The weather was beautiful and Mark's parents and grandparents came into the city for dinner with us. It was a perfect evening to walk around the neighborhood, so we did just that. We headed a few blocks to Eastern Market, giving the parents and grandparents a scenic tour of life on Capitol Hill. We ended up eating dinner at Tunnicliffs. While the brunch there is fantastic, dinner is average pub food. Nevertheless, it suited us fine. We had great conversation and were able to share a bit more of where we live. I couldn't imagine a better evening.

What an amazing birthday! Apparently March 23 will not be Easter Sunday for another 90+ years. It was odd to celebrate both my birthday and Christ's death and resurrection at the same time. However, it made it a great time to be with family.

I was able to celebrate for a whole week. Last weekend, Mark got me a new camera, a Cannon "SD1100is" to be exact. He decided to get it early so we could be fully armed for the family Easter/Birthday weekend. So beware: random pictures of DC will be frequenting the blog, especially now that spring has arrived.

Last week was full of mini celebrations. I went out to lunch with friends and also celebrated in my office with cake and balloons. Then on Friday, Mark and I went to Safe Harbor for the Good Friday service with the Schreiber family. After church we went to Big Bats Cafe for birthday "appetizers." We had all already eaten dinner. It was great to see Ben, Jim, and Dee Dee since we were celebrating Easter in PA.

Then Saturday, we had a big ole' spaghetti birthday dinner with friends and family at the Angelos house. The evening was quite a success full of family, friends, good food, and march madness. (my family follows basketball...shock!) Faith, Sarah and I were able to catch up and it was great to see the guys too.

On Sunday morning we woke up and went to Great Valley Presbyterian for the Easter service. It was nice to be back in the church where we were married. Then back to the house for some R&R, good food, and more basketball.

Church, Family, Food, Friends, Basketball - How could a birthday weekend be any better?

Brooke has officially made headlines:

Teeny is engaged! I am still so excited for her!!!

Friday Night: After work we loaded the car and headed to the Eastern Shore for dinner with the Schreibers. As always it was good time spent with Mark's parents. We spent the evening watching a movie in front of the fireplace.

Saturday: We woke up early, ran errands and then hit the road for PA. Brooke's basketball team had thier first round of the State Playoffs at Norristown Highschool. Of course the Angelos' brought a large cheering section (10 of us). Villa won and advance to the second round on Wednesday. Here is a picture of Grandmom and Pop-Pop Paradise:

Saturday Night: After the game we headed up further North to Harleysville, PA to visit Mark's cousins. The day was surrounded by excitement as we celebrated Brendan and Christine's engagement. We also were able to see the Schreiber Grandparents as they came over too! The whole family gathered at Mark and Bec's apartment for dinner, dessert, and games. It was a great opportunity to visit with all of the Schmidts (Uncle George and Aunt Cathy and the kids David, Bec and "Teen"). We told lots of old stories and laughed harder than we have for a while. Here is a group shot of Brendan, Teen, Mark, Bec, David, Patricia, Me, and Mark:
Sunday Morning: We woke up early and met my best friend Sarah for breakfast in West Chester to hear all about her new job and talk about the rest of what is going on in our lives. After breakfast, we were still to early for church so we stopped by Starbucks to drink even more coffee and read the daily papers (about the game the day before). We were able to go to church with Sarah, meet some of her friends, and worship together. It was great to catch up. We don't get to see Sarah often enough. (Hopefully she is coming to visit DC in April.)

Finally we drove back to the Eastern Shore for another meal with the Schreibers and a relaxing afternoon watching golf. What a wonderful weekend.

This past week I got to see the 2007 World Champion Red Sox be recognized by President Bush on the South Lawn of the White House. As you can see, I was a few rows back. Bush delivered a great speech with quite a few laughs.



It was a neat opportunity and a lot of fun. One thing I will never forget, the White House serves the BEST hot chocolate EVER! Here is a picture with my friend Kate, who works in the West Wing.