So my dad has worked at Omniture/Adobe for ten years. Every five years, the employees get a paid sabbatical. This time, my dad got a five week sabbatical. My dad has very bad back and neurological problems that might cause him to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life in just a few years. That and since their children have seen more of the world than they have, my parents decided to go to Europe for the five weeks and explore. My dad's motto for as long as I can remember is "Carpe Diem!" and I was instilled with this idea since I was little. We were given a gift of a wonderful, beautiful earth and we need to take advantage of it while we are here. This trip is so well deserved for my amazing parents and I hope they had the time of their lives. We obviously couldn't let them go alone for five whole weeks without us so Alex, Jess, Cory, and I tagged along for a few weeks. It was good timing since Wes and CJ are in Honduras and Mexico on their LDS missions - we aren't sure they would've enjoyed this trip so much. Since the girls have been to quite a few places in Europe already, we decided to do a Mediterranean cruise to the Greek isles then head up to Austria and Germany for a few days. It was a struggle convincing Dad to let us do the cruise - he has seen too many news articles about boats sinking or the halls being flooded with feces. But last summer, I bet him that if I went out on the boat and learned how to surf, he had to take me on a cruise. I won that bet (thank you very much) and therefore, he was forced to do the cruise.
We chose to go at the beginning of the trip for a few reasons - Jess is pregnant and was nearing the point where she couldn't fly or go on the cruise so we timed it right under the wire. Cory and I just finished spring semester at UVU and definitely needed a break. And tourist season doesn't really start until the beginning of June so we wanted to avoid the crowds as much as possible.
We left Utah on April 30, 2015 and landed in Venice, Italy. We loaded the boat on May 2, 2015 and were on the cruise until May 9, 2015. We took a night train from Venice to Salzburg, Austria that night in order to make it to a hotel with strong wifi to talk to Wes and CJ on Mother's Day. We spent the week in Salzburg and the four kids took a night train to Zurich, Switzerland on May 14, 2015. We flew into New York on May 15, 2015 and then got home late that night. My parents had a few more weeks over there. They had a tentative plan on where they were going and when but really just played it by ear and really got the most out of their European vacation.
I had the best time on this trip. I got to visit and see places I had never been before. I got to experience a cruise for the first time which was awesome and will definitely be happening again. I got to celebrate the end of a tough semester and two weeks off work. But the best part is I got to spend it all with my amazing family. My parents, my sisters, and my brothers are my best friends and I absolutely love spending time with them. I cannot wait for the day when my brothers are home from their missions and we will all be together again. I am so grateful that we have been sealed together as a family and will spend eternity together. I had an amazing time on this trip and can't think of a better way to spend two weeks.
Stay tuned for future posts - I will give details about every day and our adventures in Europe. I'm excited for another chance to share my experiences on my blog Oh the places I'll go!
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