He's Home!

Elder Dallin Stephen Carroll has returned from his two year mission to Recife, Brazil!!!  It was such an exciting day last Wednesday, October 29, 2014.  We have been counting down for quite a while until the day finally arrived.  We almost couldn't believe it was really happening.  His flight arrived from a layover in Miami at 8:55 in the morning.  We had to get up super early to get on the rode so we could get to the airport on time since it was right during rush hour.  It took us almost two hours to get their but we had plenty of time.  He flew with American so he arrived in a totally different terminal than the rest of the airport.  When we got to the gate we literally were the only people in the whole place.  It was quiet and we just sat and chilled for a while.  We checked Dallin's flight status often and finally saw that he had landed.  So much joy!!!!!!!  We waited until people started coming through the doors.  Stephen asked the passengers if they came from Miami, but they were from Chicago.  He continued asking until finally one man answered yes that he was from Miami.  Then we got crazy excited!  We could only see half of the escalator from the entrance so it was hard to see who was coming.  We watched people's feet to see if it was Dallin.  I finally saw him coming down the escalator and I said, "It's Dallin!  I see him!  It's Him!"  He was talking to a Brazilian couple when he came through the door.  I gave him the biggest hug ever!  It was just great to see his happy face and to hug him.  I can't even describe the joy I felt in having my son return after serving an honorable mission.  It was an incredible feeling, one that I won't forget.  He looked great.  He was a little tired from flying all night. 

Here we are waiting for Dallin to arrive.

Trying to get a cart to carry Dallin's luggage

I got my boy back!  Woohoo!

Easton has a brother again!

We grabbed some Chick-Fil-A breakfast on the way home because Dallin was starving and then Dallin arrived home to our welcome home sign.

We went over the Stake President's home around 4 pm so Dallin could officially be released as a missionary.  President Galt asked him to share some things from his mission and I enjoyed hearing him talk and loved him sharing thoughts and things that happened to him on his two year adventure.  After Dallin was released we headed to Longhorn for dinner.  He said after two years of hearing about this restaurant through my letters he wanted to go there.  I didn't realize he had never eaten there.  He loved the stake and pretty much everything!

We stopped by Mama and Papa's to visit with them after our dinner.  Mama had made Dallin an apple cake to take home.  Yummy!  That's his favorite cake that she makes.  

This was a great day...we were missing our boy Landon who is serving his mission in North Carolina but his time will come when the time is right.  He is serving the Lord, working hard and changing lives and we sure love him!  

It's hard to believe Dallin is home.  I find myself just looking at him and smiling.  I smiled when I heard him singing in the shower.  I just keep smiling.  I love that he keeps slipping up speaking in English and would rather speak Portuguese.  He gave the prayer on dinner in Portuguese and that was really cool.  

Spooky Sounds

 The annual Fall piano recital of my awesome, cute, adorable, energetic students happened over the weekend!  It's so fun for the kiddos to come in costume to perform and celebrate their accomplishments!  They work hard and are making amazing progress in their musical endeavors.  In case you are wondering what I am for Halloween....an Eagle Scout of course!  It was an easy one to put together since I had every piece of the costume thanks to all the scouts in my home.

Spreading Joy

Way back in August my friend, Traci and I got finagled into doing the decorating and setting up of our Stake Relief Society conference that was to be held in October.  I seriously wanted to say no and I actually tried to say no, but it didn't work out that way.  We took on the task and tried very hard to stay organized and on track so that we wouldn't turn into crazy ladies the week before the event!  We had the task of setting tables/centerpieces for 200+ people, making a little handout/party favor, and setting up the buffet tables.  The theme was "Finding Joy in the Journey".  Actually it was technically...."Wo-men are that they might have joy."  I had a really hard time with the wo-men part and we chose not to go that direction. 

Since it was going to be in Fall we chose to work with pumpkins as our centerpieces and then accent with some cool rustic looking map paper (for the journey part of the theme) and then add a printed out quote of the theme to the table.  We chose these very striking foil copper colored square plates for each place setting and accented it with a fall napkin with leaves on it that we folded into crowns and placed on the plates.

 Here we are working on making the square wooden pumpkins that we created for each centerpiece.

We had a blast using Traci's husband's worktable.  We won't tell him that we cut a little bit of the edge off.  It was kind of hard to figure out!

We made seventy five pumpkins for the centerpieces, putting three different sized pumpkins on each table.  We also made some larger wooden pumpkins for the buffet tables and the stage.  The little party favors were a little jar of jam with a butter knife attached to it.  We put a little tag on it that said, "Spread Joy".  Pretty clever...and it turned out really cute.  This event was a lot of work and I'm glad it's over.  I had a blast working with my friend.  It was a great excuse to get together for a little bit of work and laughter!

Chaperoning Fun

Easton's eighth grade class went on a field trip to the Gwinnett Heritage center last week and I got to come!  I rode a school bus and ran around with 27 wild eighth graders, including Easton.  We did some outdoor science experiments and then the students were able to participate on a treetop ropes climbing course with zip lines and various obstacles.  They wore harnesses and maneuvered their way through the trees.  The chaperones didn't get to go up in the trees but it was sure fun watching the kids have fun.  I thought it was a fabulous outing for the kids, one that was educational as well as physical. 

Singing A Song

Another Fall Chorus concert is under our belts.  Easton sang his sweet little heart out last Monday evening with his middle school chorus.  They did a great job on their musical numbers.  I enjoyed the Beetles medley and Elijah Rock.  I think all of my children have sung that song throughout the years.  Gotta love the North Gwinnett Chorus program!

The Two C's

Every six months we do two things around here....watch General Conference and eat Cinnamon rules.  It's our tradition and it's not going to change anytime soon.  It's been like this for years.  I asked Easton last night if we should change it up a bit.  He just asked why?  So here we go again....pictures from our wonderful Sunday spent watching conference, receiving inspiration from our prophet and the apostles, and eating yummy, gooey, warm cinnamon rolls.  It really doesn't get much better than that, does it?

As you can see they were finger licking good!

Meeting of the Men

My guys are off to their Priesthood meeting to hear the prophet speak.  I love this meeting! I feel so blessed to have worthy priesthood holders in my home.  

Moving Up in the World

Big news coming from our Five Guys hamburger joint in Suwanee.....they have a new drink machine.  Easton was thrilled when we went to grab a burger and he had a plethora of drink choice.  Raspberry Ginger Ale was his drink of choice.  

Easton really is happy that I took him to get a burger.  No pictures of me...I know you're upset.  Easton's hands were greasy and he couldn't snap a shot.

Time Out

 I took a little time out this weekend. A time out from family, housekeeping, cooking and my motherly responsibilities.  I went to "Time Out for Women" which is a Deseret Book sponsored conference with speakers and music that is inspiring, rejuvenating and uplifting.  I went with my sisters in law, Jeni and Monica and had a grand time.  We laughed and laughed and laughed and enjoyed the weekend that revolved around just US!  The speakers were great and I loved the music of Hilary Weeks.  I have always loved her rich sounding alto voice and listening to her songs that I have on CD.  Her Christmas CD that I have is one of my favorites.

The theme for the conference was Inevitable Light. The speakers helped us focus on the gifts we have been given that are uniquely ours and to recognize that we have been given our gifts for a reason.  We need to use our gifts and become the tools to shine "Inevitable Light" to the world.  I loved the theme and loved the little reminders that will help me improve myself in my journey of life. 

 For the Saturday session we ended up sitting on the front row.  Weird.  Monica is a real go getter and found the seats for us.  We were in the same row with all of the presenters and there were reserved signs on all the seats except the last three on the end....I guess they were saved just for us!

 This is Brad Wilcox....kind of a famous LDS dude.  He has been a speaker at firesides, EFY, and has written many articles and books.  He was really great and ladies were taking pictures with him like he was a rock-star.  We sat this close to him!  You can touch me if you want.....because I sat so close to a famous person.  He even reached over and shook Jeni's hand.  We were star-struck!

Ahhhh memories

 In our first Georgia house back on Grand Teton Parkway about 18 years ago I had prepared a beautiful Sunday serving platter with Lemon chicken and had outlined the chicken with the broiled peaches.  We were about to enjoy Sunday dinner at our brand new dining room table in the dining room for the first time.  This was the first house that we had a dining room and it was going to be special. Everyone was sitting at the table in the dining room waiting for the food to be served. I handed the platter to Stephen at the head of the table.  As he grabbed it he tilted the platter and all the peaches and chicken slid right off the tray and onto the floor, upside down no less!  It was a buttery, greasy mess all over our new carpet and our Sunday dinner had carpet fuzzies all over it.  None of the children said a word...it was shocking!  Stephen cleaned the carpet while I tried to rescue our dinner.  Oh the memories!  We still laugh at that now when we have broiled peaches.  And speaking of broiled peaches....these were on our Sunday dinner menu today.  Click here to see the rest of the menu and recipes.

Viva Italian!

 What did you have for Sunday dinner at your home?  You can get the menu and recipes for our Sunday dinner here.

You're in Big Trouble

 Somebody jumped up on the table when we left the room sniffing around for some Sunday Dinner leftovers.

 Somebody couldn't figure out how to get down off the table.....

Somebody stood on the kitchen table for a very long time because his family laughed at him and mocked him.

A Little Piece of Heaven

Stephen is absolutely in heaven and this picture says it all.  We have been on the hunt for new furniture to replace the officially flattened out and dead couches that we have been sitting on for far too long.  I'm pretty much a control freak when it comes to decorating the house and have said for years that I am not putting a TV as the focal point of my room.  Ugh....I compromised.  Stephen wanted a larger TV and a comfortable recliner to accommodate his messed up back and I finally said yes. 

Now that the furniture is in place I can get started on repainting the family room and kitchen area.  I'm not sure what color it will be, but I'll post pics when I'm done.  Obviously the color we have in the family room now definitely does not match!

And here's the focal point of my family room.....the bright yellow vacuum?

I'm 49! Woohoo!

Well folks, another birthday, another year older!  Let's celebrate, dog-gone-it!  I had a great birthday just doing whatever I wanted.  Gotta love that.  I worked a little around the house and did a whole lot of nothing.  Stephen took me to dinner at Longhorn along with Easton and we always enjoy their awesome food.  We really ate a lot and left the place just rolling out the door.  We ordered the fried asparagus appetizer, the Flo's Filet, and for dessert the Chocolate Stampede!  That dessert could seriously feed 10 people and you would still have leftovers.

The chocolate Stampede after we got a hold of it.  This is the portion we left behind and so could not finish!

A little blurry but I wanted to add this photo of my cool and handsome son, Easton