Back in Firenze!!!!

We made it back to our flat in Firenze after an idyllic week ... one beautiful hill town after another ... fabulous cooking extravaganzas with friends. Those of you who carefully look at our photos will see that I am bringing home an interesting souvenir!!! First day at the palazzo, Larry and I went to Monterchi to see the Madonna del Parto (pregnant) ...we were walking back ... its very hilly, rocky, we were talking ... you can figure out the rest!!! Luckily, our friends came along and saved us an hour walk. Larry took me to the hospital the next morning (about a half hour away)and we found it ourselves with many helpful directions from crazy Italian guys!!! Evidently everyone understands a raised broken arm. We now know the meaning of "pronto soccorso". I had a dreamy Italian doctor ... the traction was not too fun, but after I received my cast I was ready to go!! AND there was NO bill!! Why can't the US get its act together?

I am typing with one hand, so I'll let Larry fill you in. Our little flat is by the Basilica of Santa Croce, the burial place of Michelangelo,Rossini, and Galileo.

As you can see by our pictures and captions, we had a fabulous time at the palazzo!!!

Baci Baci!!!

The first morning!!

A quick tour around the historical area before leaving for Arrezzo

Ciao da Firenze!!!

Well, we made it!!! A long trip on a very cramped transatlantic airplane (don't choose Airbus!!) with a long layover in the Frankfurt airport: immense, chaotic, and industrial ... Larry started to feel that he was hallucinating!!

Plane to Firenze was further delayed because of a flat tire! But all of a sudden, at the gate, a large group of Italians arrived and their joyful, sing-song chatter reminded me of a flock of chickadees on a winter's afternoon. Heaps of laughter, hugs and greetings of "ti amo!" - suddenly, it felt like vacation!

Plane for the short hop to Firenze was VERY comfortable -- free wine (not $5 a pop like on US Airways). Suddenly, the clouds gave way to the Tuscan hills, the Duomo off in the distance. the red roofs -- definitely not in Kansas anymore!

A short walk from the bus station brought us to Hotel Scoti and our friends, Maggie and Lanni. They had arranged dinner reservations at Il Latino where we had a 4 hour feast of wave after wave of delicious food, wine, liquors, and desserts. Now we won't have to eat the rest of the week!!

Tomorrow we leave for Palazzo Rosadi, outside of Arrezzo. We stay there a week and then Larry and I will come back to Firenze for another week. Molto Buono!!!

I will try to post pictures from the villa. Love to all!

Cody and Jacob

Here are some new pics.....

Mom

Just wanted to share a photo I took last week of mom while she was getting her Chemo treatment. She is doing GREAT!!! (She will probably kill me for posting this picture... lol)
But I knew you all would want to see with your own eyes how good she is doing!
Keep the positive mo-jo and prayers coming our way!
Love to everyone!

Update

Just wanted to give all our family a HUGE hug and an update on mom.. She will be starting Chemo on December 3rd...
Keep all the positive thoughts coming our way....

xoxo

Happy Birthday, Lisa!!!

You already have been given the best gift, but we hope you have a wonderful day!!



Love, Debbie and Larry

November Get Togethers

Hi all!! We have had to get out the sweat shirts and sweaters - the evenings are getting down to the 50's and even high 40's. Haven't closed the windows yet as the days are absolutely beautiful.

Lourene called last night and we a tentative plan for getting together. On Sunday, Nov 2nd, Marc and Amy are offering their house ... we are going to get take-out Mexican food and make some salads. We'll keep everything simple, but have a great time.

The following weekend, Kim and Mindy want us to come up that way ... details not worked out yet ... I have really forgotten how far it is up there, but we have never seen Maya nor Mindy's house.

Hope that either one or both of these get-togethers work for everyone.

Love,
Debbie

Happy Birthday to Debbie and Happy Anniversary to Mindy and Clint

Sunday September 14th
Hi to all, I can't do this from work so when ever I'm over at Lisa's house I try to get a sentence or two off to you. Don't look now but September is here and the Rays and Pittlicks and Knott families have birthdays coming.
Its a beautiful day here in Livermore. You can smell fall in the air but its still warm during the day. Work is work and its moving very fast as we are a PI school and have lots of testing to get back to the state. Cody is a joy and growing taller every time I see him. He's a gentle soul who I am sure will be a very good big brother. Steve is still enjoying his retirement. He has started painting, new front door and new flooring in the entry hall. We spent some time up in Roseville at Debbie Alameda's home. What a beautiful home she and Tom have. Enjoyed the visit and the dinner. Labor day weekend found us in Tahoe at Jim and Phyllis's place. What a nice weekend that was. Got to spend time with Theresa's 2 boys and Lisa and Cody came up on Sunday and spent time with the cousins. We all headed home on Monday with some traffic on the hill but still got home early. Looking forward to seeing the Rays in November. Love to all

A touch of fall in the air!!

Hi all!!

The end of the summer has flown by ... we have been quite busy. One of the most interesting things we have done was to see a production of "Hair" in Central Park. Absolutely amazing - the cast was phenomenal.

Larry has been hard at work on restaining our entire deck (railings and all). It is quite a big job - but it is coming out beautifully. We have also been repainting/wallpapering our dining room, living room, entry way, and hallway. HUGE job - but we are almost finished - I got sidetracked with the following project.

I have been in MAJOR photo album mode. Organizing several hundred wedding weekend pictures is no small task. I made two photo DVD's (each has about 400 pictures) - it was nice because I was able to incorporate pictures from several different guests (thank you Lisa) as well as the professional photographer. I also made several photo books (from Shutterfly). I am sending one to Hilda; I also made one for Lauren and Tony of their honeymoon. Now I am working on updating all our albums - I had a brilliant (?) inspiration to add emails and cards to our albums - so I had to go back through 6 years of emails and organize those. Then of course, I had to organize the closet and shelves where all of this stuff is kept ... so I have been staying up quite late.

Speaking of photos, if you are interested in any of the professional wedding photos, they can be ordered through our "Share" account at Shutterfly - the cost for a 4 x 6 is only 15 cents. Let me know if you want the link forwarded to you.

Larry has joined the NJ Astronomical Association - there is an observatory about 25 miles from here and it is open to members to use the telescopes and such. We are just beginners, but Larry is going through training so that the next time you visit, he can take you there for a look at a nebula, star cluster, or the rings of Saturn!! It is really cool. We have moved our hammock to the middle of the lawn so that we can look at the stars - we are becoming crazy old people!!

Lauren is coming out next weekend for my birthday - lucky me!! Josh is back at school for his last year. He and Sara will be going to a wedding in Newport, RI next weekend so we won't all be together.

We look forward to getting together when we are in California starting 11-1.

Happy back to school!!

Love,
Debbie

A new addition....................

Ok so as you all can see by the above "ticker" baby number 2 is on the way... I have had an ultrasound done and got to see the little peanut and the heartbeat... They have given me an April 4th due date - and mom says she is going to tie my ankles together to hold out for the 13th... Kidding.. I hope...

I will keep you posted...

love to all... xoxo

Vacation

Well this end of the world just got back from a relaxing 4 days camping in Oregon with our good friends the Koch's... Cody finished summer school and according to his teacher is finally reading at grade level... what a relief :)
and I am adding some pictures from out trip to Yosemite...
Hope all is well.. Love to everyone

Vacations are wonderful!!!

We just came back from 5 days in upstate New York - it felt like we were away months. The weather was perfect, the B&B's hospitable and comfortable, and we felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Letchworth State Park is one of the most beautiful we have ever visited, wonderfully maintained, beautiful campgrounds and cottages, astonishing scenery. A wonderful idea for a family get-together!!




We treated ourselves to an 80 minute couples massage at the August Moon Spa in Ithaca - WOW!! Then, we moved Josh to his new apartment - it is really a gem, now he is ready for the final year of Law School.

Love to all - time to mow the lawn.

What's Cookin'

Larry made a fantastic dinner this week: Mango Chicken Curry We couldn't eat it fast enough. For those of you who shy away from curries, this has a very delicate taste.

To celebrate our 33rd anniversary, next week we are going to Letchworth State Park. Then, we go to Ithaca to put Josh's stuff in storage. (School starts in a month, still no place to live!!) We are splurging and have booked massages and seaweed soaks at a spa. Can't wait!!

Love to you all!!
Debbie

Happy Anniversary Steve and Lourene!!!

(Remember when the whole family came with you guys on your honeymoon?)

Can't wait to hear about Scotland!!!

Love

Greetings from the middle sibling

And so it goes the seeing eye daughter has shown me what to do once again. Getting older and having a daughter show you the way can be disheartening.
Yes I've been on Jury duty since June 30Th. Oh happy summer. We should be done by Tuesday July 15Th. It is in Alameda on Shoreline Drive and you can walk across the street and be on the beach. Not bad. It's better than downtown Oakland but not as good as going to Pleasanton. Such is life. Steve is enjoying his time with Cody. They have been to the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Great America, lunches at Mac Donald's and In and Out Burger. Walks to the park by the house and playing in the hot tub. Steve says he may have to go back to work just to rest and do his crossword puzzle. Steve and I had a wonderful time in St Louis. What a grand weekend it was. For me spending time with my brothers and their wives and the kids is a wonderful thing. I must say that Steve, Larry and I have some pretty fantastic and cute (sorry Josh, Handsome) kids. And they have some pretty darn cute kids too.

Can we say HHHOOOTTT????

So it has been a cool 100+ so far this week.... ugh. Mom is on Jury duty in Alameda (where it is "slightly" cooler) for the rest of the week and into next week. Dad's first week of retirement has had him and Cody doing "guy" stuff.... they have hit Mc Donalds, In-n-Out Burger, the park and tomorrow has them headed to Great America... not sure who is enjoying retirement more.
Jason, Cody and I spent the 4th down at Bass Lake, which is right outside of Yosemite. And I am happy to say I had my FIRST trip to Yosemite (at 34 years of age) and it was just amazing...
well that is all from here...
~xoxo

Just to Say Hello from Larry

The Wedding was that much better to see those who were able to make it (even Cody and Brandon), wish you all could have been there.
Congratulations to Steve, Steve and Lourene on the decision to let the work go on without you, I wanna do that too!!
Happy Anniversary Amy and Marc!
Since we live in the Garden State, our garden provides plenty to do and Debbie handles most of it, those flowers are only a sample.
I traveled to beautiful Indianapolis last week, you can skip it if traveling near, you will not have missed much.
Too late to stay up longer, goodnight and have a great and safe 4th!
Love, Larry

Happy Anniversary, Marc and Amy!! (Hope the grandparents will babysit!!)


Here is what is blooming in my garden this morning:
(Daylilies and Hollyhocks)

Congratulations to our newest retiree!!!

Well done, Steve, we hope you can actually relax!!! (Of course, the garage has to be cleaned out first!)

Some advice from the Bard: Our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. (William Shakespeare)

Our sympathies go out to Kathy, for as we all know: A retired husband is often a wife's full-time job. (I am sure you and Lourene can commiserate. Larry might have a word or two to contribute as well!!)

Debbie