Christmas 2008

Oh the joy of seeing Christmas through Giana's eyes...what a wonderful gift!

We're Home!

The movers came last Friday and loaded the truck! Giana wasn't quite sure what to think and kept telling them that they were making a mess. Dominic's sister flew to Atlanta Friday evening to help me keep Giana occupied on the car ride to Ohio. We stopped in Tennessee and spent the night and finished the drive on Saturday. We picked Dominic up in Columbus, saw his beautiful hotel and hopped back in the car to finish the 2 hour ride to Cleveland to drop his sister off. We spent Saturday night in Cleveland with his parents and then Dominic and I drove back to Columbus on Sunday morning so that we could meet the movers at our storage unit to unload our belongings. It was a crazy 2 days and needless to say I was pretty sick of being in the car! The plan was to leave Giana with Grandma and Grandpa for a few days so that I could get us settled in Columbus. I was going to pick her up on Wednesday but the weather was bad (snow and ice - I love Ohio!) and Thursday wasn't much better so we are going to pick her up on Saturday evening now. With all of that being said, I have NEVER been away from Giana a day in her life and I am missing her terribly. The first couple days were nice but it's been hard since yesterday and I really want to go get her. We are going house hunting on Saturday otherwise I would be going to pick her up today! We've been staying in the Presidential Suite at Dominic's hotel and it is nice! I could get used to this life really easily! Dominic is enjoying his new job and I am thrilled to be home. Although we are missing Giana, it has been a nice week to spend with Dominic, Christmas shop, catch up with my best friend Erin and look for a house. All of these things are easier to do without a 2 year old but we can't wait to get Giana back tomorrow! It looks like it's going to be a white Christmas for us and I am so happy about that! Snow at Christmas time is one of the things I've missed.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving Week 2008

Our last Thanksgiving in Georgia was a fun holiday! We had family in town and managed to squeeze in several fun activities. On Wednesday we went to the Aquarium and Giana loved it! She wanted to reach through the glass and touch all of the fish. It was so cute to see her and she kept talking about all of the "Nemo's and Dorothy's." Too cute. Thursday was Thanksgiving day and the weather was beautiful. My sister and her family came from South Carolina and the kids enjoyed playing outside. My father in law cooked the turkey, well, he actually cooked everything and it was all so good. Maybe one of these years I will learn how to cook a turkey...or maybe not. Friday was a fun day of shopping and we topped it off with dinner at Nikko's Restaurant to celebrate my father in laws retirement. This was Giana's first experience with a hibachi grill. Initially, the noise and smoke bothered her but she adjusted quickly and had a good time.

We took the Vitale's to the airport on Saturday and quickly turned our focus to our move to Ohio. There is a lot to do between now and December 13th. Fortunately, Dominic's company is packing us...I'm thankful for that and so many others things. God has been good to us.

This time of year is so much fun. Enjoy the upcoming holidays!