Olivia's Baptism 5/18/2014

Our beautiful Olivia was baptized in the River Jordan, in Israel, yesterday May 18th 2014. It was one of the most amazing and special experiences of my life. I was in awe at her joy and love that day, and also so excited for her that she was baptized in the same place that our Savior was baptized. 

One of the most beautiful moments that I have ever witnessed was just as Chris lifted Olivia out of the water she turned and jumped into his arms and gave him the most tender hugs.

There were many wet eyes at that moment and my silent tears of joy turned to full blown weeping.

I am so proud of Olivia for making the decision to be baptized!

We were lucky to be able to share the experience with wonderful friends!

Cape Sounion, Greece April 24th 2014

Cape Sounion the Site of the Temple of Poseidon, one of the prettiest places that we saw in Greece.

On the temple of Poseidon we were able to see and take a picture of the famous poet Lord Byron's engraved signature. 

"Adversity is the first path to truth."

Lord Byron

Since we had 2 hours till the next bus back to Athens, we decided to hike down to this amazing beach.

Although the rocks were sharp the water frigid, we had a blast playing in the water on our own little personal beach. (Oh yeah personal, if you exclude the naked Greek male on the beach just behind Tristan's head, although not pictured in this shot, I definitely got an eye full on more than one glance in that direction.)

Athens, Greece April 23rd-27th

Athens we had mixed feelings about, first of all it was really hard to go from laid-back, relaxing in the sun on Santorini island to the hustle and bustle of Athens. But Athens also had an almost Vegas feel to it as well. There are a lot of pictures, sculptures, and erotic shops that made me wish my kids were just a bit less perceptive. 

But on the other hand it was so fun to see all of the amazing ruins and places of Greek and Roman mythology. Jonathan especially has been obsessed with the myths and Percy Jackson, so it was fun to see where those beliefs all came from.  Jonathan's favorite souvenirs were his drachma (the old Greek currency)

In Athens we enjoyed watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They do a strange march around the tomb and then resume their silent and stone still stance.

The National Gardens was a fun break from ruins to nature. It even had a little zoo area with a couple kinds of animals.

Picture of us making our way to the Acropolis.

A picture of the Odeum of Herodes Atticus, a large stone theater.

Acropolis

Parthenon/ Temple to the goddess Athena

Ancient Agora/ Temple of Hephaestus

On our walk down from the Temple of Hephaestus we saw 2 turtles just walking around the grounds. Unfortunately they were on an area roped off that people weren't suppose to walk on. 

That didn't stop Chris he hustled over and picked one up and brought it over for the kids to play with. We had a blast passing it around and playing with it.

I never realized that the Olympic games were athletic competitions to honor Zeus, originating in Greece. I guess it makes sense if you think of the origination of the word.

It was neat to see the stadium of the first recorded Olympic games held in the summer of 1896.

Panathenaic Stadium

Temple of Zeus

Silly pictures in front of the Temple of Zeus

Santorini Greece April 20th-23rd 2014

Finally! Here are our trip pictures and experiences in Greece. We had a week in Greece and spent the first couple of days on Santorini. Then the last portion in Athens, with a day trip down to Cape Sounion. It was a wonderful trip and we are so glad that we were able to do it while over seas.

This is a light house that we drove to on Santorini Island at Akrotiri.

Santorini is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, the cliffs, the water, the buildings are all magical.

 Hiking to this unusually placed church is the first thing that we wanted to do. So we drove to the top of the mountain and hiked down from the left hand side of the picture and back up to the church. 

It was quite a hike and we were slightly disappointed to find that it is a tiny little excuse for a church and that it was also closed. :(

But the view from the mountain was breathtaking and it was some good family fun.

 One of the strangest plants I have ever seen was here on Santorini, Jonathan and I called it the enormous broccoli plant. 

(Tristan thinks his mom has mental problems.)

I wish I lived on Santorini for so many reasons, among which is their white washed buildings and blue accent paint. I was in love at first sight!

Jonathan and I had to close our eyes as Chris drove on the steep mountain roads. Our fear of heights and the lack of any guardrails had us both shaking in our seats.

     

 Oia.... How I love thee.

Could there be a more beautiful city on Santorini? I think not.

We treated ourselves to dinner at one of these famous seafood restaurants right at the bottom of the Oia cliffs. I don't think that you could get much fresher sea food anywhere else.

Our kids were such troopers and tried all of the sea food that we ordered. Octopus, Calamari (squid), Lobster, Mussels, and Swordfish. Some of the things they even said they liked :)

We stayed in a city called Perissa, within walking distance is the amazing Black Beach. Although the sand is rather coarse the kids had fun playing in it and covering their legs.

Chris and I had fun playing with the kids and then lounging about on the Beach chairs, Chris even got a 30 min back massage right at the beach. (Paradise!)

 We had fun hiking down to the Red beach although we did not swim there.

 The sunsets on Santorini were so beautiful, people say that it is the best sunset on earth. 

Our time on Santorini was over and it was time for the lengthy boat ride back to Athens, the only unpleasant part of the whole trip.