Lots of EXCITING things to catch up on!!

Well we have had quite the time over here since the last blog!  For as non eventful as it can be here, we sure had an exciting month or so.  First of all Lisa (Tony's sister) and Rob (her boyfriend) came to visit us!!!  It was so awesome having them here and we filled every minute with something great.  One of my favorite things when visitors come is the one on one time you get with them, and NO distractions!  No phones, very little computer time, and no schedule to worry about (except for poor Tony who has to work).  It is so wonderful just to have our family in our apartment and have it filled with laughter and fun!  Thanks Lisa and Rob for making the long trek over here....we are so grateful and have a lot of good memories!!!

Yay they are here!!

Market time...too stinky to stay long!

Cappuccino's were one of Lisa's favorite things!

The fab four! ;) 

Capo Caccia...beautiful day!

Alghero, we were on a roll that day :)

The Caves, I think this was their favorite thing to see!

Last day...always sad to take them back the airport!

Another exciting thing that is happening in our lives is BABY BINETTI is on the way!!  We are SO happy and excited to share our news, and even though most of you already know....we wanted to share again!  I am due October 8th and on Tuesday will be 4 months along.  The time seems to be going pretty quickly and we are both very anxious to find out what we are having.  A lot of people have been asking about where I will have the baby.  We honestly do not know at this point.  If Tony signs and leaves in August then I will go with him and deliver wherever he is playing (given I am OK'd to fly at that point).  We want to be together when I have the baby, so we will do our best to make that happen.  

We couldn't be more elated and are looking forward to this major life changing baby in October!!

Dinamo is doing very well and will most likely end up in 2nd place in Lega A!!  They have three more games left so we will see after May 5th what seed they are. They have played a great season and have added a couple of good players to the roster to help with depth, so they should have a great run late into playoffs!!  FORZA DINAMO!

 I am heading home May 14th, so I am looking forward to seeing everyone and getting settled for the summer.  Lots of fun times ahead....WHOO HOOO!!

Ciao TUTTI!!!

Talk about MIA!!

Oops it has been almost two months since I have blogged so I better get back to it!  January and February are always the hardest months overseas.  The weather is cold, it gets dark super early, and summer feels like an eternity away.  Good thing it is almost March now :)

 My birthday seems like a long time ago but it was a blast.  Gini and Ro had a big taco dinner with all of the Americans and even made a funfetti cake!  It was a great time and I am soooo grateful for these girls in my life here and the fact that they made my birthday really special!  THANK YOU!

The team is still doing great and currently in 2nd place in the league.  They really are just ripping it up and continue to win week in and week out.  It is great being part of a team that wins all the time, it means happy players, coaches, and fans!  There are 11 games left in the season and right now the team is looking great for play-offs.  They have a tough schedule this half of the season but I still think they will do really well.

The island life is pretty much the same except less frequent trips to the beach and more time spent getting hot chocolate at cafes.  I have been keeping busy with daily walks with the girls and kiddos, trying to bake and cook more, and going to the gym everyday.

OH, I did run my first Italian race which was really fun!  It was Sunday morning so Tony was able to go with me.  It was in the city center and was about 3.75 miles.  Once the race started I realized that it was a loop we did three times with a KILLER hill at the end of the loop.  I mean a big, long hill...wasn't expecting that so my time was not as fast as I would have liked.  Oh well...it was fun and the girls and kids were there at the finish line to cheer me on.

Since there isn't anything crazy exciting going on I will just post some pictures! :)

Fun night!

Thanks Gini and Ro! 

Love skyping this sweet face!  

Hot Chocolate date...YUM!

First walk of the Spring...so beautiful.

Valentines day!

Loved my flowers.

After the race...I should have made him run with me!

Excited for my first Italian race.

Here I go!

Thanks for coming to cheer girls and kids!

Happy Holidays!

When I say Happy Holidays I mean for all three of the big ones that have happened since I have last blogged...oops!  I guess I was just having too much fun to get a chance to write!  Not too worry, I am here now! ;)

Starting off with Thanksgiving, we had a great time with our Italian family (really everyone is American) minus Gini and Louis, they were home celebrating with their family.  We all got together and had a great meal that everyone helped with...but Ro gets all the credit for the turkey and it was delicious!  Tony and I felt, once again, that we had a lot to be thankful for as we were thinking about him still having a job playing basketball, our healthy loving family back home, and our new niece Camryn.  Thank you Jesus for another year of blessings!

Our Thanksgiving day treat (since the boys were on a road trip on the actual day)!

Sweet Karina...her 1st Thanksgiving.

Ro is a PRO ;)

Love this girl!

We ate well...really well.

It's me...oh wait no just the real thing.
(If you don't know "Turkey" is my nickname from my niece Gwenny...we don't know why)

The boys looking nice for Thanksgiving.

Tony's team headed out for a looong road trip after that and I got ready for home.   After being here three days alone I was ready to get home and I hit the ground running when I finally got there!   I spent my time working, playing and trying to spend time with family and friends. It was a busy few weeks that is for sure...I am still catching up on lost sleep!  The best part was that Tony surprised our families by coming home for about a week.  Their team had a break in the schedule so we thought it would be nice for him to come home....and everyone was SO happy to see him.  I think his Grandma jumped about two feet off the ground which was quite impressive.

The 22nd was super special because around 2am at Seatac airport I met my new niece Camryn Carolina for the first time...and boy (or should I say girl) was she something!!!  She is so incredibly cute and precious, I just couldn't get enough of her.  What an incredible blessing to our family.

Our whole family was together for one day and that is why we decided to wait to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday until December, but it was worth it!  It was a great time that was spent with our entire family (both sides) and special family friends!  

The whole group!!

Brittinee's Surprise birthday party!

Sister time!

Santa came to the store...missing the Hardersens in this one!

The time at home was so awesome and I just loved being with all of our family and friends!

We flew home on the 23rd but didn't arrive home until late Christmas Eve...we spent most of Christmas Eve in the Amsterdam airport and had a really romantic dinner at Burger King (ok not really).  Not only was it gross it was about $20 for three things...good thing there was a Starbucks too ;) 

On Christmas day we slept a lot, but were able to open a few presents in the morning and then have dinner at Drake and Gini's after the boys practice.  Thank goodness for Gini planning and cooking the whole thing because we had no food at all (nothing is open here Christmas day).  It was so nice to be able to spend Christmas with our friends...they make our life here so much better!

Lou's 2nd Christmas!  

Merry Christmas!

Now for the last Holiday...New Year's Eve!!!  We all went out to dinner, then to the center to light off our lantern with a wish...and then out late bringing in the new year!  

Lou's new face at dinner..haha, so cute!

Happy New Year my love

Lighting our lantern...making a wish

All the lanterns...so pretty.

The girls!  

Quick update on the team, they are still doing SO well and are currently in 2nd place in league.  They unfortunately did not make it out of Eurocup so that is a big bummer.  They clinched the Italian Cup which is next month and almost have clinched play-offs already!  Way to go DINAMO!

Tony and I hope that 2013 brings everyone joy and many blessings!