A wonderful week in Texas
Tuesday, July 3rd I arrived in beautiful Texas. I have never seen such amazing white puffy clouds as Texas has. Emily picked me up at Bush International then we drove back to tiny little LaMarque. Gia & Luca are growing so fast and baby Rocco is just the cutest baby ever! He has a cute little dimple on one cheek. On July 4th I helped Emily prepare some food for the church potluck that evening. I made salsa and bruchetta with some home grown tomatoes someone had given her. The next morning we packed up the kids in the minivan and took off for Austin. What a beautiful drive. I love the hill country. After a quick run to the grocery store we arrived at Emily's dad's house right on lake Travis. That evening we left Gino babysitting so Emily, her sister Wendy, baby Rocco and I could go out for dinner at Shady Grove.

Friday was a relaxing day. Drove into the city to see some sights and do a little shopping. That afternoon we attempted to go to the pool but got caught in the rain. Back at the house it cleared for a moment and we enjoyed a beautiful rainbow over the lake. Saturday we did the most amazing road trip ever. We drove two hours northwest of Austin to the family ranch near San Saba.

The countryside is just so scenic and green. We went from horse country to cattle country.... through little towns like Llano, Cherokee, and Carmine. Some of these little towns were population 350. Imagine! It's beautiful country. It just makes me want to go back and see more. Back in Austin we did a little shopping before leaving Sunday afternoon back to Houston. All in all it was a wonderful visit. It seems like every time I go to Texas I feel like I leave a little bit of my heart there.

Vacation Day 5: David's 9th birthday celebration! And what a great day we had celebrating. We began with his favorite breakfast (pancakes) and a pirates theme. After opening some gifts we all got ready to head on out for some more fun. Stopped for a late lunch at Chilis and then headed on out to Stone Mountain, GA for the laser & fireworks show which has become a family tradition every summer I'm in town. We walked around for a bit then to the skyride up to the top of the mountain. The kids had a blast! Margie was so excited. It was windy and a little chilly but we had a great time running around and enjoying the view from way up on the mountain. Back down again we came and continued the celebration with a "dirt & earthworms" birthday cake for David. He loved it! Then it was time for the show. We all enjoyed it except Margie thought the fireworks were too loud. They played some great patriotic music to go along with the fireworks. What a wonderful fun day! Being an aunt is so much fun!

Vacation Day 4: Woke up early to line up for a shower =) Amazing how much time it takes to get four kiddies and three adults showered and ready for church. We went to a church in Gainesville, GA where Timothy was invited to preach. After the service we were invited to go to Ryan's for a typical Sunday buffet. Mmm good! While we were at the restaurant there was a big storm that came through and it hailed. It rained a little on the drive home and later this evening we had a spectacular lightning show. I know... I know... I'm from CA and we never see that over there! Tonight we played a card game called "golf". The kids had a fun time teaching Auntie Ruth how to play =) I really love these family fun times.

Vacation Day 3: Today was a lazy Saturday. I stayed up talking with Monica until 3 AM last night! It was great to have that time to catch up and share what's been going on in our lives. Slept in until 10:30 and woke up to a yummy and quite interesting breakfast my brother made... Fried green tomatoes!!!
I've been begging to have them and so he made me some =) Later in the afternoon we drove to Dawsonville to an outlet mall where little David wanted to do some shopping for his birthday. We had a pretty fun time browsing around.
Then we had dinner at Chick-fil-A where Margie had a grand time playing in the playground.

Vacation Day 2: Slept in... I think I'm still on CA time and didn't fall asleep until after 2 am. We had a slow start to our day. Finally got all the kids packed up and ready in the afternoon and we headed out for a drive through the country. Past through little towns with interesting names like Bethlehem, Monroe, Social Circle and Madison. We pulled over just outside of Madison to buy some boiled peanuts...Yum! There were lots of interesting old houses from the Civil War era and early 1900's. It's a different world.

After dark we headed back home. Did a Dairy Queen stop were I treated the kids to their favorite ice cream. As always there are tons more pics here: http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/

Vacation Day 1: Mulberry Park in the middle of Georgia somewhere! How do you spell vacation? Today we went for a hike with Timothy and the kids. We all had a blast and the hike was beautiful. In the afternoon we drove over to Lawrenceville and ate dinner at a little Italian restaurant called Cosmos. Delicious pizza! You can see all the pictures of our little adventure here: http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/

The Getty Center & Greystone Mansion

Yesterday my friend Ben & I drove into LA to the Getty Center. The weather was perfect and sunny. We started by browsing through the gardens outside. Everything was in bloom and so full of so many colors. A beautiful reminder of God's creation. The exhibits inside were very interesting also. We saw the famous painting by Manet "Bar at the Folies-Bergere", a Van Gogh pen and ink "Portrait of Joseph Roulin", and a the wonderful collection of paintings by French artist Jean-Baptiste Oudry who painted a portrait series of exotic animals during the first half of Louis XV's reign. After grabbing a bite for lunch at the cafe there we were off to explore some more.

We drove through Beverly Hills to find the Greystone Mansion. Over 46,000 sq ft the English Gothic Revival manor home was completed in 1928 for the Doheny family. Unfortunately Mr. Doheny met with an untimely death (which is still an unsolved case) after just living in the house for six months. The house is closed to the public and you can just browse around the gardens and the grounds. It is up on a hill and has a great view of the city. The grounds are very beautiful. Then we ran into Steve, the park ranger, who kindly answered all of our questions and told us more about the history of the mansion. Then to our surprise he invited us to actually go inside! It was like taking a walk back into time. You can see all the pictures of our day here: http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/

This weekend was a great time to be outdoors. Amazing California weather. Saturday morning we took a bike ride from Angels stadium in Anaheim to Huntington Beach and back. It was about 12 and a half miles each way along the Santa Ana River trail. I love cycling!

Then Sunday afternoon Grace and I took her dogs Roxie and Whiskey for a nice hike up through some of the hills in Fullerton. It was a beautiful day... sunny and nice. At the top of the park you could see for miles around. I am so thankful to be able to live here!

Today is the 63rd anniversary of D Day. As we remember those who fought so bravely let us also keep praying for all of our troops who are currently serving and fighting today.

Here is an excerpt from one of the speeches President Ronald Reagan gave at the U.S. Ranger Monument Pointe du Hoc, France June 6, 1984.

"Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.
The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge--and pray God we have not lost it--that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.
You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.
The Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home. They thought--or felt in their hearts, though they couldn't know in fact, that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 4 a.m., in Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying, and in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell.
Something else helped the men of D-Day: their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer he told them: Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do. Also that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.''

If you would like to read the entire speech you can find it here: http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/dday_pdh.asp

Danskin Women's Triathlon Sprint

Swim

Bike

Run

2:10:13

What an amazing day

Thanks for everything Dez!

more pics here: http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com