Getting ready for Christmas....!!

Well, we had some Christmas pictures taken of the kids; some for us, some for Christmas cards.....needless to say, Bella did NOT want to cooperate.....Generally, she LOVES to have her picture taken, then little diva that she is....Not this day......Gave the photographer a run for her money, but we were able to get some nice shots of the kids....

hard to believe that Christmas is coming up....SOON!!!!

Anyway, will work on getting additional pictures up....I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!!

Been a LONG LONG LONG time...!!

Well, if anyone checks 'the blog', anymore, soooo sorry for the long time between posts....!!!

Shortly after the last post, I was recently laid off from my last job (6 years with the company....blind-sided totally!!!!). In any event, actively looking for a job, which in this market place, is about as easy as finding a needle in a haystack!!!!

But, I am trying to keep a positive attitude.....trying to network....send resumes...send resumes, and send MORE resumes......!!!! If anyone knows of companies in Southeastern Mass/Rhode Island area that are looking for a dedicated Account Manager/Account Executive (regardless of the industry..!), keep me in mind!!!!

Sooo, what has been going on since I last posted?? a LOT.....!! The family are all doing great....thank god Tina is still gainfully employed.......We had a wonderful Summer and fall, and now are gearing up for the Holidays......Zach played soccer in the fall and did great.....he seems to be getting more and more comfortable with it, and more 'agressive' around the net, which is great....he is still doing karate, and is having a lot of fun with that......He is currently an orange belt, and is sticking with it.......Zach is in the second grade, and we couldn't be more pleased with his school work.......Per analysis, he is currently reading at a 5th/6th grade level, which we are very pleased with (he LOVES to read, mostly about animals...)...We also received notification that he has qualified for the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (which requires a 95th percentile rank or higher in reading, math or composite score).....He MUST get this from his mom; god knows he doesn't get it from me......!!

Now, onto Bella....'the Booch'.....Boy, is the second child a handful!!!! We LOVE the Booch to death, and she knows it....She knows how to play us, as we call her our little Diva......Even though I am currently looking for employment, we are still sending her to daycare for a little bit each day, as she loves interacting with the other kids......She is speaking more and more each day, and has priceless facial expressions and mannerisms.........One day, she went into Zach's room and turned the TV, right when he was watching it......Zach said' hey, what are you doing, bella????"....She looked at him, straight faced, shrugged her shoulders, and said...."Too bad'!!! We had to stop ourselves from laughing.....She is our little devil....our little Diva.....HATES the word no when directed at her, but LOVES saying NO to us.......She is coming along with her potty training and is doing good with it.....and her appetite?? all i can say is keep your fingers away when she is chowing down!!!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, spent with my mom and Tina's family......the 'young cousins' on tina's family challenged the 'old guys' to a game of flag football on Turkey Day....we played in the morning.......If anyone over 40 is reading this, DO NOT play flag football at this age....You will pay dearly for it afterwards...(think I'm still working out the muscle kinks...).....

now, onto the Christmas Holiday....it seems that Zach is asking for every Lego ever made, along with every video game....Bella is happy with whatever she gets, and Zach made sure to include things in his letter to Santa for her......

I PROMISE to update this blog more frequently and will get new pictures up here as soon as possible.....

Best wishes to anyone out there who still pops on here to check for updates.....

love,

The Walnista's

Summer is winding down...

Wow....The Friday before Labor Day....where has the time gone...? Seems like just yesterday, we anxiously awaited the last day of school....Now, school for Zach starts next Tuesday....!

We can't complain, as we had a fun-filled summer.....trips to Storyland....a visit to my brother's place in Maine....visit to our friends on Long Island.....a great vacation on Martha's Vineyard.....a wonderful reunion of China 137........day trips here and there...all and all, a wonderful summer......

We had some pictures of the family recently taken, and this was my favorite......Bella leaning against her big brother Zachary....

I hope this post finds anyone who is still reading it doing well, and that you had a fun-filled summer like us.......Fall will be just around the corner....!!

best wishes!!!

Super Star....!!

Bella has her pose down, and is ready for the, oh, let's see, the 2024 Olympic Gymnastic Team....!!!

More stories and photos to follow, especially from our wonderful China 137 Reunion...!!

Bella LOVES the Pagano men....!

Bella certainly has a soft spot for the Pagano men (Dante, Michael, and Steven)...I guess she has good taste...! (as long as she doesn't grow up cheering for the Yankees or the Giants....!

Pictured here is Michael, Steven, Jianna, Zach and Bella.....

Zach looks up to Steven and enjoys hanging out with him when we get together....both Michael and Steven are some of the nicest, most polite boys you could ever meet......job well done, Dante and Carmen..!!

Friends for life.....!!

Our daughter, Bella, will forever be bonded with her Chinese 'sisters' from our trip, especially the Guangxi Girls (Roma, Jianna and Laina)....We hope they remain friends for life...

Bella and Jianna in a Chinese outfit that our friend, Carmen (Jianna's mom) got them....

Dress up time

Here's Bella and Jianna having fun with hats in New York....

VERY stylish.....!!!

Bathing Beauty.....

In July, we visited our very good friends (our 'extended family' in New York)......We had a wonderful, relaxing visit with them and enjoy their company very much....They have a great pool and hot tub in their yard, which we took advantage of....Here is a picture of their sweet daughter, Jianna, who is a year older than Bella.....She's all ready for the pool!!!

Riding the Flume at Storyland....

Getting a little wet on the Flume at Storyland......For what it's worth, I thought the Flume (Yule Log) at Santa's Village was better.....

Pictured here is me, Zach and Zach's friend, Alex....

...Just tell me when we're back on the ground!!

Tina lookin like she can't wait for the Ferris Wheel to stop......!!

Riding a bear....!

Another picture from Clark's Trading Post, which I don't think has changed much since when we were kids.....Bella and Zach seemed to have a lot of fun there...Zach especially enjoyed the train ride through 'Wolfman Territory..'

Older we get, faster summer goes bye...!!

Wow, here it is August 12th....Where has the summer gone?? Seems like just yesterday, Zach was getting out of school for the summer break....we were making plans for the summer.....Now, it's almost back to school...! We did have a fun filled summer, and it's not ever yet as we leave for vacation this Saturday for Martha's Vineyard...!! It should be a lot of fun.....I've been there for day trips, but never for an extended time...We are going with good friends of ours, and looking forward to it.....but, we did do a lot this summer.....we went to Storyland...Santa's Village in North Conway....Visited our friends, the Pagano's in New York.....visited my brother's family in Maine....took day trips here and there.....had our China 137 Reunion this last weekend up in Northampton (pictures and stories about that weekend to follow).....Seems like every weekend we were doing one thing or another....it keeps us busy, for sure......! As I haven't updated pictures here in quite some time, I thought I'd take this opportunity to post some of our summer pictures......hope you enjoy.....!

This first picture is from Clark's Trading Post in New Hampshire. We went up there the week after Zach got out of school...

My Love Poem (given to us by the Judge)

Following is the Poem given to us by the Judge today that she had all of us sign. As mentioned, it was written by a Poet, who had just adopted a little boy. He wrote it from the child's perespective.

I hear my father; I hear my mother. I need never fear. I shall never be lonely or want of love. When I am hungry it is you who will provide for me. When I am in dismay, it is you who will fill me with comfort. When I am astonished or bewildered, it is you who will make the weak ground firm beneath my soil. It is in you that I put my trust. When I am sick it is you who will send for the doctor. When I am well, it is in your eyes that I shall know best that I am loved. And it is towards the shining of your smiles that I lift up my heart and in your laughter that I shall know my best delight. I hear my father and my mother and they are my giants. My king and queen beside whom there are no others so wise. So worthy, so honorable, or brave or beautiful in this world.

Here comes the judge...! 'officially adopted in Massachusetts'...

This morning at 8:30 a.m., we went to the Probate Court of Bristol County (in New Bedford, MA) for our finalization hearing for Isabella's adoption. From what we were told by the attorney, this is not necessary but it has Bella's adoption on record in the state of Massachusetts. This will assist her down the road if she ever needs access to birth certificates; adoption information, etc (if she's applying for marriage licenses and so forth). All four of us went to the courthouse and were called into the Judge's chambers. The Judge was VERY VERY sweet, and you can tell she LOVES this part of her job; seeing a family finalize their adoption. She had a HUGE jar of assorted candy on her desk and immediately asked Zach how many pockets he had. He replied 4; she asked how many does your daddy have; again, answer was 4. Tina and Bella did not have pockets in their outfits, so the Judge said the number 8 just isn't going to do for pieces of candy. She told Zach and Bella to take 10 pieces of candy, and proceeded to have Zach dump the ENTIRE jar on her desk...!! You should hear Bella's squeal of delight as they started taking pieces of candy (bear in mind, they exceeded 10 due to prompting from the Judge....!! they got about 20 pieces, much to their delight...!). The Judge gave them a large manila envelope to stash their goodies in...She then took out an outdated Polaroid camera (film no longer exists for it; she stocked up on as much film at CVS that she could before they ran out), and had us take a picture with her....She was very very sweet...The pic is small, but she gave us two, along with a poem, 'My Love Poem' that a father who was adopting a little boy wrote (it is from the child's point of view), she gave us 2 copies; one for Bella and one for Zach. She said that it is a promise for the family to honor, and had all four of us sign the Poem (Zach signed for Bella).....She said a lot of familes take the picture, and put it with the poem for framing. We will do just that, and I will post the Poem here......Bella, of course, ate her way through the Judges office....NOTHING changes, eat and eat and eat...She ate here way through China and hasn't stopped.....!!!

Lazy days of summer.....not quite...!!!

it is hard to believe that it is July 1oth....I have a feeling this summer will FLY by for us, unfortunately. So far, can't complain about the weather, if you like hazy and hot....!!!

Anyways, it seems like we have been on the go since Zach got out of school....We spent a week up in the NH area, visiting Story Land....Santa's Village...Clark Trading Post (where Zach and Bella were almost attacked by the legendary Wolf Man as we took a train ride through his terriortory...hopefully can post pictures...)....It was a very nice week for us before Zach started summer camp....He is attending a camp which is right across the street from our home at Memorial Park..it is great as i can walk him across the street in the morning and pick him up in the afternoon. They have a lot of activities for the kids, as well as field trips....This is actually his 3rd summer attending, and more and more of his friends are going. I look back on the first summer he went, at the age and 5, when he knew no one....Zach is a shy child to start with, so it broke my heart to leave him in the morning, and to see him sitting there, all alone, sobbing a bit.....all it took was a little boy to introduce himself, and things got better...now, he's got a little posse going for him....!! Bella is still going to daycare 4 days a weeek down the street from us, and LOVES it...it keeps her busy and she is learning alot.......For the 4th of July, we visited our near and dear friends the Pagano's in New York (Long Island). We drove down on Friday morning and came back late Saturday night......it was great, relaxing weekend...swimming in the pool...hot tub...couple of beers...and lots and lots of BBQng..(thank you, Dante, for cooking all weekend)...Carmen traveled to China with us last year to get her gorgeous little girl, Jianna....She traveled all by herself, as her husband, Dante, stayed home with their 2 boys (Michael and Steven; 2 of the nicest boys you could ever meet)...we became fast friends in China and the friendship has carried over into the States....we have posted pics here before of their family, and we thoroughly enjoy getting together when time permits......in any event, it was a fantastic weekend, Zach had a ball with their boys and Bella and Jianna played great.....thank you, Pagano's for a great weekend, if you read this....!!

August will be a busy busy month for us....We have our annual China 137 (our travel group number) the weekend of August 9th....then we leave August 16th to the Vineyard with good friends of ours (nancy and jimmy and laina, don't think we're not gonna track you down on the Island.....).....The weekend we get back, one of my best friends from high school is having an informal reunion at his home that continues to snowball....(last count, I believe 60 old high school buddies and spouses have said they will attend...should be a blast)......then, wow, it's the end of summer....!! But, we love doing thing on the weekends with the kids, and they seem to have a blast, too...we will fit a trip up to Maine to visit my brother and his family and I will try and sneak in some golf or a Red Sox game here and there....i HOPE to get some updated pics online of the kids and their various activities/travels.....Best summer wishes to all!

Wedding photos..

The photographer at my brother in law's wedding took a lot of candid photos....He took a couple of nice ones of Zach and Bella in black and white, leaning against a glass railing. He captured Zach's reflection against the glass, and it came out nice....

TGIF to everyone......on vacation next week...yeah...!!! Will update the blog with some vacation pictures.....best wishes....

Banner number 17: How Sweet it Is...!!!

Wow......It's over.....Celtics are NBA Champions.....First time since the Larry Bird era.....the new big 3 of Garnett, Allen and Pierce stepped up and got it done.....And in huge fashion, blowing out the Lakers by 39 in Game 6....NOW I can catch up on some sleep (if Bella will just let us...!!)

Sox win last year.....Celts just won....if only the Patriots had completed their perfect season....mmmm, who did they lose to again???? Where is that team from?? Dante...Steven..Michael....you know what team beat the Patriots???

We are ON vacation next week, heading up to Story Land area for some R and R.....should be fun!!!

How can Mommy and Daddy ever get mad at me??? Too cute....

Bella as of late has been 'testing' us with her sleeping..(or lack thereof...)...she used to be such a great sleeper.....Put her to bed, and don't hear a peep out of her until next morning....Now, bed time is turning into a long ordeal....we read some books.....then, off to the crib....a few minutes later, the crying starts...You try and let her cry it out, but it gets louder..and louder and LOUDER...problem is, Zach's bedroom is right...next door....So, more rocking for Bella...more sobbing...whimpering, til she grows tired, and is ready for the crib.....It would be one thing if that was the end of it......Nope.........could be another wake up call LATE night/early morning......Hopefully, it is just...a...phase....It is just a phase, right??? she will grow out of it, right?//

(editors note: the past few nights she has gotten back to normal and have been sleeping much much better, let's hope it carries over...).....But, looking at the 'smirk', you can't stay mad at her for too long!!!

All dressed up.....

As previously stated, Tina's brother Greg got married a few weeks ago. We had a lot of fun at their wedding in Boston, and Zach and Bella got to get dressed up....Zach looked handsome in his khaki pants, blue oxford and blue blazer.....Bella was all dressed up as well, and had a lot of fun 'twirling and dancing' on the dance floor.....!! With yesterday being Father's Day, it gave me time to reflect on things...how truly lucky I am to have a loving, wonderful wife in Tina and two fantastic children in Zachary and Isabella....far too often we take things for granted....But, life IS too short.....sometimes you just need to take a step back, relax and enjoy your life, whatever may be dealt to you...We are healthy and happy.....and I would not trade being a father...a 'dad'...for anything in the world.....Is it tiring...stressful some times? absolutely....but, seeing their smile...hearing that 'luv u dadda'....watching my son wait for the perfect pitch in rookie ball.....it doesn't get better than that....To any dads reading this blog, a very Happy Father's Day to you......Enjoy the time you have with your children and families....Life is too short to stress the small things.....!

Let's Go Celtics....!

No pictures of the kids this time......Just a picture from the game last night......3 games to 1, Boston up over their rivals, the LA Lakers......Was traveling home from Pittsburgh last night, via Philly....supposed to land at 10 in Providence; plenty of time to get home for the second half of the game...ONLY problem is that plane didn't leave Philly until 10 15 PM...ouch...needless to say, 'listened' to one of the greatest comebacks....greatest games...in Celtics (and NBA) history on drive home, instead of watching it...Oh well......One more game.....Can they win banner number 17??

Let's go Celtics!!!