Family Christmas Photo Shoot

The past couple years now Scott has been going out with us after Thanksgiving to get our picture taken for our Christmas card. Always a fan of natural settings and especially natural light, we head out to the area around where my family lives in Maryland and can literally pullover on the side of the road for a few quick pictures. These are just a handful of the ones taken this year.

Since I am always the one taking the pictures, it's nice to sit back and hang with the family and actually be in some of the pictures. Love these of my girls and I. Can not believe how tall Sofia is getting!

Olivia has a thing for sweet baby kisses for mama...I do too!

By far my favorite picture from the day...granted I'm not in it and thankfully so too. Now seeing pictures of myself running, I know I will never end up on the cover for a running magazine. I honestly looked like I was falling over in every picture. This photo was not cropped either. My brother must have noticed how bad I was turning out in the pictures and started forcing me out of the frame.

Do you know what I love more than having a daughter? Having two daughters. Especially my little girls. Crazy as they make me sometimes, each day I am amazed at how much love I have for these two little people.

And seriously, how can you not love these two little faces?

Zio Scotty hard at work. Helps when the subjects are so darn cute!

Zio and god-daughter. Even with an almost 2hour drive separating them, it's sweet to see their adorable little bond.

Anthony looks like he's ready to head back and Olivia is ready to party!

Thank you to Zio Scotty for a fun morning of taking pictures! We love you very much!

Grateful

Parade watching, apple pie, turkey and surrounded by family and friends. I'd say that is the ideal combination for the perfect Thanksgiving Day. And that's exactly what ours was this year in Maryland. Girls enjoyed each minute from preparing the long table with Mommy, "helping" Nonna Lisa in the kitchen, chasing Nonno Nicky around the house just for fun, joining in tickle-fests with Zio Antonio, watching football with Daddy, playing with Chase and Zio Scotty and showing off their pretty Thanksgiving Day dresses to Zia Chaela. Grateful for them to have been a part of it all these last few days and especially grateful for a family that I couldn't love and appreciate more for everything they do for us.

Boys will be boys.

Much better.

The kids table. Hard at work coloring up some Thanksgiving fun.

25 and counting!

Zio Scotty and the girls on a break from our family photo shoot with our favorite photographer - Zio Scotty of course!

Roasting marshmallows with Nonna, Nonno, Zio Antonio, Mommy and Daddy. I'd day the perfect ending to a great Thanksgiving celebration.

a little bit of this and a little bit of that...

Coming off a great week right into a great start to the weekend. We cleaned house, girls totally helped with their toys and books and I got rid of some clothes and random items around the house. They were so good during the whole thing too and playing with toys they had forgotten about, put things aside to give to younger cousins and things to donate.

"Great" doesn't usually involve cleaning and organizing, but this weekend it did and it is such a good feeling to get rid of stuff. Because at the end of the day, that's all it really is...just stuff. Stuff we don't need, cluttering our space. And I like getting the girls on board early so they're not so caught up in just having stuff to have it. We'll see how that works out for us.

And the sign was another part of our great morning. Anthony ran his second race in two months, the Rothman 8K in Philadelphia this morning and while we didn't go to this one to cheer him on, we did get a sign, a "golden" medal and a cake ready. I think that makes up for him having to get up at 5:45am on his own, drive into the city and run an 8K. The cake was also in celebration of Olivia's recent half-birthday. She can officially start telling everyone she's 3 and a half - when did that happen?!?

a little light reading for Olivia

love trying to sneak in a picture of the girls doing something adorable. here olivia was "reading" out loud to her animals. 

It's persimmon-picking time!

Each year in November we go out to my in-laws to pick the ripe persimmons off of their tree. With the hurricane a couple weeks ago, the tree split down the middle and while some weren't ready to be picked yet, we had to salvage the ones that were on the fallen branches. Hooray for me who is the only one in our family that eats them. The girls won't even try them! More for me.

our thankful garland

It's the month of November and official "time to be thankful." Yes, you should be thankful everyday of the year but a month to be extra-thankful now that's just a perfect reason for something crafty. Which is what we did. I printed out some leaves that I found online, cut them and each of us went around and said a few things we're thankful for and I hole-punched and strung them up. Very similar to the one we did last year, but we hung it in a new spot and viola! We have our thankful leaves!

Another angel to watch over us.

Rest in Peace to Anthony's Nonna Linda, Sofia and Olivia's bis-Nonna (great-grandmother). So very thankful of the time we had with her as a family on our annual visits to Italy and that the girls got to meet and spend time with their great-grandmother.

I still remember meeting her for the first time just days before Anthony and I were married and thinking how adorable she was and how she reminded me a little of my own Nonna. I remember how determined she was to walk down that aisle at our wedding on the arm of Anthony's Uncle Italo and how proud she looked of her grandson.

Our time with her was very well spent and all you can ever hope for is that she is at peace now and no longer in any pain. We have very fond memories as a family and Anthony has many wonderful memories as a young boy with his Nonna. These memories are what will keep her alive in our own home.

Best gnocchi-maker around!

Going to Italy 4 months pregnant with Sofia in 2006.

So happy to always see her grandson, they share the same smile in their eyes.

Meeting Sofia for the first time on her first visit to Italy at 3 months old.

4 generations and me.

I got so used to making sure we took one of these pictures each year we went. How proud does she look in this picture?

Olivia meeting Nonna Linda for her first time in 2009 at 2 months old.

When I told Olivia this morning that Nonna Linda had passed away, she says to me "now she is a little fairy." 

Nothing can replace the time we had with her and I am so thankful of all the memories we've shared together. Words can not express seeing your own children side-by-side with your parents let alone your grandparents. I know Anthony and I are very happy that the girls knew a little about their great-grandmother and with our help and the help of their Nonna Maria, they will learn more in the days ahead and keep Nonna Linda's spirit alive always.

July 2012, 4 generations and me. We will miss you Nonna Linda.

Fermo - good friends, good pizza, great times!

Each year in Italy we take a ride to our good friends in Fermo in the region of Marche. Leandro and Zia Alessandra are here every year for New Year's and we love the tradition we started years ago of visiting them every summer at their home. We begin by visiting their awesome hilltop top of Fermo in centro storico where Leandro has homemade bread all ready for us.

Delicious!

Then we drive out to his family's home where Leandro begins to make pizza after pizza after pizza. It is out of this world awesome.

I think the cat is a little upset he's not about to chow down on some homemade pizza.

The girls love Leandro and Zia Alessandra and I know they consider them our family too. They also love pizza so it helps that Leandro makes some of the best they know.

Leandro and his sweet Nonna hard at work at the wood burning oven.

More pizza!

It's safe to say that they love it!

Famiglia! Some of the best people to know and always a wonderful day spent together.

Buddies. Love these two together.