Aparna's Indian Cuisine and her Birthday Present

Aparna invited friends Sally and Pete to their home for authentic Indian cuisine. We had really enjoyed ourselves at their home celebrating the Marathi New Year and so we knew that Sally and Pete were in for a treat. Aparna being the sweet person that she is felt bad that she hadn't also invited us to join, so she invited us as well. I told her to enjoy Sally and Pete, but she insisted we come.......and so we did. All I can say is that Aparna is quite the cook, seriously fantastic. The kids really enjoyed themselves and the adults, well, we had as much fun as the kids.

Aparna's hard work. Everything made from scratch.

Me as I am about to tear into my dinner.

Sally enjoying a fantastic mango drink that they serve to guests in India in the summer. Being that I am allergic to mangoes I had to salivate over everyone else enjoying their unique beverage as I threw back a diet Coke.

Aparna is a vegetarian, but she made a chicken dish for our dinner. Everything was good.

Pete and Sally

John, me, and Prashant

Oh yeah, and the next day was Aparna's Birthday. Yes, she was feeding us all on the eve of her Birthday. Can you believe it? For Aparna's Birthday I made her an apron :) I thought it would be perfect for her, cute little thing that she is.

Friends

All of us with the exception of Liam. Surprised? Trying to get him to join the picture was like trying to herd cats.......impossible.

After we finished eating we were entertained by a show of dancing and music from the girls. I laughed my fool head off. I adore these little piglets, they are each so different and yet beautiful and special.

It is so nice being invited over to someone's home for dinner. We laughed and chatted and learned a lot about each others different cultures and different ways of doing things. I really enjoy learning about new things and developing friendships with such kind and caring people. Thanks Aparna for taking the time and putting forth the work to make a spectacular feast and have us over. xx

Our 4th of July Celebration!

I have said it before and I will say it again, the 4th of July is one of my most favourite holidays! I love the parades, the BBQ's, the pool, and the fireworks. I am proud to be an American and I love my country and my heritage. America is a great big melting pot and that is why this Swede in Twede can call herself an American. John's family is originally British and mine is Swedish and British. They came to America for a better life, religious freedoms, and land.........and that is exactly what they got. I am so grateful. Sooooo seeing that I am very patriotic, living in another country on your beloved Independence Day can kinda suck. But thankfully we have AWESOME friends who put on their Patriotic and joined us. John and I did a BBQ and wouldn't ya know, the Patriot Gods were with us. It did NOT rain, which is nothing short of a miracle. I asked our guests to bring a salad and a mighty feast we had.

Anya and Aparna. Anya is from St. Petersburg, Russia and is married to Troy, a Yankee from Montana. Anya and Troy are in the process of trying to get back to the US (long story), and we are praying and crossing our fingers and toes for their sake that they will be able to return to their home sooner than later. Aparna and her family are from India and come to the UK from Singapore, we were so happy that they could also join us in our festivities.

Uncle Fred has been working in Brighton and forked out the cost of petrol to come join us "Yanks" in celebrating the 4th. We LOVE Uncle Fred and are up for any excuse really to hang out with him :)

Lisha is on the left and is also from the US, Aparna (middle), and Sally (right) is my Kiwi. Sally comes to us from New Zealand, but she lived in NYC for a few years so I count her as being American ;) 

I love these girls.

Anya and Troy

Pete is from the UK and is married to Sally, a most fantastic pair they are. We really enjoy the time we spend with Sally and Pete.

Uncle Fred had to head out before the firework show. We are sending him off so that he can get back to Brighton by a reasonable hour.

Mary is more than a friend and has really become like family. We love her GUTS! Mary is such a great friend and neighbour, a definite blessing in my life. 

Anya and Troy's darling daughter Riley shakin' her groove thang.

Vogue

The kiddo's

We had a great time chatting and munching. When Aparna left she said that she didn't feel like a stranger among our friends, I was thrilled. I love when people feel comfortable in social settings where they don't know everyone there.

Aparna and Prashant

Mr. Hot Stuff

Ryder "Joy" as I call him and Riley

The younger girls sneaked up to Ads room and partied like crazy animal princess'.

Lovely friends

Bottle rockets :)

The kids loved the bottle rockets and crackle balls and we were grateful that Troy brought his fireworks to share with us.

Sally and Lauren did a craft and made Lauren an American flag shirt. Isn't it fab?! 

Me, John, Troy, and Anya

Me, John, Prashant, and Aparna

Emma, Lisha, and Me

Hubby and Me.

Sally and Pete and Lauren headed out before we caught a picture with their family. We had such a great time and were grateful for fun friends to celebrate with. It is tradition for our family to do 4th of July pictures, so we were happy to catch many a photo in our red, white, and blue. It's amazing how celebrating some of your traditions with friends helps to ease the sadness of being away from home. We had a great 4th and are now getting settled into the summer that we are yet to have.

Strawberry Picking

Today after school Aparna asked me if we wanted to go strawberry picking because it was such a nice day. When we get a nice day here in the UK we like to take full advantage of it, so the answer was yes and we were off.

The kids were so excited to pick strawberry's and Aparna and I were very clear with the kids about just how many strawberry's they were allowed to pick. Picking your own strawberry's though fun is not cheap.

I was surprised by just how big the field of strawberry's was! Lots and lots of strawberry's that were big and beautiful and red. I had to hover over William so that I didn't end up spending £4.00 in green berries.

Ads so pleased with her strawberry picking.

Yummo! I ended up making some strawberry jam, which John and I gobbled up before the kids could have some........the kids had plenty of berries on the ride home.

Aparna with her berries.

Our cute girlies.

Most of our time walking to and from the fields was spent waiting for Liam to take on and off his shoes and shake the dirt out of them. The little stinker can't stand to have a grain of sand in his shoe or he freaks out. Such a funny little kid.

Thanks to Aparna for suggesting this activity on this gorgeous day, the kids loved it and I really enjoyed myself too.