W6 of Y3

Thanksgiving 2016

Thanksgiving dinner #1.
My Co-worker and I got to enjoy a delicious lunch at the dining facilities on the Army base the day before Thanksgiving. 

Turkey Bowl

They boys got up early for their annual Turkey Bowl.  They said it was a really intense game!

Jeremy's cousin Bernie and his girlfriend, Domi came to visit us from Czech Republic for Thanksgiving.  We are so glad they did too!  It just doesn't feel like the holidays without visitors.

Watching movies and snacking all morning/afternoon while recovering from the Turkey Bowl! :)

Finally ready for dinner!
Domi made some dumplings and red cabbage to go with the dinner.  I think they will have to be a must for all future Thanksgiving dinners!  It was delicious!!

Dessert (even though no one was hungry!)
Domi brought 2 delicious cakes from Czech

After dinner we played the Czech version of Monopoly and laughed so hard that our cheeks were hurting!

Bolzano

We decided to sneak in our first Christmas Market of the season over the holiday weekend.  

Bolzano is suppose to be the biggest Christmas Market in Italy so we drove the 2+ hours to check it out!

Our beautiful drive to Bolzano

I loved this fortress on the hill... you can barely see it hiding in the clouds

It was very crowded!

The hot chocolate you have to eat with a spoon.  It's more like pudding!

Saying goodbye to Bernie and Domi

Whitney wanted one more picture with just her and Domi :)

Walking back to our car.  The Christmas Spirit is alive and strong! 

We spent Sunday putting up Christmas decorations.

This poor pre-lit tree.  We've had it since 2002.  This year though the bottom row of lights were dead.   

It's going to be a wonderful holiday season!!

W5 of Y3

High School Awards Assembly

This week was the Awards Assembly for Winter Sports.

Connor received an award for maintaining a 3.0-3.49 for the quarter.

We are so proud of him!  

He got all As and Bs during his first quarter of High School AND played his first season on the VARSITY Football Team which included more away games (FAR away!!) than home games! 

GOOD JOB CONNOR!!!

When your principal has to look up at your cuz you're so tall!! 

All of the football coaches talking about the players and the season

Scouts

This weekend the boys finished up their horsemanship merit badge for scouts.  

Jeremy coordinated a day at a local ranch here where they spent 3 hours learning and doing everything with the horses!  They even printed off certificates for each of the boys afterwards!

80's Party

While the boys were riding horses, Whitney and I were at an 80s birthday party

All the girls!

She shoulda been born in the 80s!! lol!

W4 of Y3

Lunch Date

Jeremy took Connor out to lunch and I got to take Aiden.  

Unfortunately Jeremy didn't take an pics of their lunch, but I did!! :)

I surprised Aiden at the school store.  He works here during his lunch hour selling food and spirit wear to other students.

Amazing Italian lunch... as always!!
All this and Aiden STILL had room for tiramisu afterwards!!

School Advisory Committee (SAC)

In the Department of Defense schools they don't have a school board but the SAC is kind of a substitute.  I ran for a position on this committee and was also nominated for the secretary position.  This is a first for me but I'm really excited about the potential to make a difference here!

Ravenna

We decided kind of last minute to go on a little trip over the long holiday weekend (Veteran's Day)

Jeremy announced we were going to Ravenna, Italy (about 2 1/2 hours away).

Leaving our hotel.  It was pouring the entire weekend!!
(This was the last picture I took before dropping my camera and ruining the auto focus!! )

We really wanted to go to the Basilica.  We read about the amazing mosaics that are comparable to what you see in Istanbul.  We got there right as they were closing.  :(

We decided to go to the museum right next to the Basilica instead since it was the only thing that stayed open past 5pm

Creepy wolves

Finding a place to eat

Finally... Diabolik!  It was a cartoon themed pizzeria.  Interesting.  My salad was good though!  :)

 San Marino

Day 2 we drove an hour away to visit the Country of San Marino.  

Still raining

The views of the castles were amazing!!  Too bad my camera wasn't really taking good pictures... :(

We took a tour of one of the 3 castles and learned that it was still used as a prison until the 1960s!

You can see one of the other castles in the background

A church inside the castle

The views from the castle - the clouds were trying to part for us!

We found a cozy little restaurant to warm up and dry up while we ate a delicious lunch and watched the rain coming down.  

The trip didn't exactly go as planned or expected but we all agreed that we made memories.  

Good or bad - they were still memories that we made together and that was the most important part!

So grateful I have these dorks to make memories with!!