Italy

In between all the chaos going on back home, our family was blessed with a 17-day trip to Italy. We let Kaylee choose the location as her senior trip. Being that she's our pasta lover, she chose Italy. I had the pleasure of planning our trip. We were gone May 30th through June 15th. We flew from Miami to Rome. 

Sorrento- From Rome, we took a train to Naples and then hired a driver to Sorrento. We spent three nights there and took day trips from this picturesque town.

Capri- The first day, we took an 8 hour boat ride around Capri Island, went into the Blue Grotto and rode a gondola to the top of Capri Island. It was one of our favorite days!

Pompeii- We explored the amazing ruins of Pompeii. 

Caserta- On our way to Rome, we took a stop in Caserta to see the Royal Palace of Caserta, one of the largest palaces in the world. It is known for its beautiful staircase. "Star Wars" and "Angels and Demons" were filmed there. Our highlight was renting e-bikes to explore the Palace grounds. It was really fun. 

Rome- We spent our next three nights in Rome where we explored the Colleseum, Old Roman Forum, Peter and Paul's Prison, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel and Vatican City. 

We had a great few days in Rome. However, as we were leaving Rome, Trevor had his phone stolen while riding the subway. It was super crowded and they took it right out of his pocket. He knew it was gone as soon as he stepped off the train, but it was too late. We lost our pictures of the Vatican City, which was a bummer. Trevor had to have his phone wiped clean and shut down. Then we were off to Florence...

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

Peter and Paul's Prison

Roman Forum

Colleseum

Pasta

Vatican City

St. Peter's Basilican

Sistine Chapel

Florence- We spent three nights in Florence. We explored the Uffizi Museum, the Academia Museum, the Ponte Vecchio, and the Duomo. We ate lots of gelato and lots of pasta. The girls and I attended a cooking lab where we learned how to make pesto, ravioli, fettuccine, and tiramisu.  

Pisa- From Florence, we went to Cinque Terre, but before that we hopped off the train in Pisa for a few hours.

Cinque Terre- We spent three nights in Monterossa al Mare, the northern most village in Cinque Terre. It is absolutely beautiful there. We spent one day hiking on the famous trail between Monterossa and Vernazza and then from Corniglia back to Vernazza. We hiked 10 miles that day and were absolutely exhausted. We rewarded ourselves with gelato and the beach. The next day, we went on a four hour boat ride so that we could see Cinque Terre from the sea. We got to swim in the Aegean Sea. We spent the rest of the day on the beach. We loved our time in Cinque Terre. 

Venice- We spent the next two nights exploring the beautiful city of Venice. We explored St Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace, the dungeons, the Bridge of Sighs, the Rialto Bridge, and via gondola and water taxi.

Rome- We took a train back to Rome and from there flew home full of wonderful memories and lots and lots of pictures. We are blessed!

Grandma Sue Went To Be With Jesus

 

It is with deep sadness that I share the passing of my sweet stepmom, Susan Lee Gaskill, age 79. She is known to us as Grandma Sue, Mom and Sue. She became my stepmom when I was just five years old, so I have very few memories without her in my life. We are devastated by this loss. She is known for her kindness, her catholic faith, her love of her family, her unifying nature, her love of golf, her love of card games, her homemade noodles, her hot fudge, her cherry bars, and her sugar cookies. I can't imagine life without her.

This is how she passed, in my dad's arms. She went into the hospital on April 20th and never came out. Three days ago, she decided she was done fighting. She was tired of the pain. The pain was intense and it only worsened over the seven weeks. In addition, she developed a bed sore, so sitting was unbearable. She tried chemotherapy. She tried dialysis. She tried a feeding tube. She fought hard, but in the end her body did not respond as we hoped and prayed it would. She stopped all treatment three days ago and went into palliative care of the 6th floor of the hospital. She didn't want to go home. She just wanted to pass away peacefully. 

She was able to say goodbye to all her kids. Our family was six days into our trip to Italy when she passed. We were in Florence when we got the news. I was able to talk to her on the phone before she stopped talking. I had the kids each write a note to Grandma Sue before she passed. Their notes were read to her and she thanked them. I asked Debi if she would have her listen to the songs "Even If" and "I Can Only Imagine" before she passed. She loved us all so well. Once everyone but my dad cleared the hospital room and he climbed into bed with her for the night, she passed away peacefully in his arms around 9 pm.