Gratefully Spoiled

My thoughtful husband put together a fantastic weekend to celebrate our 6th Anniversary, as well as my 27th birthday. Saturday was our anniversary and I woke up to these, accompanied by a delicious breakfast from Panzanella, which Chris went and picked up before 7:30am! We had dinner at Big Bowl where we enjoyed eating outside on the patio (my favorite place to eat in the summer). I tried their homemade ginegerale, and I'm a fan. It tasted like freshly extracted ginger juice with carbonation. Add a couple squeezes of fresh lemon juice to that and you've got yourself a non-alcoholic beverage that will really get the blood pumping! We finished the night with a special trip to the MOVIES!!! YEAH!! We saw 'Get Smart' and I would recommend it to anyone. I laughed so hard I cried. Woop Woop for Steve Carrell.

Then on Sunday was my big day! We had our normal morning and afternoon routine with church, but the night time was anything but. We missed having some of our closest friends there, but it was still a party. Complete with a pinata smashing and all. Chris Owen was the 1st place winner of the game "Who Knows Hannah Best". This is really funny to anyone who knows the history between me & Chris:) The best part of the night was the pinata though. See 30 year olds get spun around and then swing at a hanging donkey is pretty hilarious!

Chris spinning Faith around. That's right, double blind folded!!

Ava & Dalaney throwing ice from the cooler. They were entertained by this for quite a while:)

Faith (left side) made me a scrumptous cake! Lindsey (right side) brought the beautiful flowers!

Thanks to all my family and friends that sent money and cards! I'm so spoiled by the love and generosity of so many and for that I'm GRATEFUL! Love to you all.

D.C. Trip

Our trip was AWESOME! We started it with a delicious italian lunch and then we hit the town! 1st stop . . . the Holocaust Memorial. We spent 3 hours in awe of the horror that mankind can ensue. It was a sobering experience, but well worth the heartache to remember the innocence of life lost.

Chinatown was a great mix of dirty city & delicious food! We ate at a great little hole in the wall "Chinatown Express"! They made noodles right there in the resturant and served 'em up. The owner of the place was a jolly Chinese man, always smiling & he made our experience most memorable. At one point in the meal he came over and offered us a stack of paper napkins even though we had a stack sitting right there on the table.




The next two days were spent seeing as much as we could. We had a great tour guide book that mapped out the most efficient way to see the best of D.C. in 3 days! Some of our highlights were the Lincoln Memorial, Eastern Market neighborhood walk, and the FDR memorial. Our last night in D.C. was spent in 'Old Town'. It was a spectacular way to end the trip. The streets were lined with people eating dinner, kids and adults alike eating oversized ice cream cones, and groups of musicians filling the air with their folk music! It was romantic & I loved it!

Thanks to my wonderful sister & mom, we were able to spend 4 days away from Ava in complete confidence that she was getting the royal treatment :) And boy did she! She probably played harder in those 4 days with Mimi & Aunt Jo than she has in all her life.



The biggest props go to my hubby . . . he wanted to make a not so special birthday "27", more special with a great trip! Thanks babe! I love you!