Sledding on Mount Etna

Today was the first day all Christmas break where we had some sunshine and no rain so we headed up to the north side of Mount Etna and went sledding with some friends. Jack had a blast. He'd end a run and while laughing his heart out tell me how scary it was...BUT FUN TOO! We spent about two hours sledding, building snowmen, and just playing in the snow in general. It is a shame we don't live in Colorado anymore...Jack just kept asking if he could get a big shovel and dig in the snow. That kind of enthusiasm would have come in handy a few years back!

Now we're ready for Christmas!

After our visit to the Winter Wonderland at the base we headed over to the see Miss Claudia's house to make some holiday cookies. We had a blast and spent all afternoon cooking, talking and playing! Jack had fun rolling out the dough and was doing a GREAT job centering the cookie cutters and making his very own cookies too. Once everything had cooked and cooled was made some yummy frosting and decorated all of our sugar cookies. Once we cleaned up and put all our delicious cookies away we stayed for dinner and even watched The Polar Express. We had a great day and now it really feels like the holiday season is here!

Santa Comes to Sicily!

Santa came through Sigonella and Jack was able to tell him what he wated for Christmas. He was so patient and so excited the whole time we waited in line. This year he is TOTALLY into Christmas. He sat down on Santa's lap and promptly told him that he has been a very good boy. He asked for another toy scoop. After he had his turn he walked down and just started clapping and cheering!

Il Padrino

Today we took a road trip to Savaco - about 10 km past Taormina and wondered around the small mountain town.

Pucci's Farm

This past Sunday we spent another day at Pucci's farm with Lori and friends. This farm is truly the most relaxing place I have found since we've been in Sicily... or maybe ever! Jack had his first pony ride and loved it. Late in the afternoon we all snacked on freshly pressed olive oil and warm bread. Matt is taking one of his photography/art classes out to the farm this Friday for a field trip. I decided to take a personal day and join them too. We'll post some of the photography/art work that the kids produce next week.

Luche Libre Suprise Party

In order to celebrate Matt's birthday last week I planned a suprise dinner party where everyone who attended had to wear a Luche Libre (mexican wrestler) outfit! Needless to say everyone was more than willing to participate in our celebration.

Here are a few pictures to keep everyone up to date. Last week I was in Germany with my tennis team and on the last night of the tournament I took the kids out to a Thia restaurant and then we all headed out to see Copacabana at the Ststehouse Theater in Weisbaden. We had a great time.

This picture is Jack adn some of his buddies at Jo Jo's birthday party last month. They were all lining up for the pinata and I loved that they were so close together and yet still so happy!

This is "Captian Hook Jack Pirate" on Halloween night. We actually went trick or treating and Jack had a blast. I took both Jack and his buddie Eddie and they went solid for about an hour and a half! After we left each house Jack would turn around and yell "Have a nice weekend."

Each year the base hold an Autumn Fest and this year was fun but LOUD! Jack and Ella took a turn together on the train ride and had a blast. The kiddos are old enough to have fun but still small enough to get lost in a dark crowd so we spent most of the time chasing them both. They had a all - but we were exhausted.