Strawberries

 Never in my life have I tasted strawberries as sweet and soft as these.  Around here it is the beginning of strawberry season and it is wonderful.  Our neighbor works for one of the strawberry farms and she studies how to make better strawberries.  She dropped these off and truly they were the best thing ever.  We are still receiving fresh oranges often right from the groves and now we are getting strawberries.  WONDERFUL!!!!!

Our New Wheels

 We have now turned in our large rental van for our very own wheels.  This minivan seats all 8 of us comfortably and can still fit our stroller in the back.  It has a 6 gear manual transmission and we like it so far.
It is nice to be out of the rental van. We felt like we stuck out like a sore thumb in that van (because we did) and now we blend in a little better (until the 6 children file out)

Just as a FYI if you have any interest in the process of getting this car ready to drive we did have to get insurance on it and that was pretty easy.  it was about 200 euros for 6 months.

We also had to go and get it inspected.  They have government owned inspection stations all around the country.  The one we went to was pretty modern.  They ran the car through a serious of tests and checked everything on it.  We had 1 thing that had to be fixed so we did that .  Here are a few pictures that I got of the facility.

Dia Del Campo

 Today we celebrated Dia Del Campo (Field Day)
It really was the most amazing neighborhood party I have ever been to.  We went to church this morning and then met some friends to head out to the fields.
Half the town of Chucena was out in a huge field surrounded by cork trees.  They were circled up in family and friends groups cooking around fires.  We ate so much food and could walk from group to group and everyone would offer us more food and drink as we mingled together.  The kids ran and played all around and out into to the forest area.

We went over to the 20 something singles groups and they were all gathered around playing music and singing flamenco.  Our great friend Louisa and another young women just broke out in to a flamenco dance together and it was so fun to watch.  We laughed and clapped and even joined in a little bit.

Of course we had to check out the cork trees just a little bit.

If you have ever read the book Ferdinand the Bull you have to pay attention to the trees.  They are cork trees and they have bunches of corks hanging in the trees like grapes.  We always laugh with the kids and tell them that is not really how cork grows so it was fun to show them how cork really grows.



Did I mention that we ate and ate and ate and ate.  We ate the most delicious fish and I was so proud of the kids for trying it and also loving it.  Even my pickiest eater, Jacob, loved the fish and ate so much of it.

Some of the problems with so many people all out in the fields was there were no bathrooms.  All the kids had to learn pretty quick how to go out in to the trees and relieve themselves.

The kids came home raving about how much fun they had exploring with their friends and having adventures together.

Roma Day 4: Our Last Stroll

Today was our last stroll around town so we just spent the time seeing a few last minute sights and having a few last minute experiences.

The above picture is the steps up to the Piazza del Campidoglio by Michelangelo.  The oval design in that plaza was the inspiration for the oval design of the New Temple for the Church so we wanted to go and see it for ourselves.

We of course had to have gelato.  It was delicious.

Some of the newer trains in Rome have no driver and so you can sit at the front or the back and watch where you are going.  The kids thought that was soooo fun.  They would pretend to be the driver and tach as the train went up and down and side to side.

There was a rental show for Vespa's that claimed to be a vespa museum.  It was fun to see all the different designs and the kids had to take a picture.



The picture below if a view from the top of the Roman Forum, what would have been downtown ancient Rome.

We also found the track that would have been used for the chariot races so that kids tried that out with the stroller.

It really was a wonderful day and we could not have asked for better weather during our stay.  We Love Rome!!!!

Roma: Day 3 Angelo's Villa

 What is more Italian than eating spaghetti at an Italian Villa with an 85 year old Italian gentleman that used to be a race car driver.  The Answer is NOTHING.

 Sometimes you just get lucky in life and that is what happened to us here in Rome.  We are staying at a nice but inexpensive hotel.  The reason it is inexpensive is because of its location.  We walk each morning to the metro station and it takes about 45 min to get to the center of Rome.  The great thing about this is we meet the real people of Rome and not just stay in the touristy areas.  On our very first day waiting at the Metro stop we met a very nice man named Angelo.  Steven got to talking to him (Steven speaks Italian by the way) so as we waited they talked and after about 10 min this nice old man, Angelo, invited us to come out to his home on Thursday for lunch.  I was a little nervous (my American brain was thinking "what if he is an axe murderer") but knowing the hospitality of the Spanish people as well as the Italian people I put those fear aside and we reserved this day for him, and we were not let down.

We took a short Metro ride out to the outskirts of Rome and Angelo met us at the stop.  He walked us back to his home and was so funny because he would take a few steps and then stop and explain something else to us or tell us a story.       His home was beautiful with a large wall around the entire thing and the home next door was his sons.  The entire house was surrounded by wonderful patios.  The house was really two different building, one was the kitchen and the dining area and the other the living rooms, study and bedrooms.  It had a beautiful covered breezway between them.  It was the most picturesque italian home, we loved it.  He is a retired race car driver and now owns a race car driving school that his son now runs.

 After we got there and Angelo got us settled he told Steven that I would stay at his home with the kids and Angelo and Steven would go buy a few things for our meal.  Okay,  The kids and I stayed in this wonderful home and played outside in the nice warm sun.  We had room to run and play and the children found ample things to entertain themselves.   During this time Steven went on his own adventure with Angelo.  They stopped at the local market to get the most divine pork for us (seen in the picture below) as well as cured pancetta (yum)  They were gone for a good hour maybe more but it was the experience of a lifetime for Steven and we were plum happy back at the house.

 Then when we got home Angelo invited me into his Kitchen to come and cook with him.  We cut onion and garlic together and he showed me how he makes spaghetti sauce and his spaghetti.  It was so cool.  (and Super delicious)

Then we sat down to eat a 4 course meal in the sunshine of his patio.  We started with the spaghetti, then had a pork roast with bread, then cured pancetta with more bread, and finally a red orange.  They really tasted so different than a normal orange almost like a fruit punch.  I was so full by the end of this meal I could not eat one more bite and it was all so delicious.
I could go on and on about this day and this meal and how nice Angelo was to us.  He could not have been more hospitable. It really was the highlight of our trip to Rome.
He invited Steven and I to come back to Rome next year without the kids and he would put us up in his beach house.  Love the friends we make as we travel the World!!

Roma: Day 2 The House of the Lord

 This is the real reason we came to Rome when we did.  This afternoon we got to go to the open house for the Rome Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

It is absolutely gorgeous inside. The entire thing has the shape of an oval and that theme is throughout.  The detail was wonderful but more than all of that was the wonderful feeling of peace and love that I feel when I am inside.

The temple really is all about family and about the love our Father in Heaven has for each one of us.  I am so grateful we got to take the family to this wonderful place.

The whole area is a large square with 4 large buildings.  The Temple, A Visitor Center (Pictured above) A building to house people that come to the temple (In the picture below with a very old Olive Tree) and the other side is a Church.

 During the tour of the temple (No pictures of the inside of the temple)  we all have little plastic footlets that cover our shoes to protect the floors.  Well leave it to my kids to turn the shoe cover into hats at the end and want to take them home for a souvenir.  Silly Kids.

I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and all that he had done for each one of us.

The above picture is the stain glass window that welcomes you into the visitor center and the picture below is a scale model of the temple to show the different rooms.

We Love to see the Temple!