New York City with Danny

This week Danny and I slipped away to New York City to celebrate our anniversary - and what a trip it was! It was a rather last-minute decision, but it turned out to be one of our funnest times away (isn't that so often how it goes? The most spontaneous things end up being the funnest.)

Jacob and Danny had just gone to NYC for Jacob's 16th, and many of the things we did there Jacob and Danny had just done. So Jacob, I hope this post helps both of us remember the adventures of NYC!!

This is the view from our bedroom window - the highest floor of the hotel. The first thing that amazed me there was just how fast the elevators fly - in no time at all we were on the 44th floor, ears popping.

This happens to be the hotel where Jacob and Danny stayed, right across the street from where we stayed this trip.

I cracked the window open as far as it would go (about 5 inches) and stuck my camera out for this shot. And yes, the people really do look like little ants. Little ants that never sleep.

The famous Times Square.

Jacob and Danny kept talking about how much they loved the famous pizza of New York and before we even got there my mouth was watering for it. This was the first slice (of many) that we had there. Yum.

Our first night there Danny took me up to the top of the Empire State Building. Absolutely breath-taking. Also very scary at such dizzying heights. But yes, it was romantic...

The second day we went down to Ground Zero to see where construction workers were building the new skyscrapers. It was quite emotional to be down there where so much tragedy had taken place.

This was the pizza place that we walked blocks and blocks to find. Danny and Jacob swore it was the best pizza they found in the city, and we were determined to find it, and bring some home for the kids. After developing two achy feet, one stiff back and one swollen knee, we found it!! Victory!! And yes, we brought each of the kids home their own pizza! No, not a slice, a whole pie!! Worth every penny too...

Seriously though, we really did have achy feet and legs and backs, and we found a peaceful place to sit in Bryant Park and have some coffee. Then we wandered around the many quaint little shops that were set up here just for the holidays.

There is a church near Ground Zero that had set up a relief center for workers to come. Their fence had been bombarded with pictures of missing people and other misc. memorials and some of these were on display in this church still. This was probably the most touching thing we saw related to 9/11 while we were there.

The shops in Bryant Park...

Bryant Park is right behind New York City Public Library - this is the back of it. Just beautiful.

And the absolute highlight of our trip was going to see "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" on Broadway, starring Daniel Radcliffe! It was an amazing show!

And yes, we were stalkers. We waited outside for him to come out the backstage door and got a picture of him!!

It was really cool to see him come out, sign a few autographs, be escorted by his bodyguards into a black SUV and drive off... he did an incredible job in the show - who knew he could sing and dance so well?

Thank you, my darling husband, for taking the time to research this trip, plan it out, and drive us there. Thank you for driving in the city, thank you for my gorgeous crystal earrings, thank you for every slice of pizza and cup of coffee. Thank you for your offer of a ride through central park (I am so sorry I turned you down on that one!). Thank you for bearing with me when you were ready to go back out at midnight and I was just too wiped out to take another step. Thank you for all of it honey, I will never, ever forget it. Thank you for all these wonderful years of being an incredibly romantic, kind and loving husband... what a lucky woman I am indeed.

So what have you actually been DOING?

I cannot tell you how many people ask Danny this question. Or ask me this question about him. I guess after working for 30 years, it is hard for anyone to imagine what a non-working man must do all day! Well, I am here to tell you that he is busier now than he ever was when he was working. No lie. And I am here to "set the record straight". I want to tell you just a few things that Danny does with his time.

(besides looking so handsome! hehe)

First of all, he does not sleep in, roll down in his pajamas, sip coffee, and then laze around all day. Quite the contrary. He gets up, spends some time in God's word, then has a cup of coffee with his wife as we discuss the issues that we face that day. Then he works off a list of things to do that he has made, which include so many things I cannot begin to list even a small portion of them. He is investing his life in his kids. He is serving his wife by helping me out in areas that used to overwhelm me. (ah, yeah, he sometimes cooks dinner... haha) And frequently does loads of laundry in between his own duties.

He drives all over the country to take us all to our lyme doctor appointments. (Well, okay, just Connecticut and Virginia)

He has spent countless hours, maybe even days, just setting up and organizing our medical records, creating folders, copying prescriptions and bills, filing with the insurance companies, and then countless hours each week maintaining those records. There are several runs each week to pharmacies for prescriptions, as well as keeping track of the ones we get online. He keeps stock of all our supplements and orders them when we are out. Believe me, this is a huge task. Plus, he helps give the kids their drugs each day. Again, no small task...

He plays games with the kids, even taking them out to Starbucks to have a drink and play a game sometimes...

Each week, he drives the kids to all of their outside classes, which twice a week means getting up very early, even if he didn't sleep all night. Oh, and while he is at the school where Jacob takes some classes, he throws in some study hall or lunch monitoring. (Again, so I don't have to). He drives a lot.

I wasn't joking about him cooking. He really does take over some of the cooking, and the kids have come to see it as a real treat when Dad is cooking. (yeah, I try hard not to be offended!)

He spends a lot of time just fixing all the things that seem to go wrong in this house or need maintenance. He keeps up on the pool chemicals, the lawn, the leaky gutters, the leaky basement, the damage to the house from the hurricane, the drippy sink, all the many things that just seem to always need attention.

He seems to spend a lot of time at his desk working on financial planning, paying bills, or whatever else a man does at his desk. He also spends time planning events for our family, answering e-mails, talking to friends, and last but not least (in this category) romancing his wife! We have weekly dates that allow us time to be together and spend romantic time, not "daily living" time.

He is searching for that next venture, whatever that may be, but meantime, he is working on bringing himself and the rest of the family back to health. He spends time with the Lord, he spends time with his family, he serves us, he tries to be a good steward of the finances we do have as well as a good steward of the time that God has given him in this season. I am very proud of him. And I absolutely love having him home.

Les Miserables with the Bodine girls!!

Okay, so Hannah and Rachel beat me to this post... but I have a unique "view" of this evening...

So, my brother John and three of his girls came down to have a night on the town with Hannah and me. We took a limo down to The Rivers restaurant at the Watergate Hotel, and then walked across the street to see Les Miserables at the Kennedy Center. It was awesome, more than words can say. The girls were all so gorgeous, dressed in their best. We all thoroughly enjoyed the show, and many a tear was shed by my sentimental brother John...

Pictured here from left to right is Melissa, John, Jenny and Rachel.

Here is Hannah with her "soul sister" Jenny - the two cousins who are the same age!

The limo was a surprise to the girls from my oh-so-generous brother John.

I cannot tell you how much it meant for me to see Hannah having such a wonderful time with other girls... she fits right in and looks like she could be their sister! And truthfully, they are the closest things to sisters she will ever have...

I just love this shot that Rachel got of Hannah, the light hitting her hair, she looks so beautiful. You never would have known that she was sick the whole night and was really pushing through. (let's not forget, Hannah, how the girls cared for you by serving you your cough drops all night! haha) Seriously, I have never been so impressed in my life by such a group of young ladies. They are all so mature, so kind, sweet and loving towards each other. John and I were so proud as we looked across the table and saw these beautiful young ladies who were so outwardly focused, completely unaware of the stir they were causing in the restaurant, and so much fun to be around. It was absolutely a joy to be with them for an evening - and a privilige. I can't wait to do it again. Love you girls!!

Catching up on Matt

So, we hardly ever see Matt anymore. He is living in Baltimore in an apartment as he finishes up his last year of college, and he also works, so he rarely makes it home. Needless to say, I really miss him...

He is working on his degree in exercise science and also got a couple different certifications as a personal trainer and some kind of nutrition "counseling" (I don't know what the word is). Anyway, he is super busy with school and work, so he doesn't make it home much.

This is a picture of the gym he is currently working in as a personal trainer. He works out there as well, and last time I saw him he was absolutely huge!!

He is also writing a weekly column for a local publication, I don't know which one it is, but I am so proud of him! He is doing amazing things and really passionately pursuing his career with excellence! I can't wait to see what he does in his future. I feel God has big things for him!

So proud of my Matt!!

Hannah's Picture Published!!

Here she is, my beautiful, artistic daughter.

She got one of her pictures published in Nature Friend Magazine! (It is the leaf with water droplets on the bottom left...)

So proud of you Hannah! Keep up the amazing photography!!

Jacob's 16th Birthday

Today we celebrate Jacob turning 16. I cannot tell you how proud I am of him - I look at what a kind, gentle, diligent and handsome young man he is, and I am just so thankful that he is part of our family. He has a special love from all of us - Ryan looks up to him as a big brother and wants to be like him, Hannah looks up to him and has a special bond of friendship with him, Indy seems to favor him, and Danny and I are just so proud we could burst. He is a servant who helps me with a joyful heart, he volunteers to help Danny when he sees a need, and we all appreciate his sense of humor! What an asset he is to this family...

He has recently grown a lot - and he got his hair cut short - he just looks so much older! Not to mention he is driving now... that is always such a milestone and makes them seem older.

I got to make his favorite pumpkin cake for him.

You know your little boy is becoming a man when he asks for weights... sigh...

Happy Birthday Jacob! We all love you so much!!

Final Trip of the Summer

We took an end up of the summer trip up to Deep Creek to have a bit of family time and relaxation before school starts up again.

We literally spent hours playing board games! One game of risk lasted from 3:30 in the afternoon until 1:30 in the morning! And we barely took any breaks! Of course, nobody ever beat Jacob - he is the reigning champion!

We did only a day or two of tubing and boating...

Captain Danny!

The back of Hannah's beautiful head. Notice her hair cut...

Risk champ Jacob getting ready to roll. The rest of the family always scatters whenever a camera comes out...

We took Indy to spend the week with Uncle Ed and Aunt Sue. It was fun for him I'm sure, but we missed our little guy while we were away. We were happy to get him back!!