This fairy tale started way back in May 1996 when a fair maiden (Andrea) made the long journey from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania all the way down to Washington, DC to visit a friend (Sue), the sister of a prince (Mike), who unbeknownst to them, would become the maiden’s future sister-in-law. Upon arriving at the prince’s castle on that warm summer day, the prince and the maiden fell madly in love (after a few drinks at the local pub). After a long courtship, Andrea and Mike were engaged in Sedona, Arizona in April 1999. They were married on September 2, 2000 in Alexandria, Virginia. And they have been living happily ever after ever since…
In October 2000, Andrea and Mike relocated to San Diego, California where they adopted Taliesin Wright (a black Labrador retriever) and Eli Padilla (a yellow Labrador retriever).
In June 2002, Andrea and Mike relocated back to Alexandria, Virginia, after a cross-country road trip. Their firstborn son, Rocco Lawrence (named for Andrea’s godfather, Rocco, and Mike’s mother, Jane Lawrence), was added to their family on September 16, 2003. Luciano Philip (names for Mike’s great-aunt, Lucille (Lucia), and Andrea’s grandfather, Philip) followed shortly thereafter on August 26, 2005.
We packed our bags again to move an ocean away to Naples, Italy in May 2006. Mike’s job with the US Navy brought us here for a 5-year tour. We currently reside in a 3-level, 4-bedroom villa in a small town just north of Naples, called Licola. It has long been a dream of ours to live in Italy, where our ancestors are from. The two sides of Mike’s father’s family (Ragonese and Peragine) are from Naples. One side of Andrea’s maternal grandmother’s family (Tango) is from Naples, while the other half (Sindoni) is from Sicily–but we don’t like to mention the Sicilian part to other Neapolitans, until you live here, you just don’t understand.
In August 2007, we added another boy to our family. Massimo Robert (named after Mike’s father, Robert Ragonese, and Andrea’s father, Robert Joyce, as well as our brother-in-law, Robert Tyndall).
We hope you enjoying reading our blog as much as we have enjoyed our adventures here in Italy. It is quite an experience–the good, the bad and the ugly!
Here is our first official family portrait in December 2007 (from left to right): Rocco (4 years), Mike holding Massimo (4 months), Andrea and Luciano (2 years).
