Tuesday, April 14, 2009

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!
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1 comment:

Jena Simms said...

Hey Brenna, been checking your blog for a while now to see if you have updated on that little cutie of yours. She is pretty as a plum. It's fun to watch all the new things they learn everyday. We opened our blog up to the public, you can visit us at:
http://simmsbrothers.blogspot.com/
Happy to see you all are still standing. Praise GOD!
Jena Simms(Thiemann)

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