Celebrating 25 years

Philip and I celebrated our 25th anniversary on March 2. But since Philip's dad got married in March, we had no chance to really celebrate. But the children wanted to make sure we didn't let the occasion slip by, so they purchased tickets to a surprise destination (well, Philip knew where we were going, but I didn't).  So on June 18th, I got on a plane with Philip for... Pisa, Italy! We spent an afternoon in Pisa, and then went on to Florence by train. This was a special destination because we had visited Florence quickly on our honeymoon 25 years earlier, and had always planned on going back.
Stéphane has a friend from the Doulos living in Florence, so she met us at the train station and took us to the church that was letting us use their apartment for missionaries. And the next three days were like a dream! Florence is such a beautiful place! We have lots and lots of pictures, so just stop scrolling down when you are tired of seeing photos of Florence!

Battistero in Pisa (the tower is in the back right)

Copy of David in Florence

 Ponto Vecchio

 Being silly!

 Battistero and Duomo in Florence

 Church on Sunday (couldn't understand much, but singing to God in Italian was fun!)

 We enjoyed trying the famous gelato

 Scooters are everywhere, and always parked like this.

 We are used to open-air markets in France, but they were beautiful in Florence!

Back to blogging?

I have decided that I should catch up on blogging, but am not sure how. I am a very chronological person. (Can I say that?) I can't imagine putting pictures in an album in any order other than chronological, almost down to the minute they were taken! So how do I go about catching up on 8 months of life on the farm? Start where I left off? Start in November, and go backwards?
I think I will just start with the most exciting things that happened this year and go from there! But it will be a real stretch for me to blog "out of order!"

Meet the Newlyweds

We hoped to surprise a few people by putting up the wedding pictures without too much information. It worked!! Of course, the wedding date was picked and the wedding prepared in short order, so it's not like we had lots of time to get everyone up to date!

So, now for a bit more info. Bill is Philip's dad, who was a widower after Sophie, his wife, went to heaven in 2008. He is 81 in case anyone is wondering! We are both hoping to be in as good of health as he is when WE are 80.

Stella went to Prairie Bible Institute at the same time as Bill did 60 years ago. Bill even proposed to Stella back then! But it was not to be. (Philip had to be born, or this blog would not even exist!) Stella was a missionary, lived in Quito, Ecuador part of her life and sang on the radio in Ukrainian.

They met again last year when Bill was in Canada, and decided they ought to get married. So they did! They probably set some kind of record! Getting married 60 years after proposing!

Wedding in the family

Weddings are great times to take pictures!!! We were missing Jérémie and Peter so we couldn't take any good family photos, but here are a few taken on March 6, 2010. If you didn't know someone was getting married, that is normal. We only had about a month to plan this wedding. And if you don't know WHO got married, the pictures tell the story!

 Of course the girls were thrilled that someone was getting married. Finally a chance to be flower girls. The boys played along, but they were a little less thrilled.

They sang several songs in honor of the bride and groom.

In France, the church has no authority to marry a couple. So a wedding in France has two steps. First stop, the town hall, where the couple is officially married by the mayor.

Bill and Stella with the mayor.

Bill and Stella with 6 boys.

Instant Grandma!!! Bill and Stella with some of the 31 grandkids.

Cousins! If there is a baby in the room, Mélanie is probably holding it!

Stéphane with his uncle Timothée.

The happy couple.

Kittens (aka Baby Rabbits!)

It is once again spring time (well, almost!!) and the babies have started arriving. The prettiest babies on the farm (other than our human babies) are definitely the rabbits! Stéphane started the rabbit business years ago, and it is now run by Peter and Nathan.

Sushi time!

Stéphane and his cousin, Rachel, have been planning a sushi party for some time. They very graciously made enough to feed an army, OUR army! The idea of eating raw fish doesn't appeal to me, but it is surprisingly sweet, and not fishy.

Grandpa Bill helped a bit with the fillets.

And the finished product! Too pretty to eat!!! (For the purists, we know that eggrolls are not Japanese...but just in case the sushi wasn't tasty...)

Aren't they fancy?