Easter Weekend 2011

Easter is such a special and spiritual holiday weekend.  Tony and I both tried to take time to reflect and digest the greatness of what Easter means to both of us.  It means so much to our faith's and we are so blessed to share those feelings together.  Not too mention the fun part of Easter with the eggs, cute decorations and last but definitely not least (if you know me at all) the CANDY!  My sister Kristin and I are candy freaks and we have officially named Easter the best candy holiday by FAR :)

We started off the weekend with a great opportunity, the GM called Tony and asked if he could come to the hospital to meet some of the children that are currently staying there for a long period of time for various reasons.  I got to go along for the ride and it was so awesome.  The team mascot was also there, and him and Tony went into several rooms and passed out big chocolate eggs to the kids.  It was so nice to be reminded in a big way about sacrificing in our lives and doing things to help others.  The kids loved seeing the huge giraffe and getting a few autographs.  It was a good way to start the weekend.

Saturday morning we were up and out the door by 6:30am!  We were headed North all the way to Florence for a day of sight seeing and relaxing.  It was a good three hour drive but it was beautiful as we drove through the Tuscany region for the last bit of it.  Once in Florence we realized that this was probably not the best day to visit, considering it was the day before Easter and we were there with thousands and thousands of tourists!  SO we ended up not visiting any museums (crazy I know), but we only were there one day and didn't want to stand in line for 3 hours at every one.  And really that just means that we will have to go back someday...right?  Florence was great, and it was so nice just walking the side streets with Tony and relaxing!  We had such a fabulous day and finished it off with a stop at Piazza di Michaelangelo which has one of the best views of Florence ever.  It was a perfect way to wave good bye to Florence and head on back to good old Veroli :)

Finally in Florence!

Making our way through the crowds

Ponte Vecchio (one of the first bridges that is still standing)

Mia amore...

il Duomo 

Tony using his artsy/photography skills ;)

The replica statue of Michaelangelo's David 

Easter morning we got up and went to church at Abbey Casamari which is a beautiful functioning Abbey about 15 mins away from our house.  It is one of my favorite places to take visitors because it is so beautiful and simple at the same time.  The place was PACKED with people even though there was services every hour.  It was a great service about how Easter can be thought of only as a story (even though a great one) and not taken or remembered for it's true meaning and impact.  Obviously I had to have Tony translate a little of that for me ;)

Then we came home and just spent time together with no bball!  I made a big dinner for the two of us that was yummy and then finished off the night with goodies from our Easter basket and a movie.  One of the best weekends in a long time :)

Easter dinner!