Our last two weeks have been just getting organized and ready for the move. We sold a lot of our stuff that we left behind. It is surprising how much work it is to sell stuff--even after it is listed. We wrote a master listing of all the stuff we had left. Then we sent emails out to anyone who might be interested in any of it. The emails and phone calls started coming in and we were blessed to be able to sell a lot of it. But to get all the stuff into piles for people, getting it all cleaned up and presentable for sale, remembering how much we listed everything at, etc., takes a lot of time and work. As of right now, we have 80 percent of the stuff gone. We still have about 10 percent left at the house that will be gone by Wednesday. We have 3 items that we haven't sold yet: the couch, the treadmill, and the washing machine. Luckily, that means I can do one more load of laundry before we leave.
Dan and I were able to head (alone) down to Venice for the weekend. Josh and the kids had a great time at home. They were happy to not have jobs to do during the day. Dan and I left Thursday afternoon. We drove the 6 hours to Padova (Padua). We checked in to our hotel and had a nice dinner at the restaurant there. Friday morning we woke up early. We had to walk half a block to the bus station. We took the bus into downtown Venice. It only took 30 minutes and was stress free. It only cost us 4 Euro to get there and parking at the hotel was free. We would highly recommend anyone headed there to do the same. The hotel in Padova was also half the price of Venice! Venice was wonderful, again. We walked around and found all kinds of neat shops and sights. We ate the best street food in Venice. Dan had fried calamari and shrimp with fried polenta. I had fried/battered vegetables over a polenta (grits style). It was really yummy. We ate all kinds of Italian food and thoroughly enjoyed the entire day. We picked up little souvenirs that we wished we had bought on our earlier trip. That night, after getting back to Padova, I found raised welts and a red rash all over my legs. It happened to me the last time we were in Venice. So, I think that my days in Venice are over. I am allergic to something there. After taking an allergy pill, Dan and I headed into downtown Padova. We found another street vendor with food to die for (according to Dan). It was all seafood. Dan bought a huge octopus. They sliced it up, put on their special sauce, and served it bread. He said it was sooooooo good! I had a sandwich that was horrible--you can't win them all. We had gelato, of course, and it was sooooo good, so that made up for it. 
The next day, we decided to stay out of Venice. Dan found a church that we needed to go see. We finally found our way into this church. They only let 25 people in at a time. You sit and watch a video while the air pressure in the church is equalized. Then they let you go see the chapel. The church was painted by Giotto between 1303 and 1305. It is amazingly preserved considering all that has happened in the world since. The paintings are really good for his time. He could paint in 3 dimensions using only color. It was really cool to see. The rest of the day we just wandered around more of downtown Padova. Just before lunch we headed home. And in perfect Italian-ness, the freeway was closed and they made us travel several hundred kilometers out of our way and pay more tolls than we should have. But, we eventually made it home. Dan and I loved our time away. It was so nice to be able to talk and sort through a lot of different things that we hadn't had a chance to talk about before with all the stress from the move. It was perfect to get away from it all, when we couldn't be distracted by anything at the house or from work.
Dan went to the U.S. for one last time before we land back home. He tried to get everything at the house ready for us to move back in. He got cell phones for us so that we are ready to hit the ground running on Monday. Dan was excited to find a cell phone company that offered unlimited minutes, text, and tons of data on 4 phones to the US, Canada, and Mexico. We are excited to be able to keep in better touch with all family in the US and Canada, as well as keep in slight touch when we are on our vacations. The kids are all signed up for school. Dane just has to take one math test before he can be put into a class. He gets one more day off school than the other kids. I made up for it though, by scheduling a sports physical for him on Monday. Dan talked to multiple carpet companies, multiple painters, changed toilet seats, finalized the last days with the renters, and still managed to put in full days of work with all day meetings during the day.
The kids, Josh, and I worked on smaller projects at home here. We got rooms cleaned out, we got the oven cleaned, the fridge defrosted and cleaned, more stuff sold, laundry done, swimming, swimming, German lessons, and more swimming.The best news of the two weeks was that we had a baptism this week!!! Deagan turned 8 years old on Saturday. He decided to get baptized in Vienna. Dane and Josh got to speak at his baptism. Dyllan and Danyon were able to say prayers. Dan was able to do the baptism and confirmation. I led the music and made the video. It was a neat baptism and Nelly, the German tutor, was able to come. It was a nice afternoon.
That evening, Deagan wanted to go to McDonald's for dinner. We stopped and got some food for a picnic. We had a picnic in our backyard by the pool. We swam for a while. In the middle of the party, we had some friends come over and pick up some of our stuff. Once we got them taken care of, we were able to open presents. Deagan loves his new Nintendo DS. We will definitely have to limit use once school starts. Then we ate cupcakes. Deagan got to choose his cupcakes that we just doubled up to make treats for the baptism as well. We made 60 cupcakes and took most to the baptism. When Dan told me to stock the fridge one last time, I don't think he meant with cupcakes, but that is what happened. Deagan didn't have a huge choice on the cupcakes, as I don't have any of my decorating stuff, but considering what we did have, I think they turned out well. Everyone ate them. Most people ate two! There was even enough for everyone to have one for breakfast on Sunday morning. Having 60 cupcakes sitting around the house for two days was really hard for the three year old in the house. He was always asking for cupcakes. We were finally at the baptism and I told him that he could finally eat one after the meeting was over. I helped Danyon say the closing prayer, asking for a blessing on the refreshments. As soon as he said, "Amen", he quickly added, "cupcakes!" and ran for the door. It was pretty funny, especially since he didn't even eat the cake. He only licked the frosting off the top.
We are so sad that your European adventures have come to an end! However, we are happy we will get to see you more often (hopefully)! We are planning Mexico in November, you should come with us if you can take a trip that soon :-)
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