Jeff's Birthday Weekend - 2/16/07

For Jeff's 29th Birthday, he got a great big surprise! Two of his good James Madison University

friends, Chris and Jon, flew down from DC to surprise him for the weekend and he had no idea! They set it up so Donald (another JMUer who lives in Jacksonville now and came down beforehand) would say,"oh, I forgot to bring a shirt with me - I gotta go to Target." and while he was gone, he would go pick up the other two guys at the airport. It's completely believable b/c Donald often forgets to bring clothes when he visits (don't ask why?!). Anyway, all four guys had a great time together as you can see - and we even went down to the Delray Beach Garlic Festival that weekend and met up with some other friends from The Ray.

Integration of Batman

This is one of those forwards that has been circulating and I just think it's the funniest thing ever - mainly b/c I'm a big dork/nerd - but that aside, who DOESN'T want to integrate batman? Those of us who have had those train wreck calculation nightmares can all appreciate.

Kaitlyn and Matthew Snow Style

Here are our very cute and bundled up niece and nephew. I'm super glad they are enjoying the snow and not me!

Winter Gardening

Another year of experimentation with my little patch of herb/veggie garden! Ever since I got all the matching gear for Christmas (visor, gloves, tools, and kneeling board - thanks Mom & Dad), I have been taking the side garden to a whole new level. This year it's more basil and cilantro (due to their successful past), oregano, mint, pineapple, peppers, and trying to do the eggplant thing this time. I also found a cool bug-repellant plant and a bromeliad and added mulch to brighten up the patch. Updates to come.

This picture is kind of old - but how wonderful it is to wear tank tops and flops in January! yesss! (I will now dedicate future posts through May to making everyone NOT in Florida jealous of the weather.)

Chill New Years with Old Pals

This New Years Eve, our good friends, Kerri and Buck, came to visit! It was so great seeing this cool couple - we go way back to Michigan Tech days living in the White House, wetlands class, bike riding, making stir fry and brown rice, and listening to Carp up in Calumet. Good times. Kerri and Buck live in Alaska and we live in Florida so needless to say, we don't get to see each other that often. We all helped each other bust out of the ice and snow and move on! It was awesome catching up with you guys - we love you! Oh yah you betcha!

Christmas in Florida

This year, our families came to us for Christmas! This was a first as Jeff and I usually do a chill Christmas on our own. It was really nice to have both the Tyndells and Ahrens together. Mom & Dad A came down for two weeks and spent time doing some house projects and Mom & Dad T and Brandon came for a long weekend. We ate lots, enjoyed the Florida sunshine, went out on the intercoastal one night to see lights, and watched five dogs fight/hump each other constantly (my parents' dog, Giles, and the neighbor dogs, Sadie & Snoopy, were all visiting Karma & Zen). Dad A was so nice while in town that he installed a new hardwood floor in our bedroom too - it's gorgeous - and a much better improvement over the carpet which Zen destroyed in her puppy years. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year! We all hope for a better 2007 than 2006!

WEAK!

So, it has definitely been on my guilt-ridden mind lately my lack of blogging - so I spent tonight making up for it - see? I had some good ones to share - will you forgive us??? How can you stay mad at such cute puppy faces?

A PT and AT Thanksgiving in NC

It was so nice to spend a few days with the Tyndell crowd at the beach in NC. My parents are renting a house at Ocean Isle for a few months and Paul and Anthe live nearby of course, so it was the obvious spot for Thanksgiving. Chris, Nana, Brandon, Mom & Dad, PT & AT, Alice & Jerry, Jeff & I, and Drew & Candice were all there! I think it was the first time we ALL got together in years since the cousins are all spread out now. Also, Ocean Isle allows dogs on the beach, so it was the first time Karma and Zen got to take a sandy walk (even though we live 1 mile from the beach in Florida, they had never been to the beach before this weekend b/c Delray doesn't like dogs). They loved it as you can see with Giles the puppy! It was also the first time Jeff and I met our new-ish Aunt Alice! So there were many great events other than the actual Thanksgiving Day feast and a fun boat ride on Paul's new "Burning Daylight!" It must also be noted that Drew, Candice, Jeff, and I represented the kids table this year. Yeeeesssssss!

A Breeze Through Charleston

On the way to NC for Thanksgiving, we stopped through Charleston to see some friends, Jeff's friend, John, from JMU, and my friend, Ashlee, from growing up in Seneca/CU. It was great seeing everyone's cute houses and meeting John and Meredith's little William! The puppies definitely enjoyed riding in the back of Jeff's new car! Jeff had never been to Charleston so we took some time to ride around downtown despite the icky weather that day. The new Cooper River Bridge was awesome as well.

Dolphins vs. Vikings

Jeff, being the social director as usual, organized about 40 people from his work to go to the Dolphins game the weekend before Thanksgiving - so just wanted to share a few pics from the day! Go Dolphins! It was a great game and we won - who agrees that it's been a very strange football season? Notice the tailgating spread by Marlis and Jeff's good sportsman ship with our tailgating neighbor!