Last night Dave and I went on our date night. We ate Thai food at Thai Farm, sat in Barnes & Noble and looked at magazines, and went to the movies and watched Fireproof. If you haven’t seen Fireproof, it is a truly uplifting movie about marriage. Kirk Cameron has 6 kids, 4 adopted, so I am a big fan! Dave and I had a wonderful time. Thank you to Dave’s parents for watching the girls!

I am very sad to share that Abigail passed away today. Abigail would have celebrated her second birthday next week and had Sandhoff disease. Abigail’s mom, Karen, leaves messages on our site and has a wonderful caringbridge site, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/abigailledsham. Please consider leaving Abigail’s family a message.

Fun fact about Dave #4:

Somehow I missed a couple of days of fun facts! I’ll have to give you some extras in the next couple of days. Dave’s favorite movie is Dead Poets Society. I have a funny story to tell you related to this movie. A few years ago we were at Dave’s parents’ house and for some reason we were all sitting around discussing which celebrity we would like to go on a dinner date with. Dave’s dad said Michelle Pfeiffer. I think Dave’s mom said Mel Gibson. Dave’s brother said some model. I said Russell Crowe (Gladiator Russell Crowe, not Russell Crowe from all other movies!). Dave had missed out on this truly appropriate conversation and walked into the middle of it. Someone asked, “So, Dave, which celebrity would you go to dinner with?” Dave promptly said, “Robin Williams.” Maybe you had to be there but it was really funny!

Here’s a picture of Dave and me, back when we were young! I think this was in 2001, maybe 2002. We got a free coupon in the mail to Picture People so we went and got our pictures taken!

We are all going to church this morning. It has been a long time since we have gone as a family. We have been taking turns staying home with Carmen while one of us went to church with Lauren. Our church broadcasts live on the Internet so the one who stayed home could watch it on the computer. However, this is just not the same as being in the church service. Carmen had a wonderful day yesterday, so off to church we go!

Today’s picture has quite a story behind it. Dave and I went to Rome in 2001 and Dave got one of those henna tattoos on the street. I took this picture while Dave was sitting, waiting for the tattoo to dry. This is my favorite picture of Dave.

Those things last a while so the tattoo still looked good when we flew back home and went to Dave’s parents’ house in New York. We were all sitting in the family room, watching something on TV, when Dave’s mom noticed the tattoo. I will spare you the details but Dave’s mom thought it was real and a conversation ensued about donating a kidney to Dave’s brother and getting a tattoo might keep him from being a donor and dirty needles, etc. Dave and his dad kept the conversation going and got his mom a little riled up (they never do that on purpose, of course! Ha!). Eventually the truth came out about the fake tattoo.

So, whenever I see this picture, I think of that day and I don’t think Dave will ever get a real tattoo! Me, on the other hand, well, you never know!

P.S. Grace, feel free to comment on your true feelings about this “fake” tattoo!

Today New York Grandma and Grandpa, Dave, Lauren, Carmen and I went to the SugarLoaf Craft festival. Wow, what fun we had! Thank you Monica for the tickets! The weather was perfect, low 70s and sunshine. Lauren got a floppy hat with a kitty and her name on it and Carmen got a bag thing to hang on the back of her Kid Kart stroller to hold water bottles and miscellaneous stuff (an early Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa). Somehow we got ourselves into a kids’ theater production. Lauren was a gypsy, Grandma was a mean, evil woman posing as a princess and I was the queen. I’ll post pictures at a later date!

We ate some yummy food. What is a fair without yummy food!? We shared sweet potato fries, potato chips with sour cream and cheese, a cheese crepe, roasted peppers, bruschetta, and chocolate toffee. You know, really low calorie health food. Ha!

Today’s picture of Dave shows how 10 years can change you. Here is muscle-man Dave (on the left) with my equally muscular younger brother, Micah. Enjoy! (And, Dave, I prefer the Dave now rather than this Dave!)

Today is clean-up-the-house day since New York Grandpa and Grandma and Aunt Ruth are driving down tonight. My friend Karen seems to think I shouldn’t clean before people come over so they won’t get the false impression that I have it all together! Thank you Karen for taking Lauren to the park. It is definitely too beautiful a day to waste inside (or to clean up)!

Fun fact about Dave #3:

Dave loves coffee. He is addicted to Starbucks Caramel Macchiatos. He drinks coffee at home too. This is a picture from December 2007 with Dave drinking out of the coffee mug Lauren made at a pottery painting place. Dave didn’t get into coffee until after Lauren was born. Lauren didn’t sleep for the first 14 months of her life so neither did we! Thus, Dave’s coffee addiction was born.

Wow, it’s Thursday already! This week has flown by! Tomorrow Dave’s parents and aunt are coming for a visit and we have a fun weekend planned. Monica from Hospice Caring sent us tickets to the SugarLoaf Craft Festival so we will all get a day out. And Dave and I are going to go on a date night! This morning Lauren woke up and asked if New York Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Ruth were here yet. She is so excited!

Fun fact about Dave #2:

Dave’s favorite food is Thai food. Every birthday and Father’s Day Dave asks for Thai food. Specifically Panang Chicken from Thai Farm in King Farm. Panang Chicken is chicken sauteed with coconut-peanut curry sauce with basil, served over white rice. It is a little bit spicy, depending on the day and the chef and really is amazing. Yummy!!!!

Here’s a picture of Dave and Lauren, taken in October 2007 by Melanie Reyes, http://www.melaniereyesphotography.com/. Melanie took our Celebrate Adoption photos, a free service for families who have adopted. I love this picture because Dave is often the “horse” around our house. The funniest part of that role is that Lauren says, “Giddy-up girl, whoa girl!” Not sure why she started calling the horse a girl!