Euro Trip 2011: Part 1

We are in Rome, Italy!

After arriving yesterday afternoon, throughly exhausted from our flight, we were thrilled to be greeted at our bed and breakfast by Laura the owner of Aldebaran B&B where we are staying.  Laura is very friendly and really makes us feel right at home, she even refers to it as our home.  We took a nap after getting situated in our room and then woke up in time to go out on the town to see the concert for May Day (Labor Day for Italy) and the celebrations being held in honor of Pope John Paul II being declared blessed.  There were tons of people here for the ceremonies which made for interesting people watching.  We walked around downtown for a while, bought our Roma Pass (best decision ever), ate some Italian Pizza, had my first Cola Light of the trip and ended the night with some delicious gelato.  It was a perfect first day in Rome!

We had a good night sleep and woke up today to some delicious breakfast made by Laura and were joined by other couples staying in the house for some enjoyable morning company, one couple from Spain and the other from England.  After breakfast we were off for a full day of sightseeing.  Thanks to Scott's preparation and Rick Steve's advice our day was wonderful.  

We visited the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Piazza Venezia, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.  Although the sites were very busy due to all the visitors in the city for the Pope, we didn't wait in any lines and had guided tours without paying a dime.  How you might ask?  Well Scott was on top of it and had us get a Roma Pass which includes all these sites without lines and we downloaded Rick Steve's Audio Tours on our phones, directions and pictures included to give you a free all inclusive tour of all the sites.  Also Rick recommended an inexpensive, delicious place to get lunch which made the day enjoyable and in the budget.  Our day was fantastic and well worth every step on the cobble stone roads.  

I also added my map reading skills and memories of last time I was in Rome to help us get around.

By the end of the day we were ready to get home fast so we hopped on the metro and a couple stops later we were back at Manzoni, our metro stop to our home in Rome.

Stay tuned for the Vatican City and more tomorrow!

XBOX KINECT

Scott has been wanting a XBOX for a while.  I wasn't too excited about the idea.  I might have even returned one he had purchased a while back, even though I agreed to the purchase.  So my sister being the most thoughtful person you will ever know, decided Scott deserves a XBOX no matter what I thought.  So for Scott's graduation she got my whole side of the family together to get him a XBOX.  We have been playing Kinect Sports and besides getting a little work-out, I have to say it is a great deal of fun, especially with friends.

Tonight our friends Drew and Tiffany were over for a little Kinect action and man did they get it.

Thanks for the fun times guys.  Let's have a rematch soon.  If anyone else is up for the Varley Challenge just let us know!

Graduation

Scott is officially a BYU graduate and I couldn't be more proud.  He has worked so hard and landed the perfect job for our little family.  Although we are sad to leave our college life, especially all the amazing friends we have made, we are thrilled to begin the next chapter of our lives in Salt Lake City.  Scott and I are so blessed to have so much love and support from our family and we enjoyed having so many of them here for Scott's graduation.  Thanks again for all of you who sent your love and congratulations from near and far, we really appreciate it! 

Dently Bruce

On Friday morning Scott and I were thrilled to welcome another nephew in our family.  My sister Natalie and brother-in-law Danny had an adorable little boy named Dently Bruce and we were lucky enough to go to the hospital and hold him when he was only a few hours old.

We already love you so much Dently!

Last Day of Class

Although Scott doesn't look too happy (he has a hard time functioning in the morning) he was ecstatic that today was his last day of class at BYU as an undergrad.  I have to say I'm pretty thrilled myself to have a soon-to-be graduated hubby.  

To celebrate we got to attend the last Jazz game of the season, thanks to our friend Nate who provided the tickets.  It was a perfect reward to all Scott's hard work.  

Some of my friends from work were there too so they came and sat next to us, love these ladies!

The Jazz won which always makes for a fun game and then we left in the pouring rain.  Scott didn't have a coat and we parked pretty far away to avoid paying for parking so we ran all the way to our car laughing the whole time.  We were completely soaked when we got there.  It was a perfect end to the last day of class. 

Go Jazz!

Celebrating Wink

Happy Birthday Hilary!

I am blessed to have this beautiful lady in my life and have her as one of my dearest friends.  It has been such a treat to have her here in Utah for the last month while she is in flight attendant training.  I am going to miss spending her days off together but maybe she will use her free flights to come back and visit really soon.  

Love you Wink!

My Favorite Little Super Hero

This weekend was filled with amazing company, inspiring words and lots of laughs, thanks to this little man and his awesome older brother.

Side Note: I really need to take more pictures, linking to old posts is not exciting at all.  I am turning a new leaf and going to start blogging again, there I said it!