Celebrating Mike! Celebrating America! Memorable Moments....

Yesterday Mike celebrated his 35th birthday!!

We went over earlier in the afternoon to help Amber get ready for the surprise celebration.

She is a writer with her own free lance company and several writing projects with firm deadlines that has kept her busy every single minute the kids are at school and then some!

She had all the materials ready for them to make their own birthday cards for their Dada.

Granddad enjoyed a little snuggle time with Trystan!

Kailey always keeps us entertained.

The house was all clean and ready for Mike to get here!

Amber added the Happy Birthday decorations.

And then she waited and watched as she heard the garage door open!

Surprise!!!

It was fun like a party with horn blowers and plastic hand clappers!

Smiles all around!

Grandmommy looking so very pretty!

Amber had prepared a good spaghetti dinner complete with Caesar Salad and Garlic Bread.

And then there was cake!

His favorite - a box yellow cake with chocolate frosting!

We all love Mike so much!

He is truly a man among men.

He has character, convictions, faith and integrity.

When Amber was in the hospital for 52 days, he never once wavered in his support each and every day. He would arrive after work - always bearing a special treat of some sort - and his solid encouragement and presence is what saw Amber through.

He is the best husband and father you can possibly imagine.

We gave Mike movie tickets and babysitting for 28 hours!

From after church on Sunday until 4:00 on Monday afternoon....

Of course, he will be at work on Monday but Amber will enjoy those hours!

I could not have a better son in law!

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This morning I started back in with the task of putting the house back together after the holidays.

I haven't got up in the storage building attic to get down the things I had packed away yet.

The 'normal' accessories of the rooms in regular months.

Instead I have had a good time playing with some of my scarves in the dining room.

I ended up with an animal print theme going on!

I kind of like it!!

Something different!

Why, yes, I DO think this lamp looks a little bit fancier with a scarf wrapped around her neck!

I may skip decorating for Valentine's Day altogether.

Not that I do much of that.

My main seasons are Patriotic, FALL and Christmas.

And a good bit of Easter that I use much of the spring.

While I have been fluffing my nest all day, Louis Dean went out on errands.

Our dishwasher is on the blink and quit pumping water out.

He got to thinking about when he bought it. It was delivered on Christmas Eve 2005 - just 6 months after we got married. He bought a new one today which will be delivered on Saturday.

He also bought some groceries. A LOT of groceries. We were out of a few odd and end things which he got and then MORE eggs, carrots, celery and canned beans. We now have a LOT of those items!!

I have kept the TV on all day long and I kept the SOUND up high so I could hear what was happening even if I was not in the den. That's something I rarely do but I have LOVED watching all the inaugural activities and I really do feel like I have spent the entire day as well as evening right there IN Washington DC!!! I grew tired of hearing all the undue commentary on the Fox cable channel and discovered CNN was showing the actual events with little 'chatter' of their own.

I think I may have a new favorite station.

I need to get to bed early tonight because I do not want to miss a moment of the coverage in the morning. Louis Dean and I pray for our country and our leaders every single day.

Scripture tells us to do that and I am certain that every prayer helps.

I love the theme of God Bless the USA!!!

Amen!