Nicola & Felicia - September 17, 2005

On September 17th Luigi and I attended the wedding of his (2nd) cousin Nicola to his beautiful bride Felicia. It was a fantastic day right from the mass till the newlyweds got in their limo at the end of the night. (Or should I say from breakfast till the midnight buffet. Italians sure know how to eat!)

Before the wedding ceremony, Nicola and his groomsmen had a photo shoot with their motorcycles. I think it was a pre-requisite for being in the wedding party!





This is Luigi and his Zia Battista – his dad’s sister.



Miguel, Luigi & Pietro outside of the church.



The reception was at one of the most beautiful country clubs I have ever seen. Newlands Golf & Country Club is in Langley, BC. The room was called “The Conservatory” and looked right out on the golf course. When it got dark white lights came on everywhere and with the candlelight, it was breathtaking.





Luigi and I outside on the patio.




This is Luigi’s cousin Maria and her daughter Elisa – didn’t they look beautiful?! After seeing them all dolled up Luigi started calling them “Carmela & Meadow”.



Pietro and Derek at the head table. Pietro was very concerned that there weren’t enough pictures of him being taken! Those tuxes were fantastic and matched the bridesmaids who were in strapless red evening gowns.



The ceremonial cutting of the cake. This wedding cake was honestly one of the best I’ve tasted. Even after 6 other courses of food there was still room for cake of course!




Not a very good picture but this is the couple’s first dance as husband and wife.



Mother and father of the groom, Luigi’s cousin Melina and her husband Frank. Don’t they look happy!



Thanks to everyone in Vancouver for making us feel so welcome (as usual) and showing us a good time. We hope to be back soon!

Labour Day Weekend

This past weekend in North Bay turned out to be a mini family reunion of sorts. It was great to see everyone (those of you who weren’t there were missed) and we had a lot of laughs as usual. Thanks (once again) to Jen & Bill for their hospitality – we had to spend most of our time indoors as it rained off and on all day. Notice how the men gathered around the bbq in spite of the rain.

















The guest of honor (so to speak) turned out to be Sparky the 23 year-old cat! She’s looking a little haggard but she’s (apparently) still sharp as a tack. Imagine the stories she would tell if she could speak…… She’s been around longer than some family members!




Happy back to school day!

P.S. I have to give credit where credit is due - some of these pictures as well as the on of Maia in the previous post - are courtsey of "Jesus Freak". You know who you are.

The "Veggies"

As many of you know, Luigi tends to give people nicknames. The perfect example is my sister Jen who has come to be known as Penne. He calls his sister Mia, his brother is Bollo and I’ve been Pie for quite a while now. He also insists on calling my mom just that "Bev's Mom".

This has been going on for quite some time as I realized over 7 years ago when introduced to his friends Piggy (Chris), Jimmy (Troy) and William (Andy). He is not gender biased either – Piggy’s better half is Puffy, Jimmy’s wife is Bonhomme, and William is married to Moe. Oh the confusion…… Despite being named Brennan, Jimmy and Bonhomme’s son will likely end up being known as “Jimmy Junior” or George (don’t ask) if Luigi has anything to do with it.

In a roundabout way this will help to explain the title of this blog. My cousin Mel (who along with her sister Heather are the “Veggies”), has been organic farming in Flamborough since 1997. Mel and her partner Alvaro have committed to farming and an overall organic way of life – very admirable. In addition to vegetables they have produced a beautiful daughter named Maia Clara (Baby Veggie???) who is pictured below. Really I just wanted a chance to show off Maia but I would also encourage you to check out Plan B Organic Farm’s web site, link posted to the right.