A few RecentsPosted by Rachel on August 7th, 2009
Just thought I’d share a few photos from the past few weeks.
The Capezzas
Rick and Rachel Capezza live and love in Spokane, WA. They are parents of Kyrie Eleison, Antonio Giovanni, and Epiphany Joy.
Our Trip to FloridaPosted by Rachel on June 22nd, 2009
It has been embarrassingly long since I’ve updated the ol’ blog. Facebook is to blame, I’m afraid. But I’ll try to do better in the future.
We recently took a trip to Florida and had a wonderful time. Rick has been attending Robbert E. Webber’s Institute for Worship Studies in Orange Park, FL for the past 3 years, spending the past year working on his doctoral thesis, and finishing it up last winter, earning the title of Dr. Capezza. The official graduation ceremony was 8 days ago in Florida, so we decided to plan a family vacation around that time so we could kill two birds with one stone.
We arrived on Wednesday, June 10th, in time for the convocation. The worship was beautiful, and the enthusiasm and love for God was felt in everyone around me as we sang our praises to God without reserve or hesitation. After the service, we drove down to Daytona Beach, where we’d spend the next three days soaking up sun, splashing in the waves, building sandcastles, and relaxing in the pool. We had an oceanfront hotel, which was really just perfect for us. We were able to spend lots of time on the beach, which is mostly what I wanted to do. The kids absolutely loved the pool, and were very brave and confident in the water. Antonio was too afraid of the waves at the beach to get near the water, but liked digging in the sand. Kyrie was thrilled with the waves and also loved looking for pretty seashells along the shore.
On Saturday morning, we left Daytona and drove back into Jacksonville to pick up Rick’s mom from the airport. We spent some time at the mall until our hotel was ready for us to check-in. We had a nice evening at the home of the Creeches, the couple that hosted Rick every time he traveled to Florida for classes throughout his schooling.
The next morning we attended a Russian Orthodox Church in the area. I would have probably enjoyed it more if Antonio hadn’t decided to be a screamer that day. The singing was beautiful. There are definitely aspects of Orthodox worship that I would love to see recovered in Western liturgy. There were other things about the service that I didn’t find particularly appealing, but overall I thought it was a lovely service.
We had to kill some time before the graduation, so we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese’s to get some energy out (the beach wasn’t an option because we had already checked out of our hotel and didn’t want to come to the ceremony all sandy and salty). They had fun, and to our surprise, we killed all the time we needed and were ready to head over to the church. Rick went to rehearsal and Rick’s mom and I spent some time with the kids in the nursery. I also had the chance to take a few pictures of Rick before the ceremony.
The ceremony was great. Some of the music was a little weird for my taste, but some of it was just beautiful. And the people sang with all their hearts, so the sanctuary was filled with noises of praise to God. After taking lots of pictures following the ceremony (visible on facebook if you’re my friend), we headed to Palm Coast, where we’d spend the remainder of our vacation in a 2-bedroom condo along with Rick’s mom.
It was really cute, spacious, and relaxing. The pool there was huge, and we made sure to get plenty of use out of it. We also managed to make it to the beach, although sadly, the beach there wasn’t as nice as Daytona beach. We had lots of fun anyway, though.
On Wednesday morning, we packed up and headed back to Jacksonville. No trip to the South is complete without a visit to the Cracker Barrel, so that was where we ate lunch. Soon after, we dropped Rick’s mom off at the airport, and then went to a few stores to kill some time before our flight. It was beastly hot, so we found a Chick-fil-A with an indoor play place and let the kids get some energy out before the long flight home. We stayed there until it was time to get to the airport, return the rental car, and check-in for our flight. Other than the long, 4 hour flight in the middle, it was all relatively smooth travel on the way back. Our vacation was just what we needed, but it was really good to be home.
How I’ve been occupying my timePosted by Rachel on March 11th, 2009
It’s been FREEZING for March here in Spokane. We’ve set a couple new records for coldest lows and highs the past couple days. So, when it’s too chilly to enjoy the outdoors, I’ve been crafty in the house!
I made a fitted diaper for Antonio, which is super cute, but sadly needs a cover if I don’t want him to leak onto something like the furniture. I think I am going to wait until I have some PUL (waterproof fabric) before I use up the rest of this material, and then make an AIO (all-in-one) diaper next time. That way, I won’t have to cover up the cute fabric! Still, I love how this turned out.
Then, I made a dress for Kyrie, using my own pattern. She loves it, and I’m pretty happy with the results, although there were a couple things I wished I’d done just a bit differently.
Cute Capezza KidsPosted by Rachel on March 4th, 2009
LucyPosted by Rachel on January 2nd, 2009
When I was little, I had a homemade rag doll named Cindy. With yarn for hair and button eyes, she was my favorite little doll-friend. This year, my mom made a rag doll for Kyrie. Her name is Lucy. Isn’t she cute?
Some Snow PicturesPosted by Rachel on January 2nd, 2009
Some of you may have already seen these on Facebook, but for the rest of you, here are a few snapshots of the snow we’ve gotten this year. It’s really beautiful, if crazy and ridiculous and INSANE. Of course, every picture I post isn’t the up-to-date depiction, since we keep getting more. But you get the picture.
Antonio’s First HaircutPosted by Rachel on December 29th, 2008
Before:
After:
(Dude, what just happened?)
(Papa is trying to put some finishing touches on it)
Antonio’s Birthday PhotosPosted by Rachel on December 17th, 2008
Antonio had a great day on his birthday last week, despite an icky cold. We had the fam over to help us celebrate his first birthday.
Favorite Pictures from 2008Posted by Rachel on December 15th, 2008
I’ve been organizing some of my photos on the computer today and I have really enjoyed remembering all the great moments we’ve had this year. 2008 has been a crazy, wonderful year for us, full of changes. Here are some of my favorite snapshots from this past year.
1. January:
I love this photo. It’s one of the first ones I took of both of my kids where they were both smiling at the camera. There’s something so playful and fun about it, and I just feel so blessed to have these little ones in my life.
2. February:
Okay, not surprisingly, another shot of my two kids. This is one of the first ones I took with my new camera, when I was still figuring out settings and such.
3. March:
Need I say anything? The sheer cuteness is reason enough to love this snapshot.
4. April:
This is Kyrie sitting on the grass as we watched a water-skiing performance at ULM. It was a warm and beautiful day.
5. May:
Yep, this is the first one that isn’t one of my children. We took a day trip to Seattle in May so that I could meet two of my online friends. We went to the Aquarium earlier in the day.
6. June:
Kyrie swinging at Auntie Bekah’s house. Yes, in her underwear.
7. July:
Antonio spent much of the summer in nothing but a diaper.
8. August:
We ate lots of delicious fresh vegetables and fruits from my mom’s garden. Kyrie is enjoying a freshly picked carrot.
9. September:
She’s such a darling.
10. October:
We went to the Arboretum and had tons of fun in a huge pile of leaves.
11. November:
This is Antonio watching the first snow of the season, on Thanksgiving Day.
12. December:
I only have two photos from December uploaded onto the computer. This is the best of those two. I need to upload more. But I still like this one.