Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas to our friends and family!

It sure has been an eventful, terrific year for the Gallucci family. We started out 2009 with a bang spending the night on the streets of Pasadena to watch the Rosebowl Parade. The first few months were terrific. I was Joe’s secretary with his Cutco business. Check out www.mycutcorep.com/JoeGallucci to view his website. In February, Joe participated in the Lake Perris triathalon and did a great job! In March, we celebrated our second wedding anniversary in Big Bear. Mid May, Joe decided that a career change was in order. He started working for a company called PayJunction, a credit card processing company with a unique way to accept credit cards (in store, website, and/or cell phone). If you want to learn more, take a look at Joe's website It’s really interesting, and there’s even a cool movie to watch. ;-) The summer was lovely, filled with a trip to beautiful Colorado for a vacation with the Hollins and another trip to picturesque Oregon for a Gallucci family wedding. I spent the better part of 2008-2009 writing my first Young Adult novel. It was finished in August and debuted on www.amazon.com. It’s called My Darkness, it’s about spiritual warfare, and it’s a great read. Search “My Darkness Hayley” on Amazon to buy your copy! ;-) I started a brand new job at the end of August at Stoneybrooke Elementary School. I’m an assistant teacher working with a junior kindergarten class and the school’s math lab and science lab. I love it! Not long after starting school, our family received terrific news. We were going to have a baby! Hayley is currently five months pregnant with our first child, a boy we decided to name Eli Rocco Gallucci. Baby Eli and I have both been doing great so far. In November we still had not had enough adventure so we decided to rent out our condo in Mission Viejo and move to a small cabin in the Cleveland National Forest. After the move, Thanksgiving was spent with family and a relaxing trip to Tahoe with the Hollins.

We are earnestly awaiting a very special and memorable 2010 with even more exciting adjustments and changes as we welcome Eli on or around April 21^st ;-).

Many blessings to you and your family!! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! ;-)

Love,

Joe, Hayley, and baby Eli

This blessed me. Merry Christmas!! ;-)

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her
toenails anymore.
So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got
arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and
they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries
without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before
giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you
still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening
presents and listen.'
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you
hate,'
Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

'Love is when you tell a boy you like his shirt, then he wears it
everyday.'
Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still
friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at
all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.
He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is
handsomer than Robert Redford.'
Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone
all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old
clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars
come out of you.' (what an image)
Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's
gross.'
Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you
mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8

And the final one

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an
elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's
yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy
said,

'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

Updates

Sorry, again, for not writing recently. I've lost my computer connection in the lab after school and until a few days ago we were a one computer household, which mean that Joe was on the computer for work or we were spending time together. Enough excuses... I'm back and because Joe recently purchased a netbook for his business we are now a 2 computer household. Got to love technology.

Life has been really good lately. We had a more than splendid Thanksgiving break. We headed straight to Lake Tahoe with my hubby, fam, and sister's boyfriend. We had an amazing time in a breathtakingly fabulous snow resort. It had snowed the day before we arrived so our world was white. We were surprised continually how cold it really was outside and were thankful for all the layers we had brought with us. I had a blast on the trip. We ate really well, watched Blindside, Roo, Joe and David went snowboarding, shopped, relaxed, watched movies, had snowball fights, played the legendary Twilight game ;-), and so much more. I definitely didn't want to go home. It was amazingly beautiful and refreshing and wonderful to get away from work and the day to day for awhile.

The good news is that we got back late Wednesday night, and the next day was Thanksgiving. We had a very chill day and then spent Thanksgiving evening with all our family: my family, Joe's family, David's family, and more. ;-) It was a great time.

The day after Thanksgiving we did brave the stores in Lake Elsinore for a little shopping. We got a laptop, a few pregnancy outfit essentials, and a few other things.

Saturday was spent registering for baby Eli, so much fun but we were wiped when it was all over. We also had dinner with Joe's fam, gma, uncle, and great aunt. Yummy food, again. ;-) On Sunday we did errands and took care of business.

So life is good. The pregnancy has been terrific so far, for which I am soooo thankful. No major issues. I've been feeling great! Definitely enjoying the blessed 2nd trimester. ;-)