My traveling companions

Although it might have made the trip a bit easier if we had gone before Anndra was born, it actually turned out to be quite delightful to have our little girl with us. She did well on all our flights and got so much attention everywhere we went with her happy smiles and other cute facial expressions. A lot of people (gate agents, flight attendants, fellow travelers, etc.) assumed she was our first baby and wanted to ask us about her and give us advice. It reminded me of all the flying we did with Parker as a baby (back and forth from Dominica) - he always got lots of attention from everyone around us.



We were a little nervous about my passport - it was about to expire and we didn't know until two days before we left that you are technically supposed to have 3 months left on your passport to travel to Europe. I was so afraid someone would turn us around and make us go back home - I was earnestly praying the entire time that no one would look too closely at my passport. Thankfully, everyone who checked our passports was so busy adoring Anndra that they barely glanced at our documentation. What a blessing!



Here she is mid-giggle. What a love! She was in a good mood nearly the entire 12-day trip (all you parents out there know how lucky that is) and I felt like I got to bond with her on a whole new level because I didn't have the boys, my calling, or anything else to worry about. It was a like a dream-come-true for this tired mommy.



The other person who made the trip so amazing was my sweetheart, Todd. This vacation was also a way for us to celebrate 10 years since we got engaged (Feb 2000). I'm so happy that this great guy asked me to be his wife and I've enjoyed sharing my life with him (for a decade now!) more than I can say.



While in Slovenia, he got to ski at the top of the world - this is a picture he took from the lift:



One unique/cool feature about the place he went skiing was the huge igloos they had built for skiers to rest in when they needed a break:



When all five of us were out-and-about together, we also saw people cross-country skiing across the beautiful snowy fields. That is probably the only thing I still wish I could have tried (downhill skiing is too hard on my knees) while I was there:



Now, for those of you who care about girlie things like a baby's wardrobe... I'll include a couple more pics of the blessing dress (which I LOVE - thanks again, Mom and Dad!).

It came with a cute jacket...



...and head-band...



...for keeping her warm on the way to church:



Having this break from my regular life gave me the opportunity to do some self-evaluation and re-prioritizing... and this little lady is now at the top of my list! I am determined to soak up every joyful moment I can with her. Love you, Sis!

Lakes, mountains, castles...

...all picturesque in the snow - what more could we ask for?

A few shots of the gorgeous lakes we visited:





Check out the reflection in this one!




And, of course, how could we not love the Alps?



Todd and Dad went hiking in these amazing mountains - and they weren't the only ones: apparently Slovenes love to hike YEAR-ROUND. Everywhere you go, you see people setting off with those long hiking sticks that look kind of like ski poles. It made me admire them for really taking advantage of the opportunity to live in such a lovely place.






Finally, you can't go to Europe without seeing a castle or two (I think we saw three). Doesn't my Dad look handsome next to this drawbridge-style entrance: Mom's knight-in-shining-armor. ;)







I figured I'd also include the view from the castle pictured above.



I bet you can see why Slovenia is considered Europe's best kept secret.


P.S. Tomorrow we'll finish up these trip posts with baby pictures and skiing shots...

My two favorite missionaries

This trip reminded me of how lucky I am to have such awesome parents. Sometimes when they feel a little sad that they cannot be with us for big events (like births, graduations, etc.) while they are away, I just remind them that being on a mission is the very BEST thing they could be doing for me right now. Their sacrifice brings blessings not only to them but to their kids & grandkids as well - blessings that I certainly couldn't do without. So thanks, Mom and Dad!




We timed our visit so that one event Mom and Dad wouldn't have to miss after all was Anndra's baby blessing.




I really enjoyed attending their branch and meeting all the wonderful people they serve with on a regular basis. Being in a country where the church is still so 'young' (the very first Slovene to ever be baptized is a member of their branch)... was a great experience because you can feel their pioneer spirit.

It snowed SO MUCH the Saturday night that we were there. We were afraid church would be canceled and figured we'd just have the blessing in Mom and Dad's apartment. Thankfully, it stopped in time for the roads to be cleared - and I'm glad because that Sunday was definitely a highlight of the trip!




Now, just as a side note: tomorrow's Slovenia post is going to be more of the beautiful places we saw - but I have to confess that by "we" I mostly mean Todd. It was so cold that when we went sight-seeing, Mom and I usually stayed in the warm car with the baby while Dad and Todd tromped out into the wind and snow to take pictures. Although, as you can probably tell from the pic below, my honey was LOVING that weather.




There were even a couple of days that we three girls just stayed home while the boys went to play. I've told a lot of my friends here in Florida that it was the best vacation of my life - I think that is because I got to do what I needed more than anything else in the world: eat, nap, chat with my Mom, and have time to just love my baby.

attempting to blog our trip to Europe

Hello everyone. I've been trying to sit down and post some pics of our Slovenia adventure for almost two weeks now - seriously, where does the time go??? So I think I'm going to have to do it in chunks because I never seem to have more than 5 minutes at a time to work on this - such is life!

Here goes... today's chunk will be pics of Slovenia in general - it is a beautiful, beautiful place. So very glad I got to see it.