Spring Break

Maddy is back in school after spending an entire week away from home. Vai and Fati were kind enough to allow Maddy to spend the week with them and the kids. Maddy was a little reluctant to go at first but in the end he didn't want to come home. We missed our boy while he was away, the house was too quiet.

The weather has been very pleasant lately, spring is finally upon us! One of the traditional spring events in DC is the Cherry Blossom Festival. Rach and Maddy tagged along with Vai and the kids for a walk around the Basin Reserve to check out the cherry blossoms on a very nice warm spring day.

Soccer season for Maddy starts next weekend which is exactly what Maddy needs after being indoors all winter long.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Last Thursday, we spent Thanksgiving with the Palombo Family at their apartment in DC. They cooked up a feast which consisted of turkey, stuffing, green salad, green beans with cheese sauce and mashed potato and gravy. Juice, water and red wine was also served, which made the meal even more delicious lol.

We provided dessert - pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple pie (yum) with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream lol what a FEAST! Matt couldn't even fit dessert in and had to wait till we got home to enjoy it. I was able to eat one slice of apple pie with a scoop of ice cream, and that was about it.

Maddy and Nikolino spent the entire time laughing and playing x-box games (Madagascar) while we sat around enjoying our wine and each other's company. Nikolino also has a younger brother, Dominico Jnr (1 mth old) but he was fast asleep in the bedroom most of the time.

2007 Already?

I can't believe it's January the 4th already, time just zooms by when you're on annual leave. While it's nice to be back at work (well not really), spending almost 2 weeks at home with the family was great. Madison and I have re-bonded and he and I had a blast doing everything together, including baking chocolate chip cookies. He's real good at licking the bowl, stirring the flour all over the floor and eating all the chocolate chips before they go into the mix.

Christmas turned out nice even though we couldn't afford to buy Madison any presents. Lucky for us God provided in the form of grandparents, aunties and a couple of my work colleagues who surprised us with 6 or 7 presents (and a miniature xmas tree to boot) for Maddy to go under the tree. Maddy even left a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa on Christmas eve.

Now that 2007 is officially here it's only right that we kick off 2007 with some new year resolutions so here goes.

1. Quit smoking.

2. Pay off debts.

3. Lose weight.

4. Establish some savings.

5. Gain Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) accreditation.

It'll be a very good year if I could get all of that done in 2007. What are your NY resolutions for 2007?

Almost Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner and while most families have the lights up and trees in the living room, we're a little behind on getting all of those things. Americans really start thinking about xmas right after Thanksgiving so we've been inundated with the holiday season hype for awhile now. Madison is very much looking forward to Christmas.

Madison would like to thank his Nanna in NZ for all of the mail he has been getting in the mailbox. He's even got mail from his Aunty Carlta, Aunty Susie, Aunty Patsy and Uncle Kenbo. You should see his eyes light up when his Mommy tells him he's got mail!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday season.