Zoo with the Greenwoods.

This past year, Joel and I have made some great friends - The Greenwoods. I have known Lindsey for pretty much my whole life, but for some reason it has only been lately that we have become friends. Joel and I LOVE playing games - anyone who knows us knows this about us. Paul and Lindsey invited us over one night for games, and it was magic :) One slobbery kiss (only they will get this) and a few games later we had found some gamer friends. They love games just as much, if not more, than we do. Sometimes we go over just for an hour or so just to throw down a few games of Dominion. WE LOVE THIS FAMILY. What started out as gaming friends has now developed in to some of the best friends that Joel and I have had in our married life. This last summer we decided to take a Zoo Day with the Greenwood family. SO FUN! We had such a good time. Hopefully we will have more outings with them in the near future. Hint, Hint. 

Hahaha.

SO cute!

The most adorable man in the WORLD!

I love to see the temple.

You know those pictures that you see at Deseret Book of the temples? I think they are beautiful, but I'm not willing to spend that much on a photograph. I'm no expert photographer. But, my mother had mentioned how much she loved the new photos of the temple. So, I went through all of our pictures from temple square and found a few that I liked. Joel and I thought this would be a great idea for a Christmas gift for our parents this year - to get them prints of the temple that were ours.  Here was the result:

We gave this one to Joel's parents

We gave this one to my parents

These are just a few of the ones I had lying around. I want to go to some of the temples just to have some pictures of them. They are the most gorgeous buildings. :)

Cruise - Messina

This is the last post of our wonderful cruise adventure. I have had fun revisiting all of the places that Joel and I went together. It was definitely the most incredible vacation I've ever been on. We got to see so many beautiful places. I'm really glad that our first trip to Europe we did a cruise. We found so many places that we would love to go back and visit again, and some (surprising) places that we have no desire to see again. I hope some day in the future we can go back to spend at least a week in Rome. I want to be able to see the Coliseum at sunrise - Vatican City at twilight. I would go to the Sistene Chapel every day.  Croatia is a must see. I would go back to the bakery in Messina with the Cannoli. There is an indescribable feeling that you get knowing that you're walking on streets that have been there for hundreds of years.

Well, here is the birthplace of the Godfather - Sicily (Taormina to be precise). Some of the film was actually shot in this very city. It was quaint and peaceful. We will probably be back here someday; there is a world renowned film festival here. Joel is so incredible at his job, I'm sure we will be here again in the future. 

Things we learned:

1. Never take the bus from Taormina to Messina at 11:40 or you may be sitting at the stop for an hour and a half waiting for the bus to actually show up.

2. Canoles are a small taste of heaven.

3. Even when you buy merchandise from a bakery, you can't go sit in front of the cafe where they have tables and chairs apparently...

4. Yes, we really did pay 8 euro to go to the Greek Theater...

Side Note: This place was amazing! I would pay way more than 8 euro to see it again. The view was GORGEOUS and the tour guides have amazing facts about the theater. 

This was built in 300 BC. Incredible.

5. The rest of the world is lazy. We got to Taormina at 8:15 am and the entire city was still asleep! Street - empty They didn't even start opening them until 9 and all weren't completely open until 11. Lazy.

Side Note: I actually loved that no one was up...the smell of the bakeries were AMAZING. Walking the empty streets was soothing.

6. You need to be insane to drive a bus in Sicily! Even though the streets are 15ft wide with cars park on both side, they can (and do) pass one another with millimeters between and think it is fine...

7. Yes, a coach bus can and often does make u-turns.

8. Italy doesn't think it is prudent to make lanes on any street, even on the highway. People just drive aimlessly.

9. In America, people drive on the left. In England, people drive on the right. In Italy, it's optional.

10. All men in Europe carry man bags.

See picture below for description.

I love that the rest of the world thinks disco is still popular...

Doesn't look like much, right? WRONG. This is an ally way. We saw someone walk into this tiny space and disappear into its depths. No wonder none of these people are fat! They couldn't even get to their flats if they were! Not to mention, if I had to walk through that every day, I might become a claustrophobic. 

Joel's dream :)

Cruise - Venice p2

Part 2. More pictures. I think in the length of the trip I took over 2000 pictures. Here's the rest of Venice. There are 2 islands that are near the city of Venice - Murano and Burano. Murano is known for its glass making. This place was pretty cool. Burano is quite possibly my favorite place from the whole trip. It looks like a storybook land in real life. You'll see, but the pictures do it no justice. Burano is known for its lace.

1. Never take a gondola ride in Venice...200 euro and 30 minutes later, it won't be worth it. (Don't worry - we didn't waste 200 euro to ride in the Gondola. I don't feel bad about missing out on the experience either.)

2. Murano makes awesome glass, but take away the gl, and that's what the place smells like...butt.

This is made of glass...amazing.

This last picture is stupid, but my pharmacy friends will enjoy this - it's a walk up window at the local pharmacy. SERIOUSLY!

3. A lot of good things come from Italy, but it certainly isn't the security. 

4. Alpha Romer cars can come with creamsicle interiors. And yes, Joel wants one.

5. I've never seen so many brand names. Only rich people could afford to live there.

6. I think if I touched the water in Venice, I would corrode immediately. I think they put dirt into it daily on purpose.

7. Just because you are 60 years old and 200lbs, apparently it is still acceptable to wear a bikini.

This is one of the seats on the boats towards the front of the boat. I love the depiction of the pregnant woman :)

This is Burano. It is seriously amazing.

BAHAHA! Guess he was tired.