Cinque Terre, Italy

We spent spring break in Italy! It was our last big trip as a family here, and it was probably our favorite one! The weather was gorgeous, the scenery was beautiful, and it was so relaxing.

We rented an apartment that had the most incredible view of the beach. It was so wonderful waking up to this every morning!

We stayed in Monterosso, but also visited the other small towns in Cinque Terre. They were so colorful and vibrant, and we loved walking around and exploring all the cute little streets. We hiked from Riomaggiore to Manarola and had so much fun!

We spent the afternoons at the beach, soaking up the warm sun. The water was freezing, but the kids still had fun splashing around a bit.

We went shopping at the farmers market and ate delicious food and gelato every chance we got.


We had such a fun time in Cinque Terre! We were sad to leave our amazing view, but we headed to Pisa to spend our last day in Italy. We loved walking around Pisa with all the cool buildings and fun markets. We made our way to the leaning tower and enjoyed the beautiful view!
 
We are so grateful to have had such a wonderful trip together! We love Italy!

Changes

We really tried to appreciate our "home sweet home" this month, since we knew changes were coming up quickly! Last week all of our furniture and household goods got packed up and shipped off to the states. Since it takes so long for the shipment, we'll be without these comforts for two months!

We have temporary furnishings to get us through, and there are some really nice things about living without much stuff. And it will feel like Christmas when we open everything up again in our new house! :)

We've really been trying to get out and enjoy all our favorite things about living here while we still can. We've gone on lovely walks and visited Jane Austen's house and spent time with our wonderful friends.


Now that things are in motion for our move, it finally feels real. We are excited about the changes, but that doesn't lessen the sadness about leaving a place we love. We are going to make the next two months the best ever! :)

Norway

We spent a few days in Bergen, Norway last week. I've wanted to go to Norway for a while now, and I'm so glad we made it happen! It has such a unique look to it - different than anywhere else we have traveled. It was pretty cold there, but we still enjoyed walking around and exploring the city!


We rode a little funicular train up the side of the mountain to this gorgeous lookout point above the city. The buildings are so colorful and it was such an amazing view from up above! The kids loved playing in all the snow up on the mountain.

We explored the city one afternoon while the sun was shining. There were lots of cute shops and colorful buildings and interesting things to see. We ate fish and chips and walked along the famous Bryggen street.

We took a fjord boat cruise and saw the most gorgeous snow covered mountains and lovely homes tucked in among the hills. It was so peaceful and majestic and we loved it so much!


We all fell in love with the houses and water and lovely views everywhere you looked. It was such a great trip, and I'm so glad we were able to enjoy it together!

February

February is more than halfway over, and we only have 90 days left in England before we move! Time is going by too fast. We had a tiny bit of snow in January, but the rest of the winter has been really mild and wet. Blossoms are starting to come out on trees and daffodils are sprouting up all over!


We've been busy with all the usual school, work, and church responsibilities, but we've also had some time to relax and regroup after the holidays. I am grateful that it is finally getting lighter earlier, so we don't have to walk to the bus stop in the dark anymore!

We had a fun night out to the Air Force annual awards dinner and we got to get all dressed up medieval style. I've been doing a bit of sewing - trying to finish up some left over projects, making new dresses for Anna, and piecing an England quilt as a special souvenir for when we leave!

The rest of our time is spent playing with Legos and reading, as usual. :) Now if only time would slow down just a little bit so we can fit everything in that we need/want to do!