Back to beautiful beaches, cappucino's, gelato and crispy clothes...

Lake San Antonio, CA

Is this really the 2012-13 season already?  You bet!  We are back in Sassari (our favorite place) on the same team and in the same apartment.  It honestly feels like we never left...ha!

The team is very similar to last season with a few new teammates...but luckily for me, the Diener wives and babies are back :)  They sure make the season more fun and I just love being around their

 kiddos all the time!

This summer was one that going into it we thought we had less weddings (only about 5 compared to our 10 last summer), less commitments, and maybe even more time to just relax and hang out.  Boy were we wrong...it flew by just the same, maybe even FASTER.  So here we are back in a flash with what are already memories of a super summer in Seattle.

Since I don't blog at all in the summer I should probably do a picture run down of things that went on...so here it goes:  SUMMER 2012...Binetti style!

Gwenny's softball game!

The Cove girls...Memorial Day

Nonni's 80th Birthday Party at a mystery dinner house.

Mason's 1st Birthday in Santa Barbara

Hadley, Mason and Taya...getting big!

Matching stripes :)

Lake San Antonio in California...great Binetti vacation!

Binetti sisters at Ang's house in CA!

The Poe Vaca in Palm Springs!

Glad he made it home in time :)

The travelling Marilyn Monroe statue...it was huge!

Missing our Mom in this one...Poe fam.

Disneywalk before heading home.

Relaxing at Lake Sawyer on the 4th of July

Good friends on the 4th!  

My sweet Gwenny Jo

Mom's 60th Birthday weekend...in line for the Duck tour!

Quack Quack!

Having a blast!

Happy Birthday Mom!

The original Starbucks...yes we waited in line :)

Pike Place like real Seattle tourists! 

Happy 4th Anniversary to my love!  

Hiking at Sunrise (Mt. Rainier) with the Hardersen fam!

Brody man was a trooper...as always.

Uncle Tony and Taya at a Callero wedding in Portland, OR

Callero reunion at Oregon Park...these are just the cousins that made it!

Happy 29th Birthday Tony!

Schmidt kiddos come to visit and swim at the lake!

Brody didn't make the pic, but Happy 4th Birthday Brody!  The slide being his choice of
entertainment was definitely a blast!!

Happy Birthday Sara!  (Me, Sara, Lisa, and Cory)  Enjoying a little evening in Lake Chelan!

Awesome get together before I left!  Thanks girls!!

My Dad's 40th reunion at Washington State!

Looking good team! :)

Did the Puyallup fair with Brody the day before I left town...it was so much fun!

LOVE Fischer Scones!!

Last but not least...I got a new ride!
Sad to leave it behind...already miss driving it! :)

It was such a great summer, and always hard to say good bye and pack our lives in 2 suitcases and move back to Italy.  Like I mentioned before at least we are back here in a place that God has created to be so beautiful and we intend to soak it up.

However, there are a few little things I will be missing...soft clothes (no dryer here), Starbucks, Doritios, sour candy, drive thru's (or any fast food), Nordstrom, my car, the lake, work BUT mostly

FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!  

Ciao tutti!

Really??

I can't believe it...there are really only 2 more weeks left of the regular season.  I feel like time has flown by and by May 6th Tony's 7th season abroad will be almost over.  The team is still doing well and will most likely (98%) make playoffs and those will start May 17th.  They actually play 5 games in these last two weeks so we won't know about playoff standings until then...I will keep you all posted!  You can always check out the Lega A website here: legabasket.it  This weekend they play at Pesarao which will be a tough game to win.  Then they play at home on Wednesday against Biella.

We had a wonderful Easter at home just the two of us, we went to evening mass and dinner followed.  Our gas stove decided to run out of juice the day before so there was no hope of getting it fixed until Tuesday (because they recognize Monday as an Easter holiday too), so I made everything in the oven in my one pan...talk about a one pan wonder :).  It somehow turned out delizioso (picture me kissing my fingers and throwing them up).  The next day we had a low key team bbq and just hung out together and in the sunshine.  It was a great Easter weekend!

Wow...I think I am already out of things to write about!  Eeeks...that means I should probably get out and do more!!  The weather hasn't been that great...but we are hoping next week gets better.  When we were here before we were already at the beach working on our tan.  Sun sun...please come soon we miss you :)

Me, Luigi and Shakira at a birthday party! 

Tony and Simone...team trainer.

Happy Easter 2012
Thank you SO much to Lisa for bring Robin eggs and other candy...I just can't believe I was able to save them till Easter!

OK well I will hopefully have something much more exciting to write about next time...but until then 

CIAO TUTTI!!

A little fun in the sun!

Things are moving along here on the island and still can't believe there is only about 5 weeks left in the season!  Dinamo is sitting pretty well for playoffs but I wouldn't say we are in the clear yet.  The team has 7 more games to play and right now they are tied for 3rd place with 5 teams, so you can see this might get interesting.



Last week was a little out of the ordinary and a team first for us.  The team went down to the other end of the island near Cagliari for four days to visit the city and make appearances.  Lucky for me, the wives were invited too.  The resort was nice, had big airy rooms, and the weather was perfect.  I don't know how much the guys felt like it was a getaway since they had to practice twice a day and visit schools, and meet the Mayor of Cagliari.  But I sure enjoyed getting out of Sassari and out of the daily routine...so I am thankful we were invited.  The couple other wives and I explored the small town nearby, and went into Cagliari for one of the days.  It was a nice little break and we had fun in the sun.

Wow...my feet need some color!

Little Lou lounging ;)

Gini, Shakira and I exploring Pula.

Sleepy time...zzzzz

Apertivo in Cagliari

My love...even with his strange facial hair.

Little man! As you can see he gets a lot of attention from the ladies :)

Fun trip with the girls.

Hard to leave...

Well, this week Tony and I will be focusing on Easter which is such a special holiday and is a great time for reflection and celebration.  Tony has a game on Saturday afternoon so we will have a couple of days off to enjoy church and the holiday.  Probably a little Easter egg hunt in there too. :)

Hope you all have a great week.  CIAO TUTTI!

Cousin B. in Sassari :)

My cousin Lisa was here!! I know I already told all of you that she was coming to visit, but it is just so exciting for me to have visitors that I needed to tell you again :)  Lisa was able to stay an entire week with us and I loved every minute.  We had an absolute blast and the weather was perfect.

We did it all...Castelsardo, Stintino, Alghero, Porto Torres, and Sella & Mosca Winery.  I will say it was my first time getting a tour of the Sella and Mosca winery and it was amazing.  We had our own personal tour guide that took the two of us around for over an hour giving us detailed information about everything that happens there, and had happened in the past.  Our guide Anna was so nice, and really gave us a grand tour.  If we have more visitors or are back here again another season, this will definitely be something I do with everyone!

We could not have asked for better weather either, it was awesome!  We were able to walk in Porto Torres almost everyday and even were able to sneak a few hours on the beach too.  Tony unfortunately had a road game that weekend but we were able to watch it at Ro's house with her Mom....and of course made our Portillos Chopped salad....thanks for having us Ro and Rose :)

I know most of you have gathered that I LOVE having visitors so of course I was so happy that Lisa was able to come here, and it was just so nice having my cousin to do things with everyday, makes me so happy.  Here are some pictures of the trip:

Castelsardo

The walk at Porto Torres

St. Patricks day...crepes!

My favorite cafe for a little snack in the sun!

Gelato in Alghero

To dinner we go!

I am actually holding a fan making our hair do that...JK!  At Fontana Rosello in Sassari.

In the Duomo piazza in Sassari

With the barrels...in the very old and cool cellar.

Our lovely guide Anna!

Another day on the walk at PT.

And another...it is just so beautiful there!

Finale dinner...sad to see you go Lisa!

We had to wear green on St. Patricks day...good thing Lisa packed multiples of her favorite color :)

Tony's team has been rockin' and rollin' and they are currently tied for 2nd place with 4 teams.  And it is actually starting to look like they could get home court advantage for play-offs.  We still have 7 games to go, but they team is playing really well together, so they just need to keep it up!  FORZA DINAMO!

CIAO TUTTI!

Back again friends...

My favorite thing to do on Tony's day off...hot chocolate in the center !

Once again, sorry for the long delay between posts...I don't know what my deal is this season!  I promise I will be better. 


Since we were last here, quite a bit has happened...the Super bowl...the Italian cup...My Brother and Sister in law coming to visit....team parties...and of course the usual basketball.

Some of the girls at the team party!  Go Dinamo :)

The girls and Lou (in the bear outfit) out for hot chocolate!

Baby Louis at the game...he is growing like crazy!

Ro glowing and us prepping the Super Bowl goodies.

Super bowl food was taken care of...yummers!

Obviously the best thing was T.J. and Ashley coming to Sassari!  I LOVE having people visit especially when it is family!  Neither one of them had been to Italy before so it was so much fun showing them around and trying to teach them the real Italian culture.  They stopped in Rome for day before getting to us, and I think they both would say it was quite touristy and everyone seemed to speak English.  Let's just say they were happy to get to the "real italy" in Sassari with us.  

We had a great time going all over around our city, and seeing all the cool things, but for me the best part was our time together just playing cards, sipping on cappuccinos, and our dinners out.  Since they live in Cali, and  we live here most of the time, our time together just the four of us is limited...so we made the most of it!   Here are a few pictures of the things we did!  

First stop...Alghero cave for a cappuccino!

Sassari Square

Castelsardo...my fav!

Nice spot for another cappuccino :)

Beautiful day in Alghero!

Amazing crepe place...peace!

Love having my Brother here!  

Final night dinner...cheers to a great trip!

Love...love...love having them here.  Sad to see them go...

As for bball, Dinamo is currently in 4th place in the league and heading to a game against Roma tomorrow night.  We only have two months in the season left, and that entails eleven games.  Right now looks like play offs are in our future!  They played in the Italian cup, but lost in the first round to Siena, but Siena ended up winning the whole thing...so that was OK.  

Italian Cup in Torino

The weather here is starting to get warmer.  This place is sure hard to beat when the weather is nice...I love it here in the Spring!  My cousin Lisa is coming to visit in about a week and I can hardly wait...we will have so much fun.  Pics to follow!