Melanie's 23rd Birthday

(The mini cake Chad got me. My favorite white on white.)

This was such a special birthday! Cari took me to lunch and shopping which was so sweet and then we went to ice cream with all the girls. Such a fun day. When I got home Chad took me to a Brazilian restaurant for dinner and after was cake and presents. A very special and memorable day!

This was what was waiting for me when I got home. So sweet.




For your listening enjoyment, here is Chad singing me happy birthday. There may be a few of you who did not know he could sing (and this could be a little biased) but he has an amazing voice and I look forward to him singing me happy birthday all year :)

Annapolis, Maryland

As many of you probably already know, Chad's brother Ryan took part in RAAM (a bike race across the U.S.) which he did to raise awareness about organ donation. Because we are in Virgina this summer, we were able to go visit him in Maryland which is where the race ended. It was so good to see Ryan, Jared and Tiffany! We had so much fun walking around the bay and visiting the Naval Academy. We are so proud of the the riders as they truly are an inspiration to us.

Chad... Kid in a Candy Store

We visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and I have never seen Chad that excited to see anything before. He took so many pictures and I wish I could post them all because they're really well taken but here are a few. It was a great experience to see all the historic planes and original equipment from the Apollo space missions.

In the Neighborhood...

This summer Chad and I are living in Fairfax, Virginia as Chad had an opportunity for a job here. Washington D.C. is only 15 miles away, so we are trying to take advantage of it while we can. Our day trip was so fun, and we tried to pack in as much in as possible. I thought the most amazing place was the American Portrait museum as Chad and I were able to see all of the original portraits (paintings) of our Founding Fathers and Presidents (i'm an art nerd).


This was a courtyard inside the American Art museum, and this picture does not do it justice because it was gorgeous!