Baby Boy is 17 today!

Where does the time go..................

At 5:25a.m. Rocky was born in Valley Medical Center in Las Vegas, lucky me I was the only one giving birth..........so I had a big audience(lol) and primo service! I went in at 9pm got an epidural and watched t.v. until the moment they told me "your on". Luckily my doctor made it, you see she was carrying twins and I was going to be her last delivery for a while (she had the twins a week later!) When we arrived at 9pm Pete asked the nurse what time I would deliver (she was pretty accurate) and he went off to the waiting room to sleep. When the nurses came running in with the doctor to deliver Rocky I asked someone if they could please find my husband! He finally showed up and was able to witness his son being born. Mom and my friend Margret showed up around 11pm; Margret had brought my mom over since she was too nervous to drive and Margret thought "what the hell, I'm staying". Good thing too, because my packed bag stayed home! Needless to say everything went well except Rocky came out posterier, no matter what they did that kid would not turn! I didn't care what it was as long as it was healthy; a very joyous moment.

And now here we are 17 years later my baby boy is wearing a size 16 shoe - whew!

Garland I made Pete's sis with vintage looking papers.......
Don't know if any of you saw the $1.00 chipboard books at Michaels or if Anita, Laura and I bought them all - lol. But that's what I used.

Sis and I are off to Reno to shop till we drop and then we'll meet the guys in Carson City for dinner. They will be golfing before dinner.

So glad I got some meds for my sinus infection so I was in tip top shape!

Have a great day everyone!

Happy Turkey Day!!!!

Sis and I are working on the meal while the guys sit around and watch games, parade? Rocky is playing his D.S. and listening to his iPOD, you get the picture.

Have a great meal!

These photos didn't come out that great, but you "get the picture"? This is one of those $1.00 chipboard books at Michaels, isn't it cute. I just love this paper and the way it came out!

the one great thing about Siena, not that much traffic and it seems like the parking situation is a little controlled.

the two-tone is the "Sienese" style

this staircase depicts the life of the Madonna all the way around........

holy water vessel

look at the layers of different marbles................

Breathtaking, isn't it?

Definitely one of the most beautiful Duomo's. This cathedral was totally dedicated to the Madonna. I hate that some of my inside photos came out fuzzy but it was a little dark in there and I would jump at the opportunity NOT to get people in my photo (but "you get the picture" huh?)

The Duomo (tomorrow Duomo photos)

the water throughout Italy very good!

I love this! Closed but you can walk in and look around.........

the sun!

Il Campo

One of the great things about Italy is that there are very few or no supermarkets,
never saw one in Siena. You shop in a deli, butcher, bakery, etc. (just like the old days)

leather goods everywhere...............

in "Il Campo"

Okay.........Pinocchio everywhere.

townhall

Il Campo

Would have been a great photo if my hair wasn't sticking up!

Gelato! Everywhere, this one was around the corner and very good.

the doors of Italy

More Siena photos tomorrow........

The view from our room (balcony)...........

also from the balcony

close up from the balcony

Taken from the front door of the hotel

taken from the gate in the previous photo

walking down to the gate in the entry of the hotel.......if you continue walking down you hit a road and we went to a great restaurant just a short walk down there.

BELLA SIENA!!!!!! What can I say! Our favorite spot! Wish we could have stayed 2 more days.

It was our first official "rail" ride and it went without a hitch - yeh! Made a change at "Chiusa" and ending up meeting 2 couples from Vancouver that were also going to the same place! The one couple had been there before so they knew where they were going. So we latched on to them since we knew it would be a lot easier to find the place. Once we got off the train we took the bus into town.
The "Alma Domus" was as pictured on their website and at one time an old woolen factory which is now run by NUNS. Very clean, cheap, and wonderful views practically from every room (definitely from ours). Just a couple of blocks away (right or left) you were right in the heart of town. Every morning at 7am we awoke to church bells, it was kinda cool (unless you wanted to sleep in). The front desk people spoke a little English so that worked out. (Those IPOD Italian survival lessons came in very handy!)
Walking around Siena was so easy, the town is very hilly, so you're walking up and down alot. They have one of the largest plaza's; Il Campo.
We ran into 3 young ladies from New York that were studying in Siena for 3 months (lucky stiffs), guess what? One of the them was from the Bronx! We did wake up to a little rain but we didn't care (I did bring an umbrella) we were ready to hit the cobblestones!

Check tomorrow for more Siena photos............