Italy - day 3 afternoon (Roma)

After a morning of touring, we were transported to Piazza Navona (the artists' square) for the first concert of the trip. 

 After we walked to the piazza, we had time to wonder around before the concert and practice. We walked down to the Pantheon, sat in the piazza and ate pizza, and listened to a lady playing the accordion. It all felt very, very Italian. :) 

  We next walked through the Pantheon. Here is an idea of the size of the pillars in the front. 

 This is the church where the group held their first concert! I was so, so, so cold!!! I think this is where I started getting sick because I sat here for four hours for practice and the concert. How amazing though! Their sound just filled the space (humongous space) and the organ was beautiful. They opened the doors (making it even colder) to get people to come in for the concert. The benches were completely filled and there was a crowd in the back of the cathedral. It was amazing. One gentleman teaches music and was just overwhelmed. Afterwards we went to dinner just one Italian minute away. We had delicious lasagna and pizza. The service was slow and the room was freezing. We were so, so happy to get back on the bus. Hot showers that night!! 

Italy - day 3 morning (Roma)

Was split between ancient Rome and St. Peter's. What an amazing day! It was long and a bit cold but so worth it. Ancient Rome is amazing! I can't believe that I'm looking at buildings that are so historic. Here are my favorite pics from the Colosseum and Roman Forum.

The outside of the colosseum. This place has such a gruesome history. I cannot even imagine all the yucky stuff that took place here.

 Inside the Colosseum. They rebuilt part of the floor so you can see what it used to look like and still see all the animal and gladiator cells underneath. Right now, we are looking from right above the emperor's box. This is what the emperor would have seen when he was in the Colosseum. 

A closer look at the animal/gladiator cells. There was not much space, room, air or anything else below the stage. Here's a better description of the architecture. All the sloping surfaces were once bleachers. The floor had trapdoors (pretty advanced for the time frame).

Part of the Roman Forum. There are a ton of ruins in this area. It seems every emperor had to build something bigger and better in pretty much the same place. There isn't much left.

 This plaque shows us the place where Caesar was cremated. It was rumored that he was killed in the Roman Forum but he wasn't, he was only cremated here.

The navel of Rome. :) Called that because it was once the center of Rome.

  

At one time, Rome had 12 triumphant arches. This is just one of them. They are beautiful. The carving in the stonework is incredible.

 A  view of the forum from the other side. This view allows you to see the column ruins a lot better than previous picture. 

Here is a peek at St. Peter's Basilica. I was completely overwhelmed by the size/scope of this building. Here is a quick reference. So those letters in the gold band? They are seven feet tall. See that ledge above the letters? It is big enough to drive a city bus on it. Yeah. It's that big. The following pictures are more images of the basilica. Allison was able to sing mass for the most important cardinal of the basilica. We asked our tour guide why he was so important. She told us that he will probably be the next pope. It was definitely interesting.

That little white building peeking over the diagonal roof is the Sistine Chapel. We had free time on this day so we walked through the tombs. It was a little freakish. The tops of the tombs are all engraved stone to look like the cardinal inside. We were glad we went down there as we were unable to see them the next day. 



Italy - day 1 & 2

Our trip to Italy actually started with a full day of travel. We left SLC about 11:00 a.m., JFK at 7:00 p.m. and made it to Rome about 10:30 a.m. So, I'm writing about day one and two at the same time, giving me something to actually write about! It was a long night crossing the ocean but I was surprisingly upgraded to first class...I thoroughly enjoyed the seat that laid flat, the three-course meal, the fresh breakfast and, of course, my own tv. Allison has a completely different story about crossing the ocean. On our first day we went through customs (I got my first stamp in my new passport!) and drove to the Spanish steps. This area is where all the designers live. I had fun looking at the shops and wishing I could share them with Kaitlyn. Here are my pics from this day!

Don't we all just look so excited to be in Italy? I think our (lack of) excitement comes from a long night on the plane. Luckily, the tour company didn't schedule too much for us this day because they knew we would be exhausted.

Did I say exhausted? Not Allison! Let's go!

Allison partway down the Spanish Steps. It felt good to walk around. However, it was drizzling and the steps are stone and sloped down. It was a little scary to walking down them. But down we walked anyway! See how happy Allison was? Yeah, I think she was a bit tired.  

A lovely picture of the main street below the Spanish Steps. Don't know why but I do love this pic.

The following pictures are some of the window fronts we walked by.

Scooters are EVERYWHERE! We were told that red lights are optional and you get tickets if you don't turn three lanes into five. It's no wonder crazy scooters are everywhere. We even saw the aftermath of a car vs. scooter accident. If you think traffic in Utah is bad...go to Italy.



working in the best of places

Lee and I are both very fortunate to have fabulous jobs right now. Both the Energy Dynamics Lab and New Dawn Technologies were highlighted in our local newspaper. If you are interested, here are the links so you can learn more about what we do.

EDL: http://news.hjnews.com/news/article_9c8dd8b6-3d6d-11e0-ae35-001cc4c002e0.html

NDT: http://news.hjnews.com/features/article_e0aa63f2-411e-11e0-a816-001cc4c002e0.html

Dad, this is for you. Now you can know what I do! :)

watch out for that ..... !!!!!!

Oh swearword, as Kaitlyn would say. :)

Wells finally got his driver's permit renewed and we are all out driving now. Trying to get 40 hours with two kids is HARD!! I've had to double my anxiety meds. :) Well not really, but some days. It's fun to listen to them correct each other as they are both strong drivers in different areas. Wells can do everything really well, except he cuts corners on turns...any type of turn even the turns for parking (watch out for that car!!). Kaitlyn has to talk to herself to do everything correctly. She is getting better at everything except slowing down SLOWLY. Fast stops? check! Slow decrease is speed (watch out for that turn! kid! UGH!!!).

We are hoping to have them driving on their own in the next couple of months. Then we just have to decide whether or not they get their own car. What do you think? car or not?

let the dating begin!!

I have such good news! Both Kaitlyn and Wells have dates to the Sweethearts' Dance on February 12th! I am so excited for them both, FIRST DATES! Kaitlyn filled balloons with confetti and then put her name in a couple of them, stuffed them all in a garbage bag and wrote on it "It would be a party if you would go to the dance with me". He told her yes yesterday but said he would figure out a fun way to answer back for sure. No, she is not going with her "almost" boyfriend. He was asked by another girl before Christmas!! Wells was asked by one of Katilyn's good friends. He was a little freaked out about it all. When I asked him if he was ok, he asked what he had to do. I told him it was a girl's choice dance so he just got to go along for the ride! He likes that idea.

What's funny is that none of the girls can legally drive non family passengers and one of the girl's parents insist that someone over 18 drives. So, one of the parents will get to play chaperone all day long. It will be interesting to see what happens. I'm so excited for them both!!

after carpet

This has been a long time coming but finally...here are some after pictures!! I really wanted to get more up before I took these so I will have to finish up my small adjustments and post some more!!

 This is my new favorite corner. You can see thing on my shelf, my beautiful wainscoat, and all the paint colors. I want to get 1-2 ladder shelves for the very corner. Will be thanking Glen for his amazing Christmas present for those!!

We moved the piano to a new wall. I love it here. I am going to paint four pictures with yellow flowers to place on the wainscoat around the piano. They will be fabulous!! :) 

Down the hallway and into the bedrooms. It is amazing what a new color of carpet will do. Our house really looks different. And we just love how squishy the carpet is!!

 The corner downstairs where the bookshelves used to be. I'm loving the blue wall...loving. We haven't pulled everything back out and are enjoying the room. I really do need to unpack though. We through away one truck full of stuff and I want to get rid of another.

Just another picture of the downstairs. We moved this big couch down and took the love seat up to better fit our needs. Everyone loves watching TV now cuz there is enough room for all of us to sit.

I still have a lot to do, mostly little things to finish everything up. Melinda told me to concentrate on one room at a time and get it the way I want before moving one. Sound advice! I'm starting with the living room. The next pictures should have curtains and yellow flower paintings!