Merry Christmas!

Enjoy this Christmas video of our merry merry Christmas shared with the delight of a 21 month old, cunkle Chad from Sweden and Nonni Coletti. With love, the Colettis

A Merry Little Video

luca on ice

We introduced Luca to the ice yesterday. As he is half yankee (or red sox), it's never too early to get him used to the frozen pista and see if he can be NHL material in a few years. I gave up trying to give Luca a ride myself, I had to fully concentrate on my own survival, with most Italians not understanding the counter-clockwise direction you usually follow.

airborne

 the hidden smile

 not so happy on the sidelines

okay Dadda, time to go, here's your shoes.

Thanksgiving no. 5

 angry bird

 double bird stuffing sandwich

 Luca and Davide warm up the race track

 bird, potato, and stuffing unveiling

Luca, the official dessert taster

We celebrated our 5th Thanksgiving this year in Pecetto. And of course having Nonni Coletti around made it extra special and possible in many ways. They distracted, played with, and kept Luca out of trouble while preparations were made, they peeled 20lbs of potatoes, and graciously offered their apartment for the event itself. La Pasta Fresca shop once again offered to raise, butcher and cook the turkeys for us. We ended up with 2 stuffed birds weighing a combined 15kg (33lbs). Between the tasty hors' devours, the turkey and everything that goes with it, and desserts a plenty, we only finished off one turkey among 33 adults. Thus, an excuse to eat the remaining bird the following week with 15 pecettesi. By the end of it, we all thought it might be possible to have too much of a good thing.

We ended the party with our usual Thanksgiving roundtable, giving thanks for landladies, nonni, husbands and wives, english lessons, good friends, good wine, turkey, and one bun in the oven. :)

Nonni!!

Yes, nonni Coletti have just arrived for their 8 week stay with us. I am more than happy for the company, and the added entertainment for Luca. Winter days can be long, but not when you have the grandparents next door to wake up every morning, complete with Ipad and Iphone to entertain, and electric toothbrushes that can massage your neck! Luca has warmed right up to them thanks to their familiar presence on skype every week and our biannual visits. They arrived just in time to help us prepare for Thanksgiving and join in on our 5th annual Turkey dinner with a record number of guests, 32 and 3 babies.

 Luca "helping" by throwing unpeeled potatoes in the pot. 20 lbs of mashed potatoes to feed 30+

Iphone Pavarotti 

Sciopero!

A couple of weeks ago Pininfarina went on strike to protest the 120 workers that were fired as a result of the closure of many of its fabrication plants. Luca and I went down with Mark the morning of the strike to check out the action. There wasn't much of it, instead it looked like the only thing that was missing was a coffee bar. Despite the peaceful atmosphere they managed to block the main road for 30 minutes and of course the media was all over it and Luca got his 5 seconds of fame. You'll see the whole Coletti family in the first 30 seconds, click on link below:

Pininfarina on Strike

kung fu kick!

Halloween was hopping in Pecetto this year. Little by little we're seeing this american holiday take it's hold here. But rather than knock on strangers doors for candy (unheard of in Italy), all of the shops are stocked with hard candy, candy pacifiers, and sour strips. This year Luca was a Kung Fu fighter inspired by Uncle E's gift from China. We rehearsed and re-rehearsed his kung fu kick much to the delight of many skype viewers. However, when the night came, our fighter was a little sullen. He was happy to chomp down on handfuls of candy instead.

 5 month old Alberto sporting the Tiger costume from last year.

 our kung fu fighter, complete with eye makeup.

 the pasta shop is the most festive stop

una vera strega!

a Tuscan Reunion

Over a year ago, Mark's uncle Gary decided to throw the 70th birthday party of a lifetime for his dear wife and mother of 5, Theresa. The party would be in Tuscany where they lived as a family for a year some 20 years ago. They graciously brought all 5 kids, and their families over for a week and better yet, we got to crash the party for a weekend. Thank you Prime family for letting us share in your celebration!

The villa that slept 24

 Ruby and Zara hit the pool despite the fresh autumn weather

 While the babysitter entertained the jet lagged toddlers, the adults enjoyed an intimate tuscan dinner

 Gary, Theresa, and ragu!

 Zara and Luca practice their pianoforte

 The kids take over the villa, one room at a time

 4 monkeys jumping on the bed

 soccer time

 Rita and Daniele's for afternoon pizza

 Daniele, il pizzaiolo

Ocean slips into a food slumber.

All or Nothing at All

Luca gets his first denial from italian girlfriend Matilde, 5 months his junior.

the Prime ministers visit!

The Prime's came to visit us for a couple days this week. Luca was in heaven with cousin Zara (3) to chase after and be chased by, and then Maris (15 mo) the ever content little red head, scooting from here to there (usually the staircase). Tomorrow we'll be joining them and the rest of the Prime clan (23 in all) in Tuscany for a weekend of wine drinking and children policing, a good combination.

tub time!

playing trains

cappucci all around

 zara and maris chow down on tagliatella e sugo di pomodoro

 zara's portrait of luca

 self-portrait

 maris and that hair up-close

 most fun had on a blown up mattress....take one

take two

the three peaches set sail

This summer my mom harvested 3 ripe peaches from the orchard that was planted when I was in high school. All this time later, they are now reaping the benefits. Her 3 ripe peaches she likened to her 3 children who as of November will all be at least 2,383 miles away. My Dad had this sign made to show are whereabouts and will be posted at our beloved beach place in Gearhart. It will be interesting to see how this sign changes over the years. Maybe we'll all make it back to our roots, if not, we will always manage a couple weeks at "Last Light" together.

Colettis in Pecetto, Eric in Philly

and the furthest, Villanuevas in the Philippines

Arrivederci Summertime!

This summer, like every summer was packed full of adventure with family and friends. However, travelling with Luca at his ripe old age of 17 months was a whole new experience. There were boat rides to take, balls to be hit, cousins to chase after, seafood to eat, waves to jump, sand to move, and kisses to give. We spent 3 weeks on the west coast, seeing the Harry Potter Premier at midnight, joining the Watermark for a cruise in Canada, said goodbye to Eric up in Seattle, a family reunion full of cousin cousins, and a wedding on Lake Union. We took a red eye to the east coast, where we enjoyed some relaxing time on the Cape, hosted our italian neighbors for a week in Boston and Che Pecat ((pronounced Cay-pe-cod!) che peccato, means "too bad you're not here" in italian). Coming back has been bittersweet. It was harder this time to leave family behind, but rumor has it that we'll have the Coletti nonni here for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Enjoy our summer highlights!

Go West Young Man: Photo Album

Che Pecat! Photo Album

strawberry swing

In honor and inspiration of cousin Sophia, here is an original Luca music video for her birthday. 

Tanti Auguri Sophia!

Strawberry Swing-ing

deadline

Recently I started working again for the hospitality design studio in Torino. Which has meant taking Luca to town occasionally to be watched and adored by friends in town while I run into the office for a power meeting. At home, it depends on the day, but I've been able to put in between 3-5 hours of work between Luca's naps and his autonomous playtime. He is so patient and creative. But today I had a deadline at 3pm, so mommy was doing everything she could to stay concentrated while Luca played around the house. This is what I found when I finally submitted my work!

tp-ing the bathroom

living room and foyer warzone

tengo famiglia

tengo famiglia is an italian saying meaning that you have a family you are responsible for, and if you live here, that means you're the father of the household and will be called upon to save the day when little Luca starts playing sports, wants a car with his license, and eventually when he marries, a nice little house where he can settle down and "tengo famiglia". For now our famiglia is sweet and simple. And our 15 month old is only demanding of playtime, and anything that's behind the closed bathroom door. 

My aunt captured these photos when they were visiting earlier this month. My how time flies! Just one more month, and we'll be on our way west again to see many of you. A presto cari nostri!

out for pizza, glad that's not my white linen tablecloth!

Luca looks like the mature one in this photo

some cars

Before I forget, a couple of weeks ago we got to see some pretty sexy cars in a spectacular setting. It was time for the annual Villa d'Este. We hit the road just before 9am to make the 2.5 hour ride to Lake Como. Luca, having eaten an entire croissant for breakfast and then some, was feeling pretty good, or so it seemed. Twenty minutes later, on the Autostrada, everything came up, and he was soaking in breakfast croissant! We took the first exit available for a service station where I had to strip Luca naked and scrub him in the sink with hand soap. Next it was under the electric dryer, and then the same drill for his clothes (didn't exactly have an extra outfit). Back in the car, and by the time we pulled up to the old villa, Luca's clothes having been dried on the dashboard and out the window of Doeke's car, we were set!

 the coletti three

 Renault's flashy concept car

 this is more my style

 Luca and new german girlfriend

 Mark and Doeke's choice for some reason

nothing like playing in a big field of cars