I know....it has been too long...

So You may have asked or wondered..... WHAT have we been up to over the past few months? Did we forget about everyone? Fall off the face of the planet?? Well,,,maybe a little...but would it make any difference if we told you we were sorry???

Well like most of you with the warmer weather upon us accompanied with the promises of longer days, free of rushing to and from school, hassles of finishing homework assignments, and really any type of "defined" schedule I found myself excited with all of the *Extra time I was going to have and how would I ever manage to keep myself occupied?? Hahahaa....that thought is so funny to me now!

Soon my old friend,Reality came for a visit..... I discovered the brutal truth and found myself asking the obvious question.....How is it that I can honestly we are busier now than we ever have been....Is that Ironic to anyone else than just me? I know there are many of you (mothers) who know exactly what I am describing.....the "Summer Vacation Illusion"...

I mean maybe it's just me but Isnt summertime supposed to be that long conveted time that is set aside for slowing down.... Time to take a moment for a long, deep breathe.

A time for Cathing up with old friends, Opportunites for making new friends, Fun filled afternoons with BBQ's and children splashing all day at the weekend Pool Parties or days spent at a friends house just hanging out and doing....well nothing! Thats supposed to be the beauty of it. Well what I remember from my childhood anyways. :)

Maybe an opportunity or two for sneaking in that extra few minutes of snooze time in the morning (no kids to cart off to school)...or perhaps a lazy afternoon nap snuggled next to someone you love (person or pet-either one is good right?)

Long Family Vacations filled with laughter, soon forgetting all about any type of obligation or schedule if even for only a few days?

Well Not to sound like I am be complaining. We certainly have many things this Summer to be grateful for....

My family is employed, We do have shelter (more on that later), we are all realtively in good health ...which I have to say....sad to say...by the state of affairs worldwide and just watching the daily newscast is more than what many can say at this juncture. Are those basic things? Yes, but are they important and valuable to our enjoyment in life, most definately!

So time for some updates..... The Misuraca clan is slated for an upcoming move here sometime in the Fall from our home and community as well as congregation. Our current plans are to move to the Surprise area. We have very much come to terms with this idea and we are now very exicted and do think is for the best for our family.It is still a move from a home we do very much love and does position us farther away from many of our good friends. You will come visit us right?

Other positive news....

With this move we are able to reposition ourselves so to speak, simplify some things in our life. You cant really go wrong with that.

By relocating we are able to enroll Austin in a new promising Charter school where he can attend through Middle School as well as High School- something we are very excited about that seems right up his alley. The staff and overall culture of the school really seems to be a good fit for him and with the upcoming Teen years we'll take all the help we can get folks! :)

The other perk.....well it looks like my parents will also be relocating to Surprise somewhere here in the near future as well. And with that means the high likelihood that our office as well as the main operations of the business will evetually follow in that direction as well- well you do see where I am going with all of this right?

Work moving.... Family Moving..... Cool new School for Austin- So yes alot of positive aspects that make this move worthwhile and exciting for us as a family.

Oh yes and did I forget to mention that you can also get a house out there right now for twice the size and 1/2 the cost?? We will take that anyday!

We have managed to squeeze in some vacations this summer- so ok it hasnt been all work and no play! Val and I did get an opportunity to check out the beautiful wine country in Temecula Valley in June- I know because you all know how much I just HATE Wine Tasting right? lol

We also had a chance to take a short weekend trip up North to Prescott for a delayed anniversary celebration...and finally we had our weekend in Tucson with our friends and congregation for our District Convention (LOVED the program this year btw- wasnt it so right on and just what we all needed? ) There were some adventures and interesting stories from that trip to Tucson but I think I will save that for another blog...hahaha...

Another update in regards to my Family....Some of you may have heard that my father recently underwent surgery (Gullbladder removal) last week...I am glad to share that he is up and going again and has recovered very nicely. He isnt necessarily thrilled with his new "Diet Restrictions" but the time has come- I think you can only put those things off for so long in life before it finally catches up to you. By the way....Who invited there Dad??

Oh and one final funny story from this past week... which I guess I have already wrote alot so I will just share a brief summary and I am pretty sure you will get a good idea of what happened.

Now....Don't ask me how but by some small miracle I managed to grow up in AZ my whole life and actually never had the mishap of having to encounter or really to my knowledge came close to encountering a bee attack (Except for that one time on my patio at night and I thought the bee was actually stalking me and then I was surprised to be informed by my better and apparently smarter half that it wasnt even a bee ...just crazy, gnarly looking loud fly I guess..- Thanks Val for pointing that out...lol)

Anyways back to my story....so my time had come apparently to finally cross over to the other side... You know the side for people who have fell victim to the bees....

Well I feel safe in saying that I can pretty much sum up the highlights of this story when I say

Bee's, inside your shirt....

Trapped Between your boobs...

While you are driving down the 101 freeway- NEVER A GOOD MIX!!

Poor...Poor Traumatized Austin who had to witness the whole account personally- I am pretty sure I have scarred this child for life... :)

I wouldnt be exagerating to say It is a funny & frightening story all wrapped into one day I will never forget!

In closing...the most important thing I would like to say is that we have missed all of you and look forward to getting back in touch, hearing from you....how are you and your family doing? What are the highlights of your Summer Vacation?

We regret allowing our hectic schedule of this past summer to overtake things and not being a better about staying in touch. We promise to try to do better! Afterall....school is back in less than 2 weeks! Thats when I can really relax right? Right!! :)