About a week and a half ago...

This is what our house looked like. I am standing at the front door taking this picture. So you are looking at the living room/dining room. Oh what a two days those were. It went very smoothly. There was only on guy that came the first day to pack. He packed the entire house except for the kitchen, the futon and our bed(which was nice of him to leave for us to sleep on that night!). Then the next day him and 2 other guys came to finish and load the crates up. I believe we have 6 crates. Crazy. They were awesome and made a wooden crate specifically for our glass kitchen table. Its a big ole square piece of glass and we now have a crate for it, that we get to keep for our next move which is pretty awesome. (storing it will be more fun, ha)

Now imagine that picture above with absolutely nothing in it. Thats how it is now. Well, my friend Holly lent us a carpet for B to play on and we have an FMO couch and table and chairs. So it works. We spend most our lounging time in our room on our not so soft FMO bed. We'll watch movies and TV on the computer so its more comfortable then the couch!

Brynlee is doing well. Pretty sure she doesn't know whats going on or whats to come either. Whatever she thinks, she's taking it all in great! The dogs, they probably know more then she does. Since they do know what the suitcases mean. Granted this time, they are coming with us and clearly they don't get that. Kodi has been very clingy and Kaci just more spaztastic(yes I think I made that up) then usual. They are much better since the movers have left and nothing has changed much since. The next change for them will be moving into TLF(hotel) on the 11th. Then of course the much too long plane ride over the big water on the 16th. Then the hotel in Baltimore for the night. Then the very short plane ride to Atlanta on the 17th. Then the 3 hr car ride to Valdosta, Moody AFB. Then another hotel and hopefully not too much after that a house to call home for a while.

Whew, when I put it all like that it really seems like a lot! I will say that everything is falling in place and I have way less stress then I did a few weeks ago. The hotel in Balt is going to accommodate us on getting the dogs (not so much them but the huge kennels) to the hotel and back to the airport the next day. Then one of the biggest blessings is my mom is going to pick us up in Atlanta! She lives 8hrs away. We wanted to rent a pickup truck since we have the kennels and not sure if they would fit side by side in a van but since we aren't 25 they won't let us. But we can rent a convertible! Haha. How crazy is that. So my mom is driving my Papa's truck up and then we'll drive down to Moody. That will be Thursday. And she doesn't have school again till Tuesday so she'll be spending the weekend with us!

Our car was shipped on the 18th and its on the Ocean Liner as I type! So it could very well be in ATL when we arrive, which would be a huge blessing! Then we wouldn't have to rent a car till ours got there! Oh that would be wonderful.

We have 3 perspective houses. As long as they are still available we will be going to see them. 2 are totally different and I can't seem to make my mind up as to which one I'd want. From pics anyhow, one looks more suburban and the other looks more country. Both have their perks. Ones old, ones new. One has a huge yard, one has a decent yard. I mean seeing them in person will help for sure. We shall see. I just hope they are available so we can see them.

This is Nicks last week of work here in Aviano. Crazy to think. He is pretty excited to start working on the A-10 though. And be back on the flightline. I am definatly ready to go. Only thing left to do is say our goodbyes, which I am NOT ready to do!

First time!

Ouch, thats how my muscles feel right now. Quads, biceps, calves, wrists & knees are the majority. Yes, I went snowboarding for the first tome this past Monday. It was a blast. It was just Nick and our friend Chris and me. Nick has gone only once before, but he at least knew what he was doing, Chris has been quite a few times before. So I was the rookie. Nick was awesome. He didn't rush me or push me to do this or that. He just kept encouraging me that I was doing great. Which helped so much. I didn't cry once! If you know me, thats a huge feet right there! Haha.

We went on 6 runs total. We went to the peak as well. That was the last run and by that time I was so tired that I fell a lot because I didn't have enough strength to keep my toes up! I did take 2 huge falls. One was falling on my bum, on more of an icy spot then fluffy and I hit so hard it kinda knocked the wind out of me and make my eyes go fuzzy...yeah. The other, well I wasn't even boarding! Chris and I were on the lift, which is by far the worst part of the whole deal, and I was all ready to get off and my board hit the snow...and stuck (my fault though) and BOOM I went face down. They had to stop the lift and all that fun stuff because I was on the ground in the way. Oh man. Nick was on the lift behind us and he was like " I saw you, and then I didn't!" Chris and Nick were cracking up for quite some time. And I know, according to Chris, I won't live this one down.

We are planning on going this Saturday to another mountain a little ways away hoping for some better snow. I was perfectly fine with just going up the mountain here(30mins away) for my first time. This time my friend Holly is coming with us, and I am super excited. I just need to still find a sitter for Brynlee, haha. Clearly she can't come. So as long as I can get someone to watch her, then we're good to go. Otherwise I think Nick and some boys will just go.

On another note, tomorrow is when our house gets packed up. Nope, I'm not ready for it. I haven't even packed our suitcases yet. I know I know. This morning is full already. We had to meet Nick at the gas station this morning to pick him up because he was dropping the Tracker off to get cleaned for shipment. Then we had to take him to get his car from Pass and ID and then we have to go pick him back up to get the Tracker in an hour and take that to the shipment yard to get it shipped out.

So once we are home for good today, I have to pack. Should be fun. The dogs are staying at Holly's tonight so that they aren't here when all the movers are here. Kodi would love them and Kaci is scared of people, especially Italian's so I'd rather not worry about them. My friend Terri is watching B in the morning so she is outta the way too. Yes yes, busy day! I'm ready for it to be over!

Thats all I have now.

GoodBye Venice.

We took our last trip to Venice on December 30th.

It was just Me, Nick and Brynlee. I love Venice. Nicks so so about it. I think it has something to do with the fact we've been there a billion times because its such and easy trip as we are only an hour-ish away.
Here are Brynlee and I, waiting on the train. Since we missed the one we were shooting for. This was her second time to Venice. Clearly she won't remember either trip, thats why we have pictures!
She was such a good girl all day. She loved sitting in her own seat on the train. She also got tons of attention from Italians all day. Of course she loved it.
Here she is at the Hard Rock. It was our main event. We go to a Hard Rock wherever we can and when we got off the train we were starved so we headed straight there. Ironically we had bad service/food at the Phx Hard Rock in Az. So I was always turned off to them.

Being in Europe they are everywhere, and I love to have something to collect from all over. I get a shirt at each one we go to. Although we didn't make it to the HR in Roma so I only have a Venice shirt from the HR's in Italy.
Brynlee sat in the booth with us. The booth was very high and close to the table so it was perfect for her and she couldn't fall through easy at all. Being that the table was so close to the seat..she hiked her leg up there and climbed on the table. AH! That was a first! I let her do it to get a picture but didn't let her do it again!
Me and Brynlee at the Hard Rock waiting on our food. She just sat there and played and talked.
Daddy and Bug. Of course smiling like always.
Daddy and B on the water taxi to San Marco's Square. This was the first time we cheated and took the taxi rather than walking. We said we'd walk back, but by the end of the day we decided since we've walked it numerous times we took the taxi back as well. Haha. Yeah lazy Americans.
Close to the end of our trip. She took a nice nap. She was content the whole day, we are so blessed with such a good baby!
Waiting for the taxi to go back. Daddy stayed up late the night before so he was wanting a nap too!
On the train home. She is such a big girl it almost makes me sad but so happy at the same time. She is such a ham!

And then us. My hair is insane but oh well. Oh and see..Nick shaved his head. I was weirded about it at first, but now I'm used to it and think it looks pretty good. I mean he didn't have a ton of hair in the first place, lol. I love you baby!

Successful last trip. We completed our Venetian Mask collection. We have 3 now. Got a piece of Murano glass.

I think thats our very last trip anywhere here honestly, but we'll see!

Family Pictures

Here are most of our family pictures that my friend Holly did for us in November. We were blessed to have a beautiful day outside..as it didn't look too promising when we woke up that morning. I think they turned out pretty well if I don't say so myself. Definatly going to be printing a family one to frame...its our first of the 3 of us! (yes we wanted to try it with the dogs too, but since my car was/is broken we all wouldn't fit in Nicks little fiat, haha. \

Enjoy!

Merry CHRISTmas!

I honestly can't believe that today is Christmas 2010. This year has flown by drastically fast, and I assume it's because we had a baby this year. Everyone says, time flies when you have kids! No joke there.

Anywho, we had a great Christmas. And its not over yet...Last night we went to our Christmas Eve service at church. It was very cozy there in the candlelight and fireside. Our good friends John and Terri and their son Tucker came too. That was nice, especially since we hadn't seen them in forever it seemed! Then when we got home, we opened our stockings. Nick got Monopoly Deal and a snowman ornament that says Dad 2010-from Brynlee of course. Brynlee got bath toys and a cool teether that vibrates when you bite it, she loves that. I got a HUGE Toblerone candy bar-that Nick is helping me eat...wonder why he got that?! Haha. And some cute pj pants...yes he stuffed them in my stocking haha!

This morning once we had homemade cinnoman rolls -pics in another post!- and then we got ready to open presents. We recorded the whole thing this year. Thats what my parents used to do for my grandparents, so we decided to do it as well. Grandparents don't mind watching a boring video of the kids opening presents, lol. Brynlee was so so about the presents part at first then she realized the outcome I think and really started ripping the paper off! Of course, loving the paper! She got from us a gloworm doll and a kitchen/frig toy. From Mimi & Nana and Papa she got a push toy-here comes the walking!- some cute tights, socks a keepsake for her first tooth and lock of hair, and a snail toy. From Grandpa and Aunt Kylie she got a total of 8 books! And a farmhouse singing toy, fun fun! She got My Pal Violet and a water baby from Holly too. I think she made out pretty good!

Later tonight I believe we are going over to our friends house to play some games, they got some games for Christmas and so did Nick so here we come. Thats of course, after we eat the mouthwatering BBQ ribs that are roasting in the crock pot as we speak!

Don't forget the REAL reason for this season. Jesus Christ!

God Bless and Merry CHRISTmas from our family to yours!

Lovely Day

We had a very beautiful day this past Saturday. Actually, its been gorgeous since then! I am not complaining at all. Since it has been so wet and dreary for so long we decied a family walk/run was a must. So we headed out in this sunny weather. Granted, it was still cold out, but that sun on my face was awesome.

Of course the dogs loved being out and about. Kaci LOVES to run. As you can see above. She started running towards these horses and mules...and Nick whistled and here she comes..oh so fast. I love watching her run. Unfortunatly I didn't get a great pic of Kodi so oh well.

These mountains are by far going to be what I miss the most about this country. We can walk outside, and this is what we see. I love it. I am pretty sure Georgia won't be the same. Hehe. Saying that though, does not mean I am not super excited to go to Georgia though. I am very happy!

Thanksgiving & Salzburg

Our Thanksgiving was great. We hosted it at our house with some friends. Not a lot of people but just enough. We all pitched in for the food. Nick did the turkey, ham and yams. I did cherry pie, pumpkin spice pudding pie, lemon-cranberry cookies, and oatmeal raisin cinnamon chip cookies. Then all our guests brought something to share. Everything was so yummy and I felt so fat after we ate! After dinner we just hung out, played PIT, and then some of the guys played Call of Duty and Guitar Hero. It was a good end to our Thanksgivings in Italy. Next year is excited, since we'll be stateside and most likely be with some family!

The day after Thanksgiving, we didn't do the norm-Black Friday. We chose to drive to Salzburg Austria for their Christmas Market. We went with the Heisner's. We rented a car, since neither of us have a truly reliable one at the moment. Then we took off at 6a. We arrived in Salzburg at 10a. I only remember the time because we stopped at McDonalds when we got there and wanted lunch and they were still serving breakfast till 1030, lol. Isn't is sad that one of the major highlights of our adventures is McDonalds! Its true though. We don't have them here like we do in the states. So we only get McDonalds when we're traveling. Most people are like, wow why wouldn't you eat at a good restaurant and what not. Well, we live in Italy so we can easily eat Italian whenever. So when we travel, we take the easy road, McDonalds. We know what they have, its fast, cheaper then sitting down in a restaurant most times, and a major plus...they have a potty you don't have to pay for!

So we waited for lunch to start, ordered and ate. Let Brynlee stretch out and play in the booth some, before getting back in the car seat. It started to snow pretty good while we were eating. We then headed out to find parking for the market. Walked to the market and started browsing. It was so neat all the decorations and such. Made you really feel in the Holiday mood! The snow really helped that too!

Once we browsed we went back to the stands we wanted to purchase things from. I got a sign with a moose on it with some pine trees that says Merry Christmas in German. I wanted one in Italian but couldn't find one. Thats my favorite purchase. I love moose. I'll have to post a pic with the other thing I got, because I don't know what its called or how to explain it. Hehe.

After we were done with the shopping we headed back to the car so we could go see the Maribel Gardens. I've seen pictures of them in the summer and they are gorgeous, and they were still very pretty with all the snow on them. I'm a sucker for snow though. We walked around there for a bit then decided we'd head home.

So we decided, once again, we should eat before getting in the car( in Europe, there aren't stops with fast food places everywhere along the interstate like there is stateside) So McDonald's it was! We ate then headed out back to Italy.

This is where the fun begins. About 2 hours into our drive....while it was snowing and dark of course....Holly and I thought we started to slide on a sheet of ice, when really what happened was our front passenger tire blew out entirely. Oh boy did Nick do a great job of keeping that car on the road and get it to the side. We all got out, and saw the tire. Or the rim. Since there was no more tire. Well it was a rental, so we assumed there was a spare. There was, but only a donut. Oh, we still had over 200miles to go. When a donut is only suppose to travel 50miles. Kinda made Holly and I worry the rest of the trip. Not to mention, you can't drive faster than 30 mph on a donut....that made for a long 200+ miles!

Finally we made it home. The rental place didn't make us pay anything, so that was good. All in all, it was a trip to remember for sure! Ohhh the memories!

4th of July

I've always wanted to make one of these Flag Cakes, and this past Sunday was the perfect opportunity! I think it came out rather nice!

Our Independence Day was pretty fun. We got up and went to church and then had a late lunch BBQ at our friends house. Just hung out and waited for the festivities to start on base...but of course it rained, and hailed for that matter...so we hung around at the BBQ longer and then come 9pm we decided to pack up and head to base for the fireworks...and it was still raining...so we did indeed watch fireworks from the car! They were very awesome though! Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Random Pics

Mommy & Brynlee
Mimi & Brynlee

Chillin in the tub, feet hanging over and all.

Right before the bath.

Baby Corn

Vineyard

Kylie in the Grapes

Us at the Mother Daughter Banquet

Sistas

Mom & Kylie

Rome~the Eternal City

Just a few pictures from our Rome trip. It was pretty awesome to see all these historical sites in person, we would definatly do this trip again!

St. Peter's Square

Trevi Fountain

The Arch of Constantine.

The Pantheon.

Dad & Kylie's Visit {pictures}

Most of these are pics from when Dad was here visiting(April23-May6). My sister Kylie got here on 27April and she doesn't leave till 9June. So she's still here, enjoying her niece!

Kyile and Dad in front of the Trevi Fountin in Rome.
Dad, me and Brynlee at Santissma Springs

Love it!

Right when Dad got to our house, he took a cat nap after his flights and Brynlee decided to join in on the fun. Lol.

Kylie, Dad, Me and Brynlee in Verona. The City of Love!

I love this. Eating at a cafe in Verona..I caught this pic!

Crazy Europeans.

Us in Venice

Me and My Tiny Baby Girl at Polcenigo Palace

Gorgeous Day.