Southern Italy and Lovely Sorrento

Dallin and I had been wanting to go to Southern Italy for a while. We finally decided we couldn't delay our plans any longer, because our baby girl was going to arrive soon and we didn't know when we would have another chance to make the trip. So we bought Easyjet tickets for President's Day weekend.

On day 1 we flew from Venice to the Naples airport. From Naples we took the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento, a lovely town on a peninsula on the Bay of Naples. We decided to make Sorrento our home base for exploring this region of Italy. When we arrived in Sorrento we walked to our bed and breakfast, Casa Dominova and settled in. Casa Dominova was great! The room was clean and comfortable; the location was very central; the breakfast was very substantial; the owners were friendly, and the price was right. You can't ask for anything more for just 35 euro a night!

After settling in we got some lunch and then explored the town of Sorrento.

Piazza Tasso, the main square in Sorrento.

Under this pavillion is where the Sorrento Men's Club meets. No women or cell phones allowed, just Italian men chatting and playing cards.

View from Sorrento of the smoldering Mount Vesuvius across the Bay of Naples.

Sorrento's marina.

We unfortunately didn't take many pictures of Sorrento because we just explored it on our first day and then the rest of the days we only saw it in the morning and the night, coming to and from our daily adventures. But Sorrento served as a great home base for us, with many quaint squares, shops and restaurants. It kind of reminded me of an Italian Danville by the sea.

Valentines in Germany

Dal and I in front of the resort.

The weekend before Valentine's day this year, our battalion had a couples retreat at the Edelweiss Resort in Garmisch, Germany. Edelweiss is a resort reserved for members of the military and their families located at the foot of the beautiful Bavarian alps. This was our first time going to Edelweiss and I hope we will be able to come back in the future. The resort is lovely, with all of the amenities of a nice American hotel. This was very refreshing because European hotel standards are not nearly as high as those in America. With American-style restaurants at the resort, as well, the weekend in Edelweiss was a little like coming home to the USA for a short bit.

On the retreat, we attended some classes by the chaplain, ate some good food, explored the little town of Garmisch, I got a lovely prenatal massage at the spa, and we relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful views of the mountains.

Din din.

The Alps.

Walking to downtown Garmisch.

A freezing cold stream.

It was pretty cold. And we were moving pretty slow  because I was so afraid of slipping and falling

We stopped at a little cafe to get some hot chocolate and apple studels! Yum!

Downtown Garmisch.

Catch Up

Here is another post trying to catch up on my life, because as always, I am behind! Yep, this is about Christmas. Yep it's now May 1st. Deal with it.

Christmas Break was obviously awesome. The flight was long. Being pregnant made it harder, but it was worth it to be able to spend two weeks with our families. Here are some highlights:

Dal went hunting with his dad and shot some ducks!

Vince and Diana planned a big Christmas surprise for the Rosdahl family. They took everyone to San Francisco to see the musical, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And what better way to get all 16 of us there than to take a stretch Hummer limo!

Ridin' in style.

The play was awesome! Thanks Vince and Diana!

The Rosdahls and the Neals (even Grandma and Grandpa Neal) visited the Oakland Temple to perform Baptisms for the dead.

With, of course, a trip to Fenton's to follow.

See Jane Snap took some family photos. 

Me and Dal.

The Neals on Christmas morning.

We constructed a beautiful gingerbread house!

Jude and I played the leads in the Rosdahl Nativity play.

We opened lots of awesome presents at the Rosdahl's...

and the Neal's.

We had an epic "Just Dance" competition.

Dal and I went to the city with Dillon and Skye for dinner and a play. We saw Bring it On, the musical! It was a fun show to watch!

And of course, we had plenty of time to just relax. It was a wonderful Christmas break in Danville!