Tuscany trip 2014 (I write the 2014 as I hope to return in 2015)

These good people...

came to visit us.

The darn plane had problems, so they showed up a day later than we anticipated.  Did they relent and go to sleep and postpone our road trip?  No.  No, they did not.  They are made of tough stuff.

We went to Duseldorf to so Tierney could visit her German family.  Karen is darling.  My boys heard we were going to Germany and wanted schnitzel for dinner.  Karen (the mutter) did not disappoint.  I loved "breaking bread" with them.  They had eaten their main meal earlier (cause they are smart) and then at night, we all sat around a humongous table for a "lighter meal."  We ate bread and cheese with salami, and salad.  De-lish.  We also went to a fun neighborhood playground.  I have said it once, and I will say it again, Europe has the best playgrounds.

 The next day we went to Legoland, while the Syndergaards went to Neuschwanstein Castle.  Legoland was a hit, naturally, with our three little gents.  And the crowds, well, they were non-existent.  We went on our favorite knight roller coaster 3 times in a row without getting off the ride at all. AWESOME!

The pirate ride here had more participants who were watching the riders.  We rode around the first time and some dude was waiting for his family or friends who happened to be behind us.  For practice he aimed at us, and proved to be a good shot.  He showered us, like seriously bombarded us with H2O.  Isaac was so drenched I took his shirt off and rung it out, then had him put his coat on instead.  We all had a good laugh.

After Legoland, we drove through beautiful country.  It was amazing and it seemed like there were picture worthy fortresses, or chateaus around every bend.  It was lovely...well, everything except the 16 kilometer tunnel that took backed up traffic for about an hour.

 This little lady greeted us at our less-than-stellar-accomodations at the Sea Pine lodging in Livorno, Italy. Andrew tells me she was carrying hundreds of baby spiders on her back.  I hoped he was wrong, but alas, he was not.  Ewwww worthy.

The leaning tower was majestic standing there in all it's leaning glory!  

 We were their early in the morn, before anything was open.  So we went to the Campo Santo aka the cemetery.   Supposedly, a shipload of sacred soil from Calvary was hauled back during one of the crusades and the cemetery is built around the Holy Field (Campo Santo) where they put the dirt and grew grass on top.  Eric was especially impressed here.  On the outside of the walled cemetery we found some interesting (super random) bricks, like this one with a face in it.

 Isaac went up with me, Drew, and Tierny, while Eric took care of the littles who were, well, to little. We climbed up the looooong staircase that wrapped around the tower.  It was interesting to feel the pull of gravity on the "tiped" side, and the stair case leaned to the outside wall on one side of the tower, while leaning to the inside wall on the other.   We guessed where Galileo dropped (maybe) the two cannonballs of different masses. And to top it off, we were up top when the bells rang.  That was COOL.  After all, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is a bell tower.  The bells ring as a sign that mass is going to start soon, and calls worshipers.   

 

After Pisa, Eric took us to Lucca.  He had read that it is a non-pretentious town and offers a fun bike ride.  Cheers to Tiers for cycling Seth.  It was very enjoyable and one of our favorite activities of the trip.

Mont St Michel, Normandy beaches,

Lacey, thanks for giving me a little push.  I should post once a week, though I know I won't.  I love your guts...even more than Normandy, France...and more than Mont SM...and more than those yummy deserts at the end of the post. 

 Once upon a time, my theater teacher, Mr. Green, who was also the French teacher, took a group of my fellow students to France where they visited Mont St Michel.  After hearing about their adventures, I promised myself I would go there someday.  "Someday" happened when Isaac's scout group planned to visit the beaches of Normandy.

Mont St Michel is a little less than a km from land.  The little island is a series of old stairways, alleyways, courtyards and paths made of old cobblestone.  It is a tourist trap...yet I love it.  My imagination went wild.  

During the 100 years war, England conquered all of Normandy except this little fortified island...or maybe it's not an island...but I'm not sure. 

 This small arch was down in the town.  There were a million more in the abbey. 

 Having his hat on makes him look like a little village commoner...

or sea dog...

whichever your pleasure. 

 I found all sorts of little nooks that caught my eye, 

so I tried to pretend I was a national geographic photographer.

 Stairs, stairs, and more stairs.  My most memorable stairs happened while we were paying to get into the abbey.  More correctly, Eric was paying for us to get in when B declared he needed the restroom. When we asked the lady sorta pointed us up some stairs.  That was actually the entrance.  We didn't have our tickets put Eric hollered he was coming and the lady could see we were in duress.  I grabbed Benj and I climbed a thousand steps...it might have been only about 896, or something like that.  ;P  I thought I would pass out.  Seth followed us as he had to go also.  One of them was crying.  We ran past a monk in a blue robe.  Surely a man of the cloth would point me in the right direction, but alas he was talking to someone and I didn't want to slow down to much for fear of...well, wet steps, if you catch my drift. Finally, I saw the lovely bathroom figures that are not language specific.  Whew.  

 Na-rrow, eh!?

 The abbey would be a good place for hide-n-go-seek, but for college age peeps.  The place was huge. Here our little gents are in one of the knight halls. 

 We conquered MSM

 Next we met up with the scouts.  We have been to Normandy a couple times before but this was the first time we went to the USA cemetery.  It was impeccably clean.  Also, we so the nice director driving his golf cart.  And while he was waiting to speak to a group we watched him try to revive a bird who flew into one of the visitor center windows. Doh. 

 E, pointing our to our little troops, what happened on dray, 70 years prior. 

 Many a fine soldier lie in this cemetery...they were truly the "greatest generation."

 Glad to have a man to show these little men how to show proper respect. 

 One of the ways the Western Allied forces were able to defeat Germany was with trickery.  They set up a bunch "balloon tanks" in an area to make the German attacker believe they were starting from somewhere else.  They also flew over an area and dropped a bunch of these pseudo paratroopers. 

 Isaac and 4 of his 6 scout buddies. 

 Seth and Benj mounted up...sorta. 

 Pointe du Hoc is still filled with big craters. 

 Benj and his friend, sometime fiancé, sometimes not fiancé, Sophia. 

 Seth always has a little surprise for me. 

The rest of the pics are in Bayeux.  We went to see the Bayeux Tapestry.  Holy canoli, was it impressive, though it is not a tapestry at all, rather a looooooong (70 meters) embroidery piece about William the conquerer.

8ight is GREAT!

 I like things that run deep...like Isaac's dimples and his faith in our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

A couple days ago I was driving the little gents to school.  When we leave the property, we have to open the back gate with a fob.  My fob batteries have been running low and therefore I can not always get the gate to open.  We were running a little late this particular morning, and I kept pressing the button in hopes that some residual energy might kick in.  I pushed that button several times and then, low and behold, the gate opened up.  Whew.  I was so relieved.  It entered my mind to ask if anyone had prayed, and Isaac said "Yeah.  I did."  The little guy just knows who to turn to.  He is often times my teacher and an example to me, his mom.

He invited several friends to his baptism.  Including our friends from the ward we had about 60 people at his baptism.  Some members of our church, several non-members.  The Elders interpreted English into French for some investigators...it added a lot more time.   I guess that doesn't matter as much as the fact the spirit was certainly present.  I am so pleased to be his mommy.

Isaac and Grandpa

We made little donut bags that looked like the #8 and delivered them to Isaac's class the day before his actual birthday. 

Isaac has come a loooong way in 8 short years.  He is a good boy. A really good boy.  He is nice to little people.  He can keep a secret.  His eyes twinkle when he plays a practical joke on someone.  He laughs easily.  He loves trees...and swings that are connected to them.  He loves baseball, friends, and being outside.  He loves Wednesdays because he doesn't have any homework. He will eat, or at least try, anything, and when he doesn't like it he says, "I'm not really a fan." He can be reasoned with.  His imagination is freakin' awesome.  He likes to draw army tanks and missiles.  He loves to play mine craft.  He is honest.  He likes to snuggle with me at night, it's when we have our best chats.  He is one of the greatest blessings in my life.  My love for him runs deep.

Grandma Honey Heart gave all the fellas beautiful ties.  Eric loaned his dad a yellow tie so Ken could be "matchy matchy."  Eric loves matching...a lot. :)

It was special to have Isaac choose to be baptized on his birthday.  

He received the most important gift of his life time on this special day.
Note to Isaac:  I hope and pray that you will always remember that the gift of the Holy Ghost is the most important thing to keep with you.  You KNOW how the influence of the Holy Ghost feels. Follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and you will certainly return with honor to our Heavenly Father. That is the whole purpose of your life and also of Jesus'.

Some of the people who stood in his confirmation circle were: his dad, grandpa, Bastian Volz, Matt Curtis, Francesco De Lillo, President Orsini, and a couple of our young single adults. 

Isaac has been carrying his papa's scriptures to church for several months.  Grandpa and Grandma Hatch gave him a beautiful set of scriptures.  He loves them.  He worked at reading the whole Book of Mormon before he was baptized.  He did not finish but he has read diligently. We will keep at it.