There are six DeArton siblings, but Jake is the only boy. I think we can all agree that being the only male child in a large family can have its pros and cons. You get a special status that your sisters can never touch, but the older ones will probably dress you up in girl clothes until you're big enough to fight back. I never did that, of course, but it could happen. Anyway, I've always been a little bit nervous about the girl my brother would marry because she will forever be our only sister-in-law. Luckily, I didn't have anything to worry about-- my brother's new wife is beautiful, kind, and everything I could hope for in a sister. And they are just completely in love, which is a dream come true.
Aren't they gorgeous? The wedding was absolutely perfect and we were so thrilled to be there. I bought the boys new suits, too, and they looked pretty adorable if I don't say so my self. Goofy, but adorable.
As for me, I wore orange... as did Allison.
We spent several days in Salt Lake City with Chris' wonderful parents and his sister, Emily, and her family, but I managed to not take a single picture. I'm kind of in a weird in-between-camera stage right now-- I'm borrowing my dad's fancy Nikon D5000, which I LOVE, and using Tom's little Kodak while saving up for something fancy of my own. Until then, sometimes I take pictures, and other times I just forget. Nevertheless, we did have a great time celebrating Christmas in Utah.
Now that we have a year of Pinewood Derby experience under our belts, Chris and Tom decided to get serious. Tom designed his 2011 car, named "Mario Tom" (do we see a hint of narcissism in his car-naming pattern?) and he and Chris visited an incredibly generous neighbor to cut it out with his fancy saws. I am sure they have fancy names, but I'm pleading "girl" on this one. Anyway, they cut out the car and Tom used our neighbor's belt sander to smooth it down into a classy-looking little car. Tom was very specific on the design-- white with a black stripe and the initials "MT" in red. Simple, classic, could be in a Mario Kart game.
We learned last year that weighing in at a mere 2 ounces would hurt our competitive chances, so Chris borrowed my mom's food scale and made sure that this car was up to snuff in weight. He ended up dripping holes in the top, filling them with little b.b.'s and bolts, and some glue. They also got some graphite stuff from some other neighbors and sanded down the tires.
I should note that our neighborhood is full of engineers, so even though it seems like (to me anyway) a lot of trouble, our car actually ended up in 3rd place in most of the races, and ended the whole thing in the bottom 3/4 of the pack. The Pinewood Derby is pretty serious around here.
Luckily, all of the boys were just there to have fun-- and they really did have a great time. Tom had a blast and has displayed his car and little trophy at the house. He even already has some new ideas for next year.
Okay, I lied-- I do have a couple of other pictures to share that aren't related to either my brother's wedding or the Pinewood Derby. Since Neil isn't in any of the above pictures (he was kind of freaking out while waiting outside after the wedding... it was cold), I thought I'd post one of his latest. He's in a really cute, very talk-y stage right now. So fun!
