.. :( Pray that I will find them because I need them for other things to!   So what I did was pretty much wrote letters to put on my blog. So here is the 1st and 2nd ones.


July 14th 2012  
Day 1
Hi,
 I’m gonna try to keep you updated on this trip.  So day 1 the 14th, We left home at 8:30am and drove 12 hours (with LOTS of stops :P)  We saw the Mackinac Bridge and the Locks at the Soo. (AKA Sault Ste. Marie)  And we ate at a really cute restaurant there.  We really did nothing. When we got to the road that leads to the camp, We had to drive over a dam! Ahhh It was so creepy!  I really can’t stand dams! And there is an even bigger one right by the camp.  I don’t like heights and dams/lots of running water... lol I don’t know why. I pray I will get over it.  But right now I need to read my bible and sleep!!!  I miss you all!
Love,
Carrie



July 15th 2012
Day 2
Oh my word, One of the staff up here just fainted! Oh man that was so creepy!!! She has low blood pressure.  We (all the staff) were eating and she just fell off her chair.  (later) I’m gonna wright in shifts.  So the stuff you just read was this morning (Sunday the 15th I think).  This afternoon Dad and I set up a water pump for if we have a fire here.  It is very dry here so there is a fire ban, No fires at all. There have been a lot of them (forest fires) around. So the pump is in case of a fire.  And also to spry at people! lol!  The 1st group are comin prolly really soon, Like they could be here now. I’ll tell you more about them when I get to know ‘em more.  So till later.....  (later)  The group came at 5:30 ish.  After supper we all walked up to SS (Sandford Sight). It was a LONG walk. And there was a little 8 month old baby that went with us. It was very pretty when we got there, Right at the edge of a bluff. Dad and I are kinda afraid of heights... so we stayed back.   Then we hiked back another way. We talked with the group on the way back and more when we got back to camp. Then our family had a bible study thing and that was about it. Good-Night
Carrie

P.S. Jesus Loves You!

That will be all for tonight.  I will try to get more tomorrow/today...seeing as it’s 12:30am right now!!   Yup thats right that is the only time I’ve had the computer... lol :)  

~CED

My Crazy/Wonderful Summer

Hey!!


I have been sooo busy lately and will be the rest of the month... This is a little brake in the craziness! like 2 hours! Anyway... We got back a week ago from a 2 week trip up to Canada!! We were volunteer staff at a camp called Canadian Adventure! We help clear trails along the Montreal River! It was very beautiful! I had a ton of fun!! :) I did a journal kind of thing that I will post of all the stuff we did! I don't know how to say that but you will see! :) We got back last Saturday night at like 10:30.


Then on Wednesday I got up early to go to Tj's (Tyler and Jessie's) for a week...That was the plan...BUT I went home the next day because...Well I'll tell you in a minute.... So I babysat Brady and Beckett for an hour and then Jessie and I made all of Beckett's birthday party invites! A TON of them! :) Then Jessie did a photo shoot of her sisters kids and then we shopped and stuff that was about it..!


So the reason I came home was because Mom called and said that a friend of ours had call and wanted Anna and I to help at what they call Grammie and Grampa Camp. For a week they have their grandkids over! :) So Anna and I are gonna go for a week to help!! :) It'll be fun!


And next week MY Grandma and Grandpa are coming! They will come on Wednesday and stay the rest of the month! They live in Iowa so they can't just come up for like 2 days! SOOO when I leave on Sunday I will not sleep in my bed for the rest of the month! so I only have 3 nights in my bed this month! :) CRAZY

Nathan's Grad Party is next Saturday! So even more! Then the next week is Beckett's party then the next week is CAMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH I'm sooooo existed!!!!!!!

So yeah that my summer!! crazy...and that's leaving a bunch out! :) But I love it! The only thing bad is I have not seen my friends in like 2 months, And a lot of them I am use to seeing almost everyday!! I am very sad :(

But not to leave on a bad note (as my Mom and Gma say ;P) I am lovin my summer!!!!!! <3

Carrie

Duke Open

Hi!
This last weekend we had our 5th annual Duke Open golf tournament. It actually started about 25 years ago. My grandma and grandpa started doing it in Niagara where they live. But they were getting to old to keep it going. So my Dad and his brother each started one where they live. So that is kinda the history of it. This year we had 31 golfer play! :) It was very fun and hot! The winning team was my cousin Collin, my Uncle Dave, my mom and I. Last year my Uncle Dave was on my team too and we won that year too!! So that was very cool! :) I wish there were pictures... But no one had a camera with them :( Oh well. Also that day my brother proposed to his girlfriend!!!! I am sooo happy for them!!! :) After the golfing we all came back to our house for food, prizes , a lot of volley-ball (the best part...I think anyway! =D) and other fun stuff! It was a VERY fun day!!!!