Remembering Mom

http://www.legacy.com/dailypress/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=124563305 Thank you to all of our wonderful family and friends for your support the last few days- we love you all!

I love you mom

I honestly didn't believe that I'd be doing a post like this for quite sometime- it's so surreal. My mom lost her battle with pancreatic cancer yesterday. I had come home a few weeks ago to help out around the house and take her to treatments, but she was getting progressively worse each day and then took a turn for the worse Thursday night. We were all with her yesterday morning as she took her last breaths and she went peacefully without pain and little suffering. My mom was an incredible woman who will be missed dearly by many. As a RN, she helped countless people and touched many lives. Parker was truly the light of her life and I feel so lucky that she had the chance to spend time with her only grandbaby in the past few weeks- he held such a special place in her heart and put a smile on her face even in her last days. My very pregnant sister flew in yesterday and I know my mom will be watching over her in the next few weeks as baby Lucia will be entering the world VERY soon. We love you so much mom and I am so lucky to have you as my angel watching over us. I will miss you everyday for the rest of my life.

Zoosafari in Fasano, Italy

Once again...sorry for my lack of blogging (it's not that I don't want to, but it's hard to find the time!). Well, Parker and I made it to the states after a very long day flying last Friday and I think we're officially over jet lag! For those of you who don't know, I've come back home for about 6 weeks to help take care of my mom who was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We have a very strong family and are doing everything we can for her as she starts her treatments. I'll be happy to give more info if you want to call/email me, but for her sake of privacy, I'm just sticking to the bare information on the blog.

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I did promise to tell more about all of our travels in January, so here it goes! While we were in Alberobello, we made a side trip on Jan. 2 to Fasano, Italy and went on a zoosafari! This was by far one of the coolest things we've done in Italy so far. We got to drive our car through the zoo and had lions and tigers walking next to our car. A giraffe, camel, and some zebras actually stuck their head in the car (Parker was not phased by this at all)! After driving through and seeing tons of animals (elephants, lions, tigers, bears, monkeys, camels, ox, moose, flamingos, and so many more), we did a walking tour of part of the zoo where we took a little train to see monkey village, polar bears, hippos, and a lot more! It was definitely something I'd love to do again if any of you want to come visit!

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Parker and I on the train going around the park. He sure does look happy!

When we first drove into the zoo, we were forced to make our way through all these animals! It took forever since they kept coming up to the car and laying in the middle of the road! Look how close you can get to the animals! Introducing Parker to the zebra.

This is the first time I ever saw a rhino!

Monkey Village

Karl wasn't so excited about this guy making his way into his side of the car.

Luckily the camel didn't spit on us. Camels are much bigger than I thought they were!

Next blog- Ferrara, Italy!