My 31st birthday (week)

Having an early birthday celebration at Granddaddy's.

Sophia enjoying some of the amazing Godiva chocolate cheesecake Bridget brought for my birthday. It was soo good!

An early birthday present to get the week started off right.

Mom and Dad came bearing gifts, breakfast, and coffee very early on my birthday. It was a very nice wake-up call.

Granny hosted my birthday dinner at the farm.

She fixed all my favorites for dinner. Yum!

And, she fixed two desserts - a chocolate cake and strawberry pie.

Sophia's first taste of strawberry pie...

I think she likes it!

After dinner we took a walk around the farm. Sophia loved checking out the cows.

And, the garden.

I had a very nice birthday and I really appreciated everyone making me feel so special!

Talking to Daddy

We are on the two week countdown until Raph comes home! Yippee! Until he returns, we talk to Daddy every morning on Skype. When he calls, Sophia climbs up on the chair and tells Daddy all that she has been up to. She also tries to give him hugs which really pulls at my heart strings. This particular morning Sophia wanted to show Daddy how snazzy she looks in her beach hat.

More posts to come on my 31st birthday and Annie and Neil's beautiful wedding...

My future chef...

Wednesday afternoon, Sophia decided to trade in her wooden fruit and plastic pots and pans for some real cooking with me!

Reading Granny Herndon's banana bread recipe...

Let's get cooking!

measuring and pouring...

mashing (and tasting) the bananas...

It's looking good!

Ready for the oven.

the waiting begins...

So...we eat some marshmallows!

It's going to be hot - Sophia is ready!

Yes, we are wearing matching aprons (thanks Grammy!) and that's our masterpiece in the background.

The official taste tester.

Yay! We did it!

Sophia and I had so much fun the kitchen the other day. I couldn't believe how Sophia was so interested in baking process. She took the entire project very seriously and was ready to help at every stage. I'm really excited that I may have someone to cook and bake for me one day... :)

Happy 4th!

Good Morning! This girl is ready to celebrate!

Sophia was so excited to have Aunt Kate visit for the day!

Sophia collecting rocks for Aunt Kate.

Blowing bubbles

Later in the evening, Grammy and Pop picked us up to take us to Graves' Mountain Lodge for fireworks. This would be Sophia's first real fireworks since last year she slept through the festivities in Vermont. We talked a lot about fireworks on the way to Graves' and Sophia loved saying, "BOOM" followed by "oooo" and "ahhh".

Checking out the sites with Pop.

Checking out the treats with Grammy.

Yum!

Sophia was all ready for the fireworks until they actually started. She never cried but kept saying, "Go" and "car" while pointing to the exit. I got the point, so for the remainder of the display we sat in the car. All was well.

Overall, I think Sophia had a great day and she played the part of a firecracker beautifully. :)

Happy Father's Day(s)

Sophia loves her Pop.

"DD" and his girls before church Sunday morning.

We had a nice day celebrating with Pop and "DD" on Father's Day. We went to church (where Sophia stayed in the nursery the entire time all by herself :) and we enjoyed a nice lunch together afterwards. Of course, we missed Raph who was finishing up his last week in Nicaragua but we were so happy to have a short but sweet visit with him the next weekend.

Raph giving Sophia her souvenir airplane from Nicaragua. She loves it!

Walking with Daddy.

Raph's beautiful orchid in his classroom.

Helping Daddy water his plants.

One happy girl!

Raph was only home for about 12 hours in between his trip from Central America to England but it was so wonderful to see him! Sophia and I were happy girls to have Raph back home and we tried to soak up every minute. Raph is attending another summer of the Middlebury Breadloaf program (Oxford campus) working towards a master's degree in English. He returns home in early August but until then we are so grateful to have Skype and a web cam to keep in touch.

Celebrating Miss Annie Lewis

The girls toasting to Miss Annie Lewis Friday night at a great Italian restaurant in Old Town.

Taking a break from shopping by having some refreshments Saturday afternoon.

"Here's to you"

Ready to hit the town Saturday night!

There's our future bride!

A few weekends back we had a great time celebrating Annie Lewis and her last days as a single girl! Thanks to Kate we stayed in the beautiful and relaxing Lorian Hotel and Spa in Old Town Alexandria - I highly recommend staying there if you are in the area. It was so much fun meeting lots of Annie's college and work friends during the weekend. One of the many highlights of the weekend was dining in a quaint Greek restaurant where plates were broken in Annie's honor and we all danced with the waiters. Annie, you are going to be a beautiful bride and it was so much fun sharing this weekend with you!