Another sunny day!

How much are we all totally loving this weather! Its so awesome outside. I went out in service early morning today and then I had a facial. Getting a facial is probably one of my most favorite things to do. It is so relaxing and wonderful. It would be wicked cool if all of us girls could go get like facials and stuff together. But I guess that could get rather expensive. Maybe we should just stick with the nails idea.

I totally love those pictures of Samantha in her big girl tubby! She's so adorable. I can't believe how much she is growing and maturing. Its crazy how the time flies huh?

Can't wait to see you guys, Evan and Sabine. It'll be a blast.

Hope everyone is having a good week! See you all soon.
Love,
Sheri

Chubb Cheeks

 

 

Here's some cute pics that'll make you smile. Samantha is having her first tubby in the Big Tub. She had a blast. And as you can see I couldn't resist giving her a little mohawk. Love Gina xoxoxoxo 

Dear Sabine, we can't wait to see you either. Sammy will remember you if you just sing her the special song. She wants to walk so badly.
On the subject of diets, I was trying to stay on weight watchers but it's kind of hard to when the portions of food are like the size of my belly button, oh well. Hopefully I can get into a decent bathingsuit by June. And as you well know I love food. Especially cheese! Well please give evan a hug and kiss for me and sweet dreams.
Ian and Sheri, thanks so much for coming to visit and helping us with our computer problems. I'm so excited to have my own computer, I've never had one of my own. Ian you left your special black handy man bag here I realized after you left.
Well I'm gonna go get my study done for tommorrow before I hit the hay, so i'll talk to you all later. With Lots of Love, Gina

Sense of Accomplishment

With the smell of sweet Brazilian coffee on my breath, I crossed Wigwam street a happy man. I had just left the home of Geraldo, one of 3 Brazilian men I study with. After about 6 weeks and 3 times studying with the other two men in the house, I finally got some time with Geraldo. Although I had an appointment with the other two, they were not home, but Geraldo was there and had the Require brochure on the table. It turns out that he wanted his own study. He is an excellent student! I gave him my Bible to use until next week and I am going to pick him up for the public meeting and Watchtower study next week!

Nighty Night.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......... 

Hey it's me, Poohglet. I just fell asleep at midnight. I played for a really long time while mommy was having her study, but then I got really tired, I hate when that happens! I try to keep my eyes open as long as I can so I can see if mommy is doing anything fun without me. But my eyes just got too tired and I had to give in to the counting sheep. Well they are not so bad, cause now I'm cuddled up with my blankey and my binky, sweet dreams everyone. Love Sammy xoxoxoxox 

Memorial

So the day of the Memorial was great for us! I took the day off from work and we went out in service all day and we had some interesting experiences.

Daryl and I went to a Brazilian store across the street from Sole Proprietor and met a man there that used to play basketball with the brothers every week when he was in Brazil. He was very nice and accepted some literature and we told him that he could come to the Portuguese meetings held throughout the week. He explained how he works quite a bit and is not regularly available. But he told us where he lives and said we could stop by.

We took our lunch break at the Sole Proprietor. It was so good! And not too expensive.

We also did some exploratory in the territory--checking for Brazilian names and making record of them on the territories.

We had a Memorial attendance of about 135 or so. Not bad considering that it was the second of two celebrations (many people go to the earlier one) and that there are only about 85 publishers in the congregation.

All in all, it was a great day.

Not funny

What is this some kind of sick joke? It was like 50 degrees out yesterday, and now we're supposed to get a whole bunch of snow again! I'm not talking about the weather any longer. I'm sick of it.

On a happier note...yeah!! Glad to see you blogging Rick! It is a great way for all of us to keep in touch. I think its pretty cool about the Awake! too. It'll make it easier for us to keep up with just reading the magazines, and also hopefully it'll cut back on having lots of extras letftover at the end of the month. I know that sometimes if there is a set that I really like, I tend to use them the whole month, and then the other set for the month gets piled up. You can always see how wisely the organization is directed. Has anyone started reading the new book yet? At the meeting for field service today, the brother taking the lead focused on coffee breaks and counting your time accordingly. He read a part from the book about it, and I'm not sure if it was different or not, because I don't remember them actually clearly stating what you should do about counting your time, but the excerpt he read was pretty clear. I'll be interested to see what other kinds of adjustments there have been.

Sabine, that would be great if you could bring some magazines with you in French. I think we have some Require brochures at the hall in French, but I'll have to double check. I went out in service today in English, which I haven't done in probably close to a week, and I was sort of having trouble switching to English again. Plus its an adjustment just with the people that you speak with at the door. I've gotten so used to people being automatically friendly and listening, I got all flustered when the woman at the door this morning was sort of impatient. Funny how fast it happens huh?

So me and Jolene have been doing good with Curves. We went Monday, Tuesday, and we'll go today and tomorrow too. I'm glad we've gotten into the habit I think...of course we'll see if that holds true in another month or so...I hope it does.

Anyways...can't wait to see everyone...love,
Sheri

REJOICE!!!!!

Ah HA HA!!!!!! Pa is HERE!!!!!!

"And there was much rejoicing in the land"!!!!!!
{marching band playing, batons being thrown, guys breathing fire, men on stilts}

I'm so glad you're on now, Pa. I miss you. We definitely will go out to the movies and stuff. I'm going to come over, too, next Wednesday and I can get you're computers going. It'll be nice.

Yup, it definitley felt like spring today. Samantha and I went for a long walk. It helped clear our nostrils. I can't wait for warmer weather. Love Gina and Sam

NOW its Spring...

Yup, definitely Spring-time outside. Evan and Sabine are talking about how it was 70 degrees out, and we're like flipping out because it was like 50 today. I actually had my window open while I've been at work.

Sabine, you have to come with me on a call that I have that speaks French. Her name is Agnes. I went there today and she asked me to bring her French literature because she really likes reading the magazines and everything, but she understands it better in French. I think I'm going to bring one of the sisters from Portuguese who is actually French so maybe she can study with her. She was really excited when I told her I would bring her the Require brochure in French. I'm not sure how long it will take me to be able to get French magazines though. Probably about a year, because it seems like its taken that long to get Portuguese magazines.

So is everyone all geared up for the Memorial? Unfortunatey, I don't think I'll be bringing any studies or anything, unless my crazy lady decides she wants to come. I guess that's mean to say, but she is a little crazy. She's Ray Voss's girlfriend. They're quite a pair. But they both seem to have such a love for the truth when they're mentally well, but otherwise, they're a bit out there. I guess Jehovah knows how much they're able to really do though...

See you around guys...
Love,
Sheri

P.S. I think its defintely time to put Operation "Get Rick" into play.

The Man from P.A.

Yeah...secret agents! (hence the "Man from U.N.C.L.E." reference) That's cool. It's sounds like the ministry is interesting and exciting there.

I think it's so wonderful that you are going to host a field service meeting at your house! That's great for you guys too because you don't have to travel so far. I'm sure that the two of you will be a wonderful asset to that congregation.

YAY!!! Cheese! All that cheese sounds so good! Sheri I watched an Iron Chef competition Sunday night and the theme was cheese! Oh it was so awesome...Mario Bitali was on there because he is the current champion. He made these roasted red pepper cannolis with a mix of cheeses inside, it all looked so good, I thought I could taste it! Mum, you probably know who Mario is...he's the fat blonde guy with a beard and ponytail and he has his own show. He reminds me of you because he always pronounces all the names of the Italian foods with an Italian accent.

We may have to start taking drastic measures to get a blog from Pa. Perhaps we'll have to hire some thugs to...actually I don't know what they would do. Just post something!!!!

:)

My nose is going to explode

This cold is killing me. My energy is zapped and I feel like crap. Sam is also still fighting the cold. She is having trouble drinking her milk because her nose is plugged up, I feel bad for my little poohglet. It's 12:30 am and she fell asleep about 30 minutes ago. I've been trying to sleep but my nose won't let me. I'd like to get a little hatchett and chop it off. Oh well.
Sheri thank you so much for the dress for Sam, I can't wait to see her in it. The little goober will be running around soon. And that candle smells so much like a creamsicle, it reminds me of being little.Well I wish I had more in my brain to write but I'm a little spacey, but when am I not. Hugs and kisses to Mom, Pop, Ian, Sheri, Evan and Sabine. xoxoxoxoxoxox LoVe GiNa

It's Spring Alright...

Yeah, nothing says Spring like a few snow flurries. It was wicked funny because while I was reading your blog, Ian, it was snowing heavily out. Its since stopped snowing, but the timing was just really funny.

So I saw that Papa Rossi has joined the blog, but has yet to make a posting...baby steps to click on "create new post"...baby steps to typing new post...baby steps to publish post...baby steps.

Hey Gina, how is Sam feeling? I hope she's getting better. Hopefully we'll be rid of this cold weather soon, and we won't have to battle these stupid colds...until next year anyways.

I'm totally looking forward to seeing you guys this weekend after Ian's talk. That'll be nice. I know my parents are looking forward to seeing you guys too. They also want to have the WHOLE family over when Evan and Sabine are here. That'll be the first time all of us will be together, I think.

Anyways...hope everything is going well with everyone else (could I be more generic?) That's all for now...
Love,
Sheri

The Weekend

So, now that I've got that out of my system...

We had a great weekend. We actually got some pictures of our school--we'll probably post them tonight. I'm sure you'll recognize some of the people.

Saturday afternoon I followed up on a Brazilian man's address that Sheri gave me who she found in early morning parking lot witnessing back in the end of January. Well, I found him and two other men that lived there. After thinking about for a few minutes, he said he remembered her--he thought she was "Japonais". Tim DiMase (we call him DeMais, it means "too much" in Portuguese, which he is) explained that she was "Koreana". Anyway, they served us some of their traditionally wicked sweet Brazilian coffee and put something in front of us that was deep-fried. I tried it and it was mildly sweet, which is what most Brazilian desserts are.

Well, the good part. After asking them which part of Brazil they were from and telling them that we learned some Brazilian geography in class, I explained the purpose of the require brochure and that we offer home Bible studies for free. Well, they each accepted a brochure for themselves, and each accepted a study! One of them in particular said to me in English, "Next week?" as in 'You're coming back next week, right?' Three studies started, all at once!

I was also able to have a third study with another two Brazilian men that also live together. We explained the Memorial, but it has been difficult to invite people because the closest Portuguese Memorial is in Ashland. I have high hopes, that next year they will be holding a celebration in Worcester. Then we'll have to rent a bus to take the interested ones! No joke! (Well, maybe a Club Wagon.) There is a couple from our group that have to take two cars to bring all of their students/interested ones!

Sheri and I have both seen such good results in the ministry since we started the class. Jehovah is surely blessing us and we are so thankful for that.

It's SPRRRRRR I N G !!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!

*HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY*, *HAPPY HAPPY JOY*...AND ON AND ON!!!! AH HA HA!!! I"M SO HAPPY!!!! AHHH AHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHH [screaming at top of lungs with eyes wide and tongue hanging out until vocal cords snap off and shoot out of mouth flapping in wind]

(I know you know what I mean Evan.)

Some Names Are Worth a Thousand Words and...PA!!!!!

That's too funny! There is a woman that works here named Burngasser...

I wouldn't want to be behind on the escalator!!! :)

So all we need to do to get the PA on here is:

1. Take him hostage and have him sit down in front of your computer
2. Duct tape his hands to the keyboard and have him login to Yahoo as himself
3. Check his email invitation and then
4. Go to Blogger and setup an account.

That should do it!!!!

Protest

We want Rick! If we don't get Rick, we'll be tick...ed! (chant 3 times in a row)

The Patriarch is Missing

Where's Pa????!!!!!

[Picketers chanting: We want Pa! We want Pa!]

A great morning

I had a really good morning in field service today. Between the three of us in the cargroup, we placed 4 brochures and 1 set of magazines. Not bad, considering we were really only out for a couple of hours. When you actually get people home in Portuguese, it proves to be very productive and fruitful. Of course just like any other field, its difficult to find people at home. Still, its nice to see some progress. We'll definitely have to post some pictures of our class, and hopefully some of our "group" too.

Ian, Glenn Bolsun was out this morning, and he was asking about you and about whether we were going to Jamaica. I told him what happened though. But maybe we can put aside that money for our Brazil field trip!

It feels like spring today, I'm totally loving it. Not quite in the 60's like in Paris, but above 40, which feels awfully warm to me!

I'm totally loving everyone's pictures! Gina, your pictures are so funny the way they progress and tell a story. Its great...Got to go for now. Love,
Sheri

The Bloggers...Themselves

The Rossis in Chianti, Tuscany
What a wonderful time! I also posted this picture on the top right as a group blog picture.  

Down and Out in Jamaica...But Field Service is Booming

So, we were invited to Jamaica for relief work for two weeks in May. We looked into going for just a week but the brothers are looking for more of a commitment. We understand that it works a certain way, but it goes without saying that we are a little disappointed. Especially when it's wicked cheap to go! (Like $750 for 2 tickets)

But, on the bright side, I started a Bible study with a Brazilian woman that works at gas station and she said another man works there that has been reading the magazines and is also interested. What a good experience!

So, this morning I decided that I enjoyed pioneering so much this month that I am going to do it again next month! It will be a lot of work but I feel so much better being more active in service. It just seems like there are so many opportunities for Bible studies! I technically have 1 right now, but in a couple weeks it will be three and then maybe four. The study I have now is with a man I've studied with three times, a man I've studied with twice and one other man who was only there once. They study all together because they live in the same house and the time is good for all of them. And then, of course, after 3 studies with the 'mulher' at the gas station I can count that one too. Of course, "it's not about counting the numbers--it's about making the numbers count". But it's great to see results!!!

Soon, I want to post some pictures of our Portuguese class and some of our classmates. Coming soon!

Too much Blogging, time to go to bed. Goodnight. Love Gina xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox P.S. I think my eyeballs have burned up. Oh well. See you on the flip side 

This one was taken Feb. 24th. Silly Poog. 

This one was taken Dec.30th, and look how big she is now. Someone please hook me up with some Shrink Medicine. 

And here is Jagger their dog. He's a nut.They bought Laci a Barney chair, but he's claimed it. He thinks he's King. He's a character 

 

Laci 

Giving Sam a little hug 

Here is Laci,she's 18 months.She had fun with Samantha. 

Sam and Laci eating lunch 

Sam playing at Laci's house (Wed) 

Little Twiddlebug 

After the MSG has worn off 

Pure Evil 

Death By McDonald's 

Memorial Attendance

You know...I have no recollection of last year's Memorial. Did we miss it? Were we in Europe? I remember we missed the special talk. But what about the Memorial? Do you guys remember going to it in Oxford? Sheri, who gave the Memorial talk last year at Central? This is really driving me crazy!!!

Yeah, I can't wait for you guys to come. We definitely have to go to the Blue Ginger! I know you guys will love it.

We'll have to do something with the guys...NO girls allowed. (Tongue spurting and flapping in the wind) Maybe we could go bowling or something?

Yea!

I am so excited that Evan and Sabine are coming to visit. It seems like its been so long since the last time! I hope you guys bring the good weather with you. This time, Ian and I will try to get some time off of work, so we can spend some more time with you guys! Plus hopefully by then ALL of the snow will be gone, and it'll be beautiful weather again. I feel like there's a million places we want to take you guys when you come. Mostly involving good food, of course. There's Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Ipanema in Framingham, il Forno's in Westboro, Thai Time in Worcester...lots of good food!

All of us girls should like go get our nails done or something before the wedding. That would be nice to have some time all of us together (NO boys allowed!)

Leanne, I loved those pictures! I can't believe its been a whole year since our trip! So many things have changed since then, huh? I was reading the article in the March 22nd Awake! about Venice, and it was so cool because we were there!

Can you guys believe its time for the Memorial already? I can't even remember where we went last year for the Memorial? We must've been in Central right? I don't remember it though.

So, me and Jolene joined Curves yesterday and we are very determined to keep up with it. Now there is slightly more incentive involved since I shelled out the $ to join. So if for no other fact than that they're getting my money, I will be there!

Well, off to work now...
Sheri

Great Pictures!

I love that picture of Pa and Jacki. Pa looks exactly the same--just with a little body!!!

:)

Jamaica...

I know what you mean Leanne about being somewhere warm. Ian just got a call last night to go do relief work in Jamaica. We really really want to go. It would be a stretch though, since Ian only gets 2 weeks vacation time as it is. Its the second time we've been invited somewhere warm and exotic, so I'm sure it won't be the last. I think we would all have a blast somewhere like Cancun all together. It was so much fun when we all went to Italy. I think that's my favorite place I've been so far. I would love to go back there...Someday hopefully.

My parents (or I should say 'my mom' because its really her who's pushing forward with the renovations) are re-doing the countertops to granite and getting new cabinets. I'm pretty sure the island will still be there only bigger and better. The floor will stay the same, but the walls are most likely going to change...They're getting a new vanity unit for the bathroom too, so I can't wait to see it. I doubt it'll be done by the time we go there in two weeks though.

So here we go...me and Jolene are going to leave in a few minutes to go to Curves. I even bought a new pair or workout pants this afternoon at Target just to get my self going...I've been inspired (sort of, temporarily anyways) by all you Rossi women and your "diets" and "good eating." These are foreign words to me. :P

Anyways...I'll let you all know how it goes...or if I don't let you know you can assume its not going at all.

Sabine, you need to come here so you can force feed me good and healthy food!

Got to go now and work off that Chicken Carbonara sandwich I had this afternoon from Quiznos!
Love,
Sheri

I love oranges!!! 

I Thought Evan Was on the Diet (not!) :)

Wow, I would never have guessed! I thought Evan was writing about his diet! :)

Well, that sounds like an excellent routine. Lot's of activity is good. I need to have more physical activity myself. I can't wait for the warm weather. 6 more days until Spring!!!! YAY!!

Yes, actually the SECOND year of marriage brought me an "enlargement". But now I think I'm stabilizing. I'm starting to eat more fruit. I'm loving oranges right now!!!

Evan and Sabine, we miss you guys too. We can't wait for you to visit. Sheri said she found some tickets online for $313 USD!!! You should talk to her and find out where. Love you guys!!!

Keep those pictures coming, Gina, they're great. I can just picture Sam whipping those plastic donuts around and hitting each other in the face!! That's wicked funny!!!

Yeah we gotta get Pa on here. Mum and Gina, you guys have to put the laptop in front of hime or something. Have him check his Yahoo email and then use the invite to join. Maybe you could help him post his first one. When I come over in a couple of weeks I'll get you guys on and working good and setup with that Picasa. Once you start to use it you're going to love it.

K, I'm signing off!!!!

Eat!

All this talk about food. I'm starving now and its only like 6:30 am. I'm on my way out the door to start early morning service. Ian has been starting early too which is not easy (or fun) for him. But it is a nice boost to your time, especially since he's auxiliary pioneering this month.

Diets...who needs them? That's what people who wish they could lose weight but don't have the committment say...I'm definitely one of those. My logic is that I know that I will not be able to stay on the diet for an extremely long period of time (like more than 3 weeks) so why should I bother when I know I'm not going to stick to it? Of course in reality its not a deep revelation, its just a lame excuse. Jolene and I have agreed to join Curves today though. There's one practically around every corner, so it makes it pretty convenient. We'll see how it goes...

Totally loving those pictures of Samantha. Is it just me or is she the most beautiful baby girl you've ever seen? (I can say that because I can't remember when Jolene was that little, and obviously Tony was the most beautiful baby boy I ever saw) We totally have to have Ian take her pictures next time. I bet they would come out totally awesome...

Well got to go preach...love,
Sheri

I'm Hungry

As usual, I'm hungry. I lost 5 pounds last week and I fear I will be gaining it back soon,at least until Spring comes. Of course I'm craving carbs..mmm..yummy. I just ate a jello pudding snack, ya that's great, but it didn't fill me up since it's like the size my left nostril or whatever. I need a large pizza with extra cheese, mushrooms and bacon, oh well. Sam is sleeping, she went to bed at 9 pm. She had fun tonight playing with another little girl named Abby at my girlfriend Michelle's house in Dudley, it was funny to watch them play. They had plastic donuts they were playing with together and they both started whipping them around and hitting each other in the face, Sam didn't know what to make of there dog Clyde. He's really big and all he wanted to do was lick her face. I wanted to punch him in the snout, not really, but ya kinda.Well anyhow I hope everyone is doing okay. I miss you guys over there in Paris, and today I was dancing around with Sam to the CD you gave me Evan, I played it on and off today, Sam likes it, I really believe that she remembers you singing when she was there. I started to cry though because your voice is so beautiful and the music fits it perfectly and the lyrics are awesome. I really do think you could get a recording contract if you ever wanted one, you could get someone local to record you, but you'd need a little cash to get started. Just a thought. Please send me any new songs that you write.Miss you. Goodnight everyone.Hugs and kisses..Sweet dreams. LOvE GiNa xoxoxoxox

Cutie Patootie 

Wow, I'm looking Sweeeet!!!!