Europe Trip: Pompeii, Amalfi Coast

Scott and I have been wanting to go to Rome since we heard an LDS temple would be built, years and years ago. We thought, that would be nice. But realistically, we have 5 kids and we are super busy and needed around here, and we don't have family that lives close by to watch the children, so we don't take trips alone. Ever. But the kids are getting older and not as needy (no diapers, everyone can dress and take care of themselves) and grandma Angela isn't working right now and she agreed to watch them so we could go to Europe when we found roundtrip tickets for just under $500 each which is an awesome price! So we flew Grandma out from NC and the next day Scott and I headed out for Europe, even though the temple isn't quite complete (it was just recently announced that it will be finished and they will begin the open house in January of 2019 and it will be dedicated in March). So it's sort of our 15 year anniversary trip since that's coming up this Summer, and we'll still go see the temple, but this year was good timing for our family and Grandma and we were antsy to finally vacation alone. While at the airport in SLC, we ran into these guys: Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson. We had a little trouble at the SLC airport just before boarding because all sorts of national flights were being cancelled because of bad weather on the East Coast. We were supposed to fly from SLC to San Francisco, then onto Zurich Switzerland and then to Rome. But our flight to San Francisco got cancelled because of long delays, but we were able to get onto another flight to San Francisco just a few minutes later. Unfortunately in that process of changing our flights, and unbennounced to us, they accidentally cancelled the rest of my itinerary!

So when we tried to board again in San Francisco for Zurich(this would have been around 730pm), they let Scott on, but not me! Scott got off and we had to run to the United desk but Swiss Air said they would not wait and they were long gone before we could even talk with someone at United. Once we finally did, they rearranged our itinerary and told us we could fly out the next  day in the afternoon and we'd go first to Frankfurt Germany and then onto Rome. I felt bad for the workers at the United desk as there were so many flight problems that they had a long line up for a long time, and dealt with people that were obviously upset and impatient. I figured getting upset isn't going to help anything, so I tried to be extra nice to them to alleviate or help balance all the negativity they were receiving. They thanked me for my kindess and told me I should travel more because it'd make their job easier and more pleasant :). We decided to sleep at the airport as 1) we heard many of the hotels nearby were booked because of other cancellations and prices were very high and 2) we didn't want to risk leaving and missing something.

I was grateful Scott had packed us each a pair of ear plugs and that he had packed my Buff (running headband type of thing that's more like shirt fabric) so that I could block out some of the noise and light. We still didn't sleep well, but we were able to sleep for a few hours. I believe he was inspired. We ended up being at the San Francisco airport for something like 18 hours. We did a lot of walking and we spent some time in the Yoga Room stretching. Our flight was 10-11 hours and we were able to sleep for a few hours on the plane, but not much more. Once we got to Germany we found out that we were travelling to Rome during a holiday (Palm Sunday and Easter approaching) and that all the flights to Rome were booked and then we had been booked onto an already booked flight! So we got put on standby. I was able to get on the next flight to Rome, but Scott was not but the flight attendants(or whoever was at the desk) promised he would be first on the list for the next flight a couple of hours later. So I got my very tired self onto the plane and flew onto Rome, alone. Scott was able to get onto the next flight a couple of hours later and then we met up at the airport (almost midnight now in Rome). 

Here I am in Rome alone. I just walked the airport during those hours. A couple of women from the USA were taking pictures by this photo and I offered to take one with them both in it. And then they insisted that I let them take one of me. I looked very tired.

Once Scott arrived we took an airport van to our hotel which was walking distance to a train station, checked in and then slept. We got up after about 6 hours of sleep (bed was hard and we had places to be, especially since we already missed a day) and ate breakfast at the hotel which consisted of hard boiled eggs, jam tart, croissants and pastries, yogurt, toast with thin meats and cheese and veggies...this was typically served most places we stayed while in Europe, along with muesli and fruit which were also very common. Scott LOVED the breakfasts and has mentioned a couple of times since being home, that he'd like to have more of a european style breakfast in the morning for himself.

An older looking elevator

(this was the view from our hotel room in rome)

After breakfast we headed for the train station. We took the fast and expensive train to Napoli (after that we did not take the fast expensive ones...except the train to austria was fast but not the most expensive)

and then we took another local train to Pompeii. We were packed liked sardines! At least it wasn't hot and smelly and it was only like a 15 minute ride.

We loved Pompeii! What an amazing history and I can't believe how well preserved it is after all these thousands of years! Shows what a good, solid foundation can do for you; must build upon a rock (and I'm thinking of a certain scripture, about Jesus being our rock).

A sad history of Mt Vesuvius exploding and killing everyone with it's ash. It's sounds like this particular people living at this particular time in this area, may have been similar to Sodom and Gomorrah.

We walked around Pompeii for a couple of hours and then grabbed some lunch,

tratidional Napoli pizza which we loved!

and some gelato, and then we headed onto Salerno and the Amalifi Coast.

I loved seeing all the lemon and orange trees on our train ride over from Pompeii to Salerno.

We stayed in Minori at a bed and breakfast called Agriturismo Villa Maria. The owners have a lemon vineyard there and the view was gorgeous. We didn't get in until after dark, but they were waiting for us and we had dinner there which was so yummy (homemade pastas, veggies and fruit) and then we were beat and went to bed. 

Unfortunately we slept in the next morning (because we were so tired from our trip over and lack of sleep thus far), which was really our only time in the Amalfi Coast as we originally were supposed to spend two nights there but with our flight complications, could only do one. So we woke up, dressed, packed, went out to look around, had breakfast and then Vincenzo took us down to the bus stop.

Gorgeous views! Homes and vineyards built into the mountains!

A very steep area to climb and get around.

We decided to get off a little early and walk around Salerno and the coast a bit in the town and catch a later bus to our train in Napoli as we had an hour or so to spare.

Oh and they make the best, sweetest and biggest lemons in the world here. They think it's because of not only the sea water, but also because of the ash in the ground from Pompeii/Mt Vesuvius. So they have lemon everything. Lemon pastas, lemon sauces, lemon sweets, lemon drinks. I loved these lemon white chocolate balls.

And then we were on our way again, this time headed to Napoli airport so we could fly onto Vienna.

First Half of March

Jane turned 8 March 26, and in anticipation of her baptism, we brought her outside the Oquirrh Temple in her pretty white dress so we could take some baptism pictures. It was a windy day, but luckily it wasn't freezing. 

Married nearly 15 years and Scott and I continue to court one another and we try to go on a date together each week. This partictular date night was to Waffle Love where we ate savory waffles for dinner (Scott had fried chicken on a waffle and I had a grilled cheese on a croissant waffle w/tomato bisque....so yummy!) and we shared a sweet waffle for dessert. We want to bring the kids here some time. 

Bathroom update: this is what the bathroom looked like that beginning of March: wood tile on floor and walls of bathtub.

These are the Sweet Potato muffins I love to make, but this time I made them with almond flour instead of wheat flour...I wanted to try to make them gluten-free as the original recipe called for a gluten free flour, but I think next time I'll try with a gluten free blend.

For Jane's date night this month, she wanted to see The Greatest Showman, so Scott took her as he hasn't seen it yet, and I'd seen it three times already.

Charles attended a BYU Merit Badge Pow Wow with a couple of the Geilman brothers, who have been family friends for years. They don't get to see each other very often so it was fun for them to spend some time together. They got lunch afterward in the Wilkinson Center.

I brought a book and stayed during their clinic, and part way through I went for a walk and I knew my good friend Elisa L was going to be doing a 5k with her son Andrew, so I found them and cheered them on.

Stacey H got Annabelle some knitting supplies for her birthday and one weekend she came over and helped some of the kids learn to knit hats. This is the one Elisabeth knit:

And here's the hat Annabelle knit; she gave it to Nora as it was a little small. 

I love having 4 girls, I love how sweet and motherly can be. Here they are holding our neighor, baby Luke. 

My warts are gone! Remember I had three on my big toe and one on the ball of my foot. I started consistent treatment with them (putting on wart removal liquid almost daily, and scraping them after showers) probably a couple of months before...I know I didn't start until after my marathon which was in October and I want to say I started in January, I know it was before mid February when I went to visit my mom. So anyway, a couple of months of working at them and they're gone!

Nora's date month wasn't until April, but she really wanted to see this movie before it came out to DVD (they all have all the music memorized as we play it so often), so we took her early and I saw it for the 4th time.

Birthday lunch date with Jane...she chose Cafe Rio; not a surprise! :)

Here's the bathroom a week later; Scott put in the toilet and vanity and started working on the plumbing. 

At American Preparatory Academy, the kids have culminating activities at the end of each section they're learning about. I've helped multiple times in Nora's kindergarten class where we've celebrated with usually crafts and snacks and projects; this particular time they had been learning about recycling and garbage so the teacher had them sort various recyclables. I've also helped with Native Americans, Presidents and Plants.

 We celebrated Jane's birthday 9 days  early this year because Scott and I would be in Europe on her actual birthday. She wanted to have a day with her best friend where they went to an open gym at a gymnastics facility, and then they played at home, we had pizza for dinner and they watched a movie and had chocolate ice cream cake for dessert.

We finished the bathroom on March 17, two days before Scott's mom arrived in town to stay with the kids over our trip! Well, mostly finished, as there's one mistake Scott still needs to fix with the vanity, but everything was functional and it is right off the guest bedroom so that was nice to get it done in time. I love that we used that circle mirror, which I had purchased probably 6 years ago on clearance for almost nothing, and we just saved it, not knowing when or where we'd put it up(originally thought in the girls bedroom but then decided not to) and finally had a spot for it! 

Second Half of February

Annabelle turned 10 years old!

 She had this cute note on her locker from her teacher. I came to school and brought her Cafe Rio for lunch and we brought chocolate chip granola bars for the class; they have parents come in and read to the class during lunch, for about 10 minutes, so I did that as well.

 Annabelle's big present was getting her ears pierced! We originally let Elisabeth get hers pierced when she turned 8, but they got infected and we accidentally poked a second hole through the back of her ear, so she took them out all together and we decided we'd wait a little longer for the other girls.

 We had told the girls when they were 12 after Elisabeth's incident, but she talked us into age 10. And I'm glad that she's older because she is completely responsible for turning and cleaning them daily which is nice for mom.

 Annabelle invited some school and neighborhood friends over to help her celebrate. We had pizza,

 and ice cream cake(mint chocolate oreos on bottom, mint chocolate chip icecream, and topped with mint M&M's),

 and then the girls watched Wonder,

 and played a little ping pong. We told the kids that this year, for their birthday parties we were going to say ' no gifts please'. Well, so far we've done that for Charles and Annabelle's party but most people still bring gifts anyway...we wanted to do this because 1) the kids have too much stuff and 2) less inconvenience for the other parents. Oh well.

Saturday Scott and I a few hours putting tile up in the bathtub. It's looking good! 

 Jane's bff Skye had a birthday and Jane wanted to get her a 'best friends' necklace. These girls are adorable.

 Lemira, Me, Gina and Tiffany, BYU Wymount friends, did a paint Ladies Night. It was fun to see them, catch up and make something beautiful!

I hadn't seen Lemira and Tiffany in years. 

We had a late winter; beautiful weather for the most part, still pretty warm and sunny up until the end of February and then we finally got some snow.

My APA elementary kids had a midwinter break. We didn't do a whole lot, mostly hung around the house, but we did eat lunch out at Cafe Rio one day, we had some doctor well-checks and dentist cleanings, and I taught them to make the paintings I had made just prior.

One day we met Scott at his work and ate lunch together there.

Charles and Elisabeth and some friends went to BYU one Saturday for STEM; it's where the college students have a couple of large gathering areas full of math and science projects. 

Afterward we ate lunch in the Wilkinson Center. 

Elisabeth asked if I'd help on her 8th grade field trip to the capitol building; Elisa Ludwig watched Nora for me once she was back from school so I was able to go. We started off with lunch at City Creek Mall, then headed over to the capitol building for a tour.

Nora often likes to eat oatmeal for breakfast. On this particular morning her and Charles carried on this conversation: Nora, "The Greatest Showman is my favorite movie!" Charles "What are you talking about, you haven't even seen that movie yet." Nora: "I know, but still!" The older three kids and I have seen it and we play the soundtrack at home often so the younger girls think they love it too.