Ravenna, Italy

One of our stops while visiting Venice was the small town of Ravenna.  What a fascinating place!  There were several churchs and museums still standing that were filled with mosaics from the 6th century.  Check out the amazing detail and symbolism in what we know to be restored truths...

The only bad part of our trip was saying goodbye to our Heather!  We miss her so much already!  At least we have a ton of memories and pictures to remember her with.  She is the most incredibly helpful, responsible, kind, fun and beautiful girl.  I am so happy my girls have a nanny, and friend, like her to look up to and admire.  We love you, Heather!

Venice!

We were lucky enough to take a summer vacation to Venice with the Rowbotham family.  What a blast!  We were especially lucky that Reed spent his mission in Italy and could help us get around.  The Rialto bridge was beautiful at sunset.

Even though we had kids with us on the gondola rides, it was still quite romantic!  However, I couldn't seem to talk our gondolier into singing us a tune...

We couldn't drive to our apartment in the city.  What an adventure to take a water taxi and then walk up and down the bridges with our luggage!

Madison and Ellie's favorite things there were the masks...and chasing pigeons!

An absolutely beautiful and magical city!

Hiking through the Alps

           

We were lucky to host the Rowbotham family here before they took Heather back with them to the states.  On one of our days with them we hiked through the alps, singing songs from the Sound of Music on the way.  I was very proud of Madison.  She ran with "the big kids," Heather, Yan, and Kyle.  We ate at an awesome little restaurant on the side of the mountain.  All of the views were quite surreal.  We had a great day, and were pretty worn out when all was said and done...

4th of July in London

We spent the fourth of July in London. We stayed with Heather's relatives for a few days and then stayed in a hotel in downtown London for a few days. It was great. Emily and Kent went to watch Wicked; Heather and Madison watched the Lion King; and Heather went to Phantom alone. We went through Westminster Abbey, saw Big Ben and the London Bridge, the Tower of London, rode the London Eye, and generally had a great time driving around downtown London on the "wrong" side of the street. Here are a few pictures.

Father's Day

Father's Day was the first time Kent got his boy to dress alike in their favorite team shirts! I am sure there will be many more events of this. The girls surprised Kent with an invitation to their ball. They all got dressed up and got to order off of the menu for the "King's Table." After dinner of golden nuggets, they had dancing followed by dipping from the royal pot of fondue. Quite a memorable event...

Renaissance Festival in Feldkirch

So how cool is it to go to a Renaissance Festival when you are really walking around cobblestone streets and looking up at a real castle? We had a great Saturday outing in Feldkirch, Austria at the Renaissance Festival. Madison loved getting her face painted, and we loved locking the girls in a cage! Pretty fun day.

Neuschwanstein Castle

We have Heather Rowbotham living with us for the summer and it has been SUPER. It is so much easier to go someplace with three kids when you have another set of helping hands. We took the kids to Neuschwanstein Castle and Madison had to dress up like a princess. She wanted to be the first in line on the tour, too, so she wouldn't miss anything the tour guide said. I think she and Heather both would have loved to live in a castle at some point.... Aren't we all princesses?