Karpathos!

We finally made it to the island of Karpathos! We took a small airplane from Athens to Karpathos. Eventhough I'm not fond of tiny airplanes, I must say that the flight was fun. There was gorgeous scenery throughtout the flight... the beautiful bright blue sea, blue sky, small islands, cruise ships, etc. The small plane does not fly as high as the larger jets, so we were able to see the beauty below us. The pilot pointed out several Greek islands as we flew past. The pictures below were taken from the plane window, some might be blurry.

When we landed in Karpathos, we were greeted by many friends and family members. Many of them made a special trip to Karpathos for Kathryn's wedding. It's hard to believe that the wedding is tomorrow, June 14th. Seems like we've been waiting so long for the wedding day to come, and now it's almost here. I will post pictures of the wedding as soon as I can. :)

The Greece Trip Begins...

Nate and I left for Greece on Sunday, June 8th. We met his parents at O'Hare airport and flew through Germany to Greece. We were in and out of airports for 48 hours and in flight for a total of 13 hours. Finally, we made it to Athens. This picture from the Athens airport makes me laugh. My family never travels lite, we had way too many suitcases!

Nate and I stayed in Athens with his parents for two days. The rest of my family went down to Karpathos to prepare for Kathryn's wedding on Saturday. Since it was my in-laws first time to Greece, we had to take them to the parthenon and acropolis. We also went on a tour of Delphi, which was about 3 hours north of Athens. Delphi was really amazing! We saw the remains of the temple of Zeus and also saw the oracle of Delphi. Below are some of the many pictures we took during our stay in Athens.

The Theatre of Dionysios

Kalli at the parthenon

Nate, the God of Athens

Sunset on Athens. What a huge city... 5.5 million people!

Autism Walk

Nate and I participated in the Autism Walk in Chicago today. We went along with my friend Jenny and some of her family members. Jenny's cousin, Cade, has Autism. He was our inspiration for walking....our team was entitled "The Cade Parade." I was glad that Cade came to walk with us today. There were thousands of people participating in the walk. Many of the participants were children who have Autism. It was nice to see everyone walking together for a good cause. The walk started at Soldier Field and went down Lake Shore Drive. It was a little cold and breezy along the lake, but we still had a great time. Here are a few pictures from the walk.

The Cade Parade!

Cade chilling out in his wagon.

Thanks again to all the friends and family members who supported us. All your donations are going towards a great cause!

Goodbye Grandpa!

Today was my grandpa's last day in America. He is leaving for Greece tomorrow with a one-way ticket. He is permanently relocating to Greece, although I'm sure he'll be back to visit once in awhile. Today is also Grandpa's 79th birthday. Everyone who knows my grandpa is shocked at how old he is. Most days, he has more energy that some of my preschoolers. I hope I have his health when I turn 79 years old. My family celebrated Grandpa's last night in Rockford and his birthday at Famous Dave's tonight. We had a nice rib dinner and then went back to my parents' house for birthday cake. Below is a picture of Grandpa singing the Greek national anthem to Zoe in preparation of his trip tomorrow!

Christos Anesti!

Nate looks a little crazy, but this is the only picture

I have of us from Easter.

Christos Anesti! That means "Happy Easter" in Greek. Orthodox Easter was yesterday, April 27th. We went to the midnight service on Saturday evening and did not get home until 3:00AM Sunday morning! Although the service was long, my brother John did not hesitate to go buy himself a gyro after the service. Nate and I, however, went straight home. We were exhausted. Eventhough the service is quite lengthy, Easter is definitely my favorite holiday. Yesterday afternoon we had a big Easter lunch/dinner at my parents' house. My mom made some traditional Greek food (pastichio and spanakopitas), but we also had some American favorites (sweet potatoes and cheesecake). Tonight we had dinner with my parents again to finish up some leftovers!

My Guilty Pleasure Revealed

Ok, I can't deny it any longer. I am a huge American Idol fan. I realize that not everyone appreciates the show like I do. In fact, I'm sure that most people reading this probably think the show is silly and juvenile. I thought so too, during the first two seasons, but by the third season I was hooked! Eventhough I watch the show regularly, I have never loved any of the contestants. Sure, I had my favorites and even voted every once in awhile, but there was no one that was really fantastic for me. Then this season, a cute boy from Austalia auditioned named Michael Johns. In my opinion, Michael was the best contestant ever. He is a talented singer and he has a very unique stlye. I expected that he would make it to at least the top three finalists. Then tonight, sadly, he had the lowest number of votes and was sent home. I was very disappointed. I guess I'll have to rely on old YouTube videos if I want to keep hearing Michael sing. I hope that he makes his own CD, you know I would be the first to buy it!

Here is my favorite video of Michael Johns singing Bohemian Rhapsody. I think it's fantastic. What do you think?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EUfE993iucg

Autism Walk

Nate and I will be participating in a fundraising walk for Autism on Sunday, May 18th. Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with Autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. Autism impairs a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. There is currently no medical detection or cure for autism.

As an early childhood teacher, I have worked with several children who have this complex disorder. I have seen firsthand how devastating Autism can be for both the child and family. For this reason, I chose to participate in the walk for Autism. I am looking forward to walking for such an important cause.

You can support Nate and I by making a donation at our website:
http://www.walknowforautism.org/siteapps/personalpage/ShowPage.aspx?c=kpILKTOCJqG&b=3616691&sid=cuLNJaOXIkITL8PNIoH
You can also suppot the Autism cause by viewing the Five For Fighting music video at: http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/408214
Every time the video is viewed, a donation is made to Autism Speaks (it's a cute video to watch).