
(Also in the picture my two sons, Chad and Curt Iffert, husband Nemo Lamascolo, and my brother from Dania Beach Fl., John Colenzo.)

Can you imagine, this clan of 14 people bought this bus with the New York Yankees emblem on it and drove 19 hours straight. Actually the bus is quite roomy, and even had an LCD TV in, quite a luxury bus. I have been so excited knowing this trip was planned for weeks now, and couldn't believe it was finally here. I'd been preparing all kinds of foods,
Roast Leg of Lamb, Baked Spiral Cut Ham, Chicken Parmigiana, Pasta with Traditional Sunday Sauce, Meatballs and Sausage. Then there were several desserts, cookies, cakes, a Amaretto Strawberry Cream Tart and even a dessert I left for them to name, that one had chocolate, cream and banana's in it.... that will be in a later post, its was named by my niece Alicia, Godiva Chocolate Chunky Monkey Mousse.

John and Mary Congrats!
It didn't seem to be quite enough only three bottles of bubbly, so out came the Pina Colada Lava flows, I had been waiting for a special occasion to make these and this was the perfect time. A Pina Colada with fresh Strawberry puree inside...We ended up with about four pitchers full.
46 oz pineapple juice
1 can coco lopez coconut cream
1 pint half and half
Bacardi White Rum or
Coconut Rum
ice
frozen strawberries in syrup put through the food processor or fresh 2 pints pureed with sugar added to the food processor set aside
plastic fancy cups
In a blender add the juice with 1 can of coconut cream, pulse ad few time then adding the half and half till blended pulse again. Add about 2 cups of ice or more and pulse till desired thickness. Pour the coconut mixture in a plastic glass, top with strawberry puree, top with a shot of desired rum marblize by stirring with a stir stick, straw or fork. Enjoy!
Adriana, (Mary's three year old daughter) and Samantha,( Pamela and Bruce's daughter) love to dance to Beyonce "Single Ladies". They are both so adorable!
They both took a little dip in the pool to relax after all that dancing.

My brother John Colenzo, had this cake made with a lemon cream filling surrounded by a whipped frosting and slivered almonds. This was made in a South Florida Bakery, just the perfect sweetest ending to this amazing reunion. The picture featured on this cake was taken the day mom passed on, 11 years ago, time has passed so quickly, mom your not forgotten...we all love you......and wish you were still here with us.
After full bellies, good food, the love for great conversation, making new memories, many desserts and several drinks later, it was that unfortunate time to load the bus. A full day for all. Off they went, all 14 people boarded their NY Yankee Bus, back to their vacation and headed to Orlando for the rest of their stay.
46 oz pineapple juice
1 can coco lopez coconut cream
1 pint half and half
Bacardi White Rum or
Coconut Rum
ice
frozen strawberries in syrup put through the food processor or fresh 2 pints pureed with sugar added to the food processor set aside
plastic fancy cups
In a blender add the juice with 1 can of coconut cream, pulse ad few time then adding the half and half till blended pulse again. Add about 2 cups of ice or more and pulse till desired thickness. Pour the coconut mixture in a plastic glass, top with strawberry puree, top with a shot of desired rum marblize by stirring with a stir stick, straw or fork. Enjoy!
.jpg)
The last time they all visited us it was a sad time. My mom had passed away. Everyone drove down that year, in 1999 (some missing in the pictures not born yet) and some couldn't make the reunion this time in the picture below. Amazing how the time passed, but we still had part of mom here through all of us, we celebrated Christmas and Easter today and I made her Cassata recipe and Honey Balls Struffoli. Grandma Victoria's Easter Bread was on the table as well. Family is so important and it is so hard to live 1900 miles apart. Although we missed out on many events in each others lives we still cling to awesome memories of years past and that old fashioned traditions. You better believe the old adage blood is thicker than water, we couldn't be any thicker than this crew! One of the most happiest times for us all is having each other and this time around, many blessings were shared, but most of all we had spent quality time together and didn't waste a precious moment today. Love all you guys. Thanks for this awesome day, mom and dad are both looking down on all of us so proud today keeping the memory alive with our children that they instilled in all of us!
My brother John Colenzo, had this cake made with a lemon cream filling surrounded by a whipped frosting and slivered almonds. This was made in a South Florida Bakery, just the perfect sweetest ending to this amazing reunion. The picture featured on this cake was taken the day mom passed on, 11 years ago, time has passed so quickly, mom your not forgotten...we all love you......and wish you were still here with us.
so exciting meeting,you have a wonderful family,claudia!thanks for sharing this with us!
ReplyDeleteGreetings to you all from Melbourne Australia!
ReplyDelete@alison thanks your welcome~
ReplyDelete@Joy greetings would love to visit Melbourn Australia gorgeous~
One of my favorite posts, Claud. I love it. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou beought tears to my eyes!! what a wonderful post and so incredibly moving!! Thank you so much for sharing!! xx
ReplyDeleteI love spending time with family, I can imagine how hard it must be for you to live so far. That is so wonderful you were able to spend quality time with them! I enjoyed reading about your family!
ReplyDeleteThis is pure joy - from the smmiles to the food to the proposals to the love! Perfecto!
ReplyDeleteSo happy moments with all your family, these are memorable times! Great for you :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
Gera
Oh wow that is such an exciting moment! Enjoy the family, I'm sure you'll make wonderful meals, and what's better moments to share a meal when the family is around! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful reunion with family! Enjoy their visit!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy for you Claudia! That is so great that they all came down. Thanks for sharing the fun and feasting with us!
ReplyDeleteYour family is just gorgeous, Claudia! Looks like this was a vacation the entire gang will remember for years to come...bet they were well fed, too!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful meeting with your family,..that is so great for you!!
ReplyDeleteI see that you all enjoyed yourselves!
It's so nice of you to share these precious moments with us.
ReplyDeleteYou have a beautiful family!
This was an awesome read - so much excitement and happiness and of course at the end there's that bittersweet parting. You told the story so well I felt like I was there! Thanks for sharing all of this with us. xoxo
ReplyDelete