So You're Sayin' We Got a Chance!

We are back from our dreaded trip to the Immigration Office. While the office does not actually open until 9am, people are usually outside waiting at the door as early as 4am. We decided to take our chances of not receiving a number at all and coming later in the morning than to take our chances in the nasty crowd this morning. We arrived at the office around 10am. We received our numbers and then waited at the coffee shop down the street. This was a much more pleasant experience. We waited until around 1pm before our numbers were called, but most of the waiting was at a nice table with warm coffee, as opposed to out in the cold, dark street with animals posing as people. We only waited for 3 hours of daytime, as opposed to more than 5 dark hours, of which most should have been spent sleeping. Nonetheless, our paperwork was approved and we now are waiting, once again, for another appointment to go back to this office to pick up our new cards. This should be in a little over 30 days. Thank you all for your prayers!

Again???

Well, it's that time again. We will be making a trip to the immigration offices tomorrow morning to apply for renewal of our permission to stay here. Our last trip to this office was quite a horrible experience for me. Something about standing outside a closed door for 5 hours just isn't appealing to me. And then add to that the animal like behavior of the crowd around you and it makes me want to run away. But, that is where we will be tomorrow from 4am until however long it takes for them to call our number and we can turn in our paperwork. Please be praying for our sanity tomorrow and for the others standing in the line with us that we will all behave as adults. And last, please pray for the people behind the counter and that our paperwork is complete and that we have everything they ask for. Thanks for the prayers!!!

Mexican Dinner Party

Last week, we had some friends over for a Mexican Dinner night. Three Italian friends and one English friend. Things went very well. We made salsa, ranch dip, guacamole, refried beans, enchiladas with red sauce, enchiladas with white sauce. I knew my English friend would like the food, because she's been to our house for enchiladas before. But, I was a little nervous about whether or not the Italians would like the food since most of my Italian friends are pretty set on Italian food being the only good food. Thankfully, everyone liked the enchiladas and there were not as much leftover as I had anticipated. Jason and I were able to have conversation easily with only a few times of translation needed. Thank You, Jesus, for a smooth evening with great friends.

Quadrelle

On Monday, Chelsea, Brittany, and I went on an adventure to find some of Chelsea's long lost relatives. Chelsea is actually half Italian. And her family tree shows that her Italian relatives are from the town of Quadrelle. Having found this town on a map, we knew it was going to be small. But, we hopped on a train that took us just a mile or two outside of Quadrelle in a mere hour and twenty minutes. And this was no ordinary train ride. There was a man on the train who was infatuated with Chelsea. While slightly unnerving during the train ride, it was hilarious once he finally exited the train.

Once we had reached our stop, we exited the train station and started asking people if they knew where Quadrelle was. Most people gave us quite a strange look after the question, but proceeded to tell us how to get there. Here's a few pictures of the walk UP to Quadrelle.



Beautiful mountains in the background.


Colorful, well kept, buildings.


Nice and clean.


We stopped here for lunch. The American Bar.


Quick pose after lunch...before continuing our trek up the hill to Quadrelle.


Look at those mountains!



And after walking (uphill the entire way) about a mile or so, we finally saw this sign.


What a cute little city.


Still walking uphill.


Cute colorful building.


Gorgeous greenery!


We joked on the train ride about there being a sign that said, "Welcome to Quadrelle" and laughed pretty hard when we saw that there actually was such a sign. :D


Unfortunately, no one had heard of the family name we asked about and the cemetery was closed for the day. So, we did not find any of Chelsea's relatives, but we did find their home town.

Arrivederci - Paul, MacKenzie, and Baby Lily

Well, by now, the Davidsons are about an hour away from landing back in the states. Even though they just left this morning, we already miss them. Here's a few pictures from their going away party. **sniff, sniff**

THE PREPARATIONS:

Lessie, Chelsea, Grace, and Charlie


Shannon and Cortney


Me



THE DECORATIONS:

Balloons!!!


Beautiful flowers


The table...and Cortney


I should probably stick to straight up and down photos.


Flowers and candles



THE FOOD:

Best bread in the world.


Salami and turkey


Mozzarella di bufala....Oh how I love thee.


Pepperoni (Bell Peppers)


Zucchini


Pepperoncini (Peppers and tomatoes)


Melanzane (Eggplant)


Shannon's "special" olives



THE DESSERTS:

Italian Cream Cake...of course!


Chocolate Salami


Apple Pie


3 kilos of Gelato


Chocolates from Gay Odin



FRIENDS:

The guests of honor


Chatting before dessert time.


Jason and Lily....he's a natural.


Me and Chelsea


Brittany and Chelsea


Everyone eating dessert


Still eating


Grace and Lessie


Cortney


Paul and MacKenzie....We love you guys!

Micah Turns 9 Tomorrow!!!

Micah is turning 9 tomorrow. However, her birthday party was yesterday. And what a fun party it was! Lots of girls and lots of girly things to do.

The cake:


Ceiling Decorations:


Purses for each girl to bedazzle and decorate:


The hair accessories:


The nail polish and lip gloss table:


Rings and necklaces:


Bracelets:


The Living Room (set up for dancing):


Other side of the Living Room:


Brittany (in the back) giving the girls temporary tattoos,
and the girls decorating purses:


Party fun:


Emma, Elena, and the birthday girl!


And it doesn't matter how old you are, lip gloss is always fun!


The party was a blast! The only sad part was saying goodbye to the Davidsons, who will be leaving Naples early tomorrow morning. Please pray for safety for them on their return to the states and an easy adjustment back to American culture. I will share more about their "Going Away" party tomorrow.