Favorite Sorrento things:

• Shopping and walking around town. Sorrento is small compared to the other tourist towns we visited. It has shops and restaurants and gelaterias (very important), and not much else. We walked down to the pier, we shopped, we ate, we watched the sun set from our balcony.
• Pompeii – an ancient city that was covered in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. The town was buried and preserved until the 1700s, when excavations began. It was amazing to walk the streets of this city and imagine what life was like back then. This city was at its height during Jesus’ lifetime, so although I’m pretty sure Christ never visited Pompeii, I’m sure the lifestyle was similar.
• Along with that, we went to the Archeological Museum in Naples, which has artifacts from Pompeii that survived – paintings, frescoes, mosaics, dishes, silverware, vases, statues, etc. Unfortunately the Mosaics room was closed, but we got to see everything else. It was neat. Although it’s too bad we had to go all the way to Naples to see it. Naples is kinda rough…
• Amalfi Coast drive. Wow. So beautiful. We took a bus, which wound around the cliffs of the coastal mountains in a one lane highway, squeezing past cars and mopeds going the other way. Scary. But it was really beautiful, especially Positano, where we walked down to the beach and stuck our fingers in. The beaches are really pebbly there!
• Pizza in Naples. I wanted to go to the famous L’Antica da Michele pizza place, but the only day we were in Naples was Sunday, and they were closed. But the pizza place across the street was open, so we grabbed some pizza there, and it was delish! I love my American Pizza, but Italian pizza is so yummy! I swear their tomatoes are different than ours.

Roma – The Eternal City, The City of Love, etc

• Rome is seriously magical. We got there in the afternoon, ate dinner, and then walked around Rome until it got dark. Rome at night is another world. The lighting is all orange light, so that it resembles torchlight. So Rome honestly feels like an old city, since there are no LED screens or florescent lighting anywhere. you feel like you are walking through ancient Rome. We saw St. Peters, Castel Sant Angelo, the Pantheon, and Piazza Navona that night.
• Ancient Rome – the Imperial Forum, Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill, Arches of Titus and Septimius Severus. This is where Rome began and was ruled. The Senate where Julius Caesar was killed, the Temple of Vesta, the Temple of Saturn, the Via Sacra (Main Street), the Basilica (governmental seat), the church where Peter the Apostle was (maybe) imprisoned, the COLOSSEUM. It’s all here. Right smack dab in the middle of modern Rome. We spent all morning here, taking audiotours and learning all about the beginning and end of the Roman Empire.
• St Peters/Vatican City. This was an all day event. St Peters Basilica is the largest Catholic church in the world, and probably the most decorated. It houses Michelangelo’s Pieta, and multiple works by Bernini, including the altar  and the huge brass canopy over the altar. It also houses the tomb of St. Peter, and the tombs of many Popes. It is so ornately decorated, you really have to see it to believe it. We toured the Vatican Museums as well, and ended in the Sistine Chapel. I feel like Michelangelo and I should be friends at this point, as now I’ve been to his hometown, his tomb, and all of his greatest works. Great job on the Sistine Chapel, buddy. Really, it is amazing. To think that he literally craned his neck to paint a ceiling for four years, and on fresco! It is almost emotional. Once again, you have to see it to believe it. It was so beautiful, we stayed in there for a half hour just looking and looking.
• Catacombs! We went to the Catacombs of Domitilla, and did some underground hiking. This is where the early Christians buried their dead, instead of cremating them like the Romans did in that time. This was a sacred burial, because they were buried near family members and martyrs for the Christian religion. Romans did not treat Christians well at that point in time. Now, there are no bodies there, just holes in the walls. But what I liked were the frescoes and writings that have survived all these years.
• We were SO EXHAUSTED by the end of our trip, that we spent a good portion of time in the hotel spa and relaxation room. At first I was worried about wasting time that could have been spent sightseeing, but as one of our reasons for this trip was to just be together, we decided this was a worthwhile usage of time. We missed our little girl a lot, but to just be together, without any responsibilities, was refreshing.

• Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, where the “Sound of Music” kids sung “Do Re Mi”. It was really beautiful. Oh and we saw two brides taking pictures there – one in a modern white wedding gown, and one in a dirndl.
• Salzburg Dom – this was our favorite Cathedral so far, although the exterior isn’t really amazing. The interior, especially the ceiling, was amazing! The artwork was beautiful, but the sculpted ceilings and walls were so detailed. I can’t believe they did all of that by hand!
• Mozart’s birth house – there is a museum there that tells about his family life, and has some original artifacts, letters from him, and one of his harpsichords. Very cool.
• Hellbrunn Palace in Salzburg – The palace wasn’t that great, but the Trick Fountains around it were hilarious. Apparently the archbishop who built it had a sense of humor, and would surprise his guests while out walking in his garden with hidden fountains of water. It is all natural,  built near a spring that still supplies water to the fountains today. Most fun tour of a palace ever!
• Hohensalzburg Fortress – Original fort on the hill, and had a great view of Salzburg
• Vienna Haus der Musik – Music museum which included exhibits on the great Viennese composers, and where I got to conduct the Viennese Orchestra.
• Vienna Boys Choir – this was something I was really excited about. We ended up seeing them in a Mass on Sunday morning, and I loved it.
• Boat Tour along the Danube – not recommended. Mostly we just saw graffiti along the walls. But it was nice to get off our feet, since we were walking everywhere.
• Speaking of walking, the public transport in Germany and Austria were awesome, and easy to figure out. Subways, buses, and trains! Who needs a car?

We will give you more information when we get home about all of our travels but we are killing time while our clothes are in the wash.  Hilton Garden Inn, thank you for having a washer and dryer so we do not have to use the sink.

Sorry our writing is so weird, we are using a foreign keyboard, and there is no apostrophe. And no °at° sign, and apparently no quotes…

Peyton Manning Is Amazing

Andrea just told me very depressing news. I am scheduled to fly to Hawaii for work on Super Bowl Sunday. I will be flying when the game is on. I am so sad and I didn’t even realize it until right now. I am not going to be able to see my hero Peyton Manning beat the pants off the N’awlins Saints. And I am not going to see Austin Collie (BYU almost-alum) win a Super Bowl in his rookie season. Looks like I am going to have to bit torrent the game and watch it on my computer. This stinks.

At least I can eat pancakes with coconut syrup while I watch to ease the pain!

Zac went on his 2nd to last business trip of the year, so we are excited about that! He was in Chicago, and next week he’ll be in Newark, NJ. After that, he’s homefree for the rest of the year! I wanted to come with him and spend a few days in NYC, but it was too last minute and I wasn’t sure how comfortable I’d be, traveling from Newark to NYC everyday, alone, and with a baby. Maybe next time.

I’m still teaching piano and voice lessons, and really enjoying it! I also love spending time with Adelyn and watching her learn new things every day. She is such a talker! She can say “Addie”, “Daddy”, “Mommy”, “Bottle” (sounds more like “body”), “Baby”, “Wow”, and “Hi”. And she still gives those slobbery kisses. She actually kissed a boy yesterday at church. Isn’t that where it always starts?! Good thing we like him and his parents:)

Here are some pictures of our little angel:

The day started out rainy and cold.  The race was delayed about an hour because some of the bike race roads were under water.  Dangerous for road bikes…  We didn’t prepare for cold rainy weather but we did our best.  Notice the baby in a trash bag poncho / blanket in every photo.  We were trying to keep her lips from turning blue.  It rained all day and it turned the whole park into a red mud pit.  Needless to say we were wet, tired, and covered in red mud at the end of the day.

Even though the weather was poor my Dad had a great race.  He took second place in his age group and was 15th overall in his event.  Not too bad for a “Big Guy” (that is what every one called him as he passed, “Good Job Big Guy!”) and for his first triathlon type event. Congratulations Dad, and thanks for inviting us.  Now we just need to get training for the next one!  Maybe I will join you.

Adelyn did great on her first flight! She had no trouble with take off or landing (probably because we were jamming the pacifier in her mouth the whole time), and just played and slept for the rest of the time. On the way home I was alone with her (Zac flew home early) and lucky me, she slept the whole way! My arm was dead from holding her in the same position for 2 hours, but I was glad I didn’t have to feed her with a strange man sitting next to me.

first flight

airplane ride with mom

What's out the window?

We stayed with Nicole and Mark (Thanks guys!) and Trevor, who were so much fun to play with. I think Trevor will be the best big brother, once he gets over the fear of his mommy holding another baby…They took us to Sweet Tooth and Quilted Bear, to look for headbands for Adelyn. We made FABulous organic cheeseburgers (not fully organic, just the cow) with Kami and Matt and Tara, and loved every minute of it! Other food establishments that we made time to visit while in Utah were:

Cafe Rio - Of course

Maglebys - for French Toast

Carls Jr

zubs

After Zac went home, Adelyn and I stayed with Cami B, who took off work to entertain us! She took us shopping and took us to Denise’s to make flowers and bows for all the little girl babies in the family. Seriously, I fell in love. I know everyone around here has baby boys, but if anyone is interested in making bows with me, please let me know! It is great fun! We also went to Ty’s blessing, where Adelyn met some of her new cousins, and they had great fun together.

Addie and Aimee

Four babies

Thanks to all of you who played with us while we were in Utah! We are happy to be home, but we miss all of you and wish we could see you more often!

Wiped out

Minnehaha Falls. This park is south of downtown Minneapolis, and it is beautiful! It centers around these little falls, but the place has been turned into a gorgeous park where families go for walks, picnics, and bike rides.

Walker Art Museum Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis. This is a huge cherry on a spoon. Downtown is just a few miles beyond those trees in the background.

This is Split Rock Lighthouse, just north of Duluth, MN. We took the tour and watched the cheesy video, and we even got to go up in the lighthouse. It was really cool, and really beautiful.

We walked down 170 steps to get to the shoreline of Lake Superior. AND I walked all the way back up without too many rest stops. You try walking up 170 steps while 7 months pregnant.

Zac dipping his toes into the frigid waters of Lake Superior!

Canal Park in Duluth, MN has a museum about the ships that used to come into the port there. This is a replica of the steering room in a ship, and Zac is driving the boat.

Overall, it was a really fun trip, and the weather was so nice!

On my third week of work, I was at a client, and we were having a wrap up meeting.  My boss showed up for the meeting and we were presenting our findings.  When I got to the conference room, it was packed.  There was only one seat left in the back corner.  After I climbed over a number of individuals to get to the seat I sat down and noticed that I was too far away from the table.  I needed to scoot up so I grabbed the bottom of my seat lifted up and then tried to slide across the floor.  Apparently, I did not lift up enough because as I tried to scoot across the room, the leg of the chair broke and there was this loud cracking noise.  Unfortunately, the sound was loud enough that the meeting stopped and everyone looked at me.  I apologized ensured them that I was okay and then the meeting started back up.  Well now I was in a real tricky spot, I had to use my left leg to hold up my chair because there were no spares.  In addition, I had to present for half of the meeting.  I needed to seem intelligent and dependable but the whole time I am sweating like a stuck pig because I am doing a 45-minute squat exercise.  As if that wasn’t enough, at the end of the meeting, the CFO asked me, so who is going to pay for the chair?  I laughed while cursing her under my breath, and then said I would cover it.  Luckily, I have yet to receive a bill!

A few weeks later, I was traveling to London Kentucky.  London is about 1.5 hours south of Lexington Kentucky.  I flew out to Kentucky on a Sunday and was spending the afternoon driving around the beautiful Kentucky countryside.  Well as I was driving down this one country lane, I was in a serious auto accident.  I was traveling about 10 miles an hour down the road back toward the Interstate when another driver was going the opposite direction at 40-50 miles an hour.  He was coming off the top of a hill and did not see me until he had crashed until me.  I did not see him until I looked out my window after the accident and saw his car in the ditch.  I was not seriously injured luckily I had a seatbelt and an airbag which protected me.  In addition, I was lucky to have a rental car that had the On-star system, which called the EMT’s for me and told them where we were.  I could go in to more detail about what happened, but it is sufficient to note that I am feeling better and it looks like everything is going to work out in the end.   Here are some photos:

The accident scene

My Car

The other drivers car

Look at the window, YIKES!

As you can see this has been a very crazy first six weeks of a new job.  I hope that these types of things will stop and I can just get into a routine.  I will be traveling a lot in the next few weeks and we are moving into our new house so it will be crazy, but a routine should be close around the corner.  I hope!