The Wright Spot

Baby Jesse

2012-01-08T23:16:00.000-08:00

Jesse played the baby Jesus is our ward's production of the Nativity play. He was a hit!

Jesse's photo shoot with my friend Tiffany.

Totally Random and Crazy

2011-12-29T05:36:00.000-08:00

So this post is going to be strange because it has lined up funny. But here goes. These pics are all just randomness, but cute pics of the kids.

Amber playing with ornament containers:

Amber having a rockin tea party:

Andy is super obsessed with flying RC Airplanes and Amber loves to go with him. She is all bundled up and ready to fly:

She loves her boots, wears them all the time.

Fun at Chole's Christmas party.

Little artist.

On your mark, get set, GO!

Boxes, the best kind of fun.

Stretch

Amber is accessorizing Bebe with a headband.

She loves to climb into things, this is her new bed.

Ready to go.

Sorry for the crazyness of this post, half of the pics are sideways and the alignment is off, I'll fix it eventually......maybe.

Buon Natale

2011-12-29T05:05:00.001-08:00

This Christmas we were so blessed to spend with Andy as the last few years we have been separated. This is the first Christmas he was able to spend with Amber. It was a wonderful gift and we had a wonderful Christmas. We started the morning with presents, then church, and then prepping dinner. Well, our stove broke and we had two minor fire ball explosions-we walked away with all of our eyebrows though.
Thank goodness for crockpots, camp stoves, convetion ovens, and the BBQ grill. We were able to make a good Christmas dinner.

Amber's Cookies that she decorated.

Amber taste testing some frosting and cookies.

Blessing

2011-12-29T04:41:00.000-08:00

Jesse was blessed on Decmember 4th by Mike Stevens. He is our home teacher and he and his family are always doing something to help us out. Sterling Roundy, Todd Mangle, Elder Herndon, Brett Robinson, Trent Elliot, and Ben Krage also stood in on the blessing.

This is his outfit. We did a "redress" after the fact for some photos.

Blessing day with GG's baby blanket. Thanks Mom!

Happy Holloween!

2011-12-28T23:46:00.000-08:00

My posts seem to aways be backwards: Finished product-our Jackolanterns. Amber colored hers beautifully.

Our Pumpkins

Amber checking out her loot.

The Stevens were gracious enough to take Amber to the Fall Festival for us this year. It was so great, Amber had a great time and Andy and I stayed home with Jesse.

Jesse Wyatt Wright

2011-12-28T23:27:00.000-08:00

Jesse Wyatt Wright was born October 18, 2011 in Aviano Italy. He weighed 6lbs 14 oz and was 19.5 inches long.

The Crew of Atlantis' Last Mission

2011-09-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

Amber, Deanna, and I were able to attend a meet and greet with the space shuttle Atlantis' last crew before it was retired. It was super fun and they all wanted to hold Amber. It was awesome meeting them, I'm so glad they stopped in Aviano!

This is where Amber decided she had had enough Astronauts.

Two Years Old and Too Adorable

2011-08-17T06:40:00.001-07:00

Amber is turning 2 next month so it is time for more photos. She let me torture her with a lot of costume changes. She had a great time at the park and loved to watch the ducks and swans. And she was quite distracted by the gathering of Italians watching the photo shoot. She is so beautiful. We are so blessed to have her in our family. We love you Amber!

Florence

2011-08-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

Mom, Aunt Brenda, Aunt Andrea, Sean and little Sean got to come to Italy for several days to visit. We had a great time and stayed busy busy! The first couple of days we visited Venice. Pictures to come. Next we hit Florence, Pisa, and Rome. This is the beginning of that journey.

The Duomo

The David

We only had a few hours in Florence because it took a while to travel there from Pordenone. But of course we had to see the David. The statue is much bigger than I thought it would be. I wish we could have seen more of Florence because there is a lot to see. But we had to catch a train to Pisa where we stayed the night. I have to say that it was nice to get of the air conditioned train after walking a long way in Florence.

Pisa

2011-08-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

So, I know they call it the leaning tower, but it is seriously leaning! I didn't realize how tippy it was. I really liked the leaning tower. We were only in Pisa for the evening as that is where we slept before heading on to Rome, but there isn't much else to Pisa, but I think the leaning tower is enough. You definitely have to see this one in person!

Vatican City

2011-08-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

We saw Vatican City in one whirl wind tour and it was a lot to see but it was all really neat. The heat and TONS of tourists were a lot to handle but it was still awesome. I wasn't really happy with my pictures of St. Peter's and we weren't allowed to take photos in the Sisteen Chapel, but here are some pics to check out.

These are the Vatican Walls.

The Colloseum

2011-08-13T13:10:00.001-07:00

ROME. WAS. AMAZING! I really enjoyed seeing Rome and will have to go back again one day to see the things we missed. But it was fabulous! A few recommendations for anyone traveling to Rome: 1. Don't go when you're pregnant. 2. Don't go in July. 3. DO NOT take a stroller. 4. Be prepared for long lines and millions of people all around you.

The Colloseum was unbelievable, another site you have to see in person to really understand how awesome it is.

This is the ground floor. These are the rooms that were underneath the arena floor.

Random Rome

2011-08-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

These are just a few sites that we saw as we were seeing Rome. Some pics were taken as we passed by in the taxi or as we walked by.

The Roman Forum.

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Unfortunately this is where my camera ran out of batteries. There were more pictures that I would have liked to take that day, but oh well, we'll go back another day for more! Next time we'll go in the dead of winter!

USO Sesame Street Show

2011-07-29T03:26:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to get to go and see a USO show and it was super cute. Amber really enjoyed it and we had a good time. Although sitting on a hard floor for almost an hour when pregnant-not so comfy ;)

The excitement is building!

Amber was definitely into it!

THANKS USO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Graduation

2011-05-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

Aviano held a graduation ceremony for all the graduates from all the different colleges represented on base. It was a nice little ceremony and even though I finished in December now I feel officially finished.

I love Air Force cakes. They don't mess around!

And the best part, Andy made the MOST delicious dinner, steak and crab legs! It was soooo good!

Happy Easter!

2011-05-28T06:58:00.000-07:00

These pictures are long overdue but we had a good Easter even though Andy was gone. He has missed both of Amber's Easters now :( But who's counting?

Easter Morning

Bed Head

Easter Basket from the Easter Bunny

We had a great time with friends with some awesome food and fun!

Little precious in her Easter dress.

Bouncy Castle Fun!

Ahhhhhh, such fun.

NCO-Academy Graduation in Volgelweh Germay

2011-04-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

This week Amber and I were able to travel up to Germany to see Andy's graduation from NCO-Academy (Non-Commissioned Officer). We flew up on Tuesday and then came home on Friday. It was a fast trip but we had a good time. It was great to see Andy again after 5+ weeks.

Andy graduating. Yes, I know (once again) it is the worst picture in the history of the world. I always take bad pictures at these ceremonies.

So fun getting dressed up. At 10 weeks pregnant I can still fit in my clothes, but not for long. It was a fun event, but NOT fun waiting for an hour in the lobby!

Mega cake! It was delicious. Can you tell Andy is contemplating diving in?

Andy was in Sabre flight.

Behind Sgt Diaz (in the bow tie) is Andy's slide from the slideshow.

Aviano NCO-Academy graduates. Some of Andy's classmates. Sorry about the trees and the bad view-these were taken from our room. This is the Retreat ceremony. Andy is the one in front folding the flag on the left. Its hard to find him in a sea of camo.

This is Andy's graduating class from NCO-Academy. There were about 150 graduates.

Neuschwanstein Castle

2011-01-29T01:55:00.000-08:00

Seeing this castle was probably my favorite part of the trip. This castle was supposedly the inspiration for Cinderella's castle.

Its about a 25 minute walk up to the castle. They have carraiges that go up but we decided just to "hoof" it.

This castle was built by King Ludwig's father. Ludwig built the bigger more spectacular castle to outdo his father.

We finished the day with some delicious food.

Wieskirche Church

2011-01-29T01:41:00.000-08:00

Germany!

2011-01-29T01:23:00.000-08:00

We took a trip up to Germany and stayed at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort. We had a great time and these are some pretty random photos of the drive.

Sorry for the reflection in the glass.....

This castle is in Northern Italy. There are TONS of them! I never knew there were so many castles in Italy. Every few miles we spotted one.

Random buildings in Germany

Christmas Pics

2010-12-31T13:59:00.000-08:00

We had Christmas pics taken of Amber by my friend Tiffany. She did a great job and we love the photos. And it was a good time! We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Enjoy the new year!

Amber's 1st Birthday Party!

2010-12-20T05:46:00.000-08:00

In September Amber turned 1 and we had a fun party with lots of great friends, food, and fun.

Amber wasn't all that interested in her cake :( It originally had an elephant on top.

I was going to order Amber's cake from a lady here in Aviano who makes cakes but they were way too expensive. So I made them myself. Almost all of them turned out good.

The theme was Party Animals so we had animal cakes, food, decor, you name it.
We had a lot of great friends out to celebrate with us.

Of course fun and games too. This is the classic "balloon pop relay" sooo funny!

Amber was walking a week or two before her birthday. Just in time to party hardy!

Such wonderful gifts from all our friends. Thanks everyone for making Amber's first birthday so special!

What's goin on?

2010-12-18T05:37:00.000-08:00

As you can see I have managed to scrounge up some time to post on this thing. The reason: I am finished with student teaching and finished with my Master's! The party is on New Years-I think the whole world will be celebrating with me, j/k. So now that I am finished with that I am working on applying for jobs-few and far between here in Italy. Andy comes home in less than two weeks so we are prepping for that and getting ready for Christmas.

It has been great to be home with Amber and not running around with a million things to do. Now I only have 1,000 things to do. I will be posting more pics of other stuff that has gone on since I was posting before; like Amber's 1st Birthday etc. Its great to be back!

A quick trip to Tucson

2010-12-18T05:14:00.000-08:00

Last month Andy's Mom became extremely ill and was taken to the hospital. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with her and didn't know how to treat her. They ended up putting her in a medically induced coma. She wasn't doing well at all and they recommended to Andy's commanders that he go home to Tucson to see her. Soon after Amber and I were also on a plane to Tucson.

Well, Sarah started responding to the medications and they let her wake up. Before we knew it she was scooting around the hospital to prove to the nurses and doctors that she was ready to go home. Soon enough, they let her go. Her Dr. had never seen someone as sick as she was recover so fast. Well she got to come home and visit with a lot of her family and continued on the road to recovery. The doctors never identified what made her so sick that it almost killed her.

In the end it turned out to be a great trip. Although we went to Tucson under grim circumstances, we got to see Andy for almost two weeks and his family. Sarah is doing good now and Herb says that she keeps getting meaner, which is a good sign. It was great to see Andy a few weeks early, even if it was for less than two weeks. We also got to spend Thanksgiving in NM, we were there for a few short days but it was great. I'll post those pics soon.

Just brushing her teeth.

Amber has Grandpa's nose.

Uncle Mike

Amber and Grandma.

Yet another goodbye :(

Sunset before the snow.

2010-12-18T05:05:00.000-08:00

Random Pics

2010-12-18T04:51:00.000-08:00

She knows how to trash a hotel room. I thought Axl Rose had stopped by.

Amber and her friend Deja.

I love biscuits and gravy: especially in my hair.

Beans beans the magical fruit....

Just because she is so cute

Super cute dress from Aunt Neysa and Uncle Don.

And again.

One of the best things about Italy: Gelato!

Pumpkin Festival

2010-12-18T04:32:00.000-08:00

We went to the Pumpkin Festival in Venzone a few months ago. It was really fun and interesting. There were a lot of parades, musicians, merchants, and food. Every kind of pumpkin type of food you can imagine was available. Pumpkin pizza, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pasta, pumpkin pone (that might have been what it was was anyways). It was a lot of fun-even in the rain.

This was a show of people trying to sell a toilet. Even though it was in Italian it was pretty funny.

Halloween Fun

2010-12-18T04:20:00.000-08:00

This year I planned ahead and ordered Amber's Halloween costume early. Well it never came in so I had to scramble to make her costume my self. I started with one of Andy's old uniforms:

Cut it all up:

And did some serious experimenting:
And Voila!

A few of Amber's favorite hang outs.

2010-12-18T03:58:00.000-08:00

Poor Bebe

We're still here.

2010-09-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything to the blog, but I have a good excuse. I got my student teaching placement and have been teaching for four weeks! So exciting! I should be finished at the end of Nov. Amber spends her days with the babysitter-my friend Becca and seems to really like it there. She turned 1 a couple of weeks ago and is getting so big. I will be posting pics from her birthday party asap. Which could be a long time from now as I am swamped every day! But it was a great party. So that is what is going on here. We are missing Andy and can't wait for him to get home. He is doing good and staying very busy. We are still hoping that he'll be home for Christmas (not only in our dreams-but for real). We miss you all^keep in touch!

Laughter is the Best Medicine

2010-08-03T12:22:00.001-07:00

I love listening to Amber laugh and could do it all day everyday. You'll have to check out the link to the video because I wasn't able to upload it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLn5cdajyjQ Enjoy!

Ms. Tortellini's Swim Class

2010-07-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

For the last two weeks Amber has been taking swim lessons at the base pool with Ms. Tortellini, yep that's right, Ms. Tortellini. Amber did really well and we had a lot of fun. Amber even started kicking her legs and blowing bubbles in the water. It was "parent taught" so I was with Amber in the pool and we got to play a lot of fun games that really just made her more comfortable in the water and taught her the basic motions of swimming. Some of the games fully submerged the kids underwater but it didn't faze her at all. We even went down the big water slide together!

Amber's 1st Report Card:

Amber's 1st report card (side 2).

Amber and Ms. Tortellini

Messy Girl

2010-07-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, she does manage to get SOME food in her mouth. A lot in fact-that is why she is getting so big.

2010-07-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

The days have been HOT, well the humidity makes it feel HOT HOT HOT. So we (Amber) took a dip today. I thought the water might be too cold for her but she started playing and splashing right away. When I first put her on the grass she tried to put both legs in the air at the same time because she didn't like the feel of it. It was so funny because she couldn't keep her balance. I wasn't able to get a pic of that but it was hilarious.

Look at me, I can clap and swim at the same time.

The End!

Hailee Elizabeth Cox

2010-06-26T10:43:00.001-07:00

Welcome Hailee Elizabeth! She was born June 25th weight 6lbs 14oz, and 19.5 in. long. Congratulations Neysa and Don!

Camping

2010-06-19T22:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went camping in the mountains near the lake. There is a neat campsite that we found. Next time we are going to try to find something a little less "public". This site has spots for lots of tents and campers-some people close to us brought a goat???

There were no fire pits-which was "the pits". We had to improvise.

Amber got to stay up way past her bed time-she looks tired.

We had a great time and can't wait to go again.

Lake Barcis

2010-06-12T23:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went up to Lake Barcis again and had a great time. It is such a beautiful lake in the mountains about 35 minutes from our house.

Andy did some snorkeling with Bebe following in his wake.

The water is so blue it looks like it comes from some where in the Bahamas.

I don't know why this pic won't rotate, but it is picture of a VERY narrow bridge.

Herb and Sarah

2010-05-30T06:04:00.001-07:00

Andy's parents showed us a great time while we were in Tucson. We were spoiled beyond belief-which is always the case when we go to Tucson. They cooked us some delicious meals and took us out to eat at some of our favorite spots. They were also gracious hosts to my parents and friends when they came to visit us in Tucson. They had a little party for everyone to come over and visit while they were here. Sarah also gave Andy and I GREAT haircuts. Of course Andy's probably wasn't a big deal but I got a great haircut and just love it. Sarah is also always giving me books to read and great reccomendations, I am never bored in Tucson or on the trip home, I always have something good to read. They also let us borrow their cars while we were there so we saved a lot of money that we would have spent on a rental. Anyways, we just wanted to say thanks for everything-especially making our trip a great one. All of this and all they got in return was a nasty cold!

Tuson

2010-05-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

Our vacation to Tucson was a blast and we had a great time. Although it was a somewhat challenging vacation as we not only battled the jet lag, but also delayed/cancelled flights, unexpected hotel stays, being rerouted, yada yada yada but we all also got really sick. Yuck! But the second week of vacation things got better.

I got to visit with my BFE's Beleni and Angelica. It was way too short of a visit but it was a great surprise (well almost a surprise, Angelica let the cat out of the bag a couple of days early). (And kuddos to Belen who is terrified of dogs and came even though there were two huge dogs (doberman and rottweiler) and two little dogs in the house.)

Andy's friends Richard and Gretchen and their kiddos came over when Herb and Sarah made dinner for all of our friends. It was a great time and I wish I took more pics of the night. My Mom and Aunt Debbie also came down and I didn't take any pictures!

Andy did a good job of entertaining Deja, Riley, Amber and Katie Marie. Deja and Riley must have run 100 miles back and forth on the patio that night.

Amber is now waving and clapping and also saying Mama and Dada. She is also very close to crawling.

Andy and Amber are vacationing the right way, catching up on sleep.

As promised there was a shooting competion between Herb and Andy and the winner, well it depends on who you ask....

Andy and Herb spent time working on Andy's quad, one of Andy's favorite pasttimes.

Amber likes to help them work on the quad.

My Dad and Karalea also came down to visit and it was great to see them. I got to meet one of my new step-sisters-Kristi. It was fun meeting her and her family. She has three girls, one who is about six months older than Amber and Dad nicknamed them Bam Bam and Pebbles. Amber was Pebbles as Kylar tried to "Bam Bam" her.

Commendation Medal

2010-05-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

At the LRS Commander's Call last week, Andy was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal. This is a medal that is given to those who have "distinguished themselves with meritorious achievement and service." He earned this award for all the hard work he did while stationed in England and while in Diego Garcia. Sorry the pics are fuzzy, I was trying not to interupt the flow of the ceremony so this is what we ended up with.

Expert Marksman

2010-05-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

Today Andy went and shot an M-9 (which is a hand gun) to qualify as an Expert Marksman. To qualify you have to hit 41 shots out of 45. Of the 45, 25 shots must hit in a 10 inch circle on the chest and 6 hits within a 6 inch circle on the head. Now he can add a bronze star to his Expert Marksman ribbon, since he also qualified with the M-16. He had a blast shooting today, even though it was pouring rain. Good job babe! I know that Herb will be challenging Andy to a shooting competition while we're in Tucson. Stay tuned to find out who wins.

Amber's been workin on the railroad

2010-04-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

We were having fun with Mommy's hat. Each time I put it on, she figured out how to take it off a little bit faster. I think the tongue was sticking out in concentration while taking the hat off. I hope nobody gets tired of pics of Amber beacuse I can't stop posting them!

Amber's 1st two teeth

2010-04-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

This is me in all my photography glory. I'm trying to capture Amber's teeth for everyone to see. As you can see it took a few attemps. 1st attempt:

2nd Attempt:

3rd:

4th:
Success!

Muy Beuno

2010-04-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

Bless them, for they have restocked the green chile. And just in the nick of time.

Venezia aka Venice

2010-04-18T06:28:00.001-07:00

We took a short day trip to Venice and it was so amazing. We could spend a month exploring the city and still never see it all. The shopping is great the food is excellent and of course the sights are amazing. I never realized that so much of their transportation was by boat. Their "streets" are more like small walkways and no matter how small the walkway it still has a street name.

There were SO many small "alley" canals.

This gondola rower was singing a beautiful song for the couple. How romantic.

San Marco's, under construction but still beautiful.

Our little Arizona baby all tuckered out.

And last but not least, the most delicious pizza I've ever eaten!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

This year we had a pretty good Easter, it would have been perfect if Andy was here. It was Amber's 1st and the Easter Bunny stopped by to bring her a basket, which she seemed to like. We went to a BBQ yesterday at our new Bishop's house. Where we had great food, fun, an Easter egg hunt, and General Conference. Then today we went and had dinner at Cindy's house and watched more conference. Tomorrow we're going to see if we can find some Easter Monday activities, Easter Monday is the day the Italians have the more festive Easter activities where as the other days are very religious. Wish us luck.

The Oldies (but Goodies) got hitched.

2010-04-03T12:07:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago (ok several, I'm just a little slow at posting this) my Dad married the beatiful Karalea. She's a sweetheart and always seems to make my Dad smile. Congratulations!

Amber's "Eggsellent" Easter Egg Coloring "Eggsperience"

2010-04-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

Today Amber and I created a "holy" mess coloring Easter eggs. But we had a good time and she was a big help. She has a look on her face that says "I didn't make this mess".

Luckily, clean up was a breeze. Now, you may wonder (as I did) what is one person going to do with a dozen eggs? Hmmm, I guess I'm taking deviled eggs to the BBQ.

A "New" Trailer

2010-03-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

A few months ago Andy bought a new quad and has been dying to take it out here in Italy. Well, since we don't have a pickup anymore, transporting it has been a bit of a problem. So he decided to build a trailer. Without access to a wielder, he had to get really creative.

He was able to get an axle that had been junked, a tow bar, the remains of an old futon, and some new wood and managed to put together this trailer. Although it took a lot of time and effort, he was able to put it together and it even passed the safety inspection on base. He needs to make a few finishing touches and it will be ready to roll.

Credit where credit is due....

2010-03-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been doing a lot of complaining about the movers not packing things very well, losing things, etc. etc. But after unpacking about 100 tiny perfume bottles without a single one breaking, I guess I should give them a little praise.

These bottles have come from all over the place, garage sales, antique stores, gifts, and even some from the ever elusive Walmart. But I love them and I'm so happy (and surprised) that there weren't ANY broken bottles.

The wash basin and pitcher is even more precious to me as it used to belong to my Grandma. It was given to her by my Mom who made it when she was in high school. So I was especially nervous about sending it with the movers but I did and it is safe and sound. Good job Mayflower.

Just the sun

2010-03-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a few neat pictures of the sun. What I wouldn't give for those telephone poles to vanish. Oh well. FYI, I've never been accused of being a great photographer so for those of you who are, don't cringe too much at what could've been some great shots (plus the top two were taken VERY early in the morning).

Mirror Mirror...

2010-03-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

Mirror mirror on the wall (couch)

Who is the prettiest baby of all....

ME!!! So pucker up, MUAH!

6 Months Already

2010-03-10T12:17:00.001-08:00

Well our little baby girl has just hit her six month mark. I can hardly believe it. She is doing great and she is so beautiful.

She loves to watch Jeopardy. I don't know if it is Alex's voice or the blue screen but she is always mesmorized by it.

Her favorite PJ's (or as we like to call them, Jammie J's) are the pink ones with the frogs that her Aunt Heather bought for her.

She loves her new bedroom but needs a few more weeks of sleeping in Mom and Dad's bedroom.....

Her favorite thing to play with is the baby wipes box (?).

She weighs in at 14.1 lbs, which puts her in the feather weight catagory.

She is 24.5 inches long which is funny because at her 3 month checkup, she was 24 inches long.

She is still a talker and is usally smiling.

She is drinking a lot of formula and also loves sweet potatoes, squash, and peas. But she is not a fan of apple sauce or bananas.

Bebe is big source of entertainment for her.

And best of all she loves her Daddy and is finally getting to spend time with him.

Bebe

2010-03-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

Possibly the cutest puppy there ever was.

All grown up.

We got Bebe in England about 2 years ago. She is SO smart. She can usually learn most tricks in a matter of minutes. She can do the usual sit, lay, come, roll over. But she can also jump, spin, speak, give high five, give high TEN, crawl, drop (a toy), walk bakwards, stay, and with enough coaxing she can bring me the diaper bag. Oh yeah, did I mention that she can perform all of this with verbal or non-verbal commands? She's one smart puppy. Next we'll have to teach her those tricks in Italian.

Our Italian Casa

2010-03-10T11:47:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pictures of our house in Italy.

This is the sunrise from our front porch.

Above is the side view: There are outside shutters on all the doors and windows. They are pretty cool, but can also be a pain. Most houses in Italy have them, they are a crime deterrent and also handy in bad weather.

This is the front view:

We have a beautiful mountain range behind the house, I need to get some good pictures of them to post. We were really lucky to get a good house. There are a lot of houses that are.... hmmmm "less desirable." But our house has issues too. Hot water DOES NOT LAST. It is quite the tease to have a nice deep bathtub and not enough hot water to fill it. You can't run the washer and the drier at the same time or it will flip the breakers (which makes keeping up on laundry much more challenging). I could probably come up with more complaints but who wants to hear them? We have a great house and hey, we're in Italy so we're going to do as the Italians do.

Bath Time Fun

2010-03-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

Amber always enjoys bath time. And she makes quite a splash. She loves to

suck on the wet washcloths but hates it when I wash her face. Lets hope she alwasy enjoys her bath time.

Can you believe it?

2010-03-01T01:14:00.000-08:00

So last week the movers came to pack up me and Amber's belongings. Well, naturally, there would be another snow storm hit Ramah and the roads were bad. The movers eventually made it to Ramah and of course they couldn't get the big moving truck up the hill to my Mom's house. So who comes to the rescue? Uncle John of course. He took the movers up and down the hill ALL DAY LONG so they could pack up boxes and move everything down the hill to the moving truck. Even though I know what a great person my uncle is, I'm still in shock that there is someone who would do this. He is always helping people out, even when he is busy with his own things. He helped Amber and I a lot while we were in NM and he is still helping now that we're gone.

I am very blessed to have such a great family. Sometimes you can forget things like that. But aparently the movers were in shock all day at what a great family I have. It started out when they first got to Ramah and asked my Aunt Loretta where Clawson St. was. Well, she helped them out with the right directions to my house (as she knew they were expected). Then, when they couldn't get up the hill in their truck they were in shock when my Uncle John saved the day. And finally they couldn't believe it when my Unlce Rex and Riley came to my Mom's house to shovel her snow. Then of course there is my Mom who took countless days off of work for me and Amber while we there and took one more day off so the movers could come. She has done so much for me.

They only caught a glimpse of what it's like to have such a wonderful family. I'm lucky to have had them all my life (tear). It seems like someone is always helping someone else and I know that I can always go to them for help. I could fill up the whole internet with stories like these, so thanks everyone, for everything.

Christmas in February

2010-02-15T01:00:00.001-08:00

We finally got to celebrate Christmas. Boy were we late, but better late than never. Thanks for all the great gifts everyone!

Albuquerque to Atlanta to New York to Venice to Avianno, Oh my!

2010-02-15T00:44:00.000-08:00

Sleeping peacefully on the flight from New York to Venice. 10 hours!

Hanging out in the ATL.

New York, here we come!

We started our trek in Albuquerque and had a peaceful flight to Atlanta. Amber did very well on the plane with no crying. Once in Atlanta Amber had some down time and got to stretch out. Then on to New York, where upon landing, she got a little bit fussy, not bad at all. Soon we boarded our flight to Venice. Amber was still a little bit fussy. But who wouldn't be when our departure time comes and goes as we wait for an ill man to get off the plane at the last minute (not that my heart doesn't go out to him). The real kicker is when he got off the plane we had to wait for them to find his bags which were already loaded.

The rest of the trip went really well. I wasn't crazy about getting off the plane last (as I am usually off as fast as humanly possible), nor was I happy about Delta not letting people with babies and kids board before zones ahead of them. Everything else went great (the woman sitting next to Amber on the long flight was not too happy to be sitting next to a baby and even less so when I took a picture)! But we made it safely without a hitch.

It's a Valentine's Day Miracle

2010-02-15T00:40:00.000-08:00

So who remembers me commenting several months ago that Amber and I should make it to Italy by Andy's birthday (12/9)? I DO! And then, who remembers be saying we WOULD be there by Christmas? Anyone, anyone? As New Years Day came and went I remember thinking that we would definately make it by the end of the month. Well, we finally arrived on February 12th. It is some kind of miracle! Andy missed his little girl a lot... and Amber too. J/k.

Amber loves her some rice cereal.

2010-02-03T18:31:00.001-08:00

It will take some practice but both Amber and I will get better at this spoon feeding thing. Wish us luck!

So many toys so little time.

2010-02-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

Priceless

2010-02-03T18:09:00.000-08:00

Cost of driving back and forth to Albuquerque to submit visa applications and other paperwork.....$267.00

Application fees for 2 military dependent passports and Italian visas.....$900.00 (of course the Air Force picked up the tab for this check).

Waiting about 3 months for 2 visas to be granted from the Italian consulat.....1 person's sanity (mine).

Waiting another couple of weeks for the Air Force to process more paperwork before we can leave......What was left of my sanity.

Being granted Italian visas so Amber and I can be reunited with Andy......Priceless!

Snow Angel

2010-02-03T17:57:00.000-08:00

This winter we have been getting so much snow, it has been awesome. Of course it means Amber and I stay in doors a lot but it isn't so bad with a nice warm fire, hot cocoa, and Mom's big screen TV (with all the re-runs of Friends, Grey's Anatomy, and Gilmore Girls I can stand).

I finally took Amber out for a walk and discovered that, some where underneath that giant snow suit is my little snow angel.

The Princess and the Frog

2010-02-03T17:46:00.000-08:00

This month Amber watched her first movie in the theater. We watched The Princess and the Frog and Amber had a great time. She LOVED the popcorn and redvines.... oh wait that was me!

Reid Park Zoo

2009-12-31T20:32:00.000-08:00

Today Amber, her Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Heather and I went to the Zoo! We thought Amber would have fun seeing all the animals, but the rest of us enjoyed it more than her (she slept half of the time). It was a lot of fun. We took a few pictures before (oops) my battery died. Luckily Grandpa Herb was there to save the day. We will post some of his pics later. These are a few I was able to take, so standby for more pictures of fun at the zoo.

Amber and Khloe

2009-12-25T14:05:00.000-08:00

Amber and her friend Khloe had a "play date," we caught them holding hands. Too cute!

Another cute picture.

2009-12-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

There are some pictures that don't have a good story to go along with them, but the picture itself is too cute not to post.

HO HO HO!

2009-12-25T13:46:00.001-08:00

Amber got to visit with Santa Clause and tell him what she wants for Christmas. She wants to see her Daddy!

Sleepy time.

2009-11-30T23:27:00.000-08:00

Andy caught me sleeping while on duty :)

WELL Traveled Baby

2009-11-30T23:11:00.000-08:00

Amber has been to so many places already. I thought about listing all the places she's been, but it would take all night. She is accustomed to her car seat and just looks so cute it in. In a couple of weeks she will travel even farther... Italy!

Red Dress

2009-11-30T23:01:00.000-08:00

Andy's Grandma Ethel made this dress for her daugher Donna, she has pictures of all the girls in that side of the family starting with herself all the way down to Amber. Pretty neat.

Just a good pic

2009-11-30T22:58:00.000-08:00

This is one of favorite pictures of Amber.

Visiting BFE's

2009-11-30T21:33:00.000-08:00

Amber and I have been to Las Cruces a few times to visit some great friends. We stayed at my best friends Angelica's house-she always makes us feel right at home. We always have A LOT of plans but some how we don't always get around to fulfilling them. That's ok, we still have fun doing a whole lot of nothing. We still manage to squeeze in some things on the last day; such as eating at our favorite restaurant, wait..... was that all we managed to do? Hmmm? Oh well, the best part is just being with friends.

Agua Caliente Park

2009-11-30T21:32:00.000-08:00

Before Andy left we went to the park and had a nice relaxing afternoon. Luckily we went when we did, because the bad weather moved in that night.

Daddy's Home

2009-11-30T21:28:00.000-08:00

Amber and I were lucky to get to have 11 days with Andy. He came to Tucson for the Tour de Tucson, Thanksgiving, and of course to see his little family. He rides the Tour every year with his uncles and aunts. This year they came in 77th place, this is out of about 1100 riders in their catagory. Good job Farmboys!

Amber got to spend some quality time with her Daddy, she only had a few days with him after she was born. We all had a great time and stayed with Andy's parents. We also got to spend some time with friends, Jessica Brunette who I knew from Mildenhall and Andy's friends Richard and Gretchen.

Amber was also lucky enough to meet her Uncle Mike, Uncle Tom, and Aunt Elaine. She'll be over a year old when she gets to see them again :(. Unless they come to visit in Italy like we hope they will :).

Another cousin!

2009-11-30T21:27:00.001-08:00

Amber is lucky enough to be getting another cousin. He or she is due on July 1st. I really hope that one day we can live close to Don and Neysa so that our kids can grow up together. Come on Air Force and Marine Corp-bring us all together.

Blessing

2009-11-30T21:24:00.002-08:00

Amber was blessed October 4th in Ramah, NM by her Great Grandpa Marvin. GG crocheted the dress and Heather wore it a few years ago when she was blessed. It is a perfect fit. Uncle John, Uncle Bryant, Doug Bloomfield, David Gibbons all particpated in giving the blessing. Pops and Caralea came to Ramah for it, however, I was in a bit of trouble for not informing everyone about this special day. Sorry!

The Sweater Song

2009-11-30T21:24:00.001-08:00

Aunt Brenda knitted a beautiful sweater for Amber, as you can see she really likes it.

Amber's 1st visit

2009-11-30T21:21:00.001-08:00

On our way to Ramah from the hospital, Amber made her first visit to her Auntie Mellisa's house. It was only fitting as we stayed at her house for a while just in case I went into labor-we didn't want to be too far from Alb.

That night Amber was visited by many of her Aunts. Aunt Loretta, Aunt Irene, Aunt Andrea, Aunt Lavern, Aunt Rita and also her Uncle Alan.

(This picture was actually taken a few weeks later, but you get the idea.)

Amber Isabella Wright

2009-11-30T21:18:00.001-08:00

Amber was born September 8th in Albuquerque, NM. She weighed 6lbs 5oz and was 19 inches long. She was visited in the hospital by her Grandma GG, Grandpa Pops, Grammy Debbie, and Josh and Jamie Bizzel. She was also sent flowers from GG, Grammy Debbie and her Auntie Neysa and Uncle Don.