Even though Walmart and Target are advertising school supplies already, I'm not quite ready to give up on Summer. It seems like it has gone by so quickly, but our family has stayed busy - lots of activities, lots of trips, and lots of projects.
We started in June when Adam and Cory went to New York City and did some "cruising" down the eastern coast and to the Bahamas (I think) 🌴
Kate and Jonathan headed to Phoenix and enjoyed a week of swimming, baseball games, good food, and even better treats!🌵
Kevin and I got to stay with Sayre and Clementine while Kate and Jonathan were gone. We found lots of fun things to do, as well as good food, and even better treats!
ANGELLA spent the month of July in Denver training and supervising new hires for the Storage Facility for whom she works. Hollie, Eilis, and Ben were able to spend some time with her having fun at the swimming pool, and bowling, among other activities at Boondocks.
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| Girl's Spa Night |
Apparently, Ben knows his way around a bowling alley! 😁
JOSH has spent the last couple of weeks in Denver and the Boulder area trying to repair and ease the complications caused by the Crowdstrike software damage. He is hoping to spend some time with the kids this week before they start back to school.
KEVIN and I finally made it to Italy. I would love to say that we went along to chaperone Kim and Chris, but actually, Chris was our chaperone - got us everywhere we wanted to go, made sure we were fed, and had great places to sleep and shop! 😀. We loved our visit and it was especially nice to be there with family.
We were in Rome for three days and didn't wast a minute! These are places we visited -
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| Rome Temple |
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| Vatican and Sistine Chapel |
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| Mass at St. Peter's Basilica |
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| Roman Colosseum |
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| The Trevi Fountain |
After leaving Rome we took a train to Florence, and I think we all would agree that was our favorite place! We had a clothesline 😀 And found great places to shop for leather goods, ties, and the ceramic ware that Florence is famous for ~
I think every city in Italy has a plaza in the city that features an incredibly sculpted cathedral (or duomo).
While in Florence we also saw Michelangelo's "David" and beautiful sculptures and artwork.
Next on our adventure we took the train to Cinque Terre, an area in northwest Italy, and stayed in the small town of La Spezia - home to Luca 😊
We spent a day at the beach which is on what is called the "Italian Riviera". I was happy to be lazy in my lounge chair, but everyone else braved the water (I heard it was really cold).
Our next stop was Milan. We found another amazing cathedral close to an indoor shopping center (that was definitely not in our price range) and an Aldi (which we could afford)
And then there was Taylor Swift - the real reason we actually found ourselves in Italy - I think they ALL had a really fun time - Kim said she was ready to go again 😄
Thank you Kim and Chris (and Taylor Swift) we loved Italy and we would still be there wandering around the train stations if you had not been there to keep us in line! 💖
Our Summer travels are over and if feels so good to be home, but that is not the end of vacation time.
CORY took Jake, Lily, and Paul to Disneyland this week and it looks like they are having a BLAST!
KATE and Sayre traveled to Chicago this week and spent some time with Kim and Chris.
Kate and Jonathan just got a Volkswagon Taos, and Kim and Chris have the larger size Atlas - They can truly call themselves, Big Sis / Little Sis.
I think I am in need of some "girl" time too!
A day before leaving for California, PAUL got home from spending a week with friends at a Christian Summer Camp in Canada. I am so happy he has such nice friends!
EMMA and I went to lunch this week, and had a fun time catching up on all the latest news! She and Sean also attended the wedding of a friend yesterday. Emma is keeping busy with her job at the Country Club, and her work in the law office.
I love you all so much and have more photos I could share but I'm guessing you are pretty "pictured" out right now. It is so good be in a family where we can feel love, appreciation, and support from each other.
This past week in our Addiction Recovery class, one of our young kids who attends shared a thought from a speech by Brad Wilcox that he gave a few years ago at a BYU Devotional. I had not heard it before, so I watched it that evening on my ipad. It is an amazing talk, answered some questions I had never thought about, and even made me laugh (outloud). This is the link to the speech - please watch it and enjoy a few minutes with Brad - you won't be disappointed!
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!
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