Landon's 20th Birthday

It's hard to believe that Landon, my very first baby, turned 20 this year.  We celebrated his birthday a day late, since he was coming home for spring break on March 1 anyway.  It was hard to choose a gift for him this year, since he's able to buy almost anything for himself.
 

We started with dinner at Ayuttaya Thai, a place we'd always wanted to try but never have.  It was awesome.  Landon really loved it an can't wait to go back.















When we got home again, Landon opened his gifts.  Carys made him a card as she does for everyone.















He also had his Valentine candy to open, since I didn't mail it this year!















 He asked for an Amazon gift card which we provided. :)  Then it was time to open his main gift.















He has loved the Marshall Cavendish World War II encyclopedias since he was 11 or 12.  The librarians at the Beverly Hills library used to crack up when he checked them out repeatedly.  Unfortunately, the Marion County library does not let you check these out.  Landon tried over his Christmas break, so we bought him a used set.

Of course, he requested strawberry shortcake, which I make on my homemade angel food cake.  Carys insisted on a picture of the cake!

Mary Feik

 Our Civil Air Patrol squadron's annual awards night was held on Thursday, February 7.  They had an incredible guest speaker, Mary Feik.  Mrs. Feik is the only person who had a CAP achievement named after her who is still living.

She spoke for over an hour telling us her incredible story.

The lights were down for her slide show, so the pictures are dark.

Mrs. Feik's speech was so long that all the awards were presented together.  Chase won Cadet of the Year.

Mrs. Feik signed a Mary Feik award for every cadet that had earned one from our squadrons and nearby squadrons.  She also spoke personally to each one of them.

Chase and Gerren hold their awards up in this photo.

 Greg, Chase, Mrs. Feik, and Gerren (aka Captain Meahl, Sergeant Meahl, Colonel Feik, and Lieutenant Meahl)

Valentine's Day

 We had a big Valentine's Day this year.  Last year we had waffles, so now it's a tradition according to Carys.  I made waffles, needless to say.

I was set up the night before as you can see here.  We also had hot chocolate - a recipe from Crockin' Girls that I was wanting to try.  It was too rich for everyone's liking.

Each child got their own personal heart of candy and a little bag with Combos and red licorice in it.

 













 Carys' heart had puppies on it.  She loved it!

 













 Greg gave me tulips - my favorite flower - although he can only ever find them potted for Valentine's Day.  I prefer cut flowers, but these are second best.  He also gave me a package of cherry licorice (I don't like strawberry) and a bag of Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Sea Salt and Caramel!

 I had found another recipe from Crockin' Girls for chocolate dipped marshmallows that the girls put together.  These were a hit!  Melting the almond bark in the crockpot was very easy. 

Finally, Chase and I received a Valentine's Day gift from Landon via Amazon.  It was a box of Twinings tea bags.  We loved them!  Twinings has by far the best Earl Grey tea of any I've tried.

 












It was a pretty terrific Valentine's Day all in all!