Summary of our Summer!

I have SO many pictures of all the trips that Grandma and I have been on this summer and so of course, now I am VERY behind on my blog. It feels like we have just gone from one vacation to another. Okay...so it feels that way because that is what has happened. We leave for 4 days come home for 6 then leave for 5 and home for 3. SO I decided to just put up one picture of every trip that we have been on and it would catch me up! The problem with that is that we have so many GOOD pictures that it was hard to just pick one, but I did it! Hope you all enjoy looking and that it makes you feel like you have had a little vacation to Italy yourself!

Grandma on the Grand Canal in Venice

Pompei with Mount Vesuvius in the background

Salerno

On top of the island of Capri

The Golden Cathedral in Amalfi

Top of the BEAUTIFUL church in Positano

Sorrento

Leaning Tower of Pisa!

Cinque Terre

Volterra

San Gimignano

2nd trip to Venice. It rained all day and flooded San Marco Piazza!

On a boat in CROATIA! (this is where we saw our first nude beach!)

On the rooftop of our hotel overlooking the Duomo in Florence

St. Peter's Basilica in Rome


Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany. This is the famous gate that says "Work will set you free" in German. Of course, this gave false hope to the prisoners.

Eating wurstel at the famous Hofbrauhaus in Munich


Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

If you want to see more pictures of a certain trip, let me know and I will post more. We only have one more trip to France and then we are headed home to Utah. Our summer has almost ended but I would call it a success!

Finally Up-dating!

So, I know that it has been a long time since I have up-dated our blog and a lot has happened since my last post.

First, in early May, Dustin prepared to leave for Afghanistan. They changed the date for him leaving about four times and then finally they said they were supposed to leave on Thursday the 13th. So on Thursday they wanted us to just drop them off and they would bus them to a seperate hanger to wait for the plane. The problem was, it was down-pouring!! It was so sad to see dads climbing into the backseat to hurry and say goodbye to their kids and climb onto the bus. There was no way to take pictures, or give hugs and have a final goodbye. It was so rushed and it just plain SUCKED! About ten minutes later, Dustin texted me and said that I could sneak into the hanger and hang out till the plane came. So I drove over and we waited...and waited... and waited. Around 4:00pm I went and got dinner for everyone since we had been there since 11:00am and around 5:00 they said the plane would arrive within a half hour. At 6:00 they announced that the plane was actually broken and had never even LEFT Germany and they were being dismissed until the next day!

It was such an emotional roller-coaster! They were now going to leave on Friday the 14th at 8:00pm. My Grandma was coming in on Friday and so we decided that it was best for me to go with a friend to the airport and say our goodbyes before I left. Right before I left for the airport, we found out that he was now going to leave on Saturday the 15th instead! But because he needed to stick around in-case the plane came early I still went to the airport without him.

My Grandma came with me to drop Dustin off on Saturday. (they still changed the time twice on them.) We dropped him off at 10:00 and they finally took off at 3:30. This time I didn't stay and hang out. By then it was just too hard to keep saying goodbye and they weren't allowing families into the hanger anyway. (Sometimes it's easier to just rip the bandaid off!)

Dustin is doing good. He is working 12 hour shifts and with chow hall, gym and sleep, it doesn't leave much room for anything else. The attack on Bagram happened only three days of being there and on the first day of actual work. He said that they sat in a bunker and watched army helicopters circle the base and insurgents launching rockets. Luckily no one was hurt!


Dustin took the camera with all the pictures of him leaving, so here is a pic of us in Venice.

Second, Grandma arrived safely and we are having a blast! We have already been to Venice, Nove, Capri, Pompei, Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano and now to Pisa and Cinque Terre!

Well I have so much more to post but me and Grandma are off on our next adventure!



Grandma and I in Venice!

A good idea!

So Dustin leaves in about a week, and he thought it would be fun to go to Germany last weekend and go to CHILI'S. That's right CHILI'S. As in the American restaurant. I was totally up for the idea. We haven't been to any American restaurant in seven months and Ramstein, an Air Force base in Germany, is lucky enough to not only have a Chili's but also a Macaroni Grill. They are so spoiled. They don't even know how lucky they are.

We left last friday and on saturday we went shopping at their BX. (Which was as big as a Super-Walmart. Very cool.) Then we went to Saarbrucken and went to the WildPark Zoo. After the zoo we went to Chili's and it was AMAZING! I had a hard time deciding what I was going to order. I had thought about it for days but still couldn't decide. It had to be a perfect decision that I would not regret. I ended up ordering the triple dipper so I could have three choices! Ha ha. We pretty much stuffed our faces. So then, half-way through dinner we learned that Toby Keith was giving a free concert that night! And it was within walking distance of Chili's! It was freaking awesome! He was a great performer and we had so much fun. We had such a GREAT weekend!

Heavy's at Ramstein

SO Green

This sign cracks me up. It means "Caution: 30 kph because of FROG Crossing"

Feeding the pigmy goats

Alissa: You know you want him!

Toby Keith!

Perfect song for my hubby who deploys in a week! I LOVE you so much and I'm going to miss you!!

Spring has Sprung!

It's Spring in Italia! The last two weeks have been so warm and nice. It's getting up to the 70's during the day and on Saturday it was almost too hot. I am worried about the summer if spring is this warm. Also, the humidity SUCKS! But we are loving that the rain has finally stopped and we have clear skies. (For almost a month, everyday would start out nice and by mid-afternoon it would turn cloudy and by night-fall it would rain. It was awful.)

Last Saturday we went out and bought flowers and flower boxes for our porch. I am also nursing back to health a basil plant that I killed. (For those who know me, this is no surprise. We'll see how long the flowers last.)

Here's some pics....

All the supplies

Sayla checking out the flowers

All done!

Bosa checking out the flowers

Kinda hard to see, but they look really good! Hopefully they live!

Dustin had an awards banquet to attend so we got to play dress-up!

Rachel and Sid, our friends that joined us!

Caught the cats sitting on my scrapbook table so they could see out the window. They are loving the warm weather too! (But they are shedding way too much! They get shaved in a week!)