Casa Dolce Casa

I am sitting at my desk in our apartment on Via Arno, with the hum of traffic in the background and my cappuccino beside me.  Hannah is at school for the first day since our return.  Later today we will get cell phones working and get Gavin enrolled in school.  Ben is going back and forth between obsessions with his tools and his trains.  How thankful I am for this moment!

Since I last posted, we were able to enjoy a last visit to San Antonio and Cody's parents, Christmas with my parents and brother, Hannah's birthday and sleepover, the New Year and a pretty uneventful flight back over the ocean.  We are really thankful for the last three weeks we had in the States.  We got to really relax and enjoy friends and family after five months of crazy work and traveling.  We left feeling rested, refreshed and deeply thankful for God's very good gifts to us.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks.  Enjoy!  And check out our updated prayer requests in the tab on the right.

Hannah with her friends Adeline and Jill.  The girls came over for a sleepover on Hannah's birthday (December 31) and had the BEST TIME.  We are really thankful for these two little girls and what good friends they were to Hannah over the past four months.

Sparklers to celebrate the New Year

Hannah's only request for birthday plans was an Eiffel Tower birthday cake.  We keep talking about how fun it would be to go to Paris for her birthday some year. . . but it's probably just going to be talk for a while!

At DFW waiting to get on our International flight.  The kids were just beside themselves with excitement over returning home.  Even Ben kept saying, "Back Italy" for the week before we left.  And really, they did great with all the traveling.  Our best trip yet.

Ben was able to conk out for most of the overseas flight.

Ahhh. . . Donna Margherita.  Our favorite pizza place in Bologna.  The perfect way to cap off our return.  Wow, was it good.