A Good Day

We celebrated Gary’s Birthday yesterday.  Apparently 28 was a good year for him so he’s claiming 28 from now on.  Which isn’t a bad idea, I was 28 when we were married. It was an excellent year for me as well.

Turned out to be a beautiful day, blue sky and all. Gary was in a particularly happy place most of the day. I think all the Happy Birthdays that came poring in from friends and family all day via snail mail, email, facebook, and the phone helped him feel appreciated. So thanks to everyone for making his day a good one.

P.S. Here is the recipe I used for his Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. It was soooo goooood.

Ellie’s First Birthday

This picture was taken on August 16th Ellie’s official birth date. We were in Brugge Belgium the day she turned one so we celebrated Ellie’s first Birthday a few days earlier with the Frandsen’s and their neighbors Freddie, Claudia, Michael, Monfred, and Erika. Claudia’s Mother Annalee and her husband Victor were there as well as some friends. We had a BBQ German style. Freddie has a great set up for BBQ, he has a big cast iron bowl that he made the fire in and a tripod which the grill hangs from and he swings to avoid any hot spots. Freddie and Claudia are excellent cooks. We all contributed with salads and such and Mark grilled Salmon or Lox as well. It was a fabulous meal to say the least with good food and good company to boot.

I did get a little teary eyed while singing Happy Birthday to my baby girl. I can’t believe it has been a whole year. She is a toddler now not my wee babe. Well, she is still a little wee… but you know what I mean. I’m so glad that we timed it right so we could celebrate with the Frandsen’s. I thought that it was appropriate because they have not had a chance to get to know her yet and vise versa. So thanks to Leslie, Mark, Bailey, and McKenna and their neighbors and friends for making Ellie’s day very special for her.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDstjrMQwoI[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46QqNUTTaNA[/youtube]

If you would like to check out more videos there are plenty here

and if you would like to see more photos there are a bunch here

A Happy Birthday it was

Yep it was my Birthday yesterday. I was trying to ignore it and pretend that 32 was actually 25, but I can’t work that kind of magic. Gary and his family helped me enjoy the day, they spoiled me with love and cheer. Gary took me and Ellie out on the town Friday night. We took a short drive to Ithaca to do some shopping at the Green Star COOP Market. Its a favorite little grocery market in town that sells local items, organic foods, and all kinds of good green products. We always have a hay day when we shop there. Then Gary took us to the Dewit Mall where the famous Moosewood Restaurant is. It is one of my favorite restaurants ever with an eclectic vegetarian menu. Unfortunately Ellie decided to fuss a bit so Gary and I took turns walking her around in the lobby while the other got a few delicious bites in. Of course she passed out just when we got our food all wrapped up and we were ready to head out, but it gave me time to pick out a new cookbook and a few other treats. After dinner we bundled up the wee babe and went for a walk in the Commons were all the shops were featuring ice sculptures. We were very impressed with the detail and the beauty of the ice it was a nice winter welcome.