Motorino

No it's not a quarter year life crisis, no I don't think we're crazy, no we don't live in Europe, but YES we did buy our own little motorino! Can we just say, "When in...{New York City}?"

With a little help from our scooter-riding friends in our ward, nice deals at the Vespa dealership {thank you, Leonard} and some logical reasoning {believe it or not there was some rationale to this purchase - i.e now we have a way to get out of crazy NYC in any event} we purchased a midnight blue Vespa LX150 and are loving every minute of it!!

- 25 minutes to get from Broadway and 107th to Prince and Mercer {for our out of state friends: from the top of Manhattan to the bottom}

- no stinky, smelly, dirty subway

- we get to see so many parts of the city that were lost as we traveled underground

- PARKING...anywhere!!

- playing chicken with taxis and giving high fives to people hailing a taxi {not really, but I want to}

- more time to hug Jonathan

- 10 minutes to church

- winks from male passersby {"You know, chicks, motorcycle..."}

Caramel Apples

Fall is certainly in the air, and we are loving it!! With this beautiful change in season comes one of my favorite Bond family traditions: caramel apples. This was my first time making these on my own without the help of my darling mother, but with her over-the-phone encouragement, a little creativity {chopsticks as sticks and parchment paper to wrap} and fantastic help from Jonathan, I think we can call our first run a success!!

Step 1: Wash apples, make homemade caramel and dip.

Step 2: When apples cool, dip in chocolate {we used dark chocolate and white milk chocolate}.

Step 3: Let sit for about 15 minutes and decorate {dark chocolate with pecans and, my favorite, white chocolate with cinnamon and sugar}.

Step 4: Wrap, give away, enjoy and thank mom {and helpers} over and over for making about 120 apples to serve at our wedding luncheon!

Ours weren't nearly as beautiful as these:

Happy 27th Birthday Jonathan!

We celebrated this cute boy's birthday on September 15th! He wasn't the most chipper that day as all he could say was, "I'm one year closer to 30..."

To lift his spirits and get him ready to face a wonderful year ahead, I decided to throw him a surprise birthday party that weekend. Thanks to my good friends Jill, Thomas and all who attended, we pulled off a fantastic SURPRISE with Jon not having even the slightest clue. Sadly we didn't get pictures of his face as he walked in the door, but I can promise you he was certainly surprised.

First Day of School Year 2

Just look at that determined face! Now that he has one year under his belt he's ready to face any challenge that comes his way. This year Jonathan teaches:

- 9th grade Integrated Health and Math

-10th grade Advisory

- 12th grade Senior Seminar: Engineering and Robotics

Homepage Fame

Just go to teachforamerica.org and scroll to the second picture. Yep, that's Jonathan Curtis!

Italia

Miss Marie is studying abroad in Siena this fall, so my family {Dad, Mom, Marie, Jonathan, Uncle Bill, Aunt Jackie and Cousin Dallin} immediately jumped at the opportunity to drop her off and tour the beautiful country for 11 days. My hubby is Italian at heart {his family lived in Padova from ages 15-19 while his parents served as mission presidents and went back for one year to do a study abroad / olympic volunteer work}. Naturally, due to his Italian ties, Jonathan was the driving force behind this trip planning our day-to-day schedule, coordinating transportation, suggesting hotels, speaking the angelic language and packing all of this information into a quite impressive itinerary!!

ROMA

We spent the first two days in Roma seeing all of its ancient history. It's incredible to see in real life old Italy really is! Every thing was all so magical to me as this was my very first time in Italy.

Highlights: watching Jamie eat real gelato for the first time {says Jonathan}, watching dad eat gelato {says Jamie}, the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's Moses and Pieta, the Colosseum.

St. Peter's Cathedral

Gelato!

The Colosseum

San Pietro in Vincoli {Michelangelo's Moses}

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

The Vatican Museum

St. Peter's Cathedral

The Pantheon

Joe-lato!

FIRENZE

Riding on the train from Rome to Florence was an adventure. Thanks to ferie, all of Italy was returning from their 2 week vacation leaving Jonathan, Marie, Dallin and I 1.5 hours of riding in a stairwell between the train cars. Luckily Florence is a gem, and definitely worth the uncomfortable ride.

Highlights: singing with the missionaries in Piazza della Republica, shopping in the Florentine Market, Ponte Vecchio, staying in beautiful apartments that overlook Piazza della Signoria, the Uffizi, Michelangelo's David at the Galleria dell'Accademia.

Santa Maria del Fiore

The Baptistery Doors by Ghiberti

Ponte Vecchio

VINCI, PISA

We picked up a 9 passenger van in Florence and made our way towards the countryside. Our end destination for day five was Lerici, but we made stops in Vinci to pay tribute to Leonardo and Pisa {it's a checklist item, right?}.

LERICI

Lerici is part of the Italian Riveria {across the bay from Cinque Terre} and is breathtaking!

Highlights: delicious seafood, relaxing on the beach.

MODENA / MARANELLO

On the way to Venice, we made a memorable stop in Modena. Ask the boys, and they will probably tell you that this was their favorite stop! Although it's a baby compared to the Vatican, I'm pretty sure we spent more time per square foot in this museum than we did in any other throughout this trip.

Highlights: the looks on Jon's and Dallin's face after driving a Ferrari for 15 minutes.

Dallin driving a Ferrari!

Jonathan's dream come true!

VERONA

Along the way to Venice, we stopped in Verona {Jon says that if he had to live anywhere in Italy, he would probably live here}. It's charming, quaint and beautiful.

PADOVA

This beautiful little city holds a special place in the Curtis' heart as this was the place they called home for three years while Lee and Jane served as mission presidents. Unfortunately this mission has now closed, and as a result they have also torn down the mission home. It was fun to stop by, tour Jon's old neighborhood and eat at one of his favorite pizzerias in all of Italy - Dove Come Quando.

VENEZIA

I loved Venice. I have bits and pieces of every stop that I absolutely loved, but Venice was my very favorite to photograph. Every turn around its windy streets was as incredibly picturesque. We also took a boat ride to a nearby island called Murano where they specialize in glass blowing.

SIENA

Marie will be studying in Siena this fall at the Dante School. Lucky girl...Siena is beautiful. We purchased beautiful hand-painted pottery, ate yummy Tuscan food and walked around the beautiful streets.

RADDA IN CHIANTI

Chianti is heavenly! It's a quaint town about 20 minutes outside of Siena in the Tuscan countryside. We stayed in an incredible villa that overlooked the breathtaking landscape that is filled with olive trees, vineyards and beautiful rolling hills.

Highlights: riding scooters, eating breakfast on a patio with a beautiful view, the villa!

Dad's Boat

Last summer my father became a different man. About one month after Jonathan and I moved far, far away he purchased a boat, and this purchase has completely changed his life.

My dad used to pick up my phone calls saying, "Hey Jamie, I'm on a call with some clients...can I call you back?" Now he picks up and I hear wind blowing in the background as he says, "Hey Jamie, we're out on the boat..." Sad, I know. We're missing out. I guess that's what we get for moving to the other end of the country.

4th of July weekend we joined in on the fun. I saw dad in his element with a big goofy grin, mom wakeboard and wakesurf like a pro (she puts anyone to shame), Marie glide across the water (she's good too!), Nick fearlessly jump the wake, Trevor sing "goofy goober" while riding on the kneeboard and Jonathan do a great job wakeboarding in choppy water.

Dad, we're officially converted.

Dad sure does loves his boat!

Mom is the best at trailing the boat! Even the guys trying to load up next to us were VERY impressed!

I can get up! I even got outside the wake but laughed so hard (I was surprised I did it) that I didn't stay up too long.

Nick, Jon and Trev.

This is one of his smaller jumps. Way to go Nick!

The cutest flag holder!

Trevor on the kneeboard is prime entertainment! He does tricks like no hands (demonstrated above), air guitar and jumping all while singing (we could hear him from the boat!).

I love my sister.

This is just about the cutest thing ever - Mom + Trevor wakesurfing!

I loved watching Jon try and change his body from snow skiing mode to wakeboarding mode. He did so well!!

Dad is a true wakesurfer! Although he still has to take it easy, he sure tears up the wake!

He is adorable.

Marie made this look too easy. Just ask Jon.