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Monday, December 31, 2018

Goodbye 2018

I have a lot of words...I could say...but in hopes to keep this short, I will just blast you with pictures of our last year. 

January-



We actually got quite a bit of snow. Enough that it stayed for several days and we went to a friends house and sled down their hill! 


We had some of Nora's friends over for a pancake breakfast.



My brother and SIL came over and we had a fancy surprise dinner for their anniversary. Mama was the chef, Cale was the -whatever the title is for the guy with the towel over his arm-, I was the waitress and my niece and Nora were the dinner entertainment :)



We played in mud with friends...always a good time!


Cale and I had the creepiest looking date night...soft faces afterwards though! 


I saw Hannah. Magical. 


We painted for a date and I imagined that we'd paint something together but Cale picked out the poop emoji coffee cup...so...yeah, I painted a bowl. :)


Cale, Nora & I chased the big super moon. 

February-



Nora's preschool dance :)  I love that the dance is for the whole family so I get to be there too! 


...the race...that...didn't happen. 



My sweet niece turned 12! Also...just look how tiny E was!!! 


We went on a hunt around town for a dinosaur- found him! 


Hurricanes game! 



We had some of Nora's friends over for a Galentine's Party



Temarie and I went to an Ellie Holcomb concert


Matching V-Day shirts! 


Park date with Ella


Date with Juliet



Courtney and I took our girlies to see gymnastics at NC State

March-



Mr. & Mrs. went on a trip to TEXAS! 


Lots of park days with beautiful weather


Nora's choice of outfit to wear to the grocery store with Mommy. 




Dino's! Lots of dino's!! 


I ran my fastest 13.1 miles. 









Easton and I went to Washington together. Such a GREAT trip! 


Friends over to color eggs :)


Ice cream date with friends!


We had a lazy silly afternoon.

April-





Easter with bunny ears and Courtney made the BEST pie...that I think about all of the time! 






We went to the beach with family and had a blast!



We went to the Azalea Gardens, which was a fail. They hadn't quite bloomed yet so the kids were not interested. We did walk to NC State for ice cream though! 



Nora met a unicorn. 














Auntie Ber came to town and spoiled us all! Lots and lots of adventures were had! 



The kids and I had a date downtown. It gets pretty...uh...entertaining with two! 


This frog. I have a story that I will maybe post about next. Like, you really need to know this story. 


Cale helping at the food pantry! 

May-






We finished up our visit with Auntie Ber. We were ALL sooooo sad when she left. 







We celebrated Nora's 4th birthday! Since the previous August, she had been planning her birthday and all she wanted to do was go kayaking with her friends. Well, that was the plan but when we showed up, the park said their double kayaks weren't ready. Waaaaah! Our friends were great sports and we settled for paddle boats instead. 

A dinosaur showed up which kind of made the birthday perfect for her. :)


A date with little man.


Mother's Day!


We saved a turtle from the street. Nora still talks about trying to find another one to save.


My first piano recital! I started lessons in January! 


:)


The feel of summer had started! 




We camped! With friends in their backyard. Wild and so fun.


We went to a fairy hair party. Both of ours fell out pretty quickly.


Nora started swim lessons so we had lots of days by the pool.


Cale kissed kale!

June-





We went to the beach with friends! 









We took a trip to Busch Gardens with family. This was such a fuuuuun trip. Loved it all! 


Went to a disney princess birthday party. As you can see, Nora was the unicorn. Haha. 







We had a YAY for SUMMER party for Nora's friends. We have an above ground pool that was having issues so my sweet friend let us borrow her pool! 


Nora enjoying karate


Easton enjoying yogurt.




We went on Leanne's boat and Nora went tubing! 







4th of July parade. I was flying solo with the kiddos but then we all went to Leanne's after to SWIM.



We went to a sunflower field. With fairy wings of course.



Nora had a special ice cream date! 





We visited a goat farm :)


Cutie.


"Nora, what toppings would you like for your pizza? Pick anything you want..."







Carly came to visit and we had lots of fun! 


I got to see Hannah again...magical.



We got to tour the PNC Arena where the Hurricane's play! 




We finished our visit with Carly and then Nora and I joined her on the flight to Washington!















This trip was a little different. I didn't get to see as many friends as I would have hoped BUT it was exactly the kind of trip my heart needed. I snuggled a baby every chance I could get and took time to pause, think and pray. 


Home to Easton! 


...and safari with Nora. 





We visited a museum with friends.


Nora taking a trip to Washington did some good for her and Easton. I caught this moment shortly after coming home and they really have been so much sweeter since!

September-





We visited an apple farm



We had some of Nora's friends over for a back to school party :)





We did our FIRST family 5k! Last year I ran this 5k with the double stroller and this year I ran again with the double stroller (whoa those kids are growing!) and CALE WALKED IT!!!! This was huge. I was so nervous waiting for him. He had his phone and I knew he would do ok but I was still feeling like maybe I should run and go find him. Mama at one point called out "I see him!" He did the whole thing. I was so proud. Nora did the 200 yard dash!



We saw our first copperhead while out for a walk...yikes!






A FUN friend trip away & the faces that missed us! Ha! 


Another date to a game to celebrate Cale's birthday!


Nora gets picked to go to the front of the class as an example...she was pretty excited about this.




We had family pictures done. LOVE. Ann who did our pictures also made a video...I plan to get that on here. For now it's circling good ol' Facebook.


We had our 2nd hurricane come and lost power. My phone really needed to be charged so Nora and I went before bed and had a little dance party in the van. Sunglasses were needed. 




We went to the state fair with friends! 






Pumpkin Patch time! 






Nana & BaPa came to visit! We also celebrated Easton turning 2...crazy. 





M&Ms and friends who make your heart happy by joining in on the fun :)

November-


My girlie <3 p="">









Cale had two of the COOLEST days. The first, he was invited to be on the ice before the Hurricanes played. Not only were the Hurricanes on the ice, the Red Wings were on the ice too!!! His dream! This was such an honor and just so so so special. The next afternoon, his sled team was invited to watch the Hurricanes practice (SO cool!) and then a few of the Hurricanes got in sleds and Cale's sled team got in their sleds and they played a game! DREAM. 



Turkey Trot with friends




community group shenanigans


Preschool fun


daddy fun. Haha. 


Date to sled hockey fundraiser


Thanksgiving!



Movie night at church with friends :)

December-




Started off with a very wet Christmas parade.



Sweet friends :)



Nora dressed herself and went to a Star Wars night at karate and now has her very own lightsaber.



We went to Disney on Ice...Nora dressed herself again...can you tell? 





It snowed! 






We made cookies


I had my second piano recital. Nora came up and sat with me this time...she loved that! 






We went on the Santa Train


We had friends over and decorated graham cracker houses


This happened.



More community group shenanigans


Celebrated with Mimi and Papa! 




Ice Skating with daddy & friends






Dates with Nora! 
First we went downtown and walked around enjoying all the decorations.
Next afternoon we went for a walk just us two around the lake...and of course Nora wore her Christmas dress. Ha! 


Christmas Eve









And Christmas day fun.


Went to see Mary Poppins Returns


They spent a morning fighting fires.


Goodbye 2018
&
Hello 2019

Happy NEW year! 

Love, The Darling Family



































































4 comments:

  1. What an ABSOLUTELY delightful last few minutes. Thank you for sharing. You have an amazing gift getting such beautiful pictures. I wasn't that good. Say, do you guys like M 'n' M's or something....just askin', just askin'. I love that Nora is in martial arts. I hope she can stay with it. She'll be a Master one day. Cale getting to be on the ice with "his" teams made my eyes tear. I am SOOO glad. The goat farm pictures are great!! Nora looks delighted while feeding the goat. My heart smiled when I saw you got to spend time with your friends on your trip.

    Each set of pictures is THE BEST. If I said all I wanted to my comments would be at least as long as your show.

    Father has His hands on you and your sweet family in a VERY SPECIAL way. He speaks volumes through your lives shared with the world around you.

    Tahnk you for letting me be a part of your journey,

    Marion

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :)

      Yes! She did it for 6 months! It was a little stretch to our budget so we stopped once the 6 months ran out. It was good for her though!

      It was a long post of pictures for sure! Haha.

      HAPPY New Year Marion!

      Delete
  2. So fun to see all your pictures! I was amazed at all your friends and how often you get together with friends! That is fabulous. We have lived in North Carolina 16 years now and don't have as many friends as you do. What a blessing! Also, there was your mom, I think Cale's mom, Nana & BaPa and Mimi & Papa!! A lot of grandparents around!! :o) My favorite picture and caption had to be Cale "kissing" Kale...LOL...best laugh of the week!!
    Happy New Year to you all!
    Emily Jordan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Emily! I need to have you over again!!! Let's plan something soon! And yes...I love friends! :)

      Delete

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