Giro D'Italia

We took a video as the peleton went by, so don't have photos! It went by so fast!

Corfu, Greece for Memorial Day

We spent the long weekend in Greece on a MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation) sponsored trip. It was fabulous! Thurs May 21st we got an early 5 AM start and bused over to the other side of Italy to the port of Brindisi where we boarded a ferry for Greece. We got to our beach front hotel in time for dinner. It was a long travel day (longer with a group and all the potty-stops on the bus!), but Mo did fine. Fri we explored the beach and pool, and then in the afternoon took a local bus into town. Sat and Sun we rented a car to explore the island. It's gorgeous as you can see from the photos.

We also made some friends on the trip. It was a great time!!

Monday we headed back to Italy.

Rome for our 2nd Anniversary

We spent the first weekend in May in Rome to celebrate our 2nd Anniversary. It was a fun, last minute trip with far too little time to truly see the city. As we are only a 90 min train ride away, we'll be back for sure. Here are some photos.

Greetings from Napoli

The last week in California was very hectic! We flew back from Saudi, via Bahrain on March 20th and spent the weekend in LA helping my brother move to the beach. He's now got an ocean-view apartment in Venice Beach (and our surfboards which we can use when we visit!). It's great and he loves it!

After a few days of work, while Jeff organized our entire shipments, we flew to Italy - that Friday 3/27 - exactly 1 week after getting back from Saudi.

And the flight - with the cats! And Morgan! You can just imagine - going through all the security check-points, taking the cats out of their cages to walk them through the detectors,taking Morgan's stroller apart, and her car seat out, etc! We did it in San Diego, then again in LAX after hopping on the terminal commuter bus, and in Germany before finally arriving in Naples.

But we made it! It's been great!

We have found a place to live in Vomero which is like the La Jolla of Naples. It's on a hill up above the city with great metro connection, right next to a beautiful park the Villa Floridana (which has an ocean view), and it's very clean and safe. We're happy. We move in in another month after the landlord finishes painting and redoing the kitchen (Italians rent places without cabinets, cupboards, light fixtures, toilets!).

We are already planning trips! Last weekend we were in Rome for our 2nd anniversary. Memorial Day we are going on a MWR-sponsored trip to Corfu Greece! The end of June I've got a training in Sicily so we'll all go down there and with 4th of July - I will be able to take the week off. Our car should be here by then so we can drive and explore. Oh and middle of June we are all going to Germany - I've got a conference there so we're going to explore the weekends before/after on our own.

While our apt gets finished, we are staying at the Support Site which is where Morgan's daycare is, the hospital, our temp apt, and Applebees (the only real restaurant on base). We were very lucky to get her a spot in daycare. It's nothing like Susan's though, but after 2 weeks she's got a pal and has bonded with the caregivers. It's cheap, and the hours are great - 6 AM to 6:30 PM - as many hours as you need Mon-Fri!!! Very clean and includes food. It's very convenient. Right now she's in a few hours a day for socialization and so it's not a shock when Jeff gets a job. Jeff in his free time has been able to apply for jobs and explore. It's all a slow process, but we're patient (or rather I'm working hard on mine!). :-)

As far as my work goes - let's just say it wasn't only a 9 hour time difference from CA but a 20+ year time warp in terms of environmental programs! I do think in 3-5 years time I will really be able to make a difference and that's fun. Plus I am learning new skills, using my industrial hygiene and safety licenses more, and we get more family time.

With the gym right next to work, I've been able to start working out again regularly which I love. I've met a woman that is in a running group and she's been showing me some runs off base. That's fun to have a running buddy! Though she's a marathoner and wants to convince me to run the Rome marathon in March. We'll see...

I do have to say my days are long - I am working 9 hours, plus the gym, so I can have every other Friday off. I don't spend a lot of time commuting and everthing is so efficient since it's right there - so as soon as I get done with work there are about 10 different playgrounds I can take Mo to play at. It's nice. Last night there was a free concert on the quad with 2 bands that came in the States. They were great! We hung out with my friend Ellen (co-worker from San Diego too) and had wine on the quad.

Actually Ellen's car is here and she's going to be moving into her place, with a gorgeous ocean-view next week. She's going to take us there Sat to see it! Should be fun!

Here are a few photos from the Easter extravanagza at Carney Park (rec facility with a golf course, climbing wall, gym). Check out the Easter Dog?!

Morgan is doing great - she's crawling everywhere and pulling up. She loves to slide at the park and is super tall!! She's a very happy baby - we are really lucky. And she's a great traveller! I can get her to nap upright in her baby bjorn when we are out on the go!

Hugs and love,

Liz

Two Weeks in Saudi in One Paragraph!

Though so much has happened since we've last updated. Since a picture is worth 1000 words, I'll just post a few photos of our Saudi, Dubai and Bahrain trip (March 6 - 22) - which was fabulous!! It was so nice to "go home", show Jeff my home, and be there with my brother and parents remembering the old times and also making new memories. We did so much as so much had been planned. Dinners with Aramco Executives, to beach days, the Shaybah oil field trip on the company plane, shopping, the camel market...

This mini-paragraph doesn't do it justice, so hopefully I'll find the time to augment this short narrative - and also to include John and my parents Shaybah photos.