So. Far. Behind.

This is what I just saw when I opened my blog dashboard: "95 Posts, last published on May 3, 2010"
It has been a looooong time since I last blogged, so I will try to catch this up in the next few paragraphs, without weighing the content down with boringness. :)

I last left off complaining about Kona eating one of my favorite shoes. He has since destroyed at least two other shoes (one mine, one Z's), but is slowly getting better about recognizing what is his v. what is ours and shouldn't be chewed on. I would also list more things for you that he has eaten/chewed/destroyed, however, this would be a very long and boring post. He still has a TON of energy, which we try to work out of him on our evening walks with both dogs. Kona also had a little bout with demodectic mites/mange on his nose. This type of mange is passed from mother to puppy within the first week of their lives, but is NOT contagious to other dogs (thank goodness)! He has since fully recovered and doesn't even have a scar on his cute little nose. Aidan is just fine, and loves having another dog to play with all of the time. Aidan is definitely the alpha in the house, and even though he is about seven years older, he can keep up with the pup!

In May we traveled to Italy! We took Kodi, our friends' yellow lab that we had been keeping since January, with us (yes, all the way to Italy) because his family had recently moved there. Kodi's kennel miraculously fit into the luggage loading door on our smaller plane from Houston to DC, and we didn't have any problems at all picking him up from the oversized baggage area in Rome. Melissa, our Navy friend that lived in HI while we did - and Kodi's mom - picked us up from the airport. We stayed with our Navy friends, the Stacks, at their home outside of Naples. They live in Navy housing, and so did Melissa and her family, so it was a convenient location for us to be to see our friends. They took us all over southern Italy - Amalfi Coast, Paestum, Naples - and we saw so many beautiful new places. For two days we took the train up to Cinque Terre, one of the highlights of our trip! One of the most beautiful places in the world, by far. The weekend we were there, I stayed on Ischia with some girlfriends, and the next day Zac and the guys joined us in Capri. We toured the Blue Grotto (click here for video), hiked up a looong trail to the city center (even longer since I was starving), saw a beautiful garden and the sea stacks of Capri. Which I thought was funny, since we were with the STACK family. :) The next day we visited Herculaneum, a community like Pompeii, but smaller and better preserved. On our last day we drove to Paestum, an ancient Graeco-Roman city. We had an absolutely wonderful trip and miss our friends greatly. And we are already ready for another European vacation! For all of the pictures, please click here.

Then came Mandy's birthday. I drove up to Fort Worth, where we went to a concert in the garden. Happy birthday to Mandy!

Then came my cousin Meredith's bachelorette party at Lake LBJ! Fun times in the sun with family.

The next weekend was Amy's bachelorette party in Austin! We took a burlesque dancing class (awesome), and went to dinner and out on west 6th. So much fun. (Pics will be uploaded to Picasa later.)

The next weekend was my cousin Meredith's wedding in Hereford! Zac and I flew up to Amarillo, spent Friday night in Pampa, and went to wedding festivities on Sat. I just love getting to spend time with the Tabor family, and Meredith was an absolutely stunning bride. Yay for more cousins and an expanding fam.

And then...it was July 4th. We didn't do anything exciting. Stayed in CS for a change and watched fireworks at the Bush Library.

The next weekend was our annual girls' float trip! We floated the Comal and let Zac and Josh tag along. I love living close to the river again. :) It makes me happy.

July 17th was Amy's wedding weekend, which was busy busy busy! I was so touched to be chosen as her matron of honor! I arrived that Thurs. night - helped with some last min decorations and favors. Friday was the bridal luncheon and later the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The wedding was at Briscoe Manor in Katy, and it was the perfect venue for Amy and Austin. The rehearsal dinner was at Cadillac Bar, with lots of family, friends, good food and mariachis! Sat. was spent primping before the big event. Everything went perfectly and was absolutely stunning. I took a ton of pictures that can be found HERE. CONGRATULATIONS to Amy and Austin!!

And this is where I will end this crazy long post. :) I will finish the rest of the activities/pictures soon!
I keep thinking of things that I would like to blog about, rather than just what we are doing, so that will begin as soon as I finish getting caught up on the summer.
Me ke aloha,
RAWE