Back in Italy

So, our summer plans keep changing. Greg was asked to cover for a nurse anesthetist in Vicenza Italy. I jumped on the idea and we made it happen. The kids and I have a 10 day stint and Greg will be here for 14 days. I think we will enjoy our stay.

The trip here was a little stressful though. Greg flew down separately, which meant I had a plane ride alone with the kids. The airport was hot and the flight was late in the evening. Although the kids were on edge, we avoided any huge melts downs. I have decided that dressing your two year old in a T-shirt which says, "Mr Messy," isn't that cute when he is running around the airport screaming, "LET'S GET ON THE PLANE NOW!" He looked like a child out of control.....which he was. Thank goodness for portable DVD players, which saved the day and mom's nerves.

We are not going to sight-see much, because Greg will be on call the entire time and needs to be close by. But I am enjoying being away from my daily routine. I don't have to make dinner. Our apartment is cleaned daily, I don't have to drive 20 minutes to get anywhere. Laundry is also minimal. We are going to swim at the pool, go bowling, watch whatever movies are playing on post. There is also a library, the BX, and a couple of parks. If I have the nerve, I will take the kids to Venice, for a quick day trip.

I also plan on finding some Italian pottery.....

We have internet access in our room, so if anyone needs to get a hold of us, email, facebook or skype.

Pictures of Italy

Cinque Terra are a group of 5 small villages along the coast of Italy. They are linked together by hiking trails and a train. We visited one of the villages, a fishing village and enjoyed the view and some Italian ice Cream.
We took a coach around Florence. It was a great way to quickly see the city. We went back to the parts of the city that interested us, including the Cathedral.
In Cinque Terra.......
Cooling off on the marble steps of the cathedral....marble is soft and cool.....
Leaning tower in the distance.....

Italy trip

Taking a break in while ascending the Alpine pass. We stopped to take pictures and to give our brakes a break. The air was cool and fresh and we enjoyed the many waterfalls tumbling down the mountainside.


It is time for blogger catch-up. So much has happened of the last couple of weeks, which needs to be documented. We have had been lucky enough to have both sets of Grandparents visit in the last month. Since we had two extra pairs of hands, we decided to do some sight seeing while they were here.

We started the trip with a drive to Switzerland. I had made a reservation at a pension, without knowing too much information about it. After a long drive winding through the foothills of the Alps, we landed in the Simmental valley. We later learned that the Pension we were staying in was a historical home built over a century ago. The house had been restored, along with several other homes in the valley and made up a historical parade of homes. Bikers and hikers visit the villages in this valley to admire the large Chalet style architecture.

Upon arriving Sadie commented, "it smells like cows!" she then asked "Mom, what is that noise?"

"Crickets, Sadie."

Welcome to the country. Other country touches included: the sound of cowbells in the distance, Alpine butter (that one was a surprise to me,) and herds of cows, which seemed to balance themselves nicely on the mountainside (they looked like they could roll down at any moment.)

After our short stay in Switzerland we arrived in Italy. We went from cold to hot. This was our first day at the beach. The kids loved it and played hard. We had to limit our time there, because the sun beat us up.

Highlights of Italy included: playing in the pool every evening, to cool off from a day sight seeing, visiting Grandma and Grandpa in there room to play cards after the kids went to bed, the tower of Pisa, Florence and Sinque Terra. I will include pictures in the next blog.

Micah's baptism

Grandpa and Grandma Jensen flew into town for Micah's baptism and today was the day. It was fast and testimony meeting too. While sitting and listening the other speakers, Micah stood up and sat down many times, trying to decide if he wanted to bare his testimony. You could see the indeciveness in his face.....he was scared. Finally, he over came his fear and on the way to the pulpit, he whispered to me, "mom, what should I say...?"

Say what comes into your heart......

After speaking he walked down the stairs and whispered "yes.....I did it..." under his breath. He was very proud of himself.

While getting dressed for the baptism, Micah spoke with Greg about his excitement. He came out in his baptism clothes doing karate moves....."I am so excited, dad....I have been waiting for this day my whole life. It is like how I feel when I am playing the Super Mario Brothers on the Wii."

Some random pictures

The father and son camp out at some castle ruins in near Bitburg.



Micah's 8th birthday party with the family.