Italy

So my mom loves the late John Paul II. When the Vatican announced that JPII was going to be beatified, I got a text from my mom that announced that. Two hours later she sends another one... "I got hotel rooms!"
Who's going to say no to visiting Italy? Not I, said the fly! (I still can't believe that Mike, did indeed, say no, but that's another story). So mom, Mart, Michaela and I headed out on April 26th.

Mom and Mart hanging out on the escalator...we made it!

Mom was thoroughly impressed with the sheer volume of JPII paraphernalia.

Nice knockers!

Trevi fountain!

Here's the Castel Sant'Angel. Pretty. We jumped on on of those fun hop on, hop off buses to get a ride around the sights.

We saw all these cute little trucks filled with plants and flowers, here's one perfectedly situated near the JPII bus...


Look at those hotties.

Went to dinner at a lovely place that we went to back in August--same waiter who threw antipasto plates at us! It was awesome.

Magda even came over from Poland with her bf Niko. It was so good to see her, and meet him!

Niko and Kayla touring the Colosseum.

While Madga, Kayla and Niko were at the Colosseum, mom and Mart and I walked out to the catacombs. This is mom in the Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis. It is here that St Peter traditionally met Jesus while the former was fleeing persecution in Rome. The story goes that Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, where are you going?" (Latin: Domine, quo vadis?). Jesus answered, "I am going to Rome to be crucified again." And that made Peter realize that he had to go back to Rome, where he was crucified...upside down.

What are you doing??

The Tiber river, looking lovely at twilight.

Visiting the Trevi fountain again.

View of the pillars in St Peter's square.

The Vatican was quite the busy place! The beatification had events planned over the weekend of April 30-May 2. The big ceremony was on Sunday in the Vatican, and they were estimating that over one million people would be there. Saturday evening we were hanging out at the Vatican, and mom's plan was to sleep out so we could be close or in St Peter's Square. So we sat down, thinking we were in for the long haul.

Here's mom getting ready to face the night in her Jesus wear.

There were tons of people with the same idea, so groups singing, and waving flags, and one girl (a self proclaimed 'JPII freak') interviewed mom for her college media class (below, left of mom). Then the police made us all leave. Sad.

So then the plan was to leave our hotel at about 3am to go to the Vatican (they were moving the barricades leading into the Vatican at 5am).

A lovely early morning sky with LOTS of peeps.

We moved, but didn't quite get to St Peter's square. Lucky for us, we were right by one of the big screens so we could see everything. It was amazing how even though the crowd was there for a very good, catholic reason, people were quite pushy and some downright rude (mom saw a lady shove a priest who was trying to give communion so he would turn towards her--she SHOVED A PRIEST!!! Who does that??)
Anyhoo, it got warm. Kayla was getting sunburnt. oops!
It was an awesome experience. And we still had a few days in Rome!

I heart gelato.
I would eat it everyday.
twice a day, actually.

At the Thanksgiving mass that was on Monday. Mom went super early and got a seat waaay up in front, where she SAT. Kayla and I wandered in the back. :)

Wandering the streets.

The Queen Bee's throne.

Piazza Navona--lots of fun street performers and artists.

Salumeria! A place with lots of salami!! Yay for cured meats!

Pretty night views.

Kayla and I headed to Pompeii on Tuesday (the day before we had to go home). It was a beautiful day, perfect for wandering around the ruins.

We got an audio guide. It told us lots of fun information, but doesn't she look like she's on a cell phone? :)

In the oven at the Baker's House, which was one of my favorite things to see.

Poppies, poppies everywhere!


Kayla's camera takes crazy fun fancy pictures.

Stone carvings.

Kayla's favorite things--these stones were in place so that when the city would flood, you could still cross the street!

Where's Kayla?


Bye, bye, Pompeii!


Train picture warnings...don't stick yourself in the doors!

Kayla finally found her sparkling white wine. Yum!

Crazy carbby eater!

More gelato...mmmmm.

Mom's ready to fly out with her little neck pillow. It was her necklace.

Kayla's new hair on the plane. Pretty cute!

Such a wonderful trip with awesome peeps! Thanks mom!!!

easter!

Yay for Easter! I heart God.
So my mom decides a few years ago that she's going to have an easter egg hunt. not just any kind of hunt, mind you, but a hunt for several hundred eggs all over the 40ish acres, in the woods, on trees, in rocks, woodpiles, and this time...

...in water! Good thing i had my knee high rain boots on. The other funny thing about all of this is that is didn't start till half of the kids were in college. But what better way to get college kids out of bed on Easter morning than make each egg worth $1...AND there is a golden egg--if you find it (and in this case, hold onto it, but more on that later) you're up a cool 100 smackers.

Kayla showing off her goodies.

Check out those kick rear boots.

Tony had to dig this one out of a stump.

Golden egg story...so this year mom was exceptionally sneaky. The golden egg was all by itself, way down where eggs were never hidden before. Moni and i were both wandering down that way, i was on our side of the property, and Monica was on the other side (we were separated by a sort of rock ledge, and in some places, a barbed wire)

So anyhow, we're both walking toward a big ole tree, and Moni makes a noise...and there's the nice bright golden egg! So i dash toward it, Moni dashes toward it, Moni's stuck behind a barbed wire fence, but she pushes for it anyway (tearing clothes in the process), and i see her hand trying to reach for the egg, her fingertips make the egg dance up the tree...and i SNATCH THE EGG UP!!!

i'm such a jerk.

Here's Moni, stuck behind the barbed wire fence! Poor girl. Don't worry, i offered to split the prize.

Then it was time for snowball fights in the beautiful weather!

Pete's friend David (he has some sweet dance moves) finding a few bright dollars.

Pete and the north dakota crew...Clockwise is Dave, Pete, Pete's cute gf Gina, and Flip.

Mom and Flip after their super awesome rendition of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World...Flip on the ukulele and mom's fabulous vocals.

i have to try to get the movie on here, because it's amazing. and when i say amazing, i mean REALLY amazing.

Yay God.

tis the season

I heart Christmas. Went to church today and saw this in the front yard...isn't it nice that someone dug baby Jesus out of the snow?

Even nicer that someone with a snowblower did the whole sidewalk in front of our house!
I heart neighbors too.

we're moving!

Yay! We're moving out of mama kutz' house and into our very first home! I know this is a tiny little picture, but it's from the internet and isn't very good quality. After waiting around for loan stuff for over a month, we finally closed on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. And our stuff is now out of storage...and mostly sitting in the middle of the living room until all the painting is done. :) Someday when it looks like a proper house I'll have more pictures up. Until then, hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!

home again, home again...

So we've been home for just about month now...it's been a grand ole time hanging out with family and friends, looking for jobs and houses, and attempting to get life back to normal!
Normal is all relative, obviously...since I started my job in Ashland, and Josh was looking for one, we set up camp at my mom's house in Hurley.
Ahhh....living with the fam. Such a good time!
Funny story, really--my lovely mother, God bless her soul, has now gotten almost all of her children BACK into her house. The youngest of 7 finally turned 18, and one would think that the next step would be empty nest syndrome. Oh, no! Maleah, my oldest sister, moved back in with her 6 year old son Tony, because she has taken a job in Washburn and still had to sell her house in De Pere. Josh and I moved back in when we got home, Monica has her own apartment (courtesy of generous Gparents) but is home sometimes, Michaela only has school in Superior on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so she's usually around from Friday to Monday. And Dan and Marisa are going to work and school. Pete's the only one who really lives elsewhere (the Dakotas for him).
Ah, yes, back to the chaos of my high school years. It's funny how when we're all back together we revert to high school. :)
Here's a portion of the fam (l-r, Michaela, Josh, Marisa, Maleah) at Tone's play at school.

Check out that awesome deer! Antonio makes a great animal.


We had a great weekend with friends (our one year residency reunion!)

And then a fun Halloween party with Josh's old roomies in Duluth! I've never been very good at Halloween costumes, but my sister had a great idea...

I love the blue wig. I totally want that hair for real.
Thing 2, Bob Ross and Mario.

So we've been having a lovely time. We did find a house in Ashland that we love, and will be closing sometime soon! Keep your fingers crossed, anyway...I can't believe how long all this loan crap takes! Eeks. Wish us luck.