hair cut

check the before and after.....jade and mark also 'slimmed down' pics will have to wait. mark shaved his five year old beard for nicole as an anniversary gift. Don't worry, it will return. Jade also lost about 6 " due to her non compliance issues surrounding the brushing of her gorgeous mane. It really suits her short as well as long.

first whitewater

April 27 marked seven years for mark and nicole, and how better to celebrate than with a nice sunny day, munchkins, and a couple of kayaks. fantastico!

A Hoppy Easter to All

"Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars"
--- Henry Van Dyke, American Educator


Greetings and salutations. This is the first posting on the Carter Tribe Surf Check. This blog will most likely resemble a photo-journalistic diary of sorts to help keep in touch with all of you out there that we'd rather talk to over a pint, a cup of joe, or a bag of cheese curds.

I am writing this at 11:36 p.m. as Nicole, Jade, and Heron paddle around in dreamland. Why so late? This is my easter basket to them. I've recently began working at the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, and one of our ales there is called Raison D'Etre. The term is borrowed from the French and translates as "Reason to Be" or "Reason to Live."

I write this because I know that Nicole misses her friends and family in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon, Utah, California, England, and places "down under."

My Raison D'Etre is the photograph at the top left of this post, and I hope that even though many of our friends and family are not physically in our presence day-to-day, that they realize that they are in our hearts every day.

So look forward to many future stories and photos from us here in the tiny little first state.

Know thyself,
Mark