We live in a poem

And the April stanza had "Wisteria" as its theme. The cascading purple blossoms perhaps foreshadow the grape vines that will bedeck the hillsides within a few months, and we saw many of those hillsides last month. Forays down to Rome for our first overnight trip to the temple, Siena and San Gimignano to enjoy their Medieval charm, and Pinocchio Park for the little kids and me gave us ample opportunities to appreciate current and future beauty. April was a magical month.

It began with Elisabeth's thirteenth birthday. The birthday fairies were hard at work for this celebration as well. Not only did her April 6th birthday coincide with a Saturday General Conference session that we could not catch until 6 pm, it also coincided with the kickoff of the 2019 Gelato Festival right here in Firenze. We therefore gleefully paid our dues and lined up at Piazzale Michelangelo to enjoy sixteen artisanal flavors of gelato while admiring the best view of Florence anywhere. Sixteen was not just a lot, it was too many. We made it through about seven before we took a break to check out Bardini Gardens. This is the more manicured section of Boboli and boasts a wisteria-covered walkway and verdant enclaves. Our birthday girl is both a gelato and flower enthusiast, so she was in heaven. winner, but other than the jasmine something or other that left our mouths tingling and our teeth black, they were all winners to us!

We headed back to the gelato festival to squeeze in a few more flavors and cast our votes for the best, but the lines had grown quite long in our absence. So we grabbed lunch at a street cart, waited in line for one last flavor, and then decided. The girls all fell for the pink ice cream trick; they voted Rosa Antiche. I fell for nomenclature and voted Cuor di Mama Justin was a nut and voted for a pistachio rendition. And Abdiel chose the one with sprinkles. None of us chose the

After a weekend of General Conference with ward members and friends Jordan and Alison Johnsen who were visiting Italy for the first time since Jordan's mission,

we felt so inspired we headed to Rome to attend the temple for the second time since its dedication. We ran into old friends from Connecticut, Justin and Megan Rowberry who are almost done with three years in England before heading to Okinawa, Japan for his new military doctor assignment. It was such a treat and we didn't even think to snap a picture! Luckily Samantha had a little polaroid, so here's a picture of the picture. It really happened.

As it turned out, we were in Rome at the temple the same time that Grandma and Grandpa Collings were arriving at the airport. They came to attend the Rome temple and stopped up our way at the same time. Or maybe the other way round. We had a fun visit with them, especially the big girls, who got restaurant lunches and sight-seeing without small children in tow. One of their sight-seeing days I dropped them all off at the Uffizi and then headed to Pinocchio Park in Collodi, the hometown of the classic story's author. It is, predictably, the only thing of note about this town and so they have whole-heartedly embraced it. I unfortunately had only enough phone battery to snap one picture--the kids inside the whale's mouth--and that left me so depleted that I made my way home on a prayer. Luckily I had Abdiel and Gwyn's prayers helping me, too, and we got home without incident.

Except the small one of arriving 45 minutes late to retrieve our fellow sight-seers. Justin and Julia started walking the twelve-switchback hike home from the bus stop, intending to pick up the car and then rescue everyone else. It turned out to be a blessing, because where we have to drive up Nuova delle Molina, they were able to walk up Vecchia Molina, which is an absolutely gorgeous stretch of Tuscan landscape. (Justin and I have since taken our own walk down it.)

While hosting the Johnsens and the Collings we also got to feed our friends' bunny for the duration of their Spring break trip to Sicily. Katharine, our resident animal lover, was in heaven.

Justin's attempts to get back to work-as-usual were aborted by a big lock on the EUI castello gate. Easter celebrations in Italy really do resemble those of Christmas; they start the Thursday before and last until the Monday after. I really liked it, actually, and recommended to the kids as we made our spontaneous way toward Siena that they take advantage of the holiday to think about the events we had read as a family in our Come, Follow Me study that morning, namely, of Christ's instituting the Sacrament and His suffering in Gethsemane. The next day Justin and I spent our date night attending Good Friday services at the small Catholic church bordering our property, Chiesa d'Ilario. It was very interesting.

Easter dress shopping, Easter dinner hosting friends from the ward, and a visit to San Gimignano and a sister in far-flung Certaldo who has the same degenerative illness as a dear friend in Orem comprised the rest of our Easter celebrations. By the time we got back to business as usual even the smallest Who in Whoville was ready to hit the books again!

But these Italians love their holidays. Thursday was another one: Liberation Day. We celebrated by joining other Primaria Genitori and their children at a park that boasted even a bouncy house. Abdiel was in jumping, wrestling, rough-housing heaven. It was well worth the 3 euro extra to see that little boys rosy cheeks, sweaty hair, and toothless grin emerge from the cage when the proprietor deflated the establishment for his lunch break.

Two days later Justin and Elisabeth headed to Milan for her 12th birthday trip a year late. (We decided to save on airfare.) We'll let Elisabeth recount that singular event in her life.