Home is where you make it, The Raleigh days

While we were in Raleigh longer than at the beach, I don't have as many photos. That is a little sad, because we did so many fun things. Amanda, Mom, and I walked on the greenway (a paved path that goes through the city), we played games, cooked, talked, played Wii (well I didn't but lots of other people did), we thrifted and thrifted and thrifted, visited with friends, sat on the porch, tons of photo opportunities! These are the shirts my parents had made for mom's birthday weekend! Notice that disfunctional is spelled incorrectly--dys is the medical prefix for pain, pretty funny really.
This is the ONLY picture of Russ and I together. It was taken in Wilmington, beside the Cape Fear River. Mom and dad sent us to the beach for a little honeymooning. It was so lovely to relax just the two of us.

This is my brother Kit. He is two years younger than me and getting his PhD in Nuclear Engineering. But the kicker is, he writes better than I do! And he is funny. The gorgeous girl in the photo is Amy his sweetie.
These were Everett's North Carolina birthday balloons, to be differentiated from the later Kansas variety.
This is the amazing Elmo cake my mom made. A close up follows. Seriously, she is just all around incredible. And so cute too!
Ever since I can remember my dad has wanted a Mazda Miata. This year, for his 5oth birthday, he finally got one! Technically it is called an Mx5, but basically it is the same thing. He even let Russ and I take it to the beach! We felt so fun and carefree--no room for a carseat!
How cool is this cake? My mom even went to the grocery store bakery to get the "really, really, red" food coloring.

This is my other brother, Derek and his incredible girl, Hailey!
Yeah, he pretty much got all the cool genes in the family.
Everett loved his Dadoo's new toy.

Does this face look familiar, perhaps a little like the face my dad made at the beach? Well I thought so!
This is our beloved beagle Cricket. Pretty much the best puppy ever.

My mom is also an amazing cook, she can pull together a delicious meal in no time at all, even when it seems like the cupboards are bare!