Italy 2009!

We had a fantastic time on our trip to Italy!  Here are lots of pictures to prove it.  We will not bog you down with very well written long stories (like last year).  Just some very well written captions. 

In the airport in London we ran into Trent Hoffman on the way to his mission in Mozambique.  He was one of Justins deacons and Joeys mission prep students.  It was really cool!

Milan and Como-

After almost 24 hours we finally arrived in Milan!

On Lake Como, about an hour north of Milan.  Beautiful scenery, including George Clooneys THREE villas (not pictured).

"I'm on a boat!"

I jump the Milan Duomo.

Justin jumps.

Me and my nephew Gage (Whammy!) Big doors at the Duomo.

Verona-

The castle at Verona.

This is a really cool bridge going into the castle at Verona.

I jump Verona bridge.

Joey, Gage and Justin by the arena. 

Justin by a ginormous Roman-Greco.  (That's for you Russ!)

Venice-

The Doges Palace.  I loved that place- a ton of amazing art...others weren't so excited.  (Not the only time that happened on this trip.)

Whammy!

One of the many picturesque canals.

Florence and Pisa-

The Duomo in Florence.

Lots of ceiling art in Italy!

Hold it!

Don't act like you're not impressed!  Going up the stairs, can you tell which side of the tower we are on?  (Notice the stairs and wall are worn on one side).  It felt like a funhouse going up.   

At the very top of the tower!

Yeah, I'm doin it too.

I jump Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Back in Florence, in front of the Neptune Fountain.

I jump Florence.

Gates of Paradise.

Rubbing the boars nose-this means we will come back to Florence!  It'd better work...

A view of Florence.

Assisi-

This is where St. Francis of Assisi is from.  Justin hand models the cathedral they built to honor him.

Assisi's really pretty!

Rome-

I jump the Colosseum!

This place was great big.  Really cool.  Short sentences.

The Arch of Constantine.  

The Roman Forum.

St. Peters Basilica.

St. Angel castle and the bridge (below) were built between 117 and 138!


At little dark but this is in front of the Trevi Fountain.

That is our trip in a picture-shell.  If any of you have thought about going to Italy, I would say "just go man".   It was super fun and we look forward to any trips we might be able to take again in the future.  A big shout out to Joseph Marie Edwin Sanchez Harris for letting us tag along.  

PUPPIES, GET YOUR FRESH PUPPIES HERE!!!

We got home from Italy on Friday and our dog, Coco, was having her puppies.  She had four this time, 2 boys and 2 girls.  These pictures were taken today at 1 week old.  We didn't take any right after they were born (long flight+time difference=forgetful people).  Here they are.

This is one of the boys.  He's gonna look like Coco.

This is the other boy and he is going to look like his dad.

This is one of the girls.  She eats a lot.

This is the little boy again.  I thought it was the other girl and I don't want to figure out how to fix it.  He's cute though.

Here they are doing what they do best.

Here's our last little girl.  

If you know anybody that is looking for a dog, these ones are perfect (it's a fact, I wouldn't just say that).

I'm Headed to Italy....Does Anyone Have a Vest I Can Borrow?

We are headed to Italy today and I thought I would leave you with this great thought. If muffins are just ugly cupcakes, then what is a corndog?

The title to this post is dedicated to my family. You know what I'm talking about.

7 things...

My sister reminded me that she had tagged me to do this and I never had.  Well there was a reason.  Im pretty sure if I do this too much of my crazy will show but I guess I will do it anyways.  My family at least still has to love me, right?  Right??

Seven random things about me:

1.  We all know I am a germ freak.  But its gotten steadily worse over the years and I really am afraid of ending up like Howard Hughes in the Aviator.  The way of the future...the way of the future...  Luckily you have to be rich to go too crazy so we're pretty safe there.  But still I try to do things occasionally that go againts everything I stand for.  Like opening a door without immediately sanitizing.  

2.  I don't get sweater vests.  Sometimes I think they look cute but I just can't imagine a situation where I'm like you know what?  My torso is really cold today...not so much my arms, just my torso...good thing I have a vest!  My mother-in-law, knowing this, got me an awesome vest for Christmas.  Here I am modeling it for you:

Even funnier is my sister-in-law Becky, knowing I would return it, wrote in huge letters all over the tag "Return to Rebecca Montoya" so that I can't return it without looking like a total thief and she could have the vest.  Classic.

3.  One time I threw a paper straw wrapper in some ladies soda at QT.  Not on purpose, she left it there on the counter (without a lid!  Who does that?) to go make another soda and I tried to shoot my wrapper over it into the trash and missed.  How I managed that I don't know because I was only about 12 inches away from her soda.  I froze for a second not knowing what to do...then picked it out really quick and walked away as quick as I could.  I don't know if she saw me because I never turned around.  Which leads me to my next...

4.  I never leave my beverage unattended except with trusted individuals.  I'm so afraid someone will spit in it while I'm gone.  I hate spit.  And now Im afraid someone will throw something in it and I won't know until I've drank the whole thing. 

5.  The suction tube at the dentist gives me the giggles.  I don't know why but it is really awkward because I get the giggles after everytime they make me put my mouth around it to suck all my spit out.

6.   I recently discovered the Home Shopping Network online.  And bought something with Flexpay -- 2 easy payments!!  Justin has now banned me from looking for 2 months.  

7.  In March I will have been to Europe 5 times in the past 2 years.  So now you can think I'm weird AND hate me too!  :)

I re-tag Justin, Min and Eric, and Bk!

 

Thanksgiving in Prague!

Yes, I said Prague. When I would tell people that we were going to Prague for Thanksgiving they would get a weird look on their face and say "Whats in Prague?". Well, let me tell you - alot! Just to name a few things... there is a castle, a huge cathedral, a cool old bridge, a river, lots of history, architecture of all styles, main square, a famous clock and much more! We had so much fun! Everyone should take a trip to Prague. I'm posting alot of pictures, if you want to know about all we did and saw go to my sisters blog, she did a really good post about our trip.

What? Nothing.

When we got back to the hotel the first evening after a short city tour they had a full Thanksgiving dinner ready for us! Nice.

Our second day in Prague.

Our first Diet Cokes of the trip. I don't what they put in it but it is SO much better in other countries! I love it!

The Powder Tower

I have a slight, ok full-blown, obsession with silver rings and especially amber. There were shops like these all over Prague. I was in heaven! Poor Hanny had to stop and look in everyone until I found the one I wanted (and a few times after). Lucky for Justin I forgot my credit card.

The famous astronomical clock of Prague. It has quite a history behind it.

The clock tower and main square.
They had a Christmas market going on in the square with all kinds of shops and traditional treats. One of our favorites was called Trdelnik. It was sweet bread twisted around a wooden stick, roasted over the fire and then rolled in sugar. SO good! We enjoyed those more than once.

They had the coolest doors!

The main square with the clock (on the left).

Some times you just gotta sit... :)

We went up to see the castle and St. Vitus cathedral. It was beautiful!

Inside the cathedral.

I jump for castles.

Hanny actually put her finger on the Royal Guards bayonet. It was real. Ouch.

The view from the top. These pictures don't do it justice!

The stairs to the castle.

The John Lennon wall.
Our third day we went for a walk along the river to the Charles bridge. It was so pretty!

Along the river with the Opera house in the background.

On the Charles bridge with its 31 statues.

The most famous is St John of Nepomuk. He was thrown off the bridge and killed for not telling the King what the Queen said in confession. If you rub the statue it is supposed to bring you luck. I was feeling pretty lucky already!

On the brige with one of the bridge towers behind me. I enjoyed all the artists and performers set up along the bridge.

The street behind me leads up to the castle.

Just as we were leaving they turned the lights on the castle and cathedral. It was so beautiful!

This was Hanny after 2 1/2 days of straight walking. We found a little ledge to rest on and warm up. I wish I knew how many miles we logged...it was alot! She perked right up though after we found her another CUTE bag to buy! Until...

We got stuck in this mess. They were having the tree lighting ceremony in the square that night and apparently everyone in Prague shows up for it. It was crazy! This was right before they lit the tree (on the right, which was really pretty). It took us about 45 minutes to make it from one side of the square to the other.

If you want the story on this picture you have to go to my sisters blog. Everyones got their issues. Thats all I'm gonna say.

It was a short trip but we packed alot into it and had a great time! Thanks again to Joey for letting us go and Justin for spending another Thanksgiving on his own so I could travel. You are the best!