Siamo tornate!

What a lovely lovely holiday we had.

What a great Grandpa...

I literally cannot put it any more squarely than that.

Every time I make my way back home, and especially now that I have baby girl along with me, I get so emotional thinking about my family in the US.  I think about the way that I grew up - about 20 plus cousins within 10 minutes drive of us, and both sets of grandparents able to spoil us weekly - and think that it is just not something that Olivia will have the pleasure of knowing.  

Instead, we are a 10 hour journey from cousins, 10 hours from one set of Grandparents, 2 hours from Granny and auntie, and 24 hours from Grandad.  It makes me tear up every time.  

The things that she will not get to experience throughout the year - Trick or Treating at every house of ANY distant relative (so as to gather more candy of course!), her cousins' football, soccer, and basketball games, nights spent at Granny and Grandpa's house just because she CAN, Christmas holidays where we can see ALL of the relatives in a span of two or three days....

Those most likely won't happen for her.  And although this is the kind of thing that one must be well aware of when building a life with someone from another country (and I wouldn't change a thing...let me just throw that in there!!), there is all of a sudden that certain "Mom" gene which has lately triggered an overactive tearing-up response. 

Maybe it is because I lost a dear dear friend of mine recently.  One with whom I shared most of those precious memories.  It all of a sudden has made me reminisce about the football games on Friday nights, the pep sessions in the high school gym (which is gone too...), the class trips, the weekends spent swimming, hanging out in my parents' basement, at band competitions, or anything else for that matter.  Suddenly it feels like while I am busy living my life here, life is slowly being lived and lost there.  All a bit serious I know...

But this is why I cherish these trips home.  There is something magical about staying in the same bedroom you once occupied, and then occupying said bedroom with your two-year-old daughter.  She drinks from the same Koolaid cups that I picked out with my big sister a million years ago.  She plays with our old Mr Potato Heads.  And even though these are happy moments, seeing her grow up - albeit for a short moment - in the place I absolutely adored growing up in, I still manage to cry.  

Damn you Mom gene.

And damn you Mom - I know I inherited it from you ; )

But in all seriousness, it was lovely.  Too short, but I think that there could never be enough time when I am there to truly satisfy me.  Olivia loved every moment spent with her American family, as did I of course.

So I will therefore bore you with lots of shots of our time at home...

Taking orders from the "Drive Thru" playhouse...

Teaching cousin Kasen how to use an Ipad...

Playing in the new fountain in Jasper with cousin Branton...

Probably pointing and cursing at mamma for making her stand near the junk in 40 degree heat...

With Auntie Jenna at the tractor demo derby...yeah I just said that.  It blows my mind...

What kid growing up in our area doesn't have a hundred of these pics with Santa!?

Milkshake with cousin Pierce...

Ducks at the 4-H fair...

"No one naps while I'm around..."

Multitasking...

Nothing stops Liv from playing the Elmo game...not even her babysitter taking a nap...

On a lighter note...my veggie garden welcomed me home with abundance!  She was a bit untidy and needed a touch of love, but this is just the first of our summer toms and beans...Yay!

Now we just need more sun to ripen those tomatoes...after two weeks of oven-like temps in Indiana I came home to a cool 65 degrees Italy...WHAT?! 

It is pretty much the awesomest summer EVER.

Except all the Italians are wearing scarves...

xoxo sjkh