Leaves!!

We got to keep Delainey a couple of weeks ago while Devin was having his hand surgery. She came to preschool with me and was great.

Donald came home at lunch time and she discovered the leaves that we had raked into a pile. She and Donald had a great time playing in the leaves. I LOVE having my family so close that we get to see them often.

Ballerina

Delainey has a favorite doll called "ballerina". (Yes, she looks like a ballerina.) Today when Donald and I were watching her, ballerina did many things with us. She sat on my lap while we read a book. We made sure that ballerina was warm by wrapping her in a blanket. She looked at the Christmas tree with us.

At one point, Delainey passed a little bit of gas. All was silent for a moment and then she said, "Ballerina pooted!" Donald and I could hardly keep the smiles off our faces. I said to Delainey, "Did ballerina say excuse me?" Delainey replied, "Excuse YOU, ballerina!!!"

(Donald and I are still laughing.....)

Best Birthday Ever!!

I LOVE other people's birthdays. I love watching them open presents, blow out candles and enjoy their day. However, I don't enjoy my birthday. I dislike the fact the I'm another year older--although the alternative isn't too appealing either! I would just rather the day pass without a lot of fanfare.This year was no different, but my family did an awesome job celebrating my birthday and making me feel loved without all the fanfare. On my actual birth date, I got to have a surprise photo shoot with two of my favorite people--Delainey and Sallie! Sarah did a fantastic job!! (Now if she would just use her photo shop to erase some of the wrinkles!!) Here are just a few of my favorites....




On Sunday we had a family dinner to celebrate all our October birthdays (Erik, Jamie and me). I received some great gifts but the evening was topped of by THE BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVER!!!

You don't know what it is?
Neither did I!!

Inside are memories that we have shared and items that each person remembers or likes about me. Some made me laugh, some made me cry, some were memories that I didn't even remember until reminded. I've read them all once, but every day I pull out a couple to look at them again. I love it!! I love that we all share some of the same memories and I love that there are some memories that only two of us share. I love that we have a bond and a connection that can never be broken. I love that my family thought to do this for me and that they put forth the time and effort to put it together. It is my precious physical possession. Now I can really say--"Thanks for the memories!"

Jamie's birthday

Lately I've just been extremely lax about taking pictures. We celebrated Jamie's birthday last week and I didn't take one single picture. However, this picture of Jamie was taken a few years ago.

As you can see, Jamie is a beautiful young woman. She is just as beautiful inside. She is smart and talented. She and I both share a love of reading and I have enjoyed reading the same books with her and discussing them. (I haven't loved not being able to find the book because she stole it away when my back was turned....) Jamie and I share many of the same qualities which can make for some fun moments together and some not-so-fun moments. Jamie has been the adventurous one in the family. She spent a semester during college in Spain and then traveled through Europe before returning home.


I have enjoyed watching her grow up and watching her use her many talents throughout the years. Happy (belated) Birthday, Jamie!!

Best Saturday Ever!!

Nothing beats going to the park with three of my favorite people...

This morning Devin called and Sarah was going to be busy taking pictures all day so we decided to go to the park together. We played on the playgrounds and Delainey rode her bike. (No, Sallie was not in her bumbo--that was just a cute picture.) Sallie slept for a while and then chewed on her hand and her blanket for the rest of the time. :-)

Thanks for making my day!!

In case you haven't heard...

In case you haven't heard....

This girl
is happily engaged to Will Lewis.

Wedding on December 18, 2010.(pictures courtesy of Sarah)
and
www.elainebellaphotography.blogspot.com

Phone Call!!

I just got done talking to this guy....

Today he left the MTC in Provo, Utah to head to El Salvador. He left the SLC airport at 8:25am this morning and flew to Dallas, TX. He arrived there at 12:05pm. After a 3-and-a-half hour layover, he boarded a plane for El Salvador at 4:40pm. He will arrive in El Salvador this evening at 6:05pm. And then his "new life" will start. I'm excited to hear from him over the next 22 months as he serves in different areas in El Salvador. He'll have many different experiences--some hard and some great--and I hope he'll share many of those with us. If you want to follow his experiences, check out the link for "A Tar Heel in El Salvador" on the right side of this blog.

He sounded good. He sounded happy. He is excited to get to El Salvador. He says his Spanish is pretty good--but he knows that he'll struggle with the native speakers for a while. He was excited to have a double cheeseburger at McDonald's in Dallas. I LOVED talking to him. It was hard to hang up the phone--but easier than I thought it would be since he seemed so happy and so excited. I can't wait to see what the next 22 months hold for him. :-)

Soccer!!

A weekend or so ago, our friends, the Clawsons, went out of town and left their 7-year-old (Ethan) with us over night and their 5-year-old (Bronwen) with us for the weekend. We had a great time. You've probably seen Bronwen on here before. We like to think she's one of us. In fact, for a long time we had her believing that her name was "Bronwen Amelia Clawson Gilreath". :-)

Anyway, on Saturday, we got to take them to their soccer games. It's been a long time since we've been to a youth soccer game and it was a great two hours. Bronwen played first and I wish I had a video of that game. It is just a mass of kids all trying to kick the ball. Occasionally you'd have a breakout play and those were always exciting. Bronwen did great and we so enjoyed watching her.Right after her game, Ethan had his game. These kids have played soccer for a couple more years so they are better at staying in position and kicking to other members of their team. Their game was actually like a real soccer game.(Why go get the ball--especially when you're the goalie?)

Thanks for sharing your children with us, Matt and Megan!! As always, we enjoyed them!!

Family dinner

We have a family dinner with everyone once a month. It started off with me doing all the cooking and the kids (Jamie and Devin) coming home from UNC so that we were all home at the same time at least once a month. As our family as grown, different members of the family have taken on different parts of the dinner so it's not so much work for any one person. Usually it's at our house, but sometimes it's at Devin and Sarah's home or Jenna and Erik's. This month it was at our home and Jamie had dessert. Will's surprise birthday party was the night before and she had gotten a chocolate mousse cake from Costco. It was a yummy cake--but more fun to play in than to eat...

Vernal Utah

For a week I stayed at my mom and Jim's ranch which is between Vernal and Jensen in Eastern Utah. I read, slept, wrote letters (wonder to who??), watched a little tv, went to the temple, and ran errands with them. It was kind of like being a child again without someone telling me what to do. I helped with meals but I didn't decide what we were going to eat or when we were going to eat. When we went somewhere, I sat in the back seat. I didn't answer the phone--it wasn't for me. I didn't decide what to watch on TV; I just watched along with them or not. (BTW, I am now a big fan of BYU-TV--we watched a lot of that.) No one wanted or needed anything from me and for the first few days, that was nice--then I missed being needed.
Mom has chickens which were kind of interesting to watch and a peacock. The male peacock was beautiful but I never saw him with his feathers spread. The female hen was on her nest which is just under the tree you see in the right of the picture above.

It was a quiet, restful week...

THE DAY--July 28, 2010

We got up early and after breakfast we headed back to Shanna and Austin's so Darin could do some computer training before entering the MTC.

While we were at Austin's, we got a phone call from my mom and she was in Provo on her way to Salt Lake for a doctor's appointment. Darin and I headed back quickly to our hotel so we could meet up with my mom and Jim.

After Mom and Jim left, we shopped for a few things Darin still needed and then we did the final packing. Austin and Shanna had told me how quick good-byes are at the MTC and suggested that we say our good-byes before we got there. So Darin and I said good-bye in the hotel room and it was pretty much downhill from there....
Provo (well, actually Orem) has an In-N-Out now and Darin wanted to go there for his "last" lunch. It was packed and Darin hardly ate anything as the time was getting close to when he needed to check in. As we started the drive towards the MTC, it was awfully quiet in the car. I could tell he was nervous and I was just trying to keep from a total breakdown in the car. As we turned the corner to the MTC, we saw missionaries playing soccer. Darin perked up immediately and decided that at least the soccer would be great!!
Leaving a son or daughter at the MTC has changed--and it's a quick good-bye!! We drove in and they directed us to a parking spot right at the curb. As we parked, three missionaries converged on our car. One was getting the luggage out of the trunk and the other two were busy greeting Darin and asking him where he was going. Before I knew it, he was heading off with the other missionaries. I said, "Wait!! Don't I get a hug?" Darin quickly turned around and came back and hugged me and then he was off without a backwards glance.
I am so sad that I didn't get any pictures at In-N-Out or at the MTC....
The drive to Salt Lake was hard. (I had to pull off twice because I was having a hard time driving....) I dropped off the rental car and my mom and Jim picked me up and took me to their ranch for a week.

July 27, 2010

Our morning started early since Darin and I had a 6:20 am flight out. Darin and I flew through Detroit and then on to Salt Lake City. We picked up our rental car and when to my brother's office. It was so good to see Mark!! From there we were off to Distribution and a walk through temple square.

After a delicious dinner with Mark, we headed down to Provo with a quick stop at the Draper Temple. My mom and Jim were the missionaries in charge of the building of the Draper temple so we were excited to see it up close and personal.From Draper we headed to Provo and our hotel. We quickly dropped in on Austin and Shanna and enjoyed a good visit with them and then we were off to bed. It had been a l-0-n-g day!

July 26, 2010

Darin's last day in Raleigh for two years was spent running errands and packing. That night we went to Devin and Sarah's for dinner all together and Sarah had an impromptu photo shoot with Darin. Here are a few of my favorites....

July 25, 2010

Sunday, July 25, was a busy day for us. It started in the Durham 4 ward with Devin and Sarah. They were blessing baby Sallie.

I made Sallie's blessing dress and it turned out almost perfectly... :-)

Sunday afternoon we headed to Devin and Sarah's for to celebrate Delainey's 2nd birthday. I can't believe it's been 2 years!! In some ways it seems like she's always been here and in other ways it seems SO short....
After the birthday celebration, we were off to President Harding's home so Darin could be set apart as a missionary. That was kind of the beginning of the end for me...it was becoming so real...he really was going to leave to serve a mission for two years in El Salvador....in just two and a half days!!!

family pictures

Yeah for family pictures!! We picked a rainy day in a beautiful park and many thanks go to our wonderful friend and photographer, Liz. This was taken about 10 days before Darin left and it'll be our last family picture for 2 years. It's strange to think that Delainey will be 4 and Sallie will be 2 when Darin comes home and we get to have the entire family together again...Some one would rather dance than take pictures....


I LOVE this baby!!
(and check out the rained-on hair!!)

July 24, 2010

On Saturday, July 24, 2010, Jamie went to the temple in Raleigh for the first time. Just like Darin, this is a special occasion in our religion and this time was especially sweet because everyone in the family was in the same place at the same time. With Darin leaving a few days later, we knew this was a time to treasure... We are a forever family!!

Chick-Fil-A

On Friday, Chick-Fil-A had a promotional deal. If you dressed up like a cow, you got a combo meal of your choice for free! They even had spots, ears, a nose and a tail that you could print off, cut out and apply. We decided to go for it. Darin wasn't too excited--but finally gave in. He did say, "No pictures, please...." but I had to sneak one in to show that he did dress up.....

Jenna, Erik and Donald were more willing to pose for a picture....

Donald and Erik don't have their "ears" on in this picture and Donald still needs to add his nose, but you get the idea. Thanks for a free meal, Chick-Fil-A!!