Visit with Rodolfo and Cristi

We were so honored to have our new friends, Rodolfo and Cristi Olesio stay with us again this weekend. They are from the Philippines, and came over to the United States in February to share what they are trying to do in their country (share the gospel, build new schools/churches, and raise support for the people in need over there). For those of you who gave clothing to us for them, they REALLY appreciated it, and said they felt so blessed. Thank you.

We were able to hang out a little more with them this time. They shared their video and spoke a little at our church this Sunday, helped us put our Christmas tree up, joined us for our weekly "family night", and played bingo and some wii with us.

They will be heading back to the Philippines next month sometime, so we don't know when we will get to see them again, but will most certainly be in touch with them via e-mail, and hopefully one day be able to go over there to see them and their family!

Thanksgiving in New Hampshire

We try to go to New Hampshire every other year for Thanksgiving. Marty's mom, Mary, and his oldest sister, Marinell (and her family) live up there. This was our year to go again. Although we didn't see any snow this time, we still had fun hanging out with everyone. The kids loved staying/playing with their cousins, Anna, Alice, Seth, Joel, and Ian (a BIG THANKS to Bob and Marinell for keeping/entertaining them).

Some highlights of our trip:

1. Not making our connecting flight in DC, so having to stay in the DC airport for 5 hours until the next flight, then finally arriving in NH at midnight to find out 2 of our 3 bags were MIA.

2. Starting off with the plan to drive just 40 minutes to a movie theatre to see a movie...but getting lost on the way, (drove almost to Boston), then ending up at a McDonald's in Nashua that happened to be hosting a "kids night", so got to experience "Farmer Fred" and his animals. As Hunter would say, "UNEXPECTED".

3. Drawing/painting on Anna's bedroom walls.

4. Having the thanksgiving meal at Mary's church = no dishes to be washed!

5. Glorious, cool weather to run in (even though the hills were a killer!)

We had a great time. Looking forward to the next trip up there. :)

We love you.

Grace is playing basketball!

Grace had her 1st basketball game this past Saturday. She's playing on the "UPWARDS" basketball league (their team is call the WILDCATS) at a local church here in town. It was so much fun watching her play. She is growing up so fast!

GO GRACE! We love you, and are so proud of you.

Our quick trip to DC

Marty had to go to DC for a deposition, so I decided to tag along so I could visit my cousin, Helen, her husband, Matt, and their 6 kids. My mom (and Amber & Nate) stayed home and watched Hunter and Grace for us so we could go off on our own. (THANKS MOM, AMBER & NATE!) It was a great visit....we had so much fun hanging out with them! Thanks, Lowe's for letting us come hang with you for a few days! We love you all! :) You are always so encouraging and uplifting. Hope to see ya again before another 3 years!

1st day of school

It's hard to believe my babies are now 2nd and 4th graders!!! WOW....where does the time go? Here is a picture if them standing outside their school this morning...on the 1st day of school. Hunter really didn't want us to walk him to class this morning...said we embarrass him sometimes. What's up with that???!! It's starting already??? But I told him all parents walk their kids to class on the 1st day, so he'll just have to deal with it. :) I told him we would try our best not to do or say anything that would embarrass him though.

The Disney Cruise!!!

The 4 of us went on a 3-night Disney Cruise with Melannie (Marty's younger sister), Carlos (her husband), Alayna (their 11-month old daughter), and Mary (Marty's mom) this past week. It was the kids and my 1st time on a cruise. I must admit, I had mixed emotions about going at first (nervous, scared, and excited all in one), but once we got on, and the ship started moving, I realized all would be okay...and it was!! We had a great time, and no one got sea sick! The cruise took us to Nassau 1st, and then to Castaway Cay (Disney's own private island). While on Castaway Cay, we got to swim with and feed stingrays, and snorkel in the ocean. We had a room with a veranda, so we were able to stand/sit out there and enjoy the view of the ocean as we sailed....so relaxing/peaceful!! My only regret....that we didn't go for the full 7-day cruise! :)

The Summerville's Visit

Every since they moved back to Ohio (we're trying to get them to move back here all the time) our friends, the Summerville's, come to visit us every year. We had another great visit with them this past week. Their kids (Kayla and Camden) get along great with our kids. We are so blessed to have such a great friendship/bond with this family. You don't find that kind of friendship very often---where both the men and women actually "like" each other, and enjoy hanging out with one another. :) I pray we will always be close, and never take for granted what we have with each other.

We also had a small get together with old friends/family from our last church on Friday night...and even got to watch some more fireworks in our front yard (thanks to Bill and Lonnie)!!!

Nail/Hair Salon

Ang and kids came up last week for a visit. The girls "changed" Grace's bedroom into a hair/nail salon one afternoon. They did our feet, nails, and hair. Here are some pictures of their salon. :)

4th of July

OK, so every year (for the past 4 years now), we have a "Fitzpatrick/Parizek 4th of July party" here at our house! Even thought it's SUPER DUPER HOT outside, we seem to always have fun. Bill Parizek is in charge of the fireworks, and man...does he put on a show (this year's was the best so far!!). We have a cook-out, and every family brings some kind of side/dessert dish. The bonzai slide is put up for the kids, and now that we have the pool...well, that's even more fun (even though the pool temp has been like 94 degrees and feels like bath water). We are so blessed to have such great family and friends, and are honored to have this party at our house every year. We are looking forward to next years already! If you're in town on the 4th next year, stop on by! :)

Grace looses another tooth

OK, she now has her top 2 teeth out! So cute. :)

Martin A. Fitzpatrick, Attorney

Allow me to brag a bit on my husband.
He was named one of "Florida's 2009 Legal Elite". There were only 918 out of 63,000 people chosen for this. GO MARTY! We love you, and are so proud of you! Thank you for being an awesome husband and dad. Here is the article....

How the Legal Elite Are Chosen

Balloting for this year’s list began last October when Florida Trend invited in-state members of the Florida Bar to participate. Announcements in The Florida Bar Journal and The Florida Bar News publicized the ballot deadline and voting guidelines. We also notified last year’s Legal Elite, the lawyers who participated in last year’s balloting, the top contact at 148 law firms, local bar associations and Florida members of the Association of Corporate Counsel by postcard and e-mail that balloting had begun.
Lawyers were asked to name attorneys they hold in the highest regard or would recommend to others.
The ballots were processed, checked and tabulated by Bradenton-based Outsource America and Suncoast Opinion Surveys in St. Petersburg.
Each lawyer was given a score based on the number of votes he or she received and whether the votes came from within their firm (one point) or outside their firm (three points). Only lawyers who are currently licensed and practicing in Florida were considered eligible. Attorneys were also invited to submit names of lawyers for recognition in a separate Goverment Attorney category.
The list of top vote-getters was further examined using membership status and practice histories provided by the Florida Bar. A panel of previous Legal Elite winners, representing a variety of practice areas in cities across the state, reviewed the selection process and the list of finalists.
This year’s list of 918 Legal Elite attorneys represents less than 2% of the nearly 63,000 Florida Bar members practicing in Florida.

Fitzpatrick, Martin Andrew • Broad and Cassel • Tallahassee • Commercial Litigation

WILD ADVENTURES!

We decided to go to Wild Adventures in Valdosta, GA today (our 1st time). It was a beautiful day...great weather. We had a good time...just the 4 of us hanging out as a family. Loved it.

Summer fun----already!!!

Well, today was the 1st day of summer break for the kids. We have been blessed to have a wonderful sitter for Hunter and Grace on the days I have to work. Christi came today, and went over and beyond with the kids. She took them to Michael's (to buy "craft" supplies), then to Chick-fil-A for lunch, then came back home and helped them make (sew) their own "Perry the Platypus" animal. (For those of you who don't know what I am talking about..."Perry the Platypus" is a character on a Disney cartoon they watch). Needless to say, the kids are thrilled, and have been playing with their "inaction figures" all afternoon. Thanks, Christi for being a fun sitter!!! The kids love you! ***Check out their videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIT-3yyOqgo

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrHw7xNtCKU ***