Summer Vacation

Another season has come and gone. We truly enjoyed a great year, on and off the court, here in Teramo. Our team ended the regular season on a good note, winning 4 of the last 5 games and qualifying as the #3 seed in the playoffs. But we stumbled in the first round, coming up on the short end of two 1-point games at Milan. And now we begin our summer vacation.

Brenna and I were able to spend some time in Rome late in the season, as our good friend, Stacey Lehman, was able to come for a visit. She got to witness the most exciting game of the season, in my opinion. It was on the road in a city called Avellino, near Naples. We were down 1 with 4 seconds to go, and I was able to get the ball, and hit a 3-pointer from about 25 feet as time expired. The next day, on our tour through the Coloseum, we were able to get a family picture... although Brenna wasn't pleased with the result, due to limited "prep time" that morning. And Lydia seems disinterested about the whole deal, as well. Nonetheless, a good shot in a historical spot.

Brenna and Lydia were able to get back to the States for a few days at the beginning of May. They went back to St. Louis for a couple days, where Lydia was able to meet her cousins, Mackenzie and Keegan for the first time, as well as get reacquainted with her Nanny and aunt Jen. And then it was on to Kansas to help Gus and Sandy prepare for their class reunion, held Memorial Day weekend at the Aberle household. While in Kansas, Lydia was able to meet many of her relatives for the first time, including: uncle Tim, uncle Nick and aunt Shana, uncle Josh and aunt Kristi, and uncle Chris and aunt Kim, as well as her closest cousin in age proximity, Benjamin. It seems that she took quite a liking to Benji right away, although he doesn't quite seem to share in the excitement. It was a good visit for them, though, and we're looking forward to more family time soon. Speaking of family... congratulations to our niece Alexys Cleaver! Along with all of her outstanding athletic accomplishments over the past 4 years at Dakota High School, she graduated last week... and was awarded for her hard work and dedication in the classroom, as the salutatorian of the class of '09.

We were able to visit an up-and-coming vineyard near here this week. Keep that in mind, any of you who like wine, and plan to visit the Abruzzo region next season. So, we send off from Italy for now, as we leave behind memories of a great and historical season for our city, organization, and team. We will miss our teammates and friends here in Italy, but we know that we'll return in a couple of months, and hopefully be able to build on what we did this season. The last picture is of Lydia in her car seat. We kinda get a "kick" out of her cute little bubble feet. She's been developing strength and agility day by day and these chubby little things could possibly be walking on their own the next time they touch down in Italy. Our love and wishes to you all for a great summer, and we hope to see you soon.

Catchin' up: Part II

What else has been going on?... We've had a number of visitors to Teramo! And, we've really enjoyed spending time with each of them! Up above, Lydia is getting to spend some quality time with her Bompy Hoover who was able to visit in March. Bompy's hands were mesmerizing for Lydia, and we were happy to learn that simply moving one's fingers can hold her attention! He was able to catch 2 games while he was here, as well as meet some of our dear friends, Milena, Sandra, and Milos. They are from Serbia and Montenegro respectively, and it was a true joy hanging out with them. Milos is an ex-teammate from Jesi last year. We always seem to glean a new view of world history and culture, while learning about life in the former Yugoslavia. We entertained them with a home-cooked American pancake breakfast. The number of people in Italy trying Ryan's peanut butter/maple syrup combo on pancakes is definitely on the rise!

Next, we welcomed Ryan's sister, Jennifer, for her spring break, as well as him mom. It was so nice to have them here, and Lydia absolutely loved all the love, attention, and gifts she was flooded with! They were here to help us celebrate a win over a team called Rieti (which happens to be where Kobe Bryant was born, while his dad was playing over here years ago). And, they enjoyed a number of dinners and fellowship with teammates Jaycee and Baylee Carroll (Bella's parents) and Jacob Jaacks. We had one of our best dinners yet their last night here at a country house about 20 minutes from Teramo! We continue to find more and more amazing restaurants as time goes by.... just a little carrot-dangler for any of you who are considering a visit to Italy!

Lastly, we were able to spend some time with our Italian friends, the Billiatos, up near Milan, the weekend before Easter. We didn't get the win against Milan that we had hoped for, but we were able to celebrate Ryan's birthday with some great home-cooked Italian food by chef Maria! Maurizio, also known as Billy, enjoyed claiming Lydia and her blue eyes as his own, since he's a rare blue-eyed Italian, and Brian, their son, helped to keep Lydia entertained!

Catchin' Up: Part I

We're back on the blogger update! Man, is it me, or does it seem extra easy to get distracted these days with various things such as facebook, itunes, skype, LOST, scrabble, 24, NCAA tournament pool, baseball season, visiting guests, baby stuff, earthquakes, and oh yeah, the Italian basketball league.
(Brenna: "uhhm... can I add to that? ---real baby stuff, cooking, entertaining, laundry, and housecleaning"????)
Needless to say, we've been busy like most of you. We just wanted to catch up with the past few months as quite a bit has gone on.

This season seems to be flying by! Brenna and I were just talking the other day about how true it is that life just seems to go by faster and faster the older one gets---kinda like a roll of toilet paper! Since we both celebrated birthdays in the last month or so, the issue hits home even more. And, maybe now that we have added to our family, that "time flying" process is bound to keep on "rolling"!

Lydia has been growing like crazy! She's over 15 lbs. now, and believe me, we feel every last little ounce (or gram, in Italy) every time we bend down to get her out of her crib or the bath tub. I think Brenna feels like she's back in her sales days at times, getting all her sample books in and out of her vehicle. It's been a blast, though, watching her develop and grow and discover new things pretty much every day. She and the neighbor girl next door have enjoyed playing together from time to time as well. Bella is a little bit ahead of her in most aspects of development since she's about a month older, but I think Lydia is quite observant, so she learns from Bella and soon tries to do most of the same things on her own. The most recent developments are laughing out loud, holding herself up while laying on her tummy, grabbing everything within reach and putting it in her mouth, peek-a-boo, walks with the Bjorn, kicking Daddy in the face when he tries to gobble her smelly feet (inflicting pain seems fairly enjoyable to her), chewing on a cold teething ring, and eating rice cereal from a spoon. She's really a pleasant baby, and as long as she's fed, has a clean diaper, and is given a good amount of attention, then she's usually as happy as a clam!

Now on a more serious note, a lot of you have been asking about us and the earthquakes in Italy. Thank you so much for your concern and prayers. The landscape picture at the top of the post, is a view of the Appenine mountains from Teramo. Just on the other side of that peak is L'Aquila, where a lot of the catastrophe occurred. We are about 35 miles from there, and have most definitely felt the quakes, both literally and emotionally. We missed out on the main quake on the morning of April 6, as we were up north. But, have since felt about 10 aftershocks. Evidently, there have been more than 800 tremors since January, and many people had already left L'Aquila for fear something was going to happen. Many women and children have left Teramo to go stay with family elsewhere, and if they haven't left town, they are sleeping in their cars at night, or tents out in open areas away from buildings. We also see a lot of people driving around with their cars packed with supplies, just in case... Brenna and I live in a very new, solid building and though we feel the quakes, we are not overly concerned about our building falling. We do however, have a few bags packed and ready to go, should the need arise. It is hard to imagine that we are so close to such devastation, as over 250 people have lost their lives, and 10,000 some have had to evacute their homes. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those families who have had to deal with this tragedy, and we continue to support and encourage the heroes who have come to the rescue, and pulled people from the rubble. There have been some amazing miracle stories, as one 98 year old woman was pulled from the rubble 30 hours after the quake, and she had just stayed in her bed knitting away.

Our home game that was scheduled for Easter weekend was postponed as they are still testing our arena to make sure it wasn't damaged from the earthquake. We were able to get out of town for the weekend, but that story is for another time... Until then, we hope you all had a wonderful Easter holiday... the story of Jesus' resurrection! His sacrifice gives us all the victory over death and sin! God bless!