Happy Independence Day

Growing up in Upper Arlington, Ohio made the 4th of July a really special holiday (and one that we loved just as much as Christmas). We lived right next to the Parade route and down the street from the fireworks, so as a kid in middle school and high school, it doesn't get much better.

We headed out to the parade in the morning with the Miller's. We sat on the corner/area by our old house (which - for the record has not been well maintained... keep it nice people!) Lot's of nostalgia as we watched the floats, bands and many classic cars parade by.

The kids on the corner...

We parked by St. Agatha church, Poppi waiting for us as we stopped to get flags from our old neighbor. Here are Poppi and Nana with all of the kids

We finally caught up with Dave, Shannon and Kiefer!

Cute little family off for more festivities

At their house! We headed over to Dave's for lunch. Here is Alessandra playing horseshoes with Dave and Fred.

And, in the tree.

Happy 4th!

First haircut, shots by Olivia and a Bowling Extravaganza

In between each leg of our trip, we had some winding down time in Ohio. This proved a GREAT tactic to keep some normality in the long process that is travelling from overseas.

In our second visit to Ohio, we decided that Alessandra's frizzy do needed a little trimming. Her first haircut (if you can really call the fuzz that I delicately trimmed an actual haircut). Our goal was really just to make her look more like the 3 year old that she actually is. :)

Those eyes get me every time...

After the haircut, Olivia took the liberty of using the camera for awhile.

Poppi and Poppi and Olivia

Poppi and I also took the girls (along with 4 other girls) to the Bowling Alley. We all enjoyed the festivities.. here are a few shots by the girls...

The whole group starting play. Please note the great shirts that Brianna made for everyone. They looked so stylish.

Brie helping Alessandra

Brie

Whitney

Action shot of Poppi

Action shot of Kelly

Sweet - a roller down ramp!

Olivia behind Poppi's camera (I think Carley was behind mine, I have very few photos of her)

Whitney

This is Logan

Alessandra also took some time to read a book while bowling.

Crazy girls with bright balls

Whitney, Brianna, Carley, Olivia, Logan and Alessandra

Aiello "Tour of Grandparents 2009" Completed.

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay. Not sure where the time went - but as of today (July 24) the girls and I are back in Okinawa and our little family was reunited on the 22nd at the Naha airport where Brad picked us up. (1 day before our 1 year anniversary in Okinawa!) The jet lag is still looming over our heads, but a couple of more days and I am sure we will be back to normal.

Before I get back to the Colorado trip (and then the rest of our trip in the States). I wanted to make sure and comment on the amazing trip we had all around. The love and support that we felt firsthand from our family and friends was truly astounding. As every trip goes, there was not enough time to connect with everyone that we wanted to, however, we are thankful we did get to see so many people. The highlight for the girls was definitely seeing ALL of their 7 grandparents and getting to catch up with each and every one of their cousins. They are all growing so fast.

SO - THANK YOU. Thank you to all of you who housed us, fed us, drove us, spent time with us, called us, played with us, loved us or just were with us. Thank you for being supportive in so many ways of Brad's deployment and our being so far from home. It does not go unnoticed.

I miss you all already. There isn't much more to say than that. One of the greatest things about the military lifestyle is that we have learned to adapt and make home wherever we are. We have met amazing friends and lived in wonderful places. However, being with those who know you best (or who at least know your history best) gives you some comfort that is unlike anything else. My favorite times (aside from watching my children be loved by so many people) were those where I got to know you better - where you are now. We all continuously evolve and change and to be able to have the opportunity to see that firsthand is awe inspiring.

Thank you. Thank you for sharing yourselves with us and being you. We love you.

Colorado Part 2

We enjoyed every minute of Colorado. We had the opportunity to spend time with so many wonderful people.

A highlight was visiting with our closest family friends Jennifer and Connor (whose Daddy Duncan was actually IN Iraq with Brad this entire deployment and gets home in September...) For those of you who don't know the story: Brad in Duncan have known one another since when Brad was in North Carolina (before Kelly) and they introduced Jen and I when we lived in California. We have been fabulous friends ever since (and she was my birth coach with Olivia when Brad and Duncan were gone to Iraq in 2003). Special friends for sure.

With Duncan gone this year, Jennifer decided to homestead in Colorado where Duncan's family and her mom and grandmother live). SO, we got the opportunity to spend some time with them too! Here is from our first night with them. We went to check out Connor's Tae Kwon Do class and then to dinner - here our our two whispering behind the menu... so cute!

Connor getting some hugs from the Aiello girls.

Bathtime for 3?

The drive to Red Rocks.

As we drove into the park I think Olivia said something like "What are we going to see there? Some Red Rocks?" (yes, something like that...)

Alessandra holding up some really big rocks.

"splorin some caves

No more photos please.

As we pulled into the parking lot of the amphitheater we noted a large number of Government vehicles in the lot. Once we parked we started noticing the large number of Marines exiting the amphitheatre. Our kids were in shock by the number of familiar uniforms. They were all there for a Change of Command. ( a profound and somewhat overwhelming emotional experience for those of us married to our Marines who were away for the time being).

Lovely Red Rocks

You can see more photos taken by Jennifer here: http://adobe.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3qn0sf69.btvefvmh&x=0&y=f85cow&localeid=en_US

She brought out the "big guns" (really nice camera with a big lens) and took some great shots.

The girls enjoyed "performing" on the stage. They kept trying to coax Connor into it, he wasn't going for it.

The whole gang.

Muscle shots...

Jen with the kids

After a great couple of days with Jen and Connor (minus Connor and Alessandra not becoming the best of friends), we headed back to Dad and Suzann's.

Alessandra and Susu

Spent some time with Kimm, Paul, Oscar and August

(and funny enough, Oscar was all excited to play with Olivia, but I think I found he and Alessandra playing together more often).

Oscar, Alessandra and Olivia

By the bridge in Boulder

August popping his head into the photo. We needed a 4 cousin's shot.

A shot of Olivia at lunch. It made me laugh.

Jen and I also had a "date night" where Dad and Suzann watched O and A and her mom watched Connor. We went to dinner in Denver (amazing food by the way..) and spent some time eating chocolate cake and drinking wine. A great way to spend an evening.

Here we are the next day when Jen dropped me off at my sister's house.

And, here is a photo of Kimm and I outside of her house.

Can't wait to go back to Colorado! Good people, good food and good fun.