HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLYN

We celebrated Caitlyn's 5th birthday on August 4th. It is so hard to believe that she is 5 years old and about to start kindergarten. God has truly blessed us. Caitlyn has such a sweet spirit about her. She will pray when we eat and she is just so specific and sincere with her prayer. I love her so much and thank God daily for her sweet presence in my life. We let her pick where to have her birthday lunch. She chose Olive Garden.


Caitlyn has been asking for months for a zhu zhu pet for her birthday. I had never even heard of zhu zhu pets. So here is Caitlyn and Chloe with their new pets. Chloe got her present a couple days early. Tomorrow is her birthday.

The 3 little munchkins.

I am ready to go mom. Got my purse, now let's go shopping.

We have had VBS this week, so we have been extremely busy and tired. I will do a separate post on that with pictures. On her birthday Caitlyn was able to be one of the flag bearers at VBS.

So thankful for my family. Check back for more on the Myers.

Jill

What have the Myers been up to?

Well let me see where I can start. We have been extremely busy over the last 3 months. I am going to give you a quick rundown of some of the things we have been up to. We have officially moved to Kershaw, SC to be pastor of Oak Ridge Baptist Church. We moved here on June 25th (yes my birthday) and that in itself was a crazy and tiring day. Thanks so much to Chris Joyce one of our dear friends for all the muscle he put in that day, we couldn't have done it without you. On the way to SC, our car died on I 95. A long story later and we had to have a new engine put in :(

Here is a shot of our new house. We live across the street from the church in the parsonage. It's great.

Here is a shot of the church.

Chloe finished up her year of being a first grader in Mrs. Andersen's class. She loved having her as a teacher. Now she has had a few weeks off of school and will soon be starting in 2nd grade here in SC. Caitlyn will be starting kindergarten.

Since Dale had a night out with his fellas, I was able to escape long enough to have dinner with some very dear ladies. Here is some of the ladies from my small group. I miss them each dearly.
Robin, Erica, Me, Stephnie, Laurie, Laura and Kristy

The weekend before all this, we went up to WV and on the way our van died. Yes we haven't had much luck lately with our vehicles, but I guess that's how it goes. We ended up selling our van via Craigslist and buying a new (used) van in VA. It's been a whirlwind. My mom had her retirement party. She retired from being a teacher after I can't remember how many years. Now she is free just to be grandma.

Here is a shot of the family. All of my sisters and their husbands and their kids.

With moving comes goodbyes. Here are a few dear friends from WakeMed. We went to the Angus Barn in Raleigh for dinner and had a great time. I am definitely going to miss each one of them.
Sarah, Melissa, Me, and Amanda

In the midst of all the chaos and traveling it was Caleb's 3rd birthday. We were in WV on his day so we had a little party for him there. He was just excited to get some new little cars. Boys are so much easier than girls when it comes to birthdays.

One of the biggest things that have occurred over the last month or so is that Dale GRADUATED. Yes you read that right. Dale finally finished his M Div. It only took 8 yrs (I think) but he did it. We are so proud of him and his hard work.
My parents, his parents and sister and niece Julia all came down for his graduation. We had a great weekend celebrating with him.

He was so pumped. Here he is outside of Binkley Chapel.

This shot is one I took as he was walking up the aisle after the ceremony finished.

He wasn't the only graduate in the family. Caitlyn graduated from her preschool. Here she is with Mrs Neely and Mrs Jamie.

Here she is receiving her diploma.

Chloe and Dale finished up Indian Princesses.

That is just a quick recap of what has been happening over the last few months. We are getting settled here in Kershaw. I still have a few boxes to unpack, you know those boxes with miscellaneous items in them. I just love unpacking those. I had a job interview but am still waiting to hear from them. I am praying that God will lead me to where He would want me. I know He will provide for our needs until I get a job. We have met some great people here and we are excited for what God is going to do. Dale is away at one of Billy Waynes camps, so its just the kids and I. I am trying to deal with attitudes of a almost 7, almost 5 and a 3 yr old. But its great, we will survive. We went to Myrtle Waves Saturday and had a great time. Next week is VBS and Chloe and Caitlyn's birthdays, so I will be posting more next week. Thanks for keeping up with us and praying for us.

Strawberry Pickin

We went to The Collard Patch to pick strawberries this morning. It was a beautiful day out and we had a great time and got some really good strawberries too.

Here Chloe is filling her bucket quick with the help of Caleb.

Chloe looking closely for some good big red ones to pick.

Caitlyn helping daddy fill his bucket.

Here are all three of them tasting the pickins. I think they like them.

Well after that we headed to downtown Wake Forest for the meet in the street. We lasted a little while then left, it was starting to get really hot out and we were all ready to go. Now we are sitting at home resting and figuring out what to do next.

DeHart Botanical Gardens

Dale had taken the kids to this botanical garden about a week ago. So yesterday we decided to go back and take some of our friends with us. It was lots of fun and good exercise at the same time. By the time we were finished the trails we were all tired.


They had these little waterfalls there. If you look close you can see it in the background. Here the kids are striking a pose. How cute are they?

Stopping to take a picture by the azalea's.

Here is Caleb, Caitlyn, Chloe, Samaya and Reese

Well I think that about catches us up on the last few weeks. We took a trip down to Kershaw last weekend and dropped a load off at the house. Trying to purge and pack at the same time. Slow process but we are making progress.

Caitlyn's Surgery

Caitlyn has had an umbilical hernia since birth, so it was time to get it fixed. We also found out she had an epigastric hernia as well. So they fixed both at the same time. She was so excited to go to the hospital where mommy works. Here she is in her patient gown and a new Lamby for the surgery.

They have a child life specialist come in and talk with the kids about the surgery and what they will experience. In the process the kids get to draw on the bed with markers. Oh how fun. Caitlyn loved it. I made sure to tell her not to try this at home.

Then they get to decorate the mask they use in the OR with cool stickers. Here is Caitlyn showing us how she gets to breathe in the OR.

She had taken the versed by this point and it was starting to kick in. She was so hilarious and goofy. Gotta love those drugs.

Here is Caitlyn after surgery. She did so great and was such a big girl. We were so proud of her.
She goes back in 2 weeks for a checkup. Thanks for all the prayers and kind words for her.

Blue Jay Point Park

Chloe went on a field trip to Blue Jay Point Park recently and it was pretty neat. They have been learning about nature and about insects. We went on a nature hike through the woods, found hidden "pipe cleaner" insects, learned about different things that live in the ponds, and actually got to use a net and fish for things out of the pond. We saw baby tadpoles, turtles, dragonflies and lots of other things. The kids had a blast. At the end they got to play on a really cool playground. Thinking of taking the kids to play there before we move.




Fine Arts Day

Caitlyn had fine arts night at her school last week. Her class sang some songs and they showed off some of the crafts they have made recently. Here are some of Caitlyn's pieces of art.

After the program they enjoyed some ice cream. Yum!!

Jill

A little of this and a little of that

In April we had visited both sets of grandparents. Here is Chloe and Caitlyn with Julia. They always have a blast when we go in playing with one another.

Chloe and Caitlyn being silly, modeling a new dress grandma had bought them.

The next weekend we went to my parents home. The kids got together and colored Easter eggs. I think I probably had as much fun as they did. Can you believe I never even got a picture of the kids all dressed up that morning for Easter sunrise. They did so well getting up so early. It was great.

Here are some of the finished product.

The next weekend Dale and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. It's hard to believe we've been married for 11 years. He surprised me with a dozen roses. 11 for the years married and 1 for the years to come.
We went out to eat at The Angus Barn. It was delicious. Sorry no pics.

It's been busy, busy , busy around here. Trying to get things together. Will post more later.

Jill