A Tuesday

I had a presidency meeting this morning. Our last one was exactly a month ago today, so it was good to be together again. Then Delaney and I went to a cheap Tuesday movie. She’s a fun kid to hang out with and she is thoroughly enjoying flying as a solo lady this week. 

Ranier cherries are about the prettiest fruit in the world. They’re one of my favorites for sure. 

And you can tell what kind of day it is when I have one kid pic and 2 food ones. I made taylor’s mom’s bran muffins and they taste a lot like Royal Caribbeans. Not perfect, but I wonder if after I freeze them they’ll taste more similar. I hope they do the same wonderful things for my bowels that the others did, ifyouknowwhatimean. 

It’s been just a quiet and lovely day at the White House on Pensive Street. Matt got his annual raise which is wonderful because for many years he didn’t and he’s enjoying his new role in the company. 

It’s weird weird weird having just one child at home. I’ve been momming for 28 years (whaaaaat) and to be down to one if only for a week is so quiet and so different. 

Anyways, I got more cruise pictures! Game time in the library! I’m the only skull king score keeper, still. 

Dinners were most people’s favorite time of day. I want to go back to this table right here, even though the food was just so so. The company was top notch and I miss them. 

AND THAT VIEW I DIE. 

Trivia? Karaoke? 🤷‍♀️



I got a plateS like this every meal, ostensibly to share with Matt, but sometimes he didn’t get any. #ilovedessert

And amazing random picture takers. And Split! Croatia brought it! Who knew?!

Feels like this was one of my pictures that Frey shared accidentally. I wish iPhones would remember pictures you took originally vs we’re shared with you from others so when you go to share your own pictures you don’t share other peoples, you know?



I can feel the heat emanating off this picture. Athens, hot like the surface of the sun. 

And some from the love -

Delaney and Matt did a romantic sunset cruise out to a volcano in Santorini. 

They had a good time and I think Max would have enjoyed this excursion more than our 6 hour tour. 

❤️

So many cats and everyone of our crew went Gaga over them. 



They said the water in the hot springs was not hot and Delaney was a teeny bit scared swimming right off the boat. Thankfully she overcame that fear for cliff diving. 

Take me back. 

Ok, but these kittens are pretty cute. 

Gyros in Greece, complete with a few French fries for authenticity. 

The sunset part of their sunset cruise. 

We’ve been unpacking and grocery shopping and opening mail and catching back up with life. Unpacking means finding all our fun souvenirs. Like Delaneys ship collection. 

After church there was a salad themed linger longer. Matt and I had to return the rental, but there were still lots of yummy salads there when we got back. Then Alecia invited us for dinner which was so nice to not have to worry about cooking. Delaney made brownies to bring and Matt and I did some indexing for the ward index challenge. It was nice to catch up with friends, and we ended the evening comparing teen driving war wounds. 🤣 The girls are doing great, but learning to drive is not for the weak. 

Matt woke up at 3:00 today, Frankie and I at 5:00, Adi at 7:00, and D at 8:00, so we’re on our way back to normal. I went for a run this morning and there was a sunrise rainbow. 

Also, check out our amazing popcorn plant! She’s come back so beautifully, makes me so happy. 

I dropped the girls at Darrow’s and Alecia drove them up to FSY. I’m so excited for them! Praying all the youth have the best time and this helps them grow their testimonies and friendships and to feel less alone with their standards. 

I ran some errands after I dropped them off and then organized my new magnets. I ❤️ them. And I didn’t buy as many magnets as I could have, so I think I’m doing pretty amazing. 

We don’t have a lot of art in our home. I love pictures of people, but I have an idea to have a travel wall with trinkets and art. The Paris bridge picture on the bottom right is an actual painted original we bought from the artist in Paris. I want a variety, not just pictures, and I was thiiiis close to buying a beautiful hand painted plate in Civita but her cc machine wasn’t working and we had no cash. And i was thiiis close to buying something lace in Murano, but I already have a framed lace from one of my grandmas and I don’t want to be too grandma (even though I actually am). Anyways, idk where this art wall should be, but I’m excited for it. 

Alecia told me I should just let Delaney have a day to read and do nothing else, so that’s what we did. I’ve been encouraging people to share their trip pics, so we’ll finish with these:

Delaney dancing the night we walked through the rain when we got to Venice. 

We loved the cruise pool and jacuzzis! So many fun hours spent!

Sisters. ❤️

Tommy takes the best pictures. He understands angles and lighting and I love seeing what he comes up with. During our special flowridee session he took the best pictures, and this is how:

Ok, flowrider is really fun and the operator had us do silly things like spread eagle our arms wide. This pic is so goofy but so fun. 

Frankie loves her wrench. You know who else does? Sandy. Sandy ordered two appetizer shrimp cocktails every night. 😋 

Adventure papa on the move!

Our big kids have the sweetest relationship with my parents - they really helped raise them and I’m so grateful the girls got a little bit of that when my dad lived here. 

Art on art on art. 

Hopefully everyone else will share their pics soon!

Travel day

Our alarm went off at 2am and we hit the ground running. Delaney was so sleepy, she got dressed and laid on the couch with her to-go chocolate croissant. Ps - the US needs more croissants in our lives. 

Also, I never took pictures at the Soul of Rome apartment but it was very cute. 

Anyway, Matt and I took out the trash, which was no small feat because of all the recycling and organics, and then we walked around the building to get our car from the garage and park it in front for easy loading. We had to get gas on the way to the airport and then there was one guy manning the car rental return place at 3:30am. But we made it nice and early and walked through their mile long duty free sections and the wait began. 

We were all in a row and the little girls had a window seat mate for both flights.

First we had a 3 hour flight to Lisbon that we all slept through. 

Thankfully the flight was very full, so they offered to check bags for us for free, so we checked our small suitcase and Matt and I checked our backpacks too. They said the girls could put theirs under their seats, but with those 3 larger bags gone we only had 3 backpacks and 4 smaller bags. That was lucky because we adventured into Lisbon for brekkie. 

Matt found this Cafe De Lu and for less than €10 we got a bunch of pastries and juices to taste test. 

Then we went around the corner and grabbed a few things from another cafe for later. It was delicious and fun to walk around Lisbon a little. But we only had a 4 hour layover so it was a little stressful and we didn’t stay long. Just our 2 quick cafes and then 15 minute walk back to the airport. 

And success! One weird thing, they had the area for our flight to Dulles all roped off and wouldn’t let us in the little pen till an hour before our flight. And then they rechecked everyone’s passports and we were basically corralled in there. I asked why and they said there were extra security measures, which I guess I am glad about? We tried their traditional Pasteis de Nata again and they were much better than the ones we bought at the airport last year. 

And then we were on our last flight, 8 hours to home! We were in the very last row, which was fine but a little loud by the bathrooms and flight attendant work station. And then all 5 of us wanted pasta, but since we were the last row there was only one pasta left and the rest of us got beef and rice. 

I blogged till this point in the flight, almost halfway. 8 hours is a long time, but we all managed to sleep so it went by faster than I thought it would. 

“There’s always time for a an eye treatment” - Adi Ray

We made it! We landed in Dulles, got through customs and shuttled to pick up our rental, then Matt drove us home via target, chicfila, and Aldi. It was weird landing in the afternoon, we usually come in at night, but I like it this way because we were able to pick up FSY snacks and milk, and then come home and lightly unpack before bed. 

All in all it took 23 hours and 15 minutes. Matt and I joked that we should drive around for another 45 minutes to make it a full 24 hours of traveling. We got to bed by 9, and by 4am 4/5 of us were awake. That’s a good 7 hours though, so I’m not complaining. Hopefully we can push those times back a few hours tonight and be back to normal by tomorrow! 🤞🏼 

What a trip! What a life! Still soaking in all the beauty and joy and family time.