Hiking the Alps and eating in Sacile

We’ve been in the TLF (temporary living facility) for 3 weeks now.  The winner of our rent money is still in the making, but it's soon to be ours. It just takes time to actually  be able to live in it.  We should get into it August 7th. W e will then have to wait for our own furniture to actually arrive, which will probably be another month or longer.  The military will provide temporary furniture for us until ours arrives.  I will put pictures of our new home when they are available.

 I am grateful for this down time in the TLF.  It gives us time to adjust as a family again, since we didn’t have that time before the move.  We have no other distractions, like putting a home together, or preparing lessons for school, or activities we have committed ourselves to. This time is just for us to enjoy spending together and reconnecting as a whole family.  Last week, I also decided we needed to get into a bit of a routine.  Routine and structure somehow help children feel safe and secure. It has helped them during this time that has been chaotic, to have a little bit of predictability in their little lives. This is something our family needed.  I’ve noticed joyful attitudes and a willingness to humbly give and serve others, in such a way that shows Christ’s love to each other, again.  It makes a mama’s heart full of gratitude for God’s grace that He is apparently working in those little lives she tries to reach daily.

  Small goals for ourselves during this little bit of down time has been a great benefit. The children and I have challenged ourselves to memorize some of Robert Louis Stevenson poems.  I hope we will be consistent with this goal and be able to reap the benefit of the self-discipline it will take.   That goes for all those little goals we have made like learning Italian, doing math cards, reading, and writing daily, playing at the playground and going swimming on nice days. Once we have the distraction of putting a home together some of these goals will have to be put on the back burner for a while, but it’s nice to have some type of structure for our days.  Even if we don’t meet our goals, the most important thing we are learning, with God’s grace, is to love each other during difficult and stressful times. Learning to be united by forgiving, comforting, and serving each other through the different emotions and challenges we naturally go through during a move is far better than all that other stuff we have challenged ourselves with.




Here's our poem:
Windy Nights
 by Robert Louis Stevenson

Whenever the moon and stars are set,
Whenever the wind is high,
 All night long in the dark and wet
 A man goes riding by.
Late in th night, when the fires are out,
 Why does he gallop and gallop about? 
 Whenever the trees are crying aloud,
 And ships are tossed at sea,
By, on the highway, low and loud,
By at the gallop goes he. 
By at the gallop he goes, and then
By he comes back at the gallop again.

James chose this one. I thought it was appropriate for our setting.

Saturday we decided to climb the Alps.  Can you believe it we were actually climbing the Alps!   It was such a refreshing time. Time to get out of the four walls of the TLF and breathe the fresh good ol' mountain air.  We drove through the small town of Piancavallo, a ski resort, just north of Aviano.  We walked up to the ski lift, which took us half way up the mountain and ate lunch there.   After eating lunch, we hiked to the top of the mountain peake.  Isaac made it half- way up on his own and was carried the other half.  The others raced daddy to the top. It was refreshing to be able to climb in such beauty and visually see the works of the Lords hand, through His creation.  I was revived for the week and decided we would invest into some good hiking boots so we could go as much as possible.  I am just so blessed to have this opportunity to hike the Alps. I have to keep pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.

 At the bottom of the Alps they had a ride called The Alpine ride.  It was a simple tabogan sled on steel rails.  All of us rode except for Isaac. Being little has some disadvantages.  I think all he was concerned about was where his mommy was going.  Riding the Alpine Ride was an added  blessing to the adventure of hiking the Alps. 

My handsome men.

Isaac held on tight as we started up the mountain.  He relaxed as we ventured further up. 

Going up the mountain

Making  rock structures

    Piancavallo was a charming little ski town.  We actually saw five horses running through town.  Jana was ready to run after them and ride them bareback.  Ike and I protested reminding her “safety first.”  We stopped for some Gelato, (creamy ice cream), on our way back to the car.  James noticed two older Italian men playing a game dealing with a couple of balls. He finished his Gelato quickly and went to watch the game intently.  I think he actually figured out how to play just by watching.  I was glad to see him take initiative learning through observation and was also glad he was not fearful of being in a new setting.  He described the game to me with such enthusiasm I think we may need to do some research and find out what this game is actually called.



Sacile is called "little Venice."  I had the bright idea to drive to Sacile for dinner, only about 20 minutes South of us.  I don't know what I was thinking.  Here we had just spent the day hiking in the Alps with no sunscreen and most of us were exhausted and I want to go to a foreign city for dinner:(  I guess I didn't want to go back to the four walls of the TLF or maybe I just didn't want the fun day to end.  Whatever it was, we headed for Sacile, letting the little ones doze off to dream land  in the back.  Once we got there, we found the center of town and stopped at a playground letting the kids run around before dinner.   Restaurants don't open until 7p.m. that meant we had some time to waste.  We still haven't got used to eating late and often find ourselves going to eat a little too early. We are usually the first ones to arrive.  Our tummy's were telling us it's time to eat, but the watch was telling us we still had over an hour to wait before a restaurant was even open.  We walked the center of the city just to see what they had, then tried to find a restaurant that would serve something besides just pizza or sandwiches.  Couldn't find one.  Our legs were hurting, our tummy's were rumbling, and we were beginning to feel the pain of the sun damage on the skin.  We saw a unique restaurant overlooking a waterfall that we thought we wanted to try.  It didn't open until 6:30.  The decision was made.  We were going to have dessert first and headed to a fancy dessert shop.  Seating was outside and the weather was pleasurable to sit in.  We shared a fruit tray with gelato on the bottom.  It hit the spot and renewed our strength  just enough to get us to the restaurant. Once again, we were the first family there as they were getting ready for the dinner rush. The meal was worth the wait.  We were able to relax, enjoy a great meal, while listening to the water and watch those cute little ducklings paddle there way up the stream.   Now that's a way to end the day.

Sacile

"Mommyyyyyy"

Look at that cute little guy trying to do some rock climbing.

A waterfall in Sacile