Italia! (Toscana: Siena e' Firenze)

The highlight of our trip to Italy was the 2 days spent in the Tuscany region. If, I mean WHEN, we go back to Italy someday that is where we want to spend much more time. Jon and I both loved Siena and we only got to spend about 4 hours or so there. It was the place we always pictured when we dreamed of Italy - windy little cobblestone streets full of shops and cafes, a great town square, interesting history etc. Probably the most interesting thing we learned about was the story of the Pallio races, the annual horse race between the 17 contradas (parishes) that starts in the square each summer. We also saw Siena’s Duomo, which was started in the 12th century and was finished in 1339.

Also while in Tuscany we had the most amazing meal ever! It was this little restaurant out in the middle of nowhere - Al Chiaro di Luna - that we went for lunch one day. I can't even describe how good that meal was!

We also stayed in the most amazing place I have ever stayed in. A 14th century villa - Villa il Poggiale in the remote town of San Casciano (pop. 4000 and birthplace of Machiavelli). It was a beautiful place that these pictures cannot even capture!










The 2 nights that we spent at Villa il Poggiale, we also ate there and had some fun times with the entire group. We would gather in the great room after dinner and play games, talk etc.







Our second day in Tuscany was spent in Florence. The group had a bicycle tour of the city planned. That was Jon's favorite thing he did on the trip. They rode bikes with electronic radios in their ears to hear the tour guide, both for information about Florence and about how to “safely” navigate the streets. The tour took them to the famous Duomo, the world’s fourth biggest Cathedral, and the Bell Tower. They crossed the Arno River and saw the market, with open sides and top, then rubbed the bronze pig’s nose. The Piazza Della Signoria from the end of the 1200’s held the old government palace and there they saw where the fake David was (being cleaned), and lots of statues commissioned by the Medicis. They saw the church where Michaelangelo and Gallileo are buried and then headed to a great lunch at Osteria dell Olio.

I, along with the coach's wife Donna and her sister Dionne decided to blow off the bike tour and go shopping all morning! We had so much fun in San Lorenzo market and stopping to take cappuccinos and then we met up with the group for another amazing meal.

We finished the day with a stop at the Verrazano family estate, Castello di Verrazzano. If the name is familiar, it’s because this family gave stones to help build New York’s Verrazano Bridge. There we heard about the Chianti wine that this region is famous for and that this family has produced since 1170. Our host Geno was quite the philosopher and taught us all a lot about wine and life. I would love to come back in the summer when everything is green and beautiful. It was such a beautiful place even though everything wasn't in bloom.

Geno, the philosopher

Our next stops were Venice and Milan which I will write about in my next post.

Italia! (Roma)

We just got back from an amazing trip to Italy! At the last minute (less than 2 weeks before), we got the opportunity to travel with the varsity boys basketball team from The Hill School. I have to admit that I wasn't completely excited about going to Italy for the first time with 16 teenaged boys and a bunch of adults I didn't really know (I only knew one couple, the coach and his wife, who now I can call my friends instead of just acquaintances!). I was happy to be pleasantly surprised as it turned out to be a trip that exceeded all of my expectations. I feel like we made some lifelong friends on this trip!

We packed so much into 8 days that I might have to do this post in shifts. Thankfully the coach did some blogs to update the parents, so I will be borrowing a lot of his material.

Today, I will tell you about our time in Roma:

After landing in Rome, we checked in to Hotel Diana, showered after the overnight flight, and headed to a nearby Metro stop under the guidance of our tour guide, Raffaella Lodola. Raffaella was with us the entire time we were in Italy and she was simply amazing! We are all looking for a way to find her a job over here as she would love to come to the States, and will definitely be staying in touch with her via email and Facebook!

We took the Metro to the Spagna stop, and walked down Via Condotti (Carlo, who is on the basketball team and is from Milan, called it the 5th Avenue of Rome but with cobblestone pavement). Our first meal in Italy was at the Autogrill - which is like an Italian fastfood chain. It was pretty disappointing for a first taste of Italy so we made a note not to go back there the rest of our time (the team has negotiated special rates there but the adults had freedom to go wherever we wanted). Back to the Metro and on to the Vatican. We walked all through the Museums as we made our way to the Sistine Chapel - quite an amazing site! We also took some time to go to St. Pietro's square and visit the Basilica. We got there too late to get to the top of the Basilica but were so glad that we made it in before it closed.

Jon's sister Elizabeth was also in Rome at the same time as us! She booked herself in the same hotel and so were were able to get together before dinner and go out for some caffe latte and gelato! It was so much fun to see her there! We also got to have dinner with her on Sunday night and found a great little out of the way restaurant (forgot to write down the name!) and had our first great meal in Italy! We had several dishes, but our favorite was the Spaghetti alla Carbonara.

On Sunday morning, we headed to the Colliseum. It's just so amazing to see something so old in person! Now we want to rent Gladiator again and watch it in light of being there. From there we walked to Basilica di san Pietro in Vincoli, one of Rome’s four major churches. Back on the bus, we drove by Cathedral san Jun of Latera where the Pope lived for 1000 years. We saw numerous Obelisks, the Laternano Palace, the Battiserie, Callicutta, one of the famous Baths, and Circus Maximum (of Ben Hur fame). We drove by Domus Augustana, Pallatino Hill, the Emperor’s residence, and the Giano Arc.

From there we saw Capitol Hill, Marcelo’s Theater, and Venetian Square. There we saw Trevii Fountain, which was very impressive. Jon and I made wishes as we threw in American coins (we didn't want to waste our euros!). After lunch we went to see Palace Chigi and the Marcus Aurelius columns, and then the Pantheon. We finished our walking tour checking out more fountains at the Piazza Navona, the entrance to the ancient stadium, and the Palace of Justice on the Tiber River. On the drive home, we saw the Olympic Stadium. The drive back to the hotel continued to cross by some of the 8 miles of city walls that remain around Rome.

Here are some of our favorite pics from Rome:











My next post will be about our time in Tuscany (Siena & Florence).

We're Getting There

Well, a couple of months ago, I said that we were almost done with our house project and I'd post pictures...but actually we probably still have several more weeks of work to go. So, I am going to just post a few of the pictures of what is finished. Eventually I want to do a before/during/after slide show, but frankly I just don't have the time for that right now (and maybe never will!).

Jon has done some amazing work - pretty much doing all of this by himself. He opened the doorway from our kitchen to our dining room from a regular doorway size to this:


With having a better flow, we decided to put an island and pot rack in the kitchen. Jon also installed a microwave over the stove, which has really helped with counter space. We painted the kitchen as well - actually, that's something we did hire out - and it was so nice to come back from our Thanksgiving trip to WI and have everything done! He (the painter) did our cabinets in the kitchen, the kitchen and dining room walls and ceilings and all of the trim throughout the whole house! Here are a couple more pics of the kitchen.

So now Jon is working on putting in a 1/2 bath off the kitchen (in the old mudroom), so I will post some pics when that is finished. Isn't he amazing?

The Great Break!

I guess all good things must come to an end, but this Christmas break was one that I did not want to end! We had off work/school for 2 weeks and we jammed in as much fun as possible! Here are some of the highlights:

* Anthony was in his first "play" - a 1.5 minute production (they did it twice) called Jingle Bugs - he was a snow bug. Jon was delighted to see him in his angel wings! :-)
* We celebrated Christmas with Aunt Debbie and cousins Carly, Austin and Andrew
* Christmas Eve at Grammy & PopPop's with all the aunts, uncles and cousins! We found out that we're going to have another neice or nephew! (Jeremy & Erin are the happy parents)
*Christmas morning at home! So much fun!
* We went to see Bedtime Stories (the new Adam Sandler movie) on Christmas night - it was great - the kids loved it and so did we!
* Our family Christmas gift was a trip up to NYC to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. Aunt Lizzie came with us and we crashed at her place for the night - great time!
* We got to have one last DiCo/Marty/Z get-together (minus Ashley Z. - we missed you Ashley!!). It was great to be together one more time before the Marty's head to Poland.
* We also had a day to just hang out with the Marty's - it was a hard goodbye but we're so glad we got one more chance to be together!
* New Year's Eve with friends Kelly & Orazio and their kids Orazio and baby Grace 2 1/2 months old. Always great to connect with them! We had a sleepover at their house and hung around for a bit on New Year's Day.
* A Christmas get-together with our friends the Ski's - unfortunately we couldn't find our camera that night and they forgot to bring theirs, but we had a great time together as always! It is fun to see Anthony and Noah starting to really play together more now. Sophia & Lexie have always been great playmates.

Today, reality set in for the kids and I as I went back to work and they went back to school. Jon starts back tomorrow! I guess breaks wouldn't seem so great if we never had reality!

Sharing Christmas

Last year I participated in a blogging event called "Sharing Christmas" but I couldn't get my act together in time to do it this year. But I did want to share some pics because last year's event made me realize that I didn't have many Christmas decorations throughout the house and so I got a bunch of stuff on clearance at the end of the season last year! So, here are just a few pics of our home decorated for Christmas. If you want to read about our traditions etc., you can read last year's post by clicking here.

Also our house project is ALMOST DONE! So, I will soon be posting some before, during and after shots!













We have never done an Advent Calendar before, and I don't know exactly what you're supposed to do, but we have been using it to teach the kids about Christmas. So each night when they open the door, we have 3 things listed on a piece of paper - a Christmas song, a special family or person in our lives to pray for, and a part of the Christmas story or a special Christmas memory to talk about. It has been so much fun and a great way for us to connect each night as a family - it has really drawn out the Christmas season for us and we will definitely be making this a tradition.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas! Peace and Love!

A Very Happy Thanksgiving!

We went to Wisconsin to celebrate Thanksgiving (and early Christmas) with the Lowery clan - I can't even believe this, but I think it was almost 3 years ago that we were all together - we didn't make it out there last year, and the year before that when we were there, Danny & Kris were over in Ethiopia getting Caleb. So, it was very special to finally all be together again! Although, technically we weren't all together, because we are eagerly awaiting Micah's stateside arrival - Micah is Danny & Kristen's 2nd little boy that they are adopting and we are hoping they get their court date any day now! And Jeff & Darla's baby joined us inutero, so we are looking forward to having 2 more little ones with us by next year's celebration!

We had a great few days together. When we were all there, it was 10 adults, 5 kids and 4 dogs sleeping under one roof! Scott & Deann were great hosts as always! We also got the pleasure of seeing my Aunt Dianne & Uncle Jerry and cousin Jeremy, his wife Alisha and their baby Joel. It was a wonderful time of reconnecting and it went way too fast.

Sophia had a hard time parting with her cousin Brittany this time! She must have cried 4 or 5 times on the way home. Brittany is a really special big cousin that takes so much time to play with Sophia. (Thank you Brittany!)

Whenever we come away from our family, we always feel sad that we live so far apart, but we also enjoy that when we are together, we are all in the same house for several days and nights - it's a great way to bond!

Love and miss you all!!!

Farewell (N POZEGNANIE) Dear Friends

Tonight we are getting together with our friends, the Martys, for the last time while they are PA residents. We've always known this day would come, but that doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye! Four years ago in October, we were unexpectedly and pleasantly blessed with the gift of living close to each other. Bethany and I met in jr. high and immediately clicked - we've been best friends for over 21 years now. We met Quenton & Jon in college and the 4 of us went through our early dating years together. After both getting married in '96, we went our separate ways, never believing we'd ever get to live near each other again (but always holding out HOPE!). Eight years later, we got that chance when Quenton's job with HOPE International brought them to within an hour of us.

Over these past four years we have created so many special memories. When they moved here we vowed that we wouldn't let this time pass us by and end up with a bunch of "if onlys" or "we should haves". We made so much effort to not let the hour drive be a deterrent from getting together as much as we could - and it was worth every minute and every $ of gas! Our friendship as couples has grown so much over these years and it has been a great joy to watch our children grow into the best of friends. We have built the foundation for a life-long friendship for our families, regardless of the distance between us.

Quenton, Bethany, Eden, Truman & Briar, we love you so much and will miss you immensely! You are going to leave a big hole in both our hearts and our calendars. We wish God's richest blessings on you as you begin this next phase of your amazing journey in POLAND! We admire your faith and sense of adventure!

So many of our special memories include the Z's and so they are in many of these pics! DMZ gatherings just won't be the same without you! Enjoy this slideshow that captures many of our fun times together!

With much love,
Jon, Dawn, Sophia & Anthony

AAAAAARGH! Halloween Was Sad!

I am all about the costumes on Halloween...so I was very disappointed when we woke up Friday morning and Anthony was very sick! You know a kid is sick when they don't want to go trick-or-treating! We had such great plans for that day too. I had a 1/2 day off work, the kids were off school, it was beautiful weather and we were supposed to attend our 1st Annual DiCo Cousins Halloween Extravaganza at Joel & Shannon's! Sophia headed over with Grammy, PopPop and Aunt Lizzie while Anthony and I laid in the dark house and hid from the trick-or-treaters! She was a great big sister (as always!) and brought home candy for her Bubba.

Since the kids had such fun costumes, I decided to dress them up today and get some pics. Enjoy the pics of our pirate and gypsy!

AAARGH FACES:



and check this out...(I'm not a very crafty/creative person, so I am proud that I "made" this shirt)