30th Anniversary--Rome!

Here are a few shots of Dave and I celebrating our 30th anniversary in Rome.  We also had Julia and Andrea with us, but that will be in another post.

Here we are at the Colliseum and Forum--part of ancient Rome--about 1900 year old buildings.

It was a hot day and we bought hats from vendors near there.

These fountains at Villa D'Este in Tivoli-- an hour train ride from Rome were part of the estate of a Cardinal a few hundred years ago.

Here's the Pantheon, outside and in.  The structure is original-- 1st century AD.  Very awesome.

Here's a bridge not far from where we stayed--near Castel St. Angelo.

A view from the mountain town of Orvieto--an hour north of Rome by train.

Taking a stroll on a beautiful summer evening with the best husband ever!

Our vacation in Rome

We were in Rome for over a week!  I had been before with my parents and brothers when I was younger, and then on a study abroad experience for a week.  I also lived in Italy for a year and a half as a missionary.  I remembered a lot of the language, so it was a city I wanted to show Dave.  We decided to share out 30th anniversary with our youngest daughters, Julia and Andrea. 

                                We saw the old city first: the Colliseum and Forum.

 We took a train out of town a bit to visit the lovely fountains of the Villa D'Este in Tivoli.  The girls remembered this and several of the sights from The Lizzie McGuire Movie, which was filmed in Rome.

 We spent a  full day at the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Cathedral.  My favorite part is Michaelangelo's Pieta statue of Mary holding Jesus.

The square outside St. Peters

One day we took a train to Orvieto, an ancient hilltop town where the Pope and others would come, at times, for safety.

We had a LONG walk to the Borghese Gallery that wasn't too close to the subway. 

We said goodbye to our great landlady where we rented our apartment.

The apartment was awesome, and had a cool courtyard inside.  There was so much more that we saw and tasted and experienced.  Probably too much to take in and remember, but we had a great time!

Happy Fourth of July!!

While David and Andrea are still returning today from girl's camp,  Julia and I sat on our lawn chairs this year to view the neighborhood 4th of July Parade go by our house. I feel very blessed to live in the United States, and to live under our Constitution.  God Bless the USA!!

Spring Visit

Dave's Mom and sister Julie visited us this last week.

In the middle of their trip they saw other family and took in 'The Carol King Show' on Broadway.

While Mom and Julie were here, Dave and I also went with Julia and Andrea to the Mormon Temple Visitor's Center where we heard Lindsey Stirling (a dancing violinist) play and speak to us. We had lunch one day with David in Baltimore near his work. The World cup soccer game was televised. We were there for a US game, and there was a lot of excitement at lunch. The staff actually stopped serving for awhile to watch the end of the game!