Italy Part 1

I know I said in my last post that I had 3, 000 photos of our trip to Italy to visit GCC Missionaries Mossimo and Susannah Mollica, but actually, I have about a thousand; phew! But, still that is too much for one post...so I am going to go through my iPhoto in order and will post for a few days about our trip.

We had a FANTASTIC trip, on so many levels. It was amazing to visit a country I had never been to but heard so much about, including our trip to Rome and all the pizza that we ate :) But it was also encouraging for Gus and me to spend time with Massimo and Susannah. We have known them for a loong time and were so encouraged by our time with them. Every night, we would put all the kids to bed and sit and talk, having amazing conversations about everything! For me, this was the highlight of our trip; something I am so thankful for!!

We left Christmas night, around 8 pm. We weren't sure when we would leave, mostly because we didn't want Christmas day to feel rushed or anything, but by 8 pm, we were ready and excited to begin our trip! The boys were very excited to sleep in the car and after watching a movie, they both conked out. We drove through the night and stopped for breakfast, watching the sunrise through our windows. Beautiful.

Once we crossed into France, the drive was GORGEOUS. We basically drove through the coast, past some of the most expensive real estate in the world. It was breathtaking from the freeway, so I can only imagine how beautiful those places are that we drove through, Monaco, Marseilles, Nice, just to name a few...

And then, before we knew it, we were crossing over into Italy! It was quite exciting!!

The boys did super well in the car. At various times, they napped when needed and watched movies as well. Part of their Christmas gifts were new DVD's for the car, as well as new crayons and coloring books. They were excited to spend time with the Mollica kids, as well.

Finally, after about 18 hours later, we arrived! It was a very joyous reunion!! The kids immediately started playing together and basically didn't stop until we left. They got along pretty well for 5 kids, under one roof, for a week!

Twins!!

Lunch that day was amazing bolognese sauce and gnocchi's! Susanna has become an amazing Italian cook and we really enjoyed both her hospitality and yummy food!

It was very fun to spend time with the Mollicas and we are thankful that our kids were able to spend time with, and enjoy their kids as well. We hope these friendships will last for a very long time.

 Stay tuned for part 2....our tour of Perugia!