Anniversary Trip - Rome

Last week Ted and I were able to take a trip celebrating our 10th anniversary. This was our first solo vacation since we've had children (8 years). After leaving the boys with friends (who took wonderful care of our boys) we headed to Rome for three days. Living on this side of the world has its advantages - cheaper airfare in one of them. It was nice to be able to relax, talk without interruption, and eat a meal without having to cut up food or clean up a spill. Its amazing how easy life becomes when all you have to worry about is you! Not having to work around nap time and bed time meant that we were able to see all the major things in Rome. We had a wonderful time but we are glad to be back for our boys. I think they missed us too.

Village Cherry Festival

On Sunday a new friend of Ted's (Murat) invited us to his village festival. His village is about 2 hours from our home, right in the middle of the mountains. At 7am our family and Murat's - his wife, daughter, and mother - piled into our car and headed to the festival. Stop for a minute and see what comes to mind when you think of a festival. Okay, it wasn't like that. Sadly, there was no one there selling sweet corn or cotton candy. The festival started with a presentation by men I assume were village politicians. For the most part the men and women sat separately. After the presentation the women and children were ushered into an open field where we ate rice and meat. After the men ate we picked cherries and did a little sightseeing in the mountains. We enjoyed our time with these new friends and were grateful to be able to spend the day with them.

Hmmm!

So there is a mulberry tree pretty close to our house. The problem is that the tree is outside of our gate, which means that Lucas is not allowed to go there. Lucas came in the house covered in purple 'stuff' so I ask "Lucas did you go to the berry tree?"
"No, I didn't"
"Are you sure?"
"I DIDN'T!"
Hmmm?! He probably would have gotten away with it had the neighbor boy not pummeled him with squished mulberries.

Nana 's Visit

We are sad to say that my mother made her way back to the states last Friday. =( While she was here the boys enjoyed lots of ice cream, candy, silly talk, sleeping in Nana's room and watching Reba! As with almost any visit from a grandparent we have had to do a little detox. A couple of days after my mother left we pulled into a store parking lot and before getting out of the car Caleb said to Josiah "Don't ask for anything because Nana isn't here".
We were also able to visit a really neat city about three hours from our home. We did a lot of walking and cave exploring.