Delainey is 18 months!!

Little Delainey is 18 months old. She is such a joy to all of us and is still the topic of conversation--have you seen Delainey this week? Did you hear that Delainey....? Delainey can do....

This week I went to Devin and Sarah's to watch Delainey on Thursday night while they went to church. The door opened and she saw me. I smiled, she smiled, the smile got bigger and then she ran to me saying "yaya, yaya!!" It still melts my heart, three days later. While I was watching her, Jenna and Erik came over to see her. Before the night was over, she was saying "nenna" (Jenna) and "air-kuh" (Erik). (She puts a very definitive 'k-sound" on words that end with K: milk, book, and now Erik.) It is SO much fun to see her learning so quickly. Everytime I'm with her, I am amazed by how smart she is and how much she can do. What a perfectly delightful 18 months these have been--and I am SO excited to watch her continue to grow throughout the years! (Pictures courtesy of Sarah....) :-)

Sarah's Birthday

We had our first birthday of 2010 this past week. Sarah is one year older--and wiser too!! :-)

We celebrated her birthday at our monthly family dinner. I LOVE those dinners!! I love that I get see all my children so often--but I especially love having everyone all together!! After some homemade pizza (by me), a yummy spinach salad (by Jamie) and some delicious cheesy bread (by Jenna), Sarah got to open presents (with Delainey's help of course!!).

In December all the girls went to the Cheesecake Factory and Sarah talked me into splitting their strawberry shortcake with her. It was amazing!! I tried to replicate that last night for dessert and I wasn't quite there, but somewhat close... If anyone has an amazing shortcake recipe to pass along, I want to try again. The flavor of the shortcake I made last night was wonderful but I want one that is a little "softer".Devin and Sarah have been married for 5 years so this was the 5th birthday that we were able to celebrate with Sarah. What a delight she is! She's added so much to our family. She's kind, loving, cheerful, spiritual, a wonderful mother, a great wife, a fabulous daughter-in-law, and a great "sister" to Darin, Jenna and Jamie. I really could go on and on. We wouldn't trade her for the world!! :-)