April Fool's Day

Can you believe it? No one played a single April fools joke on anyone I knew today. Kind of sad. Donna gave Giulia a Christmas card with stickers, but that was as close as we came to a joke. I couldn't even think of a good one to put up on the blog. Sad, no imagination!

Well, I can always just catch up with pics of Giulia. We've been busy I guess doing what Mommies and babies do best. Playing and crying, climbing (on everything, even me)and jumping, putting together puzzles very well and then dumping them once she's done and they're all put back together, reading books and then ripping books apart, being good and then oh, so rotten! She is TWO and I'm scared! The other morning their wasn't a minute that she wasn't getting into something and really getting into trouble. From emptying her drawers, in a minute flat, to carving with pencil into my coffee table to finding the biggest, heaviest toy we have to smash into Rachel's face. And yes, I saw her pass over a small toy to pick up the big one, I just didn't realize what she wanted to do with it. Ah, and that was all this week.

We had a very nice Easter. Bethany and I decided to have all the Grandparents over to our complex to have a brunch and an Egg hunt. It worked out great. We enjoyed Heather's Dad's french toast bake, deviled eggs and Bethany's famous spiral Ham. YUUMMMMYYYYY!! The egg hunt was a blast. The girls kept up with Michael very well. They enjoyed a few treats, but mostly toys and stickers and balloons inside the eggs. After the Grandparents went home we pulled out their brand new water table, complete with water guns, and began getting wet. See the pics, they had fun!

Easter 08

A little update on the Keysville Race....it went great. We had 5 or so riders there and they were all on the podium. We had two 1st places in the overall stage race and lots of first, second, thirds throughout. It was an exciting weekend and we were really happy so many great guys came out to help.

We will be heading out to Colorado next week for my friend Christy's baby shower. It's a good excuse to finally make it out there. Giulia and I will be there for a week and Mic is coming out in the middle sometime for 4 days. I can't wait to see all of our friends and catch up with everyone. Plus, it'll be nice to be back in some cold weather before we really start our summer here.

April is looking busy for us. We get back Sat the 12th and I turn back around to go down to LA with Bethany and her class to see "Wicked." I"m excited, it's one of the few musicals that I really want to see. The next weekend, Mom, Giulia and I are headed to Alabama to visit Ray and Family for Joella's first Communion. Come home and it's Dr. appointments and bday's galore. May might hold a European trip for us, but we'll see. At the end of May is Giulia' first dance show. She'll be an egg in the Ugly duckling and a Bumble bee in the Nightingale. It's a Hans Christian Anderson theme. Cate is also doing the Little Mermaid and Thumbalina. Cate is amazing with what she comes up with for these shows. I'll try to help more when I'm back Cate!

Love to you all and have a wonderful spring!

Summer

Princess Dremel says Hi

Well, March has flown by already! Half way over and I feel like we haven't done anything. This weekend we are going camping up in Keysville. Mic is already up there and Giulia and I will follow tonight or tomorrow. Mic will be working since Bionicon will be the title sponsor, there will be plenty to do and lots of bikes for Giulia to look at.

We've kept busy this month by joining a playgroup now that we have Rachel during the week. It's warming up so we have been outside a lot! Parks, walks, riding with Daddy, hikes and all that fun stuff. We have to enjoy it before it gets too hot. Another summer in HOT Ridgecrest. I'm actually not that bummed about it. I've learned that this town really isn't all that bad. Funny, how your brain gets stuck in a time and doesn't realize that all things change with time, not just the things that surround you.

March 08

This will be short, but I've got to pack for camping. Yeah!!!!

lagbs

Las Vegas and fun, fun fun...

The funny thing is, we went to Vegas and didn't take many pictures. Hmmm, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. No one has any proof of what we did. :D Most of it was pretty PG. We went to the M&M store for Giulia, played in an arcade without spending a single quarter (Giulia is still pretty easy to please). Mic and I had a date afternoon and went to the Bodies exibit at the Tropicana, which was amazing! It is truely a work of art to see the human body like that. It shows the amazing things that God can do. Things that we will never be able to figure out, no matter how hard we try. The baby room was a little hard. I found myself praying that all the babies were natural deaths as the sign said. It said the bodies were donated, but it is so easy to smear the line espcially when fetuses are concerned. We study the human body to learn more, I just hope we can find ways to do it while still respecting the gift that life is.

We stayed at the MGM and spent lots of great time with Giulia in front of the Lion habitat which is inside the MGM, she also really enjoyed the animated alligator by the Rain Forest cafe. As any good Las Vegas tourist we spent and evening walking the strip. We saw the Bellagio water show and Giulia loved all the lights, but I think her favorite was "the big treats." Yes, that would be the giant M&M's.

end of Feb 08

Christy and I got a girls night out and had a great dinner with lots of girly chit chat about babies, husbands, teaching and life in RC. Anthony joined us after to see Zummanity, the sensual side of Cirque du Soleil. I was ready for sexy dancing and knew their would be some nudity, but it was different than I thought. shjhjej (from Giulia) They had a commedy act that came in and split up the dances and it was a little crass, funny sometimes, but crass. I was amazed at the acrobatic feats and the dancing. The african tribal dance was amazing! The rope tricks were also a fav of mine. I would love to swing from the ceiling like that! I did enjoy the show and would love to go see another Cirque.

Since Vegas, we have been busy at home. My Dad spent a week in a wheel chair for some lock up in his lower back that prevented him from walking. My mother had to go down to the CCD congress by herself which got cut short because my brother in law Mike ended up in the hospital due to an absess tooth. He's on the mend and might be home today. It's been up and down and all over lately and I think all of us would just like a normal couple of weeks before Easter.

I am watching my neice Rachel now M-F and it's been great. She is such and easy going kid. She and Giulia get along great! Giulia enjoys acting like an older sibling which make me think she's needs one of her own soon. Now we just need Mic to stay home long enough to convince him. :D

Yes, he is off on another Bionicon road trip. Might be three days this week. In two weeks Bionicon is title sponsoring the Keysville Classic so he's pretty busy promoting it and getting his name into shops. I am a Bionicon widow for the next two weeks I fear. At least I get to keep busy cleaning our house to get ready for company and Easter.

Well, the girls are beggin me to take them to the park, so off we go. Love to you all and have a wonderful March!

lagb, Sum

Snow!

It finally snowed down to 3,000 feet, so Mic, Giulia and I headed to the mountains. We went to Chimney Peak which is on the way to Lake Isabella. It was lovely up there and Giulia had a blast! She didn't want to go back to the car and she lead the way, which in the spirit of her Daddy, was always uphill. The pictures were accidentally attached to Jan's post, so look again to see G in the snow.

FEB 2008

We have been busy for this first half of Feb, and by we, I mean Mic. He is traveling at least two days a week and working 30 hr days the rest. Giulia and I just try to have the house clean and meals ready whenever he can come home. It's been a little hard on me since I had him here for most of Dec and Jan. It was a nice break for us to be together as a family, but we never got a real vacation. We didn't make it to Colorado, although we are still trying, but it's getting busier and busier. We have lots planned for the spring, bike stuff(of course) but friends coming in and a trip to Alabama in April. We're supposed to try and make it to Italy in May too. This spring should fly by!

This weekend we are heading to Las Vegas to spend the weekend with Christy and Anthony, friends from CO. Christy and I get a girls night where we'll go see Cirque du Soleil's "O" at the Bellagio. It's a water show and I am really looking forward to it. Part of me has always dreamed of being a synchronized swimmer. I'm sure Mic and Anthony will have some time to go and gamble. I've been looking online for some fun things for Giulia too.

We have been reading a lot with Giulia and working on her ABC's. She is talking very well. The other morning, she said a 13 word sentence about a movie with an apple on the cover. Amazing what has happened in two years! She notices things that astound me. Driving the other day, she notice a mickey mouse antenna ball on the car next to us. WOW!

It's warming up, so we play outside a lot with Michael and Rachel and go for walks. Her ballet class is every Tues and she really looks forward to it. She talks about it all week. You can't mention "tuesday" without her adding that she has dance class. We cook dinner for Mic's parents once a week and I still have lunch with my mother every Thursday. It's great to be here. I am even getting to help Mic's sister, Cate, with her show. In May, her dance show will be Hans Christian Andersons' The Little Mermaid, The Nightengale, Thumbelina and the Ugly Duckling, in which Giulia will be an egg. :D

We'll post again after our trip when we have more pictures.
God Bless,
Summer

January's birthday Girl

Well, as most of you know, Jan 4th was Giulia's birthday. She turned two this year and hasn't stopped opening presents. We went straight from Christmas to three separate birthday parties. We had a family dinner on her actual birthday, another on the 12th when Annie, Taylor and Vivian were in town and finished with a De Min party and dinner later that night. She is so used to getting presents that she just asks for them now. It's going to be hard on her having to wait till Easter. :D

Jan 2008_1

Make sure you click on the pictures to see the entire albums. We have lots of pictures of family and fun, dancing, dress up and lots of people here to visit. We'll miss all of you now that we have a lonely stretch ahead of us.

We hope to be heading to Colorado this month, but Mic has been called to jury duty, so we'll see what happens. It is, of course, right in the middle of the last two weeks of the month, so difficult to work around.

God Bless all of you in 2008.
love, Summer, Mic and Giulia

Happy New Year!

December was great for us because Mic wasn't on the road. He got to stay home a lot and spend lots of time with us. Giulia tried a ballet class at her Aunt Cate's studio and since she did so well, we've signed her up for this session. Today was her first official ballet class. She loved it and is now taking her nap in her tutu. Cute!

skateboards and ballet 12-07

It has been a wonderful holiday season. I can't believe how spoiled all of us were. Thank you everyone for all the wonderful gifts. There are too many favorites to mention, but everyone has been enjoyed so far. The best gift of all was time spent with family. We stayed in Ca this year and had Christmas with family close by. We went to Mass on Christmas Eve and then spent the whole day with Mic's family since it was Cricket and Riley's last day in town. Anthony (her husband who was serving in Iraq) was coming home and they headed back to Texas. He has now safely arrived back home and everyone is happy. Welcome Home Anthony and thanks for doing what you do for all of us. We are proud of you.

The next day was a Marshall feast out at Mom's and a birthday dinner for Vivian. The baby of our family is now 21 yrs old. Mom, Beth and I took her out for dinner and drinks too. That was a blast! Mom really enjoyed that and we went out again in Jan when Annie came to town. Good tradition I think. We spent lost of time playing games and enjoying the kids.

cmas day 12-07

All in all, we had an amazing 2007 and are looking forward to a very exciting 2008. We love you all, Happy new Year!

Summer, Mic and Giulia

Dec 07

cmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

Here are some pics of what we have been up to. Decorating was fun this year because Mic actually helped and enjoyed it. Giulia really makes a lot of things more fun. She rearranges the ornaments daily but so far hasn't broken any of them.

I have been baking with Mom, but have put off my own baking. Right now, I should be elbow deep in Pumpkin bread, but this was more fun. Everyone here is doing well and we are looking forward to Christmas with everyone here. We'll have dinner with Mic's family Christmas day and out at Mom's the day after Christmas. We'll be fatter my news years, so we can set a good resolution.

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. For those of you far away, we really miss you and hope that your season is bright.

God Bless, Summer