Christmas in Paris!

What can we say... it doesn't get much more romantic than Christmas in Paris. The highlight of the trip was the Christmas Eve Candle-light service at The American Church in Paris. Beautiful music, a huge Christmas Tree and most importantly a Christ-centered service. We missed family and home more than ever before, but had a blast exploring Paris! We spent Christmas morning in a coffee shop and enjoyed staying at a Bed and Breakfast just outside of Paris. Then for our 2nd Anniversary, we had an amazing dinner at a little bistro near the Eiffel Tower. Bike rides, boat rides, carnivals, delicious food, beautiful museums and time together was such a blessing!

For more photos of Paris, click here.

Merry Christmas!

It is the night of the dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees, oh hear the angel voices
O night divine, the night when Christ was born.

Thanksgiving in Tuscany

Our first stop: Florence

The capital of the Tuscan Region, the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance... which means lots of amazing paintings (Venus) and sculptures (David) without clothes. Florence was the birthplace of Dante, Botticelli, Machiavelli, most of the ninja turtles (or at least Michelangelo and Donatello) and had lots of amazing Piazzas, restaurants, bakeries and shops all over the place. One of the highlights of our trip was an amazing view from the top of the Duomo (Florence Cathedral) in the center of town. While enjoying the view, we bumped into some friends of ours who we later had Thanksgiving dinner with.

Next stop: Siena

One of the oldest cities in the Roman Empire, the first capital of the Tuscan Region, thought to be the birthplace of Romulus and Remus (founders of Rome), though it's probably just really old. Like Florence, parking is a luxury in Siena, so we walked everywhere. There were lots of shops throughout the city center, but with late openings, noon-time naps, and restaurants not even opening until 7:00 pm, there was plenty of time to walk around and hang out at coffee shops (although we don't usually like hanging out in coffee shops). The Duomo of Siena was spectacular. Rivaling even the Sistine Chapel, this cathedral was covered top to bottom in amazing artwork, mosaic floors and ceiling's painted by Raphael. The Piazza del Campo was at the center of Siena with the Mangia Tower (another amazing view) overlooking all of Siena. Amazing food, wine, deserts, coffee, Irish pubs and history all around. A great way to end our Thanksgiving adventure.

To see more pictures, click here.

Day Dreaming

Grant and I are enjoying every moment of living in Italy and are thrilled about the next two years here, but there’s no denying that we miss Alaska. Especially now, when amazing winter Chugach Range sunrises and freezing, but beautiful walks to work were the norm for me (Grant has been gone with the Navy longer than I have) and rosy cheeks, shoveling snow, and Kaladi coffee were part of daily life. We reminisce about it often and are so excited for a trip back, whenever that may be. For now, we’ll enjoy exploring amazing Italy and dream about home.

If you close your eyes & imagine for a moment, you could be here too.

Path of the Gods, Amalfi Coast

Our first hiking adventure in Italy!

A fun drive along the Amalfi Coast took us to an amazing trail called the Path of the Gods (Sentiero degli Dei).It wasn't the easiest place to find as we discovered multiple places claiming to be the actual path of the gods.

Our GPS, Jack, took us through some random neighborhoods & alleyways barely wide enough for our little car. We eventually realized that we were on the wrong side of the mountain. After arguing with Jack and threatening to get another GPS, he finally took us to the town of Nocelle where we found the trailhead.

The path of the gods took us along oceanside cliffs and through beautiful out-of-season vineyards. The weather was perfect & we ended the hike with a tasty dinner in a local restaurant that overlooked a sunset on the Mediterranean.

For more pictures, click here.

Roma

Fall is just beginning in Italy and this past weekend was gorgeous in Rome! We drove up Friday night and visited some of the famous sites of Rome, drank plenty of cappuccinos and walked along the Tiber River. Beautiful!

For more pictures of Rome, click here.

Yay!

Together finally! No deployments, no moving, at least two years. :)

We found this quote today, in Italian, and thought it described our relationship fairly well so we thought we'd share it on our blog:

"Il colpo di fulmine é la cosa che fa guadagnare piu tempo."

It means, "Love at first site is something that lets you waste no time."

Anticipation

I've said the phrase, "When I get to Italy..." many times over the last two months. I'm going tonight. :)

And I can barely wait to see Grant.

~Sara

Whirlwind Adventures...

So... we got orders at the end of August to report to Naples, Italy in September... and I flew off USS FORD from Panama (several days later), met up with Sara in Seattle, drove down to see the Wilson family in Silverton, Oregon that first weekend, then packed up and shipped our belongings in Everett to Naples, flew to Colorado/Wyoming to see the Bryans and Maynards, then executed an amazing spur-of-the-moment 5th honeymoon to Wrangell, Alaska just in time to ship me off to Naples the very next day (via a three day travel itinerary) where I now wait for my lovely bride... follow all that? Here's how it looked...

Wrangell, Alaska

Wow... what an adventure. I met an amazing guy (Mark Pempek) at the airport after landing in Wrangell who insisted on having Sara and I over to their house for dinner that night (BBQ smoked salmon with potatoes and turkey eggs). He and his wife (Terese) then loaned us their suburban for the weekend. The people of Wrangell were amazing and the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at was perfect (or "adorable" in Sara's words). The gourmet breakfasts each morning were delicious! One of the other guests staying there had a son who lived in Wrangell, so we were treated to one of his recently caught crabs for dinner. The hiking was spectacular, though the weather... not so much. We enjoyed staying in our "suite", drinking Alaskan Amber at the local restaurant and exploring the town's little shops. The one place neither of us have been to ended up being one of our favorite places in Southeast Alaska!

(more photos here)

Laramie, Wyoming with the Bryans

The Bryan Ranch in Laramie, Wyoming was a treat! Hot-tubbing under the stars, wood-working in the shop, amazing food, camping in Colorado, hiking, fishing in float-tubes (a first for Sara), getting out-fished by my dad (unfortunately for me, not a first), not a lot of wind (a first for the state's entire population), visiting with Wiesje, Andi and Carla (Wiesje's mom)... and... lots and lots of card-playing :) I don't remember the score too well, but I'm sure the men won big and won often. And believe it or not, we missed the snow by only a couple days!

Wyoming adventures were followed by a stop off at Granny's house and a Maynard reunion at Aunt Melody's house. Always a joy to get all the cousins together for laughs... well almost all the cousins. It was a great way to end a quick CO/WY vacation. My brother missed all the fun though... too busy getting yelled at by a drill sergeant... HA! My big brother is in boot camp... can't believe it yet. So cool!

(more photos here)

Silverton, OR with the Wilsons

Silverton, Oregon:

The Wilsons have an amazing farm house at the top of a hill (complete with swimming pool, get-away cabin, barn, tractor, go-cart, grape vineyard, fruit trees, and two beautiful Ford trucks. Needless to say, the girls (our nieces, Hailey and Heidi) and all the Wilson sisters have a good time whenever they're there.

(more photos here)