Pickin' Time

Several weeks ago we took our annual trip out to the strawberry patches of Ingram Farms to do some strawberry pickin'!

Before we started our 'harvesting' we visited with the farm animals. One of the many reasons I love Ingram's Farm is because they have goats you can pet and feed and a barn full of other animals to check out. 

David pointed out this hilarious goat putting his feet up on another goat. Too funny! 

Fin man getting up close and personal with a goat. 

Our pickin' crew! Our friend Carries came and we had two extra little helpers since we were watching a friend's kids for the weekend. 

We got to ride on a tractor over to where the fields were. 

A highlight for all except baby James. He is not a fan of loud noises! 

Then it was time to get down to business. James and I stuck together. He was too cute - he would pick a strawberry, take a huge bite out of it, and then throw it back into the bucket only partially eaten. 

Finley 'helped' Carrie. 

And Lydia and David worked a row together too. 

It didn't take long to fill up our buckets! Hmmm one of these boys looks a little guilty of eating while picking :). I hope those stains came out Kelly! 

The main reason we pick so many strawberries is to make freezer jam! I must credit Carrie with this idea. We have made this for the past three years now all because she introduced us to it. It is sooo good! And it lasts us all year long! There is still time to pick at most farms, so if you haven't had a chance yet, make your way down to Ingram Farm! You won't regret it! 

School's out for Summer!

Today is the last day of preschool for the year for Fin man. 

He has had a really great year with Ms. Christie and Mrs. Mangum. They have been such awesome teachers! He has also made some good friends who he says he will miss when school is out. 

To celebrate the end of a great year his class had a day at the park and picnic. 

Here is his 3 yr old class. 

Finley says he will miss the boys the most. Which is funny because at the beginning of the year he played mostly with a little girl named Lily. And he sure seemed to enjoy chasing the girls around. 

We are going to miss his teachers so much! Luckily we will still get to see them around the school next year. 

Finley's school had an end of the year program this week too. It was very cute, but we couldn't get very many good pictures or videos due to a stroller and camera blocking our way. Boo! His teachers also put together a slide show with pictures from the whole year for us to watch and take home. It is such a great keepsake!

Finley has grown so much this year and learned so much too! I keep thinking back to when he first started here when he was only 20 months old. Man the time has flown by! He is starting to read and it is so exciting. I am so proud of how smart he is and how hard he works! 

Now we are looking forward to a fun summer! 

Uncle Donovan Graduates

Mother's Day was extra special this year. 

We not only got to celebrate another Mother's Day with my mom (and not in a hospital this time), but we also got to celebrate my younger brother's graduation from UNC! 

We drove up early in the morning to watch the big graduation in Kenan Stadium. 

Got to love all that Carolina blue! Can you find Donovan? I think he was in the upper section, second from left. We gave him a balloon to walk with so we could identify him. I should have gotten a bigger one! But eventually we did spot him. Or at least his balloon. 

Donovan started to get a little bored with all the proceedings (he is a little ADD), so he ended up heading over to where we were sitting. 

After the big graduation we took some time to do a few family photos before having lunch at the Carolina Club. 

I can't tell you how proud we are that he graduated! And with a higher GPA than my dad! Woot Woot! 

That makes five Dorrances that have graduated from UNC: my dad, Uncle Pete, Uncle Lew Jack, me, and now Donovan Deez. (Oh and a Harris too :)) 

The proud parents! 

Donovan and his girl Addie. 

A mother's day photo. My mom with her chilluns. 

And one with her children and grand child!

We are so very proud of you Donovan! Way to go Deez! 

Say What?!

 3/31 - Today at Mimi's house Pop Pop asked Finley is he wanted a dog (trying to get rid of Hannah) and Finley responded with "No, we are praying for a baby instead."

4/2 - Finley loves having us tell him stories about super heroes. Today he made up one of his own to tell me, and the bad guy in his story was named 'the crapper'. He had no idea what the word referred to, he just thought he completely made it up. I kept cracking up throughout his story. It was too funny. 

4/3 - Finley told me today he wanted to nose fight. He then proceeded to do an intense eskimo kiss with me followed by stealing my nose.

4/3 - Today Fin man called a boomerang a bomberang. This kid is all about guns and bombs these days.

4/7 - Today Finley grabbed my chest and told me I had a baby growing in my belly. Um, not quite! I then explained to him what 'those' were and told him only girls have them. He then grabbed David's chest and said "You have them too dada!"

4/9 - Finley man was sick today. But in his sicky state he made some pretty funny comments. While we were playing pirate-opoly I heard Finley whisper "Dear Heavenly Father, please help me win." He then proceeded to turn his throw up bucket into a peg leg and walk around the room.

4/15 - Today Finley gave me a flower and said "This is your marriage present since I wasn't born yet on your wedding day." Such a thoughtful boy.

4/15 - Today during Finley's soccer game he ran right past a loose ball to go help and check up on a teammate who had been knocked down. He is such a sweet boy!

4/22 - Finley was trying to leave the lunch table today and he hadn't eaten any of his sandwich. I said "Finley you can't be done yet, you haven't touched your sandwich." He then proceeds to walk back over to his plate, touch his sandwich with one finger, and declare "Touch, touch, touch." That cheeky monkey!

4/23 - Today we watched another little boy for a friend. He needed his diaper changed and Finley watched intently to see how I was going to do it. Then he said, "He looks just like me." I asked him to clarify and he said "He has the same things I do." Yep!

5/4 - Finley is still very into pirates these days. Sometimes when I ask him to do something he responds with "Aye Aye". It is so cute.

5/10 - Finley thinks he is one smart kid. He is often heard saying "I know almost everything, right?" Almost buddy, almost!

Primary Temple Trip

This past Saturday our Primary (children 3-12) from our church headed over to the Raleigh, NC Temple to visit and tour the grounds. 

We met up at the church and car pooled over together. Each child received a packet of Temple themed worksheets to do in the car on the way there. 

We kept busy working on connect the dot worksheets, coloring sheets, a word search, a Temple quiz, and more! 

Once we arrived we took a few photos on the ground. 

Then we were able to meet up with a member of the Temple Presidency. He talked with the children about Temples and gave us some fun facts about our own Temple and it's construction. He even gave each child a picture of the Temple to take home. 

The children were then allowed to ask questions. Finley was so cute he wanted to ask a question so bad. He asked "Why do they have to wear white inside the Temple?" 

After our little lesson each child had a scavenger sheet with things they could see on the Temple grounds, and things they could touch on the Temple grounds. 

We touched the walls, flowers, benches,

the doors, and the gates. 

We saw the Angel Moroni, Temple workers, the dedication date, and "Holiness to the Lord, The House of the Lord."

After our scavenger hunt we headed over to a nearby park for snacks and running around! 

This is our Primary Presidency! If only Bouathong could have been there too! 

The kids had a lot of energy to get out after being so reverent. 

We were so lucky that the weather was so nice! 

We had a really good turn out too. I think we had 28 children there! 

Pretty soon it was time to head home for dinner. It was a really special experience to take our little ones to the Temple, let them touch the walls, feel the spirit so strongly, and hear them say they want to come back here someday. We are so very blessed to have a Temple so close to home. I think the children really felt the importance of Temples and just how special they are.