Too Much Info for a Single Title Post

Tee Hee. I am just going to post all the pictures and let you fill in the commentary. Have fun.

Dallin built this monkey bridge one afternoon....just for fun.

This turtle wandered over to our house from the lake. Dallin (and Em's legs) sunning at Cape.
Em's Birthday Lobster dinner....the rest of us ate cheap.Emily's fish..er..cat..er...owl...that's it...an owl.Emily's Birthday cake...6 layers with custard filling....yum. Thanks Darrin.Skimboarding at Cape.K

Kayaking at Hoffmans.




This is Jesse's dance concert at school...this is his class doing the Violet Beauregarde dance...he is wearing a bright green shirt in the back...he works his way to the front just before they go off stage...and then....his big solo....he moonwalks in on the right. AWESOME!

Oh What Do You Do In the Summertime?

My big kids are home.....Ahhh..sigh of relief. I don't really worry about them all year, but it is always nice to have them back under my wing. So what do we do? It has been one continuous party since we picked them up from the airport. Already I am feeling the days ticking down to take them back. Sniff Sniff. Here are some picks of the last few days. We had a BBQ monday night...the weather was a little drizzly so things started off slow, but cleared later for some riotous VB. We invited all the young adults in our ward and the missionaries and turned it into an investigator FHE. We had 5 non members and 2 less actives...it was also a ton of fun. Today...the job search. Dallin has a couple of interviews already lined up near the beach. It is rainy and cold today, so my Az kids are really freezing. Tee hee.

This is a hog nose snake...they pretend that they are cobras and rear up and spread our the sides of their faces to make you afraid of them....but...they are harmless. Darrin got to play cowboy last week...our friends have 3 calves and they needed to be de-horned, so he got out his lasso and they bull-dogged them down and cut off their horns. He loved it.Sunday was GORGEOUS outside..so Sarah did this.....Dallin and Jess did this.....they camoflauged themselves and snuck through the forest and scared her.I picked a gallon of these and ate them. It is strawberry season here...we have 5 weeks of fresh picking...gonna use them all.
I love summer.

WARNING! Long catch-up post.

O.K. I know it has been a LONG time since I posted on here, but I really have had nothing to post. You know...doldrums (sp?). But I have been collecting pics to share and I now have TOO much to write...Sorry. Here goes. First...we celebrated (well not really) our 1st anniversary as Delaweanies. We have actually been here a year now. Wow. It seems weird. In the past I had never really thought about anniversaries except my wedding, but now it seems I have a lot of them; moving dates, death dates (3 of those), missionary returns, medical checkups, etc. I don't think I really like most of them, but they come and go anyway. Enough of that. I have some new assignments in our ward and stake. I am playing the organ for sacrament meeting this month...I hope it is temporary, but I am afraid it may be permanent. For those of you who don't know, I REALLY don't play the piano well. I practice constantly just to be able to get through one meeting. Our ward is musically challenged so...I also play in RS. O.K. here it comes.....I wish I had stuck with the lessons when I was younger.....there, I said it. I am sure Mom is giggling a little "I told you so!" right now. I am still teaching seminary. We are winding down to the end of the Book of Mormon. I really love learning so much more about it and all the great scripture that is contained there. I hope my students are getting as much out of it as I am. Next, I am the ward camp director. We have 4 girls going this year. That is a record for our ward. I am also the stake 3rd level leader...(we have to double and triple up callings here). Camp is so very different here. We are completely roughing it, no facilities at all....no electricity, bathrooms, kitchen, just a meadow and some trees. Our stake is so HUGE that is it truly difficult to put together a camp. I have been to meetings every saturday for a month. One meeting was 2 hours to the north and the next was 1 hour to the south, this saturday is all day in Dover (1 hour north). I have some GREAT YCL's and am not worried at all. Sarah is a 4th year and they are biking 40 miles to the beach for their high adventure. The stake camp director has a horse farm and 3rd years are riding. Awesome. One bad note....when we toured the camp, a tick found me. YUUUCCKKK! They are fairly common here, but YUUUCCKK! OK. I feel better now. Darrin got his wisdom teeth removed the end of April...he did very well, I don't think he even had any swelling. He has been very busy at his job. They keep him late most nights. He is going to be taking over the General Manager position this year and they are piling on the responsibilities. He is the YM president in the ward and goes on splits with the missionaries. Jesse is loving school...he even said those words...shock....he has NEVER loved school. He has a solo in his spring dance recital at the end of May, I will be sure to post a video. Sarah is getting more "acclimatized" to high school on the East Coast. It has been a hard transition for her, but she is making friends and doing well in her classes. She gets her permit on her 16th birthday and is excited to start driving. They have very strict new driver laws here. She will not get her lisence until she is almost 17. She seems ok with that. Traffic is scarier here than in AZ. Our weather is really warming up here and we will soon be living on the beach...don't be too jealous....we did have a very snowy winter. Ok. here are the pics.

These are our blueberries ripening on the bush. YUM!My late-blooming tulips...(I planted them late)We have lots of butterflies here....love them.I have always loved Hydrangeas....now I have them.Second generation Gordon chickens....only 6 this time. They are about 4 weeks old.

1st Day of Spring!

It was sunny and warm on the first day of Spring....so we went to the beach. Well, it wasn't quite as warm as we thought (58 degrees) so we didn't stay too long, but it was nice to be there for a little while. We watched some kayak surfers (in their full wet suits) enjoying the waves...just whets our appetites for the summer...ENJOY!

Mexican Food....Delaware style!?

O.K....so...we decided we wanted to go out for Mexican food for our anniversary last Friday. We took the kids and went to a place called Rincon Jarocho in Dagsboro which is not to far from us. We had heard it was really good. So we walk in (there is only one table with people) we sit down and order...the menu is a little different...more seafood options...but that didn't surprise us....What did surprise us was the Spanish Polka music playing on the LOUD speaker. We could not keep ourselves from bouncing in our seats to the music. Sooo funny. Then we got our food.....even funnier. My Nachos consisted of some very greasy chips covered with mozzarella cheese, canned ground beef (think underwood deviled ham), some lettuce and a big tomato slab. OK...weird. The meat was AWFUL. I ate around it and stole some of Jesse's refried beans to help the taste....needless to say I left most of it on the plate when I left. Darrin had enchiladas filled with the same meat and mozzarella cheese. The salsa tasted like tomato soup...seriously..it was even the same color. Weird. The problem, we think, is that the "Mexican" people here are predominantly Guatemalen. I don't know anything about Guatemalen food....but it ISN'T anything like the mexican food we are used to and love. I guess I will have to get good at making my own. We are going into withdrawals. I remember thinking that we had no variety in Safford cuz all we had were Mexican food places.......yep...being punished for that.....A LOT!



Sarah says to explain that at the end of the video a piece of chicken went down her sleeve and she was trying to make it fall out....now watch it again....and laugh. hahaha!

On a lighter note....our weather is significantly nicer these days. This morning I took a lovely walk here....It was a tiny bit chilly at 8:30, but by the time I was done it was BEAUTIFUL...and walking by the ocean always makes me smile.....:)

SNOWED IN!

So... we have been snowed in here in Delaware since friday the 5th of February. That storm dumped about 12 inches on us. Then tuesday morning the sun came out and I dashed to Walmart for a few essentials and by noon the next storm had rolled in. That storm was a blizzard....true 40-50 mile an hour winds plus HEAVY wet snow. Our governor declared us in a state of emergency and banned road travel. We had white-out conditions for the next 12 hours! School has been cancelled for 5 1/2 days and won't meet again until the 16th. It has been an adventure to say the least. Shoveling a driveway is NOT fun. All the Walmarts had to close to shovel their roofs. There have been numerous colapses because of the amount and wetness of the snow. Today is sunny again but the temps are still below freezing, so we won't get much melt. AND....another storm is coming on Monday. We have watched WAY too many movies...eaten WAY too much junk food...been WAY too lazy and are about to kill each other for the amount of proximity we have endured....but...it is all good. Everyone here keeps reminding us that Delaware never gets snow.....HAHAHAHAHAHA...I do not believe them anymore!

Happy Birthday to me!

My day started with SNOW....8 inches!

Church was cancelled so we stayed home and had our own sacrament meeting. Darrin made me a 3 layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. YUM! We had the Hoffman's over for dinner and then played games for a while. Then the phone calls started coming in. My sisters and brothers called to wish me a great day. So lovely. School has been cancelled for tomorrow, so we are going to sleep in and hang out in our pj's all day. Boy.... don't you all wish you could have a birthday just like mine?! Too bad it has to come with the number 46 attached.

Nothing

This post is just to let you know that I have nothing to post.....hang in there, something interesting is bound to happen soon. hahaha

Dallin Time

I am home now after spending a week on the road with Dallin and Emily. We got him all squared away at ASU....Here are are few highlights from our time together. He is still a little bit crazy, but we love it.

Dallin dove into the Atlantic Ocean...(the air was 30 degrees)He ran through a flock of Snow Geese.Rode the Staten Island Ferry in New York...(among other things)Arriving at Sky Harbor in Phoenix.With Grandpa and Grandma GordonWent by the cemetary...Aunt Jayna's house after he spoke in our old ward in Safford. Random (!?!?!?) sign on the mountain turn-off.

Swining on the big swing that Uncle Dave made. It makes you feel like you are 4 years old again.

Good Times....

Out with the old.......

These shoes came home with Dallin the other day. I bought them for him his senior year of HS. I would say that they best describe my feelings for the last year. It thoroughly wore me out. So.....in with the new...

all bright and shiny and ready for anything....Farewell 2009