Our turn to be heard!

Hi everyone. Today, we had our first of many court dates that has to do with our attempted break-in last March. For starters, he showed up an hour late for court. He was dressed like a

gangster, dirty clothes and all. He moved here a year ago from California. He is on probation there for vandalism of over $400.00 in damage. Here in WI, he has been charged with 3 misdemeanors and a felony charge. The judge said that he could be charge as an adult for the felony. At the next court date it will determine whether we go to a jury trial or not. Then I would have to testify. We are hoping that won't happen.

He was very disrespectful towards the judge and @ first, refused to sign the 3 " No contact " orders against him. They brought in another officer @ which time he did sign the papers. He kept up with his outbursts. Saying things like, " I don't even know this people. This is garbage. "

The judge shut him up pretty quickly though. He let him know that he won't tolerate his attitude.

The judge was AWESOME!!!!

After the judge explain his rights to him, he asked for his plea which was " Not Guilty. "

Big surprise there!!!

I had to write a Crime Victim Impact Statement, which is letting the judge know how this crime has impacted me and my family. I did so. Everyone including this thug & his family,

will read what I wrote. Well, because of what I wrote, the ADA asked to have him put away

until the next hearing date. She said that she couldn't believe how " bold " he is and that he is " terrorizing " our neighborhood. She also felt that he is a " flight risk ". The judge agreed.

He will be held in detention until a spot opens up @ the shelter located behind the courthouse.

We watched him get cuffed and then we were lead out of the courtroom. I will never feel 100% safe again but knowing he will be out of neighborhood is a relief! But the best thing was watching the officers put the handcuffs on him. We couldn't help but smile.

The ADA came to us after everything was done to thank us for attending the hearing today. She said it helped and really made a difference.

The judge saw that we are serious about this and that we want to see justice done. We want our neighborhood back.

We will keep you posted with anything new. We hope everyone enjoys the 4th of July!!

Spring visit at DeYoung Zoo!

This is what happens to a squirrel when he eats a peanut that had Cayenne pepper on it. My father-in-law and husband was bored one day and thought, " Wonder what would happen if we sprinkle a little Cayenne pepper on this peanut?" They did and here is the result. That poor thing laid there for a good while before he dunked himself in the birdbath. He is laying on a

metal peanut plate. His little tummy was on fire and the metal felt good against his

burning tummy!! No worries, the squirrel was okay after awhile. The boys got a good talkin to from us though.

Boys will never grow up!!!!

Montana ( 12 years old ) and Nicolas. Best of friends!! Montana loves going up north, too.

She loves laying in the backyard and running around chasing Nico.

Nicolas firing a BB gun. The first time he has held a gun and fired one as well. If I had it my way, it would be his last time, too.

My handsome boys!!

Nicolas holding 2 baby lemurs!

This is Bud DeYoung with one of his very spoiled lions. This lion will only eat if Bud hand feeds him!!!

Nala the lioness. She is 17 years old.

This is Nala's 3 rd. husband, Samson. She didn't like the other two, so she killed them.

Lunch time!!

Just playing with his favorite log.

We have been visiting DeYoung's Zoo for about 4 years now, and we love it. He has about 3 dozen cats plus bears, reptiles, and farm animals. He is expecting a baby hippo soon.

They were recently featured on National Geographic Wild ( NatGeoWild ). When we were

there, the crew from NGW were there filming. They are taping enough footage for 3

more shows. If you get the channel, check it out. It's a great place to go if you like the

big cats and bears. Though the years, Nico has held baby tigers, bear cubs, a " joey ",

a wolf pup, lemurs, and many more.

We go every time we're up north. Try and stay cool everyone. Love to all:)

Vince Strongman Bontempo!!!

Hi everyone. Well, the day finally came. This past Saturday was the competition in Madison.

It was so much fun. It was alot harder than Vince thought it would be. But he now

knows what are his strong points and his weak points. Some of these events are

impossible to train for. It was a very interesting group of guys there, too. But,

everyone was so nice and supportive of Vince, so that was good. I was real nervous the day before and the morning of. But once we got there, all of my nervousness went away. It was replaced by

excitement! We couldn't wait for this thing to start. Nicolas was so proud of his dad. He followed him around everywhere. He was constantly taking pictures of Vince, himself, the sky, etc.

This was hard for Vince, but he never, never gave up! I was certainly a beaming wife that day!!!!

I really can't express how proud I am of him!!

He is already starting to train for next year. We are certainly going to look into buying a " pull sled " that he can attach weights to and pull it around for practice. Plus, other things that will help him improve.

So here are his scores. He placed 37 out of 45!!!

This one is called the Log Press!! He beat his own record. He lifted 235lbs. A new PB!!!!

The next 2 are the Sled Pull. They were 565 lbs. that he had to pull 75 feet.

He pulled it 17 feet, 10 inches.

This one was the Tire Flip. The tire weighed 600lbs. He was able to flip it 5 times.

The last event was the Farmer's walk. They filled those cans with concrete and then they had to walk 150 feet with them. 350lbs, Vince walked 75 feet!!

We hope everyone is doing well.

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there! Enjoy your special day!!

My back up-date.

Hi everyone. We have some news that we want to share with you.

In May, I had a CT Scan of my spine. It's been 4 years since the last scan, so I guess I was due for one. What they found is discouraging for us. I have a " nice size " bone spur that is resting on

my spine @ L5. They are not sure how I got it, but it has to be removed soon. This month

we are meeting with 2 different surgeons, so we can make the best choice for are family.

The doctor said that having hardware in already, will make this surgery a challenge.

We will keep everyone posted as we move forward. Remember, we would love to hear

from you. We want to hear about what is new with you and your family. So, please send pictures

and/or reply to us.

Take care everyone and much love to all of you:)

The next chapter in the local criminal

Hi everyone. We have an up-date on the break-in that happened in March that we want to share with you. On 5/26, I went to pick Nicolas up from school and the " loser " and a friend were there. He is NOT allowed on school grounds but there he was. As I waited for Nico, they started staring at me, pointing, and throwing up gangs signs. Then his friend charged at me. He ran full force at me, veering off at the last minute. They laughed and continued the harassment. We went home right away. We called the police and filed a compliant against him.

The following day was worse. Nicolas and I were walking home from school when I noticed him

and his friend following us home. We called the police right away and they ran back to his house.

Police showed up and questioned them and of course they lied. The cops let them go. Now Nicolas

knows what is going on. It took us a long time and a lot of talking to make him feel safe again.

I'm showing him how to unlock the front doors and we had to sent up a " code " word and where he should run to, to get help.

The crossing guards and some of the moms know as well, so they will help if needed.

We called the Police Chief of South Milwaukee to complain and to our surprise she called us back. He has 5 criminal charges on him that are pending, including ours.

Our case was given to CCC on 5/24. They have 40 business days to review it and send it to the ADA. He has 20 business days to review it. If he feels that it's worth the time to go further

then he gives the case to a judge to review it. Then we go from there.

We can't get a " no contact order " until the ADA has looked at it.

So, we are going to call the ADA on Monday( again ) and let him know what has been going on.

If need be, we will be the BIGGEST pain in the ass that he's ever had.

For the time being, we walk home with other parents and kids to be safe. Just 4 more days

to go. It can't come fast enough. I hope this all makes sense. I'm trying to get all of the facts in this, so I'm sorry if it doesn't.

We will keep you posted as we move along. Lots of love to all of you.

Nicolas lost another tooth!!!

Hello everyone. Well, we are finished with swim now. We go back in the middle of June.

Last Monday Nico lost another tooth during swim practice. Unbelievable!!!

This past Friday Nico and Vince had a " guys night out ". They went to an arena football game

at the Bradley Center. The Milwaukee Iron vs the Utah Blaze. The Milwaukee Iron won!!

They had a great time. The boys were dancing, cheering and high five everyone. But, during

all of the cheering they were doing, Nicolas lost ANOTHER tooth!!!! Can you believe it???

He has two more loose teeth to go and we think that's it. He should have all of his adult teeth then. He has friends that have lost only 2 or 3 teeth and here he is 2 teeth away from having all of his adult teeth. Only our boy!!!

Mother's day was nice. Vince was on call for the weekend. So he spent most of the time at

the hospital, which sucked! I'm use to it though.When you have a spouse working in the medical field, you have no choice but to accept it.

But before he left, he made me strawberry pancakes which were out of this world. My husband

is a great cook. I'm so lucky!!!

Nicolas and I went for walk and we took Montana with us. Nicolas loves walking her.

It was a nice day. The boys gave me the most beautiful flower arrangement I have ever seen.

Plus one of my favorite things to eat...... an ice cream cake!! YUM!!

Nicolas gave me a card that he made. He worked on it all week and it was beautiful.

We hope you had a wonderful Mothers day as well.

Love to all!!

Happy Mother's Day

Hi everyone. It's been awhile since I posted and I'm sorry for that. Life has been pretty busy

for us lately. We are doing some home improvements so we can put the house on the market.

Vince is working on the kitchen cabinets and Nicolas and I are painting the kitchen.

Well, I should say that Nicolas is painting the kitchen but I help when I can. We still have more

to go but it is a good start.

About the jerk that tried to break-in, he is 15 yrs old and lives with his aunt and uncle. His parents didn't want him anymore. He isn't suppose to be in South Milwaukee for reasons unknown to us. He has

left me alone now, but he was harassing me at Nicolas's school for a time. It got so bad that I was

scared to death to walk down to pick up Nicolas from school. My biggest fear was that he would tried to shoot me on the playground or hurt Nicolas in some way. One good thing through, we finally replaced our back door. It's a steel door with no windows. Now I can walk up the stairs without seeing his face looking back at me. That's a relief!!!!

We have some very exciting news to share with you. Nicolas is back swimming again. He had a meet

on April 30th and he did outstanding!!!

He swam the following:

. IM 100yards 2.24 which he took 1st place.

. Freestyle 25 yards 22.07 and took 1st place.

. Butterfly 25 yards 31.426 and he took 1st place.

. Backstroke 25 yards 28.41 and took 2nd place.

But even more exciting news is that Nicolas has set 2 new team records. They are....

. Butterfly 25 yards, 26.7. Backstroke 25 yards, 28.41

We are over the moon with happiness and amazement. He loves to swim and loves being on this team. He is

lost during down time. Honestly, so are we. It's so much fun going to meets and cheering on the kids.

It's great to see the confidence and pride they have for themselves. I know the first picture is somewhat blurring but I got him in midstream. He is swimming the Butterfly stroke.

We hope that everyone had a good Easter and are enjoying the sometimes warm weather.

Until next time, take care and lot's of love!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!