Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Today was Mommy's birthday - and an anniversary of sorts.  The picture above is of a restaurant, the 57th Fighter Group, where Daddy first took Mommy out on a date!  It was about fifteen years ago, if you can believe that.  Time does fly by, doesn't it?

It's a long story that led to the first date - I heard that Mommy just wanted to have someone take her out for dinner for her birthday, so I felt "led" to do that.  I felt led to treat her like the princess she is, and even arranged to have a rose delivered to the table just prior to our actually meeting there.  Little did I know that Mommy's prayer was just for a nice dinner and for someone to send her a rose.

So we met there, having driven from two completely different directions.  Daddy was in White County at the time, and Mommy was in Roswell.  We sat there and talked, and talked, and talked.  And that was that.  It is funny how everyone else in your life is just a set up to just show how perfect that special someone is for you in your life.  I'm going to go against the general thought of "it isn't always perfect," and say it right here:  our marriage has been perfect.  We were put together by the perfect Matchmaker, and now that we've got the benefit of hindsight, that perfection is more apparent each day.  We've gone through some troubled times with her cancer and other areas here and there, but Mommy and Daddy have always loved each other and helped each other get through whatever it was.  And here we are on May 8th, 2013.  Still in love and still together - and now with an extra family member we couldn't imagine being without.

Today was a good day for Mommy.  It's funny to say this, but if she was given a choice of things to do, she would actually choose going to church for a revival service with Perry Stone.  She'd choose that over a lot of other things - and of course, it's free!  Sure, there's an offering to take up, but even that is considerably cheaper than even a movie or a night on the town!  At least Daddy got her a half-dozen roses.  What I did was this:  I had them underneath the product table out in the lobby area, where the other VOE merchandise was for sale.  When we went to take a look at the material there, Daddy signaled the lady behind the counter, who reached underneath the table to give them to Mommy.  It was a complete surprise for her, which was great.  Also a surprise were the seats:  Daddy had three seats saved (one for a friend) at dead center, three rows back.  It was a great night for Mommy.

Meanwhile, Madison got to enjoy KidPak Jr. on a Wednesday night.  Usually, she doesn't get to do this, as she has to get up pretty early each morning for school.  But as tonight was a special occasion, we had a great place for her to go while we were in service.  It was a late service though, so we're sort of dreading getting up in the morning...

Across the pond, it appears as if Nana and Ye-Ye are having a remarkable adventure.  With Captain Barbossa.

They made it safely to Ireland, and are there on a guided tour, checking out our ancestry, inspecting ruinous castles and kissing large rocks.  No explanation about why exactly Captain Barbossa is with them - he's in a few pictures with them as somewhat of a mascot.  I'm not entirely sure if the Irish look fondly on the attire Barbossa is wearing - perhaps he should switch back to his more piratical costuming.  Regardless, it appears as if the three of them are having a good time, posting pictures nearly daily.  We'll hear all the tales and Irish songs when they return next week.  Until then, Irish them a good time!