DC Mall with Cousins!

 Since everyone was still around after Brendan's promotion, we did a little sightseeing - even though the weather wasn't that great.  We toured the FDR memorial, the tidal basin, the Lincoln, Vietnam and all the way up to the Washington Monument!  It was a lot of walking but we had a lot of fun!!

Emmy in Goal

 Emmy, Mimi and I drove out in the drizzle to Emmy's lacrosse game in Vienna today.  She did a great job in goal and made a few really tough saves!  She also played at attack and had a great assist!

Brendan's Promotion to Lieutenant Colonel

 Today we had a party for Brendan's promotion to Lieutenant Colonel!  It's a huge deal and something that he has worked towards for 17 years.  We are all so proud of him and we wanted to celebrate!  We had a taco truck come to provide the majority of the food and it was a major hit!  The food was fantastic and everyone loved it.  It was so much fun - not something that you get to do everyday!!!  I made some side dishes and cakes - of course!  One was filled with lime filling and one was coconut. The lime cake was entirely eaten at the party - I don't know if I've ever made a cake that disappeared that fast!  We had guests come in from all over!  Mimi, Dan, Nora, Clinton, Grama and Daddy Jim came down from Massachusetts and Justin, Brody, Chase and Bryna came up from North Carolina.  We were so happy to celebrate with so much family and so many friends - both from all of ours years in the Army and new friends from Arlington as well.
We got a bouncy castle for the kids and we were able to make use of the tent that we bought years ago in England and it was a good things too because we were able to squeeze the party in between rain storms!  It did rain a little on us during the actual promotion ceremony but no one seemed to mind.  MG Funk came to promote Brendan and it was a really special ceremony.  I only wish that Declan had been able to stay awake for it!
We were also celebrating Brendan and Aoife AND MG Funk's birthdays - Brendan and MG Funk have the same birthday - totally crazy!  So I made one cake as a birthday cake and one cake as a promotion cake.  The seals and the rank are made of white chocolate and painted with luster dust!  It worked out really well!!

Aoife's 7th Birthday

 Today Aoife turned 7!  So big and almost finished with first grade! She's reading well and learning so much in math, science and social studies!  She's a great lacrosse and basketball player and loves ballet and jazz!  She's a fantastic friend and a leader in her classroom.  We are so proud of her and are loving every minute of watching her grow up!!
This morning we opened presents before school and then I brought donuts and read a story to her class.  We had dinner and cake and the best part was that all of her grandparents got to be here to help her celebrate! I don't think any of our other kids have ever had that special gift!!!

Opening presents before school:

 Aoife's picture in her classroom from the first day of school!

Reading to the class - "The Snail and the Whale"

Donuts at school!!

 Chocolate birthday cake!!