Finally!!!

Mom is home from Italy!

Yes: that is the Pope...he showed up in Venice on Mother's Day and she got swept along in the crowds and ended up in the front row. A Pope hasn't visited Venice in 21 years so this was quite the occasion!

We moved into our new house 2 days after she returned! The wonderful men in our family moved us lock, stock, and barrel. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to James, Mike, Tomo, Kent, and TJ. We quite literally couldn't have done it without you! And my sister rocked with helping me pack! Thank you! And Teagan...well she just brought joy to the experience...and helped put together my new (Ikea) bed while singing, "Can she build it?! Yes she can!!!"

And we~finally~ were able to celebrate the wonderful moms in our little family...my mother, sister, and sister-in-law are. We even hosted it at our new house! Amid some boxes but still homey! Dante has grown so big and Teagan is just enthralled with her little cousin. (OK, I'll admit it: we are all enthralled with him!!!) He, in turn, is fascinated by her and she has the ability to garner a big smile or a laugh from our little man (and from us!).

I just love my family!!!!

I Miss Gramma

Poor little Teagan may not know who or what Italy is, but she is beginning to resent it: it has taken away her Gramma and she misses her!!!

Her consulation prize: getting to carry this picture of the two of them around with her.

Poor Teags. Gramma will be back in exactly one week! (Yes, I know that is an eternity to you!)

Weekend Away

Spent a lovely weekend away with the fam at the beach house belonging to family friends. We had such a great time, hanging out, kickin' back, seeing the local sights via kayak, conoe, or motor boat (which we couldn't start, so it was rowed about).

Teagan had the best time running around the huge yard, picking dandilions, and checking out everything under the sun. She wore herself out, taking a 3-4 hour nap each afternoon and sleeping 10 hours each night. She loved everything...except for the huge dog that lived next door but prefered our company. Brody looked like a bear loping across the fields towards you. Daunting for the adults~never mind a little girl!!!

He was really a sweetie...overwhelming but sweet.

The beach house.  Is this not a gorgeous a place, or what????

And this was our view...you'd think it couldn't get better, but then the sunsets made it even more so....and then the moon! Oh the moon!!! It was gorgeous!!!

Happy, happy girl!!!

Happy grown-ups!

The only bummer was that I was in a lot of pain the entire time and had to be on extra pain pills the whole time that barely took the edge off. But it was still a great weekend. We want to go back again year September! Can't wait!!!

Mountain Lion

This was the most amazing encounter: to see this beautiful creature on the roadway, about to pounce, tail flicking. And then to have it simply move to the side of the road so I could do a photo shoot??? Unreal!!!

Ocean Shores

A beautiful trip to Ocean Shores for my birthday.

(Thanks Mama!!!!)

The fog rolled in when we arrived,

but the wind blew it away by morning.

It was a simply glorious time!!!

I even got up at 7am in order to go back down to the shore

to collect seashells and sand-dollars.

And take pictures~of course!!!

Can you believe this view???

The shores were coverd with tons of

seashells & sand-dollars...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I am near the ocean, this is how I feel...

...how I see myself....

...the reality check in the mirror is always a bit surprising!!!

But for 40 years old, I guess I'm not doing too poorly!