New Year 2009

Since the year 1999-2000 I have spent every New Year in Santa Cruz where our friends/american parents live. The last 5 years I think we have incorporated of baking the New Year's Cake, Greek tradition, with the coin. This year Jesus got it!!! This year actually Stephen due to his job could not leave before the actually 1st of the month. So we drived up on New Years Day. We left at Gabriela Zoe's nap and she got to take her two naps in the car. We arrived in Santa Cruz in enough time for dinner! I was a little sad because I did not get around to making the New Year's cake...but as soon as we arrived Kathi had made it!!! It was great to spend a few days with Kathi and Charles. Also their three grandkids would come to hang out with Stephen and play wii. We all had a good ol time :o) We did spend most of our time inside...since Stephen got addicted to wii, I got my hair dyed with red and blonde streaks and Gabriela Zoe had fun exploring a new house. On Sunday we went to church and the we headed to the beach where Gabriela Zoe as soon as we arrived she fell into deep sleep :o) it was great walking around and breathing the clean fresh air.
That Sunday after we put Gabriela Zoe to sleep we drove down to L.A. to go to Disneyland. We spent the night in a hotel...well we arrived at 2:30am that's why we chose to go straight down to Anaheim. The next day Monday we got to go to Disneyland and use our year passes :o) Gabriela Zoe did not get to do any new rides besides the carousel in California Adventure with aquatic animals instead of horses. She really likes it...I tried to get a video but for some reason it did not record fully. We also got to go to the Mickey Mouse club house while Stephen went to the tower...brrr and she danced and clapped her hands.. she enjoyed looking mickey, minnie, daisy, donald, goufy and the human on stage :o)
Next time i want to go the Alladin Show...I heard that it is really good!

The Return Trip

I promised earlier that I would say why it was worth it to go through all the trouble we went to, meaning the extra long trip. The time has come....we got to see our dear friends Sofia and Johan...as well as little Anna Catherina. Since they live in the Netherlands and we live in America...and both Sofia's and my family live in Greece...when we go on vacation we go there. It does not leave much money to visit each other's countries of dwelling. So we decided that we would get KLM with a longer lay over in Amsterdam so that we can meet up with our friends. At first we were going to go to their house but in the end we decided that since the time of day was rush hour it was best that they made the trip. It was ssooooo good to see little Anna in person, she is such an adorable baby!!!!! We realized that most of our conversation revolved around babies...I think it bothered the men more than it bothered us moms. Truth be told it is so important to keep reading and getting involved with things that have no babies in them so that there are other topics of conversation when in the presence of other adults...especially ones that do not have babies.
The time went by so fast and soon we had to say goodbye. We all look forward to the time that we all get to meet in person again...Gabriela Zoe and Anna are probably going to be walking by then!!!! We love you guys!!

Vacation Dates

us with the endless stairs as backdrop :-)
view from our table
our beautiful overcrowded Athens
indoor pool fun

October 22 date night
the view from our room
the story of this picture is below :-)

One of the things that Stephen and I looked forward to while we were on vacation was the opportunity we had, since we were so close to family :-), to go on dates. Well, thank God, we were able to have one. It was supposed to be two but the little getaway close to the beach ended up including Gabriela Zoe. So we celebrated our 4 year anniversary from the time Stephen called my parents to ask for permission to date me...with the intention of marriage. Our little getaway was at a beautiful hotel...I think we could jump into the water from our balcony. Even though it was cold outside and windy, inside the A/C was not working but that allowed it for us to open the window and enjoy a night sleep hearing the crashing waves....ahhhh.
So on our actual date we went to Lykavitos (it is currently and has been for several decades, the highest point in the city of Athens) . I wanted to walk up to the top but we decided against that idea, so we took a little tram that does the climbing for you :-) Up there somehow my Greek brain guard was down and my american naivete was up so when this old man told us to stand to take a picture...we stood. It was a polaroid and we did not like it so we did not want to buy it...but its true its not like in America that they are digital which doesn't really cost anything. Anyhow so we had to buy it , in Greece if they take the picture you gotta buy it, and for 7 euro :-( We took some pictures of our own that we liked a lot better, ate delicious food and once we were down that hill we walked down the endless stairs to the main street where we took the bus to our return home. We loved it!!!

Visits

Since our time was limited we did not have the time to see people one of one..thus my idea of having a party and having people come but that did not work out...it was a crazy two weeks. So we actually got to see only few of our friends one on one. One family of them being Marianna, Filippos, Dimosthenis and boubou. Boubou and Gabriela Zoe are only a few weeks apart to it was so neat to see them interact...even though Gabriela Zoe who had the whole crawling down was running after Dimostheni...don't we all admire more those who can do more than we can? We had a lot of fun talking mostly baby things of coarse, it was almost like we had hung out the month before...so nice to have friends like that :-) Our next visit was one of the last nights we were in Athens and after we put Gabriela Zoe to bed (9:30) we went to another friend's home the Oikonomakides but really the idea started with christina. Last time we were there she had a things for crepes, so she kept saying we had to go eat crapes...well like usuall we did not get around to it so I promised her that next time we would make it a point to go out for crepes. Well being late and all we ordered a delivery and hang around the house. I listened to my sister because since I gave birth I like chocholate a lot more...but man they put soooooo much chocholate on that crape it was sticking to the roof of my mouth and then it was sooooooo big that I felt embarased I ordered and something else....I don't even remember what it was because my brain is filled with crapes. I am pretty sure that it will be a while before I have another one ;-) Nonetheless we laughed about my naivity and all and had a fun time reminising of times of old. Poor Stephen he had to keep nudging me to translate..I don't know why but this trip I kept forgeting to translate. I think that is partly because there is a part of me that thinks that Stephen knows enough to understand and yet I forget that we talk to darn fast!!!!

Time Spent

playing with mama and thias old Barbie car
since we were in Marathonas we Vasilia Luz and I decided to run the Marathon... we did not get far
Gabriela Zoe climbed into Vasilia Luz bag and wanted to join her at work
she did not climb...she was put in :-)
Having fun with yaya Margarita
Enjoying a grown up meal...ya right ;-)
Sitting like a big kid at a restaurant!!! she is awesome :-)
At the metro with mommy...she was supposed to be sleeping :-)
Vasilia Luz looks like a star caught by the tabloids carrying her baby :-)
Having fun with pappou after church...she would chew anything that
was on pappou...tie, hat :-)
Fun with thia at IKEA

Going out for coffee with pappou

During our time in Greece we mostly spent it at home or shopping...mostly for Gabriela Zoe even though I can't say that I left empty handed by any stretch of the imagination :-) It was so awesome to just wake up and have nowhere to go!!! Even more awesome since there was a change of time instead of pushing the time back and putting Gabriela Zoe at 7:30 to bed we established a new habit and put her down at 9:30 and then she would wake up at 9:30...and we together with her. Of coarse we stayed up until 12, 1 or even 2 a.m. still it was nice to sleep in ;-) Another awesome thing was that Stephen was with us 24/7!!! Gabriela Zoe has hardly had her daddy around that much since she was born. We are so grateful because we both miss him terribly all week while he is at work. (I am also grateful that he has a job and that he is enjoying it) Because he had to carry Gabriela Zoe in the carseat sometimes we ended up taking the taxi for convenience and time sake...however we enjoyed using the metro and buses for the most part of our transportation. Gabriela Zoe was the joy of everyone that she came across whether it was the person sitting next to us on the bus or the waitress at the cafe. I am also proud to say that some of our fellow passangers on the bus and metro were gentelmanly enough to offer their seat to us...which I did not expect at all!

Yaya Evangelia

One of the greatest blessings of our trip was seeing our dear yaya. She has spent all her life praying for her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We feel honored that we were able to give her the gift of seeing at least the first of many great grandchildren. She blessed Gabriela Zoe as a great matriarch in our family. She has been sick for quite a while...if I am correct our wedding day was one of the last days that she was able to walk around and get out of the house. Since she increasingly got weaker and many times we thought that she had reached the end, but God was preserving her because she was such a contender and prayer warrior for all of her descendands. Two days after we left she went to be with the Lord...so you can understand why we are so grateful for seeing her one more time. She was an awesome grandma who took care of me and my sister so much, with a lot of patience. We were not the easiest kids to deal with but she loved us unconditionally and gave constantly of her love to us. Whoever knew her knows what a great woman she was and how caring and loving towards other she was. That's why she was yaya Evangelia to everyone that was younger than her :-) May her godly inheritance be passed on and continue for many generations.

Our Trip

For our vacation we saved up the days and we went in October as opposed to the summer...and it was a very nice alternative (besides the fact that we did not get to swim in the sea) Gabriela Zoe did sooo good with the airplane rides. We had a 4hour flight, 1 hour layover, 8 hour flight, 1 hour layover, and 3 1/2 hour flight before we got to Greece. The longest flight ever but it was worth it for one reason and one reason only...but I will say that later. Gabriela Zoe after the first half of the trip became an airplane pro!!! She is a little social bug so she was smiling to everyone who was waiting in line next to us for the bathroom. One of the flight attendants said that she is going to be an opera singer...let wait and see :-) And what joy at the end of such a long trip to finally get to be help by grandma and grandpa and auntie!!!! She has been seeing them for months over the ichat and now she got to touch and feel them :-) we are greatful to God for this opportunity.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Friends and Family hope you have a wonderful year. For New Years we did our traditional trip to visit Charles and Kathi...my american parents. Because of Stephen's work I didn't think we were going to go this year but Stephen is such a wonderful husband and planned it all out and let me know that we get to go. So we drove Sunday evening and arrive at 10:30p.m. and we stayed until Wednesday afternoon. During our stay we did not do a whole lot besides attending the Prayer and Prophesy at the Coastlands which is also a tradition of preparing for the New Year. The Lord spoke to us like every year reminded us of His promises and gave us some direction. We also spend a little bit of time with the boys grandchildren...Stephen had lots of fun playing around with Aidan and Brennan. The rest of the time we were at home relaxing, eating and sleeping. We are so thankful for Charles and Kathi and how they always make us feel so comfortable :-) Around this time is our 1/2 year wedding anniversary so we call it our 1/2 anniversary spot...so we thought maybe next year we'll leave the baby with grandpa and gradma, but that thought was quickly given way to the fact that Kathi probably wouldn't let us come without the baby :-)