Welcome, Ayah Fay Lovell

 

 

Ayah Fay Lovell, firstborn child of Selwin and Brianna Bair Lovell, came into the world weighing 7 lbs. 3 oz. at 6:25 a.m. on Monday, December 23, 2019 at Dixie Regional Medical Center. Early reviews of her adorable little round face say she is a “spitting image” of her grandpa Bair but with her daddy’s nose. Ayah is the first grandchild – and the best Christmas present ever - of Mike and Lori Bair.

Her name “Ayah” (pronounced A-ya) is Hebrew for “miracle” and Fay is her paternal grandmother’s middle name (Sonia Fay Wickham passed away when her identical twin sons Selwin and Simeon were only 6-years-old).  

Welcome to the world … and the family, Ayah!

PS:  This little cutie came in just under the wire to make the Sappington Family’s 2019 Top Ten list.

A Lovely Weekend in December

We had a lovely weekend in early December.  It started with a call from Taisley telling me she has been 

accepted to study at SUU (in Cedar City) AND to Dixie State University (in St. George) where they offered her a $6000 scholarship ($750 a semester – about 30% of the cost of tuition for 4 years).  “I was so excited 

to share the news with you, Grandma.”

The following morning we drove to Cedar City and completed a dozen sealings before leaving for Ogden 

where Kelly had arranged a “mystery trip” for us.  We found out later it was tickets to see A Christmas 

Carol at a nearby community theater.  What a fun evening, followed Saturday morning by Christmas 

shopping with Kelly.

Later in the afternoon we drove to Spanish Fork where we took up residence at Michael and Jessica’s house.There was hugs, kisses and a riotous game of Scattergories with the kids before leaving for Jessica’s choir 

performance of Benjamin Britt’s “A Ceremony of Carols.”

What a lovely weekend … made even better when everyone invited us to stay longer.  It is such a 

remarkable experience to see family members succeed and to feel welcome in the homes of our 

children.

Happy Thanksgiving 2019

KSL-TV reported on a survey conducted before Thanksgiving which had some interesting results:

·      75% of those surveyed felt “4 hours or less” was more than enough family time around the dinner table.

·      35% of those surveyed admitted they had found a place to hide out while family was visiting for the holiday.

·      25% of those surveyed reported they had seen a fight break out between family members (usually around the hot topics of politics, religion or the “right way” to cook something.

Thanksgiving 2019 was a pleasant time with Kris and Erin, Rick, Stacy, Taisley and Danielle, Simeon, Stephanie, Selwin, Brianna, Ed and me where together we enjoyed chicken (the turkey hadn’t thawed), dressing, potatoes and gravy, ribbon salad and pies.

A few minutes after dinner, the doorbell rang and we were happy to welcome Tiffany and Bob Nelson and all seven of their kids and Ben’s wife Hannah.  It was noisy fun and sweet to all be together.

Happy Thanksgiving, one and all!

PS:  I inadvertently deleted the original of this post so the pictures aren't exactly right but they're all I could find,

FAMILY STORY: Kendi's Abduction

It was Cuz’N Camp, 2003.  As always, we had selected a location which included water, shade, and interesting and/ or fun places to go on at least three “mystery trips.”  Along with my Cuz’N Camp assistant, Kaytee, the kids we had with us were Allysa, Whitney, Tylre, Zac and Kendi, all potty-trained and able to be away from Mom and Dad for 4-5 days.  This was the year we set as our base camp at Wasatch Mountain State Park, not far from Park City, UT.

Not sure what day of Cuz’N Camp this was, but Kendi – and probably a few of the other kids – had her shirt turned inside out because it was dirty, so it was probably Day 2-3 (this is significant because child abductions were common in this day and time – and most of the children abducted had their clothing altered so they were momentarily unidentifiable). 

The mystery-trip-of-the-day was a ride on the Alpine Slide, one of the longest slides in the world with over 3000 feet of track. Kendi, who was then about 5, happily joined her cousins on the ski-lift to the top of the mountain and enjoyed the exhilarating ride down the hill on her own sled. At the bottom, all the other kids wanted to ride the Alpine Slide one more time … Kendi did not. Tickets were handed out to all the other cousins for a second run, while Kendi selected something else to ride … until she saw the kids heading towards the ski lift. At that point she realized she may have made an error in judgment and wanted to trade her ticket for another ride on the Alpine Slide – except by now it was already on its way to the top with all her cousins on board.  She began to cry, howl, gyrate, scream, shout, bawl, weep … and, nothing could calm her.  

In complete frustration with the whole situation, Grandpa took her by the hand and began heading back to the camper.  The more he tugged, the more loudly she cried, wriggled and squirmed to get free of his grasp.  At this point he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder completely disgusted and muttering under his breath.  Suddenly from every side, concerned people encircled him and the child – still sobbing and carrying on. Now a crowd had gathered and some of the men pulled Kendi from her grandpa’s arms to try to determine her situation. They separated the two and began asking her questions. Was she being abused? Kidnapped?  Did she know this man?  Why was her t-shirt turned inside out?  When she realized the trouble she had caused for her Grandpa, she quieted down and admitted she was throwing a tantrum because her Grandma wouldn’t let her ride the Alpine Slide a second time when all her cousins got to go.

Eventually, the security guard returned his gun to its holster, the crowd dissipated and Grandpa and Kendi completed their trip back to the camper. Though Kendi hates hearing this story, it grows more fun and colorful with each telling and Grandpa is always pleased to report his police record remains unspotted.

The rest of the story is, Kendi Hansen has grown up to be a beautiful young woman and has apologized numerous times for her antics which nearly put Grandpa in jail.

FAMILY STORY: Skiing with the Scouts

Home after a day on the slopes:  Ed's brother Bob Sappington,
Bob's son Todd Sappington and our oldest daughter Kelly Sappington 
with Linda's grandmother Verda Bradford Howell and Ed and Robert's mother
Mina Sappington Carson (see Grandpa Owen Carson in the back).
This appears to be the only picture among our family photos
relating to skiing.

Ed began skiing as a young kid and became quite exceptional at the sport. When his kids were old enough, he enjoyed some amazing times on the slopes with Kelly, David, Michael and Kaytee (neither of us remember him skiing with Stacy or Kris) and is pleased to know, at least Adyn, Skylar and Thoryn, are following in his snowy trails.  

Outside the family, he rarely tells people how really good he was so when he volunteered to go along on a ski trip to chaperone scouts from the Bloomington 7^thWard, it was obvious the young men couldn’t imagine what fun it would turn out to be skiing with “this old priesthood leader.”  

In the end, it was probably more fun for Br. Ed because when he strapped on his skis and took off “at lightning speed” down the runs at Brian Head, he left behind many shocked young men!  Those who were along that day, spoke - for weeks - in absolute reverence of Br. Ed’s amazing skills on the slopes.  Lesson learned:  “Never judge a book by its cover!” 

Return to Branson, MO

 We traveled back to Branson, MO for our semi-annual week in our 3-bedroom timeshare.  This trip we took along Bob and Katie Beecher of Lehi and Jim and Mary Andrus from St. George – both couples with whom we have a connection to the West indies Mission.

It was another delightful vacation.  In our week together we saw 8 shows. My favorite was unquestionably “Million Dollar Quartet” with the Hughes Brothers Show a distant second.  I was also pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed “Yakov Smirnoff.”  We have seen his show before, so I didn’t expect to enjoy it a second time.  For the second time, I loved the Texas Tenors; followed by the Andy Williams Christmas Show with the Lennon Sisters and David Osmond.  We also saw SIX again and the Dolly Parton Christmas Stampede.  My least favorite – although we really did enjoy  it, too - just not quite as much as the others – was the Dutton Family Show.  

What was most interesting was to see a performer in an evening show, then be standing behind them in the morning at Walmart buying groceries. On Saturday night, we saw the Hughes Family on stage … then on Sunday morning, at one of 3 LDS wards within the city limits – in the state which had an extermination order against the Mormons - one of their teenagers prepared the Sacrament and another said the meeting’s closing prayer.

We also spent most of a full day at Top of the Rock, which everyone agreed was the highlight of our time in Missouri. For those contemplating a trip to Branson, Top of the Rock is a ‘MUST!”

As always, the time goes by way too fast, but it was 8 days of fun!

Interesting side notes: Branson has a fulltime population of only 10,500 (give or take) and millions of visitors annually, so there are plenty of jobs available. 

With millions of visitors in Branson from March to December, several people told us this little city becomes a veritable ghost town from Christmas Day until March 1 when all the performers take vacation and /or work on new elements for their next season.

Andrus’ son arranged for a car and booked our hotel stay in Kansas City.  I didn’t recognize it from the outside, but when I got inside, I experienced a little Déjà vu because it was the exact same hotel in which I attended a Youth Volunteer Corps annual conference when I was at the Volunteer Center.  Small world, huh!

And flying out to Branson and back to Las Vegas reminds me of a little ditty I heard recently:

“West to east is a beast … east to west is the best.”

Simeon and Selwin Become U. S. Citizens

“I hereby declare, on oath, I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms for the United States when required by the law; performing noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion … so help me God.”

Simeon Lovell repeated these words on Monday, August 26, 2019 - along with 100+ people of the world - in the rotunda of the Utah State Capitol to become a naturalized citizen of the United States.  

There were new citizens from Afghanistan, Argentina, Canada, India, Iran, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, the UK, South Africa, Kenya, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Tonga, Philippines, Haiti, Vietnam, Ukraine, Russia, Mexico (the largest group) … and of course, Guyana, South America.

Selwin's naturalization ceremony took place on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 in the U. S. Court of the Washington County Courthouse in St. George.  Don't you just love his stance ... as he is talking to the judge and to his audience.

Judge Paul Kohler offered a few moving words, "because I'm the judge and I can't help myself." To 13 of the nation's newest citizens (4 from Mexico and 1 each from the Philippines, Chile  Russia, England, Vietnam, India, Spain, Canada and of course, Guyana) he said, "We love you, we value your culture and your traditions.  E plurabus unum, on American currency refers to our country as a land of immigrants, a melting pot ... and you are encouraged to reach out ... to 'become' Americans because we are a nation of immigrants.  Don't become customers of America's government ... instead serve and share ... and mentally write your name on the U. S. Constitution!"

The process of naturalization involves being “legal” in the country for a minimum of five years, completing an application, including payment of $725 per applicant; attending a face-to-face interview, and passing an English and civics test. 

We are so proud of these two fine young men, for all they have accomplished in the 6 years they have been in our family!  God bless America.

On Your Mark: District Governor School

It was 4 days of intense training but Mom finally graduated from District Governor school in Denver, though it was not without a whole lot of frustration, tears and stress - particularly mine - among this year's  31 District Governor candidates.  I am grateful to have had very valuable public speaking experience even but, at the time, I didn't think I'd survive.  While I succeeded in making it all the way to the end of the class, it was EXTREMELY difficult.  I've never doubted my ability to teach and train, so I was the most surprised at how much I struggled.  The difficulty came when our facilitator gave us the assignment to tell our Rotary story in exactly 2 minutes. They were timing us right down to the second ... and we were being filmed and critiqued with each presentation ... and I couldn't do my presentation at all!  To make matters worse, we were all told before breakfast, lunch and dinner, 6 of us would be called out of the audience to give our presentations ... and at the last possible second, we would be asked to tweak the talk to add a call to action about Rotary membership, foundation giving or branding.  We were supposed to be "warned" but the first time I was called up, it was without any advance notice.  But, perseverance won out and I was finally able to do what I was being trained to do.

Guess its "if at first you don't succeed, suck it up ... and keep trying!"

I suspect, during my very busy year as Rotary District Governor, I will look back and laugh about my struggle to master the art of public speaking, but in the moment, there was nothing funny about it!

DGN Judy Zone was unable to attend this intense, but absolutely amazing and fun training due to her husband’s recent accident and subsequent surgery, but DG John Hanrahan made the trip (although he was only able to be there for one day because of another commitment).  The Saturday evening celebration was not just a party … but a party and a half!  I am both apprehensive and “can’t wait” to serve in this new role!  Whoot, whoot … bring it on, D5420.  Let’s do this!

Danielle Says, "I Do!"

Our beautiful and sweet Danielle Welch said “I do” to her handsome and devoted Kale Porter on Saturday, August 31, 2019.  The nuptials took place in a beautiful outdoor setting at Bigelow Ranch (between Veyo and Gunlock, UT) where the temperature was 107 degrees in the shade. Surrounded by family and friends who love them both, Danielle and Kale were joined “til death us do part” by her Grandpa David Welch whose authority “came off the internet at a cost of $50” according to the handsome cowboy officiator who was delighted to have been asked to “tie the knot” for his granddaughter and her new husband.

The happy couple, who have known each other since junior high school, will honeymoon on a beautiful beach then return to their temporary home in St. George where she works as a medical assistant for Dr. Ryan Lewis, son of our longtime good friends Rex and Vicky Lewis (Rex was our best man on Saturday, August 31, 1963 – our own wedding day 56 years ago in Idaho Falls, ID).

Those family members surrounding the bride and groom, in our Sappington family group photo, were Kelly S. and Gary Yocum, Kris S. Schnabel, Stacy S. and Rick Welch, Taisley Welch, Kendi and Taylor Dunkley, Michael and Jessica Sappington (and their kids Lilly Sappington, Kirsten, Joshua and Laura Lenford), Simeon and Stephanie Lovell,  and of course, Ed and me!  

It was a beautifully memorable event, sharing this magical moment with our happy bride and groom, Taisley looking luscious as the maid-of-honor, good food, happy tears, and lots of hugs and kisses.  No doubt, this family milestone will almost certainly be on Grandma’s 2019 Top Ten List of Sappington Family Stories.

Sappington's Gather at Yellowstone

This year’s family reunion at Yellowstone National Park (well, actually Island Park, ID) was bookended by two memorable events.

On Tuesday morning, August 6, we met Tom and Merna Summers at the Idaho Falls Temple, where we took part in 24 sealings, including sealings of 5 couples, sealings of 9 sons to their parents and sealings of 10 daughters to their parents.  We were married in the Idaho Falls Temple on August 31, 1963 and attended many times but haven’t been there since the temple was renovated a few years ago, so it was a really pleasant experience to be there again.

At the cabin we caught up with Kelly, Gary and Watson (in the middle of a complete home renovation); Michael, Lilly and Joshua (Jessica, Kirsten and Laura were at Girls Camp) along with Kaytee and her three girls Adyn, Skylar and Thoryn.  We played games, floated on the river (brrrr, a little too cold for my blood), hiked, ate, did a fun craft project provided by Aunt Kaytee and enjoyed each other’s company for 4 days.  The weather was a little bit cool for the end of summer, and the kids shed tears when it was time to leave the cabin.  

As a grandmother, I particularly enjoyed seeing my grands "earthing" ... the millennial definition of "playing outside without screens."  The cabin is location at the edge of a little forest where the kids played together in building a fort / house.  Loved seeing what they built and hearing the laughter throughout the day.

The other memorable experience? I made chicken noodle soup for everyone and the kids really liked it.  When it came time to leave for home, I thought it made sense to send the leftovers home with Kaytee though she didn’t have an ice chest, but only had 2 hours to drive.  The leftover chicken soup was placed in the back window behind Skylar, but it didn’t have a secure lid.  Kaytee knew she’d need to drive carefully but was confident she’d make it home without incident and was pleased to know she wouldn’t have to cook when she arrived home. Within a few miles, a bicyclist pulled out into traffic and everyone stopped quickly.  Needless to say, Skylar’s nickname of “Chucklehead” is probably going to need to be changed to “Noodlehead.”  

I felt so bad because I should have done a much better job securing this cargo!  Bad Momma!

There are already plans being discussed for next year’s get-together. The beach? Colorado?  Maybe even back to the cabin.  Who knows?

All on the Same Day!

There are only 365 days in a year, so it's logical there will be days when important family events overlap … but to have 3 interesting, life-changing and noteworthy happenings all on the same day, is pretty remarkable.

First, Kelly gave notice on her job with the Utah Office of Education last week after a particularly difficult day, later texting her mom (and probably Gary, too) “no amount of money is worth this!” For the past year and a half, she has been managing the OofE’s largest computer program while we’ve watched her losing sleep and getting more and more stressed, so we weren’t really very surprised to hear she had made this decision. Tuesday, July 23 was her last day.  Not sure what she’s going to do next – other than finish up her house renovation, take a ride (or two) on her Harley Davidson and join the family next week in Island Park, ID - but she reports, “I’m at peace” and she’s been told the OofE will leave the door open for her to come back if she changes her mind.

One week later, Kelly got a call from her former boss at Hill Air Force Base (in Ogden) asking if she would consider coming back to the base.  Less money but no commuting so more time to ride and to spend time with her husband.

Also on Tuesday, July 23, Whitney said goodbye to her longtime job at Esurance for a better job with more money at e-Trade.   

Then we heard from Todd who reported at 2:19 p.m. on July 22, 2019 Todd and Naoko Sappington, welcomed their 2^nd little boy – Tyler Robert – weighing in at 8.2 pounds and joining 3-year-old TJ waiting at home and big sister Ayami, a college student living in California.  At nearly 57-years-old, Todd is elated to be the father of this beautiful family and reports he is loving being a daddy again and is happier than he's ever been.

And, for those among you who might be inclined (and you know who you are) to point out that Tyler (no word from the proud papa on whether this adorable little one will be known as Tyler or TR) was born on July 22 and Kelly and Whitney left their jobs on July 23 … let me just say, all of this interesting and exciting news happened - more or less - within the same 24 hours! 

Rick Welch is the New Chief

“I knew I shouldn’t have come to this meeting,” said our son-in-law Rick Welch about the Gunlock town meeting in which he was “thrown under the bus by my cousin” to become the volunteer fire chief.  His station will serve the Washington County communities of Gunlock, Central, Veyo and Brookside under the auspices of the Northwest Fire District. 

Gunlock has recently finished construction on a nice, new station and through a government grant, purchased a shiny, new fire truck … but the community has no other trained personnel among the approximate 110 residents and no other firefighting equipment. Luckily, they have not had any fires in the past several years.  Rick’s main responsibility will be to recruit and train his Bowler relatives, some who have owned land from Gunlock to Bigelow Ranch for generations, and others who reside in and around the town named for early pioneer Jacob Hamblin’s brother, William “Gunlock” Hamblin.  Gunlock, settled in 1857, is also the site of the annual Gunlock rodeo, held every July 4^thsince 1945 and with revenue from the event helping to support community facilities – maybe even the all new fire department?

Rick and Stacy purchased property in Gunlock – about 20 miles from downtown St. George in the northwest corner of the county – about 6 months ago after his retirement from the SGFD after 21 years.  As a retiree, he was “ordered” not to accept a position with another fire department for a year, so the residents of Gunlock waited before recruiting him to take on this assignment – since he is the only Gunlock landowner with firefighting experience.

PS:  Rick says he made Stacy promise she would “keep her mouth shut” during the town meeting but, even so, he had to elbow or knee her periodically to remind her of her promise!  Now, as Mrs. Chief, she plans to start an auxiliary for residents who would like to help make Rick’s job a little easier while he builds his program; and she is working to develop a Facebook presence for this fledgling fire department.

Another PS:  We love this guy … and have assured him his new assignment will probably make it onto my Top Ten list for 2019!!!

My Bucket List Runneth Over: Random Impressions

Random Fun Facts from Our Travels in Italy

·       Italia has more than 1200 varieties of grapes, 535 kinds of olives and many varieties of tomatoes – all deliciously sweet.  Grapes are picked in bunches … olives are picked one-at-a-time … and all are harvested only once-a-year.

·       In almost every city we saw many of our “home brands” such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Foot Locker, Five Guys … and I even saw a cute, high-end boutique called “Dixie” in Cinque Terre. 

·       The world’s best ice cream can be purchased in San Gimignano with a variety of different and delicious flavors created by Sergio Dondoli, 3-time gelato world champion and a member of Italy’s Ice Cream World Championship team.   

·       Between the four of us, we pushed, pulled and in every other way, wrangled 4 very large suitcases and another 4 small “carry-on” bags through Italy on busses, taxis, trains … and if our plans didn’t work out, we simply walked for miles dragging them behind us.

·       Italian food is nothing like what we think of as Italian food at home.  We found most to be rather bland and unremarkable. However, we have found some quite good pastries … and have I mentioned gelato?

Italian oddities

·       Filmy white blouses over black bras are a seemingly popular “look” among many Italian women, just not sure why.

·       Vatican employees smoking “on campus” and shouting OMG (most often in English) to each other as they work.

·     On the topic of smoking, we were continually amazed at the number of smokers and vapers we saw in both Germany and Italy – particularly among young and beautiful women!

·       McDonalds in Germany is called the McCafe … in Italy it is called Moka Café but NONE of the food served is what we think of as McDonalds fare, even though the “golden arches” are prominent in every city.

·       People and their dogs are EVERYWHERE, in cafés, markets and on trains.

·       Many of those we talked to in our travels wanted to discuss Trump and his politics … and whether or not I like him, whether or not I think he is going to be re-elected. One lady from the UK reported he had just been to England to meet with the queen, who – it turns out – was quite taken with him.  Upon his return to the States, he reported, “she hasn’t had this much fun in 25 years!” The lady on the cruise ship said, she was pleased the Queen and Trump have such a tight friendship because it means England and the US will, too!

·       If you go to dinner in a nice Italian restaurant, they will serve you all the wine you can drink, but if you would prefer a glass of water, or – heaven forbid – a soda, they are offended so will charge an arm and a leg!

·       Cold oatmeal with apples, raisins and nuts is delicious! And, speaking of food, at least a dozen kinds of bread and/or pasta is available at every meal.

·       Restrooms (also known as water closets) in some part of our travels were co-ed!  So interesting to discover a man waiting in line, stepping out a stall … or at the sink washing his hands.

·       Graffiti, graffiti everywhere in some parts of every community.  It makes me really happy to live in a community where the SGPD works really hard to stay on top of this social nuisance.

·       We’ve heard 5 words over and over since arriving in Italy.  They are (1) Michaelangelo, (2) Leonardo, (3) Napoleon, (4) Galileo … and (5) bigliettei which means “tickets” with its companion word “biglietteria” meaning ticket office.  The need for tickets is ever-present in Italia … tickets to ride a bus, train or other form of transportation.  Tickets for admission to basilicas, museums, historic sites and everything in between.  Sometimes at the end of the day, we had 5-8 biglietteis in our pockets. 

The not-so-good about Italy:  there was a really odd and mildly unpleasant moldy, wet-dog smell when we got off the train in the center of Milan which either went away or I simply got used to it within 24 hours.  While there were amazing structures all over the country, it was obvious many of the buildings, bridges, roads and other parts of the country’s infrastructure are dangerously in need of repair. The crowds, at times, were uncomfortably close (everyone on their way to somewhere in a hurry); and, a few loud, obnoxious drunks and an angry Italian woman on a bus added a couple of memories. Tight train connections left us anxious and perspiring; surprisingly there were lots and lots of smokers among the afore-mentioned beautiful young people; frequently there was no place to sit down in most tourist sites (in one place we were even told it was “forbidden” to sit on the steps) and/or public buildings; and, everything was VERY expensive (we blew through $800 in the first five days we were in Italy), including a city tax of $10 for each day we stayed in the Michaelangelo Hotel as well as a $2 surcharge for setting a table with napkins, utensils and tablecloths in restaurants, and in a few places, to sit at a table, we had to pay.  We also had to pay to use the “public toilette” …  anywhere from .50 to 1.50 euros per person. And, there were a few Italians who are undoubtedly unhappy with their current “world-at-their-doorstep” situation, as demonstrated when they waved us away when we asked for directions or information.

The good about Italy:  there is something spectacularly artistic and/or historic to see in every direction, including, art we’ve only read about in history books; buildings, such as churches, houses, and seats of government - whose histories are measured in centuries; amazingly efficient transportation systems including 21 trains which annually carry 1.2 million passengers, the underground metro system, busses and about a “jillion” taxis.  All the high-end fashion houses are based in this country and most of the clothes are knock-out beautiful to the point, even the average girl on the street looks like a fashion model.  Another observation … I’m a pet lover, but I have been amazed the number of people traveling with dogs … in fact, when you purchase a train ticket, you are asked to designate how many adults, children or dogs you will be traveling with … and, additionally you can bring any number or size of luggage … or your bicycle!  There were also many, many kind people willing to help lost tourists – most who speak some English, learned as children in elementary school; and, if I haven’t already mentioned it, gelato is pretty darned good, too! 

And, I’m not sure if its good or not-so-good, but there was also a heavy police presence wherever we traveled in Italy (as well as in Germany) especially around the airport, train station and many other high-profile locations. Some were petite female officers on bicycles, but many had pistols and “billy” clubs, or heavy-duty artillery – semi-automatic rifles – no doubt, meant to do serious harm.

As with any vacation, we spent way too much money and didn’t even scratch the surface of things we wanted to do and see.  And traveling like this is very, very strenuous so if you have this amazing and memorable part of the Lord’s vineyard on your “bucket list” make your plans sooner rather than later!  Thanks to the Beecher’s – our wonderful traveling companions - and for all they did to plan every detail of this fabulous trip.  

But, in the end, there's no place like home ... and God bless America!

My Bucket List Runneth Over: The Keystone Cops in Italy

 Every vacation involves some interesting and memorable moments.  Sometimes they are memorable because they are kind of funny – a couple of them even “keystone cops funny” (another Google search may be needed to understand).  They're not in any particular order, but these are the experiences we probably won’t forget for awhile:

·       Ed dropped his wallet in the treni stazione in Milano.  Before and during our time in Europe, we had been warned repeatedly about pickpockets so we thought that's what had happened but, in this case, Ed apparently just missed his own pocket.  As soon as we got back to our hotel room, he contacted our credit card companies, but we were not surprised the next morning to be advised “your purchase from Amazon has been denied.”  Unfortunately, he also lost his new Utah driver license and about $80 in USD and euros.

·       We took a bus to the Michaelangelo Museum on a hillside overlooking Milan. When it was time to depart, Ed was – we thought – right behind us.  We boarded the bus, the doors closed and all three of us, at once, saw Ed running to catch the bus as it pulled away.  Of course, we got off as soon as we could and tried to make our way back, but it took at least an hour and several failed attempts to find a bus going in the right direction. In the meantime, he – like all good Boy Scouts – simply found a shady spot, sipped a cold Coke Zero and waited for us to come find him.

·       In Florence, we were trying to wrangle our luggage to our AirBnB so we jumped – as only four weary travelers could do while each dragging 60+ lbs. of luggage – onto a city bus.  Unfortunately, we had nowhere to move ourselves or our luggage, so we just had to stand near the door.  When the next passenger – an older lady who was probably a frequent rider - stepped onboard and realized she couldn’t get passed us, she became pretty irate and, no doubt, insulting (in Italian).  We had no idea what she was saying but we could tell from the look on her face, it was probably not something we wanted to hear in English.  The bus driver – who spoke some English – did her best to diffuse the situation and we apologized to all who were inconvenienced, though it didn’t do much good. Most of the other passengers seemed sympathetic to our plight.

·       Palma de Mallorca introduced us to nude beaches.  Of course, we didn’t plan to visit a nude beach, but somehow ended up there (could have something to do with our inability to understand the language). In all fairness, it wasn’t officially a nude beach – though there were some a little further down the coast line – but this beach definitely had, a few, uninhibited nude sun bathers.  It was pretty funny to watch our two priesthood brethren trying their best not to look!

·       On one of our shore expeditions we found ourselves having lunch at a winery – which, of course, involved wine tasting.  Before we got there, our host came up and down the aisles of the bus with a clip board making notes about food preferences.  Vegan? Vegetarian? Glutton-free, etc.  When he got to me, I said, “No wine.”  The look on his face was absolutely priceless.  “No wine?” he finally managed to stammer after several seconds with his mouth open.  When he finally regained his composure, he said, “I’m shocked! I’ve never known ANYONE who doesn’t drink wine.” I want to think our seating at a far away corner of the room in the direct sunshine - and with nothing to drink - had to do with too many guests and not enough table space, but I can't be sure!

·       We stayed in a very nice AirBnB in Florence which had a gate so people couldn’t come in off the street unannounced.  When it came time to leave, we gathered everything up, locked the door and headed downstairs to wait for our taxi.  When we got to the gate, we realized we were locked in – and locked out – inside the gate and outside of the apartment.  It was early in the morning, but the guys decided the only thing to do was to knock on doors until we could find someone who had a key.  I walked out into the courtyard and found a woman hanging her washing … and a man a floor above her who spoke English.  Unfortunately, neither of them had a solution and in the meantime, our taxi showed up.  The driver was pretty upset we couldn’t find a way to her vehicle and left in a huff. Finally, someone yelled down to “push the button.”  Well, duh, sure enough there was a button next to the gate which freed us from our self-imposed prison and we were able to get on our way (I'm pretty sure, at least a few of the tenants were murmuring, “stupid Americans!” as we sped away).

·       We only got seriously lost once during our month in Europe and it happened on our last Saturday in Rome.  We decided to make a day-trip to Tivoli, a small community about 19 miles from downtown Rome which has 2 UNESCO Heritage Sites.  How hard could it be?  We made it both ways but the entire trip, which started at 10 a.m. and ended at 10:30 p.m. involved 1 mini-van, 2 shuttle busses, 3 trains, and 4 metro stops.  The treni from the Rome Termini cost us only 2.60 euros apiece going out to Tivoli, but to come back it was going to cost 309 euros (no, that’s not a typo), so of course we needed to find an alternate route which dropped us at a train station in another part of Rome.  We got back safe and sound – and even got to see the inside view of the Rome’s Leonardo di Vinci Airport.  A little unnerving, but fun anyway!