Europe with Sabrina--let's start with Spain

Last winter Sabrina decided she was going to go to Europe this year. We had not gone to pick her up from her mission and I wanted to be able to visit some of the families she taught so we decided to go together. Since we would be in the Iberian peninsula and I have always wanted to go to Spain, Sabrina indulged me and we included that in our itinerary. Then we decided, since we were going to be so close and might not have the opportunity again, we should go to England as well. This turned in to a wonderful vacation although we were definitely running out of clean clothes by the end.

We began our adventures in Madrid. The weather was perfect and the people we met were delightful. We kind of OD'd on museums here and sort of avoided them for the rest of the trip but we saw fabulous art as well as the Palacio Real (largest royal palace in Europe) and other wonderful things. Here's a taste.

 El Parque del Retiro

 The Crystal Palace outside...

 ...and in.

 A beautiful rose garden in the Parque del Retiro.

 It smelled heavenly!

 The Botanical Gardens

On our way to church. That was one of the best things we did!

 We found the temple but it was closed for cleaning.

 Super windy so our clothes and hair were everywhere!

 El Palacio Real

 The creepiest cat ever accosted us in the Plaza Mayor and then insisted that we pay him for taking his picture! Really?

 La Catedral de Adumena

It was like a dream come true after all these years. When we came back, I told Mario we could move there any time.

Mother's Day Surprise

After we settled on a home and before we moved, Maggie and Clarke stopped by to visit on Mother's Day! What a treat that was. Maggie was driving from Florida to her sister's home in New Jersey so they spent a few hours with us so I could hug Clarke.

This was the best gift ever!

Catching Up

Wow! Can you believe it's been nine months? Just about nine months ago, I received a call to teach  Seminary. The teacher for the juniors would be moving to Arkansas before Thanksgiving and could I please pick up in the middle of the year? I feel like life kicked into high gear all of a sudden. The best part was I got to teach my freshman class that I had to leave in the middle of two years earlier. They are such great kids! What a treat!

Aren't they the cutest class ever?

Then, we were able to have the whole family here for Christmas. Maggie, Alex and Clarke flew out on the same flight as Sabrina; Summer had come a few days earlier and was able to stay a few days later. Here we are in our traditional matching jammies on Christmas Eve.

It was so great to have everyone together. This was absolutely my favorite thing of the whole year. We were even able to see Maggie's family because they drove to DC to do some sight-seeing while visiting Maggie's sister in New Jersey. Loved this Christmas!

Around March, Mario decided we had paid enough in taxes and it was time to get back into the housing market. We spent Spring Break looking at houses and found one just two streets away. It had everything Adam wanted (except a bedroom in the basement which we still need to build) and he would not have to change wards or stakes so we put on offer on it. We were very blessed to be able to move in two weeks after I finished teaching Seminary for the year. Here's a picture of the front.

Now that we're homeowners again, we have lots of projects on our agenda. Sabrina flew out a few days early for our vacation (more on that later) and helped us move. Adam was amazing--so tireless and helpful. I don't think we could have done it without them.

I had a great weekend last week. I was able to visit all three of my kids in the west and even hold this adorable little boy! Clarke, now nearly eleven months old, is doing really well--he started crawling over a month ago and has figured out it's a great way to get where he wants to go. He can stand by himself (usually leaning against the couch). He is completely social--he has this same big smile even when he's completely exhausted (like he is here) and loves to wave and "talk" to everyone he sees. Church is a huge social activity for him. He couldn't possibly sleep and miss out on all that fun, even though it's in the middle of nap time.

Alex graduated in April and he and Maggie are loving their new home and graduate program in the northern part of the state. Their townhouse is so cute and pretty roomy considering their housing at BYU. I was surprised at what a wonderful city they're in. It's completely adorable and has everything they need.

Summer is enjoying her second year at BYU. She came home from spring term (mostly because she knew how sad I would be if she didn't) and returned for summer term. She is working as a Peer Mentor, taking classes to prepare her for entering the Economics program and teaching Relief Society. With the announcement yesterday about sister missionaries being able to serve at age 19, she is looking at her plans to see when she would like to go.

Sabrina graduated in April as well and stayed in Provo to look for a job in education. All I can say is she has a lot of faith. Her miracle happened when she was able to land a position teaching First Grade Portuguese Immersion at the cutest school in the Alpine School District. She's loving it, although it's an enormous amount of work. She's also serving as her ward Relief Society president so she has her hands full.

Here are some pictures from graduation. What a wonderful celebration!

Life has been very good to us. We are so grateful!

Holding Heaven

Eight surgeries in seven and a half weeks. This little one is our miracle and holding him is like holding a little bit of heaven. We love him so much!