Web 2.0- What does it really mean?

I love technology! Just a little taste of what Web 2.0 is and what it's done for us today.



In taking CSIS 1000 for school, there were lots of things I already knew and were a breeze...like Word Perfect, Excel, and then there were many programs I didn't know much about, but loved learning how much technology has changed from when I was in 4th grade playing Oregon Trail. So even though this is just an assignment for my class, technology is so amazing to me, and this video in only five minutes shows us all the positive things Web 2.0 can do in anyones lives in communicating with loved ones, or meeting new people.

It's kind of sad that a school assignment is what's made me get on blogger again, but hello everyone out there! And yes, I am still alive!! School's just been keeping me so freakin busy

Memory Lane

Hey everyone, I know, I've been so bad keeping up on this thing, the past couple months have been so crazy with moving and everything! We moved to Cedar last week and are doing some unpacking and make a trip to Wal-Mart daily to get things for the apartment, but we're getting there! We love our place and are excited for the schoolyear to start. Mike is currently working in Aspen during the week then comes home for the weekends until school starts. So that's a quick update on us and what we;ve been doing, so here is the rest of the post!

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Baby Katea's Shower!

Since we've been home, my sister, and my daughter's name sake, Katea, drove down from Vegas with her kids to spend some time with us...it was so nice seeing my nieces and nephew and my sister. We had so much fun while she was here- even though a lot of the time was spent running errands and getting things ready for the shower, it's always fun being with my sisters.

Katea and her cousin, Ella.
We took all my dad's grandkids to the park to take pictures- for those of you who have tried to take pictures on your own of kids this age, you know how hard it is! But this is a picture of some of her cousins on my side- Sefa is holding Katea, then Linette is the top right and Ella is the bottom right. These are all my sister, Katea's kids.
So my sister thought it would be a good idea to throw a shower for Katea, it was very much needed! This is Katea ready for her shower! She also had to get her 2 month shots this day, so she was a little grumpy. Big Katea got her this outfit for her shower- it matched the colors of the decorations- pink and black!
Me opening her gifts- thanks everyone who came and supported us! She got lots of good stuff!
Some of Kateas cousins, Linette, Halatau, and Skye
My big brother, Ben also came out with his family, it was so nice to see them too! This is Ben swinging with our nephew, Sefa.
Some of Mike's family that came to support Katea at the shower, L-R: Setita and her son, Vaha'i, Nita, Serena, Ofa, Lini and me.)
Some of my good friends that came also (L-R: Jennie, Marcie with Katea, Maria and Crystal)

Thanks Katea for throwing the great shower- it was such a good turnout and a nice welcome for baby Katea- we really felt the love from all those who attended!
*** PS READERS- I ALSO POSTED ANOTHER BLOG TODAY- SO READ BELOW!!

FINALLY!

Alright, so I know it's been forever since we've moved back to the states, and I still haven't had a chance to update our blog about it...until now! We've been home for about a month now and it's been so great being back with our families and seeing everyone again. We were sad to leave Italy and the great friends we made while we were out there, so I thought I'd post some pictures of our last days there.

This is a picture of some of the Young Women in the ward, they were just painting their nails while waiting for the luncheon to start...they usually do a ward lunch after church once a month, and they decided to have one as a little farewell to our family before we left. (L-R: Maddalena, Illaria, Giulia, Giada)
Katea with one of her many Italian grandmas, Cinzia. All of the Relief Soceity sisters there took good care of Katea, so she has many Italian Grandmas :) She wasn't very happy here, she was so ready to take a long nap!
The De Cesare family...we love them! Giacomo is trying to feed Katea strawberries, lol. I don't think she's a fan of strawberries yet. ;) (L-R: Mike, Giacomo, Me & Katea, Marta, Davide, & Fausta)

And a picture with all but one of the young womens class. Seeing this picture makes me miss them! (L-R: Priscilla-in the pink, Brenda, Giada, Illaria, Elena, Violetta, me, Claritsa, Giada, Simona)

So after this day, things were pretty crazy, I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of our packing up and going to the airport like I hoped, but but let me just say it's crazy with a newborn! We had tons of luggage, and the lady that checked our bags was kind enough not to charge us extra for the extra bags we had with us. Katea did really well on our flight home- she cried a little, but slept most of the way home. Thank goodness for that!

When we arrived, everyone was so excited to meet Katea- she finally got to meet the rest of her aunts and uncles and cousins. We had a nice welcome home from everyone.

So we're back in America- it's nice to be able to go to a Dr.'s appointment without the need of a translator, and to go to the store to find our favorite snacks and cereals we've missed, and running errands never seemed easier! But we will never forget the friends we've made, the warm, friendly people in Italy, we'll definately miss the free health care! It was a big chapter in our lives living there, welcoming Katea to this world, and for that we are forever grateful to Italia!

Happy Father's Day Honey!

Thanks honey for all that you do for our little family...you are always doing everything to make us happy and wanting nothing but the best for us. From something as simple as putting a foot rest under my feet while watching TV or taking off Kateas little socks when you notice they make a mark on her legs and think they might be uncomfortable for her, to something more complex like spending hours on the internet to make sure we are set to have health insurance, a car, and cell phones when moving back to the U.S. or sacrificing a year of playing rugby to come home and finish school so that we are always taken care of. I could go on and on about how lucky we are to have you as our husband and daddy, there's so much you sacrifice for us. I am so thankful to our Heavenly Father for having our lives cross paths and how happy you make me!
We are sad we don't get to spend your first Father's Day with you, but we wanted you to know you are thought of on this special day and we love and miss you!!

We took a bunch of pictures of baby Katea (and a couple with her cousins) just for you for Father's Day...hope you enjoy!

Katea's favorite song!

Zapp and Rogers...baby Katea loves this song! Everytime my sister plays her ringtone from her phone of it to her, she smiles real big and gets all excited. So this is a clip of her dancing to her favorite song. THis is mostly for her daddy since he's out of town for a few weeks and I know he misses her like crazy! So enjoy!

Gardaland...Italy's no. 1 themepark!

So another Thursday rolled around and we are starting to run out of ideas on where to go sightseeing...we've seen billboards since we've been here about a place called Gardaland, so Mike did some research and found that it was the best themepark in Italy, and one of the best in Europe. It was a couple hours drive, but we figured why not!? I wasn't sure what to expect, and honestly wasn't expecting much, but so my surprise, it was really nice! Sadly, we didn't get to ride all the big rides, but went on some kiddy rides with Katea. We still had sooo much fun though!
The express train ride...one of the very few rides we could go on with Katea. I think we were more excited than her! lol...
This picture is classic. As part of the train ride, it would go through dark tunnels with big toy animals lit up. Everytime we went through a tunnel, Kateas eyes would get so big, I think it scared her more than anything.
Daddy and Katea on her first train ride ever!
There is a huge section for little kids with tons of rides. This is the coolest looking treehouse ever. We were curious to know what was inside. There was a huge long line for it, so we skipped on that.

Another thing we did was we went to a jousting show! I wasn't sure what to expect since i've never been to one, but Kateas nap time was nearing, so I thought I could just put her to sleep before the show started... But before the show there was a cute little italian jester trying to get the crowd excited, he would go to one side and get them to cheer louder than their opposing side, and everytime the crowd cheered, Katea would get scared, and start frowing
This is the face she makes when she's scared...I melts our hearts everytime! I covered her ears with my cheek and hand and she eventuall fell asleep despite all the cheering and stomping.
The park closed at 6 pm...kinda stupid if you ask me...the summer hours hadn't started yet, so it was a short stay, but we had lots of fun, and Katea loved it too! She was such a good girl.
We changed her diaper in the car before we headed back on the road for a couple more hours, as Mike was changing her, he was asking her how she liked Gardaland...and this big smile was her response! We will definately come back to Italy and stop in Gardaland when she's old enough to keep it in her memory!