Christmas Day

Christmas morning started off bright and early. We were up a little after 6am to open presents.

The snuggie wasn't a Christmas present--but it came in handy to keep Jamie warm...

Darin got tickets to a UNC game...

After we finished opening our presents, we headed to Devin and Sarah's to open more presents with them and to have breakfast. Donald and I got Delainey a wagon which we thought she would love....

but she didn't....

She would much rather walk around--especially if it's in someone else's shoes...

Christmas Day afternoon we headed over to Donald's sister, Kelly's house. I am so mad that I forgot my camera. It was the first time in several years that all the "Gilreath" cousins were together. We had a great time: laughed, ate, talked, caught up and loved every minute of it!!

Christmas Eve

We have a favorite Christmas Eve activity that involves the Clawson family(the family of Bronwen from the post before). For several years, they have invited us over to spend the evening with them and we get to take part in the traditional reading and acting out of Luke 2. Since we don't have young children, this has been so fun for us. Whomever is home at our house on Christmas Eve heads over to the Clawsons after dinner and the fun begins.

Donald was the donkey that carried Mary this year...

Jenna was Mary and Darin was Joseph...

Jamie was the angel....

("and they were sore afraid....")

Erik was a wise man (but I don't have a picture of him separately because I was trying to film at that point).

Here's a picture of the entire crew after the production.....

Thank you, Clawsons, for allowing us to join you once again!!

Bronwen

Bronwen is a darling little girl that is the youngest daughter of some friends of ours. Our family adores her (and the rest of her family) and she will often come home from church with us for a few hours. Yesterday she helped me cook dinner and as we cooked, she kept singing "Angels We Have Heard on High". It was delightful to have Christmas music sung by a 5-year-old in the house. She put us all in the Christmas mood. Here's a little video of the chorus. (Sorry I didn't get the beginning...)





Merry Christmas!!

Thanksigiving

Thanksgiving day started out the way it usually does--with Darin and Donald heading out to the Turkey Bowl. Darin came home ready to eat and move on to other things; Donald came home wondering if he'd be able to move in a few hours. :-) (He was fine--nothing a few Motrin couldn't fix!)

Early afternoon we headed over to our wonderful friends, the Whitts, for appetizers and then the whole group headed to a school down the street for a 13 year tradition called "stinkpot". Vaughn and Meg Peterson taught us this game 13 years ago and although they have moved away, we play it every Thanksgiving. The game is a mix of tag, red rover, and I-don't-know-what. But it's fun and the kids (and adults that play) really enjoy it. I've found that I'm just too slow to keep up with the kids, but I do enjoy sitting on a blanket, enjoying the sun and the game and chatting away with the other ladies. :-)

After stinkpot, it was back to our house where we had Thanksgiving dinner with just our family and Jamie's friend, Will. Jenna and Erik were at the Alvarez home. We had a delightful meal, watched some football and then had some delicious desserts. By 8:30 I was sound asleep on the couch while others watched Elf. A great way to end a busy day!!

And what would Thanksgiving be without a little Rock Band? Jenna decided to reprise her role from last Christmas and sang "Roxanne" for us again. Enjoy!! :-)

Thanksgiving with family

The Sunday before Thanksgiving we got together with Kelly's family and Ann's family to have our pre-Thanksgiving feast. This has been a tradition for many years and one that we all enjoy. The food was plentiful and delicious and it's always fun to catch up. I forgot my camera so I don't have pictures, but maybe one day Ann will send me some pictures that I'll add. Kelly brought Delainey a little headband with antlers on it. She actually wore it for a while and it was SO cute!

It's wonderful to have such a great extended family!!

UNC vs. Belmont Abbey

On Friday, November 6, UNC had an exhibition game at home against Belmont Abbey. Donald got the whole family tickets and we were all excited to go. This game was "general admission" so everyone just got to sit wherever. (There were, of course, reserved seats, but the majority of the Smith Center was open.) Donald ended up being sick and unable to go, but Jenna, Darin and I headed over to Chapel Hill to be there when the doors opened and to save seats for the rest of the gang. We ended up sitting on the 2nd and 3rd rows near the basket.

We were there 3 1/2 hours before the game, but we were entertained by watching the Lady Tarheels take on Virginia in volleyball.

Then the real fun started with warm-ups. It was great to be SO close.

Delainey wasn't so sure about being so close....

Once the game started, the action was too fast for my s-l-o-w camera. I missed numerous dunks and blocks which were RIGHT in front of us!! I did, however, get a free throw shot!

Here's a picture of the group taken at half-time. I don't know how to crop pictures for the blog so you have to find us in the sea of blue...

front row (left to right): Will Lewis, Jamie, Jenna, Erik
second row (left to right): Jan, Darin, Devin, Sarah and Delainey, Ginger (Sarah's Mom)

October family dinner

We had several birthdays to celebrate in October so we did our dinner a little later in the month. Along with me, Jamie and Erik, Darin's roommate Dean has an October birthday and our favorite little friend, Bronwen. We had three different desserts to choose from--with candles on all of them...
And it is October so we had plenty of Halloween candy too. If only we all had as much fun with Halloween candy as Delainey does...

Charleston, South Carolina

A few weeks ago Sheraton Hotels had a contest where you could win a free night. Donald heard about it and entered us. I ended up winning a night at the Sheraton in Charleston, South Carolina. I had to use it this weekend so Jamie, Jenna and I headed down to Charleston Friday afternoon.

We hadn't been to Charleston so we really didn't know what to expect. It was much bigger than we realized and there was so much to see! We shopped at the Open Air market (of course) and walked along the battery.


We walked down "Museum Mile" and saw lots of wonderful historic homes.

We made sure we saw Rainbow Row...


We enjoyed looking at the private homes as well. One private home had a gate as we looked through the wrought iron gate, this is what we saw...

(I think that would be enough to keep away the trick-or-treaters!)

We ate seafood (well, I did) and we just enjoyed the city immensely. It's definitely a place I would like to return to. Thank you Sheraton for our free night and thank you Donald for "making" me go. Next time we're planning it better, seeing more and making sure Sarah can go with us as well!

UNC football

Thursday night Donald, Darin, Devin, Sarah and I went to the UNC vs. FSU football game. It was the Thursday night ESPN game and I love going to night games. Although the outcome of the game wasn't what we had hoped for, it was fun being with part of the family and watching the game. I really enjoy the marching band--but we weren't in the best position for a picture--this one is from before the game and they haven't even gotten into a formation yet....

Late Nite with Roy

Friday afternoon we made our annual trek to Chapel Hill for Late Night with Roy. This is the night that officially marks the beginning of the basketball season. We've been going for the past 5 years or so. This year they started off the evening with a women's volleyball game--UNC vs. Duke. UNC won 4-1. It was so much fun to watch volleyball--I miss not watching it. Following the volleyball game, the official "Late Nite" begins. There are fireworks, lots of music, skits, and, of course, a scrimmage. It's hosted by Stuart Scott from ESPN (a UNC alum) and he keeps things rolling. It's a fun night if you're a UNC fan and one we always look forward to. I brought my camera but left the memory card sitting in the computer at home--so here's a picture I took off of Sarah's blog of the cutest UNC cheerleader ever!

Beach day

Saturday morning Donald, Jenna, Erik and I headed to the beach. Donald and I hadn't made it to the beach all summer (well, the North Carolina beach--which is SO much warmer than the west coast beaches that we enjoyed in June) and Jenna and Erik wanted to go since they were on fall break so off we went.

It was a gorgeous day at the beach. 80+ degrees with a slight breeze. We saw a wedding, numerous dolphins, a beautiful kite, and just basked in the warmth and the sounds of the waves.(14 months and 2 days since their wedding and still cute!)

We headed home in the late afternoon and I was greeted by this when I got home:

Best welcome home ever!!

(in case you can't read her shirt it says:
Carolina girls...best in the world)

Howl-O-Scream

On Friday Jenna, Erik, Jamie and Darin all went to Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens is an amusement park about 3 hours from Raleigh. In October in the evenings, they have a Halloween event called Howl-O-Scream. Erik and Jenna went last year and had a great time so this year they talked Jamie and Darin into joining them. They left the house a little after 6am and returned home around 12:30 am Saturday morning. We were greeted by this when they arrived home:Maybe next year Donald and I will have to go as well....

Harry Potter

Friday night Donald and I went to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". I know most of you saw it over the summer, but when it came out we were on vacation and then we just decided to wait until it came to the $1.50 theater. I loved it!! I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter books, but haven't enjoyed the movies nearly as much. But I found the key with this movie. I didn't reread the book before going!! I enjoyed the movie SO much. I knew the general gist of what was going to happen, but I didn't remember things they were left out and I was just able to truly enjoy a magical evening with Harry....and Donald. :-)

Kelly's Birthday!!

Sunday evening we celebrated Kelly's birthday--even though her birthday was September 1. We had dinner at Ann's and enjoyed visiting.

I wish this picture had come out better--but the two that I zoomed in closer were blurry so this is the best I can do...

front row: Ann Keaton, Ms. Mitchell (George's mom), Jodi Mitchell
2nd row: Aunt Pat (Hendley) , Patsy (George's sister), Kelly Mitchell, Darin, Donald
back row: Rod Hendley, Terry Keaton, George Mitchell, Kyle Keaton

Family dinner

Every month, usually on Sunday, we have a family dinner. This started being a monthly occurrence in 2003 when Devin and Jamie were both attending UNC and we didn't always get to see them at the same time. They've been going strong ever since. It's been a fun way to make sure we all see each other at least once a month and we have enjoyed adding Sarah, Delainey and Erik to our family--and our dinners.

Basketball

Darin and his roommate, Dean, are playing in a church league. It actually started before they began school, but they've been able to play with them a couple of times so far. They play in Apex, a suburb of Raleigh, and since that is close, Donald and I have been to watch them a couple of times.

Yesterday they had a game and I took my camera just to take some pictures and then Donald and I were asked to keep score and clock so I only got one picture...
Yes, it's Darin after tying his shoes and before playing--how pitiful is that! :-)

Tuesdays

Tuesdays are probably my favorite day of the week. On Tuesday evenings, Devin and Sarah head to Durham to spend time with the youth of their ward. That leaves me with Delainey! Sometimes Donald or Darin or Jamie will come, but often it's just my Delainey time--and I don't have to share with anyone!! :-)

Usually we start off with Delainey eating dinner...

She's gotten so good at a sippy cup...
(even when it's upside down!)

After dinner we have to do some cleaning up....

And then it's play time!!

We look at the fish...
We read some books...

We do some puzzles...

Sometimes we practice our spinning...

Then it's bath time...

And while Delainey is in the bath, she works on her ABC's...

Then it's time for Devin and Sarah to come home and the next Tuesday we start all over again!!