Mimi's Surprise Birthday Party

The extended Morris clan gathered at the end of March to celebrate Mimi Joanne’s birthday.  Bryant’s brother Kevin and his family flew in from Huntsville for a surprise birthday visit.  It was nice to have everyone together, and we were particularly excited to meet the family’s newest member, Baby Regan (pictured below), who was born on February 10th.  Henry and Vivian stayed home from school to spend time with their cousins, and we all celebrated Mimi’s birthday with a steak dinner and cake and ice cream (Henry picked out the birthday cake for Mimi—it had a Finding Nemo theme!).  Below are some pictures from the birthday celebration:

 

 

St Paddy's Day 2012

After Elise's big race, we all headed to Old Town to enjoy a family picnic by the river.  As you can see, the weather was perfect.  Getting into the spirit of the day, Henry and Vivian both wore their St. Patrick's Day t-shirts, although Vivian decided to accessorize with a pink tutu.  Below are some pictures from our outing.

 

 

New Hobbies

Bryant and Elise both took up new hobbies this winter.  In December, Elise began training for the Marine Corp Marathon, which is held each October in Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC.  According to Wikipedia, it’s the fifth largest marathon in the United States and the ninth largest in the world!  To get ready for the race, Elise has been running three times a week at the gym and outdoors.  On Sundays, she trains with a long distance running group here in Alexandria.  Her first practice race was the Baltimore and Annapolis (B&A) Trail half marathon in early March, in which she placed eighteenth in her age group and averaged a nine minute mile.  Her next practice race was the Irish Sprint (March 17) in Quantico Virginia (see photo at left).  By completing the Irish Sprint, Elise automatically qualified to run in the Marine Corp Marathon this fall.  Well done, Elise! 

Bryant’s hobby has been less energetic.  With Elise hitting the trails, he's been trying his hand at cooking.  So far, Bryant has made beef bourguignon, pork roast, eggplant parmesan, beef and Guinness pie, and, most recently, corned beef and cabbage.  Elise has judged the meals a success.  Henry won’t touch the stuff (usually accompanied by wild claims to be “allergic”), but Vivi loved the eggplant parmesan and even nibbled some corned beef.  To accompany dinner, Elise has been baking fresh bread.  She started with a farmhouse white and then made soda bread.  Next up (at Bryant’s request) is rosemary focaccia.  Yum.