~Our Valentine's Dinner at our house 2015~

~HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!~

This is the 3rd time now that we have gotten to have U. Charlie and A. Yoli over for Valentine's day.  :-)
The first time was in 2012, when we had really just met them.  You can click this link to see...Our Valentines dinner at our first apt. in 2012!
Valentine's 2013 we were in Colombia!
You can click this link to see our Valentine's dinner with U. Charlie and A. Yoli here in Argentina in 2014!
Since then, we have developed such a fun friendship with them and we LOVE THEM to pieces!  :-)
They and their brother Mr. Willie are graciously loaning us their parents' beautiful home, so we wanted to have them over again for a Valentine's dinner and to TRY to Thank them for all their kindness to our family!!

After my fall on Monday, A. Yoli called to check on me, and told me over the phone that we could post-pone the dinner, but I told her that Jesus would help me and we were really looking forward to having them over. :-)
Jesus REALLY DID help me as I got ready for the dinner.
On Tuesday I was sore, and on Wednesday, I could hardly MOVE...but with Jesus and my family's help...I was able to get ALL the goodies made that I wanted to get made for the dinner.  :-)

Please enjoy the pics of our wonderful evening together last night with DEAR UNCLE CHARLIE AND AUNT YOLI!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
  ~I love my little white chalkboard I brought with me last time and...I LOVE MY FAMILY!! :-) ~

 Last time I was here in Argentina I was telling A. Yoli how much I LOVED bird cages and lanterns.  Aunt Yoli said, "Well, there is an old bird cage in the back building that my mother-in-law used for her birds, if you want to use it to decorate with you may."
So, I went out there and found this cute little green birdcage.
Well, the other day, I got up the nerve to ask if they minded if I painted it white.  :-)  A. Yoli said that she didn't care!
So, I got busy with some left-over spray paint (that we used to paint the little flower basket that Mary carried in the wedding last May) and got it NEARLY white before I ran out of paint.  :-)  We couldn't get any more paint before our Valentine's dinner, but it at least looked "sort of white" for my table! :-)
~Here I am before I painted it.~

 ~I wanted to make 2 fresh cherry pies, so my Sweetheart made me a tool out of an old fork to "take the pit out of the cherries!"  You just poke those 2 fork tines into the bottom of the cherry, hook the seed, and pull out the seed.  BUT BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WEAR...for there will be juice squirting out while you are pitting the cherries. :-)
Sarah, Noah, and Phillip took turns pitting the cherries. ~

 

 ~One pie ready for the oven!~

 ~Both cherry pies done! :-)~

 ~Mary "helped" me knead the rolls.~

~Phillip and Sarah helped me gather fresh flowers from our backyard to put around the house.~

 There is a lot of European influence here in Argentina.
Last time I was here, someone asked me if I had ever made French Macaron cookies.  I had seen pictures of them, but had never eaten them, that I remember, nor had I ever made them.
So this time, I decided I wanted to try making some.  Jesus helped me and they turned out yummy!
~Here are my light pink French Macaron cookies with red raspberry jam filling!~

 ~I LOVE my little white covered cake stand that Phillip got me last year...And my little wooden Tea box that holds tea bags that says, "The teas of the world" in French :-) ~

 ~Melt in your mouth...deliciousness... my family LOVED THEM and quickly became my FAN! :-) ~

 ~Here is the kids' table.  If our big table would have been bigger we could have set them at our table, but since it wasn't, we tried to make their table festive too. :-) ~

 ~I set the French Macaron cookies on the up-side-down coffee cups and put a little banner in them with each persons' name...as the place setting. ~

~And I hung this cute little cheap pink and white banner up to make the kid's table and dinning room more festive. ~

 ~I have future plans for this banner...so you will be seeing it again shortly.  :-) ~

 ~I used their baby sister Abigail's picture and my LOVE sign from Target last year as part of their table decor.~

 ~And here are my (and Mary's) dinner rolls!~

 ~Elijah and Mary made Valentine's cards for U. Charlie and A. Yoli and our family.
This is Elijah's card.  Notice the LIPS! :-) ~

~This is Mary's card.  She drew an Argentine flag on hers.~

 ~And here's my MOSTLY WHITE bird cage.  I was happy with it on my table.  :-)
I put fresh pink flowers from our back yard in my WHITE TEA POT inside the bird cage.~

 ~I used the same pink flowers and put them in 3 coke bottles next to my chalkboard.~

 ~While in Colombia we all had bad COLDS, so we bought a box of Kleenex tissues for our room.  When I saw these 2 LOVE BIRDS on a box of Kleenex I KNEW I had to have THAT BOX!
When we finished the box, I just COULD NOT throw them away. :-)
They reminded me of Phillip and I.  :-) 
So, I cut them off the Kleenex box and brought them with me to Argentina...and framed them.~

 ~I brought several pics of our family with me from the USA.  But, I needed inexpensive frames!
The other day we went to a Chinese variety store (like a dollar store) and Jesus helped me find these CHEAPLY MADE frames for CHEAP!  YEA! ~

 ~If you'll notice frame #1 and #5.... both are "TWO LOVE BIRDS!"  :-D ~

 ~U. Charlie's father is a very good artist.  He has drawn/written all the Chinese writings you see in this house, including this LARGE one.
Incredible!~

 ~This is are LATEST Valentine...baby Abigail. :-) These 2 pics are similar, but in this one she is slightly smiling, and you can sort of see her dimple in her right cheek.~

 ~This is her dress from Aunt Yamile in Colombia.~

 ~So here's our table!
I found these cute little China plates with pink flowers on them here in the house, so I included them in our tablescape.
The pink plates are just cheap re-usable plastic ones, but they add a fun touch of color. :-) ~

 ~Sarah's Macaron cookie with her name.~

 ~Fun and festive.~

 ~Pinks and whites, lace and frills.~

 ~Kimberly's little cookie and name.~

 ~U. Charlie and A. Yoli and our family.  Our Family LOVES U. Charlie and A. Yoli!!~

 ~U. Charlie and A. Yoli with 3 of our children.  The kids LOVE U. Charlie and A. Yoli, and LOVE when they come to visit!!!  (See below for the goodies they brought the kids and our family! :-)~

 ~We served:
a jello salad appetizer, Mashed Potatoes and gravy, Chicken Cordon Blue, Steamed Zucchini and onions, homemade lemonade, ...~

 ~a salad, and homemade rolls,
and for dessert...

 ~homemade cherry pie and vanilla ice cream, and coffee! ~

~And Baby Abigail got her FIRST bite of real food.  Mashed potatoes. :-) ~

 ~U. Charlie teaching Noah how to use chop sticks.~

 ~Noah eating ONE OF THE TREATS that U. Charlie and A. Yoli brought!  YUMMY!~

 ~U. Charlie and Abigail snugglin'!~

 ~A.Yoli gave Baby Abigail 3 CUTE onesies and a nice burp cloth.
This onesie that Abigail is wearing says, "Oh, Canada!"
Some of A. Yoli's family live in Canada. :-)~

 ~They brought us several nice gifts, and look at that yummy ice cream they brought!!!  :-) ~

 We had a wonderful evening together!
Thank you, U. Charlie and A. Yoli for coming over....our Valentine's dinner was so special because it Included Y'all!!  :-)
~Heather~