Lago Di Garda!

Ciao Everyone!

We are adjusting and exploring more and more everyday! The girlies (and us :) are finally adapting to the time change a bit better (yay ;) and David has started his workouts with the team. He's excited to play again, and we are very excited too! So far, Elliot's favorite thing is chips (Pringles...lol) and Nora is loving her fragola (strawberry) gelato! 

David had the day off yesterday, so we decided to take a little day trip to Lago Di Garda (Lake Garda). It was about an hour drive on the autostrada, and well worth it! We spent a couple hours walking up the beach, and had lunch and gelato before heading home. Great day :)

on the drive in...

silly girlies 

mommy + girls

daddy + girls

d+n

gorgeous.

 

beautiful nora

excited, running toward the beach!

and then we got a delicious surprise from a new friend when we got back....

( a lot of!) apples from right here! yummm!

Bongiorno Italia!

Hello everyone!!!
Well, we made it! After a pretty smooth trip over, we are here and trying to adjust. The girlies were travel champs, and are now trying to acclimate to the 7 hour time change! Being up all night is hopefully going to change soon :)
The small town that we are in, Eppan, is nice. VERY different than anywhere in the U.S., but nice. Our apartment is nice also, with most of the amenities that we are used to. We have a decent size refrgerator, a small dishwasher, small washing machine (no dryer) and bathtub for the girls. Elliot has been sleeping in a big girl bed here because there is no crib, which has been a bit of a challenge, but not too bad.
Most of the people in Eppan speak German, but it doesn't really matter because we don't understand a word anyway ;) Although we've met a bunch of people who also speak some English, which is lucky for us.
Our place is not in the town, but up about a mile into the mountains. I wish we were within walking distance to some things, but our view is incredible. Here are a bunch of pictures of some travel, our place, and our view!

 happy traveler :)

 Elliot snoozing on the floor-Chicago to Munich

snoozers on the plane

 kitchen

 girlies room

 nora's bed

 elle's bed

 closet/desk in girls' room

 main hallway-front door

 dining room

 dining room into living room...balcony on right

 living room

 balcony

 view from apartment onto balcony

 view!

 my clothes dryer :)

 'master bath'

 view out the window from our toilet...:)

 girlies/2nd bathroom

 n relaxing on the balcony

 one more view!

what a 7 hour time change does to a 2 year old! 

ski baby!

Like I mentioned earlier, we've been trying to spend as much time as possible at the lake! Recently, we had a HUGE first for our Nora! She water skied for the first time! Thanks to the O'Keefes, it was a perfect lake day, and we celebrated our brave and determined Nora for doing such a great job! 

golf girls 

cheeeeese :)

a little skinny dip with cousin kaia :)

first time skier, nora!!!!!

video proof....so proud!!!!!

 and finally...lanterns after a perfect lake day.

ciao!

What?! I can't believe it's been so long since we've checked in! There have been so many things going on! Here's a little list :)

1. We built a new house at the lake! We're starting to feel settled, and have been trying to spend as much time there as possible!

2. Nora bean is now 4!! and our sweet 'baby' Elliot is 2! They are pretty good buddies most of the time :)

3. David is only a couple classes away from his degree, and we are SO proud!

4. Grand Forks is still home, but we'll very soon be making a big move!!....

5. WE'RE MOVING TO ITALY!!!!!!!!

David wasn't ready to hang up the skates after all, and when an opportunity came up to play in Italy, we couldn't say no! We leave Aug 1, and will be there for about 8 months! We are anxious and excited, and will be welcoming any visitors :)

David's new team!!

We will be living in Eppan, about 15 mins from Bolzano in northern Italy. Looks beautiful!

Now that we'll be so far away from everyone, I will be back up on the blog keeping you all up to date on the Hales in Italia! 

Here are some recent pics of the girlies too!!

 lake girls!

 nora bean

 visiting colorado - the broadmoor

 lake girl nora surfing with daddy!!

 sweet elle

 besties ;)

perfect representation of our girls personalities...spunky elle, sweet nora :)

yogurt face :)