perhaps the longest blog post in a while...

Well, well, well...it has been a busy couple of weeks. There are many things to catch up on! Lots of pictures, too! And...since blogger is so wierd...they are posted in the wrong order! Anyway, most recently...we traveled to Chicago with 3 other couples. We had such a wonderful time. It was my first time to visit that city....and it was beautiful. Cold...but beautiful. We had a blast and hated to see the weekend come to an end. It's always too short!

The view from our room. Such an amazing thing to wake up to. It didn't even seem real to wake in the middle of the night and see the city still all lit up...as though it never sleeps. It's one of the aspects of city life that I am positive that we would love. The aspect that we wouldn't love? No yard for our pups. The rest of the home was just as great. So much to read and look at...an interesting lil something in every corner.

Here we are proving to Justin and Libby that it isn't just Virginia that is for lovers....Illinois is, too!

Here we are behaving ourselves! from l to r..jason and becky....justin and libby...tommy and me....allison and chris.

We took care of some wedding details while we were there. Here the guys model part of their wedding attire.

Chris and Allison at Libby's birthday dinner on Saturday night.

J & the birthday girl

Us girls...celebrating!

The boys have longer legs and always seem to walk faster! Could this possibly be a NorthFace ad?

And we back up a bit here....this is us at Jerry's surprise Halloween birthday party. I was a cat with a sinus infection and Tommy was a tourist. (We are lame costume people.) The party was so much fun. There were some great costumes and lots of great toasts!

Chris and Brigit are not lame like us. They go all out. Aren't these cute costumes for expecting parents??

And here is the birthday boy himself...with his cavewoman.

And here we have the event that has been in the works for several months now! Mom's surprise birthday party. It was a complete success. She had no idea and was totally shocked to see 38 of her closest friends and family all gathered to celebrate! It went better than Tommy and I ever imagined. We all enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. I think Mom had a wonderful time. Below is another of my cake creations! Again, couldn't have done it without my co-chef, Janae.

Some party-goers enjoying the food and company.

Mom opening gifts by the fireplace.

Mom and me.

Awwwwwww....aunt Tracy gets a kiss from uncle Alan.

My other co-chef for the event...my future sister-in-law, Libby.

Mom with two of her best friends, Karen and Patty.

Some decor...

Pictures and memories...

Overall, a great party. We felt blessed to have pulled it off and relieved that we could stop lying to mom every time we talked to her. We spun alot of tales trying to keep it from her!
We love you, Mom and we couldn't have given a party for a more deserving person!

How is it Monday again??