Théo & Fiona Loves | Age 1 through 7!!!

It is hard to believe that so much time has passed and so we try to enjoy it to the fullest. But how did those kiddos grow so big already! Like everyone we can have that moment where we'll struggle with a situation but oh my!, our two children are just THE best we could have ever imagine. Time goes by but we still love you so much, like the first day we met you Théo and Fiona.

Blizzard of January 2016

We had to wait a long time for this season's first snowfall but it did not disappoint! We indeed see the blizzard everyone announced arrived and nearly got 3 feet of snow!
Despite all the hard work it took to plow the snow and clear cars and driveways, it's a real treat to see the beautiful scenery of the white powder. And the kids love it...especially Théo! Looking forward to building another giant snowman and try to make it even bigger than the one of last year... 

Christmas at 19!

Here comes the time to celebrate again love, joy, family, laughter...

It all started with the visit of Santa earlier this month for a first trip to let the kids the have to keep being well behaved and he will come back on the magical night of December 24th to bring a lot more toys to treasure.

So Théo started to work on his list and we made sure to send it out on time so Santa will be prepared to go out shopping around the corner of his favorite malls of New Jersey.

The rest was another fun night of celebration at home with the family and staying cozy and enjoying the spirit of Christmas.

Happy Birthday... to Us!

In addition to the end of the year festivities, the month of December is alwasy a bit more special to us since we also celebrate our birthdays...mine first, followed by Rachel's only a few days later...

So here we go, another year older we wish to have a very good year until our next brithday and that all of us will remain in good health. Happy birthday Rachel

Weekend in Long Valley and Pumpkin Picking

It's been a (very) long break since the last post on June 15th but I am motivated to be back on track. We'll try to make up the lost time by publishing soon some posts that should have been published a while ago this summer but have simply gone missing as I took a step away from the blog until now.
So we'll start today with our little visit in Long Valley and a little trip to the Cider Mill where we like to go from time to time. We took advantage of a not so unusual beautiful day to go pumpkin picking at the Cider Mill...

And after this great deal of effort it took us to find the perfect pumpkin for Théo and Fiona, nothing better than one of those delicious apple cider donut. Very moist yet so crunchy on the outside. Simply divine... but watch out to not eat too many of those...I doubt they are on the healthy side!
 
Here a few extra pcitures of this wonderful afternoon:

Applicious!

This is the time of the year where we got to think about recipes and what to do with the 20lbs of apples we were going to bring back from the farm.

We shared the experience with Damien and Sylvia who just arrived in the U.S. this past Summer and so we wanted to show them a little bit of the countryside.
We were supposed to be hit by a not so nice weather but by the time we got there, we had a beautiful sunshine which allowed us to enjoy a place not overcrowded like it could be at times. Théo enjoyed picking the apples and he actually picked every single one of the apples we brought back.
And so we were ready to turn the heat on in the kitchen to get a good use of our apples: applesauce,  tarte tatin, a new recipe for a side dish that calls for red cabbage/apples/lardons.... and of course a few to eat just as is because they are so fresh and crisp...

Théo Loves | 5

Fiona Loves | 1

After Théo it is now Fiona's turn to get her yearly photo....

The Graduate

Théo started preschool 3 years ago and today was already his last day of school and here he was, with his diploma in his hand, ready to start kindergarten next year!

Thank you to all his teachers he had since he started at Calvary for all their support in guiding him throughout his first years in the school system (Ms. Kristina, Ms. Lisa, Ms. Marybeth, Ms. Dena et Ms. Tracy).

We are so very proud of what you've already done Théo bug. Keep it up...

A French Tour

I wasn't sure how to begin this post and was a little worried about getting lost in my thoughts. So I thought that in the end a little video would work perfectly to sum up our great trip in France: a beautiful wedding in Brittany, driving down South to our beloved place in Piolenc, and of course, a stay in Chilly to enjoy our family and friends.
Let's grab some popcorn and let the show begin... (I would recommend watching directly on the vimeo site as the embedded version here lost the HD quality, which is annoying as I would love to keep the HD version without leaving my page)