Papa Paul's Visit

We are now recuperating from a wonderful time with Papa Paul (Nik's dad) and Paul's brother, Uncle Van, and Aunt Sharon. It was a whirlwind trip, but a very rich time together. I think Papa Paul will need to recover for a few weeks.















We spent the first day just getting them oriented. The next day we decided to go to Lake Como for the day, but by car so that the kids could sleep on the way there and on the way home. We ran into a little glitch though! Ten minutes outside of Turin our car decided to die right in the middle of the highway in a construction zone. Thankfully the police showed up within five minutes and started to flag everyone around us. Whew!
We ended up leaving our car at the tow truck place, taking the other car and trading it with a dear friend of ours for his seven (eight) person minivan. At this point it was after 1pm and we decided go anyway. We are glad that we did! We had a wonderful time

taking a boat ride,

eating gelato and going for a wonderful walk,

watching Siena ride the little train

and enjoying a wonderful meal (once we found the restaurant).

We didn't get home until after midnight...oh boy. The next day we got to share our church with them for the first time and introduce them to the wonderful people of Il Rifugio. I think they were very encouraged by the work that God is doing here! On Monday we took off for the seaside, this time in train since our car was dead. We had a wonderful time seeing Cinque Terre, Bogliasco and Genoa. It was good to get some one on one time with dad.

Thanks Papa Paul for coming to visit us! We love you!

Special Gifts

One thing's for certain, kids are a blessing from the Lord! They teach you how to laugh...a lot! They teach you humility with their constant demands and "poopies". They teach you the beauty that can be found in the little things, like a gelato, a "buddafly", a tickle war, "helpin mom" with the dinner or the cleaning, building a tower with leggos, going pee pee in the toilet, and so many other daily successes and discoveries...

but MOST of all each and every smile.

I never thought being a mom could be so much fun! And I never realized how much my mom did for me...until now! Holy cow!

I have the blessing of staying home with my kids and I still can't keep up with everything. How did you always keep the house clean, mom? Having two so close together is a challenge, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Siena LOVES her little brother and he is enamored with her! I only wish we could have all of our loved ones near. So here are a few photos to keep you updated on the two most prescious gifts in our lives.