who knew my dad was such a poet?

this was sent to patty who is currently on a mission. who knew guato was this good of a poet?

(Repeat as often as necessary to remember why you left on a Mission)

A Lamanite Lymerick

There once was a Mia Maid named Bub

Who filed her small toe to a nub

Cananites always Rap

"________" she did slap (name omitted for privacy)

Sasquatch really loves "Circus Crap"

When she left she needed a big hankee

Because waiting at home was her blankee

Pechanga was scared

The Bubster was prepared

I love Joseph Smith! she'd declared

To Brazil comes Bub, "The Thong Fightin Sister"

Because wearing them can cause "a big awful blister"

Evil Doers will run

Because she looks like a Nun

Portuguese is a real "Tongue Twister"

Her family is minus the second child born

Her Mom, her Dad, her family is torn,

Why the Bubster did leave, and cause them to mourn

But waiting they will, and the Devil will burn,

The greatest Missionary ever,

Soon will return!

Written by the Quorum of 9.5

(carried to the nearest decimal point)

just another day at williams-sonoma

who knew that i lived in a town where you could see two celebs in one day. i sure didn't.

i saw 'the power of love' crooner (he also sings 'cruisin' with gweneth paltrow)

huey lewis

and...

#30 terrell davis. former rb for denver broncos.

(nicest/most handsome guy ever)

he even signed a ws gift card (lol).

this is what you do when you need a break from studying

and the other one . . .

patty's bom viagem party

before patty left for her mission, our family wanted to throw her a 'bom viagem' party or a going away party in portuguese. we were able to have her party at the castle, a previous b & b in wine country.

patty. sister borcherds. keith.

sister borcherds has to be the sweetest most courageous woman i've met in a long time. she went through the most horrific event of her life, but she still continues to carry on and put a smile on her face. she was so gracious enough to let us use her home with such short notice. she also has the cutest accent (she's south african).

dad and some of the kiddies

some of the desserts.

i ordered 4 different kinds of cupcakes from a local bakery that i heard was outstanding.

well, they seriously didn't disappoint because they were AMAZING.

we had red velvet, carrot cake, boston cream pie, and strawberry shortcake

my g-ma also brought beautiful edible arrangements that were so delicious! they added the perfect touch to the table.

and onto the cake. . .

this cake was a.maz.ing. i am not a cake lover, but this was definitely worth every penny and mile driven. the bakery, flour power bakery, was all the way in el cajon which is really far from my house. the cake is a soft white cake with bavarian cream and a thin layer of raspberry and lemon. the frosting was whipped cream with shaved white chocolate. i had them put the brazilian flag on top and have it say "boa viagem irma ricchio!" or "good journey sister ricchio!"

2 of the kiddies eating le lasagne. for the food we had two large lasagne trays, sandwiches, pasta salads, antipasti trays, and salads.

the bar

we had to add the brazilian flag

she'd kill me if she knew i was posting this

we all miss her already and it's been a whopping 2 days.

when she quit her job, one of the gifts that she received was an amazing ipod touch

well, as a missionary, you can't bring something like that on your mission.

sooo....someone has to inherit it right? yep, that would be me.

i was trying to figure out how to work it when i stumbled upon this video.

now, most of you will think she is completely retarded. i don't. it's a family quirk of ours and it did nothing but make me laugh.

i'll go where you want me to go

in front of the mtc

12.1.2010

a beautiful day in la

spent the afternoon in LA today with some friends. the best we could do with celeb spotting was this guy. . .

.larry king.

i have to admit, i was hoping for someone better. lol.

on the other hand, this was a pleasant surprise to stumble upon. it took me a second to realize what it really was!

the la temple. so pretty.

d-land during x-mas

i can't believe this is the only picture we got while at disneyland. all the kiddies, david, and dad.

have you ever been to disneyland during x-mas? it has to be the best time of year to go. stay for the firework show at the end. they even make it snow! make sure you also grab a $3.50 churro . . . really? how can they be that expensive? i guess everything at d-land is. i could seriously eat more than one if they weren't each 500 calories LOL.

patty made it to slc

at john wayne airport getting ready to send off sister ricchio!

here's patty in the slc airport. tomorrow she enters the mtc!

can't wait to hear all about it!

a couple surprises & a little skatin'

we love our brown boots!

cute little mel had a birthday in october and so we all had to celebrate! we wanted the whole day to be a surprise.

first we took her out to lunch: panera

then we blindfolded her and drove her to an ice skating rink where one of the employees was going to hand mel her personal skates. sadly this didn't work very well because there was not an open skating session. our mistake. so we handed mel her own skates and drove to another rink.

this girl was in hea.ven. she couldn't stop smiling! mel also used to be a figure skater so i think it was a job well done. it felt so good to be back on the ice. the next day i was so sore! it's amazing how much of a workout skating really is.

the best bbq i've ever eaten

so i heard about this place in san diego from a couple friends of mine. since i absolutely love bbq, i wanted to go with patty and try it before she was shipped off to brazil.

we had an opportunity to go for dinner since we were already in san diego.

best decision ever.

can i tell you how good this place was??? i think it's been ranked for years as the best bbq in the city. it definitely lived up to the hype. check out what i ordered.

big broham. omg. AMAZING. smoked pulled pork shoulder doused in bbq sauce on a special bun. i was in hea.ven.

patty ordered these amazingly large beef ribs with sweet baked beans and colossal onion rings.

i think this was definitely worth every calorie and mile driven.

bom viagem irma ricchio

.naples ristorante & pizzeria at downtown disney nov 2010.

the time has come.

she is now a missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints and will be serving the people of sao paulo brazil. she'll even be speaking portuguese.

let's hope these next 18 months fly by really fast. really, really fast.

“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”

(Mark 16:15)

visit here for more info on missionaries

beautiful fall morning

one of the cool things about living near the wineries is the plethora of hot air balloons that fly around our house. they take off really early in the morning and then fly over the multiple vineyards and end with a delicious breakfast at South Coast Winery. i have yet to take a trip in one of the balloons, but it's for sure on my bucket list!

quite a sight!

it was so worth it

just one of the advantages of driving with your sister to get her international travel shots.

cafe rio was so worth every calorie and mile driven.

john legend concert

well how do i begin . . . let's start with the fact that we were 8 rows from the stage and i was sitting on the end of the isle. i traded seats with my sister because i was in the middle. BEST decision i made that night. why?

oh because once the concert started, john legend came from the back of the theater and made his way to the stage. on the way down i just happened to stick my hand out and he grabbed it for about 5.2 seconds. ps... i know i was wearing high boots, but john legend is LITTLE!

so, back to the concert. AMAZING. the guy seriously didn't hit a flat note. everything was live. super good pianist.

me and david getting ready for the concert to start

of course i didn't take any pictures of the concert, however david shot a video so i may post that if it's good quality.

siblings

literally 5 minutes after this picture was taken, we were waiting outside for our car when i turn around and see this guy and his family. . . .

barry bonds

he was surprisingly not as tall or big as i had thought. his publicist was going about 90 mph trying to get people away from taking his picture because he was with his family. didn't grab a picture but saw him nonetheless.

kitchen notice

funny note that i stumbled upon as i was making some breakfast.

always wondered where the toothpicks were in our house?

well now you know.

thanks brandon!

happy halloween

happy halloween!

love, the kiddies

the summit house

we celebrated my uncle's birthday at the summit house in orange county...

me.patty.nicoli.

they had a live piano player the whole night. we were in the restaurant for 3 hours eating and chatting.

the restaurant was very quaint and felt like home. fireplaces, dimmed lights, comfy chairs...loved it.

patty. me. snooki.

this was the front door. you can't really see, but there's a lion door knocker on a red door. it was so cool.

k & t rehearsal dinner

what do you do when you have no time to shop and search for a cute outfit for a rehearsal dinner and you have t minus 24 hours till that time? you consult your friend who should be a designer instead of a nurse. she can hook you up with everything from earrings on down for less than $100. thank you mel ono project.

trev & katie

it's seriously crazy to think about the fact that these two have dated for 7 years. i knew them both in high school and i still love them to death. i still have to post pics from the wedding, but trev barely got through his vows. he was in tears the entire time! it was the sweetest thing to watch a child hood friend marry her best friend.

for dinner we went to rose cantina back in my hometown. it felt so weird to be back in my stomping grounds! i felt like it was just yesterday that i lived there.

katie and i

we first met while in grade school. i was the four-square queen and she was challenging me for my square. i lost and i didn't like her for about a week. then, we became best friends. it's so weird how things like that happen. we did everything together after that. we shared clothes, shoes, computers, food, etc. she was even the one who drove me 7 1/2 hours to the american idol tryouts in san francisco! i love her!

il tempio

the temple on a dark friday night

my 24th birthday festivities part I

for my 24th patty, me, and some friends of mine went to l.a. for dinner to go to one of my favorites, ketchup.

mel, me, jami

patty. . .i mean sister ricchio (she's going to brazil on her mission) and I

me and mel

my DELICIOUS red velvet 'nothing bundt cake.' have any of you had these? they are seriously the best cakes i've ever had. the one i have is called a bundtini. they all come with flowers in the center . . . kind of like in my big fat greek wedding. lol.

if you don't have french fries, it's not an american meal. their fries are the bomb. i've talked about them before, but seriously with the multiple flavors of ketchup they have (chipotle mangoe, barbeque, ranch, wasabi, etc.) you could not stop eating them! we thought this 3 ramekin french fry appetizer was called the 'trio,' however the waitress scorned us and said it was called a 'threesome.' i think i prefer the other name.

this time around at ketchup, patty and i shared the 'shake n' bake' which was breaded chicken over garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed carrots/string beans, and mac and cheese. for dessert we had banana bread pudding with carmel ice cream and ice cream cookie sandwiches. sisters are the best because you can order two things you like and share them :)

the food was a.maz.ing. ketchup is all about american classics with a little gourmet flare. take for example the mac and cheese . . .

mac and cheese

dungeness crab

white truffle oil

with panko breadcrumbs

. . . seriously the BEST mac and cheese I have ever had

next time we go, we are heading up le petit four on sunset