A Surprise Birthday Tea!

For Emily!!!!

Happy 19th birthday to the beautiful miss Emily

The Kempson Sisters: Lydia, Emily, Amanda and Sarah - sister time is so, absolutely fun and wonderful!!!

Emily truly was surprised! That was a bit of a trick because she's so involved in what's going on it's hard not to put something on without her catching a hint that something is in the works...

The ladies tea included: (from Left to Right) Meredith, Rosana, Sarah, Amanda, Emily, and Lydia

But don't let the lovely dresses mislead you! Meredith and our cousin Emily, the latter who couldn't make it, made all of our "Pride and Prejudice" dresses! But underneath all of those lovely patterns there sure is a lot of mischeivousness... we had such a blast together.

Happy Birthday Emily!!!!

Lilli and Margie

One of the things we have really been enjoying during our time here in the US is catching up with our nephew and nieces. It's amazing how FAST they grow up!

Margie is already 6 weeks old!

Lilli, Margie and their Daddy Josh

Lilli celebrated her 2nd birthday this week! The last time we saw her she was still so tiny, and now, she has truly developed her own unique personality.

At first, Lilli was a little unsure of Zio Zeno and Zia Amanda, but it didn't take long before she was making us laugh and laughing at us too!

A New Family!

Despite the thought that having a little baby wouldn't change their lives much, after Victoria has been around for only 5 days, Jared and Becca admit that she's a complete life changer for them! Aren't they an adorable family!?!?!?









Jared is a very proud Daddy... and Victoria Elise is truly content being loved on!














A little more admiration and love from Grandpa...















And Grandma....And Aunt Sarah!









And of course Zio Zeno and Zia 'Manda!

Can't give too many kisses!

She's Finally Here!!!

She's here!!! She's here!!!! The long awaited for Victoria!!!!

That's right!!! At around 4 in the afternoon Italian time, our victorious little new niece found her way into this big world after about 15 hours of work! Family and friends she'd never even met were cheering her on for hours. Victoria! Victoria!!! I can't wait to see you this weekend!

Welcome, welcome little one!

The Letter Box

There is something so wonderful and mysterious about envelopes and paper... and so precious and beautiful once they turn into letter and perhaps are even sealed with a wax seal! I could spend hours writting letters, hours going through a stationary shop, and yes, hours reading them too!!! I found this old antique chest in our house and found it to be just perfect for my written treasures....

Gerbera daisys are so happy!!! These were a thank you and farewell gift from our Jim and Kathy before they left to head back for the US. They're gorgeous... since we're going to the US too, and they still had a LOT of life and cheer in them, we brought them over to our friends to enjoy. Passing on the joy that was given to us.

Who Would Have Guessed!

Just this weekend, we had the opportunity to spend time with our Sunday school leaders, Jim and Kathy, from Indianapolis! It was a great surprise, and truly, a time of encouragement and relax given by the Lord. With them we were able to take Saturday and, after Jim and Zeno made a trip to the dump (Fun! Fun! Non every Italian tourist gets to see the dump!), we spend the afternoon seeing some of the sights of Milan. You would think Zeno and I’d already seen them all, but really, we don’t take time out of our schedule usually to site see in our own city. We saw the oldest church in Milan, we showed of the façade of the Duomo, and, we tried to see the Museum of Science and Industry, but it was closed… they’ll just have to come back for that one!

Walking around during the day, we all got good and dehydrated so we took an easy afternoon and napped and worked on light work. Then, we changed for a special dinner together at a magical Thai restaurant located near Milan’s old canals. It was just lovely, we were able to see the canal by night, show the spot where the women of Milan used to come and wash their cloths on stones near the canal, and most of all, we had beautiful, refreshing fellowship over delicious Thai food surrounded by an incredible atmosphere with the waiters and waitresses in traditional clothing and orchids… to top it all off, Kathy and I headed home with roses! One of which, Kathy bestowed upon a darling little girl who’s eyes lit up so bright as Kathy gifted her a princess rose.

Truly, friends are a gift from God!

The Gas Man Cometh...

THE GAS MAN COMETH!

flanders and swann

'Twas on a Monday morning the gas man came to call.
The gas tap wouldn't turn - I wasn't getting gas at all.
He tore out all the skirting boards to try and find the main
And I had to call a carpenter to put them back again.
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do.

'Twas on a Tuesday morning the carpenter came round.
He hammered and he chiselled and he said:
"Look what I've found: your joists are full of dry rot
But I'll put them all to rights".
Then he nailed right through a cable and out went all the lights!
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do.

'Twas on a Wednesday morning the electrician came.
He called me Mr. Sanderson, which isn't quite the name.
He couldn't reach the fuse box without standing on the bin
And his foot went through a window so I called the glazier in.
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do.
'Twas on a Thursday morning the glazier came round
With his blow torch and his putty and his merry glazier's song.
He put another pane in - it took no time at all
But I had to get a painter in to come and paint the wall.
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do.

'Twas on a Friday morning the painter made a start.
With undercoats and overcoats he painted every part:
Every nook and every cranny - but I found when he was gone
He'd painted over the gas tap and I couldn't turn it on!
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do.
On Saturday and Sunday they do no work at all;
So 'twas on a Monday morning that the gasman came to call...

The Day Zeno had to Carry Me Down the Mountain

What a beautiful and exciting Saturday!!!

We are going to hike up the Val Roseg - the same valley we hiked in the winter when our Dad and Mom from the US came to visit us!

Oh! It's so great to be-be-be a bea-ver, to be a big achi-chi-chi a-chiever, there's no job to big for me! I just do it, tree by tree, oh! It's so great to beeeeeeee, a beaver!

Compared to when we hiked the valley February of 2007, we made great progress without the snow and reached the point we'd made it to with Dad and Mom in approximately 1/2 the time! The valley is gorgeous even without the snow... though, you can see it's never completely without snow. It sticks quite well to the mountain tops and though the glacier is slowly melting, it's still there big as life!

Gorgous day!

Marvelous puffy clouds you wish you could go up and jump in!

We hiked to a mountain lake at the top of the valley just underneath the glacier and had our lunch of panini! It was about this time that I'd noticed the big toe on my left foot was causing me a LOT of pain... a good look at it revealed it was swollen like a baloon, red, warm and very tender to the touch.... uh, oh....

The Mountain Lake fed by the Glacier at the top of the Valley!

After all that walking I need a good drink!

Ahhhhh, refreshing!

Hmmmmmm... nothing like SanPelegrino!

Amore, do you mind! Can't I even drink in peace!?!

NOPE!

Good thing the SanPelegrino was so refreshing... it turned out that on the way down, Zeno ended up carrying me on his shoulders for a good part of the way! We made it back just as it started to rain. Whew! We made it to a little mountain lodge, and as it rained outside, Zeno was treated to a well deserved beer while I warmed up with a cup of tea with honey.

NEVER a dull moment with A&Z! Tune in next time for... well, we'll find out together won't we!