Muy Fantástico

This weekend we celebrated me. ;-) And it was muy fantástico. Rochelle really went all out to make me feel special and loved, and she did a splendid job of it. A quick summary of events includes the following:

• A book which many of you took part in, that spoke of memories of me, and was filled with photos, beautifully put together in a scrapbook style
• A berry cake that was both a work of art as well as delicious (Marissa also needs thanking for this)
• A slide show put to music of pictures of me
• And a delicious dinner

It has been a great time, and I have enjoyed myself thoroughly. I can think of few times that I have felt so loved, not only by Rochelle, but by everyone around me. Thank you all for helping Rochelle put that book together. I really enjoyed it, and I love you all. And a special thanks to my dear wife who put so many hours and so much love into that gift. There is really not much that can compare to a gift like that. But there is one other gift I should mention here that also brought me special delight. Gabe laughed for the first time. And it was adorable. Never has such a small noise brought me such emotion before. I both laughed until I cried at the sight and sound, all the while my heart burst with pride for our little boy. We put him in one of those door frame jumpers, and while he really wasn't big enough to do it, I held him up and bounced it a little for him, and his face was just full of wonder, fear, and elation. It wasn't too long before a laugh escaped his lips. And then another, and another, and another. It was wonderful. We loved it. Rochelle caught a little on camera at the end, but we are hoping to catch more of it on camera soon. I can't tell you how much it pleased us to hear it.

From Laughing