My own little "Jim Brickman" !!!

I finally convinced Hannah to let me record her playing my favorite song... (actually, she recorded it herself for me and shut the doors so that I couldn't hear her!!) Anyway, I am VERY proud of my little piano player! One of my favorite things in the world is to hear Hannah play for me...

A memorable anniversary...

Well, my husband did it again! He surprised me with tickets to see Jim Brickman at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore. Up front, middle, I can see their faces seats. I was so blown away! Jim Brickman is one of my favorite artists - he plays piano so beautifully... but that was only the first part of the surprise.

That week, we had sickness in the house, and Ryan was very sick with the flu. I wasn't quite sure how to tell Danny that we just might need to give the tickets away, but he and the kids absolutely insisted that we couldn't miss this night! I knew something was up, but I had no idea...

He had arranged a basket of goodies....

FOR THE LIMO RIDE!!!!!!!

Now I had never been in a limo before, and I was quite surprised when I went to the front door, and a man in a tux and top-hat had a red carpet from my front door to the limousine... I just was speechless... now I understood why everyone was so insistent upon our going! And I was truly glad we were able to go. Ryan had started to feel better after MUCH PRAYER (I am sure now that Danny did some serious praying that day! haha). We rode in style and snuggled and snacked all the way to the concert, and back. We were so enjoying the ride we almost bagged the show and just rode around Baltimore!

On our actual anniversary, one week earlier, the kids and I had gone up to Danny's office to surprise him by "decorating" his office with balloons, flowers, chocolates, candy hanging from the ceiling, and signs hung all over the room meant to honor and call MUCH attention to my wonderful husband!!

This sign was on the door to his office...

Thank you Danny for such a wonderful anniversary! One of my VERY favorite ones!!!

Is this the same boy??

In the last year, Jacob's hair has gone from being straight all his life, to being curly! (incidentally so has Hannah's!!) Maybe it is the Jewish blood in them. Anyway, I asked Jacob to let me straighten his hair and he agreed - he looks completely different! It was so cute, Ryan ran away from him at first, and by the end of the day, put his hand up to Jacob's face, moved the hair aside, and said "You know what I just realized? You are still my same bubba under there!!" haha

The straight-haired Jacob

The curly version!!

Charm City Cakes

We are all fans of the show "Ace of Cakes" on Food Network - watching the laid-back cast create the most amazing cakes is something we really enjoy doing. We all gather together to see what they are making this week - and they are always really unique and special cakes. It is filmed in Baltimore, so many of their "customers" are local venues that we would recognize. We even tried to line them up to make a cake for Danny's open house but they were completely booked...

It was a thrill to drive up there one Sunday afternoon and see the building where they do all this baking and film the show. We could see lights on in the building but as it was Sunday, we are pretty sure nobody was there. After we left there we were all craving cake and so we went to a local bakery and bought several different slices of a variety of cakes to share!!

A night with the Spiro's

John and Kathy Spiro - dear friends of ours who are walking through a tremendous trial, one that I cannot even fathom without trembling, yet their faith shines like a beacon in a dark storm. John has been diagnosed with ALS, and the amazing way that they are walking through this is inspiring, to say the least. I can hardly think about it without getting emotional every time. They have always been hilariously funny, and this has not changed one bit. John is still the comic relief of his family, puts everyone at ease, draws everyone else out on how they are doing, proclaims his incredible passion for God and his gratefulness for what Jesus has done for him. He recently shared that his sufferings cannot compare with what Jesus endured on his behalf, and he says it with the most genuine humility and gratitude to the Lord. You cannot be with him for long without coming away totally inspired and with your faith completely renewed. We are blessed beyond words to be able to walk with him on this path - you cannot but feel you are on holy ground... I say this not to quote another cliche, it is simply the truth. Here is a man whose faith is being perfected through his trial. God is so good.

We went over last week to surprise and bless them with a meal, served on our best dishes, with candlelight, flowers, a fire in the fireplace and music. It was served by our children as the waiters and waitress. The intention was to give them a date night feel in their own home. We believe it was a success... we felt especially glad that we were led to do this when they confessed they hadn't had a date night in six months. Oh to be used by God in such a way! What a privilege it was for our family!!

Danny's famous filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus dinner

Our children had, all on their own, been saving money in a jar for the Spiro's to present to them this night, and they poured it onto a plate and served it announcing they had a "special salad" for them! Can I tell you that my children are often the greatest inspiration I have??? Today Ryan learned what the word "philanthropist" means during school, and we learned who several of them are. He asked me if he could please write to Bill Gates and ask him to give a million dollars to the Spiros... a precious heart indeed.

More fall favorites

Halloween night - costumes - parties - this is one of my favorite things - I absolutely love to see my kids anticipate what they will dress up as each year and watch them get excited about it. Well, in this case, Matt and Jacob had to be forced... but hey, the rest still love it!

Matt and Sherry are sooooo cute - a construction guy and Minnie Mouse....

My two favorite girls in the world!

Gone are the cute, traditional pumpkin faces - now we have stargates, Mac symbols, video game symbols and "puking punkins" (courtesy of Ryan).

A drive to Matt's campus

Today we decided to enjoy the fall colors and take a drive to the campus Matt will start attending in January. Beautiful drive, beautiful campus. We are so excited for Matt - he is going to UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore Campus) to major in financial economics. Since we didn't get the usual "parent weekend" or anything, we decided to drive and see the campus ourselves!

I thought this was the neatest way to send an acceptance letter!!

Matt will soon be walking the trails of this campus, studying his heart out, and starting a whole new chapter of his life...