"Comand them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life"

- 1 Timothy 6:18,19

What an amazing weekend we had with Ellie. She was truly a blessing from above!


I met Ellie Friday afternoon. Her "family" had to leave early for their daughters football game, so I met her about 3:30 and brought her back to Fun Source to work for our last hour. Yes, I introduced her to the world of inflatables. No, she didn't get to jump in one, but I did reassure her to wait until Noah's birthday party! There will definitely be some jumping going on there! HAHA!


We headed home after work to meet Keith, Noah, my mom and of course, Maggie. I for-warned Ellie about Maggie - told her that Maggie would be excited at first but would then settle down. And that is exactly what she did. If you have read Maggie's blog, then you now that Maggie and Ellie shared a blanket. I told Ellie that was a true sign that Maggie has welcomed and accepted her into the family. Noah liked Ellie also. He showed her all of the "hikes" that he has (ie: footballs) and showed her his slide. He even walked her to her bedroom and showed her how he can get on her bed.


 We took Ellie out to eat that night - and boy was that an experience. It is always an experience going out to eat with Noah. Ellie had not had the opportunity to experience a true hamburger so we went to Red Robin. I think we overwhelmed her with amount of choices. We enjoyed a great meal and just a time of getting to know each other. After dinner we headed to Target -- I had to get a gift for a baby shower. Ellie had never been to or heard of a baby shower. I explained to her that it was a time of giving gifts for the expectant mother - I had to explain that it was not giving the baby a physical shower. They do not have baby showers or teas in Italy. Instead, they go to the home of the baby following the birth and visit with the family and new baby and take their gift then. It sounds like a "Sip-n-See", which is not very common in the South.


Saturday was a great day - once it got started. Noah woke up early which in turn woke up Ellie. I felt so bad for him waking her up. She said that she slept well (which was a relief because I always worry about that!!) She was excited to sleep in the queen sized bed because she had never slept in a bed that size. I knew she would be comfy because she is so tall!


We headed to the Galleria so that I could participate in a Flash Mob for Breast Cancer Awareness. The link is on youtube so I will find it and post it on here. We enjoyed lunch at the Galleria following the flash mob but that is about as far as Noah would let us go. He had been up so long at this point that he was ill as a hornet! I promised Ellie a better trip to the Galleria, probably Noah-less and we could shop all day long!! We took Noah and Keith home, met Nina and Papaw there, left Papaw and took Nina to the baby shower with us.


Saturday night was filled with Domino's Pizza, Alabama vs Florida football game (which Bama dominated in) and fireworks from the neighbor at halftime. YES - I fed Ellie Domino's Pizza. Dorinda laughed asking if I was seriously feeding an Italian Domino's pizza and yes I did! She liked it though. AND - would you guess that Ellie and I like the exact same pizza?? Ham and pineapple - YUM!!


Sunday was filled with church and lunch with the family. I introduced Ellie to Huffman Baptist and then we went to Irondale Cafe for lunch. Keith's family joined us for lunch which was such a joy for them to spend some time with her. Nina and Papaw joined us as well as a couple of people from Papaw's church. Mrs. Rosemary was dying to meet Ellie since her family was originally from Italy. Her mom and dad were actually born there.


Sunday afternoon as relax day. Saturday was SO crazy that we were exhausted on Sunday. Dorinda, Meghan and Katelynn came over to spend some time with us. Poor Ellie, she tried to study but Meghan and I wanted to show her Rock Band. (She must have been able to study anyway because she made a 100 on her test!!) We had a great time playing Wii!


It was time to take her home Sunday evening. We waited as late as possible to head home but neither of us wanted to go. She enjoyed her stay at our house this weekend and I was so excited to hear that. Said it was the best weekend she has had since coming to America. YAYY for us!! (I was afraid I had worn her out too much!)


We are hoping to plan something for next week, if it is ok with Ellie's new family. She moves to a new home tomorrow so we are praying hard that this is a better fit for her and she will enjoy it. I stressed to her that she is welcome at our home any weekend that she wants!


I posted a few pictures that Ellie took this weekend. I'll go back and post the others -- it is so much fun seeing our world from her perspective! The pictures were taking at the train tracks at Irondale Cafe. That reminds me -- gotta go get "Fried Green Tomatoes" for her to watch! :-)


~Randi