During the month of May we were happy to welcome Lance and Catie then Crystal and Justin to Italy for a visit.  We had so much fun visiting and sight seeing together.  Since we had been to Florence many times but never to sight see in Centro we thought that would be a good place to start.

We were able to stay with the Evertsen's near enough to Centro that we were able to park there and ride the bus to see the sights. This is the view from the apartment above their home where we stayed with Lance and Catie.  When Crystal came we actually stayed with the family in their home below.

The main attraction was the Duomo and bell tower.  The architecture is so amazing.  How they were able to build such spectacular edifices so many years ago is unbelievable.

While waiting to get into the Accademia we were entertained by the street musicians.

Yes.  We did see the David. Outstanding!

The Arno River is beautiful.

Ponte Vecchio is famous for the many shops along the bridge.

Since Pisa isn't that far from Florence we thought that they each should see the leaning tower in person.  It is amazing!

We took Lance and Catie to San Marino, an independent republic within the country of Italy.

The view makes the hike to the top well worth the effort.

We did stop for lunch in a little restaurant at the top.

I'm not sure what this guy was all about but Catie seemed to like him.

We did see parts of Ancona while the visitors were here.  It's a good view from the top of the hill where the Ancona Duomo is located.  We love the sea and the port.

While in Florence with Crystal and Justin we were able to go to Fiesole in the evening to see the sun set over Florence.

These great sights always involve some kind of travel by foot that is uphill.  Worth it!

We went to San Gimignano with Crystal and Justin but the only picture I have is of the Tuscany countryside taken from our restaurant. It is beautiful.  The only other time that we were there was in December.  The weather was much nicer in May.

The next stop was Venice.  Here is the bridge of sighs.  That's where the prisoners sigh as they leave the prison headed to execution.  Not a happy sight.

Crystal in St. Marks Square showing off her canoli.  We had to search to find it for her, but it was good.

I love this picture.  True Venice. The gondolas are lined up waiting for passengers.

Inside St. Mark's Cathedral.  They say that his bones are actually housed here.

More of the canals.

The first part of June we found ourselves going back to Florence for Stake Conference. We left in plenty of time to get there in a timely manner but being unable to find the parking we ended up just getting a spot on the street.  With a little walking, we were able to get there with our 2 passengers only 30 minutes late.  The conference was held in the Auditorium Pala Congressi di Firenze.  It is a wonderful facility.

We packed a lunch and enjoyed it in this little park.  I thought the light posts were very unique.

I loved the tripod base of those lamps.

We had seminary graduation in Rimini.  The main meeting was held in Florence and they tried to video stream it to us but were unable to make the connection so we had an impromptu graduation.  Pres. Caramia gave a wonderful talk and the certificates were handed out for seminary and institute. Our student, Kimberly Aranas, is in the front row with the 4 year certificate in the folder.  We were able to bring her and her parents to the meeting.

We had heard about a restaurant that was on one of the hills overlooking Ancona so we set out one evening to find it.  We only knew the general area of where it was supposed to be.  We parked in this piazza with a great view and thought it must be near by.  We looked around with no luck so we took a turn and just started walking up this secluded roadway.  Unsure if we were going in the right direction, we finally came to this spray painted marker in the road.  FORTE!!

After more upward walking we finally came to this sign.

At last here we are. There was a dog show going on but we found our way to a covered canopy and were the first guests for the evening.  Italians don't start heading to restaurants until after 8:00 pm.

We chose the calzoni.  It was pretty good but the ambiance was superior to the food.

And, Yes!!  That is a dog in the restaurant.  It's not uncommon to see dogs in eating establishments and shops here in Italy.

We were able to watch the sunset over the sea from our table.

In preparation for a baptism, Kim and I made cinnamon rolls as she wanted to learn how and we wanted to do a service for the branch.

Since we are in a rented building we have no baptismal font so we have this little portable one that we use.  It reminds me of our swimming pool from home only smaller.

This is Elder Pesci, Unity, and Elder Perkins.  Unity has a great conversion story.  He was looking for another church one Sunday and ran into the elders on their way to church.  They didn't know where the church was that he was looking for so they invited him to attend with them.  He hasn't missed a day since.

To end this post I needed to put up a picture of our mimosa tree.  In May it didn't have a single leaf.  We thought that it had died during the winter.  By the end of May it had leaves and now it has it's beautiful blooms.  I love the many things that bloom year round in Italy.