Grandpa D's Seizure

    Sunday dinner we ate with my family at my parents house.  Grandma and pa D were there and both looked pretty good.  We had no idea what was ahead for poor Grandpa!

    Monday I worked at Dr. Sands and then went to the gym.  That night I cooked dinner and it actually turned out , it's a miracle!!! It was a Thai noodle dish with chicken and was really tasty!  Nicole and her kiddos picked up Grammy and came to eat and hot tub.

Me and my Izzy-Busy sharing an apple off our tree!

The kids were in heaven playing in the water and we had so much fun with them!!!

    Tuesday I worked at Dr. Johansen's.  While at work I got a call from my mom that Grandpa D had a seizure the night before and was in intensive care.  I was worried sick all day.  I went straight to the hospital after to visit.  Blake met me there.  Grandpa was still sedated and did not look well.  I lost it as soon as I saw him, it was awful.  My cousin Danny was there too and he, along with Steve and Blake were able to give Grandpa a blessing.  We stayed for a bit and visited with my mom but I couldn't take seeing him that way for too long.  I hurried home and finished cooking dinner for the Cardalls (our cute renters) as they just had their baby.  Thankfully I'd done most of the cooking the night before so it didn't take too long!  When I took dinner down I had to get my baby fix.  WOW their little guy is one of the cutest newborns I've ever seen.  I didn't wanna give him back!!  Blake had gone to play rugby and wasn't home yet so I went for a little run.  When we both got home we had some of the enchiladas I'd made and watched Angels and Demons.

    Wednesday morning Blake went running with me before work and I was in heaven.  I worked at Dr. Johansen's after.  I went to visit with Grandpa after work and he was looking SO much better.  He was still in ICU but he was awake, smiling and talking.  I was so grateful to see him doing so much better!  That night I met up with some girlfriend (some of the Africa crew) and we went to dinner at Costa Vida.  As usual it was a dinner full of laughs, gosh I love those ladies!  When I got home Blake and I snuggled on the couch for a bit and watched tv.

    Thursday I was only working a half day so I was able to run in the morning and do a few errands.  That afternoon I met my office for lunch at Chilis for Dr. Dastrup's birthday.  We only had to work for the afternoon so that was nice.  I went to see Grandpa after work.  They had moved him out of ICU and into the regular patient room.  He was looking even better and was sitting in a chair.  He has the sweetest smile and is happy no matter what, I love spending time with him!  Blake had a flag football game that night with Preston.  Those two boys have way too much fun together.

They killed the other team and I felt so lucky to call the hottest man on the field mine!!  The boys were starving after so we grabbed dinner at Black Bear Diner.  As usual there we all ate WAAAY too much!  We all went to our house after and they watched football and hot tubbed while I tried to do some scrapbooking from Europe.

    Friday morning I went running and then did some laundry.  I met up with Grandma and Sandy at the hospital and we went to lunch at Marie Callendars.  Kesh met us there with the boys.  After lunch we went back to see Grandpa at the hospital.  The boys had made a get well card for Grandpa and he loved it!

He was in a wheelchair our in the lobby with Steve.  He needed a change of scenery from his room.  They were going to release him that evening and so Steve and Sandy had to choose a rehab center for him to go to until he is strong enough to go home.  I stayed with Grandma and pa at the hospital while they checked out a few places.  I love visiting with my grandpa and hearing his sweet laugh, he is the best!  Blake came over after work and we all hung-out for a bit.  We ran to Costco after and then met Lisa and Logan for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  So nice to finally have my best friend back in Utah!!!  Poor Lisa has been super sick with stuff very similar to my sister.  She's slowly trying to figure out what she can and can't eat so I had to help her search the menu like my sister does.  We had planned to go to a haunted house after dinner but I was freaking out a little.  It had been a 2 years since the last one I went to and I was SOOO nervous.  After debating at the table for almost a hour....and taking 4 potty breaks because I was so nervous, I finally decided I needed to suck it up and go.  We went to Strangling Brothers Haunted Circus in Draper.

It didn't take me long to remember why I used to love those sooooo much......except it was way more fun when you went with a date and didn't have to cough up the $20 admission fee WOW!  They do an amazing job and scared the crap out of me!  We couldn't stop laughing and screaming the whole time!  I loose all common sense when I'm there and act like a looney person....like when and huge heavy iron door was swinging toward me.....and I walked into it getting hit in the face with a large, heavy, metal door handle rather than putting up my hand to stop the door haha!  Lisa and I have always loved this time of year, it always makes me think of her and the good old days.  Some of our favorite memories together involve haunted house, pumpkin carving, and dressing up in the coolest costumes ever!    What a great way to kick off the fall season!

    Saturday morning I went running and then to the grocery store.  I met up with Alisha and Savannah after for an Einsteins in the park lunch date.  It was great as always, love those girls!  I went straight to a shower after for Ashlee Smith.  She is one of my good friends from hygiene school.

She is expecting twin boys in a few months and I am sooo excited for her.  Those two boys are so lucky, she is the greatest momma in the world.  It was so fun to celebrate this exciting time with her!  That night Pres, Jamyn, Scott, and Heidi came over and we watched the ASU Utah game......it was pretty pathetic.  Thank goodness I had my scrapbook to keep me entertained because it was a terrible game.

    This morning we had a nice relaxing day.  Today was the Brigham City temple dedication which was really neat to see.  They broadcast it into stake centers and you had to have a special recommend to go.  Blake and I have never been to one so I'm really grateful we were able to.  How lucky we are here in the state of Utah to have so many temples.  I love going there with my sweetheart!

Recovery

   And just like that is back to life as usual!  Thursday morning Blake and I were still jet lagged.  we both woke up around 5 and couldn't go back to sleep so we decided to run to the store and grab some breakfast stuff.  Poor guy had to work that day.  Thank goodness I had the day off so it was my big recovery day to get the house back to normal with laundry and the rest of our groceries.  I met Whit that afternoon for lunch at Rubios and then we went to Liberty Park to rollerblade and play in the water with the kids.

Blake went to play rugby after work so I was able to clean a little more when I got home.  That night I tried out my new spaetzle maker (german homemade noodles that are awesome).  I don't think I had the best dough recipe so making them was a bit of a chore but they turned out in the end.  Pres came over after rugby with Blake and had some dinner with us.  We all got in the hot tub after and it was glorious.  Jamyn came straight over after finishing teaching her workout class.  It was fun to be back together again!

    Friday morning I did some more around the house and then went running.  It felt really nice to run again!  After getting ready I ran some errands.  I met Blake at the house and he had Boston and Easton already because we were watching them for the night so Nick and Kesh could have a little romantic getaway!  Blake's work party was that night up in Kamas.  They went all out and had so many fun things for the kids to do....horse rides, rock wall, volleyball, bounce house/slide, horse drawn carriage and a delicious dinner!

It was a great night and the boys had a ball!  When we got home we all got in our jammies and snuggled up to watch Incredibles.  The boys fell asleep during the movie and slept through the whole night.

    Saturday morning I went running while Blake made a gourmet breakfast for the boys.  I came home to the boys splashing around in the hot tub, so cute!

I joined them out there for a bit but just put my feet in.  I noticed our apple were looking ripe so I grabbed one and it was DELICIOUS!!!!

Blake did some major yard work and I took the boys to run a few errands.  We got Chinese take-out for lunch and brought it home so we could eat with Blake.  Blake headed out around 4 to meet up with Travis, his date for the BYU UTAH game.  They went to a tailgate party before the game.  Blake was sooo excited that he ended up being able to go to the game!  Kesha came and grabbed me and the boys around 6 and we headed to my mom's.  Whit and her kids came to and we had a little girls night at City Creek.  We shopped for a bit and then had dinner at Cheesecake Factory.  It was a lovely evening!

    This morning we got caught up on a few of our tivo'd shows and then headed to church.  Tonight we're having dinner with my fam.

End of Europe

    Monday we woke up and had breakfast at the café across the street again.  For some reason I was not feeling it and my stomach bugged me the rest of the morning!  We took a taxi to the train station to go rent our car for the day.  It was quite an ordeal trying to find a car……especially since we left our passports at the hotel.  We finally found a place and that would let us rent without a passport and they happened to be a great deal as well.  The rental ended up being $70 rather than $400 for train tickets for all 4 of us!  We hit the road for Pompeii and it was a little over 2 hours.  Getting out of Rome was a bit harry (drivers there were INSANE, expecially in the city centers). Thank goodness that car had a navigation system of I don’t know how we could have ever done it!!  Along the way we stopped at gas station to fill up and take a potty break.  My toilet was broken and a while after I sat down it started flushing and would stop.  This wasn’t your average flush.  The entire bowl got a massive tidal wave that washed sick toilet water ALL over my undercarriage…..I wanted to hurl!  It was like a bedae except with sick dirty water that was probably swimming with disease….very special experience!  Pompeii was definitely worth the drive.

 That place is so amazing and literally transports you back in time.  For those who don’t know….It’s an ancient roman city that was hit suddenly by an erupting volcano (Mt. Vesuvius).  It hit so fast and sudden that life was literallyfrozed in time.  It was buried under a thick layer of volcanic material and persevered really well!  It’s unreal how civilized they really were.  They had many of the conveniences we have today!  This is a person that had crouched over trying to escape the fumes and died in this position.

 Its fun to see how brightly everything was colored!

 This was in the brothel.  They had a "menu" painted all along the walls to tell you what you could "order" haha

 This is the amphitheater they had

 We walked around for almost 4 hours in awe just imagining what life might have been like!  We decided we needed to stop in Naples and have a true Italian pizza.  Once we got in the city we realized it was a major mistake.  The city was filthy and looked extremely sketchy.  Our guidebooks told us this city is notorious for crimes.  They have a lot of theft, pick-pocketing and have a thriving mafia.  The traffic was even worse than Rome and so we got back on the freeway as fast as we could.  We didn’t get back and get the car dropped off til about 8:30.  We walked to the train station and caught a taxi to a restaurant we found in Rick Steve’s book.  It was a cute little pizzeria on a cobble stone road.  The food was great and it was so fun eating along the road.

 We were laughing so hard though because the boys were sitting on the edge and there was nothing between them and the cars.  It was a very narrow street and the cars were just inches away from them!

 Dinner took a while because Italy moves at a very slow pace.  After dinner we caught a taxi home and found out taxi rates go up after 10pm, lame!   We finally got home and were all exhausted!

     Tuesday was the day we had our tour that Nana booked 3 months ago with a guide named John Tinto. He picked us up at 7:30 in the morning and we walked over to the Vatican to enter the Sistine Chapel. Don’t worry that we were the first ones in the chapel and it was AMAZING!!!!!!! He talked through the different aspects and lengths it took Michelangelo to paint the masterpiece the Sistine Chapel is, and he didn’t want to do it. We spent about 90 minutes in there and were all star-struck, you cannot believe the detail that is in every painting. I was so bummed that you can't take photos in there!  We then went back through the Vatican museum and our guide pointed out the highlights of the billion dollars of artifacts that are in there. We ended in St. Peter's Basilica which was gorgeous inside! 

 This was a massive amazing painting in there done by Raphael

 Overall we spent about 5 hours in the Vatican city and had a blast; it is hard to put into words the way the paintings, sculptures, and other things they had displayed there.  We grabbed a taxi over to the Forum and ate lunch at a cute little street café overlooking the Roman ruins that are 2000 years old, and of course I had my REAL Italian pizza. Once we wrapped up lunch we headed over to the Forum and looked at more 2,000 year old ruins.

 After seeing the major things in the Forum we walked over to the Coliseum; I was in heaven because Blake kept asking me to take pictures. He was Maximus from the Gladiator and was in heaven. I was too just because he kept requesting pictures.  

 It in unbelievable to think that they created a building so massive and so elaborate so many years ago…..and in just 8 years!  It’s awful to think what went on in that building but it really is a very impressive bulding!  Blake could have stayed there all day!

 This is us with our awesome tour guide John

 Our last stop was the pantheon.  We walked past it our fist night in Rome but it was closed so we couldn’t go inside.  It was amazing to see the inside.  It is the best preserved ancient structure inside.  So cool to see their amazing decoration and design!  The top is an open dome and I still don’t understand how they were able to build a building like that!  John dropped us off at his favorite Gelato shop across from the pantheon.  Getting a tour guide was not cheap but it was worth every penny.  His knowledge was invaluable.  He literally made history come to life (for a girl that has always hated history).  Being with a guide allowed us to bypass all the lines allowing us to be alone in the Sistine Chapel and to not waste any time waiting in lines (the Coliseum line was well over an hour!)  We were absolutely exhausted after and just wanted to sit back and enjoy Rome.  We sat at a restaurant right in front of the pantheon and had the perfect table.  We sat forever sipping Coke Lights and talking about all the fun things we’ve been up to.  It was really fun.

 After 2 hours we decided we were hungry.  Rather than losing our amazing table we just stayed at the same restaurant and ordered dinner.  The food was really good (and of course I had to have my farewell Italy pizza).  While we ate we were serenaded by an accordion.  Pop found a new toy he wanted to buy from on of the guys walking past selling stuff but he just couldn't get it to work haha.

It was the perfect way to end the perfect trip. We caught a taxi back to the hotel because we could not walk another inch!  When we got back we had to pack our bags.  We were so sad!  We stayed up pretty late rubbing each other’s feet and backs, our bodies were very sore and exhausted!  

    Wednesday morning our ride picked us up right at seven and we headed to the airport.  As usual the airport was a nightmare.  We got dropped at wrong terminal (we booked with Delta but they switched us to Airitalia).  After trying all night to check in online somehow I got checked in and Blake didn’t, they didn’t have any seats left together.  When we got to security we had to say goodbye to Pres and Sandy, they were heading to Greece for another 2 week tour following the apostle Paul.  We were so sad to leave them.  What an amazing adventure we had together!  It was such a treat to see Blake and his dad in Germany reminiscing and speaking their German together.  How lucky we are to have such wonderful family that we love to spend time with!  The gate was pure chaos and after standing in a line for 30 minutes to try and change our seats we found out we were in the wrong line.  We finally got to the right place and switch our seats (Hallelujah!)  It was for sure one the most uncomfortable planes I’ve ever been on and we had a man behind that snored the entire flight soooooo loud!  It was a joy haha!  I knew that the Delta terminal at JFK had a Red Mango and so you better believe I made Blake hunt it down with me……..it was HEAVEN!!!!  When we got back to our gate to board they informed us they changed planes and that they needed to reprint our tickets……of course our new seats were no where near each other.  We asked to change again so we’d be together.  Thankfully they were able to.  Boarding the plane was a nightmare and took forever! It was another VERY long ride and we both had a major case of restless legs!  We couldn't get to SLC fast enough!  My mom picked us up and took us to dinner at Pei Wei, so yummy.  We grabbed our car at Pres and Sandy's and headed home.  We unpacked for a minute and then crashed super early.

    This morning we both woke up around 5 because our bodies are still on Europe time.  We couldn't go back to sleep so we went to the store and got milk and made ourselves breakfast.  Blake just headed to work and I'm trying to get everything back in order again.  What an amazing trip we had!  We feel so lucky to have been able to visit his mission together.  Every detail of the trip was absolutely perfect and we wouldn't have changed one thing!  It was an unforgettable trip that we will look back on for the rest of our lives and smile!!!

Italy

Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast at our hotel with Christian’s parents.  They were lovely people and we were so glad we got the chance to meet them.  We headed to the temple in Bern after to do a session of sealings.  The only sealer for that session was Italian so that was an interesting experience!  Thankfully one sister spoke Italian and German so she told the boys what he’d say and they pass the info to us.  It was nice for a change to not be the only one who knows what is going on!  Fortunately the spirit can communicate in any language and it was a wonderful experience!  

 After the temple we headed to the airport in Basel.  Unfortunately we rode a small European airline that doesn’t allow much luggage and so we got nailed with heavy bag fees!  We had lunch with Christian and it was so sad to say goodbye at the end.  We had so much fun with him!  He was the greatest tour guide and we saw and did so many things we would have never done without him!  I hope we will be seeing him again.  It was a little sad leaving German and Switzerland behind.  Blake is certain we will be back there someday.  We’d both LOVE to go and live there for a time.  I completely fell in love with Germany and the people and would go back in a heartbeat!!!  We had a short plane ride and then we were in Rome.  Our hotel sent someone to pick us up.  Our hotel was in the most prime location, directly across the street from St. Peter’s Basilica right in the heart of town!  When we walked in we could not believe our eyes! 

A real normal sized bed, air conditioning, adorable decorations, free wifi, a bedae, and the most amazing shower you have ever seen (sprays from every direction imaginable, plays the radio, has lights…..its kinda amazing!)  They just bought the place 2 months ago and so everything still looks brand new, we totally lucked out!

Jake Anderson’s sister, Sara (he is one of Preston’s best friends from high school), has been living here for 2 months and she came to our place and gave us a walking tour of the city.  I felt like I was walking on the set of a movie.  This is the real deal that people always try to recreate.  It is so surreal to see it in person!  We started right across from our hotel at St. Peter’s Basilica by the Vatican.

 Everywhere we went we kept having flash backs to the movie Angels and Demons, it’s crazy to see all the places from the movie!  Next we walked to St. Angelo’s Bridge which is lined with Angel statues. 

 All the streets have these great little fountains that flow with fresh drinking water all day!

Its great because you could really walk everywhere there.  The streets all smelled so delicious with all the yummy food.  There was music everywhere and everyone seemed to be smiling, its magical!  The next stop was the 4 Rivers Fountain.

 After that the pantheon which had these massive columns which were all made from one piece of stone cut perfectly.  How they made these amazing building I will never understand! 

  Next came the Trevi Fountain.  That place was packed with tourist.  We got to the front and threw in a coin which means you will return to the fountain again someday, I sure hope it works!

 Such a romantic city:)

 Another view of the gorgeous Trevi Fountain

 After the fountain we walked to the top of the Spanish steps and walked along a wall that gave the most gorgeous view of the entire city, it was spectacular!  We hadn’t eaten since we’d arrived so we stopped at a cute little pizzeria and got some pizza.  They made big long pizzas and you tell them where to cut it.  They weigh it and that is how much you pay.  For both of us to get pizza and a soda was 9 euros, it was sooo nice to finally have normal priced food again!

    This morning we woke up and got ready for the day.  We are the only ones staying in this hotel right now (and we’re pretty sure we are the first guests they’ve had since opening about a month ago, everything is BRAND new and looks like its never been used).  For breakfast they give us vouchers and we go across the street to an awesome bakery.  We all had fresh paninis, pasteries and orange juice which they squeeze right in front of you, DELIZIOSO!  After breakfast we had to wait for the bus to go to church.  Public transportation in Italy is VERY different from Germany.  They have no set schedule and you really never know when the bus will show up.  The buses are dirty and stinky.  I got stuck next to a man with Tourettes, let’s just say it was a very akward and I couldn’t wait to get off that bus!  We got off the bus and walked down the street a bit until we reached the church (the same church Sara and her family go to).  They had headsets you could wear for English translation so that made it really nice for us!  The meeting was about the spirit with new conversions.  It was a great meeting.  While talking to the sisters we found out one of the sisters was a daughter of a dear friend of Pres and Sandy, Dick and Brenda Miles.  My parents also knew them from the U of U days.  Crazy what a small world it is!  

 We walked down the road after and grabbed a kebab (like a doner in Germany but wrapped in a tortilla), they were pretty good!  We took some public transport and had to run all around and up a million steps.  We couldn’t believe the climate change from Germany to Italy.  It was super humid and really warm!  We were all sweating buckets.  Finally we made it to the Borghese Gallery.  Sara’s husband, Clint, is studying art in Italy and so he really knows his stuff!  He showed us all around the gallery, it was amazing!  Our favorites were the Bernini sculptures, they are unbelievable!  The David especially,  he is in action with his slingshot and the muscles and veins are absolutely perfect!  So fun to see those amazing works!  After that we headed to the Termini to get bus passes for Pompeii the next day, it ended up being a major ordeal and the train ride was going to cost $400 for the four of us.  I think we may end up just renting a car, which should save us quite a lot!  After we got that all sorted out it was back to the Metro to get back to town.  We had a delicious dinner at a cute little restaurant with Sara, Clint and their two little boys Zach and Abe. 

  The restuarant makes the pastas from scratch and they were fabulous.  Everything we had tasted so fresh and we loved all the flavors!  Of course as usual the kids were in love with Blake and we couldn’t get enough of them. 

The oldest, Zach, know everything you could ever want to know about animals and loves to tell you all about it.  They are full of energy and are sweet as can be!  It was a super fun meal and a great way to end a great day!  Of course Pop could not let the kids leave without getting some ice cream first so we had to stop off and grab gelato and as you can see the kids thought that was a brilliant idea!