Teresa: My Father-in-Law was a Great Man

Hi Sweethearts! I missed you all! I can't believe we're back for our sixth season and I can't believe I'm the last original one standing! Thank God Dina is back with me! What a ride it's been. What a rollercoaster! It was hard to watch footage from last season and be reminded of the ugliness with my brother and sister-in-law, but it was just one small part of our lives and thankfully it's behind us. You can see that Joe and I have a huge family that loves and supports us no matter what, and who we love and support in return. And I think you can see that my brother Joey and Melissa and Joe and I are all in a really good place now, where we should be. Families have ups and downs, we all fight about stupid things, but at the end of the day, we're blood, and we love each other and we always will.

[video_clip_url:http://player.theplatform.com/p/PHSl-B/yT7k3t_YLXoZ/embed/select/_PXtSBTa3hOi]

Isn't it crazy to look back and see all of that snow and ice? What a long, hard winter! I'm so glad it's summer now, my favorite season! Bring on the sunshine! My kids always make things brighter no matter what though. I'm glad you got to see more of them just hanging out, cooking breakfast, doing homework, twerking...you know all the normal things kids do... Gabriella is growing up so fast and is such a good, responsible older sister. I love when she helps Milania with her homework. Milania is Milania. Yes, she is definitely funnier than me! She's also a little caretaker and such a snuggler! Audriana is almost 5! Can you believe it? She wants to do everything her big sisters are doing, especially go to school. She goes to preschool and loves it, but she can't wait for kindergarten. And Gia, my oldest, is a teenager now! She is every bit of a teen: taller, beautiful, and super sensitive and emotional. She has such a big heart and so much love for everyone. I adore my girls and I'm so proud of them. So proud to be their mama.I'm so happy Dina is back on the show too. She is like a sister to me and we've always been close. I'll always be there for her no matter what, like she is for me. And I love my guardian angel bracelet that her mama made for me. I wear it all the time. I'm so blessed for the amount of love and support I've been given by everyone around me, including all of you. It means the world to me. Thank you so-so-SO much.

It has been a difficult year for my family, and we still have difficult things ahead. It is a lot of stress and that stress has taken a toll on me and my family, but we will get through it with love and with God's help. And I guess like Dina said, if life was perfect, we'd get bored and we wouldn't grow. I'm definitely not bored, but hopefully growing.

On a happier note, we are launching Fabulicious Desserts in stores nationwide soon and I'm working on a dessert cookbook! As you know if you've read any of my other four cookbooks, I'm a huge dessert fan. I call those chapters "Happy Endings" because we all deserve one! To hold you over until they come out, I'm posting some of my favorite dessert recipes on my blog at www.teresagiudice.com. All of my cookbooks are available on Amazon worldwide at: http://amzn.to/1qRp3mx.

Finally, I want to dedicate this blog and this season to my father-in-law, my Dad, Franco Giudice, who passed away suddenly on June 18. He was a great, great man, a wonderful father and grandfather and we miss him terribly. He was only 64 and was taken from us far too soon. One of our few consolations has been knowing that we spent so much time with him -- like my parents, he and my mother-in-law live very close and are very much a part of our lives -- and never missed an opportunity to tell him and hear from him how much we loved each other. We had a wonderful Father's Day weekend with him, we had a wonderful every day with him. Joe has such a big, wonderful family, that I wanted to explain who the 53 people at my house this winter were: that was just part of Joe's family on his mother's side! Joe's maternal grandmother turned 80 so we got together to celebrate. While we see each other all the time, we hadn't taken a family portrait of that side of the family since Gia was a baby. Can you believe how big Joe's family is? We're so blessed to have them in our lives. They are amazing! Joe is the oldest son of his parents, and the first grandchild on his mom's side. Both of his grandmothers are still alive. His father's mother is still in Italy, where he and my parents were all born.

[video_clip_url:http://player.theplatform.com/p/PHSl-B/yT7k3t_YLXoZ/embed/select/8s2yasvzZOxD]

A lot of family came back over from Italy for the funeral, and it was beautiful and heartbreaking, and I still can't quite talk about it. Please hug your parents while you have them, tell your children how much you love them every second of the day, and don't let the petty things in life separate you. We love you Dad, and we always will.

Tanti Baci,
Teresa xx

In Loving Memory of:

Francesco Giudice

1950 - 2014

Follow me on Twitter: @Teresa_Giudice
Facebook