Happy News

Billy and Amy Brennan officially became engaged this past week. Amy accompanied Billy on his trip to Washington D.C. They stayed with friends and family as they went along the way. They enjoyed seeing many Church history sites. They were at the Nauvoo Temple when they got engaged. We are very happy for both of them. Amy still has seven months left until she gets her MPA from BYU, so their engagement will be long distant. They plan on getting married after she graduates in April. Billy started his job today in Washington D.C. Congratulations!

Now, on to Ryan's birthday party. Happy 35th Birthday, Ryan.

We had an early birthday party for Ryan, whose birthday is on October 5th. We are leaving to go to San Diego to tend Amy's children tomorrow, so we had a nice dinner at Brick Oven. Amy Brennan was feeling a little under the weather, so she didn't attend.

Ali, Spencer, Ryan, Milly, Zack, Dick, Grandpa D, Jenny.

Spencer, Ryan, Zack, Evie, Milly, Dick, Grandpa D, Ali

As a side note, Abish Lai went into the MTC last Wednesday. She was terrified, but I think she is adjusting and learning to like it. She will be serving in the Oakland, California Temple Visitor's Center. Abish is our good friend from Singapore, whom we have grown to love.

An End of An Era

A new generation of soccer players is emerging. I remember countless days of sitting at the Provo High soccer field (or at other locations throughout Utah County and even into Salt Lake County) watching Matt and Billy play soccer. And, I loved it! Rain or shine, I would try very hard not to miss a game. I truly love soccer, but even more, I loved those boys who were playing soccer. They were my boys. There were good games and bad games and in between games, but my boys were playing, and I wanted to see them play. I may be partial, but I think they were pretty darn good players.

Last Thursday, Dick and I watched Spencer as he played a soccer game. Billy was his head coach. Ryan and Mike Squires were the assistant coaches. Spencer's team did very well, and Spencer played defense for the first half. At the half the score was 0-0 and Spencer asked Billy if he could play forward. Billy said yes. During the last half, Spencer scored two goals, which made his team 2-0 over the other team. And, that is how it ended. Boy, was Spencer happy! We congratulated him and he said that those were the first goals he had scored. He usually plays defense and doesn't have the opportunity to score.
At the end of the game, I took a picture of six happy people: Spencer, his teammates Zach and Brandon, and coaches Billy, Ryan and Mike.

Two days later (Saturday), Dick and I watched Billy play his last soccer game here in Utah Valley, probably for a long, long time. He has been playing with some of these guys since high school and has developed a great love and respect for them. It was a hard-fought game, with both teams playing their hearts out. The final score was 1-1. I couldn't help but think about when Billy was a little guy playing soccer and how much he has improved and grown into such a talented soccer player. You should have seen his fancy footwork. Billy has good ball sense, and when he gets the ball, he knows where it should go and does some great passing. At the end of the game, I took a couple of pictures. The first one is of Billy and Brandon Wilkinson. They were good friends in junior high and high school, playing both basketball and soccer together.

Here are some of the other team players on their team. A couple of them were on the Timpview soccer team. I told them that the Timpview colors (orange) prevailed and not the Provo High kelly green. The young man third from the left in the front is from London, England.

Billy has been a good friend to Rick Soulier, and Rick came to see him play yesterday. They have done quite a bit of "birding" together.

After we came home from the game, there was a lot of packing to do. This has been a very difficult week for Billy, as well as for his parents. There was about 27 years of stuff that had to be gone through, and that was hard. Billy threw ALOT of things away and sent many things to D.I.

But, when he started to pack the car yesterday, I got a lump in my throat AGAIN for the third or fourth time. He was really leaving after 26+ years. He's not going to Washington D.C. just for an intership this time (like he has the past couple of years). He has a real job with the EPA, and that's where he will be living. We will now officially have our children on all four borders of the United States. Billy packed his little Honda to the gills, but surprisingly enough, he got most of it in.

This morning, he left around 5:15 a.m. to travel to Washington D.C. This is an end of an era. We officially have no more children left at home. It's an empty feeling. But, we have memories that will last forever. We're grateful that Billy has been with us as long as he has. Good luck, Bill, and may you be blessed for your goodness. We love you.

And, the soccer will continue. I think we've got Milly's and Zack's soccer games this week. Long live soccer.

Surprises and More Surprises in Dallas

On September 2nd, Dick and I traveled to Dallas to see Scott and Shelley and family, as well as Matt and Stacie and family. None of us were invited per se, but when Matt, Billy and Ryan heard that BYU was playing the University of Oklahoma for the first game of the season in the new HUGE Cowboys' stadium, they all called and said they would like to come. Matt was the only one who decided to bite the bullet and come (along with his family, of course). When we heard that the Detroit Dalebouts would be there, we called and invited ourselves to the festivities.

Dick finished his treatment and was told that he would be very tired for a couple of weeks. Keep in mind that we were scheduled to visit Scott and Shelley four days after Dick had his surgery. So, we had to reschedule anyway. We talked it over and decided that Dick could just as well be tired in Texas as in Utah. So, we booked our tickets.

Dick and I flew in around 2:00 p.m. Matt and Stacie were coming around 9:00 p.m. So, Scott went to the airport to get them. When they returned, guess who was with them. It was Grandpa Dalebout. We were very SUPRISED but very pleased. Scott had called him and invited him to come too, without us knowing anything about it. And, Grandpa kept the secret. We were glad he came.

We visited a little museum in Frisco and learned something about Frisco's history. Here is Dick in the museum holding our newest grandson, Owen Dalebout. Owen was a real trooper and a good baby who smiled all the time.

Of course, the boys managed to play a little baseball in the back yard. Matt and Jacob.

Stacie is holding Owen. Can you tell I'm mezmerized with him.

One day, we went miniature golfing and the boys did some go carting.
I got to hold Owen.

Grandpa Dalebout and little Matthew,

who is a very delightful little boy.

Here the group is playing miniature golf.

Saturday was game day, and we had Grandpa Dalebout pancakes for breakfast. After that, we attended Andrew's soccer game (which his team won 5-0). Then, the big game that everyone came to see was Saturday night.

Most of us dressed in BYU attire and piled in the car to go to the game, hoping that BYU would at least play respectably. Grandpa Dalebout, Dad and I stayed home and tended Owen so the others could go. Dad wasn't quite up to going and being in a big crowd and having to walk a long way.
The three of us watched the game on TV. What an upset! We were thrilled (and so were those who went to see the game) that BYU won 14-13. Apparently, there was a lot of electricity in that stadium. The family had a good time. That was a BIG SURPRISE that BYU won over 3rd ranked University of Oklahoma.

On Sunday after church, we had some down time. Scott took a little nap while he was holding Owen. Can you believe that happy face! By the way, Owen was a good baby when we tended him during the game.

Shelley cooked us many good meals and also took pictures of Matt's and Stacie's family. Here she is shooting a picture.

This picture isn't as good as Shelley's, but it is a good picture of their family.

We also were able to watch Jordan do some gymnastics, and the three ladies went for a pedicure on the last day. We had a good time and so did everyone else. Thanks to the Texas Dalebouts for letting us invade you for a week.