A Visit with Friends

This past weekend our good friends, Tim and Angie Smith came to visit.  They have been married for almost 20 years and have 5 teenagers, 4 girls, and 1 boy!

Tim was Jon's best man at our wedding.  They have been friends since they were 5 yrs. old!  A long time!  :-) 

Tim had some business and a church conference in Myrtle Beach, NC earlier in the week and then had to be in Philadelphia on Sunday for some more business.  Since we live in between those two cities, they thought it would be a great opportunity to stop by and visit with us.  They had never been out to our place (they live in IN), so it was a treat to see them here at our place.  They arrived on Friday evening and left Sunday morning.  Our time with them was brief, but it was a refreshing and encouraging time for us and I hope for them as well.

On Saturday, we all, with the Munchkins, drove down to Alexandria, VA to show the Smiths where Jon's 'official' office is located.  Then, we headed on to Washington, DC to visit a few monuments/memorials.  Our first stop was the Jefferson Memorial.

Our Munchkins did great considering we walked to the different Memorials, which is quite a hike!  We, adults, all took turns holding one or both of the Munchkins for short intervals as we walked. 

After seeing the Jefferson Memorial, we headed on to the FDR Memorial.  This is a picture of the Washington Monument from the FDR Memorial...

Tim carrying our Sweetheart...

 From there, we made our way to the Lincoln Memorial.  Notice that Tim is now carrying Buddy on his shoulders... giving Jon's shoulders a break!

Once again, the Washington Monument, only this time from the Lincoln Memorial.

We had a great time walking and talking in DC with the Smiths.

Later that evening, the Junior High students with their leaders from our church were offering free childcare from 5-9 PM at the church.  (While there, the kids played games, made a few crafts, ate pizza, watched a movie and ate popcorn.  They had so much fun!)  So, we decided to drop them off there and enjoy a kid free dinner with the Smiths at the Cheesecake Factory!  YUM!!!!  They don't live close to a Cheesecake Factory so this was a special place to go, for them and for us!  We LOVE to eat there!  Definitely one of our favorites!

During our dinner, we had such great conversation.  The Smiths have a way of talking about deep, thought-provoking things in a very casual laid back way.  I don't know if that makes any sense, but I felt refreshed by their visit. I just love their insight and wisdom.  

We hope we will have another opportunity to host them again!  

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jon!  

We love you!  You are a wonderful husband and a super Daddy!  

For his special birthday dinner, he would like me to make our seasoned mexican beef tacos with rice and beans, chips and salsa, and his request for dessert is Sugar Cream Pie... his all time favorite!  I'll get right on that Jon!  :-)

These next two photos were taken by our friend, Naomi.  This first picture is his birthday gift!

He has a picture of himself with our first munchkin on his desk for work.  That photo was taken on Jon's first Father's Day, 2006!  Can we say outdated?!?  I think this picture will be a great replacement!

I tried to keep his birthday gift a surprise for him and... it worked!  He had no idea that Naomi had taken these photos of us and absolutely LOVED them when he saw them this morning!  

Thanks for making this happen, Naomi!  We LOVE these photos and will certainly treasure them!  You are such a talented photographer!  

So, Happy Birthday to the love of my life!  I hope to celebrate many more birthdays together in the years to come!