Paintball, Newborns, and Dog Walks

Last weekend Meri headed home to Jersey and Mike headed out to PA for some paintball action.

The annual paintball trip seems to be gaining popularity every year and is finally getting closer to achieving some gender balance.

This year there was also more of a family touch as Matthew made the trip out with Janel's brothers. Nothing like familial bonding over paintball welts.

While Mike and friends were paintballing each other, Meri was up in Jersey making sure her gimp of a sister was taking it easy after knee surgery and visiting w/ Hud and her new baby Maeve. Meri's attempt to keep Mandy on the couch was an abysmal failure, that woman doesn't know how to sit still.

So instead of vegging on the couch Many hobbled along to go visit the newest addition to the buddy clan, Maeve Colleen Donovan. Maeve was born on Election Day so we caught her in all of her cheeky glory on Day #4. Mom, Dad, Maeve, Moe and Lili are all doing great.

In a shocking departure from her type-A addiction to work, Meri decided to take a day off and spent Monday relaxing at Mom and Dad's house with Bodhi, Indy, and Tootsie. The Stelling/Lettieri/Manella crew made quite a stir in the WB by taking a 3 person, 1 toddler, 2 dog walk around the neighborhood. Good times.

The Past 4 Months or So...

Yeah, yeah, we know we haven't updated the blog since July. Now in a bold attempt we'll try and get everyone caught up on everything that has happened since our last post.

Teddy Olsen was born.

Meri turned 31.

Bodhi turned two.

We finally started telling people that we're pregnant.

Mike turned 33.

We went to San Diego for vacay.

Hud and Maeve had a shower.

Stelltoid went to see NKOTB in AC w/ Hud, Abbey, and F'n Newbs.

Norm turned 40.

We celebrated Janel's 30th.

We got all dressed up for the Lone Sailor Awards with Brandon and Elizabeth. (Note baby bump making a black tie appearance.)

We found out it's a girl!!!

Meri headed to the OBX for a mini-vacay with the Stelling/Lettieri clan.

Chris and Rosie got married.

We celebrated our first anniversary.

We ate Nepali food to send Annie, Ben, and Maxine off to Ethiopia.

See, really not that much has happened since we last reported. We'll try to do better.

Reunited and it feels so good!

In early July we were lucky enough to have some great friends come into town.

Over 4th of July weekend, Paul and Sergio stopped in for some rainy BBQ and Rock Band action before they headed off to New York. Unfortunately, our camera hadn't arrived yet so there are no pictures from that weekend, boo.

The week after, Amanda and Tyler were back on the East Coast just for a few days from Seattle for a friend's wedding. We caught up with them for happy hour at The Big Hunt.

As luck would have it our old neighbors from Oaxaca (Ben, Nohemi, and their daughter Emilia, who are now back in Michigan) were also in town. Ben also met us out for a few drinks. Mom and baby stayed home, not sure why...the Big Hunt is a family place, isn't it?

By the end of the night our table was a great mix of grad school, Peace Corps, old roomies, and Oaxaca friends. Good times.

Before the Smith's headed back to Michigan, we were able to steal the whole family for a few more hours for a lovely brunch at Nathan's in G'town. BTW, great brunch for a reasonable price there. Gotta love the little basket of mixed muffins.

We were amazed at how much Emilia had grown since we had last seen her in April. Newest trick in her repertoire is the old stick the tongue out and blow to make farting noises trick. I'm pretty sure Ben taught her that and not Nohemi!

Even though we didn't get to spend nearly as much time with everybody as we would have liked it was still great.

Here's to more visitors!!!!

Cruisin for a bruisin

I know, I know it's been forever since we've updated the blog. Life has been crazy since I returned from Mexico on May 8th and we're only now settling back into life in DC.

May 11th we set sail on a cruise to Bermuda with Mom, Dad, Mandy, Brian, and Bodhi. This had been planned for a while and the timing worked out perfectly.

We got off to a bit of a rough start as a woman fell off our boat and drowned the first night of the cruise. I know such DRAMA! There's a bunch of articles online if you google it, but here's one just to give you the basic story...

Despite the woman overboard, the rough seas, and pretty iffy weather we had a great time...nothing that can't be fixed by a few dramamine and lots of Dark and Stormies!

Unfortunately I didn't any super photos from this trip but here's a few to give you the gist! Apologies in advance to Mom and Brian as I didn't have any pictures of them, boo.
This was taken about 5 minutes before they gave the man overboard announcement, threw on the brakes and turned our ship around.
Das Boot.

When in Bermuda, do as the Onions do...

Lettieri family encampment at the beach.

From Full House to Empty Nest

That title just rolled off the keyboard and then I realized that I was pulling in two sitcoms titles...oh well the title stays.

My parents finally arrived in Oaxaca around 10:30 pm on April 2nd after a truly hellacious day of air travel. I offered them very little rest and promptly shipped them off on a 10 hour tour of Mitla, a mescal factory, Teotitlan del Valle, and Hierve del Agua (see our previous post on this location).

April 3rd Mom Manella arrived fresh as a daisy after smooth sailing on her flights. She may be the only person that has flown US carriers in the past few months that didn't have any problems to report and arrived at her destination on time.

Mom M also got no rest because I packed all of the 'rents in the car for the 5 hour car journey to meet up with Mike at the beach. Thanks to some dramamine everyone survived the trip through the mountains sans vomiting. Our timing was perfect as Mike arrived at the hotel about 20 minutes after us. He was flying in after his week long orientation in Decatur with ADM.

We stayed in cabanas on Playa Zicatela and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Saturday we put in a full day at the beach and then Sunday we went out with Jesus in search of dolphins and sea turtles. We even did a bit of humanitarian work by helping take a barnacle off the nose of a sea turtle that Jesus grabbed out of the water. I guess our guide grabbing the turtle out of the water wasn't the most humanitarian thing, but what can I say other than VIVA MEXICO! We were all a little leary when the lancha seemed to be heading away from shore for what seemed like way too long, but it was all worth it. The dolphins put on an amazing show for us jumping out of the water and racing at the bow of the boat. It was really incredible. As for the turtles, they were everywhere! Every place you looked there was another turtle shell poking out of the water.

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end and I had to get back to work. So Monday we headed home via San Bartolo de Coyotepec where a few beautiful pieces of the town's famous black pottery were purchased. Then it was off to Los Danzantes for a delicious dinner with the most delicious dessert I have ever had....Los Danzantes chocolate souflee. If you ever come to Oaxaca and don't eat this dessert you are doing yourself a real injustice. It's worth every calorie, trust me on this.

Tuesday Mike took the reins as tour guide and brought the parents downtown to see the Cathedral and do some more shopping. I unfortunately had to go to work, blech. Then it was time for the Stellings to take off and before I knew it Mike, Mom M and Tootsie were packed to the gills in the car and were heading for the border.

It was a great week. Having everyone here and staying with us was really a lot of fun, but man sending every one off was pretty depressing. Luckily I have had a few coworkers (Lili, Brian, and Carlos) in town to keep me entertained.

Mike, Mom M, and Tootsie made it back to the States only having to bribe one cop in Mexico City. I'll leave that story for Mike to tell!

Semana Santa and beyond...

We have admittedly been slacking off on the blog. I guess it was inevitable.
I'm sure a lot more has happened since the last post, but all I can remember at the moment is...

Semana Santa - Mike, Ben and I got ourselves a great spot to watch the Silent Procession (doesn't really translate). The procession occurs on Good Friday every year and thousands of people turn out to watch. Even if you aren't a deeply religious person, the event is quite impressive and you can't help but get caught up in the emotion of the season at least a little bit. Unfortunately the procession started right as the sun totally disappeared and our pictures only came out so-so. If you are interested in seeing more, let Meri know because there are more shots on Snapfish.

Mike found a Star Wars store - This actually happened a while ago, but he finally got the nerve to not only go in but also bring his camera to take pictures of all of the memorabilia.

Our good friends Ben & Nohemi left - They finally had enough of everyone wanting to touch their adorable baby and went back to Michigan, brrr. Ben's departure left a gaping wound in Mike's heart. Even the faux lucha libre fight wasn't enough to keep Mike's spirits up after Ben left. Mike will always have his Blue Devil mask to remember the good ole' days.














We went to our first Guerreros game - Overall, pretty disappointing. We got there in the 5th inning and left at the end of the 7th. Baseball can be admittedly be slow at times, but this was ridiculous. Even the weird birdlike mascot and cheerleaders couldn't keep us interested. Probably the most interesting part was stumbling on some sort of pimped out ride gathering on the street behind the stadium.

Mike left for Decatur - Boo. Luckily he'll be back on Friday to spend a few days at the beach with my folks and his mom then he's off for good.

The next post should be chock full of family fun. Norm and Aud are should arrive today (actually they were supposed to arrive 3.5 hours ago but are still in Mexico City thanks to United) and Joella will be here tomorrow (Lord willing!) I won't start my rant on the airlines, I will just leave you with Mr. and Mrs. Salchicha.

Naked ladies, an egg cure, and other Mexican curiosities

It's been a busy couple of days down here for us in Mexico. As Mike is getting ready to depart (boo!), getting our tourist to-do list complete has become all the more urgent. Our progress had been slowed a bit by a terrible stomach bug (parasite, bacteria, who knows) that attacked Mike pretty ferociously on Thursday night. He was laid up all day Friday and Saturday. Saturday afternoon, we decided it was time to call in the big guns...the egg cure. We had learned from our friends Ben and Nohemi that many locals (including Nohemi when Emilia is sick) will rub an egg on the patient. The egg is supposed to absorb all of the bad energy and help to cure the illness. We gave it a shot and well we aren't sure if it was the egg or not, but Sunday Mike was feeling like a champ.

To take advantage of Mike's wellness, we set out on one of the most jammed packed days in Mexican tourism history....

7 - 8:15 am - Palm Sunday mass at Santo Domingo church.

8:15 - 8:30 am - Joined Palm Sunday procession. We walked w/ the procession only a few blocks until hunger took over and we ducked into a restaurant.

8:30 - 9:15am - Breakfast at Restaurant Mayordomo.

9:15am - 9:45 am - Drive to Atzompla. The trip wasvery interesting near the Centro de Abastos when in the midst of the crazy bus/taxi traffic we saw a completely naked ~45 year old Mexican woman crossing the street. Very odd, but apparently after talking to Ben and his sister-in-law Edith last night we learned there are quite a few "mentalists" (that's what Ben calls crazy people) that wander around Oaxaca naked. Edith also informed us that the state gov'ts of Chiapas and Puebla drop off their mentalists on the streets of Oaxaca so they don't have to deal with them. Sounds like another crazy Mexican conspiracy theory to me...

9:45 - 10:10am - Browse the Mercado de Artesanias in Atzompla. We went to this town to buy pottery and left empty-handed. The green pottery there is beautiful and very inexpensive, but after the wedding windfall that we enjoyed in fall 2007, we really couldn't find anything we needed. Don't let this stop you from going, because the pottery is beautiful and I'm pretty sure that almost anyone else in the world would have bought something there!

10:10am - 1:00pm - Drive to and visit of Monte Alban. While Monte Alban doesn't get the fame of say Tikal, Chichen Itza, or Machu Picchu... these are beautiful ruins. This was my 3rd time visiting them, but I still saw a few things I hadn't seen before thanks to Mike's desire to see every square inch of the site and a really nice runner we met somewhere near tomb 104. This man who incidentally is a marathon runner from Xoxocotlan showed us one Priest's tomb that I had missed on my previous two visits. This guy runs up to Monte Alban everyday (11 km each way) and it is definitely uphill in a major way to stay in shape for races. Anyway, thanks mystery runner man for showing us the tomb! Our pictures don't really do the site justice, but we try. Side note to anyone who is planning on visiting...in my opinion this is one of the sunniest/hottest places in Oaxaca. Hats, sunblock, and water are a must!

1:00 - 2:30 pm - Drive to Arrazola to buy some alebrijes. We had a bit more shopping success in Arrazola. This town is famous for the painted wooden creatures they sell. These are kind of trippy, acid-flash back kinds of creatures painted in wild colors. For example, it wouldn't be unusual to see a pink/purple/green giraffe with wings and fangs. We picked up a very cool lizard for us, I got a small hummingbird, and our lucky sis Tami scored something sweet for her bday. (Sorry Tami you'll have to wait to find out what it is).

2:30 - 6:15pm - Drive to the mall/supermarket. We are still on our endless search for Ricotta cheese to make lasagna, but came up short yet again at the big supermarket at the mall. What gives? Looks like we'll just have to go with the bechamel sauce, sigh. Popped in a few stores at the mall but bought nothing. Went and saw Vantage Point (it's a rental, don't waste your dinero) and finally headed home to rest. Or so we thought.

6:15-6:45pm - Short rest, shower and change to head downtown to meet Ben for some drinks.

6:45 - 10:00pm - Met up with Ben at one of our favorite watering holes for a few drinks. This is the first time I have ever been in a bar with a guy that was carrying around diapers to bring home for his 4 month old. Please note, that the photo provided, is slightly staged. Yes there were beers, cigarettes, peanuts, and diapers around Ben but we did pose him for this shot.

We finally got home around 10:30 and collapsed. We definitely felt like we accomplished a lot but there's still a lot to be done before we head back north of the border.

Before and After

Thanks to everyone who expressed their concern about Mike's hair growth.

Thanks largely to corporate America and the fact that Mike got a job with a company based in the middle of nowhere Illinois, as of last night the mullet and stache are gone.

While I'm thankful for many things in my life, at the moment I'm most thankful that this scruffy phase of Mike's life is over. Let's hope there is no relapse.

Our First Quinceanera

Okay it wasn't our quinceanera, but it was the first one that either one of us has ever been to. Alexandra the daughter of Rafael Ramos, who works on my project, celebrated her 15th bday in style and we were lucky enough to pick up an invitation.

To be honest I'm a bit disappointed in the pictures because they don't do the celebration justice. First of all she looked GORGEOUS. Second of all there were many funny events that went unrecorded. Por ejemplo...Mike awkwardly dancing with the bday girl, the baile del valle where they chuck candy around at everyone and knocked my drink over, the panuelo dance where I waltzed around shaking a hanky like I knew what I was doing, etc.

I can't remember all of the different parts of the celebration but there was definitely a mass, a waltz, presentation of flowers, some doll presentation thing, a waltz familiar where poor Alexandra had to dance with every male family member in attendance, cake, lots of little Coronas, plenty of mescal to go around, and delicious mole (again mol-ay the sauce not the rodent).

It was a wonderful event and we are so happy that we were able to attend. Not the typical cultural experience that every tourist gets in Oaxaca, but it was definitely a truly Mexican celebration and we had a blast.