Simple pleasures

From a vendor's stand in Famagusta.  Doesn't it make you just want to fill up a basket with breads and fruits and a beautiful bottle of wine and watch the clouds pass overhead?

It's Official

Its been a very special week for us.  The highlight was Mike's pinning on ceremony.  We are saying good-bye to Gunny and hello to Master Sgt!  Congratulations on a well-deserved promotion Mike, we are so proud of you.  Special thanks to Mike S. and Ambassador U. for officiating and making the day that much more memorable.

Graduation time

Look who's a 3rd grader now!  The end of the school year show was really great this year.  Our music teacher, Miss Kate chose Disney shows for each grade. Mikayla's class performed songs (she was a beautiful mermaid) from Peter Pan and Lydia's class did Jungle Book.  They were so great we were able to forget the 101 degree temperates we had to endure that day!

Team Spirit - Father v Son game

S

Happy Summer Everyone!

Hope your summer days are filled with "buckets" of fun!  Mikayla and her friend Lexie started off their summer with some pretty cute underwater creatures.  I guess I won't be eating any more squid in red wine sauce.  So cute!

First to go

Anita and Vanessa ,I am going to miss you guys (Brenden too) when you leave tonight. We have had some good times and shared a few sad ones too (our doggies are playing in heaven for sure), but mostly its all the laughs I will remember most.  These costumes you guys made at a moment's notice still amaze me and whenever we needed to count on the "fun" people to show up for things, you were first in line.  Argentina is so lucky to have you next!  When we started out on this life of travel, it was people like you that I prayed would cross my path.  Looking forward for that time when we will meet again and share the special friendship we will always have.  Bon Voyage my friends xoxo

Pope visited Cyprus

Its funny how the lack of air noise can make you so sensitive to the sudden appearance of it.  A couple of weeks ago (I know, I'm really behind on the news lately) I noticed a helicopter flying nearby our house - probably the first in the entire time we've been here.  I remember running through a bunch of silly scenarios in my mind of why it would be in this area.  By the time it had flown away, I had already forgotton it was ever here.  So when I was woken to the whop-whop-whop-whop of a very low flying copter I shot out of bed, grabbed the camera inside the bedstand cabinet and flung open the window to see what all the racket was about.  It was in that moment of early morning sunshine blindness that I realized that the Pope was in town and  would be only a few short blocks away from my house that Sunday morning in a stadium nearby.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to snag tickets, so I clicked away at the helicopter instead, as some sort of momento of his visit.  We knew he was coming a few months back when our priest told us he was actually staying with him at our church and we even asked the nuns if we could delay the Communion, just so the Pope could give his blessings on such a special occasion.  Obviously...we got a no-go on the idea!   I'm just glad they didn't see me hanging out the window clicking away at them, although it would have made for a far more interesting ending!

Small snippet on the visit:
The pope is meeting in Cyprus with prelates from the region to set an agenda for an October meeting in Rome to build a strategy to stem an exodus of Christians from the Holy Land, Iraq and elsewhere because of violence and economic hardship. The Middle East includes ancient Christian communities.
Cyprus was ethnically split in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Turkish Cypriots declared an independent republic in the north in 1983, but only Turkey recognizes it, and it maintains 35,000 troops there.
The pope, speaking about the problems of both the division of Cyprus and the Middle East region as a whole, said that "violence is not the solution."

Me and my boys

The last couple of Saturday mornings have been my best.  Never stop believing in your childhood dreams~ or yourself!

Locks for Love

My sweet angel, Tara Bella, has donated her beautiful hair to one of the greatest causes there are...wigs for cancer patients.  May the recipient of these gorgeous locks be blessed with the loving spirit that resides in each and every one of those strands.

Side note:  I tried for the last 15 minutes to upload the "after" picture but each time I did, it failed.

Solar Bears

http://www.scribd.com/full/32828006?access_key=key-1fklhmb3uim3vtw2oh5b (click this link to read a great article on the team)
Just a few years back the borders between southern Cyprus and northern Cyprus were riddled with many rules and regs.  In fact the travel book I have states that the borders still close at 5PM.  Lucky for us, by the time we arrived, travellers are now able to cross and return at any time.  And lucky for Mike, who is an avid (and in my humble opinion - superior) hockey player, an ice rink of sorts had opened up in the north.  I say sorts because it looks like ice, and the team glides across it in their ice skates, but the composition of the floor is actually some kind of synthetic clear flooring that does not require water or ice.  Its really kind of crazy when you realize these guys are skating around on a type of plastic, but once the game gets going it looks and feels like you are at any ice rink in town.  What is even more amazing are that these guys are coming together - the south and the north - breaking down the borders that have been closed down since 1974.  The team he plays on are called the Solar Bears and these guys rock.  We won't be here long enough to see this new sport in Cyprus really take off, but I sure am proud that Mike is one of the forefathers of this brand new craze!

The after party

Is there any other way to spend the day after your birthday...

Being One is so much Fun!

It seems that I've been having too much fun since the celebrations began on May 21st to find the down time to share on this blog.  But looking over these great pictures that Arianna's "fairy godmama" Svetla ( here in the first picture) took at the party, got me motivated to start playing catch up.  So, our little baby is now a toddler. The time has flown WAY too fast.  Luckily for me, she still lets me cradle her for a quick snuggle every now and again before she escapes to toddle and climb on every stair and piece of furniture in the house.
We had a full house of little friends, moms and dads, Marines and even Simba the Pug came out to celebrate the big day.  Since Arianna was born here in Cyprus she has been one of the two "token" babies (see her good friend Keirianna below) loved and embraced in this overseas community. We are so happy to have them in our lives.  Agnes (in the last photo) has been a part of our family since last July when she started baby and dog sitting for us, and could very well be considered her second mom.  This little one year old is very loved indeed!  She may not remember these first twelve months, but the imprints of all will be with her forever.  Thank you ALL for making this a most amazing first year - and Happy Birthday sweet Arianna :)