Buongiorno!

Our hotel in Sorrento overlooking the Mediterranean Sea

Wayne and I recently returned from a two week tour of Italy. Now that I've recovered from jet lag, I've transferred my photos from my camera to my computer and I've been deleting, cropping, and organizing. When we arrived in Sorrento I realized my old camera was broken so my first purchase in Italy was a new camera. I started using it almost immediately and kept my fingers crossed that the pictures would be satisfactory. It's a relatively simple camera and I had help from my friend Wally. Linda and Wally are our "travel buddies" from San Diego. This is the fourth trip we've taken together. 

The tour began in Sorrento and ended in Venice with Rome, Florence and and other towns and cities in between. It was packed with interesting and beautiful sights. The food and wine were delicious and the tour guide, outstanding. I'll add some photos to this and the next few posts.

View from our room

Along the beautiful Amalfi Coast

Resort along the Amalfi Coast

Limoncello ... my new favorite drink!

Taking a Break

vulture circling our yard

With so much going on this summer I've taken a month-long break from my blog. Now that things are a wee bit less hectic I'm back to posting. I'll share some snapshots from the past few weeks. My month in a nutshell.

back yard full of elk

mama and the twins in our front yard

wildflowers everywhere

birthday cake made by one granddaughter for a second granddaughter

Rocky Mountain National Park Centennial Wall Quilts
I've made many!

Grand Teton National Park

Sunday we spent the day in Grand Teton National Park. It's a beautiful part of the Rocky Mountains. We spent the afternoon with the wedding party and guests on a Jackson Lake pebble beach. The children had fun with water toys (rafts, floats, etc.) while Wayne and I sat back in the shade watching them.

Wedding Day

   

Christine escorted by her father

Wedding guests 

Wedding Ceremony

Jackson Hole is a great vacation spot and a beautiful place for a wedding. Christine and Graeme got married on top of Snow King Mountain, most easily accessed via chair lift. It was a lovely outdoor ceremony - small and simple - with friends and family gathered around in a grassy meadow filled with pine trees and wildflowers and overlooking the town of Jackson. Afterward, the bride, groom and more adventuresome guests went down on the alpine slide while we older folk took the chair lift back to the base. After several Champagne toasts the newlyweds took off on their bicycles pulling their two little children behind in a child bicycle trailer. Bikes and trailer were adorned with ribbons, flowers, Just Married sign, and tin cans. 

These three perched on a rock to watch the ceremony
Our grandchildren - Fischer (left) and Courtney (right) with cousin Preston in the middle

Our son Chris and granddaughter Carly

Off they go to the reception

The reception, featuring good food, drink, music, and activities for the children was in Swains' lovely backyard where we had a leisurely time talking with family and friends.

Back yard reception - lovely spot