Washington Reunion

Summer Vacation 2017 is a wrap!  A whirlwind 3 weeks that was full of fun. :)

We took our chances on a tight connection in Paris when we left Naples on July 9 and did not make our flight to Seattle.  We made the most of our 24 hour layover touring Paris.

Monday afternoon we made it to the Warthens house in Bremerton!  Chris was waiting with our favorite NW beers to welcome us.

Chris, Chris, me, and Lara

Michael and Kelly came down from Everett to see us :)

Thrilled to see Heather and Aimee again!

The Bugenig, Kasparek, and Warthen kiddos had quite the adventures together during our time living in Washington.  Here is a favorite picture of them camping on Indian Island:

And here they are 7 years later!
We sure did miss Alison, who was away a camp.

 Terry, Chris, and Pete

Another Italy reunion in Washington:

Maddie and Emma

Chris and Missy

Crazy kids dressing up

Fireball shots with Christine and Pete

Another flashback pic...

Hunter and Camden were just babies when they met

How can they be 10 already?

Emma and Claire are so happy to be back together again!

A Wedding and Festa 2017

What a weekend!  

This sweet lady got married on Friday night

 Jen, Madds, Sherri, and me

 My sweet Gabriella

 Sherri & I hanging out with Siena

 Fifa, Maria, Sherri, me, Tyler, and Jen

 Dancing the night away with Jen, Debbie, and Cri!

It was an honor and delight to be a part of Cri and Ben's special day!

 The rest of the family was at Carney Park Friday night enjoying day one of Festa Americana.

About 4:00 Saturday morning, this little boy was dropped off at home because he had gotten sick :(  Poor Camden had to miss all the fun on Saturday.

 The AMAZING Community Rec crew:

Heather, John, Chris, and Brad

 Sherri and I hitching a ride to our cabin with Heather

Zane, Sherri, and Ron

 Sherri, Jenna, and Thea

 How precious is this girl during the National Anthem?! :)

 Tatum and Emma enjoying a cupcake

Ron, Zane, Sherri, and Thea are ready for the concert

The E-SSENTIAL Bruce Springsteen Tribute Band

 Captain Carpenter and Tony presented Chris with a special award

 Emma got to help push the button to start the fireworks

What a show!  The fireworks display gets better each year!

The crowd LOVES this guy

and the t-shirts he give away

1000th Blog Post

In October of 2007, I decided to start a family blog as we moved from one chapter of our lives (Japan) to the next (Washington). Here we are nearly 10 years later and I've hit the milestone of my 1000th post!

The subtitle on our blog is: Adventures of the Kaspareks and their friends and family

We are coming up on our 6th anniversary of living in Italy.  While we miss our friends and family back home, we continue to embrace and love our dolce vita  :)

The Navy's Great American Campout last weekend at Carney Park

Here is team Kasparek playing foot golf for the first time. We had a blast and cannot wait to play it again!

 Our fabulous MWR family! 

Me, Chris, Bunny, Jeremy, Heather

 I LOVE a reunion!  

The kids and I scooped up Jen at the airport Tuesday afternoon when she flew down from Germany.  We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon and evening on Madds' porch catching up.

A Veuve toast with Jen, Madds, and Fifa

 

Sherri, Jen, Madds, and I planned on going over to Procida on Wednesday for lunch.  Mother Nature had different plans and the water was too rough for the water taxi. 

Plan B: Mimosas and then lunch in Monte di Procida

 Emma, Sherri, Camden, Zane, Jen, Thea, and Jenna relaxing in the (not so blue) pool Thursday afternoon

Our friends Cri and Ben are getting married! Unfortunately,  Chris is a little busy this weekend, so I'll be representing. The groom's dinner at Stappos was a ton of fun!

Madds, Tyler, Sherri, Ron, Me, and Jen

Tyler, Me, Jen, Sherri

Gabriella, Madds, Siena, Debbie, Fifa

6th Grade Promotion

Emma's first day at Naples Elementary School in August of 2011

In the blink of an eye, here we are at her last day at Naples Elementary School.
This has been one of the best years in my teaching career. It definitely took a while to get used to Emma being one of my students, but I think we found a nice balance of mom/daughter/teacher/student. The "mom look" did have to come out from time to time.  Luckily, Emma is a good student who worked hard all year long!

Our keynote speaker (and 6th grade parent), NSA Naples Commanding Officer Captain Carpenter, presented the 6th grade team with his command coin

Proud mama reading her daughter's name for the President's Award for Educational Excellence
Presented with a smile and a handshake from Principal Chris Beane

Way to go, Emma!

Receiving her promotion certificate

A new favorite picture of mine (thanks photographer, Mel!)

A hug from dad as she goes to the stage for the class picture 

(I'm in the background on crowd control)

Naples Elementary School 6th grade class of 2017

An awesome day to celebrate an awesome girl!

Madison, Abby, Emma, and Caitlyn enjoying lunch

6th grade pool party fun

A cannonball to celebrate the beginning of summer!

It's June, Let's Have Some Fun!

The last weekend before school got out was a busy and fun one for the Kasparek family!

Chris went on a much needed and well deserved trip to his beloved Dublin with Ron, Zane, and Ryan.

Emma participated in an after school volleyball camp and they had their culminating mini tournament on Saturday morning

Meanwhile, Camden ran in MWR's Splash & Dash

Saturday afternoon my NES family celebrated the retirement of the fabulous Yvonne Salinas

Here's one snapshot of Heather and me during Sunday Funday by our pool