Darin's birthday

(I know I'm late on this post--but I wanted to include some baby pictures of Darin and I didn't know how to scan them so I had to wait until Donald could do it.)

Darin turned 19 on April 24 and since it's his last birthday at home for a while, I thought he deserved his own post.

Darin was a much-loved baby (as you can see from these pictures)

and he's a must-loved bigger baby of the family. He is pretty laid-back (unless you argue with him about the Tarheels), he still has a great smile (and now he has great hair to go with that smile), and he continues to be a source of pride, enjoyment, and love. He has a very loving nature and he really does try to choose the right.

His first birthday

(Devin, Austin, Jenna, Kyle, Darin, Jamie, Megan Whitt, Michael Whitt, Sam Whitt)

And now here he is at his 19th birthday....

We went to a Durham Bulls game with the entire family....

He opened presents....


And he got to share another birthday with his dad...
(their birthdays are 2 days apart)

Darin Frank Gilreath--We all love you!! Thanks for being such a great son, brother, and uncle!!!

Jenna's Last Day of Student Teaching

Friday, April 23, was Jenna's last day of student teaching. Her teacher, Mrs. Russell, invited us to come and visit at the end of the day. While we were there, Jenna was able to open some gifts from the class and from her teacher. It was a teary day for all the adults--and even some of the children. Jenna has had an incredible experience teaching First Grade this year and I know she'll be an amazing teacher!!

Opening a "picture" of all the children in class and a quote from them



Group hug!!



Jenna with Mrs. Davis (the Teaching Assistant)



Jenna with Mrs. Russell

(If you're wondering about Jenna's attire--it was Friday so the kids
and teachers were having a "pajama" day. When I took the
picture of Mrs. Russell and Jenna, Mrs. Russell had already
changed--but earlier she had on red satin pajamas!)

Happy Easter

For Easter this year, we celebrated at Devin and Sarah's home. We had a great Easter dinner, watched General Conference, and then had the annual Easter Egg hunt. Donald and Darin hid 90 eggs and we found them all!! As usual, the big kids and the little kid combined for one big hunt--but mostly we just loved watching the "little kid" do her stuff...

Donald's favorite egg hiding place (the wheel of the car)


Jenna and Darin in the back yard


finding a well-hidden egg...

filling the Easter basket....

Darin's Mission Call

Darin will be serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He received his call in the mail today. The family all met at Devin and Sarah's for him to open the letter.




In case you didn't hear everything, Darin will be serving in El Salvador and will leave July 28, 2010. We're all SO excited!!

Saint Patrick's Day!!

Last night we went to Jenna and Erik's for dinner. Erik (and Jenna) made us a dish from Uruguay that they enjoy. (Erik's paternal grandparents are from Uruguay.) While we were there, Jenna showed us her "costume" that she'll be wearing on Wednesday for St. Patrick's Day. She is doing her student teaching right now and she has a class of 1st graders. Her mentor teacher is big on dressing up and so Jenna is along for the ride!! She really is a cute leprechaun!!!

the "I'm-so-embarrassed" debut

the cool shoes


the "too big" hat--it's sparkly like the shoes!!

serving us--while dressed up!!

Thanks Jenna and Erik for a delicious dinner and a fun preview of Wednesday!!

Pants on the Ground...

Delainey was over on Saturday and Darin put on some music for her to dance to. Here's a little clip of some of her dancing. (She does have a hard time keeping her pants up--sorry about the full diaper view--this was towards the end and she had been dancing up a storm!!)

SNOW!

Winters in Oregon when I was growing up were great! I'm sure we had rain and cold, but pretty much I just remember the snow. Whenever it snowed, we were out of school--and what is better than a snow day!! :-) My children have grown up in North Carolina--an entire continent away--and yet they have had the same experience! We love snow because we get to stay home and play in it as everything is closed down for the duration. We also never know if we will actually get snow so we have the excitement of wondering whether it will really come....This time it came. The forecasters were calling for snow starting around 7pm on Friday night. At 6:50 (by my car clock), it began snowing. It was beautiful! It snowed most of Friday night and then it began sleeting so we can snow with a coating of ice--just right for some great sledding!Jenna getting ready to go outGetting the saucers out...

Darin came home from college and Jenna and Erik came over so all the kids headed to the hill to sled. Darin, Sarah and Delainey stayed at their home--but one year, when Delainey is a little older, we'll get them over here for the BIG hill!! ;-)