Family and Friends    Our family, Emilia's birth family, our friends, and our community mean everything to us. They have all been a huge support over the years and will play a significant role in the life of our family and our children.    Elizabeth's family consists of her mom, brother, stepfather, stepbrother, stepsister-in-law, and a stepsister. Throughout the year, we visit Elizabeth's family, who live in southern California. We get to enjoy the warm weather, the beach and boating activities in La Jolla and on Mission Bay. In addition, Elizabeth has many aunts, uncles and cousins with whom she has a close relationship and who live near to us.    Paul comes from a very close family as well. His immediate family consists of his parents, a grandmother, an aunt, two sisters, a brother, a brother-in-law and sister-in-law. In addition, Emilia has nine first  cousins and they all look forward to having a new baby cousin to love! Paul's two sisters live very close to us, as do his parents. We gather together for various occasions, such as birthdays and anniversaries. The Puccinelli family also has a tradition of coming together the first Sunday of the month for dinner; an evening filled with laughter, children playing noisily, and lots of good food. Andrea, Emilia's birth mother, has an open invitation and joins us whenever she can.    We have many amazing friends, most of whom have children. These long-term friendships are more like extended family. For over ten years, we have been having dinner once a month with one group of friends, eventually adding in our combined total of seven children. This past year the families took a trip to Mexico together. We are also very close to a group of families formed through open adoption. We get together frequently for parties, trips to the zoo,  beach outings, etc. These children have become very special friends and our goal is that they, and their siblings, will grow up together!