Spain Continued...

September 16: My favorite place with my favorite people

We spent the day in Sevilla, the city we lived in my early teenage years. We spent a few hours in the Plaza de Espana (which was featured in one of the Star Wars movies). Grace loved imagining she was a princess walking around and enjoying the beautiful "palace." Being in such a beautiful place that is so dear to my heart with my sweet babies and wonderful husband, my heart could not be more full. The day also included a horse carriage ride, exploring the Parque Maria Luisa, delicious paella, feeding pigeons and a flamenco show. Truly a perfect day.

September 17: Baila, Baila, Baila

After the Flamenco show the night before in Sevilla, Grace was beyond excited when we showed up for breakfast at our daily coffee bar to find that the waitress had bought her flamenco dancing shoes. Grace was so excited! We were so touched by Macarena's generosity! Part of the fun of of traveling in Spain with kids was seeing the difference in attitude towards children! It was so refreshing. Even Grace noticed and made comments about how everyone in Spain liked her and that everyone called her "guapa" (beautiful).

September 18: A blessed day indeed

Sunday morning we made the 2ish hour drive up to Sevilla to go to Iglesia Horeb Sevilla. I had gone to church with the pastor, Miguel Angel, when we lived in Spain years ago. When we got there, to our surprise we found out it was a baptism Sunday. Not only that, but Miguel Angel's daughter, Eunice, was being baptized. The church was PACKED (standing room only and a bunch of people were standing). It was such a blessing on so many levels. As a PK (and mother of two PK's) seeing a Pastor baptize his teenage daughter is always a treat. Also, I babysat Eunice before she turned 2, so seeing her all grown up and wanting to follow God was so encouraging. Being in a room full of Spanish people praising the Lord in a Spanish church that is growing and reaching it's surrounding community (in a country that is SO unreached) my heart was so full of joy!! And lastly, the icing on the cake: there was a church pot luck. I LOVE church pot lucks!! Not only was the food amazing, but it gave me time to get caught up with some friends. God is so good!

September 19: Reckless abandon of a child jumping in the ocean

My Aunt Marcy says that you should pursue life with the "reckless abandon of a child chasing a duck." It has always made me smile becuase of the clear mental picture it conjures up. I think I am going to change it though. I think I want to pursue life like Grace jumping in the waves. Full of pure, joyful excitement, not a care in the world, she was so cute to watch! She jumped in and out of the waves, singing and dancing her VBS songs for about an hour. Finally Gunnar took her out and she "body surfed" (kinda). She was SO happy and having so much fun. I was so full of joy watching her on two levels. 1) Only a few months ago she was TERRIFIED of the water at the beach and wouldn't go near it. I love it when she is able to conquer her fears!! 2)We were on the same beach I grew up on. I had such a happy childhood and loved it when my dad would take us to the beach, which he did often. Watching Grace play in that same ocean, talking incessantly, it was like watching a video clip from my childhood. It brought back a flood of super happy memories.

September 20: Hometown

On our last full day in Spain we spent the morning walking around downtown Rota. It doesn't take that long as it is a pretty small town, but having spent a large part of my childhood living in that town, there are so many wonderful memories! This street is classic old Rota. I am convinced no matter how old I get, these little narrow streets will always hold a piece of my heart.

September 21: Home again, home again, jiggedy jig

The finally travel day arrived. Grace and I were a little sad to be heading home, we had such a fun trip. It went pretty well, Ellie took a nap at the beginning of the trip and then proceeded to make friends with everyone else in our section. She scored snacks and people playing and coloring with her. By the time we got to LAX, three people came up to kiss her good bye. I love Spaniards! Grace managed to stay awake until the very end when she fell asleep right before we had to get off the airplane. Poor kid. She was pretty miserable in LAX as we waited for our stroller to be found (which was an ordeal in and of itself.).

Italy and Spain part 2

As promised here are a few pictures from the next few days of our trip.

September 10: City View

We spent most of the morning relaxing and hanging around the house. In the evening, we went out with Andrea to a point over looking the city of Florence. It was beautiful and a great way to get perspective on all we had seen the day before. After that we went to the grocery store, where I didn't take pictures but we had a ton of fun. Gunnar and I love grocery stores in other countries!

September 11: A God of the nations

We were so blessed to spend Sunday Logos Church in Italy. I think there is something so special about the cross language/cultural worship service. It gives such a appreciation for the greatness of Gods. He hears ALL of our prayers ALL the time in and ALL the forms they make take! I also love how so much of what is awesome about church is communicated without words. The love and spirit of worship can be felt even when the words are not understood

September 12: San something or other

I cannot remember the name of this place, but it was my favorite place we visited while in Italy. Unique, ancient, charming, incredibly beautiful. It was the perfect way to close out our time in that country. The Giorgi girls enjoyed learning to use my camera, so I ended up with a TON of pictures from there. This one is my favorite, especially with Eva in the background. :) I can't wait to share more pictures from here when I have more time. Also, fun fact: as far as I know this is the first picture EVER of Gunnar and I kissing.

September 13: Another day, another airplane

We woke up early and headed out to the Pissa airport. At this point, at our fourth different airport, third different country in a week, the kids are seasoned traveler. We were sad to say goodbye to our friends and Italy, but were happy to head back Spain.

September 14:To market to market

We spent the morning at the open air market. I could do all my shopping like this. The people, fresh air, yelling venders...ahh, so much fun!! Grace and I had fun finding and buying shoes for all us girls. We told Grace she needed to be super sneaky and not let anyone know she was an American (becuase it doubles the prices and makes you a huge pick pocket target). So she had fun being quiet (and using her small Spanish vocabulary). I am not sure we fooled anyone, but it was fun. :

September 15: Royal Andalusian Equestrian School

We spent the morning seeing the horse show featuring the Andalusian horses. The girls both LOVED it. Ellie kept squealing and pointing and saying "horse, horse." Gunnar has a horse ridding background and was super impressed with the high level of skill and horsemanship. I had been when I was a little girl with my grandpa, so it was a great trip down memory lane for me

Spain trip (First 5 days)

I know I am way overdue to blog. But, well, I am so behind on life in general there is no point in apologizing anymore. But here is the first kind of sneak preview to our Spain/Italy trip. The first 5 days anyways. I thought sharing my "Picture of the day" would give you an update that will last until I have time (someday) to post the rest of the pictures. I will post the picture of the day for the rest of our trip in the next few days and then when at some point I have more time I'll finish up the rest.

September 5: We're off!!

Grace was so excited to get on her first airplane ride since she was 9 months. Her bag was packed and she waited with excitement. The plane ride did not disappoint. She loved the excitement, her new airplane treats and did AWESOME! Both her and Ellie slept on the plane which made the 11 hours pass uneventfully.

September 6: Spain at last!

After literally carrying girls and bags while RUNNING through the Madrid airport, we boarded our flight and finally landed in Jerez. The small Jerez airport hadn't changed much in the 15 years since I had last flown there. We were so excited to finally be there! We spent the afternoon getting settled in and acclimated to our beach condo, dinner in my hometown and finally to bed after a long two days!

September 7: What we have been waiting for

In her first morning in Spain, we were able to introduce Grace to the wonder of Cola-Cao. Gunnar was able to reacquaint himself with a Cafe con Leche, so pretty much we were happy campers all around. Although we hadn't really slept the night before (thanks, jetlag!) we were so excited to be in Spain and had a wonderful relaxing day!

September 8: Elizabeth's new best friend

Within hours of getting to Italy, our dear friend Susan found the way to endear herself to Ellie. Yes, that is gellato and yes, Elizabeth was a fan. A HUGE fan. She scarfed it down super quickly, all the while looking around making sure no one was going to take it away from her. Ahh, we could get used to this Italian tradition!

September 9: Birthday Sightseeing

We spent Gunnar's birthday walking around Florence. We all had a great time hanging out with our friends and seeing the sights of this beautiful city. The day ended with delicious pizza and cappuccino. What could be better?