While doing a little more research/planning I started remembering all the neat things about China and Beijing, and it’s getting me pretty excited.  I can’t wait to go exploring with my husband and son this time.

My sister and her husband are stuck there, my friend just got back from there.  I want to go back there.  We had one of the most magical times while visiting Italy.  Mick wasn’t attached to his email, we stayed with some great friends, and of course ate the best food and saw the most amazing things.  Here’s to Italy.  Images from the talented Annie Randall.

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We did a lot of sight-seeing and museums while on our trip to Europe, so we made sure to designate a couple days where we didn’t have anything scheduled and could just enjoy each other.  Surprisingly enough our day trip out to Versailles was just that: taking it easy and enjoying the afternoon together.

We traveled to France with my sister and her husband.  One day we split up: they spent the day out in the countryside, we spent more time in the city,  {when you’re a big-shot orthodontist you can spend nights in French chateaus…} and planned on meeting back up in Versailles.  Unfortunately with the lack of cell phones and traffic delaying our meeting time, we were unable to meet up with them.  I was pretty sad we couldn’t enjoy the palace with them, but my spirits quickly brightened when we reached the gardens.

Yes, those are orange trees in France.  King Louis would store them in a greenhouse and then roll them out for entertainment.  He wanted to show the world he could grow orange trees in a colder climate.  Although King Louis XVI was a pretty pompous fella, I can’t help but chuckle and sigh when I hear about all the crazy things he did.  In all respects, he was a revolutionist for the interior design world.

The last time I was in France I was a little nine year old child, but I still have great memories from that trip.  The fountains were one of those; so I was a little sad to see that they weren’t turned on.

The Sun King would have them scheduled to turn on as he walked by…I can’t believe they didn’t do that for us.  How rude.  We walked down to the canal and had a little picnic along the bank.  Fresh baguettes with ham and cheese and a diet coke.  It hit the spot.  We fed the swans and ducks with our left-over bread…this picture doesn’t show it, but those birds would get really close. I was afraid I’d lose my finger.

Then Mick wanted to take more pictures, so I reverted back to my senior year in high school and posed.

After a very awkward photo session we rented bikes and rode through the acres and acres of beautiful gardens.  Every so often we’d park our bikes, tour a little cottage our house (my favorite being Marie-Antoinett’s Estate), get back on and ride some more.  It was perfect.  Still seeing new things, but still getting to be outside and active.

After an awesome afternoon we rented some segways and zipped off to catch our train back to Paris.  Yes, very dorky; but so much fun.  Best five Euros spent.  I felt like Gob for Arrested Development.

I love to read.  I love the smell of dusty, old books, and the feel of pages flipping through your fingers.  I don’t know if there is anything more charming than an antique, European bookstore.

Can you tell I can’t get enough? I realized I didn’t post anything from our boat tour. Enjoy. The big, hairy, Italian man with a pot-belley was our captain,fisherman, and griller.  His wife was the chef. They’re awesome.

After doing a week of heavy touring, we decided we needed a little r&r.  So we decided to head out to the coastal region of Liguria to spend a day on the Itialian Riviera.  In order to properly see all villages, we decided to take a little day cruise.

• boat ride.
• fresh catch-of-the day lunch (one of the best meals all trip).
• fighting six-foot waves.
• Mick getting stung by a jellyfish. Me quickly getting out of the water.
• Angelo our captain and cook.
• Via Dell’Amore (Lovers Walk) at sunset.
• Mick surprising me with an engraved lock. Throwing the key into the ocean.
• Gelato
• Coming back to our village to end the night with a dance party (I felt like we were in Mamma Mia). Big highlight of our trip as well.

While it may not have the Coliseum or Eiffel Tower; I learned Spain is a very underappreciated country. Spain’s history is intriguing, the weather is ideal, the architecture amazing, and the scenery is perfectly picturesque. And after visiting seven cities, I’ve grown to really love Spain.

• Retiro Park
• Valley of the Fallen
• Prada
• Roman Aqueducts
• Kabobs
• Seville
• Alcazars, Palaces, Cathedrals
• El Greco
• Kabobs
• Authentic flamenco dancing in caves
• Alcazars, Palaces, Cathedrals
• Street Shopping
• Moorish Influence. Everywhere.
• Barcelona
• Gaudi
• Kabobs…they’re really good. And cheap.

I’m quickly losing patience with this travel log, so I’ve decided to highlight by country instead of city.  After a week in Italy we met up with my family in Madrid, Spain.  My little brother had just finished serving a two-year LDS mission in Madrid.  So this year’s reunion was to take place in Spain.

The entire group minus my mother–the photographer.  The group included all my brothers and sisters with their spouses except my brother-in-law Dave.  Who we all missed.  Medical residents don’t get any time off.  This was at the gardens in the Summer Palace at the Alhambra.  We also happened to spend a night here.     It. was. beautiful.

In Seville at the Alcazar.  Again, absolutely beautiful gardens.  A lot of the historical buildings in Spain were originally built by the Moors.  As you can see in the building behind us, there is a lot of Moorish influence.  More Moorish influence:

This is the tomb where Christopher Columbus is buried.  Pretty Cool.

The Sagrada Familia built by Gaudi.  The construction of this Cathedral started in 1882, and isn’t planned to be finished until 2026.  That’s a total of 144 years of construction…with modern day technology and resources.  Pretty unbelievable.

Taking in the city view of Barcelona.  Love the metropolitan city with the Mediterranean in the back.

We saw this painting by Jean-Francois Millet while in Paris.  I thought is was this was a fun modern twist to it.  Painted for the New York art show pre-2001.

Aside from the typical tourist sites, some memorable experiences were:

• Dinner in Trastevere area.
• Gelato.
• Special night-tour given by our good friend.
• Staying at our good friends beautiful Itialian Villa and letting us into their home.
• Vatican. I loved it.
• Eating. Loved it.
• Gelato.
• Dinner with the Rome, Tech Start-up community, and having an authentic five course Italian meal.
• Borghese Museum. Biking through the Borghese gardens.
• Gelato.
• Shopping. I loved that too.

Question of the day: Do I bore ya’ll with the hundreds of pics we took?  Don’t worry. I won’t. Here are my favorites, or favorite places.

Thank you all for your well-wishes and concerns while we were away.  I think all my clients took on their motherly roles and were concerned for our safety.  Everything went smoothly.  The only thing lacking is Mick’s wedding ring…which is somewhere in Toledo, Spain.  If that’s the only thing that went wrong with our trip, we’ll take it.

Right now I’m a little swamped getting clients and contractors back on track.  So the blogging will probably be a little sparse.  Don’t worry, pictures and stories will come soon.

Italy was wonderful.  After a long, delayed plane ride we made it into Rome…then went straight to the Coliseum and Forum.  We were looking little rough and were suffering from jet lag, but quickly got the energy when we walked out of the metro and saw this.  Quite powerful.

My friends comment that I don’t write enough personal things about me, welp here ya go!  A few weeks ago I was able to go to Arizona for a family reunion on my Father’s side.  My dad, his brother, and sister all have cabins within 15 minutes of each other…making it the ideal location for 70 Deckers.  We invaded the Payson area.

There aren’t going to be many pictures of me mainly because I looked like this the entire weekend:

Yes, that’s me trying to manuver a big, fat tire…looking like a grandma.  In my defense the weather and environment was not what I planned.  And my sister just happened to catch this awesome shot of me.  {By the way, I won that leg of the race for my team}

{a gold star goes to the person that can guess where I am}

This is ALMOST all of us, I think someone counted only eight of us missing.  There’s my cute grandma in the pink in the middle; she and my grandpa have left quite the legacy. At night time the families would go home to their cabins accordingly, but during the day we met at my parent’s for fun activites.  Such as:

Horshoe Tournament…  My dad takes it very seriously.

Canoeing with the cousins…

Beebee gun shooting…

Fun, Friendly games of Volleyball…

Talent Shows, and great devotionals.

Thanks to a little twitter friend’s suggestion, I am now obsessed with this charming little boutique hotel.  If only I can get Mick to stop watch shallow Celebrity Reality shows and help me plan…

{okay, I might be guilty of watching a few myself: Bachelorette and Real Housewives of NY & NJ}

Alrighty all, your emails and comments were a TON of help for us on deciding between Cinque Terra and Lake Como.  I’m still set on trying to fit in both; however, Mick isn’t.  We just realized that we will be leaving in three weeks and don’t have any hotel reservations! Yikes!  Since ya’ll were so helpful earilier, we’re counting on your advice again: on places to stay.

While we having been saving our little pennies, pricing is a concern.  We really care a lot about location: a central place in Florence and Rome would be nice (yes, I know that’ll make the price more).  In Cinque Terra, I have no clue.  I’ve researched/read a lot about the five cities, but I still find them kind of all the same.  A recommendation on WHICH city would be nice.  If you haven’t been able to figure out by the pictures, we will be staying in Rome, Florence, and in the Cinque Terra region. Again, thanks for all your emails and comments!

I need help.  Mick and I will be traveling to Europe (Italy, Spain, and France) next month.  I thought I had Italy all (roughly) planned out…then I talked with my cousin who spent two years in northern Italy serving an LDS mission.  My plans have now changed.  A lot.  We have budgeted our time out and are now deciding to visit either Lake Como or Cinque Terra.  Anyone been to both?  Any ideas or suggestions?

It’s an overcast day here.  I thought these deep blues were appropriate.

Photos by Polly Wreford.

Aside from waking up to this view every morning…

and the going to the beautiful beaches every day…

And the awesome waterfalls

We had a lot of fun doing other activities like zip lining through the thick Rain Forest

Getting VERY up close with some wild life: crocodiles, bats, monkeys, sloths, weird rodents, and lots and lots of lizards.

Our favorite place to eat lunch was at this shack on the beach. Delicious food.

Attending church in the lds missionaries’ apartment; and then being invited to a baptism. The sunset baptism in the bay was a major highlight.

We went white water rafting. The first half of the rafting trip was terrifying (you can read about it on Mick’s blog). But once our raft got our groove, it was actually a lot of fun.

We had so much fun in Costa Rica and we so lucky Mick’s parents invited us to go. Thanks so much for the awesome trip!

I’ve lived in two places that claim to have “the best sunsets.”  Yes, Arizona and Hawaii have breathtaking sunsets, but I think Costa Rica has them beat.

After the coffee plantation we put on our jackets and took a short climb up the Poas Volcano.  We were so high we were up in the clouds…

Once the wind blew the fog and steam away, we were able to look into the crater:

This was the most desolate, barren, lonely place I’d ever seen.  You can only see a little part of what we were able to see, but just looking over the crater gave me an uneasy feeling.  Luckily on our walk down the volcano I made friends with Costa Rican wildlife to lift my spirits.  I wanted to pet and love this little fella so badly, I had to put my hands in my pockets to resist the urge to pet him.