It's snowing!!

Can you believe it? Unfortunately, Massy's school didn't get out early but he still came home in time to make his snowman w/ the neighbors. I have to admit I stayed inside most of the time and only came out to take some pictures; it was pretty cold and I don't have a jacket that I can close b/c my stomach is too big :) Massy was laughing at the kids because they didn't know how to make a snowman. I have to admit I didn't either and I lived in Alaska!!

Trick or Treat

Annalisa dressed up as a little black cat and was adorable. One of her favorite songs that she loves to sing is "gatto nero" in Italian (black cat in English). She only knows the main chorus but she sings it over and over. She got a lot of use out of the costume (she cried when we took it off of her) and halloween night was the 3rd time she was able to wear it. We went to a little halloween party last week, and then halloween afternoon we went trick or treating at a shopping center close by and then to end the evening we went to a huge festival at church. Annalisa had a great time. She was able to do so many things and just loved all the inflatable slides and obstacle courses. She's usually one of the smallest ones on their but it doesn't stop her. She also loves balloons and in the picture above the "tall man" was making balloon animals. He made her a blue poofy poodle. She just stood there and stared at him for the longest time. She didn't know what to make of his height. It was funny to watch her!

Happy Birthday Annalisa

Annalisa turned 2 years old a couple weeks ago (Sep 23). It's been a little crazy around here as a lot is going on. On a quick sidenote...we are selling our house next week. Closing is on Wednesday which I'm kind of sad about. It all happened so fast and we didn't anticipate this. It's a huge blessing to not own 2 houses plus the first people who looked at our house are buying it so that made things real easy however, we also haven't found a house to move to which makes things a little more difficult. But amazingly enough God has given us a peace about it. There are times when I feel stressed/anxious, but for the most part I'm just taking it in stride.
At any rate, back to Annalisa's birthday...So, we celebrated her birthday w/ a small little group at Memorial City Mall carousel. I think Annalisa enjoyed and she finally actually "got" that it was for her. We kept telling her days before that her birthday was coming, but she was confused because she'd been to 3 friends' birthdays in the last 2 weeks so she was still stuck on singing to them. She loves to sing "Happy Birthday". She's been singing it for a long time (several months). It's funny because as time passes it gets more and more clear. This summer she kept singing it in Italy and you could barely tell that it was Happy Birthday. Now it's very clear that it's "Happy Birthday" although the words are all still jumbled together. Below are pics of the "birthday girl" and her big "2 year old" cupcakes. Happy 2nd Birthday, Annalisa!!

Venezia

We went to Venezia with Massy's Aunt & Uncle (Guido & Francesca). We left Annalisa at home w/ her nonni. Guido & Francesca are excellent hosts and tour guides. They know the city well and took us all over. They used to live in Venice and still live very close but on another island, Lido. They showed us several places including , a bar Francesca worked at when she first moved to Venice at age 14 (she had to leave her home at 14 years old and go to work--she didn't even get to go to high school), the school Guido's mom used to work at, an apartment they used to live in, and several other neat places. We had a great lunch at a very quaint place, stopped for gelato and coffee. We walked a lot and normally it would be a piece of cake except for the fact that I'm pregnant so I have to go the bathroom nonstop and bathrooms are definitely not accessible like they are here in the US. At any rate, it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we were able to go see Venice and spend time with them.

Happy Birthday Braden!

Last night we went to a super fun birthday and even better we remembered the camera. Braden Brown, our Sunday school teacher's son turned 3!! They had a great party and even got a water slide and pinata for the kids. It was a green and black "army man" birthday and Braden seemed so happy. I love the fact that he had to have his goggles on when playing on the waterslide. Annalisa especially loved the slide; she couldn't climb up it so Massy had to lift her every time. She probably went down it around 20x's and even went down head first after watching her friend Allison try it.

The BIRTHDAY boy w/ candy from the pinata

Annalisa on the slide

Ella, Annalisa & Audrey waiting w/ their candy bags for the pinata to break

Audrey taking a swing at the pinata

Annalisa's buddy Mia on the slide

Allison going head first down the slide

Kennedy & Annalisa just finished going down

Class of 2030 picture #1

April 2008
Annalisa 8m & Presley 2m

Gig 'Em Class of 2030

Lil' Aggies: Taylor (age 5), Annalisa (almost 2yrs), & Presley (18m)
Look closely at Annalisa's dress. A friend made it for her before she was born and I just love it. It's white w/ little A&M seals and "gig 'ems" all over it. It's really cute.



So Jennifer & I made our yearly trip to Aggieland. Jennifer was one of my roomates & best friends at A&M; she lives in Hamilton, TX (a small town outside of Waco). We meet once a year at A&M since it is about 1/2 way for us and of course we rarely ever make it back so we both are excited to see how much it has changed. Her daughter, Presley and Annalisa are about 6 months apart so we tell them they are future roomates class of '30. It's our goal to get a picture of them every year until they graduate from high school. (I'll put up last year's pic in another post.) We did decide this year that we might need to make 2 trips though 1 with kids (for our pic) and 1 without so we can actually enjoy each other :)

Finally!!

I have to brag on Massy for a short minute. He finally did it. He's been trying to get it for quite a few years now and it finally happened. The funny thing is that Saturday morning he woke up and told me, "I'm going to work outside today and clean up some of the flowers because I'm going to get yard of the month today". Later on that afternoon a lady came to the door and when I went to answer it she said, "Do you mind if I leave this in your yard?". I was so happy for Massy and yelled at him to come out. I told her what he said that morning, and she told him he needs to go to the corner store to buy a lottery ticket.

Picking Flowers

Annalisa is just like her Papa' in the way that they both love flowers. Massy loves to spend time outside in the yard. He also loves to plant flowers and I have to brag that he does a great job (the flowers above are all Massy's). Massy has taught her to pick flowers and smell them so every time we go for a bike ride she wants to pick everyone's flowers. The bad part about it is Massy lets her!!

Cancun

So we just got back from Cancun on Wednesday night. It was our first vacation away from Annalisa. My mom came in from Kansas City to watch Annalisa (thanks again, Mom). I think they had a lot of fun and we came home to a bunch of new toys for Annalisa (that will have to be a later post). I have to say I was a little apprehensive before going, but it was a great trip away and it was so nice to leave Houston last weekend with the cold & rainy weather we were having here. In just 2 hours we went from cold and rainy to beautiful/sunny 82 degree weather. Massy texted my mom and emailed her a couple times to make sure everything was going well and things seemed fine. Prior to leaving Cancun, I had talked to a couple of friends who had just gone on vacation for the first time w/o their kids. They also were nervous and immediately when they came back I asked them how it was to be away. Both surprisingly told me it was fine and they really enjoyed themselves. I'm thankful for their responses because God used it to give me a peace about going and when we were there I felt fine. I knew that it was ok to leave Annalisa and it was also ok to enjoy myself and I didn't need to feel guilty for being away. Needless to say, below are some pics from our trip. The highlight of our trip was that we finally were able to do a zip line (they wouldn't let us take any pictures). Ever since I saw the zip line through the jungle on Survivor, I wanted to do it. As soon as Massy & I saw that was one of the excursions we immediately signed up. The other highlight of our trip is that of course we stayed at an all-inclusive restaurant which is why you also won't see any pics of us in our swimsuits. They aren't pretty, but the food & drinks were definitely worth the calories!!

New Year's Resolution--it's not too late

I do a women's Bible study on Tuesdays, and a few weeks ago our Bible study leader asked us if we had any fun/not serious resolutions. I hadn't made one because I really couldn't think of one. Of course there are several things I want to change, but I also wanted it to be realistic. So, I finally just thought of a New Year's Resolution even though it's February. Hughes, you'll be proud of me (Hughes is the one who started this blog for us, and our family is grateful to her). I'm going to post a blog every month. Massy, does this make you so happy? He's really into this blogging thing and I think this will be a nice surprise for him.

Out for lunch--and we actually got to talk!

If you haven't been to Clay's for lunch it's definitely a place to go if you have kids. As I write this it almost sounds like a commercial for Clay's, but I promise I'm not getting a cut from them. I went with some of my mom friends, Angie, Charlotte, & Nara. We had the most relaxing time. While we sat outside and ate on the deck, a peacock came right up to us at our table. I didn't even think to take a picture!! After, the kids played in the sandbox and looked at the goats, horses, and chickens, and we were actually able to talk and take pictures. Angie, made me laugh when she said you can tell we don't get out much b/c we went crazy taking pictures. You would have thought we were on a safari in Africa!! I guess she must be right b/c I'm actually going to the trouble to put it on the blog. Although, I have to admit Massy posted the pics he called me over just to do the writing.

Christmas 2008 The Saviour is born

Christmas & New Year's 2009
Every year Massy's family comes for a couple of weeks at Christmas. We have a really good time and get a lot done. Massy's dad cleaned our gutters, his brother washed both our cars inside and out and cleaned behind our garage, and his mom cooks plus gives Annalisa constant attention so needless to say Massy & I just kind of lay back and relax. What a way to start the new year!
On New Year's Eve, we took a midnight dip in the jacuzzi. Can I saw it was really cold on the way from the jacuzzi to the shower!! I really didn't want to go in, but everyone kept hassling me so I finally said ok. Also, judging from the picture you can see that none of us tan during the winter. Maybe we should consider it??
On Christmas Eve, we all went to church and though Massy's family can't understand they still came. Marco & I spent most of the time outside feeding Annalisa and entertaining her since there was no childcare and she didn't last long in the service. I was sad I missed most of Greg's sermon, but afterward the family took a pic outside that I really like. The funny thing was that I spent most of the month of December looking for black dress shoes for Annalisa's Christmas dress (isn't it pretty, our Sunday school teacher's family gave it to her as a birthday gift) at resale shops. It killed me to buy a new pair when chances are she'll only wear them a few times. I never found any so I bit the bullet and bought them new and after about 3 minutes in church she took them off and much preferred to run around in her tights. Worst of all, I even forgot to put them on for our picture!!