big, biG, BIG News....

What a whirlwind past 3 days we have had in our household!

After 48 hrs of contemplation, we happily decided to be

the host family for a 16 yr old boy from

France!

I would proudly like to introduce to you our "son" from France Tom.

Our daughter became friends with him at school right away.

Tom is very musically inclined and plays beautiful guitar, as well as other instruments, which we haven't had the opportunity to have him play for us yet in the short period of time he has been with us. Mallory is quite musically inclined as well, and has taught herself how to play guitar.

She has not been playing quite as long as Tom, but with the same interest I'm sure they will have alot of fun "jamming" together, as they put it!

It was quite a busy weekend for Tom as well. Not only did he change host families right after school on Friday, but he also attended only his 2nd football game that night, which was our Homecoming game (sadly we lost)....and also experiencing the whole dynamic of a group of friends coming over the next day, sharing a meal together in our Home, having pictures taken, and then attending only his 2nd dance at a school, only this time everyone had to

"dress-up" for the occasion.

I think fun was had by all!

A few of Mallory's friends met up at our Home to get ready together.

Then we all met at our local museum for pictures. Unfortunately it was

freezing cold and windy out that day. But, they braved the weather to get some really

pretty pictures with all their friends. Notice how we parents are dressed alittle bit warmer!

A nice photo of

Tom and Mallory on the steps of the museum.

Tom has a younger brother back home and Mallory has 2 sisters.

So this will be an experience for all of us!

After all the photos were taken, the whole group headed back to our Home

for a meal prepared by my wonderful husband. He is bar-none a way better

chef then I will ever claim to be and actually enjoys doing it.

Especially for special occasions like this for his family!

We decorated the Dining Room for the kids, we had a group of 8 total

(4 boys/4 girls), the perfect amount for our table. A little candle light

helped make it seem more grown-up and special!

~Beverages~

Assorted French Sparkling Lemonades



Of course, the meal started with the salad first....

~Salad~

Fresh tomato with balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, French salt and fresh pepper

Romaine lettuce topped with red and yellow peppers and an English white cheddar

Sliced sopresata and grilled crostini

Vinaigrette made with balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, olive oil and Dijon mustard

~Pasta~
Penne pasta with a bolognese sauce, topped with fresh basil,

italian parsley and parmesan reggiano, served with cheese garlic baguette

(The boys had seconds, must mean they liked it!)

~Dessert~

Sugar cookie topped with cookie dough ice cream

rolled in toasted vanilla cookie crumbs,

served on a chocolate fudge sauce

Or as they kids would say they had

Salad, Pasta and Dessert!

~Great group of friends~

Then after their meal, it was off for a night of fun and dancing!

A new experience for Tom. One that I think he enjoyed very much, although,

he claims he can not dance....ha, ha, I bet!

Welcome Tom!

We hope your stay with us for this school year is all that

you hope it to be! We are happy to make you a part of our family!