A Quick Update - Happy Birthday Ethan!

Hello!!  So sorry I haven't updated in almost 3 weeks!  I've been rather busy, but I'm back at it again now! c;


Let me tell ya what I've been up to in these last couple of weeks. :)


First, my sister Christi and my brother-in-law, Robby were babysitting their nieces and nephews, Hutson, Elizabeth and Meredith...  I adore those kids, they are precious and so much fun. :)

↓ Tootin' the horn; made from a wiffle ball bat. ↓ 

Dad and Hutson, gettin' their golf on...

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Next in my turn of events (at least the one's documented in images), we (being my Dad & Robby) built a run-in stall for our cow! (which I will get to a bit later) We (Mom, Christi and I) cleared in front of the stall, a large stack of wood, that was left by the previous owner of our home... We moved it to the other side of the barn, only to find out that we will have to move half of it again, because it will be in the way of a fence. *sigh* Well anyways.. nevermind that... d;
Here is an image of the run-in, or "lean-to" stall.

 Where the two ladders are, there will be a door to the stall inside. :) ↓

 It wasn't on purpose, but where the ladder is in this picture is also where the door will go. Apparently that is subconsciously the way we mark where doors will go. d;

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Also, between this time was the 28th Anniversary of my parent's wonderful marriage. :)

To celebrate it, my sisters and I turned our house into an Italian Bed & Breakfast for them. Included was a homemade 3 course lunch, a 5 course dinner, and of course, breakfast in the morning. :)
Christi and Jessica did the cooking, I did everything else... mweehehe d;

Poor Theodore was stung by, what we assume was a bee, half of his face was puffed up pretty bad all day. He was bed-ridden for the rest of the day, and the swelling went down completely by morning. :)

Now, Mom & Dad want go to Italy for their anniversary someday, so that is why we chose this theme.  :)  It was fun... we even acted like we didn't know them and had accents. hahaha 

 First up is Lunch... 

These are called Pizzettes, which are small pizzas.
Which was served along with a small salad.  
They were DELICIOUS!! :)
 
First was the Garlic, Rosemary, Parmesan Pizzette

Dad seemed to be enjoying his.. d;

Next is the Ground Beef, Onion, Gouda Pizzette

And last but not least, the Mozzarella, Basil, Tomato Pizzette. :)

Of course, Dad had to make a face with his... =P

Now for the dessert...
Lampone Sorbetto
Which was a delicious Raspberry Sorbet. :)

After lunch, Mom and Dad rode around on the tractor, sight seeing... Surprisingly enough, Italy looks very similar to our own backyard!! c;

While they were out, we prepared for dinner. :)

This was to the left of the table. Their cake topper and an engraved goblet from their wedding day. :)

Jessica made these breadsticks for them and I put them on this "fake" salad, to be served with their real salads. d;

The 28th Anniversary gift is Orchid, so we got them two orchids. We set one out for lunch, and brought the other out for dinner. :)

This is the one we put out for lunch. ↓

I made this sign with chalkboard paint, a while ago, for my cousin's bridal shower... I've had many uses out of it... today, it says
Italia B&B
Amore Orchidea Letto e Prima Colazione *e caffè. 
Which means, The Love Orchid Bed and Breakfast and Café
(*yeah, I forgot to add the café part on the sign.) =P

Here is the orchid I drew in chalk... That wasn't easy. =P

The lovely breadsticks, made by Jessica, and the wine bottle, which was Christi's idea, made this look very Italian... It took pretty much all day to make the candle drip down like that. I had to help it along because it was taking so much time, and then we replaced the candle and started again until it was at the correct hight. It's lovely, don't you think? :)

And the lovely couple. :) Very ready for dinner after their long day of exploring Nutbu--- Italy... c; 

The First Course:
l'antipasti
(The Appetizer)
 
Melanzane alla CampagolaCountry Style Marinated Eggplant 

The Second Course:
 Insalate
(Salad)
 Insalate Con Rucola e Parmigiano
Arugula, Fennel, and Parmesan Salad

Yeah, we kinda forgot to put these on their salad before sending it out... but, hey! At least we got it out before they were finished! d;

The Third Course:
Frutti di Mare
(Seafood)


Gambretto e Pettini 
Grilled Shrimp and Scallops, with Tomatos & Cream. 

The Fourth Course:
Manzo
(Beef)

Bistecca Marsala con Timballo Verde 
Steak Marsala with Vegetable Timbale 

The Fifth Course:
il Delizioso Dessert
(The Yummy Dessert)

Cioccolata Calda
 Italian Hot Chocolate

Obviously, this was my favorite course. c;
It was wonderful... after all they were finished, which was about three hours after they started, we ate our dinner and headed to bed. :)

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Goodmorning! It's breakfast time! :D

I changed up the scenery a bit... and changed the lights on the screen to smaller ones, (instead of the caffè lights) and we had the door open to let the nice breeze drift through. :)
Of course, you can't let a meal go by without chickens on the table. Haha, I just thought it was fitting for breakfast... having eggs and all. c; 

Desayuno
(Breakfast)


Castagnole Fritte Venetian Ciambelle con Fragola Salsa
Venetian Doughnuts with a Strawberry Dipping Sauce

And

Asparagi alla Fiorentina con crema salsa e Pancetta
Fiorentina Asparagus with a cream sauce & bacon 

We had a wonderful time creating this for you
Mom & Dad!  Happy Anniversary! :)


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Next is this past Sunday... Easter...  I had a wonderful time with my cousins, Anna, Ethan, Camille, Corbin, and Eli! :) 
I only wish it could have lasted longer, as our time together is always fairly short.

Speaking of these peoples! Today is a very special day for one in particular... So,
Happy Birthday Ethan!! Hope you've had a wonderful day and it continues with a wonderful week! :D
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Some of these images were taken by my mini-accomplice, Eli. →
 He did a wonderful job!  :D

Although I wish he had not been persuaded to delete a lot of the images he took. *coughcorbincough*

But that's alright, I love the ones I have, though I was a bit disappointed to see that the pictures of Camille and I spinning around were gone. :\  Oh well. (;
Eli began by taking everyone's picture...

↑ Aunt Jenifer &
 Uncle Rod →









← Granddad



  







Ethan and I...  Now, as sad as it is, I realized that it took us 15 years to have a single picture of just the two of us! Haha, so here it is...
& of course, it would look like this. ↓  d;

 Welcome, welcome!
Grandmom & Granddad's home is always welcoming...
With or without these adorable signs. (;











Love this one... Wish we had one of all six of us though... maybe next time. :)

 I can never keep a straight face. =P

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Ah, the birthday boy... in his natural habitat. c;

 And Eli in his... Hah! The tree looks so proper. "Excuse me sir, but please get off my branch."

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Ethan stepped on a dead limb... it fell... on Camille.
Yeah, She wasn't too happy about that. 
But she was alright. d;

 And there be the stick!! ↓ O-O

 Me, laughing at Ethan, who was deliberately not smiling (or facing) the camera.

Such a lovely garden. :)

 Le Gasp! A present! :D
A late Christmas gift from ze lovely Anna. :)

 Isn't this beautiful?! I have been wearing it ever since...  I love it. c:

 Corbin... In deep thought, I can only assume.


Miss Anna Banana again. c:

Uh-Oh... Egg huntin' time!!

 Uh, I do believe Ethan was holding an egg out for you guys... Guess not. d;

 

Brother & Sisterly love...

Eh...

 Maybe not. d;

 ...Such a loving sister. hehe c;

  
Ah, and here we have Corbin... making possibly the most annoying sound I've ever heard in my life. Haha!  Though I must say, it was quite hilarious how he just.... never.... stopped! o-o
Haha, and then Ethan joined in... I think that was about the time when I slipped away quietly. d;

 ...Anna followed behind quickly...

 Wish I had more photos from that day.  It was fun.
Hopefully there will be more to come soon. :)




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And lastly, we went to visit West Wind Farm and there, we found our cow!  We believe we shall call her SweetPea... But we haven't decided for sure yet. :)  
And she is due to calf in May... We're pretty excited about that. c:

 This ↓ is SweetPea's Moma... Her name is Lily. :)

 Now, isn't she a pretty thing? :)
  I wonder if SweetPea's calf will be more this coloring, or more her own color.

...Back to SweetPea...

 Getting kisses from the other cow. :)

 Some of the other cows, they were so sweet... they wanted to give us kisses! =P

 "Give us a kiss"

 Cows always look like they talk so proper. haha

 This cow... I can't remember her name, was apparently very happy.  We were told that when they "wag" their tongues, it's like when a dog wags their tail. =P

 Haha, so cute. =P

 We had a pleasant trip, learned some very useful knowlage, and are happy to announce that we will be the proud owners of Miss SweetPea, very soon! :)

I will definitely update when she gets here, with images of her arrival! :)

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Melissa♥Honeybee