IDAHO, WASHINGTON, AND OREGON

Robert was suppose to be in Florida this past weekend for about 4-5 days. He was kinda bummed to not be able to go with his buddy Adam. They have been friends since they were 3-4 yrs old and they were going to enjoy some guy time, but it didn't happnen, because Robert had to work a few days that they were going to be gone.
However, another opportunity arose for him while he did have some time off, so he was able to go to Idaho, Washinton, and Oregon with his friend Beau and his family.

They went to Boise and tubed down the Boise River, then went to Washington/Oregon where they were able to check out some pretty cool light houses. They camped on the beach, then stayed in a beach house for a few days and also had the opportunity to go deep sea fishing. We now have some fresh salmon in the freezer that we need to cook! Robert caught 5 fish, but could only bring 2 home.

I think the best part of the trip was the car! The two boys drove down in the red Mustang Convertable. As Robert put it, "It was a sweet ride!"

Here are some pictures that Robert took.












It looks like beautiful country and they had a wonderful! How lucky our boys are to have such great friends!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but as a sidebar, Brian got braces a few weeks ago. Poor boy has a mouth full of metal and a crank on the roof of his mouth to widen his jaw. He let me take a few pictures while at the orthodontist. It was a long appointment...almost two hours and by the end he was pretty beat, but he sure was a trooper!


He's gone this week to Cedar City with his friend Talon. It is the first time that he is away from home and I have to admit that he's only been gone since last night, but I miss him coming in to my room in the morning and giving me a hug and a kiss! But I know he'll have a great time, and hopefully he'll remember to take a few pictures so we can post them next week after he gets home!

Happy Summer!

Summertime Fun

It has been a good week. We've done a few fun things and seen a few movies, and just layed around the house relaxing. It has been so hot that I don't really even want to go out to the pool. That's when you know it's been hot.
40 years ago today our "heros" returned from the moon. What an amazing adventure they had. On Wednesday night we layed out on the lawn and waited for the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle to pass by. We don't have a telescope so we were hoping that our human eyes could see it. We thought that we had missed it and right as we were getting ready to go inside Brian saw something in the sky! It was a thrill to see it as it passed overhead. How far we have come in the past 40 years! We did some celebrating of our own this week.
On Monday we went up to SLC to the Clark Planetarium since in was July 20, 2009 and 40 years since the first men walked on the moon. It was really interesting. We learned a few new things and did some fun activities and then watched a 3D movie about Apollo 11. Brian then got to walk on the moon and mars, and hang out with one of his friends.



Then Gio and Brian took a walk in outerspace. What a beautiful world behind them.

There have also been a few rain storms over the past few weeks and one night while Gio and I were taking a walk in our neighborhood we came around the corner and saw this beautiful rainbow.

The highlight of my week was going to lunch with some old and dear friends of mine. We were companions and friends during our mission to the Italy Catania Mission 20+ years ago and have been able to keep in touch all these years. I sure do love these ladies and feel blessed to have been able to serve with them and most of all to still call them my friends today. They were my sorelle 20 years ago and today they are my sisters!

NASA

40 years ago this week, men went to the moon! WOW!!





As long as I have know Gio he has wanted to fly to the moon. He got a little closer in June when he was able to go to NASA with his brother and the boys during our trip to Florida! Robert tells how Gio was in "heaven" as they toured the facility and saw all the wonders that were there.




These past weeks he has been following the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour and was thrilled to see that they were finally able to take off. Now we will be following them on line and seeing "heaven" through their eyes.
Hopefully there will be another trip to the moon someday soon, so that Giovanni can watch and remember!



The L.E.M



The Space Shuttle



The 2 "wanna-be astronouts" :-)






The re-entry system that brought back home our heros...



Hopefully our schools will actually teach the future generations what it took for mankind to land on the moon: a vision from a great American President (JFK); the dedication of thousands of people that worked hard, with hope and desire to make that dream come true; and finally the courage of several men that placed their lives in danger confronting the "unknown"....becoming real heroes that will be remember forever...as "Rocket Men".

SUMMER

What can I say about this summer. So far it has been wonderful. It is hard to think that in a few short weeks it will be over and school will start again.

Brian is already counting the weeks and days until he will start 5th grade. Not because he is excited (which he is), but to know how much time he has to squeeze in all the fun things that he still wants to do.

Robert on the other hand is about ready to start college. He says that summer has been fun, but he is ready to start the next phase. I can understand that...he is in a limbo phase for now.

As for Gio and I this summer has been a special one with his brother being here and our small vacations. We have a few more fun things planned before the season changes. Thanks to JetBlue we are going to take the kids to San Diego in August for a few days to go to Sea World and the beach.

I have thought often in these past few weeks of summers as a child and the things that we did as a family, and individuals. I remember going to girls camp as a teenager and loving every minute of it, which is odd, because now I'm not much of a camper. I remember riding bikes and skateboards with friends, playing barbies, going swimming at the local pool, summer dances in the outdoors. I also remember family trips to Texas to visit aunts, uncles, and grandparents, having cousins from Europe come and taking them to Disneyland, Carlsbad Cavers, Monterey Bay, etc. Going to Europe with my parents, visiting Hawaii many times, cruises, Mexico, staying with my grandmother in El Paso for the summer. That is what summer was all about. Carefree days, and making memeories.

On of my fondest memories is the summer that I spent 5-6 weeks in Greeece, with Alex. I wouldn't really call her my nanny, but she did help watch my brother Dave and I while she lived with us and went to school. She moved in with us when I was 3 yrs old and stayed until I was about 7 or so. We had a lot of fun with her. She was like the older sister that I never had, even thought she was about 12-15 yrs older than me. When I was 9 she took me to Greece with her. What an experience. I can still remember so many things from that trip. The Mediterranian Sea, the Acropolis, staying in the small village of Glykovrisi and not having an indoor bathroom or shower and bathing in a small tub out in the yard...the warm goats milk every morning (thank goodness my mother was wise enough to send chocolate powder with me so that I could make chocolate milk in the mornings!) I remeber the goat being slaughtered and hanging to dry so that we could cook it for our departure party. I wanted to bring home one of the horns, but I couldn't...customs you know! I also remember playing with YaYa and PaPo and going to the farm to pick tomatoes and peaches...wow....those are great memories.

Thanks for taking a walk with me and letting me remember a few of my childhood summers. I know that Robert and Brian won't have the same experiences and memories that I had as a child, but I do hope that they remember their summers as being fun....going to Disneyland, road trips to San Antonio and the River Walk (remember Robert- "would you like a drink to take the edge off?) trips to Italy, Florida, camping at Lagoon and just being together watching a movie and going to Seven Peaks.

I hope that as parents we have been able to make the summer of our children's youth something that they will look back on and smile.

JULY 4TH WEEKEND

What a great weekend we had! Even though Gio and I had to work we were still able to fit in plenty of fun!

Jet Blue has a lot of great benefits and one of the many is that we are able to get discount tickets to the Real Salt Lake soccer games. (Jet Blue is a sponser). So on Friday night went to the game up in Sandy at the Rio Tinto Stadium. Brian brought along his good friend Gabe. Gabe's family, like ours, are avid soccer fans, only they like Manchester United and we LOVE the Juventus (located in Torino, Italy). It was a fun evening. We stopped off at Village Inn for dinner, then off to the game. We now understand better why US soccer has difficulties on the world stage. The game was so slow!! Finally in the 2nd half things got moving a bit and the San Jose Earthquakes made a goal. Not what we were hoping for, but it made the game more exciting. In the 90th minute RSL tied the game 1-1! It was a good finish. There were fire works down on the field and we went down and sat on the grass to watch. It was a fun evening for the four of us.




Robert on the other had spent the evening and night down on University Ave with a bunch of his friends. They had a great time eating, playing video games, and just hanging out together. It was one of the first big get togethers since graduation and they had a really fun night! I don't think they slept any, they just wandered around from one group to another and "hung out" as Robert calls it. I'm glad that he has such good friends that we don't need to worry about him, and I'm thankful too that we live in such a good place where kids can do such fun things. (It doesn't hurt that one of Robert's friends' father is a police officer and works the night beat either!).

On Saturday evening we had the opportunity to go to the Stadium of Fire at the BYU LaVell Edwards Stadium. It was a wonderful evening. A friend of ours, who happen to be the President of the Freedom Festival this year had some extra tickets that the festival committee was giving away for free, and she called us up and asked if we wanted to go. Of course we said, YES!!! Brian especially was happy because The Jonas Brothers were the headline act, and Provo was part of their tour. Brian invited another good friend of his, Seth, and it was a fun filled evening. They went totally crazy with the music, and we realized that Brian is a "Grouppie"! It was so much fun to watch him have fun and enjoy the experience. Robert went with us to dinner at Golden Corrall (very patriotic don't you think?) but was so tired that he could hardly even eat. We ended up taking him home and he slept until almost the end of the show, then went with some friends to watch the fireworks from outside the stadium.
SheDaisy was also there, and so was Glen Beck (I'm not a big fan of his, but this year he was great....much more patriotic and not as political as he has been in the past.) The highlight of the evening was when they retired the flag that had been used at the festival for the past 13 years. It was very emotional to be there and take part in such a special event. That for me was the highlight of the evening.
Again last night I reflected on this country that we live in and what unites each one of us. It doesn't matter our nationality, our religious or political views, but I was reminded that we are all Americans and if we work together and unite as one we have the opportunity to make this nation great.
Here are a few photos from the evening:






It is hard to believe that summer vacation will be over in 6 short weeks. We are going to try to fit a lot in, but most of all to make memories with our family.
Happy Summer to everyone!!!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

Dad in his CB's Navy uniform

Dad and mom about 9 months after they were married.
Dad was shipped off to Guam for 6-8 months - so they were happy to be back together again.



July 4th 2002

I sure do love this country that we live in. I feel so blessed to be an American. I am grateful for the sacrifices that men and women make for this great land that we live in.

We may not always have the same religious beliefs or political views, but in the end we are all Americans and United We Stand.

I hope that today and everyday we can remember who we are and what we stand for.

THANK YOU TO ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVE OUR COUNTRY!!!