Summer Is Here!

So we have a newer house, and it's cute, and we really like it . . . but what's BEST about my house is my neighbors! I don't know how we got so lucky, but we did. We have two families right next door to us that are amazing! They each have one kid who is Karsten's age (all three kids will be going to kindergarten together next year) and one of the families has a younger baby too. Both fams are fun, laid-back, caring . . .everything you would want in a neighbor, and friend. My immediate next door neighbors, the Giglio's also have a pool, as if they weren't the best already! Sunday, was the first pool party of the season, and we rocked it out! My sister and her husband came over (which was so generous of the Giglio's to have them) with little Ava and all the kids had a great time. The pool was still FREEZING, but they played on the beach step and we drank and ate and drank and ate. There is nothing better than a Sunday Funday Pool Party! Especially when it's right next door! Here are some pics from the partay and thank you to my awesome neighbors!





Karsten and Taylor (future bf/gf)




These are my girls . . . Summer and Jen




My sister, Megan, and Ava




Taylor and Tony

I miss you Nana

y Nana (my grandmother, my mom's mom) was amazing. We had a very close relationship. As a young child, my sister and I would spend countless nights at her house; watching old movies, playing dress up in her high heels and furs, popping popcorn and eating chocolate covered graham crackers. As we grew older, we would spend our summers volunteering at The Scottsdale Public Library; she was the head librarian there. As I got even older, my Nana and I enjoyed dinners at AZ88, burgers and martinis. My Nana was amazing. She was a huge women's and human rights activist. I cannot tell you how many Martin Luther King and Pro Choice Abortion rallies my sister and I attended!

She passed away the day after 9/11 - on September 12, 2001. My family was devastated. We knew she was sick, she battled emphysema for years, but the knowing of the disease did not make the passing any easier. I was 22 years old. Right after she died, I met Mark (my love) and I knew she would have LOVED him! Soon after, Mark and I were married, I had Karsten, we bought a house and so on and so on. So many life milestones that she missed and I missed having her there. I believe people can still feel loved ones around them after they've died, but I haven't been so fortunate to have this happen yet. There were so many times where I've wished with all my heart she was with me, but she wasn't. My heart hurts.

Two nights ago, she was in my dream. I wish I could tell you it was a nice, happy dream, but it wasn't. Before Nana got really sick with her disease, she and my Papa would take long road trips in their RV. They would travel the country, taking pictures, meeting new friends, buying us little trinkets from weird places. In my dream, my Nana was about to leave for a trip on the RV. I knew once she did, she would not come back, I knew she would die. I begged her not to go, to stay with me. She wasn't upset while I was, but she said she had to go, she was excited. I left her and ran down the sidewalk sobbing, sobbing so hard I couldn't think, breathe, function. Mark came up to me and I kept saying over and over how I knew she was going to die if she left on her trip, she was going to leave us.

I don't know if she actually was in my dream, her spirit, I would like to think she was, but I don't know why the dream would be so sad. I know she died, but I just want to be with her again. I didn't think I was going to post about this, but I started to cry in the shower this morning and I think I need to process through this to be able to move on from the dream. Maybe it has been too long since I had really thought about her and I needed to. I am just sitting here crying at my computer, I can't see the screen! It's been eight years since she died and it still hurts so much. I sometimes feel silly admitting how much it still hurts, she was my grandmother, and grandmothers die all the time, that's life, it's natural. But it doesn't feel natural, it feels really bad.

I did not mean for this post to become so negative, but I am letting it all out. Take it or leave it, just like my good friend Cece, may say. I am opening up my book (my life) for reading in hopes that someone may take something from it and I know it helps me tremendously! So, on a lighter note, I am posting some photos of my amazing Nana below. She truly was amazing.

This was my Nana and I (in the red pj's) on top of a float at the Parada del Sol. We were characters from nursery rhymes. She was Mother Goose and I was Little Red Riding Hood.


My Mom and Nana on Mother's Day 1999.


My Sister (nice hair!), Mom, Nana and I


My Nana - 30 years old, circa 1963

Desert Botanical Garden

n Friday, Karsten's class had a field trip to the Desert Botanical Garden. I am embarrassed to say, I have never been. Though I have heard so much about the glass art exhibit, Chihuly, I've been wanting to go. The reason for the field trip for Kar's class was to go to to the Butterfly Pavilion. I was hoping we would be able to see some of the glass art while we were there also. Kar's class was split into three different tours. Luckily, the glass art is EVERYWHERE around the gardens so I was super excited about THAT! The tour was great, we had a nice leader and he really interacted well with the kids. He re-named the cactus, "plantimals" and categorized each how they looked like an animal; there was an elephant, caterpillar, cow, bunny, etc. It was cute. As I said before, as we walked around to each different cactus or plant, we were fortunate enough to see the Chihuly glass art. There is only one word for this art - AMAZING! I have never in my life, seen something that compares to this! The exhibit is only up until May and if you haven't gone, please do! It is something that needs to be seen!

All these pictures are glass . . .








After walking for 30-40 minutes we headed to the Butterfly Pavilion. I wasn't sure what to expect, as I was too concerned with making sure I was going to be able to see the Chihuly glass art. We waited in line for just a few minutes to enter the pavilion. We were instructed to watch where we stepped, the butterflies could be on the ground, and if one landed on us, we could not touch it or brush it off, we had to find an employee to take a soft feather duster to take it off of us. When we stepped into the pavilion, the one word that comes to mind to describe it is, MAGICAL! There are flowers EVERYWHERE! There are ponds and koi fish and trees and BUTTERFLIES! EVERYWHERE! Beautiful, colorful, magical butterflies! We just walked around and around, looking at all the butterflies. The gorgeous flowers were just a backdrop to the beautiful butterflies. We were given a guide, so we could identify each butterfly from it's color. We loved it! We would point and look and figure out each butterflies' name. One even landed on Karsten's shirt! It was so cool! Aahhh, what a wonderful experience. The whole trip was great! If you'd like to spend an hour seeing AMAZING art and plants and experience MAGICAL butterflies and flowers, then get yourself to DBG!









The BEST teacher in the whole world!




My little caterpillar . . .

Easter, Yori Style

So this Easter was little different than most. It felt more relaxed, maybe because we didn't go to church. (Bad Catholics! But we did talk about Jesus. Does that count?) The morning started off with my Mom, Rich, Meggy, Mike and Ava coming over to our house. My mom did all of the cooking so that was an enormous treat! I just cleaned and decorated the night before (see right). My Mama made egg casserole and french toast casserole. The french toast concoction was amazing! Yummy! We did the Easter Bunny baskets when Ava was with us and then the kids went to find the eggs out back. Everyone left after a few hours and we just hung out.










We had to go to my Nana and Papa's house later in the afternoon so we decided to hit a restaurant for a late lunch. And we chose Dos Gringos, a perfect choice to celebrate Jesus' resurrection, I think. Besides the irony of being there on Easter, we had a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day and the patio was sunny, but cool. A few beers and tacos later and we were all feeling the love! We headed to Scottsdale and hung out with my g-parents house for a few hours. The kids played swords and ran around their backyard while we chatted and snacked and had a really great Easter dinner; ham, turkey, cheesy scalloped potatoes (my fav!), green beans (or as my kids call them, "old beans"), cole slaw and angel food cake with strawberries and whip cream for dessert. My Nana spoiled the munchkins with more Easter candy and Ella actually rewarded her with a proper goodbye and kiss. Food=Ella love.


It was not our ordinary Easter celebration, but it was really fun and nice. I am so grateful for my family and friends and the love of God. Speaking of the love of God, at this point, we haven't been pushing church or Sunday school with the kids. Part of me really wants to get my kids into it because of the great foundation of faith I had as a child. But the other part of me likes teaching my kids about God, love and faith, without bringing the "organized" aspect of religion into it. We'll see where this path takes us, it's been quite a journey so far and I hope everyone is having as much fun as I am on this ride!

Soccer Game Reschedule!

Because we had to reschedule our family pictures yesterday because of rainy day Saturday, we will not be going to Karsten's soccer game next Saturday, April 18th. I'm sorry if anyone was planning on attending the game next week, but I assure you, we will be at every other game listed (see soccer game schedule post below). If you have any questions, please let me know!

Rainy Day=Cancelled Photo Shoot=Yummy Breakfast!

Today was my photo shoot with the Pied Piper, but low and behold, it rains! We were all up and continuing to get ready for the shoot, hoping it would stop, but it didn't. And considering we were going to be shooting outside, and everything is wet and mucky, we decided to reschedule. :( I'm a little disappointed just because I have been waiting so long for this, but I want it to go well, and not be wet! So our family had a free morning with daddy, (that usually only happens once a week), so we took the opportunity to visit a new favorite restaurant of ours, Liberty Market. This owner is the same as Joe's Farm Grill, Joe's Real BBQ and he was the one who started the Coffee Plantation. This man is a great restaurateur! All his restaurants have the same set up, grab a menu, order from the counter and sit. They will bring everything to you. Good food and great ambiance! Especially at Liberty Market!













Liberty Market opened in Gilbert in 1935. There have been only three owners since then. Joe Johnson, the owner now, took it over a couple of years ago and turned it into a very hip, edgy, interesting place to shop and eat. With chains of restaurant surrounding us, it's so refreshing to have a place to go that is UNIQUE. Mark and I even felt like we were back in NYC for a minute.The kids had already eaten breakfast; Karsten was full, but Ella was up for another round of eggs. I got this enormous cinnamon roll, and Mark and I split granola with yogurt and honey. That was so amazing! The granola was fresh and the honey was sweet, yummy! I loved it so much I took a picture to share the yumminess! I had to explain to Mark I am now a photo journalist. I am in charge of reporting all new YORI stories.

Sad Guy . . .


Getting happier . . .


Joy!



Hope you all have a great day, and a Happy Hoppy Easter!

Easter Egg Extravaganza!

My beautiful Mama invited the munchkins over for Easter Egg Dyeing and Dinner. What a great combo! I cannot tell you how much my kids love their Me-la! They adore everything she does and says. So needless to say, we always have a great time when we are with her. There is something about your mom's house that is so comfortable. The condo my Mom lives in now is not where I grew up, but every time I'm there, I'm always lounging around on the sofa, or eating chips, or snuggling in her bed while she folds laundry. Even at age 30, nothing has changed when I'm at her house, no matter the location!

So we order pizza and bread sticks, had some dinner and the egg dyeing began! I think Karsten had only dyed Easter eggs one time before this and certainly did not remember, so it was a lot of fun for both! We kept it simple, really bright colors. They started blending colors, like purple and sea green. We had so much fun picking our favorite eggs after they were done.



Thank you Me-la for a fantastic evening!