Home!

We're back from a wonderful 2 weeks away! Stella and I had a special Mother's Day in MN, Nick enjoyed his work conference, then he and I had a blast touring Italy, Stella loved every precious moment with Grandma and Grandpa, the demolition to the bathrooms has begun and now we're all adjusting back to "reality" back at home, just the three of us!
Here are some of the highlights...

Mother's Day in MN

Visiting Lisa and her new puppy, Bella

How lucky that Grandma and Grandpa have a park across the street!

Stella's favorite friend, Keisha (and she can say her name too!)

Blowing bubbles!

It was a great blessing to us that Stella had such a fun time in MN. It made it that much easier for us to enjoy our trip, knowing that she was having so much fun.

ITALY!!!

Rome--overlooking the Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Colosseum

Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

St. Paul's Basilica

Outside St. Paul's

Illegal photo of The David (Florence)

Ponte Vecchio

Cinque Terre!

The view after our 1.5 hour hike from Monterossa to Vernazza

Day trip to Portovenere

Back to Cinque Terre (Manarola)

A stop in Portofino on our way to Venice---Nick's dream 269 foot yacht!

Missing our little one...

Ahhh...Venice!!

The gondolas off of St. Mark's Square

If you'd like to see a few more photos from our trip (more scenery) follow this link:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=718187694&k=Z3L632S6PVWM51LCP1XUVT
(you don't have to have a login or password to view photos)

Our trip was a much-needed, wonderfully romantic, interesting tour of Italy. We had so much fun learning about the history, dining on the cuisine, sampling the "vini de casa" and getting a chance to hang out just the two of us.
The upstairs bathrooms are demolished...down to the studs and sub-flooring. We can only get into 2 of the 6 rooms comfortably right now. 4-5 weeks to go until we have a new upstairs! We're headed to Cincinnati for a couple's baby shower this weekend. We're looking forward to seeing some friends that we've missed since our move.
Back to reality...

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

No, not our blog site...(although there won't be any entries for a little while), the construction is at our house! Demolition of our upstairs bathrooms began today while Stella and I are in Minnesota and while Nick is in Italy! I'm so excited to see the change/progress there once we're all back home on May 24. Here's hoping there are no adventures while we're gone!!!!
Until then, Stella and I are having a WONDERFUL time at Grandma and Grandpa Freeman's house. We're visiting friends and family as much as we can before I leave Wednesday evening for Rome. Nick and I will meet up on Thursday to begin our travels there. So, be on the lookout for photos and updates once we're back!

Are you ready?

We had such a great weekend getaway to Indiana! And because I've been a little late in posting an update, I will add TONS of photos to make up for my tardiness. We arrived at the Beckmans on Friday night and spent the whole weekend enjoying meals outdoors, visiting the park, BBQing, having great conversations, enjoying wonderful time with friends, chasing around little ones, bathtime, sharing toys, meeting Brady for the first time, seeing the Wright's new house...there are lots of photos to enjoy!

Emily, Henry & Tim

Our little dandelion picker!

Stella teaching Tim to play the piano!

One of Henry's VERY cool toys!

The Wrights are here!

Swinging again!

The dudes! (Tim holding Brady, Nick, Adam holding Henry)

Post tub-time!

Sunday morning together...SO BIG!

Swinging with Avery before we go...

We had a blast and look forward to the next time that we're all together. Since we've been home, Stella has caught a cold, and is also getting two molars in (the only reason I know that the runny nose and fussiness isn't only caused by the teething is because both Nick and I have sore throats and achy bodies as well). So, we're taking this week slow to recover before we leave town in just over a week for Italy and Minnesota! If you're interested in knowing our schedule in detail:
May 10--Liz & Stella to Minnesota
May 11--Nick to Italy
May 14--Liz to Italy
May 15 (OUR ANNIVERSARY)--Liz & Nick meet in Rome
May 22--Liz to MN, Nick to OH
May 24--Liz & Stella to Ohio
Whew! While this is happening, the demolition to our second floor bathrooms will begin. (yes, I did say bathroomS) So, we're busy...we're excited for what is to come and we're a little overwhelmed. We'll keep you posted!