Today we celebrated Mimi's 50th Birthday! Over 30 people came to celebrate and everyone had a great time. Mimi and Mark did most of the cooking with the kids helping out a little bit. They also set up the beautiful display of food! We had a great lunch with family and friends and hope that Mimi had an amazing birthday! Happy Birthday Mimi. We love you!

Karen's birthday was coming up on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 and I told her I wanted to take her out the Saturday before to dinner, just her and I. The dinner was going to be a surprise, but I did tell her it was in South Beach and we were going to walk around before hand. So on Saturday, April 17 we headed out to South Beach for, what Karen thought, was her birthday dinner. When we arrived in South Beach I parked at South Point Park, which is the southern most tip of Miami Beach. I went to the trunk and took out a bag that had towels and blankets in it. Karen was surprised and screamed, "No you didn't!" I told her she has been saying that she wanted to sit on the beach and watch the sunset so we were going to do it tonight for her birthday.

We walked thruough the park which is really nice and right along the water where the cruise ships come out of the port. We find a nice spot on the beach and sit down on the sand. Karen still thinks I am just being really nice because it is her birthday. We sit and talk for a bit and then Karen says she wants to take a picture on the life guard stand. In South Beach, each of the life guard stands are painted and built differently. The one near us was painted and built to look like a light house. Karen and I walk over and take some pictures on the light house.

While on the life guard stand we started to kiss and I told her how much she means to me and how I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I then got down on one knee and proposed. Karen immediately began to scream and cry and somewhere in there I think she said, "YES!" People near by started to clap and yell congratulations to us and we just enjoyed the moment. As soon as Karen was able to compose herself, kind of, we went back to the towels and began calling our family and friends.

Before we knew it the sun had set and it was time to head back to the car so we could drive over the the restaurant. When we got back to the car I noticed a parking ticket on my windshield. I guess in all the excitement, or with the nerves, I forgot to pay for parking! That's ok it was only an $18.00 ticket so I will just pay it.

We arrive at the restaurant and walk inside. Karen is so excited that she doesn't even see where we are. She has to walk back outside to see we are at Barton G Restaurant! We tell the hostess we just got engaged and she tells us she has been waiting for us and she has a nice table for two for us to celebrate at. The hostess walks us to our table and says enjoy your evening. Karen is a little confused because she does not see a table for two.

It takes Karen a few seconds but then realizes that the hostess took us to a huge table where Karen's parents Mark and Mimi, her brother Rami, brother Allan and sister-in-law Jodi, my Mom and Steve, and my Dad and Diane are all sitting! She was so excited and after she showed everyone the ring we had an amazing dinner. During the dinner three girls sitting next to us buy Karen and I a glass of Champaign and toast our engagement with us.

After dinner Karen and I went home to relax for the rest of the night. When we got home Karen opened the front door and saw rose petals leading from the front door all the way to the bedroom. In the bedroom, rose petals were ALL over the bed. Karen was so surprised and had no clue how I did it. I finally told her that John, Tery, and Madison came over while we were at dinner and set everything up.

Karen swears that she had no idea I was planning to propose that night. Everything worked out better than I had planned...and it was truly a day we will remember forever!

Today was John's 24th birthday and we went to dinner at P.F. Chang's in Fort Lauderdale. Tery was there with Madison and AJ. Gigi and Stu were there and also Johnny and JJ. We had a really nice dinner. Happy Birthday John.

Today Karen and I went with Rami and Emilia to Everglades Holiday park so we can go on an airboat ride. We took a private tour which went out for about 1.5 hours. We saw a few alligators, snakes, birds, and even baby alligators. After we saw an alligator wrestler and walked around the park for a bit. Then we went to Pizza Fusion in Weston for lunch.

Day 3

Today Karen and I went to Epcot where they had the International Flower & Garden Festival. Everywhere you look there are Disney characters made out of plants and flowers. We walked around a lot, went on some rides to include Soarin' and had lunch in Mexico. After lunch we walked around more looking at all the different displays they had. We also went over to where they have the Segway area and got to try riding one. They are really cool once you get used to it. They also offer 1-3 hour Segway tours where you get to ride around Epcot on the Segway.

We headed back to the world showcase for dinner. We ate at Teppan Edo in Japan, which is a hibachi place. The dinner was just ok and no where near as good as Japan Inn or Kobe. Next time we want to eat at Germany. After dinner we show the fireworks show, which was really great and then it was time to leave and go back to the hotel.

Day 4

The next day we woke up and checked out of the hotel. Before heading home we went to the Florida Mall and walked around for a bit. Then once we got home we went to dinner with Karen's parents and her brother Rami and his girlfriend Emilia. After dinner the parents went home and the kids went to Jaxson's Ice Cream for dessert.

Tonight Karen and I went to dinner for my mom's birthday. We ate at Red Ginger Asian Bistro in Coral Springs. It was really good and kind of like PF Chang's or China Bistro in Aventura. We ordered a few different dishes and shared everything. After dinner we sang happy birthday and had fried cheesecake. We had a very nice time and hope mom had a great birthday!