New Mr. & Mrs.

July 14

Months of planning and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends traveled from near and far to witness the wedding of Erin, our youngest niece. The weather gave its stamp of approval with the sun shining down on us, pushing the rain forecast away for the day.

Entering the church to take our seats we were greeted with many colorful summer bouquets of flowers throughout and sounds of music played by a string quartet. Soon it was time for the wedding to take place and we watched as the grandmothers were walked down the isle. Next to follow were both sets of parents, who went to the front of the church and lit the candles that were next to the unity candle.

Seven bridesmaids entered the church and took their place at the front, waiting for the bride to be brought down the isle by her father. When I looked back and saw Erin with her father I have to say that she took my breath away. It was hard to believe that our youngest niece was now a young beautiful woman about to be married. With tears of happiness in my eyes I smiled, as I knew she was finally marrying the man she has been in love with for many years. Many thoughts ran through my mind for Erin and Nick as they are now will start a new journey in life together. I wished the new couple much happiness and that all of their dreams and hopes become a reality.

Exchanging wedding vows

Mr. & Mrs.

Family photos with the bride & groom

Cara with Grandma & Grandpa

They traveled from Italy to be here

Cara with Daddy & Mommy

A little fun after the ceremony

Heading out to the reception after a lot of hugs, laughs, kisses, and pictures.

To be continued. . .

Heading Out

July 13

Today we spent the morning and early afternoon getting ready to head out of town for a family wedding. Relatives from near and far would be getting together as our youngest niece on my husband's side of the family is getting married tomorrow.

This morning we were greeted by the beautiful view outside our back door. The water was as smooth as a section of glass, with a slight mist arising from the water. I think everyone took a few minutes out of their morning to enjoy the lovely sight.

Another lovely sight was little Cara greeting everyone this morning with big smiles and laughs.

While the women stayed busy packing and got things ready to head out of town, we realized that the men were nowhere to be found. It didn't take us too long to figure out that the guys were flying, I mean trying to fly, their little airplane.

Here's the guys getting the plane out of a tree so they then could do some more flying. This scene, by the way, was repeated more than once.

Late in the day we arrived at our destination checked into our hotel rooms, caught up with family, and found a place to have dinner. After eating, we went back to our rooms, played a few games of wii, and turned in to get a good night's sleep before the big day ahead tomorrow.

The happy bride-to-be and her mother having a quick visit with Cara and company.

Once Upon A Party

July 12

Back at home with Grandma, Cyndi, and Danilo we had a few moments for some rest and relaxation. The guys took advantage of some nice weather and enjoyed our pond with a paddle boat ride. Oops, guess again! If you look closely in Ameridad's hand you will see a remote controlled helicopter. Guess someone, and I won't mention any names, flew the helicopter into the water. I will give you a hint, the pilot isn't an American. Good news: there was no damage to the copter and it flew more missions before we left for our vacation.

Having the Italians visiting for a whole month might sound like a lot of time, but since we are planning a three week road trip we know time will be limited. Many of our friends wanted to see our foreign visitors so I thought of the perfect way to make that possible. I picked tonight for a surprise party and had several of our friends come over for a mass visit. Cyndi knows me so well that surprising her was not an easy task. As a matter of fact, while we were sitting next to each other I received an RSVP telling me that they would be able to attend. I kept the conversation short as I didn't want to tip off Cyndi, but I must have looked guilty of something. After the phone call she asked me what was up. I knew I couldn't get out of this one so I confessed as to whom I was talking and told her that tonight this person would be coming over along with another friend. This was the truth; I just didn't tell her that there were others coming over too.

Some of our guests getting caught up on what the Italians have been up to.

Thrown in with the surprise get-together was the early (surprise) celebration of my birthday. My wonderful daughter-in-law is a fantastic cake decorator and made me a tasty cake. The top of my cake was decorated with a few of my favorite things. Cara helped me blow out the candles on my cake and was the first to taste the delicious icing.

One of the favorite things on my cake was a small swimming pool representing my enjoyment of the water. As you can see by my face, that I got that piece. Guess what? Blue food coloring stains your mouth! Oh well.

Everyone got a laugh out of my new make-up. Cara, however, always knows I am good for a laugh didn't think that this was unusual for me, although she did have lots smiles for me.

New Arrival

Announcing the newest arrival, Esperia Travels, LLC
July 11


Cyndi and I have decided to go into business together. While she was in the States, we met with a lawyer and a business banker. Our dream of running our own tour company is now a reality; Esperia Travels,LLC is a limited liability company registered in the State of Indiana. Offering tours in 2008


Cyndi's passion for Emilia Romagna has turned into a business opportunity.






With tours being set up in Italy and the legal aspect taken care of in America, we are ready to set up our website and get into business. We will let you know when all of our cards are in place. To be continued. . .

Time Again

July 10


With a family wedding in the not too far future another trip to the airport was on our to-do-list; Ameridad's mother would be arriving today. After hugs, hellos, laughs, a quick lunch, and no time for rest it was time to head to the photographer's studio. It has been a long overdue gathering of our family and an updated photo was a must. I have to say that we looked pretty spiffy as we smiled for the camera.


Our family is a circle of strength and love
With every birth and every union, the circle grows
Every joy shared adds more love
Every crisis faced together makes the circle stronger


Sweet Pea, Great-grandmother, Grandpa, & Daddy

As I said in yesterday's post, how nice it is to have the family together again.

Time Machine

Time travel has always been an interesting theory among authors and movie producers. What would it be like to be able to travel through future or past events? No one will probably ever know but my blog is going to take that idea and go back to the past. I want to share the fun and travels our family had while Cyndi and Danilo were visiting from Italy. With that being said I am taking my blog back to July.

On July 9th Scott, Emily, Cara, Ameridad, and I were waiting at the Indianapolis International Airport for the arrival of the Italians. With a change in their flight out of Detroit, due to pilots calling in sick from being overworked with too many flights, they arrived safely though tired.

Cara meeting Uncle Danilo for the first time and seeing Aunt Cyndi for the second time.

After a lot of hugs and kisses at the airport and getting the baggage loaded into the car we all headed for Outback so Cyndi could get a delicious salad.

It is great having everyone all together making final plans for a busy July ahead.

Happy Trails To You-Until We Meet Again

The city of Indianapolis, IN taken from the rooftop of the parking garage.

Picture of the tail of the plane that Cyndi was going to board for her flight home.

Cyndi talking on the phone with Scott, saying one last good bye.

I have always had a love-hate relationship with airports and yesterday was one of the hate days. Emily, Cara, Ameridad, and I were seeing Cyndi off as she was heading back to Italy after visiting state-side for a month. She could stay for a whole year and I would still be sad when she left for home. Almost from the day that she arrives, in the back of my mind is the dreaded having to say good bye cloud. Yep, you guessed it: I am a glass is half empty kind of person.

Sitting at the food court while waiting for her flight to begin boarding I noticed happy people next to us. It was quite obvious--with them making a welcome sign and filling up balloons--that they were having a love day at the airport. I really wanted to pop their balloons but thought that it wouldn't be a good idea, nor would it change the fact that Cyndi was leaving.

I, along with her father, will miss the laughs, stories, travels, shopping, eating at favorite restaurants, swimming, playing wii, movies, stops at the ice cream shop, visiting with family and friends, along with anything else that might come our way that we would end up doing. I do know, however, that there will be other visits and as a matter of fact we are talking about the next one. Hey, I am trying to look at the glass as half full.

It helps to know that Cyndi is now at home with her husband who loves her very much. He is a wonderful person and makes her so happy. The life they share in Italy is filled with good friends and new adventures await them each day. Love to both Cyndi and Danilo, see you two soon. Thanks guys for the wonderful visit!