Carrie Comes to Town!

BC (Before Chase) I remember that I was not much of a baby person... so when Carrie called about coming to visit I must say I was really quite surprised. I mean she was really planning to visit DC in the middle of winter just to meet this little baby whose main activities include sleeping, eating and pooping (oh and my favorite to date - smiling)! From a mother's point of view, I of course think everything Chase does is amazing and there are no cuter babies but I am also smart enough to realize that with the exception of Danny and probably my mom.. that most people don't think that way) But no matter what the reason I WAS SO excited!!! and Vijay I must tell you, she is a natural! Just check out the pic!

Over the course of the weekend,we did manage to go through a few bottles of wine. And on Friday had a great time hanging out with Carrie's cousin Beth and husband Phil as well as eating Danny's steaks off the grill!... and on Saturday we took Chase down to DC for a tour of the Holocaust Museum as well as some great pizza at Pizza Paradiso in Georgetown! so hopefully Carrie did not get too bored over the weekend by the baby talk.. i know I for one had a great time!

Care Bear - Thanks again for coming to visit! It really meant alot to me! I love you!

Ringing in the New Year with the Pate's

We wanted to send a shot out to our great friends, the Pate Family!

Thanks for an awesome New Years!

Steph, Chase, and I celebrated the New Year at a party hosted by our friends Garry "Q" Pate and his wife Karen (along with their 3 wonderful daughters Ashley, Lexi, and Alaina). We spent New Year's eve hanging out with the Pate's and many of their neighbors, enjoying some drinks and playing some games. We were able to stay an extra day to just chill out, watch some football and play on the Wii. Chase didnt quite make it to midnight on New Year's eve but had a great time nonetheless.

Chase's First Winery Visit

On Saturday Jan 17th, Chase got to experience a Winery for the first time!

We first headed to Historic Frederick to meet up with my brother TJ, his wife Erin, and my favorite nephews Nathan and Tate for a nice lunch. They introduced us to a really cool restaurant called "Pizza and Pretzel Creations" which makes everything out of Pretzels including the Pizza dough, the Calzones, and the dessert which was a pretzel stuffed with chocolate chips. Definitely a unique place to eat and one we would recommend if you are ever in Frederick.

After lunch we headed off to the Black Ankle Vineyards not far from Frederick in Mt Airy. This Winery just opened to the public in late 2008 but already has several award winning wines with a small local distribution that is sure to grow. The Wine Tasting building was constructed using material grown mostly on the property and was very nicely done. We enjoyed a sample tasting of six of the wines (2 whites and 4 reds) followed by a glass of our favorites and a plate of cheese. While Chase is not quite ready for the wine tasting, he was able to enjoy a nice warm bottle of mommy's milk while we enjoyed our wine (notice the milk warming by the wood burning fire in the photo ;) ).

We then headed off, back to civilization. While we were only able to hit one winery on this trip, we will definitely be planning a trip back as there is a Winery trail that includes 6 wineries located within 20 miles of each other around the Frederick area. If anyone is interested in joining us, let us know, and we can plan a Saturday down the road.

Chase's First Xmas

(Click on Chase to see the X-Mas Album)

This year we had our first Christmas as a family of 3, and by far the most amazing. We are truly blessed to have such amazing families. As is tradition, we enjoyed another wonderful Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma Foster's house with the Foster family including Ashley (Steph's Sister) and her husband Nate, Grandma and Grandpa Foster, and the Fultons. Great-Grandpa made it in to meet Chase for the first time; and we were also joined by quite a few of the Spahr family - Tim and Marian, Caroline, and Robin and Mark (not a Spahr yet, but we are working on it :) ) - and of course Grandma Foster's Lasagna was amazing as always.

Christmas morning was spent at the Foster's where we were spoiled yet again. Lots of toys and clothes for Chase and too much stuff to mention for Steph and D. Then we headed up to Grandpa and Grandma Spahr's house in Glen Elg where Chase got to hang out with his 2 cousins Nathan and Tater Tot.

Definitely a Christmas we will never foget. Enjoy our pics.

Love,
Danny and Steph

Love Marc Cohn Photography!

This year as a Christmas present to the whole family I decided I wanted to get a photographer to come to our house to take photos as the thought of getting the whole family to a studio to take pictures just wasn't possible.. (picture trying to get a 2 month old and almost 90 year old into Sears..)

Anyways, I started searching on the web and I think I completely lucked out by finding Marc. he came to our house, took lots of time and took lots of photos.. He was so patient and I think the results are great..

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephanyspahr/MarcCohnSPhotos#

I would definitely highly recommend him. His website is

http://www.marccohnphotos.com/index.html

Chase's First Friend.. Jake Stafford (Sheriff)

If someone had told me when I initially met Aimee that not only would we become good friends but we would be roommates, we would be in each other's weddings and that one day our sons would be playing together and I would be calling her almost daily in the beginning to check if my son was normal :) - I must say I might not have believed them.. but I really do thank god for putting her into my life.. here are just a few pics of our sons - the funniest moment so far was when Jake thought Chase might be baby Jesus...