It was our anniversary

Last week was our anniversary. It wasn't very eventful. We went out to eat and stopped at our favorite delicatessen on the way home to get cheese, olives, and good bread. As usual, Andrew's gift to me was far superior than my gift to him. He presented me with a new lens for my camera and I gave him a leather wallet to replace the one he lost a few months ago. One day I will shock him with the present of his dreams.

As we tried to remember past anniversaries, I realized I probably would have no idea what we did for a few of them if it wasn't for our blog. So in honor of keeping a record, we did have our 6th anniversary and it was pleasantly chill.

Happy Anniversary to my favorite guy!

March Update

I've spent so much time blogging about Italy that I've neglected all our normal family stuff.

Despite my tendency to hibernate in the winter, and despite the fact that I don't have many pictures (never enough light) there has been a lot going on around here. Andrew started taking call in January. That means that about once a week he works all night. I always knew it was coming but honestly I really underestimated how much it would affect our family. I thought, "one night a week, not bad". But it's not really "one night a week". He works all day long, and all night long, and then works the next day too. He just has to hope for cat naps throughout the night so he can make it through the next day. Some people think there wouldn't be a lot of Ophthalmic emergencies at night but surprisingly he is really busy. On a good night he will get 3 or 4 hours of sleep. On a bad night, absolutely no sleep. It's so sad when he decides to come home at 4am, thinking that maybe he's done for the night, and as soon as he lays his head on the pillow his pager goes off. If I were him, I would do terrible things to that pager :). Oddly enough, when he is on call on holidays, only about 1 or 2 emergencies come in and his pager is relatively quiet. Interesting how many people are willing to wait for normal business hours when they are enjoying a holiday! But I shouldn't be so bitter...I digress...

I'm just shooting for complete honesty here. I'm trying to say that call nights stink! Andrew is asleep early the night before and tired for days afterward. He also has been studying for a big exam which means every spare minute is consumed by studying. I don't even remember the last time a Saturday felt like a real Saturday. Saturday is just a normal weekday around here. I'm not actually complaining because there is ALWAYS someone who has it worse. I'm just documenting life as fairly as I can. And if my boys ever tell me they want to be doctors, I will make sure they read posts like this first. The other day a student from BYU called for a donation and mentioned that he was thinking of going to med school. It was all I could do not to yell, "DON'T DO IT!" and instead I calmly mentioned that he should make sure that he really knows what he is getting himself into and is really passionate about it. But the poor kid just caught me during a rough time. There are great things about this profession too. In the spirit of fairness, I should add that Andrew really loves his job. He is always giddy to tell me about a surgery he has the next day or something cool he saw in the OR. But eye stuff always grosses me out a little. I try to hide my cringes.

Luke and Cam handle everything like champs. It's sad to hear them talk about Daddy always being at work. Luckily, Andrew might be the biggest family guy in the world. There is nothing he loves more than playing with his boys and no matter how tired he is, he always makes time for them. Andrew is a man of many talents. I have no idea where he came from, but I'm glad he's all ours.

Enough whining about residency, I also had a birthday this month. It really wouldn't have been the same without the determined, celebratory efforts of one Luke Stacey. He is somewhat impatiently waiting for his own birthday (still months away) and so when he found out mine was coming up, he put all his birthday anticipation and energy into MY big day. He made a paper chain to count down the days and took off a piece each day before I even woke up in the morning. He had my "gift" wrapped about 5 days beforehand (he found an old bouncy ball and put it in a box with a bow on top. He was so proud...I ooh'd and ahh'd when I opened it like it was fancy jewelry).

 Luke also insisted on picking out my birthday cake. He really wanted to make one, but we were all too tired to help him (he wanted to make a blues clues cake...too much work for the birthday girl). I told him I wanted to try a cool cupcake shoppe in town instead of a traditional cake, but he wouldn't have it. He insisted we go to the grocery store whereupon he picked out the "perfect chocolate cake". I must say, he chose a really yummy cake. I'm a little ashamed to admit that there is still a little 4 year old inside of me that just loves ridiculous amounts of sugary frosting on a rich dark chocolate cake. No fancy fruit or excess fillings. Just pure chocolate bliss. Sometimes Luke and I beat with the same heart.

After celebrating with the kids, Andrew took me on a date to a restaurant downtown. On your birthday, there are a number of nice restaurants that will give you 50% off your entire ticket (excluding wine...haha wine drinking suckers!). So we pampered ourselves and ate like kings until we couldn't take another bite.

Besides my birthday, I should also mention that Luke took swim lessons this winter. But I never got a picture. Oh, if only I had an iphone. I think instagram is really the only reason I would ever want one. Let it be known that Luke can backfloat, stick his head underwater, and jump in without any hesitation (I'm a little nervous about that last thing). I waited too long to sign him up for the current session, but likely there will be more swim lessons in the future. Cam is always one step behind Luke and is convinced that he should be swimming as well. Did he really just turn 2? It seems like he is 3.

I did get a few pictures of a little sports class he has been taking lately. He calls it his soccer class but they practice a lot of different sports. This was "hockey day":

They warmed up by running around the track. Luke LOVED this. He never likes running when I take him up there, but having some peer competition really got him going. He honestly was so fast...maybe he has a future in track?

They also have stretching time and each child gets to choose a stretch. Luke always chooses this one.

Luke parked himself about a foot away from the goal and kept shooting the puck in from close range. When his teacher suggested he move back a little he said, "no way!". Smart kid.

He did pretty well from far away too

Team cheer

To be continued...

Day 8: Venezia... The END

The last day has arrived. For those who are just checking in, our other Italy posts can be found below:

Intro
Day 1: Milan
Day 2: Lake Como
Day 3: Bellagio, Bergamo, etc.
Day 4: The Cinque Terre
Day 5: Tuscany
Day 6: Siena and Civita
Day 7: Rome

Rome and Venice aren't very close together. We had to do quite a bit of driving in a short amount of time. We stopped in Florence to spend the night on day 7 and then continued on to Venice the next day. We were lucky to have great weather for most of our trip, but the last day it finally rained (quite a bit). But the rain didn't bother us. We just threw on some ponchos and enjoyed the beauty of Venice.

I've heard some people say that Venice stinks or isn't all that great. Those people are crazy. Even in bad weather, it was romantic and unbelievable. When I first saw it from far away it looked like something that you would see at Disney World ...times a million. It is just crazy to look out on the water and see these beautiful buildings floating on top of the sea. You can get lost in the maize of bridges and meandering little alleys that connect everything together.

The Grand Canal

Raining on the Grand Canal

The Rialto Bridge in the background

No gondola rides for us. If I'm going to be in a boat with a paddle...I sort of want to be the one paddling. Is that weird?

Maybe it was the haze from the rain, but it felt like being in a dream...or a movie.

Our only picture of St. Mark's square.

Andrew, looking mighty fine in my favorite white shirt (it's not my white shirt...just my favorite ;))

After this, we stopped at Iper again, and stocked up on our favorite foods that are difficult/impossible to find in the States (you guys, Barilla is holding out on us! They have so many amazing sauces that you can only buy in Italy!). We also took a detour so Andrew could show me one more city he served in, Monza. 

It was cool to see kind of a more normal, non-touristy city. This is where Andrew would do a lot of street contacting.

After this we drove around FOREVER to try and find an open gas station. It was honestly so frustrating. At about 1 or 2am we parked our rental car at the airport and slept in it for few hours until it came time to leave for our flights. 

And then we left.

And I was sad. But also happy to finally be seeing my boys. Those last couple days I was really heart sick for them. As much as I loved Italy, I don't think I could have gone another day away from them.

I just have two more things to say about this trip.

1. TRAVEL! I'll admit that Andrew is more of a travel bug than I am. It gave me great pain to think about how much just the plane tickets cost and everything else we could have done with that money. But in the end, I have been converted to traveling. The reason is because traveling (when done right) can give you experiences that are priceless. Experiences and lessons learned from broadening your view of the world, are things you can take with you when you die. They can enrich your life and help you realize things that might go unnoticed in daily life. Of course, I realize that many people aren't in a position or time of their life where travel is possible (we could not have done it without my wonderful sister watching our kids). But if it is, seize the day and DO IT. If it isn't, plan and prepare for a time when you can. Even if it is just one dream trip. 

2. As I looked at all the incredible, art, architecture, and design (not to mention tasting culinary masterpieces) I was reminded that these beautiful, amazing things didn't just happen. They were created. People thought about them and had a plan. Someone decided, "Hey, let's paint this building yellow" or "I think we should line these steps with clay pots," or "why don't we build our village on the top of the highest hill around". People who are intelligent, imaginative, and thoughtful (and perhaps thinking of practical military defense strategies ;)) have created such great beauty in the world. That was very apparent in Italy.

Recognizing this and then beholding the great natural beauty that was everywhere, I felt my testimony grow that God is, in fact, the great Creator. I just can't believe that our world is so beautiful by chance. That it just showed up somehow without someone taking the time to thoughtfully create it. I believe that it was intelligently and carefully planned, crafted and created for us, so that we can remember God's love for his children every time we recognize the beauty of the world.

I'm not only amazed by the natural beauty that Heavenly Father has made but also that we are His children and likewise we have those same capacities for imagination, creativity and patient craftsmanship. It is so apparent to me whether I see beauty in a natural form or man-made form, that it is ultimately God's gift to us.   So somewhere, in my sometimes clumsy hands, lies the power to create something beautiful, functional, and lasting. It is hard for me to recognize most of the time, but I know that power exists because I am a child of God. It is His gift to me. Italy made me so much more grateful for that gift.

The end.

Day 7: Roma

After visiting that island in the sky, we drove to Roma to stay the night with a Andrew's old beloved mission companion, Gabriele DeMatteis. We had contacted his wife a few weeks earlier and she told us we should surprise him. It took us a while to find their apartment but we finally arrived at 11pm and luckily Gabrielle wasn't home yet because he was still at a bishopric meeting (he is the Bishop of a ward in Rome which means he helps lead a congregation of church members voluntarily). When he finally got back around midnight (poor guy), we hid in the kitchen. When he walked in, his jaw dropped and the most emotion-filled, melodic strains of Italian spilled from his mouth at an extremely rapid rate. I have no idea what he said, but he was really really happy to see Andrew (and Italians are very good at expressing their emotions...lots of bacc'ing going on --cheek kissing ). There might have been tears...I can't verify that.

Andrew spent a lot of time on his mission with Gabriele and they had many important experiences together. They are as tight as any brothers would be. It might have been the highlight of the trip for me to finally meet him in person and I was so impressed by their little family and what incredible people they are. Gabriele speaks perfect English and he switched from one language to another so I could follow the conversations that lasted deep into the night.

The Colosseum

The next day, Gabrielle, his wife Lisa, and their son, took us on a brief tour of Rome. We hit some of the highlights, but spending time with their family was really what we came to do.

Arch of Constantine

I just couldn't stop taking pictures of this cutie. He reminded me so much of my own boys that I was heartsick for them.

Roman Forum

The Colosseum

Roman Forum

Side of the Pantheon

This is where we had lunch...pizzas

Can you tell that I'm about to eat this little boy up?

The Pantheon

Dome and Oculus of the Pantheon

Trevi Fountain (under construction)

Legend holds that if you throw a coin into Trevi Fountain, you will be assured a return trip to Rome

The Vatican

St. Peter's Cathedral

We didn't actually go inside Vatican City, but we were able to see St. Peter's Cathedral 

Michelangelo's Pieta, inside St. Peter's

This might be my favorite sculpture ever. 

St. Peter's Dome

St. Peter's Square

The rain let up for a few moments as we left the museum. It was gorgeous. No editing here folks.

I know I am such a girl about this stuff, but it sort of broke my heart to think that we only had a day here and these two friends probably won't see each other in person again for a long time. So I guess we're just going to have to go back soon :)

Wet, but happy.

Only one more day to go! It's a goody...Venice!