Lots of catching up to do...

Hi girls!

Ok I have been such a bad contributor...I am so so so sorry. Let's see if I can do a little catching up!

These first two pictures are of my small group girls...we have a group of seven couples (just started it this past fall), and it has been SUCH a huge blessing! I love these men and women so much. Brad and I are the youngest, and most have multiple kids (and some older too...3rd grade I think is the oldest?), but they are so fun and we've already learned a ton from being around them. Anyway, we girls decided to treat ourselves to pedicures for Mother's Day (nice, huh!). We meant to get a group shot at dinner afterward, but totally forgot. But here are a couple of "action" shots...

Deborah and Kristin - drying their toes :)

(From left to right) Beth, Rachael (Morley...most of you probably remember Steve and Rachael), Lisa, and Sarah (Sarah is the wife of Brad's cousin Ben...I think I've mentioned them before...their son Hutson was born two days before Max)

That was Friday night, after Brad and I took the day off work and went shopping in Indy. We actually didn't do much shopping, but rather looking :) It was so fun.

And then Saturday was Brad's graduation!!!! He now has his Master's in Sports Administration and Higher Education from Ball State. Now, on to the sad story about the day...

Since it's Ball State, and Brad really didn't get to know the people in his program (they all took different classes at different times), he didn't care too much about commencement. But I encouraged him to go, because it's a big deal! And a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So he finally agreed, bought the regalia, etc. But never really got a lot of communication about the actual ceremony. Plus, they do a huge one in the morning, and then in the afternoon the individual departments actually award the degrees...so we decided to just go in the afternoon. But because of weather, Brad kept hearing it might be 3:00, or 4:00. The final word he heard Friday night was that it was 4:00. So, we (Brad, me, Max, Brad's parents and sister), arrive at 3:20, walked in, and it had already started! I quick grabbed a commencement booklet, only to find the section Brad was in happened to be first, so we had already missed it. It was SO SAD! We were hoping maybe he could just slip in, but we were too late. Here's a picture of his department's graduation:


So, we headed off to Scotty's Brewhouse (our favorite restaurant! If you haven't been there yet, you MUST next time you come to town...it's a couple blocks away from BSU)


I love that one of Max with Kelli - great smile :)

Mother's Day was great, except we were all a little sick...Max has had a cold for a few days, and Brad and I really started coming down with it yesterday. So thankfully Colleen (Brad's mom) took a few pictures, because I didn't even think of it. But it was a good day. Brad's cousin got married in Indy last night, so that made for a slightly odd Mother's Day, but that's ok. It was still fun to go with his family.

Sometime this week I will post pictures of my parents' new house! It is REALLY coming along! I think it is still set to be finished at the end of August, but on the outside it looks just great. They actually are driving down as I type! They'll be here for 2 weeks :)

Well, I'm sure I'm leaving out a bunch of stuff, but this probably more than you all wanted to read for right now anyway!

Hope you're all having a lovely day. Love and miss you all.

Love Kelly

a very happy mother's day...

Happy Mother's Day to Kelly and Darla! I hope you both had great days today. Darla, it will be more fun next year, but I'm sure it was a special day for you to think about the great blessing that is coming. You are going to be an awesome mom.

I was fortunate to be able to spend mother's day with my mom and my grandma today. Actually, the whole family has been together this weekend at my parents house and it has been a great time. I'm glad Kirk was able to join us for the weekend, and I look forward to being back at home with him on Wednesday night when Elijah and I head back to Indiana. Here's a few pictuers from today.

Hanging out in my parents' family room.

Me, Rach, Grandma McGuckin, Mom, and Jess. I love these women!

Sounds like life to me...

The other night, Jimmy and I were upstairs getting some things done and I heard Wyatt whimpering. We were looking for him and trying to figure out where he was at. We found him UNDER our bed and he couldn't get out. ha ha ha. This was a picture of him after he had just given up laid down.

As Chrissie said earlier, we had the chance to spend some time together on Saturday morning. This was the first time Elijah got to meet Riley and Sophie. It was fun to see them interact together. We tried to get some pics on the couch of the three of them. As you can see, it was a bit of a challenge to get them all to look. Elijah is cooperating quite nicely. (Sophie on the left, Riley right)

And another try. This was the best one. Future dates perhaps?

Look Forward

Hi everyone! Post something... I miss you all.

Today we had a Cinco de Mayo party at work. We had a salsa dancing teacher and margaritas and quesadillas. It was so fun to see everyone dance and let loose. Yesterday was a pretty crappy day for me, so it was nice to have a really fun day today.
Here I am picture with a resident that I adore, Sue Bess. She is 97 years old, will be 98 this year, and she is incredible. She is the president of our resident council, comes to exercise every day, and is more technologically saavy then some of our workers. She has an active facebook profile and e-mails regularly. Mal, you met her when you came for New Years.

Well, one of our dearest residents passed away today. Ms. Sue Bess had a very close relationship with her. I felt very close to her as well. Actually, I just took her to the Princess Diana exhibit I was telling you all about. I went and saw her in ICU yesterday and was able to say goodbye. It was so hard. I knew coming into this job, I would have to deal with this, but it never really seemed like I "really" would deal with it. Goodness, so this evening I sat down with Sue Bess and gave her the news. She was just incredible. She was telling me how you have to "always look forward" and remember all the good days and push on past the bad. Sue Bess said if you don't you start looking too inwardly - And become selfish and pitying. She said you can't get through life without God. Sheesh, I asked her the other day for advice on aging and our convo tonight was so good. I wish you all could meet her. Anyway, it was good to hear - always look forward. I feel like after what happened this past fall, I have been focusing so much on it. I can't move past it. And it was nice to hear from a 97 year old who has been through so much more than me, that life is wonderful and to look forward.

Pennsylvania

Elijah and I have been in PA since last Wednesday visiting with my family. I made it out to Lancaster this weekend to see my sister and got to see Lauren too (I forgot my camera, but she took a few pics of E with the twins..maybe she will post...hint hint). We've been having great fun, and Elijah really loves my parents big back yard. We are staying until next Wednesday, the 12th and Kirk is joining us for 3 days this weekend, which will be great, because we miss him!

This is Elijah in the treehouse that once belonged to my sisters and me :).

ps. Informal name poll...I am interested to see what you girls think of our choices. Which do you like best?

Boy: Cole or Levi

Girl: Leah or Ally

Good day

Today we all went on an afternoon adventure in Atlanta. It has been nice to have Kelsey here because it helps me appreciate Atlanta in a different light. Anyway, we went to Piedmont Park, a park designed by the Central Park guy, for a walk. Bonnie was nutso hyper and scared of every sound.



After that we drove to Oakland Cemetery which is 88 acres of the most peaceful and beautiful cemetery I have been to. It is very historical - 7,000 Confederate soldiers, Bobby Jones - the golfing legend, Margaret Mitchell - the author of Gone with the Wind.





Finally, we went to a trendy little boutique neighborhood called Virginia Highlands and walked around for a bit. That is where I took the Coke pic.



When we got home we made Thai dinner and watched some Johnny Carson.

Good day - Good day.

18 Weeks

It hasn't taken long in my pregnancy to discover a fascinating phenomenon: Once people know you're pregnant, they love to stare at your stomach. (I didn't say it was going to be an earth-shattering realization.) I understand why, but I'm still not sure how comfortable I am being greeted by, "Hi, Darla!"--meanwhile, their eyes clearly not looking into my eyes, but rather at my growing abdomen instead. Ha Ha.

We had a Doctor's appointment yesterday, and all went well. Blood pressure: great! Weight: gaining! Baby Peters' heartbeat: still there!!! It's so fun to hear the little guy/gal thriving inside of me, and know that he/she now (at 18 weeks) has fingerprints, can yawn, and may even hiccup once in a while. Babies are miracles, aren't they?! God is so infinitely above us.

Some of you have been asking if I'm "showing" yet. Well, here's a picture of me from yesterday (a couple days into week 18 of pregnancy). I can tell there's a little bump there, can you?