Letter from my mom

I am going through my google drive to clear it out and came across this letter.  My mom didn't journal so it is snip it of her and my dads travels.  I will never forget the first time my sister and I were on vacation and old enough to stay by ourselves.  We sat a hotel pool drinking virgin pina coladas in Hawaii as my parents went to see as many sights as they could fit into one day.

Wednesday, October 14

After a full day of driving yesterday, we�re going to try to have a relaxing day. After breakfast we drove about 45 minutes from Rovinj to Fazana to get our tickets to the Brijuni Islands. The only way you can get to Great Brijuni Island is on one of the national park�s boats and itg�s a four hour guided tour, much of which is spent on a little tourist train. We were lucky since there is only 1 English tour a day and we got there about 10:30am and the boat left in an hour, which gave us time to walk around the fishing village of Fazana. All the fishermen were coming in and unknotting all their nets and filling their buckets with fish to bring to market. The neighborhood cats have a field day with all the fish heads thrown to them. We had a very nice guide who translated both in English and Italian. It was a 15 minute boat tour to the mainland and on the island there are no cars - people get around by bike, golf cart or the little tourist train. As you drive around on the train you see lovely views over the twisty coast with cove after cove. The tour�s highlight is the Tito on Brijuni exhibit. The museum had countless photos of Tito in every thing he did on the island from schmoozing with world leaders and movie stars to sunbathing, skeet shooting, playing with all his animals, etc. There was also an exhibit of all the exotic animals that were given to Tito by world leaders from around the world - they would bring stuffed animals of real animals or animal skins as a gift since they couldn�t transport chipanzees, lions and kangaroos. There was also an outside safari that we visited - Tito loved animals and he started his own private safari of exotic animals and no animal could be caged. After Tito�s death Brijuni Island became a national park and the dangerous animals got taken off the island since they would have been dangerous to the public. All the animals roam in beautiful meadows - I could have stayed and watched the animals for hours. Dad keeps telling me that we have to get to Africa - it is still his most favorite trip of all. I was so happy that we decided at the last minute to go on this tour - it was such a relaxing day and the weather except for being pretty cold, was beautiful. We have been walking around the last few days in sweaters and ski jackets since the wind is cold. From Brijuni we drove to PULA to see the Roman ruins - Right in the middle of the city and boating harbor is this huge amphitheater, which is one of the largest and best preserved in the world. Seeing all the ruins while walking thru the town of Pula reminded us of all the ruins we saw last year in Turkey. We�ve spoken to quite a few people while sightseeing and for many the ruins of Pula is the highlight of their trip. It was a very nice Old Town to walk and along the way were the ruins of the Forum, lovely squares, beautiful churches and many old restored buildings with great architecture. We headed back to Rovinj (about an hour�s drive) to get to the harbor in time for the sunset and to walk the Old Town one last time. We walked to the church to see the sunset and it was so beautiful - like the sunsets in Hawaii. We wandered the tiny alleys and checked out every little restaurant in town, which is always so fun for us because along the way you see every sight. We chose NEPTUNE, which was an Italian restaurant and the pizza that was being cooked in the open fire looked great. The restaurant was pretty crowded and the staff was very friendly. I had the best pizza and dad had a delicious pasta with venison, which was so good. The venison tasted like lamb and the sauce was yummy. There was a young girl who was basically the only staff person other than the cook and she was so happy to talk to us. She had studied English for 9 years and she wanted to master a foreign language so she is happy to talk to people who speak English. This was her boyfriends restaurant and she was the server and bartender. His father had started the restaurant 35 years ago as the 1st pizzeria in Rovinj and now it is the most successful restaurant. All the restaurants and hotels will be shutting down on November 1 but their restaurant is one of 3 restaurants to stay open for all the locals to enjoy.

Time to go to bed,

All our love, Mom and Dad

SUNDAY NIGHT - OCTOBER 18

I CAN SUM THE LAST FEW DAYS UP AS WET!!!!

We didn�t have any food in the apartment except for cereal, yogurt and a few pieces of cheese so we decided to face the storm and walk to the old town for dinner. The streets don�t seem to be able to handle this amount of rain because all the sidewalks and streets were flooded and we were wading in water as we walked. Our large umbrellas that we found in a closet in the apartment definitely helped but it was also so windy so it was definitely another �Experience��We were happy to make it to Robert�s hotel where he worked and we were lucky that he was working the night shift. We needed to pay him for the apartment and we stayed at the hotel lobby for a while to dry off a little and send our e-mails. We moved on and made it to our little Italian restaurant in the old town which looked very cozy (Oliva Pizzeria) - dad & I shared a large pizza and salad and we watched the soccer (futball) game on TV - not wanting to leave. We were the only people in the restaurant and we only saw a few other crazy people that were out trying to see the Old Town sights at night. Now to get home�the wind had gotten so much worse and the puddles were so much deeper that there was no way we could walk up the hill and few hundred steps to get back to our apartment. There were several taxis lined up outside the gates of the Old Town but no drivers. Dad said if they had keys - he would drive one home. We stayed under the bus shelter waiting for a bus and figured we would go for a ride no matter where it went but no bus came. Finally - we saw a taxi and flagged it down and he got us to our street - he didn�t want to drive us up our big hill to our apartment because he said it is very difficult to turn the car around. We know that since we have to do it every day. Then he charged us double what the meter said but what could we do - we just wanted to get out of our soaking wet clothes.

The rain was so loud all night - it is pouring harder than I have ever seen. Dad just said that it is hard to believe that there is that much water in the sky.

MONDAY - OCTOBER 19

Hard to believe - it is still pouring and the sky looks worst!!!!

Dad just told me that it would have been better to have a hurricane since they move over pretty quickly - I guess this is just a very bad Adriatic storm�

Well with the bad rain we relaxed a little over breakfast and got our latest start of our entire trip - we didn�t get going until 9:30am, which is late for us but it actually felt great to relax a little. We trooped out with the pouring rain and walked down our 172 steps and hiked another 2 miles to the Old Town. At least we�re getting our exercise! Even though it was raining pretty hard off and on all during the day, we had a nice day going to all the museums and churches. I�ll tell you about a few of our favorite places we visited today.

Franciscan Monastery Museum - all that is left is a nice peaceful cloister but it was interesting to look at all the tops of the 60 Romanesque-Gothic double pillars. Each one was different. There was also a medieval pharmacy. Part of the Franciscan priests mission was to contribute to the good health of the citizens, so they opened this pharmacy in 1300 and the monastery has had a pharmacy in continual operation ever since. They had on display all the medieval pharmacists tools. The sick would come to get their medicine at a little window which limited contact with the pharmacist and reduced the risk of passing on disease.

The Rector�s Palace - In the Middle Ages, the Republic of Dubrovnik was ruled by a rector who was elected by the nobility. To prevent any one person from becoming too powerful, the rector�s term was limited to only one month. Most rectors were in their 50�s and that was near the end of their life span so they were less like to shake things up. Interesting�The Rector lived upstairs in the Palace and the rooms were furnished.

Cathedral- Dubrovnik�s 12 century cathedral was funded largely by King Richard The Lionhearted. Richard was shipwrecked nearby. He promised God that if he survived, he�d build a church on the spot where he landed - which happed to be on Lokrum Island, very nearby. At Dubrovnik�s request, Richard agreed to build his token of thanks inside the city instead. It was the finest Romanesque church on the Adriatic before it was destroyed by the 1667 earthquake. It was rebuilt but now it is 18th century Roman Baroque. It has a very stark contemporary altar and is packed with over 100 relics and there were some crazy stories that went with the relics.

Dominican Monastery Museum - Another nice Cloister with many art treasures. This was the church for wealthy people, while the Franciscan Church down at the far end of the street was for poor people. Services were staggered by 15 minutes to allow the servants to drop off their masters here and then they would rush down the street for their own service. The church was decorated with modern stained glass and a beautiful stone pulpit.

It�s time to go to dinner so I can�t write about the other places we enjoyed but I�ll include them so I don�t forget about them when I get home.

Synagogue Museum

Serbian Orthdox Church and Icon Museum

Rupe Granary and EthnographicMuseum

There were several tour boats in town for the day with English speaking guides so we tagged onto their tours whenever we could.

ZORAN - THIS IS FOR YOU

During one of the heavy rain storms, we were freezing and just had to get inside to sit and relax for a while. We found a nice pastry and coffee house but there were no seats left. We wound up sharing a table with a young couple with a 3 year old son. They were speaking Spanish but I asked them if they spoke English. They had moved from Columbia to Canada for a better life. The young man was a neuro radiologist and he told us all about his education and his specialty. Walt told him about Dr. Zoran Barbaric and the book that he wrote for radiology students. He said that he got Dr. Barbaric�s book in his 3rd year of radiology school and he really liked the book because of all the wonderful illustrations. He currently is working in Ottawa, Canada and always wants to be in a very good academic teaching school.

Well, it�s time to walk down our 172 stairs again and walk to dinner and then we have to walk back the 2 miles and 172 stairs again after dinner.

We�re off to Toni�s Pizzeria for pasta.

Love, Mom and Dad

SATURDAY, OCTO BER 17

We wanted to get an early start this morning since we�ll be driving to the country of MONTENEGRO for the day. We got our additional insurance from Budget to take the car into that country so we were all set. The only thing is our beautiful weather has left us again so hopefully the driving will be OK on their roads. A few of the people from the Porsche Club told us we should take the bus tour to see Montenegro and the BAY OF KOTOR since the roads are very windy but dad figures if the tour buses can do it - then we will be fine in our little car.

This is how the tour books describe this country and the Bay of Kotor: With dramatic cliffs rising out of the Adriatic, ancient towns packed with history and thrilling vistas, and a twisty road to tie it all together, the Bay of Kotor represents the best of Montenegro. Sounds like our kind of place!!

The Montenegrin border was only about 45 minutes from Dubrovnik and we had 3 tour buses in front of us and 3 tour buses behind us so we definitely had company joining us. When we got to the border the lines didn�t seem to be moving but what can you do but wait. There was a man who went from car to car and demanded 10 euros (About $15) for a sticker for your car. He wasn�t working with the border control people but he kept demanding the money from us. Dad figured there were a lot of guys standing around with guns so he paid him and he left us alone. Who knows if he was legit??

Well at least we left the buses behind at the border since they needed to get every person on the bus cleared which must have taken then a while.

From the border we drove thru small fishing villages and stopped at the VERIGE STRAIT, which is the narrowest point of the fjord. This tight bottleneck at the mouth of the bay is the secret to the Bay of Kotor�s success. Any invaders had to pass through here to reach the port towns inside. It was only a quarter - mile wide but it was also deep enough to allow any large ship through since it is 130 feet deep. This extremely narrow strait is easy to defend. We continued driving around the fljord past the towns of Morinj, Risan and Perast. We stopped in PERAST to walk around the town since it it considered the �Pearl of Venetian Baroque� We wandered around and explored the buildings and St. Nicholas church, which is dedicated to the patron saint of fishermen. The church was designed to extend out into the sea and the old church which is still standing was to be torn down). But Napoleon�s troops came marching in before the builders got that far and the plans were abandoned. Now the massive partly finished church was grafted onto the old, small church. The Baroque main altar was designed and built by Bernini�s student who lived in this area and was always trying to pay off his gambling debts. Unfortunately it was closed. There were also 2 small islands that were just offshore but we opted not to go - the locals ferry you out on their boats if you want to go and visit them. The Island of St. George was the smaller, rocky island with trees and a monastery but it was closed to tourists. According to legend, 2 fishermen noticed a strange light coming the nearby reef in the early morning fog. Rowing out to the island, they discovered an icon of Our Lady. From then on, local seamen returning home from a journey would drop a rock into the sea in this same place, gradually forming an entire island over the centuries.

The other island was Our Lady of the Rocks - it was a flat island with a dome-topped church - created after more than 500 years of rocks were dumped here. In the 17th century, locals built a Baroque church on this holy site and filled it with symbols of thanks for answered prayers.

We moved on and continued driving around the fjord. The town of Orahovac had a part of the bay roped off for a mussel farm. These farms do best when located where mountain rivers spill into the bay.

We then crossed a bridge which spanned the Ljuta River - supposedly it�s the �shortest river in the world�

We opted not to drive to CETINJE since it was raining - in order to get there we needed to go up twisting roads up over a high mountain pass and dad was not feeling comfortable to drive 25 switchbacks in fog and rain. Supposedly if you do drive up you have greats views of the Bay of Kotor since you�re high above the Adriatic but with the weather we were having, the views were probably fogged in.

Next stop - THE BUDVA RIVIERA - Montenegrins boast �Croatia�s got islands, but we�ve got beaches!! This 15 mile stretch of coast is an area of sand and pebble beaches and it had lots of resort hotels.

Next stop - SVETI STEFAN - The resort peninsula of Sveti Stefan brings a lot of curious travelers. It used to be an actual living town and is connected to the mainland by a verfy narrow, natural walkway. It was abandoned after World War II and in the 1950�s the Yugoslav government developed it into a giant resort hotel. The old homes were converted to hotel rooms and because of its great location of being surrounded by beaches and great scenery, it began to attract wealthy guests. During the resort�s heyday in the 1960�s and 1970�s, it ranked with Cannes or St-Tropez as the place to be seen on Europe�s beaches . You could rent a room, a house, an entire block of houses or even the entire peninsula. The nicest rooms even had their own private pools, lockable gates and security guards. Celebrities, rock stars, royalty and dignitaries would have bidding wars to decide who would get the best suites. Whoever put the most money in a sealed envelope and slipped it to eh manager, won the best room. We were told that Sly Stallone�s money talked. Guests were pampered and indulged no matter how outrageous their requests were. Sofia Loren, Kirk Douglas, Doris Day and many others all bribed the manager for the best room. In recent years the war kept away visitors and the resort fell apart. But Japanese investors are back on the scene and there�s a major renovation planned and they hope to put it among the world�s most exclusive resorts. Hope they�re successful!!

Next stop�KOTOR  On our way driving to Kotor, we saw police officer after police officer along the road for miles - we must have seen at least 100 police officers. We were beginning to worry that maybe there was a bombing or fugitives loose but finally we saw a motorcade of police cars and supposedly the President of Montenegro had just left a celebration in Kotor to dedicate a church from the year 900 that had been totally restored and renovated. When we got to Kotor all the television and media were just taking down all their equipment - it was quite a celebration for the Catholic Church. There were so many nuns and priests walking the streets and they were all so excited for the celebration.

Kotor had a fun outdoor market that we strolled thru - it�s always fun to watch the vendors peddling their food to the locals.

The Old town was fun to wander and the buildings and squares were very welcoming. We went to the Cathedral of St. Tryphon that was celebrating their re-opening and hundreds of people were in the church taking photos and kissing the statues. It was quite a scene to watch.

Dad didn�t want to drive home in the dark , especially since the weather wasn�t good so we stopped for dinner at 4pm. I had been recommended to a restaurant from someones blog and I checked it out before our trip. It was in the City of Morinj and we made a reservation on the way since it is a very small restaurant. KONOBA CATOVICA MLINI was outstanding. It is worth going out of your way and the atmosphere and food was so special!!!

The restaurant is hiding in a forest off the road and is situated among a series of ponds, streams, waterfalls and bubbling springs. The waiters are dressed formally and the inside of the restaurant is a stone cave. We couldn�t believe that almost all the tables were taken at 4 in the afternoon - I was happy I had made a reservation. Dad loved the restaurant and wishes we could transplant it in Napa - it would be the �best�!!

Our drive home from Montenegro was rainy but we got thru the border pretty quickly.

Another great day - except for our rainy weather - Oh well, we just have to make our own sunshine!

Love to all,

Mom and Dad

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14 - ISTRIA, CROATIA

Beautiful blue sunny skies - great day for driving all the hilltop towns of Istria. Started in Rovinj to Buje and our 1st stop was Brtonigla, which means black soil. It was a tiny wine village surrounded by vineyards and it sits on gentle slopes rather than a dramatic hilltop like the other towns. We stopped by to check out a recommended restaurant for tonight to make sure we knew where to go when we came back. Anton & Alma spoke to dad in German and said they were happy we would be joining them for a special dinner.

We continued eastward through Krasica and took the twisty back road to Groznjan. It sits on the tip of a vine and olive tree hilltop and is very relaxing since noone goes here. The guide books say that it is your trapped in a time warp Istrian hill town and its sleepy lanes invite you to get lost and leave your itinerary on your dashboard. It was Dad�s favorite town of the day. It virtually has no sights but it was a great place to go for a walk and eat our picnic lunch that we had prepared. The town church�s bell tower is its only landmark and there are quite a few tiny galleries since quite a few artists have moved to this town. We also had our 1st taste of truffles at the Zigante wine and truffle bar since they had quite a few samples for tasting. Leaving Groznjan, we wound down to the flat and straight road and followed the Mirna River Valley to Motovun. This town is dramatically situated high above vineyards and a truffle filled forest and is the most-touristed of the Istrian hill towns. It has a colorful old church and walking around the town is one beautiful vista after another. Race-car drive Mario Andretti was born in this traffic-free little town. Each of these little towns are traffic free which is so nice for walking but I wouldn�t want to be here during tourist season since parking would be a nightmare since there�s only room for a handful of cars.

You had to be in pretty good shape to hike this town since it�s a steep, twisty road which connected the base of the hill with the Old Town up top. The street leading up into town is lined with wine and truffle shops and everyone has samples to taste. Walking along the base of the town wall, you�ll go through the first of two defensive gateways. The area above the gate was a storehouse for weapons in the 15th century, when Motovun first flourished. After the 2nd defensive gateway, you are in the Old Town and see the yellow church St. Stephen�s. It was designed by a famous Venetian architect Andrea Palladio in the 1500�s and he greatly influenced the Neoclassical architecture of Washington, D.C. The square in the Old Town is not very large but each summer Motovun hosts an annual film festival and it is filled with 20,000 movie-lovers from around the world. I can�t even imagine since we were there with a few loads of tour buses and already it was getting crowded. The other end of the square is a little piazza dominated by the Hotel Kastel, which is the main industry in town. Great views but too touristy for us�

A few minutes drive from Motovun is the little town of Livade - the only people who go here are truffle connoisseurs or people like us who are curious to make a pilgramage to this trufflle mecca. In 1999, Giancarlo Zigante unearthed the biggest white truffle the world had every seen - 2.9 pounds and it was in the Guinness Book of World Records. This single hunk of fungus is now revered as if a religious relic but it also kicked off a truffle craze that continues in Istria today. Mr. Zigante has a monopoly on Istria�s truffle industry and he produces a wide range of truffle goodies that are in all the specialty food stores. The Zigante Tartufi Shop was a big room with shelves and shelves of fresh and packaged truffle products and it also had a brain-sized replica of the famous massive chunk of white truffle. They gave me a few of their recipes to take home but so far I�m not hooked on this delicacy. We checked out Restaurant Zigante but it was not for us - It is Istria�s fanciest and most expensive and dishes up all kinds of truffle specialties. Today Istria is giving France�s Provence and Italy�s Piedmont a run for their money in truffle production. Most of Istria�s truffles are found here in the Motovun forest where it is damp and is filled with oak trees. It�s amazing how one giant tuber can change the economy of an entire region. There were excursions at night to go truffle hunting with the dogs but we passed on that experience. We�re back on the road again to find the little town of Hum, along the Glagolitic Lane. Hum is the smallest town in the world with a population of 16 people and has a town hall, church, school, post-office and all the other trappings of a little town. We heard that it�s one of the most touristy towns in the world and crammed with visitors who come to stroll its streets but when we were there there was noone there. Once inside the Old Town, you�ll find cobbled lanes connecting the stone houses and the 19th century church with five altars. The road leading to Hum is the Glagolitic Lane. While this alphabet hasn�t been used for centuries, Croatians recognize it as an unique part of their cultural heritage. It is a ninth century alphabet once used for written Croatian. Today this alphabet is even taught in some schools and children have spelling bees in Glagolitic. Along the Glagolitic Lane to Hum, you see various monuments to this alphabet and giant Glagolitic characters standing in a field.

We wanted to backtrack to Brtonigla for dinner but we had a few hours to kill so we drove back to Piran in Slovenia, which was right over the Italian border. We had been there yesterday when it was pouring and we were trapped in the church during the hurricane. We got back to Piran about � hour before the beautiful sunset and relaxed by the waterfront trying to capture the best sunset photo. There was a woman feeding hundreds of seagulls and it was fun to watch the sunset with all the birds flying thru the rays of pink and red sunlight as it was setting. Back on the road again to Brtonigla to have dinner at Konoba Astraea - a restaurant that I found on a website before leaving home which got excellent reviews. Anton & Alma don�t print a menu since Anton sits down with each of his customers when they arrive and chats and tells you what he has cooked that day. Anton and Alma also do all the cooking on a blazing open fire which is in the dining room. It is prepared under cripnja - put under an earthware lid and placed on a hot, fire-clay slab, covered with cinders. Dad had all 3 of his specialties - Anton said that the meal based around the fresh fish must start with Scallops. The Scallops were still attached in the shell and cooked on the fire. When the shells became hot, Anton poured over them a special sauce spiced with olive oil,, garlic and cognac and the sauce sizzled in the hot shell. Next, Anton cooke and served a big fresh whole fish caught that morning cooked on the fire and he did a great job at deboning it at our table while he chatted away in German to dad. And the apple pie for dessert was also baked under cripnja on the fire and flavored with smoke from the cinders. During dessert, he also brought out bottles of 3 of his grappas that he made himself and tried to convince us to try all 3. Each time I try one, it burns my throat for quite a while�Croatia and Slovenia has a zero tolerance for alcohol when driving so I don�t know how people drink as much as they do. But as a tourist, we can�t afford to wind up in jail for a night or two. Anton and Alma would love to have you sit with them all night and just relax and chat but after 3 hours, we needed to get home - it was very late and dad had driven since early morning - we had been on the road for 14 hours. This restaurant was another Croatian experience we will never forget�

Good night - off to bed,

Love, Mom and Dad

Monday continued�

POREC - The mosaics were in excellent condition and were beautiful. They dated from the 170 year period after the Fall of Rome (530-700A.D.), when Istria was part of the Byzantine Empire.

Many German tourists come to this town so many of the shops cater to the Germans. I saw a man walking down the street with a Porsche sweatshirt on and asked him where he got it and he pointed me to a store. I was only kidding when I asked him - I thought he would tell me he got it from Porsche. So I went to the little shop run by 2 young girls and bargained for my new Porsche sweatshirt. Reminded me of when I bargained for my red Porsche jacket in China (we settled for half price of their asking price)�

Time to leave and get to ROVINJ to hunt for a room for the next 3 nights. I brought my big binder with me of everything I researched on the internet all year and figured we would try to knock on the door of the bed and breakfast that looked good. The only thing is I had the name and a web address but forgot to take the address. We needed to find someone who could look up the address on a computer and head us in the right direction,

We found VILLA MELITA and knocked on the door but noone answered. We went in and found 2 young boys sprawled on the couch and asked if their was anyone to show us a room. Dad was getting very apprehensive about this place. A young woman came bouncing down the st airs and showed us a tiny, tiny room up 3 flights of stairs - we said we were going to look around town before deciding. Then she showed us her 1s t floor apartment with a little living room and kitchen and said we could have it for the same price so it was a deal. It was only 40Euros a night (about $60) and all the hotels in town were triple the price with no parking. There is supposedly wire-less internet in our room but we have no reception. If we want to use the internet we need to use her office in her home or sit outside her home by the fire-pit.

We have been so busy that we haven�t had a chance to just go and sit to use the internet. I type up all my notes while dad is still sleeping in the morning.

We got checked in and headed to Rovinj to walk around a little and get our bearings before finding a place for dinner. After walking the old town for 2 hours and finding lots of cute places, we decided on one of Rick Steves choices - KREMA ULIKA and it has to be one our most favorite restaurants that we have ever eaten in. I wish we could transplant it to Walnut Creek. Rick describes it as a classy hole-in-the-wall run by Inja Tueman and he was right on. The inside was so cozy and covered (cluttered) with art and chrystal chandeliers. The menu only had a few choices and it was gourmet plus!! She could compete with the French Laundry for presentation and taste and win both. There are only 6 tables and the food is prepared in the front of the room. Inja spoke very good English and it was truly a very special place. Dad had a rolled sea bass and I had seafood lasagne and for dessert a chocolate mousse in an almond cup. We were lucky we went when we did - Inja told us that you usually need a reservation at least 1 month in advance and they are closing for 5 months for the season next week so we went the week we could actually get in. Most of Rovinj closes from November till Easter so we are here with no crowds or traffic. Istria must be a zoo in the summertime since parking is so limited in all these old hill towns.

Another perfect day - except for the rain�

TUESDAY - Today is our driving day to go hill-hopping thru all the Istrian hill towns. The huge supermarket is right across the street from our apartment so we went shopping for breakfast and lunch since I decided I would make a picnic lunch to take along for the next few days while we had a kitchen. We were so happy to wake up to clear, blue skies although it�s still a little chilly and we are wearing our sweaters and jackets whenever we are outside. I�ll send more info later�

Love, Mom and Dad

Questions:

Please let us know how Roman�s sonogram went

Jason - would you like a soccer shirt from Croatia? I don�t know if you still wear them.

Did you hear from Rita? I�m not sure when she will be in Sacramento. It would be great if you can get together for a short time.

Heidi - I hope you�re feeling well and the boys are feeling better. I heard Tyler had another ear infection - hopefully the meds are making him feel better.

Please let us know if you would like anything special from Croatia

One thing we haven�t fit in at all with our busy schedule is shopping

LOVE TO ALL