Happy Holidays
Buone Feste
Boas Festas
We sincerely hope that 2019 was kind toyou and yours. Here is our year in summary.
Robbie flew out for a visit at the beginning of the year. His Robbie flew out for a visit at the beginning of the year. His Nonna had not been feeling well and he hadn’t seen her in some time so he thought it would be a good time to come out and spend some time here. She really appreciated seeing her grandson. While he was here he was able to go with Felicity (she knows him as Uncle Bubba) to Happy Hollow in San Jose and ride the kiddie roller coaster among other things. They had a wonderful time.Nonna had not been feeling well and he hadn’t seen her in some time so he thought it would be a good time to come out and spend some time here. She really appreciated seeing her grandson. While he was here he was able to go with Felicity (she knows him as Uncle Bubba) to Happy Hollow in San Jose and ride the kiddie roller coaster among other things. They had a wonderful time.
Paul’s cousin Renato came to the Bay Area from Brazil for a business seminar held at Stanford University in late January so we were able to spend a day with him catching up. Paul picked him up in San Francisco where he was staying down by the wharf and brought him to see Lala first for a very pleasant surprise. After their visit Paul brought him here for a family reunion at our home.
In February we flew down to Disneyland and visited the Magic Kingdom with Amanda and her family. Felicity and Hunter had a great time. Felicity got all made up as a princess and stood out during one of the parades where a Disney Princess in the parade picked her out and voiced “you’re beautiful.” Hunter enjoyed riding the Dumbo ride among others as he got his first real taste of what Disneyland is all about.
In early March Robbie returned with his family in tow. They were able to come out for the yearly Folena holiday lunch sponsored by Paul’s cousins here in the Bay Area. The 2018 holiday lunch was pushed out to March of 2019 because of numerous schedule conflicts so Robbie and his family were able to attend at Maggiano’s in Santana Row. It was very nice for them to see all of the Folena clan together even though it was for a short time.
Toward the end of March Amanda directed the play Cinderella at Mitty High School. With all the Mitty productions Justin is the technical director and works with Amanda to put on the shows. It was very well received and very successful. Justin’s mom Holly was able to come out and see the show as well.
In the spring I decided to get involved with voter registration issues when I found out that many people across the nation were purged from voter registries without their knowledge or consent. This made me take some action and participate in the Get Out & Vote postcard writing campaign whereby personalized postcards were mailed out to many of these folks informing them to make sure they were registered to vote in their districts and if not, re-register.
In May we celebrated Felicity’s 5th birthday. She turned 5 on May 13th but we had an actual birthday party for her at our house later on June 1st because of all the busy schedules and conflicts finishing out the school year. The theme was Disney Princesses as she was dressed appropriately. She loves to put on a show for us and has a great imagination as she directs us in joining in her stories – participation is non-negotiable.
In July we went to visit Robbie in his new home in Greenwood Village, suburb of Denver. Jordan is like a little Energizer Bunny in real life – he runs everywhere, no walking allowed. At the time we visited he was into Toy Story and all the characters especially Buzz Lightyear. He has a great imagination also. We were able to see Jordan take his starting swimming lessons. Gives him a good workout to get all that energy out.
Felicity made her stage debut in early August as an ensemble member for Shoolhouse Rock. The show was produced by the Starting Arts company in San Jose for 5-12 year olds. As one could guess she really enjoyed the experience and was very comfortable performing. Looks like the apple’s not falling far from the tree.
In September we checked off a bucket list item as we took an overseas trip to Italy to visit among other things Paul’s Dad’s home village in Tuscany called Tereglio. It was something Paul has wanted to do his entire life and the experience was wonderful. We met a fellow in the town who remembered playing with Paul’s dad as kids. Being there and talking to the friendly folks and sampling their food made us realize that this had to be “home” for the Folenas. We also visited Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Lucca and Siena. We visited the marble quarries of Carrara and made fresh pasta at a winery. Fantastic trip.
Click HERE to view a web album of photos from our trip.
In September we celebrated Hunter’s 2nd birthday also at our house. His birthday theme was sports as the little guy really loves to play with every kind of ball. He is also taking beginning swimming lessons at the same place, Sutton Swim School, that Felicity goes to. He is a sweet little boy who has a knack for throwing and hitting balls. We think he’s a natural. Nonno looks forward to the day he can take Hunter to some ballgames.
In October Amanda directed and choreographed Mamma Mia at Mitty. Just like the spring production, Mamma Mia was very popular and successful. They had to add more shows to accommodate all the folks who wanted to see it.
Also in October Robbie came out to go to a 49ers football game with Paul. They saw the resurgent 49ers defeat the Cleveland Browns and everyone was happy.
We went to Denver during the Thanksgiving holiday to be with Robbie and his family. We found out that Desta had been recently made partner in her law firm of Holland & Hart – a fantastic accomplishment. We couldn’t be more proud. During our week there we helped serve food to the needy in one of Desta’s family’s McDonalds restaurants. We went to a Colorado Buffaloes football game and saw them beat the Washington Huskies for the first time in a long time. We spent 3 wonderful days at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Finally we celebrated Thanksgiving at Desta’s family’s home in Highlands Ranch. The Asfaws were great hosts as always and served wonderful food – Paul is very partial to the Ethiopian dishes. There was plenty of snow around and we actually made a miniature snowman with Jordan’s help. Very fun – but cold.
Christmas is upon us now as the year has flown by like always. This is the time of year where we tend to reflect on our blessings and family. Paul continues to work part time at Tiny Tots Diaper Service helping them out with their computerized delivery system. He enjoys his time there and doesn’t stress much anymore which is just fine with all of us. Amanda continues to direct and choreograph plus teach literature, endeavors that she loves and excels at. Needless to say she is super busy with all that she does while raising two great kids. Robbie is a director of sales for Centro, a digital advertising firm, and is constantly traveling. He is balancing a successful career with a wonderful family life. I’m still teaching NRP to medical professionals about 6-7 times a month and CPR to young parents about once a month. It also keeps me busy, but not so much as to give me any anxiety or angst. We are thankful.
Well that pretty much wraps up the Folena Family 2019 review. The Folenas want to wish you and your loved ones a fabulous holiday season full of joy and good cheer. Have a healthy, prosperous and jubilant New Year!
PHOTO GALLERY:
Click HERE to view a photo album from this year.
