My in-laws were here for a month over Christmas and I didn't post any pictures of their visit so here are a few:
The kids loved having their grandparents here for a whole month. It was such a blessing to have them be a part of our everyday lives again.
On Christmas day after we opened our gifts we went to the movies with the Green family. Afterwards we had them over for a prime rib dinner. It was yummy!
The boys hiked Daisy Mountain.
We went to Sedona to see a production of Christ's birth. They turn a whole area into an old Bethlehem marketplace and all of the actors are in character. It is really cool. Here are the kids listening to a story about David and Goliath.
All Michaela wanted for Christmas was twin Ariel's...so we had to buy two of the same toy! We thought that was hilarious. She was so happy!
I took my mother in law to an English tea room.
We had a wonderful visit with them and it was sad to see them leave...The kids just adore them so much!
We had a couple of quiet months after my in-laws left but then in March we made a big move! We had only been in our new rental house for 7 months when our dear friends asked us if we wanted to live in their house while it was for sale. They were moving to Tennessee and their house here in Anthem would be empty. We prayed about it and felt like it was a good opportunity for us so we made the move. We love this house and it is such a blessing to have a pool!!! Here are a couple pictures.
About 3 days after we moved into the new house my parents came in for a visit. I also got the surprise of my life!
My sister and her family came in with them!!! I hadn't seen them in over a year and I had never met my niece Natalia! I think I scared her with my screaming. I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call the cops with all the commotion that was going on at my front door!
We got to spend Easter together and my mom bought all of the kids matching outfits. 
My sister's family.
My parents and the kids.
It was so fun having my sister here. It was a little crazy having 5 little ones in the house and we all ended up with the stomach flu for a few days.....but I loved every minute of it! Well, except for the part when we were all throwing up in the middle of the night....that was not fun!
My brother in law, Steve, is a major pizza lover. He heard that Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix was supposedly the best pizza place in the nation so we just had to go there.
They don't take reservations so we just put our names on the list when we got there. They said it would be a 4 and a half hour wait....yes your heard that right....so we waited! We would be seated at 10:45pm!! We were all hungry so we actually went and ate at another restaurant and came back and ate again! I was so tired by the time we got the pizza that it didn't even taste good to me, or maybe it was because I had already eaten dinner. I'm glad we went because now I can tell people who come to visit that it was not worth it.
This is Julio dancing with Marina and Emilio at Harold's in Cave Creek. That was a fun night! Emilio and Natalia were dancing up a storm with the live band.
This is in Frontier Town before we went to Harold's.
We went the the children's museum. The kids had a blast! Poor Marina didn't come because she was still having tummy troubles from the flu.
Of course, I had to take them to the tea room.
Julio was not happy about going to such a girlie place until I let him eat the sugar cubes. All of the kids thought that was the best part!
Me and my sweet neice.....She is adorable and she loves me!! My sister told me that she doesn't like to go to anyone besides her but she would come right to me. I think she would get confused sometimes between me and my sister. I guess we have a lot of the same mannerisms and we look alike. I love this baby.....I miss her and her rolly legs....
My cousin, Linda, was visiting also so we spent a day with her and her kids in Scottsdale. We got a lot of stares walking into the restaurant and into stores with all of these kids. It was so funny!
Some people think It's weird that I love having family visit us so often and for so long but I really love having houseguests!!! Don't get me wrong, I do like having some down time and just spending some quiet days at home but I also love having my house full of the people that I love. I really think that sometimes in our American culture we get so caught up with having nice things and a big house and just living in our own little bubble away from our extended family that we don't get the blessings of learning and living with other people. That is the one major thing that I do not like about living so far from our parents. I really want my kids to experience our Italian culture and to learn from their grandparents and it hurts me to not be able to give them that. I think the whole communal living thing would be awesome. I would love it if we could all have our own house but live on the same piece of land and just share all of the responsibilities of living together. Julio and I have always talked about doing that with our families. We actually bought land in Michigan with my parents and before we moved here our plan was to build houses right next to eachother. That didn't end up working out but I can keep hoping right?...
My sister's family.
My parents and the kids.
It was so fun having my sister here. It was a little crazy having 5 little ones in the house and we all ended up with the stomach flu for a few days.....but I loved every minute of it! Well, except for the part when we were all throwing up in the middle of the night....that was not fun!
My brother in law, Steve, is a major pizza lover. He heard that Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix was supposedly the best pizza place in the nation so we just had to go there.
They don't take reservations so we just put our names on the list when we got there. They said it would be a 4 and a half hour wait....yes your heard that right....so we waited! We would be seated at 10:45pm!! We were all hungry so we actually went and ate at another restaurant and came back and ate again! I was so tired by the time we got the pizza that it didn't even taste good to me, or maybe it was because I had already eaten dinner. I'm glad we went because now I can tell people who come to visit that it was not worth it.
This is Julio dancing with Marina and Emilio at Harold's in Cave Creek. That was a fun night! Emilio and Natalia were dancing up a storm with the live band.
This is in Frontier Town before we went to Harold's.
We went the the children's museum. The kids had a blast! Poor Marina didn't come because she was still having tummy troubles from the flu.
Of course, I had to take them to the tea room.
Julio was not happy about going to such a girlie place until I let him eat the sugar cubes. All of the kids thought that was the best part!
Me and my sweet neice.....She is adorable and she loves me!! My sister told me that she doesn't like to go to anyone besides her but she would come right to me. I think she would get confused sometimes between me and my sister. I guess we have a lot of the same mannerisms and we look alike. I love this baby.....I miss her and her rolly legs....
My cousin, Linda, was visiting also so we spent a day with her and her kids in Scottsdale. We got a lot of stares walking into the restaurant and into stores with all of these kids. It was so funny!
Some people think It's weird that I love having family visit us so often and for so long but I really love having houseguests!!! Don't get me wrong, I do like having some down time and just spending some quiet days at home but I also love having my house full of the people that I love. I really think that sometimes in our American culture we get so caught up with having nice things and a big house and just living in our own little bubble away from our extended family that we don't get the blessings of learning and living with other people. That is the one major thing that I do not like about living so far from our parents. I really want my kids to experience our Italian culture and to learn from their grandparents and it hurts me to not be able to give them that. I think the whole communal living thing would be awesome. I would love it if we could all have our own house but live on the same piece of land and just share all of the responsibilities of living together. Julio and I have always talked about doing that with our families. We actually bought land in Michigan with my parents and before we moved here our plan was to build houses right next to eachother. That didn't end up working out but I can keep hoping right?...
4 comments:
Loved your post, Marilena, and cannot wait to see you all again!
I loved reading this and getting a glimpse of your family. I totally agree about communal living. my mom's mentor and all of his brothers and sisters own a huge plot of land in Missouri and they all have houses on it. They all homeschool and spend most days together. That would be my dream come true!
Hi :) I am visiting via your blog comment at Enjoying the small things :) I always like to say hi to a few people that leave comments in front of me there.
I LOVE that you got to spend a whole month with the grandparents! So fun. the kids look happy as can be.
LOVE their Easter outfits that your MOm got. Aren't Grandmas the very, very best?
How fun that you got to meet your niece as a surprise. She is the cutest little thing. What a doll!
I hope you hare having a happy Spring : ) and you are not waiting 4 hours for pizza! I wonder if it would have been good if you hadn't had the other food?
Hi Sweet Friend!
I hadn't seen this...wow, have you made the home look beautiful!
We love and miss you guys so much!
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for making my birthday such an amazing day! I'll never forget it!
Hugs and Squeezes!
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