My birthday... (again?) :-)

Ana Maria was so nice to give me a birthday dinner. She cooked a Portuguese sausage and beans meal, along with orange cake (old Portuguese recipe) and invited all the kids, and my immediate family. We had the dinner in my parents' shop behind their house where most family get-togethers take place. It was so great having everyone there. I really appreciated Brian cooking a delicious Portuguese chicken dish too! And Nicole cooked Portuguese sweet rice - she wrote my initial "m" with cinnamon on top :-) All the food was delicious!

I'm so fortunate and blessed to have such a loving family! I'm grateful to the kids for driving a ways to get here, and to my parents, who always pitch in and provide extra food and drinks for everyone. I'm so blessed to have my grandma to celebrate special occasions with. To my wife, Ana Maria, thank you - I love you! God has blessed me beyond what I deserve. I had a happy birthday!

For more birthday pics view our photo album, entitled my 52nd Birthday! at: http://new.photos.yahoo.com/jarmanmichael/albums

Coffee at Beans.. :-)

After church we went over to Beans Coffee House. I couldn't resist snapping a couple pictures of my lovely wife. Doesn't she look beautiful? I believe she could be the poster girl of Beans Coffee House :-)

Honoring her father's passing...

February 25 marks the anniversary of the passing of Ana Maria's father, Joao da Cruz Mendes Abreu, Viscount de Miralva. The top picture was taken at Infant of Prague where Ana lit a candle in his memory. The bottom picture is of her father and mother at the back terrace of the house where Ana was born. In fact her mother, Maria Lidia, was 3 months pregnant with Ana at the time of this picture. Weren't they a particularly handsome couple?

Going back in time... Valentines Day

I've gotten behind on my blogging, so let me catch up.... We had a great time on Valentines Day! The top picture is where I made a surprise visit to Ana's workplace. I wanted her to enjoy the whole day celebrating the occasion. We decided not to make the mistake of going out for dinner this evening as we did last year. Every place in Jacksonville was packed on Valentines Day last year! Instead, I ordered a wonderful dinner from the Old Siam Thai resturant. Here is our beautiful table setting :-) And here's a picture of Ana Maria enjoying a pose by the fireplace surrounded by some gifts I gave her for Valentines Day. She really enjoyed the two white bears on the coffee table - they actually kiss. And when you hold them close enough for the kiss, the guy bear flaps his wings really fast! Really cute to watch. Ana has laughed and laughed :-)