We really did not disappear off the face of the earth, okay, only sort of. :) We moved out of our wonderful Groton home with much help from our fellow branchers and were Europe until June 15th and are now in Utah.
We flew into Germany with Scott's parents and deposited Nathan with Oma and Opa Jackson and we flew down to Italy for a week! It was strange being toddler-free, and just being 7 months pregnant! We hit all the big sites in Rome, Florence, Venice, Pisa and Lucca. The weather was perfect for us and Scott got tons of great pictures. It is hard to try and describe what a great trip it was- the whole experience was just great.
We had some fabulous Italian food, among the favorites- gelato. Scott tried a chocolate ice cream that had crushed red peppers in it- he said it was great the first bite, but by the end of the cone his mouth was on fire and his sinuses were pretty cleared out! The gelateria's are so pretty, the gelato is piled high in each container and fresh fruit is displayed on top of the respective flavors. Very hard to pass up!!I
think my favorite day was in Venice, it was such a unique city and seems so well-preserved. The little alleys are fun to wander around in and the many bridges over the canels offer some great pictures. And of course, the gondola ride was amazing. We didn't pay for the singer and accordion-player, but we passed one in a small side canel and certainly enjoyed their talents! The gondelier spoke some english, and was very nice to wear his hat for pictures for us.
think my favorite day was in Venice, it was such a unique city and seems so well-preserved. The little alleys are fun to wander around in and the many bridges over the canels offer some great pictures. And of course, the gondola ride was amazing. We didn't pay for the singer and accordion-player, but we passed one in a small side canel and certainly enjoyed their talents! The gondelier spoke some english, and was very nice to wear his hat for pictures for us. 
One side attraction from Venice-- we were wandering around the little side streets and Scott saw a familiar face- one from the show "The Office." His name is Stanley! He was very nice and posed for a picture with us. He asked if I was getting enough rest and water while being so pregnant. He also pointed out that there will be 28 shows next season and that Scott could watch some while up with the baby. (Notice that Scott is the odd one out with no belly!!)Needless to say, we saw many wonderful things and enjoyed our European vacation and it is hard to describe all that we got to see. We are now in Utah, and happy to be here before the baby! We will have to do more updates more frequently now.
