Happy Birthday Giovanni

On Friday, June 5 our precious Giovanni turned one! The day was exciting yet sentimental. Saturday was Giovanni's birthday party. As you can tell from the pictures he had a great time!!!.......until....he ate the mac and cheese and had an allergic reaction......and then rubbed the cake in his sweet little eyes...... Despite all that, Giovanni really was a trooper. He had a blast opening presents and playing. By cake time he was just a bit overwhelmed with everything going on. All in all he had a wonderful day. The weather was great and we all really enjyed ourselves. Thank you to all of you who made it to the party and thank you for all of the fun presents. We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family in our lives. Happy Birthday Giovanni --- We love you very much!


p.s. For all of you who wanted the famous mac and cheese recipe from my friend Erin Smith, here it is (Erin---I hope it's ok I'm passing on your famous recipe to the world. It sure is a big hit! :)

Erin Smith's World Famous Mac and Cheese Recipe :)

2 cups of elbow macaroni
2 cups of mostacceoli
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups of sour cream
2 eggs
24oz. cheddar cheese
salt & pepper to taste

1. Boil your elbow mac and mostacceoli until cooked-you can put these together in a big pot
2. In a large bowl put your drained noodles
3. Add sour cream and cottage cheese
4. lightly scramble your 2 eggs in a small bowl and then add them to your noodles(you can mix as you are adding everything or mix it all at the end-you can't mess it up!)
5. Finally add your 24oz mega bag of shredded cheddar cheese and then salt and pepper . Mix all of that in the bowl first and then put into a 9x12 casserole dish.
6. Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes(some people like the top to get all brown and crusty but I never let mine get that way. Basically you are just baking to finsh melting the cheese and cook in the egg. 20-30 minutes should be perfect!

ENJOY!!!