Ciao Italia!

Well, Brad and I just returned from an awesome vacation in Italy!  We decided to visit three different areas of Southern Italy: we flew into Rome, where we rented a car and drove to Cortona which is in the middle of Tuscany (you may remember Cortona, Italy as the main city in the movie "Under The Tuscan Sun").  While in Cortona, we took several day trips: one to Montalcino in the heart of the Brunello wine country and the other to Siena, Italy.  After some time in Cortona, we headed back south to the Amalfi coast where we stayed in Sorrento.  The highlight of being in Sorrento was our spur of the moment decision to rent a speed boat and travel around the island of Capri (just beautiful)!!  Finally, we ended our trip by driving back to Rome and spending the final leg of our time in Italy where we saw the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, The Vatican (Sistine Chapel and all), Pantheon and just about every Piazza in the city.  We feel truly blessed to have been able to take this trip and have posted all our pics in our photo gallery (see link to the right).  

Yard Renovation - After

Mother Nature tried to slow our renovation down with about 4 days of rain, but after it stopped the landscaper was able to get back out here and finish the job.  You can see that we actually did more than just lay sod.  There is new mulch in the beds, not to mention an entirely new flower bed in the side yard.  Mariam planted new flowers in the front.  We cut down three dead trees and replaced the last of the old sprinkler heads.  The new lawn is 100% fescue and should be green year 'round.  And now is the time when we water like crazy.  It has really transformed the yard.  We love being outside now and we have been getting a lot of compliments from our neighbors.  Here's to a summer spent outdoors!

Yard Renovation - Before

This year, after many attempts at getting grass to grow in our yard, we decided to go all out and hire some real landscape professionals to install sod, redo some flower beds, etc.  They first had to get the old yard out which they did by hand in some of the small areas.  For the big areas they had this rotating steel tooth studded ground pulverizer attached to a bobcat tractor. This thing worked like a charm and after some raking you can see there just dirt is left.  You can also see we put in a new flower bed in the side yard, the flowers are yet to come.  We are expecting mulch and grass in the next day, stay tuned for the final result!  Take that neighbors!!

Turks and Caicos Dive Trip

It's been a while since the Clark men got together for a dive trip/beach getaway.  Well this year we did it.  With the economy in the crapper, Dad came to the rescue with his own bailout package.  We headed out to Grace Bay on the island of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.  There is not an executive bonus that could match the fun had on this trip.  I came in from South Carolina via Charlotte, NC and met the other two members of our party who arrived from DFW via Miami.  Five days of alternating between lounging on the beach and diving were just what we needed.  I was kinda like we were college roommates since we made our own breakfast, lunch, and some dinners in our condo and came and went at our own pace.  We managed to fit in some snorkeling as we explored the island in a rental van.  Barry had the pleasure of sleeping on the fold out couch bed, which looked (and felt) more like a Schwinn bicycle that had been hit by a car.  Dad and I took the main bedroom where we fashioned a kind of bed "fence" out of pillows so our feet wouldn't accidently touch. . . that would be weird.  I managed to get some pretty good sleep despite the occasional territorial growl from the sleeping bear on the other side of the bed.  The diving was superb even though the water was a touch cold due to the time of year.  We got the chance to smoke some honest-to-God real Cuban cigars and they lived up to billing.  The most memorable part of the trip might have been the white knuckle suicide bike ride Barry and I made to the IGA grocery store a couple of miles from the hotel.  Cabs were too expensive so we hopped on the hotel bicycles to pick up some needed groceries.  After a one and a half hour roundtrip of dodging cars and cycling on a shoulder that was eerily similar to the surface of an asteroid we arrived back at the hotel with groceries intact.  Nevermind the bananas had been converted to pudding.  I can honestly say returning home was a sad affair for me.  I didn't want to part ways with Pops and Boza, nor did I want to leave our little bachelor pad.  I will always remember this vacation fondly.  Of course it would have been great to have the ladies be there, but sometimes it's fun when you can smoke a cigar and not have to drink the bottle of Listerine.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

This year was filled with many blessings for our family.  We were able to return to Texas for the holidays and visit with family and friends that we had not seen in awhile (Melia, Brian & Lindsay - it was great to see you all).  Below are a few pics - for more visit the Clark Photo Gallery to the bottom right.  We love you all and wish everyone a Happy New Year!

The Magic Tree in Flower Mound, TX - covered in thousands of LED lights.

Brad in his "Christmas sweater" with Barry and the guys on New Year's Eve in front of the bonfire.

The whole family on Christmas Day.  Brad and I out by the bonfire on New Year's Eve.

The Clarks Got A Laser Cat for Christmas...

               

  

If you have ever seen the Saturday Night Live short film entitled, "Laser Cats" - you have probably asked yourself who the star of the film might be?  Well, let us introduce you to Rhiannon (a.k.a Rhi Rhi the cat).  She is featured in a photo above with her owners, Tom and Cindy Clark - laser eyes and all....and yes, this is actually what happens when you take her picture!  We laughed pretty hard when we all saw this photo!!

Thanksgiving in Texas: Part II

Just wanted to share a photo of all of us from Thanksgiving (mind you, this was taken right after breakfast - thus, why some of us are still in our PJs).  Anyhow, check out the Clark Photo Gallery (down to the right) for a look at all our Thanksgiving photos.