CHRISTMAS 2013 - SHARING OUR YEAR WITH YOU

CHRISTMAS 2013

 

 

Merry Christmas everybody..........

 

 

And I thought this past year was going to be a little slower....wrong! Like most things, when they start out slowly, we forget how quickly it builds up. We've had a wonderful year. Please scroll on down to enjoy our year with us.

 

Bob's been busy with his consulting, with most of the work from home via the GoTo meetings, phone conferences, and lots of articles and emails to study.

My brother, Gene, is doing well and sends his best to all. He still misses living in Italy.

 

Mika keeps my schedule moving. I'm Bob's EA.... need I say more? And I do plenty of our things on the computer. I keep up with the Soldiers Who Salsa and we're starting to plan our party/fund raiser for May.

 

We look forward to the Christmas time to be with friends and family, to be so thankful for what we have and where we are. We thank God for our health and safety, and look forward to a successful year. We are so thankful for all of you in our lives.

 

We want to wish you very much love, health, safety, and many Blessings always.

Love,

Marilyn & Bob

A BIT OF EVERYTHING

The last few weeks have been filled with Thanksgiving in New Bern, NC with both boys and families. A wonderful time together. Some trips to Los Angeles on the train for Bob, for his consulting  job with COPE Health Solutions. The train is much less stressful than driving. Bob's consulting with LifeMed ID takes him out of town once in awhile too. I got back to my tap dancing and joined the Toe Tappers and did a show every day of the week of the 9th. It was fun and made a lot of people at the Community Centers and Assisted Living Homes happy and feel like Christmas.  Last Saturday was the day we, the North County Warrior Support, went to two families on Camp Pendleton and took them a complete Christmas, Santa, tree, and all. Now, as you can see, I'm hurrying to catch up so we can share all this with you.

 We love our Mika..... a real life changer.

Every once in awhile we get an Egret on our roof.

 Dad with his boys, Mike (L) and Craig. What a treat to be with them for Thanksgiving.

Mike took all the kids for a ride in the ATV, Abby and Kaili had their turn in driving it too.

Gavin & Aaron, on the lower left, & Kaili, up behind me, belong to Mike and Tracey. Abby, next to me, and Luke, next to Bob, belong to Craig and Marie. We are thrilled to get this picture of all of us together.

JUST A FEW MORE PICTURES......

Just a few more.......I'll keep it short this time.

 The wine & cheese shop in Montepulciano. They let you taste everything, of course. Then how can you resist!

Love these Tuscan hills with the villas and growing fields.

 We're missing Don and Shirley cuz they had to leave a day early to catch a flight. Boo-Hoo.

 This is another favorite of ours. It was a perfect day and now we are missing the Wendts & Kingerys. This little place in the country where we 'locals' go.

 A spontaneous stop on way down the hill..... it's vendemia time--pickin' grapes. And these are the very tasty San Giovese grapes. They gave us each a handful and we ate immediately.  oh so good!

Don't'cha love the look on her face and hand expression? She's saying 'oh no not looking like this!!'

Don & Jodi, our friends who live permanently in Italy. With Bob, the day before we left.

 

Kingerys and Wendts. This was in Siena.

MORE PICTURES OF ITALY TRIP

And I took more pictures ....... A bit of everywhere we went.......

We stayed here with Luciana & Vincenzo before we left for the Villa.

 

 This is the view from their house in Formia.

 At the Villa, near Cortona, Bob & Don on the patio, looking at the view (below). As they say in Italian 'non ce male'.... not too bad.

Barb Wendt and Kris Halsey cooked dinner this evening.....at our Villa

Here we are: Barb, Shirley, Kris, and me.......in Assisi

 Bob and Barbara Wendt

 Just a quaint stairway with an olive tree growing out of some stone....

 And the boys: Bill, Bob, Bob W, and Don

 Our lunch in Castiglione del Lago......doing local stuff. Great.

 Leaving Castiglione, with lake in background that we see from our place....and on to our friends winery for some 'tasting'.....and buying !!

 OOOOPPS!!! We had a flat tire...Bill changes while Bob watches!!

 Kris ....and we're at the open market, getting a few Pashmina scarves.

And then we got a HUGE block of Parmesean cheese.

ITALY ------ YIIPEEEE

I started the idea and then the plan began by the end of 2012 for this trip to Italy. We were last there in 2011. You know I have to have my Italian Fix.... so the planning had to fill in the time til Sept 16 2013. For the first time, we rented a Villa in Umbria, well sort of on the line of Tuscany. We, and three other couples that had traveled Italy before and the Kingery's, who had come over every year while we lived there, made it fun to plan. Since we wanted to be in one place and do some day trips made it easy. We were near Cortona (we went there a couple times) so we could do Siena, Montepulciano, Deruta, Assisi, and visit the local wineries. Fabulous......mmmm good. The visit to Castiglione del Lago, on Lago Trasimeno was a highlight cuz our friends (Americans) live there and we could visit them and I wanted to introduce the group to the locals, including a couple of our favorite restaurants and the perfect place to buy cheese, truffles, oiive wood items, and wine, of course. Oh, and special Balsamico with truffles, cheese with truffles, and honey with truffles......just a hint of the flavor.... oh, just talking about makes my mouth water. The Villa was up on the hillside, via an awful rocky and bumpy road......however, it was worth it. The rustic Villa and the view of the lake was very nice.

 

 We stayed in Formia, where we used to live for few days before heading north to the Villa. Below is our favorite beach restaurant where we eat 'cozzi' (Muscles). With the owner, Signore Rocco.

 

 Sperlonga there on the cliff, the background from our restaurant.

 

 This is the beach in front of where we lived. Gaeta in the view across the bay.

 Bob and friend and neighbor there, Joe. Below is the main street of Formia and one of our favorite cappuccino bars.

'WE SUPPORT THE TROOPS GOLF TOURNAMENT'

In September we had the annual golf tournament to support our two charities, Soldiers Who Salsa and North County Warrior Support. www.soldierswhosalsa.org and www.ncws.org. We've hd some amazing results for both of these groups. Salsa teacher, Jennifer, is doing a fantastic job and the word is getting around at the different hospitals. SD Balboa Navy Hospital, Camp Pendleton, Bethesda (Walter Reed Medical), and now San Antonio is our newest addition. It's a great feeling to hear and see the healing. Willis Allen Real Estate sponsors this tournament.

 

 Bob on far right

 Dick and Leslie Ridenour - Board members on SWS

 Bob Wendt, who makes it all happen, and Bob

 Jennifer Ables, Exec Dir of SWS

 Our friend, Ed Capp, on right.

ONBOARD THE USS MIDWAY WITH ABBY AND LUKE

While Craig and Marie took a trip for business and 'their' time, we took Abby and Luke onboard the Midway (in San Diego). What a terrific day. We put on the headphones and listened to the great history. Both Luke and Abby were so interested in all of it and loved being able to touch some of the equipment. Luke especially got excited over seeing and hearing about Grandpa Bob and the helicopter he flew  when he was a flight surgeon. And, as you can see, it was fun for them to be in the cockpit and the 'driver's seat'. Then we went Fantastica restaurant in Little Italy (of course) and had lunch. We all had a fun day.