Paris

Pictures of Paris.....what a great time.

How in the world

How in the world do I catch up from Dec. 2009? Didn't realize I was so far behind. Should have known. Facebook finds more of my time than blogging but now it's time to get back in the swing. How do I sum up the last 8 months? Exciting, lots of changes, many birthdays, many BIG birthdays, holidays, summer breaks, spring breaks and the list goes on.

Dec. found us busy with the holidays....Joe was home from school - enjoyed having him here. Chris turned 50 in Dec. Dec. 28th to be exact. Spent it with Jimmy and Suzie and Cooper and Julia and of course, us....we rang in the new year and had a visit with Sissy and Alex and Catherine. February, I turned 50. Or did I? There really wasn't a 29th this year but everyone insists that I did!! Even threw me a party (surprise) and Joe coming home was my gift from Elizabeth!!! We let Joe and a few of his friends from college have a week at the beach in one of the time shares and I went down and checked them in and headed to Charleston for the rest of the week. That was my gift for turning 50. It was nice to get away for some time and spend it with my friend Anne. Elizabeth and I and Katelyn ended up in Charleston for a few days of spring break...soccer season came to an end, school came to an end summer began. We were ready this year. Lots of cold and snow this year = much more than us southerners want!!! Joe was home for about a month and he went to Camp Grier for the summer to once again be a counselor. Elizabeth headed off to on another mission trip to West Virginia and came back to the trip of a life time - Europe for 3 weeks with me and my dad!!! Joe went to Kenya with Chris and my dad at her age and this trip was for her. More details to follow on that!!! Chris took a trip to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame with 2 of his college buddies while we were gone - something he had always wanted to do and added in the Football Hall of Fame and a tour of the House from the movie "A Christmas Story" They had a great time and are ready to head to Memphis next summer!!! At this point in the summer, Joe is back in Chapel Hill - setting up his 1st apartment with friends he has made and Elizabeth will be starting high school in about a week. When did these kids get so old????? Joe is in his junior year at UNC and loves it!! Having a grand college experience and hopefully throwing in a bit of education along the way!!!! Pictures will follow. Trying to find a way to put all the Europe pictures on this as a slideshow - there are many, a few from the past year also. This is what the Faile's have been up to so far this year!!

The girls - too cute.....my neighbor and I tried to get in on the fun this year - she was a bit more inventive than I was with her outfit!!!

UNC Football 2009 Joe and his friends..Joe had a great first semester of his sophmore year. He has applied to the business school at Chapel Hill and we will hear about that in January.

He seems to be enjoying being a Tarheel and went to most home football games and has made it to a few basketball games.

Fall Soccer 2009 - had a great team this year and lots of wins and fun.. Elizabeth is now in the 8th grade and besides soccer she is on the yearbook staff at school this year. She is loving that. She keeps me busy with all the sleepovers, trips to the mall and church stuff. When she doesn't have a group here, she is somewhere. Girls just seem to always have activities going on....barely a Monday goes by that when she gets in the car when I pick her up that she isn't asking "What are we doing this coming weekend!!"

The fall has gone by way too fast and I can't believe it is already the holidays!! But now that they are here, we are enjoying having Joe home and having a family time with everyone.

Pictures from Move In Day 2009. Boy, this was quiet a different experience than freshman year. It took most of a day to get him moved in freshman year and tons of emotion - this year we left Cornelius about 8:30 am and we were back in Cornelius by 2:30pm!!!!! With the hand truck, lots of friends, and us - we had him unpacked and stuff in the room within 30 minutes (that's all they give you for parking!!!). There was some emotion with it, I really love having him home and being with him but he was so ready to go back. When the "big red bag" was put on the landing on Wed. (We weren't leaving until Friday) I knew he was ready to get back. I can't blame him. I remember college - even though it was many, many years ago and it was hard to be at home where none of your friends are and not much to do. We missed him over the summer but he came home for a couple of weeks before he went back and it was just enough time to get all he needed together and back to school. He has had enough time on his own now that he knows what he needs to do and gets it done!!! Oh, you are asking and wondering - who's the girl???? That is Cameron. She is a girl he has met at Carolina and we just love having her around. ( He does too!!!)

Joe's Adventure on the Appalachian Trail

Once Joe's job was over for the summer - a big group of the counselors got together and walked 35 miles of the trail over 3 days. They saw all sorts of things. It was a great experience for them. The cool thing is they ran into these miniature horses - they came right up to them. It did rain some on the trail but that just seem to be the norm for the summer. Lots of rain.

Summer 2009 - Lake Norman

We had a ball on the lake this summer. Joe got some use out of the jet ski over the summer even being gone for most of it. The jet ski was used almost triple what it was the first summer and I mastered trailering it in and out of the lake!!! Fun....life is good.....

Camp Grier 2009 - A Part of our summer always!!!

Elizabeth headed out to Camp Grier a week after she got home from the Mission Trip. This is her third year and comes back wanting to go a week longer every time. Not sure what's up in them there hills but both kids love it there - Joe worked there for the second summer in a row.....it truly is "The Place To Be" as their song says!!! Check out the pictures of Elizabeth's stay - yes, there is a boy who dressed up like a girl for the dance - the boys let the girls do their hair, yes, that is Elizabeth actually rolling up the tent after doing an overnight stay away from the camp. With all the rain this year, there were bears spotted in camp and snakes. As a counselor this summer, Joe had many new experiences. He got to do bike camp one week, where the kids bring their bikes, he participated in many skits - you'll see some of the outfits he came up with from the counselors hitting the thrift shops and Goodwill on the day off in the Asheville area. It's just an over all good experience for both of the kids and doing bible studies regularly is also a great thing.