All 9 of us.

Taken in front of the Stake Center's very sad Christmas tree

Christmas Visitors

We were lucky to have 3 of our 4 children & 3 of our 4 Grandchildren come for Christmas. It was almost perfect.  (Phone calls to our English 3 gave a sense of completeness.)   I loved cooking for a large crowd.  And all the silliness that happens when we are together.  I fell madly in love with our new grandchildren.  We think they are very special.  And they have imprinted themselves onto our hearts.  And we think that our New daughter is the best thing that has ever happened to our son.  She is a very incredible woman.

New Daughter in plaid coat hiding her bump of next-to-arrive-Grandchild.

Life is fun with children, especially energetic 5's.

A more serious pose.

Our new Grandchildren

Advent

My december passed by quickly as I prepared for the arrival of our children and grandchildren.  I was determined that everyone would have some drawers to empty their suitcases into.  So I boxed and bagged up some of our belongings.  And was able to Clear away space in my workroom for some mattresses. 

Then I spotted this great advent calendar and decided to do the 12 days of Christmas.  I was able to find 12 little presents for everyone.  Then each day someone would reach into a pocket and handout the treats to each person.  I’m regretting that I didn’t take photos of the loot.

The 9 of us were cozy in our apartment!  

It was one of our Best Christmases Yet!

On the Water

cruise boat dwarfs the cathedral and buildings.

view from our hostel over to the church we performed in.

Venice reminded me how much I love being on boats.  Water calms me and gives me a sense of peace.  On my first boat ride in Venice I pushed to the very back of the boat.  Standing outside in the breeze I could take in the panorama of the Grand Canal.  The view was spectacular!

Trip to Venice

breakfast on the train

3 layers of beds

We boarded the train at 8:30pm Thanksgiving night.

I was assigned to a cabin for 6.  It was a bit tricky to get 6 women into the tight little space with our suitcases and purses.   The ladies that chose the top bunks climbed up the ladder. They received the suitcases that we lifted over our heads and lifted them up to the ceiling luggage rack and stowed them. Later they threw down the sheets and bedding for the rest of us.  Those 2 made up their beds and put earplugs in and rested and read books.  I wondered how long till I could make up my bed. But there was a problem with the cabin assignments.  Some Austrians had boarded the train and grabbed some of our reserved cabins.  So for a while we had “homeless” students coming in and sitting with us.  While our leader tried to get our cabins cleared for our students.  Around 10pm every student had a bunk, and was settled. So we could then make up the other 4 beds.

The back part of the bench was slid up then pulled out and rested on two supports to create the middle bunk.

Then the remaining part of the bench was the lower bunk.

We discovered that when we slid our door closed it blocked out a lot of noise! And the door was lockable. 

After brushing my teeth in the wash room down the hall. 

I climbed up into a middle bunk and was soon asleep with my earplugs in.

Though my board was covered with upholstery it wasn’t very soft. And the warmth of the cabin made sleeping uncomfortable.  It was still better than sitting up all night in a chair, like one does on a night flight.

In the morning the Porter brought us breakfast on a tray.  I was very glad that peppermint tea was provided for none coffee drinkers.

We arrived in Venice 8:30 am to find sunny dry conditions.  The light was terrific.

Venice or Venizia

 I took a photo of the map we each received.  We stayed in the hostel on the little island across from Venice.  So we took the Vaporretto- city water bus, each day to get over and back.

my finger is pointing at Saint Mark's cathedral.
or Basilica of San Marco if you are non-American
Zitelle-is the name of the stop.

Finger on Peggy Guggenheim's museum

looks like a metro map
but is the map to tell you which Vaporetto
takes you where you want to go & the names of the stops

 In case you are like me and have no idea where Venice is in relation to the rest of the world.  I got out the big Atlas and looked it up.  Thankfully the index told me exactly which square to look in as even in my huge atlas it is a tiny spot.  Venezia, as the rest of the world calls it, is a little bit of land off of the east side of the “furry” bit of northern Italy.

Pink post-it note helps you find it:-)

Venice is located to the left of the pink-post-it

This is an attempt to show you where Vienna is in relation to Venezia/Venice.
See the "R" far right upper corner.  Vienna is east of that R.
unfortunately my atlas doesn't have Vienna and Venice on the same page.