Italy part 1

Brian found out that he would be attending a conference in Florence, Italy in October and I immediately told him that I was going with him. I've always wanted to go to Italy! Later on he found out that he would also be attending a conference in Zurich, Switzerland a couple days later. After he told me that I wanted to go even more. I didn't actually think it would work out for me to go, and I felt guilty leaving my kids for a couple of weeks so I could go with him, but things fell into place and we booked a flight for me to go with him. Brian's mom was wonderful and offered to come watch our kids for 2 weeks so I could go.

I could say so much about this amazing trip and post tons of pictures but I'll try to condense it.

First I have to say that I loved seeing all of the main historical sights in Italy but my favorite parts were walking through the different piazzas and streets at night while holding Brian's hand and taking in the sights, sounds, and smells.  I also enjoyed sitting outside at restaurants, enjoying the delicious Italian food and atmosphere.

After we booked our flights to Florence, we decided we really wanted to go to Rome. We worked it out so that we would get off of the plane in Florence and head straight to the train station to catch a train to Rome. It was a fun train ride and we got to see some of the beautiful countryside in Italy. We didn't have much time in Rome so we quickly walked to our hotel (Hotel Ariston) which was very close to the train station, checked in, then headed out to see as many sights as possible.

First we got on a subway and went to the Colosseum. We took a guided tour that provided a lot of information. I knew a little bit about the Colosseum and what went on inside, but now I have more knowledge and a greater appreciation for this amazing place.

We then headed over to the Roman Forum which had beautiful views.

At that point we were hungry and very tired. We decided we would start walking down the streets and look for a place to eat dinner. We came across this building that looked pretty cool at learned that it is the Vittoriano, which  is a monument that was built in honor of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. We saw this monument every time we looked out over the city.

We started out on some pretty busy streets during rush hour and then we made our way to some smaller streets/alleys. We found a cute little restaurant that looked good and we sat outside and enjoyed our first Italian meal. I know we ate bruschetta, some kind of pasta, and a pizza but I can't remember the specifics. I do remember that it was delicious! I really wish that we would have photographed more of our meals but we were always enjoying the meals and atmosphere so much that we forgot.

When we were done eating we started walking to some of the different piazzas in the area and we found the night life. For some reason it seemed so magical and I just wanted that night to keep going.

We found the Piazza della Rotonda which is where the Pantheon is located. At the time we didn't realize that we were by the Pantheon. We just thought it looked like a cool building and Brian took a few pictures.

 We also went to Piazza Navona which was really cool.

We decided to get some gelato and it was amazing!

The last place we visited that night was the Trevi Fountain. It was very beautiful and very crowded.

After all of our traveling and sightseeing we were exhausted so we headed back to out hotel and had a nice, restful night.

Hannah starts preschool and dance

Hannah and I started doing a co-op preschool with some friends in our ward. We started with five kids in our group and rotated houses each week. They met twice a week and had so much fun! They learned a letter of the alphabet each week and had a theme that went along with the letter. We had a structured schedule that included opening time with songs, days of the week and the weather. We also had snack time, craft time, play time, and once a week we did sharing time. Both Hannah and I enjoyed getting to know the kids in our group and it was so fun to teach them and interact with them.

Here is Hannah ready to go on the first day of preschool:

Seth wanted to wear a backpack too:

Hannah also started a dance class with some of her friends from our old ward. She loves going to her class each week and she really likes her teacher, Miss Tausha. Here she is getting ready to go on the first day:

A few fun pics

This is just a random post.

I found a few cute pictures that I thought would be fun to put on here.

Seth wearing Daddy's tie:

Hannah fell sleep reading her book. This happens often:

She saw the picture above one day and wanted me to take another picture of her sleeping. This is what we got:

Cyleste sent Hannah and Seth BYU shirts for their birthdays. We took some pictures of them on the day that BYU played their first football game. Seth didn't start out too happy:

Now Seth's having fun:

Brian's Birthday

Brian's birthday is 5 days after Seth's so we got to do more celebrating. He had to work so we didn't have time to do anything too exciting. We did meet him at his office and took him to lunch but I didn't get pictures of that. Here's a few shots from his day:

Brian is such an amazing husband and daddy! He does so much for our family and we all love him so so much!

Seth's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Seth's first birthday on August 26, 2012. Our little guy is growing up way too fast! He is such a cuddly, sweet little boy and brings so much happiness to our family!

We started the day by going to church and after we got home it was present time:

Everyone enjoyed playing with his new toys:

I'm not much of a cake decorator but I did my best to create a cute little cake that he could destroy:

Getting ready for the cake

A little unsure

Testing with his hands thinking, "Are you really letting me do this?"

Love those cute, chubby hands

Decided to taste it

We had our parents on Skype while Seth ate his cake so they could join in the fun. Here he is watching them:

He was pretty messy by the end

After we got him cleaned up, we had Seth open his presents from Grandma and Grandpa Price while they were on Skype:

Our little birthday boy at the end of the day: