Even Though....

I hate Donald Trump.  President Donald Trump.  Even though I am Republican, I did NOT vote for him, nor will I ever.  Even though he is the president, I do NOT support him.
He has already been impeached in the House.  Now it's on trial in the Senate.  This has been going on since the end of last year.
I believe he is completely immoral - a liar, - completely uneducated as to political matters and foreign policy.  I believe him to be a bully and a mean person when he is confronted with conflict and an ENTITLED billionaire who truly thinks he can do anything he wants just because of who he is and how much money he has.  I just can't stand all the bad about him.  I can't look past it for the one or two things he has done right while president.  And do I want him to win a second term??  **** no!!!!!
The saddest thing about my narrative???
Even though I feel this way about the disgusting person that he is?  He's more desirable than any Democrat out there to accomplish for our country what our country truly needs.  And since there is no-one to run against him in the Republican party, he is what we are left with as our only candidate against the Democrats.
It's almost more than I can stomach to think of him being President for another 4 years. 
Is there not a morally clean, honest and 'devoted to their country Democrat' out there???
From the list of who's running against Trump, it doesn't appear so.
So the impeachment trial goes on -

Such a Loss to So Many

This is Kobe Bryant and his daughter GiGi.
Last Sunday, after attending church together, they left in Kobe's helicopter, with 7 other people to go to a basketball game of his daughter and some other teammates and their parents.
The helicopter crashed, killing all 9 people on board.
Kobe Bryant is probably the 2nd, maybe 3rd best basketball player in the history of the NBA - behind only Michael Jordan and MAYBE Lebron James.  But they all knew each other and they all admired each other as players of the game and as fathers, husbands and good men.
Kobe retired just three years ago.  He was good.  No, he was more than good.  He was an icon.  No Lie.  It's indisputable.  He WAS, the best.
He leaves behind 3 other daughters and a wife.  The others in the crash were also family people - thy too are important people, but because of who Kobe was, most of the attention has been on his and his daughters passing.
But no matter what, it's sad. He was only 41.  Gigi was 13.  Gone way too soon.  This whole week of news has been about his passing.  The world truly is mourning.

While We Were Away...

...the hens began to lay!!  But as you can see, they are holding out on me.  They seem a little on the teeny tiny side of the spectrum!!!
I may need to have a heart to heart with them...
But it is fun to finally have them producing!!

I Can't Take Another Surprise

I came home from Italy so content and happy for the whole experience of the Christmas surprise, then the birthday surprise.  I was looking forward to life getting back to normal and especially my emotions with no more surprises.
But nope - there was one more.  The morning after we got home, I went out onto my back patio to find this.
This is my new heaven, made and delivered by Dan Newman.  He and his family are members of our ward.  He is the ward Priesthood Quorum President and Del is his counselor.  We moved into the ward just before they did and I met them one day when they were at Subway just after moving in.  I was the first person they met.  We have become friends.
Del and Dan are especially close.  They, along with Brandon Burton, are peas in a pod.  Kind of quiet, socially awkward with wives who ARE NOT.  But all three men are the kindest hardest working men you'll meet.
Dan made this for my birthday.  I was stunned.  He does this as a side business and sells them for over $600!!  But he gifted this for me and painted it in my BYU blue.
A friend suggested I throw a bunch of BYU pillows on it and my BYU blanket and call it good. So I've ordered the pillows and when they arrive, I will take another picture.
Basically - if you need me?  You'll know where to find me.

ROME, Italy

This car was at the Florence Train station and was the epitome of what the cars were in Italy. Teeny, tiny little things.

Just waiting for our train.

I don't ever pass up an ice cream cone!!

Catching the train from Florence to ROME!!

Our guy at the Rome Station.  He looked like straight up Mafia!!

Our hotel room in Rome.

Ok.  So Del and I were Obsessed at how these cars could get in and out of their parking spaces.

Look at that!  And some were even worse - actual bumpers touching front and back.

The US Embassy

It was hardly bigger than a shoe.

Del's idea of an Uber.  I refused.

Streets LINED with scooters.

They even had a McDonalds.  We did see a Burger King once too.

The first night in Rome, we accidentally ran into the Rodeo Drive of Rome - They had Prada, Valentino, Jimmy Choo's, Dior, Dolce and Cabana - Louis Vitton - any name brand you could think of.

And Del didn't know any of them.

This organ was beautiful in this church.

Famous Statue of Neptune.

We went to this, and another museum of Leonardo da Vinci.  I came away from my trip to Italy realizing just how brilliant he an Michelangelo really were - outside of being artists, they were brilliant inventors and men.

Our first dinner in Rome.  This was a quaint place just around the corner from our hotel. And it was yummy.

We leaned though, that they charge for everything, including the ice they brought me in a separate bowl.  When we received the bill, and Del saw the charge he immediately grabbed the bowl and drank the melted ice.

I had lasagna again and Del had two different dishes; veal and gnocchi?

This is in the entry way of the Rome Temple Visitors Center.

This depiction of an Italian cottage is inside the Visitors Center, a place where they like to take visitors to talk, making them feel more comfortable.

The Christus.

Statues of the original apostles.

Del standing by the statue of Peter.  It is said, that last March, at the dedication of the temple, President Nelson stood in this exact spot, put his hand on the keys, and said, 'These are the exact keys that I hold today'.

In front of the Rome temple

The Rome Italy Temple

On the temple grounds before the entrance of he temple, there is a beautiful plaza entry way that has beautiful landscaping and a transplanted olive tree on each corner of the square.  

While waiting for the bus outside the temple o take us back to town, I noticed this young lady waiting for the same bus.  The BYU shirt gave me free reign to start up a conversation.  After about 30 minutes, it finally came around that I was a Packard.  She said her best friend was going to Peru in March, and her mission president will be my cousin Meredith.  She then said she had an aunt who used to be a Packard - my cousin Melody, in Utah.  Apparently, this is Melody's niece by marriage.

The famous Colosseum

Del's next idea of an Uber.

Holding little love birds.

The Marmerdi Prison where Peter and Paul were held.

Ancient Roman ruins.  These were all over the city and beyond fascinating to me.

In front of the Vatican.  Yes, the Pope was three and had just talked to the mass multitude that morning.

An explanation of Michelangelo's  painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside the chapel of the actual painting, so I took a picture of this, showing what it looks like.

SOOO many statues.

The Vatican was unbelievably ornate - room after room - hallway after hallway, from floor to ceiling and every crevice in between.

This painting was done by Rafael in a certain part of the Vatican at the same tie Michelangelo was doing his painting in the Sistine Chapel.  They both thought very highly of each other.

Our last night in Italy - dinner.  I had pizza, but it wasn't nearly as good as the time before. 

But dessert was GREAT! Creme Brulee' and raspberry cheesecake.

FLORENCE, Italy

Showered and got ready to catch a boat to the train station, where we would take the train to Florence.

A great way to travel in Italy.  The train is very nice - roomy, great seats, comfortable and fast.

Our hotel room in Florence. We always had two twin beds put together, which I preferred and loved.  Del and I both noticed the beds are harder in Italy and we liked them.

Ours was a 5 star hotel.

Outdoor butcher market.

We noticed immediately the differences of Venice and Florence - transportation.  There are streets, motorcycles, or scooters, as they call them, and cars.

one f the MANY beautiful churches we entered.  This one happened to have an organist playing that attracted me to it specifically.

One of the MANY many shops along the streets.  This is a wine store - they have bread stores, meat stores etc.  But this one was especially pretty.

The famous 'David' by Michaelangelo.

We found this Lindor chocolate store.  They have a factory there in Florence.  I was happy.

Early evening on one of the main streets in Florence.  Much like a Rodeo Drive in Hollywood.

Our salad and bread before the main meal.

Our dinner.  Probably the best meal we had in Italy. Mine was the spinach stuffed Cannolli on the left, and Del's was a stuffed pasta with a creamy mushroom sauce.

And the restaurant was adorable.

Heading out of our hotel for a day of sightseeing in Florence.

Up on a gorgeous hill overlooking the city of Florence.

They were everywhere.  Every city we went to, the police were the first things I would see!

Our 'Hop On, Hop Off' tour bus for the day.

We had great seats and it was easy to see the sights and get off anytime we wanted, and then back on when were done seeing a certain thing.

These Italian nuns had just came from a beautiful church in the city.

Olive tree grove at this Italian mansion.

Local street signs.

Typical apartment living

Book and introduction to BoBeli Gardens.  I thought it would be flowers etc.  Nope - it was manicured trees, bushes and a LOT of famous statues throughout the ACRES and ACRES of gardens.

Just trying to add some humor to the walk.

Rows and rows of these massive trees.

I see four statues.

This statue was having a hard time staying in place.

This was a huge open amphitheater with statues from thousands of years ago.

These trees made the most lovely arch for about a 1/4 of a mile.

Can you SEE the Smart car parked in between the scooter???

Streets and streets of shops and parked bikes.

A local cobbler.  I thought his shop was adorable, so I asked him if I could take a picture.

Our restaurant for dinner.

SHOES, SHOES, SHOES.  Every other store was shoes.

Florence is known for it's leather.  This could be my only regret of Being in Florence - not buying a leather purse.

This was a typical gelato store.  We fell in love with it, just as do most tourists!!