Foster Spahr Real Estate is now live!

After month of planning and preparation, I have officially left Ricker Realty to form a new real estate brokerage firm.

Foster Spahr Real Estate is now open for business.

I will continue to serve my clients in the same capacity as before- helping buyers, sellers, and investors - only now it will be under a new name. I am very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for our company as well as for our clients. As an independent brokerage, we will have greater control over the services you receive and greater flexibility in tailoring our company to meet the ever changing real estate market. We have many exciting offerings that we can’t wait to deliver to our community. Innovative marketing strategies, elimination of ‘admin’ and ‘document’ fees, flexible listing agreements, and investments in the latest technologies are just a few of examples of how we plan to create a better real estate brokerage.

I want to personally thank all my past, current, and future clients for without you, none of this would be possible. I want to thank Dennis Skelly at Ricker Realty for being a wonderful mentor and for his support. And last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank all my friends and family who have provided endless encouragement and support.

We are excited to begin our journey to build a better brokerage centered around our customers and on our community. Please take a moment to visit our new website at http://www.FosterSpahr.com to learn more about us and how we do things.

At Foster Spahr Real Estate, our philosophy is simple:

Provide superior customer service in everything we do.





Our new contact information:

Foster Spahr Real Estate, LLC

8523 Cameron St.

Silver Spring, MD 20910



Office 240.695.2383
Direct 240.375.5217
Fax 301.576.3540

dan@fosterspahr.com
http://www.fosterspahr.com

Here are some photos of our recent trip to Philadelphia. Stephany had an internal audit training and since we were currently in between daycares and daddy had never been to Phili, we decided to tag along! We got up to Phili on Sunday so we are got to hang out together and watch some football.

During the week, Chase and I went sightseeing and got to see Independence Hall (although Chase got kicked out for being rowdy), the Liberty Bell, and some beautiful scenery along the water. We joined up with momma after her training each night for happy hour and dinner on the town. We partied late into the early evening, just in time for Chase's bedtime each night at 8:00pm. (he got to stay up an hour past his normal bedtime since he was on vacation ;))

Enjoy the photos!

Until next time, Daddy D-Unit

Outer Banks Vacation - May 2009

This post is a little late but we wanted to share some photos from our vacation to the Outer Banks in May. Steph's parents and my Mom joined Steph, Chase, and me for the first half of the week and we spent the second half with our good friends (and Chase's God Parents) the Pate's. The weather was perfect, the pool was heated, the house was huge, and we had an amazing time.

Enjoy, Danny

Our little man with his little brain...

Good job Chase, we are so proud :) !

First day of Daycare!

Our little man is growing up!

June 15, 2009 - Chase attended daycare for the first time on Monday June 15th. We found a wonderful in home daycare called Peekaboo Daycare run by 3 friendly woman. There are 6 other kids but Chase is the youngest by 6 month. It even has a webcam we can use to peek in from time to time. Apart from some overfeeding issues over the first 2 weeks, Chase seems to really enjoy playing with the other kids and is generally all smiles when we pick him up.

Honestly, I think Chase has adjusted quicker than I have :) Its hard going from taking care of your baby everyday for 6 month to dropping him off to a daycare everyday and putting your trust in someone else to care for him. He really enjoys being around older kids and we think it will only help him in the long run physically and socially.

Now its time for me to get back to work!

Til next time,

D

The Pursuit of "Happiness"

if "Happiness" = Food

Chase & the Commando Crawl

Chase crawls (sort of)... towards food - of course!!

Not so good at blogging

but check out this link for some great new pics of Chase (and isn't Annabel the cutest :) )

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephanyspahr/ChaseMay2009#

and Danny promises to post a blog soon about our vacation to NC in May

Chase's Easter Pics

and here is a link to more photos!

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephanyspahr/ChaseApril2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCO3KlICkq-ymqwE#

Chase's Slow Roll

So he can only roll one way and only from back to front -

but its progress!

Chase trying to sit up.. my favorite video

I think anyone (especially a parent) can appreciate the humor here

Chase's first meal..

I think pics explain it all...

Chase in the Office

Our little man getting an early start on his business career :)

Chase and I stopped off at his Meemaw and Papaw's (grandma and grandpa) company, Custom Cables, for a little lunch and to say hi to the team. While we were there, Chase took a little break to make some phone calls. Thats my boy!

Big Daddy

Happy 1st Birthday Camden!

Happy 1st Birthday to Camden Humphries (Buddy and Stacy's little man).

On Sunday Feb 8, we attended Camden's first birthday party which was held at his daddy's office- a 12,000 sq ft playground! The party was held at the Play N' Learn headquarters in Columbia and has at least 6 different Jungle Gyms, 2 trampolines, basketball hoops, pool tables, ping pongs, and air hockey. Im not sure who enjoys going there more, the kids or the parents :).

There were a ton of kids running around and great pizza (Ledo's - cant beat it). Although Chase is not quite old enough to enjoy the gyms, he did get to hang out on the swing. Soon, my son, soon.

Moms of Silver Spring

So after you have your first child no matter how often you are around other people's children you realize immediately how little you really know about babies and what is normal.. but in my case I was lucky enough to find two other moms in similar situations who in short have helped me determine that Chase is not "simple" when his eyes cross or when he couldn't seem to follow anything or when he seemed absolutely oblivious to my voice.. They also helped me find things that can make life easier like the miracle blanket ( I swear by this item) or the jumperoo (as I watched Aiden jumping for a straight hour I determined this was a must buy).. and it is always reassuring to hear you aren't the only mom who sometimes had a glass or two (or even a bottle) of wine at night.. and there are even test strips to find out if you are "ok" to feed your child.. In other words these two women who I met after having Chase have had quite an influence on keeping my sanity and to them I say THANK YOU!!

UNO FLASH!

What naturals!

Danny, Chase and I had the fun of having Karen and Brian over for a great dinner, wonderful wine (thanks guys) and a little apples to apples and UNO FLASH!! Chase even cooperated by going to bed early and sleeping through the night.. although after a couple of bottle of wine I must say 6:30 came really quickly!

Chase is getting so big :)

Sorry for the lack of blogs.. but thought you might like to see some recent pics!! He seems to be getting so much bigger every day and the best part for us is that he is sleeping like a champ.. we put him to to bed at 9PM and he usually sleeps til I wake him up at 6:30 am to feed before work :)

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.