Even though a picture is worth a thousand words, sometimes you need a little extra explaination!

This weekend we celebrated our birthdays.  Dan's birthday is actually today and mine is tomorrow but we had a big lunch complete with cake at Mom and Dad's yesterday.

My brother was in charge of taking pictures of us blowing out the candles on our cake and I just had to share them.  And even though the pictures don't show it, we did have a really nice celebration!

Please read the captions so that you understand exactly what's going on in each photo!

This is us and our cake. Please note the candles have just been lit and the singing is about to begin.

Everyone is singing "Happy Birthday" to us.  Please note Peter and Sarah's open mouths - they are singing too!  It's almost time for us to blow out the candles!

My brother was slow with the shutter release button so what you missed is Sarah blowing out the candles.  And instead what you see is me looking shocked, Dan looking mildly annoyed and Peter getting mad!

Here we are laughing at the fact that Peter is so upset.  So Grandma decided that we should relight the candles and do it again.

This is Dan relighting the candles.  (Obviously!)

Once again, my brother was late pressing the shutter release button on the camera so instead of a nice picture of the two of us blowing out the candles on our cake, you get a picture of Dan just finishing his blow and me looking highly annoyed that my brother missed the shot - again.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures!  I know I got a big kick out of them when I looked at them.  Especially the last one.  What a face!

Happy 11th Anniversary!

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. - Solomon 6:3a

The tiny box.

I caught my breath when he handed me the tiny gift. It was wrapped in pretty paper and tied with a tiny bow.

"Happy Anniversary," he said.

"A gift? For me? But I didn't get you anything. We never exchange gifts," I stammered.

"Don't get excited.  It isn't much," he replied.

I held the tiny package in my hand, wondering what it could be.  Is it a charm, a locket?  A ring?  A ring! I held my breath as I began to gently remove the paper from the tiny box.

What if I don't like it, I thought to myself.  What if he spent too much money? Why didn't I get him something? He knows we don't exchange gifts.  My mind was racing.  It was the excitement of such a tiny package.  Or maybe it was the wine.

As I opened the tiny box, a small sheet of folded paper slipped out and onto the table.

I unfolded the paper.  I saw his familiar scrawl and read the words.   

Anniversary ring/Engagement ring upgrade.

I smiled, moved that he remember I had said long ago, before kids and mortgage payments and college funds, that I had wanted a diamond anniversary ring on our 10 year anniversary.

I thanked him for the gift and told him that I was touched by such a sweet gift.

I know that this anniversary isn't the one where I will be upgrading my engagement ring or getting an anniversary ring.  Maybe the 20th or the 25th.  Maybe never.  Really though, it doesn't even matter.

As I was unpacking from our trip, Sarah picked up the box, opened it, saw the tiny note and said, "That's it? That's all you got?"

"That's all I needed."

Edible Art

Dense almond flavored pound cake.  Rich butter cream icing. Lots of sweet memories.

My wedding cake was delicious.  It was so delicious that Dan and I could barely wait one whole year before eating the top level of our cake on our one year anniversary. (It had been tucked safely in our freezer to be eaten for good luck just as tradition mandated.) So for one whole year we waited and as they say, good things come...

It was as delicious one year later as it was on the night we cut into it at our wedding reception.  So good in face that we decided we would order another cake from the very same bakery every year for our anniversary as long as we both shall live.

And we did order a cake once but then we had kids with nap schedules and the bakery was on the other side of town and we seemed to be out of town on our anniversary and then we moved well over an hour away from the little bakery.  I guess you could say that married  life got in the way of having our delicious cake every year on our anniversary.

This year, Dan and I went to Charleston to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Mom and Dad watched the kids all weekend while we toured the beautiful town, took a carriage ride, ate out in nice restaurants, held hands, and had lots and lots of uninterrupted conversations.

It felt like we were dating again. **sigh**

On Sunday evening after arriving home from our trip, we were scheduled to have a nice dinner at my parent's house to continue our anniversary celebration and to celebrate our birthdays.  (Dan and I both have birthdays in September as well.)

Imagine our surprise and excitement when Mom revealed that she and Dad and Peter and Sarah had driven all the way to the little bakery in Charlotte to pick up a replica of our wedding cake.

The cake was just as delicious as I remembered.  Dan and I ate wedding cake four nights in a row and finally, due to expanding waistlines, had to put the rest in the freezer.

And I doubt we will wait until next year to eat it.  After all, I don't think there's any tradition associated with eating 10-year-anniversary cake on your 11th anniversary.  Is there?