You & Me in the Mediterranean. Day 1

Alfonso qualified for a mediterranean cruise this year through his work. Cruise, hotel, airfare, some excursions, all paid for. I was beside myself with excitement - I've been wanting to go to Italy since I did my 6th grade country report on it. I honestly didn't think I'd get a chance to go there til later in life, if at all. But for some reason the day miraculously came and has now passed. I wanted to keep track of all the memorable things we saw and did, so I wrote it all down, one day at a time. Here's the first day.

Day 1 From Utah to New York to Venice

Really it begins with a blurr of packing, entertaining, birthdaying (hence the crown below made by my sister and nieces), and preparing for departure.

Leaving Mia was so hard. I probably kissed her 40 times that morning and squoze her hand extra tight on the way to the airport. Mom gave me a hug, got choked up, and said, "Mia will be fine. Have a wonderful time. You may never have a chance like this again." I needed that.

Adventure 1. Luggage. We thought we could carry on 2 each. Not so. So we performed a total luggage rearrangement right there at the check out place. Checked 2 in and ended up taking the extra as a carry on. But right before boarding the plane, there was an announcement that there was limited carry-on room and passengers for that flight could check in any bags they wanted to for free. So we were able to check in that bag after all. . . for free. Well, they lost it. It was left @ JFK airport and is now being flown to paris and will then find it's way to my hotel room.

Adventure 2. The flight. I've decided that an international flight is like a giant sleepover. . . on a plane. . . with a bunch of smelly strangers. And that I really REALLY can't sleep on a plane. There were two 12 year olds making out in front of us. Lady bizzarly stomping her foot next to us. The touch screens on the backs of our seats were a real bonus. Except that they were touch screens and required considerable pressure. When I strangely found my seat being vigorously shaken (it felt like someone was punching it) by the person behind me. Serious poundage. I looked @ alfonso in bewilderment and he looked back @ the lady behind me. She was completely wrapped up in playing and winning her game on the back of my chair till she realized what she was doing. "Oh, sorry." She said. I'm just glad that she stopped after that. We got a good laugh about it anyway. Adventure 3. My inflight playlist and a magic landing. You could brows throught hundreds of songs. My favorites were Cee lo green's Bright Lights, Big City, Love Gun, J. Legend & The Roots', Compared To What. Stuff by Miranda Richardson, Tim McGraw, Norah Jones. I also got that main song from Tangled, Now I see the light?Whatever it's called. I really like it and the words were very meaningful.It was playing as we touched down on italian soil. "All those years, watching from a distance. . . . I know I'm where I belong." I've always dreamed of traveling to Italy. My hayfever started acting up. I was just so full of GRATITUDE for this INCREDIBLE experience and humility for having this chance. Adventure 4. The water taxi. After arriving in Venice, we dealt with our missing luggage issue (boooo), and were escorted on a short walk to our water taxi. WE boarded the boat (alfonso said to sit in the back per richard's request). IT was such a fun ride.
We felt the wind in our faces as an old venetian style motor boat cruised us along the coast of venice. Taking us to our hotel, the Molina Stucky Hilton. We saw so many beautiful buildings and began taking pictures. Lots of pictures. Our career as asian photo taking tourists really took off. How do you not take a billion pictures of the most beautiful place you've ever visited? The hotel was AMAZING, the dinner, amazing, and our mini excusion afterwards. . . amazing. Our room was perfect. The dinner was delicious. Buffalo mozzarella - my new favorite. We decided to venture across the Giudecca Canal on the hotels shuttle boat, to the Zattere. First item of business, GELATO!!! For me, 1 scoop Cacao, 1 scoop twix. Alfonso got 1 scoop limona, 1 scoop melona. It melted so fast. We ate it like 2 year olds, giggling the whole time. We strolled along the rios gasping at the architecture, the flowers, the alleyways, and I realized that I'd found a place where every ally was beautiful. Seriously. We stumbled upon a community gathering. A play of some kind? Everyone was celebrating and having a great time. They gave me a candle to light when it got dark. I don't know why, but I was so honored that they would chose me out of all the other people there. I'm wierd, I know. They play started, it was a comedy in Italian of course. We listened and couldn't help laughing at everyone laughing at something we/I didn't understand. Alfonso understood a lot of italian. I guess Spanish and Italian are very similar. We topped the night of with late Gondola ride. (I have to tell you we rode the gondola's at the Venetian in Las Vegas on our honeymoon, where we were told that it was good luck to kiss under each bridge. So we were experts at the gondola thing :))The water was so peaceful. (GAG ALERT, GAG ALERT)Just like on our honeymoon we kissed under every bridge. That was fun. We tried to take pictures but it was so dark, we just wanted to remember how beautiful everything was.

After the ride, we passed by the celebration and watched the local children dance to american pop songs on a stage lit up with lights and smoke. It was so fun.

I woke up in Salt Lake, I ended the night in Venice. It was a very long, but very GOOD day!

Last Day of School

On the last day of school we took the kids out for ice cream at a great new place in Midway, called Fillerup. We had a seriously rediculously good time. You should check that place out if you get a chance. We particularly enjoyed the jukebox, the games, the hats (of course) and the ice cream. Oh, the ice cream (Bees Knees) is dynamite. Happy summer!!!

Pot of Gold

Yesterday it rained and a huge rainbow, actually two rainbows formed over our house. We went outside to enjoy the view. I love rainbows. Alfonso got the song, "I'll Build You A Rainbow," and played in from our car in the garage. It was cool. The kids kept wanting to drive to the end of the rainbow to see what was there. But I think the rainbow really ended at our house, and in the words of Spencer, "Maybe the pot of gold was the fun."

The Gift of Gab and other Freebies

First of all, I want to apologize. I'm sure it seems that with all my latest posts and pictures it seems like Mia is taking over our world. Well, quite frankly, she is. And for some reason everyone around here seems okay with that. For some reason Mia just isn't "getting old." Here are a couple videos (hot off the press), filmed less than an hour ago. Just a glimpse of what we all find sooooooo entertaining from day to day. Also, I wanted to share some pictures with you. So, sorry, and yet not sorry. ;)


Da Da Da Da Blah Blah Blah Blah

With Abuelita Alfa on her 70th Birthday! Mia stopped crying in time to say goodbye.

This is Ben and Miss Mia saying "goodnight." Going in for those eskimo kisses.

I am surprised how often the boys will plop down on the floor and read to Mia. She LOVES it. On this particular night, each book Will was reading to her began like this, "Lets discover colors!" and then he'd read the book, "Lets discover animals. . . " and so on. Priceless.

Spencer is our professional Mia entertainer. He sings to her, dances for her, talks silly till we all go cross-eyed. She absolutely loves it.


Solid proof that Mia should always, ALWAYS wear a bib. And it doesn't hurt to have a burp cloth handy too.

New Tricks

Mia discovers not only how to bend and reach her toes, but to eat them as well.

Help of the Helpless

My friend Cristi gave me a great c.d. for Christmas this year, called "Sabbath Morning." I love it because it is so soothing and peaceful and meaningful. It is performed by the Jennie Phillips Choir, which Cristi is a part of. My favorite track is #10, Abide With Me. This is a great hymn anyways but with the arrangement, her voice AND the powerful extra verse she wrote at the end, its just that much cooler. I bring this up because I'm learning that like me, Mia has a thirst for music. In fact she loves it. One day a few months ago, I was driving and she started crying. . . a lot. In an effort to calm her, I turned on track #10, Abide With Me. She quickly stopped crying.

Time and time again, this has happened. I'd say 9 times out of 10, she hears the song and literally STOPS crying. It is amazing. Alfonso and I just look at each other in bewilderment each time. I don't know exactly what it is that she loves so much. It could be the resonating violin solo, it could be the gentle voices, I think it might be the song's message. These words alone are touching; "Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me."

I just need to tell my friend Cristi, thank you for the music, and you need to know that you have made a strong impact on this little baby. Know that there is a mom, not too far away, who plays your song daily, and a baby who adores it.

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to California. The earphones on her little head are playing her favorite song. You can see the effect it has:

Leg Godt

It's Danish for "play well" and for 5 days in sunny Cali, that's exactly what we did. We went to Legoland and it was extraordinary! The rides were great, the exhibits were BREATHTAKING, and the experience was our kid's dream come true. So, we have literally hundreds of pictures, all fascinating. All fun. But due to the super-needy-saddness of a teething 4-month-old whose name I won't mention, I'll be sharing only a handful. Perhaps it's for the best.
(Mia on the airplane. She was SO GOOD! Never underestimate the power of good music and a lollipop.)

The Abyss

What do you do when you're down in the dumps? Stuck in a dark abyss? And how do you get there in the first place. I have a hard time opening up about this because I really can't complain. My life is really great. I have an amazing family, and everything I could possibly ever want. I have a quote on my wall stating, "A rich person is not the one who has the most, but needs the least." I like that statement. And honestly, by that definition I am rich, I don't need much. I don't knead much either, but that's another story, bread's never been my forte.

The last few days I've felt really low. After waking in the morning from frequent disturbingly bad dreams I'd feel yucky all day as a result. Kind of empty, like I've gotten lost in the daily grind. Do you ever feel that way? I realized last night why I'm struggling so much. Two important daily habits recently have become non-daily. Not "daily" enough? Anyway, if I don't get down on my knees and talk to my Heavenly Father, and if I don't take time to pick up his words and study them, and listen, I feel noticeably empty. This is a fact for me. And to be honest with you, I'm feeling better just talking about it. Now the trick is to do it.
p.s.Forgive me for talking about religion. I know it's personal. But I'm doing it anyway. We're friends, right?

I think it's important to know yourself and your needs. Take care of yourself,so you can take care of others. So I'm saying "Sayonara" to this abyss and taking the first shuttle out. I'm going to do the things that are essential to my happiness so misery won't take over. In the words of a song by Jenni Phillips, "There's just no room for darkness in our lives." Here's to choosing light.

3 Months

So, I had a minor foot surgery in February. I developed a neuroma (google it) between my second and third toe during my pregnancy. Since it was getting worse, & cortizone did nothing, I decided to have the inflamed nerve removed. No big deal. Here's a lovely picture though. Looking a lot better! Mia is 3 months old now! My good friend Mandy gave me a little empty photo album for me to fill with pictures of Mia next to a stuffed animal each month of her first year of life. This months pictures are too cute not to share. 1st one was taken in the a.m. Very sad.
p.m. happy