In celebration of Eddie’s 57th birthday, our daughter Jane and her boyfriend Mark threw him a birthday party inviting all of our North Carolina family including Eddie’s sister, her three children, their spouses and her five grandchildren.  Mark’s step-father and a few friends were there, too.  It was a fabulous event!

The weather was perfect and everyone was able to attend.  Not an easy feat, for sure!

To make Eddie’s birthday even more special, Mark decided to cook a 17 pound standing rib roast over the bonfire pit using a rotisserie.  It was awesome!

Afterwards, the youngsters had a fabulous time roasting marshmallows over the coals to make Somores.  That were a huge hit.  The kids had a wonderful time!

Mark is an avid fisherman and he coordinated a very special gift to Eddie…an awesome fishing pole and gear!  There is some great fishing in Costa Rica, so that pole will come in handy.

Our Great-niece Stella was fascinated with the chickens.  She was thrilled when she found two eggs!

Our visit has been fantastic!  We have been so busy catching up with family and friends that unfortunately we have neglected our blog.  That will change soon since our visit is coming to an end.  Eddie leaves for Costa Rica on October 15 and I will return on October 28.

In the next few weeks, we will have a few more posts on our fun time in North Carolina.  So, be sure to check in with us!

Here we are with Erik, Jane and Mark, along with the 3 dogs, Susie, Rusty and Bud Jr.

A couple of weeks before Eddie and I left on our trip to North Carolina, we met a lovely couple, Chris and Rich, who live in the Uvita area. They built a home there about five years ago. We were talking with their builder about building our home and the builder arranged for us to look at Chris and Rich’s house. It’s a lovely home and we were very impressed with the quality. While we were looking at their home, Chris invited me to attend her macrame beading bracelet class. She and several other ladies meet every Saturday at a restaurant near Uvita where they make beaded bracelets and then have lunch. I had a delightful time and I managed to learn how to make a bracelet! I wasn’t able to finish it in one session, but managed to do so later. Even though I had a lot of fun, it’s about a 30 minute drive for me, so I probably won’t be able to attend every Saturday.

Having fun at beading class

My first bracelet

Shortly after we arrived back to Chapel Hill, we met up with Doug and Corrine for dinner at The Top of the Hill Restaurant in downtown Chapel Hill. Doug is our neighbor in Costa Rica! His house is 100 yards up the road from our lot. Turns out his daughter lives in Mebane, NC, which is about a 15 minute drive from our daughter’s home (where we stay when we are in Chapel Hill). Doug and Corrine were visiting their daughter in Mebane and we were able to have a lovely dinner with them in Chapel Hill. It’s a small world!!!

Doug, Corrine, Ellen & Eddie at Top of the Hill Restaurant in Chapel Hill

We are having a wonderful time visiting with our children, family and friends!!! It’s been a very busy visit so far…trying to catch up with everyone and squeezing in some shopping, too. It’s been great!