Homecoming

I didn't get any pictures of the football game. What maybe because I don't have anyone at my house who plays on the football team. So this is what homecoming means at the Peterson House. Borrowing 4 fantastic dresses from some really great friends and then spending the week trying them on with different accessories. This was the final choice and I think that she looks fantastic. The only thing that made me a little sad was that I realized that she would probably not get to have before the dance pictures with any of her dates because the boys can't drive over here. So they just meet you at the dance. Sorry Sis.

I've been tagged

So my friend Terrilee has tagged me. That means that I have to write 7 random things about myself. So like my friend Lexi said "I'll see if I can come up with 7 things".
First-I love Italy. Terrilee has said that she hated the first 3 and half years here but now that she has become active in church again and picked up some really awesome friends (Lexi, Nancy, Tabi, and of course me to name a few), she is sorry that her time here is up. We will miss you but I still love Italy. I love the huge windows in my house, looking at the way that people dress here, round abouts, old crumbling down buildings, that I can go to Venice, Italy for a day trip and that my children get to experience it with me.
B-My favorite kind of store is a book store. I love stories. Happy, sad, mysterious, good guys and bad guys, when the girl saves the boy and the other way around. I love to wander through the isles and smell the paper. One of the hardest things about being here is that I don't speak, read or write Italian and guess what. That's the only kind of bookstores they have here. Thats one of the things I look forward to on our visits home.
3-I love to cook but hate to clean up afterwards. So I don't cook as much as I would like to.
quattro-I'm afraid of heights. When Sean and I went to Germany this last summer. We took a tram ride up the side of the really big mountain. I couldn't even look out the window. I laid down on the seat and closed my eyes and thought all of my "I'm going to die any minute" thoughts.
Fifth-Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's not like Christmas where we sometimes get confused on the meaning or Mother's Day that's all about one person or Memorial Day that turns into who's going to the lake and is bringing the boat and skies instead of remembering those that sacrificed for us. I like Thanksgiving because it's about everyone. About being thankful for all that we have and of course there's the food.
F-I love getting a new hair cut but I hate getting my eyebrows waxed even though I have to do both at the same time.
7-My secret wish is to have my husband plan a romantic night out for us to see a concert or play or anything that doesn't include the movie theater. Followed by dinner at a small out of the way place that all the tourist or people that he works with won't be at. Followed up by...I think I'll leave the rest up to him.

So now I'm suppose to tag 7 people but I don't know 7 people who blog that haven't already been tagged to I'll just do the best that I can.
-Peggy
-Becky (because I haven't heard for you in awhile)
-Kayla
-Janet

Good luck!!!

Dear Diary

Dear Diary,
I haven't written in awhile so today's entry might be a long one. You know that I always like to update you on what the kids are up to to I'll start with the littlest one.
Jessie is as always making me laugh. The other day she asked me what Sunday was. I said that I wasn't sure what she wanted to know and to explain further. She wanted to know if it was linger longer Sunday or fast Sunday or slow Sunday. She also just finished her soccer season. She won the season (or so she says).
The school that the kids attend started a new thing this year called GradeSpeed. It's were parents can go online and check on the kids grades at any time. The teacher update them with every assignment. This has been great for Charlie. She, of course, has all A's and M's. Of course, I don't know what the M's are but I'm sure they are great. Soccer just ended for her also and she really had a fun time. She had great coaches and happy teammates.
Gavin will be finishing Soccer this weekend. We are really happy about this. Because I don't volunteer to coach I never feel like I can complain about those who do and I'm not now. I'm just going to say that I'm happy that the season is almost over for him. Hopefully next year will be a better experience for him.
Taylor...Taylor...Taylor...I'm not sure what to say here. OH I know, she just finished cross country. She didn't qualify for Europeans but she is really looking forward to basketball starting in a few weeks. She gets herself up for seminary everyday(almost) and is anxious to get there everyday. That GradeSpeed thing that I mentioned has actually turned out to be a bonus for her. When we saw that her grades were a little low she pulled them right up. Yeah for me(or is that Yeah for her).
So Sean got another calling in church. He is the branch president. I said another calling. He didn't get released from his old calling so I think he is still the Young Mens Pres. also. He has taken up road biking here. So he still leaves for 3 or 4 hours on Saturday but it's not for golf anymore.
Speaking of church calling something sorta funny happened to me. In Feb. I was called to be the primary pres. I loved it. It was just the calling for me. Then about a month ago I was asked to be the Relief Society Pres. I said of course I would do what ever they needed me to do. The funny part is that they didn't release me from the Primary first. So for about 3 weeks I got to be President Squared. That was what our old Branch Pres. called me. Now I'm just in the RS. Wait I don't mean just I mean only. I've been crazy busy getting ready for Halloween. Making costumes, arranging a party for the kids and getting ready to visit the rest home. Oh and did I mention trick-or-treating. Maybe we'll just opt out this year. We'll see.
Thanks for listening Diary. Write more soon.
Julie

Taylor on the run

I know that the brothers will be interested in this. Taylor is on the Cross Country team. This was her first meet. She came in 9th. But she was the first one from Vicenza. Her time was 25:45 for a 5K. I think that she did fantastic.

Here she is crossing the finish line. She made us proud today.

Camp Darby

We went to Camp Darby last weekend. Some of our friends went with us. Lexi and Dave Higbee with their kids Haylee, Trent, Logan and Laycee. Chad and Terrilee with their kids Kirra and Christian. We went to several places such as Pisa, Florence and Lucca. But we spent the most time at the beach. I didn't get very many pictures at the beach but I hope that you enjoy posts that I have added today.
Julie

One night in Pisa

One night while we were camping at Camp Darby we went into Pisa to solve the mystery of the leaning tower. And to our surprise with so many people trying to hold it up, it still leans to this day.

After we took our turn holding up the tower we needed to get some refreshment. So we stopped for some gelato. Sean and Chad really enjoyed theirs on a cone.

We lined up the kids so that we didn't lose any to the night. First Kirra, then Jessie, followed by Trent, Charlie, Haylee, Gavin, Christian, Laycee, Logan and Lexi on the end to keep them from escaping. Dave and Taylor stood guard.

After we were fortified with our gelato we decided to take a stroll down by the famous Arno River. However, our friend Terrilee decided to do a pole dance and she even made a buck. LOL ( the payee is her husband, Chad).

This is us on a bridge that spans the river.

This is what it looks like at night. On the far right side of the picture is a church that we wanted to look at up close. The last time that we were in Pisa I was amazed by the craftsmanship that went in to building it. However, the lighting was so bad that we couldn't get any really good pictures of it at night. Oh well, maybe next time.

All in all, our second visit to Pisa was as fantastic as the first time. Even better because we got to see it with friends.

Firenze aka Florence

This is a great view of Florence. So Sean was having problems operating the camera, this picture is black and white with color accents. I'm just not sure of the colors.

This is the bus that took us on a tour of some highlights in Florence. Our friend Terrilee is taking the picture and her husband, Chad and two kids, Kirra and Christian.

This is an old monistary that was turned in to a museum. We didn't have a tour guide so we just looked around ourselves. There were a lot of interesting paintings and rooms. The courtyard was very relaxing.

This is the Duomo in Florence. Sean tried to get it all in the picture. However, it is so big that it wouldn't fit. We went inside and it was amazing. Very well preserved.

On our way to see the Duomo we walked right over this picture on the sidewalk. Most of us didn't even notice it.

At the end of our day, we wanted to go in to see the "David" by Michaelangelo but we decided that we hadn't planned to spend that much to get in to see it, so we went to McDonalds instead. We can't wait to go again to see all of the things that we missed.

One month ago

So when I logged on to add something today I realized that it has been exactly one month since I put something new on. I have been getting the riot act from all sides. I decided that with the kids out of school and Sean coming home and then being on leave that I just haven't gotten into the swing of it again. So I'm going to post a little today but then don't be surprised if I disappear for a few more weeks. Sean goes back to work and the kids go back to school the last week of the month. So look for more after Labor Day Weekend. Enjoy.

My soldier returning home

This is Sean catching a ride out of there. This was the first of many rides to get him home. We are thankful that he made it safely.

Rumors are true

Yes the rumors are true that Sean is home at last. He thinks that he needs to get some sun before we go to the beach this weekend. So we have been working on our tans this week.
Sorry its been awhile since I posted. I'll try to do better for the rest of the summer.

I've been away

Okay, maybe to say that I've been away is a small exaggeration. Really I've just been lazy and haven't updated my blog. However, now I have a reasonable excuse. And yes I realize they are all just excuses. So I had to bring Gavin up to Germany to see the doctor at the last minute. I don't think that I've ever had to fly to a doctors appointment before. Just so you know that I'm not still ignoring you all I'm post when I get home from our trip.

First Day of Swimming

It's Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend and the kids wanted to be the first in the pool. It's been raining on and off for several weeks. I guess we got lucky on Saturday with no rain.

Christian, Jessie and Haylee are having a blast.

It was great in the pool. But once they got out they needed to get covered up quick.

Gavin and Trent are hamming it up.

Jessie...hum...I just don't know what to say. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words.

Charlie and her other half aka Rachel.

Christian and Terrilee are hanging by the pool. Chad (Terrilee's husband) came for about 5 minutes but then got called away to work.

Taylor and her friend Jessica. They had fun teasing the boys.

Charlies Trip to Bolca

Charlie's class went on a field trip on Monday and I got to go with her. Let me tell you it was great. We went to Bolca where they have an archaeological site. We got to look for fossils. When we met at the school the parent volunteers got assigned a group of kids. So Charlie picked her friend Rachel and the three of us had a good time. This is Charlie and Rachel on our 1 hour bus ride.

Our first stop was at the museo dei fossili. It was all very interesting to me.

Instead of having us watch a video in Italian (which most of us wouldn't understand anyway), we got a tour guide to explain about the area and what sort of fossils area found in the area. Tropical, if you can believe it. Charlie and Rachel mostly listened, except when they were talking.

This is a fossil of some plants that were found. All the fossils are very impressive.

They had a wall depicting what the area used to look like millions of years ago. Charlie found a vine to swing on. So she and Rachel went for a ride.

These fish are like some of the fossils that were found in the area.

These are some shell fossils that were uncovered. The girls thought that it looked like an upside down ice cream cone.

At the end of the walk through the museum there are fish tanks with tropical fish and plants. The kids really liked to see live fish.

Then we rode on the bus to the entrance road of the archaeological site.

We had to walk down this road for about 1 mile. It wasn't fit for the buses so we hiked. The girls really liked the walk.

I didn't get any pictures of lunch. I think I may have been to hungry. After we ate, the kids looked for fossils. I didn't ask but I assumed that all the rocks came from the cave that we went into last. The girls really had fun trying to break open the rocks looking for fossils.

They got smart and went and asked the man that works there for some help. After that they would hammer on the rocks for a few minutes but in the end they always just took the rocks to the guy and volia fossils. They found about 10 fossils between them.

This is Rachel looking over the edge of the hill. It was a pretty good drop.

Then it was our turn to go in the cave.

I didn't see as much as I would of liked. The girls were just ready to get out of there. I think they felt like they were in jail.

After the cave we had ice cream and then the long hike back up to the buses. This is Charlie and Rachel with Lexi and Toni (our neighbors).

All in all I think that the kids had a good time. I'm really glad that we live where Charlie can have this kind of experience.

My Mothers Day

Mothers Day this year was great. We had a full day and I loved every minute. The kids made me breakfast. And gave me lots of presents.

Taylor pick out this great nicknack.

Charlie made me a pineyata(?) at school.

And this is what was in it. It was a poem and chocolate. The Best.

Jessie wrote me a great poem.

And made me a bouquet of flowers with her hand prints. They are so cute.

I really enjoyed my breakfast.

Picnic at the Park

We went to the park with members from our branch after church for a picnic.
This kids played horse shoes, frisbee and soccer. Also they chased the birds and watched the turtles. And of course the eat a lot.

Taylor was napping.

Jessie of course was just happy to be with friends. This is Sydney.

There was also an fitness course that the kids begged to go one. More than once.

These kids (Trent, Christian, Haylee, Grace, Jessie, Charlie, Ellie, Sydney and Kira) went on the last trip around the fitness course. They had to show off their stuff.