The Zorich Family

Courtney's Big Day: Courtney lost her first tooth today (12 Feb) and she is so excited! As you know, it had been pretty loose. She had been playing with it in a mirror and then all of a sudden it came out. She was definitley shocked, but more excited than anything. She kept saying, "Mommy, I can't believe it! I really can't believe it! I can't believe I lost my first tooth!" Then she said,"I am so excited! I feel like I am 6!" Ruthie Toothie (a very special felt tooth pillow) is holding the tooth safely under her pillow and she can't wait to wake up and see what the Tooth Fairy leaves for her. I can't believe my baby girl is growing up so quickly!

Aviano Carnevale: The pictures were taken at our towns Carnevale celebration on 7 Feb. Here is a little history on what Carnevale is: " The Carnival of Venice (Italian: Carnevale di Venezia) is an annual festival, held in Venice, Italy. Carnival starts around two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday. Though it probably had much earlier roots, the Carnival in Venice was supposedly first recorded in 1296, when the Senate of the Republic issued an edict declaring the day before Lent as a public holiday. Much as in other cities, Medieval and Renaissance Venetians appear to have celebrated Carnival in several guises. On the one hand, it was an official festival, celebrating unity. On the other hand, a good deal of popular energy during Carnival was directed into group rivalries, between parishes or between large geographic factions that divided the city. Over the years, Carnevale was celebrated - and banned - for various reasons." It is often described to Americans (by other Americans) as something similar to Mardi Gras.

"Slow as Alaska": As many of you know, little ones are not always exactly fast moving when it comes time to leave the house. Courtney is especially slow at times as she is too busy dancing, twirling, staling, etc. instead of getting her shoes on, coat on, etc. There are days that I tell her to get moving and that she is "slow as molasses" this morning. (We explained the meaning beind that to her) and she laughs whenever I say it. Last week we were trying to get out the door to go to the bus stop and Courtney was once again in "La La Land" and Kelsey says, "Come on Courtney. You're as slow as Alaska!" =) So now Kelsey loves saying that because it makes us all laugh every time.

Courtney's Loose Tooth: Little did Chris and I know what a big deal it is to have a loose tooth! Shortly after starting Kindergarten, Courtney kept asking when she was going to have a loose tooth. There were some kids in her class who had already lost one (or more) and several with loose teeth. It seemed like everyday she was coming home with a report on who had lost another tooth or who had a new loose one, etc. Well, bless her heart she hasn't had one even close to being loose until about a month ago. She was telling me that she needed some floss, that she had something stuck in her teeth and it was hurting her. That is when I discovered that she officially had her first loose tooth! Nana has already made Ruthie Toothie (her special tooth fairy pillow) and Courtney is taking good care of her until it is time to put her tooth in there. It is definitely making progress and getting more and more wiggly. We'll keep you posted.

Headed "Home": Our other big news that most of you are already aware of is that we will be moving this summer...to Texas! After 11+ years in active duty, Chris has decided to separate and join the F-16 Reserve unit in Fort Worth. For all of you non-Military friends out there, this basically means that he will be doing the same job, but will get to stay in the same place for a while (hopefully anyway). Chris reached a "crossroad" in his career and it was time to make a decision about his future in the Air Force. This wasn't an easy decision to make and one that came with much prayer, discussion, and long lists of pros and cons. In the end, we have decided to take a leap of faith as we truly believe this is what we are supposed to be doing. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in active duty, have gotten to experience things we never dreamed of, and have made some of the best friends we could ever ask for. There are definitely things we are going to miss about our lifestyle, but at the same time we are so excited to be moving "home", establishing some roots, and being closer to family and friends. We will have Baby #3 here in Italy (end of March) and tentatively move sometime in June.

This picture of the girls was taken at the Ops Group Children's Christmas party. They had a fun time playing games, making crafts, decorating cookies and seeing Santa. As you will see from the pictures page, Kelsey wasn't too sure of Santa at first, but when we told her that he was about to leave, she wanted to go sit his lap.

The Rudolph picture and other characters were taken at the base Tree Lighting Ceremony. They have a big tree set up by the Post Office, BX and Commissary that they decorate (with blue lights?). There were some random characters there, including a skunk. Kelsey said, "Mommy, I don't want to see that skunk. He is stinky!" It was pretty funny. Santa made an appearance as he drove by in a fire truck.

Both of the girls danced in Ms. Emma's last dance recital on Thursday evening. I posted a few pictures from that and also some videos. The girls did great and had so much fun. Ms. Emma is PCSing soon and we are going to miss her dearly! She has not only been the girls' first dance teacher, but has also been a role model to them and a friend to me as well.

This weekend we went with our squadron to a ski resort a few hours away for our Christmas Party/Ski Weekend. The girls had fun playing in the snow and were even more excited when they got to swim in the indoor pool! We will be here for Christmas and then we head to London for a few days. Yes, we are going to freeze but it will be fun to see London at Christmas time. None of us have ever been there and there is so much to see and do. We are taking the girls to see The Lion King and The Snowman.

November Recap: What a month! We started off the month with a nice, relaxing get away to Tuscany, Pisa, and Cinque Terre. We were gone a total of 5 nights, celebrated Chris' birthday, and had some much needed R&R and good quality family time.

Then we were home for a couple of weeks and stayed busy as usual with Courtney's school, dance classes, gymnastics, Daisy Scouts, and all of that fun stuff. Here is a picture of Courtney and Kelsey at her Thanksgiving Feast at school. Courtney got to wear the fun Indian costume that Nana made for her! (more pics coming of all of this stuff!)

Thanksgiving Day we drove to Garmish, Germany with the Bemis Family and stayed at the US Military Resort (Eidelweiss) and had a wonderful time!

Not a fun update, but one that I would like to share with all of you.

I have some really sad news to share about our good friend Katie. You will probably recognize her in the picture as she was a good friend of ours in Korea and here in Italy. She has a little boy Clark who turns 2 in December and last night (16 October) around 8:45 she had her second baby. It was a little boy (they didn't know what it was) and named him Quinn. He was 8 lbs 1 oz and a healthy little boy. Long story short, they discovered that Katie was bleeding more than usual and they couldn't stop the bleeding. They had her in the OR, about to prep her to do surgery when she coded and they couldn't save her. She died just before midnight. I have lost a dear friend and am heartbroken. Please pray for her husband Jon and for Clark and Quinn as well as all of her wonderful family and friends.

Happy Birthday Kelsey: Kelsey had her birthday party at the bowling alley after a last minute change due weather. She and all of the other kids had a great time bowling and running around. The Dora cake was a big hit, too! Our little 3 year old is such a bundle of joy these days and finds new ways every day to make us laugh. She loves her baby dolls and does a great job taking care of them, she loves dancing, reading, singing, and playing with her imaginary friends (Maggie and Bella). She says that her favorite colors are purple and orange (we need to work on that orange thing!). She says that her favorite foods are cereal, pasta, pizza, and popsicles. The doctor says that her verbal skills are well above normal (anyone surprised about that?!?!) and she loves to talk! I asked Courtney what her favorites things are about Kelsey and she says, "She is very loving to me and I love her so much."

Courtney's first day of Kindergarten (8 Sept): Courtney loved her first day of Kindergarten! Last Friday we got to go see her classroom and to say that she was excited is a complete understatement. She had already met her teachers a few days before during her home visit, and seemed to be happy with them. Seeing her actual classroom made it all so real for her and she couldn't wait to go to Kindergarten! Saturday morning she woke up with a fever and wasn't feeling well. She got worse as the day went on and wasn't up to doing much at all. Luckily we had a 3-day weekend to rest and get her feeling better. On Monday I wasn't sure she was going to get to go to her first day of school, but luckily our prayers were answered and she had a speedy recovery that afternoon and evening. I think I would have been more sad about her missing the first day than she would have been since she told me, "Mom, it's ok if I miss the first day of school because I will be going to kindergarten for a lot of days!"

Tuesday morning she woke up feeling well, but was definitely anxious about going to school. Chris, Kelsey and I all went to drop her off. We came to the agreement that we would take her on the first day and she would ride the bus home. She lined up outside with the rest of her class and we said our goodbyes. Courtney was being so brave, trying hard not to cry. She was doing a lot better than me as I hid my tears behind my sunglasses! We assured her that she was going to have so much fun and be so busy that she wasn't going to have any time to be sad. She kissed my hand (She loves the book Kissing Hand), and just melted my heart. The parents were asked to stay outside as they walked into the building (good decision on their part or I might have just stayed all day!) and off she went.

2:50 couldn't get here fast enough. She looked like such a big girl getting off of the bus, and I was so relieved to see such a big smile on her face. She had a great day and "loved everything". According to her, I was asking her way too many questions, but I wanted to hear about everything. I am sure with time I will learn a lot more than I learned yesterday. She did tell me that her four favorite things were eating in the cafeteria (she brought her lunch today), rest time (it was a lot more fun having quiet time at school with her friends than at home by herself), passing a star around the circle (not exactly clear on this one), and riding the bus home. She was exhausted and went to sleep better than she has in a long time. She said she couldn't wait to go back to kindergarten tomorrow!

Kelsey had a fun day with me, but definitely missed her sister. I don't think she realizes that Kindergarten is an every day thing. What I do know is that Kelsey is good at keeping me busy and distracted. She is a little fireball, full of energy and keeps me on my toes. She can't wait to turn 3 on Saturday!

Day at the beach: On August 28 we drove to one of the beaches that is about an hour away from us and we had a wonderful day. The girls absolutely loved everything about it! They played in the sand, built sandcastles, burried Daddy in the sand, swam in the water, collected seashells, and simply had fun. It was a very relaxing day, one that we all needed and enjoyed. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. At one point Courtney said to us, "This is the best day I have ever had." Chris said, "Even better than your birthday?" She said, "Even better than my birthday." He said, "Even better than going to Disneyland?" She thought for a minute and then said, "Maybe even better than going to Disneyland." =)

"Middle Finger Story": Courtney and Chris were playing around one Saturday afternoon and for some reason Courtney kept pointing with her middle finger. This was COMPLETELY innocent, but Chris didn't think that he should just let her keep doing it. You never know when and where she would decide to do that. So the two of them got into quite a lengthy discussion about why we don't stick up our middle finger all by itself. It went something like this: Courtney "Daddy, why can't I put this finger up all by itself?" Chris "Well, it just isn't a nice thing to do." Courtney "But why Daddy?" Chris "It is a mean way of saying that you don't like someone." Courtney "Why would you use that to say you don't like someone?" As you can imagine, Chris was having a hard time explaining it. I walked into the conversation and realized what they were talking about. I explained to Courtney that just like there are nice ways of saying sweet things to people (ie the "I love you" sign) some people use mean signs to say mean things to people. Courtney "Why are some people mean?" Geesh! Can you give us a break here Courtney?!?! This is simply the beginning....We ended the conversation feeling like Courtney understood what we were saying and didn't hear anything else about it until about 3 days later.

Our new friend "Maggie": Kelsey has a new friend named Maggie. No one but Kelsey can see Maggie, but she goes everywhere with us. We have learned that Maggie is 3 and a half, has brown hair, likes to eat apples, likes to wear dresses, and also likes to dance. For those of you who remember "Gina Gina Cha-China, Alex, and Benji" (Courtney's imaginary friends) it was right around when Courtney turned 3. At first Courtney said, "Who is Maggie?!?" and then I asked her how many horses live in her room upstairs that she takes care of everyday and then she got it. The funny part now is that Maggie has become friends with Courtney too. Courtney even got to babysit Maggie today while Kelsey went to a meeting. Pretty funny! No one can question whether or not these girls have a good imagination!

Nasty Bees: Chris gets to type this story...One of our surprises was when we returned from the States. Apparently, a family of large wasps had decided to make one our our window roller-on boxes their new home. Our landlord provided us with one can of bee spray and in our broken understanding of Italian told us to make sure we covered our head when we sprayed them. So, I decided the best course of action when dealing with enormous wasps was to utilize my United States Government issued Chemical Protection Gear! Laura laughed as I donned my chem gear from head to toe and proceeded to stand outside to take on our invaders. Laura seeled the girls in their room and promised to call the Italian fire department if anything went wrong. The "attack" went well, and I only jumped twice as several wasps crashed into my chem mask. Once we couldn't hear them buzzing anymore the next day I dressed myself again to clean out the hive and needless to say it was one of the most disgusting things I have ever had to do. Of note, if you ever have to remove a dead wasps nest be prepared...or you may end up almost vomiting in your chem mask.

Verona: Chris and I went to Verona to see an Opera in the old Arena there. Our friends Carrie and Joe kept the girls for the night and we will return the favor in a couple of weeks when they go to the Opera and we keep Carlie. We saw the Barber of Seville, and actually were able to follow the storyline after reading an English synopsis. The relationship between the music and the singing was phenomenal, but it definitely would have helped if we knew more Italian. It was a nice 24 hour getaway, and the girls had a blast with the Bemis Fam. I was so anxious to go get them, and when we showed up, they said, "Can we stay longer? We are not ready to go yet!" Thanks again Carrie and Joe!

Swim Lessons: We signed both girls up for a two week session of swim lessons. Courtney did a great job and had so much fun. She is definitely more comfortable in the water and loves pretending to be a mermaid (imagine that!). Kelsey on the other hand did what she wanted when she wanted. Most of the time what Kelsey wanted to do wasn't the same thing the instructor wanted to her to do. I don't know where she gets her "strong willed" attitude! ;-)

Getting over jetlag: I was quickly reminded that it is much harder to come this direction when traveling. We had some pretty rough nights, but the one that officially "took the cake" was on July 13th (our 3rd night back). Courtney and Kelsey both had dance class the next morning, so I thought I would use that as incentive to get them to go to sleep. Well, it completely back fired on me! As most of you know Kelsey LOVES Ms. Emma and was so excited about her first dance class. I told her that when she woke up in the morning she would get to go to dance. The problem was that she went to sleep around 8:00, and then woke up around 11:30pm. She had her "power nap" and was ready to go dance! Trying to explain to her that it wasn't time for dance was next to impossible. If you haven't been in a "battle" with an almost 3 year old lately, you have probably forgotten how much fun they can be! If you have a child around this age, I am sure you completely understand! Chris and I were at our wits end and I ended up putting her in the car, driving her to the area of base where the dance class is (just a few blocks away) to show her that it really was closed. That didn't even really help and all she could say is, "I want to see Ms. Emma right now!" She eventually went back to sleep and then I had to wake her up in the morning to go to dance. The only good thing about that was that she wasn't grumpy in the morning, she was ready to go!

4th of July: We had fun celebrating the 4th of July at Sparkman (my parents neighborhood). Courtney, Kelsey, Hannah and Megan all got to ride in a little parade together and they thought that was pretty neat. Then we watched the "Big Parade" in the shade of my parent's front yard with lots of family and friends. My mom cooked her famous brisket, and we even had a surprise visit from Jeffrey and Amanda. The night we met up with friends to see fireworks and the girls loved watching them. Courtney loved the "sparkly ones" (imagine that!) and Kelsey liked the blue ones. The fun continued when we got home and did sparklers in the front yard.

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