Deliciousness from Italia

I thought I would post a picture of *most* of the food items we brought back from Italy (some went out as gifts already).


Back row: Monini olive oil, Benza olive oil (3), Fagolosi breadsticks, Arteliquida Toscana IGT 2007, Galassi San Giovese di Romagna DOC, Poggiotondo Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2008, Coli Chianti DOCG 2007, Arancia Rossa, San Carlo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2005, Piccini Chianti DOCG 2009, Camporsino Chianti DOCG 2009, Bosca Five Stars Prosecco DOC, Prosecco di Treviso DOC, Riunite Lambrusco IGT, Santa Croce Lambrusco DOC, Brumale Sangiovese di Romagna DOC 2009, Rosso di Anita Frappato Sicilia IGT 2009.
Front: Parmigiano reggiano (2), Uva (raisins), Pici la Cerchla, Trofie (2), Aceto Balsamico di Modena (Balsamic vinegar), Fontal cheese, Tonno all'Olio Olivia (tuna in olive oil), 4 green pestos, 4 red pestos, basilico (basil), Nero chocolate, Panforte (Sienese dessert), illy espresso, Pomodori secchi (sundried tomatoes).

Not pictured is Italian Nutella, which didn't make it home, and Barilla pasta (sold in 1 kg packages).

What will we miss the most? Well, the prices maybe! Most of this is picked up relatively cheap. Most of these things can also be bought in the US in some way or another.

So what will we miss the most that we can't buy here??? Arancia Rossa! Red orange juice made from special Italian red oranges. Maybe if we keep looking hard enough, we can find someone who imports it!

Our New Temporary Life, and Nolan

The last couple months have been interesting. Not interesting because we are (supposed to be) living overseas. More interesting because of the lack of living overseas. After we realized Nolan and I would not be able to re-enter Europe, we had to quickly adjust to a new, temporary life... in Toledo. That is about as much as I want to say here. But, we are very grateful for what we have and are trying to turn it in to opportunities.

Nolan seems to soak up new things like a sponge, which is typical of this age I suppose. We knows his ABCs and can identify each letter, knows his numbers to around 15 (need to increase that), and recently learned how to spell his name. And he seems to love learning new things. He asks all the time now, "what is that". A couple things that concern me is the fact that it seems like he can't gain weight. He eats pretty well, but very little processed food. He is also super-active, so maybe that combination has something to do with it. All I know is that I am getting tired of his pants always falling down. Although he eats pretty well, I feel like he should be accepting of eating more new types of food. In my opinion the variety of food he eats is low, but I try to remember that I will eat anything and he is only 2.

And after trying to capture it on video for about a month, here he is saying his ABCs!


Nolan spelling his name
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffis0UxZSO4