Italy- Tuesday

On Tuesday we visited the Vatican. The Vatican really requires at least an entire day! There is so much to see!

We entered into this cool courtyard …

and then into the Vatican museums. They are made up of long halls containing a plethora of sculptures, tapestries and frescos.

Laocoon and his sons- A famous sculpture depicting a scene from Greek and Roman mythology.

One of the Frescos in the Vatican. Possibly by Raphael, but I don’t really remember. There were so many!

After the frescos, we were led into the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing, but unfortunately, no pictures were allowed (although Nate has one that he snuck 15 years ago).

After we were finished in the Sistine Chapel, we decided to take the trek up to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica(That's me carrying Luke on our walk up). There are approximately 550 steps up to the top, but you can pay extra to take the elevator part of the way, and then you only walk about 320. So we paid the few extra dollars but we were still winded when we got to the top!

It was a beautiful view though! And worth every step! You can walk all around the dome and get a 360 degree view of Rome. Beautiful!

On our way back down, we stopped here and went to a gift shop where we bought a postcard to send to the kids because the Vatican mail is famously faster than Rome’s post!

Lastly we went inside St. Peter’s Basilica. WOW! Everything was so ornate! It was crazy!

Michelangelo’s Pieta- beautiful!

The altar by Bernini

Unfortunately, we were unable to make to the catacombs, because the Vatican closes at 6 pm. But the time we had there was great!

After leaving the Vatican, we headed out to find a place to eat for dinner.

On our walk to Piazza Navona, we passed Castel St. Angelo and crossed over the river.

Piazza Navona- we found a great little restaurant here and a great end to our 2nd day in Rome!

Italy-Monday

In late May, we had the awesome opportunity to take a trip to Europe. Nate had a "global residency" for his MBA program in Prague and Munich for a week. My Mother was gracious enough to come and stay with Sadie, Isaac and Justin for the next week while I took Luke and joined Nate in Italy after his school work was done.

For those of you who don't know, Nate served a 2-year mission for our church in Rome from 1994-1996. He has always wanted to go back and finally we had the perfect opportunity! Amazingly, he was able to get me on a plane (I hate flying, especially over water!) and away from the kids for a few days.

I arrived on Monday, May 31 in the morning. We made our way back to the hotel where Luke and I got a little rest before we began our tour of Rome. That first day Nate took us on a walk through Villa Borghese (a big park near our hotel) to Piazza del Popolo, then down Via del Corso (a main road with a lot of shopping) to the Spanish Steps and then to Trevi Fountain.

I ate my first piece of authentic Italian pizza (YUM!) and some yummy gelato. It was a spectacular start to our Roman Holiday!

After an 8 1/2 hour plane ride (plus a 1 hour delay!) we are finally here!

Villa Borghese

Overlooking Piazza del Popolo

Piazza del Popolo

Pizza!

The Spanish steps

There are fountains all over Rome where you can get really good drinking water!

Trevi Fountain

August Recital

As you can see, I'm catching up on a lot of blog posts that didn't get done before Luke was born! In August Sadie had her second piano recital. Her teacher volunteers at a nursing home. She only has a few students, so they have begun doing their recitals at the nursing home. It's a great opportunity for the kids to do a little service and the residents love them! There are some more "professional" numbers by people from church in addition to the recital pieces. It was a lot of fun!

Baby Luke has arrived!

Luke David Jensen was born January 10 at 1:40 pm. He was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 20.5 inches long!

He turned his head as soon as he heard his Dad talking to him.! It was so sweet!

The older kids were at church with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen when Luke was born. Luckily, the church is about 5 minutes from the hospital and they were able to visit right after Sacrament Meeting ended at 2:10.

Luke's first (or maybe second) bath at home.

Summer Fun: Swimming Lessons and Cheer Camp

In late July last year, the kids had the chance to take swimming lessons. Justin took a Mommy and Me class, and the other kids took regular classes. They loved it as usual, especially jumping off the diving board.

Strangely, the week we took lessons was very cold. Justin didn't really enjoy his lessons for this reason, and because someone was telling him what to do. He just wanted to play in the warmer, shallow water!

Sadie also participated in Cheer Camp for the second year in a row. She loves it and does a great job! She even came in 2nd place in the Hula Hoop competition!

Summer Fun: Wilson's Wild Animal Park

This July we went to a local wild animal park. It is literally 10 minutes from my house, but I just found out about it a year ago. We met some friends there and spent a few hours. It was a lot of fun for the kids.

Did y'll know we have a lion in Winchester??? I'm not too fond of the idea!

This camel LOVED Isaac and kept trying to lick him. He thought it was pretty funny!

Justin kept calling this a "green sea turtle", so we'll just let him believe that's what it is!

There were a few tractors for the kids to play on, one of Justin's favorite things!

There are also bears, but because they live in the wild here, I'd much rather see them behind a fence!

Fallow deer

The kids also got to feed the very friendly goats.