winter break

initially, we weren't planning on going home for christmas this year, but lindsay sent us an invitation to her graduation from law school and we wouldn't miss that, so we decided to take a trip to the west and see as many people as possible in what we thought would be a reasonable period of time. we arrived in burbank, ca on the friday afternoon before christmas, welcomed by the infamous LA traffic. we had lunch at home, before taking mom's car and driving down to san diego. we stayed at the espinoza's and met TJ for the first time--the asuncions & roques also visited with us, and it was fun meeting uncle JR's wife Roma for the first time. we were really spoiled us with great food. the next morning, we woke up, had breakfast, and went over to balboa park for lindsay's law school graduation. what a proud day--we were only a couple in a crowd of so many proud (& loud) friends & family. we were also able to catch up with the pincherlis. after a nice celebratory lunch for lindsay, we went back home and spent some more quality time with the fams. look out, little matthew is going to be a basketball star some day. later that evening, we met up with cousins scott, christine, mike & ryan. we were exhausted and woke up later than we wanted to the next morning, but we enjoyed breakfast with the fam and then headed back to the valley. we made it just in time for mass with father kevin. then we went home and got ready for some juan family portraits. over the next day, we got to meet up with a few of marie's friends--ryan, matthew & samantha. we also had some time to drive through candy cane lane. monday night, we enjoyed dinner and chocolate with tita liz & rj. tuesday afternoon, grandma and uncle romeo flew in from honolulu. we postponed our departure from burbank for the following day, so we could enjoy some time with them. wednesday afternoon, paul spotted breckin meyer at the burbank airport, before our flight to las vegas. after dinner, mom schooled us in jacks. the same night, maritess stopped by. we met her in afghanistan, but she also works at the same hospital with mom. the next day, we ran a few errands and then met with alison for lunch. mom & dad prepared a seafood feast for christmas eve dinner. we all took naps before going to midnight mass. after church, we went home and opened gifts. then we all fell asleep. we spent all day preparing for christmas dinner. father dave was a special guest. other family also came for dinner and we sang happy birthday to paul. after a late breakfast on saturday morning, we got dressed and went down to the strip. we took some pictures at the bellagio and then enjoyed a society of seven show, with jasmine trias, at the gold coast casino. after the show, we went to dinner at a nice pho restaurant. then it was time for us to head home, pack up and go back to the airport for our flight back to new york! it was a whirlwind trip, but it felt like a nice, long vacation. we were welcomed back to NY with warm sunny weather and stopped at target to buy christmas decor on clearance for next year. the next morning we woke up to lots and lots of snow.

Christmas Greetings!

Dear Family & Friends,

You should have received our Christmas Greetings in the mail, by now. No accompanying letter this year, but as they say, "pictures speak a thousand words." This year has gone by in a flash, and as we look through our external hard drives, we can't believe all of the great memories we've made this year. The pictures in the collage highlight a few of our favorites--all of which are also recounted in this blog (just scroll to the bottom of this page and click on 'older posts')!

We don't have much else to report. Full-time work and part-time school have been keeping us busy, so we are grateful for the time we have to relax and enjoy ourselves. One of our favorite activities has been experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen and having guests over for dinner. It's so nice to enjoy a nice meal and great company in the comforts of home. We have also traveled quite a bit this year to celebrate momentous occasions with many of you. It's been wonderful, and we look forward to many more good times in the coming year!

Thank you for checking on us. Know that we are thinking of you & your loved ones, and we hope that this holiday season finds you healthy & happy. Please write and let us know what's going on with you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Lots of Love,
Paul & Marie
paul.n.marie@gmail.com

snow!

The first snow this winter fell on Tuesday, 8 December. Shoveling snow is a new experience for Marie, and she seems to be enjoying it (for now). This was the 2nd morning of snow, before heading to work.The next picture is actually from a week after that. It's the gym parking lot before we went home for the day. Finally, there was enough to play in.Now we're just waiting for even more, so we can go sledding down the hill in our backyard! =)

thanksgiving highlights

Colorado
Justin's place
sponsor families
Selvas, Guerreros
Air Force Academy
former schoolmates
Ace, Tydingco & fam
ace's mathdoku puzzle
ROQUE family portraits
prepped thanksgiving dinner
relaxing at home with the fams

maryland

Marie went to Maryland for a week, for a work-related conference. She got to meet up with an old schoolmate from high school, and also her boss from when she was deployed in Afghanistan. Lucky for her, it was also the week of cousin Grace & Ricky's wedding! Paul flew down a few days later. We were delightfully reunited with one of our favorites: blue crabs! We probably ate about 10 each, in one sitting. So delicious. Aside from the food, it's always fun seeing the little ones and playing with them until you win their heart over, and then they forget you the next day. =) As usual, we had a great time with family and friends. Life is beautiful!

Paul wants to keep him...
Congratulations, Grace & Ricky!

NYC

We took a day trip to New York City. There was a tour bus going from work, so we took advantage of the luxury of not having to drive or find parking. The bus ride was about 4.5 hours from the base to NYC, with one rest stop, and we got there just in time for lunch. Some new things since our last visit are pedestrian parks and a hefty fine for honking horns! I think we saw a sign that said $300 for honking your horn! It did seem amazingly quiet when we got to the city. The weather was just right. We had fun walking around, and then we watched the show Hair with a few of our friends. After the show, we walked around a bit more and had dinner at ESPN Zone before heading back home on the bus. We got home just before midnight, just in time for bed!

nice house

We're pretty much done with the major projects to our own home, but there is never a shortage of projects to help with around here. We spent a couple of Saturdays at Bryant's house, with his family and friends. He has been designing and building a 2-story extension to his house, and with the winter quickly approaching, it was about time to get all the walls and the roof up. We really like their set-up. The setting and scenery are so peaceful. Their kids have the ultimate playground, complete with a ropes course in the woods on one side of their house. There is also a creek that is just a walk, or a short ride on the ATV, across a small field and through some woods from the house. Maybe someday we'll look for something similar, somewhere...

Cleveland Rocks!

We drove about 6 hours to Cleveland, Ohio for Cousin Allison & Ron's wedding!

Supposedly, there is a cute picture of these 3 as babies, somewhere.They're next!! Ricky & Grace - 24 October!! =)

We also stopped by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in downtown Cleveland on the way back home...

There is more to see at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but unfortunately no pictures allowed past the entryway!

when in rome...

Our friend, Jon, came TDY to Rome for a few days, and we got to share our delicious Wednesday Wings tradition with him--yum! We had fun seeing him at work and hanging out with him at home. Too bad he doesn't live closer, because Paul & Jon were rockin' them beats!We were sad to see him go... Hopefully next time the whole family can come! =)

Mount McCauley

We took a little day trip up to the Adirondacks and rode a chair lift to the top of Mount McCauley. Some people were setting up for a wedding at the top. How neat that all of the guests had to ride the chairlift to get to the top for the wedding! They also had to use the chairlift to get all their decorations up there, but the reception was at the bottom of the hill. It was so green and beautiful, but we are looking forward to going back to the Adirondacks in the fall, when it is more colorful, with red, orange and yellow leaves!

NorCal

We spent the weekend in Northern California to attend our former schoolmate's wedding. Christina and Ryland caught the bouquet and garter at our wedding in 2007, and got engaged the following week! Congratulations, Ryland and Christina! We enjoyed attending the Nuptial Mass and hanging out with all our old friends at the reception.Mom, Dad & Brother Justin were also there, so it was fun spending time with them, as well as our friends from days past!

The Aguas family was nice enough to pick us up from Travis AFB, and then take us to the San Francisco airport the following morning. They took us home to San Jose and spoiled us with some of our favorite foods. We went to Santana Row with the girls, watched a movie (MJ fell asleep) and then woke up early the next morning for our cross-country flight back to NY!

On Parade

We marched in our 2nd parade here in Rome. They have Honor America Days every summer, which include many activities and events that highlight great traditions throughout the city. Last year, after we marched the couple of miles through the city, we went straight home. This year, we decided to walk back (on the sidewalk) most of the route that we marched.

It was really neat seeing all of the different groups that participated in the parade; we'll definitely try to see all of the groups next year!

deck the halls!

...well, a little deck and a little landscaping outside, a little tiling in the hallway and a little of the kitchen wall. this is what's been keeping us busy!

uncle bill came out from long island for a couple of weeks to help us with projects around the house. he brought all of his tools, set up shop, and did most of the work by himself, but every now and then he taught us a few things and let us give him a hand.

the deck...
the hallway... finally, the stinky carpet is gone...

the kitchen backsplash...

a little bit of landscaping in the front...our next door neighbor, henry, took paul and uncle bill on a 2-day adventure to his "land" about 20 miles north of our house. with a dump truck and arctic cat ATV in tow, they went hunting for rocks and brought back about 12,000 pounds of rocks for us to use between our houses.The main project was the deck, but when it rained, he came inside to work on the tiling and some other random fixes that he found along the way. We bought most of the tiling materials last year during home depot's closeout sale, and the decking materials we've been researching and buying ever since we got back home from deployment, with Uncle Bill's guidance. THANK YOU, Uncle Bill!

It's been really busy, but we're looking forward to just relaxing and enjoying everything from here on out. So come visit us!

washington state

We spent the weekend visiting with family in Seattle, Silverdale and Bainbridge Island, Washington. It was great to just relax and catch up with everyone.

Paul is honored to be a Ninong (Godfather) to this sweet baby boy, Jazz.

We also had some time to check out a few new sites that we hadn't been to before.

captain's corner

I proudly put on new rank and administered the Oath of Office for MJ on Friday 29 May (the last duty day before her effective date of promotion: Monday 1 June).

I guess I can't give her orders anymore. =)

To celebrate her promotion and Captainship, we had a party at the house on Saturday. The weather was perfect. We enjoyed everyone's company and we were lucky to have the family from Long Island come out for the weekend. One of our friends, who we were deployed in Afghanistan with, also drove about 2 hours with his family from their home in Albany to celebrate with us. We had so much fun and we are exhausted, but grateful nonetheless for our extraordinary family and friends here in New York.