I added back our video tab so you can see some videos we have taken in and around our home in Tokyo... they are not in any specific order but are fun to view! Have a looksy! xox V.

We have now been living in Japan for 3 months, and it seems like we've been here much longer.  I think it's partly because the expat community is so welcoming and close and the fact Matt and I are pretty adventurous in our new surroundings.  Needless to say, we are enjoying things thus far, but we do have our "I miss home" moments...

November was a great month for the boys.  They had some school field trips and the occasional mom/dad field trips.  We also celebrated Matt's birthday with our first little cocktail party; and hosted our first Thanksgiving with our good friends and neighbors here in Tokyo.

December brought in the holiday season here.  However, there is no Christ in Christmas around here...since the Japanese are either Buddhists or practice Shinto.   However, the Japanese do know how to put on a light show- which is nothing less than spectacular! We were also able to find our own personal Christmas here with no problem.  It was actually quite lovely. And it was made even better by having my mother and Nicole come and visit.

We all had a great time visiting local shrines and also visiting Kamakura.  It's a town outside of Tokyo which is where President Obama visited during his most recent trip to Japan. We also celebrated ringing in the new year with a karaoke party hosted by one of our friends. We have TONS of pictures posted- Hope you enjoy them all! Stay tuned for more fun in the new year!

Hello from TOKYO JAPAN!!
I have to say that things have been going pretty well for us thus far.  Everyone asks me what I "do" ALL DAY since the boys have school from 830-230 five days a week.  Well, for one thing everything and I mean EVERYTHING takes about twice as long to do... not to mention the fact that we have to walk everywhere (driving in Tokyo is a pain like any big city with tons of traffic (car and foot) and limited parking. Let me just tell ya, my feet ache everyday. We've had our car for about 10 days now and I took it out only 2x!

There are a lot of pictures in the last two months. We have everything from afternoon trips around the city to school field trips as well as our first Halloween in Tokyo.  It was crazy and the kids really enjoyed themselves.  So check out all the pictures!

Ok, July and August were filled with summer fun, but at the same time we are getting ready for our big move to Tokyo -busy, busy! Have no time to fill in the details, but a picture is worth a thousand words... so please take a look at the excitement the last two months have brought us via our photo albums! Feel free to post a comment or two! 

May was filled with visitors! Big Grandma aka: Matt's mom, came for a mother's day visit! We celebrated Mother's Day with a brunch which included my mom, Dafina, and Sergio's father-in-law-to-be, Blago (no relation to the ousted IL governor)! Then the following weekend we were visited by Nonno and Grandma Judy - which the boys really loved because they also came with Mabel the dog! I guess the boys need a dog soon! It will keep them busy....

After a camping trip in Southern Indiana - we stopped by to visit our favorite family in Bloomington, Indiana! The Johnsons.  Since the Johnson girls were out of school, we took one of the four home with us! Sadie, 13.  She had a splendid vacation away from her sisters back  home!

March was filled with TONS of playdates! I took advantage of my newly purchased membership to the Shedd Aquarium and was there a total of FOUR times! You want me as your guide because I know the best place to sit during the Fantasea show.

Wow,  2010 has begun!! New Year's Day was spent at the Trimbles this year.  Tim, built himself an authentic wood-burning pizza oven in his backyard.  It made for a delicious afternoon of homemade pizza and catching up with great friends!

I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by... whew! December started off with Matt traveling out of town and back in time to get the holidays wheels a rollin'!  He returned on the 17th and we had a party that next evening - yeah! Within days, Aimee and the entire Johnson clan came to visit on Mon. 12/21.  We had a super time catching up!

Next thing you know, it's Christmas, where my mom and I spent the majority of the time making pork tamales and chili rellenos - it was a very yummy Christmas dinner for certain.

Christmas - was the best this year.  The boys are at the age where Santa lives and singing Christmas songs are cool!

Since we recently renovated our basement - Matt and I spent serious time cleaning out and clearing out our basement storage area... it was a therapuetic experience! Glad that's over! Anyone looking for some old printers, monitors, tv, and old vhs recorder?? Give us a call!

We also took advantage of the season's first snow by hittin' the hills at our local park - the boys now go down on their own and have no fear!

We spent New Year's Eve with our friends who also have a son named Luca - they are best friends - go figure.  We had a low key evening with the kids and ate a fabulous meal of rack of lamb - yum.

See all the holiday fun on December 2009 photos... and also, see the BEST of 2009 for a recap of our year's highlights!

Another month just flashed on by!!  - Matt has been traveling ever since late October, and only making it home here and there - mostly weekends. However he did take some time off at the end of the month.  

Wow - what a month! The Mittinos were busy with TONS of stuff... First,  my younger brother, Victor, was married to Gina Charo.  I was a bridesmaid, the boys were the ring bearers and Nicole was a reader in the  ceremony.  It was a lovely wedding and boys were so happy to practice their break-dancing skills! 

Summer has come to the end... boo hoo.  However, it brought me a little freedom by sending off both Luca and Rocco to morning preschool three days a week! Whoo hoo!

August was quite busy for us... I threw a shower  for my sister in law to be, Gina Charo; Had Nonno and Grandma Judy visit for a couple days; TWO camping trips - one in Michigan, with my highschool friends; and the other in Indiana, with the Lansing Mittinos... Which now brings the end of summer with a bachelorette party and our annual block party... See all the fun in Mitti-News Photos!

View our July photos  in MittiNews Photos... as we visit Michigan and bring back Aimee with us to spend some time in Chicago. Also, we welcomed Isabela Valasco, my friend's new baby girl.... Also view some pics of Luca and Rocco's summer fun with their friends! 

We started off June by heading out to the Annual OZ Ball for Emerald City Children's Theater.  We were fortunate that we had some great friends join us this year. The Campins and The Palacios. Thanks for coming and supporting a great cause - and I'm glad you all had fun. Also, thanks for The O'Connors for supporting the raffle... because of her tickets she was WON... a wine cooler fully STOCKED! Congrats!! 

Matt travelled extensively throughout June - practically three weeks in a row... that was a little too much, but we survived. Matt was home in time for Father's Day and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We went to Arlington Park for family day and to play the ponies.  Rocco was our big winner! We later celebrated later with a BBQ and invited our new friends Bonnie & GianFranco and their three kids. Their eldest son is named Luca, too.  They (the 2 Lucas) go to the same Spanish preschool and they are the best of friends. 

We also took the boys to the Wisconsin Dells for a couple of days to enjoy the water parks. Man, that was great fun... a must do!

Nicole celebrated her 22nd birthday and we had a nice family dinner to celebrate. The cutest part was when Luca actually picked out a present for her... a new hair brush! He was so excited to give it to her.  So cute! 

Luca and Rocco's last day of preschool was June 26th, now we have tons of time for summer playdates... we went to The Glen's gated park with a great water feature which all of us enjoyed. 

See June 2009 photos in our photo album page! 

Yay, Spring has finally arrived in Chicago-land! The weather is getting better and they boys are having fun playing most of their days outside.  

Second Annual steelhead trip.  Last year we had snow and froze our tonsils during a day on the river.  And the 2008 highlights were the one fish dad caught, the 1/2 pie for dessert and the low-rent hotel overlooking the hot-tub.

2nd trip would not disappoint.  For starters, dad found even worse lodging - nasty couch noone would sit on, kitchen in the bedroom, undulating bathroom floor, scabies beds and windows that blew open at night.  But, it was a "cabin". . .

Great weather after the early morning cold.  Everyone caught fish; Adam and Matt got steelies and dad caught a nice carp (so much for another year of bragging).  Adam even tried to filter some clean drinking water by jumping in the river and using his waders as silt filters.  Unfortunately, his feet were so dirty that the water that filtered into his waders was undrinkable.  The resulting swamp foot after a day in the heat, was something special. 

Judy sent dad off with some awesome chili (Texas double-brown chili - or something like that) and a few beers after fishing closed the day.  And, closed me pretty much for the day.  After arriving at 4am and leaving for the river at 6am, I just pooped out at about 6pm and slept through the night (well, interrupted frequently by the auto-open windows in the cabin). 

Adam and I tried to catch some fish on Sunday, but without a guide, we are worthless.

Oh, and no pie. . .

Thus far in April, we have traveled to Michigan and celebrated Matt's nephew/Godson, Tony's, first birthday; celebrated Spring Break at home this year with tons of playdates to the park; enjoyed watching the boys play soccer; and celebrated Easter. See all the fun in our APRIL 2009 photo album!

The boys rockin' out to Black Sabbath's Ironman - funny stuff. See our video section.

Matt and I had the most fabulous time at our friends' birthday party! Two mariachi bands, karaoke and lots of tequila = a great time! Both guys had announced that their respective wives were pregnant, too! At least they had a designated driver that night! Thanks for the invite, guys!

Caroline sent me a note indicating that she and her four daughters were doing a "Girls Weekend" in Chicago to visit American Girl, and wanted to meet up.  I asked her if she was willing to jump on the "El Train" and I would pick them up at the Evanston stop.  I told her at least it would be an adventure and the girls can say they were on the big city subway/elevator train system.... Well, they made it and with some stories! Man, did we have a fun visit.  I'm so glad they came up - there's no way a restaurant would have been able to handle six kids for so long!  Thank you Caroline!! I posted some of the pictures of all the kids on the March 09 Photo Album.

Michael & Gina Gray were in Chicago for a business trip (Michael's) and it was nice to meet up with them for dinner.  We treated them to dinner at Cafe Iberico a traditional Spanish restaurant. We feasted on tons of tapas and caught up on family stuff.  Thanks guys for giving us a call and seeing you!! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and wasn't able to take any photos.

Thur. 3/5: WINDSOR - Arrived to Windsor in the AM. While Nadege had to go back to the office and work, we gals- Amy, Rita and I, took the  "Long Walk" into town... the "walk" is actually the driveway to Windsor Castle, where the Queen prefers to resides these days.  We tooled around town, then meet up with Amy's old friend, Jeff.  He takes us to the Hinds Head in Bray, where we are told they have the best 'chips' in all of England. They were good, I must say...  After lunch, we decided it was best to take a nap to combat our jet lag. It did the trick as we were ready for dinner with Nadege. We return to Bray for dinner at the Crown Inn.  Where we were scolded by the hostess for being late on our reservation.  "You muck things up coming this late!"  Whoops!

My mom's birthday landed on Mardi Gras this year, so we decided to throw her a little dinner party with some Louisiana flair to it!  I made crab cakes, jambalaya, and had kings cake and other fun stuff to celebrate her day. The boys had a great time with all the beads and masks... see all the pics in FEBRUARY 2009 photo album.

Friday 2.27.09: Matt and I took my mom, his dad, and Judy, his stepmom, to see Jersey Boys. It was a combined birthday gift for my mom and his dad. Plus, Matt and I really enjoyed the show, so we didn't mind seeing it again... I highly recommend it.

Friday, February 27, 2009, a new firehouse inauguration was held near us and the community was invited to check it out.  The boys really enjoyed it...Plus, Matt's dad, his wife, Judy, were in town for the extra fun!  See all the pics in February 2009 photos.

Matt is on the board of directors for the Emerald City Children's Theater in Chicago.  And yesterday was their debut of Cinderella, the play - as well as VIP day. So, we invited our friends to come out to see the opening of the play with us.  Luca really enjoyed the play, he even found himself a Valentine - Daniella, the daughter of one of Matt's co-workers. Rocco was near breakdown, but managed through via lollipops and cookies from the reception area. My friend, Leslie, brought her daughter, Trinity, as a mommy/daughter afternoon out, too.  See all the pics on our February photo album.

The boys and I went to Legoland as part of the group with the boys's preschool.  The boys had the most fun I've seen them had in weeks! I, on the other-hand, had a tough time on the school bus.  I can't remember when was the last time I was actually in a school bus, but let me tell you, it will be my last! It was so claustrophobic, loud, bouncy... I think I started to get motion sickness... : )  **FYI- don't go to Legoland if you are NOT part of a discounted group rate.  It's VERY expensive.  It would cost you about $100 for a family of 4 - that's just the entrance fees. YIKES!

Well, this month has been a busy one for Rocco... He started his first day of preschool today at the same school Luca attends. Rocco will only attend class 2 days a week - can't let him go that much... he's still my baby!  Luca was very excited that Rocco was there today. He was near tears when I told him Rocco would be going to another class, but assured Luca that they would meet up to play with each other at the playground at the end of their day.  I then told Luca to watch over Rocco so he wouldn't get hurt.   

We celebrated Rocco's birthday on Saturday (his actual birthday) by first taking him and his bro, Luca, to the Motorcycle Show in Chicago.  Matt and Felix took the boys down to the Rosemont Convention Center and had fun checking out what's new in the cycle world. However, Matt was stuck in the Strider Bike demo booth, as both boys rode the bikes for over 30 minutes - so he was limited as to what he could see.  Of course, Matt bought a bike for Rocco...sucker. At least he received a great deal! See the actual bike he bought in February 2009 photos. 

We started out the new month's first weekend by taking the boys to the Children's Museum; taking Rocco to his parent/tot swim class and hosting a mini superbowl party! See some of the fun in Feburary 09 Photo Album.

Thursday, my friend, Hazel and her son, Joseph, took off to Navy Pier and we had a great time with the boys meeting their favorite Marvel Comic superheroes. Ironman and Spiderman.... I would have more photos, but totally forgot to put my battery in my camera so thank God Hazel brought hers so I can at least take one good photo of the boys with Ironman. Check out our January 09 Photo Album!

LNO has lost a member... As noted before, Friedah was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March of '08. In November '08, she decided to forego further treatment after the cancer had spread. In early January of '09, hospice care was set up in her home. Saturday night she passed away in her bedroom surrounded by her husband David, and their daughters, Hedy & Daphna, and their respective families.  

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After approximately 76 hours after swallowing a coin, Luca finally passed it this morning! I didn't want to wait any longer, so I made sure he had a breakfast of steel-cut oatmeal with fruit juice this morning... that did the trick! 

Upon my arrival from Hawai'i, I had just enough time to put away my dirty clothes and clean up before heading to Luca's swim lesson. Afterwards, Luca and Rocco were already tired- as was I from my trip - that when we came home we ate a simple meal of sandwiches and headed to bed early.... 

Matt had to go on a business trip to Maui, and wanted me to tag along since it would be the first time for both of us. We managed to get the grandmas to watch the boys for us so I could be pampered for a few days.  It certainly was the way to go since we were on the company dime, we stayed at the Four Seasons in Wailea.  It was beautiful to say the least and we also managed to do some whale watching and have some well needed one-on-one time together. See some of the pics in MITTINEWS PHOTOS.

Some of you may already know, my good friend and former co-worker, Friedah Nehmadi (from Abbott), was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March of 2008. It is with great sadness that I report there is nothing more modern medicine can do for her now. She is at home with hospice care set up, and with her family surrounding her at all times. I visited her last week, and she was in good spirits as we watched a DVD I made for her of movies/pictures of all of our outings throughout the years. Although very weak, I had the pleasure of hearing her laugh while we reminisced. I heard through my other friend, she took a turn for the worse this past weekend and I hope you keep her in your prayers that she doesn't suffer much longer from this heinous cancer. 

Last Friday night into Saturday, we had one hell of a snow fall here in Evanston - 12 inches! It was really nice since the snow was light and fluffy - easy shoveling and great for sledding! 

We had our annual New Year's Eve Party, although after kids, we've tamed it down a bit.... As of late, we've been inviting friends and neighbors with kids, so they don't have to find a sitter and have to drive very far- or at all! The kids played, built a gingerbread house, and watched movies.  While the adults ate, drank, and played some Rock Band on the Wii.  Some of our guests left before I took a picture of them - ah, well can't get them all...

I've updated the photo album to include some Christmas photos. Please look in our MittiNews Photo Album page for all the updates.  The boys really enjoyed themselves this year and I must add it's getting really fun to watch them interact with each other. 

Today we hit the play Mrs. Claus Holiday Musical presented by the Chicago Children's Theater. It was cute how Luca is getting to that age where he totally interacts with other kids and with the play. 

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Matt and I hosted his department to a holiday party at our house.  Let's just say that it was a REALLY good time. So much so, I will not post many of the photos! See some of the fun in December 08 Photo Gallery.  

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The Rodes and The Mittinos dressed up and went to dinner and a show in Chicago.  We saw Jersey Boys, the theater production.  Wow, what a great show.... until the lead (Frankie Valli) became ill and his understudy had to replace him in the second half.  The understudy was still good, but when you heard the voice of the other actor, you knew why he was the "main man."  Matt and I constantly said to each other that his dad would really enjoy this show - heck, we enjoyed it! 

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Matt and the boys arrived to his father’s home before I did.  I was with Sarah and her kids battling it out at the mall to return a few items. By the time we arrived to Bob’s we were pooped. So Matt and Bob took the older kids (Sofia and Luca) to the Henry Ford Museum (where Bob has a family pass).  It was a nice break for the kids to get some energy out. 

Friday night was Mittino Christmas dinner.  Grandma Judy made a great meal! We were also in the company of Mrs. Sims, Judy’s mother, as well as Nonna, Bob’s mother.  Mrs. Sims made some awesome custard pies, and Nonna not only made some great green beans, but her famous - and my personal favorite, pizzelles. Also, Sarah and I really enjoyed the pomegranate martinis - yum! Thanks Bob for sacrificing your pomegranate juice for our pleasure. 

Saturday morning, we had a nice breakfast in care of Nonno and celebrated with the opening of Mittino Christmas gifts!

In the afternoon, we all headed to the Henry Ford Museum.   It was my first time there.  The museum is a really great tribute to not only cars but to all things Americana.  Great family outing.  I especially enjoyed Greenfield Village, the outdoor portion of the museum. 

Upon our return, we managed to build up a great appetite and had some leftovers along with Judy’s homemade chili. We then celebrated Adam’s birthday with a cake made by Sarah.  It was delish!!

Nonno & Grandma Judy -  thanks for hosting Mittino Christmas in your home. And for having all of us there! A normal sized home can seem rather cramped when several toddlers are running around. Thanks for the great gifts, too! It is great to know that our boys will grow up knowing that they are so loved and blessed with a great extended family!

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On our way to Matt’s mother’s home, we stopped in Lansing to visit Adam and Sarah.  The boys really wanted to see their cousins.  Luca said he liked playing with Sofia’s toys because they were “different.”  Well, they certainly are... see photo above of Luca enjoying high heels, ballerina outfits and tiaras!

I’m certain he will regret this photo later in life! 

Sofia was in Sunday School while we were there, and Sarah and I went to pick her up.  As she was leaving class, she was excited to show us the turkey made of construction paper.  It also listed three things she was thankful for, but I can only remember two of them- Hello Kitty & The Nature Center.  When I asked her what she learned about in class, she said, “Jesus!” So cute!

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We were suppose to leave for Michigan today, but Matt had been traveling so much and had a stressful week in the office that he decided to wait a day and enjoy being home with the boys as a family.  I told him we could hit the Wilmette Holiday parade and see the reindeer nearby.  The boys had a great time at the parade as every other float threw out candy.  Luca’s coat pockets were stuffed! After the parade we were off to a local gardening center that has a great holiday display as well as live reindeer. Rocco really liked the reindeer and threw a fit upon our departure

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