Well, we are in New Mexico and loving being with the grandkids.  The weather is perfect and warm.  We are trying to get used to being retired and doing projects for Leigh and Bryce to keep busy.  Not that the kids don't keep us busy reading stories, helping us do chores, and playing outside.
We learned that in order to get a visa for Italy, we have to become either NM or ID residents.  We chose NM because once we are residents we can apply for a visa by mail but if we become ID residents we have to apply in person to the nearest consulate in California.  So we tried to become NM residents and applied for drivers licenses here.  Marv did ok but when I checked that I am diabetic, NM requires a medical doctor to fill out a medical history first.  So I am trying to get my doctor in MN to fill out the form and get it back by mail (won't let it be faxed or emailed must be original form so by snail mail.)  Weird!  So we are playing a waiting game.  Thank goodness they pushed our leave date for Italy to July 13.  We are getting so excited about Italy.  We are trying to get immunizations done, visa done, financial stuff organized, clothes, etc.  We are already getting info from the mission president in Milano which is nice.  We feel so blessed to be able to serve in Italy and to serve our Heavenly Father.  We both enjoyed and appreciate our first missions so many years ago.  The spiritual and mental growth was tremendous and the experiences we had changed our lives and have been a great blessing throughout our lives.  We will celebrate our 36th anniversary next week and looking back, overall it has been great.  We have learned a lot, laughed a lot, cried some, lived a lot, prayed a lot, and enjoyed most of it.  We have three wonderful children that we are so proud of.  We have four super grandchildren that we love a lot.  We are relatively healthy for our ages and are eager to see what the next 36 years hold for us.  We've always told our kids as they grew up that life is an adventure and each new trip, goal, experience should begin with "and let the adventure begin".  We also told them that adventures may not always be fun or go quite how we expect so just hang on and ride the waves.  Families are so important and the most important aspect of this life.  One of our prophets said that no success in life and compensate for failure in the home.  We have tried to follow that sage advice in our home.
We continue the adventure here in NM for now.  Later this month we will travel to see Ted and his family in Tucson.  Ciao!